Chapter 55: The End
The principle behind the man-made "Sun Source Stones" was something Luciva didn't understand, but as an old noble, he was deeply shaken. He said, "As far as I know, the secret method for creating Sun Source Stones has been lost."
"Oh? How do you know that? That should be several generations of Blazing Sun Kings ago, when your great-great-great-great-grandfather was still a youth."
Baha's habit of chattering returned, but Luciva didn't mind. "We old nobles naturally coveted the power of the Sun Source Stones. We even had diviners divine the secret method of their creation, but the answer we got was that the method had been severed by the erosion of time."
Hearing this, Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, and Wude all brightened slightly. Clearly, these three scoundrels all had a habit of... ahem... befriending diviners.
Slap! Slap!
Zuiyasi and Wude on the Sun Formation Diagram were jolted dizzy by the fluctuations of the formation. As for why the Sun Formation Diagram was fluctuating, Su Xiao, who was controlling it from the central hub, also "didn't know" what was happening. With such a precise and complex formation, some fluctuations were normal. However, he took the opportunity to ask, "This diviner, is she your friend?"
"Ahem... you could say that."
Luciva clearly wanted to change the subject. He wasn't blind. The eyes of these three scoundrels on the formation ahead had all lit up. Heaven knows how many diviners these three had tormented, and the diviner he mentioned had a special relationship with him.
"Oh, it seems you're still in contact."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing this, Luciva's cheek twitched uncontrollably. This was the downside of being close friends with an old schemer. Any insignificant detail could reveal a weakness.
For example, the diviner Luciva mentioned was his first love. They had agreed to marry and grow old together, but due to a sudden conflict between their families, they were forced apart. They had promised to be together forever, but not long after, Luciva married the social butterfly, Bedia, or rather, he was ensnared by Bedia. Within about a year, he had a son.
Su Xiao glanced at Luciva. Baha, on his shoulder, understood and, as if he had witnessed it himself, described: "So, Bedia doesn't know about this? Let me guess, the diviner's family had some problems. Your status is different now. As one of the top powers in Twilight City, it's not hard for you to help her solve her family's problems. Lend a hand at a critical moment, rekindle the old flame, and have an affair. That's normal. It's just tough on Bedia. She gave you a son and a daughter, and she also kept you from having to worry about the power struggles in Twilight City."
"You! You're talking nonsense! Pure nonsense! I was just helping. I have nothing with Veronica..."
"Oh~ x3"
Baha, Zuiyasi, and Wude all showed looks of understanding. So this diviner's name was Veronica. With a name, it would be easy to find her.
Realizing he had let it slip, Luciva angrily slapped his forehead, pointed a trembling finger at the three scoundrels, and finally could only say, "Don't harm her life," before turning to go downstairs.
"Wait."
As Su Xiao spoke, he tossed out a wooden box. Luciva caught it, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Seeing this, Baha on Su Xiao's shoulder said, "Inside are 10 Distorted Sun Source Stones. They can establish a medium-sized shelter. Even if the sun truly falls, this shelter might survive."
Hearing this, Luciva was silent for a moment, then nodded and left.
The sunlight outside the window grew increasingly dark red. The formation inside the small building also took on a dark red hue like magma. One by one, "Sun Source Stones" gathered at the center of the formation.
...
Nightmare Dungeon · Golden King City · Ancient Celestial Palace · Entrance.
The campfire crackled occasionally. In the nightmare, fire represented life and rebirth, so nightmare bodies would revive at the nearest campfire after death. At the moment, the Goddess of Fortune and the Goddess of Fate were both sitting with their knees hugged in front of the fire. Looking at their eyes, which had lost their luster, they had clearly suffered immensely on the way here.
"Damn it, sending me here to support this useless teammate."
The Goddess of Fortune spoke with hatred. In the past, her close friend and frenemy, the Goddess of Fate, would have retorted, but now, the Goddess of Fate, who was numb from death, didn't have the energy. She felt that teaming up with her frenemy to fight this far was their limit. The final boss ahead in the Ancient Celestial Palace, the Golden Celestial God, was simply unbeatable.
Because they could enhance their body attributes by talking to the Whisperer in the Grand Cathedral, the Goddess of Fortune and the Goddess of Fate had farmed a large amount of Nightmare Essence by killing monsters. Both had maxed out their current nightmare bodies' attributes, but they still couldn't beat the final boss, the Golden Celestial God.
