Chapter 438 The Primordial Candle Dragon (6300, Second Update)

Before returning, Jiu Ming never imagined that upon his return to Earth, he would be immediately surrounded by Su Zhou and two Holy Seats.

But after the bewildered True Dragon youth lowered his hand from his head and understood the current situation, he quickly understood why this had happened.

—It's embarrassing to say, but he is indeed quite important.

The South Sea Dragon King, the leader of the Daoist propaganda, the guardian dragon of the Celestial Pool Realm, the future nominal owner of the Celestial Pool Realm, an heir to a true immortal deity… well, thinking about it carefully, if he, who has so many titles, goes missing, it would indeed be a major event that would shock the Zheng Nation. It's only natural for Su Zhou and the Holy Seats to come and investigate.

"Indeed, I've caused trouble..." Thinking of this, Jiu Ming felt a little ashamed.

When he received the invitation from the Pioneer Space, he didn't think much about it. He simply chose this path based on the desires of his heart... But in reality, leaving everything behind to go to the Pioneer Space was extremely irresponsible.

Although he really didn't like being seen as a symbol for a certain force's propaganda, and he didn't want to stay in the South Sea just to guard the Celestial Pool Realm... To be honest, Jiu Ming wasn't even interested in the Celestial Pool Realm itself.

As a True Dragon with a less-than-ideal background, Jiu Ming simply wanted to experience as many interesting things as possible in his life.

But that doesn't mean he can violate contracts for his own hobbies.

The Zheng Nation had poured resources into him, and he should have given something back, instead of just abandoning everything and running to the Pioneer Space.

"How have you been lately? If you have any worries, you can always tell me."

"Oh, um... okay..."

So, when Jiu Ming heard Su Zhou's rather cheerful inquiry, he simply looked up timidly, like a guilty little beast, looking quite pitiful and embarrassed.

This immediately froze Su Zhou's amiable expression.

—Damn it, does he look like he's about to cry?

Wait, wait, wait, I didn't want to bully him, I really just wanted to ask about the situation!

Thinking about it carefully, Jiu Ming's age is probably only in his teens, and he's been living alone as a dragon at the bottom of the sea for the past few years. Although he's called the South Sea Dragon King, he's essentially just a big kid who rarely interacts with people.

Was my tone and expression too scary? No, I was so kind and friendly!

After analyzing himself, Su Zhou sighed inwardly, and his tone became even gentler as he faced the slightly trembling Jiu Ming: "It's okay, you don't have to rush. Relax for a while, we have plenty of time to discuss this."

"I won't do anything to you."

"!"

"I'll talk, I'll talk right away!"

And after hearing Su Zhou say the above lines in a gentle tone, Jiu Ming became even more teary-eyed, and even his eyes became a little red.

However, the reason why Jiu Ming was teary-eyed was not because of his kind tone and behavior, but because of some more peculiar reasons.

For example, in the blue-haired True Dragon youth's pupils, there was a black and red, visually very obvious, very terrifying, and very dangerous huge warning symbol, hanging above Su Zhou's head, and slowly rotating.

[Chaos Covenant Holder - Primordial Candle Dragon] (Pure black skull)

[Celestial Soul Position - Earth Immortal Su Zhou] (Pure black skull)

And as soon as Jiu Ming saw these signs, some information appeared in his mind at the same time.

[Ultra-hazardous target. Unknown specific strength. Unknown specific state. Unable to detect strength, extremely high threat level.]

[Action suggestion: Stay away]

Next to Su Zhou's warning symbol, there was always a huge pure black skull.

Naturally, this information was not unique to the Pioneer Space.

It was a 'Primary Detection Module' that Jiu Ming had exchanged for a D-level Pioneering Permission and 1500 Exploration Points.

As a True Dragon and an heir to a Dragon King, Jiu Ming's own strength was already sufficient. He had his own cultivation methods, bloodline, and inheritance, and his future development prospects were quite promising.

