Chapter 67: Silent and Respectable (Chapter 6)
Su Xiao rushed toward the Armor Spirit. With each step forward, a wisp of green smoke rose beneath his feet, and the durability of the counter shields around him dropped sharply.
The Armor Spirit watched Su Xiao charging at it. It had originally been trying to pry the [Stone of Annihilation] from its armor plate, but for some reason, it stopped. It looked Su Xiao up and down, then, after a moment, ignored the [Stone of Annihilation] entirely and charged straight at him instead.
*Clang.*
The long blade rang out crisply. The counter shields around Su Xiao's upper body dispersed, and a wave of heat washed over him. The tips of his hair began to singe, and his skin stung with a fiery pain. In this environment, even using thirty percent of his full strength was the absolute limit for Su Xiao.
If Su Xiao couldn't unleash his full power, the Armor Spirit's situation was even worse. It could barely stand steadily.
The blade edge slashed toward the Armor Spirit. The Armor Spirit spread its legs apart, splashing low-temperature magma, and twisted its upper body to the side, dodging Su Xiao's strike with its grievously wounded frame.
The Armor Spirit's posture could only be described as bizarre. Its legs were spread wide, its right fist was pulled back to its waist, and its left hand reached for the spine of the Dragon-Slaying Flash.
As a swordsman, how could Su Xiao let an enemy easily grab his blade?
The long blade feinted, slashing toward the Armor Spirit's wrist at an extremely tricky angle.
*Ding.*
Sparks flew. The fused armor plate was sliced off, and the Armor Spirit's left arm flew up uncontrollably. But at that moment, its right fist punched out.
A sonic boom exploded abruptly. The Armor Spirit's punch seemed weak, but it was actually its ultimate ability, "Shockwave Cannon Fist." If hit by this punch, breaking a few bones would be the least of the problems.
Su Xiao immediately felt his hair stand on end. Without hesitation, he used Dragon Shadow Flash to phase through space.
*Boom!*
The Armor Spirit's fist struck empty air. A bottomless hole appeared in the stone wall dozens of meters away, surrounded by a large area of cracks.
The Armor Spirit looked down at its chest. A blade tip came into view, gleaming coldly.
The Armor Spirit raised its right arm behind its back, its fist clenched. With a crisp *ding*, the armor plate embedded with the [Stone of Annihilation] flew off, heading straight for Su Xiao.
Su Xiao reached out and caught the armor plate. It was a bit hot to the touch.
[You have obtained the Stone of Annihilation.]
Su Xiao pulled the Dragon-Slaying Flash out of the Armor Spirit's body. The Armor Spirit turned around, its armor plates flying off one by one, revealing a very young face.
Su Xiao and the Armor Spirit locked eyes. The Armor Spirit had already been severely wounded, and after using its ultimate ability, it clearly couldn't hold on any longer, especially since Su Xiao had pierced its heart.
A wisp of flame surged up on the Armor Spirit's body. It could no longer withstand the surrounding high temperature. In moments, the Armor Spirit was engulfed in flames.
Although the ancient undead race existed in a state between life and death and weren't truly living creatures, they still felt pain.
Enduring the agony of being burned by flames, the Armor Spirit didn't even blink, let alone scream.
The Armor Spirit's calves were the first to be consumed by the flames. It collapsed to the ground with a *thud* and lost all signs of life.
Originally, the Armor Spirit had the chance to throw the Stone of Annihilation toward the entrance to the second floor of the Shia Temple, which was fraught with danger. But it didn't. Instead, it charged toward the stone corridor leading to the Sky-Shaking Hall, because it wanted to know one thing: who had brought it down. It could perish, but it couldn't be burned to ashes without even knowing who its enemy was.
After seeing Su Xiao, the Armor Spirit guessed his goal: the Stone of Annihilation on the back of its hand. Due to its hostility toward the Shadow of Law Destruction, it decided to return to the center of the flame zone and toss the Stone of Annihilation into the entrance to the second floor of the Shia Temple.
But Su Xiao's pursuit made the Armor Spirit change its mind on the spot. This guy was a battle maniac in life. To become stronger, it had donned the spirit armor that made other undead shudder. For the Armor Spirit, the greatest joy in life was fighting powerful enemies.
It had been furious when it was sent to guard the first floor of the Shia Temple, because in its view, it should have died on the battlefield, not here, and then continue guarding this place even after death.
Loyalty in its heart made the Armor Spirit endure. It was the Grand General of the Shia Dynasty, and it had to obey the Shia Emperor's orders no matter what.
But today, the Armor Spirit chose to die in battle here, dying dutifully within the Shia Temple.
Su Xiao didn't know what the Armor Spirit was thinking, but he felt that if he weren't a Shadow of Law Destruction and had met the Armor Spirit during its lifetime, the two of them might have had common ground.
[You have killed the Armor Spirit.]
[You have obtained Ancient Undead Essence x13.]
...
