Cataclysm King

Chapter 461 The correct way to unfold the hidden plot
"Discovered Yinshan Village, story exploration +1%"

Ji Xun and his group of twelve people walked out of the mountain road from the logging site and soon saw a village surrounded by tall wooden fences in the valley.

There is a watchtower on the gate, and hunters with bows and arrows are on guard.

After asking them about their identities and finding out that they were bounty hunters, the group was able to enter the village smoothly.

Ji Xun was inconspicuous in the team.

He silently observed everything around him, just glanced at the owl on a big tree at the entrance of the village, and followed the team into the village.

The village is quite large, and it looks like there are several hundred households.

And judging from their clothes, the people here are quite wealthy.

Ji Xun also saw a smelting shop and a blacksmith shop in the village. There was not only a logging site nearby, but also probably mineral deposits.

There is a bulletin board at the entrance of the village with some notices posted on it.

Ji Xun took a glance and thought that these should be some clues given by the will of space.

Unfortunately, most of it was torn off.

The broken piece reads: "Silver Fir Lord Sheriff's Bounty Notice".

Instead of getting any clues, he began to study the text above.

This was converted from the will of space, and was originally another ancient language.

Ji Xun happened to have seen it in the ancient Chinese text database of the Royal Library.

It was confirmed that this was the text of the "Ancient Civilization of Alterac".

Compared to any primary plot clues, he felt that the most important thing now was to confirm the civilization background of this alien space.

Experience has shown that the plots of different-dimensional spaces are almost all virtual worlds created based on templates of real events that happened in history.

Even those plots in the other-dimensional space that seemed to have no connection with this world at all, Ji Xun felt that maybe he just didn't know about it, and it should be real history.

And these are actually the clues that the will of space really wants to hide.

As long as you know it, you can get some very important but deeply hidden information.

For example, major events that occur in certain historical contexts determine the direction of the spatial plot.

It's just like the "Rebel Camp in Valen City".

Aragon told the outcome of the historical slave uprising in advance, allowing Ji Xun to use this clue and gain a great advantage.

Calculating the time, the "Alterac Civilization" should be an ancient civilization that existed around the early days of the Talen Dynasty more than 100,000 years ago.

It was because of the confirmation of the era that Ji Xun wondered in his heart: "Strange, were the elements of the southern continent so barren back then?"

He basically confirmed that this place was most likely the Southern Continent.

It was just the southern continent tens of thousands of years ago.

But these barren elements are completely different from what they will be tens of thousands of years later.

If it's not due to the special geographical reasons, there must be other reasons.

Apparently, Ji Xun was not the only one who could think of this.

As soon as he saw the notice board, Sak turned around and asked the lizard wizard Serri, "Serri, what did you see?"

Serri also identified the age of the text and responded, "Master, this should be the text from the Alterac period."

Sack nodded appreciatively: "Yeah."

Serri had done his homework on this trial before coming in.

He even looked up the archives of past academy trials, consulted some seniors, and watched all the space plots with a high probability of appearing in the Tower of Babel.

But unfortunately, this time it is a brand new space that no one has ever been to.

He continued, "If I remember correctly, this is also the first time that the academy has encountered a trial space from the ancient civilization period."

There are benefits to reclaiming wasteland.

Although the risk is greater, the reward is also greater.

Not only will the college gain extra points for developing new spaces, but many of the documents and materials brought out from this ancient civilization space can also be exchanged for extra rewards.

In general, the harvest will be several times more than other developed spaces.

Sack nodded as well: "Well, what else?"

Serri: “Well, not for now.”

Sack didn't say much.

After all, there were only a few words on the notice board, and being able to tell the age showed that you were knowledgeable.

Before they had time to take a closer look, as soon as this group of outsiders arrived, curious children immediately surrounded them, pointing and gazing at them.

"Some more bounty hunters have arrived. We should be able to deal with the bandits in Black Rook Castle now."

"Dear bounty hunter, are the ones you have with the village chief's grandfather's house?"

"."

When everyone heard these words, they immediately realized that someone had entered the village before them.

The people in the village are not that mean, and the notice on the notice board must have been torn down by the previous group of people.

The trial was related to the family's reputation, and Sak was unwilling to fall behind. He quickly called out, "Let's go!"

According to a normal person's thinking, upon entering Yinshan Village, they would definitely go to the village chief's house to inquire about information to trigger the plot.

Unfortunately, someone has already gotten there first.

Ji Xun had no interest in this way of obtaining intelligence that everyone wanted.

No matter how anxiously he rushed there, all he could get from the village chief would be clues related to the normal main storyline.

