Chapter 36: Mother of the Aquatic
Inside the ancient hall, as the crack in the ceiling 'healed', the Abyss Guardian vanished without a trace.
The rift leading to the «Crevice» closed, meaning the Abyss Guardian could no longer return to this ancient hall, making it a relatively safe place.
For Su Xiao, this was good news. Although killing the Abyss Guardian would yield extremely high kill rewards, one must act within their means. Su Xiao wouldn't suddenly power up; if he encountered an enemy he couldn't defeat, he simply couldn't defeat them—no lucky breaks or anything else.
Driving away the Abyss Guardian was a victory for Su Xiao. Moreover, he hadn't come away empty-handed. The Abyss Guardian left behind a right arm. To most contractors, this thick limb was useless, but to Su Xiao, it was a treasure. His ample knowledge reserves came in handy here.
However, before that, Su Xiao needed to deal with his left arm. Earlier, he had directly touched the «Necronomicon» with his crystal left arm, causing tiny but vivid agonized faces to appear on it. To be safe, after tossing the «Necronomicon», he dissolved this crystal arm.
Su Xiao approached the shattered crystal arm. The fragmented form of Banishment was still scattered inside it. He tried to control Banishment, but unlike before, a sense of sluggishness emerged. It felt like playing a game with over a thousand milliseconds of lag—after issuing a mental command, it took 2 to 3 seconds for a response.
Earlier, Banishment, which was one with the crystal arm, had been affected by touching the «Necronomicon». Su Xiao had mentally prepared for this.
Besides, Banishment wasn't his «Slaughter Shadow» ability itself, but a weapon formed through it.
[Slaughter Shadow, X+++++ (Passive Ability)]
Skill Effect: Increases Proud Song state intensity by 320%. Allows Azure Steel Shadow energy to be converted into a solid state for external release and controlled within a 150-meter range.
…
Essentially, Slaughter Shadow was an enhancement to «Proud Song», i.e., the crystal layer. As for Banishment, Su Xiao could create a new one, but since the current Banishment had fused with the blood-colored weapon [Echo], its various attributes had greatly improved.
If he were to create a new Banishment, unless he could obtain another identical blood-colored weapon, it wouldn't reach the current level of Banishment.
Su Xiao carefully sensed Banishment's condition and found that the 'lag' in controlling it was increasing. He used a charcoal box to store Banishment, planning to find a way to repair it later.
Su Xiao manipulated the Azure Steel Shadow energy in his body, releasing it from the severed left shoulder while crystallizing it, and within the crystal, constructing Spirit Shadow Threads with the highest activity.
Crack, crack, crack~
A crystal arm gradually formed, filled with blue threads resembling a nervous system. These were Spirit Shadow Threads at peak activity, existing between bodily energy and physical form, connecting to the nerves at his severed shoulder.
Su Xiao moved his crystal left hand. Every bone and joint was 100% identical to the original proportions. He incorporated a temporarily constructed new Banishment into this crystal arm to enhance control and arm strength.
From a prosthetic perspective, this was already excellent. Frequently losing an arm wasn't without benefits—the development progress of prosthetic skills soared. Now, through the Proud Song ability plus specially crafted Spirit Shadow Threads, he had reached this level.
"How's Wood doing?"
Su Xiao stopped near Wood, not getting too close in case Wood suddenly attacked upon waking.
"Uh~"
Zuiyasi barely suppressed his laughter. Although laughing now seemed heartless, this situation of fate's ineffable irony was genuinely amusing.
"Compared to physical damage, the mental blow he took was worse."
Zuiyasi shrugged with a smile, implying, you know what I mean.
"Don't say such cold-hearted things. Consider Wood's feelings."
From the twisted cross hanging around Zuiyasi's neck came Ouna's voice.
Interestingly, back in the World of Paintings, Zuiyasi never proactively flirted with women or engaged in ambiguous behavior. But after Ouna appeared beside him, he'd stare hard at any woman he saw, causing Su Xiao and Wood to faintly sense Ouna's gradually raging aura. Zuiyasi embodied the saying: Death is like the wind, always by my side.
"I'm not as fragile as you think."
Wood rose from the ground, still looking somewhat dazed. He said:
"Bai Ye."
"..."
"How much do you know about the Necronomicon?"
Wood's pupil flame gradually restored. Though deeply struck, he remained composed. His first move wasn't to complain, shift blame, or assign responsibility, but to find a way to solve the problem.
Wood had clearly seen the earlier situation. Without bringing out the «Necronomicon», this 'Daddy-level item', they couldn't have driven back the Abyss Guardian, ultimately leading to a team wipe here.
Moreover, Wood's current thought was: since he could send away the «Abyssal Jar», why couldn't he send away the «Necronomicon»? This was fate. Overcoming this hurdle would make life more exciting. Don't complain when things go wrong; first think, then solve the problem. This was the character he had forged in the evil faction.
In Wood's view, people who scream and shout after a major upheaval, vowing revenge, or whose personality instantly darkens, are extremely immature.
