Xingtie: Starting with an in-depth analysis of the Yellow Springs

Because she was constantly exposed to death, she cherished life all the more.

"Because... he still fears death. Despite his vile and filthy deeds, he does not deserve to die and should not become a sacrifice to the dark hand."

"It is the most terrifying darkness in the world; if left to grow... all light will be swallowed up."

"To answer your question, what drives me to wield my sword has never been a passion for killing, but a fear of death."

Fear... Gneus let out a heavy breath.

"...Get lost, you dog-rat. You've escaped with your life today."

He did not agree with Xia Die's theory, but merely praised her courage.

For the man who wields the sword, weapons are sacred; how could they be defiled by a petty person, or a coward without any courage?

Nicole: Uh… just stealing and selling the dead’s weapons shouldn’t be a capital offense, right? If that’s the case, I’d be dead hundreds of times over.

[Bai E: Do you still remember the five virtues of Suspended Peak? Death is not terrible for those who live on Suspended Peak; violating virtues is unforgivable.]

[Qingque: It's just a difference in viewpoints and ideologies. Like fate, you can't expect the Illusory Emptiness Faith to protect you.]

[Huanlong: Maybe it's possible; even the Guardian Token Envoy isn't out of the question.]

[Star: Unbelievable!]

[Aglaia: Butterfly, your understanding of death is different from ours. Just follow your heart.]

[Xia Die: Death... I wish there were no more deaths in the world.]

Chapter 284 Suspended Peak Ritual

The plum blossoms bloom a third time; behind the door lies an even more complex mechanism.

However, it was insignificant to the three of them; it was just a matter of spending more time.

"Warrior...brave warrior. Come forward, come forward..."

The Golden Lion Head? We've come this far. Before, when Xing and Wan Di were fighting Nicardoli, they also encountered the aged Lion Head, but now it's in a vigorous state.

The lion's voice sounded somewhat aged.

"You might... be the savior of Suspended Peak City..."

"Warrior... Warrior! Come closer... let me see you clearly..."

Standing beneath the golden lion's head, Gnaeus looked up and asked, "Are you summoning me, Lion?"

“Yes…yes. The aura surrounding you…I haven’t seen such a passionate soul in a long time.”

"The most fiery meteor of Suspended Peak City has already flown away from us... What remains is just a cluster of embers that may be extinguished at any moment."

"...Are you talking about Wan Die?" Xing asked Xia Die.

"I think...yes."

The golden lion head spoke unusually much today.

"The old and senile king is plotting an unspeakable scheme... They want to desecrate the divinity of Nicardoli, its soul, and the legacy it left to Suspended Peak."

"We need to be saved...we need a hero to bring us hope."

The passionate words failed to resonate with the warrior, and Gnaeus shattered his illusions.

"...I'm not here to save anyone, old lion. I'm here only to answer the call...to crush stupidity and greed."

“Perhaps… that’s exactly what we desperately need.” The golden lion head did not argue.

The soldiers who have made it this far have the courage to move forward; sometimes the result is more important than the process.

"Go forth, warrior... answer the call. I am old... weary... but I will watch you depart from here, and recite invincible prayers for you..."

[Xingqiu: The route we're taking seems to overlap with that of Wanfeng. A fighter named Gnaeus couldn't possibly be unknown; do you really not know his story?]

[Na Kexia: I might know. But as a scholar, I need sufficient evidence to support my conclusion.]

[Aglaia: The embodiment of strife? This is the source of Nicardo's immortality.]

[Star: Ah... how did you figure that out? He didn't even reveal his identity.]

[Dan Heng: Profound knowledge, superb martial arts skills, and the dialogue with the Golden Lion Head.]

[Silver Wolf: This sounds like a game plot, where the final boss's good intentions manifest as minions, then fight their way through and eliminate you.]

[Ring: That's the truth, I think so too.]

[Wan Di: Could there be another reason behind Nicardoli's madness, the former king Euriporn...?]

[Paimon: Why guess? Just ask directly, @Gnaeus.]

[Fou: Uh… that makes me look stupid.]

[Gnaeus: I am the reason of strife, and its immortality comes from me.]

[Wan Di: To kill Nicardi, you must merge with it. Will you willingly die?]

[Gnaeus: Ha ha ha, Medemus, you are a born warrior, worthy of your mother's name, Goergo. It... or rather, I, can no longer protect Onpharos... Do you understand?]

【Wan Di: ...I will make you die a glorious death.】

As we venture deeper, the distant butterfly seeks answers.

"Lord Gnaeus, the call you heard..."

"I casually smashed the attacking Titan's familiar," Gnaeus replied.

“It comes from the depths of this city. It’s very close… Now, it’s almost whispering in my ear.”

The mechanical gears turned, and the door slowly opened.

The core area was littered with corpses; family members, warriors, fighters... all had perished without exception.

The intense, profound aura of death made Xia Die uneasy.

"...Whose desires are these festivals ultimately meant to satisfy?"

Corpses littered the ground, but Gnaeus paid them no heed. "A beast without a target is merely following the trail of blood on instinct."

Having already penetrated deep into the heart of Suspended Peak City, Xia Die had no intention of hiding it from Gneis.

"Lord Gnaeus... it's time to let you know our purpose. We don't expect cooperation, we only hope to avoid conflict."

