Chapter 46: Spoils of War
The blood vessels on Gulaba's upper body bulged as he tore off the bearskin from his back, his thick braids hanging down to his waist.
Boom!
Gravel flew in all directions as Gulaba vanished from the sight of all the contractors. He appeared to be a strength-type, yet his speed was astonishingly fast.
Clang.
Sparks flew. Gulaba came to a halt and stumbled back a few steps as a bloody gash gradually appeared across his chest.
Blood dripped from the tip of Dragon-Slaying Flash. The ground behind Su Xiao, extending several hundred meters, was covered in cracks.
Seeing this, most contractors felt helpless. They had no idea what had just happened.
A boom rang out, followed by a pale blue blade aura that flashed past. Gulaba was forced back, leaving many third-rank contractors feeling stifled. They lacked the strength to even watch the battle clearly.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Gulaba covered his mouth and nose with one hand, letting out a series of dry coughs as blood seeped through his fingers.
Su Xiao continued to walk forward slowly. In recent days, he had begun to doubt whether his swordsmanship was somewhat lacking. When facing the old holy cultivator, he had barely any room to counterattack and had been constantly on the defensive.
But after this initial exchange with Gulaba, Su Xiao found his previous feeling again.
In his view, Gulaba's blade was too slow and lacked any technique, relying solely on strength and speed to fight.
"Yang!"
Gulaba roared. With a whoosh, flames erupted from his body and quickly spread to his long blade.
"Blazing Fire!"
Gulaba gripped his blade with both hands and charged forward. The ground beneath his feet shattered inch by inch as he moved.
He slashed out, sending a massive arc of flame toward Su Xiao.
The moment the flame slash was unleashed, Su Xiao felt a wave of heat wash over him. He suddenly vanished from his spot and reappeared behind Gulaba.
Clang, clang, clang...
Sparks and shockwaves from the clashing blades spread outward.
Pfft.
The long blade pierced through Gulaba's left shoulder. Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surged into his body, numbing most of his torso. He dropped to one knee, appearing in a sorry state, but it was actually a trap.
'Reverse Blade.'
Su Xiao took two steps forward, leaped low, and kicked Gulaba in the face. Using the recoil, he jumped backward, pulling the blade free from Gulaba's body.
"Ha!"
Gulaba bellowed, swinging his nearly one-and-a-half-meter-long rugged blade horizontally. He put all his strength into this strike. The air around him was drawn in by the blade, forming a scorching, sucking current.
The blade sliced past Su Xiao's chest, less than a centimeter away. Yet that single centimeter was an insurmountable distance.
Su Xiao landed lightly. Without any visible movement, he took two steps forward.
Gulaba felt a chill run through his entire body. He had just unleashed a full-powered slash. It wasn't a case of old strength exhausted and new strength not yet born—rather, the old strength hadn't even been fully expended.
Standing before Gulaba, whose defenses were wide open, Su Xiao raised his blade and struck.
In a moment of crisis, Gulaba ducked down. The next instant, he felt a buzzing in his head, as if something cold had sliced past his brain.
A piece of his skull flew off. Ignoring his exposed brain, Gulaba held his blade horizontally in front of him.
Just as Gulaba thought Su Xiao was a speed-type, Su Xiao crouched low and delivered a side kick.
Bang!
The muscles on Gulaba's side rapidly caved in. He shot backward with a whoosh, spitting out droplets of blood from his mouth.
The moment Gulaba flew back a meter, Su Xiao appeared above him and thrust his blade downward.
Pfft!
Dragon-Slashing Flash pierced through Gulaba's chest. As he was flying sideways, the blade sliced across his torso, completely cutting open his chest and side ribs.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
Midair, Gulaba felt everything around him slow down. The enemy's blade pierced his chest again, this time through his heart.
With a thunderous crash, gravel flew as Su Xiao gripped his blade with both hands and flung Gulaba off it. The difference in their physiques seemed utterly insignificant in that moment.
Another loud crash followed as Gulaba slammed into the rock wall on the right.
On the other side of the cave, a contractor's cigarette fell from his mouth. He instinctively looked down at the blade at his waist and suddenly felt that he and this ultimate boss weren't using the same kind of weapon at all. His was more like a fire poker; the other guy's was a real blade.
"Huff, huff..."
Gulaba crawled out of the hole in the rock wall, gasping for breath. He had lost, but there was no resentment. Though he had been fighting for a day and a night, he had been completely outclassed in technique. Gulaba suddenly realized he was like a cave bear swinging a club—clumsy and brutish.
Gulaba raised his arm, signaling for a moment. He sat down on the ground as blood gushed from the wound on his chest.
"Outsider, cut off my head. This is your trophy!"
Gulaba's eyes bulged as he used his last strength to thrust his rugged blade into the ground.
Zheng.
Dragon-Slashing Flash rang out crisply as it sliced through Gulaba's neck. His head flew up.
With a thud, Gulaba's head hit the ground, but his body remained seated.
Su Xiao flicked the blood off his blade and sheathed it.
"Holy... crap!"
A contractor at the edge of the cave couldn't think of any other words to describe his feelings at that moment.
"He's... dead just like that?"
Several contractors walked out of the cave. The Great Chief of the Sun Tribe, Gulaba, had fallen. The battle was declared over. They needed to quickly use up their battle merits, as they would be returning to Reincarnation Paradise in one hour.
Su Xiao received rewards for killing Gulaba, but they weren't enough to offset the losses from the war.
[Prompt: The Hunter has killed the Great Chief·Gulaba.]
[You have obtained an Epic Chest (61%).]
[You have obtained the Meteor Flame Blade (Epic-grade Blade Weapon).]
[Announcement: Your side's leader has killed the enemy leader. All uncompleted quests for your side's contractors will be completed at the lowest evaluation.]
[Announcement: Your side's leader has killed the enemy leader. All contractors receive 300 Battle Merits as a reward.]
[Announcement: Your side's leader has killed the enemy leader. All contractors receive a basic reward: Light Gold Chest ×1.]
...
After the three announcements, over two hundred contractors on his side experienced the feeling of a reward world. It wasn't a free handout; it was a reward they had earned. Only contractors who had performed exceptionally well to enter this world were granted such reward privileges.
Su Xiao picked up the rugged blade from the ground. The blade was directly certified by Reincarnation Paradise. After checking the attributes of the [Meteor Flame Blade], Su Xiao felt that Gulaba had been wasting a treasure.
The [Meteor Flame Blade] wasn't forged. It was a piece of metal that had fallen from the sky, found by a member of the Sun Tribe. After decades of carving, they had finally shaped it into a blade.
Even so, the blade still had Epic-grade quality. If Lide were to reforge it, it would definitely provide more Edge Value for Dragon-Slashing Flash.
Su Xiao walked toward the inner part of the cave, with Amu following behind him. There was a passage here, leading to an unknown destination.
After walking about ten meters, Su Xiao stopped. A look of surprise flickered across his face for a moment.
In front of Su Xiao was a storage cave of about several dozen square meters. It was in complete disarray, with everything breakable already destroyed.
A large piece of gold-red metal lay on the ground, the size of a millstone. This was a piece of highly pure Fire Gold, one of the three materials needed to create Apollo.
Su Xiao placed his hand on the Fire Gold. Whether he could recoup his losses depended on whether this would be judged as a war trophy.
[You have obtained Fire Gold (251.3 kg).]
Since entering Reincarnation Paradise, this was the first time Su Xiao had seen Fire Gold measured in kilograms. Previously, he had always bought it by the gram.
This wasn't just about recouping losses; it was a massive profit.
[Prompt: The World Coordinate will form in 2 hours.]