# Chapter 91: Convergence
Two days is enough to decide many things, let alone a week.
The reason Su Xiao proposed attacking the human side a week later was to prevent the enemy from figuring out his intentions. Even revealing the concept of two days could potentially alert the Vassal Alliance.
From the development of the Sun Fortress until now, Su Xiao had never attacked the Vassal Alliance side. The two large-scale battles with the Vassal Alliance were both initiated by the Vassal Alliance sending troops to the border region to fight.
The reason Su Xiao had never taken the initiative to attack the Vassal Alliance was twofold: first, to numb the Vassal Alliance so they wouldn't develop an especially strong sense of crisis, and second, to guard against the Vassal Alliance pulling out their true life-or-death abilities.
Su Xiao deeply understood a principle: for a major force like the Vassal Alliance, their most formidable trump card was definitely not used for attack, but for self-preservation.
This is like in nature, where many people think the toughest natural fiber is spider silk. In reality, it's not. The toughest natural fiber is the cocoon silk that a pupa spits out to protect itself. This is the natural instinct of living things—the priority of self-protection is higher than hunting.
This was also why Su Xiao had never touched the Vassal Alliance's bottom line and had signed the border treaty. The Vassal Alliance was a hegemonic force that had dominated this world for many years. The depth of their accumulated foundation over so many years was completely imaginable.
To deal with such a behemoth, surpassing them in resources, force scale, weapon advancement, etc., was impossible. The wise choice was to use overwhelming military force to knock the Vassal Alliance senseless in a short time, even making them kneel and beg for mercy. One must never engage in a protracted war with this hegemonic force.
Su Xiao looked at the communicator on the tea table. There was something that needed to be settled. After operating for an entire world progression, it was best to collect the gains from that side before going to war with the Vassal Alliance. Moreover, outsiders had already set their sights on these gains.
Su Xiao picked up the communicator and dialed a frequency. The other side didn't answer. After more than ten minutes, they called back and said directly:
"Her·Kangdiwei no longer trusts me. The only reason he hasn't eliminated me is because of the Tribunal and the temporary truce between you and the Vassal Alliance."
The voice of Li·Xiniwei came through the communicator. One could hear the fatigue in his voice. The reason he could persist until now was both because his own talents had been pushed to their maximum and because a certain will was supporting him. He was trying to make amends for past mistakes, even if it was too late, he still wanted to try.
"It can begin."
Su Xiao spoke. A good show was about to unfold. If it were before, he couldn't be present at the scene. Now it was different. With the flying dragon mount, he could be there in person to prevent any accidents at this final juncture that would make all his previous arrangements benefit others.
"Bai Ye, this time... can I trust you? Will I be used again? I've done many things for you. Just this once, keep our prior agreement."
Li·Xiniwei's tone was calm yet firm, as if he had already decided certain things.
"Oh."
"I'll block several forces from the human side. Those people have become interested in the Devourer. I'll hold them off."
After saying this, Li·Xiniwei let out a long sigh through the communicator.
"You can't hold them off."
"I can!"
Li·Xiniwei's voice was especially resolute.
"Very well. I'll wait to see your performance."
After saying this, Su Xiao ended the call. The decisive battle of the Devourers was about to begin.
Whether the concept of the Third Generation Devourer·Divine Stick and others could succeed depended on this decisive battle between the Second Generation Devourer and the Third Generation Devourer.
Currently, it was the ceasefire period with the Vassal Alliance. Plus, Bubu Wang was left in the fortress, so the probability of enemies infiltrating was very low.
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang, who was sitting on the carpet, barked. His pitiful little eyes seemed to say that he also wanted to watch the decisive battle.
Su Xiao walked toward the door of the main command room. Baha and Beini followed behind. This made Bubu Wang, who also wanted to go, extremely envious.
Arriving at the first floor of the fortress, an oversized metal cage was in the corner. The Storm Wyvern was trapped inside. Its appearance hadn't changed much, but its two vertical pupils had turned dark gold.
"Roar!"
The Storm Wyvern roared at Su Xiao. Its dark blue feathers all stood up slightly. Seeing this, Su Xiao hooked his finger at a Sun Maiden who was guarding nearby.
This Sun Maiden came forward, first bowed to Su Xiao, then made the gesture of praising the sun toward the Storm Wyvern. The next second, a miracle occurred. The Storm Wyvern raised its dragon wing and also made the gesture of praising the sun.
Seeing this, Su Xiao felt quite satisfied. Although the Storm Wyvern still had some rebellious consciousness that hadn't been worn away, the solar force within its body had reached 16500/16500 points.
To have this amount of solar force in such a short time without having its thinking purified by the sun faith meant that the Storm Wyvern had also started praising the sun in secret. Otherwise, it would have long become a mentally deficient wyvern.
Su Xiao had the Sun Maiden open the metal cage. As soon as the cage opened, the Storm Wyvern pounced toward Su Xiao, with solar flame gathering in its mouth.
After receiving the solar force from the Evolution Nest, although the Storm Wyvern's appearance hadn't changed much, its abilities had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Why was this? It involved what the solar force in the Evolution Nest used as its guide.
