# Chapter 9: The Coward
Su Xiao leaped between the buildings of Smoke City, rushing at full speed toward District 4. Baha was scouting from above, while Huxiro stayed at the rear—speed wasn't his forte, but he could keep up.
Huxiro was particularly persistent, still carrying the large cloth sack. The female secret technique master inside was probably suffering considerable psychological trauma.
Before the spatial resonance reaction weakened, Su Xiao arrived at District 5. The node was right here.
The streets of District 5 were much cleaner, with buildings showing signs of renovation. The Magic Association had a permanent presence here, so naturally they gave the local refugees some benefits.
Su Xiao stopped beside a canal in the city. The canal was about six meters wide, with paths made of square stones on both sides. The water flowed slowly. The node was in this river.
Just as Su Xiao was about to leap into the water, Huxiro grabbed his arm.
"I don't die easily. Let me go first. That 'hole' in the river is the node?"
At such close range, Huxiro could also sense the node's presence. The first node was in the water.
With a splash, Huxiro jumped into the river. About ten seconds later, he flew backward out of the water.
"There's... there's, cough cough, a large group of people in the river."
"Specific number."
"At least several hundred."
Hearing this, Su Xiao leaped into the water. The scene before him changed. After putting on his diving mask, his vision became clear.
The river was at least thirty meters deep. A circular hole emitting white light was at the bottom, about one meter in size. A metal pillar had already extended within the circular hole. The spatial fluctuations around it were intense. Someone had beaten them to it and was setting up a temporary coordinate.
A temporary coordinate needed about ten minutes to stabilize. If interrupted during this time, the temporary coordinate would retract into the metal pillar to avoid complete destruction.
*Clang!*
Su Xiao slashed out a blade aura. The blade aura split through the water, heading straight for the node at the river bottom.
Over a dozen black shadows appeared in front of the node. These shadows moved with incredible speed in the water, charging head-on against the blade aura. They ultimately completely neutralized the slashing momentum, and the blade aura dissipated in the water.
*Whoosh~*
A black shadow brushed past Su Xiao. He felt the surrounding river water grow warm.
*Gurgle gurgle~*
Large bubbles rose from the river bottom. The water temperature skyrocketed, eventually reaching boiling point and beginning to churn.
A crystal layer spread across Su Xiao's body surface. He vanished from his spot and reappeared in front of the node. His long blade hooked upward, and the temporary coordinate inside the node immediately retracted, being gathered together.
*Clang!*
Su Xiao struck the metal pillar in the water, sending it flying. His perception was fully open. There were several hundred presences around him, most buried in the silt at the river bottom.
"The Lord says, water and fire merge, and they shall boil."
A voice echoed through the surrounding river water. The water stopped boiling, but it faintly showed a light red color. Sparks drifted through the water. The temperature here had far exceeded water's boiling point.
"The Lord says, you shall be bound by chains."
*Pfft, pfft, pfft...*
As soon as the voice in the water appeared, six finger-thick energy chains pierced through Su Xiao's body. His arms, shoulders, and legs—six wounds in total. But in the next moment, the energy chains binding him shattered. This was an energy-type + spirit-type control effect, which was negated by Blade Grandmaster.
The black Death God apparition appeared, its execution scythe swinging down. Faint, miserable screams came, then dissipated in the water.
*Smack!*
Light exploded in the water. The execution scythe swept through, and a winged apparition appeared before being dispersed. This was a death-substitution ability that exempted a Sanctuary divine stick from the soul-slaying effect.
Although the soul-slaying was negated, a figure in a long robe emerged in the water. He held his head with one hand, his pupils dim and lifeless—this was caused by suffering high-level soul damage.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
'Blade Path Sword: Flow.'
The domain of Time spread through the water. A golden claw reaching out from the water slowed down, failing to grab the falling Sanctuary divine stick.
*Pfft.*
Blood spread through the water. 'Flow' was the strongest slashing technique among all of Su Xiao's blade techniques. Inspired by the Tianba clan's secret blade techniques, Su Xiao had developed this sword move.
'Blade Path Sword: Azure Demon.'
To be safe against an Eighth Rank Contractor having a trump card, Su Xiao slashed out an Azure Demon strike. If 'Flow' was his strongest slashing technique, then Azure Demon was the fastest.
*Shhhh!*
The figure in the water had its head severed by the azure-blue blade aura, slowly sinking to the bottom.
