Chapter 55: The Dangerous Dark Star World (Sixth Update)
Archbishop Noah opposed conducting the ritual within Dunk City, which was only natural. Dunk City was territory of the Kodo School. After discussion, it was ultimately decided to proceed in the outskirts.
Capturing Doctor Vaughn alive seemed simple on the surface, but was far from it. To the Soul Clock Tower, Doctor Vaughn held significant value, which was why he had survived this long. Several dozen members of the Soul Clock Tower stood guard in the shadows around his clinic.
Su Xiao first had Bubu Wang scout the situation, then led Baham on a surprise assault, eliminating many hidden sentries. Finally, Moon Spirit handled the cleanup, completing the instantaneous raid.
The Soul Clock Tower could never have dreamed that someone would dare do such a thing on their turf. Offending them meant offending the entire Ancient God faction. Their only rival, the Kodo School, was under their constant surveillance.
Su Xiao naturally dared to do this. Moreover, if given the opportunity, he wouldn't mind uprooting the entire Soul Clock Tower, since those "brain-hole" scholars were all quite troublesome.
Inside the second floor of the ancient castle, Amu unzipped the large bag and dumped out Doctor Vaughn. The bewildered doctor sat on the ground, looking around.
"Doctor Vaughn, you have two choices."
Su Xiao crouched down and tossed a cigarette to Doctor Vaughn. The doctor lit it, took a deep drag to calm himself.
"First, cooperate with us to complete the ritual."
"That's impossible..."
Doctor Vaughn interrupted Su Xiao. Su Xiao narrowed his eyes, and seeing this, Doctor Vaughn could only shut his mouth.
"Second, you become the tolerance vessel for the Ancient God's Child. Though you're male, your compatibility with Ancient God energy is quite high."
"!"
Doctor Vaughn's entire body trembled. From start to finish, he hadn't panicked, but now he did. Becoming a tolerance vessel for the Ancient God's Child would likely trigger "gestation" characteristics, potentially transforming him from Doctor Vaughn into Doctor Vaughn-ess. At this thought, he made a certain decision.
Sometimes, when faced with major matters of principle, a man's stance becomes very firm. Such was the case with Doctor Vaughn at this moment.
"Bai Ye, for the first Ancient God's Child descent, I hid a section of umbilical cord. That cord is in the ruins of Signal Light. You... no, we need that thing."
To avoid becoming Doctor Vaughn-ess, Doctor Vaughn was willing to go all out. Hearing this, Baham set off, first heading to the insect tower in "Dunk City," then straight to "Signal Light."
At 1 AM that night, the ritual was ready. The tolerance vessel wasn't exactly a living thing—it was a large mass of writhing white biological tissue.
Su Xiao didn't actually need to create a true "Ancient God's Child." In fact, the term "Ancient God's Child" itself was problematic. It wasn't a descendant of an Ancient God, but rather a vessel, a shell capable of maximally containing Ancient God power.
Su Xiao couldn't create a perfect Ancient God's Child. Doctor Vaughn had no real understanding of the ritual, otherwise he wouldn't have survived this long.
What Su Xiao intended was to use the various remaining ritual components, the umbilical cord Doctor Vaughn provided, plus alchemical array diagrams, to barely make the ritual function.
The resulting defective product only needed a direct connection to an Ancient God. Through it, Su Xiao could strike at the Ancient God sealed within.
Su Xiao had quite a few good things prepared for that Ancient God to "taste"—for example, a rag stained with the blood source of the Immortal Old Man, the roots of Mousheng's Madness, and so on.
Even without direct contact, these items had severe consequences, let alone when the defective Ancient God's Child was closely linked to the sealed Ancient God.
The wind howled outside the ancient castle. Night owls let out harsh cries. Su Xiao pressed one hand against the black stone ground beneath his feet, sensing again whether the array was stable.
Everything was ready. Su Xiao took out a Soul Crystal (Complete) and crushed it. Beside him, Archbishop Noah poured a basin of black-red viscous blood onto the array, releasing a foul, fishy stench.
At the center of the array, the large mass of writhing white biological tissue began to contract. This was cultivated by Su Xiao using alchemical biology.
Above this mass of tissue, a pitch-black hole appeared. Thick black water like ink fell down, dyeing the biological tissue black.
With a squelch, a claw covered in black feathers, its surface as if drenched in petroleum, emerged. A monster covered in tentacles, about the size of a medium dog, crawled out from the biological tissue. The ends of its tentacles each bore an eye.
"Quite a unique little thing. Fitting for something related to an Ancient God."
