Chapter 411: Chapter 411: Clue of the Touch of Darkness
“Big brother, you’re back. Come to the council hall quickly.” Dull and cute TongTong said, sending a private message to Li Yao when she saw his message.

“Okay. I’ll be right there. Is there something going on?” Li Yao asked.

“No big issue, just someone looking for you.” TongTong, cheerfully trotting over to Li Yao’s side, said: “The visitor was all secretive, didn’t answer any questions. Your wife even asked me to stay as company, hmph. And I wanted to go to the battle arena!”

Li Yao took out the reins of the cave dwellers, handing them over to TongTong, “Take a look, I’ve even brought you a gift.”

TongTong excitedly asked, “What gift?”

“See for yourself.” Li Yao handed the reins over to a stunned TongTong.

“Wow, it’s a mount, hahaha, I have a mount now, you’re the best big brother.” Excitement flashed across TongTong’s eyes, instantly reacting, “Nevermind, mounts are too expensive right now, you can get a lot of money if you sold it. You should sell it, big brother.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. How can I let something like this get out? Hurry up and take it. Consider it a guild benefit,” said Li Yao. He was joking. No matter how many combat mounts, it would never be too many. How could he sell it?

“No, I can’t. My sister-in-law will scold me. I dare not accept it.” TongTong, reluctantly handed the mount back to Li Yao.

“Okay then, I’m now selling this mount for a gold coin. Anyone interested? If no one wants it, I’m throwing it away,” Li Yao said, completely serious.

“No, don’t.” TongTong gave him a gold coin and cheerfully summoned her mount, showing off all over the place, “Big brother, when I get something good, I’ll give it to you.”

Li Yao shook his head and headed toward the council hall. He was surprised to find the female banshee official awaiting him.

“Sister, why did you come yourself? If you need something, just have someone tell me, I’ll come running.” Li Yao said as he approached.

“You, always with the sweet talk.” the Banshee seemed very pleased to see Li Yao, “I was sent by the General, she wants to meet with you.”

“Then let’s go immediately,” Li Yao, though perplexed, acted swiftly.

“Alright.” The female official didn’t dally either, leading Li Yao outside.

“This is your first visit here, sister. There isn’t much to offer, so please accept this modest gift and pardon the lack of hospitality,” said Li Yao, as he presented another test tube.

“What’s this? It contains energy of divinity!” The female official initially planned to refuse. After all, she didn’t expect Li Yao, a rookie, to be capable of offering anything valuable, and she was fond of him too and didn’t want him to spend unnecessarily.

“Just something I stumbled upon. It seems special and it’s of epic materials, which I can’t make use of. But I believe you can, sister. So here, even if you don’t find it useful, please don’t feel offended. It’s the thought that counts.”

“This is no ordinary thing. Furthermore, there’s so much of it. I can sense the divine energy inside, it’s definitely an exquisite item. Are you sure you want to give it to me?” the Banshee asked with a smile.

“I’m not one to regret.” Li Yao declared seriously.

“Then I’ll accept it graciously. This can make my spirit more cohesive and powerful,” the female official said with a radiant smile, as she stepped into the Royal District along with Li Yao.

Li Yao, too, felt happy. As long as he could maintain this relationship, he could benefit immensely from it in the future. The bit of an investment that it required was nothing compared to the benefits he’d reap later.

The Queen once again met Li Yao in that enormous laboratory.

“Impressive, to think you could rise to prominence even in the Light Faction.” The Queen said nonchalantly.

Li Yao was taken aback, then laugh bitterly, “You really can’t keep anything hidden from you. How did you find out?”

“Not to praise myself, but before reaching the second stage, the only thing that can be in contact with the ancient god without being eroded is this touch of darkness. Of course, I can’t be certain, but upon seeing the current state of the touch of darkness, I’m sure of it. You managed to get quite a haul this time. Or are you planning to join the Light Faction? I’ve heard that guy treats you well,” the Queen asked calmly.

“The Queen jests. How could I join the Light Faction? It’s just that goblins are generally unreliable and stingy. I need mechanical blueprints, and the only place to obtain them is from gnomes. The encounter with the ancient god was purely a matter of serendipity,” Li Yao explained hastily.

“Alright, since you’re back, I can rest easy. From now on, don’t go back to the Light Faction. Your identity there is no longer safe,” the Queen said seriously.

“How could that be? I haven’t made any mistakes.” Li Yao, puzzled, asked.

“Do you think you can keep the things of the ancient god safe? Once they find out you’ve got something from an ancient god, they’ll start investigating how you were able to resist the corrosion of the ancient god. Do you think you can handle the scrutiny?” the Queen smirked.

“Err…” Li Yao was stunned. He had indeed overlooked these issues. Like they say: innocence is no protection against possession of the Jade Bi – possessing materials from the ancient god was a crime in its own right.

“Good, you understand now,” the Queen reached out her hand, “You can keep the other materials, give me the Blood of the Ancient God. I have important use for it.”

With a long face, Li Yao took out a barrel. It wasn’t easy to satisfy the Queen.

“Stop making such a face. I know for sure you’ve got a lot more hidden away. I owe you a favor this time, and I’ll repay you in the future,” the Queen said as she stowed away the Blood of the Ancient God.

Li Yao’s face suddenly lit up with a smile. As far as he was concerned, a favor from the Queen was worth far more than any Blood of the Ancient God.

“Also, I have a piece of information for you as a bonus. I believe you’ll be interested?” the Queen said.

“What news?” Li Yao instantly perked up. If it wasn’t something important, the Queen wouldn’t mention it.

“You should know that the three factions are fighting against the centaurs together. The high ranks of the three factions are also deciding to test the new recruits. They’re planning to wipe out an eerie Centaur tribe, and from what I sense, another clue pointing to the Touch of Darkness just happens to be there in the tribe’s altar. If you wish to put the pieces together, you can try finding this clue.” The Queen said, waving her hand, “You may leave now. Return to see me when you’ve reached level 25 and have completed the third mission.”

Li Yao thanked the Queen and left. This was big news.

The Touch of Darkness – initially, Li Yao didn’t pay too much attention but as its function began to reveal itself, Li Yao found himself longing to see what else it could do once all of its pieces were assembled.

Regarding the trial, it was actually a main dungeon mission. The Centaur Tribe was the first 25-player dungeon in the World of Ancient Gods.

In other words, it was a dungeon that required the cooperation of five squads to complete. Compared to the level 10 dungeon, a level 25 dungeon was much more challenging.

And the scenario was grand – they were going up against an entire centaur tribe.

The supposed “clue” would most definitely be a high difficulty, first kill triggered plot. Originally, Li Yao wasn’t in any hurry or desperate to score the first kill, but now, it seemed he really needed to compete for it.

Returning to the campsite, Li Yao shared his plans with Sister Li, who agreed that they should vie for it. As for Li Yao, he returned to his laboratory and began preparing for Level 20. He needed to create and modify puppets – it was now an urgent matter.

PS: Stuck in the middle of the text…