Chapter 147: Divine Blessing-My Best Friend Is the System(Wine, Sword, and Ninety-Nine)

Having listened to the commentary by 2058, Ye Chen completely ignored the players whispering behind him. He opened his mouth and said directly to the NPC mentors who had been questioning him, "Are you all so certain that I could not kill the Lich Tris? So certain that I am a deserter from the Crimson Blood Witch Temple?"

"Hahaha, what a joke. Who in the guild doesn't know the strength of the Lich Tris? Let alone a lowly dark priest like you, even if mentors like us went, we probably wouldn't be that fellow's match. You killed him? That is the funniest joke I've heard this year." The Berserker mentor laughed scornfully at Ye Chen, as if he had heard something utterly absurd.

"Forget about the Lich Tris; just the dozens of elite-tier undead under his command would be enough to scare you out of your wits. You probably ran away before you even caught sight of the Lich Tris, am I right, little one?" the Knight mentor sneered.

"Then do you dare to make a wager with me? If I killed Tris, you lose. If I did not kill Tris, you win," Ye Chen said to the mentors with a faint smile.

The players in the hall burst into loud laughter upon hearing this.

"What the heck, I thought he was an expert, but he's just a bumpkin. Can NPCs even make wagers with players?"

"Exactly, exactly. Total lunatic."

"Hey, do you guys think he actually might have killed the Lich? Otherwise, why would he dare to gamble with NPCs?"

"Rubbish, you actually believe that? I bet this guy is just a little player seeking attention and trying to shock the crowd. Kill the Lich? Didn't you hear what the Berserker mentor said? Even he is no match for the Lich, and that Berserker mentor is a Level 60 Gold-grade NPC."

As a group of players laughed and discussed among themselves, the Berserker NPC suddenly slapped his chest and shouted loudly, "A wager it is! Is there anything I wouldn't dare? I simply don't believe that a little dark priest like you could kill the Lich Tris. Not to mention Tris himself, even his little darling could easily take your life."

"That's right, Tris's little darling is something even the old fellows in the guild fear by three parts. Just based on you? I'll take that bet too." Upon hearing the mention of the little darling, the Knight mentor's spirits lifted as well. Convinced beyond doubt that Ye Chen could not possibly kill the Lich Tris, the remaining mentors were also motivated by the mention of the little darling and successively expressed their willingness to wager against Ye Chen.

The players in the hall were dumbfounded once again. They never expected these NPCs to actually make a wager with Ye Chen. For a moment, many players felt their brains struggling to process this. Was God's Descent really meant to be played this way?

In truth, this was largely because most of the players in the hall were novices to God's Descent. If they were veteran players who had played in the older servers, they would never have been this shocked; God's Descent had seen countless stranger occurrences than this. However, most of those events circulated primarily among veteran server players, and players who had just encountered God's Descent naturally were not aware of them. After all, one cannot expect every single player to scour game forums and read every useful and useless post, so this situation was hardly surprising.

Karina, the Dark Priest mentor, looked at Ye Chen, then at her eager mentor colleagues, and covered her mouth with a delicate chuckle. "Since there's going to be a wager, there naturally needs to be a stake. What are you wagering with?"

At Karina's words, several of the mentors hesitated slightly. They were indeed Gold-grade NPCs, and each of them possessed a full set of Gold-tier equipment. However, these items could not be casually taken out and wagered with others, or they would face severe punishment from the guild. Moreover, unlike NPCs who could wander around freely and slay monsters, their resources were genuinely limited.

At this moment, Ye Chen smiled. He said to the several NPC mentors, "I don't need any of your worldly wealth. If I win, I only ask that several mentors bestow the blessings of your respective deities upon me."

The blessings of deities! A group of players looked at each other in dismay, clearly having no idea what that was. The occasional few who possessed slightly more insight were struck by an indescribable, surging excitement.

"The blessing of a deity? You have quite an appetite, kid." The Berserker mentor's expression shifted slightly as he tugged at the chest hair on his torso and said, "It's not entirely out of the question, but what can you offer as a stake in return? If your item cannot impress us, don't even harbor thoughts about the blessings of deities."

The remaining mentors nodded one after another upon hearing this, demanding that Ye Chen produce a stake matching the value of a deity's blessing.

In his heart, Ye Chen understood that this was an inevitable process to obtain hidden rewards, and in reality, these hidden rewards varied in tier. Among them, the blessing of a deity was unquestionably the finest. Naturally, this also required the player to present items of equivalent grade to wager with the NPCs; otherwise, they would only be able to choose lower-tier hidden rewards.

Although the group of players still did not understand what a deity's blessing was, judging by the expressions of the NPCs, it was clearly something immensely powerful and awesome. They all wanted to know what kind of item this mysterious player clad in a cloak could possibly pull out.

"Take a look and see how this item fares." As Ye Chen spoke, he retrieved a skill book with an ancient and weathered appearance from his backpack, resting it gently upon his right palm. It was none other than the manual for the first stance of the Demonic Sword's Nine Consecutive Slashes—Sword Drawing Slash.

The skill book emitted no light, and since Ye Chen did not enable sharing, the players could not view its attributes. However, the NPCs did not require sharing; a single glance was enough for them to discern the attributes of the skill book.

"This, this is... this is the legendary sword..." The Berserker mentor had originally only glanced at it casually, but after that single glance, his eyes became instantly glued to it. His entire body shuddered, and taking a stride forward, he rushed right up to Ye Chen, his eyes locked fixedly on the skill book in Ye Chen's hand.

