Chapter 73: Three Beating One
Faced with Baha's demand for additional payment, Bishop Cooper expressed indignation, then cautiously probed how much more would be needed.
After some bargaining, Bishop Cooper ultimately paid the price of a [Ward Key] plus two [Soul Crystals], and the deal was struck.
Bishop Cooper's wealth exceeded Su Xiao's expectations. [Soul Crystals], as a high-grade rare resource, were very scarce in the Eighth Rank world and were essential for his Blade Grandmaster advancement.
"Don't bother recounting the details. Did you bring the pottery shard?"
"I did."
Bishop Cooper took a silver coin-sized pottery shard from his bosom. The shard was pitch black, with wisps of black smoke rising from it. It was clearly no ordinary item, no wonder Bishop Cooper had picked it up.
Bishop Cooper had been very cautious when picking up the shard, placing it in a sealed container without direct physical contact. From then until now, he had never directly touched the shard.
Actually, that didn't matter. With this sinister thing, as long as you harbored covetous thoughts toward it in your heart, you couldn't escape.
How about the Demon Clan? Even now, they were still treating it like their own father. This time, they had gone all out, sending Wood to the World of Paintings under Void Tree's arbitration to try and get rid of this damned thing.
How about the Gambler Skeleton? That skeleton had won over a million years of lifespan from others, but after the Abyssal Jar was restored to completeness, he could only play the grandson, sending it off at the cost of a painful—no, a bankrupting—farewell.
Don't underestimate this mere fragment of the Abyssal Jar. Even this fragment could easily arrange Bishop Cooper's fate. With a little effort, it could squeeze Bishop Cooper until he was shitting from both ends.
Now, it was the fifth day since Bishop Cooper had picked up this shard. On the first day, Bishop Cooper's mood was the same as the Demon Clan's back then—he thought he had obtained a supreme treasure, laughing in his sleep.
But on the second day, Bishop Cooper's situation mirrored the Demon Clan's as well—his smile gradually froze as he realized the severity of the matter.
On the third day, Bishop Cooper was in denial, just like the Demon Clan had been.
On the fourth day, Bishop Cooper dropped to his knees with a thud, almost saying, "Dear father, please spare me."
On the fifth day, today, Bishop Cooper came to Su Xiao with the attitude of treating a dead horse as a live one. Bishop Cooper wasn't afraid of death, but what he was experiencing now was far worse than death. He had a suspicion that after he was tormented to death, the next target of this damned thing might be his closest relative—his granddaughter, Erika.
"Didn't you try throwing this thing away?"
Baha observed the shard on the table while asking, though it had already guessed the answer and just wanted to confirm.
"Throw it away? Yesterday, I took this thing and jumped headfirst into a vertical well. That well was over 400 meters deep. At the bottom, it was so narrow that I got stuck upside down. I was originally waiting to die there, but somehow, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was lying in my bedroom bed at home, with dried moss and stinking mud on my face."
Bishop Cooper was ruthless enough. Knowing there was no way out, he had given the [Ward Key] to his granddaughter Erika, then left alone, jumping headfirst into a well, getting stuck hundreds of meters underground in the deep, lonely darkness—a situation so desperate and terrifying it would drive an ordinary person mad.
"Bishop Cooper, leave the thing here. You can go."
Su Xiao didn't touch the shard on the table. He had agreed to help resolve this matter for two reasons: first, he had been rejected by the Abyssal Jar before and wasn't afraid of being targeted by it; second, he had a trump card.
"Just like that? No ceremony?"
Bishop Cooper was very uneasy. Seeing his expression, Su Xiao nodded.
"You're right. A ceremony would be more reliable."
"That's what I said. Let's begin."
"Sit there. Don't move."
After saying this, Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the sofa and began meditating. Baha beside him started muttering incantations.
After meditating for half an hour, Su Xiao opened his eyes and signaled Baha to send Bishop Cooper away. Baha snapped a book shut with its claw and said:
"Benefactor, ahem~ Bishop Cooper, the ceremony is complete. You may go in peace."
"Hmm?"
Bishop Cooper felt Baha's words sounded strange, but he didn't dwell on it and left.
After Bishop Cooper left, Su Xiao focused on the shard on the table. Based on his observations, the Abyssal Jar had intelligence, but it was different from that of intelligent beings.
"You have three choices. First, latch onto me and see how you fare against Reincarnation Paradise."