Su Xiao had used the soul blood of Sun Warriors to activate the solar characteristics of the Evolution Nest, but that was just an initiation. What truly allowed the solar force in the Evolution Nest to grow was the [Sun Bird Source Blood].
Although the Storm Wyvern was called a dragon, it had feathers and a beak, resembling a combination of dragon and large bird. This resulted in a high compatibility with the [Sun Bird Source Blood], even allowing it to master solar flame.
The Storm Wyvern lunged at Su Xiao. The solar flame in its mouth condensed to a dark gold color, ready to spew.
Su Xiao spread open his right palm. The Sun Ring floated above his palm. The charging Storm Wyvern immediately slammed on the brakes.
Not only did the Storm Wyvern stop, but it also gulped down the solar flame in its mouth back into its stomach, letting it re-transform into solar force. Its head slammed heavily onto the ground with a bang. There was too much solar force in its body. This was solar force that had been transformed by the Evolution Nest. On this basis, if there was extremely strong resistance, this was the result.
Su Xiao closed his palm. The Storm Wyvern's gaze immediately turned ferocious. It prepared to continue its attack, but Su Xiao had already spread his palm again.
Golden rings appeared around the Storm Wyvern's pupils. Its head slammed heavily onto the ground with another bang, entering a state of fanatical belief.
Every ten-plus seconds, Su Xiao would close his right hand. Each time, the Storm Wyvern intended to violently resist, but whenever it faced the Sun Ring directly, it immediately entered the fanatical belief state.
From a distance, one could hear the sound of a head hitting the ground every ten-plus seconds. At first, the Storm Wyvern was extremely angry when conscious, but after half an hour, this anger was replaced by helplessness.
After an hour, the Storm Wyvern lay on its side on the ground, not moving. Its numb gaze seemed to say: 'Do whatever you want, but this dragon will not submit.'
Su Xiao took out the last remaining blood vial of [Sun Bird Source Blood] from his storage space. As soon as he took out this source blood, the Storm Wyvern suddenly stood up, its vertical pupils fixed on the blood vial in Su Xiao's hand.
"Cooperate for one month, and it will be yours."
Su Xiao didn't say things like submit to me. All intelligent beings need dignity and face, and the stronger they are, the more so. But if it was called cooperation, even if it meant being a mount, having the step-down of cooperation, most negotiating parties would be willing to follow the step-down.
The current situation was that if the Storm Wyvern was unwilling to be a mount, Su Xiao had no better option. He couldn't completely deprive the Storm Wyvern of its judgment—that was too dangerous. He wasn't skilled in flying, so naturally, there was no question of controlling the Storm Wyvern's flight.
If the Storm Wyvern refused to become a mount, then Su Xiao's dinner tonight would definitely be it. As a 'Friend of the Dragon Clan,' Su Xiao's intimacy with the dragon clan meant that if conditions permitted, it would definitely be a must-have every meal—whether stewed, roasted, or braised in soy sauce, all were quite good.
Speaking of dragon mounts, Su Xiao couldn't help but think of the White Dragon Lady. Before going to the Ancient Dragon Kingdom·Eberath, Su Xiao thought he could happily obtain a dragon mount and become a dragon knight. When he arrived, he found that although the White Dragon Lady could be ridden, she couldn't fly.
The Storm Wyvern seemed to sense that if it refused Su Xiao's cooperation invitation, it would become the main dish on the dinner table tonight. Plus, the temptation of [Sun Bird Source Blood] was too great for it.
The Storm Wyvern didn't give a clear answer but tacitly agreed to the one-month cooperation period with Su Xiao and the subsequent acquisition of [Sun Bird Source Blood].
Was Su Xiao preparing to give the last remaining [Sun Bird Source Blood] to the Storm Wyvern? Of course not. This item was very rare. Plus, the agreement was for payment after one month. Not to mention one month, in just a few days at most, Su Xiao would leave this world and return to Reincarnation Paradise.
If the Storm Wyvern could go to Reincarnation Paradise to demand payment, Su Xiao would definitely not default. If it couldn't, then there was no way.
"Since we're cooperating, we should sign a contract."
"Roar."
"Very good."
Su Xiao drafted a contract. The Storm Wyvern on the other side examined it for a long time, even scratching its chin with its dragon claw. Feeling there was no problem, it signed its name, "Barlomieu."
After the contract was signed, Su Xiao leaped onto the Storm Wyvern's back. Compared to the previous Black Dragon·Midith and the Demon Flame Dragon·Barbatos, the riding experience of the Storm Wyvern had a qualitative leap. The reason was that this Storm Wyvern had feathers, making it a soft seat, unlike Midith and Barbatos, whose dragon skin was so hard that cutting it with a sword would spark.
Especially the Black Dragon·Midith, which had spikes on its back. Su Xiao had to stand the whole time. If the Storm Wyvern was a soft seat and the Demon Flame Dragon·Barbatos was a hard seat, then the Black Dragon·Midith was a spiked seat.
"Meow!"
Beini made a flying squirrel-like pounce, spreading all four paws wide and landing on top of Su Xiao's head. Once, when Bubu Wang saw Beini do this, he also tried it. The result was that Su Xiao took a custom-made large slipper and blocked Bubu for half a day by the distillation equipment, while Bubu below refused to come out no matter what.
