Chapter 56: Corruption and Crystal Resin
Inside the abandoned ancient castle outside Dunk City.
The ground array was covered with tree roots, the defective Ancient God Son at the center completely lignified, frozen in a posture of roaring skyward. All the black tentacles on its body had split open, the eyeballs at the tentacle ends dilated to their limits, the surrounding eye sockets torn.
The Ancient God Son had completely fallen silent. Su Xiao did not approach to inspect it. Stepping rashly into the range of the array was very dangerous—the roots of the Flourishing Wild Chaos did not distinguish friend from foe.
The plan was considered a success, though the effect was somewhat worse than expected. The original plan was to severely wound the Ancient God sealed within, and even if it didn't reach a near-death state, at least to sharply reduce its combat power.
Judging from the fluctuations that had just appeared, the Ancient God within the seal was indeed heavily injured.
In this situation, Su Xiao did not feel very disappointed. The Ancient God within the seal had not directly touched the cloth stained with the Undying Elder's source blood or the roots of the Flourishing Wild Chaos, but had used the Ancient God Son as a medium to indirectly contact both.
Even so, the commotion just now was considerable, showing how dangerous the Undying Elder and the Flourishing Wild Chaos were as powerhouses.
Although it was indirect contact, the Ancient God within the seal was only heavily injured, and its strength might not have been significantly diminished. This indicated that the Ancient God within the seal was not easy to deal with; it had been accumulating power within the seal for several hundred years.
Overall, this probing was not bad. As for the consumption of the Flourishing Wild Chaos roots, that was not a major issue. When the opportunity arises in the future, he could trade with the Flourishing Wild Chaos again, since there had already been two previous transactions.
As long as he didn't actively provoke the Flourishing Wild Chaos, the risk of trading with it was not great. Su Xiao's [Book of Gates] still had six pages left. For the next transaction, he planned to make a targeted trade.
He had kept a very small segment of the Flourishing Wild Chaos root. At that time, within a certain world, using this small segment of root as a coordinate and one page of the [Book of Gates] as a bargaining chip, he could reach a deal with the Flourishing Wild Chaos.
After the transaction was completed, asking the Flourishing Wild Chaos for a segment of root as a bonus should be no problem.
Su Xiao was no longer an explorer who needed to be cautious and careful at every turn. For an existence like the Flourishing Wild Chaos, he was already qualified to trade and even communicate with it, and he didn't need to be inside Reincarnation Paradise. Of course, for now, it was either ally or die—that kind of existence was too ancient.
Su Xiao walked toward the exit of the castle. After only a few steps, he noticed that the surroundings had changed. The constant sense of threat had disappeared, and even the air around him felt fresher.
Leaving the castle, Su Xiao looked up at the sky. A silver full moon hung high above, a sky full of stars came into view, and a gentle summer night breeze blew in.
Just moments ago, the corruption force mixed in the air had melted away like snow exposed to sunlight, rapidly dissipating. The corruption that had been spreading throughout this world had vanished.
[Tip: Because the Hunter has temporarily dispelled the corruption of this world, you are about to receive the blessing of this world.]
[While in this world, your Luck Attribute will increase by 10 points.]
[While in this world, your World Source acquisition rate will increase by 25%.]
[While in this world, your Treasure Chest drop rate will increase by 19.82%.]
[While in this world, when you negotiate with plot characters of this world, you will gain 18 points of True Correction.]
[Tip: Because the Hunter's Charm Attribute is -3 points, this correction will only take effect in a few situations.]
[While in this world, if the World Child of this world becomes hostile to the Hunter, the World Child will temporarily lose the blessing and protection of World Force. During this period, if the Hunter kills it, there will be no World Backlash phenomenon.]
...
Su Xiao closed these notifications. He had encountered a similar situation once in the Wizard World. No world welcomed Ancient Gods, but they couldn't forcefully expel them either. Ancient Gods could suck on worlds, and they had unique methods to deal with the world's rejection and backlash.
"The night scenery tonight... haven't seen it in a long time."
Archbishop Noe looked at the stars in the sky, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
"Bai Ye, the array patterns in the castle—can they be restored if destroyed?"
Archbishop Noe, indeed an old fox, immediately thought that the reason the world had stopped being corrupted was because of the array in the castle. Once that array was destroyed, the corruption would continue.
"From a theoretical standpoint, no."
"I have matters to attend to. I'll take my leave first."
Archbishop Noe's steps were hurried. The removal of this world's corruption was good for everyone. Archbishop Noe thought of another matter: Crystal Resin was about to drop in price. He needed to sell it off quickly!
