Chapter 21: Blade of the Nightmare Moon
Inside the church.
The entire church lay in ruins from the recent battle, shattered and overturned, strewn with broken walls and the bloodied flesh of demon apostles.
“Master, I found something strange in the basement,” Mo Xiao suddenly emerged from the church’s library.
He was stained with a considerable amount of blood, his hand-held hidden blade snapped in half, yet he bore no serious wounds—clearly having fought fiercely during his exploration.
Earlier, while riding horseback, Mo Xuanyu silently mouthed a suggestion: “There might be secrets hidden within the church. Go and have a look.”
So, as the main force entered the church, Mo Xiao slipped away unnoticed into a hidden corner to explore, meticulously searching nearly every room.
At last, in the library, he discovered a secret underground chamber, arranged with an eerie and peculiar formation. A pale tree grew upside down from the ceiling.
Beneath this pallid tree hung a single fruit, guarded by a skeletal creature clad in the armor of a Crusader knight.
Mo Xiao exerted himself to dispatch the guardian and plucked the pale fruit from the tree. Immediately, the pale tree withered rapidly.
He intended to continue searching for other clues, but suddenly the entire chamber above thundered with a crushing sound, as if someone wielded a massive hammer pounding relentlessly—causing the underground chamber to collapse.
Hearing this, Mo Xuanyu patted Mo Xiao’s shoulder reassuringly.
“You did well. The collapse must have been caused by the pale tree’s sudden withering.”
“Really?” Mo Xiao was puzzled but then realized it made sense. The tree’s roots had deeply embedded themselves into the ceiling, likely corroding it over time.
Mo Xiao handed the pale fruit to Mo Xuanyu. The fruit was about the size of a clenched fist, pale in color with red veins of varying thickness running across its surface.
A prompt appeared before Mo Xuanyu.
[You have obtained: Hell Fruit]
Hell Fruit
Description: A fruit naturally formed through the condensation of countless blood and agony. Even in hell, it is an exceedingly rare treasure.
Category: Consumable item.
Rarity Level: Blue (Rare)
Usage:
1. Consume directly—upon ingestion, the user will gain at least a Class C demon lineage according to their constitution. If the user cannot withstand the transformation, death will result. (Highly risky option.)
2. Mix and consume—the Hell Fruit has extremely potent corrosive properties, but when combined with a talent-grade potion of equal rank, the adverse effects and demon lineage can be removed, transforming it into a [Soul Fruit].
[Soul Fruit]: A mutated variant of the Hell Fruit. After consumption, the user’s soul attribute is greatly enhanced, and their divine talent undergoes a metamorphosis.
Reading through this information, Mo Xuanyu suddenly remembered an item he had long stored away in the warehouse.
[Talent Sublimation Potion (Blue)]
Description: A potion produced by Sacred Geometry, efficient, stable, and highly compatible.
Category: Potion.
Rarity Level: Blue.
Usage: Consume directly. Greatly enhances the user’s soul attribute, with a chance of divine talent metamorphosis.
Note: After five doses, talents below Class A will inevitably have an awakening and sublimation opportunity, after which tolerance saturates and further consumption yields no effect.
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Note: This potion is ineffective on S-class talent Chosen.
“The so-called metamorphosis roughly means the evolution of divine talent.”
Mo Xuanyu had previously ignored this potion because it had no effect on him; his S-class talent, "Domination," was too advanced.
Originally, he had planned to sell it once all missions were completed. But now, it seemed Sacred Geometry had long paved a path for him.
All his main storyline missions centered around the Sun King, inevitably involving encounters with the Cult of the Evil God and the Hell Fruit.
Thus, in the first stage of the main questline, Sacred Geometry had given him a talent potion as one of the rewards.
If Mo Xuanyu could defeat Bishop Sala and obtain the Hell Fruit, this talent potion would be a timely boon, able to maximize the Hell Fruit’s effects.
Of course, Mo Xuanyu’s fortunate circumstances stemmed from his formidable strength—he had completed all missions without missing any rewards.
Had his strength been insufficient or his mission completion intermittent, he would never have reached this point.
At this moment, Mo Xuanyu gained a clearer understanding of Sacred Geometry.
For those powerful Chosen who flawlessly complete every mission, Sacred Geometry is always generous.
The more contribution you make, the greater the reward, never leaving you empty-handed.
Mo Xuanyu carefully stored the fruit and led his team to sweep the entire church. Several survivors were escorted back to the village by knights.
After confirming no worshippers were left behind, Mo Xuanyu mounted his horse and, along with Fars and others, returned to the royal capital, leaving the cleanup to the arriving guard forces.