The remaining mentors also let out gasps of shock, instantly swarming around him. The spellcaster mentors, in particular, had eyes blazing with fervent heat. A strange, brilliant light flashed across Karina's eyes as she asked in a somewhat trembling voice, "This, this manual, did you get it fr—from..."

"The little darling! Kid, you killed the little darling?!" The Berserker mentor's voice was filled with shock, and the gaze he directed at Ye Chen was utterly incredulous. It seemed that Ye Chen being able to kill the little darling shocked him even more than killing the Lich. Yet, the manual right before his eyes forced him to accept that the Blazing Sword Spirit had indeed been slain by Ye Chen; otherwise, there was simply no way to explain where this manual came from. In the five major city districts, only that sword spirit dropped this item.

The remaining mentors also stared blankly at Ye Chen in a daze. They were well aware that the so-called little darling was a Level 60 Spirit-grade entity—the Blazing Sword Spirit—an existence they all had to look up to.

"Impossible! Impossible, you could never be a match for the little darling. Unless, unless you..." The Knight mentor seemed to have guessed something; his breathing grew rapid, and his eyes stared dead at Ye Chen. Clearly, he wanted an answer.

The players watching the commotion in the hall broke into an uproar. Although they did not know the grade of the item Ye Chen had produced, just by looking at the uncomposed,失态 (loss of composure) behavior of these Gold-grade NPCs, they knew it must be a super-tier manual that all players yearned for and strived to attain.

Ye Chen cared not at all about the players' reactions. Wearing an anti-detection cloak, he had no fear of them discovering his true identity. Besides, it wouldn't be long before he left Blazing Mountain City, and they would soon forget all about this.

"That's right, you guessed it. I subdued it. Now, do I still need to prove whether I killed the Lich?" These secrets needed to be concealed from players, but there was no such necessity when dealing with NPCs.

"Then, then your... has it been unsealed?" Karina's voice trembled slightly. They naturally understood that only the Demonic Sword could subdue a sword spirit. And upon slaying the sword spirit, the Demonic Sword would be unsealed. This simultaneously explained why Ye Chen was able to slay the Lich; as long as he had subdued the sword spirit, killing the Lich—whose rank had already dropped to the Semi-Spirit grade—was naturally no problem at all.

Ye Chen nodded. The matter of advancing to the Sword Demon class still rested with the Professional Guild; these things would have to be told to them sooner or later.

"Haha! What a lucky kid, actually getting that item and successfully unsealing it. Having Tris's little darling kill him with its own hands—there is truly nothing more gratifying than this! For so many years, if not for that little darling, Tris wouldn't have been so rampant. Every time he got injured and fled back to the Crimson Blood Witch Temple, there was nothing we could do to him. Now, this is truly exhilarating! Exhilarating!" The Berserker mentor laughed aloud. Then, abruptly raising his right hand, he made a strange gesture, and a faint radiance lit up across his entire body. An imposing illusory deity statue, wielding dual axes, appeared behind him.

"I, Berserker Mentor Thomasson, on behalf of the God of Berserkers, bestow power upon you!" The Berserker mentor's expression was solemn, his voice booming.

Swish! A colorful beam of light shot out from the deity statue's hand, merging into the top of Ye Chen's head.

"Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the blessing of the God of Berserkers. Strength attribute permanently increased by 20 points."

Listening to the prompt ringing in his ears and looking at his Strength value, which had skyrocketed by 20 points out of thin air, Ye Chen's face instantly broke into a wild grin. Although it was only 20 points—less than what a Medium Vitality Pill added—this was a permanent attribute. Its value was well over a hundred times greater than a Medium Vitality Pill.

The group of players were also somewhat stunned as they watched the suddenly materialized deity statue. Although they did not know the exact attributes of the blessing, seeing this magnificent and awesome display, even a fool would know that the cloaked figure had undoubtedly obtained an immense windfall. A wave of envy, jealousy, and hatred instantly washed over the crowd. Before they could even begin whispering among themselves, the pretty-boy-esque Knight mentor suddenly stepped forward, solemnly summoned the statue of the God of Knights, and shouted loudly, "I, Knight Mentor Rolanste, on behalf of the God of Knights, bestow courage upon you!"

"Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the blessing of the God of Knights. Resistance against fear-type magic increased by 20%."

A wave of joy washed over Ye Chen. This courage blessing was even more powerful than a normal attribute increase; one had to realize that many melee classes and monsters possessed fear magic similar to Demoralizing Roar. With the courage blessing, his resistance to such magic would be drastically enhanced.

"On behalf of the God of Elements, I bestow elemental affinity upon you. Mana regeneration speed increased by 10%."

"On behalf of the God of Swordsmen, I bestow the skill Swordsmanship Mastery upon you." The Swordsman mentor gave Ye Chen a meaningful look. Clearly, he had some understanding regarding the Demonic Sword.

"On behalf of the God of Rogues, I bestow agility upon you. Agility permanently increased by..." The Rogue mentor was a slim, black-clad female. She hadn't participated in the wager at all, yet for reasons unknown, she too bestowed a deity's blessing upon Ye Chen.

"On behalf of..."

The remaining class mentors exchanged glances and unexpectedly initiated their divine blessings simultaneously. For a moment, divine lights flashed and intertwined within the hall, creating an unprecedented and magnificent spectacle. Meanwhile, the group of players who had originally only been watching the commotion were now utterly shocked into speechlessness. The looks they directed at Ye Chen were no longer filled with envy, jealousy, or hatred, but had transformed into adoration and reverence.

Ye Chen remembered someone once saying that when you are only slightly higher than others, they will envy you, jealousy you, and hate you. But when you tower infinitely above them, they can only adore you and look up to you. And at present, Ye Chen was clearly someone they could only look up to...