Chapter 176: Open

Why me?

This was a very interesting attitude.

This had happened throughout history many times before. For example, say that an enemy force had invaded deep into a country’s territory and was knocking on the capital’s front door. If the emperor asks the rich merchants and nobles to use their resources and manpower to defend the capital at all costs, then despite the dire predicament, the response would usually be lackluster.

Was it that these nobles were blind and couldn’t understand the consequences of a successful enemy invasion?

Of course not.

There were many other factors at play. For example, just because the country was going to fall didn’t mean that their clan necessarily would. It was possible that they could survive by paying a relatively small fee to the invaders. Others might think that they wouldn’t be of much help and that the country would surely be able to withstand the invasion on its own. And yet another very important reason was, “Why me?”

Why should I pay ten thousand when the Ji Clan is only paying three thousand? Why are they not doing anything, but I am required to make a sacrifice? I can provide assistance, but only if they do as well. So what if we’re doomed? Then we’ll all just be doomed together. I don’t get along with the other clans, and I won’t accept them giving any less than me. If we are going to die, then we’ll all die together!

This kind of thought process was an inherent part of the human psychology.

Eternal Night recognized the immense threat that Su Chen posed if he were to remain alive.

But why should he pay the price for an act that would greatly benefit all of the other Intelligent Races?

If the Harpies were to be wiped out, then none of the other Intelligent Races should be allowed to survive either.

Eternal Night, in some sense, was also a normal person. Even he couldn’t shed the psychological biases that came with being a Harpy.

However, Eternal Night refused to give up hope.

He didn’t want to die, and he didn’t want the Harpies to die either.

So he had thought of an additional tactic.

Increase the number of conditions.

Su Chen, weren’t you quite impressive? Aren’t you very able?

Fine then. Go and bring the Immortal Soul and Neptune’s Eye to me.

With these two items in his hand, Sky City would be able to regain its mobility. If Sky City could move again, what use was the Floating Points Plan?

Just because I can’t stop the humans from rising to power doesn’t mean that I can’t stop the Harpies from also doing the same.

When the humans grew strong, the Harpies would be immune to their influence with this trump card. As for whether the other Intelligent Races survived or not, it didn’t matter to him in the slightest. In the future, it might even be the six Intelligent Races against the two of them.

Hm, that was a pretty good idea.

This was the reason why Eternal Night required such an unreasonable third demand of Su Chen.

Su Chen was rendered speechless.

“Your Majesty, you’re not treating me as a slave — you’re treating me as a divine emissary!” Su Chen said seriously.

Eternal Night smiled wryly as he replied, “Gods exist on high and are not influenced by our desires, but you can be. You are not a god, but a human, and a sage at that!”

“It doesn’t matter how sage-like I am. The Harpies have probably thought of countless plans to take those items back, right? But which of those plans have ever succeeded?”

“That’s why I need you!” Eternal Night replied unhesitatingly. “I trust that you will be able to do it.”

“And what if I can’t?”

“Then we will all die together.”

Eternal Night could be incredibly unreasonable when he wanted to.

Su Chen laughed with anger. “Fine. I don’t even know how I’m going to stop the impending invasion, but you already trust me enough to resurrect the hope of the Harpies? You really must have quite a high opinion of me.”

Eternal Night seriously replied, “It’s not that I in particular have a high opinion of you. It’s that no one can not have a high opinion of you after seeing your accomplishments. You managed to deal devastating blows to both the Harpies and the Ravagers, so why not continue and do the same to the Oceanids and the Astrals? Offending all of the major Intelligent Races is quite an achievement, you know.”

Can I refuse this achievement?

But when Su Chen saw Eternal Night’s expression, he knew that there was no room for negotiation.

Ever since Eternal Night had seen through Su Chen’s cultivation realm, Su Chen only had one real choice that he could make.

“It seems that I must agree.”

“Fine,” Eternal Night said with great satisfaction. “Of course, I am willing to help Sir Su with anything he needs assistance with, as long as it’s within my ability to do so.”

“Weren’t you the one who agreed earlier to open up the imperial storehouse to me?”

This time, it was Eternal Night’s turn to be stunned speechless.

Within Perpetual Daylight Palace’s Recuperation Hall.

That was where Zhu Xianyao was being kept.

She had become much more resilient after her earlier near-death experience.

At this moment, she was lying in Su Chen’s embrace as she said, “So you agreed to all his conditions?”

“I didn’t have a choice. He was the one who won out in this exchange,” Su Chen replied with a sigh. “Only now do I realize how lucky I was back in Ravager territory, as their ruler was an idiot. But Eternal Night is a truly frightening opponent. I thought that, with my Light Shaking Phantom technique and the Origin Bone Scepter, I would have been able to do as I pleased. However, it turns out that I was wrong.”

Zhu Xianyao meekly said, “It’s all my fault for holding you back.”

“If you keep saying that, I’ll become unhappy,” Su Chen said with a pampering tone. “You are my woman. It’s actually my fault for implicating you in all of this. How can this be your fault for holding me back? Eternal Night is doing the same for his fellow countrymen, after all.”

Zhu Xianyao smiled. “I was being unreasonable. You’re right, my husband.”

She was quite straightforward about the whole situation and very quickly stopped blaming herself.

“But still, Eternal Night’s request is not going to be easy to fulfill.”

“It won’t, so that’s why we’ll need to seize the moment.”

