Chapter 4

Walking past the golden trees, a huge cave appeared before him. Inside the cave, there was an old man with a withered face and long, graying hair that reached his waist.

The old man was only wearing a tattered cloth, his limbs were nothing but skin and bones, and he was restrained by four large dark red chains to a dark red rock in the cave.

Despite his current state of destitution, the old man's identity was quite formidable. According to the information Lu Yang had gathered from various sources in his previous life, the old man before him was one of the Four Demon Gods of Hell, the Blazing Flame Demon God, Kaldas.

After the failed battle between gods and demons, the immortal Kaldas was locked here by the celestial deities. The tree at the entrance, which bore golden fruits, was Kaldas' energy manifestation. If someone picked the fruit and gave it to Kaldas to help him recover his energy, he would reward the player with a treasure that could grow into a divine-level equipment—the Demon God's Heart.

Just like in his previous life, Lu Yang walked up to the old man and said sympathetically, "Old man, why are you trapped here? Do you need help?"

The old man did not speak, but stared longingly at the fruits on the tree at the entrance.

"Do you want those fruits? I'll get them for you."

Lu Yang walked to the fruit tree, picked all the golden fruits, and returned to the old man, saying, "Old man, I've picked the fruits for you. Eat some quickly."

Seeing the tempting fruits before him, the old man could no longer remain calm. He opened his mouth and swallowed all the fruits Lu Yang had picked, chewing them vigorously.

After eating all the fruits in one go, the old man's face showed a look of satisfaction. He looked up at Lu Yang and said, "Young man, who are you, and why are you here?"

Lu Yang scratched the back of his head awkwardly and said, "I'm an adventurer. I accidentally fell off a cliff, but fortunately, the branches on the cliff helped me and I didn't die."

The old man was taken aback and said, "I didn't expect you to be a lucky one. Since you've come here, it must be the will of the Supreme Deity. You helped me recover my energy and saved my life, so I will give you a gift as a token of gratitude. Catch it well."

A crimson heart appeared before the old man, and Lu Yang caught it with both hands.

Demon God's Heart (Level 0)

Stamina +1

Strength +1

Agility +1

Intelligence +10

Constitution +1

Spell Critical Hit Rate +1%

Spell Casting Speed +1%

Spell Hit Rate +1%

Equipment Level 0

Looking at the heart, Lu Yang felt an overwhelming excitement and clenched his fists again. This was the treasure that had made him famous in his previous life—a special equipment that could grow into a divine-level attribute—the Demon God's Heart.

In "The Second World," divine-level artifacts were few and far between, and every player who obtained one became a dominant force in the game.

The leader of the Brotherhood Alliance, Slaughter Sky, wielded a legendary battle-axe, "Invincible in Ten Directions." In a guild war with ten thousand participants, he activated the special skill "Endless Hell" and, with a single swing, killed the opposing guild leader and hundreds of their main forces within a 100x100 range, collapsing their command system. He then led his team to victory, creating a myth of 30,000 players defeating 70,000.

There was also the president of the Heaven's Mark Empire, Cold Night. During a battle involving nine guilds, thousands of enemies ambushed the rear base of the Heaven's Mark Empire. Cold Night defended the city wall alone with his legendary bow, the Moon Goddess Bow. No player could get within 100 yards of the wall. In the end, Cold Night activated the ultimate skill of the Moon Goddess Bow, "Meteor Shattering the Moon," and with one arrow, instantly killed the leader of the Dominant Map Guild, Thunder Cloud, and hundreds of surrounding players, proving that one man could hold off ten thousand.

In his previous life, Lu Yang had fortuitously obtained the Demon God's Heart but did not know it was a treasure that could grow into a legendary equipment. Because he could not find the materials to upgrade the Demon God's Heart, it remained at level 0 even when Lu Yang reached over 200 levels. It wasn't until Lu Yang reached a bottleneck in his development and, out of boredom, tried to upgrade the Demon God's Heart that he discovered its true power.

After gathering the materials, Lu Yang upgraded the Demon God's Heart and realized just how powerful it was.

Each level increased the attributes by a factor of two and added several additional attributes. After upgrading the equipment to the legendary level in one go, Lu Yang's life was completely transformed. The legendary Demon God's Heart allowed Lu Yang to transform into one of the Four Demon Gods of Hell, the Blazing Flame Demon God, and cast any high-level spell without a cooldown for 30 minutes. It also automatically taught him the three major fire prohibitions and increased his critical hit rate by 30% for 10x damage, among other benefits.

Relying on this equipment, Lu Yang cleared countless high-difficulty dungeons and killed numerous epic bosses, which gave him the ability to equip his 300 elite main forces and build a fortress. Unfortunately, Lu Yang realized this too late.

Now, having regained this treasure, Lu Yang's first priority was to upgrade the Demon God's Heart, and the first level upgrade was the easiest.

Equipping the Demon God's Heart, Lu Yang's attributes immediately changed.

Name: Lu Yang

Class: Mage

Level: 0

Stamina: 4

Strength: 2

Intelligence: 20

Spirit: 10

Agility: 4

Constitution: 5

Health: 80

Mana: 200

Physical Damage: 1-2

Spell Damage: 20

Defense: 4

Physical Critical Hit Rate: 0

Spell Critical Hit Rate: 1.1%

Spell Casting Speed: +1%

Spell Hit Rate: +1%

Mana Recovery Speed: 1 point/5 seconds

In the game, 1 point of intelligence equals 1 point of spell damage and 10 points of mana. The 10 points of intelligence from the Demon God's Heart doubled Lu Yang's intelligence and spell damage, and also increased his mana by 100 points.

"Old man, thank you for the treasure you've given me. I don't know your name yet. Is there anything else I can do to help you?" Lu Yang asked respectfully.

The old man looked at Lu Yang's level and chuckled, "You're still far from being able to help me. Come back when you reach level 200. As for my name, it's better you don't know it for now."

System Prompt: The Old Man's Quest (Legendary) - Do you accept?

Lu Yang was delighted. He hadn't expected that his extra question would lead the old man to give him a top-tier quest. In his previous life, Lu Yang hadn't received this quest. After obtaining the Demon God's Heart, he hadn't taken it seriously. As an employee of the Ice Studio gold farming team, he had been constantly urged by the team leader to hurry, so he didn't stay to talk to the old man and asked him to send him back to the surface to earn money. He hadn't expected to gain an unexpected reward this time around.

"Accept." Who wouldn't accept? A legendary quest would definitely reward something legendary, even if it wasn't equipment, it would be of the same level.

"Old man, rest assured. When I reach level 200, I will definitely come to rescue you," Lu Yang said.

The old man waved his hand expressionlessly, and Lu Yang felt a dizziness. He then found himself back on the cliff north of Saint Gall City.

"Well, I have to go back." It was a half-hour journey, and Lu Yang grumbled about why the old man didn't kindly send him back to the safe zone in the square.