Chapter 62: The Life-and-Death Struggle of Charm Attribute
Tree roots spread within the pale palace, rushing straight toward the Feather God in the darkness. These roots carried no fluctuations, appearing as ordinary as common roots.
Only those who had come into contact with the Frenzied Growth knew how terrifying these roots truly were. A mere touch would numb the body, consciousness, and even the soul, before absorbing them as nutrients, leaving behind nothing but a withered husk.
Su Xiao naturally couldn't summon the Frenzied Growth itself. He still retained a small segment of its root, using it as a core to set up an alchemical array, thereby simulating these roots.
These roots were actually quite ordinary, and naturally couldn't be sensed for any special fluctuations—this was very similar to the roots of the Frenzied Growth.
Earlier, Su Xiao had guessed that breaking the seal might release both the Feather God and the corrupted vessel simultaneously. Facing these two powerful enemies at once, even with Moon Spirit as a temporary ally, the chances of defeat were high.
Just as Su Xiao prepared to continue activating the array to spread the trees further, he spotted a pair of dark yellow pupils in the darkness—the Feather God.
In the black mist-like darkness, the Feather God·Hegra spread its black wings. The feathers on these wings looked as if they had been corroded by petroleum. This was because the Feather God had used the Ancient God's child as a medium to come into contact with the Frenzied Growth's roots, resulting in severe injury.
If the Frenzied Growth and the Undying Elder had truly come to this world, it would have fallen here today. Thinking of this, the Feather God's gaze showed little fluctuation. Though it regarded most living beings as ants, it had never known fear—not even a moment of it.
The Feather God·Hegra fully spread its black wings. It needed to determine when the Frenzied Growth would arrive at the pale palace, as well as the location of the Undying Elder.
A black shockwave expanded, first sweeping through the entire white town, then passing through the Lost Withered Forest, and finally reaching areas like the Ruined City·Sentry Light and the Sunset Canyon.
After this fluctuation spread across an extremely terrifying range, the Feather God·Hegra discovered that within a vast surrounding area, there was no trace of the Undying Elder's aura. The Demon Blacksmith had also left. As for the Frenzied Growth, only a very small portion of its aura was present.
Confirming this, the Feather God·Hegra's feathers trembled, and black tentacles emerged from the gaps between its feathers. It had been deceived. The Frenzied Growth and the Undying Elder hadn't come to this world at all. The Demon Blacksmith had also left. There was indeed a Law Destroyer in this world, and a powerful one at that, but not as overwhelmingly strong as imagined.
The Feather God·Hegra had just performed an extremely wide-range detection in a brutal manner, but this came at a cost—its Ancient God energy had been depleted by more than half.
This was exactly the result Su Xiao had hoped for. He had never expected the Feather God·Hegra to be scared off. He had encountered many Ancient Gods before, and while they were all quite ugly, none of them wasted words—they fought to the death on sight.
Plan A had succeeded. It was time to consider initiating Plan B: summoning Big Axe Brother. After that, they would surround and kill the Feather God and the vessel. Their reinforcements were already stationed outside the Lost Withered Forest. The uncertain factor now was whether the Feather God had sensed the "reinforcement team" lying in ambush there.
Before choosing to break the seal, Su Xiao had contacted the Kodo School through Beini, and the Kodo School had then contacted the Heresy Execution Squad. When it came to dealing with Ancient Gods, the Heresy Execution Squad was willing to assist—but nothing else.
Just as Su Xiao was about to summon Big Axe Brother, he noticed something: the vessel hadn't charged at him immediately.
The vessel stood beneath the dark wall, while Su Xiao was at the temple gate. The Feather God·Hegra was inside the dark wall. This meant the vessel was positioned right between Su Xiao and the Feather God.
Su Xiao looked at the vessel ahead. The tip of its blade-spear was pressed against the ground. Its pupils, emitting a bright yellow glow, first swept over Su Xiao, then turned toward the Feather God.
This made Su Xiao realize that the vessel wasn't being controlled by the Feather God. The vessel had merely been corrupted and fallen into chaos. Don't forget, the vessel was created specifically to seal the Feather God. Even if completely corrupted, the Feather God might not be able to control a vessel devoid of emotion.
The situation became interesting. Su Xiao was no longer in a hurry to bring out Big Axe Brother. If the vessel charged at him now, he would summon Big Axe Brother. If it charged at the Feather God, he would wait and see.
The Feather God inside the dark wall was also waiting. Fighting the Law Destroyer was one thing, but if the vessel chose to charge at it while the Law Destroyer was also present, the situation would be dire.
The pale palace suddenly fell silent. Su Xiao tightened his grip on his blade. He had to admit, at times like this, the Charm attribute was very useful.
The Eye of All Gods floated behind Su Xiao. He chose to scan the Feather God's information, ignoring all prompts, focusing solely on its Charm attribute. He saw that the Feather God's Charm attribute was -2 points.
