Chapter 296 - 195: Qualification for War, Box in the House

Hearing the familiar voice, Faraway also stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Li Miao.

"I see. So you only get the right to obtain the [Broken Core] after defeating either Exile’s Lament or Fission Scream..."

Seeing Li Miao appear here, combined with the game’s prompt, Faraway understood the reason almost instantly.

"You mean..."

Li Miao was taken aback, then he also noticed the information in the notification bar.

[You have obtained the qualification for a special area war]

[This area has not yet opened. Awaiting candidate Candle Spirits...]

[Current Candidate Candle Spirits: 2/10]

The notifications were quite eye-catching, but Li Miao’s attention had just been focused on Faraway, so he hadn’t noticed them in time.

"Isn’t this a solo instance..."

Li Miao still hadn’t wrapped his head around it. Confused, he scanned his surroundings.

They seemed to be in a reef-like area, with the surrounding region shrouded in Gray Mist.

He tried to touch it but met an indescribable resistance. His Candle Spirit body seemed unable to pass through this barrier.

"The Mysterious High Platform instance is closely related to the main story item, the Broken Core."

"The Gray Mist should only disappear after the number of candidate Candle Spirits reaches the requirement."

"When that time comes, what awaits us will likely be an important special battle."

As Faraway explained, he slowly walked to the center and reached out to touch the guidance of the Spirit Candle. A moment later, a Milestone Spirit Candle slowly appeared.

Hearing him say that, Li Miao also understood.

’Alright, so it’s not a hidden map...’

"That’s right."

A deep voice sounded as a tall figure slowly appeared, accompanied by Candlefire.

"The Candlekeeper." Li Miao’s eyes lit up.

Luo Ge nodded slightly at him and gazed at the Gray Mist, his eyes profound. "The conflict between Exile’s Lament and Fission Scream stems from this. A formless hand is orchestrating all of this from behind the scenes."

He had, of course, come to provide guidance.

After all, although he had already used the Power of the Spirit Candle to add some cryptic explanations to the various drops in the Mysterious High Platform, the background story was still somewhat confusing.

That tragic, exiled singer, Xiali Milir, didn’t have the habit of writing in a diary...

Since that was the case, he had no choice but to use this guidance as an opportunity to offer a reminder.

"This..." Li Miao was in a daze. His CPU was clearly running slow.

But Faraway only needed a moment of contemplation to understand the Candlekeeper’s meaning.

In the background information revealed so far about the Mysterious High Platform, there was a clear, irreconcilable conflict between the [Xiali Mir Orchestra] and [Seeker Wudu].

For Wudu to find his sanity, he had to kill all the orchestra members.

And for Xiali Milir to begin the final performance, he had to kill Wudu.

But the crucial point, where the conflict between the two originated, had no clues.

And now, based on the information revealed by the Candlekeeper, someone was pulling the strings from behind, making it all happen.

As for this person behind the scenes, they were also related to the main story item, the [Broken Core]...

After figuring out the key points, Faraway quickly asked the Candlekeeper, "What kind of impact will the outcome of this war have on us?"

’Beyond the Gray Mist, it’s probably not an instance anymore... but a special war, like the one against the Firewood Thieves.’

This would definitely affect Candle Island.

"I cannot be certain."

Luo Ge spoke calmly.

"Treasure is always accompanied by storms."

"Warriors of the Candlefire, prepare your ships. The decision is in your hands."

With that said, his figure vanished.

It seemed the Candlekeeper didn’t intend to interfere too much in this matter.

"I get it! The true culprit who deceived Wudu must be..." Li Miao had a sudden realization and clapped his hands. But when he saw the Candlekeeper suddenly disappear, he asked in surprise, "Huh? Why did the Candlekeeper leave?"

Faraway glanced at him, then silently withdrew his gaze and said nothing.

A moment later, he stood up.

"...Let’s head back first and tell the others this news."

Watching Faraway leave, Li Miao suddenly blushed. ’Was my reaction just now too slow?’

’I can’t believe I didn’t even understand the meaning behind the words of an in-game AI like the Candlekeeper...’

...

For now, the difficulty of the Mysterious High Platform was still like Hawking trying to hurdle for the vast majority of players—an insurmountable obstacle.

Both Exile’s Lament and Fission Scream were absurdly powerful, which meant the players’ margin for error was extremely low. The slightest mistake would wipe out all their progress.

Some players were even so tilted that they went to the forums to start flaming.

However, this was already a regular feature of Spirit Candle, so it wasn’t strange.

What truly captured the players’ attention was the news Faraway and Li Miao brought back.

There were only ten spots for the special area war!

"Damn, only ten spots? What the hell’s the point of playing? I’m only at Embers."

"Yeah, seriously! This game’s design is obviously flawed. Why can’t we players who started later get to play this new stuff? I’ve really had enough."

"Trash game, I’m quitting."

"What are you Embers newbies crying about? I’m a Molten Slag veteran and I don’t even get to play."

"Tch, Molten Slag players get to call themselves veterans now? Sit down. Don’t be rude in front of a Scorching Charcoal!"

Well, it seemed a strict level-based hierarchy was beginning to form in Spirit Candle.

Most players were aware of their own strength and understood that this special war was definitely not for them. After a couple of complaints, they went back to grinding for Wax Oil.

Meanwhile, in the Prison Players’ group, the discussion was also very intense.

Storyteller: "Someone instigated the conflict between the Xiali Mir Orchestra and the Seeker? Hmm... It seems the static and dynamic storylines are connected. What an interesting design, it fits the background setting perfectly."