Chapter 14: The Divine Stick Stands Up
Moonlight illuminated the clock tower, where a young girl sat atop it, her two calves swinging back and forth.
"Is Heaven's Punishment dead? I told him not to go, but he insisted. It's better for one person to claim the coordinate reward. Hurry up and set up the third temporary coordinate, Hunter of Reincarnation Paradise."
The girl glanced at the prompt; the number of occupied nodes had become 1/6. As long as the enemy didn't occupy 4 nodes, she didn't care at all. Even if each person got 3, it was fine. She knew secrets the others didn't.
Without considering the node's secret, whichever side obtained the World Core afterward would have a higher chance of ultimate victory. After obtaining the World Core, they would begin setting up World Coordinates through it.
The locations for setting up World Coordinates were fixed. Undoubtedly, the defending side had an advantage over the attacking side, a result of the Void Tree's notarization mechanism.
Since this World Core was so difficult to seize, once captured, the coordinate setup point would definitely be an excellent defensive location, possibly even a terrain where one man could hold off ten thousand.
The timid girl knew one thing: among the Seventh Rank Contractors on their side, there were likely a bunch of cowards. If she didn't give them a dream start, those cowards probably couldn't win. She felt very exhausted.
"Sigh, I'm not a dog; I don't bite. Why do they have to leash me?"
The timid girl felt somewhat melancholy. Dozens of semi-transparent chains appeared behind her, most on the verge of snapping. The three relatively intact ones were also covered in cracks.
---
Twilight Fog Street.
Su Xiao sheathed his long blade, watching the node gradually disappear from the street. The third node contest had failed.
"Baha."
"Here."
Baha emerged from the alternate space and shook his head at Su Xiao, indicating that the Sanctuary Divine Stick had escaped. He had tracked him for a while, but the guy eventually escaped by jumping into a river.
An Eighth Rank Contractor wouldn't make such a mistake. After Su Xiao eliminated Heaven's Punishment, his priority target was that Sanctuary Divine Stick, and the other party was well aware of this.
Su Xiao pressed one hand on the street surface, sensing his surroundings. Hushiro should have engaged the enemy by now, yet there wasn't even a sound.
By the roadside, Bubu Wang was dejected, his dog head pressed against the wall, looking wilted, as if he needed some time alone to sulk.
Su Xiao looked at Bubu Wang, vaguely sensing something was wrong. If Bubu Wang didn't return to a cheerful state within a few minutes, there was a problem. He could consider using [Miracle Stone] to check if Bubu Wang was affected by some ability.
About a few minutes later, Hushiro limped over from the east side of the street. A cane was stuck vertically into the top of his head. Every few steps, he slapped himself in the face, then looked around.
"Did he get beaten stupid?"
Baha saw Hushiro slapping himself every few steps and activated his spatial ability, just in case.
"I'm fine. As long as I don't fall asleep within half an hour, I won't die."
Hushiro stopped beside Bubu Wang, crouched down, and gestured for Bubu Wang to look at him. The dejected Bubu Wang turned his head.
"Don't hold a grudge."
"Woof~?"
Bubu Wang was listless, but in the next instant, Hushiro gave him a hard slap across the face, spinning him around a few times.
With a *thud*, Hushiro's head hit the wall beside him. Bubu Wang, recovering from his daze, was about to bite Hushiro's clothes and pull him up, but Hushiro raised his hand with great effort.
"Don't. Slowly back away."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang perked up. With his left dog cheek swollen, he slowly backed off. He had been under the influence of an enemy's ability earlier, but Hushiro's hard slap woke him up, restoring him to a normal mental state.
Now, the influence of the unknown ability was absorbed into Hushiro's body. He had been under this ability's influence earlier, which was why he slapped himself every few steps to avoid falling asleep.
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang, now recovered, barked, making it clear that if he ever encountered the Red-Eyed Girl again, he would definitely bite her to avenge his humiliation.
"Don't come within five meters of me."
Hearing Hushiro's words, Su Xiao stopped.
"This is the Red-Eyed Girl's ability. The initial stage makes people depressed and dazed. After being affected by her ability, the affected person uses their own mental energy to construct an illusion. Just now, Bubuteni was a mobile illusion field. In the second stage, which is my current stage, I get very sleepy. Once I fall asleep, she drags me into a dream and kills me."
As Hushiro spoke, he slapped himself again.
"Can't Skull-Crushing Control Break work?"
Baha knew Hushiro's special move.
"No, that would directly drag me into the dream. The Red-Eyed Girl's illusion isn't scary; it's the dream that's terrifying. Once dragged into the dream, death is certain."
"That harsh? Your fight with her must have been intense."
"Cough, that—, of course... it was intense," Hushiro said vaguely, quickly changing the subject. "Did you capture the node?"
"No."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette. He wouldn't be discouraged by this failure.
It could be said that the Red-Eyed Girl's ability was terrifying. It didn't affect enemies through her own mental power, but through the enemy's own mental power affecting themselves.
Whether a Blade Grandmaster could be exempted from this ability remained to be tested in actual combat. It depended on the principle of the ability. If it was mental control, then it was possible. If it was a buff type, it would depend on the situation.
Hushiro's fight with the Red-Eyed Girl wasn't intense. The moment Hushiro met the Red-Eyed Girl, he was already under the influence of her ability.
