Online Game: Crazy Skeleton-Chapter 1523 - 134: Returning to the Cloud Summit Thunder Pond (Two in One)

"Then... can you first tell me what the reward is? That way, I’ll be motivated to do the task, don’t you think?"

"Young man, your mercenary attitude is truly detestable!"

"I can’t help it, it’s what life has driven me to. If you don’t tell me, then I won’t accept the task. I believe with my efforts, I will definitely find the Cloud Summit Thunder Pond!"

Su Ran was unyielding. He was the type to never release the eagle before seeing the hare—without a clear explanation of the reward, there would be no deal!

"Fine, fine!"

Amu God King, exasperated yet amused, had never met someone as difficult as Su Ran. However, for the sake of the Chasing Sun Divine Sword, he had to indulge Su Ran’s wishes. He took a deep breath to suppress his irritation and then said, "Young man, the reward for this task is a special decorative mask, along with a handsome sum of experience and gold coins. I should kindly remind you, contentment is the greatest wealth!"

"Elder, listen to how you’re talking about me. Do I look like someone who is insatiable?"

Upon hearing about the special mask reward, Su Ran immediately perked up, promising the NPC, "Rest assured, I’ll accept this task and devote myself to completing it with all my heart!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Su Ran received a system notification.

"Ding! Congratulations to player Skull for obtaining a special task: discover the cause of the disappearance of the Thunder Pond. Effective duration of the task is 12 hours. Task completion rewards: a special decorative mask, 10,000 experience points, and 300 gold coins; task failure penalty: level -5, all attributes reduced by 5% for one month, and Amu God King’s favorability reset to zero."

"Dang, that’s a heavy penalty!"

Su Ran inwardly cursed. Looking at Amu God King, his gaze shifted.

The task only allowed half a day; failure entailed severe punishment. It seemed this guy had already set a trap, waiting for him to jump right in—and he did indeed fall for it, much to the NPC’s satisfaction.

Sneaky, truly sneaky!

Damn it!

But on second thought, Su Ran wasn’t troubled at all by Amu God King’s underhanded task. If he wanted to, he could complete the task right now; it was simply to avoid suspicion that he had to go through the motions.

"Damn damn damn, such severe punishment for just a 12-hour period. It would be quicker and less painful to just kill me!"

Su Ran habitually started to play the victim, deadening the nerves of Amu God King, at the very least to avoid suspicion falling on himself, "Elder, can I withdraw from this task? The penalty is too harsh; I truly can’t bear it..."

"You can cancel the task, but you must still bear the penalty. Are you sure you want to give up?"

Amu God King looked emotionlessly at Su Ran, his favorability steadily declining. The goodwill he had previously accumulated from repairing the divine statues was almost reset to zero.

"Forget it, what’s done is done. I’ll fight for these twelve hours. If I really can’t complete it, I’ll have to accept the punishment..."

Su Ran sighed. He had hoped to use this opportunity to squeeze more benefits from Amu God King, who was not easily duped. But it wasn’t bad either—getting a special mask for nothing was like good fortune knocking, and it couldn’t be stopped!

There was no point in continuing the conversation. Yet, before he could turn to leave, Amu God King stopped him.

"What’s the rush! You don’t even know where the task location is. Don’t waste time on the road; I’ll take you there!"

Amu God King flew ahead, not looking back as he said, "I remember you can fly. Keep up and don’t lose me—I won’t wait for you!"

Hey, what a nice guy! This NPC is quite enlightened, volunteering to lead players to the task location. It would be even better if he offered a plane ride, sitting in first class—that would be even more comfortable.

Though Amu God King spoke sternly, he didn’t fly very fast, which showed he was more anxious about this task than Su Ran was, hoping to find the lost Divine Sword sooner.

"Elder, do you know where I can obtain a Thunder Heart Stone?"

Su Ran decided to probe Amu God King first. As a native of the God Race, he should know about items like the Thunder Heart Stone. If it were possible to purchase this item, it would save a lot of trouble.

"Thunder Heart Stone?"

Amu God King stopped mid-air, looking at Su Ran with surprise and uncertainty, "How did you come to know of it?"

"What? Is this name... taboo too?"

Su Ran was utterly shocked. He never expected that even mentioning this item would provoke such a strong reaction from Amu God King; had he known, he would have never asked.

"The name itself isn’t an issue. Do you know that the Cloud Summit Thunder Pond is a forbidden area of the Celestial Realm?"

Amu God King countered with a somewhat unusual expression.

"What? A forbidden area? Doesn’t that mean it’s even more dangerous? Besides, as a non-member of the God Race, it wouldn’t be proper for me to enter your domain. What if it incurs the wrath of the divine ancestors? I can’t bear such consequences!"

Su Ran feigned a wary demeanor, perfectly exuding his inner fear.

Wearing a mask has its advantages—imbalance in expression doesn’t matter as long as your body language and tone don’t go too far, then the NPC will have no clue that you’re faking it.

"Young man, you needn’t worry. Although the Cloud Summit Thunder Pond is indeed a forbidden area of the Celestial Realm, I’m not afraid of ridicule. Given the current plight of the God Race, we can’t even protect ourselves, let alone a forbidden area. How ironic..."

Amu God King laughed self-deprecatingly, then continued to explain, "The Cloud Summit Thunder Pond is dubbed a forbidden area because it contains treasures like the Thunder Heart Stone. However, the Thunder Heart Stone hasn’t been seen in hundreds of thousands of years and has long been out of the God Race’s sight. I didn’t expect it to be brought up today by a foreigner like you; it’s quite surprising indeed."