Chapter 686 - 432: Divine Hall Key

Chapter 686: Chapter 432: Divine Hall Key

In just an instant, the sun’s light shifted from tranquil to ferocious, then returned to tranquility.

This brief eruption brought with it one final result: death.

—The death of the Abyss’s demons.

In a Satellite City operations room, on the surveillance map, the crimson icons of high-risk Abyssal Energy Sources vanished one after another within seconds. The Abyssal Contamination in their regions began to weaken dramatically. The terrifying pollution index plummeted like a stock market crash.

It dropped from blood-red to light red, then from light red to orange...

As countless people watched in disbelief, the pollution index plummeted to the double digits, its color turning to the green that symbolized safety and the absence of contamination...

What followed was news of the deaths of several major enemies.

The Royal City’s watchdog, the Dark Demon Dragon, was the first to be confirmed dead by the Investigation Mirror. It clearly hadn’t understood the situation or how terrifyingly lethal the Sun was to it. Driven by instinct, it had recklessly charged toward the World’s Peak, and the outcome was predictable.

The Sea Serpent Emperor Dragon, located in the great ocean, was the next to be confirmed dead.

A large screen displayed the observation footage.

A massive sea serpent’s corpse lay upon the churning ocean. World-ending tsunamis, large enough to submerge a city, crashed against it, yet seemed as insignificant as ripples in a washbasin.

The serpent’s length was staggering. The part of its body floating above the water was merely a fraction of its total size; the rest was hidden beneath the surface. Even so, the visible portion occupied a vast swath of the sea, resembling a continuous, winding mountain range. It was hard to imagine just how astonishingly long it would be if fully extended—in the legends of Gaia, the Sea Serpent Emperor Dragon’s body was large enough to encircle the entire world.

Sharp, protruding spikes covered the Sea Serpent Emperor Dragon’s spine. Its jet-black scales reflected the sunlight with a steely luster. These were the incomparably tough Emperor Dragon Snake Scales, said to be hard enough to withstand even Forbidden Curse Magic.

Yet now, myriad rays of brilliant golden light, like divine swords of judgment, had pierced the Sea Serpent Emperor Dragon’s body. Its corpse was marred by countless scorch marks, from which billowed enormous plumes of smoke.

Under the sun’s rays, its massive body was being purified and vaporized. The indestructible Emperor Dragon Snake Scales and flesh were burned through with ease, exposing the ghastly white colossal bones within. And even those bones, thick with Abyssal deposits, could not escape the fate of being incinerated and purified.

Then there were others: the Corrupted Giant Kun that had occupied the northeastern skies, the Veteran Centaur that had claimed the mountains...

"A few minutes ago, the Sea Serpent Emperor Dragon left the seabed and surfaced. Not long after, the Artificial Sun erupted, and... and it just died under the sunlight like that..."

"The Corrupted Giant Kun was hit directly by the sunlight and purified on the spot."

"Same with the Veteran Centaur. It looked like it was just strolling on the plains, and then... then it got burned to death by the sunlight..."

The reporter’s voice was filled with a sense of absurd frustration and disbelief.

A total of twelve high-risk targets, including one of the Kings, had died just like that. While it was certainly an occasion worthy of popping champagne, the whole thing felt a bit too theatrical.

"Confirmation: the Royal City’s aberrant armies are completely wiped out!"

"The miasma in the Valley of Miasma has thinned by approximately 35%, and its concentration is still dropping!"

"The Frozen Demon Spirit and the Valkyrie were scorched by the Sun and have been severely wounded! The Priest of Storm Main City is confirmed dead!"

One piece of heartening news followed another. No one could have imagined that the Artificial Sun’s brief eruption would yield such astonishing results.

「World’s Peak.」

Zhou Chen didn’t even know what had happened. He could only watch in a daze as streams of light flew in from all over Gaia. His experience points skyrocketed, various quests triggered and were completed in an instant, and Soul Fragments arrived one after another.

’A Soul Fragment from the Sea Serpent Emperor Dragon?’ he thought, looking at the prompt that had just appeared. His face was a picture of utter confusion. ’Isn’t the Sea Serpent Emperor Dragon one of the Four Heavenly Kings? How did it die? Why did the spoils come to me? Don’t tell me I’m the one who killed it?’

’Hmm... It must be thanks to the Artificial Sun.’

Zhou Chen immediately figured out what was happening. Watching his Level, which was still climbing, he silently allocated all twenty-plus Attribute Value points to his Intelligence Attribute.

He was now over Level 60, and his experience points were still climbing.

’It made sense, when he thought about it. With the Artificial Sun in place, all sorts of demon fiends would be reduced to ash. Another of the Four Great Kings had died, to say nothing of the common mobs, who were surely dying by the tens of thousands. Though the small fry didn’t give much experience, it all added up. Of course his EXP would skyrocket.’

’It was just that...’

Zhou Chen couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

The Artificial Sun’s brief eruption had consumed a massive amount of Energy. The original supply had been enough to fuel it for seven days, but now, it would only last for three.

’Three days is far too short. If the Artificial Sun has another outburst, its burn time will shrink again—it might even be extinguished from a lack of Energy.’

’The Dark Demon Dragon’s attack was what had triggered the Artificial Sun. If another reckless Demon were to attack it, or if the King of the Abyss were to send his subordinates to drain its power intentionally, things would get troublesome.’

To be on the safe side, Zhou Chen spent another ten thousand wish points to extend the Artificial Sun’s duration. He decided that once he returned to the Magic Academy, he would contact the Satellite City and have them figure out a way to supply it with power.

With his business here concluded, Zhou Chen opened his map and teleported back to the Magic Academy.

"Unbelievable... just unbelievable..."