Chapter 50: Desolate Village
Blazing Sun Sanctuary, Outermost Area, Warm Forest.
The withered trees seemed on the verge of igniting, with only a few sparse tender leaves visible on each trunk, their surfaces covered in gnaw marks.
The ground was submerged in knee-deep stagnant water, with dead leaves, insects, and the carcasses of rodents floating on the surface. Under the direct sunlight, a foul odor mixed with stench spread throughout the area.
There were quite a few living creatures within the sanctuary, or rather, it had a unique ecosystem. Species that couldn't adapt had already died off.
The survivors had all undergone varying degrees of mutation, the solar force within their bodies allowing them to ignore the scorching radiance of the 'Sun.'
'Warm Forest' was the outermost region of the Blazing Sun Sanctuary. Don't be misled by its name—it was dangerous here, but compared to other parts of the sanctuary, this place was barely considered safe.
Su Xiao waded through the knee-deep murky water, with Baha flying a few meters above, its sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.
"Bai Ye, have you found any trace of those two?"
Shenfu spoke from a few meters away, his face pale. He had been injured earlier by a Sun Warrior. A penetrating wound plus some organ damage wouldn't normally be a serious injury for him, but for some reason, his condition had been poor ever since they escaped.
"Are you being affected by the Sun Warrior's ability?"
As Su Xiao spoke, he pulled a fat, ten-centimeter-long leech from the back of his hand and tossed it away. The creature's surface was covered in bumps, looking utterly disgusting.
"I'm fine."
Shenfu took out a vial of potion, drank it all in a few gulps, and let out a long breath, seemingly having mostly recovered from his injuries.
Su Xiao stopped paying attention to Shenfu. He could confirm one thing: being wounded by a Sun Warrior would cause serious trouble.
Earlier, he had tried to examine the Sun Warrior's data, but unfortunately, the detection tier of the Apostle's Eye was too low, and the attempt failed.
Through preliminary observation, Su Xiao had gathered general information about the Sun Warriors.
First, the Sun Warriors had extremely strong physical defenses. Earlier, Shenfu's attack had injured a Sun Warrior but hadn't caused fatal damage.
Aside from their strong defenses, the Sun Warriors' offensive capabilities were average. But don't mistake this for a weakness—taking a hit from a Sun Warrior resulted in a continuous damage-over-time effect, just like Shenfu now. He had said he was fine earlier, but now he was resting against a withered tree.
Beyond these two points, the Sun Warriors' final trait made them nearly impossible to deal with: the more of them there were, the stronger they became. Once their numbers exceeded 20, Su Xiao could only avoid their sharp edge. If they surpassed 30 and managed to corner him, he would most likely die.
Su Xiao no longer considered this a seventh-rank world. If the danger level of the Eastern Continent was 5, then the Holy Capital's danger level was at least 300 or more. Compared to this place, the Western Continent was nothing.
Su Xiao suspected that even Spider Woman Younis would have to play it safe and explore gradually if she came here.
He wasn't surprised that the promotion mission was this difficult. The difficulty of promotion missions wasn't fixed; it was determined based on his strength.
Clearly, Su Xiao's strength far exceeded the seventh rank, which was why he had been teleported to the Demon Spirit Star, first competing with eighth-rank contractors, then heading to the Eastern Continent for a world war, and finally arriving at the Sanctuary Chilia.
His core purpose for coming to the Demon Spirit Star this time wasn't to fight in the world war at all. He had just fought one on the side before executing his promotion mission.
"Bai Ye, are you undergoing the trial to advance to the eighth rank?"
Shenfu spoke with a smile. Su Xiao ignored him and continued wading forward. Bubu Wang had already caught up with the enemy, providing a general direction to follow. The place where Guild Leader Roggs was heading was most likely the central area of the Sanctuary Chilia.
For now, Su Xiao had no intention of fighting Shenfu. The benefits outweighed the drawbacks. First, Shenfu wasn't a violator of the Reincarnation Paradise.
Second, in this dangerous sanctuary, having one more outsider meant having one more person to share the enemy's firepower. More importantly, he had a trump card to deal with Shenfu.
There were many types of transcendent creatures in the Warm Forest, but for some reason, none of them approached Su Xiao's group. It might have been due to his blood aura, or perhaps because he had consumed the Sun Potion.
Su Xiao urgently needed a safe enough place to deal with the Sun Potion issue. Exchanging for Sun Potions in the Soul Shop was simply too expensive.
After a few hours, the Sun Potions consumed by Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha would cost the equivalent of 120 Soul Coins per hour.
Su Xiao didn't want to bear this expense. It wasn't because he was stingy—he had spent a massive amount of resources and time to improve his alchemy, precisely to handle situations like this.
With his Alchemical Pharmaceutics at Lv.56 and Plant Harmony at Lv.65, it was absurd that he had to spend Soul Coins to exchange for potions in a world where pharmaceutics wasn't even prosperous. That didn't make sense.
Earlier, Su Xiao had consumed a diluted version of the Sun Potion provided by Ovia. By sensing its composition and preparation method through spiritual energy, his only impression was that it was crude—just mixing a few materials into water, stirring, and calling it a potion.
Now, if he could find a safe enough environment, he could decipher and prepare the Sun Potion within a day at most.
Materials weren't a concern either. The reason Su Xiao was traveling with Shenfu wasn't a coincidence. When he retreated earlier, he had deliberately moved toward Shenfu's direction.
Once he found a safe environment and successfully deciphered the Sun Potion's preparation method, he could use the potion as leverage to make Shenfu search for the required materials.
Shenfu was such a good worker... such a good temporary teammate, hard to find. Plus, the guy was an old schemer. Cooperating with an old schemer was actually quite easy—you didn't need to waste words with him. Just express the basic idea, and he would understand.
"Shenfu, your vital signs are in bad shape."
Su Xiao tossed a bottle of [Vitality Essence] to Shenfu. He still had 11 bottles left. Giving one to Shenfu wouldn't affect subsequent actions.
"!"
After catching the potion, Shenfu's heart skipped a beat. He checked it multiple times and confirmed that the potion was fine, certified by the Reincarnation Paradise. This made Shenfu feel even more uneasy.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome... ahem, don't mention it."
Baha landed on a tree branch, looking into the distance. A towering city wall appeared ahead, and at its base was a cluster of low buildings, probably a few hundred houses, scattered beneath the wall.
The murky water underfoot gradually receded. When Su Xiao stepped onto the pale yellow ground, a notification from the Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Notification: You have arrived at the Desolate Village. This is an unexplored area. You can trigger a large number of side quests, hidden quests, etc., here.]
PS: (Continuing with four chapters today. Three more to come.)