Chapter 15: The Secret of the Nodes
Looking at the divine incarnation before him, Su Xiao rose from the wooden chair. It had been a long time since he encountered someone who summoned a divine incarnation.
"Xiluo, don't interfere."
Su Xiao walked toward the exit of the shop.
"Rest assured, I absolutely won't interfere."
Xiluo not only wouldn't interfere, he was also preparing to keep his distance. His instincts were screaming warnings—that fluorescent blue phantom was practically his natural enemy. He could withstand at most three attacks, no, two attacks and he would be dead, unable to even use his soul seal to heal the damage.
Seeing Su Xiao emerge from the shop, the Holy Sanctuary divine stick showed confusion on his face. He was well aware of his own strength. Before summoning the divine incarnation, he might not even be able to decisively defeat some top-tier Seventh Rank contractors.
The reason for this was that most of his resources were invested in controlling the divine incarnation.
That's right, the Holy Sanctuary divine stick could control the divine incarnation. Every time he did this, he had to pay a certain price, but before leaving this world, he could manifest the divine incarnation at any time.
As the saying goes, when something is abnormal, there must be a reason. The Holy Sanctuary divine stick became alert, preparing to guard against any means the enemy might have to seal away his summoned divine incarnation. As for destroying it, he never worried about that. The deity he believed in was not Eighth Rank, but a higher rank.
Under the wary gaze of the Holy Sanctuary divine stick, Su Xiao stopped about ten meters away.
One by one, fluorescent blue energy spears materialized above the divine incarnation. Each of these energy spears was six meters long, designed for penetration. Many powerful beings had met their end beneath these energy spears.
"Bai Ye, let's join forces. First, deal with that monster from the Apocalypse Paradise—that thing wearing a harmless skin. After eliminating her, you and I can compete for the remaining three nodes."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, but from the other's fragmented words, he gleaned an important piece of intelligence. It wasn't about how strong that contractor from the Apocalypse Paradise was, but about the nodes.
The current situation was: their side had two nodes, the Apocalypse team had one, and only three nodes remained. No matter what, the divine stick team had no chance. They had to occupy four nodes to win.
Judging by the divine stick team's meaning, as long as they eliminated the Apocalypse team, they would still have a chance.
Extrapolating from this, if the Apocalypse team was completely wiped out, the temporary coordinate they had already set up would become invalid, and the vacated node would reappear.
If that was the case, Su Xiao's previous speculation had some deviation, but it didn't matter.
Seizing nodes was important, but killing all the enemy Eighth Rank contractors was even more crucial. Even if the enemy had already occupied three nodes, as long as they were all killed, the vacated nodes would reappear. After that, they just had to wait.
"Hey, that look in your eyes..."
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick pondered inwardly, considering whether he had misspoken. Soon, he realized he had let slip a piece of information, but it didn't matter.
"That's right. When I was Fifth Rank, I seized nodes once. It doesn't matter how many nodes you grab in the early stage. The one who kills all the enemies is the final victor. The Void Tree will strip the defeated side's temporary coordinates from the nodes. How about it? Want to join forces? If you or I face that monster alone, we'll both die."
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick left one thing unsaid: those stripped enemy temporary coordinates would be converted into rewards, given to the final victor. That was a reward enough to make even top-tier Eighth Rank contractors envious, even willing to risk their lives to obtain it.
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick's plan was to first join forces to defeat the 'timid girl' from the Apocalypse Paradise, then give Su Xiao an opportunity to set up a third temporary coordinate, and finally use the divine incarnation to eliminate Su Xiao.
Whether this plan would succeed, the Holy Sanctuary divine stick didn't know. He wouldn't be arrogant enough to think himself invincible, but this plan was worth trying.
After killing the enemy, the rewards converted from three enemy temporary coordinates—just thinking about it made the Holy Sanctuary divine stick's heartbeat uncontrollably quicken.
"Then let's join forces."
Su Xiao lowered his hand from the sword hilt. With his Devouring Core fully activated, as long as he touched the enemy's divine incarnation, he could absorb the divine energy from it, using it to enhance his Azure Steel Shadow ability.
"Hoo~, running into you this time is my luck. Let's..."
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick's words were cut off mid-sentence as a node appeared on the street about ten meters away, making him hesitate inwardly.
"As a sign of cooperation, this node... is yours."
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick really wanted to claim this node for himself. After Su Xiao occupied this node, he only needed one more to win.
Even so, the Holy Sanctuary divine stick didn't intend to seize this node. He was the one who proposed the cooperation, and he couldn't prove that the 'timid girl' from the Apocalypse Paradise was truly a powerhouse.
"Agreed in advance: before we completely wipe out the Apocalypse team, if the next node appears, it belongs to me. You and I need to sign a contract. Let's do it now."
