Chapter 25: The Polluted World Seed
The reason Gulu's plan could succeed was mainly due to the "Polluted World Seed." The conditions for its emergence were extremely harsh.
First, a certain extremely evil existence suddenly appears within this world. Although the world lacks self-awareness, it can still sense the presence of danger. At that moment, the World Seed would condense into being.
After the World Seed grows into a towering tree, it brings transformation to the life within this world, granting these beings the qualifications to confront that extremely evil existence.
The extremely evil existence that suddenly appeared in this world was the Ancient God within Doom Town. That Ancient God did not destroy the World Seed, nor did it even pay attention to it.
Even so, the World Seed was still polluted by the Ancient God's power, appearing within Doom Town. Gulu and his predecessors used the "Polluted World Seed" to carry out their plan.
This object possesses both the characteristics of this world and a powerful corrosive force. Once activated, it would affect the beings of this world, eroding them into Wood Vassals.
The "life characteristics" of the Wood Vassals came from the World Seed, which is why their bodies withered, concentrating their life force within. The Tree Giants were easier to understand—they were merely more severely eroded.
A normal World Seed would bring beneficial effects to living beings, while the "Polluted World Seed" was a combination of good and bad.
Emperor Okaz had also visited Doom Town and knew about the "Polluted World Seed." To be safe, he expended an astonishing amount of resources to establish the "Light-Dark Array" beneath the Imperial Capital, preventing someone from obtaining the "Polluted World Seed" and attacking the Imperial Capital. The former Imperial Capital was now Angor City.
To ensure absolute certainty, Emperor Okaz also built an underground city beneath Angor City and told his descendants that when their souls were eroded one day, they should lead their people to Angor City. This advice was passed down through generations until the Four Kingdoms fell.
Gulu had always wanted to control the old councilor, hoping to learn the location of the "Light-Dark Array" through him. That thing might even be in an alternate space. Only the councilors of the Saint Realm lineage knew the location of the "Light-Dark Array."
In the imperial language, "Saint Realm" could also be translated as "Guardian." Therefore, Gulu dared not let the old councilor die. He tried every means to control the old councilor, wanting him to open the "Saint Realm" and destroy the "Light-Dark Array" inside.
"That's basically it. Satisfied your curiosity?"
Su Xiao tossed a Soul Crystal (Small) into his mouth. The feeling of exhaustion had faded. He now needed a safe place to fully master Azure Shadow King. By then, Azure Shadow King would undergo changes and could be leveled up normally.
It wasn't about consuming Soul Crystals or Paradise Coins. The only way to upgrade Azure Shadow King for now was to consume Golden Skill Points.
Previously, Su Xiao couldn't use Golden Skill Points to upgrade Azure Shadow King because he hadn't fully mastered this ability. The Shadow Ignition state couldn't be upgraded at all. This wasn't a state for combat; it was meant to gradually allow his body to adapt to Azure Shadow King. Otherwise, if he directly mastered Azure Shadow King right after awakening it, Su Xiao would surely die.
"Meow~"
Beini licked the back of her paw, indicating she understood Gulu's plan. The curious cat was quite pleased.
Beini looked cute and was the team's mascot. During her long treasure-hunting journeys, her treasure-finding ability was still embarrassing. Sometimes, even she felt awkward showing the "treasures" she found.
Once, Beini brought back a seven-hundred-year-old urinal, thinking it was some kind of crown. Although its shape was peculiar, she was sure it was a treasure. After spending Paradise Coins to appraise it, she learned it was a urinal. Bubu Wang almost laughed himself into shock.
Despite that, Beini's ability to find people was getting stronger.
In the previous world, Beini used Crimson Tasha to find the storage location of the Space-Time Power Condensation, then found Mist Village, where the Alien King was located.
In this world, Beini used the few clues provided by Bubu Wang to uncover Gulu, that old schemer. This wasn't East Zee Kingdom or Gulu's homeland, but the royal palace of Moon Creek Kingdom. Su Xiao really hadn't expected Gulu to be hiding here.
Time flew by. An hour was almost up, and Su Xiao felt the spatial pull.
"Beini, don't go to Doom Town."
"Meow."
Beini nodded solemnly, meaning she would search for treasure nearby. If she needed to find someone, she would fire a signal flare, and she would come immediately.
A strong pulling sensation appeared. A few seconds later, Su Xiao stepped out of a spatial rift, returning to the battlefield outside Angor City.
As far as the eye could see, the ground was littered with corpses. A broken sword was stuck in the ground, and behind it was a soldier kneeling on one knee, having died in battle. Until his death, he had tightly gripped the throat of a Wood Vassal.