Baha flew onto the dragon's back, grabbed a few feathers, and indicated they could set off. The Storm Wyvern flapped its wings, flew low out of the fortress's main gate, and then its speed skyrocketed.
Bang!
A sonic boom burst open. Such high-speed flight caused Beini, who was originally lying on Su Xiao's head, to be thrown off on the spot. She could only use her cat claws to hook onto the back collar of Su Xiao's clothes, making her look like a fluffy little rag fluttering in the wind.
"Meow meow meow!!"
Beini's miserable cat cry pierced the sky as tears flew wildly.
...
Night. A waning moon hung in the sky.
Beside a campfire, Dorothy used a wooden stick to stir the fire, turning out a few roasted sweet potatoes.
"I'll go in a bit. You old geezer are so annoying."
"I know, I'll definitely go there. Didn't I tell you? I need to avenge my mother first."
"I'm adapting, but thinking about speaking in my head without saying it directly feels too strange. But speaking of which, what exactly are you? Why are you willing to help me?"
Dorothy, who was peeling a roasted sweet potato, muttered to herself. Strangely, she wasn't wearing any communication device. The only difference from before was that on the index finger of her right hand, which was wearing a black soft fabric glove, there was an additional black ring. The center line of this ring had a hair-thin circle of blue.
"Mm, thank you for the suggestion, but why should I remove the Devourer inside me? It gave me power. As for who gave it to me, that's a secret."
Dorothy continued talking to the invisible person. Just then, the sound of breaking air came from above, accompanied by a dragon's roar.
Dorothy stood up from the ground. As she stood, she grasped a longsword nearly 1.5 meters long. This wasn't her own weapon but was prepared for the [Dark Demon Blood Shadow].
The [Dark Demon Blood Shadow] appeared behind Dorothy. Under her vigilant gaze, the Storm Wyvern landed, and Su Xiao leaped down from the dragon's back.
"Huh?"
Dorothy was full of surprise. She asked, "Lord Bai Ye, why are you here?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He was about to grab the back collar of Dorothy's clothes and throw her onto the dragon's back when he suddenly sensed a faint aura appearing on Dorothy's hand.
This aura was extremely faint. Others had no possibility of sensing it, but Su Xiao could. It wasn't because he was a close-combat technique type with close-range perception, but for another reason.
Su Xiao grabbed Dorothy's right wrist and pulled off a black ring from her index finger.
The moment Su Xiao touched the ring, a look of astonishment appeared on his face. An aged voice appeared in his mind.
"I am..."
An ancient voice, as if from the distant past, appeared. This voice was suddenly interrupted halfway through, replaced by three other voices speaking alternately.
"No, this... aura, it's that little brat!"
"Eh? Who is it?"
"This aura is the same origin as ours, but not a remnant soul..."
"Don't contact that side directly. That dark ring is very far from us. Directly conversing with that side will exhaust the energy."
"It's almost exhausted already. Forget it, that side has no hope. We've collided. This kid was actually in that world."
The voices in Su Xiao's mind disappeared. He looked at the black ring in his hand, and the corner of his eye twitched.
Su Xiao never expected that he would encounter a Black-Hearted Old Grandpa in this world.
That's right, this black ring was a Black-Hearted Old Grandpa. Its creators were three people who collaborated on this matter.
Among those three, the one Su Xiao was most familiar with was Mawen Hua'erzi, followed by the Black Mist Figure from Starry Sky Seat. Every time the Starry Sky Seat convened, it was hosted by the other party.
The last person was the Old Law Destroyer. Su Xiao's Black Maple Tree was planted and grown from a large piece of bark peeled off that person's special Black Maple Tree.
Regarding that Old Law Destroyer, what impressed Su Xiao most was that the other party had devoured his own Demon Blade energy, rather than sealing this energy in a blade to form a Blade Demon Spirit like Su Xiao did.
Facts proved that whether a person was unscrupulous had nothing to do with their age, experience, strength, etc. Those three unscrupulous old fellows were all famous in the Void.
Compared to the Old Law Destroyer and the Black Mist Figure, Mawen Hua'erzi looked relatively younger, but the most morally deficient one was definitely this guide on Su Xiao's path of Law Destruction.
The way he guided was to lead wherever there was a pitfall. His original words were that young people must experience some training.
When other people's guides or mentors passed on some ability, they would repeatedly warn how dangerous this ability was, what reactions would occur during inheritance, that the body would experience severe pain, etc.
But when it came to Mawen Hua'erzi, it became: 'Don't worry, this ability is especially easy to inherit. Close your eyes, and it'll be done in a moment.'
When Su Xiao was inheriting Azure Shadow King back then, that's what Mawen Hua'erzi said. Su Xiao did close his eyes, but he almost died.
When they met next time and asked about this matter, Mawen Hua'erzi would put on a look of sudden realization and emotionally say that his master had taught him this way back then. It was called training.
Su Xiao suspected that this was the 'fine tradition' of the Law Destroyers—one generation tricking the next. In short, as long as you wouldn't die, there would be no warning. It was almost like saying, relax and drink more hot water.
Su Xiao sensed the ring in his hand for a moment. Perhaps it was because those three old fellows were unwilling to consume rare energy to continue contacting, or perhaps this ring had already completed its mission as a Black-Hearted Old Grandpa. Encountering Dorothy was just to make some extra money on the side. At this point, this thing was already scrapped.
