Chapter 130: Return
The central area of the royal city was submerged in shallow water. Looking around at the higher ground nearby, deep cracks crisscrossed the ground. The remnants of walls that had barely stood were now reduced to piles of rubble, with only the towering statue of the God King still standing.
The person it represented had created all of this, while it had witnessed everything that followed—the rise and fall of dynasties, the ravages of the beast calamity.
Rumble~
The statue of the God King began to crack, crumbling into coarse gravel that rolled downward like a landslide. With the world-shattering sky thunder that had fallen earlier, this inner painting world was about to meet its end.
Hearing the continuous sounds of debris hitting the ground in the distance, Su Xiao, lying in the shallow water, opened his eyes. He sat up with a splash, the cold groundwater providing a slight numbing effect. As he sat upright, his head spun for a few seconds.
A crystalline right arm gradually formed, with some fragments of Banishment mixed in. When not fighting, he could split Banishment into two streams—one to control the crystalline left calf, the other to control the right arm. The severed right arm and left calf had already been placed in a life-support device by Baha, who was well-versed in this task.
After drinking a bottle of [Vitality Essence], Su Xiao's health points quickly recovered. The oppressive pressure in his chest mostly faded as strands of Spirit Shadow Threads sank into his body through the wounds, providing preliminary treatment. He felt as though he had come back to life.
Su Xiao stood up and walked over to the corpse of the old knight. Floating above the body was a mass of black bloodstains that constantly shifted shape—this was the Ten Thousand Gods Blood, the ink needed by the painting world.
[Tip: You have killed the Old Knight·Azde.]
[You have gained 31.5% World Source.]
[You have gained 3,290 Soul Coins.]
[You have gained an Immortal Chest: Dark Knight.]
[You have gained Dark Blood·No Traits (World-Class Item).]
...
[You have killed the Old Knight·Azde using the Demon Blade ability.]
[Activate Plunder·Demon Blade? Activating this ability will cause it to disappear, and Dragon-Slaying Flash will gain an empty skill slot.]
Su Xiao chose to activate Plunder·Demon Blade, and a list appeared before him. Unlike when he had forcibly plundered the ability of the Sun Bird, most of the abilities on this list were grayed out—passive abilities that could not be plundered.
After searching for a while, he found an ability called [Weapon Specialization Maintenance]. He plundered it without sealing it, not to preserve the ability, but to use up the remaining charges of Soul·Demon Blade.
Su Xiao lit a cigarette and rested on a nearby pile of rubble for over ten minutes before leading Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini toward the distance. Soon, they were far away.
Pale golden clouds drifted. At the center of the royal city, on a high mound.
A grave was built from semi-weathered rubble, with a large, rust-spotted sword slightly tilted, thrust into the ground before it.
On the blade of the greatsword, several fresh nicks could be seen, clearly left from clashing with an enemy's weapon during a deadly battle. A faded red string was tied around the hilt, only a small piece remaining. A tattered red cape, frayed at the edges, was tied to the sword's guard, swaying in the breeze.
This was a knight's grave.
...
At the innermost part of the royal city, Su Xiao had come here for a simple reason: other areas of this inner painting world showed signs of collapse, but here, from a great distance, one could see purple-black lines spreading through the air.
A wide-open giant gate stood ahead. Su Xiao could leave this painting world at any time, so he had no concerns. He reached his hand toward the gate.
A pulling force appeared—this sensation was like entering a nightmare zone. He was about to pull back when he noticed no warning appeared, and his sanity value did not drop.
Weighing the pros and cons, with the ability to retreat at any time and no clear danger, it was worth exploring.
When the purple-black mist dissipated, the surroundings became clear. This was a grand palace, with two long rows of seats on either side. Each seat was nearly two meters wide, and on the dozens of seats sat extremely obese beings. Compared to the Divine Envoy Bolos he had encountered earlier, Bolos looked starved next to these creatures.
These obese beings, like small giants, wore lavish clothing. Their gazes were vacant, with naive smiles on their faces, as if trapped in an illusion.
[Tip: Hunters must not attack the Gluttony Clan. They are neutral/friendly units residing within this world. Attacking them will incur unpredictable risks.]
Su Xiao had not learned of the Gluttony Clan in this world's history. According to the tip, they were neutral/friendly units.
"Bobo bobo bobo..."
One of the Gluttony Clan woke up. Seeing Su Xiao, it seemed a bit scared, trying to shrink its massive body backward, but as its fat shifted, it slid back to its original position.
