Chapter 516: Azeroth — The Land of Legends

Learning that they could undergo trials in the divine realm of their great lord, the Natural Guardian, and the God of Summoning, the warriors of Dalaran were filled with excitement.
The first members of the Holy Shield Infantry Corps entered the divine realm. What Donald revealed to them was the continent of Kalimdor, a vast battlefield map composed of various sub-maps such as Poplar Valley, making it the second-largest divine realm outside the Land of Dragons.
This region was primarily characterized by valleys, forests, jungles, and grasslands—landscapes as extensive as half of the main continent. It was inhabited by various magical creatures such as land and bird beasts, as well as unique beings listed in the Book of Truth.
After twenty years of cultivation within the divine realm, this area had developed a stable pyramid-shaped ecosystem, with creatures ranging from ordinary small animals to level 9 golden magical beasts.
The trial participants moved from the edges of the forests and grasslands toward the center, encountering creatures of increasing difficulty. After fifteen days, this group emerged from the divine realm unscathed but with abundant rewards.
The reason for no casualties was that Donald had placed a Resurrection Stone at the entrance of the divine realm. Any warrior who touched this stone, obtained from the Book of Truth, could be revived at the resurrection point, just like in previous games. Of course, their progress in the trials and any loot they carried would be reset—essentially a form of death penalty.
Without such penalties, most participants would likely not learn their lessons, rendering the trials ineffective!
This humanized approach to trials made the warriors of the realm feel truly challenged. Not only did they gain substantial rewards, but their skills also improved significantly. However, there were only 1,800 suitable candidates in the realm, which was a drop in the bucket compared to the sheer number of creatures in the divine realm.
Thus, Donald conceived the idea of expanding the scale of the trials.
“Should we open it up further? Let mercenaries and adventurers join too?”
He gathered all the strong warriors and administrators in the realm to discuss this plan together.
Most were optimistic about it, though some hesitated.

“Master, isn’t this a bit too ostentatious? What if it provokes the displeasure of other true gods…”
As a Abyssal Demon Forger, Ampus was most wary of true gods, and even though his faction had changed, he still couldn’t escape the influence of his old beliefs.
In contrast, Chikofield, a grand archmage who had spent his life opposing the gods’ ideals, held a completely different view. He declared boldly, “What’s there to fear? Even without such issues, with Prince Donald’s rising power, it’s inevitable that other gods will become curious. After all, we’ve already offended powerful beings like the Lord of Dawn, yet we’re still safe and sound. As for those true gods with weaker powers, they probably don’t have the strength or courage to cause trouble!”
The others present were also not timid people, and hearing Chikofield’s words filled them with confidence.
“Since everyone agrees, let Clinton take charge of this plan. William and Barn, you assist him—make sure nothing goes wrong!”
Now, Clinton’s power had rapidly risen to the legendary level thanks to his status as an Elected One. Coupled with his ability to draw on the power of the true gods behind him, even ordinary demigods were no match for him.
Elected Ones were true gods’ earthly agents who possessed demigod strength and immortality, though they weren’t demigods who had ignited divine flames. As long as the gods who granted them power remained alive, they too were immortal. Thus, their status was no less than that of powerful demigods.
Since the Loose Church Organization known as the Council of Nature Guardians still lacked a leader like the pope of another true god’s church, Clinton, in his capacity as an agent, could handle any matters within and outside his territory that Prince Donald found inconvenient to deal with personally.
By now, Dalamar’s influence, through the Adventurers’ Guild, goldsmiths, and commercial channels, had spread across most of the Mainland and parts of the New World. With official promotion from his territory, the news that the great Guardian of Nature was opening his divine realm for mortals to embark on adventures had spread throughout the entire Main World.
Since the terrain and environment in his divine realm were based on the maps from the Warcraft RPG, Donald named it Azeroth. Coincidentally, this name meant “legend” and “dream” in Elvish, making it a land of legends and dreams.

