Chapter 32: The Choice
The so-called "Fate-Determined Advance" is more like an overloaded advance. Before mentioning this ability, one must first clarify the relationship between "Fate-Determined Advance" and Delona.
"Fate-Determined Advance" has two parts: "Acquisition" and "Cost." These are two stages. The black-dressed Delona can achieve the first stage, while the Abyss Delona controls the second stage.
Understanding this, the "Fate-Determined Advance" ability becomes easy to grasp. First, it is a passive-type ability, but this passive differs from the usual understanding of passive abilities. It requires someone to actively seek out Delona and request her to use this ability before she can employ it. This request process is called the "Ritual."
After completing the "Ritual" step, the person is recognized as a Desirer. The Desirer cannot make wishes to Delona or anything like that. Instead, they obtain in advance something they might or could definitely obtain in their future life.
To make an analogy: an ordinary person finds Delona and completes the "Request Ritual," temporarily becoming a Desirer. If this ordinary person wants 1 million Gulang (a common worker in Twilight City earns 800 to 1,200 Gulang per month), there must be a prerequisite: this ordinary person's lifetime must be capable of earning 1 million Gulang for them to complete the "Acquisition" step.
"Fate-Determined Advance" is not an all-powerful wish-granting ability. Moreover, all Fate-type ability users, regardless of strength, consider universal wish-granting to be particularly unreliable. This method of acquisition that heavily breaks the balance of fate will inevitably cause massive backlash.
The so-called "Fate-Determined Advance" allows the Desirer to obtain in advance something they might obtain in their lifetime. This method of advance acquisition naturally comes with a cost.
The "Acquisition" step is controlled by the black-dressed Delona. When the Desirer obtains what they desire, it is the Abyss Delona's turn to collect the cost, and this cost is the Desirer's Fate Force.
All living beings have their own Fate Force. Some people suffer misfortune throughout their lives, dying young from serious illness or accidents. Such people have relatively little Fate Force, perhaps only 30 to 50. It is worth noting that once Fate Force is consumed, it cannot be restored. More precisely, it can only increase, not recover.
Fate Force naturally increases, and there are quite a few ways to do so. For example, becoming stronger, gaining fame and prestige, or even being thoroughly evil will increase Fate Force. A more intuitive way to put it is: the more living beings or things a person influences, the greater their Fate Force becomes.
The lower limit of Fate Force is innate, while the upper limit is determined by each choice a person makes during their growth.
The cost collected by "Fate-Determined Advance" is the Desirer's Fate Force. The specific amount collected depends on the content of the Desirer's "Acquisition."
If Su Xiao used "Fate-Determined Advance" to obtain 1 million Gulang, the Fate Force he would lose would be so minimal as to be almost negligible. In countless future causal threads, let alone obtaining 1 million Gulang, even obtaining billions of Gulang would be effortless for him.
Furthermore, "Fate-Determined Advance" has a clear classification for acquisitions, namely the quantity of the acquisition. If it is a currency with a large base like Gulang, the Fate Force required would be moderate. However, if the desired item is scarce, or even a unique item with only one in existence, the Fate Force required would skyrocket.
For obtaining a desired item with a large base, "Fate-Determined Advance" is more like replication. For example, replicating currency to fulfill the Desirer's desire.
If it is a unique item, what "Fate-Determined Advance" does is move that unique item. This is conceptually different from spatially moving an item. It is about constructing the causality of this unique item out of thin air and, relying on this causality, forcibly pulling it over.
From this perspective, "Fate-Determined Advance" can't do much. But if one changes their thinking, this ability becomes entirely different. Suppose a Desirer is about to go to an ancient underground palace to compete with many people for a supreme treasure, and they only have a 0.1% chance of successfully obtaining it.
Under such a premise, this person can come to Delona before going to the ancient underground palace and, through "Fate-Determined Advance," obtain the supreme treasure that they only had a 0.1% chance of getting in their fate, with a 100% probability. Of course, the subsequent cost to be paid would be severe.
