The Almighty Ring

As soon as the system notification appeared, the names of the elf royalties surrounding Jiang Fei suddenly changed from a friendly green color to a pinkish red!

In Dawnlight City, players can get some sort of measure on the hostility of an NPC by the color of their name. Green meant it was a friendly target. The deeper the color, the warmer they were. A friendly NPC would not only attack you, but he may also even give you great rewards for completing a task. Of course, at the worship level, a nearby NPC would even help a player if he was attacked by other players or monsters.

A slightly worse color would be yellow. This meant indifference. NPC with yellow color names would not help you, nor would they attack you. They would only provide low-level tasks. The rewards from these tasks were horrible. The only reason players would complete these tasks was to increase their reputation and work the NPC’s name into the green zone. That way, higher level tasks would be unlocked.

An even worse color would be pink. NPCs would be very cold towards you. They would not attack you, and that was the extent of it. Not only would they not hand out any tasks; they would not even talk to you. Merchants would not sell you items either!

The worst would be red. This needed no explanation. If one met a red color named NPC, he would be immediately attacked. There was no distinction from encountering a monster.

Now, the elf race had worsening perceptions towards Jiang Fei because of his greed and disrespect against the queen. Their original friendliness had turned into coldness. Although the elven royalties present did not attack Jiang Fei directly, each of them stared at him angrily. If he overstayed his welcome, they might even lunge at him!

“Tsk tsk… it seems like I need to be more careful with this game’s NPCs!” Jiang Fei said to himself. As he always played single-player games in the past, he had grown highly experienced at cheating NPCs of their wealth. Little did he expect that the NPCs in Dawnlight City would be this intelligent to the extent of even holding grudges. Clearly, Jiang Fei’s Blood Ganoderma Lucidum worked and managed to keep the Elf Prince alive. Otherwise, Jiang Fei might not even have been permitted to walk away with his life.

Jiang Fei could not stay in the Elven Court any longer. However, Jiang Fei was pretty pleased with himself. After all, he had already acquired the Elemental Water. His hidden race task had already been mostly completed. All he needed to find now was the Devil’s Fruit. After that, he would be able to evolve as a Nephilim. When that happened, he would become part of the Dark Faction and would definitely be in opposition against the elf race. Therefore, the cold relationship between them did not truly matter.

The main forces in Dawnlight City were split into two main opposing Factions and a neutral Faction. The humans and the elves formed the Light Faction. They believed in the Gods in the Light Religion, including Humans’ Sun God and the Elves’ Moon God.

The Beastmen Race and the Specters formed the Dark Faction. The Beastmen prayed to their ancestors, while the Specters believed themselves to be gods. Therefore, the Dark Faction was practically a godless faction!

With opposing philosophies towards Gods, the two Factions naturally became oppositions to each other. They have fought against each other for thousands of years. However, neither could put the other down for good.

Afterwards, the Light Faction found support from the strict and law-biding Protoss. The Dark Faction also found support from the rowdy, freedom-seeking, and anti-establishment Nephilim.

As the battle became even more aggressive, countless races from the neutral Faction were roped in. However, neither side could still deal the decisive blow. Right then, a new opportunity came about!

A group of adventurers from an unknown place, players who had stepped into Dawnlight City’s world, became the key influence that would determine the balance of powers between the two Factions. The players also became resources sought after by the Light and Dark Factions. However, the players’ mindset were not influenced by the religious indoctrination, and did not have the accompanying hatred for one another borne by these NPCs. Therefore, the players in the Elf race may want to join the Dark Faction. The Beastmen players may find themselves drawn to the Light Faction. Even if the Nephilim race’s players wanted to help the Light Faction, the Dark Faction’s NPCs could only watch on!

For such reasons, the two main Factions came to an agreement. In the four adventurer cities of the Dawnlight City, they were not allowed to fight near the cities. In fact, each race’s high-level beings would never enter the adventurer’s city. This allowed adventurers to choose their Factions freely.

When players reached Level 30, they would receive a system notification. That was when they could choose the Faction of their desire. Once they chose the Light or Dark Faction, NPCs from the same Faction would provide improved services. NPCs from the enemy Faction would turn cold towards you. Once they exited the city, they would be attacked on sight.

Of course, players did not necessarily have to choose from one of the two opposing Factions. They could also choose to be neutral. However, there was very little to gain from sitting on the fence.

After selecting one’s Faction, players could no longer communicate with the opposing Faction’s NPCs. Even players of opposing races would no longer be able to buff each other up. At least, they could still talk to each other from the opposing Faction.

Therefore, the open Faction system for adventurers after reaching Level 30 was a huge selling point. It was greatly advertised in Dawnlight City’s promotional video.

Dawnlight City was a highly flexible game. The realities of loyalty and betrayal, regardless of it being a plot of spies or a great battle with magic, could be artfully represented in the game! This was the main attraction of Dawnlight City!

However, the Faction system was still out of reach for Jiang Fei as he still could not find the Devil’s Fruit.

When Jiang Fei returned to Dawnlight City, he carried the Elemental Water and moved quickly towards the secret cave to meet Isabella. However, before Jiang Fei entered the cave, he removed the Black Dragon Scale and placed it in his spatial ring. Clearly, Jiang Fei did not intend to return the treasure.

The dragon guards on duty all recognized him. They did not say anything else and immediately led him deeper in.

“How did it go?” Isabella asked in an anticipatory tone.

After all, Jiang Fei had looked very confident when he had left.

“I have obtained the Elemental Water!” Jiang Fei said as he handed a bottle of Elemental Water over to Isabella.

Due to the Black Dragon Prince’s existence, Jiang Fei could no longer continue to blackmail Isabella. In fact, with his reputation plummeting at the Elven Court, Jiang Fei had learned to tread lightly where it mattered.

“Ding! Stage task completed!”

“Ding! You have obtained 120,000 Experience Points!”

“Ding! You have obtained the Blood of the Nephilim!”

Blood of the Nephilim (Task Item, Quality: Epic)

Remark: This is an essential ingredient used when it comes to the evolution of a Nephilim. It is irreplaceable once lost.

“Damn you, woman.”

Jiang Fei rolled his eyes. Indeed, ever since the Black Dragon Prince had arrived, the previously courteous Isabella had shown her true colors. She had tossed out Jiang Fei’s reward in the form of her race’s evolutionary material.

This was tit for tat. However, she still upheld the agreement. Although Jiang Fei was annoyed, he could not do anything about it. He stowed the item in his bag for safekeeping. Without this item, he would fail miserably!

“Alright! You have come back from the Entrance to the Void. Return my Dragon Scale!” The Black Dragon Prince Init Stasa said as he walked over.

“I lost it…” Jiang Fei lied through his teeth.

“Ah! Do you think I can’t get it back just because you hid it?”

The Black Dragon Prince laughed coldly before chanting a spell with his mouth.