Su Xiao waited for the shard on the table to react.
"Second choice, clash with the Frenzied Growth again."
Su Xiao took out a charcoal box. This box was made by compressing Black Maple Tree branches burned into charcoal, storing several small sections of the Frenzied Growth's roots.
The shard on the low table didn't react, clearly unwilling to clash with Reincarnation Paradise or the Frenzied Growth again.
"Then there's the third choice. Soon, I'll likely encounter the Demon Clan's Wood..."
Crack!
Cracks appeared on the table surface beneath the shard. Seeing this, Su Xiao understood the shard's meaning. It could only be said that the Abyssal Jar had a special fondness for the Demon Clan.
Why pick on the softest target? Need you ask? Soft targets taste good.
Su Xiao directly picked up the shard and stored it in his storage space. With this thing, even just glancing at it could get you marked, and you couldn't escape. Better to be straightforward and show more confidence. After doing this, Su Xiao went back to bed to sleep.
Early the next morning, around 5 AM, Bubu Wang returned. It lay down on the sofa to sleep. Although it hadn't stolen the [Scroll Fragment], it now knew where the Blazing Sun Lord had stored it. That was a huge gain.
Just past 6 AM, Su Xiao got up. Though he wanted to sleep a bit more, he still needed to refine and practice Spirit Shadow Thread and the Black Reputation.
Before 7 AM, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha reached the first floor of the Grand Cathedral. First, they went with Bubu Wang to the supply point. When no one was around, they blackmailed 225,000 Reputation Points. Then Su Xiao went up to the third floor. The clinic wasn't open yet, but many believers were already queuing up.
A few minutes later, a muffled cry, as if someone was covering their mouth, came from the clinic. Judging by the voice, it was a female believer. It wasn't that she wasn't tough. To deal with her nearly necrotic liver, Su Xiao used Spirit Shadow Thread to forcibly tear her left liver into over a dozen pieces. Through medicinal stimulation for regeneration, the necrotic parts were gradually expelled.
A few minutes later, the female believer lay on the operating table, her face streaked with tears and her eyes vacant. Beside the treatment table a few meters away, the next "victim" was already being invited in.
Time flew by during treatment. When Su Xiao returned to the apartment in the evening, he began concocting several potions that enhanced speed, physical endurance, and other traits.
This was a "commission" from the Blazing Sun Lord's side. Calling it a commission, they only provided the materials and weren't prepared to pay a concoction fee.
Su Xiao was "very dissatisfied" with this, but "forced" by his desire to obtain the Beast Heart, he could only "compromise."
Su Xiao's life became more routine. During the day, he saw patients on the third floor of the Grand Cathedral. From 7 to 10 PM, he concocted potions, then rested.
The reputation from the clinic plus the blackmailed reputation totaled about 400,000 Reputation Points per day. Undoubtedly, this was an exaggerated amount of reputation gain, but it required two major conditions: Kaisa's help, mastery of Alchemy, and an Alchemy skill level of at least Lv.60 or above.
After completing the first cooperation with the Blazing Sun Lord's side, Su Xiao had concocted a total of 4 potions for them. But the next evening, the potion commission quantity jumped from 4 to 32.
This was a test. Su Xiao had Baha convey to the Blazing Sun Lord that they should go cool their heels somewhere.
The Blazing Sun Lord wasn't angered. Instead, he reduced the potion demand to 6 and politely indicated that they didn't want Su Xiao to concoct for free. They would settle accounts after a period of cooperation and pay Su Xiao his due compensation.
When Su Xiao heard Kaisa relay this, he was in a good mood. During their first meeting, he had planted a seed in the Blazing Sun Lord's mind, making him suspicious of the strategist under his command.
Later, the Blazing Sun Lord went to his Aze Wu and spoke about this matter face to face. His Aze Wu seemed very happy and said many things to him: "Good child, you must keep this doubt in your heart. Never fully trust anyone, including me. I can't always be by your side. I am aging, withering. You are the future king. You have something none of us have."
The strategist said these words, seemingly teaching the Blazing Sun Lord, but in reality, it wasn't so. He was playing the emotional card, forcibly suppressing the Blazing Sun Lord's suspicion. This was drinking poison to quench thirst.
This strategist had already realized Su Xiao was no easy opponent. He was helpless, mentally exhausted. If it were just facing Su Xiao, the strategist wouldn't be afraid. He had never feared his "kind."
