Chapter 543 – The Mockery of the Filthy Bird

Punk wasn’t the least bit surprised by the Foul Bird’s “letting bygones be bygones.” The restrictions placed upon the only two remaining God-Throne level powers in the multiverse—the Foul Bird and the Eye of Judgment—were absolutely beyond ordinary imagination. Theoretically, as long as one didn’t trigger the laws guarded by these two great powers, neither the Eye of Judgment nor the Foul Bird could exert even the slightest influence upon the entire multiverse. Therefore, Punk paid no mind to the threats of this caged vicious tiger.

However, the words that followed from the Foul Bird made even Punk frown slightly:

“A small piece of information? May I ask, Your Excellency Foul Bird, why must you always gift this insignificant ant like myself with some additional intelligence? I presume this ‘gift’ doesn’t fall within the contractual scope of the ‘Foul Divination’ spell…………”

Punk’s questioning was not without reason. As the saying goes, “unexpected kindness often hides ill intent.” The Foul Bird hardly resembled the benevolent figure it portrayed itself to be. Offering free information once or twice might be attributed to the capricious “nature” of chaotic alignment, but if every encounter included some “advance intelligence” as a bonus, it inevitably aroused suspicion in Punk, who always assumed the worst of others.

Yet the Foul Bird seemed unwilling to provide Punk with an answer. It once again erupted into sudden, hysterical screams, and this time, the monstrous bird’s tone carried a hint of… frantic exasperation:

“Shut up shut up shut up! Ignorant, pathetic, laughable ant! How dare you ask so many questions? When the great Foul Bird bestows gifts upon you, you should accept them obediently! If you don’t want to listen, then block it out with your mental barriers! I’ll say whatever I want to say—do you think even this much freedom has been stripped from me, the great Lord of Chaos?”

The Foul Bird’s emotions erupted into fury once more, and being purely chaotic, it made no attempt to control its rapidly shifting emotional outbursts. Before Punk could say anything more, the Foul Bird’s eerie and shrill consciousness projection loudly roared out its intelligence:

“The great Lord of Chaos knows exactly what you three ants are trying to accomplish. You wish to find the Crimson Sand God’s Third Godchild? Ahahahaha! You’d never guess—she’s much closer to your location than you could possibly imagine. Now head back in the direction you entered this swamp at your fastest speed. In just one afternoon, you’ll lay eyes upon that half-human, half-orc ‘Third Godchild.’ And I’ll tell you something else—the one currently accompanying that Godchild is named Audreylinda. Hehehehe, what do you think? Doesn’t it feel so coincidental? Don’t you feel manipulated? Pitiful ants! You mock gods and even ‘us’ as being ‘Its’ puppets, but… what about your own circumstances gives you any right to pride? Kekekekekeke!”The final torrent of words from the Foul Bird was delivered at an astonishing speed, with hundreds of common tongue vocabulary spoken within a single second. The machine-gun-like barrage of syllables was so rapid that even a Formal-Level powerhouse would struggle to discern them clearly. Even with Punk’s reaction speed, he couldn’t immediately process the meaning.

After uttering all these words, the Foul Bird—having fulfilled the conditions for “Foul Divination”—vanished without any lingering attachment. Gone was its usual dawdling, its chaotic temptations, and its nonsensical ramblings. Its departure was as abrupt as its arrival, leaving behind only Punk and Kane standing in contemplation, while Smile and Vector remained clueless, having understood nothing.

“What exactly did that creature say? Does the so-called ‘it’ refer to the River of Fate? And what does ‘we’ mean? Moreover, its almost explicit mention of ‘completely abnormal excessive coincidences’—is it telling me that the ‘River of Fate God Competition’ mechanism truly exists?”

After pondering for a long while, Punk still found it difficult to draw any conclusions from the Foul Bird’s brief statements. After all, the current intelligence was too scarce, and the Foul Bird’s words couldn’t be fully trusted.

However… one thing Punk and Kane simultaneously confirmed.

“Hey, Kane!”

Slinging the Staff of Lament and Hatred over his back, Punk asked with a grim expression:

“If I recall correctly… back in Red Roy City, that meddlesome fool of a Female Knight reported her name as ‘Audreylinda,’ didn’t she?”

“Indeed, absolutely correct~ Hehehehe, this is truly fascinating. It seems the legendary ‘God Competition’ mechanism does exist. Otherwise, there’s no way to explain so many ‘coincidences.’ Though it’s often said life is more dramatic than knightly tales, this level of drama is just too~ exaggerated.”

Covering his face as he laughed uproariously, Kane resembled a sinister villain, his laughter sending chills down one’s spine. This knight, who was “mad when madness was called for, cautious when caution was needed,” now radiated an aura both wicked and unrestrained, ferocious and bloodthirsty. Even Punk couldn’t discern what thoughts had crossed Kane’s mind in those few seconds. Only the “frantic excitement” emanating from him, utterly devoid of fear, caused Smile to frown and step away from him.

After the Foul Bird’s confirmation, it was clear that the existence of the “God Competition” mechanism was beyond doubt.

Punk’s Divination Spell had detected a Master-Level magical creature, which coincidentally happened to be the very one near the Third Godchild’s village. The meddlesome Female Knight inexplicably entered the swamp, then just as inexplicably snatched away the Godchild one step ahead… No matter how one looked at it, such coincidences were far too abnormal. If some unimaginable entity hadn’t exerted influence over the Divination Spell’s search and Audreylinda’s decision-making basis, Punk would never believe it.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Punk took a deep breath, his brow furrowed tightly.The River of Fate! Even Legendary powerhouses would turn pale at the mere mention of this terrifying existence. Punk had originally hoped to avoid any involvement with it before advancing to the Legendary level!

However… as the saying goes, “He who walks by the river will eventually get his shoes wet.” Repeatedly coming into contact with Legendary-tier artifacts and events could not be entirely risk-free. In this adventure aimed at obtaining a deity’s legacy, the mysterious entity known as the “River of Fate” had ultimately been provoked.

“But even so, the path to Legendary cannot be obstructed!”

Muttering to himself softly, Punk quickly regained his usual composure. Dwelling on troubles that had already surfaced was meaningless; the most important thing was to focus on what he could do. No matter what enemies stood in his way, there was only one thing for Punk to do now—face the challenges head-on until he reached the pinnacle of Legendary, a height gazed upon by all living beings!

(End of Chapter)