Baham examined the monster. Just as it moved closer, the little monster thrashed wildly.
Su Xiao took out a glass tube and shook out the tendrils inside. These were [Writhing Tendrils], from a not-so-strong Void entity—relatively speaking, of course.
The little monster was quite ferocious, swallowing the tendrils in one gulp, clearly unaware of the world's dangers. In its simple, cruel mind, everything was an ant, all was food to be devoured.
Meanwhile, within the space of the container, a pair of eyes opened in the chaotic darkness. It was the Ancient God Hegra, most beings respectfully calling it the Feather God.
Feather God Hegra had slept too long. It could sense that its servants had awakened it, trying to cultivate a God's Child for it.
"Useless servants."
Feather God Hegra closed its eyes. Toward the servants in this world, it felt only indifference. No matter what those ants did, the final result would never change—all would return to silence, turning to mud or dry corpses.
Feather God Hegra didn't need these foolish, clumsy ants to do anything. Its followers who truly mattered weren't in this world. But soon, in a few more cycles, those followers willing to sacrifice everything for it would follow it here.
Of course, there were exceptions among the ants. One called the Great Sage, another calling himself the Soul Elder. These two lowly beings, in Feather God Hegra's view, were still useful—not ordinary ants, but stronger ants worth preserving.
Just as Feather God Hegra prepared to continue its slumber, it sensed that one of the soul chains outside the container had been severed. Moreover, many consciousnesses were trying to communicate with it through objects close to the container.
The information these consciousnesses conveyed was chaotic, with little of value. Feather God only interpreted the consciousness message from the Great Sage.
'The seal will be broken. The God Hunter approaches.'
Sensing this, Feather God Hegra knew something was wrong. The container couldn't be broken yet. The Underworld God's hounds and followers were searching for it. The thing it had taken from Doom Star had made it an enemy of all the Ancient Gods there.
At that moment, tendrils appeared around Feather God Hegra. These tendrils, at an inconceivable speed, began devouring the Ancient God energy it had accumulated.
Just as Feather God Hegra was about to annihilate these tendrils, it felt as if struck by lightning. In its mind's eye, it saw an old man.
'Immortal Old Man.'
Feather God Hegra recognized who this was—the Immortal Old Man of the Void. He had been to Doom Star, devoured many Ancient Gods, and only left after clashing with the Underworld God. Otherwise, more than half the Ancient Gods on Doom Star would have been eaten by him.
These successive upheavals made Feather God Hegra wonder: had the ants outside already learned its secret and betrayed it? Was that why they had nurtured a "God's Child," allowing the Immortal Old Man to probe through it whether the Feather God was truly in this world? This was the fastest, most effective, and most time-efficient way to find it.
Feather God Hegra began to reassess the Dark Star World. Not only was there a Demon Blacksmith here, but the Immortal Old Man had also come. This world... had problems. It even considered whether to forcibly break the seal and leave this world.
What Feather God Hegra didn't know was that leaving was already too late.
Tree roots suddenly sprouted on Feather God Hegra's body. Though they vanished in a flash, they severely wounded it. In an instant, all its years of accumulation went up in smoke. Moreover, it could no longer forcibly break through the seal.
'Mousheng's Madness.'
Feather God Hegra was different from "homebody" Ancient Gods like the Moon God. It was well-traveled, recognizing the top powerhouses of the Void. It had occasionally visited the Void a few hundred years ago, so naturally it knew these things.
Crackle~
A spark of arc lightning appeared on Feather God Hegra's body. Its mental fluctuations halted for an instant.
'Law Destroyer!'
Within the seal, Feather God Hegra's aura went completely berserk. It could no longer understand this world. There was a Demon Blacksmith, the Immortal Old Man, Mousheng's Madness, and more critically, a Law Destroyer had also come.
Feather God Hegra considered a possibility: the Demon race and the Law Destroyers were allies. The Immortal Old Man and Mousheng's Madness were both beings of unknown nature. Thinking this way, it would be "Demon Blacksmith + Law Destroyer" versus "Immortal Old Man + Mousheng's Madness."
With Feather God Hegra's experience, it needed little judgment to realize: this world was finished. It was about to be shattered into dust by a fierce battle.
Trapped within the seal, it faced a terrible predicament. What made it worse was that, due to the severe injury from Mousheng's Madness, it could no longer escape.
Besides the possibility of "Demon Blacksmith + Law Destroyer" versus "Immortal Old Man + Mousheng's Madness," Feather God Hegra had another speculation: that all these top-tier powerhouses had come for the thing in its possession. If so, then this time, it would surely fall.