Chapter 21: The Reason
Su Xiao examined the detailed list of the [Chain Quest: Dark Moon Ritual]. As the list expanded, a large number of completed quest branches appeared. After reviewing these dozens of branches, he gradually understood the situation.
This was indeed a large-scale chain quest, initiated by a large-scale adventure group from Death Paradise back when they were at the third rank. They had received the quest in a third-rank mission world that was half-collapsed and filled with bloody smoke.
The reason that third-rank world was in such a state was that half an ancient wyvern's heart had fallen into that world. When high-rank power falls into a low-rank world, it inevitably triggers catastrophic results.
After that, this large-scale adventure group from Death Paradise continued to complete this quest from the third rank onward. The worlds corresponding to this chain quest were mostly derived from items, body parts, etc., that had been accidentally teleported or fallen into mid-to-low-rank worlds during the bloody war between the Sun and Ancient Dragon factions.
By the time they reached the seventh rank, the quest began pointing toward world regions similar to [Pseudo-Sun Sanctuary: Chiriad]. Unfortunately, the adventure group could no longer hold on and was eventually wiped out. A lone wolf from Reincarnation Paradise obtained the key quest item left behind by this adventure group.
More precisely, it was because this adventure group encountered this lone wolf that they were wiped out. The combat power of this lone wolf was self-evident. He eventually pushed the quest to the ninth rank and triggered the most important choice of the [Chain Quest]. This choice had few hints, and its content was as follows:
Dark Moon, Blazing Sun, Ancient Wyvern.
From the current perspective, choosing the Dark Moon meant the current quest progress. Choosing the Blazing Sun meant going to Twilight City to complete the final stage of the quest. As for the Ancient Wyvern, the final stage of the quest would no longer be in this world; one would have to go to [Ancient Dragon Kingdom: Eberath].
This lone wolf successfully pushed the quest to the mid-to-late ninth rank before dying at the hands of five Death Rangers. These five were extremely formidable, being quintuplet brothers. Moreover, they had defeated this Reincarnation Paradise lone wolf in a fair and open battle. The mad lone wolf was convinced by his loss, so he told the five brothers about the chain quest and threw out the key quest item.
The five brothers didn't say anything about letting the lone wolf go. They had fought many mad lone wolves before and knew that at this point, sparing his life would be an insult. They didn't fully understand the mindset of the Reincarnation madmen, but the five brothers once again joined forces to activate their strongest ability and blasted the lone wolf to death.
Being able to kill this lone wolf proved the five brothers' strength beyond doubt. They pushed this quest all the way to the Absolute Strength level, until they entered Blazing Sun Star. The five brothers died in the Northern Continent. At this stage, the core quest item of this quest had acquired the characteristic of guaranteed drop upon death. It was then obtained by a combat angel of Absolute Strength rank from Apocalypse Paradise.
After several transfers, the core quest item was acquired by a medium-sized adventure group from Apocalypse Paradise. This adventure group had an astonishing threshold: only those who had reached the Absolute Strength rank were qualified to join. Although the number of members was small, their strength was beyond doubt. This was typical of Apocalypse Paradise; in other Paradise factions, such adventure groups would find it difficult to recruit members. The leader of this adventure group discovered the hidden enormous benefits of the [Dark Moon Quest].
He also determined that completing this quest would be a skyrocketing opportunity. The other members knew this as well. So after signing a team contract and agreeing on the distribution of rewards in advance, everyone began to go all out to tackle the quest.
This process was long and perilous. What happened during it was unknown to anyone. But when executing the final stage of this quest, only the leader of the adventure group remained. Su Xiao was certain of this because on the index finger of the skeleton he found deep in the Dark Zone, there was a ring bearing the insignia of an Apocalypse Paradise adventure group leader.
Let's call this adventure group leader Ring Leader. Ring Leader must have been quite strong and charismatic. However, the fact that he died in the Dark Zone had one obvious point that didn't add up.
First, although this was a chain quest with extremely rich rewards, for this adventure group, it wasn't worth the certain death risk. From this inference, during the group's exploration of this quest, up until they entered the [Dark Zone] of this world, there were no member casualties, or only very few members died because of this quest, which was within acceptable limits.
After all remaining members of this adventure group entered the Dark Zone, they were wiped out there. The point that truly puzzled Su Xiao was this: the final stage of the quest clearly marked that this [Moonfall Core] should be placed on the activation device at the deepest western part of the Dark Zone to activate the [Dark Moon Ritual].
