SSS Grade Saint Knight - Chapter 98

Chapter 98: Golden Era! Is It Coming Again?

TL: YYang

“They actually opened the Abyss difficulty! No wonder there are strange flames burning at the base of the secret realm gate!”

“Unbelievable, I remember the Abyss mode is said to be more terrifying than the Nightmare difficulty by over tenfold.”

“Abyss mode hasn’t been open in the new student competition for decades, right?”

“……”

In the bleachers, many senior students began to discuss, their words filled with astonishment.

“To be precise, Abyss mode hasn’t appeared in the new student competition for exactly eighty years.”

A lean young man said slowly.

He had short hair, deep eyes, and a unique aura.

“It’s Lin Haoran!”

Someone recognized the man’s identity and exclaimed in a low voice.

At Suhang University, there were two ranking lists for strength.

One was the Earth Ranking, exclusively for first-transfer professionals.

The other was the Heaven Ranking, exclusively for second-transfer professionals.

And this Lin Haoran was ranked 34th on the Heaven Ranking for second-transfer professionals!

“Didn’t he take a mission to the front lines? Why is he back now?”

Someone was surprised at Lin Haoran’s timing of appearance.

Others continued the previous discussion:

“Eighty years ago? That means around the year 2544, Suhang University’s new student competition featured Abyss mode.”

“2544… wow! Isn’t that the Golden Era?!”

Realizing the time of 2544, those around widened their eyes.

The Golden Era!!

It was a special term for the year 2544.

In that year, many extraordinarily talented professionals emerged!!

“The Swift Sword Saint Cang Pinghai, the Storm Mage Li Shaoyang, they were all born in the Golden Era and remain powerful figures to this day!!”

“Now, with the reopening of Abyss mode, could it be that the Golden Era… is about to come again?!”

Someone murmured in a low voice, their expression filled with shock.

……

……

“Brother Lin, when did you get back?”

At this moment, Li Dongsheng from the Aurora Society also noticed Lin Haoran.

He hurried over, asking with a hint of surprise.

Lin Haoran was also a member of the Aurora Society.

And he was a minister-level officer.

However…

Lin Haoran was a reserved person, not often involved in managing society affairs, merely holding a nominal position.

Of course, even if it was just a nominal position, no one doubted his abilities.

After all, being 34th on the Heaven Ranking was a highly prestigious position.

As one of his few good friends, Li Dongsheng knew.

He was supposed to have taken a mission to eliminate an invading magical beast legion in the neighboring Huiyang Province, so why was he here now?

“The mission was canceled; I just got back.” Lin Haoran replied.

“The mission was canceled?” Li Dongsheng frowned.

As one of the top universities in the country, Suhang University, besides having a strong educational team, also placed great emphasis on practical combat training for students.

In the school’s task system, there were often dangerous tasks like hunting magical beasts and capturing fugitive professionals.

And war missions were the most dangerous type of practical tasks, offering the most credit rewards.

Of course, such tasks were usually predetermined.

If not for significant changes, they wouldn’t be canceled.

“I heard it was an arrangement from above.” Lin Haoran said helplessly. “Many legions in Huiyang Province have been redeployed, reportedly to thoroughly clear all medium-sized spatial rifts within the province. I’m not sure what exactly they’re clearing, but I have to head out in three days as well. Hopefully, nothing bad is about to happen…”

Lin Haoran instinctively glanced down at the field.

The year 2544!!

The Golden Era!!

In that era, many extraordinarily talented young people emerged.

And many regarded it as the signal for a full-scale counterattack against the otherworldly realms!!

However…

Just 20 years after the Golden Era, the creatures from other realms began a frenzied invasion!!

To fend off the rampaging otherworldly creatures, all 8 billion professionals on Blue Star joined the fight.

After 30 years and the heavy price of nearly 5 billion professionals fallen and countless ordinary people perished.

The invasion from other realms gradually slowed, leading to the current period of peace.

That period of frenzied invasion was also known as the Dark Era!

The Swift Sword Saint Cang Pinghai and the Storm Mage Li Shaoyang were heroic figures born in the Golden Era and rose during the Dark Era!!

