Chapter 3: Archbishop Ans, this type of person excels at navigating all sides, being smooth and adaptable, saying what people want to hear and speaking in tongues when dealing with devils. When a major crisis occurs, such people are unreliable, but in normal development, they are indispensable. Without them, the Healing Church would become disconnected, appearing aloof and incurring the hostility of everyone.
To put it simply, if Su Xiao and Grand Sage Turz were to go to the Grand Cathedral to preside over Sunday sermons for the faithful, it simply wouldn't work. Su Xiao and Grand Sage Turz are indeed top-tier in their respective fields, but they are too hardcore.
Conversely, Archbishop Ans can handle such tasks perfectly, and through this, he accumulates goodwill for the Healing Church day by day.
Su Xiao looked a hundred meters away, where the central hub of the barrier was located. Currently, Grand Sage Turz, Archbishop Ans, several academic faction teachers, and even more apprentices were there.
The academic faction had mobilized all their forces this time, and had also provided a large amount of resources to set up the barrier. This was, of course, not to help Su Xiao. Or rather, when Su Xiao was making explosives earlier, the academic faction had been so generous with materials precisely because they were waiting for this moment.
After learning that Su Xiao intended to blow up the Wadi Manor, many in the academic faction opposed it. Grand Sage Turz overruled all objections, not only providing materials for making explosives but also organizing a barrier team in advance.
Old people are shrewd, old horses are slippery. Don't be fooled by Grand Sage Turz's stern, unsmiling face; he is also an old schemer. Ah, no, that's not right, he is a learned old schemer.
In Grand Sage Turz's view, the Wadi Manor definitely had to be blown up, but there was a prerequisite: the barrier had to be set up first.
Throughout the entire High Wall City, no other institution was capable of handling this task besides the academic faction.
Blowing up the Wadi Manor and its surrounding area was something everyone nominally opposed. Using a barrier to stabilize the explosion and reduce the damage it caused was undoubtedly a good reputation move.
For someone like Grand Sage Turz, he didn't care about reputation himself. What he valued was making the Stigma Academy more famous. This way, talented individuals within High Wall City would flock to it, instead of being frequently intercepted by the Steam God Cult and the High Wall Council.
Originally, this was Grand Sage Turz's goal, until a sage under his charge at the Stigma Academy prophesied that Su Xiao had become the Chosen One.
This changed the situation. The tradition of the Chosen One was so ancient that the academic faction had collectively opposed it years ago and abolished the selection and recruitment of Chosen Ones. In the academic faction's view, relying on the Chosen One to solve problems was not feasible. The ashes and remains on the 11th floor of the Grand Cathedral were irrefutable proof.
In the academic faction's view, the method they were currently implementing was the correct strategy. Without this method, High Wall City would not be what it is today.
Su Xiao didn't know exactly what method the academic faction had used, but he could be certain of one thing: if he wanted to enter the root, Dead Silence City, it would affect the academic faction's most fundamental foundation for survival. And his identity as the Chosen One destined him to go to Dead Silence City.
Thus, the conflict between him and the academic faction had reached an irreconcilable point.
On the half-destroyed bell tower, a cold wind carried wisps of purple mist. Su Xiao tossed the Apollo in his hand and activated it.
The total detonation time for Apollo was 15 seconds. After Bubu Wang's calculations, based on Su Xiao's strength and his distance from the Wadi Manor's backyard, if he threw the Apollo when it had 2 seconds left to explode, it would achieve an instantaneous explosion upon reaching the vicinity of the Goat-Headed Demon, leaving it no chance to react.
Crack, crack, crack～
A crystal layer spread over Su Xiao's right hand. As time ticked by, the Apollo in his hand began to glow fiery red. He assumed a throwing posture.
Bang!
A scorching golden-red trail of light shot out. Apollo broke through multiple sonic booms, flew into the reserved hole in the barrier, and the next instant, reached the purple-black thick fog in the backyard.
A giant claw covered in black scales reached out to meet it. It was the Goat-Headed Demon. It was about to grab Apollo.
Dong!
The Goat-Headed Demon's mind went blank. At that moment, it saw light.
How could it not see the light? Apollo was about to explode right in its face. If Su Xiao had aimed a bit more accurately, he would have thrown it right into the Goat-Headed Demon's mouth.
Golden flames rushed towards it. The Goat-Headed Demon let out a furious roar. The environment here was special, and the surrounding purple-black mist greatly suppressed Apollo's explosive power.
