# Chapter 37: Invitation
Su Xiao walked along the Realm Severing Thread. He appeared to be completely overwhelming the enemies below, but that wasn't actually the case. Demon Hunting Hour had a time limit and consumed an enormous amount of stamina. Given his current constitution, he always felt fatigued after using Demon Hunting Hour.
"Got you!"
A short, stocky man roared, dragging his hand backward. The air between his fingertips rippled like water, following the motion of his pull.
Almost simultaneously, the pale blue energy covering Su Xiao's body was torn away. The Demon Hunting Hour state dissipated, entering its cooldown phase. Seventh Rank contractors were not to be underestimated.
"His spatial ability is neutralized. He's not a space-type, he's a technique-type."
"That's... good news?"
"Good news my ass."
Hai Yizuo couldn't help but curse. He felt that their group might have encountered the strongest technique-type in the seventh rank.
"This attack method..." Hai Yizuo looked at a headless corpse not far away and said bitterly, "We've run into Reincarnation Paradise's Bai Ye. The one who killed Feishi."
"Hai Yizuo, stop guarding against Yueshitu. Use it now."
Nugan felt bitter in his heart. In his view, Apocalypse Paradise's Yueshitu, Reincarnation Paradise's Bai Ye, and Sanctuary Paradise's Shenfu—these three shouldn't have been sent to the seventh rank battlefield. They should have been thrown into the eighth rank battlefield instead.
Without the blessing of Demon Hunting Hour, Su Xiao leaped down from the Realm Severing Thread. He walked toward the enemies ahead. A lightning spear shot straight toward his head.
Bang!
The nearly three-meter-long lightning spear was caught in Su Xiao's hand. His hand, covered in a crystal layer, clenched. Lightning scattered in all directions. The tip of his blade touched the ground, conducting the electricity into the earth beneath his feet.
Crackle~
The blade tip dragged across the ground with arcs of electricity. Su Xiao charged forward at full speed. After just two steps, his pupils slightly contracted.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
Thump~
A shockwave spread. Everything around Su Xiao slowed down, including the attacks coming at him from all directions. The enemies had long since scattered, vaguely surrounding him.
Su Xiao passed through the gap between two attacks. He could sense that Hai Yizuo not far away was brewing something—perhaps a certain ability, or maybe activating some high-grade item.
Whatever Hai Yizuo was planning, killing him would have over a ninety percent chance of stopping it.
"Roar!"
The Blood Beast coalesced and lunged at Hai Yizuo, but Hai Yizuo hung his head. The Blood Beast exploded violently.
Su Xiao stomped the ground beneath him. About one-fifth of his Azure Steel Shadow energy was consumed. A wall constructed from crystal layers rose behind him.
In ordinary combat, Su Xiao wouldn't defend this way—it consumed too much Azure Steel Shadow energy. But now, he could rely on the passive effect of the Azure Shadow King ability: every time he killed an enemy with his blade, the enemy's soul energy would be converted through Dragon-Slaying Flash, restoring 18% of his mana.
'Blade Path Sword: Flow.'
An ethereal wind scar swept across Hai Yizuo's head. But Hai Yizuo smiled eerily. Behind him, seawater slowly rose, vaguely forming the image of a giant octopus.
A sense of crisis rushed toward him. Su Xiao's left hand clenched.
"Dead Silence..."
Just as Su Xiao was about to activate the Dead Silence Descends ability, the seawater opposite him suddenly receded, shrinking back into the ground and eventually disappearing. The way it retreated made it clear—it had been scared away.
"?"
Hai Yizuo, half-collapsed, looked completely bewildered. A cut appeared on his head, and the pupils in his eyes turned into vertical slits.
Su Xiao felt a heavy blow to his chest and abdomen. He was about to continue his blade strike when he realized Hai Yizuo was already dead.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
The domain of Time expanded. Su Xiao stopped in front of Nugan.
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme.'
A cut crossed Nugan's chest. That wasn't the end—Su Xiao followed up with several more slashes.