Their weapons were upgraded to the max, their armor was upgraded to the max, and their item bags were stuffed full due to the ridiculously high drop rate from the Goddess of Fortune and the Goddess of Fate.
A more intuitive analogy: every time they went to challenge the final boss, the Golden Celestial God, the Goddess of Fortune and the Goddess of Fate would chug various temporary buff potions at the entrance of the Ancient Celestial Palace for several minutes, drinking until they looked at each other and simultaneously burped.
Even so, the Goddess of Fortune and the Goddess of Fate were still beaten to the point of questioning their existence by the final boss, the Golden Celestial God. Neither of them was a combat-type deity. No, their divine system abilities simply didn't mesh well with combat. Using fate to create accidents to kill enemies was a skill for bullying the weak or fighting opponents of the same level. It wasn't very useful against a final boss. Before the enemy could die from causality, they would be pinned into a hedgehog by the enemy's golden iron feathers.
"We can't go on like this. We need to think of a strategy."
The Goddess of Fortune spoke with a serious expression. The Goddess of Fate, warming herself by the fire, glanced at her frenemy and sighed. The other's strategy... no, the other's bad ideas were one of the sources of their suffering.
"Listen to me. Why do we need to clear this nightmare dungeon?"
"To heal my soul wound and to escape this nightmare area."
"No, no, no. Your soul wound was healed long ago by that guy. Trust me, there's no doubt about that. So, we're clearing this nightmare dungeon just to leave this nightmare area, right?"
The Goddess of Fortune's eyes grew increasingly wise, but the Goddess of Fate had a bad feeling. Their previous experiences were basically:
Sudden inspiration → Enthusiastic description → Full confidence → Failed execution → Desperate escape → Crying while running → Almost going crazy → Mutual sulking → Making up → Sudden inspiration.
The Goddess of Fate was familiar with this cycle. She said, "Shut up. There are no shortcuts when facing a challenge."
"Is... is that so? But..."
"No buts! Let's go! Challenge the Golden Celestial God."
"But the Whisperer said that after we die 100 times, we can use the accumulated death power to further break through the limits of our nightmare bodies."
Hearing this, the Goddess of Fate immediately stopped and asked, "How many times have we died?"
"Exactly 100 times."
"Excellent. Let's go find the Whisperer."
"Actually, I feel we should continue to face the difficulty head-on~"
"No way. If I keep dying like this, I feel like I'm going to awaken some strange attribute. I have to clear this nightmare dungeon as soon as possible."
As she spoke, a smile that she couldn't suppress frequently appeared on the Goddess of Fate's face. Seeing this, the Goddess of Fortune held her forehead. She hadn't misjudged. Her close friend didn't have a strange fetish, but she really, really liked to court death. She had always suppressed it, but under the stimulation of the nightmare area, this hobby seemed to be on the verge of breaking free.
Perhaps no one would have imagined that from this moment on, the most death-seeking friendly deity in history, and one of the future combat powerhouses of the friendly deity camp, had just appeared.
...
Blazing Sun Star, Twilight City · Outer District.
The sun in the sky grew darker and darker, even showing black spots. The sky above was already pitch black. The entire Twilight City was as silent as a dead city. All civilians had taken refuge in the "Undercity" beneath Twilight City.
This "Undercity" was only one-fiftieth the size of Twilight City, but it was built by the Great Library over the last eight generations of Blazing Sun Kings. For others, this would be impossible, but the Blind Sage, an old monster who had lived from the First Era until now, was fully qualified to do this.
Through the window, Su Xiao watched the red-eyed vultures flying overhead. These were moon-beast-type monsters that only appeared during the Blood Night's descent. But even the red-eyed vultures showed some unease in this environment, circling aimlessly over Twilight City.
Over a million red-eyed vultures circled, gradually forming a huge vortex. This scene made one feel that the "Eternal Night," which lay above the night and the Blood Night, seemed about to descend. This was a terrible calamity that would only come after the sun fell.
At this moment, the sun indeed showed no signs of falling, but anyone looking up at the sun would feel that it seemed about to be extinguished by the darkness. The ring of dark red light on its edge caused an inexplicable panic.
Su Xiao checked the time. It had been 71 hours and 26 minutes since he activated the "Moon Altar" in the Lightless Zone. In a little over half an hour, the "Dark Moon Ritual" would begin.