Seeing this result, Su Xiao felt that the probability of the vessel charging at him wasn't as high.
That's right—this was a clash between Charm -3 and Charm -2. The Charm attribute wasn't only useful in negotiations; it was equally effective against chaotic units like the vessel.
"Roar!"
The vessel let out a roar and charged at Su Xiao.
Boom!
A loud noise came from the ceiling. A mass of darkness blasted a hole through the palace roof, and the Feather God burst out of the pale palace through the opening. It chose to leave because it had sensed over a dozen auras lying in ambush outside the Lost Withered Forest.
"Pursue."
As Su Xiao spoke, he swung his blade to block. Clang! The blade-spear and longsword clashed, sending a shockwave spreading outward. The ground beneath Su Xiao's feet cracked like a spiderweb.
Baha flew upward, with Amu gripping Baha's talons below. Moon Spirit leaped several times to reach the top of the palace.
Su Xiao wasn't afraid of a one-on-one fight with the vessel, but he needed to ensure the Feather God didn't launch a counterattack.
In an instant, only Su Xiao and the vessel remained in the palace. Bubu Wang crouched in a corner, providing Su Xiao with a buff aura.
Above the white town, translucent threads appeared, binding the surging darkness. This was a no-fly zone, which had suppressed the Ancient God's flight ability centuries ago. Unfortunately, after hundreds of years, the white town had decayed beyond recognition.
With a crack like shattering glass, something above the white town seemed to break. The darkness could no longer be restrained. The surrounding Lost Withered Forest shattered inch by inch, turning into countless wood chips.
The Feather God soared high into the sky. Under the cover of its wings, sunlight vanished, and dark clouds gathered overhead.
"Hey, grandson! Don't run if you've got guts! Dare to face your daddy?"
Baha soared high in the sky as well, launching a mental attack.
High above, the Feather God remained shrouded in darkness, only its silhouette visible. The darkness around it surged, forming a sky-covering giant hand that slapped toward Baha.
"You think this can kill me..."
Just as Baha was about to taunt further, it remembered it was carrying Amu. It planned to use Amu's ice to restrict the Feather God's flight ability.
"Amu, raise the shield!"
Boom!
The dark giant hand slammed down. Amu turned into a blur, crashing straight into the ground below, creating a massive crater.
Inside the crater, Amu struggled free from the cracked earth, dusting off the dirt on its head. Though not seriously injured, it had been knocked down.
"Moo?"
Amu looked up at the sky but saw neither the Feather God nor Baha.
Over a dozen figures rushed past the crater where Amu stood—the Heresy Execution Squad. Seeing this, Amu took large strides to follow.
The Feather God created sonic booms as it flew high. Baha chased behind, cataloging the Feather God's family tree. On the ground were Amu, Moon Spirit, and the twelve members of the Heresy Execution Squad.
After flying several kilometers at high speed, the Feather God·Hegra stopped. It couldn't understand why those ants behind kept pursuing it. The chase had begun to annoy it.
Sunlight vanished completely. Countless black feathers fell from the sky, each nearly half a meter long, like arrows raining down over a four-kilometer radius.
Baha merged into an alternate space, but as soon as it entered, it realized something was wrong. Those black feathers had pierced through space itself! The alternate space wasn't safe either.
"Even heavily wounded, it's this strong? That's too damn ridiculous."
Baha exited the alternate space and dove vertically downward.
Boom, boom, boom...
The earth trembled, dust surged. The black feathers pierced the ground and exploded, scattering Ancient God energy that eroded the soil into powder. This place had become a domain of death.
The black feathers seemed endless, stabbing into the ground. On the surface, Moon Spirit spun her blade-spear, deflecting one black feather after another, but her hands were already going numb. As for dodging, the entire four-kilometer radius was like this—there was nowhere to hide.
Thud.
A shockwave swept through. The falling feathers in midair froze. Moon Spirit remained in her upward-thrusting posture. Baha hovered a few meters above the ground, a black feather piercing its body also frozen, even the spilled blood suspended in midair.
The twelve members of the Heresy Execution Squad, holding their greatswords, were frozen in different poses. Dust particles were fixed around them.
Moon Spirit struggled to shift her gaze. She couldn't move even a finger. Worse, a sound of wind rushing came from her side. She had already tried—she couldn't use any abilities now, only frozen in place. She felt she was about to die, killed by an Ancient God.
Whoosh~
Wings tore through space, bringing a gust of wind. The Feather God, surrounded by darkness, glided low, heading straight for Moon Spirit. A sharp claw extended, resembling the claw of a giant bird.
The metallic-glinting claw aimed directly at Moon Spirit's head. Her pupils rapidly contracted. In that instant, Moon Spirit realized how weak she was facing the Feather God—so weak she didn't even have the right to resist.
Clang!
A greatsword swung in, striking the pitch-black claw. An explosion-like shockwave spread. A tattered cape fell before Moon Spirit's eyes, sparks flying. A member of the Execution Squad stood in front of her.