# Chapter 3: Encountering a Boss Upon Departure
Su Xiao was certain that if he fought this demonic old hag, it wouldn't be long before he too would be reduced to bones and ashes. This thing didn't seem to be a living creature, but rather some unknown entity.
Soon, the demonic old hag arrived beside Su Xiao. He took out a half-burned black envelope and tossed it into the wooden basket.
The demonic old hag picked up the black envelope from the basket, stuffed it directly into her mouth, chewed, and after a moment, walked away.
About half an hour later, the train slowly came to a stop. Since there were no windows, Su Xiao couldn't see the situation outside the train, and no one on board spoke.
Steam spewed forth as the doors on both sides of the train opened. Su Xiao looked toward the doors, and what met his eyes was a black grassland.
Passengers on the train disembarked one after another. Su Xiao didn't move. After the train stopped and started four times, he was the only one left on board.
Pfft—the train stopped. As soon as the doors opened, a howling wind came through. Outside was a stretch of Gobi desert.
Stepping out of the train, Su Xiao felt a distortion in space as he passed through the doors. When he turned to look back at the train, the Demon Train had already traveled several hundred meters away.
[The Hunter has arrived at the Shallow Layer of the Black Abyss.]
Su Xiao had arrived at the Black Abyss in a daze. Thinking about it, the Demon Clan had made a fortune from the Black Abyss entrance. They naturally wouldn't let outsiders see the technology and entrance to enter the Black Abyss. They even arranged an extremely terrifying thing on the train to collect tickets. Not to mention Su Xiao, even sixth or seventh-rank contractors who didn't buy tickets would be eaten clean without a trace.
[Due to the Hunter being in the Black Abyss, all attributes will be suppressed by the Black Abyss.]
[True Strength Attribute has been exempted. True Agility Attribute has been exempted... Charm Attribute has been suppressed, reduced by 3 points. Luck Attribute is a special attribute and is not suppressed by the Black Abyss.]
[Promotion Quest has been activated. Checking...]
[Due to executing the Promotion Quest, the Hunter has a chance to obtain treasure chests upon killing enemies (Black Abyss exclusive treasure chests). World Source cannot be obtained within the Black Abyss.]
[The Hunter has chosen to simultaneously break through the 99-point barrier of four True Attributes. Promotion Quest difficulty has significantly increased (raised to 400%).]
[Promotion Quest: Ashes Sprout]
Difficulty Level: Lv.42~46 (Fifth Rank Difficulty)
Quest Briefing: Find the Ashes Sprout and bring it back to Reincarnation Paradise.
Quest Information: The Ashes Sprout is located at the "Penitent's Heights" (specific location requires the Hunter to find it themselves).
Quest Time Limit: 20 Natural Days (Quest difficulty far exceeds the Hunter's rank, an additional 3 natural days have been granted).
Quest Reward: Break through the 99-point barrier of four main attributes.
Quest Penalty: Permanently reduce Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence attributes by 5 points each.
...
Su Xiao had no reaction when he saw the quest difficulty, and he was calm when he saw the quest content. However, when he saw the quest penalty, his expression grew increasingly grim.
It wasn't that the penalty was too harsh, but rather too light. A reduction of 4 attributes by 5 points each—as long as Su Xiao experienced two to three more derivative worlds, he could make up for the deducted attribute points and try to break through the 99-point attribute barrier again. Although each person could only attempt it three times at most, this penalty was still too low.
This seemingly favorable penalty actually indicated one thing: under the 400% difficulty Promotion Quest, Su Xiao would find it hard even to survive, which was why the quest penalty was so low.
The only good news was that killing enemies in the Black Abyss had a chance to yield treasure chests, and they were Black Abyss exclusive treasure chests.
For this trip to the Black Abyss, if Amu and Beini hadn't been directly teleported to the Black Abyss, they likely wouldn't be able to reach it. Bubu Wang didn't need to worry—that fool could always find a way to sneak in.
Compared to reuniting with Bubu Wang, Su Xiao was more curious about where he was.
On the Gobi desert, yellow sand swept across. Su Xiao raised one arm to shield his face as the wind carried fine sand, pattering against his ears.
Su Xiao's supplies consisted of only one bottle of water and three high-calorie compressed food bars. From a survival perspective, water was the top priority, followed by shelter, and finally food.
Su Xiao didn't need shelter. He still had to find the location of the Penitent's Heights. This quest was different from the one in the Crow World—the quest target's location was clear, and he didn't need to search the entire world for clues.
First, find a water source. Second, find an intelligent being to ask about the location of the Penitent's Heights. First, try friendly negotiation. If that didn't work, switch to physical negotiation.
As Su Xiao was thinking, a black shadow flew overhead. He looked up to see a pitch-black creature with fleshy wings on its back... a wyvern?
Su Xiao had indeed never seen a dragon before, but he had a feeling that this thing in the sky, though it looked mighty, was actually not that impressive. Moreover, it should taste good roasted.
"Roar~"
The black dragon's roar traveled far. It circled in the air once, its vertical beast pupils having long noticed Su Xiao. But Su Xiao vaguely gave it a sense of danger, though he was still food.
Seeing the black dragon circling overhead, Su Xiao drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his waist and crouched low. The moment he drew his blade, the black dragon in the sky spread its fleshy wings and dove straight down.