It had to be said that in a world of the Gloomy Continent's rank, the power of a single Blazing Sun's Wrath Apollo was no longer as world-shattering.
Continuing to develop Apollo was certainly a good idea, but this was a bottleneck. With Su Xiao's current alchemy skills, crossing this bottleneck was too dependent on luck.
As the saying goes, if quality isn't enough, then increase quantity until a qualitative change occurs. 10 Apollos + special high-explosive gunpowder equals a "Sun Barrel." 100 Apollos + fission solution + special glass column container equals a "Sun Pillar."
600 Apollos + fission solution + special glass column container + a large amount of concentrated faith power of the Sun + sunlight amplification equals a "Sun Holy Sword."
A muffled explosion spread within the barrier. Solar flames spread out, mutually eroding the purple-black thick fog in the backyard. On the opposite side, the solar flames engulfed the ancient castle, reached the front yard, and incinerated the dark purple biological tissue entrenched there.
These dark purple biological tissues melted like snow, burned to ashes. The solar flames continued to spread, instantly vaporizing the buildings around the manor into a gaseous state, before finally being stopped by the barrier.
Looking at the barrier, which was like an inverted bowl, it was now filled with golden solar flames.
After a moment, the solar flames dissipated. At the barrier's central hub, a hundred meters from the half-destroyed bell tower, the teachers and students of Stigma Academy looked at each other.
"Is that it?"
A teacher was dumbfounded. They had spent so long setting up the barrier, and this was all it took? Not only did the explosion fail to rupture the barrier, but after being consumed by the fog and the ancient castle, it barely even affected the barrier.
"Watch your words."
Grand Sage Turz spoke sternly. The teachers and students no longer dared to show expressions of "Is that it?"
Grand Sage Turz looked in Su Xiao's direction. He seemed to ponder for a moment, then said, "Activate all secondary nodes. Bring the barrier to maximum intensity."
Hearing this, although the teachers and students of Stigma Academy were full of doubts, they did not dare to disobey Grand Sage Turz and could only comply.
Grand Sage Turz wasn't particularly knowledgeable about explosives, but he knew the Vice Dean of the Healing Institute, his old rival. This person either did nothing or did it to the best of his ability, or rather, to the extreme.
Bang!
Another Apollo flew into the barrier, then exploded. Flames spread again, but this time, the Goat-Headed Demon's roar was even more furious.
A third Apollo followed closely. A dull thud and solar flames spread within the barrier.
At the barrier's central hub, the teachers and students of Stigma Academy looked on as if watching fireworks. In the shadows nearby, Madame Smoke was a bit worried. If Su Xiao's explosives weren't powerful enough, wouldn't the materials she provided be a waste?
After throwing three Apollos, Su Xiao waited for the solar flames within the barrier to dissipate before observing the situation inside. Of course, it was best to conserve resources. If three Apollos could do the job, there was no need for more.
Unfortunately, the ancient castle remained stubbornly standing. Aside from scorch marks on its outer walls, protected by some energy, it had no other damage.
The Goat-Headed Demon brother was also surprisingly resilient. It roared amidst the flames, but it couldn't leave the manor and the purple-black thick fog, so it could only rage in place.
Seeing this, Su Xiao took out a "Sun Barrel" and threw it directly.
The wooden "Sun Barrel" flew through the air, arcing into the barrier. Almost simultaneously, a blood spear formed above Su Xiao.
Whoosh! The blood spear ignited with blood flames. Su Xiao controlled it to stab out, heading straight for the "Sun Barrel."
Just as the "Sun Barrel" flew over the ancient castle, the blood flame spear pierced it. This was the characteristic of the "Sun Barrel": its detonation was unstable, but it could be triggered in unconventional ways. This trait was a mixed blessing.
The explosion spread. First, a shockwave swept over the ancient castle, causing its outer walls to crack and split.
It was like a small sun appearing in mid-air. This small sun was initially not large and even contracted slightly, but in the next instant, the sun's radiance suddenly burst forth.
Dong!!
A loud noise came from within the barrier. The entire barrier was illuminated a dazzling gold by the solar flames inside and even swelled by a full circle.
At the barrier's central hub, several teachers responsible for stabilizing the barrier were immediately sent flying by the impact feedback from the formation. Fortunately, the other teachers had real skills and quickly filled in.
The teachers and apprentices responsible for stabilizing the barrier began to feel the pressure. They could even feel the sun-like heat radiating from the formation.
