Chapter 12: Visitor from the Black Abyss (Fourth Update)
Su Xiao's expression was far from pleasant. Isa had left only one sentence: "Aisaya and I don't know where the Death Ground is, only Mo…"
From this sentence, the only useful piece of information was a single character: "Mo." The difficulty of locating the Death Ground with just one character was unimaginable.
"Mo?" Su Xiao murmured to himself. This was his only known clue. As for what "Mo" referred to, he could only guess.
"Woof." Bubu Wang barked, as if to say, "Master, this dog can only think of Ferris wheels and motorcycles."
Suppressing the urge to smack Bubu Wang with a size 65 slipper, Su Xiao checked the notification from Reincarnation Paradise.
[You have killed Isa.]
[Isa is a Flame Burst Witch. Due to assistance from a native of this world, you have obtained 0.5% Pioneer Source. Total Pioneer Source obtained: 0.8%.]
[Your talent 'Soul Devourer' has activated, permanently increasing Mana Points by 27. Current maximum Mana Points: 6516.]
[You have obtained a Treasure Chest (Legendary).]
[Note: This chest has received an additional bonus. Chest rewards increased by 50%.]
…
Although Isa's kill had been stolen by an unknown enemy, Su Xiao had still received nearly all the rewards. When Isa was killed, she had completely lost her combat capability, so in the kill judgment for Isa, Su Xiao accounted for over 95%.
Seeing the notification from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. It was close to what he had guessed—someone had indeed killed Isa from an ultra-long distance. The motive was obvious: silencing her.
Su Xiao had only encountered two witches, but both knew some information about the Death Ground. This indicated one thing: most witches probably knew something about the Death Ground, but they dared not speak of it. Isa was the consequence.
"Mo."
Su Xiao walked toward the city gate as he pondered. This character "Mo" had a 50% chance of being a place name, a 30% chance of being a person's name, a 10% chance of referring to some object, and the remaining 10% chance was a situation almost equivalent to finding no clue at all.
Undoubtedly, this "Mo" must be related to witches. Thinking this way, Su Xiao needed to find a faction that knew witches very well. The Holy Healing Church organization appeared in his mind.
Witches were so powerful yet had not conquered the world, largely due to the existence of the Holy Healing Church. This organization was founded 900 years ago, initially as a civilian institution, gathering those whose families had been killed by witches or commoners who had been harmed by them.
Initially, everyone thought they were just a rabble. But 30 years after the Holy Healing Church was established, they successfully hunted and killed a witch, albeit through poisoning and ambush.
From then on, the Holy Healing Church attracted the attention of various factions and received some funding. That same year, the Holy Healing Church disbanded due to "internal property" issues, with several core members falling out.
Was that really the case? No. Those 176 members of the Holy Healing Church were biding their time. They had already attracted the attention of the witches. These 176 people went into hiding with large sums of money, along with certain research results.
Among these 176 people were 84 young men. They used extreme methods to kidnap over 100 young and healthy women, semi-forcing them to bear their offspring, as many as possible.
After obtaining their first batch of children, these Holy Healing Church members regrouped. Because they had split large amounts of money during the "dissolution," some of them had become lords of small territories, wealthy merchants, doctors, etc., by the time they reassembled.
After regrouping, they began training that large batch of children. These children only needed to learn one thing: how to hunt witches.
Twenty years later, the first batch of witch hunters left the Black Iron Fortress. Half a month later, eight witches were killed in succession.
A single thought could reach the divine. Two generations had given up family, entertainment, home, and loved ones. Their sole purpose was to hunt witches. From the time they could understand, those youths were instilled with the beliefs passed down from their fathers: to prevent the people from living under the shadow of witches, they had to stand up and resist. This was their mission.
Though the belief was fanatical, these first-generation witch hunters did change this world. Witches no longer dared to capture humans en masse for live experiments. The openly sold human test subjects were forced underground. Witches were no longer the overlords of the continent, nor were they gods. When a god bleeds, no one fears them anymore.
This was the Holy Healing Church, an extreme and persistent organization. To this day, witches turn pale at the mention of "witch hunters." Though they were just relatively strong ordinary people, they used all sorts of strange things to weaken the witches' abilities. When more than five witch hunters gathered, an ordinary witch could only flee.
The so-called "Holy Healing" meant that those who originally founded the Holy Healing Church wanted to heal this world. In the holy name of their ancestors, in the name of humanity.
Su Xiao prepared to head to the Holy Healing Church. There might be information about the character "Mo" there.
Finding the Holy Healing Church was simple: go to Holy Healing City in the center of the continent, where the Church's headquarters was located. The real estate in that city was the most expensive on the continent, bar none. Because living there was very safe. As long as one was willing to work, they could not only eat and drink their fill but even have spare money for occasional entertainment.
Having thought this through, Su Xiao headed straight for the city gate. But as he walked, he passed by a market. It turned out to be a slave market. Even more bizarrely, the slaves here were loudly hawking themselves—the merchandise was them!
Sometimes, becoming a slave didn't completely represent despair. Under the control of various regional lords, the slave trade had gradually become transparent. Six out of ten slaves were vagrants. On the verge of starving to death, they chose to sell themselves to slave owners in exchange for a full meal.
Male slaves purchased through legitimate channels were essentially laborers whose lives could be controlled. Female slaves were for warming beds, attending to the master's daily life, and so on.
Of course, on this chaotic continent, the origins of many slaves were unclear. The three slave estates—Demon Fang, Rico, and Babaer—monopolized about 70% of the continent's slave trade. Most kingdoms were wary of these three factions. Demon Fang was the most ferocious; they even dared to sell witches, which showed how formidable Demon Fang's armed forces were.
Passing through the slave market, Su Xiao headed straight for the city gate. Half an hour later, he left the city. By then, he had acquired a crude map and several dozen books, which he had found in the royal palace. Through these books, he could better understand the Dark Crow Continent.
After traveling continuously for over 40 hours, Su Xiao arrived at the central region of the continent. About 20 kilometers ahead, he would reach the territory under the jurisdiction of the Holy Healing Church.
…
On the eastern side of the Dark Crow Continent, within a primeval forest.
Crack, crack, crack…
A large section of space shattered. A thick arm broke through the space. The skin of this arm was pitch black.
With a bang, a figure was squeezed out of the space. Its lower body was missing, and the muscles at the wound writhed. Two seconds later, this figure stood up. It was about four meters tall, with pitch-black skin all over, a bald head, and pupils that were a deathly white. Just standing there, it gave off a feeling of power and coldness.
"Finally arrived (Black Abyss language)."
This pitch-black humanoid creature stretched its limbs. It had come from the Void, first entering the Black Abyss before having the opportunity to enter this Primordial World. As for its companions, those whose strength exceeded a certain limit simply could not enter this world, which had its coordinates set by Reincarnation Paradise.