# Chapter 53: Cup/Tragedy
"Doctor Vonn?"
Su Xiao hadn't heard this name before. He hadn't stayed in the Old Royal Capital for long.
"Mm, Doctor Vonn. Many also call him Doctor Hole-Opener. He helps the Soul Clock Tower open holes in victims' heads, which helps release soul power. Most people who get holes opened join the Soul Clock Tower. You could say, if you see someone with a brain hole, they're basically a member of the Soul Clock Tower."
Archbishop Noe said this while shaking his head with a bitter smile. He could never understand why the Soul Clock Tower people were so obsessed with brain tissue. It was as if they had a grudge against heads.
"Morilan, your grandfather died from the aftermath of the Ancient God Child's descent. In the basement of the old mansion he purchased, there was a ritual arranged by the Soul Clock Tower."
Su Xiao had roughly analyzed the situation. Many years ago, the Soul Clock Tower people set up a ritual in that old mansion's basement, conducting the first Ancient God Child descent ceremony. It ultimately failed, producing an Ancient God Child that was a monster, which went on a rampage in the Old Royal Capital.
In the end, the Soul Clock Tower used the excuse of failing to create a new container and the damaged container going out of control to gloss over the matter.
As for the second Ancient God Child descent, that was an accident. After Morilan's grandfather bought that old mansion, he became very interested in the half-damaged ritual cup in the basement, thinking it was an antique worth collecting. That's why he brought it back to "Dank City," which led to the misfortune of Morilan's family.
This wasn't Morilan's grandfather finding a treasure, but the Soul Clock Tower deliberately leaving that half-damaged ritual cup behind to trap only the fated ones.
When Morilan's wife was cleaning the house one time, her finger was cut by a broken edge of that ritual cup. Combined with Morilan's wife's constitution, which had strong adaptability and receptivity to Ancient God energy, this conceived the second-generation Ancient God Child.
The second-generation Ancient God Child was a complete defective product, dying in the mother's womb before even being born.
The Soul Clock Tower discovered this. They didn't care about the second-generation Ancient God Child, but were very interested in Morilan's wife, who had conceived an Ancient God Child and survived. They threatened her: either Morilan dies, or she joins the Soul Clock Tower—a choice of two.
As for Morilan's own problem, that was even easier to solve. Just now, Su Xiao had noticed that the other party's Luck Attribute was gradually increasing, going from -2 points earlier to -1 point.
Su Xiao already knew why Morilan was so unlucky and why his cousin had drowned while washing his face. This wasn't a coincidence; it was being influenced by some artifact.
"Morilan, think carefully. Isn't it true that every time you return home, you become very unlucky, and after traveling for a while, your fortune improves?"
Morilan wasn't cursed. Su Xiao could confirm this. In the previous world, he had been cursed by the Demon Sea for an entire world progress. In terms of curses, he had gone from a beginner to being relatively knowledgeable.
"Well..."
Morilan thought carefully. He had never paid attention before, but thinking about it now, it really seemed to be the case.
"If I'm not mistaken, there's a damaged metal cup in your home, left by your grandfather."
"Huh? How do you know that?"
Morilan looked as if he'd seen a ghost. Seeming to think of something, he became somewhat excited.
"Are you a prophet? Can you predict whether my luck will improve afterward?"
Morilan had already calculated in his heart—he would throw away that ancient cup in his home as soon as he returned. He didn't know when it had been brought back. His memories on this matter were very vague, and every time he wanted to throw it away, he felt reluctant.
What he would never discover was that without outside intervention, he would keep that ancient cup forever, until his death, and then the ancient cup would be discovered by the next victim.
"Pfft~"
Hearing Morilan mention "prophet," Baha couldn't hold it in and almost burst out laughing. Beside him, Archbishop Noe's cheek was also twitching.
"..."
Su Xiao glanced at Morilan. It was a pity this guy wasn't in the Soul Clock Tower—he was naturally big-brained.
"No. If you agree, you can sell me the ritual cup in your home. I'll pay 5,000 Lang of Crystal Resin."
"Really?!"
After repeatedly confirming, Morilan strode out of the inn. Baha and Bubu Wang quietly followed. Without forced intervention, Morilan likely couldn't break free from that ritual cup.
Morilan might have been jogging the whole way. In less than half an hour, he came back with a cloth bundle. Looking closely, the cloth bundle was a torn-off half curtain.
"Beini, pay up."
"Meow!"
Beini stomped her cat paw, meaning Crystal Resin was hard to earn. How could she spend 5,000 Lang just like that? Even so, Beini paid the Crystal Resin readily.
