Reincarnation Paradise

Chapter 822: The Eve of the Battle for the World

"The Palace of the Dusk Dynasty was built on a circular stone platform. This platform was like an enlarged millstone, connected below by hundreds of stone pillars. These several hundred stone pillars, penetrating the circular pit, precisely supported the Palace of the Dusk Dynasty from above.

No one knew how this palace was constructed. Not to mention the backward architectural level of this world; even in modern times, building something like this would be impossible due to the depth of the circular pit below.

There were three five-meter-wide stone bridges at the three diagonals under the palace of the Dusk Dynasty's stone platform. Through any of these stone bridges, one could approach the palace.

These three stone bridges were extremely absurdly built. No guardrails were at the edges; they were just bare stone bridges. If a battle took place on these bridges, a slight misstep could lead to falling off the bridge into the malicious circular pit below.

Some fragmented stones slowly rotated above the Palace of the Dusk Dynasty, defying gravity. Su Xiao approached one of the stone bridges. Unsullied Dragon flash appeared in his hand, and he aimed a strike at the edge of the bridge.

Ping!

Small fragments of stone were splattered. Surprisingly, this stone bridge was unexpectedly sturdy. Mind you, even steel could be cut through by Su Xiao with one strike. Su Xiao's hand pressed against the bridge surface.

He sensed a thick energy surging within the stone bridge. It wasn't the bridge's inherent sturdiness but the internal energy protecting it. Trying to destroy the bridge was even more complex due to this inner energy.

Even with two Apollos, the bridge would, at most, melt partially. Destruction was impossible. Realizing the extraordinary sturdiness of the stone bridge, Su Xiao stepped onto it and proceeded towards the Palace of the Dusk Dynasty. It was an imposing palace.

Standing in front of it, anyone would feel their insignificance. Remaining vigilant, Su Xiao reached the palace. Two ten-meter-tall metal doors stood in the way, carved with a man wearing a crown and holding a scepter.

The man was kneeling with one knee, his arm extended, trying to touch a pile of flames about to be extinguished. A twisted sword was embedded in the fire, and a fully eclipsed sun was above the man.

Although it was just a sculpture, Su Xiao seemed to feel the scene inside. The Moonwolf had swallowed the sun, the flames were about to die out, and the world was quickly plunging into 'darkness,' sinking into the endless 'darkness.'

Only the king at the world's center was striving for the last ray of light to save his subjects and defeat the evil dragon. The king's subjects were humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, centaurs, goblins, giants, and trolls. The eight races had their territories. Although not entirely peaceful among themselves, they didn't invade one another.

The hot-tempered dwarves and proud elves forged weapons together while arguing. Giants and trolls attempted alliances. Centaurs roamed the grasslands, hunting. Goblins discover peculiar things every day. Humans facilitated trade among all races.

However, all this changed because of an evil dragon. Although the king defeated the evil dragon, he was about to die. Humans, elves, and giants drank the blood of the evil dragon, forming a legion named Dragon Soar. Orcs, dwarves, goblins, and trolls consumed the flesh of the evil dragon.

A hundred years later, the war between the Dragon Soar Empire and the Tribal Alliance began on the shattered continent, affecting both the king's subjects and the influence of the evil dragon's greed.

[Hint: The Hunter, across time, witnessed the rise and fall of the Dusk Dynasty. The Hunter's spirit resonates permanently (+2 to willpower.) The hint from the Reincarnation Paradise dispersed the scene before Su Xiao's eyes. After a few seconds of daze, the metal wood before him began to decay.

With a clatter, the ten-meter-tall metal door turned into a pile of dust, and the metal doors at the other two corners of the palace disappeared simultaneously.

"It seems the mission isn't without rewards." Su Xiao walked into the Palace of the Dusk Dynasty. Upon entering, he found the terrain inside the palace extremely complex. The entire Palace of the Dusk Dynasty had seven levels. In the center, a spiraling stone staircase ran through the palace.

Of the seven levels, the lower six contained numerous rooms and passageways. Without a map, Su Xiao would likely have gotten lost here. Yes, he was lost. Despite Su Xiao's perception, getting lost seemed absurd.

But after entering the Palace of the Dusk Dynasty, he found an energy pervading the palace. This energy didn't erode the human body but suppressed his perception, reducing his sensing radius to about four meters.

This energy felt somewhat familiar to Su Xiao, similar to the point inside the stone bridge.