The terrifying part is that if obtaining this supreme treasure should require 100,000 Fate Force, but the Desirer only has 500 Fate Force, it will trigger "Causal Devouring." The so-called "Causal Devouring" centers on the Desirer, drawing Fate Force from the people around them.
If the Fate Force of their immediate family is drained and still cannot fill the gap, it will draw from their clan members. If the clan members are still insufficient, it will draw from the people of the same city. If still not enough, it will draw from the same race. Once the same race is insufficient, then... all living beings in the same world will have their Fate Force drained.
It is important to note that the "Causal Devouring" triggered by "Fate-Determined Advance" differs from the Fate Devouring conducted by the Platinum Apostle. Although Fate Devouring is terrifying, it is a gradual devouring. The devoured person's Fate Force is completely drained, and the remaining "empty shell" can still act normally for a period, just being more prone to seeking death.
In contrast, "Causal Devouring" drains a living being's Fate Force in an instant. At the same time, the living being's physical body cannot withstand this draining force and shatters.
Just imagining the scene of all living beings in an entire world shattering in the same instant can convey the terror and power of "Fate-Determined Advance."
Moreover, what can be advanced is not only items obtainable in the future but also the combat power realm achievable in the future.
If a Desirer, in their original fate, would achieve Absolute Strength after thousands of years of effort, but now only has First Rank strength, they could also use "Fate-Determined Advance" to instantly achieve the Absolute Strength level. However, the cost this would trigger would certainly be a catastrophic disaster level.
As for instantly reaching the Supreme level, "Fate-Determined Advance" should be capable of it. This is a very high-level Abyss-type ability. However, the cost would no longer be a matter of a single world collapsing but of thousands of adjacent worlds instantly turning into stardust, then being devoured by an appearing Fate Black Hole.
The final result would be that the Desirer would never have the chance to become a Supreme, because before becoming one, they would already die in the "Causal Absorption" stage, and it would also cause the collapse of many worlds.
"Bai Ye, are you saying my sister has the ability to destroy Blazing Sun Star in an instant?"
Lucius's expression was complex, tinged with worry.
"Not entirely."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Both of them are your sister."
Su Xiao's words made Lucius look confused. "Didn't you just say that one of them comes from the Abyss?"
"Yes, but she is indeed your sister."
Hearing this, Lucius's gaze grew even more puzzled. "The 'Fate-Determined Advance' ability comes from the Dark Cradle in the Abyss, not Delona's personal ability. The two of them, one activates the ability, and the other collects the cost of the ability. But the ability itself does not belong to them."
Su Xiao explained the situation to Lucius using Abyssology, after all, this was a client holding two "Primordial Cores."
"What is the Dark Cradle?"
"Your father was originally eroded by the special dark source matter spreading from the Dark Cradle, and then with your stepmother..."
"Ahem~, she is my stepmother, just younger."
"And then with your stepmother, he conceived Delona. Delona is a twin, but because of the Dark Cradle, they share one body. In this situation, one is called Delona, and the other would be more suitable to be called Ayesha."
"This..."
Lucius was even more bewildered, then asked, "Why?"
"Transliterating this world's language into Abyss script, Ayesha is the transliteration of Dark Cradle, Abyss Cradle. If she is called Ayesha, when collecting the cost and resonating with the Dark Cradle, the causal risk would be smaller."
As Su Xiao spoke, Delona's pupils, hair, and clothing changed, transforming into the appearance of the Abyss Delona. She said, "I like... the name Ayesha."
Thus, the two could be distinguished. The silver-haired, black-dressed one, responsible for the giving part in the "Fate-Determined Advance" ability, was Delona. The black-haired, white-dressed one with pitch-black eyes, responsible for collecting the cost in the "Fate-Determined Advance" ability, was Ayesha.