Just as the teachers and apprentices were about to strain themselves, the explosion within the barrier finally subsided.
"As expected, the Dean has foresight."
A teacher opportunistically flattered Grand Sage Turz, but unfortunately, the Grand Sage ignored him. He was looking at the ancient castle still smoking inside the barrier, and the Goat-Headed Demon in the remaining purple mist of the backyard, its body covered in sparks, barely able to stand upright.
In the backyard, the Goat-Headed Demon spat out a large mouthful of blood mixed with sparks and completely collapsed.
On the half-destroyed bell tower outside the barrier, Su Xiao naturally saw the Goat-Headed Demon. He hadn't expected the "Sun Barrel" to fail to kill it. Observing the purple-black thick fog around it, he estimated that this fog had allowed the Goat-Headed Demon to survive this long. Otherwise, three Apollos would have been enough to finish it off.
Su Xiao clasped his hands together. His blood energy erupted, forming a phantom figure around him that resembled both a human and a beast.
This blood energy phantom was about 10 meters tall, resembling the fierce beast Fei. Its upper body was human-like, its left hand was a ferocious beast claw with scales on the arm, and its right arm was a human arm, but the hand only had a thumb, index finger, and middle finger, lacking the ring and little fingers.
After constructing the blood energy phantom, Su Xiao took a glass column over a meter tall from his storage space and tossed it up. The phantom's large hand grasped the "Sun Pillar."
A hundred meters away, Grand Sage Turz witnessed the entire scene. After seeing the "Sun Pillar," his old face seemed to twitch.
Hum!
Dark gold energy swirled around Grand Sage Turz. He didn't intend to stop Su Xiao through negotiation; that would be useless. He would take a more direct approach.
Bang!
The blood energy phantom threw the "Sun Pillar," creating layers of sonic booms. A dark gold energy hand reached up from below to grab it, but slapped empty air with a crack.
"..."
Su Xiao looked down at the Grand Sage. They locked eyes for less than a second before the Grand Sage disappeared from his spot, reappearing calmly at the barrier's central formation.
Inside the barrier, the "Sun Pillar" streaked a golden-red trail and, in the next second, appeared before the Goat-Headed Demon brother.
In this brief moment, the Goat-Headed Demon brother seemed to think many things, perhaps: 'I just looked at you once. To deal with me, you need to make such a big fuss? Did I kill your whole family? Huh?!'
Dong!!!
A dull, heart-shaking explosion sound came, followed by everyone present having their ears ring.
The solar flames were so dense they appeared dazzling gold, the color of the sun. The Goat-Headed Demon bore the brunt. The solar flames swept over, instantly evaporating its flesh, leaving only a skeletal frame. Then this skeleton also burned to ashes in the solar flames, eventually turning into gas due to the high temperature.
The solar flames rampaged over the ancient castle with a domineering attitude. The ancient castle was like a building block under a steamroller, quickly disintegrating under the high temperature, eventually leveled to the ground.
After the ancient castle was destroyed, twisted dark tentacles spread out. This was the extraterrestrial being, the Dark Walker, a type of Abyss Spawn.
In the past, this was a troublesome existence. But now, under the purification of the sun's fire, the darkness it erupted seemed insignificant, quickly flattened and swallowed.
Finally, the barrier suffered. The entire barrier was like a balloon being rapidly inflated. The transcendent beings present, whose body energy was drained, scattered like birds and beasts. Not to mention others, even the Duke and Madame Smoke led their people away quickly.
At the barrier's central hub, Grand Sage Turz knew this couldn't continue. Without any visible action, the entire formation overloaded, and the top of the barrier opened.
Boom!!
The Sun Pillar shot straight up into the sky. This should have been done earlier. Unlike the "Sun Holy Sword," the "Sun Pillar" doesn't cause a massive area explosion. Instead, it forms an explosive pillar that destroys everything within its range. The academic faction's attempt to contain the entire explosion within the barrier was clearly unrealistic.
The solar flame pillar replaced the original purple light pillar, even evaporating it with high temperatures, leaving only the solar flame pillar standing between heaven and earth. After the energy-dissipated solar flame pillar reached its peak, its top suddenly expanded, crashing down into a sky full of fiery rain.
Looking up at this scene, Archbishop Ans's face almost turned green. If this solar fire rain were to fall, half of High Wall City's buildings would be burned down.