He opened the seal box, which contained a total of 58 "Distorted Sun Source Stones." He took out 18 of them, manifested the "Sun Lord" title, and used the "Sun Lord" to absorb these Sun Source Stones. It wasn't that he didn't want to absorb more, but his current Abyss Resistance was the limit. Thus, the "Sun Lord" absorbed a total of 34 "Sun Source Stones."
The remaining "Distorted Sun Source Stones" had no use for now. He had Bubu Wang blend into the environment and deliver these "Distorted Sun Source Stones" to Luciva. Speaking of which, after this parting, whether they would have a chance to meet again was unknown.
Time passed minute by minute. Baha kept circling above the small building, guarding against powerful enemies. Fortunately, until now, the powerful enemy in the Central District hadn't attacked. It made sense. As the final Blazing Sun King, even knowing the situation he was about to face, he wouldn't anxiously search everywhere, losing the king's dignity. Moreover, the current situation was actually fate.
[Prompt: The Dark Moon Ritual is about to begin.]
As this prompt appeared, Su Xiao, inside the three-story building, suddenly felt a wave of energy sweeping in from afar.
Hmm~
A brief buzzing sound echoed in his ears. A familiar yet unfamiliar wave swept over him, like some kind of seal. But upon closer inspection, he found it was a stronger, broader binding. With his Elemental Affinity of 1290 points, he quickly noticed that all natural elements were covered with a dark purple glow. It felt like all natural elements were wrapped in a layer of this glow.
The reason Su Xiao found this sweeping wave familiar was that he had experienced it once in the Eternal Light World. It was the activation of the "Super·World-Level Sealing Technique" reserved by the Law Destruction Faction.
[Announcement (Void Tree): The combat power cap of this world has been sealed to "Absolute Strength Rank," lasting for a total of 15 natural days.]
Seeing this announcement, Su Xiao understood where the Law Destruction Faction's "Super·World-Level Sealing Technique" came from, and for what purpose the "Dark Moon Ritual," its predecessor, was developed.
Compared to the "Dark Moon Star Ring," the "Dark Moon Ritual" was the supreme work of the Dark Moon Faction. It was a super-large-scale formation boundary that was only activated when dealing with an Abyss invasion. Before his death, the Sun Grand Scholar, Rimans, had said this:
'We killed the race most skilled at sealing the Abyss in the First Era. Even the Moon Wolves were moved by the Dark Moon race's exquisite technique for sealing the Abyss, willing to join the Dark Moon as a whole clan and bask in the glory of the Dark Moon Queen.'
If the Law Destruction Faction was the backbone of the Second Era's fight against the Abyss, then the Dark Moon Faction was the professional in the First Era. A more intuitive analogy: in terms of fighting the Abyss, the Law Destruction Faction was about 1200, while the Dark Moon Faction was about 350-360.
If the overall Abyss strength across the three eras was quantified:
First Era · Overall Abyss Strength: 5.6 million.
Second Era · Overall Abyss Strength: 3.8 million.
Third Era · Overall Abyss Strength: 29 million.
Thus, the Dark Moon Faction could only struggle in the First Era, while the Law Destruction Faction in the Second Era had some ability to suppress the Abyss. In the Third Era, it was the age of Spellcasters. They gained power by devouring natural elements, and the Abyss and elements were in a conflicting/consuming relationship.
With fewer natural elements, the Abyss would inevitably become stronger. Therefore, in comparison, the Third Era's overall Abyss Strength reached a ridiculous 29 million, 5.18 times that of the First Era and 7.63 times that of the Second Era.
However, one thing to note: the reason the Second Era's overall Abyss Strength was low was that it was the Law Destruction Era, and the suppression of the Abyss was too fierce. At the beginning of the Second Era, the overall Abyss Strength was probably around 6-7 million.
Speaking of which, the Third Era's overall Abyss Strength being so high was largely the Law Destruction Faction's fault. Again, the Abyss and elements suppressed and consumed each other. The Abyss was suppressed by the Law Destroyers in the Second Era, so natural elements naturally rose.
If the total amount of the Star Realm was 10, then Abyss 5 and Elements 5 was the healthiest and most stable state. At that time, it was Abyss 3, Elements 7. The direct result was that at the end of the Second Era, the Spellcaster camp, with abundant natural elements to devour, could devour them in large quantities, easily, and without cost. This directly led to the rapid rise of the Spellcaster camp.
Therefore, the current age of Spellcasters was, from a certain perspective, unintentionally created by the Law Destruction Faction. Did the Ancestral Law Destroyers not know this? They actually did. But the Law Destruction Faction always believed that nothing was absolutely eternal. Everything in the Star Realm was not black and white, but a cycle and balance.
