Chapter 29: Knowledge
When Coen Morber spoke these words, Su Xiao, who had been ready to draw his blade, furrowed his brow slightly. His first thought was that the other party had used some kind of "Causal Artifact" to foresee this scene and had prepared accordingly.
But on second thought, that seemed unlikely. He himself was now the holder of the "Origin Stone: World." Even an old woman like the Star Realm's strongest fortune teller could no longer see his future clearly. Relying solely on a "Causal Artifact" to achieve this was even more impossible.
It wasn't that Su Xiao was arrogant, but rather that he had some guesses about the rank of the "Origin Stone: World." The previous holder of the "Origin Stone: World" was Tuanzhang, and Tuanzhang's ultimate adversary was the previous Lord of the Abyss.
In fact, after that, Tuanzhang had considered obtaining the "Origin Stone: World" a second time. The result was that the "Origin Stone: World" was acquired by a miner from Apocalypse Paradise and absurdly inlaid into a mining shovel.
Upon learning of this, Tuanzhang knew it was not meant to be. The "Origin Stone: World" would not choose him again. He no longer pursued the "Origin Stone: World" and even vehemently denied being its previous owner.
In truth, that miner never truly held the "Origin Stone: World." Not long after, the "Origin Stone: World" shattered.
There is more than one "Origin Stone: World," but two can never exist simultaneously. The next one can only complete its fusion through the "Origin Stone: World (Fragment)" after the previous one shatters.
Currently, only a handful of people know that Tuanzhang was the previous holder of the "Origin Stone: World," and Su Xiao is one of them.
Having ruled out the possibility of a "Causal Artifact," Su Xiao thought of another point. He had previously obtained [Coen's Alchemy Notes], which bore something like a "Causal Imprint."
When he obtained [Coen's Alchemy Notes], Su Xiao was an Eighth Rank Contractor. He only truly possessed the "Origin Stone: World" after advancing to Absolute Strength in the Eternal Light World. This made sense.
At Eighth Rank, Su Xiao not only obtained [Coen's Alchemy Notes] but also learned and mastered the knowledge within. Coen Morber, who had made preparations within [Coen's Alchemy Notes] long ago, immediately sensed that someone still possessed alchemy knowledge that exceeded the achievable limit and had not been killed by the causal curse.
"Kid, you don't look like an alchemist. Instead, you look like... a Law Destroyer?"
Coen Morber looked puzzled as he casually placed the book in his hand back on the bookshelf in front of him.
"Obviously."
Su Xiao's hand remained on the end of his sword hilt. He was certain that even in his prime, with the bonds of family and disciples, this Coen Morber was no saint.
"These are all minor issues. Follow me."
Coen Morber stepped down from the bookshelf ladder and walked toward the inner part of the library.
"..."
Su Xiao watched Coen Morber's back for a few seconds before stepping forward to follow. The two exited the library and arrived at an area resembling a lecture hall.
Coen Morber approached a game table that looked somewhat like a sand table. There was a chair on each side, and on the table was a pristine white spell stone engraved with the most basic spell patterns. This could be used as a foundation to quickly construct any spell.
In truth, the core of alchemy was spell patterns, whether in alchemical mechanics, biology, or pharmacology.
"We are both alchemists, so our method of contest should not involve mechanical creations and long blades. We shall use... knowledge."
Coen Morber sat down, placing his right hand on the sensing device on the armrest. With a hum, the spell table on his side activated. He turned his head to look at Su Xiao.
Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao received a notification from Reincarnation Paradise:
[Your Main Mission: Setting Sail has been completed.]
[You have received Reincarnation Medal ×1.]
[This is the Real Stage of the Main Mission. Completing any part of it allows you to choose to end this world progression. However, the final world settlement will be significantly reduced. Conversely, if you complete the final part of this world's Main Mission: Real Stage, your world settlement for this progression will receive an additional boost.]
[Main Mission: Life-and-Death Gamble.]
Difficulty Level: Lv.100!
Warning: The difficulty of this mission far exceeds the Hunter's current comprehensive combat capability.
Mission Briefing: Sit at the game table and defeat Coen Morber.
Mission Time Limit: 1 hour.
Mission Reward: Reincarnation Medal ×5.
Mission Penalty: None.
...
Compared to the Lv.100 mission difficulty, Su Xiao felt that the "Mission Penalty: None" was actually more dangerous, as this was a Main Mission.
The problem was that there was no turning back now. Before resolving the "Causal Lock Ring," choosing to end this world progression would be tantamount to suicide. At that point, although he could return to Reincarnation Paradise, he would certainly have his causality severed by this world's "Causal Lock Ring."
