When Bai Qiu left Guinelia's potion shop and carefully closed the door behind him, he noticed that, at some point, the [Sage] Onipur had arrived there.
"You must be the first adventurer here who has unlocked their Noble Phantasm, right? I have an important mission to entrust to you!" said Onipur.
Bai Qiu looked slightly puzzled and asked, "What kind of mission?"
"You may choose to accept or decline. This mission will determine the future of the Sanctuary. If you accept, I'll give you the first phase reward. But if you fail, you'll lose the right to continue and won't receive any further rewards," Onipur said, handing over a card.
At the same time, Bai Qiu received a system notification for a special mission.
Ding! Special mission received: [Trial of the Guardian – Part I]
Objective: Defeat the Ten Dragonfang Generals.
Progress: 4 / 10
Skill Card: Triple Arcane Crystallized Eyes (Rank E)
Description: Consumes mana to activate the Triple Arcane Crystallized Eyes, allowing the user to freely adjust their vision between 1× and 30× zoom. Grants night vision, enhanced dynamic tracking, and increased magical element detection.
Cooldown: 3 minutes
Duration: Depends on the user's mana capacity.
Onipur spoke solemnly:
"Eleven days from now, the dimensional rift will undergo a catastrophic surge. A wave of monsters will attack the Sanctuary barrier, and by then, everyone in the world will be struggling desperately to survive."
"However, the greatest threat will not be the wave itself. During the surge, ten Dragonfang Generals will perform a special ritual, sacrificing themselves and all nearby Dragonfang soldiers to summon the Dragonfang Monarch—a being that should not exist in this current stage. If the Monarch manifests, every Sanctuary within a hundred-mile radius will fall under its combined assault."
Bai Qiu frowned.
Based on what Onipur said and the system notification, he quickly analyzed the situation:
Time until the Monster Wave: 11 days, 7 hours, 26 minutes.
Time remaining for the Ten Generals mission: 2 days, 23 hours, 58 minutes.
Ding! Locations of the Ten Dragonfang Generals have been marked on the map!
"Alright, I'll take the mission," Bai Qiu said calmly.
"But I want to know the details of the following phases and the future skill rewards—you should have the authority to tell me that."
Onipur hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly. "You're right. I can tell you."
"The following tasks are as follows:
Reach Level 15.
Upgrade your Noble Phantasm to D+ rank or higher.
Repel the monster wave—ensure that the Sanctuary barrier's durability does not fall below 70%, and achieve the highest score among all participants."
"The rewards will be: Fivefold Arcane Crystallized Eyes (Rank D) and Sevenfold Arcane Crystallized Eyes (Rank C) skill cards."
According to Onipur's explanation, this ability is progressively upgradable, meaning that completing all stages will effectively grant Bai Qiu a Rank C skill.
Bai Qiu held the card, his expression thoughtful.
He knew well that reaching Rank C was no small feat.
The difficulty of progressing even a single minor grade at that level was far greater than jumping an entire tier before.
For example, going from E- to E+ was roughly a 3–4× increase in strength, while D- to D+ might be around 10×.
But once reaching C-, even advancing by a small step could demand over 15× the previous power.
Even within the same rank, the difference between low and high C-grade skills could be more than tenfold.
And this one—a sensory-enhancement ability—was exactly what he needed.
After all, even his plain Darksteel Longbow (Rank D) had a maximum range of 2,500 meters, yet his effective accuracy range was only 400 meters.
Beyond that, his perception simply couldn't keep up with the weapon's stats.
This new ability could very well change that.
Moreover, Onipur's intentions were obvious—he wanted to protect this place.
That's why he had sent out the first-phase rewards in advance.
In other words, as long as Bai Qiu completed the second-phase mission, he would obtain a complete C-rank skill and be fully prepared for the wave impact coming in eleven days!
"Ding! Skill learned successfully!"
After learning Triple Arcane Crystallization Eye, Bai Qiu immediately activated the skill.
Instantly, every corner within 180 degrees of his gaze in the black tower was laid bare before him—nothing could hide!
Although his field of vision did not expand, the ability to freely adjust zoom and focus allowed him to observe from the best possible angle depending on the distance.
Even though it was only an E-rank skill, mastering it required handling an enormous amount of visual information.
The mana consumption wasn't that high—he could technically keep it active for 24 hours—but his mind would definitely collapse long before that.
Therefore, the skill came with a very strict prerequisite: a strong Spirit attribute—and the higher, the better.
After confirming everything was in order, Bai Qiu spent a few more minutes studying the mana circuit structure of the skill.
Once he fully understood it, he finally turned it off, satisfied.
An idea came to him.
He set off toward the shop where the [Chef] was located.
He needed to make every possible preparation before heading out tonight—otherwise, one mistake could cost him his life!
The [Chef], Wang Renfeng, had the classic appearance and name of an Asian human, but he was actually a true otherworlder.
The dishes he cooked carried unique special buffs, which would be of great benefit to Bai Qiu's upcoming mission!
However, just as Bai Qiu arrived, Wang Renfeng was about to close up for the night, reaching for the door to shut it.
That made Bai Qiu anxious—normally, he wouldn't bother the man when it was less than 30 minutes before closing time, but tonight's situation was a matter of life and death.
He couldn't afford to delay!
"Wait, boss!" Bai Qiu shouted, dashing forward.
"What is it, young man?" Wang Renfeng looked a bit surprised but paused mid-motion, glancing at what was currently one of his only two customers.
The other was a frail-looking young girl.
Bai Qiu quickly explained his purpose for coming.
Wang Renfeng frowned slightly and said sternly, "You should know, ordering right at closing time is a real pain. If you don't have a good reason, even if you're a regular, I'll have to turn you down."
Bai Qiu immediately explained his situation and also asked whether Wang Renfeng accepted meat dropped from Crimson Feather Chickens—he had several hundred portions of it in his inventory.
When Wang Renfeng learned that Bai Qiu intended to spend the whole night hunting Dragonfang Generals, he was clearly intrigued.
After Bai Qiu also mentioned the mission given by Onipur and threw in some heartfelt praise for the chef's cooking skills, Wang Renfeng was finally convinced.
That night, he decided to make an exception—just this once!