# Chapter 5: Fate, Wonderful and Inexplicable
The candle flames flickered as a little girl under ten years old hung her head facing the wall. It was clear that her body was trembling. Even as a Saint Descendant, she was filled with despair and helplessness at this moment.
Beside the dining table, the old Duke poured some crimson liquid into an exquisite oak cup. This was not blood—the old Duke had grown tired of the metallic taste of blood long ago. This crimson liquid was called "Crimson Blessing," a wine brewed from life force, created by an extremely mad widow.
Back then, this wine had caused quite a commotion in the city of Arlans, and it was only after the old Duke took over the matter that things calmed down.
"Mercedes, eavesdropping on my conversation with a guest—do you know what punishment awaits you?"
The old Duke slightly raised his wine flagon, inquiring if Su Xiao wanted a glass. Su Xiao politely declined, indicating he did not drink alcohol. In truth, he simply had no habit of consuming "high-concentration compressed explosives."
"Grand... grandfather, I am Tasia. Mercedes is my..."
The little girl Tasia stammered to a halt. She didn't know how to address her grandmother's grandmother. As for calling the old Duke "grandfather," it was because in her personal understanding, any male elder beyond five generations was classified as "grandfather."
"Tasia?"
The old Duke pondered seriously for a few seconds, but in the end, he still couldn't recall which generation Tasia belonged to among his descendants.
"It's already this late. Go back to sleep."
The old Duke smiled very kindly, but even as Tasia walked out of the banquet hall, he said nothing more.
"Alfer, where exactly is the Soul Stone you mentioned? If we don't even have the most basic clues, it's impossible to find it."
The Soul Stone Su Xiao referred to was the old Duke's name for the Soul Severing Shadow Stone. As for helping the old Duke find the Soul Severing Shadow Stone, Su Xiao would certainly search for it. But as for what would happen once found—he would naturally keep it for himself. The Soul Severing Shadow Stone was very important to Su Xiao, even if it meant directly falling out with the old Duke.
The thoughts in Su Xiao's mind gradually became clear. His ultimate goal was to destroy the "Space-Time Hub Device." In the current situation, even if the Space-Time Hub Device wasn't in the Sera Empire, Su Xiao wouldn't leave here. He first needed to obtain the Soul Severing Shadow Stone, as well as the skeleton that had been holding it.
There were two things that could be accomplished now: first, find and obtain the Soul Severing Shadow Stone; second, locate the skeleton of unknown identity.
While completing these two tasks, Su Xiao could also gather information about the "Space-Time Hub Device"—killing three birds with one stone.
As for eliminating Xi, Su Xiao wasn't planning to go after that woman for now. It would be somewhat time-consuming. Once he accomplished his first three objectives, the power he held would allow him to search for Xi's whereabouts across the entire world. At that time, he would drag her out and kill her.
After organizing his thoughts, Su Xiao began to finalize the cooperation terms with the old Duke. The content of the cooperation was simple: while Su Xiao helped the old Duke search for the Soul Stone, the old Duke would announce to the outside world that Su Xiao was his "proxy," handling some matters on his behalf, for a period of about five days to half a month.
The old Duke's approach was quite clever. He wouldn't lose power, yet Su Xiao would help him find the Soul Stone. It seemed everything was within the old Duke's control—he had both defused the assassination crisis and gained powerful combat support. That was precisely why he hadn't chosen to fall out with Su Xiao.
This arrangement had another advantage: the other four Dukes couldn't say anything at all, because the old Duke hadn't bestowed a title upon Su Xiao, but rather made him his proxy.
The old Duke could simply announce to the outside world that he was too old and wanted to rest for a while. As the oldest Saint Descendant among the five Dukes, the other four couldn't find any fault with this reasoning.
Of course, this was only the old Duke's own thinking. Su Xiao had already been talking with the old Duke for about half an hour. During this time, the old Duke had consumed a total of 12 grams of high-concentration compressed explosives, along with a small piece of Banishment fragments separated to the size of dust particles.
If the two sides fell out, Su Xiao would make the old Duke understand just how painful it was to break off cooperation.
For now, there were no direct conflicts between the two sides, so cooperation was no problem—provided the old Duke didn't stab him in the back.
"Tomorrow morning, I will first inform the other four Dukes. After that, you'll need to come with me to the Holy Court. If the Saint Descendant King hasn't gone into slumber, we might even be able to see him."
"Agreed."