But this time, he encountered too many of his "kind"—a full three of them, opposing the Blazing Sun Lord from different factions. Su Xiao's side was the Sun Church, Zuiyasi's side was the Beast Herd, and Wood's side was the Outcast Gathering.
Under these circumstances, the strategist could only start drinking poison to quench thirst. He was simultaneously facing three fronts, with no one else able to help him. He vaguely felt that the three sides, seemingly unrelated, were actually communicating secretly, not only coexisting peacefully but also focusing all their firepower on him.
This strategist had another option: a limit exchange, swapping himself for Kaisa. By eliminating Kaisa and some possible maneuvering, he could completely collapse Su Xiao's setup, creating a one-versus-two situation for the Blazing Sun Lord instead of the current one-versus-three.
But this strategist didn't do that. He chose to play it safe. His mood must have been very gloomy, being remotely pummeled by Su Xiao, Wood, and Zuiyasi.
This could be seen from the Blazing Sun Lord's previous potion commission. On the first day, it was 4 bottles. The next day, it jumped directly to 32.
If the strategist still had a say, this wouldn't have happened. But the next day, it was still 4 bottles, along with the payment for yesterday's and today's potion concoction fees. Having meat soup every meal was much better than bingeing for one or two meals. Meat soup every meal made you stronger.
Didn't the Blazing Sun Lord understand this? No, he did. But there were too many strong people around him, and their craving for alchemical potions forced him to act this way.
He sat on the throne, holding a bunch of chains in his hand. These chains bound a pack of hyenas, barking wildly at the front, keeping enemies at bay. These hyenas could tear enemies apart, but they could also tear him apart.
The Blazing Sun Lord couldn't easily hit these hyenas—they would hate him. The strategist was the one who beat the dogs for the Blazing Sun Lord. Whichever hyena barked the loudest, the strategist hit that one. But now, the strategist himself was almost beaten into a dog from afar.
The current situation was that the Blazing Sun Lord's side seemed the same as before, but secretly, it was about to explode. Kaisa himself was a troublemaker. Besides him, there was the Red Bee Madame, whom Wood had turned, and the brothers Blau and Blu, whom Zuiyasi had forcibly controlled.
With these factors combined, the strategist's attitude became clearer: he didn't care anymore. Don't bother him.
After confirming this, Su Xiao's side immediately notified Kaisa to stop causing trouble. Zuiyasi and Wood's sides also had their people stand down.
Was this reaching a consensus with the strategist? Not at all. It was to make the Blazing Sun Lord feel that when the strategist was in charge, they were beaten black and blue, but after he shut himself in, things went smoothly for them.
On the third day after cooperating with the Blazing Sun Lord, noon, in the treatment room.
There were no patients in the clinic. The believers all knew Su Xiao's habit of resting for about an hour at noon.
On the chair by the corner, Su Xiao crushed the paper ball in his hand into powder. The current situation had completely cleared up. The other parties knew he was "idling," so none of them approached.
Zuiyasi's side, somehow, had started manipulating large groups of Mind Beasts. It could only be said that the Ancient God System was indeed formidable.
Wood's side had become the new leader of the Outcast Gathering. The so-called outcasts were those about to undergo mental beast transformation. Because they were about to transform, they were despised by others. Over time, this organization formed. They lived day by day. If anyone transformed, they would attack en masse. These guys had no rationality at all. Their personalities were twisted, deformed, and hysterical.
Shui Ge's side remained a lone wolf. In terms of ambushes, Shui Ge was the strongest present. The Blazing Sun Lord was so troubled by him that he didn't even leave Saint Dan City.
As for Lilim, she was very confused now. She already had considerable influence in the Ji Wang Hall, but it was tasteless—neither satisfying nor worth abandoning.
Finally, the Apocalypse Sisters were on the run...
Strangely enough, the capture team had caught Yueshitu seven times but couldn't catch Molei no matter what. The nine believers and one deacon were getting a bit carried away.
In the end, Yueshitu became familiar with the believers, eating and drinking while wearing shackles.
Interestingly, the Apocalypse Sisters had been on the run the entire time since entering this world. Molei had already made a name for herself in the Void Arena. Betting pools had appeared, with odds on how long Molei could escape. Various nicknames for her kept emerging: Runaway Princess, Sand Sculpture Girl, Little Angel of Fortune.