Chapter 97: A Big Deal
After leaving the safe room, Su Xiao led Bubu Wang and Baha toward the first floor. There was still no news from Beini and Amu, and it was unclear whether they had found the "Pure White Blood" yet.
As soon as he stepped out of the room, Su Xiao saw Water Brother also emerging from his own door. Water Brother was still in his usual attire, draped in a brown cloak-like garment, with over a dozen small gold rings on the cartilage of his right ear, blind eyes, and a blind cane in hand.
Sensing Su Xiao, Water Brother smiled and nodded, as friendly as ever.
"Enzuo, this is your turf now."
Su Xiao tossed a Soul Crystal into his mouth, crunching it as he chewed.
"Indeed it is. But the three of you joining forces is bad news for me. I'd better steer clear of you this round."
Water Brother never showed his hand, but his mind was as clear as a mirror, and he had a firm grasp on the situation.
After descending the stairs, Su Xiao saw Wood, Zuiyasi, and the others already waiting in front of the third inner painting. The third inner painting, the Sea Painting, was wrapped in chains.
Zuiyasi and Molei had both emerged from the Nightmare Ancient Castle Ward. It was unclear what Molei had gained, but Zuiyasi had replicated an ability to restore sanity points. How long he could maintain it was uncertain, but it would definitely last through the next inner painting world.
The new faction's participant had also arrived. This person came from Sanctuary Paradise and was a spirited old man. His name was unknown, and his abilities were unknown. Judging by his appearance, he was undoubtedly a divine stick, a specialty of Sanctuary Paradise.
"Everyone, do you have faith?"
The Sanctuary divine stick's gaze was benevolent. He first looked at Wood, estimating that the Devil Race was unlikely to have any faith. Wood was dismissed.
Then he looked at Su Xiao. Sensing Su Xiao's blood aura, the benevolent smile on his face faded slightly. He figured that Su Xiao would never believe in gods with him. Given Su Xiao's aura, he wouldn't be surprised if Su Xiao committed deicide.
The Sanctuary divine stick's gaze turned to Zuiyasi, causing his benevolent smile to completely vanish. This... this was a heretic!
Ignoring Zuiyasi, the Sanctuary divine stick glanced at Lilim. The Demon Race was the same as the Devil Race—not worth considering.
The Sanctuary divine stick swept his gaze over Water Brother and, confirming he was from Death Paradise, dismissed him.
Finally, the Sanctuary divine stick looked at Molei and Yueshitu, a hint of relief appearing in his heart. Among this batch of participants, there were finally some normal people.
"I can believe in the same god as you, but you have to buy minerals from me."
Molei smiled especially happily. Classic bundled marketing.
Su Xiao's gaze shifted to Molei. From her words, it seemed she had brought ores.
Hearing Molei's words, the Sanctuary divine stick's smile stiffened. He looked at Yueshitu—this was his last target.
"I don't believe in gods, but I have a contract with the Moon Goddess. How about I call her over, and you two can talk?"
"No need to trouble that deity. She has a bad temper."
The Sanctuary divine stick sat on the semicircular sofa and fell silent, lamenting the decline of the times.
Once everyone was assembled, the Young Miss, who had been sitting in front of the easel, stepped down from the high stool. The brush in her hand pressed against the third inner painting, and the iron chains on it began to clatter, then retracted into the surrounding walls in an instant.
The appearance of the third painting was revealed to everyone. It was a seabed painting, with heavy colors and a dark, damp, blurry style.
In those heavy, dim colors, it seemed a giant eye was at the seabed, watching everyone who admired the painting, awakening the most primal fear of the deep sea.
Su Xiao raised his hand and pressed it against the painting. This time, he was the first to enter the inner painting world.
With a rumble, it was like plunging ten thousand meters underwater. The surrounding water pressure rapidly intensified. Below, murky orange light appeared—those were swollen eyes at the seabed, so numerous they made one's scalp tingle.
'What is taken must be repaid with canvas fragments.'
A sound like a giant marine creature echoed around. Su Xiao opened his eyes and sat up from a wooden plank bed. Contrary to his imagination, he wasn't in seawater; there was oxygen around.
