Chapter 39: Ranked First!

"Thank you for the reminder." Mo Xuanyu said this to Mist Sickle's retreating back, though he wasn't sure if the other had heard him.

[Sacred Geometry Notification: Please select one ability from the personal panel of Chosen One "Mist Sickle" to replicate.]

"Replicate A-rank talent: Soul Shackles," Mo Xuanyu thought to himself.

[Replication complete.]
[This talent has been added to your skill panel.]
[Note: The replicated skill has no duration limit, but will automatically expire upon the death of "Mist Sickle."]

Soul Shackles
Rank: A
Talent Description: Based on your own soul and mental energy, you forge soul chains. These chains possess a powerful suppression effect, currently with a maximum range of 15 meters.
Special Effect: During world missions, each unit killed accumulates Soul Power for the soul chains.
[Note: Due to the nature of replicated skills, you cannot upgrade Soul Shackles yourself, but every time "Mist Sickle" upgrades this skill, it will be synchronized to your panel.]

"Soul Shackles" is a growth-type talent; as long as there is enough Soul Power, it may even advance to S-rank in the future.

The note from Sacred Geometry was simple: although Mo Xuanyu could not actively upgrade Soul Shackles, he would receive updates whenever Mist Sickle upgraded it.

Furthermore, why did Mo Xuanyu choose Mist Sickle as his thrall and replicate his talent?

The reason was that Mo Xuanyu coveted the uniqueness of the "Soul Shackles" talent.

For a lone-wolf Chosen One with a melee class, the effects of Soul Shackles are exceptionally useful. Once you lock onto an opponent and restrict them to your vicinity, you can effectively prevent them from fleeing or, if they use skills to create distance, kite them by leveraging your longer reach.

Not to mention that Soul Shackles also possesses a simple and brutal special effect: attribute suppression, which can forcibly pull an opponent's stats down to the same level as one's own.

This allows Mo Xuanyu to stand his ground even against opponents stronger than himself.

In short, the benefits of letting Mist Sickle live far outweighed those of killing him.

Mo Xuanyu slowly sheathed his Nightmare Moon blade. After taking one last look at where Mo Xiao had disappeared, he turned and left the hall.

Outside the palace, Kain was sitting on the stairs, bandaging his wounds.

Seeing Mo Xuanyu, he nodded.

"It’s all over, Mora. Reports from the front line indicate that the Moon God River capital has been captured by the coalition forces led by Peter, and the main army will enter the royal city within days."

"The nobles still find it hard to believe, but once news of the Sun King’s death spreads from the royal city, they will all be scrambling to save their own skins."

Kain’s expression was rather listless. The Freedom Commune had achieved final victory in this war.

The Sun King was dead, and Eric was dead. This meant the factions behind them no longer had any opportunity to contend with the Freedom Commune; the world would be unified, with the Freedom Commune seizing total control.

Yet, facing this victory, Kain could not bring himself to be happy, for the one who issued the order to execute Mora was none other than Peter.

He could never have imagined his former best friend would do such a thing.

"Don't worry, Mora. I will have a good talk with Peter. This victory wasn't created by him alone; your contribution is part of it... *cough, cough, cough!*"

In his agitation, Kain coughed up black blood.

"You are too severely wounded." Mo Xuanyu reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to use his healing abilities to treat him.

But Kain waved him off. "My wounds are not fatal, but my lifespan is nearing its end. There is a price for forcibly breaking through the world's limitations."

To assist Mo Xuanyu in the final battle, Kain had burned his remaining life to exchange for power. He was already spent.

Hearing this, Mo Xuanyu did not stop his ministrations, feeling a sense of admiration for his courage in the face of death.

"Perhaps you were the one meant to lead Nora. If only you could live a few more years," Mo Xuanyu said, sitting down beside him.

Kain gave a carefree smile. "Everyone must die eventually. I have merely advanced the process. It was worth it, Mora. Do not feel sad for me."

Although Mo Xuanyu’s healing ability could not extend his life, it could at least stop his wounds from aching.

That was enough.

A light snow began to fall over the royal city, signifying that the entire continent had entered the depths of winter, and marking the end of the autumn offensive.

As the Freedom Commune's army moved into the royal city, the large-scale faction confrontation mission in the Kingdom of Nora reached its settlement.

[Winning Faction: Coalition Forces.]
[Winning Faction Chosen One Privilege: All Chosen Ones receive +3000 Contribution Points.]
[Final Contribution Ranking Released!]

First Place: Anonymous (No Guild)
Reward: 8,000 Credits, Blue Equipment Chest x1, Soul Crystal (used for talent/class skill upgrades, etc.) x15.

Second Place: Iron Curtain Guild
Reward: 5,000 Credits, Blue Equipment Choice Chest x1, Soul Crystal x8.

Third Place: Red Lotus Guild
Reward: 3,000 Credits, Blue Equipment Choice Chest x1, Soul Crystal x5.

