Chapter 24: Another Self-Closed Old Yinbi
A spatial rift appeared behind Su Xiao, opened by Beini through the [Sanctuary Gem].
The ability of the [Sanctuary Gem] is that the wearer selects an ally as the protected person. After activating the [Sanctuary Gem], a spatial rift opens, teleporting the protected person to their side for one hour. After one hour, the protected person returns to their original location.
The [Sanctuary Gem] has no distance limit, as long as the wearer and the protected person are within the same world.
A suction force came from within the spatial rift. Su Xiao took a few steps forward and entered the rift.
With a boom in his ears, the clamor of the battlefield vanished, and Su Xiao appeared in the courtyard of a royal palace. Around him were rockeries and fountains, withered green trees, and a dried-up fountain.
"Meow."
Beini quickly ran forward, using her claws to carve a map on the ground.
"How many floors up is he in the palace?"
"Meow."
"Be more specific. There's only one chance."
"Meow meow meow?"
"I won't die. Probably not."
"Meow!"
"..."
"Meow~"
Beini described Geru's exact location. Based on her observations, Geru's combat strength didn't seem very strong, just very strange—a feeling Beini couldn't quite articulate.
Beini didn't know if Geru was strong, but the Three Kings were very strong. These were the kings of the three kingdoms: Dongze, Storm, and Yuexi. They hadn't turned into Wood Vassals but had become something far more terrifying.
The Three Kings were inside the palace, usually motionless. Once anyone approached them, except for Geru, even Wood Vassals would be attacked by the Three Kings, all killed in one hit.
After confirming this intelligence, Su Xiao sat cross-legged behind a stone pillar and began activating his Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. Every time he activated full-body Shadow Flame, this was necessary.
After 63 seconds, Su Xiao's eyes opened. By now, his pupils had turned light blue. Blue flames rose from his body, like slowly dissipating smoke, and dark blue patterns appeared on both sides of his cheeks.
Looking at the blue flames on his arms, Su Xiao felt, for some reason, that this time activating full-body Shadow Flame gave him a sense of reaching his limit, as if he was about to break free from some kind of restraint.
Temporarily ignoring this feeling, Su Xiao activated Demon Hunting Hour. Full-body Shadow Flame + Demon Hunting Hour consumed stamina at a terrifying rate. He could maintain it for at most 100 seconds before severe exhaustion set in, but for now, this was Su Xiao's strongest possible state.
"Meow."
Just as Beini was about to convey something to Su Xiao, he vanished from the spot.
Light and shadow flickered before his eyes. After activating Dragon Shadow Flash, Su Xiao's first brief appearance was on the first floor of the palace. What met his eyes were countless Wood Vassals, their bodies larger, and the gleam in their eyes showed they possessed intelligence no less than humans.
This scene flashed by in an instant. Su Xiao immediately used Dragon Shadow Flash to penetrate space and appeared on the second floor of the palace.
A sound of breaking wind came from in front of him. An arm made of black mud reached out—it was one of the Three Kings. With this level of reaction, if all Three Kings gathered, Su Xiao's chances of defeat were high.
With a crash, the black mud arm tore through the palace wall, but Su Xiao had already appeared on the third floor.
The third floor of the palace was very quiet. A gentle breeze blew through the thin curtains. The Dongze Empire was in summer, and bright sunlight streamed in through the windows.
With a clink, a silver fork fell onto a tray. Geru, dressed in loose white clothes and enjoying breakfast, was momentarily stunned.
"You..."
Pfft!
The long blade pierced through Geru's throat. Su Xiao grabbed Geru's head with his other hand, and with a flick of the blade, he sliced open half of Geru's neck.
With a gush, Geru spat out a large mouthful of blood. His pupils trembled. He couldn't understand why Su Xiao, who should have been a thousand miles away, had appeared before him like this. According to his subordinates' reports, the other party should have been on the front lines, bitterly fighting his troops. For this, Geru was somewhat disappointed—the one truly pulling the strings shouldn't be showing their face on the battlefield.
Crack, crack, crack~
Geru's skull was crushed in Su Xiao's grip with a cracking sound.
With a swish, the long blade sliced through Geru's neck. His body fell to the ground with a thud, and a pool of blood spread out.
"You..."
Anger appeared on Geru's face. He had never dreamed he would end up in this situation. All along, he had considered Su Xiao his great enemy—a great enemy of mutual scheming, an opponent recognized from a thousand miles away, not like this, holding a blade and cutting him down in one stroke.
"So your final trump card was... yourself. But, Bai Ye, I've already won. The secret pattern has already been..."
Before Geru could finish, the light in his eyes quickly faded.
[Hunter has killed Elviss Geru (1/3).]
[You have gained 8.77% World Source (Hunter did not cause Elviss Geru's complete death).]
[You have gained the Redemption Tablet (Nun). Holding this tablet allows you to activate a designated statue in Eyun City.]
[You have gained 107 Soul Coins.]
