Chapter 33: Mission and Destiny
The thin mist churned in the sky, and the City of Earth seemed to have no distinction between day and night. The soil here was clearly fertile, yet nothing grew. The only plant visible was the towering tree in the distance, known as the Earth Vein Tree.
Whoosh~
A flare shot diagonally into the sky, finally exploding with a bang. The bright light did not spread but was blocked by the shallow black mist above, leaving only a vague large orb visible.
Su Xiao gazed at the incandescent sphere in the sky and basically confirmed that there were no overly dangerous things up there. So far, he had not encountered any true enemies within the "City of Earth."
Or rather, calling this place the City of Earth was somewhat misleading. There was no city here at all—only pitch-black earth as far as the eye could see.
Su Xiao and Bubu Wang walked forward, while Baha flew low, keeping watch for any potential enemies.
After advancing half a kilometer, Su Xiao figured out why this land was barren.
A few meters ahead, a tree trunk nearly half a meter thick was tangled together, half-exposed in the soil. From the main root system, hundreds of finger-thick branches extended, all deeply buried in the earth.
It wasn't that the land was barren—it was that the Earth Vein Tree's root system was too extensive. Wherever its roots spread, no other plants could grow. This was an exceptionally domineering tree.
D·Assassination appeared in Su Xiao's hand. He aimed at the half-meter-thick root and fired several shots, already preparing to retreat as he pulled the trigger.
Fragments of the root exploded. The Earth Vein Tree's roots were quite tough; after taking three shots from D·Assassination, only three fist-sized holes were blasted open.
No sense of danger emerged. Instead, the sweet fragrance in the air grew stronger, and a transparent liquid began to seep from the broken roots.
Su Xiao approached to inspect. From the three bullet holes, a pale green clear water gushed out, and the sweet scent came from this water.
He tentatively touched it, and a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[The Hunter has obtained 'Earth Vein Sap.']
[Earth Vein Sap: Drinkable, can satisfy hunger, meets the needs of living beings, no side effects, and has a minor effect on wound recovery.]
Su Xiao shook the water droplets off his hand. He realized this land wasn't entirely desolate—the Earth Vein Tree was both the starting point and the endpoint of the ecological chain.
Though many questions remained in his mind, reaching the base of the Earth Vein Tree was the priority.
Continuing forward, Su Xiao encountered no more living people along the way. The Weeping Woman had vanished somewhere, and the Hunchbacked Old Man had not reappeared.
There was no imagined danger, no bizarre and powerful enemies. Even as he approached within a kilometer of the Earth Vein Tree, he faced no threats.
Su Xiao stopped for the second time because he had found the City of Earth—or rather, he was now standing above it.
Half of a stone statue's head was exposed from the soil. From the facial features, it was clear the statue depicted a female figure.
Embedded in the statue's head was a metal spear, covered in greenish-blue rust, thrust deep into the eye socket.
Dried bloodstains marked the statue's face. Su Xiao stepped forward and grasped the spear. A sharp pain suddenly shot through his hand.
Crackling sounds erupted as black arcs of electricity danced along the spear. Su Xiao released his grip.
[Notification: The Hunter has not triggered the resonance of 'Sphinx.']
[The Hunter attempted to pull out the 'Spear of Sphinx' and has failed. Permanently loses the qualification to use the Spear of Sphinx.]
[Notification: The Spear of Sphinx can only be used within this world.]
[The Hunter must not forcibly pull out the 'Spear of Sphinx.' Doing so carries significant risks.]
Seeing the notification from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao was somewhat surprised. This spear seemed similar to a sword-in-the-stone type weapon, requiring some form of recognition, meeting certain conditions, or perhaps needing the bloodline of a specific family.
Su Xiao felt the latter was more likely, and that family was probably the guardians of the City of Earth—the Middleton family, a clan that protected a deity.
After Su Xiao failed to pull the spear, Baha also tried, but after being jolted by the black lightning, he gave up.
Bubu Wang simply abandoned the attempt. He had a phobia of anything that discharged electricity—buildings, statues, thrones, etc. Once, when he urinated near a throne, he got electrocuted and cried.
The City of Earth was now history, buried beneath the soil under Su Xiao's feet. According to Frank, the Moon Goddess their family had sworn to protect had long since fallen.
If the Moon Goddess had truly fallen, then what was the current Moon God? A new deity?
