The Spirit Carp of a Thousand Blessings.
It wasn't just a beast. It was a living god. A symbol. For a thousand years, it had lived in the sacred Jade Moon Lake at the heart of the Jade Scepter sect. Its very presence nourished the land, and its blessings were sought by emperors and saints. Killing it wasn't just an act of war against a powerful sect; it was an act of profound sacrilege. It was a declaration of war against the very concept of 'goodness' in this world.
It was the most perfect, most beautifully villainous quest I could have ever imagined.
"Slaying a living saint to power a demon's dagger," I mused, a slow, cold smile spreading across my face. "You have a flare for the dramatic, Forgemaster."
Elara was not amused. "This is not a game, boy. The Carp is an ancient and powerful being. Its cultivation is likely at the peak of the Heaven's Mandate Realm, a half-step into legend. And it is protected by the entire Jade Scepter sect, including Elder Sun. It is an impossible task."
"Impossible tasks are the only ones worth doing," I replied, my mind already alight with a dozen different schemes. I took the Shadowfang Dagger back from her, its weight feeling different now, heavier with a new, terrible purpose. "I will bring you your heart. Have your forge ready."
I turned and left her cavern without another word, leaving her staring after me with an expression of awe and profound unease.
My path was clear. I had a target that would give me a massive power-up, and that target was conveniently located at the headquarters of my two newest rivals: Lin Feng and the entire Valerius/Jade Scepter faction. I could kill two birds with one holy stone.
But attacking the Jade Scepter sect head-on was suicide. I needed a plan. I needed a distraction. And I needed to get much, much stronger before I even attempted it.
The buffet of Fated Opportunities was still open.
I spent the next month on a whirlwind tour of Aethelgard's newly revealed mystical sites. I was a ghost, a myth, the "Vengeful Prince" whispered about in taverns, but never seen.
I journeyed to the Sunken Tomb of the Sea Serpent, battled its spectral guardian, and claimed the 'Tidal Core', a pulsating orb of water-essence that I fed directly to my Abyssal Art, increasing its capacity and fluidity.
I raced to the Whispering Mountains, navigated the Moon-Lotus Cave, and harvested a garden of rare Yin-aspected herbs that could be refined into life-saving—or life-stealing—pills.
With every treasure claimed, with every ancient beast slain and devoured, my power grew at an explosive rate.
Name: Kaelen Ravencrest
Cultivation: Core Formation Realm - 2nd Stage
Physique: Abyssal Shadow Physique (Nascent)
System Points (SP): 18,450
In one month, I had leaped from Body Tempering, through Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment, and into the initial stages of Core Formation. It was a speed of cultivation that would shatter the sanity of any prodigy on the continent. This was the true power of the Abyssal Shadow Devouring Art, fueled by a world of unguarded treasures.
I was getting strong, but I still wasn't strong enough to face a Heaven's Mandate Realm god-beast and its entire sect of holy warriors.
I needed an army. Or, failing that, I needed a cataclysm.
That's when I turned my attention back to the Crimsonwood Forest. To the World Boss.
My plan was simple, audacious, and utterly insane. I wasn't going to fight the Crimsonwood Ancestor. I was going to lure it. I was going to manipulate this force of nature and aim it, like a loaded cannon, directly at the Jade Scepter sect.
I returned to the forest, the site of our last encounter. The place was quiet, the Ancestor having returned to its slumber. I needed a way to wake it up and piss it off, but this time, I needed to do it without getting vaporized. More importantly, I needed to make it move. It was a guardian, bound to its territory. How do you convince a god to leave its own temple?
You steal its most sacred relic.
I spent days searching the Crimsonwood, using my Nether-attuned senses to feel for the place where the Ancestor's energy was most concentrated. I found it at the heart of the forest: a gargantuan, petrified tree that seemed to hold up the sky. This was the Ancestor's heartwood, its physical anchor to the mortal realm.
And nestled in a hollow at its base, glowing with a soft, green light, was the 'Heart of the Forest'—a fist-sized, living crystal of pure, condensed life-essence.
Stealing it would be like ripping the heart out of a sleeping god. It would undoubtedly wake it up, and it would be incandescently furious. It would hunt the thief to the ends of the earth.
I was just about to formulate a plan to snatch it when my 'Destiny Map' flared with a new, urgent warning. A player was moving.
It was Lyra.
Her shimmering silver star was moving at an incredible speed, and her destination was the Jade Scepter sect.