Throwing it into the campfire, Su Xiao grabbed the back collar of Dorothy's clothes and tossed her onto the dragon's back.
"No! That was my lucky ring! Lord Bai Ye, I've become the Chosen One, just yesterday!"
Dorothy looked at the ring in the campfire with heartache in her eyes.
"..."
Su Xiao ignored Dorothy and jumped onto the dragon's back.
"No~ My lucky ring!"
Amid Dorothy's lament, the Storm Wyvern flew into the high sky. Dorothy's potential was very high, but her brain was never very bright.
The Storm Wyvern's flight gradually stabilized. Sitting on the dragon's back with her knees hugged, Dorothy pouted and muttered something.
Upon inquiry, Su Xiao learned what had happened. Because Dorothy's strength wasn't yet sufficient, Li·Xiniwei had used provocation to trick her into going to an underground base of the alliance, where an extraction-type potion was used to help her improve her strength.
One day, while wandering around the underground base, Dorothy saw a man soaked in a glass pillar. The ring on his hand suddenly disappeared and appeared on her hand. From then on, Dorothy's 'adventure' began. She gained quite a bit of supernatural knowledge.
It figured. Those three unscrupulous old fellows would never use substantial benefits to trick people. Instead, they would provide supernatural knowledge. At their level, casually taking out a little would be enough to benefit Dorothy, a novice in the supernatural, immensely.
Su Xiao had known for a long time that those three unscrupulous old fellows were pretending to be Black-Hearted Old Grandpas. He just didn't expect to run into them this time.
"Tch, so it was fake. I knew it. There's no such thing as a free lunch."
Dorothy held a large lunchbox in one hand and a spoon in the other, with rice grains even on the tip of her nose. This was backup food Su Xiao had in his storage space.
"Ah~ My lucky ring! My fortune power! Who was howling that earlier?"
Baha looked at Dorothy with a half-smile. Exposing people's sore spots was something he was especially good at.
"No... it wasn't~"
Dorothy rarely blushed. Remembering what she had shouted earlier, she felt inexplicably embarrassed.
This wasn't the worst part. When Baha smirked and took out a recording pen that played Dorothy's shouts, Dorothy almost died of social embarrassment.
"But anyway, Mr. Bai Ye, why did you come find me this time?"
Dorothy's expression turned serious.
"To take you to find the person who killed your mother."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Dorothy's pupils constricted slightly. She grabbed the longsword in its sheath beside her with one hand.
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning."
After saying this, Su Xiao lay down on the dragon's back feathers and fell asleep within moments.
When the sky gradually brightened, the Storm Wyvern had already flown into human territory, heading straight for a large canyon.
The wind whistled past Su Xiao's ears. The scene below rapidly drew closer. On a lush mountainside halfway up, there was a temple.
This temple had a sense of age. The stone steps in front extended to the foot of the mountain. From the moss on the steps, it seemed no one had come here for years.
The frontmost part of the temple was a gate pavilion with courtyard walls on both sides. Past the gate pavilion was a spacious courtyard, estimated to be several hundred square meters.
Apart from the gate pavilion at the main entrance, the other three directions of the courtyard had three tall buildings surrounding the courtyard. The windows and doors of these buildings were all wooden. Due to their age, there was no glass on the windows and doors, only cross-grid wooden bars.
The large building at the back had a herringbone tiled roof with bluish-gray tiles.
In the spacious courtyard, the ground was covered with tender green moss, making it look slippery. All of this seemed normal, but on the wooden walls, doors, windows, etc., of the large building at the back, white talisman papers were pasted. On the talisman papers were tadpole-shaped suppression patterns. Carefully woven thin hemp ropes were wrapped around the window lattices, tied with small white paper flowers.
In front of the main gate of this temple stood a sign that read:
'Underground natural gas leak, toxic and explosive. Do not enter this area. Please go down the mountain the way you came.'
This was the famous [Alms Bowl Temple] on human territory. Different cultures have different architectures and beliefs. [Alms Bowl Temple] was not a place of faith. It suppressed numerous ghosts.
In high-level primordial worlds, ghosts were not rare. Sometimes, when the deceased were too unwilling, their souls would combine with supernatural energy. Their negative emotions would absorb filthy, dark energy, naturally forming ghosts.
It could be said that worlds with supernatural power basically had ghosts, just varying in quantity.
Sensing living beings arriving overhead, all the suppression talismans on the large building of [Alms Bowl Temple] dimmed and turned gray-white. At least a hundred resentful spirits seeped out from the gaps in the doors and windows, turning into black smoke.
A mournful female cry came from the pitch-black large building. Pale arms, at least several hundred, reached out from the window lattices, densely packed, inspiring fear from the depths of one's heart.
A faint sound of breaking air came. Su Xiao fell from above and stood steadily on the roof tiles of the large building. In an instant, the black smoke and pale arms that had spread out from the large building all retracted. Not only that, but all the suppression talismans returned to their original state, sealing the doors and windows tightly. Everything became calm, and even the air felt a bit fresher.
"I'll borrow your dwelling for a while."
