Transcendent Dawn

Nighttime.

The inn where Su Lu was staying.

“Angus Gold… Angus Gold…”

A faint call, like a low murmur and sleep talk, lingered around Su Lu’s ears.

“It’s a curse!”

Su Lu jumped up from the bed, a vigilant expression on his face.

Suddenly, he saw a human figure.

It was a silhouette as pale as a sculpture, its entire body covered in grooves as if it had been scorched by flames, giving off a severely dissonant visual impression.

“Is this… a demonic portrait?”

Su Lu immediately thought of the demonic gallery incident in Nia City.

At that moment, the surrounding walls turned into curtains, from which countless arms and handprints emerged, holding him tightly.

The demonic portrait leaned in, almost cheek to cheek with him.

New flesh grew from that severely burned face, forming a visage full of Roman style.

Blond hair, blue eyes, handsome appearance, with a hint of enigmatic charm. “This is… the portrait in the old mansion… Dale Angerskin? Am I cursed by it?” “No… where the hell is this?”

Su Lu’s thoughts turned quickly and suddenly it seemed to dawn on him: “This is… my dream!”

After the realization, everything around him dissipated quickly. The numerous arms from before, and the demonic portrait, were all illusions.

In the real world.

Su Lu woke up, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: “Another nightmare… No, this is a reminder from my inspiration, indicating a connection between this demonic mansion and the portrait in the demonic gallery?”

Although it seemed absurd, upon careful consideration, it felt quite normal.

A demon family capable of spawning a Cursed Spirit, even in the dark world, definitely rank among the very top, with only a handful in the world.

And in the White Eagle Federation, there was perhaps only one.

“Angus Gold… Demon family… could it be the top leadership of the Ancient Snake Society? And is this their abandoned old mansion?”

Su Lu couldn’t help but speculate.

By this time, he had already considered the demon and the ancient snake as two sides of the same coin.

The so-called ancient snake seemed to be nothing more than a shell for the demon.

“Of course, it could also be the other way around… the ancient snake wearing the demon’s shell. Either way, they are both top-notch Evil Gods, merely looking at them can cause death…”

Su Lu opened the curtain, the night outside was very peaceful.

He took a deep breath, put on his cloak and hood, slipped out the window of the inn, entered the black market from a hidden bar in the suburbs.

Although it was late at night, the business here was booming.

Su Lu arrived at the central restaurant, ordered honey-coated steak and wine, and at the same time, he wanted to see if there was any news.

However, to his surprise, the drinkers today were very tight-lipped, revealing no valuable information.

“Bartender! ”

Su Lu stared at the parrot in front of him: “Is there any place here that sells information?”

“One silver hawk!”

The parrot exclaimed cheerfully, its cunning tone presumably learnt from somewhere.

“No problem!” Su Lu tossed a silver coin over.

“Straight and turn right, the third stone house!”

The parrot grabbed the silver hawk with its claw: “Don’t say I sent you.”

“Could there be a feud between these two places?”

Su Lu got up, perplexed, walked straight to the end, turned right, and saw a row of shops.

“Flame and Hammer! Clearly this is for forging and making magical items…”

“Transcendent job guidance? Are you sure you’re not here to scam some money?

“The Doma Witch’s Bookstore? Could it be here?”

Su Lu counted to three, and walked in.

Inside the witch’s bookstore, numerous crystal balls flickered with fluorescent light serving as the light source, causing various colors to bounce around in the small space, dazzling the eyes.

Su Lu almost thought he had come to a disco in an alien world. He squinted his eyes, looking at the displayed crystal balls: “Where’s the person?”

“Hehe… It’s rare to have a customer!”

From behind the counter, a witch slowly emerged. She was hunched over with a bent back, her figure slim, she barely reached Su Lu’s waistline.

She lifted her head, sizing up Su Lu with dim eyes: ‘You’re not a warlock! You want to buy a witch’s book?”

“Books? Where are they?”

Su Lu asked curiously, his gaze fell on the numerous crystal balls.

“Exactly… We witches use a unique method to seal information in various crystal balls. That’s the source of our magic power! But… people who are not witches can’t see it at all.”

The old witch slowly said.

“I’m not here to buy books, but… I heard that you also sell information here?”

After a moment of contemplation, Su Lu revealed his intention.

“Who told you?”

The old witch widened her eyes abruptly: “I knew it… it must be that dead bird, isn’t it? I swear… one day, I’m going to pluck all its feathers!”

“Madam… witch!” Su Lu felt something was off: “They meant well introducing business to you…”

“It’s just trying to apologize… Do you know, it put… in my breakfast, it put…”

The old witch was incredibly angry, but after a glance at Su Lu, she finally managed to swallow her anger.

‘Could it be… bird droppings?’

Su Lu’s mouth twitched, feeling suddenly nauseous and very skeptical about the sanitary standard of the transcendent culinary industry.

“I don’t care about your feud with it, even if you roast it, it’s none of my business… I want information!”

He snorted coldly, a trace of spirit oppression released.

“Hmm?!”

A shudder went through the old witch, she looked at Su Lu deeply: “Follow me!”

Behind the counter, there was a small door that seemed to lead out of the stone house and connected to a black tent.

The old witch went straight to the host’s seat and sat cross-legged, her hands holding up a crystal ball on a velvet cushion: “State your demand, guest! I’ll provide you the information you want and you can’t refuse my quotation!”

“That’s impossible, aren’t you going to make me roast the bird in the restaurant and I have to agree to it?” Su Lu frowned.

“Of course I won’t make you do that, but if you did, I would be very pleased, and from then on, I could give you a 20% discount on information!”

The old witch laughed like a night owl: “Equivalent exchange. This is our spellcasters’ rule! The value of the information correlates with its original worth…”

“If that’s the case, there is no problem.”

Su Lu said, “My request is rather broad, for example… an overall report on the transcendent powers of Charles City, certain restricted areas, and so on…”

“For a rough estimate, five Golden Dragons! If you want a detailed description of each, a total of fifty-five Golden Dragons, plus five Silver Hawks and twenty-seven Copper Elves!”

The crystal ball in the old witch’s hand brightened, and then answered in an echoey voice.

“I’ll start with a brief look…”

Su Lu took out five Golden Dragons, at the same time curious about how the witch came up with the price for the information.. Could it simply be a wild guess?