Chapter 123: Thicker-Faced Than a City Wall
Just as Zuiyasi had the thought to retreat, an orange glow illuminated from ahead. He raised a hand to shield his face as his sanity value plummeted.
It was the turbid light. Su Xiao had already donned the [Church Knight Headpiece]. He was now considering whether to take the opportunity to withdraw. The reason for this was simple: Zuiyasi was extremely difficult to kill, and the chances of permanently leaving him here were slim.
Su Xiao could confirm that, at this stage, he held the most Scroll Fragments. As long as the competition for the seabed world concluded, his victory was assured.
As for Zuiyasi across from him, if he didn't make a last-ditch effort, he would undoubtedly lose. All the Scroll Fragments he had collected until now would ultimately become Su Xiao's gains.
As the saying goes, the barefooted aren't afraid of those wearing shoes. At this moment, Zuiyasi was the barefooted one.
Su Xiao had already achieved his goal. He had beaten Zuiyasi half to death. Continuing to pummel him might kill him, but the price Su Xiao would pay wouldn't be small either. The itching and numbness at his waist constantly reminded him of this.
From any angle, retreating now was the best choice. Su Xiao had accumulated so much earlier precisely to seize the initiative. He had succeeded. In this battle, he could leave whenever he wanted, without any loss.
Thinking this, Su Xiao headed straight for the exit passage. He hadn't taken more than a few steps before he abruptly stopped. The reason was that Zuiyasi, over a dozen meters away, was also charging toward the exit passage.
"Cough~ Brother Bai Ye, let's call this sparring match here. Wah!"
As Zuiyasi spoke, he spat out a large mouthful of blood. He said this because the bastard had high emotional intelligence. If both parties acknowledged that the previous fight was a life-or-death struggle for profit, it would be difficult to cooperate openly in the future, and at the very least, it would be embarrassing.
But if they called it a sparring match, that was different. However, this sparring match was quite brutal. Zuiyasi's head had been severed six times, his organs had regenerated four batches, seven of his hearts had been pierced through, and he was heavily poisoned on top of that.
"..."
Su Xiao said nothing. Seeing this, Zuiyasi smiled and walked toward the exit. Just as he disappeared through it, the parasitic insects on Su Xiao's waist dissolved, peeling off his skin and turning into a puddle of black liquid.
Su Xiao dipped his index finger in some blood and drew a circular array on the palm of his crystalline left hand. The array gradually became intricate. He showed it to Bubu Wang and Baha.
"Woof."
"Boss, no problem."
Bubu Wang and Baha gave the same answer. Su Xiao was testing whether he had been invaded by marrow-burrowing insects, thereby affecting his cognition. It seemed he hadn't.
The possibility of Su Xiao being invaded by marrow-burrowing insects was extremely slim. The Azure Steel Shadow Energy in his body was the nemesis of this parasitic creature. He was only testing now out of caution.
It had to be said, Zuiyasi's discernment was commendable. That bastard had sensed that Su Xiao's Azure Steel Shadow Energy had powerful anti-invasion properties. So he had the parasitic insects cling to Su Xiao's skin without ever invading his body, not even penetrating the skin, thus minimizing the risk of being expelled by the Azure Steel Shadow Energy if they entered Su Xiao's body.
Just as Su Xiao thought Zuiyasi had already retreated, that bastard turned back into the treasure vault.
"There was a fight here? Wah!"
Zuiyasi spat out another large mouthful of blood, which left him speechless. Bubu Wang and Baha watched in stunned disbelief, not because of Zuiyasi's shamelessness, but because of how he was still alive while carrying alchemical poison.
To think, back then, the Blazing Sun Lord had been hit with something that wasn't even alchemical poison, yet he had died quickly. Zuiyasi, on the other hand, was hit with high-intensity alchemical poison, and the bastard still wasn't dead.
A few minutes later, Zuiyasi left. The treasure vault was left with only Su Xiao, which also meant one thing: after a brutal fight, Zuiyasi, now afflicted with alchemical poison, wasn't prepared to fight to the death.
