Quadruple split.

Chapter 2688 Interlude - Foreshadowing
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Welcome back, Black Vane, the absolute neutral one. You are about to be enshrined in the realm of innocence. Goodnight.

……

Blood Barbarian Territory, Skolk Stronghold, in front of the Alchemy Workshop, under the tree

"call."

Mo Tan, who appeared under the shade of a tree in a flash of white light, breathed a sigh of relief. He then slowly sat down on the low stool next to him and muttered to himself, "Thank goodness we won."

In fact, less than a minute ago, he was still fighting fiercely in the Grand Arena of Tianzhu Mountain. Although his opponent's strength was not enough to overwhelm Mo Tan, the quality of [Xiao] was only ordinary, and its stats were far inferior to the weapons that most strong people had. The pressure of that battle was actually quite great.

Faced with an opponent who possessed rich combat skills and, after only a few probing moves, discovered that the half-dragon's weapon strength was unsatisfactory, and thus constantly forced him to engage in direct combat in an attempt to establish victory through attrition warfare, Mo Tan, whose only fatal weakness in his current personality was 'insufficient weapon strength,' was indeed having an exceptionally difficult time.

To make matters worse, the [Herrscher's Resolve] talent triggered a disconnection warning.

Finally, in order to avoid being disconnected during the battle, Mo Tan had no choice but to take a risk and create an excellent 'opportunity' for the opponent in a short period of time.

Simply put, in the other party's mind, the longsword in Mo Tan's hand is undoubtedly a low-quality product. Under such circumstances, if there is a suitable opportunity, he can directly shatter that broken sword by virtue of the weapon's strength. In this way, even if this half-dragon kid is indeed hiding something, he will probably have to admit defeat after losing his weapon.

That's why, when he realized that the "Dawn's Ruthless Sword," with its "never wears out" characteristic, couldn't be broken, it was too late to deal with Mo Tan's next fast sword strike.

And so, Mo Tan narrowly won a victory, then rushed back to the players' lounge at top speed, only to disconnect at the last moment after closing the door.

However, if we look closely enough, we can actually glean a lot of subtle and different information from these descriptions—

For example, in the Grand Arena, Mo Tan did indeed hide something, which made his opponents keenly aware that his strength did not match his weapon, and they tried to end the battle quickly by breaking [Xiao] to avoid more variables.

So the question is, what exactly are these so-called variables?

Hey, that's a bit too much.

For example, 【逆鳞】.

For example, [Domain of Fury]

For example, [The Lawyer's Determination].

For example, 【Reverse Scale - Complete Liberation】.

For example, let [Akatsuki] transform into other forms.

In fact, during the battle just now, Mo Tan disabled almost all of the core methods he relied on in the [Interrogation and Debate] and life-or-death combat. You should know that even though [Herrscher's Resolve] and [Reverse Scale: Full Release] can only be used as trump cards due to their low versatility, he really didn't need to deliberately not use the other methods.

After all, even if you are deliberately training yourself, there is no need to shut down those conventional methods.

There is only one reason why Mo Tan has gone to such lengths: to win as many as possible!

Some might ask, how can abandoning so many tactics, which is clearly a shortcut to defeat, be related to winning?

The reason is simple: Mo Tan not only wants to win in the present, but also wants to win the 'future' as much as possible.

Similar to the "Debate on Inquiry," the players in the First Outer Mountain Arena also gather intelligence. The difference is that, although they may not be as professional or have as many resources as those clubs or studios, the insight of these strong players is unmatched by ordinary professional players or intelligence workers.

It's important to understand that, setting aside the top-ranked player, Question Mark Guy, and Gu Xiaole, even the most skilled players like Cordova, Xinglong, and Guoshi Wushuang only possess eyesight at best that of a half-step epic level. Furthermore, they've only been familiar with the world of [Innocent Realm] for less than a year, making it impossible for them to compare with the high-level players in the Grand Arena.