Therefore, he didn't really need to exchange for anything to be strong enough—provided he could perfectly exert his power.

Because of this, after thinking for a long time, Jiu Ming finally determined that what he needed most was some auxiliary detection abilities. It could help him judge the situation, collect more information, and thus obtain the greatest gains in a strange world.

For the exploration of other worlds, the convenience and improvement brought by an exploration module were far greater than learning a high-power spell.

But, now.

The first time this detection module was used, it did not provide any assistance to its user.

Rather, Jiu Ming was almost frightened by the warning displayed by his detection module.

Even after he took Su Zhou's outstretched hand and regained his footing with the help of the other's strength.

—Su Zhou, this, this is too strong, right?!

—Is this what an immortal deity is? Why is this guy so strong?!

Jiu Ming's gaze uncontrollably focused on Su Zhou. He stared at him, his dragon pupils reflecting an almost substantial spiritual light flame flowing around him.

In the dark South Sea night, this spiritual light was so bright that it created countless overlapping shadows.

At this moment, the True Dragon seemed to fall into an illusion—

The Su Zhou in front of him seemed to be surrounded by a boundless darkness—an evil called resentment, a hatred called animosity, as deep as the sea, chilling to the bone, and swirling around the young man like mist.

Countless cursed words and ugly souls formed these haze, as if to completely obscure Su Zhou.

However, Jiu Ming could see that deep within the seemingly profound sea of resentment, there was a seemingly faint but constantly emitting light, a raging flame.

It used light to drive away chaos, like a star hidden in a nebula.

That was the power of vows.

Resentment and the power of vows intertwined, like the sun and the clouds that obscure it, forming a cycle of light and darkness. They spun constantly, and finally, in Jiu Ming's eyes, merged into the infinitely contradictory human in front of him.

Then, enlightenment arose in his heart.

—The fire that burns in the darkness, the wind that howls in stillness.

—The water that flows in depletion, the thunder that roars in silence.

"This is... the Candle Dragon?"

Just as Jiu Ming was about to fall into madness because his spiritual vision was too high, and he was being invaded by too much information while gazing at 'Earth Immortal Su Zhou'.

Perhaps because the analysis was complete, the True Dragon youth suddenly sensed that more additional information was coming from the danger sign above Su Zhou's head, bringing him out of his chaotic state.

[Optional Team Mission: Defeat the Primordial Candle Dragon] (Pure black skull)

[The whole team receives one S-level Pioneering Permission, Exploration Points. The one who deals the decisive final blow receives an additional reward of one-fold.]

[Optional Exploration Mission: Uncover the secrets hidden within the Primordial Candle Dragon]

[Current progress 0%, reward points 0]

[Optional Special Team Mission: Invite the Primordial Candle Dragon to return to the Pioneer Space]

[The whole team receives a reward of one S-level Pioneering Permission, Exploration Points, and the Primordial Candle Dragon automatically joins the inviter's team]

"Damn, this is too much of a difference, right?!"

The moment he saw the S-level Pioneering Permission, Jiu Ming immediately sobered up and almost shouted.

—You must know that he risked his life, fighting hard for days to prevent Chentang Pass from being flooded by the Dragon Palace, and in the end, he only got a D-level Pioneering Permission. Even if he perfectly stopped the Dragon Palace army from attacking Chentang Pass, the reward would only be DD.

Adding in preventing the Dragon Palace Third Prince from being killed by Ling Zhuzi, his perfect performance would at most earn him a C-level Pioneering Permission... and that was with perfect performance!

But now, this Candle Dragon's mission reward directly jumped to S-level?!

"This is a joke, tell me this is all a dream..."

For a moment, Jiu Ming lost his ability to speak due to excessive shock.

To avoid being further stimulated by Su Zhou, he subconsciously turned his head and looked at Sheng Sheng and Yan Sheng, who were beside him.

Then, he saw again.

