Chapter 42: The Strongest in the Divine Realm
The Giant King looked down, his voice rumbling as he said, “Source’s Soul-Drenched One, do you… want to go challenge them?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t go, friend… you’ll die. The giant… doesn’t want to watch a friend… die.”
“Die? Who knows.”
“The giant… can’t stop you, can he?”
The Giant King rose from the ground, his joints emitting harsh, grating sounds. The Giant King’s strength was undeniable, but he had been severely wounded during the Godfall War and had since remained guarding the foul, damp swamp.
During that time, the Giant King had been challenged by many strong individuals. He never explained what he was guarding or what lay beyond the door. He was too lonely, hoping someone would challenge him. His entire giant race was gone, leaving only him—no one could understand that feeling.
“Friend, don’t die. The giant… can’t help you defeat him. The giant… can’t break the pact.”
The Giant King pulled the curved blade greatsword from the ground and strode forward with large steps.
Following the Giant King, Su Xiao soon arrived before the abyss. Baha had already gone down to scout earlier, but there was nothing below.
“Boss, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“Woof.”
Just as Bubu Wang barked, the Giant King, standing at the edge of the abyss, raised his arm and tossed the Soul-Drenched One, which was the size of a grain of rice to him, into his mouth.
Hiss—
White vapor rose from the Giant King’s body. He held the curved blade greatsword horizontally across his chest and slashed, letting his blood stain the blade.
“Little one, your turn.”
The Giant King extended the curved blade greatsword toward Liu. Liu glanced at her own chest, then at the dozen-meter-long curved blade greatsword before her. She shook her head—her final act of defiance.
“He needs your blood, not for you to open your chest with a greatsword. What kind of brain circuit is that?”
Baha couldn’t bear to watch. With a flicker of afterimage, Liu’s palm was cut. She raised her hand and let her blood drip onto the curved blade greatsword.
The Giant King raised the curved blade greatsword with one hand. Whether it was an illusion or not, the sky grew darker. A patch of dark clouds dispersed, revealing the sun behind them.
The sun was now black-red, with a pitch-black center and dark red edges.
With a whoosh, flames ignited on the Giant King’s body. The curved blade greatsword in his hand descended toward the abyss. The black sun in the sky seemed to draw closer, and from the darkness at its center, a viscous, dark red liquid flowed like magma, rolling into the abyss.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
The Giant King spat out scorching hot blood. His body was covered in sparks, as if about to burst into flames.
“No need… to worry. The giant… ate the Soul-Drenched One. He won’t… burn to death.”
The Giant King sat down beside the abyss as it began to return to its original form. Many years ago, this place was not an abyss.
The scorching liquid flowing from the ‘sun’ gradually filled the abyss. After contacting the air for a while, this liquid turned into rock resembling volcanic stone.
“The giant’s… mission is over. The giant can finally… get some sleep.”
The Giant King walked off into the distance. For him, a good sleep would take at least a few months, even a year. He didn’t need treatment; as long as he could sleep, his injuries would gradually heal.
As the scorching, viscous liquid filled the abyss, it began to overflow. Su Xiao could only retreat.
After a full three hours, the ‘sun’ stopped flowing with black-red liquid. Its black outer shell shattered, and the entire ‘sun’ turned a blood-red dark.
At the former location of the abyss, a towering molten mountain appeared. The mountain was barren, still radiating residual heat.
A path led to the top of the molten mountain. The dark red sun hung overhead, as if resonating with the mountain.
“Moo!”
Amu’s battle intent was high. In this world, it had been in a semi-autistic state, too heavily suppressed by the Tianba Clan.
Su Xiao walked toward the small path leading to the top of the molten mountain. Due to the dark red sun in the sky, it was impossible to judge the mountain’s height.
“Liu, go find the giant.”
After saying this, Su Xiao headed up the molten mountain. He had nearly fully explored the secrets of this world; he wouldn’t stop here.
Following the path up the molten mountain, after walking a few dozen meters, Su Xiao spotted an oval-shaped rock half-embedded in the ground, inscribed with Tianba script.
‘Even if he was once humble, now he is the strongest in the Divine Realm. I, Drowning Chief·Niro, come here to challenge the strongest.’
This was a message left by a Tianba. Judging by the inscription, this molten mountain had become an abyss at some point in time.
Before becoming an abyss, Tianba had come to challenge and left this message.
Continuing on, after walking over two hundred meters, another rock appeared on the path, inscribed with:
‘Guarding the Source with the most humble body—admirable. I come to challenge in the name of Tianba.’
After reading this epitaph, Su Xiao didn’t stop. But he hadn’t gone far when another oval rock appeared on the path, fully embedded in the molten mountain.
‘Humble? Perhaps you were once humble. Now, no one can defeat you—except me. The Ninth Generation Tianba·Qingqin, Founder of the Soul-Drenched, comes here to challenge.’
Su Xiao saw the word ‘humble’ for the third time. When he had advanced about a kilometer, a fourth rock appeared.
