Chapter 23: Time and the Tower
Twilight City, Great Library, Underground Floor Five.
Various pipes and cables were distributed and intertwined here, like the blood vessels and nerves within a giant body. These pipes and cables converged on an iron-black metal platform at the center, giving it a style reminiscent of a steel-and-flesh birthing bed.
On this bed lay a figure with a faint aura. His appearance was strange; he seemed to be in his thirties, yet looked exceptionally aged. Judging by an ordinary person's physical signs, one might believe he was seventy or eighty years old.
Several Sun Scholars from the library surrounded him, using various methods to prolong his life. Fortunately, this was the Great Library of the Sun Faction. No other force in this world could have extended his life by even half a second.
The four Sun Scholars currently by his side had inherited a large number of healing-type "Sun Miracles" from the Sun God Clan. In terms of life-prolonging abilities alone, these four could rank among the top three in the entire Void Realm.
This man was named Ashvis, more commonly known as the Hand of Fate·Ashvis. Ashvis hailed from the Star Realm, one of the few great worlds in the Void Realm second only to the Transcendent Worlds. Born into a prestigious family, his talent in the Fate System was never wasted.
Unlike other geniuses in his family, Ashvis had understood one thing from a young age: the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. So he never actively sought the spotlight, instead secretly helping his family divine fortunes and predict crises. Over time, even the clan leader, who was of his great-grandfather's generation, regarded him not as a future talent but as an indispensable core member of the family.
Without benefits, Ashvis never displayed his abilities. Even when benefits were involved, he would insist on keeping everything low-key with the other party. This decision proved correct. Ashvis faced no fatal risks until his strength reached the Ninth Rank.
Ashvis was no hothouse flower; this guy was naturally as steady as an old dog. Even if a great calamity were to strike one day, he would surely remain resilient and cautious. However, being low-key didn't mean he lacked ambition. From the moment he reached the peak of Ninth Rank, he began to covet the divine throne of the Goddess of Fortune.
Adhering to his steady-as-an-old-dog style, Ashvis advanced to Absolute Strength, followed by a long and steady accumulation process. By the time his strength as a Fate System user reached the peak of Absolute Strength, this was quite rare. Typically, Fate System users reaching the mid-to-lower tier of Absolute Strength was already impressive. After that, they wouldn't enhance their own strength but would specialize in developing their primary Fate abilities.
Ashvis had a different view. In his opinion, if one's own strength wasn't sufficient, then once their primary Fate ability reached a certain level, it would inevitably backfire. This was why those who had glimpsed fate throughout history rarely met a good end. To peer into fate, one must have the qualifications to bear its weight.
The problem was that advancing to Supreme required massive resources. Even at the minimum threshold, becoming a Supreme with the lowest ceiling required resources Ashvis couldn't afford.
As for help from his family, Ashvis didn't want his family to grow any stronger. He had glimpsed their fortune; their limit was already reached. If they forcibly broke through this limit, his family would indeed become stronger, but within a few years, they would face utter destruction.
To elevate an Absolute Strength powerhouse to Supreme, the resource consumption was so immense that even the wealthy Arcane Eternal Star would have to deliberate on which Absolute Strength Spellcaster was more worthy of promotion. Of course, Arcane Eternal Star's promotions were high-spec potential advancements to Supreme, requiring a hundred times the resources of Ashvis's low-spec advancement.
Helpless, Ashvis had to slowly accumulate on his own. He originally planned to remain as steady as an old dog, but one day, when he divined his own future, he suddenly found the result was pitch black. This startled him greatly. Then, bearing great risk, he slightly glimpsed the near future of the Void Realm... still pitch black.
This convinced Ashvis that a major event was about to occur in the Void Realm. He had to advance to Supreme before then. Only then could he secure enough chances of survival in this unknown disaster.
Thus, his steady-as-an-old-dog style had to change slightly. He would also try to accept high-risk commissions. Eventually, through the Hunter Guild, he received a commission from the Great Library of Twilight City on Blazing Sun Star.
At first, Ashvis's heart was resistant, but the Great Library offered too much. After arriving at Twilight City on Blazing Sun Star, Ashvis still hesitated. But when he saw those cursed silver coins, his thought was: Isn't this just the legendary "Law-Destroyer Fortune"? This is the Third Era now. The fortune of a single Law Destroyer should be far weaker than those of the Ancestral Law Destroyers from the Second Era.
And so, Ashvis set up the Fortune Amplification Ritual. When he stood at the center of the Fate Array and activated it, he realized something was wrong. Previously, boosting fortune meant he actively transformed World Force into "Fate Aura" and applied it to the target.
