Chapter 59 I am the Grand Duke Jupiter, how dare it?! ...
[Ding dong, congratulations player for triggering the dungeon side quest: Truth and Illusion.]
Players can choose different endings: 1. True Destruction: Players must destroy the dungeon boss Black Tai Sui (fake); 2. False Redemption: Players must defeat the dungeon boss Black Tai Sui (fake) and seize control of the current spacetime rift.
[Quest Rewards: Unknown (Side quests are special quests and will be distributed based on the player's progress in exploring side quests. Please explore as much as possible!)]
"Tsk."
Du Yu had no time to dwell on the system's empty promises. He suddenly took a big step to the left, twisted his waist, grabbed Xiao Qi's collar, and retreated rapidly, barely dodging a gray arrow that shot out from the air.
Once the two had retreated to a safe area, Du Yu finally realized that what it was wasn't a gray arrow at all, but a clump of grayish-black spores!
These spores, upon landing on the ground, seemed to be accelerated tenfold, rapidly expanding. Countless aerial roots sprouted out, vying to penetrate the ground, the air, and even the bodies of their own kind. A few seconds felt like months, until they had absorbed everything around them, at which point these spores reluctantly withered, dehydrated, and shrank.
So that's how those so-called "Tai Sui meat" came about?
Du Yu was slightly surprised. The appearance of the spores sprayed out by this monster after they died was no different from the "Tai Sui meat" that the villagers of Redwood Village had dug up before! In fact, it contained even more energy.
"——"
Seeing that its attack had missed, the crimson wound on the monster's black surface split open even wider, as if it had gone mad, and countless wild babblings suddenly echoed throughout the entire valley!
After Chen Xingzhi's consciousness faded, the surface of the originally narrow black wax pillar cracked, revealing a series of crimson wounds that emitted wild laughter and delirium. The waxy, scale-like protrusions from the wounds pointed straight to the sky.
At the top of the black wax pillar, the monster that had been lurking there seemed to have completely devoured Chen Xingzhi's brain, rapidly expanding outwards like a dark cloud, growing dozens of times larger in an instant! Countless aerial roots hardened as they expanded, their surfaces covered with waxy scales, like tentacles, frantically plundering everything nearby!
"hiss."
Du Yu watched as the monster swelled at a visible rate, his eyelids twitching.
Without anyone saying a word, she understood that now was the best time to destroy the monster; even a second of delay would only make it stronger!
"call--"
Du Yu gripped the Bloodthirsty Holy Blade tightly. As if sensing her mood, the purple flames burned merrily, constantly swirling around the dark golden blade, making the edge appear snow-white.
After unlocking the [Erosion] element in the encyclopedia, although the system didn't give her any rewards, her purple fire was finally able to burn the so-called Tai Sui meat.
Despite the immense power emanating from this monster, Du Yu believed that as long as he could break through its defenses, he could fight it!
The second side quest was a bit more difficult; she wasn't confident that she could find a way to control the spacetime rift without killing the monster.
Fortunately, she doesn't have OCD; as long as she finishes the game, she's happy and doesn't need to challenge the hard difficulty.
These thoughts flashed through his mind, but Yu Xin was multitasking. With one hand, he lifted Xiao Qi further away, and with the other hand, he gripped the knife. His spiritual power surged forth, and his eyes shone brightly with purple light. He rolled away from Hei Tai Sui's attack, leaped up, and delivered a powerful jumping slash forward!
Following the force of the swing, the purple flames, like whips, extended instantly, and with a shrill whistling sound as they tore through the air, they fiercely slashed at the top of the Black Tai Sui!
The black fungus was now swollen and quite deformed. The wax column at the bottom was still about the height of a person, but the top part, which resembled a cap, had exaggeratedly swelled to tens of meters wide! Although it brought more tentacles that preyed on nutrients and sprayed spores to attack, it also made it incredibly cumbersome!
The murmurs that kept echoing around them became even sharper. Faced with Du Yu's powerful attack, they could not dodge and could only turn their bodies to take the blow head-on!
"laugh--"
Du Yu struck with deadly accuracy, not greedily taking the blow. Using the recoil, he quickly retreated, dodging several heavy tentacles. However, the purple flame remained on the swollen tip of the Black Tai Sui, like hot oil poured into boiling water, instantly igniting bursts of gray-black smoke and causing it to crackle and burn.
Du Yu took a deep breath, using it to calm the turbulent mental energy in his mind. The purple fire quickly spread throughout his body, burning away several spores that were hiding in his pores and trying to parasitize him.
Although she currently lacks offensive traits, her mental strength increases every day as her faith points increase. Coupled with her deepening control over the purple flame, even a Fallen Species of the Dark level would likely be unable to withstand her full-force attack.
But this Black Tai Sui is only in an incomplete state right now, yet it can withstand her attacks. What would its complete form be? A candle, or even a lamp?
Du Yu stopped thinking and dodged the monster's increasingly frenzied and fierce attacks. He didn't have a chance to build up his strength like before, but he still managed to land a few blows on the monster.
No matter how much black wax liquid those tentacles sprayed, the purple flames still struggled to take root on top of the black Tai Sui, and with Du Yu adding more wherever he could, they even showed a tendency to grow stronger.
"Ji!"
As soon as he made that cut, Du Yu felt something was off.
Seeing that the Black Tai Sui's reaction was several times more intense than before, she didn't have time to think. Relying on instinct, she increased the output of her purple fire and rolled several times, barely managing to dodge the continuous attacks of more than a dozen tentacles.
Before she could even catch her breath, she saw that the purple flames at her previous incision, instead of writhing laboriously like they had been burning a stone, burst into flames as if they had fallen into an oil pit, illuminating almost half of the black Tai Sui in purple.