Su Xiao took out a cloth bag about the size of a pomegranate. Opening it, he poured out the black beans inside.
The black beans fell on the roof tiles. Pale arms reached out from the roof, scrambling to grab these soybean-sized black beans. This was something Su Xiao had obtained in the Demon Sea World. It had no other use, but ghosts liked it.
After pouring out about half a bag, Su Xiao tied the bag tightly and sat on the roof. The ghosts in the large building below stabilized somewhat, no longer preparing to flee. Pale, faceless faces pressed against the inside of the windows, all wanting to see what was about to happen outside. The ghosts watched the strong one with fear.
Baha carried Beini and flew to Su Xiao's side. Beini jumped down beside Su Xiao, while Dorothy landed in the courtyard.
The Storm Wyvern landed on the roof behind Su Xiao. It didn't care much about the ghosts in the building below either. A single breath of solar flame could burn them all.
At this time, the sky was just beginning to lighten. Sitting on the large roof, Su Xiao saw three people coming up the mountain along the steps from afar.
The leader was Di Zong, leaning on a walking stick. Beside him was a man full of a seductive and evil sense. This person was Di Zong's legitimate son, Xin·Youge.
The last person was not the imagined Xin·Alisi, the woman who killed Dorothy's target, but a black-eyed girl. Her eyes were very special—the background was black, the outer edge of the pupil was white, and the center of the pupil was also black.
The black-eyed girl was the same age as Dorothy. She bounced up the mountain. From the look of her, this was a girl who liked to court death.
It was very strange. Di Zong hadn't brought Xin·Alisi to settle this matter. Xin·Alisi was Li·Xiniwei's old flame and the culprit who killed Dorothy's mother.
The door of the temple gate pavilion was pushed open. As Di Zong entered the courtyard, the ghosts in the large building almost wailed. Su Xiao's arrival had already made them tremble with fear. Now that the old man Di Zong, who was like an evil ghost, had also come, the psychological shadow area of these monsters was very large.
Di Zong and the black-eyed girl leaped onto the roof of the gate pavilion. The black-eyed girl even waved at Su Xiao, then looked at Dorothy.
"Is this my opponent? Grandpa, she doesn't look impressive."
"Are you her opponent now?"
"No, she can beat at least 10 of me."
The black-eyed girl said this matter-of-factly, even putting one hand on her hip.
At this moment, if viewed from above, first, Di Zong and the black-eyed girl stood on the outer gate pavilion. Xin·Youge and Dorothy were in the courtyard, one on the inner side and one on the outer side, confronting each other. Further inside, on the large building, were Su Xiao, Baha, Beini, and the Storm Wyvern.
Today was not for Su Xiao and Di Zong to fight, but for the confrontation of the Devourers and the end of a grudge.
"Long time no see, Dorothy."
Xin·Youge, with his seductive and evil aura, reached one hand into his hair and pulled loose his tied ponytail. His appearance rapidly feminized.
There was indeed a person named Xin·Youge, but this brother was a martial arts fanatic. He had never participated in this matter.
In fact, many things, if carefully examined, were easy to see through. Choosing Dorothy as the Devourer's host had some coincidence, but more than that, Crimson had a resonance with Dorothy.
Why was this? The First Generation Devourer·Black A was almost symbiotic with the legitimate World Child. The former Ai Qi was just one step away from becoming the legitimate World Child.
As the next generation individual of the First Generation Devourer, Boiling Red had a strong sensing ability for fortune power, luck, etc. Dorothy was not a World Child, but she carried many causal connections.
The original choice of Dorothy, besides wanting to control Li·Xiniwei, had another important reason: the fortune and causal connections on Dorothy.
Su Xiao hadn't understood back then why Li·Xiniwei, who was nothing special, had a daughter Dorothy who could attract Boiling Red. The originally planned forced implantation had turned into Boiling Red's active implantation.
When Boiling Red was implanted, Su Xiao was present. Although the fully naked Dorothy was so embarrassed she almost died, she endured it. The only thing she refused to take off was her gloves.
This was very puzzling. During a certain 'coincidence,' Dorothy's gloves were torn open, and Su Xiao saw her black fingernails.
Her black fingernails weren't a disease. That black was like obsidian. With such distinctive features, after Su Xiao inquired with the slave trader·Aziba, he learned that the nails of the Xin clan were black. This was their clan's biggest characteristic.
This made Su Xiao even more puzzled. A mixed-blood Vassal Alliance girl who had ended up in Freedom City was actually a member of the Xin clan. How did Li·Xiniwei get involved with a female member of the Xin clan?
Su Xiao didn't know this at the time, but it didn't matter. Since Boiling Red had already parasitized Dorothy, he might as well send the Devourer·Dark Sun to the Xin clan's side and see their reaction.
To be safe and get feedback, Su Xiao also commissioned the slave trader·Aziba to hire Di Zong to assassinate his own legitimate son, Xin·Youge.
Sure enough, after that, Di Zong, the clan leader of the Xin clan, found Su Xiao in Freedom City. After mutual probing and feeling that each other's strength was very strong, they began covert cooperation.
Regarding the matter of Li·Xiniwei, Xin·Alisi, and Dorothy, Di Zong had long known. From his standpoint, this matter was very difficult to handle.