Su Xiao certainly didn't intend to antagonize the entire High Wall City. He took out the [Blazing Sun Disk]. As soon as he let go, the [Blazing Sun Disk] activated on its own. The solar flames within the barrier and the un-fallen solar fire rain all surged back, absorbed into the [Blazing Sun Disk].
Since obtaining the [Blazing Sun Disk], Su Xiao hadn't been able to check its properties. Besides its name, it only had one attribute: "Requires absorbing a large amount of solar characteristic flames to activate."
Originally, Su Xiao's idea was to manufacture Apollos, then explode them to produce solar flames to activate it. After testing, he found that the solar flames produced by one Apollo were less than a thousandth of what the [Blazing Sun Disk] needed.
This item clearly couldn't be activated this way. It required a natural danger zone burning with solar flames, or simply rushing to the vicinity of the sun and throwing it in.
The former required an opportunity. As for the latter, with Su Xiao's current strength and means, throwing the [Blazing Sun Disk] into the sun was achievable, but how to retrieve it? Just abandon it after successful activation?
The [Blazing Sun Disk]'s ability to absorb solar flames was also the reason Su Xiao chose to use Apollos to blow up the Wadi Manor. He could stop in time, greatly reducing the chance of damaging the Sanctuary Key.
Su Xiao jumped down from the half-destroyed bell tower. At the barrier's central hub, the Grand Sage was nowhere to be seen. Presumably, this old fellow was exhausted and didn't want to stay and lose face. As for the apprentices and teachers, they were lying all over the ground. Some apprentices had simply fainted from physical exhaustion.
[You have killed the Goat-Headed Demon.]
[You have gained 10.35% World Source.]
[You have gained the Twisted Abyss Chest.]
[Tip: Opening this item has a chance to obtain twisted Abyss characteristic items.]
...
The [Twisted Abyss Chest] and [Abyss Chest] have similar names but are very different. The former yields twisted Abyss characteristic items, i.e., equipment or other items affected by Abyss power. The [Abyss Chest] yields Abyss products.
What are Abyss products? The answer is Black Maple Tree seeds, Original Sin objects, Primordial Source Mirrors, etc. These are Abyss products. Opening one would make you instantly rich.
[You have killed the Dark Walker.]
[You have gained 9.92% World Source.]
[You have gained the Immortal Chest: Dark Object.]
...
Generally, an Immortal Chest with a unique suffix has a lot of prestige. This shows that the Dark Walker was not weak. Considering this, killing an enemy of this strength only yielded 9.92% World Source. The World Source in this world has high value.
[You have killed the Extraterrestrial Emissary (1/2).]
[You have gained 5.3% World Source.]
[You have gained the Slippery Biological Tissue Ball (1/2).]
[Tip: This item can be sold or returned to the Extraterrestrial Emissary. If this item reaches its complete form, it can be opened as a chest item.]
...
The gains were considerable. Su Xiao had Baha go to the backyard to pick up the chests, while he took the others to the original site of the ancient castle.
There were five extraterrestrial beings in total: the Pain Maiden, the Dark Walker, Little Flower, the Extraterrestrial Emissary, and the Goat-Headed Demon.
Now, two and a half were killed. The remaining Little Flower didn't need to be dealt with; it was at Lis's home. As for the Extraterrestrial Emissary, this thing was half dead.
Su Xiao had never encountered such a peculiar existence as the Extraterrestrial Emissary. Killing half of it not only gave him a kill reward but also a Slippery Biological Tissue Ball.
Crack, crack, crack～
A crystal layer wrapped around Su Xiao's hand. He picked up a biological tissue ball from the scorched earth. When he picked it up, it was stringy with the ground, and because it was so slippery, it was hard to hold.
According to the tip, once this item was complete, it could be opened as a chest. Even more peculiar was that Su Xiao could return this item to the Extraterrestrial Emissary, thereby making peace with it.
Su Xiao had no such intention. If he encountered this strange being that had somehow escaped, killing it to complete the other half of the [Slippery Biological Tissue Ball] would be the first choice.
What concerned Su Xiao most was that the explosion hadn't killed the two most critical targets: the current head of the Wadi family, Wadi Lifak, and the extraterrestrial being, the Pain Maiden.
The Sanctuary Key was in the Pain Maiden's hands. This was personally stated by Madame Smoke, and presumably, this information was not false.
After searching the ruins, Su Xiao learned the whereabouts of the Pain Maiden. A crack appeared on the ground, filled with dense purple semi-fluid. Needless to say, the Pain Maiden must have hidden inside.