Mo Tan was almost certain that whether it was [Reverse Scale: Full Release], [Herrscher's Resolve], [Domain: Rage], or [Akatsuki's] transformation ability, once revealed, it would definitely be targeted, making it difficult for him to move forward in high-level competitive environments.

Therefore, if you want to win as many games as possible, you must try to hide your weaknesses and make sure that others don't figure you out too early.

However, all of this is based on the premise that he is certain of victory. In other words, if his opponent had not been defeated by Mo Tan's quick sword combo after failing to break Xiao's attack, he would have definitely activated Reverse Scale immediately to ensure that he could win as soon as possible.

In short, Mo Tan is prepared for a protracted battle and is trying to reach a high rank as much as possible while Ji Xiaoge is busy with [Ascension Fortress Valkyrie].

Only by maintaining a high win rate and winning more matches can one be qualified to challenge stronger opponents. Fighting against powerful opponents not only allows one to better hone one's skills but also yields more rewards.

Don't underestimate these rewards. Although Mo Tan, like most top-tier players, undoubtedly has his main class at max level, the disadvantage of having too little playtime cannot be easily eliminated by this.

More rewards mean more 'skill specialization', '[Akatsuki] experience', 'class experience points', and 'optional experience points'. The first two are self-explanatory. With Mo Tan's Knight class already at the maximum level, his class experience points will generally be converted into free experience points proportionally. These free experience points can then be used to boost his class level immediately after he breaks through to the Epic rank.

This is the core reason why Mo Tan plans to spend a long time in the Grand Arena.

For him, breaking through to the Epic level is only a matter of time.

Unfortunately, time was the most precious resource for him, bar none.

Therefore, in order to improve himself as much as possible within the limited time, to gain the power to protect his companions, to uphold the principles in his heart, and even to fight against the 'other side' hiding behind the veil, Mo in the [Innocent Realm] cherishes this opportunity to return to the Grand Arena to fight and train.

Although--

"Just thinking about it makes me tired."

Although he won the championship of the "Debate on Guilt - Team Battle" and played a core role in the team, his objective strength was simply appalling. The priest, whose ambition was no different from that of a salted fish, lazily muttered something, then lowered his eyes to look at the cross on his wrist and said leisurely, "Although I really want to become stronger."

Do you really want to become more capable?

With a basket full of materials to be refined hanging from her arm, the alchemist appeared beside Mo Tan without making a sound. She frowned slightly and said, "This is not easy."

“Yes.” Mo Tan, who had become somewhat numb to Luna Lynch’s constant presence near him, no longer found it surprising, smiled without turning his head: “So I was just thinking about it.”

"Oh."

Luna nodded and continued, "Raymond, Avery, and Mino have already set off. For details, you can ask Romeo directly; he's there too."

Mo Tan smiled and said leisurely, "I just asked Romeo about the situation. Although the advance troops are still some time away from reaching the designated location, they should be able to carry out the first wave of deterrent attacks soon."

"I don't understand this."

Luna shook her head honestly and asked, "If there's anything I need to do, just tell me."

"At least for now, all I need is for you to make sure you are in good physical and mental condition."

Turning to look at her friend, who always seemed sleep-deprived, Mo Tan said with a somewhat subtle expression, "Lysa told me that she has almost never seen you rest."

Luna frowned almost imperceptibly, and replied in her signature ethereal voice, "That's only because her understanding of 'rest' is too superficial."

"Sometimes, it's not so bad to be a little shallow."

Mo Tan didn't continue to incite hatred against Lysa. Instead, after a brief expression of concern, she casually changed the subject and asked, "How's the atmosphere in the village after Raymond and Avery left?"

Are you sure you want to ask me?

Knowing full well that she was rather oblivious to human nature, and somewhat worried that she wouldn't be able to give the other person the answer they wanted, Luna asked this question in return, her eyes still misty.

"of course."

Mo Tan gave an affirmative answer without hesitation, saying in a light tone, "Only changes in atmosphere that even you can sense have enough reference value for me."

