Chapter 48: Abyss Serpent
With three pieces of equipment in hand, Su Xiao directly equipped [Heavenly Walk], hanging it at his waist. [Heavenly Walk] was very small in size, just a black cord with a pale cyan gemstone tied to it. The cyan gemstone was the main body; this item could be made into an earring or hung from a cuff, waist, etc.
Su Xiao had no habit of wearing ear accessories. Once, when he was fighting a male contractor from Apocalypse Paradise, the opponent wore a single earring. Su Xiao directly tore it off, then decapitated him with a single slash.
As for [Divine Judgment], it was a ring, an unadorned and simple ring.
[Divine Judgment]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Quality: Legendary (Growth-Type Equipment)
Category: Ring
Durability: 30/30
Equipment Requirement: None
Equipment Effect 1: Soul Life (Passive) – For each point of Soul Strength the wearer has, increase Max HP by 80 points and Neural Reflex Speed by 0.5%.
Current Soul Strength: 150 points.
Increased Max HP: 12,000 points.
Increased Neural Reflex Speed: 75%.
Growth Condition: After killing an extremely evil deity, this equipment can absorb divine energy to grow. The growth magnitude will be determined by the rank of the slain evil god (Extremely evil deities are mostly Ancient Gods).
Rating: 530 points (Legendary quality equipment rating is 400–530 points).
Description: Survive, and let the evil gods taste the flavor of despair.
Price: Cannot be sold after equipping.
Seeing the attributes of [Divine Judgment], Su Xiao transformed [Demon Hunting King] from its ring form into its gun form, equipping it as a sidearm. This was the characteristic of [Demon Hunting King]; it could switch between gun form, ring form, and pendant form.
Su Xiao put on [Divine Judgment]. Instantly, he felt a change in his body. His life force rapidly increased, and the world around him slowed down. This was caused by the boost to his Neural Reflex Speed.
But soon, the surrounding world gradually returned to normal. Su Xiao had enhanced his Neural Reflex Speed more than once and was long accustomed to this feeling.
The effect of [Divine Judgment] was quite powerful. No, it should be said that it was very suitable for Su Xiao. He had 150 points of Soul Strength, which was increased through his innate ability, Soul Devourer.
Without such high Soul Strength, [Divine Judgment] would only be considered decent. It was worth noting that before eating the Soul Fruit, Su Xiao's Soul Strength was only 8 points, and at that time, he was already Rank 4.
As a Rank 4 Hunter, Su Xiao initially only had 8 points of Soul Strength. If he hadn't eaten the Soul Fruit and undergone the second awakening of his Soul Devourer talent, his current Soul Strength would be at most just over ten points.
In that case, [Divine Judgment] would only increase his Max HP by a little over 1,000 points and his Neural Reflex Speed by less than 10%.
But now, [Divine Judgment] provided an exceptionally huge boost to Su Xiao. Moreover, his Soul Strength would continue to increase, stabilizing at 30 points per world.
Furthermore, as a Growth-Type Equipment, when [Divine Judgment]'s quality improved, its enhancement effects would only grow stronger.
As a melee fighter, Su Xiao faced danger at all times in battle. Max HP was linked to life force. Having stronger life force gave Su Xiao more options in close combat.
For example, if an enemy's attack hit a non-lethal area, Su Xiao could completely endure it, seize the initiative, suppress the opponent, and ultimately win.
The lone wolves of Reincarnation Paradise had a saying that made a lot of sense: "If you don't even have the survivability of a tank, then what's the point of going solo? Go find an adventure group quickly."
Putting away the last piece of equipment, [Electric Walk], Su Xiao walked out of the semi-open cave. He had only delayed for a dozen minutes or so. There were still over 6 hours left. If he couldn't destroy the Space-Time Hub Device before then, Death Paradise would teleport in Punishment Knights, and things would get troublesome.
Crossing over the vegetation-covered peak, a large expanse of maple forest came into view. Red maple leaves drifted in the air, mixed with cotton-like plant seeds.