He originally wanted to wander around the village to see if he could trigger some hidden quests.

But when Young Master Sack waved his hand, everyone had no choice but to follow.

Ji Xun also followed silently.

Soon, they arrived at the village chief's house.

It just so happened that the first person to arrive was none other than the knights guarding the door, with the emblem of a forest green dragon on the badge on their chests.

It was none other than the family emblem of Duke Simon, the rival of Duke Langdon.

When Young Master Sak arrived with a group of people, they were immediately stopped outside the door.

Sack's face darkened and he asked, "What do you mean?"

The knight captain did not dare to offend the high nobles, but did not back down: "Sorry, Master Sack, Master Ferran is looking for clues to the plot inside, please wait a moment."

Sack clearly understood what the Simon family meant.

These guys are trying to monopolize this plot branch.

This has also occurred in previous assessment trials. Some large families used their own strength to monopolize the resources and intelligence in the trial space, thereby gaining extremely high evaluations.

But in this case, the test results of other trial-takers would be very bad.

Some plot quests cannot be shared, and anyone with a discerning eye knows that the village chief must be a key plot character.

If someone gets there first, this clue may be lost.

The Duke of Langdon and the Duke of Simon are still enemies.

When two parties meet in the same trial space, whoever seizes the initiative will have a better test result.

So we can’t give in any more.

Young Master Sack didn't even look at the knight, and shouted angrily: "Get out of the way! Don't block me!"

Although the knight captain was embarrassed, he did not give in.

As soon as these words were spoken, the two sides immediately became hostile.

The Simon family has gathered three teams, totaling nearly twenty people.

The Langdon family obviously has fewer people and suffers a greater disadvantage.

Neither side would give in and a fight was about to break out.

At this time, a noble boy with green hair came out and said with a wry smile: "Hey, what's going on?"

The person who came was none other than Young Master Furen whom he had met before in the black market of Giant City.

The knights didn't dare to use force against Sack, but Feren was not afraid at all.

He looked at the late Sack and said sarcastically, "What? Sack, have you forgotten the rules of the academy's trial? We found the clue first, and you still want to rob us?"

In the previous black market incident, Ji Xun and his companions decisively killed the key figure "Scarface", which caused the Simon family to suffer huge losses.

Although everyone knows that it was done by the Langdon family.

But Ji Xun and his companions were too decisive and clean in their actions, leaving no chance for anyone to turn the tables.

The conflict has been accumulating until now. When Feren saw Sack being defeated, how could he easily let go of the opportunity to suppress the feud?

"Hmph! Let's go!"

Sack looked at Feren, snorted coldly, and walked away without looking back.

If it was just a team of Simon's knights, he could still rely on the power of his title to force the other party to give up the plot clues.

Now that it's Feren, there's no chance at all.

The Langdon family also turned around and left.

Young Master Feren's sarcastic laughter came from behind, "Hey, Sack, wait a minute, don't leave. We have finished our questioning and will share the information with you later."

"."

Young Master Sack's expression grew darker as he listened.

This trial made him very unhappy. It seemed that nothing went well for him since he came in.

Not only did they almost lose an elite maintenance member in the attack, but now the plot clues are also broken.

This basically means that their performance in this assessment will not be very good.

Not only him, everyone in the team had a bad expression.

Except Ji Xun.

Ji Xun was a nobody throughout the whole process.

When he entered the village before and saw the torn notice board, he actually foresaw this scene.

The two teams had been attacked in the forest before, and the treatment took some time, so it was normal that they were late. If it were a slightly stronger family, they would definitely monopolize the plot clues.

Now that the Simon family has monopolized the main storyline, it is normally almost impossible for others to surpass them in the assessment.

But... that's normal.

There are also abnormal ones.

The fact is, the nature of the alternate dimension is to encourage people to take risks.

The main storyline is just a normal difficulty, guiding adventurers to obtain some things, like a novice guide;

As for the "veteran mode" where you can really get good stuff, you have to watch the hidden plot.

Ji Xun once got treasures such as [Spell Pottery Jar], [Sismak Holy Grail], and [Golden Ball of Power Gem] in the low-level alien space.

It doesn’t mean that there are no good things in low-level different-dimensional spaces.

But whether you are qualified to trigger those hidden and difficult plots.

So even though the main line was cut off, Ji Xun didn’t think it was a bad thing.

This way you can explore some hidden plots with justification.

He carefully observed everything in the village. Countless previous exploration experiences told him that hidden plots are often hidden in inconspicuous places.

The Langdon family discussed as they walked.

