Chapter 126: The Trace Kings
Su Xiao pondered for a long time before deciding to execute this main mission. First, there was a rest period of 2 to 3 days. He planned to rest for about 2 days. By then, the Blade Demon Spirit of Dragon-Slaying Flash would have ended its slumber, and the Demon Blade ability would naturally be usable.
The Dark Blood mission would only activate after entering the fourth inner painting. The 1-day mission time indicated the task content was not complicated. At this stage, the mission hadn't activated yet, so there was no rush.
Su Xiao stood up and walked toward the corridor, went up to the second floor, returned to his room, and collapsed onto the bed to sleep.
He slept until he naturally woke up. Checking the time, he had slept a full 16 hours. Collaborating with that old yinbi was fine in other aspects, but he always had to be on guard against backstabbing from his teammates.
Even with constant vigilance, Zuiyasi still managed to backstab him. Su Xiao still hadn't determined exactly when Zuiyasi had hidden that parasitic insect on his clothing.
He estimated it was during the desperate battle against the blood-qi monster. At that time, Zuiyasi had been blown apart once while covering Su Xiao, and the blood splatter had gotten onto Su Xiao's clothes.
After washing up, Su Xiao removed the [Divine Judgment] ring from his finger. This ring had finally advanced to Immortal Rank.
[Divine Judgment]
Quality: Immortal Rank
Category: Ring
Durability: 75/75 (Increased by 25 points)
Equipment Requirement: Has slaughtered an extremely evil deity (far exceeding equipment requirements)
Equipment Effect 1: Soul Life (Core · Passive), each point of the wearer's Soul Strength increases Health Points by 100 and Neural Reflex Speed by 0.3%.
Current Soul Strength: 530 points.
Health Points Increased: 53000 points (this equipment can increase up to 60000 Health Points).
Neural Reflex Speed Increased: 159% (this equipment can increase up to 200% Neural Reflex Speed).
Equipment Effect 2: Divine Devour (Passive), after killing an extremely evil deity, this equipment will provide a passive-type buff ability based on the characteristics of the slain evil god. The strength of this ability depends on the wearer's Soul Strength.
Ability Gained from Slaying a God (Passive): None (after killing an extremely evil deity, an ability is gained based on the characteristics of the slain evil god).
Tip: If the wearer kills a new evil god, the ability gained from slaying a god will be forcibly replaced by an ability derived from the new evil god's characteristics.
Equipment Growth: 0%
Equipment Growth Condition: After killing an extremely evil deity, this equipment can absorb the deity's divine source energy to grow. The growth rate depends on the rank of the slain evil god (extremely evil deities are mostly Ancient Gods).
Rating: 1500 (Immortal Rank equipment ratings range from 1000 to 1500 points).
Description: Survive, and then... hunt.
Price: Unsellable.
...
The Divine Judgment ring had greatly improved. Although the ratio of Soul Strength to Health Points and Neural Reflex Speed had significantly decreased, the upper limits of both had increased.
Originally, the Divine Judgment ring could increase up to 40000 Health Points and 150% Neural Reflex Speed. Now, the upper limits had reached 60000 Health Points and 200% Neural Reflex Speed. For Su Xiao, who could steadily increase his Soul Strength, this was a substantial gain.
The new ability of the Divine Judgment ring was quite interesting. This ability itself had no attribute; it only appeared after killing an evil god, manifesting as a passive ability based on that evil god's characteristics.
For example, if Su Xiao wore the current Divine Judgment ring and killed the Moon God, the ring's second ability might derive a passive that increased soul damage.
If he wore the Divine Judgment ring and killed the Feather God, he might gain a passive bonus in the mental aspect.
These passive bonuses gained from slaying gods would replace one another. The specific strength of the buff depended both on the strength of the slain evil god and on Su Xiao's own Soul Strength.
After putting the Divine Judgment ring back on, Su Xiao felt an unusually vigorous life force within him. Everything around him seemed to slow down by 0.5 seconds, caused by the sudden 159% increase in Neural Reflex Speed. It returned to normal the next moment. Su Xiao had long been accustomed to the feeling of wearing the Divine Judgment ring.
After eating lunch prepared by the maid, Anas, Su Xiao began to meditate. This was both to recover his state and to heal the residual damage left on his body from the battle with Zuiyasi.
Beini and Amu had both been exhausted to the point of collapse after finding the [Pure White Blood]. What was the [Pure White Blood]? After using this item, one could temporarily be immune to the madness of this world, meaning it could curb the decline of sanity.
Beini had discovered the existence of this item through clues in the ancient castle and found it. It had been concocted by the castle doctor commissioned by the Royal Descendants, originally intended to solve the beast transformation disease. The result was that [Pure White Blood] could only completely resist the invading madness for a certain period.
After concocting three doses of [Pure White Blood], the dynasty's already withered finances nearly died from the strain. The current dose of [Pure White Blood] was a discontinued item. Fortunately, this thing had no expiration date; its core part was a type of special energy.
Time passed quickly during meditation. Su Xiao's condition gradually returned to its peak. If he could temporarily return to Reincarnation Paradise and reattach his left arm stored in the life support device, that would be even better.
A little over two days passed quickly. After the Demon Blade ability recovered, Su Xiao opened his eyes from meditation. He brought Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini and walked out of the room.
"Guest from the outer world, are you leaving?"
The maid, Anas, spoke.
