Chapter 122: Past and Future
Within the Sea God Palace, inside Treasure Vault No. 2, the treasures on the wooden racks had been completely looted. Su Xiao and Zuiyasi were now confronting each other.
"As a friend, you actually poisoned me. But I've prepared a 'gift' for you as well."
Before Zuiyasi could finish his sentence, a black mark appeared on the hem of Su Xiao's robe. In the next instant, Ancient God System energy invaded Su Xiao's body.
Crackle!
Cyan Steel Shadow energy materialized, surging across Su Xiao's skin like pale blue arcs of electricity, quickly devouring the Ancient God System energy that had invaded him. Clearly, Su Xiao wasn't the only one who had left a contingency.
Although the Ancient God System energy was successfully devoured, Su Xiao felt a damp, cool sensation on his flank, accompanied by a slight itch and numbness. He pulled up his clothes to look. On his side, there was a patch of black, leech-like sticky insects. These insects clustered together, about the size of a fist, slightly raised.
Su Xiao's crystalline left hand transformed, his fingers becoming sharp claws that pierced into his own flank, attempting to tear off a chunk of flesh along with the attached insects on the skin.
The moment he tried to pull, his mind buzzed. These attached insects weren't just clinging to his skin; they were also connected to his soul. If he forcibly ripped them off, even with his soul strength, it would cause permanent soul damage. Moreover, for a period afterward, his body would enter a weakened state.
If Su Xiao was in a bad spot, Zuiyasi was even worse. He vomited a large mouthful of blood, the veins on his neck and face bulging. It looked like granules were moving beneath his skin, and dark blue crystalline particles appeared on the surface, like salt grains sticking to his skin.
The battle hadn't even begun, yet both Su Xiao and Zuiyasi had their combat power drastically reduced. This was only to be expected. Knowing they would have to settle things in the end, of course they would leave their own tricks during their cooperation.
Su Xiao pressed one hand against his flank, a crystalline layer wrapping around and restraining the writhing attached insects. He could feel that these insects weren't just affecting his soul; they were also continuously absorbing his stamina and health points. In just this short time, his health had been reduced by 5.68%, and his stamina felt like he had already been locked in a fierce battle for a significant portion.
If it were just that, it wouldn't be so bad. These attached insects weren't energy bodies or living creatures, but they continuously emitted a kind of interference wavelength, causing Su Xiao's vision to briefly double before returning to normal.
In his left hand, Su Xiao held two half-meter-long black spikes, and one in his right hand. These were meant to be thrown. If even one hit Zuiyasi, even if it didn't kill him outright, the pain would be unimaginable.
The stone slab beneath Su Xiao's feet cracked as he charged straight at Zuiyasi. Given the opponent's speed, if the distance was too great, the "Hunting Spikes" in his hand had no chance of hitting.
Just as Su Xiao charged, Zuiyasi did the same, a mass of tentacles extending from his sleeves, rushing toward Su Xiao.
After each had covered a few meters, they both stopped, one after the other. Su Xiao's vision doubled, his sense of balance continuously disrupted. If he weren't a Technique Type, he would already be unable to stand.
Zuiyasi was even more straightforward. After taking a few steps, he bent over and vomited a large amount of blood. The volume was so great that blood even spurted from his nostrils.
That wasn't the end of it. Zuiyasi dry-heaved, vomiting not just last night's supper but even fragments of his organs. In just a few seconds, he had expelled a large pool of bloody tissue, among which fragments of his heart were stubbornly beating.
Zuiyasi's face was full of disbelief. His thoughts at that moment were undoubtedly: 'What the hell kind of poison is this? Is this really just poisoning?'
The double vision in front of Su Xiao gradually merged. He really wanted to know what exactly the attached insects on his flank were. This thing was far too troublesome.
Bang!
A black spike, the "Hunting Spike," struck the spot where Zuiyasi had been, but it didn't hit him. He was hanging upside down from the ceiling by several slender tentacles.
