# Chapter 2: High-Risk World
The Holy City was prosperous, with neatly laid square stones on the streets. It might have rained recently, as Su Xiao felt the ground soften beneath his feet when stepping on the stones. One careless step could squirt out a stream of mud, splashing onto innocent passersby.
Carefully observing the square stones on the street, one would notice they were made of excellent material. Their installation must have cost a great deal back then, but they hadn't been repaired in over a decade. The same went for some landmark buildings in the city. The water clock tower standing in the city center had turned somewhat green, clearly leaking from the top, causing moss to grow.
Whether it was the commoners' clothing, the roadside buildings, or the topics of conversation after meals, everything indicated this vast empire was on a decline. Unless the next Black King could emerge.
The Reincarnation Paradise provided quite a bit of intelligence. First, this world was relatively peaceful for now, with no racial wars having broken out. As for civil wars, they wouldn't reach the Holy City anytime soon. Those lords were all wary of one thing — whether the Black King was truly dead or not.
The Black King hadn't died of old age in the Holy City. When he grew frail and elderly, this Black King left the Holy City. Not only did he not bring his guard corps, but he even left behind the old servant who had protected him for decades. Alone, with one war beast, he left the Holy City. Half a month later, news of his death arrived. This suspicious departure process made many suspect the Black King wasn't dead.
Su Xiao could confirm one thing — the Black King was definitely dead. This was the information he received when he first touched the [Black King's Death Sacrifice]. The Black King had already died, which was why this arm guard had become a legendary-grade set item.
Su Xiao followed behind the elderly priest. The two walked from the main street into a side road, passed through several alleys, and arrived before a church.
This church wasn't large, built from a type of gray stone stacked together. At its top was a black metal ring, with a cross inside the ring.
Su Xiao looked at the metal symbol above the church. This thing was as large as a millstone. A type of energy, whose nature he couldn't quite identify, was being drawn into it and channeled into the church, giving people a sense of comfort and relaxation.
This energy was difficult to capture, but Su Xiao could confirm it wasn't the power of a faith-based deity. He had encountered some of those, and their power always carried spiritual imprints.
The energy entering the church was a attribute-leaning type. As for what effect it ultimately achieved, that depended on how it was used. Used for good, it was light and holy. Used for evil, it could become infinitely wicked and bizarre.
Different users' beliefs would grant different abilities.
"You sense that eternal power?"
The elderly priest also looked up at the church's top, his gaze somewhat complex. Unlike most clergy, his eyes didn't hold firm faith but rather a constant supplication for something, a fear of certain things approaching.
"Eternal?"
Su Xiao basically confirmed that this attribute-less energy was the supernatural power of this world.
Based on Su Xiao's observations along the way, even without supernatural power in this world, those humans with powerful physiques could bring this world's combat strength to the fifth rank.
The patrolling soldiers on the street had melee attributes around 70-80 points. Squad leaders reached over 80 points. As for the two soldiers in full body armor who had been guarding the stone platform earlier, one had a true strength attribute as high as 89 points, the other a true agility of 86 points. Not many were needed — once the number of such elite soldiers exceeded 500, Su Xiao would have to avoid their edge. When soldiers with this comprehensive quality charged, they were simply unstoppable.
These soldiers, combined with users of supernatural power, made this world's difficulty reach the top of the fifth rank. If a certain place was added, this could already be considered a sixth-rank difficulty primordial world.
Moreover, this world also had the existence of supernatural power, a type of energy called "Eternal."
"Eternal is both light and dark. The King chose the dark, inheriting..."
The elderly priest's voice grew lower and lower, eventually ending in a sigh. He was worried and afraid of something.
Entering the church, this place was different from any church Su Xiao had seen. There were no rows of seats. Inside were three stone platforms, on which rested a metal book, a crown, and a black sword twisted into a spiral shape.
Click-clack...
The church door gradually closed. Some sunlight filtered through the skylight, making the church appear both peaceful and somewhat dim.
The elderly priest knelt before the crown, his hands crossed and clasped before his chest.
"Lord Kukulin, is this your decision? To return to this Holy City, which is rotting to its very roots."
The elderly priest spoke with his back to Su Xiao. Clearly, the identity arranged for Su Xiao by the Reincarnation Paradise had taken effect.
Based on the information from the main mission and the hunt mission, Su Xiao needed to make contact with the empire's power holders. Needless to say, the violator would definitely be hiding among these people. If Su Xiao had the ability to replace key native characters, he would do the same. In this world, power = strength = access to supernatural power = more benefits.
If that violator was as timid as a mouse, they couldn't have killed six hunters, one arbiter, and one battle angel. The reward of 25 gold honor medals was extremely exaggerated, almost catching up to the benefits Su Xiao gained from executing four to five hunt missions.
"This is my decision. But... what can you do to help me?"
Before entering this church, Su Xiao had sensed there were other people inside.
"I am already old and frail. I can only ensure those things don't leave Dead Silence City. The King paid too much for us. The Senate, the Princess, the Dukes — they have no idea what the price of becoming the King was. The King lived for over three hundred years, which they consider fortunate. The King... his greatest wish was release. Those foolish alien races think the King was a dark tyrant, but they don't know what he shielded them from. Lord Kukulin, do you know... what it means to become the Black King?"
The elderly priest's voice was somewhat choked. He looked at the Black Crown above the stone platform, wanting to touch it but unable to do so.
"Dead Silence City?"
Although Su Xiao was about to participate in the struggle for royal power, he wanted to know what Dead Silence City was even more.
"That is a place where all hope is extinguished. The King rests eternally there. Only by becoming the Black King can one be qualified to enter there. Otherwise, one would be assimilated and infected by the residents there."
The elderly priest only gave a perfunctory answer, not revealing the location of Dead Silence City. But the intelligence he revealed was enough. The way to obtain the Black King's Soul set was likely in Dead Silence City, and the key to entering there was related to becoming the Black King.
Su Xiao had three goals in this world: first, to find and eliminate the violator; second, to complete the main mission; third, to find the Black King's Soul set. This last one was the most important.
If he couldn't kill the violator, at worst he would temporarily serve as an arbiter. That had happened once when Su Xiao failed to complete a hunt mission. Whether the current hidden penalty mechanism had changed was unknown.
As for the main mission, completing it would be best. If not, he would use the main mission failure immunity to tough it out.
The Black King's Soul set was the most important, after all. This thing was too difficult to obtain. Even in a high-reward plot event like the Top Battlefield, the highest reward was one-third of the Black King's Soul set. Once this opportunity was missed, it would be very difficult to obtain the Black King's Soul set in the future, almost impossible. Equipment like this, even if other contractors obtained it, they wouldn't sell it.