Who to kill? One was a son-in-law, one was a biological daughter, and the last was a young granddaughter. Especially the last one—how could he bear to kill her? That was the affection across generations. Di Zong looked like an evil ghost, but in fact, this old man cherished his 'feathers' and his descendants very much.
After Su Xiao had someone send the Devourer·Dark Sun over, this item was nominally given to Xin·Youge. Xin·Youge was also prepared to accept it, as it could help him pursue power. But before he touched Dark Sun, he was stopped by one person: Xin·Alisi. On Dark Sun, she sensed a strong bond, even a blood resonance.
Therefore, the person who truly became Dark Sun's host was Xin·Alisi, not Xin·Youge. That martial arts fanatic brother had never come out of the house from beginning to end. His elder sister had borrowed his name.
In the courtyard, Xin·Youge, no, Xin·Alisi pulled off her hair band. Her appearance rapidly changed, eventually completely becoming Xin·Alisi's appearance.
Alisi looked at the stunned Dorothy in front of her and said, "Cute little one, surprised to see me?"
Alisi's eyes turned golden. Using Dark Sun at her intensity, after this battle, Dark Sun would wither and turn to ash. That didn't matter. This Dark Sun had too little faith power·Sun injected into it and had many imperfections.
It was just a prototype. With this experiment's data, the Divine Stick-type Dark Sun would be born.
Dorothy quickly accepted the fact before her. This gave her a sense of relief. Originally, she planned to kill Xin·Youge first, then go find Xin·Alisi. Now, with the enemies combined into one, it actually saved trouble.
Dorothy thought for a moment, then shouted, "Lord Bai Ye, the enemy is here. Don't just sit there! The fight is about to start!"
"..."
Su Xiao took a chocolate bean from the candy paper tube Beini was holding and tossed it into his mouth to chew.
"Lord Bai Ye, I know you won't stand by and watch. I'm your little lackey! Let's join forces and destroy them."
Dorothy made her final struggle. She quickly glanced at Su Xiao and found that he had no intention of helping. She immediately shifted her gaze back to the enemy in front. In terms of perception, Boiling Red's perception was even worse than Amu's.
It could only be said that this was indeed Dorothy. Although she was sometimes like an idiot, when major events happened, she was very clever. If she could cling to a powerful thigh, she would never charge in recklessly on her own.
Since Su Xiao wasn't making a move, Di Zong's side wouldn't move either. This was the reward Di Zong had obtained at the cost of assassinating the Chief Justice·Fowo.
Otherwise, with Su Xiao's methods, Dorothy and Xin·Alisi would already be in a violent state, fully activating the Devourers within them for a decisive battle.
That scene would definitely be two female berserkers fighting to the death, not like now, where both maintained their rationality.
In the final analysis, Di Zong cherished his 'feathers' too much. When people get old, their hearts soften a bit.
"Dorothy, at this point, you're actually afraid. It was me who slowly peeled off your mother's skin back then. Her screams seem to still echo in my ears. Pleasant screams and wails."
"Shut up!"
The [Dark Demon Blood Shadow], which was a head taller than Dorothy, appeared behind her. The blood shadow drew the longsword from her lower back and disappeared from where she stood, charging straight at Alisi opposite.
Alisi's figure seemed slender, but when fighting, she was a complete tomboy. Who knows why she fell for Li·Xiniwei back then. Perhaps it was fate.
Flame patterns appeared on Alisi's arms. She punched at the blood shadow that had appeared beside her.
Boom!
Flames instantly filled the courtyard, spewing out through the main gate. The moss on the ground was burned away.
In the flames, steam surged from Dorothy's entire body. She began to gradually vaporize.
The crisp sound of slashing continued without end. Alisi, whose arms were covered in a layer of hardened shell, clashed head-on with the blood shadow. The blood shadow was forced back repeatedly, even being punched into the wall.
On the roof of the large building, inside the glass pillar standing beside Su Xiao's leg, the Devourer·Black A became especially agitated. The meaning of its mental fluctuation was: if it could go down, those two little brothers would both die.
Flames occupied the courtyard. After the rumbling continued for over half an hour, the blood shadow exploded and scattered. Dorothy's figure emerged and was kicked by Alisi into a stone sculpture beside her.
Even though Dorothy had improved her strength again, she still wasn't Alisi's match. There was too much difference in combat experience.
Just then, a loud noise came from the foot of the mountain. Di Zong looked in that direction with an unpleasant expression.
"Someone over there is blocking them."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing this, Alisi, who was covered in flames, slightly curled the corner of her mouth, as if she had smiled. The smile came from the heart.
"That kid finally has some backbone for once. But the group below won't be easy to deal with."
With that, Di Zong stopped speaking and silently watched the battle.
In the courtyard, Dorothy, who had been blasted into the sculpture, got up in a somewhat strange posture. Blood energy gathered above her, forming a shadowy figure. One could vaguely see the two large hands of this shadowy figure raised, as if manipulating puppets.
Dorothy's left arm moved back slightly. With a crack, the dislocated bone was corrected. Her eyes were completely white, with only very small blood spots in the center.
This was Boiling Red's second state, [Spirit Shadow Puppet], currently in automatic mode.