In his current state, Zuiyasi was practically a sitting duck. Su Xiao, holding the "Hunting Spike," assumed a throwing stance. But just before he threw it, a sense of crisis surged in his heart. This unique crisis warning perception of a Technique Grandmaster had saved Su Xiao countless times.
Su Xiao's attack motion paused, which disappointed Zuiyasi, who was hanging upside down. If Su Xiao had attacked him now, the damage he received would have been 100% reflected back to Su Xiao. This was a ability transferred to him by his wife, called: "Suffering Without Calamity."
Although Su Xiao hadn't thrown the "Hunting Spike," he remained in his preparatory throwing stance. As soon as that crisis warning was lifted, he would strike immediately. This adaptability put Zuiyasi in a difficult position. If he deactivated his current ability, his physical defense would be reduced for the next few seconds.
Boom!
The explosive sound of a sonic boom spread as Su Xiao threw the "Hunting Spike." The moment it left his hand, all the air vents on it opened, emitting a buzzing vibration.
Zuiyasi, still hanging upside down, felt from the bottom of his heart that Technique Types were troublesome. Their timing was too precise. With no other choice, he fully transformed his body into tentacles, completely splitting apart.
'Blade Path Sword: Slay.'
Whoosh! A black-red chain of slashing light shot upward diagonally, enveloping the split-apart Zuiyasi.
Zuiyasi's tentacle-formed body suddenly coalesced. If he had taken that hit while in his split state, it would have been no joke.
Zuiyasi was engulfed by the black-red slashing chain. Bloody wounds appeared all over his body, his flesh torn apart by the slashes.
That wasn't the end. The sound of breaking wind came from ahead. Zuiyasi, who had just withstood the "Slay," suddenly felt his scalp tingle and his temples throb. He saw Su Xiao charging straight at him, a fully powered straight kick aimed directly at his chest and abdomen!
In that instant, Zuiyasi recalled the scene in the nightmare world when Su Xiao kicked the maze door. Now, it wasn't the maze door taking the kick—it was him.
Boom!!!
With Zuiyasi at the center, a shockwave spread out like a thunderclap. His entire body was sent flying backward. Before he even turned into a blur, a burst of air exploded.
With a loud crash, Zuiyasi slammed into the wall behind him. A large area of cracked wall surface dented inward around a concave pit. Sharp cracking sounds came from the wall. Outside the vault wall, the nineteen layers of barriers had been reduced to just nine. If not for that, the wall would have already shattered.
At the center of the dent, bloodstains were scattered across the cracked surface. A circle of broken ribs of varying lengths was embedded in the surrounding wall, still attached to shreds of flesh and membrane.
"This move... kicking people is even worse than kicking doors."
Zuiyasi rose from the pit in the wall. His abdomen and chest cavity were completely exposed, all his organs shattered, and only short stubs of his ribs remained. For an ordinary person, he would have died instantly. But Zuiyasi was a monster of the Ancient God System. Since the battle began, he had already regenerated his organs twice.
As soon as Zuiyasi stood up, waves of pale blue blade light pressed down on him. Yet his injuries were visibly healing. If an arm was severed, it regenerated in the next second. No matter how many pieces his head was cut into, it would all coalesce back together.
When ordinary people encountered such a monster, they would grow more and more fearful. Zuiyasi often experienced this: as he fought, his enemies would flee, and as he pursued, fear would inevitably creep into their hearts.
There was a saying in Doom Star: the oldest and strongest emotion is fear. Once fear appeared in the heart, one would fall into the bottomless abyss.
This was one of the characteristics of fighting Zuiyasi. If anyone felt fear toward him, they were bound to lose.
At this moment, Zuiyasi didn't expect to win from this angle. He could see the emotion of fear. When an enemy was afraid, a dark purple smoke would emanate from their body. The stronger the fear, the more obvious the sign. But right now, Zuiyasi didn't see even a trace of dark purple smoke on Su Xiao. There was plenty of blood energy, though.
The poison was still taking effect. Zuiyasi knew he could die too. When the accumulated damage reached a certain point, he would hit his limit, and that would be his death.