Not far away in the water, a Sanctuary divine stick in a 'Divine Form State' felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't even know what had happened—his teammate was already dead?
This Sanctuary divine stick in his long robe quickly retreated. He had tried to rescue earlier, but as soon as his ability entered the domain of 'Blade Path Sword: Time,' he sensed something was wrong. If he continued the rescue, he would be in danger himself.
In reality, that tragically dead Sanctuary divine stick had brought it upon himself. If he had faced Su Xiao head-on, he could have tangled with him in the water for a long time. Both water and fire were his home turf.
But this Sanctuary divine stick had recklessly tried to control Su Xiao with energy-type + spirit-type abilities. Su Xiao had a skill called Soul Gaze, leveled up to Lv.70.
After negating the control effect, it immediately counterattacked the caster, dealing 2170 points of energy backlash damage + soul strength difference × 30.6 soul damage. If this damage exceeded 60% of the enemy's maximum health, the enemy's soul would rapidly collapse, immediately triggering soul execution!
When Su Xiao first entered this world, with nothing to do in the cell, he had eaten over twenty pieces of Soul Crystal Fragments, raising his soul strength to 410 points.
With Su Xiao's soul strength of 410 points, if that Sanctuary divine stick hadn't had a death-substitution ability, he would have died instantly, without needing the follow-up 'Flow' and 'Azure Demon' strikes.
Meanwhile, behind a civilian house several hundred meters from the shore, two figures—one tall, one short—stood there. The young girl among them looked at the image reflected on the wall, a hint of surprise in her eyes, then her whole body began to tremble.
"Heavenly Punishment... this... this person, can you handle him? Can I abandon the mission and go mining to recoup my losses?"
The girl seemed so scared her legs had gone weak. The muscular man beside her had a calm expression. His name was Heavenly Punishment. After advancing to Eighth Rank, he had experienced nine mission worlds.
"I can handle him, but not now. My binding chain hasn't broken yet."
Heavenly Punishment raised his hand. A chain appeared, then vanished. This fleeting chain was covered in cracks.
If an Eighth Rank Contractor was too strong, even if they entered a Seventh Rank world with a mission, they would be restricted for a period of time. This was caused by World Force. The current situation was special. Heavenly Punishment's binding chain was being released over time. Being bound by a 'World Chain' was a testament to his strength.
This was also why Reincarnation Paradise had sent Su Xiao to this world. No matter how strong he was within Seventh Rank, he wouldn't be bound or rejected by the Seventh Rank world.
"Fight him again in ten hours. Let's go, coward."
Heavenly Punishment strode into the distance, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"Don't call me a coward! This is my survival instinct. Instinct, you understand?"
The timid girl quickly followed, but after a few steps, she stumbled over a raised stone slab.
*Jingle~*
The apparitions of dozens of chains flashed behind the timid girl for an instant. Heavenly Punishment, walking ahead, paused in his steps.
"Coward, did you... sense anything just now?"
"Huh? Sense what? Let's just run quickly, please."
"..."
Heavenly Punishment was speechless. He strode into a small alley. The timid girl turned her head to look behind her, seemingly at someone. The corner of her mouth slightly curled up.
A moment later, the timid girl trotted to catch up with Heavenly Punishment, humming a tune as she went.
Just after the timid girl left, a Sanctuary divine stick appeared from behind a wall. He pressed tightly against the wall, breathing rapidly. Just a single glance had given him a chill that came from the depths of his soul.
"What... what kind of monster was that?"
The Sanctuary divine stick's cheek twitched. He looked at the war mission and suddenly felt that this mission was very treacherous. Even though he was an early-stage Eighth Rank Contractor, in this Seventh Rank world filled with monsters, he was just small fry.
Underwater, Su Xiao stood at the river bottom. Huxiro and Baha were both on the shore, on guard against the Apocalypse duo's attack. They had planned earlier—if the situation underwater turned bad, they would dive in to assist.
After instantly killing a Sanctuary divine stick in a somewhat unexpected way, Su Xiao found that the remaining three enemies had retreated. The faint sense of being watched completely disappeared.
Ten minutes passed in an instant. The temporary coordinate fully expanded, merging into the node. The node closed.
[Hunter has successfully deployed one temporary coordinate. Remaining deployments needed: 3/4.]