Chapter 54: Return
Outside the Moon Temple, a torrential downpour fell. Moon Witch Serisilis stood outside the temple; with the sealing formation in place, she was temporarily unable to set foot inside.
"I went to search for traces of the Owl. Unfortunately, she went to the Black Abyss region. There's a troublesome individual there, and I have an old grudge with him."
Standing in the rain, Serisilis's dress remained dry, untouched by the curtain of rain. She took out a wooden sealed cylinder, about 20 centimeters long and 5 centimeters thick, and asked:
"Bai Ye, is your grievance with the Owl limited to the Hunter Guild's bounty?"
"Close."
"Then this is a better way to resolve it."
Serisilis tossed the wooden sealed cylinder in her hand. After standing in place for a few seconds in silence, she took out a crystal reagent vial and calmly drank the black liquid inside. Moments later, she suddenly staggered, having to support herself against the half-open door to barely stand steady.
"This feeling isn't too bad."
Serisilis opened her eyes again, her pitch-black pupils fixed on Su Xiao. She stepped into the Moon Temple. The sealing formation inside activated instantly, then gradually calmed. The temple needed a core, and the temple must have a core.
Serisilis's pace grew slower and more arduous. Just as she was about to pass by Su Xiao, she covered her mouth with one hand and coughed dryly several times, dark blood seeping between her fingers. Her other hand grabbed Su Xiao's clothes to barely steady herself.
"How embarrassing."
Serisilis continued walking forward, heading toward the wide stone throne at the innermost part of the hall. Su Xiao turned his head to glance at this Moon Witch. Bubu Wang beside him let out a soft whine, meaning to help support Serisilis, but Su Xiao raised his hand to stop it. This new ruler of the Transcendent Realm should walk to her throne on her own.
Leaving scattered drops of dark blood along the way, Serisilis finally reached the Moon Throne. Darkness spread behind the throne, and twisted incarnations of various forms emerged from the darkness. Some twisted incarnations were male in appearance, some female, and some close to beast forms. All of them knelt on one knee around the Moon Throne, raising one hand, clustering around Serisilis as she sat on the Moon Throne.
A giant twisted incarnation, the largest in size, stood behind the throne. It respectfully held a crown flowing with moonlight between the thumb and index finger of both hands, and with great reverence, placed the Moon Crown on Serisilis's head.
This caused the twisted incarnations in the inner area of the hall not only to kneel on one knee but also to lower their heads. The twisted transformation spread toward the Moon Throne. In a very short time, the darkness on the walls of the Moon Temple faded, all absorbed into the [Moon Throne].
Serisilis, seated upon it, had her hair turn pitch black and grow much longer, spreading over the throne. She raised one hand, pointing toward the temple's door, signaling for Su Xiao to leave this place. The twisted transformation was about to spread here.
Serisilis was qualified to become the core of the Moon Temple, but the price she paid was known only to herself.
At this moment, the Moon Throne beneath Serisilis had transformed from its former rocky white to pitch black from the middle down, while the upper half remained stone white. This indicated that the Moon Temple's capacity had reached half, and it could still accommodate more twisted energy. To put it more clearly, Serisilis would once again extend the long-term prosperity of the Witch Realm.
If the period from successfully resisting the Abyss to this point in time was the era of the First Moon Witch, Titapeya, then from now onward, the Witch Realm would enter the era of the Radiance Moon Witch, Serisilis. However, very few would know of this, just like the former First Moon Witch, Titapeya.
Su Xiao pulled the black blade embedded in the ground, the [Wild Hunger Wolf]. This weapon was naturally certified, allowing him to bring it back to Reincarnation Paradise. Moreover, he could even use this weapon. As for its excessive size, that was not a major issue; nearly half of all legendary weapons had adaptive transformation.
As Su Xiao put away the black blade [Wild Hunger Wolf], Baha skillfully stored his own arms and one of his wings into life-support devices.
When Su Xiao exited the Moon Temple, the torrential rain outside had stopped. He stood on the water surface, watching the temple doors gradually close. Through the several-meter-wide gap in the doors, he saw the temple interior shrouded in black mist. The only thing visible was the moonlight shape reflected by the Moon Crown on Serisilis's head.
Seeing this sharp, cross-shaped, moon-silver form, he suddenly recalled that a few days ago, when he rode the Storm Flame Dragon over Moon Ring City, he had seen the silver dome atop the headquarters of the Nightmare Witch Guild. It was this very shape, only magnified many times over.