At first, this Gluttony Clan member was very afraid—Su Xiao had just finished fighting, his body reeking of blood, his gaze fierce and brutal. An ordinary person meeting his eyes would be terrified and collapse to the ground.
"Bo! Bobo bobo..."
The Gluttony Clan member seemed to find something very amusing, waking up dozens of its kin. Then the palace was filled with a dense chorus of "bobo bobo bobo..." sounds, like standing in a pond with tens of thousands of frogs.
Su Xiao placed his hand on his sword hilt, and the bobo sounds gradually faded, as if someone had turned down the volume—a comical effect that left Bubu Wang dumbfounded. Baha wanted to laugh but couldn't, his whole body aching.
"Bobo bo."
The Gluttony Clan member in front of Su Xiao extended a short, thick arm, offering something. Notably, its hand had eight fingers, and its palm was covered in dense, flesh-colored suction cups.
[Tip: Because the Law Destroyer and the Gluttony Clan are in a non-hostile relationship (over 99.86% of void races and inhabitants will not be hostile to the Gluttony Clan).]
[You have gained a Plump Egg (Special Item).]
[After using this item, you can summon the Gluttony Clan in most worlds. The Gluttony Clan is a friendly race that enjoys devouring nightmares, illusions, disaster zones, and similar environments.]
[If the hunter uses the "Plump Egg" to summon the Gluttony Clan in such locations, the Gluttony Clan will give you a reward in return.]
...
Seeing these prompts, Su Xiao understood what was happening. These fat Gluttony Clan members specialized in eating environments dense with negative energy. They had appeared here, attracted by the nightmare environment, to devour the nightmares of this world.
Though the Gluttony Clan looked intimidating, to the inhabitants of any world, they were a harmless, foolish race. Not only were they harmless, but they could also gradually consume terrifying nightmares or illusion zones.
If he encountered such illusions in the future, he could consider summoning the Gluttony Clan to see what rewards they might give.
This was the wonder of exploring a primordial world—you never knew what you might encounter next.
Su Xiao walked deeper into the palace. He saw names beneath each seat, with a style characteristic of this world. He guessed that the nightmare palace had been set up by the last generation of royal descendants, treating the nightmare-devouring Gluttony Clan like honored guests.
It made sense—without the Gluttony Clan, the number of nightmare zones in the painting world would be appalling.
On the wall at the far end of the palace was a silver-gray metal door, seventy percent similar to the door of the castle ward, but with different patterns.
"Password."
A hoarse voice came from inside the door. Hearing this, Baha cleared his throat and said:
"Dark Blood."
As Baha's words fell, the double metal door slowly opened, and cold mist drifted out.
Inside, a brain monster stood by the door, its head twitching left and right in small, rapid movements, sometimes blurring into afterimages.
Su Xiao ignored the brain monster and continued forward. After passing a corridor littered with white bones, another silver-gray metal door appeared ahead. This time it was a single door, with an opening mechanism lever on it.
With a click, the door opened. Su Xiao stepped inside. The scene before him was familiar—a secret room surrounded by bookshelves, with a desk holding a dried-up ink bottle, a feather pen stuck inside, and a medical form on the table.
This was the innermost secret room of the castle ward. Su Xiao looked at the door opposite him. This door could be opened from the inside, but from the other side, a cipher code was needed.
It was in this secret room that Su Xiao had obtained the Painter's Blood. The cipher door now looked completely different, covered in sword marks, cracked in the center—clearly someone had forced their way through into the secret room.
Outside the secret room was the storage hall, where Lamp Lady was. As soon as this thought appeared, Lamp Lady's searchlight head poked in.
Su Xiao immediately prepared to retreat, but before he could, the long-legged Lamp Lady screamed and turned to run.
"Ha, this nightmare monster is a bit cowardly."
Baha laughed. He hadn't seen Lamp Lady before, or he wouldn't have said that.
Su Xiao noticed that not only was Lamp Lady different, but the Nightmare·Castle Ward was also different. Last time he was here, his sanity dropped by 40 points per minute. This time, it didn't drop at all. At first, he thought it was the Pure White Blood taking effect, but then he found that Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini also didn't lose any sanity.
Leaving the secret room, Su Xiao saw Lamp Lady standing in a corner of the storage hall. The place looked like it had been hit by a typhoon—the floor, walls, and everything else had been stripped away, covered in slash marks.
Seeing the cuts here, Su Xiao knew Lamp Lady had been taught a lesson by the old knight. Without nightmare enhancement and unable to use Tainted Light, Lamp Lady was like a tiger without teeth.
Tap!
