Chapter 95: Half a Jade Pendant

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Half a Jade Pendant

Top-tier raiding teams from the various Main Cities definitely would not lack raiding capabilities.

Although they lacked Salas’s flashy items, they had other methods. The strategy guides indicated that three raiding teams had successfully escorted the survivors here and unlocked the side quest.

However, they hadn’t triggered the red-name mechanism. Escorting a group of old, weak, women, and children across the plains under those circumstances was Hell difficulty.

In the Small Town Ruins, raiding players could learn the full story behind how the Red Moon Tide Dungeon became what it was today.

More importantly, players could obtain a key item.

Yu Zhun and the other five followed the old woman, eventually arriving at a collapsed house. Seeing the old woman step forward, crouch down, and attempt to dig, Yu Zhun hurried over to help and chatted with her at the same time.

"Grandma, is this your former home?"

The old woman smiled gratefully at Yu Zhun, a look of reminiscence washing over her face as she rubbed her aching back and sighed.

"Back then, I was still a teenager. Everything in this town was beautiful.

"We would regularly cross the plains and head to the Moon Inquiry Celestial Tower built on the other side to express our gratitude to the Moon God. Occasionally, we would even receive responses and gifts in return.

"Unfortunately, all of this was ruined by eight greedy sinners. Having received the Moon God’s gifts, they hungered for more. After being rejected by the Moon God, they turned and prayed to another terrifying existence.

"I don’t know what happened, but after that day, the moon turned into what it is now, and this world became just as awful.

"You children might not know this, but back then, you could lift your head and look directly at the moon, and... it was truly beautiful."

"Perhaps there will be a chance to see it again?" Yu Zhun comforted softly. "The Azure Pearl is still providing you Sanctuary. There is still hope for everything."

"I hope that day comes." The old woman’s eyes held a gleam of anticipation. Catching sight of something in the corner of the ruins, a look of pleasant surprise suddenly appeared in her eyes. "Found it! It really is still here!"

She carefully stepped forward and picked up a dirty clump of something, gently wiping away the mud and dust on its surface to reveal its original appearance. It was an incomplete Jade Pendant. The old woman gazed at it and sighed, gently placing it into Yu Zhun’s hands.

"The day the Red Moon appeared, my father went to the Moon Inquiry Celestial Tower with many others from the town. Before he left, he gave me this Jade Pendant.

"There is only half of it. The other half... is with my father. After that day, he disappeared.

"I once thought about going to the Moon Inquiry Celestial Tower to look for him, but demonized monsters roam there day and night. There are far more of them than in the ruins.

"I’ll give you this Jade Pendant. If you have the chance to enter the Moon Inquiry Celestial Tower and see someone wearing the other half...

"Please tell him that I miss him very much."

***

"Guild Master, are we going in now?"

Salas looked at the incredibly magnificent giant tower in front of him and couldn’t help but swallow hard. "Should we... make some preparations?"

"You reminded me." Yu Zhun, who was just about to enter the Moon Inquiry Celestial Tower, paused his steps. "Get the megaphone ready."

"Oh, oh, okay!" Salas skillfully pulled out a megaphone.

"And a spotlight. Light it up," Yu Zhun added.

There were no activation conditions for Shadow Punishment in the dark night, so they had to create the conditions themselves.

"No problem!" Salas pulled out a string of prop lights. "Guild Master, I’ve been a professional lighter for thirty years. Just watch me later!"

Sheila was speechless.

Ignoring that bright green bus, the team members’ performance during the Small Town Ruins storyline had been quite normal, making her almost forget just how abnormal this raiding team she had joined truly was. Now, that familiar feeling was back. Pursing her lips, Sheila wanted to say something but held herself back.

"Shorty~" Ji Xiaoyu leaned in slyly and threw an arm around Sheila’s shoulders. "Just get used to this kind of daily routine."

Sheila remained expressionless, but her fists clenched tight. This girl... called her Shorty again!

"Let’s go." Noticing the sparks between the two girls, Yu Zhun smiled and led the group into the Moon Inquiry Celestial Tower.

The entire giant tower had a total of ten layers.

The Moon Inquiry Celestial Tower storyline encompassed the portion from the 1st layer to the 9th layer. As for the 10th layer, that was the Boss storyline, the Golem Altar.

Setting the Boss storyline aside for now, the 1st through 9th layers of the Moon Inquiry Celestial Tower were somewhat similar to the Nether Trial that Yu Zhun had experienced before. The higher the layer, the greater the difficulty.

The first eight layers consisted of the High Tier Demonized Creatures seen in the Small Town Ruins storyline, ranging from 1 creature on the 1st layer to 128 on the 8th layer.

The 9th layer, however, featured a Boss-like super Elite Monster. The reason it was called Boss-like was that if this guy were placed in any Permanent Dungeon, it could utterly crush the Bosses there.

But in the Red Moon Tide, it still wasn’t worthy of being the Boss.

However...

Yu Zhun touched the half Jade Pendant in his pocket. With it, the 9th layer would actually be the easiest to clear.

STEP.

The group of six walked into the 1st layer of the Moon Inquiry Celestial Tower. As the first High Tier Demonized Creature rushed at them, the slaughter immediately began.

2nd layer... 5th layer... 8th layer!

When endless flames completely devoured all the High Tier Demonized Creatures on the 8th layer, the staircase leading to the 9th layer appeared before everyone.

"Do you want to rest and regroup for a bit?" Yu Zhun smiled, looking at the somewhat exhausted team members.

"Hold on!" Ji Xiaoyu waved her hand, pulled out the Mana Recovery Bubble Water, and distributed it to everyone. Well, everyone except Sheila.

"Blehhh~" Ji Xiaoyu stuck her tongue out and made a face at Sheila.

"Childish," Sheila said blankly, taking out a Mana Potion from her backpack and downing it in one gulp.

Seeing the little dinosaur sticker on the Mana Potion bottle, Ji Xiaoyu looked at her with blatant disdain. "You’re not much better yourself!"

Watching the two girls bicker along the way, the others smiled without saying a word. It was quite interesting to see the wealthy lady act like this for the first time.

Once everyone’s statuses were fully restored, Yu Zhun led the five members up the stairs to the 9th layer, quickly stepping into the empty space.

Having just experienced the wild, chaotic dance of 128 High Tier Demonized Creatures on the 8th layer, this stark contrast was truly somewhat disorienting.

In the center of the arena, a humanoid figure clad in Heavy Armor and covered in crimson Demon Patterns slowly awakened from a cross-legged position, bracing itself as it stood up.

[High Tier Demonized Commander (Lv35)]

[Attributes:

HP: 500,000

Mana: 5,000

Physical Attack: 10,000

Magic Attack: 0

Physical Defense: 4,000

Magic Defense: 4,000]

Ignoring the terrifying stats, Yu Zhun looked at the entity’s chest.

Hanging there was a half Jade Pendant.