Mission No. 56

"If you want to accumulate Crimson Blood Crystal quickly, the fastest way is to sell the corpses of those two True God Beasts. The Crimson Blood Crystal you get will be enough for you to cultivate for a while." The Sea Emperor provided a shortcut to obtaining Crimson Blood Crystal.

"I've considered what you're talking about, but we can't sell those two beast corpses yet." Gu Ding shook his head. "Because of my size, I attract the attention of the native inhabitants of this world wherever I go. If we sell those two beast corpses, the buyers are very likely to investigate my identity."

"Moreover, those two True God-level demonic beasts had their souls directly obliterated by me, leaving no wounds on their bodies. If I sell their corpses, it's very likely that the local powerhouses will suspect my identity. You also said before that the souls of the creatures in this world are extremely weak, and almost no one understands the methods of attacking and defending the soul. If people discover that I know how to use soul attacks, my identity as an outsider will very likely be exposed."

"I see. But telling you the location of the Crimson Blood Crystal Mine directly won't do you any good..." The Sea Emperor was also considering whether there were other ways to help Gu Ding obtain the Crimson Blood Crystal.

"Why didn't it work?" Gu Ding asked, somewhat puzzled.

"This world is only so big, and all the Crimson Blood Crystal Mine have already been occupied by that celestial being's people. Each mine is guarded by a powerful True God, all of whom are his subordinates. If you try to seize a mine, you will be discovered immediately by that celestial being. After all, this world is less than the size of a small star system. Even if that celestial being doesn't know soul-searching techniques, he will definitely know the most basic application of soul scanning. At that time, you will probably perish in less than a day, let alone a year." The Sea Emperor revealed some of the information he had gathered about the mines and their connection to that celestial being.

"Just tell me where the Mission Board is, I'll go see what missions are available." Gu Ding knew immediately that trying to seize the mine was a pipe dream. To provoke a god with his current strength was tantamount to suicide.

"The Mission Board is outside the City Lord's Mansion. The City Lord's Mansion is at your eleven o'clock position, about fifteen kilometers away from you."

Guided by the Sea Emperor, Gu Ding quickly found the location of the City Lord's Mansion, a castle-like complex.

Less than fifty meters to the left of the City Lord's Mansion, a huge stone tablet stands to the side, over a hundred meters tall.

On the stone tablet, palm-sized black characters are carved, densely packed from top to bottom and from left to right, with as many as 30,000 mission numbers.

"These tasks are carved on? Does that mean tasks that have already been completed are still left on it?" Gu Ding looked at the huge stone tablet with some surprise, not understanding why tasks were issued in this way.

"This stone tablet is called the Spirit Communication Giant Tablet. It is a true divine artifact, or more accurately, a set of true divine artifacts. It is like a true divine artifact with countless clones. All the contents are engraved on any stone tablet, and they will be generated simultaneously on the other stone tablets. In this world, there are more than 300 cities, and each city has a Spirit Communication Giant Tablet. All tasks are issued simultaneously to all cities."

"Once the task is completed, all the person who completed it needs to do is touch the corresponding inscription on the stone tablet with their palm. That inscription will then automatically disappear from the stone tablet."

"Moreover, this stone tablet can understand human speech. As long as you give instructions, it will automatically filter tasks for you and can even turn pages."

The Sea Emperor's explanation was based on information gathered from various sources. He himself wasn't entirely sure how reliable this information was.

"Can it really understand human speech?" Gu Ding was somewhat skeptical. He took to the air and said to the stone tablet, "Rank the mission rewards from highest to lowest."

As soon as the words were spoken, the inscription on the stone tablet actually began to change. In just a moment, the task rewards were arranged from highest to lowest.

Gu Ding started looking at the task with serial number 1.

[1. Breaking the World's Restrictions]

[Mission Description: The world we inhabit is merely a Small World. Breaking the barriers around this world and opening its enclosure will complete the mission.]

[Task Reward: Ten Violet Blood Crystal Mine Vein]

[2. The Mystery of the Disappearance of the Strongest King]

[Task Description: In this world, all humans and monsters who cultivate to the Strongest King) will immediately disappear. Solve the mystery of the disappearance of the Strongest King to receive a reward.]

[Quest Reward: Three Violet Blood Crystal Mine Vein]

3. Exploring the Forbidden Zone

[Mission Description: In our world, there are many naturally isolated forbidden zones, the contents of which are unknown to anyone. Enter these forbidden zones, explore their interiors, share your findings, and inform others of how to enter.]

[Mission Reward: One Violet Blood Crystal Mine Vein for each Forbidden Zone]

"None of the previous ones will work. Either you can't do them, or doing them will expose your identity and make you a target for assassination." The Sea Emperor glanced at all the contents of the stone tablet. "The one that's suitable for you and has the highest reward is number 56."

After hearing what the Sea Emperor said, Gu Ding became too lazy to scan through them one by one and skipped directly to item 56.

[56. Gather the Crimson Flame Demon Fruit]

[Task Description: The Crimson Flame Demon Tree only grows in land permeated with the Beast Blood. Each Crimson Flame Demon Tree is guarded by a powerful True God-level demon beast, and it only bears fruit once every ten thousand years, with each harvest lasting for one month. After one month, any unharvested fruit will burst open, transforming into vital energy to nourish the demon tree. Bringing back the fruit intact completes the task; the more fruit harvested, the better.]

[Quest Rewards: One Crimson Flame Demon Fruit and one Violet Blood Crystal for each one.]

[Quest turn-in location: Shatas City, the main city]

[Task Trader: Dar]

"The reward is quite substantial. Sea Emperor, do you know where to find this fruit?" Gu Ding asked hurriedly.