This was a wooden hut built from broken planks. Due to the damp environment, the planks had swelled, covered in a black, slippery grime.
A tattered blanket with several holes covered Su Xiao. He pushed it aside, got out of bed, and opened the door. The sight before him confirmed he was at the seabed.
When the door opened, a light membrane blocked the seawater outside, preventing it from invading the small hut. Though unremarkable in appearance, this was a rare sanctuary.
Su Xiao tried to extend his finger beyond the light membrane. As soon as his finger passed through and entered the seawater, he felt immense pressure and a tearing sensation.
[Warning: Beast transformation has spread at the seabed.]
[Warning: You are being invaded by "Seabed Wrath."]
[Warning: You are being invaded by "Mental Beast Transformation."]
[Your sanity value has dropped by 26 points.]
[You are taking seabed pressure damage...]
[Warning: If your sanity value drops to 0 here, there is a 51.729% chance of immediate death, a 26.72% chance of beast transformation, a 13.16% chance of mutating into a Seaborn Wrath Spirit, and an 8.391% chance of mutating into a Swollen Eye.]
[Hint: Because the hunter's sanity value exceeds 600 points, when your sanity value drops to 0, you will not undergo mutation but will die immediately.]
Seeing the last hint, Su Xiao wasn't sure if this was good or bad. In the main painting world and other inner painting worlds, the higher one's sanity value, the more powerful the mental beast they became. But here, if the sanity value was too high, hitting zero meant instant death.
Outside this small hut was the seabed, filled with seawater. Venturing out recklessly meant enduring the dual invasion of "Mental Beast Transformation" and "Seabed Wrath," along with seabed pressure lethal enough to kill in a short time.
At depths below ten thousand meters, water pressure becomes terrifying. The seabed Su Xiao was at now was at an unknown depth.
With the threats of two supernatural forces and physical water pressure, not only was it impossible to search for and compete for canvas fragments, but even leaving the hut was impossible.
Bubu Wang and Baha were over 20 meters away, separated by seawater. That 20 meters was an insurmountable barrier. With Su Xiao's physical condition, passing through the membrane into the seawater would kill him in seconds.
This was a canvas fragment competition, certified by the Void Tree, and he represented Reincarnation Paradise. Long ago, Su Xiao had discovered that neither the Void Tree nor Reincarnation Paradise would teleport contractors to certain death or issue absolutely impossible tasks.
Su Xiao searched the hut. It was unclear whose home this was, but it was utterly bare. After searching, he found three items: a tattered blanket, a wooden idol about 10 centimeters tall, and a conch.
The blanket was ruled out first. The remaining two items were in a pending identification/activation state. Su Xiao stood before the light membrane at the door and tried extending the conch beyond it.
With a crack, cracks appeared on the conch. With no other clues, Su Xiao had to try this. He then extended the wooden idol beyond the membrane.
Pop~
It was like a bubble bursting. A layer of milky white light membrane appeared on the wooden idol. After a moment of thought, Su Xiao extended his hand holding the idol outward. A miraculous scene occurred: the milky white membrane wrapped around his hand as it entered the seawater, isolating the water pressure, "Mental Beast Transformation," and "Seabed Wrath."
[Hint: You have successfully activated the Sea God Idol.]
[Sea God Idol: While in seawater, it can protect the holder for 1 minute and 56 seconds. To increase the protection time, you can offer Soul Coins, Soul Crystals, or other rare items to the Sea God through this idol in exchange for longer protection.]
Su Xiao materialized a Soul Coin, held it between two fingers, and pressed it against the Sea God Idol. The Soul Coin was quickly absorbed by the idol. He checked the idol's attributes, and the protection time increased from 1 minute 56 seconds to 2 minutes 56 seconds.
One minute per Soul Coin, 60 Soul Coins per hour, and 1,440 Soul Coins per day.
No matter how he looked at it, this was a big deal. If the seabed had many intelligent races, the Sea God must be very wealthy, with a higher chance of possessing canvas fragments.
Sea God = Divine System + Extremely Wealthy + Possesses Many Canvas Fragments.
Combining these keywords, Su Xiao, who had been somewhat uncertain about his target upon first arrival, suddenly had a clear direction.