[Because the Hunter has killed Elviss Geru's physical body, Elviss Geru is now trapped in Eyun Town. The Wood Vassals will lose the enhancement effect from the 'Polluted World Seed'.]
...
A series of prompts appeared. Just as Su Xiao was about to activate Dragon Shadow Flash to leave, he felt intense pain all over his body.
Thump~
His heart gave an unusually heavy beat, nearly causing him to collapse from exhaustion. It was a problem with the Azure Shadow King ability—no, it was breaking through some kind of shackle.
Su Xiao knelt on one knee, his left hand supporting the ground. He heard the sound of running approaching from below—not the Three Kings, but the Wood Vassals stationed here charging up.
Su Xiao focused his mind as much as possible and activated the Dragon Shadow Flash ability.
Moments later, Su Xiao appeared behind the rockery in the palace courtyard. He now understood why the Azure Shadow King ability couldn't be upgraded. He had only mastered about 50% of it before. His body needed to go through repeated Shadow Flames to adapt to the Azure Shadow King. Otherwise, directly obtaining the Azure Shadow King ability would have a 100% chance of killing him. No Law Destroyer could withstand it. That troublesome Mawen Hua'erzi had forgotten to mention the key point again.
Actually, Su Xiao had wronged Mawen Hua'erzi. Every Law Destroyer's Azure Shadow King was different. Mawen Hua'erzi had directly obtained the complete Azure Shadow King, not like Su Xiao, who first mastered 50%, let his body adapt for a while, and then could fully master it. This was related to the intensity.
Behind the rockery, Su Xiao crouched low. He had already turned off full-body Shadow Flame and Demon Hunting Hour, suppressing his aura. He wrapped up Geru's head—it might still be useful.
Beini was peeking out from beside the rockery, watching to see if any Wood Vassals were approaching this area.
Geru had laid out a massive plan, even handling the resettlement of the Wood Vassals and Hyena Wolf Clan.
After the war was won, he would burn the 'Polluted World Seed,' granting true life to the Wood Vassals. Then the continent would be split in two, with the Wood Vassals occupying half and the Hyena Wolf Clan the other half.
As for Geru himself, he wanted to return to his hometown, farm there, raise dogs, and spend the rest of his life in peace. During this time, he would monitor the 'Gap,' not allowing anyone to enter Eyun Town.
Geru never imagined that Su Xiao would suddenly appear before him, stab his throat in one strike—no mutual recognition from afar, no lengthy final confrontation.
Meet, one slash, end.
If Geru and Sfenke had met, they would have sympathized with each other. Both believed Su Xiao was an old yinbi, the same kind of person, someone they could engage in intellectual games with.
Su Xiao chose to take such a big risk and charge straight in because he knew that if he engaged in an old yinbi-style game with Geru, he would absolutely lose. The other party's plan had been prepared for at least several hundred years, perfected by who knows how many generations.
Geru was the one to close out the plan. He had destroyed the four kingdoms, controlled the Wood Vassals and Hyena Wolf Clan, and had some connection to Eyun Town. This was no longer just a starting advantage.
On Su Xiao's side, over 900,000 soldiers were not under his control, and over 1.5 million civilians had no strategic significance even if controlled. The three rulers often disagreed. He had neither military power nor the support of the people in this world—no, he had two: Puli and Asazi.
Puli was good at traveling and flirting with women, top-notch at that. Among the local forces, only Asazi, the lame old gentleman, could assist Su Xiao.
Su Xiao had never thought about facing Geru on the battlefield. That would be suicide. The blade in his hand was what he was best at using. Who said mutual scheming couldn't involve cutting down the enemy with one slash?
"Meow~"
Beini retreated behind the rockery, signaling Su Xiao to follow her.
Beini went behind the rockery and crawled into a round hole only ten centimeters wide. Inside, she looked at Su Xiao from the hole, meaning, "Come in."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. Beini suddenly understood and gestured with her cat paw, meaning the hole was spacious inside—just penetrate space and come in.
Su Xiao penetrated space, and sure enough, the inside of the rockery had been hollowed out by Beini, with a passage leading diagonally underground.
Su Xiao slid down the dirt tunnel and soon reached the end. After a while, Beini also slid down from above, her four furry little paws spread out, landing perfectly on Su Xiao's head.
"Meow."
Beini slid from Su Xiao's head to his shoulder, wagging her tail, meaning, "This hole is well dug, right? Learned it from that silly dog."
Su Xiao suppressed his aura. In one hour, he would be pulled back by the spatial rift to near Ango City. Only then would he be considered successful. Before that, being discovered by the Wood Vassals in the palace would be very troublesome.
Wails came from above. Whether it was an illusion or not, Su Xiao felt the world around him was reviving.
This was a phased victory. Geru's body was dead, but his soul had not yet perished. It was now in Eyun Town. Given Geru's familiarity with Eyun Town, when they met again, he might be quite powerful.
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