But this time, Ashvis felt the surrounding World Force surging toward him. He was forced from being the controller into a "World Force → Fate Aura" converter. Worse, this conversion consumed his Fortune Energy. Not long after the ritual started, his Fortune Energy was depleted, and it began forcibly consuming his Primordial Life Force.
Now, Ashvis lay weakly on the bed. He tremblingly raised his right hand, having lost count of how many times he'd tried to interrupt the ritual. But the next second, his hand was slapped away with a *smack*.
Seeing this, a Sun Scholar placed Ashvis's lowered right arm back on the bed and patted his shoulder, as if comforting him that with them around, he definitely wouldn't die.
"I want to see... that Law Destroyer."
Ashvis spoke tremblingly. A Sun Scholar with a braided beard sighed and told the truth: "Child, it's hard for us to fulfill that request."
"Why...?" Ashvis's eyes widened.
"Actually, we're currently hostile with that Law Destroyer."
Ashvis nearly sat up in shock from his dying state. He wanted to roar, 'Are you people crazy? Helping an enemy boost their fortune, and even hiring someone at a high price to enhance their luck?'
Seeing Ashvis's intense emotional fluctuation, the elderly Sun Scholar comforted him: "If nothing unexpected happens, that Law Destroyer should have already reached the Ancient Tower. Once he defeats the Tower Knight Commander, he'll definitely return to Twilight City to rest. Then we can meet him."
"So..."
"So just hold on for a few more days."
"A few... days?"
Ashvis's lips trembled with anger. He had survived to his current strength, so he wasn't someone particularly afraid of death. But this way of dying was too frustrating.
Ashvis closed his eyes, swearing inwardly that from now on, he would stay as far away from that Law Destroyer as possible. Little did he know, sometimes things don't go as planned.
...
Sacred Heart City, southwest side, Skeletal Grand Auditorium.
Black tentacles gradually dissolved into the air. Shenfu, Platinum Apostle, and Archbishop of the Abyss stood or sat. The Skeletal Grand Auditorium, having just experienced a deadly battle, was in shambles. Clearly, Shenfu's team had defeated their second strong enemy, the Undying Ascetic.
"Shenfu, how did your plan with Bai Ye go?"
The Archbishop of the Abyss broke the silence. The plan he mentioned was precisely Shenfu's secret contact with Su Xiao to conspire to kill the Archbishop of the Abyss.
"Fairly smoothly."
Shenfu showed no shock at having his plan exposed, instead remaining as calm as if chatting casually.
In reality, before going to cooperate with Su Xiao, Shenfu had already told the Archbishop of the Abyss that he would team up with Su Xiao to backstab him.
Thus, no matter how you looked at it, Shenfu was setting a trap, using the pretext of backstabbing the Archbishop of the Abyss to scheme against Su Xiao.
But if you thought that, you were only on the second level. Shenfu clearly knew that secretly allying with Su Xiao without alerting the Archbishop of the Abyss was impossible. The Archbishop's Dark System abilities were pervasive.
So, it was better to play it openly. The Archbishop's Dark System abilities were pervasive? Fine. Under the surveillance of those abilities, openly ally with Su Xiao, so openly that the Archbishop of the Abyss would find it hard to be suspicious.
Platinum Apostle witnessed all this but said nothing. His plan could only be implemented after the Archbishop of the Abyss was backstabbed.
Strangely enough, this team of three old schemers, with thousands of schemes between them, was highly efficient when dealing with strong enemies.
...
Ancient Tower, Top Floor, Dilapidated Room.
*Ding~*
Su Xiao flicked a Soul Coin into the air and caught it with one hand. He deliberately didn't sense the coin's flight path or which side was up, simply guessing it was heads.
Opening his hand, it was tails.
He flicked the Soul Coin again and guessed wrong once more. This gave him some understanding of his own fortune. The boost from that unknown Fate System had been obvious at first, but over time, it became intermittent.
Rising from the crystal seat, Su Xiao walked to the door. Pushing it open, he reached the central area of this floor. At the center was the shaft of an elevator. Due to age, the cylindrical railing around the shaft had decayed. Looking down, it was clogged with dark purple substance.
Over 95% of the top floor was occupied by this dark purple substance. Su Xiao sensed Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha's positions. They were in another area of the top floor, empty except for stairs leading down.
The area Su Xiao was in had four doors and stairs leading up. Going up would take him to the top of the Ancient Tower, completing a Hunt Bounty.
"Hunt Bounty 3: Tower - Ascend to the Top of the Ancient Tower."
Su Xiao estimated that the strong enemy he'd face this time was likely at the tower's top. As for Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha, the Ancient Tower's spatial conditions were too special. Summoning them or using a teleportation array was too risky.
Moreover, the Tower Knight Commander was likely a powerhouse who had dominated brutal battlefields all his life. Surrounding such an enemy would probably trigger some passive ability, further boosting his combat power.