Although the two sisters shared one body, most of the time, Delona controlled the body. The reason was that Ayesha, who liked to be alone in the darkness, found that the consciousness space was more tranquil and dim than any place. Lying there was like lying in the Dark Cradle. She even told Delona not to bother her unless necessary. The struggle for control of the body ended in this peculiar way.
Lucius looked at his biological sister Delona, who had a sly smile in her eyes and was smiling at him. For some reason, he suddenly felt that this biological sister might be harder to take care of than the sister from the Abyss. Not to mention anything else, just this expression at this moment meant she would definitely be a little troublemaker in the future.
"Brother, let me introduce you. This is Shadow. Thanks to Shadow, I was able to survive and see you."
Delona's eyes were moist. The Shadow Anomaly hiding in the shadows floated out. Facing Lucius, who was at the peak of Absolute Strength, and Su Xiao, it naturally felt fear. It was not weak in this Dark Moon Nightmare, possessing early Absolute Strength combat power, but against Su Xiao or Lucius, it would definitely be instantly killed.
"Hello."
Lucius smiled and nodded. Black mist drifted from the Shadow Anomaly's body, a polite response.
"Brother! I finally see you!"
Having successfully reunited with her family, Delona pounced and hugged her brother Lucius, then burst into tears. This made Lucius, a heavy-armored great warrior who had experienced countless life-and-death situations, feel a pang in his nose. Yes, his biological sister had just been born in this Dark Moon Nightmare. It was unimaginable how she had survived until now.
If the nightmare creatures in this area knew what Lucius was thinking, they would probably cry their noses out and bow to him, thanking him for taking away this female demon who had plagued them for years.
Just as Lucius was about to comfort Delona a few words, Delona suddenly stopped hugging her brother and, with tears in her eyes, said to Lucius, "Brother, do you have money? Soul Coins."
"Huh?"
Lucius's "Huh?" was both puzzled and surprised. "I've been taken care of by friends here. Now that I'm leaving, I want to give them some small parting gifts."
"?"
The Shadow Anomaly was confused. In its territory on the south side of the Old King City, Delona had always been the one bullying the nightmare creatures. When did she have friends? And she wanted to give parting gifts?
The Shadow Anomaly used body language to inquire, but after being quietly glared at by Delona, it muttered a few words in Nightmare Language, but no one present except Delona could understand.
Seeing this scene, Lucius suddenly felt that this little cotton-padded jacket he had just found might be a bit drafty.
Ignoring Delona, who was humming a tune and radiating happiness from the inside out because she had found her brother, Su Xiao took the wooden box Lucius tossed over. Opening it, inside were two "Primordial Cores" and 32 "Primordial Fragments."
Previously, Lucius had raised the price three times. The first time was 5 "Primordial Fragments," the second was 20 "Primordial Fragments," and the third was one "Primordial Core." Originally, Su Xiao thought it was an overlapping increase, only adding one "Primordial Core." Now it seemed it was a cumulative increase. The hunting group exploring the unlit area was indeed rich in this kind of resource, and Lucius was indeed generous.
Besides this gain, Su Xiao had also obtained the [Blazing Sun Greatsword] from defeating the False King. The other items on the False King related to the Sun King, such as the crown and cloak, were all fake, but the [Blazing Sun Greatsword] in his hand was genuine.
This solved Su Xiao's confusion. How could a guy like the False King possess a "Sun Source Stone"? It should have been taken away long ago. Now it seemed that the False King had accidentally discovered the [Blazing Sun Greatsword] and, at the same time, found a "Sun Source Stone" beside it.
Due to their fear of the [Blazing Sun Greatsword] held by the False King, the strong who were qualified to seize the "Sun Source Stone" naturally would not act rashly. Moreover, the False King had hidden in the Dark Moon Nightmare, where the Dark Moon Great Prince and the White Wolf Lord were both very strong.
Among them, the White Wolf Lord was the third strong opponent the Big Brain Team had to deal with. From the fact that the Big Brain Team's leader, Tyrant, had started recruiting temporary teammates on the World Contact Platform, it was evident that the Big Brain Team had been beaten by the White Wolf Lord to the point of wearing a "pain mask."