When facing a major upheaval, first stay calm. Anger lowers intelligence. Then, based on the situation, choose to endure or strike, and find possible allies. Don't drive away potential allies due to momentary anger—that's a very unwise move.
So in Wood's current perception, Su Xiao was a powerful ally. Though he felt like punching Su Xiao, he had clearly seen Su Xiao throw the «Necronomicon» toward the Abyss Guardian, and it was the Guardian's blocking swing that sent it flying to him.
The grievance had a clear source. Wood understood one thing clearly: the one who caused him to welcome a new 'daddy' was that five-meter-tall, muscular, but crotch-less humanoid creature.
"Do you want the truth, or a lie?"
Su Xiao spoke. The situation with the «Necronomicon» was indeed hard to explain.
"Guess."
Wood's pupil flame condensed. If he had a face, it would definitely be dark.
"You both know about me getting rid of Shenfu earlier, right?"
"We know."
"Then I'll explain simply. Shenfu came to the Treeborn World not to help Huishenshi deal with me, but to use my identity as a Reincarnation Paradise Hunter and Law Destroyer to get rid of the «Necronomicon». You should have noticed in the World of Paintings that those dangerous objects really dislike Reincarnation Paradise Hunters, plus I'm a Law Destroyer."
Saying this, Su Xiao took out a cigarette and lit it, continuing:
"The previous holder of the Necronomicon was Shenfu. He used a fake death to pass the Necronomicon to me…"
"Wait, are you saying the Necronomicon can be inherited through death?"
A smile gradually appeared on Wood's face.
"Theoretically, yes. But Shenfu was alone, while you have many clan relatives. I estimate that if you die, the Necronomicon will most likely be inherited by your clan members."
Su Xiao spoke calmly. Seeing this, Wood felt a surge of frustration. He complained slightly, "Can't you say something nice?"
"It's the truth."
"I know. Didn't expect you two to say anything nice anyway. But… I still prefer hearing this kind of truth, even though I often lie."
At the end, Wood laughed himself.
"You dog thief."
Zuiyasi, standing a few meters away and not wanting to inhale secondhand smoke, teased.
Su Xiao pulled the Realm Severing Thread, and the Abyss Guardian's severed arm flew over, landing with a thud. Given the Abyss Guardian's physical defense, even detached from the main body, the arm was hard to cut. Forcing a cut would damage the most valuable thing inside.
Su Xiao took out a spray can. First, he used crystal to form a coffin-like box, placed the Abyss Guardian's arm inside, sprayed into it, then sealed and waited.
After a while, Su Xiao dissolved the crystal, took out a simple-looking short knife, and cut through the Abyss Guardian's arm as easily as a hot knife through butter, dividing it into three sections.
"Nice knife, Bai Ye. Why don't you use it in battle?"
Zuiyasi asked.
"..."
Su Xiao looked at Zuiyasi as if at an illiterate. He felt that explaining «Dissociative Deactivation Reaction» would probably go over Zuiyasi's head.
The Abyss Guardian's arm was divided unevenly. Considering Wood's massive loss this time, he deserved a larger share. Zuiyasi had been coasting the whole time, so he got at most a small segment. Su Xiao kept the remaining large upper arm section.
After dividing the spoils, Su Xiao and the others prepared to continue. But first, Su Xiao set up some traps in the corridor behind. The Abyss Guardian's retreat had caused this corridor to reopen on its own.
After setting up a series of traps, they continued. On the innermost wall of the ancient hall was the «Earth Gate» mentioned by Elf King·Kelenwei before his death.
The «Earth Gate» had a tricky opening method. Never insert the «Earth Gate» key into the lock hole, as that would instantly trigger all the traps in the ancient hall.
Su Xiao stopped before the «Earth Gate». With the «Earth Gate» key on him, standing before the door for a few minutes would cause it to open.
Five minutes later, the Earth Gate trembled and gradually sank into the ground.
A corridor several meters wide came into view. Wind blew out from inside, indicating they were very close to the Great Ruins. This corridor might be the direct passage.
Su Xiao knew something about the Great Ruins. It was a sealed environment with a black fog ceiling above. This passage was the only way in.
A constant stream of air flowed from the corridor. Su Xiao placed one hand on his sword hilt. He smelled blood—fresh, but not human or elven.
Walking along the corridor for over a hundred meters, a figure sat slumped against the wall, a large pool of blood beneath them.
This figure wore full-body armor. The helmet was oddly large, oval-shaped. The armor was like an iron barrel. Its legs were somewhat short and thick compared to its torso, while its arms were disproportionately long.
Su Xiao tried to scan the figure's information and learned it was a mushroom knight. The opponent was very strong.
"Cough~ cough cough!"
Coughing came from under the mushroom knight's helmet. Light red blood seeped through the air holes. It looked up with difficulty, surveying Su Xiao and the others.
"Leave this place. There are no resources or treasures here, only calamity. Cherish your lives and leave."
The mushroom knight was already dying. Its life force was completely depleted. If not for being one of the strongest in this world, it would already be dead.