"We have come to find a way to destroy Nicardo. We have received... intelligence that the maddened Titans of Strife are forging immortal bodies for themselves."

"If it is not stopped, it will pose a great threat to Onphalus in later generations."

“Hmph, a threat…” Gnaeus looked directly at the two men, realizing that it was probably not just a threat, but also involved Onphalus’s future.

“Our goals are not conflicting, girl. Finding Titan will allow us to each get what we need.”

Since that's the case, let's gather clues along the way and head to where Titan is.

By manipulating death, Xia Die can obtain the behavior and mannerisms of fallen soldiers from their souls.

Therefore, they learned some of the inside details of the festival.

The constant influx of challengers, keeping them fighting, is to... keep Nicardi immersed in the atmosphere of war, so as to suppress its madness.

Maintain its composure by faking a war.

Moreover, Euriporn secretly gathered priests to perform a ritual, sealing the Titan's soul with a divine sword vessel.

His advisors devised a plan to launch a general offensive against Ohmma.

The repeated guidance of the departed souls caused the Butterfly to suffer a backlash, making her cough involuntarily, but they must find a way to resolve the conflict.

[Bai'er: Isn't that stone tablet part of Nicardo's plan, or a scheme by the old king Euriporn to turn the Titans into weapons?]

[Wan Di: Hmph, ignorant. The Black Tide is rampant, and you're still thinking about civil war.]

[Feng Jin: Using glory to lure warriors into becoming a calming agent in the midst of conflict, and then using the souls of the dead to temper the blade of divine retribution to attack the Holy City, he is unworthy to be king.]

[Gnaeus: Foolish fools, confined to momentary expediency, the glory of the Hanging Peak has died at your hands.]

[Star: As expected, every world experiences internal and external conflicts. Why is it that no world can ever unite as one?]

Gallagher: Order, huh?

[Cerseis: It's an inevitable part of history; there will always be a human attempting to seize the power of the Titans.]

After getting to know them along the way, Gnaeus realized that the two were special and out of step with the world.

He asked directly, "Is it Eulonis? No... even it doesn't have such powerful divine strength."

"We'll have to silence them now!" Xing pulled out a baseball bat in the blink of an eye.

Xia Die reached out to stop her, "Calm down, Lord Xing... I don't think he meant any harm."

“You guessed right…cough…Lord Gnaeus—we do not belong to this era.”

"Sometime in the distant future... Nicardoli, driven mad, will drive our companions and our home to the brink of destruction. We have returned here... to find a way to stop the apocalypse."

Gnaeus meant no harm; he simply wanted to ascertain the true origins of the two individuals. Even if he were to fight, he currently lacked the power to secure a victory.

I never imagined the future would be so tragic.

"...Will its madness continue for thousands of years to come? The destruction caused by human folly is immeasurable. In the end, it turns out that our goals are completely aligned."

The butterfly nodded and followed its soul.

"Cough! Cough, cough..."

“…No need to force yourself,” Gnaeus kindly reminded him.

"Just one last step... I can feel it..."

Chapter 285 The Missing Reason

Even the most rigid person would realize that something was wrong with Xia Die, but since she couldn't be touched, Xing had no choice but to speed up the process of solving the puzzle.

As expected, the last soul brought important information.

Courage, glory, perseverance, sacrifice—its divinity is divided into five parts… but one part is missing.

Its rationality is nowhere to be found.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Xia Die covered her mouth and coughed heavily.

"To guide a soul caught between life and death is so painful..."

"If only there were no death in this world. Then they wouldn't have to wander here... and I wouldn't have to suffer like this."

Gnaeus sighed softly, moved by the girl's persistence. The aura of death was bone-chilling; the power of the Titans was beyond human endurance.

"...There's no need to listen to the voices of the dead anymore; we have enough information now. The Suspended Ones have tampered with Nicardoli's soul; we just need to find the scene of their blasphemy."

The butterfly nodded, sending the last soul to the River Styx.

Walk through the deep corridor and arrive at the place where the divine sword vessel is housed.

I never expected that a Titan's familiar would also possess the trait of immortality, remaining standing even after suffering a fatal blow.

King Euriporn of Nayon sought to strip Nicardi of his divinity and store it permanently in an elaborately crafted vessel.

In this way, Nicardi's divine body can be kept immortal...

Before the transformation of the Titans began, these familiars were experimental subjects.

Looking into the same direction as Gnaeus, the spacious chamber should have contained five soul-forging vessels, each holding a portion of Nicardoli's soul.

Now, all the clues are clear.

"Reassemble its soul, and let its divine core be united once more," Gnaeus slowly revealed the method to break the immortality.

"In this way, it will regain its dignity as a Titan, and you will have a chance to defeat it head-on."

Xia Die revealed a long-lost smile, "Finally, we've found the source of everything..."

Their mission is nearing completion, and Wan Di and Bai E will be able to completely quell the conflict and retrieve the fire.

[Bai E: Xing, we need your help again this time. Only you possess the power to change the past. Xia Die, you should rest well. I'll accompany our companions back to the past.]

[Xia Die: I'm fine, Lord Bai E. Weren't you and Lord Wan Di supposed to be fighting against Nicardoli together?]

[Bai Er: That guy won't let me disturb him, saying he'll overcome his former faith alone. But don't worry, I've asked Mr. Walter and Mr. Danheng to keep an eye on him.]