"I don't know, because I don't know what this fruit looks like. There's nothing with that name in my database. And I can't find any data on more than 90% of the plants in this world," the Sea Emperor gave a negative answer. "It's just a name; it doesn't match up at all. I need to find a herbal medicine book from this world to compare it based on its appearance."

"Then let's take this mission," Gu Ding thought the mission wouldn't be too difficult for him, and he could also kill monsters along the way to cultivate and devour their blood and energy, which was a win-win situation.

After excitedly announcing his acceptance of the mission, Gu Ding shouted towards the stone tablet, "Mission number 56, I accept!"

After shouting, the stone tablet remained silent for a long time, leaving Gu Ding dumbfounded. "What's going on? Did it hear me, or not?"

"Place your palm on the mission number and hold it for three seconds to accept the mission." The Sea Emperor was speechless at what had just happened.

"Oh." Gu Ding immediately placed his palm on mission number 56. After holding his palm there for three seconds, the stone tablet trembled, and a beam of white light flowed from Gu Ding's palm into his body. A dark and inexplicable message appeared in Gu Ding's mind, Gu Ding knew he had accepted the mission.

After withdrawing his hand, Gu Ding slowly landed back on the ground.

Are there any libraries or similar places here?

"Yes, but they are paper books, and you have to turn the pages for me to see the contents." The Sea Emperor was also somewhat annoyed by this.

But Gu Ding was very interested. "Paper books? I've never read a paper book before. I heard that hundreds of years ago, the Deep Sea Star also used paper books. After we left the Universe Sea, all books became electronic. I've never had the chance to read a paper book."

"The library is at your three o'clock position; walk straight for about 1.5 kilometers." The moment the Sea Emperor finished speaking, Gu Ding leaped up. The next instant, he appeared in front of the library.

This library doesn't look very big; from the outside, it looks more like a warehouse.

Intrigued, Gu Ding walked towards the door, only to be stopped by an old man there.

"Young man, you're from the outer city, aren't you? To enter the library, you need to pay one Blood Bead every day."

"Can I pay by card?" Gu Ding didn't have a single Blood Bead on him, but if they were going to pay by card even with a single Blood Bead, Gu Ding guessed that the other party's answer would definitely be no.

Unexpectedly, the old man gave Gu Ding a deep look, and then produced a card reader in his hand. "Of course."

Gu Ding hesitated for a moment when he saw the card reader, but still handed over his card. It was swiped, and the deducted amount was indeed a Blood Bead. Gu Ding shook his head, turned, and went through the door.

The old man at the door watched Gu Ding's retreating figure and muttered, "Hmph, every time he encounters someone who doesn't want to pay, he makes up an excuse about not having change and only being able to swipe his card. I've long since learned to be smarter. Even if you only have Crystal Card, I'll still accept it!"

Although Gu Ding was curious as to why the old man had to swipe his card even for a single Blood Bead, he didn't delve into the matter.

Upon entering the library, there weren't many people inside. The hundreds of bookshelves and tables and chairs immediately caught Gu Ding, giving him a sense of novelty.

"On the left, in the second row, on the fourth shelf of the third bookshelf, there are five very thick volumes of 'World Species'." The Sea Emperor's voice entered Gu Ding's mind.

Following the Sea Emperor's instructions, Gu Ding walked towards the bookshelf and quickly found the five books Gu Ding had mentioned.

The five books were all quite thick, their combined thickness nearly a meter long. Gu Ding picked them all up, then found an empty table and quickly began reading from the first one.

Touching the pages and smelling the faint scent of ink, Gu Ding felt as if he had traveled back hundreds of years. He flipped through the pages, slowly reading the contents.

After reading a few pages with Sea Emperor couldn't stand Gu Ding's reading speed and simply told him to turn the pages directly. Helpless, Gu Ding flipped through the book loudly, and everyone in the library looked at Gu Ding, their eyes clearly showing some dissatisfaction.

Gu Ding could only slow down and lower his voice as much as possible to avoid disturbing others. However, his book-flipping speed, which was like counting money, also drew some disdain from the other readers.

It took Gu Ding more than ten minutes to finish the first book.

"It's not in this book. Let's look through them one by one. I think it should be in the plant section." After Gu Ding finished flipping through one page, Sea Emperor recorded all the data.

Then, Gu Ding spent half an hour flipping through the second and third books.

"The fourth book should be the plant section; there should be some description in it." After reading the second and third books, the Sea Emperor still couldn't find any information about the Crimson Flame Demon Tree.

Gu Ding picked up the fourth book and quickly flipped through it, but then he heard the Sea Emperor's puzzled voice beside him, "Strange, it's not in the plant section either..."

"In that case, let's just abandon this mission. We don't even know what the Crimson Flame Demon Tree looks like, so we can't proceed with the mission. I'll go out and get another mission so we don't waste any more time." Gu Ding made the decision immediately.

"Let me finish reading this last book first; it'll be perfect for improving my database." The Sea Emperor wanted to finish reading the last book.

"Okay." Gu Ding picked up the last book and began flipping through it quickly.

More than ten minutes later, the Sea Emperor's voice finally came, "It turns out that this Crimson Flame Demon Tree was not classified as a plant, but was placed in the last category, Abnormal Creatures."

"You found it?!" Gu Ding asked quickly using his mind.

"Found it. Take a look too. It's on pages 589 to 592." Sea Emperor added after saying that, "This task is much more troublesome than I imagined."

~~~

[This chapter has over 3600 words. I'll only be posting one chapter today, and three more over the next two days. By the way, at the request of readers in the group, I posted a photo of myself on Weibo today—an unedited ID photo. You can see it on both Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo. Just search "Wine-boiled Nuclear Warhead"—interested readers can check it out!] (To be continued...)

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