[Baize · Sheng Sheng Cang Lunzhe] (Dark gold emblem)

[Mid-stage Human Immortal Commander. Danger level: High.]

[Optional Mission: Defeat Baize · Cang Lunzhe]

[Receive one A-level Pioneering Permission, Exploration Points.]

[Optional Mission: Kill Baize · Cang Lunzhe]

[Receive one A-level Pioneering Permission, Exploration Points]

[Mech Soul · Yan Sheng Wu Chongwen] (Dark gold emblem)

[Low-stage Human Immortal Commander. Heretic cultivator. Danger level: High.]

[Optional Mission: Defeat Wu Chongwen]

[Receive one A-level Pioneering Points, Exploration Points.]

[Special Exploration Mission: Explore the hidden truth in Earth]

[Current progress: 0. Reward points 27]

A series of data, very clear.

But strangely, compared to Sheng Sheng, Yan Sheng had no kill mission.

In fact, Su Zhou also didn't have one.

Even Su Zhou possessed an extremely special 'invite' mission! And the reward for the invite mission itself was even higher than defeating him...

This was too strange, especially the meaning behind it... Could it be that the Pioneer Space wanted to win over Su Zhou?

And what about that Primordial Candle Dragon... what exactly does that mean?

"Jiu Ming?"

Just as the True Dragon youth's thoughts were suddenly drifting away due to too much information, Su Zhou's clear voice entered his mind, waking him up: "Are you okay?"

"Oh, um... I feel like I'm doing alright."

Coming back to his senses, Jiu Ming met Su Zhou's gaze, his blue dragon pupils flickering uneasily. He hesitated and said, "I... maybe I'm okay?"

"Oh, really? Then tell everyone about it."

Then, he was shocked to hear Su Zhou's calm inquiry: "What exactly did you experience in that 'Pioneer Space'?"

"What?! You, how do you know..."

"Haha." Violet-blue dragon pupils gazed at Jiu Ming's surprised expression, Su Zhou smiled mysteriously: "Don't look at me like that."

"I know more than you think."

...

When Su Zhou showed overwhelming power and proved to be very familiar with the Pioneer Space, Jiu Ming finally gave up hiding anything.

Indeed, there was a lot of information in the Pioneer Space that could not be told to the Earth side. This was also forbidden by the Pioneer Space. If he tried to tell it, even Su Zhou and Yala could only hear gibberish.

But in general, the taboo of the Pioneer Space was only that he could not reveal details about the 'Pioneers' to others.

As for other information, it was allowed and not so strict.

"The situation is roughly like this..."

After Jiu Ming stuttered through his experiences after arriving at the Pioneer Space, both Su Zhou and Sheng Sheng and Yan Sheng roughly knew the process that the True Dragon had experienced in the mission world, and the various 'missions' that they appeared as in his eyes.

This was not unspeakable information, because it had nothing to do with the Pioneers, it was just Jiu Ming's own perception.

"Damn, I actually became a mission? And it sounds like I'm the final boss!"

After hearing Jiu Ming's description, Su Zhou even felt a little amused... and a hint of hidden chill.

"Is that so?"

He didn't know how to evaluate the overly terrifying assessment results of Jiu Ming's exploration module: "No wonder you had that expression before... But seriously, Jiu Ming, are you only just now getting to know me? You should have been afraid a long time ago."

"Who said I wasn't afraid before!" Although Jiu Ming didn't say it on the surface, his heart was shaking: "I was clearly terrified before too, it's just that I'm even more scared now, okay!"

"Seriously, this is really strange."

Even Yala complained in the soul space: "That invitation mission is too much—what's with everyone coveting my contractor?"

"Inviting you to the Pioneer Space? He actually gave out this suggestive mission?"

"Shameless guy! When I return to my peak, I will definitely destroy the Pioneers!"

In the soul space, the snake spirit's indignant appearance was as if she wanted to swallow the Pioneers in one bite.