However, after Su Xiao ventured deep into the Dark Zone, he didn't find Ring Leader's remains after going deep into the western side. Before entering the Dark Zone, he casually tossed a bag of Soul Coins to the squad leader who guided him. This didn't disappoint him; the other party told him that the western side of the Dark Zone had been particularly dangerous lately. Although Su Xiao always dared to take risks and challenge powerful enemies, he also had the habit of listening to advice and eating his fill, so he ventured into the eastern side.
Ring Leader, who was supposed to go to the westernmost part of the Dark Zone, died at the easternmost part of the Dark Zone, and not a single teammate was with him before his death.
Su Xiao looked at the quest reward. This [Abyss Chest (★★★★★)] looked more and more like a Daddy-level Original Sin Object.
Although the risk of opening this Abyss Chest was not low, if any treasure came out, it would be a fortune. This was the highest rank of Abyss Chest. Any treasure inside would be something one could only hope to encounter in ordinary times.
Su Xiao sat on a tall pile of haystacks. As the breeze blew gently, his gaze was distant. This time, he had accidentally activated [Chain Quest: Dark Moon Ritual], and it was directly triggered to the final stage of the quest. This made him very uncomfortable. He had never experienced such a pie-in-the-sky situation. From the first rank to Absolute Strength, this was the first time.
Could it be that through the effect of the [Hunter] title, crushing the poisoned divine soul of the Beast God had increased his Law-Destroying luck cap, and this had really turned his luck around?
After pondering for a few seconds, Su Xiao opened the World Contact Platform, found the name Platinum Apostle in the contact list, and contacted him. This scene looked confusing, but if one understood it thoroughly, it would feel very reasonable.
Don't forget that the three teams—Su Xiao's team, Shenfu's team, and Heimo's team—were undergoing the King's Trial. Each team had to defeat four powerful enemies, retrieving a total of 12 [Sun Source Stones] to allow the King's Trial to proceed to its final step.
The strength of the Beast God that Su Xiao's team had dealt with before needed no further elaboration. Currently, Shenfu's team and Heimo's team had each dealt with the Bloodthirsty Beast and the Giant Tree King. Now, all three teams were hoping for one thing: that the other two teams wouldn't have any problems. They just had to wait until this King's Trial ended, and then it would have nothing to do with them.
The core issue was that if any of the three teams were wiped out, the powerful enemies that team was supposed to deal with would be split among the other two teams.
With this analysis, it wasn't hard to understand why Su Xiao contacted Platinum Apostle. In terms of luck and fate, within this world, Platinum Apostle was definitely the strongest. As for the grudge between Tuanzhang and Platinum Apostle, Su Xiao and Tuanzhang had a close friendship, but in the Paradise factions, enemies were not shared by default.
For example, Su Xiao had a grudge against Arcane Eternal Star. Even if Tuanzhang cooperated with Arcane Eternal Star, Su Xiao wouldn't hold a grudge. When there was a conflict between factions, temporary cooperation was just mutual exploitation. At this moment, Su Xiao and Platinum Apostle were in this kind of short-term cooperation of mutual wariness and exploitation.
The confrontation between forces wasn't like children fighting, where each side was clearly divided. Not to mention far-off examples, just recently in Wind Sea Continent, Su Xiao's army had beaten the Sea Race until their heads were covered in bumps. His reputation among the Sea Race had reached [Extreme Mortal Enemy]. Yet now, the Sea King and the high-ranking Sea Race members still cooperated with him when necessary.
Su Xiao contacted Platinum Apostle in text form. Soon, the other party replied with two words: coordinates. Su Xiao sent his current coordinates to the other party. This was the outer district of Twilight City, so revealing these coordinates carried no risk.
About ten minutes later, a figure ran over from a distance. This person ran on all fours like a beast. When they got close, they fell to the ground and immediately died with no breath. Dense golden light particles drifted out from the corpse, forming a circle a few meters in front of Su Xiao. As the circle expanded, it reflected a dim environment. A figure of unknown gender, age, or appearance stood in the darkness.
"You have business with me?"
Platinum Apostle spoke. His voice had a gradual change, shifting from male to female, then back to male, and the tone gradually aged from youth, then slowly transformed back to a youthful timbre.
Su Xiao roughly explained his current situation to Platinum Apostle. Of course, he only mentioned the chain quest. He didn't mention anything more specific, such as the Dark Zone or the Dark Moon Ritual.
