Chapter 74: Exchange
The opinions of the Reincarnation Paradise side were surprisingly unified: they would 'give' the World Coordinate to the Apocalypse Paradise side. As for why not the Sanctuary Paradise side, it was because once the World Coordinate fell into the hands of Sanctuary Paradise, it would no longer be easy to snatch back.
As things developed to this point, a flaw had appeared in Qing Yan's plan. The battle fought earlier in Lubei City could have been completely avoided.
In the original plan, the Reincarnation Paradise side needed to defend the World Coordinate, which was why the Reincarnation Paradise contractors would attack the Apocalypse Paradise side, preventing a situation where Sanctuary Paradise and Apocalypse Paradise jointly besieged Reincarnation Paradise.
However, the current situation did not develop as Qing Yan had envisioned. Qing Yan was not a god, nor was he a time traveler from the past. He could not predict the war's direction; he could only calculate the present and the events about to occur.
If this World War followed the same pattern as the third rank, then Qing Yan's previous actions were understandable.
Now, the World Coordinate was movable and required ten days to fully form. During this period, whichever Paradise seized the World Coordinate would convert it to their own attribute. Before the final five hours, holding the World Coordinate was actually of little significance; instead, it might invite attacks from the other two sides.
...
Two hours later, deep within the Hot Rainforest, contractors moved through the jungle, startling large flocks of birds into flight.
A little girl wearing a miner's lamp hat stood atop a high canopy, admiring the rainforest scenery.
"So beautiful. The resources here must be abundant."
"That's right. According to survey results, there are at least thirty types of rare minerals here."
An old man standing on a nearby tree canopy spoke.
"Th... thirty types?"
The mining girl's small mouth gaped open.
"At least thirty types. And we've only explored the rainforest's vein minerals so far."
"Nice!"
The mining girl clenched her fist. She had no interest in fighting for the World Coordinate. Not only that, she wanted to stay far away from that thing. Compared to mining, everything else was just a fleeting cloud.
"Don't celebrate too early. Those madmen and divine sticks are all here."
The old man's face showed worry as he let out a long sigh.
"So what? We won't provoke them, and they won't... Huh, what's that?"
The mining girl raised her fair hand to shield her eyes, gazing at the black shadow flying in from afar.
Hearing the mining girl's words, the mining team members leaped onto the tree canopies. This team was the one that had discovered the World Source.
Woo~
A mournful whistling sound came as an object flew in from the distance, reflecting metallic luster in the sunlight.
Boom!
Mud flew, broken wood splattered, dead branches and withered leaves surged high, and a pit five meters in diameter appeared on the ground.
Thump, thump, thump...
Like the heartbeat of a demon god, pulses of spatial energy radiated outward with each beat of the 'heart.'
The mining team on the tree canopies exchanged glances, all sharing the same thought: with such momentum, could a treasure have appeared?
The mining girl was the first to jump down from the tree trunk, quickly approaching the pit.
Waves of heat spread outward. The fallen object had been thrown from somewhere, and whoever threw it must have monstrous strength, as the object was glowing red-hot from air friction.
The mining girl cautiously approached, first checking for radiation, then for toxic gases. Finally, she confirmed that the object embedded in the soil was safe.
She stepped forward slowly, her small hand lightly touching the crystal pillar in the mud.
Upon touching this pillar, about the thickness of a bucket and half a meter long, the mining girl's pupils rapidly contracted.
"What is it?"
The old man from the mining team spoke. He was the team leader.
"The... World Coordinate."
"Eh~?"
"..."
"The World Coordinate? How could it be here..."
"I... I don't know. You saw it, it fell from the sky."
Looking at the mining girl's expression, she looked like she was about to cry. She really just wanted to mine, but somehow, digging would uncover the World Core, and now the forming World Coordinate had appeared before her.
"Immediately, right now, retreat!"
The old man had barely finished speaking when he saw a man sitting on a tree fork in the distance, smiling at him.
"Slowly back away."
The old man swallowed hard. Just one glance was enough to confirm that the guy in the distance was a Reincarnation Paradise contractor, and a monster-level one at that.
The group slowly retreated, never once considering seizing the World Coordinate.
Su Xiao jumped down from the distant tree fork, quickly arriving before the World Coordinate and pulling it out of the mud.
"I wonder how Bubu Wang is doing."
Su Xiao turned back into the rainforest. The alert device he had set earlier detected someone approaching. When he realized the newcomers were from the Apocalypse Paradise side, he threw out the World Coordinate. Unfortunately, these people had no interest in it and even avoided it.
Ten minutes later, Su Xiao returned to the pool area. Bubu Wang was lying by the pool, sunbathing. The Void Creature, Jormungandr, was nowhere to be seen.
"How is it? Did you get the flesh tissue?"
"Woof~"
Bubu Wang shook his head, indicating he couldn't break through Jormungandr's defense. Without directly attacking it, obtaining its flesh tissue was very difficult.
Jormungandr indeed had no ill intentions. After tossing Bubu Wang around for a while, it let him go and returned to the pool for a nap.
For some reason, aside from the first meeting when Jormungandr tossed Su Xiao once, it no longer approached him.
Just as Su Xiao was about to leave the pool, he heard a splash behind him. Jormungandr's tentacle emerged from the water, coiled around a large piece of cyan crystal.
This basketball-sized cyan crystal was slightly different from the one Su Xiao had seen at the bottom of the pool earlier. This piece was purer, appearing much denser, like a natural cyan crystal.
One of Jormungandr's tentacles held the cyan crystal, while another tentacle extended toward Su Xiao, clearly indicating it wanted to trade the cyan crystal for something.
Su Xiao frowned. He could now confirm that this Void Creature recognized him as a Shadow of Law Destruction. Considering Jormungandr's history of being purged by Spellcasters, perhaps the Law Destruction faction had some connection with the Jormungandr race.
Now, Jormungandr's meaning was clear: 'As agreed, let's exchange.'
The problem was, Su Xiao had no idea what relationship the Law Destruction faction had with the Jormungandr race. From the current situation, it was definitely not hostile.
The cyan crystal held by Jormungandr's tentacle was formed from its withered tentacles when they shed. Jormungandr shed four front tentacles every seventy years. These tentacles served as their 'spatial sensors' and suffered high wear, requiring shedding every few decades.
As for the crystal in Jormungandr's tentacle, it was something it had actively swallowed—a naturally formed cyan crystal—then condensed inside its body. Why it condensed such a thing was unknown.
Given the ruthlessness of the Spellcasters, the Jormungandr race's survival to the present must be related to the Law Destruction faction. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Like the Demon race, Jormungandr was likely an ally of the Law Destruction faction.
But Su Xiao had no idea what to trade with Jormungandr.
After hesitating for a moment, Su Xiao took out two Soul Crystals (Large) from his storage space. Sensing these Soul Crystals (Large), Jormungandr's tentacles writhed, looking very eager, but this wasn't what it wanted.