northernbook Chapter 193 Preparation
Chapter 193 Preparation
Before leaving, Moya told Jiang Yu to prepare as many sacred lotuses as possible, and to fill a large enough pool with water from the melting snow and ice on the sacred mountain.
The snow and ice of the sacred mountain were manageable, but Jiang Yu already knew how rare the Sacred Lotus was, yet she still tried everything she could for Qingyin's sake.
The head of the Fan family went to the palace and, using some unknown method, persuaded the emperor of the Aurora Empire to bring back all the sacred lotuses from the palace. Now that it is no longer the season for the sacred lotuses to bloom, they can only be found in the royal palace where the sacred lotuses are kept and in the homes of the most powerful and wealthy.
They have exhausted all means to collect all the sacred lotuses within their reach.
After returning to the seabed, Moa transformed back into his original form, rampaging through several sea areas and devouring vast amounts of energy. He rapidly converted everything into energy, including underwater treasures, shipwrecks, and other sea monsters, making his body even more vibrant.
It painstakingly found several artifacts left behind by the gods, and despite the excruciating pain that felt like its body was being torn apart, it devoured and digested them. This process took it almost a week.
He was no different from those artifacts in essence; after all, they were all creations of the gods. Devouring one's own kind would naturally cause intense pain and reactions. Fortunately, he was the most powerful of all the relics; otherwise, it would have been more than just pain—it would have been corrosion.
After doing all this, he transformed back into a human and finally surfaced. When he reappeared at the Fan family's residence, he saw Jiang Yu running towards him, her face filled with ecstatic joy and hope.
Alright, Moya told himself, as long as Jiang Jiang is happy, that's all that matters. Even if her happiness and expectations aren't for him, so what? He just wants Jiang Jiang to be happy forever, and he will fulfill her wish.
"Moya, you're back! How are you? Are you ready? Is there really a way to wake Qingyin up?" Jiang Yu rushed to Moya's side and asked anxiously, "We have collected as many Sacred Lotuses as possible, and as you requested, we filled a large pool indoors with His Majesty's Snow. We heated the room, and now the Snow has melted."
Moya listened patiently to her finish speaking, then took Jiang Yu's hand and placed it on his heart: "There is indeed a way. I also believe that you, Jiang Jiang, have prepared very thoroughly. I have also prepared everything. Now we are just missing the most important condition."
"What is it?" Jiang Yu asked anxiously. Looking at Mo Ya, she suddenly seemed to understand something and stammered, "Is it...me...? The most important condition you mentioned, is it me?"
“That’s right, Jiangjiang.” Moya explained to her, “The altar of the gods has already been activated, and the magic circle will not stop operating.” He pointed to himself, “We can only open a new altar.”
Jiang Yu found it hard to believe. He thought of his altar constitution. Could it be that Moa meant that he himself would act as the altar?
Moa continued, “Not only that, but you also need to convince the magic circle that the renewed sacrifice and transaction are God’s will. Only God can stop the transaction within the sacrificial magic circle. That’s why I asked you to prepare the snowmelt from the sacred mountain and the petals of the sacred lotus.”
“Our Muliu clan was once revered as demigods. If you were to ask what in this world possesses the strongest divine aura, it would probably be me. Because I am the last survivor of our clan. But that's not enough. We need other things to enhance it, to piece together and pile up a divine aura that can at least briefly confuse the magic array, making the array believe that a god has truly descended and issued a decree, and then change the rules to exchange Fan Qingyin's life from the altar.”
Moya explained the operating principle in detail, and then said, "Of course, you can't use your life to go back and sacrifice it. You have to prepare something else, some weights that are enough to exchange for a life."
This is also what Moya worries about most. Humans possess a lot, but this race is inherently stingy, and it is far more difficult to take anything from them than to give them anything in return. His Jiangjiang is also human, and although he loves her, he understands that he cannot force her to break free from the shackles of racial inferiority.
"What price can I pay, something equivalent to Qingyin's life?" Jiang Yu replied without hesitation, "Anything I have is fine, and more is also acceptable if needed. Just tell me what I need to give in return."
"In exchange for your lover's life, wouldn't the most suitable one be another lover's life?" Moya's whisper was like a devil's guidance. "If you love me enough, you can also exchange my life for yours."
“That won’t do.” Jiang Yu refused decisively. “Besides exchanging my life for yours, can you give me my wealth, my ownership of my territory, my noble title, and so on?”
"How about exchanging some worthless civilians?" Moya asked tentatively, thinking of how Triton used to sacrifice human lives without batting an eye, ranging from dozens or hundreds to tens of thousands.
"Stop joking, Moya." Jiang Yu pushed Moya away, her eyes filled with urgency and determination: "I said, we can't trade lives for lives. We are not gods, we have no right to decide other people's life and death. Qingyin is my lover, and others also have their own families and lovers. This is not an equal exchange."
“I’m willing to risk my life for it, because I can make my own decisions.” Hearing Jiang Yu’s unwavering resolve, Moya said no more and earnestly answered Jiang Yu’s question:
"Power and wealth are inanimate objects. It's not impossible for you to use them to exchange for Fan Qingyin's life, but everything depends on the calculation and rules of the magic array. The value of Fan Qingyin's life is not up to either of us."
"We can only give it a try." Moya wasn't sure either, but he knew that this was all Jiang Yu could do.
"Wait a minute." A thought suddenly flashed through Jiang Yu's mind. She gripped Mo Ya's sleeve tightly, and a bright light suddenly shone in her eyes. "What if it's the power to travel between two worlds or different times?"
“Moya, whether you believe it or not, I was once a soul from another world. I’m not sure if I can go back, but if I’m willing to sacrifice this chance to return home, will the rules of the magic circle agree?”
Moya was stunned, unsure how to answer her for a moment. If it was the power connecting the two worlds...
"I'm willing to sacrifice every possibility of returning to my original world, just to bring Qingyin back." Jiang Yu had been struggling with the thought of whether she would one day return to her original world. The possibility wasn't nonexistent, but if she made up her mind, she wasn't sure if such power could be considered a price to pay. After all, it sounded too abstract and fantastical, and the possibility itself wasn't even certain...
This phenomenon is not really abstract for Moa, after all, the world is composed of multi-dimensional spacetime. When God realized that he was weakening, he abandoned this world without hesitation and went to a higher-dimensional world.
So Jiang Jiang was also a visitor from another world. Moya breathed a sigh of relief, now more certain, "Although it seems like a vague opportunity, it's easier to gain the approval of the magic array than those inanimate objects."
"There's no time to lose. Divine power is at its peak before noon. Let's begin tomorrow morning."