Translucent smoke gathered from the surroundings, condensing in Zuiyasi's hand into a ritual dagger about 40 centimeters long with an intricate shape. The blade was about a palm's width wide, mostly hollowed out, looking light, thin, and sharp.
If Zuiyasi used this dagger to clash with Su Xiao, after one exchange, this extremely sharp but structurally weak ritual dagger would shatter into pieces.
Pfft!
A slash appeared on Zuiyasi's shoulder. He had been waiting for Su Xiao to engage him in close combat, but Su Xiao was only slashing out blade light from mid-range.
An eye opened on the back of Zuiyasi's left hand. He immediately used the ritual dagger to cut off his own little finger.
Before the finger even hit the ground, it turned into a large lump of flesh. An arm extended from within this lump, and then a young boy crawled out of it—it was the young Zuiyasi.
As soon as the young Zuiyasi appeared, he spat a mouthful of phlegm and seemed to mutter: 'So pathetic. Can't win, so you have to call me out.'
Zuiyasi himself ignored this. He tossed the ritual dagger to the young Zuiyasi. After doing this, he braved the waves of blade light and charged toward Su Xiao.
Su Xiao slashed out a blade light. It passed through, sending half of Zuiyasi's head flying. He slashed a few more times, continuing to suppress Zuiyasi. The alchemical poison in the opponent's body had been activated. Keeping his distance and slowly wearing him down was the wise choice.
Zuiyasi's various abilities were the kind that didn't seem impressive at first glance, but once they hit, they caused endless trouble, even potentially leading to death.
Zuiyasi was in a difficult position. He could feel that his regeneration had been greatly suppressed. He had to finish this quickly.
Just as Su Xiao was about to use blade light to sever Zuiyasi's head for the sixth time, a cool, stinging sensation appeared on his neck. The moment he felt this, Su Xiao leaped backward.
Pfft~
A slash cut across Su Xiao's neck, trailing a spray of blood. Without any warning, at least a third of his neck had been cut through.
Su Xiao covered his neck with one hand, blood spurting between his fingers. The attack was too sudden, as if it had no source.
At an angle across from him, Baha appeared behind the young Zuiyasi, his eagle claws piercing the back of the opponent's neck, brutally pulling out the enemy's spine. The young Zuiyasi let out a pained groan. The ritual dagger in his hand failed to deliver a second slash. His body collapsed, and the ritual dagger shattered.
"Bai Ye, your vital point has been..."
Zuiyasi had only spoken halfway when he noticed that Su Xiao had already released his hand from his neck. Although his neck was covered in blood, the wound that had been cut had already healed. More precisely, it had been stitched up. But because the total of twelve stitches were too fine, they were hard to see with the naked eye.
The ability Zuiyasi was using now was quite formidable. On the back of his left hand, there was a hidden "Time Eye," which allowed each of his five fingers to represent a different age of his life.
His little finger represented his youth, his ring finger his young adulthood, his middle finger his present, his index finger his middle age, and his thumb his old age.
Just now, Zuiyasi had manifested his younger self. In a sense, the younger him came from the past, which was why he was so cocky.
The young Zuiyasi had just slashed the ritual dagger through the air. Why did it injure Su Xiao? The principle was somewhat complex, but it could be simply understood as:
The young Zuiyasi came from the past. By leveraging his own characteristics, he could injure Su Xiao from the past—specifically, Su Xiao from three minutes ago.
The young Zuiyasi first rushed to where Su Xiao had been three minutes ago. It looked like he was slashing through the air, but in reality, the slash was cutting into the neck of Su Xiao from three minutes ago.
Injuring Su Xiao from three minutes ago caused a butterfly effect. That was why Su Xiao's neck was cut open without any warning.
This was Zuiyasi's most terrifying ability. The youth could kill enemies of the past, and the old man could devour enemies of the future.
However, Zuiyasi, who possessed this ridiculously overpowered ability, was currently considering one thing. He was deeply poisoned. His brain felt like it was wrapped in a plastic bag, his thinking sluggish. On top of that, his regeneration ability had been suppressed by more than half.
Zuiyasi was hesitating. Should he retreat now, or should he retreat now?