"Mm."
"You haven't eaten lunch."
"Not hungry. If I survive, I'll eat when I get back."
Su Xiao left these words and went out. After glancing at the silver-gray hospital room door, he left the shelter hall, went downstairs, and arrived before the fourth inner painting.
The fourth inner painting was tightly wrapped in iron chains, with the chains fused together, unwelcoming to outsiders. Finding Su Xiao stopping before the fourth inner painting, the Young Miss's cold voice came:
"There's nothing there but ink stains."
"Oh."
Su Xiao pressed one hand against the fourth inner painting. With a crack, the chains snapped one by one, spreading outward like blooming steel flowers. The appearance of the fourth inner painting was revealed before Su Xiao's eyes.
Inside the painting was a magnificent royal city. Above the city, dark clouds densely covered the sky. The gaps between the clouds were illuminated into a pale gold by the sunlight. The buildings within the city were very old, weathered to a light black, with layers of wall skin peeling off.
Decay and grandeur merged. The former prosperity left only its afterglow. A sense of desolation arose spontaneously. In the past dynasty, the Royal Descendants had been proud to be the offspring of the Divine King, Oss Tobai. They strictly disciplined themselves. At that time, the dynasty was united as one, striding forward toward prosperity.
An era was like a tree. After reaching its peak of prosperity and becoming a towering giant, the heart of the tree would gradually rot. That was the Royal Descendants. The initial heroes had turned to dust. Their offspring were born into noble positions. Being born noble, it was already difficult to maintain one's original heart. To care for all living beings was even harder.
People only saw the deformity and sickness of the final generation of Royal Descendants. But if they were in their position and experienced the same things, they might not necessarily do better. People always liked to say afterward, "I could have done better than him." In reality, if they became the party involved, facing a completely uncertain path ahead, most people would feel confusion and worry.
Not to mention anything else, the mere fact that the final generation of Royal Descendants had built the underwater main city showed that, aside from their deformity and sickness, they were actually quite capable.
Su Xiao pressed his hand toward the fourth inner painting. A pulling force came from his hand. Spatial fluctuations surged. His vision plunged into darkness.
The wind howled past Su Xiao's ears. He opened his eyes and found himself in a desolate ruin. Most of the buildings here had collapsed, with only a few walls stubbornly standing, but even those would fall with a single kick. The streets had turned into fine, soft dust. Stepping on it raised small puffs of dust.
With sunlight shining from behind, the clouds in the sky appeared earthy gray. Looking into the distance, he could faintly see pointed buildings rising through the dust haze.
[Tip: You have arrived at the Royal City.]
This was the former center of power of the dynasty. Gazing into the distance, he could vaguely see a rock statue dozens of meters high. This was the statue of the Divine King, Oss Tobai.
Su Xiao's purpose in coming to the Royal City was to find the Trace Kings. There were a total of 7 Trace Kings. Aside from Trace King Luxman, the other six Trace Kings were all within the Royal City.
After Baha scouted from high altitude for a while, he found that although the Royal City was not small, its structure was not complex. Most of the buildings had collapsed, some unable to withstand the erosion of time and turning to dust.
The only buildings that were still relatively intact were the [Trace King Hall] and the [Painting Tower] located slightly toward the middle-rear of the Royal City. The Royal Descendants had shown great respect to the Trace Kings and painters. The royal palace had collapsed beyond recognition, yet the Trace King Hall and Painting Tower remained largely intact.
Within the Royal City, there wasn't even a rat to be seen, let alone danger. Here, only two types of beings could survive: 1. Those who could live by eating dirt, and 2. Those who didn't need to eat to live.
"Meow. Meow meow!"
Beini gestured from atop a several-meter-high stone pillar. It was usually responsible for treasure hunting and logistics, rarely acting with the team. Now, it seemed especially excited.
Bubu Wang acted out of character, no longer bickering with Beini as usual. In reality, it was harboring mischief. Based on Bubu's experience, this damn place either had no enemies at all, or if it did encounter any, they would be so strong they'd make one's scalp tingle.
Walking on roads that were a mix of broken stone slabs and dust, Su Xiao crossed a long stone bridge over a dried-up river and arrived in front of the Trace King Hall. He entered the drafty Trace King Hall.
The scene before him made Su Xiao's heart sink. Inside the vast Trace King Hall were seven red stone seats. On five of those stone seats sat corpses. All the corpses wore dull-colored crowns. Some were short in stature, some had large frames, but all were skinny to the bone. Some had horns protruding from their pale white hair.
Su Xiao stepped forward to examine them. A rusty smell entered his nostrils. He lifted a tattered blanket covering the upper body of one corpse and saw that the corpse's chest had been hollowed out. The chest cavity was completely empty. The flesh inside had dried up, and not a single drop of blood remained.
After examining the remaining five corpses in turn, Su Xiao confirmed that these were all Trace Kings. The dull golden crowns on their heads were identical to the one worn by Trace King Luxman.
Just as Su Xiao was about to turn and leave, a withered hand grabbed his arm. The Trace King on the stone seat in front of him, who had clearly been dead, now opened his eyes. His eyes were no longer pitch black but grayish-white and covered in cracks.
"He wants to take... all the Dark Blood."
After speaking these words, the dead Trace King's aura completely vanished. He was truly dead. Essentially, the Trace Kings existed in a state between life and death. Only in this way could they bear what living beings could not.