Sacrifice's Rise: I Became Invincible After Entering Godslayer Temple

After pondering briefly, John decided to teleport back to Storm City.

At the Storm City teleportation point, he immediately saw several guards of Storm City posting new notices on the notice board nearby.

John walked up to the board to read these new postings, which were all related to quests from the Order Faction following the game system update.

Recognizing John, one of the Storm City guards approached him with a smile and said, "Lord John, you must not need much deliberation, right? You're surely going to join our Order Faction, aren't you?"

John nodded; he was certainly going to side with the Order Faction.

However, since the guard had initiated a conversation, John took the opportunity to inquire about any unusual events that might have occurred recently.

"Of course, I will definitely join the Order Faction. I've always been assisting the Order Faction in battles. And personally, I have a strong disdain for the Mystery and Dark Factions. Since we're on the subject, may I ask if these notices were just posted? There must already be some adventurers planning to join the Order Faction within Storm City. Do you have any idea how many adventurers are considering joining the Order Faction?"

Faced with John's questions, the Storm City guard's expression turned awkward, revealing his lack of knowledge regarding the answers.

These were details beyond his pay grade, and John understood this upon seeing the guard's discomfort.

"I understand, you don't need to answer these questions. Thank you for speaking with me. I'll head directly to Duke Arsena's palace and have a thorough discussion with him," John concluded.

After saying this, John cast a Teleport Spell and found himself at the entrance of Duke Arsena's palace.

The guards here did not stop him; instead, they led John straight to the room where Duke Arsena was currently located.

Duke Arsena showed no surprise at John's arrival; he had anticipated that John would take the quests from different factions very seriously.

"I had expected your return. You must have analyzed the quests from the three different factions carefully by now. What do you think of our Order Faction's quest?" Duke Arsena inquired.

John didn't immediately respond.

He just carefully observed Duke Arsena's expression, pondering whether the Duke's composure was a bit too excessive.

To John, Duke Arsena seemed like he should be slightly panicked.

While the rewards offered by the Order Faction were not negligible, they clearly didn't match those of the Mystery Faction, and were even surpassed by the Dark Faction.

The number of adventurers joining the Order Faction might not be as high as expected.

Wasn't Duke Arsena worried that adventurers joining the other two factions could pose a greater threat to Storm City?

John didn't immediately answer Duke Arsena's question, which allowed the Duke to pick up on some hints about what John might be thinking.

Duke Arsena seemed to understand John's concerns and responded with a calm smile, "Indeed, I am more composed than before. But you need not worry; I do have something to rely on."

With that, Duke Arsena reached into a cabinet in front of him and pulled out a scroll.

John could see the seal of the Northern Myst Empire royal family on the scroll.

"Take a close look, this is a scroll that just arrived from the capital this morning. It's been sealed with magic, but you don't need to worry; I've already broken the seal," said Duke Arsena.

Without much hesitation, John opened the scroll. He trusted that Duke Arsena had no reason to harm him; if the Duke had such intentions, he wouldn't have waited until now.

The scroll contained new orders from the Emperor of the Northern Myst Empire to General Natasha, commanding her to collaborate with Duke Arsena in recruiting a sufficient number of adventurers.

Moreover, the Emperor promised to provide Duke Arsena with additional gold coins to serve as rewards for the adventurers.

After reading the contents of the scroll, John closed it and handed it back.

"Do you truly believe that these extra gold coins will attract enough adventurers? I doubt that adventurers with significant strength would place much value on these coins. As an adventurer myself, I understand others well. Most adventurers are looking for powerful spells or rare weapons, not just gold."

Duke Arsena's smile remained unfazed by John's remarks, showing no sign of tension.

He nodded in agreement, acknowledging John's point.

"Indeed, I share your assessment. That's why, here in Storm City, we also plan to offer additional rare weapons to adventurers who join the Order Faction. However, we cannot offer them opportunities to upgrade their weapons. As you are well aware, opportunities for weapon enhancement are exceedingly rare. There are many powerful members of the Order Faction within Storm City who wish to upgrade their weapons, and even I have to wait for some time before getting a chance to enhance my weapon."

John understood the rarity and value of weapon enhancement opportunities, so he didn't expect Storm City to offer such opportunities to adventurers.

He was merely curious about Duke Arsena's calm demeanor.

Could it be that Duke Arsena had some additional rewards up his sleeve?

Duke Arsena wasted no more time and shared his plans directly.

"In addition to offering some rare weapons, I also intend to open the training fields of Storm City's barracks to adventurers. Those who choose to join our Order Faction will have the opportunity to use the training fields to rapidly enhance their abilities.

This time, it's not just the Drill Sergeants who will be assisting the adventurers; General Natasha herself will also be offering her help. This means that the speed at which adventurers can level up in the training fields will be significantly increased. I believe no adventurer would easily pass up such an opportunity."

The reward outlined by Duke Arsena seemed very enticing to John.

He believed that even top-tier adventurers would be interested in utilizing the training fields within Storm City.

After all, no player would think their level was too high, and even John was keen on further increasing his own level.

However, John's level was already exceptionally high, meaning that conventional methods were no longer sufficient for him to continue leveling up.

He needed to complete a series of more challenging hidden quests.

Yet, the hidden quests he currently had were not easily completed.

Besides the "Secrets of Storm City" hidden quest, John also had another hidden quest, which was to investigate the specific conditions of the southern seaport.

Between these two different hidden quests, John was more inclined to complete the first one related to Storm City, as the current situation indicated that Storm City was at the heart of the storyline.

If he left Storm City for too long, he might miss out on the critical battles between the three factions, potentially losing the chance to acquire a god-level weapon.

John's thoughts had drifted quite far, and Duke Arsena noticed that John seemed to be lost in thought.

Thus, the Duke gently reminded John to bring his attention back to the present.

"Do you have any other concerns? If not, I suggest you seek out Natasha. She likely has something she wishes to discuss with you."

Duke Arsena's suggestion made John feel somewhat perplexed.

In his view, his relationship with Natasha wasn't particularly strong; their interaction had been limited to brief cooperation.

Before this short-lived collaboration, they had been quite antagonistic towards each other.

John's impression of Natasha wasn't particularly favorable either.

He always felt that Natasha was reluctant to work with him frequently, as if she was waiting for an opportunity to eliminate him.

Moreover, John suspected that Natasha might have been collaborating with the Mystery Protector all along.

Even though the Mystery Protector had betrayed the Order Faction, Natasha might not have ceased her cooperation with them.