He had already grasped a rough idea of what the Core of Fate was.
But as for where they were—he had no clue.
Yet at this very moment, he suddenly saw a goal. A goal that made his heart race, a goal he desperately longed to achieve. Or perhaps, this goal had already existed within him long ago, ever since she left. It had always been there, buried deep in his heart—he just never knew how to reach it.
He had to uncover the secret of the Mark of Fate. That way, he might finally understand why she left back then and where she had gone. Though, perhaps, this was nothing more than his own wishful thinking. But even if there was only a sliver of hope to find her, he was willing to do whatever it took, no matter the cost.
The Core of Fate...
A sudden belief took root in his heart—if he could gather all seven Cores of Fate and reforge the true Eternal Mark of Fate, then he would find the answer he so desperately sought.
But right now, none of that mattered!!
“Guo Guo!”
Ye Tianxie shook his head vigorously. He had never doubted his own eyesight, yet at this moment, he found himself questioning it once again. The last time this happened, it was also because of Guo Guo, because of the Mark of Fate, because of Destiny.
“Where did you get that lollipop?!”
The pendant around his neck had appeared in the world of Destiny, and that had already shocked him. But now, Guo Guo had appeared in the real world—his first instinct had been to believe he was dreaming.
And now, once again, he was witnessing something that nearly made him lose control…
That lollipop—he had bought it for Guo Guo just yesterday! A real-world item, something that should never have existed in this world!
“Hmph!” Guo Guo pouted, looking both dissatisfied and proud. “Master, you’re so mean! You clearly brought so many lollipops yesterday, but you only gave me one… So while you were sleeping, I secretly took all of them! It’s no use being mad at me now! Hmph hmph hmph!”
She stole them all while I was sleeping…?
Ye Tianxie’s face twitched. But that wasn’t the point!
His expression turned serious. “Guo Guo, you… can bring things from that world into this one?”
“Huh? Bring things from that world into this one?” Guo Guo tilted her head, repeating his words. Then suddenly, her eyes widened in panic. “Ah!!”
She gasped, both hands flying up to cover her mouth, and the lollipop in her grasp fell to the ground.
Ye Tianxie took a step forward and picked it up. There was no doubt about it—this was the exact same lollipop he had bought for her yesterday. The discarded wrapper lying nearby was undeniable proof. The candy was fresh, clearly just taken out, and aside from the fact that it was now covered in Guo Guo’s shiny drool, it was unchanged.
Lollipop: A sweet treat loved by children. Effect: Restores 5 Hunger and 5 HP upon use.
…It even had stats.
Ye Tianxie had the sudden urge to smack himself in the head. Once again, his understanding of the world had been completely shattered.
“Uuu… I’m done for! I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t realize I was back here… And I just took it out to eat… Uuu, Master found out… What do I do? What do I do?! Big Sis said I shouldn’t let him find out so soon! Uuu… What should I do now…”
Guo Guo covered her lips, eyes wide with distress, her crystal-like pupils shimmering with unshed tears. Her voice was barely a whisper, but Ye Tianxie heard every word loud and clear.
Clearly, this tiny little thing was hiding many secrets—secrets she absolutely did not want to reveal. Like the fact that she could appear in the real world. Or that she could bring real-world objects into the world of Destiny.
Yet in less than two days, her simple mind—far less scheming than an ordinary person’s—had caused her to spill every single secret. If not for Ye Tianxie pointing it out, she wouldn’t have even realized it herself.
Ye Tianxie took a deep breath, calming the storm within him. “Guo Guo, so you really can bring things from the real world into this one… Who are you, really?”
Guo Guo’s eyes turned pitiful, and her voice shrank to a whisper. “Master… uuu… I can’t tell you.”
Ye Tianxie narrowed his eyes. He thought of Prolos’ cryptic words at his last press conference, thought of his sudden passing and his will, and then recalled all the impossible events of the past two days.
He shook his head firmly. No.
Then… what was the truth?
He raised the Mark of Fate and charged toward the distant Blood Wolf pack.
The truth is something only the strong are qualified to know.
Fate is always in the hands of the strong.
In any world, this was an eternal, unchanging law.
He wouldn’t force Guo Guo to tell him anything—he doubted he’d get much from her even if he tried. Instead, he would find out everything he wanted to know with his own power.
And really, wasn’t that the principle he had always lived by?
Ye Tianxie wordlessly handed over one thousand wolf eyes to the strange old woman.
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After days of gathering, his basic Gathering skill had improved significantly. If he kept up this pace, he could reach the intermediate level in less than a month.
“Ding… You have completed the quest ‘The Sealed Elder’s Request.’ Reward: 1,000 EXP, 10 gold coins.”
"Thank you, young man. These wolf eyes will be of great use to me."
The old woman studied him with hollow, lifeless eyes. Then, she spoke again.
“Young man, I can see that you are kind-hearted and courageous. Would you be willing to help me gather 10,000 wolf eyes?”
Ye Tianxie: “!!%@…WHAT?!”
"Why can’t you tell me the truth?"
"Because Master has not yet gathered the seven Cores of Fate. You are not qualified to know. Otherwise… if Master knew… Master would die.”
Ye Tianxie: “!?”
“That’s why I won’t tell you, Master! No asking, no asking, no asking!!”
Guo Guo puffed up her cheeks and shouted, then in a flash of white light, she disappeared.
Ye Tianxie fell silent, lost in thought.
But then—another flash of white light.