Whoosh~
A gentle breeze blew through the maple forest. There were no birds or beasts here. This was the territory of some powerful creature; ordinary beings dared not approach.
Su Xiao advanced along the gentle slope of the mountain peak and soon entered the maple forest. The maple trees were not densely packed; open clearings were frequently visible, with maple leaves carpeting the ground.
The scenery was beautiful, but it also concealed deadly dangers. As soon as he entered the maple forest, Su Xiao saw a skeleton.
This skeleton was leaning against a maple tree. The ribs on the left side of its body were completely severed, and there were two intersecting slash marks on its skull.
From the surrounding traces, this skeleton had been here for over a hundred years and had not weathered, indicating that the person was very powerful in life.
Continuing forward for a dozen meters, another skeleton appeared. This one was half-buried in the soil, with the bones on the right side of its body completely gone.
Preliminary observation led Su Xiao to judge that this person had been killed by an energy blast. Their strength in life was definitely not weak.
A large stone slab was slanted into the ground, with several lines of writing visible on it, clearly left by different people.
'To have fought her, though dead, no regrets — Ike Noel.'
'Ross, sorry I couldn't die by your hand — Iwell.'
'Abyss Serpent, Source Serpent, detestable, yet it fulfilled my lifelong wish — Duke of the Moon Wolf, Dick Ho.'
Seeing these inscriptions, Su Xiao frowned. He continued deeper into the maple forest. Roughly every dozen meters or so, he would see another skeleton.
Strangely enough, the fatal wounds on these people did not come from the same type of weapon or the same ability. Just from the variety of weapons, Su Xiao identified over a dozen types.
Assuming all these people were killed by the Abyss Serpent, then the Abyss Serpent must be proficient in at least a dozen types of weapons and possess dozens of different abilities with various characteristics.
Iwell also had numerous abilities, but all her abilities were interrelated.
Based on Su Xiao's observation, if all these skeletons were killed by the Abyss Serpent in life, then the Abyss Serpent's abilities were very chaotic—so chaotic that it shouldn't have been able to defeat these strong individuals.
More abilities are not always better. Take Su Xiao, for example; he specialized in blade techniques, and all his other abilities were meant to assist his blade combat.
If the Abyss Serpent were a Summoning type, it could barely be explained, but there were still many inconsistencies.
Just as Su Xiao had advanced less than two kilometers into the maple forest, the characteristic crawling sound of a snake came. Just from the sound, he knew a big one was coming.
Scales rustled against the maple leaves. Hearing this sound, Su Xiao raised his hand and placed it on the sword hilt at his waist.
Large branches snapped with a crisp cracking sound as they were pushed aside. A massive black serpent, over three meters thick and of indeterminate length, crawled out from between the maple trees. One of its eyes was slashed blind, and from the hideous scar, it was clear this was caused by a long weapon.
"Hiss~"
The black-scaled serpent stopped several dozen meters away. Its single eye stared at Su Xiao. The gaze lacked the coldness typical of snakes. Was it an illusion? There was a kind of world-weariness in that pupil—a sense of vicissitude that could only come from experiencing countless events.
This was the Abyss Serpent, the instigator of the extinction of the gods, the starting point of much misfortune.
Su Xiao had not come to hunt the Abyss Serpent. There was no enmity between them, only a difference in stance. If the other party claimed he was the evil side, he wouldn't bother to argue.
"Roar!"
The Abyss Serpent let out a roar and charged straight at Su Xiao.
Clang!
A flash of blade light appeared, directly slashing across the Abyss Serpent's head.
Snake blood spurted violently. The Abyss Serpent's body twisted, crushing a large area of maple trees. Wood chips and broken bark flew everywhere.
Su Xiao's forward charge came to an abrupt halt. His Instinct was warning him. He must not get close to the Abyss Serpent now. Approaching it rashly would have severe consequences.