Although the Pioneers' mission was indeed unfair, it must be said that Su Zhou also learned some quite interesting things from Jiu Ming's information.

For example, Sheng Sheng's strength was likely stronger than Yan Sheng's—but Yan Sheng's survival ability had even reached an unbelievable level. Just relying on Jiu Ming, it was completely impossible to kill him, absolutely impossible to succeed.

So for Jiu Ming, there was not even a reward option for killing Yan Sheng.

And Su Zhou himself was the same. Not only did he not have a kill mission, but his defeat mission was even a whole team mission, and the suggestion in the detection module didn't even say how big a team it was—four people? Ten people? Twenty people? Or a joint large-scale attack mission with multiple teams?

Who knew—it was all deceptive narrative.

"We'll take Jiu Ming away first—thank you Professor Su, you've really been a great help."

At this time, the South Sea was silent.

Not long ago, Sheng Sheng and Yan Sheng had left with Jiu Ming.

They would go to Tiandu, and a whole team of thirty-six saints was already prepared, ready to listen to Jiu Ming's narrative again, analyze his actions in the Pioneer Space, and assist in planning his exchanges and mission preparations in the space.

Su Zhou knew very well that Jiu Ming had only exchanged for the return time in the Pioneer Space, and he would eventually return to the Pioneer Space. No one could keep him.

But before that, there were many things waiting for him to do.

For example, Jiu Ming would receive a tailor-made cultivation plan, as well as many powerful cultivation secrets that the Zheng Nation could provide.

Su Zhou believed that after learning about the existence of the Pioneer Space, the Zheng Nation would not be stingy with resources. On the contrary, they would increase investment to make Jiu Ming stronger, strong enough to cope with the crisis in the Pioneer Space.

Then, they would also obtain various technologies and resources that were scarce on Earth through Jiu Ming.

Anyway, that's how it was, mutually beneficial.

At this moment, in the South Sea, only Su Zhou was left. He slowly floated up from the deep sea and came to the turbulent surface of the sea.

"This is very much like what the Pioneers would do."

In the turbulent tide, Yala crawled out of the personal space. He came to Su Zhou's shoulder and couldn't help but shake his head slightly: "Mark all things with the harvest of exploration, use missions as a guide, and then let people run around."

"Label all beings with simple labels such as 'defeatable', 'killable', and 'invitable', and then create the illusion that 'I can choose to do this.'"

"For the sake of curiosity, how evil will the Pioneers' dependents do? Haha, who knows?"

Yala's tone was full of pungent irony.

Su Zhou originally couldn't understand this, but just now, after hearing Jiu Ming honestly narrate that he had 'defeat' and 'invite' missions on his body, he understood a little.

"Yeah, after all, not everyone likes being treated as an exploration mission."

Saying so, the young man stood on the sea, he looked in the direction where Jiu Ming and the two Holy Seats had left. Su Zhou really felt the decisive difference between the Pioneers and Yala, and the reason why he felt somewhat repelled by the former.

In the end, had the Pioneers placed any restrictions on the curiosity born from exploration?

And is unlimited curiosity and exploration desire really a good thing?

Obviously not!

—But that's the Pioneers.

Exploring the unknown, satisfying curiosity, a seemingly bright essence.

But...

Who knows what crazy things people will do to satisfy their curiosity and complete the exploration missions?

Su Zhou knew very well—they could do anything.

It was like a player playing in a strange game world. When they encountered a strange NPC, they would use all means to detect all the NPC's dialogues and figure out all the tasks he could issue.

Then, after completing all the tasks of this NPC, they would unhesitatingly kill him, just like innocent children.

And all of this was only because the Pioneers' dependents wanted to see how much 'different information from before' this NPC would show—or even a simpler reason.

They would first see what items would drop and how much experience they would gain by killing this NPC, and what the consequences would be.