It was still early morning. The Sun King quietly sat in his study, leafing through a book titled The Necessary Reforms of the Kingdom of Nora (Volume II).
Author: Peter Manchester.
To know oneself and one’s enemy is to win a hundred battles. The Sun King was no decadent monarch; he eagerly embraced the new progressive ideas emerging across the continent and had spearheaded many domestic reforms.
In certain respects, the Sun King and Peter were kindred spirits, sharing similar views—such as suppressing the nobility.
This was why the nobles of Nora Kingdom spared no effort supporting Prince Eric’s rise.
Because during the Sun King’s reign alongside the Free Commune, they had genuinely diminished the nobility’s power and wealth, redistributing their lands to the commoners.
If they did not resist, their descendants might not even inherit noble titles, doomed to become commoners.
Knock, knock—
Carmen’s voice came from outside the door: “Your Majesty, Mo La has returned with his team.”
“Oh? So soon,” the Sun King closed his book and rose to leave for the hall.
In the palace’s great hall, the Sun King rubbed his chin, eyeing the headless corpse before him.
“Where’s the head?” he asked Mo Xuanyu with some curiosity.
Mo Xuanyu replied apologetically, “I accidentally crushed it into a pulp, but rest assured, Your Majesty, I didn’t just bring any random corpse to deceive you.”
Fars and the senior knights nodded in agreement, recounting their encounters inside the church and affirming that this was indeed Sala.
The Sun King laughed heartily upon hearing this, then dismissed Fars and the others, calling Mo Xuanyu alone into the study.
“You must be curious why I chose to kill him, right?”
Mo Xuanyu: “I’m not a particularly curious person.”
The Sun King shook his head, showing no intent to conceal the truth.
“I suppose you already know. For a long time, I have been collecting methods across the continent to break through the transcendence boundary.”
The Sun King had long stood atop the world’s peak—a true son of the world, with all four-dimensional attributes reaching 20 points.
“Over the ages, I tried many approaches, but none could truly break the shackles imposed by reality.”
“Until I met that so-called Hell God Cult. Bishop Sala told me that waging enough wars in this world could continuously raise its limits.”
“So I began my conquest. One kingdom after another bowed to my rule.”
“Sala was right—long years of war have produced ever more transcendents, all eager to overthrow me.”
“Unfortunately, Sala constantly schemed beneath my gaze, foolishly hoping to establish a theocracy to co-rule with me. Utter foolishness.”
To the Sun King, no one was permitted to stand equal to him in power. Bishop Sala had crossed the line, which is why the Sun King chose to eliminate him.
“I can feel that the day of breakthrough is drawing near,” the Sun King closed his eyes gently.
“All that remains is a decisive battle—a battle that will determine the future of the entire continent.”
“Look forward to it, Mo La.”
Behind the Sun King, dawn gradually broke. His gaze was proud and unwavering.
“I will be the first transcendent in history to break the boundary.”
Mo Xuanyu was inwardly astonished but showed no expression outwardly.
“If that day truly comes, I would be honored to witness it.”
“All right, sorry for rambling. I have matters to attend to. You should rest early.”
The Sun King ordered Sala’s body wrapped and sent for cremation, then departed the administrative palace first.
Mo Xuanyu watched the royal carriage disappear, then decisively evaded the guards’ sight and climbed over the wall back into the Sun King’s study.
After some searching, he found detailed files on the kingdom’s military deployments—the number and locations of troops were clear at a glance.
With these materials, Mo Xuanyu and Mo Xiao, under the cover of night, went to Cain’s forge to hand them over.
“My goodness, you actually got these!” Cain took the documents in disbelief. Such intelligence could prove decisive on the battlefield.
[Character “Cain” side quest completed.]
[Cain’s favorability toward you increased to “Close Friend.”]
“Fix his hidden blade,” Mo Xuanyu said, handing Cain the broken blade Mo Xiao had.
“No problem. I just happen to have the materials,” Cain said as he began working, ready to upgrade Mo Xiao’s blade.
Suddenly, he pointed inside the workshop.
“There’s a wooden box on the table. Consider its contents a gift from me.”
“A gift?”
Mo Xuanyu stepped inside and saw a long wooden box on the table. He opened it to reveal a longsword.
Including its scabbard, the sword measured about 1.2 meters in length—90 centimeters for the blade and 30 centimeters for the hilt. The blade was nearly straight, with only a slight curve.
The blade was deep black, shimmering faintly with purple arcs and water-like patterns under the light—exquisitely luxurious.
“I originally intended to forge it into a sword, but the raw material is a mysterious meteorite. My furnace can’t reach the required temperature, making it difficult to control the heat and shape. I had to settle for a longsword,” Cain explained.