197: Chapter 197 Going to the Abyss?

Yun Ge was pleasantly surprised to see Ma Sai sitting in the tavern, clad in golden armor, with He Xin beside him, who was also decked out in a full set of Gold equipment.

Speaking of which, Yun Ge hadn't seen the two of them for nearly two years. They had parted ways when they were around Level 20, and he hadn't expected to reunite now that they were Level 60.

"Long time no see, Yun Ge! Good grief, you're already Level 60!"

Ma Sai laughed heartily, stood up, and punched Yun Ge in the chest. Yun Ge smiled and said:

"You guys aren't doing too bad yourselves, already over Level 50. This gear of yours must be worth a fortune."

"Haha, the family provided all of it. A piece of Gold equipment costs 10,000 gold coins; the two of us could never afford to wear this on our own."

"Don't just stand there talking, come sit down. We just arrived ourselves."

Yun Ge turned back and gave Xiao Xue a slight smile, pulling her down to sit. There were only two glasses of beer on Ma Sai's table, so it seemed they really had just arrived.

"And this is?"

"This is my sister, Xiao Xue."

"So you're Xiao Xue! I used to hear Yun Ge mention your name all the time. I didn't expect time to pass so quickly; you've awakened now too."

"Let's get acquainted. My name is Ma Sai, and this is my sister He Xin. We used to team up with Yun Ge to hunt monsters."

"Hello, Brother Ma Sai. Hello, Sister He Xin."

"Haha, don't be so formal. Come, come, drink, drink!"

After a few gulps of beer, Yun Ge asked Ma Sai and He Xin what they had been doing all this time, not even finding a moment to reply to messages. If he hadn't seen their names lit up on his list, he would have thought they were dead.

"If we're talking about that, it was truly a miserable sight!"

Ma Sai took a large gulp of beer and shook his head, as if the past was too painful to recall.

"Since there aren't many people around, I'll tell you about it..."

With a sentence for every gulp of beer, Ma Sai told Yun Ge what had happened during their long separation, which was a real eye-opener for Yun Ge.

"Training in the territory of the Abyss?"

"Good grief!"

It turned out that after Ma Sai and He Xin reached Level 20, they were summoned back by their family to undergo a family trial.

This family trial wasn't as simple as clearing a dungeon or killing some minor mobs; instead, under the leadership of family experts, they sneaked into the Abyss to kill monsters on Abyss territory!

Those days were among Ma Sai's worst memories. They were only Level 20, following a team of other Awakeneds from the family of similar levels, searching for mobs of roughly the same level in the Abyss to fight. It was high-intensity combat the whole time, with very few chances to return to the city for rest.

"Are there Level 20 mobs in the Abyss too?"

"There are, but they're all mixed in with high-level monsters. You have to be extremely careful when fighting."

Yun Ge nodded, remembering that it was indeed like that when they attacked the Demon Plains.

However, he hadn't seen Ma Sai and the others when they attacked the Demon Plains; the place where the Ma Family trained was perhaps even deeper within the Abyss.

"This past year or so has been miserable. The two of us have good talent and decent luck, so we managed to survive by a fluke. After reaching Level 50, the training finally ended, but many people in the family still perished in the Abyss."

"But after the training, those who survived became much stronger!"

Ma Sai felt a bit emotional; only three people from their original team returned. The entire Ma Family was still continuing the training: enter at Level 20, end at Level 50.

Either reach Level 50 and come out, or die in the Abyss.

"So that's how it is."

Yun Ge couldn't help but feel a sense of profound respect. He used to think those large families just occupied a lot of resources, and their children had excellent equipment and plenty of gold as soon as they awakened. He hadn't expected these families to train like this at all.

"Yeah, but only our Ma Family trains this way. As far as I know, the other families in Sword Immortal City don't have this tradition."

Yun Ge nodded; that seemed to be the case. At least Su Lei didn't have this kind of training, and in terms of scale, the Su Family was much more powerful than the Ma Family.

"Congratulations to you both. Let's drink!"

"Cheers!"

Yun Ge and Ma Sai gulped down their beer, and in no time, they had emptied several glasses. Xiao Xue had never drunk alcohol before, so she took small sips, while He Xin, on the other side, giggled and challenged Xiao Xue to a drinking contest. The two girls soon finished a large glass as well.

"Alright, alright, we can't drink anymore."

"Let's eat, the steaks are getting cold."

Yun Ge, who had been hunting monsters all day, was already famished, and Ma Sai, who had just returned from the Abyss, was the same. They devoured a large steak almost like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds.

The two looked at each other and smiled, and Ma Sai quickly ordered two more portions.

"A reunion after a long separation—we must eat and drink well today!"

"..."

After a long while, the four of them were finally full. Xiao Xue rubbed her stomach, not expecting to eat so much today.

"By the way, what are your plans next? Are you going to rest for a few days, or continue hunting monsters?"

"Speaking of which, Su Lei and Ye Zi have also been gone for a while."

Yun Ge couldn't help but think that Su Lei had returned to his family at Level 48, and Ye Zi had left at Level 50. The Su Family didn't have the Ma Family's kind of trial, and he didn't know what Su Lei was going to do after returning to his family, but Ye Zi was only leading the newly awakened people from the Orphanage for a while. He believed she would be back before long.

Ma Sai shook his head:

"Actually, the two of us have already rested for a while. The Abyss is too terrifying. Compared to the Abyss, the mobs outside the city are simply too weak, the drops are poor, and you can hardly even encounter an elite monster normally."

"It just so happened that I ran into you today, otherwise I was planning to contact you in a day or two. How about we team up again and go to the Abyss to kill monsters?"

Go to the Abyss to kill monsters?

Yun Ge's expression became serious. The Demon Plains were still fresh in his memory—vast numbers of mobs, a huge number of BOSSes, and the final Abyss spawn point guarded by a Level 100 BOSS. Except for high-level members of the Awakened Alliance like Ye Fan, ordinary Awakeneds didn't dare to go deep.

Yun Ge had never thought about taking Xiao Xue to the Abyss to hunt monsters, but hearing Ma Sai mention it, he unexpectedly found it to be a good idea.

First of all, Yun Ge was now Level 60 and needed to replace his gear with Level 60 Gold equipment, but high-level monster zones outside the city were very scarce, and there were few dungeons, all of which had been farmed to death. People like Ye Fan and Xiao Yan all leveled up by farming monsters in the Abyss.

Entering the Abyss to farm monsters would perfectly solve this problem. There are many monsters in the Abyss, and the number of BOSSes is also significant. The staff in Yun Ge's hand was a drop from a BOSS in the Demon Plains; going into the Abyss to hunt, he would inevitably encounter many BOSSes.

As for ordinary BOSSes, Yun Ge could solo them. If he added the S-rank talent Ma Sai and the A-rank talent He Xin, plus Xiao Xue's powerful Prophecy, a four-person team would have no problem at all!

The only consideration was safety, but Ma Sai and He Xin both had invincibility skills, and Yun Ge went without saying. As for Xiao Xue, her Prophecy completely ignored such issues.

"Then we'll gather tomorrow morning and charge into the Abyss!"

"Great, let's have another glass of beer!"

"I think I'll pass on that..."

"..."