Chapter 54

Old Joel held up two fingers in front of Alpha:

"Yes, my two journeys to the Tower of Forgetfulness were in different places. For example, the first time I entered the entrance of the Tower of Forgetfulness, it was in a dark cave at the bottom of the Dead Water Lake, which required diving—my partner and I thought there would be treasure there—a painful memory, that poor guy was eaten clean."

Old Joel smiled bitterly and shook his head, but his eyes revealed an unnatural fear, or perhaps despair. Perhaps a certain scene reappeared in his mind, plunging the weathered old mercenary back into that terrifying moment.

As if to comfort himself or to hide his emotions, Old Joel started to joke:

"Who knows if these demons really need human flesh to replenish their energy..."

The accumulation of years and the changes in the world had made Old Joel no longer know how to express sorrow, or perhaps he no longer felt sorrow about anything. For that terrifying experience he had personally gone through, it was more like telling a rather chilling story.

—Alpha even had the illusion that it had nothing to do with Old Joel.

"Second time? Why would you go again? This is not an experience worth repeating."

"You know, demons represent death and fear, but they also represent substantial rewards. Before completely losing confidence, people always try to challenge things that are inherently full of despair, until they themselves are completely overwhelmed by despair—my second entry into the Tower of Forgetfulness was under an ancient tree in a distant oasis."

Old Joel pointed to the map in Alpha's hand:

"The second entry into the Tower of Forgetfulness not only made me relive the nightmare of demons tearing and chewing living people, but also cost me my left eye."

Old Joel pointed to his eye patch and continued:

"I think this is not hard to understand, right? The Tower of Forgetfulness is a demonic gateway that can appear anywhere in Azeroth at any time, just a passage to another plane. There is no fixed form or characteristic; you only know it's the entrance to the Tower of Forgetfulness when you walk in."

After all, he was old, and his speech was somewhat rambling. Old Joel repeated the characteristics of the Tower of Forgetfulness and then pointed to the map in Alpha's hand again:

"Of course, you have to find it first. To find this demon lair that moves like migratory birds, you must use this little thing, they call it the [Demon Beacon]..."

"Good name, impressive."

Alpha gave a thumbs up, and the interrupted Old Joel shot him a glare:

"...This is a little gadget made by the spatial mages of the Silvermoon City Mage Tower, which can detect the planar entrance of the Tower of Forgetfulness. So my second entry into the Tower of Forgetfulness was actually quite easy, and I also have to thank the piece of demon-blood-soaked corpse I brought back—"

—I don't even know why I risked my life to pick up that piece of bone back then...

Old Joel shrugged:

"Of course, the result was good. The spatial mages came up with a way to find the Tower of Forgetfulness by tracking the life force of demon blood—your mage brains are really something.

Of course, that's why this map doesn't show a specific location on Azeroth; it only shows the location when it tracks the Tower of Forgetfulness."

So that's why it doesn't match any location in the map system. It seems you have to wait for the Tower of Forgetfulness to appear and then get the coordinates.

"Is there no one else with such a map?"

Alpha was a bit puzzled about the origin of the [Demon Beacon] map—more like a radar. Since it was made by spatial mages, why didn't anyone think of making another one and then destroying the Tower of Forgetfulness?

At least the followers of the righteous gods would be very enthusiastic about doing this.

"No, in fact, the [Demon Beacon] is the only one. I'm sure you know the story of the Tower of Forgetfulness. It's better to keep them locked in another dimension forever than to fight the most powerful Valkyrie on the Azeroth continent."

"Forever?"

Alpha asked curiously.

"Yes, the planar entrance of the Tower of Forgetfulness is one-way for demons and devils. They can only enter the Tower of Forgetfulness but can't come out from there—this is all I know, and I can only help you this much."

Old Joel shrugged and said bluntly. Then the old mercenary seemed to remember something and cleared his throat:

"Cough, right, you have to remember—"

"What?"

Alpha quickly asked, and Old Joel held up one finger:

"First, there won't be any new [Demon Beacons], this is the last one;

Second, if the demon being tracked by the [Demon Beacon] dies, then the [Demon Beacon] that tracks its life force will be completely useless. In other words, if that demon has already been killed or will be killed by you in the near future, then no one will be able to find the Tower of Forgetfulness again—

—except by chance."