Su Xiao took out a bottle of [Vitality Essence] and drank it. As his health rapidly recovered, he formed several Spirit Shadow Threads and began deep treatment of the wound on his neck.
Nourished by the [Vitality Essence], the wound on Su Xiao's neck gradually healed. Confirming this, he began to gradually dissolve the Spirit Shadow Threads, letting them turn into Azure Steel Shadow Energy and dissipate from his body.
Threads of blood qi seeped from the skin on his neck. This was first turning the stagnant blood into blood qi, then expelling it from the body. Abilities had to be used flexibly. The Blood Beast talent wasn't only for condensing a Blood Beast and then pouncing.
Su Xiao didn't leave the treasure vault. Instead, he assessed the current situation. The Sea God's Palace had two known treasure vaults. He had monopolized one, while Wood and Zuiyasi had taken the other.
These were only the obvious treasure vaults. In fact, there was a slightly smaller one that stored dangerous items. Kaiser had gone to that one.
The Scroll Fragments in the Sea God's Palace were mostly in the treasure vaults. After estimating, Su Xiao had a clear picture. A good show was about to unfold. All he had to do now was wait.
Su Xiao checked the Scroll Fragments in his storage space. There were 43 in total. If he counted the 20 he had already submitted to the Young Miss, the total reached 63.
As long as no incomprehensible situation arose, victory in the Scroll competition was basically secured. At that point, the ownership of this world would belong to Reincarnation Paradise, and Su Xiao would also receive the corresponding quest rewards for the competition.
However, on top of that, he was prepared to gain even more this time. This would require taking great risks, possibly even dying from them, but the risk was worth it.
Given the current situation, he first needed to secure victory in the competition, forcing the other participants to leave this world, before he could continue with his plan.
[Announcement (Void Tree): Over 95% of the Scroll Fragments in the Seabed have been obtained by participants.]
[Hint: Hunters can immediately return to the main painting world, the Ancient Castle, or return in 6 hours.]
[Hint: In 6 hours, the final ranking will be determined. Please submit all Scroll Fragments to the Young Miss before then.]
[Hint: The faction of the participant who secures first place will gain ownership of this world.]
...
Seeing these prompts, Su Xiao chose to return to the main painting world. There was no need to stay in the Sea God's Palace any longer. The treasure vaults had been looted clean. Unless he wanted to kill the Sea God, there was no reason to stay.
A teleportation sensation washed over him. When the scene before his eyes cleared, he was in the Sanctuary Hall on the second floor of the Ancient Castle. Not far away were two others, the Apocalypse Sisters.
"Haven't dug enough yet. How did we get teleported out? Damn it."
Molei was a bit unwilling. Beside her, Yueshitu felt the same.
Ask yourself, what had those two been doing the entire time they were in the seabed world? Need you ask? They found a good spot, sealed off the area with a barrier, set up a tent, and happily started mining.
The two hadn't returned to the Ancient Castle voluntarily. They had been judged by the Void Tree as passively participating in the battle and were thrown back when the time was up, not allowed to continue mining.
Su Xiao glanced at the Apocalypse Sisters. Earlier, he had wondered why he hadn't encountered them in the main city. He remembered Molei saying she wanted to sell ore.
Arriving at the door marked with the ф symbol, Su Xiao pushed it open and entered. Inside, he found Amu and Beini had already returned.
"Meow."
Beini called out, a bit of cream on her lips. The maid, Anas, had made her a cake.
Su Xiao sat on the sofa and checked the team storage space. One item that had previously been unavailable for retrieval could now be taken out. It was the [Pure White Blood] that Amu and Beini had found.
After checking its attributes, Su Xiao didn't take it out. With this item, he had more confidence in his subsequent plan. But before that, he had to do something else.
Su Xiao took out all the Divine Blood Crystals he had, totaling 6555 grams. He removed the [Divine Judgment] ring from his finger and placed it among the Divine Blood Crystals, letting it absorb them freely.
[Hint: Divine Judgment (Holy Spirit Rank) quality is being upgraded...]