"If it were anyone else receiving a chain quest that had reached its final stage, it could be explained by luck. But you, Bai Ye, forgive my bluntness, I don't think you have that kind of luck."
Platinum Apostle's tone carried a hint of amusement. Although he didn't outright mock by saying, "Your luck attribute divided by 10, minus the negative luck from the basic fate concept, and you still encounter such good fortune," he relatively tactfully implied that given your level of misfortune, encountering this definitely had a problem.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. Seeing this, Platinum Apostle said to wait a moment. The three-meter-wide circle opposite turned into darkness.
More than half an hour later, the darkness within the circle slowly thinned. Platinum Apostle, still in the form of a black shadow, said:
"Someone temporarily enhanced your luck in a very subtle way. Judging by the situation, they probably knew through intelligence channels that you were about to enter a certain dangerous place. They paid a great price to temporarily boost your temporal luck, allowing you to pick up this big bargain."
Platinum Apostle paused for a few seconds after saying this, then continued: "As for the other party's location, they did it very covertly. The luck enhancement ritual was conducted on an isolated island on the eastern side of the Southern Continent. But the root of this matter is in Twilight City."
Platinum Apostle didn't provide any more specific information. In a situation of mutual exploitation, providing intelligence had to be done in moderation. If Su Xiao encountered a big problem, Shenfu's team wouldn't want to see that. But if Su Xiao's side was too smooth, Shenfu's team would also have a headache.
"Transactions must be equal. So, what's your payment?"
Hearing Platinum Apostle's words, Su Xiao tossed out a hand-drawn picture. This was drawn by Yueshitu based on Su Xiao's description and was quite skillful.
The content depicted was: deep in the eastern side of the Dark Zone, a Sun Altar was located there. A humanoid beast over five meters tall, with sparse, scorching hair, was lying on its back on this Sun Altar. A golden spear pierced through the center of its chest, deeply embedded into the altar below. It looked as if this humanoid beast had been pinned there from above by a spear.
The four powerful enemies Shenfu's team needed to deal with were: Giant Tree King, Undying Ascetic, Dark Moon Great Prince, and the Frenzied Sun Beast. They had already defeated the Giant Tree King. The Undying Ascetic was located in the Skeletal Grand Hall on the southwestern side of [Holy Heart City], the base camp of the Divine Cult.
The location of the Dark Moon Great Prince was temporarily unknown, as was the Frenzied Sun Beast. What Su Xiao provided was the location of the Frenzied Sun Beast. This powerful enemy was deep in the eastern side of the Dark Zone.
Both parties were very satisfied with this transaction. But this didn't prevent them from trying to kill each other when they met later.
Su Xiao certainly wouldn't fully believe the intelligence provided by Platinum Apostle. But the other party wouldn't be so low as to provide completely false intelligence. So the core of this intelligence—"the person who enhanced his temporal luck is in Twilight City"—had a credibility of over 90%.
With this line of thought, the rest was simple. Looking at the entire Twilight City, there were only two factions qualified and resourced to enhance Su Xiao's temporal luck: the Monarch faction under Blazing Sun Lord Ashrot, and the Great Library faction under the old monster.
If it were the Monarch faction doing this, Old Noble Augustus would definitely have informed Su Xiao in advance. The two sides were currently in a cooperative phase. Such a matter could be used as a bargaining chip; there was no need to be so sneaky. So, the one secretly enhancing his temporal luck was the old monster from the Great Library.
Looking at the entire Blazing Sun Star, the most powerful and influential were actually two people: Blazing Sun Lord Ashrot and the owner of the Great Library, the old monster. That might be an old monster who had lived from the First Era to the present.
Compared to these two, the Soul Academy, the Divine Cult, etc., were all secondary.
For now, he couldn't guess the old monster's purpose. But at least he had a psychological preparation. The subsequent response would definitely be different. Su Xiao checked the time. Everything was ready. It was time to face the second powerful enemy, the Tower Knight Commander.
On the vast wheat field, Su Xiao sat cross-legged on a haystack in meditation. Time passed minute by minute. Night fell quietly. Sometimes a night of darkness descended, but fortunately, Twilight City had a super-giant barrier protecting the entire royal city.
When the first sun of the next day rose, a figure floated over. The Daughter of Nature, Ailukelu, had the same habit as the Holy Maiden: if she could float, she wouldn't take a single step. Today, Ailukelu's hair was light gold, indicating she was in a good mood.
"Where are the other two?"