Just as Su Xiao was about to head toward the Earth Vein Tree, a figure with long, fluorescent blue hair and a translucent body approached from afar. She walked hesitantly, as if drawn by something.
Su Xiao signaled Bubu Wang and Baha to fall back, and he also retreated over ten meters, observing what Sonia intended to do.
Sonia's expression was dazed. She finally stopped before the stone statue's head, seeming to want to reach out and touch it, but she withdrew her hand several times.
Pale blue teardrops slid down Sonia's cheek.
Black arcs of electricity surged on the Spear of Sphinx. Sonia raised her hand and grasped the spear's handle.
With a boom, her fluorescent blue hair flew wildly. Metal scraped against stone, and without any visible effort, she slowly pulled the Spear of Sphinx from the statue's head.
The stone statue shattered with a crash. Sonia's already translucent body quickly became covered in cracks. The confusion in her eyes gradually faded, and clarity returned.
Regaining consciousness, Sonia looked around in confusion. She didn't know why she was here or why she held a spear crackling with black lightning.
'Middleton... guard...'
Whispered words reached Sonia's ears, causing her expression to twist in pain. Her body shattered even faster.
"So... this is the mission."
Sonia murmured softly, and then her body completely disintegrated. The Spear of Sphinx in her hand also exploded into a shower of metal fragments.
A phantom appeared, also female in form. It gazed toward the Earth Vein Tree a kilometer away.
A breeze blew, and the phantom gradually scattered. Its appearance was identical to the Moon Goddess phantom that had manifested above the Moon Goddess Monastery earlier, down to the smallest details.
Witnessing this scene, all of Su Xiao's doubts were resolved. The Moon Priestess, the Soul Walker, the Moon Goddess, and Sonia.
"Woof?"
Bubu Wang and Baha both looked bewildered.
"It feels like watching a foreign movie without subtitles."
Baha looked at Su Xiao, hoping he could clear up the confusion.
"If I'm not mistaken, Sonia is a direct descendant of the Soul Walker—in other words, a descendant of the Middleton family."
All the clues in Su Xiao's mind connected. First, the origin of everything was the City of Earth. This was originally where the Middleton family lived. They worshipped the Moon Goddess, raised Earth Dragons, and offered the dragons' blood to her. For some unknown reason, the Moon Goddess fell, and the Middleton family declined.
The Spear of Sphinx was a weapon forged by the Middleton family. It wasn't that this spear killed the Moon Goddess; rather, the Middleton clan used it to preserve the last ember of the Moon Goddess's soul, hoping she might one day be reborn.
The Moon Priestess had long known the Moon Goddess had fallen. She had reached an understanding with the current Moon God to stabilize divine authority.
As for the relationship between the Moon Priestess and the Soul Walker, it was pure exploitation. Sonia was either the Soul Walker's daughter or granddaughter. Without the Middleton bloodline, she likely couldn't have pulled the Spear of Sphinx.
The Moon Priestess used Sonia as leverage to force the Soul Walker into obedience, forbidding her from revealing that the Moon Goddess had fallen.
The Soul Walker spent her entire life trying one thing: pulling the Spear of Sphinx and using the sealed fragment of soul fire to revive the Moon Goddess.
Unfortunately, she failed. To accomplish this, she did many desperate things, but her abilities were limited. In the end, she could only bow to reality and submit to the current Moon God.
The worst off was Sonia. She knew almost nothing, was used by the Moon Priestess, eroded by the Moon God, and pulled the Spear of Sphinx, extinguishing the last spark of the Moon Goddess's soul.
Su Xiao was more curious about one thing: what exactly was the current Moon God? The previous state of the Moon Goddess Monastery was caused by this Moon God's power.
Su Xiao looked toward the Earth Vein Tree a kilometer away. That was where the answer lay. He didn't know if he could defeat the Moon God. If he could, the Devourer talent would undergo a second awakening; if not, he would remain here forever.
Originally, Su Xiao lacked confidence, after all, his opponent was a deity. But just now, he witnessed the Moon God using Sonia to pull the Spear of Sphinx, which suddenly gave him a feeling: deities were nothing special. As long as his blade was sharp enough, even a god could be cut down.
A single thought could reach the divine. Deities also fall. They also manipulate others to achieve their goals. Thinking this way, deities were merely more powerful beings—why couldn't they be cut down?
Su Xiao walked toward the Earth Vein Tree. Today, he was going to cut down the Moon God.