Chapter 1551 — 1551: Decaf

Within the countless galaxies in the Origin realm, a majority had no official rulers or owners. They usually consisted of multiple powers that were strong, but not technologically advanced enough to exert their control over the entire galaxy. Sometimes mastery of formations and spirit treasures was also sufficient to bridge the gap between the stars across the entire galaxy, but those were rare cases.

That did not mean, however, that such galaxies were devoid of powerful beings. Even most Heavenly Immortal cultivators were unable to traverse the vast distances in space with their body alone in any reasonable frame of time. Something like that would require a Celestial Immortal.

Within one such galaxy, there was a specific star system with a 4 star planet. It was rich in spiritual energy, and abundant in resources. Yet such a planet, which should have been teeming with life, was practically barren, with very few, very specific lifeforms managing to survive.

Cold winds carried thick Yin energy even during the daytime, when the sun shone brightly on the surface of the planet. Desolate ruins dotted across the surface of the planet, revealing hints of a rich and vibrant past.

Now, though, the planet told the same story no matter what part of it was visited: death. Or, to be more accurate, the undead.

Though civilization seemed to have come to an end on this planet, it was not without activity. From small skeletal lizards climbing large rocks, to skeleton soldiers trudging across fields, to necrobirds and undead leviathans, this was a world belonging solely to the undead now.

There was no distinction between races anymore, for whether the bones belonged to a human, a lion or a shark, in death they were all equal members of the undead nation.

The trillions of undead on the planet formed their own unique ecosystem, and so did the ecology. The abundance of undead caused all the energy on the planet to slowly turn into death and yin energy, and so only plants which thrived in such environments grew.

As death energy became abundant, ghosts began to appear, feeding on the necrofires within the undead, while the undead feasted on the ectoplasm of the ghosts. Simultaneously, ghosts also fed on other ghosts and undead also devoured other undead, all of them trying to slowly become stronger.

It was a never ending cycle of devour and be devoured that affected the entire planet, save one single region where neither undead nor ghost dared to enter. It was a simple cabin by the side of a lake, scarcely filled with any items.

A bed, a table, a picture frame, and a few other mundane items occupied the interior, though the most unique thing within that cabin - at least with respect to the rest of the planet - was that the cabin was occupied by the only remnant of the planet's past.

The lich opened his eyes when he heard a sound he had not heard since the planet had been cleansed.

New Quest: The living once again prove themselves a scourge, blaspheming the holy ritual of a death match. Shephard into death those who break the peace at a special event.

Quest limitation: All memories pertaining to the quest will be wiped upon completion of the event.

Quest Reward: Phylactery upgrade.

Quest Remarks: Life is a curse unto existence. Death is the only salvation.

A moment later, the lich disappeared, and with it an army of the strongest undead that cursed that planet.

*****

Within the Origin realm, there weren't a lot of 5 star planets, and each one served a very important role. Some, such as the planet Zuri, were not under direct control of the Henali. Those were usually extreme and unusual cases, for example in the case of Zuri, wherein the planet was actually one of the bodies of Zuri, the four leaf clover.

But generally, such as in the case of Dunya, these planets were all under direct control of the Henali - even if the residents didn't necessarily realize it.

On one such planet, a Henali stood behind the counter of a simple coffee shop, welcoming guests as they came in. The Henali was, of course, not in his natural appearance. As a general rule, the beings within the Origin realm did not respond well to seeing the seemingly bizarre appearance of the Henali, so he took on the appearance of an otter.

This artisan coffee shop was the oldest on the planet, and had quite a reputation for the owner would specially hand brew each coffee that was ordered. It was not a quick process, sometimes even taking up to several hours to brew just a single cup of coffee. Yet the result was so fantastic that it was always worth it.

What no one on the planet knew was that the owner of the coffee shop was actually also the planet's overseer. What no one save the owner, including all the other Henali, knew was that the coffee shop was actually a part of his Cozy Cafe system.

Just as the owner was about to accept a new coffee request, he heard a notification sound.

New Quest: An event is taking place, and it lacks good coffee. Go serve coffee at that event. Also, kill anyone who wants decaf. Okay, don't actually kill them, but give them coffee so hot it burns their tongue. Also, kill anyone who causes a ruckus. For reals this time.

Quest limitation: All memories pertaining to the quest will be wiped upon completion of the event.

Quest Reward: Void Doe milk!

Quest Remarks: This is a large event on a timer, so for goodness sakes, serve more than one cup of coffee during the event. Sheesh!

The owner stared at the notification for a long time, deciding whether he wanted to take part in the event or not. He wasn't a fan of being rushed, and didn't like the idea of mass producing coffee. But then again, he'd never tried Void Doe milk either…

With a sigh, the Henali took off his apron and looked towards his customers.

"Dear guests, I'm afraid there's a situation so the shop will have to temporarily shut down. Please do excuse me."