Chapter 77: The Binder of All Known Things

Selennye's words gave Naimi Xisi a bad premonition; the moonlight on his body grew ever denser, as if solid, and finally solidified into a silver‑frost‑colored cloak that wedged between his wings, covering the sky as his wings spread.

"Accept the Moon's Blessing, little dragon; from now on the power of night will no longer oppose you, and shadows will go around you."

As the voice rang out, a message transmitted through the Magic Net appeared in Naimi Xisi's mind: it was an Artifact already synchronized with him!

Moon Cloak grade: Artifact.

Effect 1: Under moonlight, the holder's Agility is greatly increased (Agility temporarily rises by 0/10/20 points during new moon, waning moon, and full moon respectively).

Effect 2: The Moon Cloak shields the holder from Shadow spells.

Effect 3: Unlimited daily uses of 【Moon Blade】, 【Moon Net】, 【Moon Path】, 【Moonlight Wall】; three times daily of 【Holy Radiance】.

The Artifact's effects are excellent and powerful; not to mention the outrageous Agility boost under a full moon, merely the three daily casts of the eight‑circle Divine Spell 【Holy Radiance】 are already sufficiently rare.

If the Divine Spell had already been applied, those timid demons would be burned to death by the power of Holy Radiance before they could approach him.

At the same time, a series of Selennye's priest‑exclusive Divine Spells are freely usable, and Naimi Xisi could only sigh again—very good, very powerful.

Precisely because of that, he became even more wary of the "responsibility" spoken by Selennye.

"Little dragon, this is the most support I can give; I hope you can fulfill your duty amid the upcoming turmoil."

"My duty?" Naimi Xisi frowned and retorted, "Your Majesty, I think you may have misunderstood; I saved Degeng City not out of any moral condemnation that drove me, and I have no interest in shifting my neutral faction."

"Hehe." The woman's voice giggled lightly, seeming not to blame the Scroll Dragon for the refusal.

"Don't misunderstand, little dragon; neutrality or kindness makes no difference to me, because the two are natural allies."

The woman's tone hinted, and she said mysteriously, "What you call kindness, what you call neutrality, even evil, are merely tools to dissect 'Chaos'."

Selennye's words left Naimi Xisi bewildered, but she offered no further explanation: "No need to be tangled; when you later join our ranks, you will understand my meaning."

"Just as I said, I claim this matter is your duty, unrelated to your faction, because it truly is your responsibility."

"Naimi Xisi, because the ancient demons of Bitu cannot reappear on Frelen's soil, the deities' power can no longer descend arbitrarily, leaving mortals to face them as nothing but fish on a cutting board."

"Your duty is to prevent that possibility in the future; as for why—um—once you finish talking with that Shu Dai Zi, you'll know." After saying this, Selennye gave a playful smile and fell silent.

The moonlight vanished at some point; evidently, the mysterious goddess had already left the mortal world.

Naimi Xisi furrowed his brow, standing upright in the sky, staring blankly and continually pondering Selennye's words.

Preventing the reappearance of ancient demons is an easily understood goal and aligns with the thoughts of Selennye, the chaotic‑kind goddess.

The reason is also clear: deities' power cannot descend to the earth, and mortals alone confronting immortal Legendary demons would likely suffer countless casualties.

As for why deities' power can no longer descend, that is a cause known to all Frelen folk.

The global event that occurred centuries ago—the 【Holy Cataclysm】.

Yet in a single night, the sky‑filled deities of Toriel turned into meteors, struck down to the mortal realm by an entity called 【the Great One】; that day was later named the 【Day of the Fall】.

The true cause has long been unknown, but the story mortals repeat is that the deities neglected their duties, greedily seized Toriel's worship, recklessly sent avatars to launch a Divine War, disrupted the world, and ultimately caused an Artifact of the Great One to be lost.

The enraged Great One struck the deities down to the mortal realm, forcing them to walk the earth in frail bodies, thereby creating a strange era.

In that era, the gods waged brutal wars against each other; their frail mortal bodies had long lost immortality, and many deities fell to the mortal world during that time.

Even Frelen mortals, those Legends, had bold ones seeking to usurp divinity.

The event concluded with the death of the old gods and the birth of new deities.

Conflict, the dead, murder—three powerful evil gods who stole the Great One's Artifact fell during the 【Holy Cataclysm】; the Great One then elevated three mortals, promoting them to new deities, and the gods returned anew to their Divine Realm.

God of Death—Kelanvo.

God of Lies—Xirick.

Magic Goddess—Mistra III.

Since that day, deities have been unable to freely project their power or incarnate in Frelen, unless they have a legitimate reason—such as blasphemy.

After much contemplation, Naimi Xisi still did not know why Selennye claimed it was his responsibility.

"It seems I must talk with that one."

The great dragon spread its wings and vanished into the sky; the citizens of Degeng City remained kneeling for a long time before standing, forced to hide their grief and rescue more survivors. The disaster ended, but many tasks remain for the living. —In a forest outside the city, Naimi Xisi returned to a ruined little tower, bringing no one except his ever‑present companion Peng Peng.

