Chapter 38: Stone Tablets and the Great Emperor
Seeing the information for the talent mission, Su Xiao felt a very ominous premonition. As a Law Destroyer, he naturally knew what the Silver Moon Wolf was—an ally of the Law Destroyers. There were a total of seven known Silver Moon Wolves, and all had perished.
The mission required Su Xiao to deal with a Silver Moon Wolf. His first reaction was disbelief. His Reincarnation Paradise brand was at the Eighth Rank. Even if his strength was already considerable among Eighth Rank contractors, there was still a considerable gap between him and the tier of the Silver Moon Wolves.
Seeing that this was a deceased Silver Moon Wolf, Su Xiao felt the mission wasn't impossible. At the very least, that Silver Moon Wolf wouldn't summon the 'Radiant Moon'; otherwise, there would be no way to deal with it.
Su Xiao had a doubt: what had caused this Silver Moon Wolf to die so many years ago? Given the strength of the Alliance World, a Silver Moon Wolf would be an invincible existence in this world.
If this Silver Moon Wolf were still alive, even gathering all the combat power in this world to fight it, after one or two exchanges, there would basically be no survivors. The 'Radiant Moon' was the bane of human wave tactics.
Su Xiao possessed an item related to the Silver Moon Wolf, called [Silver Moon Blade]. Although it was called a blade, it was actually a ring, one of his most commonly used pieces of equipment. After receiving the talent mission, the description of this item had actually changed.
[Silver Moon Blade]
Origin: Overlord Creature · Silver Moon Wolf
Quality: Overlord Rank · Growth Type
Category: Ring (Secondary Slot)
Durability: 30/30
Equipment Requirements: True Intelligence 150 points or above, male, no mastery of magic-type abilities.
Equipment Penalty: Wearing this ring has a chance of temporary Moon Wolf transformation during combat (Moon Wolf transformation will be subject to energy invasion).
Note: Due to the Hunter's personal reasons, this ability is permanently ineffective.
Equipment Effect 1: Moon Blade (Active). After wearing this ring, it can temporarily grant the Moon Blade effect to a weapon.
Moon Blade: Increases weapon sharpness by 107 points, attack power by 12~20 points (lower limit ~ upper limit).
Note: Granting 'Moon Blade' consumes 1000 Mana Points or other bodily energy.
Note: The Moon Blade effect lasts for 20 minutes.
Note: Do not frequently grant the Moon Blade effect to a weapon; this behavior will significantly increase the rate of weapon durability loss.
Equipment Effect 2: Ring · Secondary Slot (Passive). Wearing this ring will not occupy a ring equipment slot.
Rating: 1000 points.
Growth Condition: Arrive at the burial site of the Silver Moon Wolf, offer fresh meat (does not require the flesh of a supernatural creature).
Note: There are a total of seven Silver Moon Wolves, all deceased.
Description: On that lonely, cold icefield, you once stood guard for a thousand years, yet in the end, you met such a fate. No name sung by the world, no monument standing tall. Your broken body is dominated by the power of the Abyss, your consciousness as wild as a beast. You have become a calamity, devouring what you once guarded, trampling the covenant you once swore to uphold. But this is by no means your true wish.
Price: Unsellable.
...
Su Xiao looked at the [Silver Moon Blade] in his hand. If it weren't for the former alliance with the Silver Moon Wolf, leading a large number of Transcendents to besiege it would seem like a safer choice.
Su Xiao felt that the reality might not be that simple. The mission difficulty was Lv. ???. Under the reduction effect of his Law Destroyer identity, the mission difficulty was Lv. 78.
Su Xiao estimated that if he used a human wave tactic this time, it would most likely be a waste. The Silver Moon Wolf's consciousness was already frenzied; it wouldn't hold back because of the Law Destroyer identity. The problem likely lay in the fact that Law Destroyers could be immune to some ability of the Silver Moon Wolf in its current state.
Even if he wanted to bring people to besiege it now, it wasn't very feasible. Kingsley had just left. If he pulled a large number of Transcendents from the Agency at this time, weaker-tier organizations like the Secret Guild, the Pleasure House, and the Monastery would likely cause trouble.
These rats in the alley didn't care about the situation in the Southern Continent. They just wanted to rise up; the more chaotic the situation, the happier they were.
Su Xiao had the Agency under him, so he naturally didn't want the situation to become chaotic. The main mission required sealing the Abyss Passage, but there was no news about it yet.
There was no doubt that the Abyss Energy was related to the Abyss Passage. This trip to the Extreme South Cold Lands might yield clues about the Abyss Passage.