Ascending the stone stairs, Su Xiao reached the seventh level, the highest level of the Palace of the Dusk Dynasty.

The seventh level was empty. At its deepest point was a throne made of gold, and a skeleton sat on the throne, wearing a crown and holding a scepter. Su Xiao approached and examined the skeleton on the throne. He found that the energy permeating the palace emanated from the scepter held by the skeletal figure.

Su Xiao's hand grabbed the wand.

Click, click, click...

The skeleton turned its head, its pitch-black eye sockets staring at Su Xiao. He quickly let go of the wand. At that moment, Su Xiao felt a malicious intent from below the palace. It was beyond horrifying.

Bu Bu Wang, curious, walked forward and was about to touch the skeleton. Su Xiao kicked it on the backside and made a gesture with his mouth. Silently, he said, "Don't touch." This skeleton was the king of the Dusk Dynasty, the one who defeated the evil dragon. He was suppressing something beneath the palace.

Su Xiao had already arrived at the Palace of the Dusk Dynasty, but the Reincarnation Paradise didn't provide any further hints. As Su Xiao was in doubt, the World Origin in his arms suddenly floated towards the skeleton.

"Contract, completed." The skeleton suddenly spoke, its voice seemingly from the depths of the underworld. Su Xiao tensed his body, Unsullied Dragonflash horizontally in front of him, and Bu Bu Wang tucked its tail, transforming into an 'Erha' sculpture, an exceptionally tacit cooperation between man and dog.

The palace fell silent. The World Core floated to the top of the skull and eventually embedded itself in the skeleton's forehead.

Boom!

A shockwave spread out, passing through Su Xiao. His vision blurred momentarily due to a highly aggressive spatial force. After a moment, Su Xiao shook his head and stood up. There was nothing unusual around him.

The skeleton remained seated on the throne, with the World Core embedded in its forehead. The Bu Bu Wang statue lay flat on the ground, which was quite convincing. "Silly dog, no danger." Su Xiao sheathed Unsullied Dragonflash and inserted the scabbard into his waist.

Bu Bu Wang trotted forward, hiding behind Su Xiao, showing its teeth to the skeleton as if saying, "This bone scares this dog. Master, I'll assist you in cutting it down." Of course, Su Xiao wouldn't attack the skeleton. This thing was tricky to provoke—rash actions lead to death!

Opening the War Channel, Su Xiao requested two permissions from the Reincarnation Paradise: one to modify the names in the War Channel and the other to send images. The Reincarnation Paradise granted his request.

Su Xiao sent all the edited maps and detailed information about the ancient ruins to the War Channel. As this information was revealed, the contractees were bewildered. Many started asking questions like, 'Can images be sent in the War Channel?' or 'Has this guy activated membership?'

After Su Xiao's final sentence, the messages flooded the War Channel. Traveler (Loner): "The above is the final detailed information about the war location."

'Traveler (Loner)' was, of course, Su Xiao. Just after he sent the information, a prompt appeared from the reincarnation paradise.

[Reincarnation Paradise Announcement: All contractees must arrive at the Outlank Ancient Ruins within 24 hours. [The World Conquest War will officially commence in 26 hours!]

[Announcement: If any Contractee fails to arrive at the Outlank Ancient Ruins within 24 hours, they will face compulsory execution penalties.]

[Announcement: Duration of the World Conquest War: 10 natural days.]. Reading books]

[Announcement: All Contractees must successfully protect the 'World Core' to form a 'Large-Scale Spatial Fixed Coordinate.' Victory in the World Conquest War relies on creating large-scale, fixed spatial coordinates.

The time to start the Large-Scale Spatial Fixed Coordinate is ten natural days. During this period, it is essential to prevent the Contractees from the Tianqi Paradise from seizing the World Core.]

[Announcement: If the World Conquest War fails, all Contractees will face compulsory execution penalties!]

...

Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the palace roof, looking down below. It would soon be bustling here. In 26 hours, the entire Outlank Ancient Ruins would become a battlefield. The war among the contractees was different from that among the natives.

Contractees had various abilities: mages surrounded by elements, heavily armored main tanks, psychic ability users, ghouls, Devil Fruit ability users, and more. There were countless unimaginable abilities, but none that wouldn't appear.

It would be a fantastic scene with over a thousand contractors battling together. Su Xiao placed his hand on the sword hilt. He now had two objectives: to kill enemies and survive."