"This is……"
Du Yu sensed the pure energy transmitted by the purple fire, and her eyes widened for a moment. Had her strike just now been an accident, accidentally hitting the place where the Black Tai Sui stored its energy?
The tip of the black jujube, which had been growing outwards, suddenly froze, curled up as if dehydrated, and shrank instantly!
The volume of the surrounding babbling suddenly increased, piercing the eardrums painfully. It was still a strange, chaotic sound that could hardly be called language, but Du Yu could now vaguely make out parts of it:
"Hehe, time to pay respects to Tai Sui!"
"...First bow—May the five grains be plentiful!"
"Hungry, hungry! This year's harvest has been reduced by 50% due to drought, 30% by the emperor, and 20% by officials! I cannot survive! Today, I offend the Grand Duke Jupiter by eating my fill, and I am willing to be reduced to grass and trees, to be destroyed in every way, just to be spared the suffering of hunger and cold!"
"...Second bow—may everything go smoothly!"
"A woman who has been married for over thirty years, rises early and retires late, tills the fields in the morning and weaves at dusk, often enduring beatings and bruises, never receiving a full meal or a kind word, all because of the sins she committed in her previous life. She does not ask for the mercy of the gods. Now she relinquishes her mortal body to worship the Grand Duke, only wishing to be a cow or a horse in her next life, rather than be born as a woman!"
"Three bows—may Tai Sui bring you peace!"
"...Hahahaha, it's raining! It's raining! The Grand Duke Jupiter has opened his eyes!"
"She's alive! My daughter is back to life!"
"Yes, yes, the Grand Duke Jupiter has opened his eyes!"
"...Four bows—Heaven and Earth are one!"
"Reborn as a human, I am oppressed by heaven and earth; today I sacrifice myself to become the Grand Duke of Jupiter!"
"Let's pay homage to Tai Sui!"
The babbling, which was clearly a meaningless shriek, now seemed to transform into men, women, and children, each with a different voice, yet every word was laced with tears and blood, making one's heart tremble upon hearing it.
As these cries of "worshiping Tai Sui" resounded across time and space, Du Yu seemed to witness it firsthand:
How did that glorious dynasty fall?
Beneath that magnificent celestial palace in the clouds lies a vast expanse of arid land—
Amidst the endless expanse of white bones, an ordinary mushroom quietly sprouts from the soil, feeding on blood and resentment, growing into something overwhelming and destructive—
Tai Sui!
"Today I sacrifice myself, I become the Grand Duke Jupiter!"
"Today...I will sacrifice myself..."
"...sacrificing oneself..."
"Sacrifice yourself!"
"Sacrifice yourself!"
"call."
Du Yu shook his head violently, gripping his palms tightly, using the pain to shake off the delirium. Several tentacles were already close at hand, and there was no time to dodge. He could only slightly turn his body to avoid the vital points!
"Smack!"
The tentacles lashed against its back, as if it had been hit hard with a club, and it groaned in frustration, suppressing the blood gushing from its throat. The purple flames instantly engulfed its entire body, burning away all the spores that were trying to parasitize it amidst sharp, delirious cries.
The pain persisted, but the hallucinations no longer appeared before his eyes. The purple flames burned away the cold sweat seeping from his forehead, and Du Yu finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Unexpectedly, although this Black Tai Sui has a ferocious and bloated body, its greatest killing intent lies in its hallucination-inducing properties! Once you become immersed in the hallucination just now, there is no possibility of waking up again. You will be directly devoured by the Tai Sui and turned into nourishment!
My innate talent, [Golden Will], is effective against illusions; perhaps what I just heard and saw wasn't entirely an illusion...
Du Yu pondered the monster's attack principles, her eyes sharpening as she unleashed her mental energy to its limit, even slightly exceeding the limits of her physical body. The Black Tai Sui was still growing; she had to—
"Grandma?!"
Xiao Qi, who had been carefully hiding in the distance and dared not participate in the battle between Du Yu and the Black Tai Sui, suddenly saw something and stood up despite the danger, staring blankly at a crack at the top of the Black Tai Sui.
As the purple flames expanded rapidly, the crack at the top of the Black Tai Sui grew larger and larger. As the edges of the wound shrank, streams of gray-black air shot out from it. The air streams shot into the air and outlined faces that were either sleeping or in pain.
Granny Chen's face, so aged it resembled tree rings, with deep wrinkles etched into her flesh, was one of them. Hearing Xiao Qi's call, her cloudy brown eyes looked over.
Xiao Qi shuddered under that gaze, realizing she had made a mistake. She dared not meet Granny Chen's eyes and looked down at Du Yu for help, only to see that his burning purple eyes did not blame her, but were instead filled with—a fury like the eve of an explosion!
Du Yu stared intently at a nearly translucent face floating on the edge of the gray mist:
Her face, partially obscured by long, wavy hair, possessed delicate features, but the slight pursing of her lips hinted at a touch of arrogance. Under her left eye, three small red moles, shaped like equilateral triangles, were barely visible in the mist, yet undeniably present.
Du Yu can't forget that face, no matter how hard she tries.
Time!
That face definitely belongs to her roommate!
How dare it?!
Xiao Qi shivered inexplicably and swallowed hard. Even in such a dangerous situation, she didn't dare to make a sound and disturb Du Yu.
Even though Yu had always been easygoing since they met, Xiao Qi had a strange premonition that if such a person really got angry, the consequences would be absolutely catastrophic.
[Beep beep, increased dungeon exploration progress detected. Additional side quest [False Redemption] reward: 1 Unknown Soul Fragment]
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Author's Note: This chapter was written slowly; I'll make up for the 2,000 words I owe tomorrow. (orz)
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