Don't underestimate the mushroom knight. Though the mushroom village was small, under the shelter of the village chief, the Mushroom Prophet, talents emerged continuously.
The Queen, the Elf King, and the Mushroom Knight—these were the peak powerhouses of this world. The Mushroom Knight was just more low-key than the other two.
The greatsword stuck beside the mushroom knight was covered in nicks and fluorescent blue bloodstains. It had clearly been through a fierce battle.
The Child of Fate, Yuer, who had been silent throughout the journey, stepped forward, knelt on one knee before the mushroom knight, lowered his head, and said, "You have worked hard."
"You are…"
The mushroom knight struggled to sit up straighter. Seeing this, Su Xiao signaled Baha. Baha flew over, took out a syringe, and injected the mushroom knight. This wasn't a life-saving potion, but one to prolong the knight's final moments of lucidity.
The mushroom knight's aura recovered somewhat. It changed to a cross-legged sitting position and said, "The Elf King's son has grown so tall. Unfortunately, I couldn't fulfill the agreement."
Su Xiao wasn't surprised by the mushroom knight's appearance. In fact, it would be abnormal if such a person didn't exist.
Elf King·Kelenwei had long foreseen the elf race's current fate. So he raised his own offspring like a contest of gladiators to cultivate the strongest container.
The container, i.e., the Child of Fate·Yuer, was indeed not weak in combat. But for him to open the path to the Great Ruins alone was clearly unrealistic.
Unless Elf King·Kelenwei could predict the future and knew Su Xiao and the others would come to the Treeborn World. Clearly, that wasn't the case. Elf King·Kelenwei couldn't predict the future.
So Elf King·Kelenwei arranged someone to clear the path for Yuer—the mushroom knight. To avoid the mushroom knight failing, the Elf King deliberately didn't let Yuer accompany the knight, preventing a team wipe.
Now it seemed this decision was very correct. Su Xiao and the others' arrival gave Elf King·Kelenwei a second plan. After his death, he first notified the mushroom knight to quickly clear the path to the Great Ruins and eliminate all strong enemies inside.
As a precaution, Elf King·Kelenwei also wrote a letter in his residual soul state. This letter seemed to be for the village chief, the Mushroom Prophet, but was actually for Su Xiao to see.
The Elf King knew Su Xiao would definitely go to the Great Ruins, so he subtly suggested that Su Xiao bring the capable Child of Fate·Yuer, since their goals didn't conflict.
The current situation was that the mushroom knight, who was supposed to clear all threats in the Great Ruins, had suffered a crushing defeat and barely retreated.
However, Su Xiao had a question: how did the mushroom knight get past the Abyss Guardian?
"That being had no hostility toward me. It only felt the special Abyss energy here and was sleeping soundly in the ancient hall."
Hearing this, Su Xiao and Zuiyasi both looked at Wood.
Su Xiao guessed that the Abyss Guardian was mainly targeting Wood, or rather, Wood as the former holder of the Abyssal Jar.
Thinking about it now, the Abyss Guardian was also quite frustrated. After sleeping peacefully in the «Crevice» for years, it was woken up one day, came through a passage to a new place, and chose to continue sleeping.
It was sleeping soundly when suddenly someone broke into its 'bedroom'. Among those people was its enemy. To make matters worse, these intruders fought extremely dirty, constantly throwing «dangerous objects» at it, forcing it to cut off its own arm and hastily retreat.
Looking at it this way, this Abyss Guardian's experience was somewhat similar to a certain Ancient God holed up in its own underground palace.
"The mutation in Bay City and here has become the power source for the Mother of the Aquatic."
The mushroom knight spoke. After learning Su Xiao and the others' intentions, it decided to share the intelligence it had gained with its life, regardless of anything else, because their goals were similar.
The mushroom knight's goal was to eliminate the Mother of the Aquatic. Su Xiao's goal was to find the «Talent Awakening Device». These two points didn't conflict because the Mother of the Aquatic had already claimed the «Talent Awakening Device» as its own.
According to the mushroom knight, the current Mother of the Aquatic was both much stronger and much weaker than before. It was weaker in direct combat but had gained other abilities.
Bay City's mutation to this degree was due to both the Abyss energy and the fusion of this power with the Mother of the Aquatic's water nature. In other words, the Mother of the Aquatic was also one of the sources of calamity, mutating alongside Bay City.
The mushroom knight had killed the Mother of the Aquatic multiple times but found it meaningless. As long as Bay City's mutation continued, the Mother of the Aquatic wouldn't truly die.
Having traveled to other worlds with the Mushroom Prophet, the mushroom knight had good insight. It discovered that between the Mother of the Aquatic and the entire city of Bay, there must be «nodes».
Before long, the mushroom knight found the «nodes» and discovered there were five in total. Each node wasn't an inanimate object but a powerhouse within Bay City that had endured the mutation.
Only by first eliminating these five «power nodes» could the Mother of the Aquatic be completely killed. The representatives of these five «power nodes» were: