Chapter 256: Abandoned

Lin Yifan still has self‑awareness; in the current situation, if the Dawn Alliance were to retreat, those Survivors alone would find it hard to resist the people of the Night Temple and the Red Moon Temple.

Putting other matters aside, that priest just now— even if Lin Yifan gave his all, he simply couldn't handle him.

So, no matter what, he must keep the Dawn Alliance as an ally.

However, Ai Rui Li Ya shook her head, a bitter smile on her face, and said:

"Now that things have come to this, let me explain something to you clearly! In fact, although the Initial Domain is not directly connected to our Intermediate Domain, it is not completely unrelated."

"In our Intermediate Domain, vast areas are shrouded in mist; the weapons contain countless Maggot Human Bones, and the Red Moon Temple, which worships the Red Moon, watches us hungrily. Our living conditions are indeed extremely harsh."

"Yet the Initial Domain possesses abundant resources. Although we have few ways to enter the Initial Domain, we are not completely without means, so each time new Survivors arrive, when the Initial Domain opens, it also becomes a time for our Intermediate Domain to scavenge supplies."

"Strictly speaking, anyone who is not from the Initial Domain is a bandit to you; the Dawn Alliance is no different. Personally, I am willing to be your friend and invest in you, but I also have a stance I must uphold."

"Now the Night Temple and the Red Moon Temple have formed an alliance. Even if I were willing to intervene for you, the people I bring are far inferior to them, let alone those Red Moon‑worshipping lunatics who will do anything. Even the Dawn Alliance refuses to clash with them directly."

Lin Yifan's brows knit tightly, yet his face showed little disappointment; although Ai Rui Li Ya had helped him greatly and had previously acted very friendly.

However, he has always understood one principle: those not of our kind have different hearts!

So even while grateful for Ai Rui Li Ya's assistance, Lin Yifan never fully trusted her.

Given the dire situation, Ai Rui Li Ya's choice is not surprising at all; even if Lin Yifan stood in her shoes, his decision would likely be the same.

Nevertheless, understanding aside, he is now the abandoned party, so whether for himself or for his friends and companions, he cannot allow Princess Ai Rui Li Ya to take the Silver Dragon Knight Corps members away!

If they leave, relying only on this batch of untrained Survivors, death would be inevitable.

Thus Lin Yifan did not lose his temper; after a deep breath, he said in a low voice:

"Princess Ai Rui Li Ya, I understand your concerns, but since we have agreed to cooperate, some sincerity must be shown."

"Now my human race is in a crisis; if you are willing to help us get through the present danger, I can promise that whenever you have a request in the future, I will spare no effort to assist you. I can swear to the gods!"

"It's not that I'm unwilling to help you; it's that I truly cannot." Ai Rui Li Ya took a deep breath, turned to the altar and said:

"This Instance's Red Moon is imminent; it will become increasingly dangerous. Even if I were to help you, it would only cause more people to die here— it accomplishes nothing!"

She let out a heavy sigh and said gravely: "The only thing I can do for you now is to tell you the situation. If you want to survive, you must rely on yourselves."

At that point, she turned toward the altar ruins, reached out and touched the ruby.

The gem quivered violently in her palm, then with a "crack!" it shattered, turning into countless red specks that faded away.

Lin Yifan noticed that although both were red gems, the way this one dissipated differed from the one he had destroyed earlier.

As the red specks dispersed, it resembled a drop of red ink falling into clear water and being diluted by a flood of water.

This feeling was an indescribable eeriness!

Lin Yifan couldn't help asking, "I feel this red gem is different from the one I destroyed before."

Ai Rui Li Ya did not turn around, replying lightly, "Of course it's different. The gem you destroyed earlier was merely a medium; this one, however, is a deadly thing!"

"Then what exactly is it?" Lin Yifan asked, frowning.

"It is a seed of disaster!" Ai Rui Li Ya took a deep breath, slowly turned her head, and said coldly:

"It has already been released!"

Lin Yifan's shattered ruby turned into countless specks of light, drifting in the darkness like blood‑red fireflies, eventually vanishing without a trace.