Although it is quite normal for a true god to open up a portion of his divine realm in the heavens, this is a unique initiative that has never occurred before in the main world. Countless mortals are extremely curious and wish to enter the true god’s divine realm to take a look. In the minds of mortal believers in the main world, a true god’s divine realm is the so-called paradise where one can find happiness and eternal life. Especially organizations like the Church of the Dawn Lord preach that by entering the divine realm after death, one can be saved from all sins in the mortal world and forever live in abundance and happiness under the glory of the great true god. In reality, not all true gods’ divine realms are as wonderful as the legends suggest, particularly those belonging to evil factions or true gods with peculiar temperaments. Generally, the divine realms of kind and neutral deities are beautiful lands suitable for their believers and worshippers to live in. There, they have ample food, beautiful clothes, no diseases or aging, and all they need to do is pray to the true god. Even when their lifespans end, they will be reborn in the divine realm until their souls return to nothingness, becoming nourishment for the expansion of the divine realm. For some ordinary mortals, this life is undoubtedly paradise, but for those with firm wills, their own ideals, and a high regard for freedom, it is undoubtedly a form of bondage. Donald has only been a true god for a short time. Aside from Uther, his semi-divine messenger, his divine realm has less than a hundred worshippers. These worshippers are beings formed from believers who return to the true god’s realm after death. Their souls are reshaped in the divine realm, given new bodies, and then they live in the environment provided by the true god, continuously supplying him with faith. However, Donald’s believers are well-protected. Only a few died due to accidents. So far, out of tens of thousands of believers, less than a hundred have become worshippers. He simply settled these worshippers in a fertile area in the eastern part of the Kalimdor continent within his divine realm, creating a small village named Lordaeron. This place serves as the first stop for outsiders entering the divine realm, acting as a supply point. With these human worshippers to handle things, he doesn’t have to intervene personally in everything. The number of people allowed to enter Azeroth’s divine realm is limited to nobles, armed forces, adventurers, and mercenary groups from the regions of Thelos and the Silithian United Kingdom, as well as some allied forces.

The Divine Kingdom opens to the outside world twice a month. All teams and individuals qualified for the trials are allowed to stay for only fifteen days; those who exceed this time limit will be expelled. The short fifteen-day period is quite tight, as the Kalimdor continent is vast—just the region of Lordaeron cannot be explored in ten or even fifteen days. However, due to the rules of the Divine Kingdom, these people cannot stay there for more than half a month, otherwise they will be influenced by the kingdom’s rules to some extent, causing negative effects on their bodies and souls. Yet, if these fifteen days are utilized well, significant gains can be achieved. Although each person must pay a fee equivalent to a third-level magical beast core or a medium-sized elemental crystal upon entry, it is still highly worthwhile compared to what they gain. Even though only a small portion of those who enter can obtain resources, with most returning empty-handed, the combat experience and enhanced strength they gain are immeasurable in terms of money—this alone is enough to make it worthwhile for them. Since the Divine Kingdom, this treasure trove of trials, opened up to various territories within the United Kingdom and its allies, warriors and mages alike flocked to it. The benefits it brought to Donald went beyond just the trial fees paid in energy; after the creatures inside the kingdom were killed by the trial participants, their soul fragments were instantly extracted by the kingdom’s rules, marked with the kingdom’s aura, and then transformed into new creature souls. Over generations, increasingly powerful creatures of the kingdom would emerge. Undoubtedly, it was a win-win plan! In the free market outside Dalaran’s capital city, Twilight Town, a middle-aged merchant was haggling with an adventurer at his stall. “This is a Frost Wraith Core from Azeroth—its combat power is comparable to that of fifth-level magical beasts. Our team sacrificed three members to return to the respawn point just to obtain this trophy. How can you offer only five hundred gold sols? You scoundrel, a complete scoundrel!” The tall and burly adventurer, wearing a leather jacket that revealed his arms, was arguing loudly with the merchant.

The middle-aged merchant spoke disdainfully, “Are you trying to take advantage of my ignorance? A truly intact Frostwraith Core can fetch at least 1,500 gold sols. Those mage lords would be more than willing to pay a high price for it. Yours is damaged—less than a third intact—and 500 gold sols is already a generous offer. If you don’t want to sell it, keep it for yourself. Our shop offers the highest price in the entire market. If you don’t believe me, go ask those adventurers who have done business with us!”
The tall and burly adventurer was also aware of the condition of his item. Though still somewhat resentful, he quickly took the 500 gold sols worth of Dalaran magic coins and happily went to discuss with his companions storing them at the bank affiliated with the Adventurers’ Guild.