Three days passed in a row.
They had visited just about every place worth seeing in Zhuzhou.
As reluctant as they were, it was time to return to Ning'an.
So they booked a 1 PM flight.
After packing their luggage in advance and standing in the now restored hotel room, just before saying goodbye to their first trip together after getting together with Lin Mo, Ning Xi asked reluctantly, "Brother Lin Mo, will we come here again?"
Faced with her question, Lin Mo fell silent.
Because he knew very well that there wasn't much time left.
It wouldn't be long before Divine Oracle descended.
Everything beautiful in the real world would be swallowed up.
He couldn't lie to Ning Xi.
But he didn't dare tell her the truth.
In his previous life, after Divine Oracle descended, the entire world fell into chaos.
War broke out everywhere.
The strong preyed on the weak.
Conflict and plunder became the norm.
The powerful bullied others through force.
The weak struggled just to survive, families were torn apart, and homes were destroyed.
The whole world was like it had entered a third world war.
Everyone lived under the shadow and fear of death.
Not to mention traveling freely like now, enjoying fine food and wine, and appreciating the world's beautiful scenery.
In the future...
For over 90% of players around the world, simply staying alive would already be the greatest happiness.
Seeing the anticipation for the future in Ning Xi's eyes, an idea suddenly formed in Lin Mo's mind.
He would build a prosperous age for Ning Xi in the world of Divine Oracle.
The world had descended into chaos because the ambitions of the strong had grown out of control.
Everyone wanted to become the ruler of Divine Oracle, yet no one truly had the power to unite the world.
Then he would simply solve the problem at its source.
'As long as I become the ruler of Divine Oracle, I'll be able to control this world and make it run according to the path I choose.'
'Then all conflict and killing will come to an end.'
'The weak won't have to struggle just to survive or suffer the pain of broken families.'
'The strong won't be allowed to bully others.'
'Countless children will no longer lose their families and become homeless.'
'Whatever kind of world Ning Xi wants, I'll build that golden age for her.'
So when Ning Xi looked up at him with her clear, beautiful eyes, Lin Mo said, "We won't."
"There's no point revisiting the same place."
"In the future, the three of us will travel to a different place every month until we've explored the entire world."
Ning Xi blushed, "Where did this family of three come from?"
Lin Mo grinned, "Then a family of four? Or maybe five? I'm fine with either."
Joking aside, Lin Mo meant it seriously.
He knew that the prerequisite for creating a golden age in Divine Oracle for Ning Xi was possessing enough strength to stand at the very top of the world and make everyone submit.
Right now, he was only the number one player in a mere second-tier main city.
Above second-tier main cities were first-tier main cities, and beyond those were super main cities.
He still had to become much stronger.
———
It was only nine in the morning, and their flight wasn't until one in the afternoon, so there was no rush.
Lin Mo and Ning Xi opened their computers, put on their Divine Oracle helmets, and logged in.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
White light descended.
Lin Mo and Ning Xi appeared in Inferno City.
As usual, the first thing they did after logging in every day was head straight to the Super God Arena.
The arena was packed with players.
They fought one another on the stages with great enthusiasm.
But once it was Lin Mo and Ning Xi's turn, it was like playing a single-player game.
The gap between their strength and that of ordinary players was simply too great.
On the arena stage, about two-thirds of their opponents surrendered the moment they were matched.
The remaining third couldn't even last a second before being instantly killed.
Unfortunately, they didn't run into Nether or Frost Dance today.
Although they still had a ten-out-of-ten chance of beating them, they were at least much more challenging than ordinary players.
Just like that, both Lin Mo and Ning Xi easily won forty consecutive matches across the solo, duo, pet, and five-player categories.
They gained 120 Arena Experience.
Lin Mo's rank steadily rose from Gold I (60/100) to Gold II (80/100).
"I've now met the rank requirements for both the Serpent Demon Territory and Venomous Snake Forest dungeons. We'll clear both today."
"As for tomorrow... it looks like I might be able to gain two ranks at once and jump straight to Gold IV?"
That was a pleasant surprise.
This meant they could clear both the level 77 Calamity of the Giant Pythons dungeon and the level 78 Giant Serpent Siege dungeon tomorrow.
That was one day faster than the original plan of clearing one dungeon per day.
The sooner they cleared the five Serpent Race dungeons, obtained the Serpent Race Emblems, conquered Snake King Island, and acquired both the Divine Refining Cauldron map fragment and the Serpent Race treasure Ruyi, the better.
Their flight was at one in the afternoon, which meant they needed to be at the airport by at least twelve-thirty.
There was no time to waste.
Lin Mo and Ning Xi immediately prepared to head for the level 75 dungeon, Serpent Demon Territory.
Just after leaving the Super God Arena, a figure suddenly flashed over and pulled both Lin Mo and Ning Xi into a narrow alley beside the street outside the arena.
Looking closely, they discovered it was Tyrannosaur, the Dark Wizard who had once been Tyrant's trusted subordinate.
But now, Lin Mo no longer harbored as much hostility toward Zhang Long as before. Seeing him arrive, he was actually somewhat expectant.
After all, it had been Zhang Long who, through Qin Feng the night before last, had passed along the information that allowed Lin Mo to learn Nether and Frost Dance had infiltrated the underground city.
Because of that, he had rushed there in time and successfully stopped Nether from meeting Mo Chen.
Now, judging by how hurried Zhang Long looked, he probably had another important piece of undercover information.
Sure enough.
After glancing around and confirming there was no one else in the alley, Zhang Long hurriedly said to Lin Mo, "Be careful! Nether and Frost Dance have joined forces with the Ghost King. Nether wants to obtain the Divine Refining Cauldron, refine away the God-Binding Chains for the Ghost King, and release it to deal with you."
Hearing this, Lin Mo was somewhat surprised.
What surprised him wasn't the Ghost King.
It was...
"Nether is looking for the Divine Refining Cauldron too?"
"So the real reason he went to the underground city the night before last was to learn the whereabouts of the Divine Refining Cauldron from Mo Chen?"
It was just that Nether probably hadn't expected that even Mo Chen didn't know where the Divine Refining Cauldron was.
If not for Ning Fei's genius, even Lin Mo would never have guessed that the Divine Refining Cauldron had been sealed inside a treasure map.
And that treasure map had then been split into five fragments and hidden separately.
Even now, Ning Fei had only managed to discover that one of those fragments was hidden inside the level 80 secret realm, Snake King Island, within Inferno City's territory.
Lin Mo couldn't help seriously wondering whether the genius who designed this part of the game's storyline had been poached by Divine Oracle from some bargain shopping company.
At that moment, Zhang Long continued, "I saw it with my own eyes last night. I followed Nether and Frost Dance to a place called the Forbidden Land of the Gods. That's where Nether made a deal with a sealed Ghost King."
"The Forbidden Land of the Gods?"
Beside Lin Mo, the Divine Descent Seraph Siya's golden eyes filled with surprise as she said, "Brother Lin Mo, that's where I sealed the Ghost Race member who brought disaster to Inferno City twenty years ago!"
At the same time...
Thud!
Zhang Long suddenly dropped to his knees before Lin Mo and swore, "I swear every word I've said is true."
"I live in Luoyang, Zhongzhou, at Talent Apartment on Renmin Avenue, Room 601. Rulebound, if you don't believe me, you can send someone to watch me in the real world at any time. I'm willing to put my life in your hands."
"I only ask that you avenge Brother Jun and Tingting for me!"
[🎉 Shoutout to Someone's_Nobody, MahSty and Shinto for joining p@treon. Your support will help me bring better stories to you. Thank you very much.🤗]