Morilan looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. He suddenly didn't want to sell this ancient cup anymore. Even 50,000 or 500,000 Lang of Crystal Resin wouldn't make him want to sell it. It seemed this ancient cup was very important to him, that it absolutely couldn't be taken away. He had to take it back, right now!
Morilan's expression twisted, and he raised his hand to grab the ancient cup on the table.
"Deal."
Su Xiao spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but to Morilan, it was like a thunderclap. His body trembled. Just now, he had seemed possessed, actually wanting to fight to the death to keep the calamitous object that had taken his entire family's lives. Was he crazy?
After a moment, Morilan calmed down. He didn't even dare to look at the ritual cup anymore.
Because Su Xiao hadn't left the inn at all during the entire process, Morilan was somewhat worried about the authenticity of all this. However, with Archbishop Noe's guarantee, Morilan reluctantly felt reassured.
A few minutes later, Morilan stood on Gem Street holding a large box of Crystal Resin. He felt like everything was as unreal as a dream. An hour ago, he had nothing. Now, not only was his bad luck lifted, but he also learned that a relative was still alive, plus he had 5,000 Lang of Crystal Resin as startup capital.
"Grandfather was right. After the suffering ends, everything will get better."
Morilan's always somewhat hunched back gradually straightened. In reality, he wasn't lucky; this was just a transaction. This transaction allowed Su Xiao to obtain an Immortal-grade gem and a severely damaged ritual cup.
Inside the inn, Archbishop Noe made as if to take his leave. This old fox was very shrewd, vaguely guessing what Su Xiao would do next.
"White Night, if there's nothing else, I'll be going. These old bones of mine haven't had a good sleep in days."
"There is something."
"Do you have to drag me into this?"
Archbishop Noe's eye twitched, and his expression showed anger.
"Five days ago, you sent people to the Dream World. Four days ago, you secretly contacted Hash in the Insect Kingdom. Three days ago..."
Before Su Xiao could finish, Archbishop Noe sat back down, smiling as he said:
"The situation in the Old Royal Capital is very complex. We need a complete plan."
Archbishop Noe was smiling on the surface, but in his heart, he wanted to kill those subordinates who had left so many "tails." Any one of these matters, if fully disclosed, would be enough to give him trouble.
No longer paying attention to Archbishop Noe, Su Xiao looked at the gem pinched between his fingers. This gem was called [Soul Sever].
[Soul Sever]
Origin: Dark Star World
Quality: Immortal-grade
Type: Gem (Rare)
Effect: After embedding, weapon sharpness +52 points, weapon armor penetration +46 points. For each point of the user's Soul Strength, increase sharpness by 1 point and armor penetration bonus by 1 point.
Note: This gem can increase weapon sharpness by up to 205 points and weapon armor penetration by up to 197 points.
Note: If this gem's bonus reaches maximum bonus, it will increase soul damage by 12%.
Rating: 1496 points (Immortal-grade gem rating is 1000-1500 points).
Introduction: The extreme sharpness of the blade can sever souls.
Su Xiao was quite satisfied with the [Soul Sever] gem. This gem was worth Beini's careful selection. After doing Crystal Resin accessory trade for so long, this was the biggest harvest.
Not only that, but Beini could also reap a final harvest. After leaving this world, Crystal Resin wouldn't be of much use. Before that, Beini would acquire as many extraordinary gems as possible.
It could be said that letting Beini do business was much more reliable than treasure hunting.
Besides this gem, Su Xiao also obtained a severely damaged ritual cup. For the Kodo School and the Soul Clock Tower, this thing was just a waste product that brought bad luck. But for Su Xiao, this thing still had some use.
[Damaged Ritual Cup]
Origin: Any world with high-ranking Ancient Gods.
Materials: Ancient God energy, solid brain fluid, hearts of resentful people, ritual blood, chitin, gallstones of eighth-rank extraordinary birds.
Quality: This item is damaged
Type: Ritual item.
Effect: Damaged, unusable.
Debuff Effect: Being within 10 meters of this item will temporarily reduce Luck Attribute by 1 point per hour, up to a maximum reduction of 5 Luck Attribute points. After leaving this range, Luck Attribute will recover over a certain period.
Note: If this effect is endured multiple times, the "Calamity Fate" effect will be affected.
Introduction: This ritual cup technology was developed by scholars from Doom Star, mostly used for the gestation of Ancient God Children and the growth of eyes. The scholars of Doom Star believed that more eyes could bring more powerful strength, or allow one to see certain alien existences.