Archbishop Noe couldn't be bothered to maintain the dignity of an archbishop. His steps grew faster and faster. Aside from having a strong will, Crystal Resin was the only means to resist corruption. Although the corruption hadn't been completely resolved, only suppressed, others didn't know that.
At the latest by tomorrow morning, many people would notice that the corruption force mixed in the air had disappeared. At that point, Crystal Resin would no longer be a necessity. Although it wouldn't become worthless, its price would drop significantly.
Su Xiao turned back and entered the castle. After a short while, he came out again, bringing Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Yue Ling with him as they left.
Not long after Su Xiao and the others left, figures rushed out from the surrounding wilderness, guarding the perimeter of the castle. An old man dressed as an archbishop walked into the castle and finally sat down heavily beside the array. Barring any accidents, he would have to guard this place to ensure the array didn't malfunction.
The Kodo School was not exactly an evil faction. They opposed the Ancient Gods and had sent combat power to protect this castle, preventing the array inside from being destroyed and causing the corruption to reappear.
As for whether they were a good faction? Not really. As the first to know about this matter, the Kodo School was about to dump their Crystal Resin, screwing everyone else before they could react.
Late at night, Su Xiao returned to the inn and entered his second-floor room to rest. Although he knew the Kodo School was no good, Su Xiao didn't feel anything about it. The reason was that what he was about to do was even more ruthless than the Kodo School. He was going to fleece the Kodo School for a huge profit.
It could be said that over 95% of the supernatural resources in all of Dunk City were controlled by the Kodo School. For this extremely unreliable "ally," Su Xiao certainly wouldn't be polite.
Even when dealing with the Ancient God later, he wouldn't trust the Kodo School. Instead, he would trust the Heretic Execution Squad, who had fought alongside him.
Through the messages sent by Beini, Su Xiao learned about the current situation in "Dunk City." The Kodo School had started using various channels to put 75% of their stockpiled Crystal Resin on the market, using it to purchase living supplies and supernatural resources, screwing over the bugs in the underground kingdom.
For a long time, the trade between Dunk City and the bugs had been restricted by the Kodo School. Now, the Kodo School suddenly decided to lift the trade restrictions to jointly deal with the Ancient God.
The bug merchants naturally cheered and celebrated. They came to Gem Street overnight, starting to sell living supplies and supernatural resources. The Kodo School accepted everything without refusal.
The trade didn't last long. The stronger bugs soon noticed that the spreading corruption had actually disappeared. They announced this news.
Then came the Kodo School's flashy move. They announced a second use for Crystal Resin: by melting it at high temperatures and mixing in an extract they provided, the resulting Crystal Resin liquid could be refined into very impure Soul Stones.
Even impure Soul Stones were valuable in the eyes of supernaturals. Not only that, but the Kodo School also claimed that they had possessed this technology for a long time but had never made it public to prevent large amounts of Crystal Resin from being destroyed by supernaturals. Refining impure Soul Stones would cause commoners to lose access to Crystal Resin, increasing their risk of corruption.
Now, the Kodo School was selling Crystal Resin for two reasons: first, to ensure Dunk City had sufficient supplies, and second, to provide supernaturals with resources to grow stronger, no longer restricting the Crystal Resin trade.
Not only that, but the Kodo School also renamed Dunk City to "Kodo Sanctuary Zone." When the Ancient God broke out of its seal, whether humans, bugs, or beasts, all could come here to seek refuge. That was why they needed such a large stockpile of materials.
Was that all? Not quite. The Kodo School continued to announce that the corruption had been suppressed with the help of their allies, but this had accelerated the Ancient God's breaking of the seal. Perhaps soon, the Ancient God would break free. They had never actually worshipped the Ancient God; they had been fighting it all along.
With this series of flashy moves, the Kodo School not only avoided blame but actually whitewashed themselves. At this rate, given a few more years of development, they could easily crush the Soul Clock Tower.
The Soul Clock Tower naturally wouldn't sit idly by. They announced that the corruption was only temporarily suppressed and that people should not destroy large amounts of Crystal Resin. The Kodo School was deceiving everyone. The disappearance of the corruption was only temporary. Within half a month at most, the corruption would reappear. Their scholars had already observed this.
After the Soul Clock Tower released this news, the Kodo School immediately declared that the Soul Clock Tower was a dog of the Ancient God!
When the high-ranking members of the Soul Clock Tower heard this news, they almost burst out laughing. This accusation, like a child's quarrel, was almost childish.