Alpha nodded, fully understanding. A one-time hidden map, once found, it won't appear again unless someone like the couple from the Green Fields travels around. Of course, if the target demon has already been killed by the couple from the Green Fields or someone else who entered the Tower of Forgetfulness,

...then it's just bad luck...

...

...

Another fruitful game day:

The [Deadly Duel] quest, ultimately changed from D to C grade due to Alpha's personal intervention. Although no experience was gained upon completion, this outcome was undoubtedly more meaningful than directly killing Charles or even teaming up with Old Joel to kill King Ranus and getting some experience or loot.

In that case, the fishman treasure under King Ranus's throne might never be found, and Old Joel, who would lose the lucrative Blackwater fishman trade, would never hand over the [Demon Beacon].

Experience, items, information... this trip to the Blackwater Mudflats can be said to have completed all the necessary tasks and also gained significant additional benefits.

From the bald old Li holding his bowl and grinning, almost stuffing the meat on his chopsticks into his nose, it was clear that he was having a great day.

—How could he not be happy, getting two [Divine Power] books.

Becoming the second paladin in the Silvermoon Alliance to master a level 2 Divine Power, the bald old Li had already gained a reputation among the paladins of the Silvermoon Alliance due to the +4 [Ilndir Fragment]. Now, with the valuable level 2 [Divine Power], he could officially join the ranks of the top paladins in the Silvermoon Alliance.

The [Recipe: Forge初级光能箭矢] (Recipe: Forge初级Light Energy Arrows) could be considered a benefit for Qin Yu and Wen Xiaodao.

Both of them were ranged players, one shooting arrows and the other throwing them. A 20% light energy damage was already amazing, and it was only the basic level. There would certainly be more advanced light energy arrows in the future.

As for the two of them being in sync again, the bald old Li still summed it up with "fated relationship, definitely a fated relationship."

This dinner was extended by an hour due to Qin Yu's rich harvest in the game. By the time the three of them were discussing excitedly and starting to yawn, and the bald old Li left Qin Yu's house, taking the remaining braised pork back to his dorm, it was almost 9 PM.

It was a bit late, and playing for another hour wouldn't be much fun. Qin Yu didn't continue playing and didn't let Wen Xiaodao play either.

Actually, Qin Yu didn't mind, but he was worried about Wen Xiaodao's rest.

In the past month, after Qin Yu enforced the [Professional Player No Overtime Treaty], Wen Xiaodao's sleep and eating habits had significantly improved. The nutrition ring, supplied with balanced meals three times a day, had shown significant improvement, and the mandatory walking clause had also improved Wen Xiaodao's complexion, which no longer looked pale from lack of sunlight.

Of course, after Qin Yu forcibly held Wen Xiaodao's hand not long ago, he was now thinking about what else he could do today.

—Sending the bald old Li away early was also part of this plan...

----------------------

"So he's already prepared? Things are developing faster than we expected."

A faint candlelight dimly illuminated the small room. A similarly dim figure gently tapped the armrest of a chair, speaking calmly and calmly, seemingly not at all surprised by the statement "things are developing faster than we expected."

"You don't seem surprised."

An old voice responded from the other end of the room. The speaker's body was almost huddled into a ball, curled up in a recliner. The already dim environment made the body appear even more lifeless, looking like an old man on the verge of death.

"Should I be surprised? This is actually a good thing."

"Of course, but... have you considered that the accelerated process might attract unnecessary attention—those people, you know."

The old man's voice carried a hint of worry, and the calm, composed voice paused its tapping when it heard "those people."

A few seconds later, the tapping resumed:

"Those people... those 'people' only. Don't forget, he will ultimately face the righteous gods, Asmodeus... and even... well, if possible, remind him at the appropriate time."

"Alright."

The old voice nodded, stood up from the recliner, and walked out of the room.

Unlike the old man, this standing figure was tall and robust, standing out clearly even in the dim room, making it hard to imagine how the body could have been so lifeless just a moment ago.

"Your eye patch."

The owner of the previous voice casually threw a black shadow towards the old man, who caught it.

"Thank you."

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