Boom!
The black dragon broke through a wave of air, the sonic boom unusually piercing.
Seeing this, Su Xiao's eyelid twitched. He felt something was off. Based on what he was seeing, this black dragon should be an extremely powerful creature. Yet, he still felt this thing was weak.
Whoosh—the black dragon entered Su Xiao's Instinct range. This time, all the hairs on Su Xiao's body stood on end. The previous inexplicable "illusion" disappeared.
In an instant, the black dragon pounced in front of Su Xiao, its two sharp hind claws reaching for him.
Zzzt—the Dragon-Slashing Flash scraped across the black dragon's foot claws. Sparks flew from the dragon scales, and traces of blood could faintly be seen. The black dragon's defense was extremely abnormal—even the Dragon-Slashing Flash couldn't cut through.
As Su Xiao delivered his slash, the black dragon's massive fleshy wing had already swung down, leaving an afterimage as it appeared beside Su Xiao's face.
With a crisp crack, the 500-point strength Energy Shield shattered like glass, unable to block the black dragon's attack at all. Although this was a wyvern species, it was still a dragon. There were no easy dragons in the Black Abyss, or they would have long been treated as delicious cuisine.
When the fleshy wing struck Su Xiao's neck, he had already disappeared from his original position.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, the black dragon rolled on the ground as if mad, its fleshy wings flapping wildly, its claws digging up dirt flying everywhere.
"Roar!!"
This time, the sound from the black dragon was no longer a hiss but a scream of agony. Traces of blood could be seen in its mouth.
This black dragon, nearly fifteen meters long, thrashed on the ground for ten minutes before finally collapsing limply, blood gushing from its mouth and nose.
The sound of flesh rubbing came. A blood-soaked arm emerged from the black dragon's mouth, grabbing onto a dragon tooth.
Su Xiao grabbed the dragon tooth with one arm and dragged his body out of the black dragon's mouth. Thud—he fell to the ground, the numbness throughout his body growing stronger.
If Su Xiao had fought the black dragon head-on, even with Demon Hunting Hour activated, he might not have been able to defeat this aerial overlord, especially since it could fly. It was worth noting that the black dragon was a very powerful existence in the Shallow Layer of the Black Abyss.
The reason Su Xiao felt the black dragon was weak was entirely due to the Law Destroyer's inheritance. This was a habitual cognition passed down to him by the Law Destroyers, not a memory. After all, in the eyes of some Law Destroyers, this wyvern = weak = dinner = tastes good.
Su Xiao won because, realizing he was no match for the black dragon in a direct fight, he immediately chose to risk everything. At the risk of losing limbs or even his head, he penetrated space and entered the black dragon's stomach sac. Only there was it spacious enough to avoid Su Xiao's body tissues fusing with the black dragon's due to spatial compression.
The result was obvious. Su Xiao's teleportation position was precise, allowing him to enter the black dragon's stomach unharmed. After that, it was simple. Dragon scales were hard, but internal organs couldn't withstand the Dragon-Slashing Flash.
Unfortunately, the black dragon's stomach acid had extremely strong numbing and corrosive properties. The corrosion was manageable—Su Xiao's armor could withstand it for a long time. The numbing effect was the real problem, which was why the black dragon managed to hold on for ten minutes.
Numbness filled his entire body. Su Xiao lay on his back, his mood not great. Encountering such a powerful enemy right after entering the Black Abyss was clearly somewhat unlucky.
[You have killed a Black Abyss Wyvern.]
[You have obtained a Treasure Chest: Epic Rank (5%).]
The Gobi fell into silence. Before long, the roar of an engine broke this silence. A heavily armored truck drove toward Su Xiao's location.
...
Black Abyss, outskirts of "Penitent's Heights," inside a tavern filled with various cheap tobacco smells.
Jingle—the waist-high wooden door was pushed open. A girl in a gray hood with shoulder straps walked into the tavern. Smooth golden strands of hair fell from her temples.
The girl approached the counter. Inside the counter, a toad the size of a bullfrog was flirting with the bartender, who was surprisingly an elf girl. This was truly a case of a toad wanting to eat swan meat.
"The thing you want."
The girl took a pure blue fruit from her bosom and placed it in front of the toad.
"Hmm, not bad. The little cutie from before can now work independently in the Black Abyss. How gratifying."
The toad finished speaking and let out a mocking laugh. The girl ignored the toad. She took a bottle of wine from the counter, pulled out the cork, and drank heartily. She had gone at least nine days without replenishing fluids.
The girl's action of drinking caused her hood to fall back, revealing an incredibly beautiful face. Golden strands of hair scattered.
The tavern gradually quieted down. Most of the patrons here were humans. Other races didn't dare come to this tavern much.
"It's been a long time... since I've seen such clear eyes."
A gaunt man covered in scars stood up. A faint red light flickered in his eyes. Everyone who came to this tavern shared one characteristic: they lived for today without knowing about tomorrow—desperadoes among desperadoes. Moreover, these people's states were somewhat off.
Crack—the wine bottle in the golden-haired girl's hand fell to the ground. She drew a knight's sword from the sword bag on her back. As she lowered her head, she let out an inadvertent sigh.
"Hahaha..."
The toad inside the counter laughed heartily. The current situation was, of course, deliberately arranged by him.