Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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"A total of 10 Blood Crystal Slabs, huh? Not bad for my first haul," Cedric muttered as he kept his items.

Blood Crystal Slabs were the peak form of blood crystals, and their value was high. They could be used to exchange for a lot of valuable items, even some that can't be bought with alliance cash.

For Cedric though, these blood crystal slabs were to be exchanged for merit points, which he could then use to upgrade his social status from a Common Citizen to a Valued Citizen. But of course, 10 blood crystal slabs are far from enough to make this happen.

Some would find this exchange a bit strange. After all, blood crystals are just minerals condensed from excessive amounts of blood coming from life evolvers. Truthfully, they don't have much use on their own, plus these blood crystals are only available in the virtual world of the Asura Plane, not the real one.

And yes, this is true; blood crystals in any of their forms are useless since they're just a virtual resource. Plus, the way to acquire them was controversial, so they shouldn't be this valuable. However, there is a unique way to make them useful that's only privy to the VIPs.

Through collecting obscene amounts of blood crystals, they could create a wrought scarlet steel ore, the same nigh-unbreakable metal that Cedric discovered in one of his current trials, which could be used for many things—not a fake one but a real ore. The process is, of course, kept confidential.

So, even though Blood Crystals are virtually useless, some people had uses for them and wouldn't hesitate to bestow merit points in exchange. And Cedric plans on taking advantage of that to upgrade his social status as soon as he can.

10 Blood Crystal Slabs could be exchanged for 50 merit points. To upgrade one's social status from a common citizen to a valued citizen, they would need to speed 1000 merit points, meaning that Cedric still has a long way to go.

But if he could keep up his rate of earning merit points through the Asura Plane, then it shouldn't take him a year before he accomplishes this. But that's only if he could follow this routine. However, it's also not a big deal if he couldn't do it within a year. He has time to spare.

"That's it for now, then." He sighed.

He looked outside of the window and couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic. This world sure looks just like Prime Earth. However, knowing that it isn't quite the same as his real home just made him feel a little homesick.

But he can't return there just yet. He still had things to do and so much to achieve.

"Time to return to the tower. Gotta make some actual progress there."

**

A couple of months passed after Cedric's first run in the Asura Plane.

Since then, he'd been shuttling back and forth between the tower and the virtual universe, making all sorts of progress whenever he could.

His progress on the trials still remained relatively slow, but it's getting there. The challenges he faced were quite troublesome, even for someone as strong as he was. As for his plans to upgrade his social status, that's making decent progress so far since it was relatively easy and simple.

He had gone to the Asura Plane a couple of times now and had gotten used to the depravity of the place. The good thing is that he could skip to the level appropriate for him, saving up time and unnecessary trouble. This way, Cedric still receives his combat stimulation while also earning a respectable amount of blood crystals to exchange for merit points.

Cedric never forgot to remain cautious in there; he also didn't stay any longer than necessary just to gain a few more blood crystals since he's not that desperate. He knew that greed and overconfidence would kill him in a place like that; it's something he learned from his Hell Dives a long time ago and was a discipline he stuck to ever since.

Now, he just needed a few more visits to the Asura Plane, and he'd be able to save up enough merit points to upgrade his citizenship.

Despite his busy schedule, Cedric received pleasant news from Acala.

She graduated from her training and had officially become a tower staffer. It sure took some time, but she still managed in the end. Now, so long as she performs well, there's no need to worry about her since she will be protected. Plus, with the resources the tower had, she would receive more than enough opportunities to make herself stronger, which translates to Prime Earth getting better.

Having someone to share the burden of developing his home was a refreshing feeling for Cedric. At last, real progress was happening. With his people back home colonizing new worlds and improving their everyday lives, in addition to the security of being under the protection of the alliance, things are heading in the right direction, making Cedric feel more at ease.

As for his personal matters, Cedric still hasn't had any actual breakthroughs. He's still at the Grand Solar Grandmaster level in life evolution; he's still accumulating enough energies to impact the next barrier.

His comprehension of Grand Solar Concept Laws was slow, but at least there was some progress. Though his main focus was fully comprehending the incomplete sword technique he got recently and making his own sword art. That and slowly chipping away at the trials to climb the tower.

Good news though, the others were back: Morning Wood, Moss Lady, and Hawkeye.

**

"Oh, hey! Long time no see, Dawnbringer." Hawkeye greeted him as soon as he appeared.

"Hawkeye?" Cedric raised a brow as he looked at her from head to toe. "Yeah, long time no see. I almost can't recognize you."

She has definitely grown since the last time he saw her. She's taller, her body matured, her wings became larger, and she now possesses a more ladylike aura, unlike the youthful ignorance and naivety of a young girl.

But more importantly, she was stronger. She should be a Grand Solar Warrior, at least from what Cedric could tell. That, and he could also smell the scent of blood from her.

"Ah, that...well, I've gone through my coming of age ceremony, you see." She shyly replied, still blushing but in a more mature way.

The coming-of-age ceremony for the Harpy Race. Honestly, Cedric isn't privy to the details, but it must be an important part of their culture, so he's a bit reluctant to ask; he didn't want to offend her or anything. He's just not expecting that kind of ceremony to change her too much physically.

"I see, congratulations, I suppose." Cedric smiled in good nature before looking over to Moss Lady and Morning Wood next to her. "Long time no see to you two as well."

"Yes, hello to you too, Dawnbringer," Moss Lady replied, still as gracefully seductive as he remembers her.

"Missed you too, handsome." Morning Wood's body creaked as he winked at him, causing Cedric to slightly wince.

"Oi, you obscene tree! Stop harassing Dawnbringer!"

Here comes Howler, along with Eunuch Wei and Backpack Fatty.

"Fuck off, you whiny dog."

"What did you call me!?"

"A whiny dog! What are you gonna do about it, huh?"

"I'll turn you into paper, bitch! Don't test me!"

"You're on, furball! Come, let's spar!"

Howler and Morning Wood then began their usual rowdiness in good fun while the rest just looked at them while shaking their heads. Nobody stopped them since it's just in their nature to be like this.

Honestly, this is just what Howler is like. It's how he shows concern and care for his friends. Of course he's not like this to the ladies, which was a little biased, but everybody here's already used to that.

"Ah, I miss that midget." Eunuch Wei sighed as he sat on the couch.

"Still annoyed at him?" Backpack Fatty asked.

"Will always be, I think." The angel replied gruffly. "Seriously, he could've stayed and tried for the 10th stage. I mean, his world's safe already, and there was really no need for him to leave."

"Grandpa Hermit has his reasons." Hawkeye interjected, "Let's not blame him anymore. He's happy and content now at least. Let's just accept that his aspiration lies elsewhere."

"I agree." Moss Lady nodded beside her. "Besides, I'm certain that we'd see him again. That old man wouldn't be able to remain idle even if he swore he would."

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a series of alarms. Even the arguing Howler and Morning Wood were stunned by the sudden alert that they stopped and forgot what they're fighting about.

Then, out of nowhere, a series of system alerts flooded their vision, causing their faces to turn serious.

"Seriously?"

"Oh dear, is this really happening now?"

"What are the odds?"

"Coincidence? I think not."

"Uh, what do we then?"

Cedric remained silent because, truth be told, he also doesn't know what's going on. But judging from what he heard from his fellow challengers, it seems that they're in a predicament.

'Inter-Prodigy Group Tournament? I've never heard of this before.'

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