Upon hearing this, Luna didn't dwell on it any longer, but said seriously, "I think Skolck's morale is a bit low."

"Of course, based on the previous estrangement, those who called themselves warriors and whose thoughts were indeed noble enough did not receive glory this time. They could only watch helplessly as we, the Dunbuya Front Army who provided a lot of supplies and protected the village's safety, went to fight those Blood Barbarians."

While enjoying the evening breeze carrying a hint of earthy fragrance, Mo Tan smiled bitterly and said, "And this is exactly what I need. Although I feel a little embarrassed, this guilt and helplessness will become the opportunity for Skolke and us to put aside our past grievances. So even if I could think of other ways, I still chose this somewhat uncomfortable method in the end."

Luna didn't answer immediately, but said calmly a few seconds later, "It's better than starving to death."

"Yes, it's better than starving to death."

Clearly understanding what the other party meant, Mo Tan smiled genuinely and softly repeated the sentence. Then, she turned her gaze to the basket Luna was carrying and asked curiously, "What's this?"

"I entrusted Philip to use his divine power to catalyze the fruit."

As Luna showed Mo Tan the basket full of things, she explained, "The divine magic of the Cult of Abundance is theoretically well-suited for combining with potions or alchemy, but in practice, those things catalyzed by divine power are disastrous as alchemical materials. But Philip is the Holy Son of Abundance, so perhaps he can give me something different."

Mo Tan nodded slightly and asked, "But what advantages do these artificially catalyzed materials have compared to normal materials? After all, things made by ordinary abundance magic are basically unusable. Even if the materials that Philip catalyzes are of better quality, they are still not as strong as normal ones, right?"

"Ah."

Luna gave a noncommittal reply, then took a greenish-oval fruit from the basket and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

"I'll find out soon."

As Mo Tan spoke, he leaned closer to Luna's hand holding the fruit, and then proudly smiled after the item description popped up: "This is a Cangzhen Pomegranate, mainly distributed in the Northeast and Northwest Continents. It has a very high yield. Although it doesn't taste very good, it plays a pivotal role in pharmacology as a base material for conventional healing potions."

“These kinds of things are everywhere, so there’s no need for Philip to help us get them. The reason we asked him to produce a little bit this time is just to serve as a comparative example.”

Having already heard Mo Tan explain why players could see the 'item panel,' Luna wasn't surprised that the former could easily recognize the Azure Hazel Pomegranate. She put the Azure Hazel Pomegranate back into the basket, then carefully took out a leafy plant that was entirely blue and covered in dew, and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

Mo Tan leaned closer again, then easily identified the multi-leaved grass using the item panel: "This is... Pearl Grass?"

"That's right, this plant is very rare and is now almost extinct."

Luna's lips curled up slightly, and she then raised her hand to push away Mo Tan's head, which was so close to hers, and explained softly, "This plant itself has very limited uses. Apart from making a soup to relieve summer heat, it has almost no value. However, the dew on its leaves is an exceptionally rare and dreamlike ingredient."

Mo Tan blinked and asked with interest, "What is it?"

"It is a universal antidote that can neutralize any potent toxin, and it is also a good thing that can temporarily make multiple materials with extremely poor compatibility compatible, and can lower the threshold for alchemy by virtue of its own characteristics."

Luna gave a concise explanation, saying seriously, "For example, as long as you have enough Pearl Grass, even Lysa can complete most of the refining process independently without my help."

"I see."

"However, it's very rare, and I don't have enough money to buy enough Pearl Grass for Lysa."

"...!"

"But if Philip can use the seeds I gave him to make some artificial [Pearl Grass], that should be more than enough."

"The quality..."

“Ryza is my apprentice. She’s very skilled, so it doesn’t matter if the Pearl Grass’s compatibility is a little poor.”

"A very good idea."

"Well, hopefully the Holy Son will be useful enough."

Chapter 2679: The End