Chapter 74: The Book of Truth
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 74: The Book of Truth
Thanatos pondered Xie Bai’s question for a moment.
"If the Master wishes to establish our base of operations in the physical world, I can offer a suggestion."
As he spoke, Thanatos produced a map of the world.
"This is the current distribution of the world's powers. First, we have the Eastern Continent. It has been completely occupied by the Aodu Empire. Although we have already planted many operatives within the Empire, they are ultimately only suited for providing us with covert support. It would be inconvenient for our primary, public headquarters to be located there."
Thanatos shifted his finger to the other side of the map.
"To be honest, the distribution of power across the continents is mostly stable now. Only the Northern Continent remains in a state of chaos. That is where we have an opportunity to intervene."
Hearing this, a flicker of doubt crossed Xie Bai’s face. She still didn't have a clear grasp of this world's geopolitical landscape.
"The Northern Continent?"
"Correct. Compared to other well-ordered regions, the Northern Continent is bitterly cold and plagued by perennial warfare. It has long been divided and ruled by several Northern Lords. While these individual lords are powerful, they are loosely affiliated as a whole. For us, it serves as an excellent point of entry."
Xie Bai nodded at Thanatos’s explanation.
"Very well. It just so happens that the spaceship hasn't had much to do lately. Let Strife and the others handle it."
Having received her approval, Thanatos bowed respectfully.
"As you wish, my Master. However, I have one request. When the time comes to conquer those Northern Lords, I must trouble you to make an appearance. Every one of those lords respects strength above all else. As long as you display absolute force, we can easily seize the Northern Territory."
Xie Bai scratched her head awkwardly at Thanatos’s request.
"That... might be a bit of a problem..."
Although the world's restrictions had eased slightly, they were still far from being able to withstand her descent.
Thinking of this, Xie Bai suddenly remembered someone.
"Brandon."
"Oh, brother, you really are too... wait... who's calling me?"
Hearing someone address him, Brandon pulled himself together and turned around.
"Ah, so it is you, Great One. I wonder what arrangements you have for me."
Approaching Brandon, Xie Bai re-examined his skill list. Looking at the densely packed rows of skills, she felt a slight headache coming on.
"Do you have any skills that can hide your strength?"
Relieved that Xie Bai wasn't asking him to work overtime, Brandon let out a sigh of relief.
"Great One, I do indeed have several skills that can hide my presence, but I'm not sure how I would go about teaching them to you."
"Cut the chatter. Just tell me what they are."
"Understood."
Tipping his hat in a polite gesture, Brandon began to list off one hundred and forty related skills.
Following the list Brandon provided, Xie Bai searched through his absurdly long skill table to find the corresponding entries. After some picking and choosing, she finally found a skill she could use.
[Condensation Lv.13]
[Effect: You can freely reduce your own level. For every level reduced, your Constitution increases by 10%. You can restore the reduced levels at any time (this effect is still subject to the original experience limits).]
[Cooldown: None]
Only this skill could truly suppress her level. Most other skills merely forged a false identity but couldn't make actual changes to her level. Furthermore, this skill allowed her to adjust her level anytime, anywhere, without lowering her attributes. It was incredibly convenient.
Normally, if one couldn't resolve the experience limit, lowering one's level would be a net loss, as most equipment and dungeons have level requirements. The original purpose of this skill was to significantly boost Constitution by sacrificing excess levels.
But in Xie Bai’s eyes, this was a super convenient and practical skill that could bypass the world's restrictions.
Having confirmed her target, Xie Bai opened the exchange shop in the Achievement interface. During her time in the timeline, she had gathered a massive amount of achievement points, which could now be used to exchange for a certain Divine Artifact.
[Book of Truth]
[Quality: Divine Artifact]
[Type: Catalyst]
[Requirement: Lv.100]
[Intelligence Bonus: 100 Billion]
[Omniscience: You may consume a segment of hidden history to ask any one question.]
[Omnipotence: You may consume the corresponding skill points to replicate any one skill from any unit.]
[Description: Theoretically an omnipresent book of omniscience and omnipotence. However, after a vast amount of history was hidden, its abilities have been somewhat restricted.]
[Exchange: 500,000 Achievement Points]
Aside from the unique Uncrowned King, all the Divine Artifacts in the exchange shop shared a Level 100 requirement and attribute bonuses in the hundreds of billions.
After a quick confirmation, Xie Bai chose to exchange.
["Book of Truth" exchanged successfully!]
[Remaining Achievement Points: 900,000]
After the exchange, Xie Bai spent over four hundred skill points to replicate Brandon’s Condensation skill. This cost was practically non-existent compared to her reserve of millions of skill points.
[Replicated "Condensation Lv.13"]
Since Xie Bai had previously merged a timeline, the world's level limit had risen from Level 99 to Level 100. Upon obtaining the skill, Xie Bai immediately dropped her level to that threshold.
Simultaneously, Xie Bai’s Constitution broke through the ten trillion mark.
Now, even without the protection of Pride's Blessing, Xie Bai could ignore all dangers in the physical world by relying on her gargantuan health pool alone.
"Alright, you can go now."
"Great One, is that all?"
Brandon’s heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled. But before he could leave, Xie Bai suddenly changed the subject.
"Actually... there is something else. Thanatos, come over and explain. I’m heading out for a bit."
With that, Xie Bai departed from the Void.
At the same time, Thanatos stepped in front of the two men. Seeing the meaningful expression on his face, Brandon realized something was wrong.
"It’s nothing major. We simply need to carve out a territory in the physical world for the organization our Master is building. The targets are the Northern Lords. Strife, you have no problem with this, I assume?"
Upon hearing Thanatos’s instructions, Strife immediately responded.
"No problem at all, Big Brother. You can count on me. But are we going to use the Void Insect Race as our soldiers?"
Thanatos pondered Strife’s question.
"They can be used, but we cannot rely on the Void Insect Race openly. It would negatively affect the Master’s image. During the conquest, you can press-gang the soldiers of the Northern Lords into our ranks. You are quite skilled at that sort of thing."
"Understood, Big Brother. Building a brand-new army is a walk in the park for me."
Strife clapped Brandon on the shoulder.
"We’ve got work to do, brother. Our goal this time is to conquer the entire Northern Continent. Do you have the confidence?"
Looking at the two towering men surrounding him, Brandon gripped the brim of his hat and spoke with a slight stiffness.
"No... problem..."