"Now that the Simon family has monopolized the main storyline, are we going to another village?"

"I'm afraid it's too late. There are many strong teams in this other dimension. At least the Red Dragon Royal Family's team is not far away, probably in the next village. If we go there, I'm afraid the situation will be similar."

"This is going to be a difficult situation. If we can't get the main intelligence, do we have to go directly to Black Crow Castle?"

"."

Someone once again suggested going directly to Black Crow Castle.

Even Young Master Sack was obviously tempted.

Now that the main line has been cut off, we have lost the initiative.

It seems that only by taking risks can one turn defeat into victory in the assessment.

Although everyone knew there were risks, they could all see Young Master Sack's desire to survive. No one had a better plan, and no one dared to persuade him.

However, seeing that everyone was really planning to leave the village, Ji Xun finally spoke up: "Master, I think this space exploration is not that simple. The monster in the forest and the assembly signal from the Red Dragon Royal Family all show that this trial is very risky."

It wasn't that he didn't want to go to Black Crow Castle, but he saw the tall wooden fences around the village, which seemed to be used to guard against some large beasts or monsters.
Although it is not certain what it is, the environment outside the village must be dangerous.

Besides, a bandit captain almost killed off their number. It would be unreasonable for this medium-sized trial space of 500 people to be without 1,800 bandits.

If you rush out without any intelligence at all, the probability of danger is very high.

Moreover, Ji Xun had previously felt that it was no coincidence that so many strong teams were in the same different-dimensional space at the same time.

Now that he encountered the team from Duke Simon's Mansion, he finally saw a glimpse of the not-too-obscure layout.

The Langdon family, the Red Dragon royal family, and Duke Simon all have unpleasant feelings towards each other. This three-party competition will inevitably lead to each party wanting to obtain better assessment results and trying their best to obtain a higher evaluation and pass the level.

The only way to get a high rating is to dig deep into the plot.

These teams are strong and qualified to explore difficult plots; now that the competition has momentum, they have assembled all the cause and effect relationships in one go.

This layout is not very clever, but it is completely sufficient to deal with a group of first-level card masters.

It was because Ji Xun saw through this that he felt that this trial assessment was becoming more and more interesting.

He also wanted to see what the people behind the scenes were going to do.

Now he has basically confirmed that there must be something needed by the person behind the scenes hidden in the plot of this alien space.

Ji Xun was very low-key in the academy. Not only outsiders, but even the Langdon family thought he was just an ordinary polymath.

But a few people in the team knew that this teammate was very powerful.

Seli had already decided to follow Master Sak and take the risk to go to Black Crow Castle, but when he heard Ji Xun speak, his eyes suddenly turned, and after thinking for a moment, he also responded: "Master, I think what Su Lun said should also be considered. This different-dimensional space doesn't give me a good feeling. If we rashly go to Black Crow Castle, there may be problems."

Lizard mages specialize in wisdom, and they also have danger intuition.

Although he didn't expect Ji Xun to know so much.

But I also thought of some of it.

Moreover, Ji Xun's reminder made his crisis instinct awaken instantly.

Sack, who was looking gloomy, listened to what Seli and Ji Xun said, stopped his steps that were about to go out of the village, pondered for a moment, and asked: "Then what do you think we should do?"

These two people were taken to the black market before.

Having witnessed the wisdom and adaptability of the two men with his own eyes, he trusted them instinctively.

Seeing that Ji Xun had no intention of continuing to talk, Seli said what he thought: "The evaluation of the trial space is mainly based on the difficulty of the plot. I think we can dig deep into some hidden plots and trigger side quests. Usually the hidden plots are more difficult than the main quests. As long as we can dig out a few valuable side quests, the rewards may not be less than the main quests. Moreover, although the people in the Duke Simon's Mansion have monopolized the main quest, the main quest this time is to suppress bandits. Their team is still in the village. We just need to keep an eye on them. As long as they leave the village, it won't be too late for us to follow them out."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the team's expressions brightened.

Yup!

No one in Simon's family went out, and they were not in a hurry.

Although I haven't received any mission, it's a good idea to keep an eye on the opponent's team and take advantage of them.

Sack pondered for a moment, thinking of the monsters he had encountered before, and trusted his intuition.

He gave the order: "Okay, two people in a group, split up and search for clues in the village! Once you find something valuable, notify me immediately!"

On the other side, after hearing his knights report that the people of the Langdon family did not leave the village, Master Feren was full of regret and muttered, "Tsk tsk, those guys are really patient. They didn't even leave the village."

He had just received an important piece of information from the village chief.

In this silver fir forest, you cannot leave the village at night.