So Su Xiao had Bubu Wang and the others explore the lower parts of the tower for treasures. After receiving Bubu Wang's reply, he closed the team channel and looked at the four doors on the right semicircular wall.
*Knock knock knock.*
Su Xiao tried knocking on the first door. He felt that this gray-brown door, covered in unknown patterns, might possess some unimaginably powerful ability.
"Who is it?"
An anxious, somewhat neurotic voice came from inside.
Su Xiao didn't speak. The room fell silent briefly, but the person inside clearly lacked patience, asking urgently:
"Is it the Queen finally summoning me?"
The voice was excited. Hearing this, Su Xiao frowned slightly. He tentatively placed one hand on the wooden door. 1 second, 2 seconds...
*Crack crack crack~*
Cracks began to appear on the door. He lifted his hand, and the cracks slowly healed. This confirmed one thing: the door and everything behind it didn't exist in his time point.
More precisely, the time inside the door was frozen, like an insect trapped in amber. When Su Xiao, with a normal "time concept," touched this door of time—sealed for who knows how many millennia—it would gradually synchronize, then instantly pass through millions of years, causing the door and everything inside to turn to ash.
"Answer me! Is the Queen summoning me? Or have the Seven Knights under the Sun King attacked? We have Lord Kulos! The Knight Commander on the tower, symbol of the supreme moonlight! The final victor will be us! And you must tell the Queen for me: I didn't kill the Wolf King! It wasn't me! The Moon Wolves just left temporarily; they haven't completely given up on us. Yes, that's right. The Moon Wolves just left temporarily. We killed the Wolf King out of necessity. Yes, that's how it is. It can't be wrong."
The person inside muttered to himself, growing more distracted. After calming down a bit, he said:
"I feel like a long time has passed, yet... not a single moment has gone by. Ah~, I remember now. I killed the Wolf King, and the Queen imprisoned me in the time cage at the tower's top. You're not from this era, are you, outsider?"
The person inside laughed a few times, then continued:
"I didn't want to kill the Wolf King either, but it was about to lose control. We went together to the Dark Domain to check the Abyss Passage. It kept whispering dark knowledge from the Abyss to me, right in my ear. I warned it, but it denied it. We are Abyss Watchers! How can we peek at that dark knowledge? I killed the Wolf King before it completely lost control. Those Moon Wolves actually demanded the Queen execute me! How absurd! Even more absurd, the Queen ordered me imprisoned here. Tell me, isn't that absurd?"
The person inside grew angrier as he spoke.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't answer. He placed his hand on the door, and cracks began to spread. This person inside couldn't be judged as good or bad. He was once an Abyss Watcher from the First Era, but prolonged exposure to Abyss Force eroded him, causing him to lose control and kill the current Wolf King of the Moon Wolf Clan.
Even considering the combat boost from losing control due to Abyss erosion, this Abyss Watcher could kill the Wolf King and return to the tower. His original strength must have been on par with the Wolf King.
The cracks on the door grew until it finally shattered. Everything inside turned to ash in an instant. Su Xiao did this to minimize potential risks when facing the Tower Knight Commander later. He didn't want to fight a powerhouse like the Tower Knight Commander while a First Era Abyss Watcher suddenly appeared, which would be certain death.
[Tip: You have obtained the Abyss Watcher's Soul Embers (Special Item).]
[Taking this item to the Wolf Tomb on Black Mist Island can enhance the "Overlord Equipment: Silver Moon Blade" once.]
[Tip: After this enhancement, the "Overlord Equipment: Silver Moon Blade" will reach its absolute maximum strength.]
...
This was an unexpected gain. Su Xiao collected the floating [Soul Embers], then turned and left the now-empty room.
Approaching the second Time Door, Su Xiao was about to knock when the door shattered, and everything inside turned to ash. This Time Door was extremely unstable; even approaching caused it to break.
Entering the second room, Su Xiao found many engraved marks on the wall. These were likely traditional summoning arrays, possibly of the highest tier. Traditional summoning arrays used Charm Attribute as the core attribute, supplemented by Array Studies.
Su Xiao's summoning array, however, was entirely based on Array Studies, with no Charm Attribute boost. In fact, he did his best to avoid his Charm Attribute negatively affecting his summoning array.
Although Su Xiao couldn't understand the traditional summoning array knowledge on the wall, it was valuable. He took out paper and a pen to record it. Such high-level arrays couldn't be photographed; he needed to capture their essence.
After a while, Su Xiao put away his notebook and left. He found that no matter how he tried, what he drew was different from the traditional summoning array on the wall. Even with 100% imitation, after drawing it and looking up, the shape was the same, but something felt off.