"Mm."
Su Xiao drafted a contract. As soon as it materialized through his mark, the Holy Sanctuary divine stick's face turned ugly.
"Sign a contract from your Reincarnation Paradise? Bai Ye, do you take me for a First Rank contractor? We'll sign a Void Tree contract."
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick drafted a contract notarized by the Void Tree. Since the Void Tree was the notary for this world, as long as a certain amount of Soul Coins was paid, temporary usage rights for the contract could be obtained.
Judging by the Holy Sanctuary divine stick's dark expression, he had likely been tricked by a Reincarnation Paradise contractor using a contract before, and had been half-killed in the process.
"..."
Su Xiao scanned the contract sent by the Holy Sanctuary divine stick. After verifying it through several methods, plus the notarization of the Reincarnation Paradise, he confirmed there were no issues and signed it.
Interestingly, the contract drafted by the Holy Sanctuary divine stick glossed over some key points. The node distribution was very clear, but it didn't mention anything about not attacking each other. This was something both parties understood: the cooperation was only temporary, a fragile alliance.
Approaching the node, Su Xiao took out a temporary coordinate and placed it inside the node. The temporary coordinate gradually expanded.
The ten-minute wait felt somewhat long. The Holy Sanctuary divine stick sat on the steps by the street, waiting, with a metal ball compressed from mechanical parts under his foot.
With a click, the temporary coordinate inside the node fully expanded, successfully established. Su Xiao made a gesture to Xiluo.
Woo~
A sound of something breaking through the air came from above. The Holy Sanctuary divine stick immediately stood up from the street, looking upward, his gaze seeming to realize something.
"So, she also knows the secret of the nodes."
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick muttered softly. Someone had already set up three temporary coordinates, reaching the limit for coordinate rewards. The powerhouse who had been hiding all along was about to make a move.
Boom!!
Like a meteor crashing down, the ground cracked, and the shockwave spread. Within nearly a kilometer radius, all buildings collapsed into rubble. The stone slabs originally laid on the streets were blown far away by the gale.
At the center of the impact, a large mass of purple rotten flesh exploded. Amidst the billowing dust and smoke, a figure walked out.
Jingle~
Chains clinked. A girl with short pink hair emerged, dozens of semi-transparent chains trailing behind her.
With a crackling sound, all the semi-transparent chains shattered. A light purple aura spread, peeling away a layer of the surrounding ground.
Within this aura, the Holy Sanctuary divine stick felt a chill run down his spine, his scalp tingling.
The 'timid girl's' aura had completely changed. On the backs of her hands, forearms, forehead, and other places, many light red spider eyes appeared. These spider eyes looked like finely carved gems. The 'timid girl' was named Unis, an Eighth Rank Battle Angel from the Apocalypse Paradise.
"Holding back until now has been so hard."
Unis blinked at Su Xiao, then turned her gaze to the Holy Sanctuary divine stick. That look was like looking at a dead man. The last time she met the Holy Sanctuary divine stick, it meant he was doomed.
"Bai Ye, attack!"
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick shouted loudly. The divine incarnation appeared around him, protecting him. After sensing Unis's aura up close, he realized his previous judgment was wrong, terribly wrong. This enemy was not something he could handle, even with a temporary partner.
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick shouted to attack but was retreating at full speed, clearly planning to take advantage of Su Xiao holding the enemy back to escape. But before he could retreat far, his entire body froze in place.
With a retching sound, the Holy Sanctuary divine stick vomited a large mouthful of black blood. His hands clawed at his own face.
A horrifying scene unfolded. Small spiders, white and red in color, crawled out from the Holy Sanctuary divine stick's mouth, nose, eye sockets, and even ear holes.
During the day, the Holy Sanctuary divine stick had noticed something strange about Unis, but he hadn't realized that during that meeting, Unis had already laid spider eggs inside his body. While the Holy Sanctuary divine stick was scheming against Unis, she had already set his death date.
"Ah!!"
The Holy Sanctuary divine stick let out a pig-like scream. Small spiders covered his head and entire body.
From the very beginning, Su Xiao knew the other party had ulterior motives, but he honestly hadn't expected this fragile ally to turn on him so quickly.
Su Xiao's entire body was shrouded in dark blue smoke. He thrust one hand into the divine incarnation. Time was too tight. He activated the Devouring Core beyond its limits, instantly absorbing over eighty percent of the divine energy from the divine incarnation into the Devouring Core, temporarily not converting or absorbing it.
After contacting the Devouring Core's full activation state, Su Xiao took out a [Blazing Sun's Wrath·Apollo]. This enemy was beyond what he could handle, at least not through conventional means. This opponent was much stronger than the Blood God or Duoyin King.