‘With a broken body, you struck the strongest sword. You are no longer humble, nor anyone’s servant. You are the Guardian of the Source. Tianba acknowledges your strength and greatness. The First Generation Tianba comes here to challenge—utter defeat.’
This was the first Tianba to slay a god, whose name was Tianba itself.
Continuing on, Su Xiao saw no more rock inscriptions. The molten mountain had reached its peak.
The summit of the molten mountain was relatively flat. As soon as he arrived, Su Xiao saw a figure lying on the ground, nearly fully sunken into the mountain.
Su Xiao stepped forward. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the person.
“Qifu.”
“Is someone… here?”
Qifu, half-embedded in the molten mountain, spoke. Beside him lay a corpse—the black-eyed woman seen earlier. She had seemed impressive before, but now she was face-down on the ground, a dragonheart axe embedded in her back. She was very dead.
“Is that Bai Ye? Bai Ye, I… succeeded.”
Qifu was extremely weak, on the verge of death. Two Source powers coexisting within him—it was impossible not to die.
“See, I’m a Tianba now. The first, Flame Tianba.”
With his last strength, Qifu pulled his right arm from the molten mountain. His skin had turned dark red.
“Mm, you’re a Tianba now.”
“Hahaha, even a liar like me can become a Tianba. Tianba doesn’t seem so impressive. I should have heeded your warning—give up the Dragon Heart, stay in Tarin. In the end… I still couldn’t control it. I still… couldn’t do anything.”
Qifu’s hand suddenly grabbed Su Xiao’s arm. A sparking mark appeared on Su Xiao’s sleeve.
“Take my last hope and go defeat him. If it’s you… maybe you can win.”
The sparks in Qifu’s eyes quickly dimmed and went out. His arm fell limp.
[Notification: You have received the Source Power blessing of Flame Tianba·Qifu. This is a fire-attribute Source Power. For one hour, all fire-type damage you receive is reduced by 20% (including flame true damage).]
Su Xiao stood up and walked past Qifu’s corpse. Behind him, Amu pressed one hand to the ground, freezing Qifu’s body within the molten mountain.
When Amu reached the black-eyed woman, it pulled the long-handled battle axe from her back. As soon as it gripped the Dragonheart Axe, a layer of frost spread over the handle, thickening it. At the center of the bucket-sized axe head, the blue heart began to beat again.
At the top of the molten mountain, Su Xiao stopped before a flat area. The mountain surface here was covered in circles, nested within each other.
Before stepping into the area ahead, Su Xiao took out [Beast Rage Potion (Seventh Rank)] from his storage space and downed the translucent brown-yellow liquid inside.
Beast Rage Potion: After use, maximum health is temporarily reduced by 10%. While the potion’s effect lasts, true strength and agility are increased by 10 points. All seventh-rank judgment effects are ignored. This effect has priority and lasts for 200 seconds.
A surge of power erupted within Su Xiao, then subsided. He equipped [Silver Moon Blade (Overlord Rank Ring)], drew his blade with his right hand, and with his left hand wearing [Silver Moon Blade], he stroked Dragon-Slaying Flash. The Moon Blade effect was successfully applied. He then deactivated the wear effect of [Silver Moon Blade].
Cyan Steel Shadow energy surged along Dragon-Slaying Flash. Su Xiao was in full state: Beast Rage Potion + Moon Blade + Cyan Steel Shadow.
With this done, he stepped into the area ahead.
Rumble…
A sound came from above. The entire molten mountain began to shake. Above, the dark red sun released a final stream of black-red viscous liquid, crashing down before Su Xiao.
Su Xiao raised his left hand to shield his face. A large wave of sparks surged toward him, along with a scorching heat.
Within the dark red liquid, a nearly two-meter-long greatsword was thrust into the ground. The blade was as wide as a palm, corroded and uneven, no longer showing a gleaming edge. Both sides of the blade were covered in irregular notches. The handle and guard also looked worn and old.
What was even more unexpected was that the tip of the greatsword was missing a piece. Such a battered sword, yet it exuded an intense sense of danger.
From within the scorching dark red liquid, a hand emerged. This hand was larger than a normal human’s, and the arm guard covering it was pitted and scarred.
“Roar!!”
A furious roar shook the surrounding dark red liquid, splattering it everywhere. The one who roared stood over three meters tall, clad in armor that was decayed and worn, holding a greatsword whose original color was unrecognizable, its blade edges full of gaps.
This Guardian of the Source was named Aedri Dewen, but many called him the First King—the First King of Tarin. To this day, his statue still stood at the center of Tarin’s royal capital, the tallest building in the city.
The royal bloodline passed down by the Aedri royal family was the blood of Aedri Dewen—blood fused with the Source.
In truth, calling Aedri Dewen the First King was inaccurate. History was often filled with lies. The First King was merely a wishful notion of the Tarin royal family. Aedri Dewen never sat on the throne for even a second. In fact, he had never even been to the Kingdom of Tarin.
He was once a humble man, but from the moment he decided to guard the Source, he was no longer humble. The word ‘humble’ had nothing to do with him. He was the strongest in the Divine Realm, acknowledged by the Tianba Clan—Guardian of the Source, Aedri Dewen.