Even though he said that he would “seize the moment,” his gaze was fixed on Zhu Xianyao as his eyes began to glow.

Zhu Xianyao understood his intentions. She blushed as she pushed him gently. “You devil.”

Su Chen leaned in, and the room was soon filled with the sounds of youthful springtime.

At the same time, Eternal Night was facing off against Serene Dream Lotus Crown.

“Why? Why didn’t you force him to return the Divine Tool?” Serene Dream Lotus Crown asked, infuriated.

She was really mad this time.

The loss of a Divine Tool was a huge deal for the Mother Goddess Sect.

The criminal had been caught, but now Eternal Night was saying that it was impossible for him to retake the Divine Tool.

What was the meaning of this?

Even though Serene Dream Lotus Crown’s political skill was not nearly as high as Eternal Night’s, that didn’t mean that she couldn’t sense the conspiracy lurking in the background.

Eternal Night calmly replied, “You’re incorrect, Serene Dream. I never told Su Chen not to hand over the Divine Tool. He doesn’t have it on him at the moment.”

“Then where is it?”

“This brat is incredibly slippery and has already sent the treasure from Harpy territory. Right now, it’s buried somewhere randomly underground.”

“So tell him to bring it back!”

“That’s one of the conditions I’ve given him,” Eternal Night said as he patted Serene Dream Lotus Crown’s hand. “Don’t worry. That Divine Tool can’t have gotten far.”

Serene Dream Lotus Crown’s heart softened due to his actions, and she blushed faintly. “I’m just worried that a long night brings with it many dreams. The longer we wait, the more likely something unexpected will happen.”

Her thought process was correct, but unfortunately, she had no way of realizing that the source of these dreams was the person right beside her. The ‘recovery process’ of the Divine Tool was doomed to fail.

Of course, Eternal Night wouldn’t admit that he had not asked for the item back. He would instead place the blame on Su Chen so that it would seem like he was the one who had reneged on his word. And since Su Chen didn’t want to return the treasures to the Mother Goddess Sect anyways, it was only natural that he would be more than happy to take on this blame.

“Don’t worry. The Divine Tool will definitely be returned. It’s only a matter of time,” Eternal Night comforted. “What’s more important is the Immortal Soul and the Neptune’s Eye.”

Yes. Even though the Mother Goddess Sect’s treasures were all important, they could not even compare to the Immortal Soul and Neptune’s Eye’s value.

When Eternal Night used the future of the Harpies as his excuse, it was as powerful as a mountain bearing down upon Serene Dream Lotus Crown, forcing her to bow her head.

She could only acquiesce powerlessly. “Fine. I’ll be patient for a bit longer then.”

“I need you to be more than patient. You must also help me by helping him. I need you to open up the Mother Goddess Sect’s ancient library to him so that he can learn more about the Immortal Soul and Neptune’s Eye. This is necessary for him to help me complete this marvelous plan,” Eternal Night said.

Even Su Chen would have a hard time successfully completing something that the Harpies had failed to accomplish for tens of thousands of years. Eternal Night wasn’t just throwing a difficult task at Su Chen with no care for the outcome. Since he had asked for it as a condition, then he fully intended for Su Chen to fulfill it, and he would accordingly do his best to help Su Chen.

As such, not only did he need to convince Serene Dream Lotus Crown to give up on the Mother Goddess Sect’s treasures, but he also needed her to help Su Chen. This included teaching Su Chen how to use the Mother Goddess Sect’s five divine treasures — though of course, he wouldn’t ever openly admit this.

But as long as Serene Dream Lotus Crown agreed, the situation would be much easier to resolve.

Serene Dream Lotus Crown never would have expected that Eternal Night had even taken her every mood into consideration, and she fully trusted him. After some time, she nodded. “Got it. For the sake of this great undertaking, I will open up the ancient records to him. But there are so many records in there that he won’t be able to go through them all. The most important matter should be to resolve the invasion of the humans and the Beasts.”

“Don’t worry about that. Su Chen can speedread, so just half a day in the library should be enough.”

“The ancient records are incredibly exhaustive in their details. Doesn’t that mean that he will learn all of our secrets?”

“He has already made a blood oath not to spread our secrets publicly.”

Blood oaths were a unique technique of the Harpies, and they caused the oathtaker to receive a backlash if the oath was broken. Even though Su Chen was relatively confident in being able to escape from the effects of this oath, it would take a long time to research, and it was impossible for him to spend that much time on an extraneous project given his current pursuits. He would just keep this loophole a secret instead, which meant that the blood oath’s effect was quite reliable.

Serene Dream Lotus Crown snorted in response. “This guy really was born to be a bandit. He steals treasures, steals money, and steals wealth at any opportunity he gets.”

Eternal Night calmly replied, “Right now, I’m hoping that his skills as a bandit will prove useful. That’s the only way he will live up to our expectations.”

He purposefully said “our” expectations, as if the plan had been drawn up by both him and Serene Dream Lotus Crown together. With his subtle phrasing, Serene Dream Lotus Crown had unknowingly fallen into this line of thought, and she responded accordingly.

That afternoon, Su Chen entered the Mother Goddess Sect’s library.

A large number of the Mother Goddess Sect’s records were found here. It included their history, all kinds of legendary Arcana Techniques, and more importantly, detailed records of the Immortal Soul and Neptune’s Eye.

In addition, there was also information on how to operate the five divine tools.

That was what Su Chen was actually after.