The front line had pushed outward because, after Gulu's body died, the "Polluted World Seed" lost its energy supply and could no longer draw Ancient God power from Doom Town. This greatly reduced the combat effectiveness and body activity of the Wood Vassals.
The Wood Vassals were too powerful. In just a few days, they had developed complete self-awareness and strong bodies. They fought among themselves, with the victor devouring the loser to grow stronger.
Such rapid birth and growth came with weaknesses. There was no sudden strength in the world. Now, the Wood Vassals were suffering the consequences. Not only could they no longer devour each other, but their own life force was also draining away. Naturally, they were no match for the soldiers, who had gained their combat power through sweat and strong will.
As the battle raged on, the soldiers became a bit confused. The previously powerful withered monsters suddenly couldn't hold up, growing weaker the more they fought.
The soldiers fought more fiercely, eventually routing the Wood Vassals.
King Reiman ordered all soldiers to immediately withdraw to Angor City. The war was going too smoothly, so smoothly that King Reiman was terrified, always thinking it was an enemy trap.
When Su Xiao returned to Angor City, the atmosphere inside was noticeably different. The first battle was a victory. If they continued fighting like this for a few days, they could reclaim large territories, and then everything would be fine.
Bubu Wang ran over from the street, followed by Baha and Amu.
"Boss, what did Gulu say before he died?"
"He didn't die. Or rather, a third of him died."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang was clearly in a good mood, having just dealt with the major threat Gulu. That old schemer could no longer cause trouble. He had been scheming against them for days, and they had to hold back while perfecting their plan.
"Bubu, there's still Doom Town. Just hearing the name, there might be vengeful spirits floating around."
Baha made a ghostly gesture. Seeing this, Bubu Wang whimpered, tucked his tail, and looked dejected.
Of course, there were no vengeful spirits in Doom Town. If a vengeful spirit went there, it would be scared to death. The Immortal People and the Resentful Orphans—which of them couldn't eat vengeful spirits as snacks?
Su Xiao walked toward the two-story building. Before he got far, he saw Councilor Rose leading people toward him.
"White Night, I have a question I hope you can answer. I'm willing to pay a fair reward for this information."
"Not interested."
Su Xiao walked past Councilor Rose. Now that Angor City was stable, the next steps were reclaiming territory and rebuilding, which had nothing to do with him.
"Alchemy materials and formulas. Pretty good, right?"
"……"
Su Xiao stopped. That was indeed something he was interested in.
"I only have one question. What was Gulu's true goal?"
"To prevent either humans or the Hyena Clan from going extinct."
Su Xiao naturally knew Gulu's goal. The reason Gulu wanted to reclaim the Secret Patterns was mainly because he feared they would be overdeveloped, angering the origin of the Secret Patterns—the Ancient God in Doom Town. One civilization had already paid the price for that.
"That doesn't make sense."
Councilor Rose wasn't satisfied with Su Xiao's answer.
"The materials I need, Azaz will come to you for them."
Su Xiao walked away. Councilor Rose grew even more dissatisfied.
"Woman, we could kill Elves Gulu, and we could kill you too. So don't break your promise. My boss hates people who break promises. Oh, by the way, this head is a gift for you. It's Gulu's head. Hehehe."
With Baha's eerie laughter, Councilor Rose's pupils rapidly contracted. She picked up the cloth bag on the ground, opened it, and saw Elves Gulu's head.
At that moment, Councilor Rose felt no joy, only terror. Cold sweat soaked through the thin fabric on her back. What kind of monster had they let into Angor City? The Kingdom Destroyer Gulu was dead just like that. Councilor Rose knew exactly how terrifying this person was. The one who could kill him…
Su Xiao returned to the two-story building. As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Puli sitting there with a worried expression. This acting councilor was always worrying about things, with good intentions but unable to do much.
"Sigh, I've only recently realized how useless I am."
Puli let out a long sigh, looking helpless.
"Don't mind it."
Azaz tried to comfort him.
"Azaz…"
"Puli, you've been useless for so long. We're all used to it. Don't worry, no one will blame you."
"I… you, you, you."
A mouthful of poisonous chicken soup went down the wrong pipe, and Puli immediately began to doubt his life.
Su Xiao ignored the master-servant pair and went upstairs. He now needed a quiet room to fully master Azure Shadow King. He could sense that Azure Shadow King wasn't an ability that needed "warming up." Shadow Ignition wasn't the true form of Azure Shadow King.