[Citywide Announcement: "Ding~ Congratulations to players Rulebound and Liuli for clearing the Divine Oracle rare-race Snake Clan Gold-tier Secret Realm · Lv80 Snake King Island, obtaining achievement rewards: Gold Coins +10,000! Reputation +10,000! Orange Title · Snake Catching Expert +1!"]
At night, a sudden system announcement broke the tranquility of Inferno City.
Whether they were outside the city doing quests, farming monsters, and leveling up, or inside the city crafting equipment and shopping, all the players were thrown into an uproar.
The Inferno City chat channel, which was usually full of lewd talk, instantly exploded.
[Only Money in My Eyes (Male, Lv68, 3rd-Turn Grand Priest): "Wait! How many gold coins did they get? Ten thousand? Holy shit? At the current official exchange rate, isn't that 21 million RMB?"]
[Destined Wage Slave (Male, Lv67, 3rd-Turn Thief): "Holy shit! The big shots make money in Oracle as easily as drinking water! I could work ten lifetimes and still not make what he earned from clearing one secret realm."]
[Level Eight Gale (Male, Lv68, 3rd-Turn Paladin): "The reward for just one achievement is already this insane? Then the secret realm itself must give even more! Are secret realms in Oracle really worth this much? Where can I find one? I'm going to get one too!"]
[Jiang Province Liu Ruyan (Female, Lv67, 3rd-Turn Healer): "I heard Big Brother Rulebound is from Jiang Province? Which part of Jiang Province are you from, Big Brother? Can we meet offline? I weigh 90, and I'm 36D!"]
[Overlord Impales Ji (Male, Lv69, 3rd-Turn Berserker): "It's probably padded if you're claiming 36D, right? If you weigh under 100, you're either flat-chested or short! And you're flirting right in front of Big Shot Liuli, his wife? Nice! I wasn't even impressed by the crazy Level Eight Gale above. I'm impressed by you, Jiang Province Liu Ruyan!"]
Just as players from all walks of life were happily chatting in the channel, the tavern in the city...
Nether and Ji Ningshuang were pondering how to find the missing piece of the God-Refining Cauldron map fragment.
When they heard the sudden system announcement, both of them were startled.
"A rare-race Gold-tier secret realm?", Ji Ningshuang said thoughtfully, "Those four Beast Race main cities, the four places where we obtained the fragments, were all secret realms too. They just weren't this high-grade. They were all Silver-tier secret realms of ordinary races."
"Looks like another fragment really is in Rulebound's hands. He must have just cleared this Snake King Island secret realm and obtained the fragment."
Nether looked at the God-Refining Cauldron map fragments on the table. Four corner fragments had been pieced together, with only the central piece missing.
"The piece in his hands is the core, the most important piece."
"But only a complete map can reveal the location of the God-Refining Cauldron."
"Even if the core piece is in Rulebound's hands, he still needs these four pieces we have before he can learn the location of the God-Refining Cauldron."
Ji Ningshuang frowned coldly, "He'll definitely be anxious if he can't get these four fragments from us."
"He urgently needs the God-Refining Cauldron to forge exclusive equipment for his Divine Descent Seraph Angel. He must be even more anxious than we are."
"Hmph! We don't need to go looking for him. We'll just wait for him to come looking for us."
As soon as Ji Ningshuang finished speaking...
Ding!
She suddenly received a private message.
[Rulebound (Lv79, 3rd-Turn Soul Archer): "Let's talk."]
The corners of Ji Ningshuang's mouth lifted.
"Mm-hmm~ Just as I expected. He couldn't wait this long?"
Since Ji Ningshuang was certain that Rulebound needed something that was in her hands, she replied arrogantly, ["Sure. Let's meet at the tavern in the south of the city."]
["Friendly reminder: You only have ten minutes. No waiting after that."]
Three minutes later, Lin Mo and Ning Xi arrived at the tavern.
They met Nether and Ji Ningshuang.
First on the Heavenly Ranking, Level 80 Elemental Mage, Liuli!
Second on the Heavenly Ranking, Level 79 Soul Archer, Rulebound!
Third on the Heavenly Ranking, Level 73 Judge, Nether!
Fifth on the Heavenly Ranking, Level 72 Assassin, Frost Dance!