—Desire to reach the horizon that can never be reached, possess an unlimited desire to explore, and a supreme enterprising spirit... Although this is just an analogy, this is probably the summary of the Pioneers' dependents.

Under that seemingly positive description, the essence is a kind of true indifference.

—What will happen if this person is killed? What will happen if they are not killed?

The person who was smiling and chatting with people the moment before would suddenly and violently kill someone the next moment because of curiosity, curious about 'what would happen to the world if I killed him here?'... This is what the Pioneers' dependents could do.

They wanted to explore every unknown possibility, and even wanted to know what would happen if the world was destroyed.

But this world is not a game world.

The real world has no save files.

Therefore, unrestricted advancement and unrestricted exploration of the unknown... is definitely not a pure blessing.

"The most extreme Pioneer dependents will do anything to explore the unknown."

Gazing at the distant sea level, the waves that were churning due to the moon's gravity, Su Zhou murmured to himself: "Anything."

And Yala also looked in the same direction as the youth. He sighed softly: "Yes, this is the essential difference between me and the Pioneers."

"I pursue 'life has the right to do anything'. The Pioneers are 'life should do anything we don't know'."

A cool sea breeze swept across the sea, bringing the tides of the night. Su Zhou stood on the sea, he raised his head and looked at the top of the sky, the crack that was traversing in the dark universe vacuum.

The crack in the Great Seal.

—The Pioneer Space…

He thought so.

Among the myriad worlds, the organization belonging to the Pioneers' dependents.

In the future, when he walks in the myriad worlds, he will definitely encounter these guys often.

Those Pioneers' dependents will inevitably arbitrarily modify and distort the direction of other worlds for their own curiosity, and even issue challenges to themselves.

Of course, according to their own wishes, they must be doing good things.

Just like Jiu Ming, he first stopped the Dragon Palace Third Prince from being killed, and then stopped the Dragon Palace from flooding Chentang Pass. He felt that this was what he should do, and that this was the historical direction that made him feel at ease.

He will change the original historical direction and explore the 'unknown and future' that he is interested in.

And this is probably the origin of 'Pioneering Permission' and 'Exploration Points' - changing everything that is known and shifting everything to an unknown track.

In this process, this large number of Pioneer dependents will one day grow to the point where they can awaken other Great Beings.

And the most important thing is that the Great Being [The Pioneer] is even willing to sacrifice his hope of obtaining freedom for this.

—He sincerely believes that it is right to allow all beings in the myriad worlds to explore endless distances and infinite unknowns, even if it harms others.

For this reason, even if he gives up freedom, he will not hesitate.

And his dependents obviously have such an essence of not hesitating.

"Alas... is it madness or resoluteness?"

Gazing at the illusory crack in the starry sky, Su Zhou couldn't help but sigh. He smiled with some complexity: "This is the Pioneer, this is the Great Being..."

—Exploration, adventure, pioneering, pioneering, opening up—

Whether dark, bright, good, or evil. Everything is in these elements.

A kind of, correct.

"I really can't choose any path—any path similar to the Great Beings."

"Although I don't know what the perfect choice is, there is no doubt that none of them are truly correct."

Thinking like this, Su Zhou prepared to turn around and leave the South Sea.

But at the same time, he sensed something, and then took out his phone from his pocket.

It could be seen that there was a prompt message flashing on the phone.

The sender is... [Su Zhou Support Group 014]?

"Oh, it's Krossel!"

After reacting, Su Zhou muttered softly, clicked to enter, checked the information, and then understood.

"In a few days, my fan management group will actually have an offline gathering? He will come over in advance, just in time to report to me on the abnormal situation during the ceremony."

"He's already in the Zheng Nation?"

Laughing softly, Su Zhou began to enter information: "That's unexpectedly good news."

"Then let's meet at half-past eleven tomorrow morning."

Seeking monthly tickets~

I accidentally fell asleep...

Today is Qingming Festival. Going to sweep the tombs, today's update will be in the evening.