Su Xiao walked to the seat opposite Coen Morber. As soon as he sat down, he felt his causality connect with the chair. The alchemists of the Second Era could only be described as sinister.
Seeing Su Xiao take his seat, Coen Morber across from him smiled. He could finally leave this place, though not in his current body.
...
Secret Island, Westernmost Side, Deep Underground Metal Hall.
This place was filled with sealed metal containers, all containing "Divine Source Blood." However, these containers were now empty, having been bestowed upon the Three Pillar Gods by the "Leader of All Gods, Origin of All Things, Harota."
This was one of the strengths of the Divine System. They could seize "Divine Source Blood" from other pantheons to strengthen themselves. This was also why, to this day, the Benevolent Deity System had no truly powerful gods, except for the Deer God.
During the First Era, the war between the Gods and the Benevolent Deities ended in a crushing defeat for the Benevolent Deities. As a result, in the First Era, the Benevolent Deities could only hide and flee. Once discovered by the Gods, they became prime supplements for their growth. It wasn't until the decline of the Gods in the subsequent Second Era that the Benevolent Deity System began to recover somewhat.
The Blood God: Ashaga, the Bone God: Kim, and the Spirit God: Oswal, these three Pillar Gods, now followed their leader, the "Origin of All Things: Harota," with fanatical eyes. They had originally become gods through mechanical ascension.
But that was the weakest form of godhood. The leader had selected them from among many ascendants, bestowing upon them the Ancestral God's Blood, Ancestral God's Bone, and Ancestral God's Spirit respectively. To this day, they still remembered that scene. In return, they had offered all their loyalty.
Led by the Origin of All Things: Harota, the four gods continued deeper into this divine treasury. Upon reaching the deepest part, a massive coffin, nearly ten meters long and four meters wide, came into view.
The Blood God: Ashaga transformed into a dark red fluid and appeared atop the massive coffin. It pressed one hand down, and from its back, numerous dark red ligaments extended, wrapping around the metal beams above. These beams were covered in protective spells, a testament to their sturdiness.
The Bone God: Kim, possessing the greatest physical strength, moved to the head of the massive coffin. It sprouted numerous giant bone arms, and from its waist, stabilizing spikes extended to ensure it could exert maximum force.
The Spirit God: Oswal arrived at the array node of the massive coffin. The resonance of spiritual power began to interfere with the spells sealing the coffin. All three knew what was inside this massive coffin, and their desire grew even stronger.
Although they would only get one-third each, with the remaining two-thirds belonging to the leader, compared to their current state with only small amounts of Ancestral God's Blood, Bone, and Spirit, this was a meteoric rise.
In fact, the Three Pillar Gods already harbored ambitions to advance to the "Supreme Peak" later on.
The spells here had not been maintained for a long time. Coupled with the interference of the Three Pillar Gods, their terrifying power, and the corrosive blood, the spells on the massive coffin gradually dimmed and finally shattered with a bang.
With a crash, the Bone God: Kim lifted the lid of the massive coffin. The three, especially the Bone God: Kim, were severely drained and nearly collapsed, their legs weak. However, they immediately leaned in, crawling beside the massive coffin, staring at the sleeping figure within the rising cold mist.
"Leader, we have succeeded!"
The Spirit God: Oswal was ecstatic, all five of its eyes squinting with joy. But the next second, the leader behind them, the Origin of All Things: Harota, suddenly grabbed the backs of the necks or throats of the Blood God, Bone God, and Spirit God with three large hands. The three gods were both bewildered and terrified by their inability to resist, as the source of their power was given by this leader.
"You have worked hard."
As the Origin of All Things: Harota spoke, bright red, flowing flesh began to spread from the upper arm of its mechanical hand. Seeing this blood hole, the Blood God: Ashaga, held by the throat with all its abilities sealed and its physical strength reduced to a fraction, could only scream and flail its arms and legs uselessly.
As the bright red flesh spread over the Blood God: Ashaga's face, it let out a piercing scream. When it spread over the Spirit God: Oswal's face, it began to curse angrily until its mouth was covered.
Only the Bone God: Kim, held by the back of the neck, remained silent, even closing its eyes in wait. This puzzled the Origin of All Things: Harota, who, without slowing its absorption, asked:
"Kim, are you not angry or hateful towards me?"
"Everything I have comes from you. You have the right to take it back."
"Heh, the Origin of All Things: Harota said almost the same thing to me when it betrayed me."
The Origin of All Things: Harota accelerated its absorption of the Bone God: Kim. In the second before being fully absorbed, the only eye of the Bone God: Kim still visible showed intense unwillingness and hatred.