As for the Dark Moon Great Prince, he was probably the strongest in the Dark Moon Nightmare·Old King City. Usually, the White Wolf Lord was the strongest, but when the Dark Moon Great Prince's seal was fully released, the latter was stronger.
Why would the Dark Moon Great Prince's seal be fully released? It wasn't because Su Xiao had read the records in the ancient tower that he used the "Dark Moon Ring" aimed at the Blood Moon in the sky, temporarily turning the Blood Moon in the nightmare into a Dark Moon, causing the Platinum Apostle and the Archbishop of the Abyss, who were fighting the Dark Moon Great Prince, to suddenly feel their pressure skyrocket.
Through the World Contact Platform, Su Xiao found that Shenfu had "miraculously come back to life," but this also showed that the pressure of the battle against the Dark Moon Great Prince had soared to an absurd level.
Regarding which faction in Twilight City to hand the [Blazing Sun Greatsword] to, Su Xiao decided to give it to the Great Library. Giving it to the Great Library would cap the main quest reward at 95.8%. Conversely, giving it to the Monarch Faction would bring the main quest reward cap to 1068%, a reward difference of over ten times. The problem was, no matter how high the reward, it was meaningless if one couldn't live to collect it.
Su Xiao dared to fight strong enemies, but he had no intention of fighting the owner of the [Blazing Sun Greatsword].
Opening the quest list, the main quest·Fourth Ring had no clues. But this didn't stump Su Xiao. He took out the [Nightmare Pointer].
[Nightmare Pointer]
Origin: Nightmare Region·Gluttony Clan.
Quality: Immortal Rank.
Category: Special Equipment.
Durability: 20/20 points.
Equipment Requirement: Willpower 180 points or more, Sanity Value 350 points or more.
Equipment Effect: Pointer (Active). This pocket watch has only one hand. Activating this effect in a nightmare region allows two choices: Treasure or Escape Route.
Prompt: Activating Treasure will cause the watch's hand to always point toward the treasure in the nightmare region.
Prompt: Activating Escape Route will cause the watch's hand to always point toward the exit of the nightmare region.
Prompt: This item can be used a maximum of two times in each nightmare region. Attempting a third use in the same nightmare region will permanently damage this item.
Prompt: Each use of this item consumes 1 point of equipment durability, with a cooldown of 1 hour.
Rating: 1500 points.
Description: A protective item gifted by the Gluttony Clan to a friend. With this, one will not be lost in nightmares.
Price: 10 ounces of Dream Essence.
Su Xiao activated the [Nightmare Pointer] and chose to seek treasure. He guessed that the treasures in this Old King City should have long been found by the nightmare creatures, not waiting for outsiders to search. If so, the treasure pointed to by the [Nightmare Pointer] would shift from treasures to precious rare materials.
The "Moon Altar" mentioned in the main quest·Fourth Ring was certainly not an ordinary altar. The materials composing this altar would likely be recognized as treasure by the [Nightmare Pointer]. Even if this method failed, he still had the [Navigation Compass] in his storage space.
The last time he activated the [Navigation Compass], it did point out a direction, but the [Origin Stone·World (Fragment)] he was looking for was stored by the World Consciousness of Eternal Light World. Therefore, the location of that [Origin Stone·World (Fragment)] was destined to be unreachable by the [Navigation Compass]'s pointer, triggering a loophole that wasn't entirely a loophole, allowing this compass to be used one more time.
Although this item was Immortal Rank, it could have a life-or-death decisive effect at critical moments. Moreover, Immortal Rank was not low among the later quality tiers.
In fact, Reincarnation Paradise's equipment system had only seven quality tiers. White to Gold quality could be considered one large tier, the beginner's basic equipment. Thus, it would be: Basic Equipment, Legendary, Epic, Holy Spirit, Immortal, Origin, Eternal.