The nearly 1.5-meter longsword flew toward Dorothy, and she grasped it. Now it wasn't her fighting, but the Devourer·Boiling Red.
Dorothy's hair grew at a visible rate. The blood pupils in her eyes gradually enlarged.
Zheng!
A crisp slashing sound traveled far. A blood mark crossed Alisi's abdomen. Alisi's face showed pain.
The blade rang crisply, flames surged violently. The battle became tragic as time passed. After an hour.
Bang! Alisi kicked Dorothy flying. Dorothy rolled several times on the ground. Her left arm and right leg were deformed, but under the manipulation of [Spirit Shadow Puppet], her arm and right leg quickly recovered, and the wounds were stitched up.
The flames on the ground gradually extinguished. Alisi crouched half-kneeling on the ground. She looked at the [Spirit Shadow Puppet] behind Dorothy. The thing she was waiting for had appeared. This terrible thing must be removed.
The flames on Alisi's body exploded. She disappeared from where she stood. The next moment, she appeared in front of Dorothy.
"Farewell."
Alisi's right hand turned translucent. At a speed Dorothy couldn't react to, she thrust it into Dorothy's chest.
Puchi.
Five fingers pierced into the chest. The flames in the courtyard all extinguished. The [Spirit Shadow Puppet] also dissipated in an instant. All supernatural phenomena caused by the Devourer disappeared.
With a thud, Dorothy leaned against the tall wall behind her. A few inconspicuous cracks appeared on the wall.
Dorothy's eyes returned to their original state. She was stunned for a moment, then felt excruciating pain from her chest that almost made her lose control of her bladder. Looking down, Alisi's five fingers were thrust into her chest. This made her unable to move even a finger.
"Farewell."
Alisi's face showed undisguised delight. She withdrew her translucent arm that had pierced into Dorothy's chest. What made Dorothy terrified was that although she wasn't injured, the Boiling Red inside her was being pulled out. The pain almost drowned her.
Amid Dorothy's hoarse screams, Alisi pulled with all her strength, completely seizing Boiling Red. Boiling Red flowed along Alisi's arm, gradually submerging into her body.
"I am the perfect form now."
Alisi spread her arms. Dorothy, sitting against the wall in front of her, looked up stupidly. There was an inexplicable sense of grievance in her heart. Had she traveled thousands of miles to come here just to deliver her head?
Unfortunately, she didn't even have the strength to stand up now and could only be slaughtered.
Pfft~
A spray of blood splattered on Dorothy's cheek. She looked at Alisi in surprise.
"Huh?"
Alisi looked down at her abdomen. A crack was gradually expanding. One person's body couldn't contain two Devourers. Boiling Red + Dark Sun wouldn't produce any perfect form. Su Xiao had never said such words.
Wounds appeared on Alisi's entire body at a visible rate. Her life force rapidly drained through these wounds. In just a few seconds, Alisi fell to the ground, gasping like a fish that had been brought ashore, unable to take in any oxygen.
Alisi, who had fallen to the ground, crawled toward Dorothy. Seeing this, Dorothy, who was completely weak, leaned back, but behind her was a wall, which she pressed against.
"You, you..."
Alisi's hand reached for Dorothy's face. However, because she was too weak, it was more like her fingers brushing across Dorothy's face. Finally, Alisi lost her strength, her head resting against Dorothy's chest. She was dead.
Dorothy sat there stupidly. Her lifelong enemy had died just like that? This gave her a sense of unreality.
Just then, Dorothy saw Su Xiao walking toward her. She said, "Mr. Bai Ye, I succeeded, but... why am I not happy at all?"
The answer to Dorothy was a punch from Su Xiao.
Bang~
Dorothy's vision went black. She was knocked unconscious.
After knocking Dorothy out with one punch, Su Xiao looked at Di Zong.
"You take her away. Her potential has been activated enough."
Su Xiao tossed Dorothy toward Di Zong. Di Zong didn't catch her. The black-eyed girl beside him caught the unconscious Dorothy in a princess hold.
"Is this my future opponent? She looks stupid."
The black-eyed girl leaped away a few times and headed down the mountain.
"This is the bitter fruit they planted themselves. They have to eat it themselves."
Leaving these words, Di Zong walked down the mountain.
In the courtyard, Su Xiao looked at Alisi, who was lying on the ground, and said, "They've left."
Alisi, who had been dead just moments ago, opened her eyes. These were dim, lusterless eyes. She said, "Mr. Bai Ye, thank you for cooperating with us in doing this."
"We each get what we need. Hurry up and die. I still have things to do when I get back."
"Alright."
Alisi's reply was very calm. In her current condition, even gods couldn't save her.
Why was there this scene? Speaking of it, it was a cliché story. Since ancient times, adultery leads to death.
Actually, Alisi wasn't the mistress. She was Li·Xiniwei's original legitimate wife and Dorothy's biological mother.
Like many cliché stories, the Xin clan rejected this marriage. At that time, Li·Xiniwei was an official on the Aurora Council side. Given the relationship between the Vassal Alliance and humans at that time, this marriage put the Xin clan in a difficult position, caught between two sides.
Di Zong sent people to capture Alisi and bring her back, intending to downplay the matter. And indeed, that's what happened. The matter gradually faded away without causing much impact.