Preliminary analysis: Su Xiao suspected that his Charm Attribute of -26 made it impossible for him to understand traditional summoning arrays, which used Charm as the core attribute.
Stopping at the third Time Door, Su Xiao knocked.
*Knock knock knock.*
The chaotic noises inside suddenly stopped.
"Hello there."
A little girl's voice came from inside.
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, Su Xiao turned and walked toward the fourth door. Facing the Abyss Watcher earlier, he could keep his hand on the door, using time synchronization to put it to eternal rest, minimizing unknown risks.
But with the little girl inside, Su Xiao decided not to touch this Time Door. The risk was too high. First, imprisoning a serious criminal in a Time Door was likely a privilege only the Dark Moon Queen possessed.
From various signs, the Dark Moon Queen wasn't cruel. It was basically impossible for her to imprison an innocent little girl in a Time Door. Even if she did, an innocent girl couldn't have survived inside until now. Time inside was frozen, but one could feel time passing outside. This torment would drive even someone with a strong will and over 300 Willpower points insane.
Given these conditions, after knocking on the Time Door and hearing a sweet little girl's voice saying "Hello there," the correct choice was to leave immediately.
The existence inside seemed to notice Su Xiao leaving. With a loud *bang* of impact, a roar mixing male, female, young, and old voices came from inside. Countless claws scratched and scraped inside, and the rough sound of biological tissue flowing and rubbing against the wall came from behind the door.
Su Xiao arrived at the fourth Time Door.
*Knock knock knock.*
After knocking, there was a few seconds of silence, then a sigh.
"Do you have the qualifications?"
An aged voice came from inside.
"..."
Su Xiao still didn't speak. These Time Doors held too many unknowns. Speaking with the existence inside was also a form of causal contact. One misstep could lead to uncontrollable consequences.
"You're not qualified yet. First, go to the tower top and defeat the Knight Commander. If you win, come back and find me."
With that, the faint aura behind the fourth Time Door vanished, as if nothing was there.
Su Xiao walked toward the stairs leading to the tower top. As he stepped on each stair, the surroundings suddenly darkened. After a slight spatial distortion, he underwent a very short teleportation, probably only a dozen meters.
When the spatial mist dissipated, Su Xiao stood on the top of the Ancient Tower. The circular tower top was spacious and flat, several hundred meters in diameter, with a low wall less than a meter high at the edges.
A prompt for completing the Hunt Bounty appeared, but Su Xiao didn't look at it. At the center of the tower top, a greatsword was stuck in the ground. There was no sign of the Tower Knight Commander.
Su Xiao stepped forward and placed one hand on the end of the greatsword. The next second, everything around him froze, then time flowed rapidly until a full moon hung in the sky.
Strangely, after night fell, it was neither a Dark Night nor a Blood Night, but a normal night. The only special thing was the moonlight, which had a faint blue-white hue.
A black shadow appeared beneath the full moon. As it fell at high speed, a pressure descended, making Su Xiao's shoulders feel heavy. The entire tower seemed to tremble.
*Boom!*
The figure landed on the tower top. Slowly standing up, it grasped the greatsword's hilt with one hand. As this figure, over three meters tall, held it, blue patterns appeared on the greatsword, spreading to the tip.
Faint murmuring seemed to whisper in the air. The figure was clad in black armor that clung to its body like a second skin, even the knuckles intricately detailed. A dark blue cape showed signs of wear, and the moon-eclipse emblem on it signified that this was the leader of all Moon-Eclipse Knights.
Yes, this was the last glory of the Dark Moon Faction from the First Era, the Dark Moon Kingdom: Tower Knight Commander·Kulos.
Under the full moon's illumination, the tower top wasn't dark but had a clear, faint glow. A gust of wind blew, making the cape flutter loudly. When the wind subsided, a torrential downpour fell. Raindrops struck the greatsword's edge and the long blade's edge, splashing water everywhere. At the same time, the two figures on the tower top vanished.
Black clouds covered the moonlight, plunging the tower top into darkness. A flash of lightning lit it up for an instant. The greatsword and long blade clashed.
*Boom!*
The large-scale spatial collapse caused by the clash suppressed the simultaneous thunder.
On the tower top, one side was moonlight, the other was blood aura. The two collided, each occupying half the tower top, eroding and suppressing each other. Almost simultaneously, the rain curtain falling in this area froze in midair.
*Crack!*
A bolt of lightning struck down, hitting a metal pillar on the right side of the tower top. The electricity conducted along the ground, climbing onto Su Xiao and the Tower Knight Commander, then spreading to the weapons in their hands. The blades ground against each other, producing *crack* sounds and sparks, as arcs of electricity surged through them.
The deathmatch had begun.