Dawn’s Resolve

This was destined to be a restless week.

On the very first day, Chen Miemie and Cassan were far from the only ones to encounter battles. In other areas of Sixiang City, eight or nine skirmishes of varying scales broke out.

Not every battle ended in victory for the people of Sixiang City. A total of six high-tier Mystics from other societies and the municipal government were killed.

The second day was even more brutal than the first. Roughly ten battles occurred during the day alone, resulting in over a dozen casualties on both sides.

Municipal Hall Office Building.

Commander Sun walked into a small conference room.

The other two titans of the Council of Three were also inside.

[Dean] Old Man Deng and President An of the Society Alliance both wore serious expressions.

"Has the news been released?" Commander Sun asked.

President An nodded slightly: "According to the plan, I pretended to let it slip that the Four Symbols Seal could be repaired ahead of schedule on the fifth day of this week."

"What is the actual progress now?"

A smile appeared on Commander Sun's face: "The progress is very fast. In fact, the repairs will be completed by the end of tomorrow."

Completing the repairs on the fifth day of the week, which meant finishing one day early, was merely a piece of fake news released by the three of them.

In reality, after rushing the work at all costs, it could be finished on the third day of the week, a full three days ahead of schedule.

If the alien forces obtained and believed the fake news through their respective spies, thereby setting the time for their general offensive on the fourth or fifth day, the repairs would already be completed before they could even launch their attack.

Old Man Deng stroked his white beard: "We still need to be prepared. Not everyone will fall for it. The number of battles yesterday already shows that they won't wait until the last day or two to make their move."

"That goes without saying."

After dusk, the eternal moon hung high in the sky.

South District, Dawn's home.

"Dawn, you're crazy! Alien creatures could appear outside at any moment, and you want to go out now? You can't even see the road, and you won't let me follow you!" Cassan almost jumped up.

"I am not alone."

"Who else is there?"

"Stop asking."

"What on earth have you been doing these past few days?"

"On the path of the Mystic, there are always some roads one must walk alone."

"Then when will you be back?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know, yet you're going to take such a risk?"

"Cassan, I can't spend my whole life unable to even leave the house, always needing your care. Even if you are willing, I am not. In this world, if you want to gain something, you must take risks. This is my only chance. Others couldn't find a way even if they wanted to take the risk."

Hearing this, Cassan knew she could not stop the determined Dawn.

"Then let me help you downstairs."

"No need, don't follow me. By the way, I still have some time left here; I'll transfer it to you first." Dawn already had one foot out the door.

"No! I don't want it!! Dawn, you must come back."

Dawn went downstairs, stumbling and groping her way to the agreed-upon spot near the building.

A sedan chair was already waiting there.

Dawn had been traveling by sedan chair recently, so she was already very familiar with it.

After sitting inside the sedan chair.

"Where are we going?" Dawn asked.

The sedan chair did not speak.

"Don't worry, Cassan didn't follow. I confirmed it with the wind."

"[Monument of Coincidence], He is waiting for you there." The sedan chair finally replied.

"Let's go."

The [Monument of Coincidence] was a square stone stele located to the west outside Sixiang City. The stele was very tall and large, severely weathered, and bore no text or patterns. Most people did not know what it was meant to commemorate, and some even guessed that it was merely a natural stone formed by chance.

Half an hour later.

The sedan chair arrived at the [Monument of Coincidence].

Dawn stepped out from inside.

Someone was already waiting for her.

The speaker's voice carried a faint, inexplicable static, somewhat like unknown murmurs.

"You're here. Follow me."

Dawn could not see, but the wind she released told her that there was no one around.

She could not detect the other party.

She followed the sound.

If the other party harbored malicious intentions, she would inevitably die here. However, since she had already come, she chose to trust them.

The two walked one after the other in silence for about a thousand meters.

Dawn gradually felt a fierce wind coming from ahead. It was not her wind, but a wind she found faintly familiar.

The two stopped in their tracks almost simultaneously.