His heart grew increasingly uneasy, and with urgency he asked:

"What seed of disaster! What does that mean? Can you explain it more clearly?"

Ai Rui Li Ya's silver armor, illuminated by the lingering red light, glimmered with a cold metallic sheen.

Her gaze, sharp as a blade, swept over Lin Yifan and the other two.

"You have already seen those sacrificed corpses." Her voice was low and solemn. "Morris is a priest of the Red Moon Cult; they worship the Red Moon and consider themselves its most loyal servants."

"They further believe that only when the Red Moon descends, its Red Moon Power envelops the whole land, turning everyone into Maggot Human Bones, can the world achieve Purify."

"Purify?" Ruan Qingtan's face turned pale. "Is it… destruction? To wipe out all the forests?"

Ai Rui Li Ya nodded slightly: "Yes, but they don't admit it themselves. They think only by becoming Maggot Human Bones can they achieve immortality; in any case, they're just a bunch of lunatics."

"They have indeed devised some bizarre things; through a special ritual they can convert life energy into Red Moon Power, hastening the Red Moon's arrival, but the required life energy is enormous, demanding countless living beings to sacrifice their souls and flesh to complete the ritual."

"The red gem I just destroyed was a Red Moon Ruby; each such Red Moon Ruby condenses tens of thousands of lives and is the source of all disaster. Once the gem spreads, the Red Moon Power it contains expands rapidly, and any creature touched by that power will become a Red Moon Apostle (Maggot Human Bone)."

Hong Shaoqiang inhaled a cold breath: "What about that one just now…"

"It has devoured at least fifty lives." Ai Rui Li Ya's gaze fell on the corpses around the altar bearing eerie smiles, "And this is only one of many altars."

"Then why did you crush it?" Ruan Qingtan, pale, couldn't help complaining.

"I didn't crush it; this thing is meant to break, and a Red Moon Ruby breaking now is better than breaking later."

"The Red Moon Power contained within it isn't much yet; even if it dissipates into the air, its spread is very limited, not enough to cause massive casualties."

"But if the Red Moon Ruby absorbs enough energy before breaking, the consequences would be unimaginable!"

Having said that, she bowed deeply to the three of them, feeling ashamed:

"All my previous remarks were decisions made from the Dawn Temple's standpoint, but personally, I want to apologize to you; I have broken my trust with you, I know you will surely resent me, but I truly cannot help you."

"I must go now, and I don't know if we'll meet again in the future, but regardless, I hope you can get through this calamity!"

After saying that, he prepared to leave!

Lin Yifan clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white.

He recalled Morris's sickly grin, and a churn rose in his stomach.

"Whether you help us or not, we must stop those lunatics!" he said gravely.

Ai Rui Li Ya glanced at him, a flicker of complex emotion crossing her eyes.

"With your current strength, you can't even deal with a single clone of Morris." she said bluntly,

"The immediate priority is to improve yourselves. Before the Red Moon arrives, their actions will become more frequent. But before I leave, let me do one more thing for you!"

She walked to the center of the altar, took a silver vial from her waist, and poured its liquid onto the altar's patterns.

The intricate runes immediately emitted a "sizzle", gradually melting away as if being scorched.

"What is this thing?" Lin Yifan furrowed his brow and asked.

"These runes are among the ritual runes; I must Purify the ritual traces here," she explained, "otherwise this place will continue to attract dark creatures."

Lin Yifan suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, "Wait, you said 'the Red Moon is approaching'… how long exactly?"

Ai Ruili Ya's movements paused for a moment.

"According to the information we obtained, they have several altars left, so at most in 24 hours the Red Moon will be drawn down," she said, lifting her head; her silver pupils reflected Lin Yifan's shocked face, speaking each word deliberately:

"After 24 hours, the Blood Moon will rise, darkness will descend, and at that time all living beings you have in this Instance will be transformed into Maggot Human Bone."

"Unless you can destroy both altars within 24 hours, even a Divine Being descending would absolutely be unable to save you."