Guo Guo reappeared, darting forward. Before Ye Tianxie could react, she snatched the lollipop from his hand and vanished once more.
Ye Tianxie stared at his now-empty palm, utterly speechless.
…Guo Guo’s obsession with lollipops was something beyond his comprehension.
The world of Destiny… was it really just a simple game?
The old woman gazed at him with empty, soulless eyes and repeated her request.
The only difference was this time…
10,000 wolf eyes.
"Ding… The Sealed Elder has asked you to collect 10,000 wolf eyes. Quest difficulty: Normal. Time limit: None. Reward: Unknown. Do you accept?"
If not for the fundamental rule of never angering an NPC, he would have spat out two words:
Go. Die.
Yet, despite himself, he responded:
“Accept.”
And turned away without hesitation.
If he stayed a second longer, the old woman might just get herself killed by the Mark of Fate.
That very night, a post titled “The Most Disgusting Quest in Novice Village 60001” appeared on the Destiny forums in the Huaxia region. Written with sheer frustration, the post detailed the excruciating process of the Wolf Eye Collectionquestline. The author then proceeded to unleash an unrelenting torrent of curses, not only at the quest NPC—an unfortunate old lady—but also at the game developers, cursing their ancestors for ten generations.
As soon as the post went up, it triggered an avalanche of responses from players who had also suffered at the hands of this quest. Indeed, after enduring unimaginable hardships and finally, with trembling hands, handing over 1,000 wolf eyes to the old woman, the quest rewards and the subsequent task prompt left them all on the verge of vomiting three liters of blood in rage.
However, a certain "gaming expert" eventually managed to calm the storm with a reply:
“Chill, everyone. You clearly don’t understand the essence of this quest. This is actually a wholesome quest designed to improve your gathering skills… Look, haven’t all of you noticed a significant increase in your gathering proficiency after completing it?”
For the next few days, a phrase became the running joke in Novice Village 60001:
“Anyone who takes the old lady’s Wolf Eye quest is a complete idiot.”
As a result, the old lady with the sealed lower half became the most miserable NPC in the village. Other NPCs were constantly surrounded by swarms of eager players, while she sat all alone under a crooked tree, staring into the distance, lost in thought.
Yet, among the seasoned players with sharp instincts, some weren’t so quick to dismiss this seemingly troll quest.
Would the world of Destiny really include a quest that served no purpose other than to torment players? There was something unsettling about that old lady—an inexplicable strangeness that made some players suspect she might be hiding a secret quest.
Not everyone abandoned the quest. A handful of players began strategizing, having their guild members expand their inventory space in the city before dying on purpose to respawn in the village, all to complete this quest. They were waiting for a grand revelation.
It was now the ninth day since Destiny launched. Player numbers continued to skyrocket each day, reaching record-breaking figures that stunned even the most optimistic industry analysts. Even the so-called "experts" who had made bold predictions before the game’s release were now left in disbelief.
After eight days of grinding, the average player level was finally approaching level 10. The most hardcore gamers—those who practically never logged off—had already hit level 10, which meant they could take the Novice Class Advancement Trial and be teleported out of the village to the major cities for their class advancements.
Yet, strangely enough, despite the number of level 10 players in the Huaxia region, not a single one had successfully advanced their class.
Destiny had an extremely low drop rate, making it hard to create major disparities in gear quality. Right now, anyone with a single piece of Bronze-tier equipment was met with envy and admiration wherever they went. As for Silver-tier gear? Despite a global player base in the billions, fewer than ten people owned a Silver-tier item.
This meant that early on, most players were on an even playing field. The only way to distinguish true elites was through their leveling speed. Anyone who had managed to reach level 10 under these conditions was undoubtedly a top-tier player.
And true experts had high standards. They would never allow themselves to fall behind at a new starting point.
Leaving the Novice Village required passing the Class Advancement Trial, which had five difficulty levels:
- Easy Mode → +1 to all four major attributes
- Normal Mode → +2 to all four major attributes
- Hard Mode → +3 to all four major attributes, +1 Luck
- Nightmare Mode → +4 to all four major attributes, +1 Luck, +1 Charisma, and a random level 10 Bronze-tier item
- Abyss Mode → +5 to all four major attributes, +1 Luck, +1 Insight, +1 Charisma, and a Novice Village Hero’s Badge.
Additionally, all players who cleared Abyss Mode would have their names announced across the entire war zone, forever recorded in the Novice Village Hall of Heroes.
Every difficulty level granted at least +4 stat points, but the gap between Easy and Abyss was a staggering 16 attribute points and 3 fixed stats.
- A difference of 16 natural attributes meant an opponent would need to be three levels higher just to make up for it.
- Fixed attributes (Luck, Insight, Charisma) were nearly impossible to compensate for.
No true expert would allow themselves to fall behind at this critical juncture.
Thus, the strongest players teamed up, determined to conquer the Abyss Trial—no matter the risk.
Abyss Mode was practically a death sentence for anyone who entered. Survival was almost impossible.
But the rewards were equally irresistible:
- 20 free attribute points
- 3 fixed attributes
- A mysterious badge with unknown properties
Badges were among the rarest equipment types in the game, making them the most coveted. Unlike regular gear, badges had no equip limit—meaning if a player collected 100 badges, they could wear all 100 at the same time.
This, of course, also meant that badges were incredibly difficult to obtain.
And finally, there was one more tempting reason:
Fame.
Any player who cleared Abyss Mode would have their name displayed across the entire war zone, forever etched in the Novice Village Hall of Heroes.