The subsequent fight was: the Red-Eyed Girl, wearing high heels, walked ahead, her black skirt fluttering. Hushiro chased behind like a headless fly, occasionally getting so depressed he knelt and pounded the ground, very embarrassing.
If Hushiro hadn't cursed the Red-Eyed Girl so harshly, he wouldn't have been injured. The Red-Eyed Girl got angry from the cursing, took the risk to stick her cane into Hushiro's head, kicked him, and then left.
*Tap, tap, tap.*
The sound of high heels hitting the ground came. Hearing this sound, Hushiro's cheek twitched.
"She's here."
Hushiro looked toward a dark, narrow alley. The Red-Eyed Girl, wearing a black court dress and a black cloth strip over her eyes, emerged. She slightly lifted her skirt with both hands and bowed.
"Ah~, yi~, wo~"
The Red-Eyed Girl spoke a unique language, one that no one but herself could understand. Using that powerful ability came at a cost.
"Making mistakes requires paying the price. This time, our Healing Church made a very big mistake."
A voice came from the darkness behind the Red-Eyed Girl.
"Heaven's Punishment and another woman abused their authority and were expelled from the Healing Church. This is our apology gift. I hope you will accept it."
A small wooden box was thrown from the darkness. When the box flew in front of Su Xiao, a crystal layer climbed onto his right hand, and he caught the box.
[You have obtained Pure Soul Source·Holy Spirit Rank (After use, can upgrade Legendary and Epic items to Holy Spirit Rank).]
Su Xiao very much wanted this item, but his expression remained unchanged. He tossed the [Pure Soul Source] back into the darkness.
"No need. Heaven's Punishment said this isn't personal. It's a conflict between the Healing Church and the Black Tower."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the person in the darkness was speechless. Heaven's Punishment had screwed them over too badly.
"Why must the two of us be hostile?"
"Mm, you're right."
"?"
The person in the darkness seemed stunned. The sudden change in Su Xiao's attitude was very unexpected.
A few minutes later, the aura in the darkness dissipated. The [Pure Soul Source] returned to Su Xiao's hand. Besides this gain, he also obtained something more important.
The Red-Eyed Girl stopped in front of Hushiro. With a *pop*, a wave of energy spread around Hushiro's head, and he no longer felt drowsy.
"Ah~, yi~"
The Red-Eyed Girl raised her hand, looking at the cane on top of Hushiro's head.
"You want this thing?"
Hushiro pointed to the straight cane stuck in his head.
"Wo~"
"Heh."
Hushiro pulled the cane from his head, gripped it with both hands, and tried with all his strength to break it. A few seconds later, a look of surprise appeared in his eyes. This cane was unexpectedly sturdy.
"Ptooey."
Hushiro spat on the cane and handed it to the Red-Eyed Girl. She took a few steps back, expressionless but seemingly a bit disgusted.
The Red-Eyed Girl stood there for a moment, then walked into the narrow alley. She didn't want the ruby cane anymore.
The battle subsided. Su Xiao walked into a shop by the street, sat on a wooden chair, and waited for the fourth node to appear.
Time passed quickly. At 5:30 in the morning, the sky was still pitch black, with no sign of dawn, the same as midnight. This was probably caused by the approaching Black Tide.
Su Xiao checked the time. It was 5:45, 15 minutes until the node appeared.
Across the street, a scruffy old man was lying on the steps. It was Iron Skull·Kiplin. Not long after Heaven's Punishment died, this old geezer came back. Although he had accepted 120,000 Black Crystals, he didn't intend to keep his promise.
"Yesterday at noon, 6 PM, you both came to District 5. At midnight, you fought Heaven's Punishment. The next important time point is 6 AM? That's 14 minutes from now."
Lying on the steps with his legs crossed, Iron Skull·Kiplin spoke.
"I don't know what these time points represent, but I want 150,000 Black Crystals. Our Steam Alliance is on your side."
Iron Skull·Kiplin revealed his greedy nature. This guy was bored and wanted to make a quick profit.
"It doesn't matter whose side you're on. If I were you, I definitely wouldn't be lying there."
Baha sneered. Hearing his words, Iron Skull·Kiplin got up, and suddenly, he lunged forward recklessly.
*Slap.*
Iron Skull·Kiplin, lunging mid-air, was caught by a fluorescent blue, semi-transparent hand. This hand was entirely composed of energy and appeared very suddenly. The phantom connected to this fluorescent blue hand was nearly ten meters tall.
"Old thing, do you still recognize this small-time character?"
The Sanctuary Divine Stick emerged from the building behind. His body was like a phantom, directly penetrating the wall. The tall fluorescent blue phantom enveloped him.
*Crack, crack, crack...*
Iron Skull·Kiplin was nearly crushed into a ball by the fluorescent blue hand. He couldn't even scream. His right hand and legs were squeezed into pulp. His metal-structured head and torso creaked and cracked. Blood seeped into the deformed metal parts.
"Wait—"
*Crack!*
The fluorescent blue hand completely crushed Iron Skull·Kiplin into a ball and casually tossed him aside like trash.
"Thirty hours to summon the incarnation of a god. I kept you waiting, Bai Ye of Reincarnation Paradise."
The Sanctuary Divine Stick stopped in the middle of the street. With the blessing of the god's incarnation, he was completely different from before.