Unfortunately, Li·Xiniwei was young at the time. His wife had been taken away. Of course, he would investigate. Even after learning everything, he was powerless.
Helpless, Li·Xiniwei could only raise his one-month-old daughter himself. But a man alone was inevitably careless. Li·Xiniwei hired a maid named Aolipaiya, who became the mother Dorothy knew.
Li·Xiniwei, as a vigorous young man, with his newlywed wife taken away and the young maid Aolipaiya by his side, could he endure? The answer was no.
Afterward, Li·Xiniwei's thinking was: since Alisi couldn't come back, he might as well find a new mother for the child. The child was still young and wouldn't understand. As for the black fingernails, simple—just tell the new wife Aolipaiya to paint her nails black from now on.
Originally, there was no problem. But a few years later, the famished Alisi was released. After being pent up for several years, she both wanted to find her husband for a rendezvous and missed her daughter to the point of madness. Actually, this was also the reason Di Zong let her out of the house. She missed her daughter so much she was becoming obsessed.
When Alisi finally traveled and investigated her daughter's address, she saw her daughter and also saw her husband's new wife and her daughter calling the other woman mother.
Alisi laughed especially happily at that time. Already somewhat mentally unstable, she nearly tortured Aolipaiya to death, and right in front of Dorothy.
When Alisi came to her senses, she saw the scattered remains everywhere and the young Dorothy huddled in the corner. Alisi calmed down and silently left.
After this incident, the rumors completely twisted it. For example, Aolipaiya was said to be the legitimate wife, and Alisi was the mistress, etc.
And today, Alisi made her choice. With her life experience, she could imagine that if Dorothy knew that her biological mother had tortured her adoptive mother to death, her worldview would be overturned, and she might even be in a daze for the rest of her life.
But if it was framed as killing a mortal enemy, it would be easy to accept. So Alisi chose Dark Sun, chose to come here, chose to die here. She chose to give her daughter an easy future, not a dazed one, nor one full of hatred.
If it were a life-and-death struggle, ten Dorothys combined wouldn't be Alisi's match. That's why Alisi chose to die this way. It was quite a challenge for her to come up with this relatively reasonable method of defeat and death.
Up to now, the total number of people who knew about this matter was four: Su Xiao, Di Zong, Alisi, and Li·Xiniwei.
At this moment, only two people knew about this matter: Su Xiao and Di Zong.
Alisi's body gradually turned to ash and scattered, leaving two items: the Devourer and a treasure chest.
[You have obtained the Soul Box of Yearning (Opening this chest-type item has a low probability of obtaining soul equipment or soul-type skills, and a high probability of obtaining soul-type props, etc.).]
Su Xiao picked up the [Soul Box of Yearning] and also picked up the Devourer beside it.
This Devourer was no longer Boiling Red or Dark Sun, but a combination of the two. This was an unexpected gain.
Su Xiao walked down the mountain along the path. When he reached the foot of the mountain, he stopped in front of a stone tablet. The stone tablet was splattered with blood. Li·Xiniwei sat leaning against the stone tablet, his head lowered, looking at a small music box in his hand. His facial expression was fixed in a smile.
Around him were broken corpses, many of which were Vassal Alliance soldiers.
Not far away, under a tree, a female officer wearing a vest heard footsteps. With her face down and blood flowing from her neck, she said, "Sir, mission... complete. On the way back, you... be careful."
After saying this, the female officer lost her breath. These words were said to Li·Xiniwei. It could only be said that this guy really had a way with women.
The early morning sun rose. The stone steps of the mountain path were shrouded in mist, reflecting small rainbows in the morning sun.
Su Xiao looked up along the mountain path. Amid the thin mist, he seemed to see a man and a woman holding hands, standing on the steps halfway up the mountain. The man even raised his hand, as if greeting him.
Su Xiao leaped onto the Storm Wyvern's back. The Storm Wyvern carried him, Beini, and Baha, flying toward the direction where the morning sun was rising.
PS: (First update 12,000 words. Today's update is late because I've been writing since noon. This is because I saw a power outage notice on WeChat. Tomorrow, the entire town where Feiwen lives will have a power outage. So I wrote more today, which inevitably led to the late update. Recently, a typhoon passed through Feiwen's area. I've never experienced a typhoon before, so I can understand frequent power outages. But what I can't understand is why the entire town's power grid is inspected several times a year? Each inspection takes a whole day. Today's update is 12,000 words. If there's no power outage tomorrow, I'll update normally. If there is a power outage, I'll need to take a day off. Driving more than ten kilometers to an internet cafe with power really doesn't work for writing. I've tried it before.)
Power Outage
Sure enough, just like the notice Feiwen saw yesterday, the town's power grid is being inspected. Feiwen's place has a power outage. Yesterday, Feiwen desperately wrote 12,000 words, producing a super large chapter, precisely because I was worried about today's power outage. Today, I can only skip. I've tried driving more than ten kilometers to an internet cafe before, and the result was that I couldn't write at all. It was like producing 200 words per hour, and what I wrote was like sleepwalking. Today is skipped. Tomorrow's update will also be a large chapter. I just took a day off the day before yesterday, but today's power outage really leaves me with no choice.