Chapter 40: Divine Judgment and Annihilation
Mist and fog swirled over Moonlight Lake. A towering giant tree grew at the center of the lake, its roots deeply embedded in the ruins of buildings, using them as a foundation to grow.
This was the Moon Tree. Su Xiao was not entirely sure who had cultivated it. This type of tree had a unique ability: it absorbed water-attribute source power and then grew wildly.
Before entering the Divine Realm, Su Xiao had obtained a few [Withered Moon Tree Seeds]. That had been in the underground passage beneath Bamboo Village, where someone had attempted to cultivate a Moon Tree but failed. Who exactly had tried to cultivate it was a secret the village chief took to his grave.
Without lingering too long at Moonlight Lake, Su Xiao followed the valley toward the Abyss. He needed to find the blind old man first, use the Ba Souls to exchange for rare items, and then decide what to do next—whether to take a risky gamble, or be satisfied with his current gains and return to Reincarnation Paradise after completing the main mission.
No incidents occurred along the way. The Heavenly Palace had been blown to pieces by Su Xiao, and the two Tianba leaders had each met their end in their own ways. It could be said that the latter half of the Source Divine Realm was basically safe.
Before long, Su Xiao arrived near the Abyss. As soon as he reached the head of the suspension bridge, he noticed a figure kneeling before it, hands clasped against their forehead, eyes closed in prayer.
The one kneeling at the bridgehead was a woman. She was draped in a black robe, a soft black cloth hood covering her head. Her skin was pale, her lips as red as blood. Kneeling there, she gave off a feeling that was both beautiful and solemn.
"I will not allow you to take another step forward."
The woman opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Su Xiao. Her pupils were so dark they seemed to captivate the soul.
"You are strong, but we will stop you."
The woman rose from the ground. The fierce wind surging up from the Abyss stirred her long robes. Since just a moment ago, the sky over the Divine Realm had darkened, thick with clouds.
Boom!
A loud crash came from below the Abyss. The black-eyed woman's expression turned angry as she shifted her gaze downward.
"That ugly beast corroded by the Dragon Heart."
The black-eyed woman leaped into the Abyss. She had originally come to stop Su Xiao from doing something, but something seemed to have happened below, forcing her to return there.
"Ha ha, you act all high and mighty and then try to run, I—"
Baha was about to give chase, but Su Xiao stopped him. Now was not the time.
This unknown woman had left a few words and then departed. One of her statements bothered Su Xiao: "We will stop you." This suggested she was not alone.
After crossing the nearly two-kilometer-long suspension bridge, Su Xiao returned to the wilderness where the small wooden cabin stood. Thunder rumbled in the sky, and dark clouds gathered densely.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao arrived before the wooden cabin of the blind old man. The parasol tree beside the cabin rustled in the wind.
With a creak, he pushed open the wooden door. The blind old man sat on a wooden chair, a tattered cloth covering him. His pale eyes were narrowed, as if deep in thought.
"Oh? You're back. How many Ba Souls did you bring—"
Before the blind old man could finish, Su Xiao tossed a large cloth bundle before him. The bundle opened, revealing a pile of Ba Souls stacked together.
"Did you... kill all the battle-ready Tianba?"
"Probably."
"It seems I'll have to find a new place. The royal capital of Tarin isn't bad. I hear there's royal blood there."
The blind old man pulled a small shelf from the wall beside him, signaling that Su Xiao could take whatever he wanted.
Su Xiao now had a full 1,243 Ba Souls. He had nearly blown the Divine Realm apart to obtain this many, and now it was time to reap the rewards.
[You have obtained Secret Technique: Heavenly Flow (Blade Technique-type Move).]
[You have obtained Archery Grandmaster Scroll Lv.1.]
[You have obtained Divine Bone (Holy Spirit Rank) ×5.]
[You have obtained Divine Energy Condensate ×11.]
...
After spending 875 Ba Souls, a large pile of items was in hand, with 368 Ba Souls remaining. Su Xiao examined the other items. While they were all decent, exchanging Ba Souls for them felt somewhat wasteful.
Ba Souls could be used to enhance equipment, up to a maximum enhancement level of +8. Once enhanced to +8, the equipment would gain a source attribute.
Su Xiao decided to keep the remaining 368 Ba Souls. Once he left this world with the water-attribute source, the world would no longer produce Ba Souls. In other words, Ba Souls would become a "limited edition" rare item.
"My other goods are also quite good."
"Not needed."
"Is that so? Then I'll have to find a way to leave."
The blind old man's body gradually turned into a mist of light, vanishing along with the wooden chair beneath him.
"One last secret for you: friendship with the Giant is important."
The blind old man's voice faded, leaving only an empty wooden cabin.
Sitting cross-legged inside the cabin, Su Xiao began to organize all the benefits he had gained in this world. There was a considerable number of various items.
First were the Soul Coins, a full 6,014 of them. Seeing such a huge sum, even Su Xiao couldn't help but show a slight smile.
Aside from the Soul Coins, there were four treasure chests: one Epic Rank, two Holy Spirit Rank, and finally a set chest, the Ederi: King's Set (8/8).
Excluding the few rare items just obtained, the other items were not many: [Withered Moon Tree Seeds ×5], [Wolf Soul Stone (Holy Spirit Rank, Full Score Gem)], [Divine Bone (Epic Rank) ×1], and [Soak Soul + Drown Soul].
All of the above resources, plus 4 True Attribute Points, were everything Su Xiao had obtained before the world settlement.
He hesitated, wondering whether to uncover the final secret of this world. If this world were compared to a painting covered in dust, there was still a small patch of dust at the very center.
Once that dust was wiped away, the full picture of the Source World would be revealed before Su Xiao. This was the prerequisite for obtaining an S+ reward, just like in the Ghost World—understanding all the secrets of that world and participating in them.
High risk, high reward. That said, there was another saying: if you die here, you lose everything. All the effort from fighting from the First Rank to the Seventh Rank would vanish like smoke with the loss of life.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao decided... to wipe away the last "dust" on the "canvas." His current strength was not due to talent or anything else, but entirely to deep exploration of the world.
Before that, he needed to upgrade [Divine Judgment] to Holy Spirit Rank. Su Xiao removed the Divine Judgment Ring from his hand, took out two [Divine Energy Condensates], and brought them together.
Woo~
The shell of the [Divine Energy Condensate] cracked. A large surge of divine energy merged into the Divine Judgment Ring, completing instantly. A pitch-black radiance surged from the ring, forming a war scythe made of black mist.
...
Within a certain world.
In the gray sky, clouds piled layer upon layer, with only a single gap at the center letting through sunlight. What was normally common sunlight was here called a blessing.
This was Doom Star, an immensely vast world, a Transcendent Primordial World. Here, the sky was gray and black, the earth withered and yellow, and the polluted water had a bitter taste that was hard to swallow.
If the Wizard World had been invaded by Ancient Gods, then Doom Star was a plaything in the hands of the Ancient Gods.
To survive here, the first thing one had to do was believe in an Ancient God. The method of belief was "simple": pull out one of your own ribs, offer that rib to a certain Ancient God, and you could become its follower, barely clinging to life in Doom Star.
Inside a palace that towered into the dark clouds, a flesh-and-blood throne dozens of meters high stood imposingly at the innermost part. Darkness gathered there, making it impossible to see the figure on the throne. Only the Underworld God was qualified to sit here.
"Scythe."
A voice that was difficult to comprehend came forth. Just hearing this voice was enough to drive living beings mad, causing their bodies to mutate and their souls to twist.