But the Soul Clock Tower never expected the Kodo School's follow-up move to be so flashy. The steps were as follows:
The Kodo School gathered the high-ranking bugs and the leaders or gang bosses of other major cities. After doing this, the Kodo School took out a massive Ancient God head from a dusty warehouse.
The most powerful declaration came. The Kodo School announced to the outside world that they had actually been fighting the Ancient Gods all along and had secretly killed one, keeping its head.
The reason they had never made this public was to prevent the sealed Ancient God from finding out. They had been trying to gain this Ancient God's trust to deliver a fatal blow. Moreover, they revealed the name of the sealed Ancient God: Feather God·Hegra.
When this news came out, the Soul Clock Tower nearly exploded on the spot. They could only choose silence. The Kodo School's series of flashy moves was too outrageous, making people's scalps tingle. The Soul Clock Tower didn't know if the Kodo School had even flashier moves in store.
Overnight, the Kodo School shot to the top among the many factions. From the looks of it, they were the champions of justice, the bane of Ancient Gods, and the protectors of the three races.
At this moment, in the top-floor meeting room of the Kodo School headquarters.
"Everyone, I'm sure you understand the current situation. A new era is coming. The Kodo School will not become the leader of this era."
After saying this, Archbishop Noe sat down, leaning back in his chair. His mind was as clear as a mirror. No matter how much the various factions were clamoring now, once Feather God·Hegra broke out of its seal, aside from a few people who could face the Ancient God directly, all factions could only grovel beneath it.
But even so, Archbishop Noe felt that the current situation meant the Kodo School no longer needed to worry about other matters. They could proceed with that plan.
The seated faction leaders were all silent. They all knew that from now on, the Kodo School's rise was unstoppable. They could only choose to submit or be destroyed.
Archbishop Noe looked around the room, seeing the expressions of the faction leaders, and felt very satisfied. The other three archbishops seated beside him also had smiles in their eyes. Only Archbishop Dulu had an undisguised smile on his face.
In reality, Archbishop Dulu's heart felt like it had been struck by five thunderbolts. He couldn't understand why the corruption had stopped. Had the supreme Feather God left this world? Or had something happened? The day he chose to join the Ancient God faction, there was no turning back.
Just as Archbishop Noe and the others were feeling triumphant, a messenger ran into the meeting room and whispered something in Archbishop Noe's ear.
"Hmm?"
Archbishop Noe stood up. A few seconds later, a wave of fluctuation spread out. The power of corruption descended once more.
Inside the meeting room, everyone had no reaction. Not only them, but even the commoners had long been accustomed to the existence of the corruption force. In fact, they hadn't even noticed its disappearance and reappearance.
The commoners hadn't noticed, but the Soul Clock Tower definitely had. They were surely ready to stab the Kodo School hard.
Archbishop Noe looked around the room again. The faction leaders were also looking at him, all somewhat confused. The Kodo School's series of moves now seemed like a confusing act. What were these faith-crazed people doing? Suppressing the corruption force for a few hours? And then? That's it?
Archbishop Noe's old face felt burning hot. They had sent strong perception-type powerhouses to the castle. Although they didn't understand the principle of the array, they could still judge the energy operation structure. That thing was stable to an unbelievable degree. It could last for over a decade, even decades, without major issues. How had it broken in just a few hours?
Archbishop Noe had even confirmed with Su Xiao how many years the array could last. Su Xiao's answer was that a conservative estimate was over 76 years, and the materials provided by the Kodo School were of very high quality.
It wasn't that the Kodo School couldn't hold steady. If they waited a few days after the corruption disappeared to perform the above operations, they couldn't afford to wait. Once the Soul Clock Tower seized the initiative, they would be very passive.
Archbishop Dulu in the meeting room sensed the return of the corruption force. Although his expression changed greatly, his hanging heart relaxed. He hadn't chosen wrong. The Feather God's power and terror were something no powerhouse in this world could contend with.
Compared to Archbishop Dulu, a very ominous feeling arose in Archbishop Noe's heart. As an old schemer who had controlled the Kodo School for decades, he vaguely guessed what was happening. The array in the castle hadn't failed—it had been turned off.
"You, come with me."
Archbishop Noe walked toward the exit of the meeting room. After a few steps, he stopped and said, "Go get the key to the material warehouse. It might be needed later."
Archbishop Noe's words were somewhat implicit. The "key to the material warehouse" wouldn't just be "maybe needed"—it would definitely be needed. Archbishop Noe had already guessed that the Kodo School was about to be fleeced. Not just a few tufts of wool, but shaved bald.