With the [Stone of Annihilation] in hand and his own condition severely deteriorated, Su Xiao wouldn't venture deeper into the Shia Temple. Based on his observations along the way, even a fourth-rank contractor might not be able to fight through the Shia Temple at his current strength. The second floor might be manageable, but the beings on the third floor were likely terrifying. For example, the Shia Emperor at the deepest point was an exceptionally fearsome existence. The Armor Spirit was merely a general under the Emperor.
Su Xiao was holding his breath. Due to the blazing solar flames, there was no oxygen here, and the air was filled with toxic gases.
"Amu, retreat."
Su Xiao quickly walked toward the stone corridor they had come from. The magma on the ground had already begun to cool.
*Boom!*
The ground suddenly shook. Su Xiao turned to look. Amu had somehow entered the depths of the flame zone. Wisps of cold air emanated from its body, and it was holding an ice-blue warhammer.
Su Xiao had seen this warhammer before and had guessed its origin. The Tomb Guardian, Reid, had forged two warhammers. One was the hammer he commonly used, which was fire-attributed. The other was left in the tomb, ice-attributed, used to suppress something.
The moment Amu picked up the warhammer, Su Xiao sensed trouble.
"Retreat!"
Su Xiao shouted, but since he was holding his breath, his voice wasn't loud.
Amu stood frozen in place, an ice-blue alchemical array appearing in its pupils. Normally, if Su Xiao gave an order, Amu would immediately retreat with him.
But now, Amu seemed to have lost consciousness, just standing there holding the ice-blue warhammer.
The Realm Severing Thread on Su Xiao's left arm shot out, wrapping around the warhammer. He yanked his arm, and Amu was pulled down, but it still didn't regain consciousness, only gripping the warhammer tightly.
Su Xiao had no time to check on Amu's condition. He sprinted forward, dragging Amu behind him.
The temple's tremors grew stronger. Su Xiao quickly rushed out of the flame zone and reached the middle section of the stone corridor.
"Huff."
Running at full speed, Su Xiao gasped for a few breaths. While retracting the Realm Severing Thread, he pulled Amu closer.
Amu was still dazed, its eyes completely ice-blue. Su Xiao put away the Realm Severing Thread, grabbed Amu's horn, and dragged it forward. Amu was thick-skinned and tough; being dragged wouldn't cause abrasions, only scuff marks on the ground.
A few seconds later, Su Xiao dragged Amu out of the stone corridor and into the Sky-Shaking Hall.
Bubu Wang in the Sky-Shaking Hall also sensed something was wrong. The tremors around them were intensifying. When it saw Su Xiao rushing over, it immediately ran toward the exit.
Elisa was completely bewildered. Before she could figure out what was happening, she was already thrown over Su Xiao's shoulder.
Su Xiao dragged Amu with his left hand and carried Elisa on his right shoulder, sprinting at full speed toward the entrance of the Shia Temple. Bubu Wang ran just as hard beside him, its tongue hanging out, its expression utterly delighted.
Inside the flame zone, a mass of black smoke surged up from the ground, forming a humanoid shape. The flames around it all extinguished.
Seeming to dislike the environment here, or perhaps detecting Su Xiao and the others' trail, the black smoke figure drifted toward the Sky-Shaking Hall at super-high speed.
*Whoosh.*
A gust of wind swept by. The black smoke reached the Sky-Shaking Hall, paused only for a moment, then vanished. When it reappeared, it was in the area where the longsword wielder had been.
At the stone corridor connecting to this area, a metal door slowly descended. The black smoke rushed toward the metal door.
*Bam!*
The metal door slammed shut, the impact creating a shockwave. The door was protected by some kind of energy, which repelled the black smoke.
Behind the metal door, Su Xiao wiped the cold sweat from his cheek. He had seen that black smoke. That thing gave him only a feeling of eeriness. Based on his senses, he couldn't think of any way to deal with it.
Having reached this position, they were practically out of the Shia Temple's area. Su Xiao wouldn't go back inside. If the enemies on the first floor could still be handled with conventional means, some things on the second and third floors could only be described as bizarre.
The Stone of Annihilation was already in hand. Moreover, Su Xiao had obtained a gold-quality set chest and 16 Ancient Undead Essences. Although he couldn't exchange them for a light-gold-quality set chest, these items were valuable in their own right. They could be converted into World Source, used personally, or sold to others.
Not only that, but Su Xiao had also obtained information about the [Stone of Law]. Getting that item wasn't difficult. Interestingly, he had "seen" the Stone of Law many times before.
After obtaining the Stone of Annihilation, the Stone of Law, and the Stone of Shadow, Su Xiao would head to the ruins of the Shadow of Law Destruction.
Although the legends said the ruins of the Shadow of Law Destruction were fraught with danger, as a Shadow of Law Destruction himself, the likelihood of encountering danger there should be low. The Shadow of Law Destruction wouldn't be foolish enough to set traps for their own kind.
Going to the ruins of the Shadow of Law Destruction and completing the Adventure Team promotion mission were the two things Su Xiao needed to do next. After finishing these two tasks, he would leave this primordial world.
But before that, Su Xiao needed to figure out Amu's current condition. Amu's situation was strange. This honest bull was tightly gripping the warhammer in its hand, occasionally giggling foolishly. Slapping it didn't get any reaction.