"Very well, Kukulin Bai Ye. You are now the proxy of me, Adrian Alfer. Enjoy the Duke's position to your heart's content."
As soon as the old Duke finished speaking, Su Xiao received a large number of prompts.
[You have completed Main Quest: First Ring.]
[Quest Reward: True Attribute Point ×1 (Already stored in Reincarnation Imprint).]
[You have completed Main Quest: Second Ring.]
[Quest Reward: 150,000 Paradise Coins (Already stored in Reincarnation Imprint).]
[You have completed Main Quest: Third Ring.]
[Quest Reward: Soul Crystal (Large) ×5.]
[Quest Reward: Fourth Ring (Seven Rings Total).]
Difficulty Level: Lv.56 ~ Lv.63
Quest Information: Kill Saint Descendant King Alexander and obtain his heart.
Note: The integrity of the Saint Descendant King's heart must be above 50%, otherwise the quest will fail.
Quest Time Limit: 20 Natural Days.
Quest Reward: Holy Spirit Chest
Quest Penalty: Forced Execution.
...
Clearly, Su Xiao's choice was very correct. He had directly pushed the main quest to the fourth ring, skipping the first three rings. Those three rings of quests were likely about being a "laborer" for imperial officials to gain higher status.
As for the fourth ring quest, it was quite thrilling—kill the King of the Sera Empire, Alexander, and obtain his heart.
The quest difficulty was between Lv.56 and Lv.63. The maximum difficulty reached the Seventh Rank. Clearly, this was the difficulty of brute-forcing it. At that time, he would not only have to face many powerful enemies but would also be surrounded by the imperial army.
Su Xiao certainly wouldn't brute-force it. He had already connected with the old Duke's line, only waiting for an opportunity to meet the Saint Descendant King alone in the future.
If the old Duke knew what Su Xiao wanted at this moment, he would absolutely immediately terminate the cooperation and draw a clear line with Su Xiao.
Just before midnight, Su Xiao left the old Duke's manor. The old Duke didn't trust him, and he certainly didn't trust the other party either. What if this old geezer had a sudden brain spasm and summoned tens of thousands of imperial troops? Then Su Xiao would have no choice but to make a strategic retreat.
In the dim banquet hall, the old Duke's cheek twitched. A different light appeared in his murky eyes. In his long life, he had only encountered such interesting things a few times.
"Kukulin Bai Ye, a powerhouse from the Abyss? Or perhaps from the Northern Alliance?"
Hearing the old Duke's words, Bubu Wang, who had merged into the environment, felt a bit more at ease. At least this old geezer wasn't planning to summon the imperial army.
Su Xiao had chosen to cooperate with the old Duke, so of course he had left a contingency plan. Bubu Wang would keep an eye on the old Duke in the near future to prevent him from stabbing them in the back.
In the wheat fields outside, Su Xiao returned along the same route to the city of Arlans. Just as he approached the city wall, he received a message from Baha. Baha had discovered a suspicious group of people about 2 kilometers away at the base of the wall. The terrain of that broken section of wall was somewhat special, and the moat below had been covered by soil due to long-term neglect.
Su Xiao quickly arrived at the location Baha mentioned. He indeed found several sneaky figures, and these people were whispering among themselves.
"Ready?"
"Mm, no problem. The city guards on the wall have all been drugged unconscious."
"Let these Saint Descendants know the power of us from the Apocalypse Paradise, hahaha—"
An incredibly infectious laugh came through. Hearing this laugh, anyone would find it hard not to chuckle.
These men and women were all wearing black robes, their auras concealed. Hearing their conversation, Su Xiao placed his hand on the hilt of the blade at his waist. He didn't want his plans to be disrupted by others before they even began.
The long blade slowly slid out of its sheath. Just as Su Xiao was about to charge forward and cut down these contractors from the Apocalypse Paradise, he heard several crisp sounds.
Crack, crack.
Metal machinery extended. Without any visible movement from these contractors, they assembled a large mechanical device.
Rumble...
A dull sound spread, not loud, and most of it was absorbed by a layer of light membrane. Within at most 10 seconds, the large mechanical device had sunk into the ground, soil spraying in all directions.
These people were here to fucking mine—and digging right at the base of the city wall. If they applied this kind of courage to combat, they could definitely unleash considerable combat power.
Su Xiao exchanged a glance with Baha, and they both stepped back simultaneously. This kind of good fortune didn't come often. Stop these contractors from mining? What a joke—of course, they would let them continue digging, and eventually obtain the mineral resources through "friendly negotiation."