Besides them, many powerful professionals born in the Golden Era perished in the Dark Era…

And now, the current scene bore a striking resemblance to the prosperous period before the Dark Era.

“I hope this is just my imagination.”

Shaking his head, Lin Haoran didn’t dwell on it.

After over fifty years of recovery and development, humanity’s overall strength was no longer what it used to be.

On Blue Star, there were not only several Sword Saints and Mage Gods who had reached the pinnacle of their professions!

The number of professionals had reached an unprecedented 15 billion!

Even if another frenzied invasion by otherworldly creatures were to occur.

Ultimately, it would surely be them who would be the unfortunate ones!!

……

……

“Abyss difficulty, this is going to be fun!”

“Hehe, I thought Nightmare difficulty might not be enough; I didn’t expect there to be a new difficulty beyond Nightmare!”

“Hmph! Just wait, I’ll definitely sweep through the Abyss-level dungeon later!”

“……”

Unlike the astonishment in the bleachers, the new students on the field were filled with fighting spirit.

They were eager to charge into the dungeon and battle immediately!!

After all, the new students who got into Suhang University had cleared the Nightmare-level dungeon in the college entrance exam.

Thus, rather than feeling afraid of the higher difficulty, they were excited, feeling they had a new challenge.

On the ceremonial platform, Wu Mang scanned the crowd below.

Upon seeing some new students dismissing the Abyss difficulty, he couldn’t help but frown slightly.

Regular secret realm dungeon gates only had simple, hard, and nightmare difficulties.

To open Abyss difficulty, a large number of Abyss Magic Stones had to be invested!!

And Abyss Magic Stones came from the otherworldly realms.

Just acquiring this batch of Abyss Magic Stones had cost the school considerable effort.

Of course…

The increase in difficulty was very apparent.

Monsters in Abyss-level dungeons had more health, stronger defenses, and more agile movements!

Overall, Abyss-level dungeons were ten times more terrifying than Nightmare-level dungeons!!

Yet, some people dared to underestimate them…

“Ignorance is fearless; those who underestimate Abyss difficulty will pay the heaviest price!”

Gathering intelligence was one of the key abilities professionals needed to master.

If you don’t know the difficulty of an Abyss-level dungeon, can’t you ask the student next to you?

Those scions had serious expressions; couldn’t they see there was an issue with the Abyss dungeon?

“Very well, let them hit a wall then.”

Shaking his head, Wu Mang no longer paid attention to the students’ actions and loudly announced:

“You have one minute to prepare.”

“One minute later, the dungeon will open! This marks the start of the first stage of the new student competition!”

…….

…….

As his words fell.

The new students gathered around the field immediately sprang into action.

Some muscular warriors began wiping their longswords and shields.

Some sharpshooters started checking their ammunition.

Upon hearing that there were no equipment restrictions for this new student competition, some began changing their gear right away!

Fortunately, everyone had a layer of undergarments beneath their equipment.

So there wouldn’t be any awkward situations of being too exposed…

In an instant, the entire field was silent, with only the sounds of equipment being changed.

And the occasional sound of items clashing as they checked their gear.

At this moment.

Even new students ranked beyond a thousand were extremely serious.

On the ceremonial platform, many eyes fell on Zhou Yi.

Seeing the massive axe blade weapon revealed behind him, they couldn’t help but show peculiar expressions.

“An axe, of all things…”

For heavy armor support types like Saint Knights, the most common weapon pairing was a shield and a one-handed sword.

Some who purely followed a support route even abandoned heavy weapons altogether.

Opting for a massive holy cross that provided special buffs as their weapon.

But a Saint Knight like Zhou Yi, wielding a battle axe, was extremely rare…

……

……

Battle Axe!

That’s right.

This time, Zhou Yi didn’t choose to use a warhammer again.

Instead, he opted for an 18th-level gold-tier giant battle axe.

Because, after experiencing combat in the Tempest Mountain Range, he realized.

While a warhammer was highly effective against heavily armored monsters, capable of shattering internal organs.

It wasn’t quite suitable for him.

He still preferred the satisfying feel of an axe drawing blood with each strike!!