Chapter 28: Special Authority
Below the Soul Altar, within the underground city of the Ancestor Faction.
That's right, the location where Su Xiao found himself was practically an underground city. Judging from the sculptures, architecture, and other sights along the way, this place had once been glorious. The Ancestor Faction had almost achieved a symbiotic relationship with the soul vines entwined here, only abandoning this underground city due to a dwindling population.
Two minutes after Sha was teleported away, Su Xiao, carrying Lilith on his shoulder while walking through the underground passage, paused. He received a notification from Reincarnation Paradise.
[Notification: The Hunter has guided 'Guide·Sha' to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[You have received 30,000 Paradise Coins.]
[Your additional authority has been increased by Lv.2.]
[You have obtained Sha's Medal.]
[Sha's Medal]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Quality: White
Category: Special Equipment
Durability: None
Equipment Effect: Allows free learning of related abilities from Guide·Sha.
Tip: This authority can be used once every 15 natural days.
Rating: 10
Description: Surnamed Su, you just wait for me (This is a message from the Guide).
Selling Price: Cannot be sold.
...
[Notification: The Hunter has guided 'Forger' and 'Guide' to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Based on the Hunter's merits, a special authority has been unlocked.]
[Special Authority: Directed Teleportation.]
[The Hunter can consume Space-Time Power under special circumstances to activate Directed Teleportation, using any means such as inducement, temptation, seduction, enticement, persuasion, threat, coaxing, etc., to bring powerful beings from War Worlds, Primordial Worlds, and the Void into the teleportation array.]
[If the guidance is successfully completed, Reincarnation Paradise will reward the Hunter based on the strength and abilities of the guided individual.]
[Currently Guided: Forger·Lide, Guide·Sha.]
...
After reading the notifications from Reincarnation Paradise, the corner of Su Xiao's eye twitched involuntarily. There was no doubt that his previous actions had benefited Reincarnation Paradise. It made sense; cultivating a high-rank contractor was very difficult. Both Lide and Sha possessed not only the strength of high-rank contractors but also expertise in other fields.
For powerful beings from Primordial Worlds or the Void like these, Reincarnation Paradise clearly welcomed them with open arms. It even granted Su Xiao a special privilege: when guiding (or rather, convincing) other powerful beings, he could use a certain amount of Space-Time Power to activate a fixed-point teleportation directly to Reincarnation Paradise. This was much more stable than the teleportation methods used by Lide or Sha.
Helping Reincarnation Paradise recruit powerful beings might not seem like a huge reward on the surface, but that wasn't the case. The authority rewards given by Reincarnation Paradise were the truly valuable things.
Currently, Su Xiao's Reincarnation Mark was Lv.40, but his actual authority was Lv.50, equivalent to around the sixth rank. This allowed him to know many things in advance, such as the trials faced when breaking through the 99-point attribute barrier, or the prerequisites for advancing to the fifth rank.
Just as Su Xiao was pondering authority-related matters, a rumble came from below. Without needing to think, he knew it was the Demon Race and the Feather Race already locked in battle. The Soul Fruit would likely ripen within a few hours at most.
Compared to the Soul Fruit, Su Xiao was more interested in obtaining the Ashes Sprout. Unfortunately, this item was hidden by Saint Zacharias somewhere within the underground city. Bubu Wang only knew the general area where it was concealed.
After wandering around the underground city for a while, Su Xiao arrived before a stone door. After observing it for a moment, he thrust Saint Zacharias's right arm into the hole at the center of the door. According to Bubu's observation, this was how the door opened.
However, nothing happened. Su Xiao tried twisting Saint Zacharias's arm, but still, there was no reaction. He simply tossed Saint Zacharias's corpse aside.
Although this stone door looked ancient, it likely had some form of biological recognition function. Even a thousand years ago, the technological level of the Void was actually quite high. Or rather, the technological level of some races in the Void had reached a bottleneck long ago, with no significant breakthroughs in recent years.
Since the civilized approach didn't work, Su Xiao decided to force his way through.
Ten minutes later.
Boom!
Stone fragments and dust flew everywhere as Su Xiao entered through a pitted, uneven hole in the stone door, which he had hacked out one slash at a time. This damn door was surprisingly tough.
The moment he stepped through the stone door, Su Xiao felt a wave of chill. This was a nearly sealed room. Blue flames flickered in wall sconces, giving the room a somewhat eerie, cold atmosphere.
At the center of the room, a mass of black ashes floated in mid-air, occasionally forming various shapes.
Seeming to sense Su Xiao's approach, the mass of ashes coalesced into a face, identical in appearance to Saint Zacharias.
"Human, if you want me to submit to you, you must answer a few of my questions."
The head formed by the Ashes Sprout spoke.
"..."
Su Xiao completely ignored this ash head. As long as he could find the Ashes Sprout, his promotion mission would be essentially complete. However, given Saint Zacharias's strength, this mission might have already exceeded 400% of its intended difficulty.
During their clash, Su Xiao had only exchanged a single blow with Saint Zacharias before nearly being instantly killed. After the battle, Sha was severely injured, her health below 20%. Lilith had been unconscious since then and still hadn't woken up. If Su Xiao hadn't given her emergency treatment, she might have already died.
It had to be said that the Demon Race's regenerative abilities were astonishing. Lilith, who had seemed on the verge of death earlier, was now breathing evenly, and the wound on her neck had healed.
Setting down Lilith, who was still on his shoulder, a metal tube nearly a meter long and twenty centimeters thick appeared in Su Xiao's hand. This was the only item he could retrieve from his storage space, even though it was currently sealed.
Crack, crack, crack...
First, cracks appeared on the metal tube, then a surge of electric current emerged from the gaps, enveloping the Ashes Sprout at an imperceptible speed.
"Hu, human, I..."
With a sizzling sound, the electric light coiled around the Ashes Sprout and retracted into the metal tube. The tube fell to the ground. Su Xiao hooked it with his foot, flipping it up and catching it in his hand.
"Only Saint Zacharias would believe your nonsense."
Su Xiao tossed the metal tube in his hand. Just as he was about to hoist Lilith back onto his shoulder, she grabbed his arm and used him as support to stand up.
"I... can walk on my own."
Lilith was still somewhat weak, but she didn't want to be carried by Su Xiao anymore. It wasn't about being shy; being carried like that was an uncomfortable position. It pressed on her abdomen, making her feel very suffocated.
[Notification: The Hunter has obtained the Ashes Sprout.]
[All conditions for the Promotion Mission have been met. Yes/No to complete immediately.]
...
Su Xiao selected No. The Ancestor's underground city was currently very lively, with the Demon Race and Feather Race locked in a bloody conflict. Bubu Wang was lurking near the Soul Fruit. It would be a shame to give up this opportunity directly.
[The Hunter has temporarily postponed the Promotion Mission. It will be forcibly completed in 24 hours. Upon forced completion, the Hunter will return to Reincarnation Paradise within 30 seconds.]
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao stepped out of the room. He had 24 hours left. If he didn't do something with that time, it would be a waste of his trip to the Black Abyss.
Snatching the Soul Fruit would be quite difficult. After all, both the Demon Race and the Feather Race had sent out a powerful being. Trying to take the Soul Fruit from those two guys was something even Bubu Wang couldn't manage.
But would Su Xiao simply give up on the Soul Fruit? Of course not. He wouldn't try to snatch it directly. That wasn't what a "civilized person" should do. Let the Demon Race and Feather Race fight over it. When one side won, Su Xiao would use something to trade with them for the Soul Fruit. The success rate was at least over 70%.