Chapter 4: Heart of Hope (Special Item)
Price: 20 Soul Coins.
...
Su Xiao tossed aside the cloth in his hand and sheathed the polished Dragon-Slaying Flash.
The rewards for killing Sotos were quite generous. Not only did he reclaim a small portion of Space-Time Power, but he also obtained a large amount of World Source, compensating for Su Xiao's losses during the investigation.
This reward was very special. Even if he didn't choose the rewards, he could still obtain 292 Soul Coins. The Soul Coins gained from killing an Ancient God were not only universal but could also be saved, as they were high-value items themselves.
Su Xiao took out the Soul Coins obtained from killing the Moon God. After some thought, he decided to exchange for that bloodline item. He naturally wasn't going to use it himself. Because of the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy in his body, if he used this item, the 'Source Blood: Void' would be quickly devoured and annihilated, having no effect.
[You have obtained Source Blood: Void.]
[You have obtained Heart of Hope (Special Item).]
...
After exchanging the rewards, Su Xiao only had 7 Soul Coins left, still from the Moon God's yield.
The reason Su Xiao exchanged for a bloodline like 'Source Blood: Void' was that he felt it was very suitable for Baha. After all, the Ancient God nature within 'Source Blood: Void' had already been removed, leaving only its abilities.
The advantage of this item was that after use, one would not become an Ancient God, nor even have much connection to them. The disadvantage was that the ability's strength was greatly reduced. There were gains and losses.
It wasn't that the Ancient God bloodline was trash, but rather that its starting point was high, leading to a high rank as well. However, Su Xiao was not optimistic about the Ancient God bloodline, and Baha, as the user, was even less so. In Baha's words, Ancient Gods were all uglier than the last, and it didn't want to become an ugly bastard.
'Source Blood: Void' didn't need to be used urgently. As for the [Heart of Hope], Su Xiao had no time to examine it now.
Su Xiao extended his hand forward, palm facing the Dominator Sotos lying on the ground. The dead Sotos looked much more pleasing, at least it wouldn't dart around everywhere and suddenly stab Su Xiao with a sword.
The Soul Devourer talent activated. Three light spheres of different colors floated out from Sotos's chest and were grasped in Su Xiao's hand.
[You have obtained 'Ancient Memory: Nameless Mist (Incomplete)'.]
[Warning: This soul memory is extremely dangerous. The Hunter will surely die upon use.]
[You have obtained 'Technique Memory: Forget Me Not (Incomplete)'.]
[You have obtained 'Sacrificial Memory: Bitter Torment (Incomplete)'.]
[Hint: The Hunter may choose one of these to extract.]
...
Among the three soul memories, the first was exceptionally treacherous. Using it would definitely result in death. Su Xiao had no habit of courting death, so he directly abandoned it.
As for the remaining two, with the mindset of picking the best among the worst, Su Xiao chose 'Technique Memory: Forget Me Not'. This ability seemed somewhat strange, or rather, it didn't seem like Sotos's ability.
Among the three light spheres, the black and red ones burst open, evaporating into the air. The remaining milky-white light sphere sank into Su Xiao's palm.
Just as he used the soul memory, the scene before Su Xiao's eyes changed. It was a 'viewing-type' soul memory, Su Xiao's favorite type, as this kind of soul memory yielded the most knowledge.
It was still the Ancient God Temple. Sotos, holding the Twisted Malice, floated in mid-air. In front of him stood a slender young girl. She was already covered in blood, her weapon 'Remnant Moonlight' pointing diagonally at the ground.
"Forget Me Not."
The girl murmured softly, simultaneously stepping forward.
Clang!
A golden slash mark swept across, wind pressure surging wildly. The girl's frail body erupted with terrifying combat power. It took a full half minute before the golden slash mark showed signs of fading.
With a wet splat, the upper half of Sotos's head fell to the ground.
Seeing this, the girl placed the Remnant Moonlight horizontally beside her neck. The blade cut through, creating an extremely deep wound. After using 'Forget Me Not', she didn't even have the strength to take a step forward, let alone continue fighting. The Ancient God blood within her body was what the enemy craved. She could die, but she couldn't let the enemy grow stronger.
Blood mist scattered from the girl's neck. She smiled, then fell to the ground with a thud.
From the start of the battle to her death, the girl only said three words: Forget Me Not. This was her strongest ability, and also a kind of hope, proof that she had existed. She didn't yearn for beauty, didn't yearn for freedom. Duty bound her; these were unavoidable things. She only hoped that her puppet and her master would not forget her. She had existed, even if she hadn't fulfilled her mission.
"Roar!"
Sotos roared in fury. It suddenly appeared before the girl, reaching out to grab the blood mist, but it was utterly useless.
Sotos was enraged, its entire body writhing with tentacles.
"How unsightly, Sotos."
A voice, indistinguishable between male and female, came. Hearing this voice, Sotos's anger subsided somewhat. It stepped on the girl's head, deciding to make this female human into a collectible.
Just as Sotos was about to lift the girl from the ground, the dissipating blood mist in mid-air suddenly coalesced, forming a slender arm that pressed against the broken opening on Sotos's head.
"Oww!!"
Sotos let out a miserable howl, crashing heavily to the ground from mid-air. Its expression was somewhat stunned, because it had lost a very important ability, permanently lost.
The girl lying on the ground closed her eyes. The gods were too arrogant.
The scene before him shattered. Su Xiao rubbed his chin. Ancient Gods relied too heavily on their innate abilities. The strongest technique they encountered in their lives was often obtained from their enemies.
Forget Me Not was a sword technique. Su Xiao didn't plan to develop this ability. Its compatibility with his blade art wasn't high, after all, their beliefs were different.
As for the girl who fought Sotos, Su Xiao could naturally guess who she was. Nia's life seemed tragic on the surface, but to herself, it wasn't so. She had found redemption from the Dawn, transforming from a 'beast' that only knew how to kill living beings into a human.
As for why she was willing to fulfill her mission, it wasn't actually noble. She didn't know what to do in the future, and her redeemer wanted the Ancient Gods dead, so she just went and did it. It was that simple.
And the later generations' praise of 'Nia, the Light of Hope' — if Nia herself heard this title, she would be stunned for a moment and wonder, what light? Where did the hope come from? She was just an ordinary person who liked eating sweet bread. Well, a relatively strong ordinary person, an ordinary person who could chop off half an Ancient God's head.