My False Oracle had worked perfectly. Her "vision" had convinced her that the key to her power was Lin Feng's heart's blood. And she, in her obsessive, homicidal rage, was now single-mindedly focused on hunting him down. She was about to walk right into the lion's den.
This was a complication. A delightful one.
I immediately abandoned my plan to steal the Heart of the Forest. Lyra's arrival was an even better catalyst. She was a walking, talking agent of chaos, and her personal vendetta against Lin Feng would be the perfect spark to ignite the powder keg.
I used [Imp's Shadow-Step] repeatedly, pushing myself to the limit, and arrived at the foothills of the Jade Scepter sect's mountain range a day before her. I found a high, secluded peak, a perfect vantage point to watch the show.
Through my Destiny Map, I watched her silver star arrive at the sect's gates. I saw the event log update in real-time.
[EVENT: Princess Lyra Ravencrest of the fallen Ravencrest Empire has arrived, seeking sanctuary.]
[EVENT: She claims to have vital, damming information about her 'demonic' brother, Kaelen Ravencrest, and the fugitive, Lin Feng.]
[EVENT: Elder Sun of the Jade Scepter Sect has granted her an audience.]
The little viper. She was using her knowledge of my "evil" nature as a bargaining chip to get inside. She was going to play the victim, the informant, all to get close to her true target.
For the next two days, the mountain was quiet. Lyra was inside, likely weaving her web of lies, trying to get close to Lin Feng. The sect, in its arrogance, had just welcomed a hungry wolf into its sheepfold.
Then, on the third night, all hell broke loose.
Alarms shrieked from the mountain peak. Shouts of "Intruder!" and "The Sacred Lake has been breached!" echoed through the valleys.
I zoomed in on my Destiny Map. Lyra's silver star was a frantic blur of motion, heading directly for the Jade Moon Lake—the home of the Spirit Carp. But she wasn't alone. Another star, Lin Feng's angry red one, was in hot pursuit. And behind them both, the entire sect was mobilizing.
She had made her move. She had tried to assassinate Lin Feng, failed, and in her desperation, had fled towards the sect's most sacred location, likely hoping to use the chaos or the Carp's power as a shield.
It was the perfect distraction.
While the entire sect was focused on the drama at the Sacred Lake, I made my move.
I wasn't going to the lake. That was a fool's errand. My target was the sect's treasury.
Using [Shadow Stealth], I became a ghost, slipping through the now-chaotic and poorly guarded outer pavilions. My goal wasn't gold or pills. I was hunting for something specific, something my analysis of the Jade Scepter sect had told me about. They were a righteous sect, but they had their secrets. Their darkest secret was a weapon they had sealed away centuries ago, an artifact so dangerous and evil that they couldn't bring themselves to destroy it.
I found the treasury's sub-level, a hidden vault protected by powerful seals. Seals that my Abyssal Art, designed to devour and corrupt, could easily corrode.
I entered the vault. It was filled with confiscated demonic artifacts. And in the center, on a pedestal, was a simple, unassuming handbell made of a strange, coppery metal.
[Item: The Bell of Sorrowful Souls (Sealed Demonic Artifact)]
Description: An ancient demonic weapon. When rung, it unleashes a sonic wave that attacks the souls of all living beings in a vast radius, inflicting immense pain, madness, and spiritual decay. The sound is particularly agonizing to beings of pure spirit or righteous alignment.
It was a weapon of mass spiritual destruction. And its primary targets were exactly the kind of creatures as the Spirit Carp.
I took the bell.
Now, I had my weapon. Lyra had created my distraction. It was time to go fishing.
But as I slipped out of the treasury and began heading towards the chaos at the Jade Moon Lake, a new notification appeared. It was a single, chilling line of text from my still-active data-siphon on Seraphina. She was still trapped in the void-palace, but her system was clearly still monitoring the world's events. The message was an update to her Main Quest. And it was a twist that proved she was never, ever out of the game.
[MAIN QUEST OBJECTIVE UPDATED: THE ARBITER]
[The Regressor, Lyra Ravencrest, is making a direct attempt on the life of the World-Breaker, Lin Feng. This is a critical nexus of fate.]
[NEW DIRECTIVE: Use your 'Gacha of Fate' function. The objective is no longer to simply acquire fragments.]
[OBJECTIVE: Win a 'Fated Event' roll that ensures 'The Spirit Carp of a Thousand Blessings' awakens and, in its divine rage, kills both Lyra and Lin Feng. Use the chaos to frame Kaelen Ravencrest for the sacrilege.]