Suppressing the Abyss led to the rise of elements, which led to the rise of Spellcasters. The rise of Spellcasters created Arcane Eternal Star, which led to the depletion of elements. Under balance, the Abyss rose. After the Abyss rose, the camp that fought against the Abyss would inevitably rise again.
Did the Ancestral Law Destroyers not know this? They were actually very clear. That's why they never pursued what Arcane Eternal Star now pursued: being the eternal overlord of the Star Realm. They even added the word "Eternal" when naming their home base planet.
When a world was about to be swallowed by the Abyss, the Ancestral Law Destroyers generously lent a hand. At other times, they basically let themselves go and did whatever they wanted.
Did the Ancestral Law Destroyers not know how to maintain the balance between the Abyss and elements? Of course not. They maintained this balance for an entire era. At the end of the Second Era, the Star Realm experienced an explosive surge of Abyssal Spawn. The Law Destroyers could only suppress it with all their might, which led to the imbalance between the Abyss and elements. The Ancestral Law Destroyers were not regretful about this. They understood one thing: it was absolutely impossible to maintain the Abyss/element balance forever.
Excessive "balance" would bring "stillness." "Stillness" led to "stagnation." "Stagnation" derived "precipitation." "Precipitation" bred "corruption."
And corruption was more terrifying than Abyss invasion or Elemental Eternal Light. It was the ultimate calamity of the Star Realm.
Everything in excess was as bad as deficiency. The Ancestral Law Destroyers, who had maintained the Abyss/element balance for an era, knew that the time limit for balance had been reached. Continuing would only bring disaster. So they were not greedy. In the final stage, they chose to suppress the Abyss to the extreme, allowing the cycle of the Star Realm to flow normally. That was also the most prosperous and brilliant period of the Void and myriad realms. In fact, over 80% of the powerful forces in the Third Era had accumulated their foundations during that period.
Compared to the Law Destruction Faction, the Dark Moon Faction's strength was not enough. But for these predecessors who fought against the Abyss, the Ancestral Law Destroyers had great respect. Moreover, the Moon Wolf clan inherited the "Dark Moon Ritual," and the "Super·World-Level Sealing Technique" later deployed in the Eternal Light World was actually an upgraded version of the "Dark Moon Ritual."
At this moment, in the Outer District · Rubber Manor, Luciva looked at the dark red sun outside the window, a thoughtful look in his eyes. After a moment, he sat behind his desk, glanced at the family photo, then looked at the large box of "Distorted Sun Source Stones" on the table. With these "Distorted Sun Source Stones" maintaining the underground shelter, even if the dim sun truly fell, all the members of his family would be safe.
Luciva picked up the family photo, staring at it absentmindedly. After a moment, he put the photo face down, stood up, and came before his sister, Delona. He said, "Delona."
"Don't say it. I refuse. I refuse to perform the 'Fate Advance' with you."
Delona, sitting on the windowsill, turned her head away, no longer looking directly at her brother.
The so-called "Fate Advance" was actually a kind of costly, premature overload advance, divided into two parts: "Acquisition" and "Cost."
"Delona."
Luciva spoke again. Delona turned her head even further, even making her own neck hurt a little.
"Ayesha."
As Luciva said this, Delona's pupils began to contract. Just as she was about to turn her gaze back to her brother, her eyes turned pitch black, her long hair turned silver, and her dress turned into a black smoke state.
Representing the Dark Womb was not only Delona but also Ayesha. Or rather, Ayesha represented the Dark Womb to a greater extent.
Luciva had two sisters. Delona would refuse him based on her own emotions, but his other sister, Ayesha, would not. As long as it was Luciva's request, Ayesha would agree, even if Luciva wanted to perform the "Fate Advance."
...
On the streets of the Outer District, a vehicle powered by liquid crystal resin drove by. The moon beasts that were usually blocked outside the high walls during the Blood Night's descent were now appearing among the buildings. Unlike their usual ferocity, today, just the passing of the vehicle startled these moon beasts into fleeing in all directions.
Su Xiao sat in the passenger seat, enjoying the tranquility before the final battle. He closed his eyes to rest. When the vehicle stopped, they were in front of the Silent Ancient Hall at the innermost part of the Inner District. Entering through the opened door of the Silent Ancient Hall, this was where he had defeated the Nun.