"I remember there being no hurricane of this magnitude around the [Monument of Coincidence]," Dawn spoke up.

"Up ahead is that red goat. You, go and kill it with your own hands."

"I can't do that. Even before I went blind, I was no match for it."

"Now you can. It cannot move."

In the area ahead that Dawn could not see, about 100 meters away.

Yellow moonlight intertwined into chains, firmly locking the four limbs and neck of the red goat.

The goat had obviously been struggling for a long time. It manipulated the violent wind, trying to destroy the chains on its body, but was now gradually becoming exhausted.

Dawn quickly sensed the goat's location.

She released a massive number of wind blades toward the goat's position.

Such an attack would be useless if the goat were not bound. Not only would it miss, but the goat would also seize control of the wind-shaped blades.

But now, even the goat's power to control the wind was suppressed by the moonlight chains, and Dawn's wind blades slashed deep, bone-revealing wounds into it.

The battle was not exciting at all.

The immobilized goat was killed by Dawn without any surprises.

"Alright, it's dead."

Only then did Dawn stop.

"Hold out your hand."

Dawn held out her hand.

"These are the materials dropped by the goat. After eating them, immediately begin your breakthrough. Keep your faith in mind."

Two round, sticky, and slightly warm objects appeared in Dawn's hands.

She could not see that these were the two eyeballs from the red goat's stomach.

The red goat was not actually eyeless; it was just that in its pursuit of ultimate control over the wind and air currents, it had eaten its own eyeballs.

Dawn swallowed the two eyeballs.

A miraculous thing happened. After eating them, her blind status immediately vanished, and she regained her sight.

Dawn grew a new pair of eyes, with yellow sclerae and horizontal pupils.

They were the eyes of a goat.

The first thing she did was look around, searching for the mysterious person who had been talking to her.

There was no one around.

Only the mutilated corpse of the red goat lay on the ground.

"Since I've reached this step, I might as well continue."

Dawn took out the ritual materials she had prepared in advance and began to set them up.

Twenty minutes later.

Near the [Monument of Coincidence], a massive tornado generated out of thin air, connecting heaven and earth.

The tornado was violent and ferocious, seemingly ready to destroy everything.

On the walls of Sixiang City, the guards who saw the tornado from afar were initially terrified. Later, when they realized the tornado stayed in place with no signs of moving, they collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

Dawn floated in the relatively calm eye of the tornado.

Her clothes flapped wildly in the fierce wind, and her hair danced frantically behind her.

To advance to [Mystery] Rank 6, one had to pass three trials.

The first trial, bizarre materials.

The red goat's materials were undoubtedly of the highest quality for Dawn, possessing an extremely high degree of compatibility. Trial passed.

The second trial, the ritual.

Dawn herself was a person of extraordinary talent. After replacing her eyes with the goat's, not only did she regain her sight, but her control over the wind also reached a higher level. Trial passed.

The third trial, [Blessing].

No matter how high her wind affinity was, Dawn was still flesh and blood. Mutation began to take hold. The eye of the tornado was not eternally calm, and the vortex of wind started to contort Dawn's body, twisting it like a rope.

Without the [Blessing], Dawn would be warped by the wind into an unknown, grotesque creature.

The twisting began at the soles of her feet and gradually moved upward.

Dawn's legs were twisted into braided ropes, and her body was mangled into a bloody pulp.

She could not wait any longer.

Dawn cried out to the moon in the sky, "I, Dawn, shall believe in the Eternal Moon for all eternity from this moment forth. I beg for the Eternal Moon's mercy!"

Her voice rang out.

One second passed; her body was completely reduced to a fleshy pulp.

Two seconds; her neck was shredded into fragments.

The third second.

The light of the Eternal Moon descended.

The yellow moonlight, almost tangible, ignored the raging tornado and shone into Dawn's despairing eyes.

A vast and ethereal whisper reached Dawn's ears.

"I am the Eternal Moon, and I bestow my blessing upon you."