The Daughter of Nature, Ailukelu, was always wary of Su Xiao's trio. Not seeing Zuiyasi and Wude's traces now made her feel a bit uneasy.
"They have urgent business temporarily."
"Just the two of us to deal with the Tower Knight Commander?"
The Daughter of Nature, Ailukelu, frowned slightly.
"Are you afraid?"
Su Xiao, who had finished meditating, opened his eyes.
"Such a crude provocation."
"..."
Su Xiao remained silent and continued meditating. Time passed like this. After both sides were silent for an hour, the Daughter of Nature, Ailukelu, turned to leave.
Such a powerful damage dealer, plus a mobile treasure chest that could be backstabbed—how could he let her go like this? Su Xiao calmly exited meditation, extended his right hand, and a dark purple ring appeared in his hand.
"Bai Ye, are you looking down on me, or looking down on the wealth of Arcane Eternal Star? Do you think you can tempt an Absolute Strength spellcaster with a secret treasure?"
"This is the Dark Moon Ring."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Ailukelu's expression remained unchanged, but her heart was in turmoil. Her core purpose for coming to Blazing Sun Star this time was to obtain this [Dark Moon Ring].
The unstable Abyss Passage in the Void's Green Wetlands couldn't be closed. Even if the [Dark Moon Ring] couldn't close it, there was a decent chance it could shrink it. The danger of a small Abyss Passage was not on the same level as a medium or large one.
"Don't pretend to be calm. We know you came here to find this ring."
Baha, on Su Xiao's shoulder, spoke. This wasn't the end; it continued to add: "This time, Soul Lord Yowen Gewu can't enter Blazing Sun Star. You must know that. You are now the last hope. Don't think I'm exaggerating. The factions entering Blazing Sun Star this time are no longer just gods fighting. Even a violator like Hao Dao has come. Coupled with the declining royal blood of Twilight City, it's possible that this world, which has existed since the First Era, might collapse."
Baha's words made Ailukelu's expression turn unpleasant. Being seen through didn't surprise her too much. After all, she was teaming up with an old yinbi this time. It wasn't a matter of revealing flaws, but the fact that she hadn't withdrawn from the team earlier could be used as a clue for the other party to make a series of inferences.
"You can't possibly obtain the Dark Moon Ring."
"Oh? So you really came here for this ring."
Su Xiao tossed the 'Dark Moon Ring' in his hand. Hearing this, Ailukelu was so angry that her vision went dark.
As the saying goes, the simpler and more unadorned the trick, the more effective it could be. For example, this time, Su Xiao was originally 70% sure that Ailukelu was looking for the Dark Moon Ring. Now she had admitted it herself.
"Don't try to fool me with a fake."
"Oh, so the other Dark Moon Ring is in the tower."
Su Xiao nodded thoughtfully. Hearing this, Ailukelu was so angry that her vision went dark again. She steadied her breathing and simply remained silent.
"The Dark Moon Ring in the tower should have already failed. The preservation conditions there are too poor."
"..."
Ailukelu stopped talking, just staring at Su Xiao.
"Are you doubting that my Dark Moon Ring is fake?"
"Yes."
Ailukelu gritted her teeth and uttered this one word.
"Tell me, where did the Silver Moon Wolf originate?"
"The Light and Dark Realm."
Ailukelu began to shorten her sentences as much as possible. Baha, on Su Xiao's shoulder, interjected:
"Correct answer, it's the Light and Dark Realm. But getting it right doesn't earn a reward. The Light and Dark Realm is actually this world before it was sealed and transcended. The Silver Moon Wolf originated from the Dark Moon faction. And the Dark Moon Ring you crave is the proud work of the Dark Moon faction. There are many small Abyss Passages in this world. The Dark Moon faction naturally hoped to close all the Abyss Passages in their world. So they mobilized their entire clan's strength to develop this incredible miracle item, the Dark Moon Ring."
The more Baha spoke, the more infuriating its tone became. It said more clearly: "What is the relationship between the Law Destroyers and the Silver Moon Wolves? As a spellcaster, you must know. What is the relationship between the Silver Moon Wolves and the Dark Moon faction? You certainly know that too. My boss, as a blood oath ally of the Silver Moon Wolves, obtaining a Dark Moon Ring after entering this world—is that really surprising?"
"Heh~, without the permission of the Dark Moon Queen, even if you are blood oath allies of the Silver Moon Wolves, you still..."
"What are you talking about, spellcaster?"