Boom!
A shockwave rushed toward him. Su Xiao raised one hand to block. Over a dozen black spikes embedded themselves in his arm and chest.
Nugan's shredded corpse fell to the ground. Attacks followed immediately.
Within the sixth floor, blade light crisscrossed. Banishment pierced through the air, creating air bursts as it weaved among the enemies.
Twenty minutes later, the battle on the sixth floor subsided. Blood dripped from Su Xiao's chin. He let out a long breath. He had just withstood an Apollo head-on, plus endured the desperate counterattacks of Hai Yizuo and Nugan while being surrounded by a large number of contractors.
Both of these men had backbone, holding the mindset that even in death, they wouldn't let their enemy feel good. If Death Paradise hadn't been averse to explosives manufacturing, these two would almost certainly have brought some high-powered explosives.
Su Xiao hadn't killed all 191 enemy contractors. Over thirty had escaped. These contractors weren't easy to deal with. By the end, everyone was pulling out their trump cards.
On the first floor of the Holy Temple, a group of Apocalypse Paradise contractors fled here in desperation. There were no living people on the first floor. A figure dressed like a priest stood with his back to Molei and the others. Around him, over twenty bodies lay scattered.
Shenfu had appeared. His hair was graying. He wore a long black robe, a cross around his neck, and a gold chain on his chest.
"Molei."
Shenfu looked at Molei as if examining her. Though he smiled warmly, Molei felt ice-cold all over. She felt that the person standing before her was no longer human, but some kind of unknown existence. It seemed like... he wasn't even a contractor anymore.
"Today is not your day to die."
Shenfu walked toward Molei. The group was in despair. They had just been beaten down by Su Xiao, especially Molei, who had been kicked so hard by Su Xiao's straight kick that she was plastered against the wall. She slowly slid down from the wall, one of her teeth loosened.
Shenfu walked past the group. Only when he reached the second floor did Molei and the others flee from the Holy Temple.
They weren't fighting this world war anymore. Bai Ye, Shenfu, Heimo—these weren't seventh rank combatants. They had witnessed what the peak of seventh rank battlefields looked like. The strongest seventh rank battlefield in history. Even mid-to-lower tier eighth rank contractors would have to keep their heads down here. If they got cocky, they'd die quickly.
When Shenfu reached the sixth floor, a metal-bound book appeared in his hand.
"Bai Ye, how much longer until the world coordinates are generated?"
"..."
Seeing that Su Xiao, sitting on the steps, didn't respond, Shenfu smiled and walked to the stairs. When he entered within 10 meters of Su Xiao, he paused briefly, then continued forward, sitting on the steps beside Su Xiao.
"You have the Serpent Tablet?"
"Yes."
"Good. The 'Judgment Scepter' is in Rogesh's hands. That's the 'key' their Magic Association has preserved for many years."
Shenfu paused, then took a rolled whip from his bosom.
"I found the 'Penitent Whip.' Still missing the 'Blazing Sun Disc' and the 'Heart Flame.' The 'Heart Flame' is with the Black Tower faction. Where the 'Blazing Sun Disc' is, I'm not sure yet. Five 'keys.' You, me, and Rogesh each have one. We'll figure out the remaining two together."
Shenfu clearly hadn't come to seize the World Core. As for the Rogesh he mentioned, that was the president of the Magic Association—the father of the Immortal, Hugh Xi Luo.
Shenfu's purpose here was unknown. As for the five 'keys' he mentioned, Su Xiao only had a partial understanding. He had been fighting the world war before this and hadn't had time to investigate.
"Do you need me to join forces with you?"
"No."
Su Xiao didn't sense any malice from Shenfu, but he wouldn't trust this old bastard either.
"Be careful. Yueshitu has probably summoned about 90,000 summons."
Leaving this remark, Shenfu walked out of the Holy Temple.
Su Xiao checked the remaining numbers of the various paradises. When he saw the lines of text before him, his eyes narrowed. One of them read:
Sanctuary Paradise Survivors: 0 people.