The [Astral Disk] bounced off the door and was caught by Su Xiao with one hand. On the five symmetrical star nodes of the disk, each held a [Dark Star], and each [Dark Star] was a drop of dark blood.
Click-clack~
The [Astral Disk] in his hand reversed. The water beneath Su Xiao's feet formed a lifting platform, carrying him, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha downward.
A few hours later, at the Sky City Ruins. After being washed by multiple torrential rains, the standing building remnants here appeared grayish-white. Su Xiao sat on a stone throne. It was a curious fate; this was the Ancient King's throne, originally standing at the center of the ancient sacrificial grounds. After Su Xiao and the Ancient King destroyed the ancient sacrificial grounds, this stone throne fell, crashed through a floating island in the central district, and landed here.
If anyone else sat casually cross-legged on this throne, it would be somewhat disrespectful to the Ancient King. Su Xiao was different; he was an opponent who had fought the Ancient King to the death.
"From childhood to adulthood, no matter what the three of us did, she was always first, Womodesi second, and I always lagged behind, losing to both of them."
President Poyen appeared beside him at some point, sitting on a fallen tall stone statue. The Womodesi he mentioned was the Sky City Lord who died at the hands of the Priest, Platinum Apostle, and Archbishop of the Abyss.
"..."
Su Xiao said nothing, simply tossing the [Astral Disk] to Poyen. Poyen caught it, nodded understandingly, and said:
"Actually, I would have been the best core. Serisilis could continue to lead the overall situation. Unfortunately, those who haven't reached the limit are not qualified."
As he spoke, Poyen raised his hand to catch a bottle of Elemental Brew that Su Xiao tossed over. He pulled out the stopper, took a big gulp, exhaled a breath of alcohol, and continued:
"You will definitely deal with Arcane Eternal Star in the future, right? If Serisilis is still in control of the Witch Realm, then we will surely be your steadfast allies. Now it's Serin plus the Waning Moon Witch. That child, hmm~, you two are actually similar in age. I can't help but treat you as my peer. But someone like you, who experiences life and death as commonly as eating meals, it's not wrong to consider you a peer."
Poyen's words were heartfelt. The current situation of the Witch Realm was not optimistic. Although the most dangerous twisted invasion had been resolved, and the probability of twisted transformation for the world's wizards had plummeted from 70%–80% to less than 1.5%, a great enemy still loomed.
The Witch Realm had been the center of inter-world trade for so many years, never bullying weaker forces, maintaining good relations with powerful ones. Although it was exceptionally wealthy, it truly had many strong individuals. Even though the Witch Realm now lacked top-tier supreme-level powerhouses, it still had many absolute-strength-level experts. Any force attempting to attack the Witch Realm would have to be prepared to pay a heavy price. Not to mention, the battle wizards, who had remained hidden all along, were the most formidable force in the Witch Realm. As long as those prying eyes didn't figure out the true strength of these battle wizards, they wouldn't dare to act.
For many years, battle wizards had been plagued by a high probability of twisted transformation—5 to 7 times that of ordinary wizards. Now that this problem was solved, the battle wizards would grow even stronger.
Even so, the threat from the mortal enemy, Doom Star, was still quite dangerous. However, Serisilis had made several preparations. First, she had acquired a large amount of high-rarity resources needed by the Ancient Gods through the Goblin Merchant Guild, and secretly had trusted subordinates deliver these resources to Doom Star, to the Night Mother's side.
This staggering amount of resources allowed the Night Mother's strength to advance further, almost reaching the level of the Underworld God. Additionally, this wealth gave the Night Mother's Night Faction confidence, causing a major shift in the situation on Doom Star. From the Night Mother subtly threatening the Underworld God's position, it developed into an initial clash between the Underworld God Temple and the Night Faction. If not for mutual restraint on both sides, a full-scale war might have already broken out.
This meant the Underworld God Temple had no energy to attack the Witch Realm. With problems in its own home base of Doom Star, it was naturally more important to first deal with the nearest enemy that understood the Underworld God Temple best.
Thus, after Serin became the Moon Witch, there was basically no risk from external enemies. As for whether she could secure this position, subsequently achieve supreme strength with massive resources, and use sufficiently tough measures to suppress the nobles of Ancient King City and the various wizard families—that depended on her personal ability.