Lamp Lady took a step forward, her metal high heels striking the ground. Su Xiao ignored her, passing through the ward and main corridor to reach the curved hallway, arriving at the nightmare exit before a chair.
Sitting in the chair, Su Xiao's vision blurred for a moment. When everything became clear, he was on the second floor of the castle in the main painting world.
The royal city and the castle were connected by nightmares—unexpected, yet logical. The castle was the last refuge of the main painting world. When the royal descendants were still in power, they would never have relaxed their oversight here, or else the Young Miss wouldn't have needed to send the Beast Heart to the Sand World for the Sun Church to guard.
Descending to the first-floor reception hall, the Young Miss still sat on her high stool, cold and elegant.
Su Xiao took out the containers holding [Painter's Blood] and [Dark Blood]. Seeing these two items, the Young Miss showed no joy or surprise, not even any unexpected emotion. She simply reached out and took them.
"You want me to paint a new world."
"Yes."
"Can I do it?"
"You must."
"And if I can't?"
"..."
"Then I suppose I can. I forgot to tell you—a painter cannot die, unless a new painter appears."
The container of Painter's Blood in the Young Miss's hand shattered, and the crimson blood merged into her skin. She said:
"This is ink without madness. A world painted with it will no longer have madness. It will be a haven for many living beings. I hope someone will go there too and find their place."
"..."
"Did you meet the knight grandfather in the royal city? He also went there."
The Young Miss's voice remained cold, but if you listened closely, you could hear a trace of emotion in her words.
"No, I only met a beast."
"A beast. Was it strong?"
"Yes."
"Did you defeat it?"
"No."
"I hope he finds his place too. A beast without a heart must be in great pain."
With that, the Young Miss poured the ink from the bottle into a nearby paint box.
[Tip: The hunter has completed the main mission: Dark Blood. With the coordination of the Notary, it is estimated that in 10 to 15 natural days, the Young Miss can paint a new world.]
[The hunter may name the new painting world.]
...
This surprised Su Xiao. He could actually name the new world. He had thought it would just be about profit sharing, but it seemed there were other permissions involved.
In terms of naming, Su Xiao's skill was on par with his charm attribute. After discussion within the team, two names were put forward: "Newly Painted Super·Invincible·Spiral·Amu·Jet World" and "New Painting World."
Considering Amu's feelings, they ultimately settled on New Painting World.
The Young Miss was only responsible for painting. The "World Painting" she created would be the world core of the new world. Then, with the Notary of Reincarnation Paradise, the "World Painting" would serve as the starting point for a new world to rapidly emerge.
Everything here was brand new—metal ores, stone, trees—but there were no buildings or living beings. What to do? The answer was simple: if there was nothing here, the Sand World and the Underwater World had plenty. A great migration would begin.
Madness being brought into the new world was no problem at all. It was a rootless calamity with no chance of developing.
Don't forget, after the great migration, the two future overlords of the New Painting World would be the Sun Church and the Sea God Kingdom. Both had experience dealing with beast transformation. If they could withstand the current beast transformation, in the new world, they could stamp out the beast calamity in at most a month or two.
With population, civilization, supernatural power systems, and inheritance all in place, the New Painting World would develop quickly. Once workers from his side entered the world to gather resources, Su Xiao would start receiving dividends.
Simply put, he was a shareholder in this world, receiving dry dividends without handling any trivial matters.
According to earlier estimates, after seizing the painting world, only workers would enter. But from the current situation, it was still possible for contractors from his side to enter this world—after all, it had the Sun Church and the Sea God Kingdom.
Su Xiao was more concerned about whether violators from his side might enter this world in the future. If they did, they would inevitably cause trouble. If the world's system collapsed, Su Xiao's income would drop significantly.
But this wasn't too worrying. Su Xiao himself was a hunter, especially professional in this regard.
Indeed, an eighth-rank violator going to cause trouble in a world where an eighth-rank hunter had shares—just thinking about it was a bit ridiculous.
[Tip: Your main mission: Victor (completed).]
[Rewards will be calculated based on the degree of restoration of the painting world.]
[Calculating...]
[Detected that the hunter has become a long-term income beneficiary of this world. The nature of this reward has changed. You receive the following two rewards.]
[1. The profit-sharing ratio for the "New Painting World" has increased.]
[2. You have gained the Honor Pioneer (Badge).]
[Honor Pioneer Badge: After using this badge, the rank of a solo adventure group/multi-person adventure group increases by +1 (can raise the adventure group rank to the maximum level, SSS rank).]
[All your main missions have been completed. You are about to leave this world and return to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Teleportation begins.]