The [Nightmare Pointer] clicked and turned. Su Xiao followed the direction indicated by the pointer and continued deeper into the Old King City. He weaved through buildings. At first, nothing happened, but after passing through an invisible barrier, the scenery around him changed every few meters he walked.
Moreover, besides Baha on his shoulder, Bubu Wang by his leg, and Amu behind him, everyone else was missing. They probably couldn't enter this barrier, or rather, without holding the "Altar Lock Plate," they couldn't enter this barrier.
Based on Su Xiao's extensive experience in executing main quests, to find the "Moon Altar," there should be a prerequisite event, most likely finding some key figure in the Old King City and unlocking the subsequent events through them.
Then, completing step-by-step events would lead to obtaining a map to the area where the "Moon Altar" was located. Considering the quest time limit was only one day, this quest was very tight on time. The problem was, Su Xiao directly skipped all kinds of events for this quest and went straight to the point.
Su Xiao proceeded according to the direction indicated by the [Nightmare Pointer]. Don't underestimate this Immortal Rank equipment. It was a gift of thanks from the Gluttony Clan. The Gluttony Clan was one of the highest-tier nightmare races, evident from their ability to devour nightmares, and the nightmares they devoured were of the highly corrosive and aggressive type.
The reason the [Nightmare Pointer] was an Immortal Rank equipment was not that it was weak, but that its usage range was too small, only usable in nightmares. In terms of its effect within nightmares alone, calling it a divine artifact would be an exaggeration, but it could be considered a sub-divine artifact.
Thus, Su Xiao used the [Nightmare Pointer] to discern the route, bypassing a total of five quest events corresponding to the Fourth Ring quest, until he arrived before a tall nightmare gate.
This was not the giant gate to exit the nightmare. Someone had forcibly inserted a piece of the material world into this nightmare region. A more down-to-earth analogy would be stuffing a nut into a cup of hot chocolate.
Flanking the nightmare gate, two tall gargoyle-like monsters stood on either side of the giant gate. They held long-handled greatswords and double-headed halberds. With the gargoyles' height of over ten meters, these two weapons were both over eight meters long, with a pitch-black metallic texture, looking exceptionally heavy.
Both gargoyles were fully armored, but at this moment, they seemed to have turned into stone statues. As for the required token to enter the gate, the two gargoyles tacitly agreed that as long as the visitor didn't violently break down the door, they would pretend not to see anything. They were guarding this place because of a commission from some old fellow, but that old fellow didn't mention that such a terrifying human monster would come here. The benefits they received were not worth fighting such a terrifying monster, no, it would be suicide.
Before the giant gate, Su Xiao took out the "Altar Lock Plate." The lock plate automatically attached to the giant gate and began to click and turn. A few seconds later, all the mechanisms and spells inside the gate retracted, and the purple-black metal giant gate creaked open.
Su Xiao walked through the gate, hearing a low rumbling in his ears. This meant he had passed through another layer of barrier. The faint bitter taste in the air was gone, indicating he had left the nightmare region.
This space was not large, about two hundred square meters. A magnificent yet ancient altar was located ahead. At the center of the altar was a circular groove, which upon initial observation, matched the shape of the "Dark Moon Ring." Using the "Dark Moon Ring" as the activation method for this altar was normal. This was the last remaining "Dark Moon Ring" of the Dark Moon faction, holding extraordinary significance for them.
On a wooden lounge chair in front of the altar, someone was leaning back. It was the Sun Grand Scholar·Rimans, wrapped tightly and looking very bloated.
"Law Destroyer, have you obtained the Moon Blood?"
The Sun Grand Scholar·Rimans spoke. Compared to their last meeting, Rimans now seemed on the verge of burning out.
Su Xiao didn't speak. He took out a sealed container, inside which was dark purple "Moon Blood." "Moon Blood, World Heart, Sun Eye. To witness, you must obtain these three. Finally, do not forget, your hope of victory lies in that dim, lightless place. I await you there."