The tiny tower was nearly too small for his massive frame, so he curled up as best he could, lying on the second floor where he had lived for five years as a hatchling.

Naimi Xisi gazed at the surrounding walls with a complex look; he never imagined this tower was his "home" upon first arriving in the Prime Material Plane.

He recalled a day earlier his conversation with the deity that had been watching him.

"Lord of Knowledge, God of Wisdom, the Binder of All Known Things."

"I, Naimi Xisi, a Scroll Dragon of the True Dragon clan, hereby beseech your guidance."

A day before, he prayed thus, and at that moment a plain blank Scroll appeared before him; though it bore no writing, the instant Naimi Xisi saw it he seemed to glimpse the truth of the universe.

It was the seal of the God of Knowledge—Ougma.

"At last, Naimi Xisi, I have waited for you long," the Scroll read.

Naimi Xisi, seeing the God of Knowledge manifest so swiftly before him, felt a bit surprised despite his premonition.

The Scroll Dragon truly is a race favored by Ougma.

"Honored God of Knowledge, Your Majesty, I have many uncertainties I wish answered." After speaking with Selennye, Naimi Xisi still had many questions, the greatest being why preventing the demons' return is his responsibility.

Lines of text slowly appeared, row after row.

"To answer your query, Naimi Xisi, you must first know that I have been watching you for a long time; in fact, from the moment you were born, I have been observing you."

"I have witnessed your growth and your outstanding talent in Arcane and Mana, and without doubt you are an exceptional Xenodragon."

"However, what I value most is your pursuit of esoteric knowledge; even though you are not as obsessively knowledgeable as a typical Scroll Dragon, that suffices."

"I wish you to become My chosen, Naimi Xisi."

Naimi Xisi was not surprised by the proposal; the so‑called chosen are the deity's elect, and almost all Scroll Dragons have been asked by Ougma whether they wish to become his elect.

Becoming the chosen grants many benefits: immortality, a share of the God of Knowledge's authority, all attributes instantly rising above 25 points, massive elemental immunities and resistances, essentially an evolution of one's entire lifespan.

Yet almost no Scroll Dragon has agreed, except dying ancient dragons and primordial dragons.

Because becoming the chosen means forfeiting the chance to become a god, unless the patron deity shows great mercy, shatters its divine nature, expends divine power, and elevates the individual to a demi‑god.

But without thinking, one knows that deities willing to do this are few—even among the benevolent gods; the only known chosen who ascended to godhood in Frelen is the former lover of the second Magic Goddess, the Mage God—Azus.

Of course, this fortunate chosen has not answered believers' prayers for several hundred years; the priest can almost be certain that the being has, for some reason, already fallen.

Naimi Xisi doesn't want to brag, but he doesn't think becoming a chosen, stopping at Legendary or becoming a god, would satisfy him; even an ordinary Juan Ce Long has enough pride to refuse, let alone one who possesses the Infinite Gem. "I'm sorry, under the crown of the God of Knowledge, I have no intention of becoming any being's chosen," Naimi Xisi apologized.

The Scroll seemed to droop dejectedly, and a mature male voice sounded in Naimi Xisi's ear.

"I knew it, you Juan Ce Longs are such indifferent creatures; why can't you let me have a Juan Ce Long chosen!"

The voice's owner sounded mature, yet his complaining tone was overly childish; faced with this blunt rebuke, Naimi Xisi twitched the corner of his mouth and said.

"You should understand that even Dragon Gods have only a handful of chosen, and those chosen are merely ordinary Five‑Color Dragons and Metal Dragons."

When mentioning other dragon breeds, Naimi Xisi's tone carried a barely perceptible superiority; he is no longer the hatchling he once was. From this stage onward, an ordinary Juan Ce Long's Combat Power, even against a Golden Dragon of the same age, is merely a defeated subordinate.

"That is indeed true; you True Dragons become more arrogant the rarer you are, especially those few Power‑Energy Dragons. Hmph, facing deities is like facing their peers, with no respect at all."

The male voice complained in an old‑manly, overbearing manner.

Naimi Xisi blinked his dragon eyes. Power‑Energy Dragons? One of the three legendary dragon species? Do they really exist? "You're getting ahead of yourself," Naimi Xisi corrected them, "what does this have to do with my responsibility?"

"Ah, patience, Naimi Xisi, your patience is truly poor," the God of Knowledge teased.

Before Naimi Xisi could roll his eyes, the God of Knowledge abruptly hurled a heavy bomb.

"Have you never wondered why you were born on the Prime Material Plane rather than in the Mechanical Realm?"

"Your father, my former chosen, together with your mother, were personally slain four hundred years ago by the Abyssal sovereign—Dimo Gaogen. Before they died, they used their remaining strength to send you into a spatial vortex, which caused you to drift to Frelen."

Both of these gods are lively and talkative; it's not that they lack godly demeanor—Selennye is even more naive and sweet than I wrote.

Also, I know this chapter is information‑dense; if later content relates to this chapter, I will explain it in detail again.

As for the "Saint's Cataclysm," I won't go into detail, but it is nonetheless a part of Frelen's important historical fragments (End of chapter).