Memories

The Mutated Naga Leader waited for a moment but did not receive the answer it wanted. Twisted hatred appeared in its eyes. "Insignificant mortal, you dare reject the master's embrace?!"

Smack.

Shadow Throwing Knife combined with Rain of Dark Erosion, directly emptying the Naga Leader's health bar.

The Level 55 epic boss's generous experience instantly raised Qin Chuan by two levels to 49, and he was not far from Level 50 now.

Besides the experience, there were also four pieces of epic loot.

Just that alone made this trip highly rewarding.

The surrounding Mutated Nagas did not spend even a moment grieving their leader's death. They immediately joined the fray and rushed toward the leader's corpse.

As long as they reached that spot and devoured the leader's flesh and blood, given time, they would become the next leader!

However, Qin Chuan shattered the Mutated Nagas' plans the moment they began. A single instant-cast Concentrated Snipe easily cleared the field.

With the battle over, Qin Chuan swam toward the Naga Leader. He first collected all the loot, then used Empty Hand Technique to obtain three additional items before cutting off the Naga Leader's head as proof of the quest and storing it in his ring.

The moment he finished, before he could inspect his gains, he sensed the entire body of water beginning to tremble. Massive clusters of bubbles rose from the silt.

The underwater Naga structures began to collapse, and the ground beneath them split apart, revealing ruins buried within the rock layers.

Without a doubt, that was the Ancient God Ruins.

It was also the root cause of the Nagas' mutation.

Within the ruins, an eyeball the size of a football field suddenly opened. Intense mental corruption instantly plunged Qin Chuan into endless illusions, scenes from his previous life emerging before his eyes.

Chuan Ge, did you hear? Someone saw goblins offline!

We can actually extract our character attributes into the real world! Hahahaha! I've been an archmage for thirty years—I can finally cast fireballs!

Chuan Ge, run! It's a trap! Your defense is high, so you have the best chance of surviving. If you make it out, remember to avenge us brothers!

Brother Qin Chuan, are you ready? If we can successfully clear the Black Dragon Nest this time, Yan Country will gain another batch of Dragon Blood Warriors. Our potential will increase tremendously!

Fuck! Why are there two legendary dragons?! Retreat!

Guild Master, it's too late...

The crack in the sky has grown bigger again. I think I just saw something with wings watching us from behind the crack. Chuan Ge, what on earth has happened to this world?

General Qin, the latest battle report: an incomprehensible existence has descended upon South America. There are no living people left there.

Everyone, you are recognized as among the world's top hundred experts. You also know that this operation has only a ten percent chance of success. The fact that you stand here means you have prepared for the worst. On behalf of surviving humanity, I salute you. I hope we can meet again after the battle. Now, let us depart.

Someone has to hold back the Arrow God. If we let It continue attacking, everyone will die!

I'll go.

Bang.

The illusion dissipated. The eyeball within the ruins seemed somewhat stunned, but that quickly turned into keen interest.

"...So that's how it is."

The veil of fate was stirred by the wind, about to return to its original place.

Darkness of Fate gave a prompt.

Pitch-black energy emerged from Qin Chuan's shadow and surged toward the eyeball in the ruins.

The instant it came into contact with it, the eyeball exploded with a boom, dark red blood dyeing the entire body of water crimson.

Once the water finally calmed, the enormous eyeball had long since disappeared. Only two spheres remained in the ruins, radiating light.

Upon closer inspection, they were gemstones carved into the shape of eyes.

Yet Qin Chuan's heart could not calm down at all.

What exactly was that eyeball in the ruins? It had actually unearthed even the secrets he had buried deep in his heart.

Some of those memories had become hazy even to him, yet they had still appeared before his eyes.

It was an awful feeling.

It felt as though someone had seen right through him, down to his underwear.

But what concerned Qin Chuan most was Darkness of Fate's reaction.

It had actually killed the eyeball in an instant.

That pitch-black energy should have been Shadow Power.

"Fate... Shadow Power... rebirth..."

Qin Chuan muttered to himself.

He knew that his rebirth could not possibly be that simple.

The question was, what was the motive?

And why him?

His first glimpse of fate had brought entirely new mysteries.

After pondering for a moment, Qin Chuan suppressed the thoughts in his heart.

There was no use dwelling on it. He might as well keep moving forward openly and boldly.

The first thing he needed to do was collect the two gemstones in the ruins. The Eyes of Insight mentioned by Darkness of Fate were presumably these things.

They looked like items, but when Qin Chuan looked at them, he could not see any information at all.

That was highly unreasonable.

Apocalypse was currently still in its game phase. Even a stone slab on the ground would display information such as "floor" as long as a player wished to inspect it.

Yet there was nothing at all on those two gemstones.

But since he was already here, he could not exactly leave empty-handed.

Yan Country had an old saying: to refuse Heaven's gift was to invite punishment. Since fate had guided him here, he should take them without hesitation.

With that thought in mind, Qin Chuan immediately swam over and picked up the two gemstones.

Before he could inspect them closely, the gemstones turned into streams of light and shot into his eyes.

Qin Chuan's vision went black, but it immediately returned.

You have obtained the Eyes of Insight—Eyes of Insight.

The game prompt proved that he had not come to the wrong place. These were indeed the Eyes of Insight mentioned by Darkness of Fate.

But the problem was that Qin Chuan could not find any information about the Eyes of Insight on his interface.

It was neither a skill nor equipment or an item.

There was only that single prompt, and then nothing more.

"Are you kidding me?"

Qin Chuan shook his head helplessly.

He swept his gaze over the surroundings. After the eyeball in the ruins had burst apart, the ruins lost their support. The surrounding rock layers began to collapse and cave in, completely burying them.

If Qin Chuan wanted to, he could clear away the rubble and go in to explore.

But there was no need.

The most important thing in those ruins was the Eyes of Insight. Since he had already obtained them, there was no reason to go back inside.

Now, it was time to return to the fortress and turn in the quest.

After surfacing and summoning the Shadow Dragon, Qin Chuan leaped onto its back. He casually tore open a Drying Scroll to dry his equipment, then eagerly began examining the loot dropped by the Naga Leader.

They were epic items, and they were Level 55—he could use them right now.

If there was something he could replace, that would be perfect.

He casually pulled one out.

Lightning Orb Skill Book (Epic): Summons a Lightning Orb that lasts for 5 seconds, dealing (Magic Attack * 50% + 2000) damage per second to up to ten enemies. When the same target takes damage three times, it enters a stunned state for 5 seconds. Costs 1000 Mana. Cooldown: 40 seconds.

Trait: Damage increased by 30%.

Epic Trait: Orb duration increased by 2 seconds.

Oh, it had dropped the boss's signature skill.