"24 hours? How could that be possible!" Hong Shaoqiang shouted, "We don't even know where the altars are, let alone that they belong to two allied factions; even if we found them, we're likely unable to defeat them."

Ai Ruili Ya put away the silver vial and walked toward the exit: "So, your time is truly short; seize every minute! I'm leaving now; we shall meet again."

Having said that without any hesitation, she turned around and prepared to leave.

But as she passed by Lin Yifan, she whispered, "I sensed the energy fluctuation of the Shadow God on you; the Shadow God is the supreme belief of the Dark Night Divine Cult, but it was shattered 3,000 years ago, leaving only broken divine fragments scattered across the world."

"For the past 3,000 years, the Dark Night Divine Temple has been trying to cultivate a new Shadow God, expending great effort to gather divine fragments; it is said they have already collected many."

"Whenever they find someone capable of wielding a divine fragment, they meticulously nurture them, placing the hope of ascension upon that person!"

"You have a divine fragment on you; if you can make good use of it, perhaps there will be a sliver of chance, but I can't say exactly how. Anyway, I've told you everything I know; take care of yourself."

Lin Yifan was stunned; he hadn't expected her to detect even that.

But before he could respond, Ai Ruili Ya had already transformed into a flash of silver light and vanished at the end of the stairs.

The three stared at each other, and only their heavy breathing echoed in the cavern.

"What do we do now?" Ruan Qingtan asked softly, his voice still trembling.

Lin Yifan took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. He opened the system interface and checked his status:

Name: Lin Yifan (All attributes increased 50%: remaining time 8 minutes)

Age: 23

Strength: 102

Agility: 136

Physical Stamina: 84

Intelligence: 142

Remaining attribute points: 0

Life Tier: Transcendent Fourth Level (upgrade to Supernormal Twelfth Segment, can breakthrough to the next Life Tier)

Day One Talent: 【Random Buff, one draw per day!】

【You can draw a lot once daily, obtaining various buffs with different effects; the draw refreshes at 12 am each day. Are you an 'Euro Emperor' or a Non-lucky? It shows on your face!】

【Today's buff: Random Attribute increased 50%】

Day Two Talent: 【Ice Body】

【Passive Skill 1: Frost Affinity (All ice‑type skill effects increased 50%, casting speed increased 30%). Immune to extreme cold environment debuffs.】

【Passive Skill 2: Ice‑Solid Body (When attacked, automatically generates ice armor, offsetting 20% ice‑type damage.】

【Active Skill 1: Eternal Freeze Field (When activated, creates a 10‑meter radius icy field centered on self; enemies within continuously suffer frostbite, slow, and have a chance to be fully frozen, lasting 15 seconds (duration and strength increase with Intelligence).】

【Active Skill 2: Extreme Speed Ice Flash (Within the Eternal Freeze Field, can teleport; with sufficient Intelligence, theoretically unlimited teleportation.)】

Day Three Talent: Shadow Power

【Shadow Divine Fragment (Fusion rate 1%)】

【Shadow Sovereign Beginner】: Can merge into shadows for a short time; unless a Life Tier is more than five levels above yours, cannot detect your whereabouts.

【Shadow Traverse: Can instantly move between shadows, maximum distance 5 meters】

Life Skill:

【Beginner Skinning】 (Proficiency 1000/12)

【Beginner Cooking】 (Proficiency 1000/66)

Special Item: 【Mythril Cast Iron Pot·Unique (Creator: Barolinte)】

【Attribute: Delicious +5 Physical Stamina Recovery +3】

【Item status: Repaired】

【Special effect: When cooking, there is a chance to trigger 'Delicious Critical Hit', doubling food attributes.】

Special Item: 【Mage‑Level Inherited Memory (left by Keluositin)】 (Already soul‑bound; can be learned after breaking through to Transcendent Great Perfection)

【Evaluation: A very good seed player, having already broken through to Transcendent Fourth Level so quickly; although this isn't yet the stage of a true strongman, it's still worthy of praise!】

There are still eight minutes of double‑attribute time left; still worth a fight!