He needed to complete the talent mission as soon as possible. After that, he could focus on dealing with the Abyss Passage. Apart from this matter, he didn't need to worry about the traces of the Violators for now.
Ever since the Violator had actively approached Su Xiao once at the beginning of entering the world, it hadn't appeared again, as if it had vanished from the face of the earth.
Su Xiao walked out of the research institute. He needed to head to the Extreme South Cold Lands immediately. Although this talent mission might have variables, the overall content was still very clear: kill the Silver Moon Wolf that had absorbed the Abyss Power.
An hour later, Su Xiao boarded a train heading to the Extreme South Cold Lands. This cargo train had 30 carriages, responsible for transporting 'coal' between Gama City and the Iron Tower Mine. Don't think of this as an ordinary freight train; this thing was a steel beast.
The Iron Tower Mine was located in the Extreme South Cold Lands. The labor and transportation costs for mining coal there were extremely high. The 'coal' produced there was called Sulfur Coal. Please note, this thing was fundamentally different from ordinary coal; it was a supernatural resource.
Due to the extreme cold in the Extreme South Cold Lands this season, coal mining had been suspended for two months. The steel beast Su Xiao was riding on used Sulfur Coal as its power source. The ramming horn on the front of the locomotive, shaped like a sharp shovel, looked exceptionally mighty.
The carriage door was open. Due to the train's high speed, strong wind pressure blew in from the door. Su Xiao sat cross-legged in front of the door, holding a small metal flask in his hand, enjoying the snowy scenery outside.
Woo! Woo woo!
A deafening whistle came from the direction of the locomotive. Then, the entire steel beast shook. This was while crossing a bridge and breaking ice at the same time.
If viewed from above, a spectacular scene could be seen. The steel beast charged onto a metal bridge. This bridge was built against a mountain wall, with a bottomless ravine on the other side.
Because no steel beast had transported Sulfur Coal for two months, the metal bridge was covered in accumulated ice. At this moment, the steel beast broke through the ice, racing forward with an unstoppable momentum. As it rumbled, ice chips flew everywhere, and huge chunks of ice fell into the bottomless ravine below.
Bubu Wang's dog head poked out of the carriage door, opening its mouth to eat the flying shaved ice. But at that moment, a millstone-sized piece of ice flew straight towards it.
"Woof~"
Bubu Wang executed a spiral body position, spinning as it flew back inside. It sat down on the ground, stunned.
After traveling for nearly 16 hours, everything Su Xiao could see was a vast expanse of white. When the train slowed down and finally stopped, Su Xiao arrived at a snow-covered station.
This was Iron Tower Town. The civilian population accounted for less than one-eighth of the total; the rest were stationed troops.
Su Xiao didn't meet with the colonel stationed locally. He was just passing through.
Leaving Iron Tower Town, Su Xiao looked at Bubu Wang. In this extreme cold, Bubu Wang was incredibly clever. It lay down on the snow, meaning that it had a concussion from being hit by the giant ice block and could no longer perform physical labor.
A moment later, Bubu Wang was fitted with a harness, pulling a sled behind it as it sprinted across the snow.
This time, Su Xiao only brought Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha. As for Tide Hunter, it was at the agency in Youke City; the Death Grail needed someone to guard it.
Sitting on the sled, Su Xiao took a map from his bosom. This was a map of most of the Extreme South Cold Lands. Over half of the areas were marked with red graffiti, indicating they were forbidden zones.
The Silver Moon Wolf Su Xiao was looking for was within this area. Fortunately, the Silver Moon Wolf maintained its living habits and wouldn't leave this icefield.
Before him was an endless snowy landscape. The cold wind cut like knives across his cheeks. After traveling for several hours, large patches of light red spots appeared on the snow ahead, as if a rain of blood had fallen.
Su Xiao signaled Bubu to stop. He got off the sled and walked forward on foot. Not far ahead, he saw a slightly inconspicuous protrusion on the snow.
Going forward to clear the snow from the protrusion, he found it was a rough stone slab with writing on it:
'We, in the most despicable way, murdered the most noble existence. All retribution is deserved. It could have annihilated everyone, but it did not—Athos Baiken.'
Su Xiao continued forward. Every few dozen meters, he could find a stone tablet. Most of the content expressed regret, except for the last one, which was also the tallest. The inscription on this tablet read:
'The territories basking in my glory all submit to me. They need no beast to guard them—Emperor Taiatu.'
Su Xiao glanced at this stone tablet, then continued walking forward. Behind him, Amu kicked the tablet over, and Baha even spat on it.