At night, the fog in the abyss rifts will spread out, and at the same time, there will be terrifying monsters hiding in the fog to hunt.

He had no idea what those "monsters" were.

I had thought that the people of the Langdon family would go and try their luck, but I didn't expect that after being so angry just now, the other party didn't even leave the village.

Ji Xun and David have the best relationship.

Moreover, as a polymath, he is also a vulnerable group in the team. Of course, it would be safer to pair him with the one with the highest combat power.

After splitting up, the two of them strolled slowly around the village.

David is also a pure warrior and doesn't like to use his brain.

Seeing other teams knocking on doors one by one to ask villagers for clues, the two of them walked slowly. David couldn't help but ask curiously: "Su Lun, don't we ask these villagers?"

Ji Xun smiled and asked, "There are hundreds of households and thousands of people here. How long will it take to knock on every door?"

In the eyes of those novices, finding side plots is just a gamble on luck.

But in Ji Xun's eyes today, there is no such thing as luck, only cause and effect logic.

The fate of the hundreds of households in the village is closely linked.

It's like a tangled mess. If you sort it out a little, you will know which line has the problem.

Although David didn't follow the train of thought, he knew that Ji Xun was very capable. Hearing this, he asked expectantly, "Do you know where there are clues?"

Ji Xun said casually: "When I entered the village before, I heard a child say that there is a tailor named Aunt Caroline in the east of the village. Her husband has not returned from hunting. I think we can go and see her."

This is a very obvious clue.

But when David heard it, he was surprised and said, "Ah, the entrance to the village? Why didn't I hear it?"

He thought back to when he entered the village, the dozen or so kids were chattering for a long time, but he couldn't hear what they were saying clearly, let alone understand what they were saying.

And I didn't think about it in that direction at all at that time.

Who could have imagined what side quests a few kids could trigger?
Ji Xun smiled and explained, "I am a [Polyologist], and my thoughts are easily distracted, so I heard it. You follow the path of martial arts, so it's better to focus. It's normal that you can't hear it."

There's nothing wrong with that.

But it's only one of the reasons.

The most important reason why Ji Xun was able to capture this information was his ability to multitask and the insight brought by "I am the World".

Logic is like the laws of nature, they have always existed in nature, but people with extraordinary abilities cannot see them because they have not reached that level.

Ji Xun didn't explain much.

The two of them walked straight to the wooden house on the east side of the village where monster furs were drying at the door and knocked on the door.

The person who opened the door was a haggard village woman.

Ji Xun got straight to the point: "We are bounty hunters summoned by the lord. We heard in the village that your husband has not returned from hunting. If you can explain what happened, perhaps we can help you."

Hearing that they were here to help find her husband, the village woman immediately became excited.

She quickly invited Ji Xun and the other man into the house and told them what had happened a few days ago.

Almost as soon as he entered the door, Qi Di appeared.

"Tailor Caroline's trust in you +10"

"C-rank side quest triggered: Missing hunter. Three days ago, the village hunter Chloe went missing while hunting in the Frostwolf Forest and has not been seen since."

His teammate David also saw the inspiration.

The dark-skinned young man looked at Ji Xun who was talking to the village woman again, his eyes full of disbelief, as if saying: Is this the trigger for the side plot?
It was like sleepwalking. The other members of the team were still knocking on doors one by one. Did they trigger the C-level mission just by coming here?
For a moment, there was only deep admiration in David's eyes.

Ji Xun didn't pay much attention to his teammates' exclamations.

Triggering this C-level difficulty plot was not his purpose. He had even guessed the outcome of the entire plot: the hunter Chloe was most likely killed by the vampire they had encountered before. Following what the woman said about the Frostwolf Forest, they might encounter monsters, and then kill them, completing the mission and getting rewards.

This kind of side quest is totally unattractive to Ji Xun.

He needs more.

But it is obvious that NPCs don't know much about this basic stuff.

What Ji Xun needs is to dig deep into those hidden places that cannot be seen: "Madam Caroline, we will not take your magic core for now. We will wait until we find your husband."

He now knows the nature of the spatial will. As long as there are rules, there are ways to exploit them.

Now that the concept of trust has come up, let’s brush up on the trust first.

Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, Enlightenment said as expected: "Tailor Caroline's trust in you +10"

Faced with a bounty hunter who was willing to help her find her missing husband without paying first, Tailor Caroline quickly gained enough trust.

At this time, under Ji Xun's guidance, she finally revealed an important clue: "You two, there is actually a legend in the village. The witch doctor in the village was once sent by the Church."

(End of this chapter)