Chapter 39: Old Acquaintance
At the Last Green Land, beside Lake Po.
A half-collapsed small hut stood in ruins, its upper half blasted away, landing dozens of meters away in the lake water.
Bubu Wang walked out from the half-collapsed small hut, his nose twitching as he searched for something.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked, meaning there was a smell of blood, but not from a battle—more like the flesh and blood of some aquatic creature evaporating in the air.
"Boss, they probably didn't die."
Baha flew over, clutching a severed arm in his claws. The arm had sparse, light-black fur—this was the arm of a Beast Clan member.
Seeing this arm, Su Xiao roughly understood what had happened. The reason he came here was to find Molossi and his wife. Before their clash in the dream world, Molossi had left a letter in the inn on Gem Street, roughly stating that he was at Lake Po and wanted Su Xiao to meet him.
When he first arrived at the Last Green Land, Su Xiao hadn't gone to see Molossi. This was the Great Sage's territory, and from the moment he arrived, he began clashing with the Great Sage, leaving no time to meet Molossi.
Earlier, when he "killed" Molossi and his wife in the dream world, Su Xiao knew they weren't dead—no kill notification appeared.
Now it seemed Molossi and his wife had been prepared. The two had been near Lake Po all along. The ones Su Xiao fought earlier were likely clones they created, or flesh shells of some kind.
Su Xiao speculated that the Great Sage, before retreating, might have discovered Molossi and his wife's trail and sent Beast Clan members to deal with them.
The Great Sage didn't retreat alone; he still had many Beast Clan subordinates. How these Beast Clan members resolved the rapid time flow when leaving the dream world was unknown, but it was certain they paid a heavy price.
Su Xiao was just trying his luck. Molossi and his wife had once been used by the Great Sage, or rather, they had cooperated with him for a time. While they couldn't fully know the Great Sage's goals, they should have some guesses.
Luck wasn't on his side—Molossi and his wife had already fled, making it hard to find them again.
Su Xiao took a bone ring from his storage space. This was something Molossi and his wife had secretly given him after their battle in the dream world.
Looking at the bone ring in his hand, Su Xiao had no idea what it did. It was in an unverified state, so he couldn't check its details.
Su Xiao rubbed the bone ring with his thumb. Its texture was smooth. Though it appeared to be made of bone, it felt more like high-density chitin. Chitin is mainly found in the exoskeletons of insects and aquatic crustaceans, suggesting this item was related to the bugs.
Su Xiao took out the pale skull—the old container obtained from the Mother Goddess. A preliminary observation showed the bone ring and the old container had very similar materials.
Why did Molossi and his wife give him this bone ring? And at the risk of falling out with the Great Sage?
Putting himself in their shoes, was this bone ring related to the Great Sage? Or was it something the Great Sage himself created?
Don't underestimate the Great Sage—he was as steady as an old turtle, and his accumulated knowledge was top-tier in this world.
The old container came from the Mother Goddess, and the bone ring came from the Great Sage. The two items had similar characteristics. If that was the case, the Mother Goddess and the Great Sage might have colluded. Their connection could be the Soul Clock Tower. Thinking about it, was the Soul Clock Tower also brewing something big?
Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash. Holding the blade in his right hand, he pressed its edge against his left armpit, ready to sever his own arm at any moment. He had a hypothesis he wanted to test.
"Baha."
Su Xiao tossed the bone ring to Baha. Baha caught it, landed on Su Xiao's left forearm, and slowly slid the ring onto Su Xiao's left index finger.
"Stop."
Su Xiao flicked his arm, sending the bone ring, which had just been slipped onto his fingertip, flying into the lake water, where it quickly sank.
The blackness on Su Xiao's fingertip rapidly receded. Having confirmed something, he narrowed his eyes. He had fought several Ancient Gods before, and though he had won each time, every battle left a deep impression. The Ancient God he faced this time was the hardest to deal with.
Known Information 1: That Ancient God was indeed sealed.
Known Information 2: The sealing was premeditated.
Known Information 3: Being sealed was actually safer—no need to worry about being sensed by enemies from other worlds, such as other Eighth Rank Ancient Gods.
Known Information 4: Everyone wearing a bone ring, regardless of their faction, was Su Xiao's enemy. They were the Ancient God's true believers, not the false believers like the Kodo School.
Su Xiao had more information, but focusing on the battle for Space-Time Power was what he should do now. The Ancient God matter could wait.
A five-meter-diameter formation was successfully inscribed. Su Xiao took out a Soul Crystal (Complete) and placed it at the center of the spatial formation.
"What's this?"
Yueling looked at the spatial formation on the ground, her eyes full of curiosity.
"..."
Su Xiao stepped onto the formation. Seeing this, Bubu Wang and Baha also approached. For some reason, Bubu Wang's hind legs were trembling.
Goddess Shataiya, the Old Knight, and Yueling all stood on the formation. Su Xiao crouched down, pressed one hand onto the Soul Crystal at the center, and activated the formation. Destination: White Town.
Boom!
A loud crash echoed. Distorted spatial ripples spread, and the ground around them cracked widely, as if a cannonball had landed, sending dirt flying.
White Town, inside the first floor of a residence.
Spatial ripples spread, and the initial coordinates on the ground glowed with golden light. Su Xiao suddenly appeared, quickly stepping forward a few paces, bracing one hand against the wall, and steadying his breathing.
On the carpet, Goddess Shataiya, who had just appeared, knelt on the ground, head down, motionless.
"Ugh~"
Yueling also knelt, one hand on the ground, the other covering her flat stomach, dry heaving.
"No big deal, hahaha."
Baha hung from the chandelier like he was hanging himself. Beside him was Bubu Wang, who was upside-down on the chandelier, swinging left and right.
A nearly four-meter-tall figure fell from the ceiling, crashing with a clang outside the door. It was the Old Knight. He stood up, staggered sideways like a drunk, then crashed to the ground again with another clang.
In the forge across the street, the Demon Blacksmith, holding his hammer, saw this scene. Silently, he closed the large iron door. With his eyesight, he recognized the spatial fluctuations as the Demon Clan's spatial formation.
The Demon Clan's spatial formation was notoriously unstable, but one thing was certain: once a long-distance teleportation began, no one dared to block or intercept it—that would be a creative way to die.
If normal long-distance teleportation was like a bicycle that could be kicked over mid-journey, then the Demon Clan's long-distance spatial teleportation was like a steel train racing across a rocky road. Just a glance would terrify anyone—who would dare to stop it?
Su Xiao sat cross-legged, meditating for a moment until the discomfort faded.
"Still needs improvement. Next time, the long-distance spatial movement will be much more stable."
"Th-there's a next time?"
Yueling panicked. Just now, she felt as if someone grabbed one of her legs and spun her like a windmill at high speed, leaving afterimages.
Ignoring Yueling, Su Xiao left the residence and walked out of White Town. He had placed a mark on the Prince of the Heaven Squad earlier. Based on his sensing, the miner named Prince was still outside the Lost Withered Forest.
Su Xiao was going to find the Heaven Squad. After hiring a magic-type "bodyguard," they had become unusually stubborn, still mining outside the Lost Withered Forest.
Upon closer sensing, Su Xiao found that the Heaven Squad's position had shifted slightly from before. They must have found another Light Silver Mine vein, which was why they hadn't left the area. Without the tracking mark, Su Xiao's chances of finding the Heaven Squad were very low.
It had been a few days. As old acquaintances, Su Xiao planned to "visit" the Heaven Squad.