Four top-ranked Heavenly Ranking experts appeared at the same time.
The other players in the tavern who had been drinking and chatting were immediately scared out of their wits.
"Holy shit! Rulebound!"
"Holy shit! Liuli!"
"Holy shit! Four Heavenly Ranking experts!"
"Something's about to go down! Let's get out of here! Don't mess with the big shots!"
As the independent players in the tavern hurriedly fled, Lin Mo held Ning Xi's hand and walked straight over to sit down at Nether and Ji Ningshuang's table.
If this hadn't been a safe zone, the four of them naturally wouldn't be sitting here so peacefully at this moment.
Ji Ningshuang crossed her arms, arrogance showing in her cold eyes.
"Rulebound, you're pretty clever."
"You actually managed to guess that the people who snatched your secret realms in Shadow City, Blood Moon City, Hopeless City, and Rakshasa City were us?"
Ji Ningshuang said calmly, "Then let's stop beating around the bush. That's right. The other four map fragments of the God-Refining Cauldron are in my hands now."
"But if you want to get them from me…"
Smack!
Before Ji Ningshuang could finish, Lin Mo suddenly slapped the map fragment he had just obtained from the Snake King Island secret realm onto the table.
He said to Ji Ningshuang, "You only need to answer one question, and I'll give it to you."
Lin Mo's sudden move caught Ji Ningshuang completely off guard.
'What?'
'What does he mean?'
'Wasn't he going to such lengths to get the map fragments, combine them into the complete God-Sealing Map, find the God-Refining Cauldron, and forge exclusive equipment for his pet, the Divine Descent Seraph Angel?'
'Why isn't he asking for these four pieces in my hands? Instead, he's so willing to hand over the piece in his own hands?'
Ji Ningshuang froze for a moment.
After recovering, she went along with Lin Mo and asked, "What question?"
"Who is the Boss, and where is he?", Lin Mo didn't waste any words and went straight to the point, "I know the two of you were both acting against me on the Boss's orders. It wasn't your own intention."
"As long as you answer this question, from now on, I won't cause you any trouble in the world of Oracle."
Nether was about to speak, but Ji Ningshuang stopped him.
With a sly smile on her face, she said to Lin Mo, "Fine. I can tell you."
"But who the Boss is and where he is are two questions."
"You said I only need to answer one question."
"I can tell you where he is. As for who you want to know he is, once you meet him, you'll naturally find out."
"Fine," Lin Mo said, "Then tell me where he is."
"He's right here in Inferno City," Ji Ningshuang pretended to look at her information panel and said, "I just confirmed it. He's currently in the Dark Night Spirit Capital map. Hurry over and take a look. If you're too late, he might leave."
Lin Mo and Ning Xi didn't hesitate.
They left the God-Refining Cauldron map fragment behind.
Then they immediately got up and quickly left the tavern.
At this point, Nether picked up the God-Refining Cauldron map fragment Lin Mo had left on the table and took a look. He discovered that it was actually real.
Nether couldn't help feeling suspicious, "Why would Rulebound hand over this fragment so easily?"
Ji Ningshuang, however, didn't care.
Instead, she said smugly, "He probably knows we're never going to hand over these four fragments so easily, so he simply gave up."
"To trade this map fragment that's already useless to him for information about Godfather, that really is a good deal."
Her words were full of mockery.
"I overestimated you, Rulebound. I thought you were so clever."
"I never expected you to be this foolish."
At this point, Nether pieced together the five map fragments.
They really did merge into a complete God-Sealing Map.
At the same time, the location where the God-Refining Cauldron was sealed was clearly revealed on the God-Sealing Map.
"It's here!"
Ji Ningshuang was also delighted.
"Then let's hurry over! Otherwise, once Rulebound realizes that I lied to him, he'll definitely come back for us."
"Before that happens, let's hurry up and get the God-Refining Cauldron, then go to the Forbidden Land of the Gods and release the Ghost King."
"As long as we release that Ghost King, with its help, no matter how strong Rulebound is, he won't be our opponent anymore."
Nether didn't worry about much else for the time being.
He only wanted to find the God-Refining Cauldron as quickly as possible.
So he and Ji Ningshuang left the city together, following the directions on the God-Sealing Map toward the place where the God-Refining Cauldron was sealed.