In a very short time, the Three Pillar Gods were reduced to some living metal structures, which the Origin of All Things: Harota casually discarded. It stepped forward to the massive coffin, looking at the figure inside.
All of the Origin of All Things: Harota's arms raised. At the same time, in the Endless Sea, on the unexplored continent to the north.
This was a continent overrun with divine flesh and living metal. At this moment, the towering, hundreds of thousands of meters high structure standing here began to tremble violently. All the old, living metal on its upper half fell off, and a face shape gradually emerged on the flesh-and-blood building.
This giant face withered first, and then the entire hundreds of thousands of meters tall flesh-and-blood building began to turn into rotting flesh and ashes.
Secret Path, Deep Underground Metal Hall, Before the Massive Coffin.
The dark red within the chest of the Origin of All Things: Harota had transformed into a deep azure, condensing into a heart half a meter in size. However, the heart did not beat. One after another, its large hands plunged into its chest, disregarding the damage to this body, and extracted the azure heart.
With a crack, the chest of the figure lying in the massive coffin split open. The withered flesh structure gradually parted, and the chest bloomed open like a withered metal flower. The Origin of All Things: Harota placed the azure heart into the blooming chest.
The Origin of All Things: Harota rapidly disintegrated into fragments of flesh and metal residue. The chest of the figure in the coffin gradually closed. The hall fell silent.
Thump-thump!
A powerful heartbeat broke the silence. The gods in the coffin... no, they should be called the Ancestral God. The two most powerful gods of the Divine Pantheon were honored as Ancestral Gods.
The most powerful divine blood either originated from the "Abyss" or derived from the "Elements." As a result, Ancestral Gods were either so dark and evil that they made one's skin crawl, or so sacred that they represented absolute justice—a merciless divinity that would purify and vaporize any slight transgression.
The one before them was clearly of the dark and evil variety.
The Ancestral God in the coffin suddenly opened its eyes. Those azure, radial pupils contracted slightly.
Surrounded and killed by four Great Lords, two Ancient Wyverns, and six Sun God Clan members, it had been a certain death situation back then. But this cautious being had left a trace of divine cells within the divine blood of its disciple, the Origin of All Things: Harota, allowing it to awaken and revive at this moment.
At that time, the Eternal Light, Sun, and Ancient Dragon factions had spent over thirty percent of their war expenses on sealing the gods, until the gods were defeated. But today, the seals of old no longer existed. The Ancient Dragons had perished, the Sun God Clan had fallen, and the Great Lords had long since vanished.
For the Ancestral God, there was no such thing as escaping the "Causal Lock Ring" or anything else. As early as the First Era, it had been considering how to revive its dead, incomplete body. It wasn't until the Second Era, with the rise of the Alchemical Civilization, that it saw hope.
Clang~
A metal hand pressed against the edge of the massive coffin. The Ancestral God sat up from within. Under the cover of darkness, one could only see its azure, radial pupils and the azure heart within its chest, slowly beating and gradually evolving into a divine blood core.
At the entrance of the hall stood a figure five meters tall, with messy, woody horns on its head. It had dark golden vertical pupils, a bare upper body, and a black cloak draped over its back. Its powerful arms were covered in various scars, and the backs of its fingers had a thick layer of calluses, as if a single punch from this being could shatter anything.
It was the Ancient Clan Leader: Hatu.
"So, it was you who deceived all of us, including those self-proclaimed clever alchemists. You made them discover the ancient artifact 'Causal Rune.' Only by their abuse of causality could you revive this powerful body of yours, Ancestral God: Yashmis!"
The Ancient Clan Leader: Hatu ground his teeth until they creaked. No one, after being deceived and imprisoned in this world for so many years, would remain calm.
The Ancestral God: Yashmis rose from the coffin. Its cable-like dark golden hair fell. At over seven meters tall, it looked down slightly at the Ancient Clan Leader: Hatu, its eyes filled with nothing but contempt. After all, this was its former defeated opponent, utterly outmatched in both combat and intellect.
...
Initial Sanctuary, Library, Alchemy Classroom.
Su Xiao and Coen Morber sat facing each other across the spell table. The game had not yet begun, as both sides had preparation time to ensure fairness. This spell table had even been certified by the Void Tree.
Furthermore, Su Xiao noticed that the certification format was not the one established after the Third Era by the Void Tree, but a more ancient format from the Second Era.
The Void Tree's certification during the Second Era was more stringent than the current one. This led Su Xiao to think that perhaps the comprehensive certification authority of the major Paradise factions had increased over time, causing the Void Tree's certification stringency to decrease under the balance of initial regulations.
After Su Xiao sat down, three "Hunt Bounties" appeared.
[Detected that three "Event Bounties" are currently available for acceptance. Summary as follows:]