He went to the innermost part of the ancient hall, passed through a doorway into a long corridor. After walking a few steps, there was a wooden door on the right wall. Su Xiao had obtained a pure "Sun Source Stone" inside here.
Continuing along the corridor for a kilometer, the end was a pair of metal doors. These doors were entirely dark gold and had been pried open from the outside, leaving a gap, despite originally being sealed shut.
A stone tablet was half-inserted from the outside into the metal door, showing the hardness of this stone tablet and how fierce the battle here had been.
[You are attempting to discern the content on the "Sun Stone Tablet."]
[Discernment failed.]
...
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao took out paper and pen, had Amu set up his battle axe to use as a drawing board, and began to record the content of the "Sun Stone Tablet." He had a Dawn City task that required recording the content of the "Sun Stone Tablet."
Rather than saying it was text, it was more like various strange symbols and doodles. After a bit of copying, Su Xiao was relatively satisfied. He opened the task list and found that "Side Mission: Investigate Intelligence" was still in an incomplete state.
Seeing this, Su Xiao frowned slightly, feeling that the recording method was wrong. Could it be that he needed to take a photo or something?
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked. Su Xiao, lost in thought, handed the pen to Bubu Wang. While he was still considering which step had gone wrong, Bubu Wang finished copying and brought the paper to Su Xiao.
"Woof."
"It's not copying. It should be rubbing..."
Su Xiao was mid-sentence when, because he casually took Bubu Wang's copy, "Side Mission: Investigate Intelligence" changed to a completed state.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He compared his own copy with Bubu Wang's copy. Feeling they were "almost identical," he temporarily ignored the issue. As the saying goes, there's no need to be too concerned about these details.
[Prompt: Main Mission · Final Stage · Witness (Activated).]
[Main Mission · Final Stage · Witness]
Difficulty Level: ???
Mission Brief: Obtain Moon Blood, World Core (This World), Sun Fragment.
Moon Blood: After defeating the High Tower Knight, it can be obtained in the Ancient Tower · Queen's Bedchamber.
Tip: Currently holding Moon Blood.
World Core (This World): After defeating the Incarnation of the Gods, one is qualified to obtain it.
Tip: Currently holding World Core (This World).
Sun Fragment: Obtainable after defeating the Sun God Clan.
Mission Time Limit: 3 natural days.
Mission Reward: Primordial Source Matter x1, Primordial Core x2.
Mission Penalty: None, but will be immediately teleported out of this world, and all gains in this world will lose their authentication rights, preventing the gains from being taken out of this world.
...
Su Xiao walked out of the giant metal door and arrived at the Central District. The scene before him was nothing but ruins. The once magnificent Central District, three days ago, had become like this. The main street, dozens of meters wide, was covered in cracked stone slabs. The buildings on both sides were not only showing signs of collapse but were also scorched by the distorted sun's power, giving off a decaying, dry smell in the air.
Walking along the main street, on both sides were Sun Warriors kneeling on one knee, their armor slightly melted, and their auras completely gone. Not a single Sun Warrior in the entire Central District had survived. They had all died from the severely distorted sun's power.
Following the main street, Su Xiao arrived in front of the Royal Palace. Compared to other buildings, the Royal Palace was in a worse state. It looked like metal that had melted, forming a stone platform several hundred meters in diameter on the ground. The Royal Palace had melted like metal and deeply sunk into the ground, so this stone platform was about 1 meter high with slightly sloping edges.
At the center of this stone platform was a golden throne. This was the Flame Throne. A burly figure sat on the throne. The "Blazing Sun Greatsword" was thrust into the ground in front of him. With a lion-like mane of wild hair, dark gold ring-shaped pupils, full-body golden armor, and a bright red cape behind him, the Blazing Sun King, Ashlot, had an imposing presence.
"Our Blazing Sun will not set."
The Blazing Sun King, Ashlot, gripped the hilt of the Blazing Sun Greatsword with one hand. As he rose from the throne, he pulled the Blazing Sun Greatsword from its scabbard. The great sword, as if inside a furnace, rapidly turned fiery red, then heated to a golden white. With a bang, the pure high temperature distorted the surrounding space. Ashlot's wild hair flew, and his red cape fluttered loudly.
Zheng~
Su Xiao drew his longsword from his waist, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground. A faint red gleam flickered in his eyes.
Boom!
Blood Qi and heat collided. This was a contest of auras. A life-or-death battle was about to erupt.