Because Serin was still young, Serisilis left Silver Lady and the Old President to assist her. Additionally, the supreme-level President Poyen would stabilize the situation for her. Of course, if the other two Moon Witch candidates surpassed Serin in subsequent performance, Serin would soon lose her position as Moon Witch. Serisilis had already informed Silver Lady and the Old President of this in advance.
The subsequent situation in the Witch Realm was sure to be very interesting, but Su Xiao could not participate. This would cause Silver Lady, the Old President, and others to freak out. Thinking about it, Su Xiao, Moon Witch Serisilis, the Priest, the Platinum Apostle, and the Archbishop of the Abyss—these people were all on the same tier in terms of cunning.
If Su Xiao were to clash with Serin, the other two Moon Witch candidates, and the outstanding members of various wizard families, it would be like an adult bullying children. Silver Lady, the Old President, the Great Noble Xio, and others would naturally freak out. At that point, the wizard faction would have no internal power struggles; instead, everyone would tightly unite to oppose Su Xiao, the ultimate villain boss.
Su Xiao naturally had no interest in continuing to participate in the subsequent conflicts of the Witch Realm. His next goal was clear. This time, upon returning to Reincarnation Paradise, his strength would skyrocket by a large margin. Not to mention the massive amount of Soul Coins and resources obtained this time, just the [Origin Stone: World]'s effect of "all skills within the list have their level cap increased by Lv.10," combined with his existing massive amount of Golden Skill Points, would allow him to become much stronger.
After finishing the wine in the bottle, Poyen stood up and left. This man, who had lived freely for half his life, would now have to bear the responsibility of being the President of the Starry Sky Research Association. However, given his lazy personality and the subsequent situation of the wizard faction, just thinking about what was to come was enough to make one laugh.
One could almost see Serin's expression of speechlessness and doubt about life on the Moon Witch throne, Silver Lady beside her barely suppressing her anger, and the Old President on the other side, silent and pretending to be dead. After all, President Poyen was his own disciple.
Su Xiao glanced at the prompt that had just appeared. There were still 5 minutes and 20 seconds until he returned to Reincarnation Paradise. Taking this opportunity, he checked the prompts above.
[Prompt: You have killed the Initial Witch—Tinsh.]
[You gain Golden Skill Points x5 (Due to the participation of non-native world combatants, the Demon Insect Race, in the kill, this reward is significantly reduced).]
[You gain 10% World Source (Due to the participation of non-native world combatants, the Demon Insect Race, in the kill, this reward is significantly reduced).]
[You gain 6250 Soul Coins (Due to the participation of non-native world combatants, the Demon Insect Race, in the kill, this reward is significantly reduced).]
[You gain Eternal Rank Chest—Twisted Witch (This is a fixed kill reward and will not be reduced).]
[You gain Supreme Slayer Nine-Star Title (This is a fixed kill reward and will not be reduced).]
[You gain Moon Radiance Nine-Star Title (This is a fixed kill reward and will not be reduced).]
[You gain Immortal Hunter Nine-Star Title (This is a fixed kill reward and will not be reduced).]
[You gain Source Matter Chest (Killing a powerful enemy has a chance to obtain).]
...
The fact that the rewards for Golden Skill Points, World Source, and Soul Coins would not be too high was something Su Xiao had anticipated. He had never been arrogant enough to think he could defeat and kill the Initial Witch in a direct confrontation. His decisive battle with the Ancient King was the pinnacle of his performance in this world.
Among these kill rewards, what surprised Su Xiao was obtaining three Nine-Star Titles. He checked the attributes of these titles. Although none were particularly suitable for him, they could be used for Title Limit Burning.
The reason he obtained so many titles this time was due to the effect of the special title [Joy Transfer]. He had just experienced, using Molei's luck, a kill reward that would never have been possible with his -22 Charm Attribute. He had obtained three Nine-Star Titles.
This gave Su Xiao an idea. He would definitely go to [Blazing Sun Star—Chiliad] later. His rank-up speed was too fast, causing his accumulated foundation to be insufficient to impact the Supreme level. The treasures left behind by the Ancient Dragon Faction and the Sun Faction were the best way for him to solve this problem. These legacies were sealed in the [Ancient Dragon Kingdom—Eberas]'s Confinement Tower.
