Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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"Whew...this is nuts." Cedric sighed some turbid air.

He's back in his personal room. His interactions with Howler and Backpack Fatty ended a few hours ago, and he just finished inspecting the things he got from trading with them.

Originally, Cedric only intended to take one item from each pile. After all, he already felt guilty about this. The value of a beef stew recipe isn't as high as the items they took out for exchange.

But he underestimated just how much disparity there is between them. To him, the things he got from them were valuable, but to them, they were mediocre at best. They even felt bad because Cedric only took one of the items available; that's why they urged him to pick at least five from each.

It was a generous offer, one that Cedric couldn't refuse. Therefore, he ended up with 10 new valuable items.

From Howler, Cedric got the following: the wings of a Crow Emperor, the spine of the Golden Freedom Roc, the skull of the Undying Salamander, the heart of a Vermillion Bird, and last but not least, the shell of a Snake-tailed Black Tortoise.

Cedric has heard of these creatures before on Prime Earth, but they were mythological stories at best; he never imagined that they were real until he came here. Of course, he also didn't expect that he would get their remains by simply trading them with a very simple and common beef stew recipe.

To say that this was a steal would be an understatement.

Cedric decided that he would keep these items for now. When his skills reach a certain level, he will refine these treasures into valuable things.

And if this wasn't shocking enough, the things he got from Backpack Fatty were even more surprising.

Seed of the Sacred Celestial Tree, a complete set of Spiritual Dragon Veins, 100 cubic meters of Connate Spiritual Farm, an Earth Core Golem Puppet that possesses the strength of a Grand Solar Grandmaster Life Evolver, and finally, a Heavenly Thundercloud.

The Sacred Celestial Tree is a spiritual tree that draws in the power of the celestial bodies instead of sunlight or water. This tree could grow up to 10,000 meters high and could connect to multiple celestial bodies, acting as a medium for passage to those worlds. The value of such a thing doesn't need any further explanation.

Spiritual Dragon Veins is said to be the singular form of Spiritual Veins. Once it's planted and nurtured, it will eventually elevate the spirituality of the world to an astonishing degree. By the alliance standards, the Spiritual Dragon Veins could increase the spiritual density of a world to an A+ grade.

The Spiritual Lake in Cedric's room was only at C grade, and he's already shocked by it. A couple gallons of water from this lake could benefit Prime Earth for decades. One could only imagine what the Spiritual Dragon Veins could bring to them.

...he even got the complete set too; all he had to do was have Acala fuse with this, use spiritual waters to nourish it, or directly connect it to a spiritual lake, then wait until it started upgrading his world. It couldn't be any easier than that.

The 100 cubic meters of a spiritual farm are a place where he could grow natural treasures. It's in the form of a minor dimension, similar to Cedric's room in the tower; he already refined it so he could access it anytime he wanted. With the high spiritual density of this farm, he could plant the Sacred Celestial Tree here for the time being and transfer it once Prime Earth was cleansed of filth.

As for the Earth Core Golem Puppet, he has already refined it too. It's essentially his bodyguard now, and it's way stronger than the strongest person on Prime Earth. Later, he will leave it to guard his world as another layer of security to ease his worries.

Then there's the Heavenly Thundercloud. It's a natural climate with an inborn spirituality. Make no mistake, this piece of cloud could extend for thousands of miles, and it's powerful enough to decimate Prime Earth with barely an ounce of effort.

Cedric encountered some resistance when refining this treasure, but he won in the end. Now that he could command it to do whatever he wanted, he could even use it as a form of transportation.

Getting these was a scam, really, but Backpack Fatty doesn't see it the same way. To him, these were things that fell onto his body. He neither had use nor need for any of these. He just kept them because he couldn't find any other way to dispose of them. Besides, he's asleep most of the time if he's not in the tower.

Both Howler and Backpack Fatty knew the value of the things they gave away to Cedric. They've already asked the system to appraise them after all. They could've sold it away, but they didn't since it's no use. They wouldn't get any trial points through this, only Alliance Dollars, which were useless to them right now.

They have no qualms about giving these away in exchange for the knowledge of making beef stew, which Cedric ensured to be as beginner-friendly as he could. He even tutored them personally on how to make them, and he left when they succeeded. Now, so long as they have enough ingredients with them, they could cook it for themselves.

Aside from trading, Cedric also received some advice from them.

As it turns out, Howler was at Stage 3 of the trials, while Backpack Fatty is at Stage 4. They told him that Stage 1, especially in Dynamic Difficulty, is meant to give what the challenger needed the most, which explains why Cedric was getting the fundamental skills for now.

They also told him that he didn't have to complete the Trial of Mind before going to the other trials. In fact, they suggested that he visit the other trials if he feels like he's stuck.

Cedric also noticed that Howler and Backpack Fatty made it a point to not ask about his progress. Whenever their conversation is about to touch on that topic, they will start discussing other things.

They probably think that he didn't notice, but he did. He just played along. Cedric could only guess why, though. Well, it's not that important right now. Even if he knew why, so what? Knowing that won't help him clear the trials faster, so what's the use?

Therefore, instead of getting distracted by other things, Cedric threw himself back to his practice.

**

Time passed in his training. Unknowingly, Cedric has been here for 6 months.

This has been the longest seclusion he has ever done. It's crazy to think that he still has more than 9 years of available time here. Even crazier, if his consciousness ever returns to the real world, only an hour will pass.

Cedric already received all the 10 skills he needed to receive and practice from the Ancient Stone. Aside from the Nine Suns Empyrean Codex, Myriad Sword Catalogue, Runic Heaven Records, Heaven Shrinking Steps, and the Five Elements Concept Diagram, the last five he received were:

Fiendgod Celestial Scripture, Astral Sovereign Mantra, Breath Holding Technique, Spacetime Concept Diagram, and the Torch Dragon's Gaze. All of which are at the Grand Solar level.

The Fiendgod Celestial Scripture is another cultivation technique; this one focuses on tempering his physique. By chanting the scripture, Cedric invites Baleful Astral Qi to descend and temper his body. It was excruciatingly painful, but the benefits couldn't be denied.

The Astral Sovereign Mantra is a mental tempering technique. As he chants it, he will experience all sorts of mental interference. He needs to sharpen his focus and continue, but the longer he does it, the stronger the interference gets. Like the previous technique, this one was also taxing, but it's just as beneficial to him.

The Breath Holding Technique is a niche skill that reduces the fluctuations of power he's emanating. If he's trained to perfection, it's possible to reduce his aura to that of a normal person. It's not as bombastic as the other skills he received, but he liked it nonetheless. It's simplicity also made it easier for him to understand it.

Then, there's the Spacetime Concept Diagram, which is probably the most difficult and complicated Concept Diagram he has ever laid eyes on. It's understandable since this one contains the elements of not only Space but Time as well. These are two extremely elusive concepts, and even with the alliance's standards, only the cream of the crop could grasp them early into their life evolution.

Last but not least, there's the Torch Dragon's Gaze, which is the very first Occular Technique Cedric has seen.

He actually thinks it's hillarious that he inherited the godking's eyes, yet he never practiced any occular techniques. To be fair, there's no such thing on Prime Earth; he never even thought that it's possible before receiving this technique.

And to his overwhelming surprise, Cedric not only learned the Torch Dragon Eye incredibly quickly, he even trained it to Advanced Mastery stage in less than two months.

"How the hell did that happen?"