Fourth Place: Wind Howl
Fifth Place: Remains
...
188th Place: Not Lucky Today

In a tavern in the Moon God River capital, a healer from the Red Lotus Guild let out a wail.

"What a pity. We were only a tiny bit away from winning, weren't we?"

She cradled a beer, drinking heavily to drown her sorrows, only to find them deeper still.

Chi Ming was grilling pork belly on the stove. He gave a helpless smile at her words. "It's fine. At least we made the top three; the rewards are quite generous."

The final ranking of large-scale confrontation missions is calculated based on the contribution points of all Chosen Ones.

The advantage of the winning side is that everyone receives +3000 points, making it easier to achieve a higher rank.

However, as the defeated party, the Red Lotus Guild had performed exceptionally well in previous battles, making significant contributions and accumulating a large number of points.

Moreover, because the Black Snake Guild withdrew early, the Red Lotus Guild was able to secure a top-three spot even without the 3000-point bonus.

It is worth mentioning that the way guild contributions are calculated differs from individual ones.

Guild contributions are not simply the sum of every individual's points; instead, they are based on the total contribution made by the entire guild during the war, which is then processed through Sacred Geometry's algorithm.

As long as you are a member of a guild, all members are treated by Sacred Geometry as a single community of interest—earning together and bearing burdens together.

Therefore, while guilds have an advantage, it is not overwhelming and certainly not enough to crush talented individuals.

Outstanding lone wolves can occasionally step over guilds, just like the current first-place winner, who crushed both the Iron Curtain and Red Lotus guilds single-handedly.

Countless Chosen Ones were curious: who exactly was this "Anonymous" person? To be able to suppress two major guilds.

Meanwhile, the "First Place" winner, Mo Xuanyu, was browsing through his redemption list.

Sacred Geometry had just finished the settlement, and Chosen Ones were frantically sweeping the shop; the green treasure chests were snatched up in nearly ten seconds!

Seeing this, Mo Xuanyu didn't waste time thinking. He quickly spent his remaining contribution points to exchange for a blue treasure chest and a Soul Crystal.

Combined with his first-place ranking and the rewards from killing the Sun King, his gains from the Battle of the Royal City were extremely substantial.

Additionally, when Mo Xuanyu killed the Sun King, the World Will had sent him a title through Sacred Geometry.

Title: "One Attended by the World"
Rank: A
Rarity: S
Equip Effect: When equipped, every time you enter a mission world, you receive extra attention from the world and gain a higher initial status (higher than a commoner, and formally legitimate).

The effect of this title was interesting. It meant that whenever Mo Xuanyu entered a world for a mission, his starting point would be higher than other Chosen Ones.

Other Chosen Ones could only join local factions as "commoners" or "outsiders," but Mo Xuanyu could air-drop directly into the inner circles of these factions.

For instance, his current status as Mora allowed him to reach the core of power earlier than other Chosen Ones, making the mission easier to execute and the rewards naturally more generous.

Of course, the effect of this title likely wouldn't be as potent as this time—after all, this was a special new-player bonus from Sacred Geometry.

But a formal status higher than that of a commoner would provide significant assistance to Mo Xuanyu.

"Didn't I get a blueprint earlier?" Mo Xuanyu reached into his storage space and rummaged around, finally finding the blueprint in a crowded corner.

He really needed to expand his storage; the space provided by Sacred Geometry was nowhere near enough.

Sun Core Blueprint (Fragment)
Quality: Blue Special Rare
Description: A blueprint lost by an ancient civilization. There are two parts in total; the Sun Core forged by the Sun King is merely a fragment.
If the complete blueprint can be collected, its quality will rise to "Purple," and its properties will change. It seems it can become a "key"...
Sun Core: The pinnacle product of the lost ancient "Surya Civilization." It is said that whoever wields the complete version of the Sun Core will ascend to become a true Sun God!
Note: This blueprint possesses a guiding effect. The Chosen One can spend 99 Soul Crystals to open a portal to the Lost Land: The Ever-Day Continent.

"99 Soul Crystals?" Mo Xuanyu didn't hesitate to shove the blueprint back into his storage, relegating it to the bottom of the box.

The Sun King only dropped 10 Soul Crystals; he would have to kill ten of them to gather enough!

That was truly impossible, even if he sold himself. Skip, skip...

Mo Xuanyu then pulled out a scroll.

Inheritance Class: Flame Warrior
Description: After use, gain the Flame Warrior class skill tree, identical to the Sun King's.
Rank: B
Rarity: A
Class Description: An inheritance class born from the power of the Sun Core.
It is said that in the ancient Ever-Day Continent, there were once hundreds of Sun Monarchs who ruled the world together.
Under the command of the Sun Monarchs, there were millions of heroic and fearless Flame Warriors, capable of burning and destroying any world.

"So... the Sun King went to all that trouble, only to become a Flame Warrior?"