To open the [Ancient Dragon Kingdom—Eberas]'s Confinement Tower, one needed the [Ancient Dragon Key] + [Sun Emblem]. Su Xiao obtained the former by defeating the Ancient King, while the latter could only be found at [Blazing Sun Star—Chiliad]. There was no doubt that [Blazing Sun Star—Chiliad] definitely had many powerful enemies. Although the situation there wouldn't be as exaggerated as the Eternal Light World back then, there were no sealing formations there. Weighing it this way, the danger level seemed no lower than the Eternal Light World.
Danger also meant opportunity. If Su Xiao used a "big account carrying small accounts" method, teaming up with Molei to enter [Blazing Sun Star—Chiliad], then when killing powerful enemies, Molei could frantically throw buff scrolls to enhance Su Xiao's status, thereby participating in the kill rewards.
To put it more simply, if Molei, at level 81, entered a level 98 dungeon, the exaggerated 17-level difference would cause her kill rewards to be super-multiplied. All other kill rewards she obtained would be hers; Su Xiao only wanted the title rewards.
The core issue was whether Molei dared to go to [Blazing Sun Star—Chiliad]. As for how she would survive in that world, Apocalypse Paradise's life-saving items were not just for show. Coupled with Molei's wealth, she could buy a backpack full of life-saving items. This was a huge investment, but the returns would definitely be several times, or even dozens of times, the investment.
If Yueshitu and Haomei also dared to go, then Su Xiao, in a level 98 dungeon, would be carrying one level 81, one level 80, and one level 81. The kill rewards would be super-multiplied to the extreme.
[Prompt: Main Mission—Final Stage—Twisted Moonlight (Completed).]
[You gain Mission Reward 1: Abyss Chest (★).]
[You gain Mission Reward 2: Mysterious Chest (???).]
[You gain Mission Reward 3: Primordial Source Matter x1 portion.]
...
[You have completed the Talent Awakening Mission: Shadow of Law Destruction—Second Stage.]
[This mission has a total of three stages, which can only be activated and completed in a Transcendent—Primordial World.]
[When entering the Transcendent Primordial World—Doom Star, the final stage of this mission will be activated.]
[Checking your current comprehensive combat power...]
[Check completed.]
[Warning: At the current stage, if you enter Doom Star to activate this mission, the completion probability is 0.00016%.]
[Warning: If you enter Doom Star to activate this mission at the current stage, your survival probability is extremely low.]
[You need to reach at least the Supreme level before attempting to activate this mission.]
...
[Hunt List—Blood Pact·Bounty 5: Aggregated Matter (Achieved).]
[This bounty will reward you based on the amount of Twisted Aggregated Matter you have collected.]
[This bounty completion rate: 100%.]
[You gain 30,000 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
...
Regarding this bounty, Su Xiao and Moon Witch Serisilis achieved a win-win situation. Originally, the twisted energy within the Moon Temple was overflowing. Moon Witch Serisilis's idea was to first become the temple's core and stabilize this twisted energy. Without a core, the Moon Temple would not only stop absorbing twisted energy but would instead spew twisted energy outward. Once the twisted energy within the Moon Temple reversed and surged out, the Witch Realm would face a great disaster.
The only solution was for Moon Witch Serisilis to first stabilize the situation, then the wizard faction would cultivate wizards with sufficient tolerance to twisted energy, suppressing it generation after generation to extend the Witch Realm's lifespan.
What Moon Witch Serisilis didn't expect was that half of the twisted energy within the Moon Temple had disappeared. This allowed her, after becoming the temple's core, to become an existence similar to the First Moon Witch. This not only extended the Witch Realm's lifespan but allowed it to continue flourishing. As for the half of the twisted energy that disappeared from the temple, it was actually submitted by Su Xiao as [Twisted Aggregated Matter] to Reincarnation Paradise.
The remaining time in this world was running out. However, there was a problem: the strip-shaped [Wild Hunt Night] and the [King's Crown] covered in fine cracks in his storage space. After some consideration, he found a solution. Ask yourself, which blacksmith could resist the temptation to see with their own eyes the legendary weapon [Black Blade: Wild Hunger Wolf]?
[Prompt: Your stay limit in this world has been reached. You are about to return to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Space Teleporting...]
[Teleportation completed. You have returned to Reincarnation Paradise.]