After saying this, the Sun Grand Scholar·Rimans ignited with embers and sparks, then exploded and scattered, turning into sparks that gradually extinguished in the air, along with the lounge chair beneath him.
Su Xiao approached the "Moon Altar." After observing the altar for a moment, a different light appeared in his eyes.
He took out the "Dark Moon Ring" and inserted it into the slot. He gripped the activation mechanism with one hand and turned it with a click. As he turned the activation mechanism, all the spells on the entire "Moon Altar" lit up. When he twisted the activation mechanism to the maximum, with a *ding*, the "Dark Moon Ring," serving as the key, bounced out of the slot and was caught in his hand.
[Prompt: You have activated "Moon Altar·Branch Node 5." This branch altar will be active for 30 natural days.]
[During these 30 natural days, you can activate the "Moon Altar·Central Hub."]
[Main Quest·Fourth Ring·Moon Altar (Completed).]
[You have obtained the "Altar Lock Plate." This "Altar Lock Plate" can open the sealed gate at ????.]
[Main Quest·Fifth Ring (Activated).]
[Main Quest·Fifth Ring: Nun.]
Difficulty Level: Lv.95++ (As you are at Absolute Strength level, you will not receive quests with a fixed difficulty level above Lv.95. Even if the actual quest difficulty reaches Lv.96 or above, because your imprint level has not unlocked the corresponding permissions, this quest level will not be triggered.)
Quest Briefing: Kill the Nun.
Prompt: The Nun is an Undying.
Prompt: The Nun is located somewhere in Twilight City.
Prompt: The Nun holds 2 "Sun Source Stones."
Prompt: The Nun holds ???.
Quest Time Limit: 15 natural days.
Quest Reward: 2 World Keys.
Quest Penalty: All Attributes -10%, forcibly teleported out of this world.
Seeing this quest difficulty level, Su Xiao understood what was going on. The so-called fixed difficulty level was a complete assessment of the quest's upper difficulty limit. As for quests like "Abyss Quest·Death's Grant," with a difficulty level of Lv.98~???, these belonged to non-fixed difficulty levels.
Quests with non-fixed difficulty levels had no imprint notarization mechanism. Even a First Rank contractor could accept such a quest once triggered.
To put it simply, as an Absolute Strength contractor, the maximum difficulty level for subsequent main quests was Lv.95. What if the actual difficulty exceeded this level? Then a bunch of plus signs would appear at the end.
A difficulty level of Lv.95++ was clearly not low. The quest content "Kill the Nun" seemed to have very little information. According to convention, this quest shouldn't be difficult. However, the four prompts below indicated otherwise. This quest gave a bit too much prompt information.
Looking further down, Su Xiao felt things were not good. A quest difficulty of Lv.95++, as many as four 'thoughtful quest prompts,' and a generous time limit of 15 days. Most importantly, the quest penalty was not forced execution. Combining these factors, Su Xiao could already feel the power of the Undying Nun.
Closing the quest list, Su Xiao continued to observe the "Moon Altar" before him. The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed. He took out a notebook recording various spells and array diagrams. This was where he recorded the wonderful arrays and spells he had seen in various worlds.
Flipping through it, he turned to the content he had recorded in Eternal Light World and compared it with the external spells of the "Moon Altar." The two had no similarity whatsoever. The activation principles and construction materials were also vastly different. Yet, the two had the same essence.
After more precisely confirming this, Su Xiao had an idea. Handing the [Blazing Sun Greatsword] to the Monarch Faction of Twilight City seemed... feasible. Dangerous, yes, but there was also a chance of victory.
Reason told him this was too dangerous. But the upgrade costs of three Technique Grandmasters + the 'picky' Dragon-Slaying Flash + the gluttonous Endless Ring + the Abyssology requiring a massive amount of Space-Time Power told him that if he didn't obtain more resources soon, his wallet would be in jeopardy, beaten until it wailed in agony.