Baha's expression was half-smiling. Then, the [Blood Moon Queen] pendant around Su Xiao's neck emitted a faint light. It seemed as if a Dark Moon appeared as a background behind him. Under the Dark Moon, there was also a hundred-meter-tall statue of a queen in splendid attire, as if standing in the center of the former Dark Moon main city.
"You seemed to have said something about a queen just now? I didn't hear clearly. Say it again."
Baha was an expert at messing with people's minds. Ailukelu simply remained silent.
"How about this, let's sign a contract..."
Just as Baha said this, Ailukelu interrupted firmly: "Impossible."
"Not signing a contract is fine too. How about this: you come with us to deal with the Tower Knight Commander. If we win, this Dark Moon Ring is yours. As far as we know, the number of Absolute Strength powerhouses in Arcane Eternal Star is actually greater than other factions estimate. After all, they have such a tall Black Maple Tree.
Presumably, your resource competition is fierce. A powerhouse of your caliber has a high probability of advancing to Supreme. The problem is, your spellcaster system is one of the highest-tier power systems. Among the four factions of Arcane Eternal Star, at this stage, more than one person has the qualifications to advance to Supreme, right? So the allocation of resources..."
A mosquito reminds you: bookmark, view the latest chapter content of "Reincarnation Paradise".
The more Baha smiled, the more contemptuous its expression became. It continued: "In the end, we have a personal grudge with the Oath faction represented by Mage Sage Seraphilia. With your Elemental faction, it's just factional hostility leading to relational hostility. Plus, you are the only spellcaster in Blazing Sun Star. If you don't tell, we don't tell, who will know we cooperated? Even if they find out, you did it for the Dark Moon Ring, a mutually exploitative cooperation with us. Don't you want to be the MVP of this round for Arcane Eternal Star?"
Ailukelu certainly wouldn't be fooled by Baha. But what Baha said wasn't entirely unreasonable. The competition within Arcane Eternal Star was fiercer than outsiders imagined. In a power system that devours natural elements, who wasn't a genius?
Ailukelu weighed the pros and cons for a moment and finally agreed to this deal. She would go with Su Xiao to deal with the Tower Knight Commander. As compensation, she would naturally receive the Dark Moon Ring that Su Xiao possessed.
The question was, where did Su Xiao get a Dark Moon Ring? Don't forget, he was a top-tier alchemist, plus he had mastered advanced Abyssology and strong Sealcraft. Combining these three high-level knowledge systems, he crafted a self-made Dark Moon Ring based on the artistic style of the [Blood Moon Queen] pendant and the dark purple tone commonly used by the Dark Moon faction.
This thing was an ultra-rare product of the First Era. It was already remarkable that Ailukelu knew of its existence and its specific function. As for having seen it with her own eyes, Su Xiao was betting that she didn't know the exact appearance of the Dark Moon Ring.
Whether the thing in Su Xiao's hand was the Dark Moon Ring or not didn't matter at all. The key was that Ailukelu felt it should be the Dark Moon Ring, and that was enough. Plus, with Su Xiao's three high-level knowledge systems as a foundation, the Dark Moon Ring he made was somewhat convincing. As for whether it had any effect... ahem, don't mind the details.
And later on, Su Xiao really intended to let this spellcaster bring the real Dark Moon Ring back to the Void. The reason was that if the Void suffered a large-scale Abyss invasion in the near future, it wouldn't be good for Su Xiao. The Void was the top of the Star Realm. If the Void suffered a large-scale Abyss invasion, the six Paradise factions had a decent chance of issuing a large number of Abyss quests. At that point, the situation would be very unfavorable for Su Xiao.
What Su Xiao needed now was time—time to advance to Supreme in the future and to rapidly increase his combat power at the Supreme level.
As for how to make Ailukelu bring the real Dark Moon Ring back to the Void, it was simple. First, let her assist in dealing with the Tower Knight Commander. After defeating the Tower Knight Commander, with Su Xiao's practiced skill in backstabbing immediately after victory, honed with his other two "good teammates," he had over 90% confidence in seizing the real Dark Moon Ring that the Tower Knight Commander possessed after being defeated.
Ailukelu, who had been backstabbed, naturally wouldn't let it go. The problem was that the real Dark Moon Ring was already in Su Xiao's hands. This way, later on, he could use the real Dark Moon Ring to sincerely invite Ailukelu to go together to deal with the third powerful enemy in the [Dark Moon Nightmare].