"Moo."
Amu pushed aside the Silver Wolf Maiden, Marina, who was about to jump down to test it. In terms of tankiness, even Marina in her wolf form couldn't compare to Amu.
Amu shouldered the Dragonheart Axe and jumped straight down, only to get stuck. The width of the crack only allowed Amu's legs to enter, tightly wedged at his waist.
"Moo!!"
Amu flailed around, even chopping a few times with his axe, but it was useless. Xiusi and Lis's expressions were extremely serious. They really wanted to laugh but didn't dare, fearing Amu would chop them.
Su Xiao easily lifted Amu out, then jumped into the crack. Baha and Old Chaman followed closely. The Silver Wolf Maiden, Marina, followed in Amu's footsteps and also got stuck.
Su Xiao felt himself sinking. Touching the surrounding purple semi-fluid, he felt a cool sensation. After a few seconds, his feet found nothing, and he experienced a feeling of free fall.
Su Xiao landed on solid ground. He looked around. This was a place made of purple solid tissue, a passage several meters high. The surrounding passage walls were covered in black specks.
Baha and Old Chaman landed behind him. Su Xiao proceeded along the passage. After walking over ten meters, he reached a dead end.
Clang!
His long sword slashed, cutting a nearly one-meter-deep gash in the purple solid tissue. But immediately, the purple solid tissue gathered back together.
Forcibly breaking through might open a path, but it would consume a lot of stamina. If they encountered an enemy later, it would be very dangerous.
There must be a path ahead. It was certain that the Pain Maiden had retreated here and activated some kind of mechanism to seal the path.
Su Xiao took out the [Sacred Divider] and a small bottle. He injected a total of 3 ounces of Space-Time Power into it and activated it. At 1 ounce per use, it could be used three times.
Pop!
A dreamlike, illusory wave spread. The world around Su Xiao changed drastically. Baha and Old Chaman behind him were excluded. Su Xiao went from the original purple passage to a fluorescent blue passage. This was the "Pseudo-World," and ahead was no longer a dead end.
Su Xiao continued forward. After walking several tens of meters, the fluorescent blue passage ahead twisted together, covered in small flowers.
Su Xiao gripped the [Sacred Divider] tightly. The expanded [Sacred Divider] closed, and he immediately withdrew from the "Pseudo-World."
When he returned to the real world, the material world, he was still in the purple passage, but he had passed the sealed section and was on the other side.
Su Xiao understood one of the uses of the [Sacred Divider]. He continued along the purple passage. After walking about a hundred meters, he arrived at a place resembling an underground cave.
Under a stone tablet, a woman with long, thick black hair sat leaning against it. Her hair was clearly her weapon. This was the Pain Maiden.
The Pain Maiden was now severely carbonized, clearly affected by the Sun Pillar.
"I am finally going to die."
The Pain Maiden spoke. Her language had a strange tone but possessed a spiritual resonance that made it understandable.
"Is beauty a sin?"
The Pain Maiden was very calm. She recalled various memories: the dark harbor, the angry, twisted faces of the townspeople holding torches, the rusty iron maiden, the harbor judge looking down at her, the so-called gentlemen and nobles who watched coldly with satisfaction, and the noble ladies on the other side with their half-smiling expressions.
The Pain Maiden died from jealousy. Jealousy of her beauty, jealousy of eternal youth, jealousy of immortality.
"In the pain of drowning, have I become a monster? It seems... I have devoured many living beings."
As the Pain Maiden finished speaking.
Clang!
A cold light flashed, clean and decisive. Su Xiao's long sword slowly returned to its sheath. With a tap, the Pain Maiden's body scattered into embers with sparks.
Su Xiao caught a key in mid-air. A prompt appeared.
[You have completed the Promotion Quest: Third Ring: Sanctuary Key.]
[You have gained 7 Protection Stones.]
[You have killed the Pain Maiden.]
[You have gained 12.7% World Source.]
[You have gained the Immortal Chest: End of Suffering.]
...
The kill reward was generous, but Su Xiao had a doubt. Earlier, Baha had picked up a pale pottery shard that flew out of the Wadi Manor. This item was related to the Pain Maiden.
Through this pale pottery shard, Su Xiao saw some scenes. The Pain Maiden had an immortal body. She was trapped in an iron maiden, thrown into the deep sea, drowned and resurrected, endlessly cycling through pain.
The Pain Maiden should have had an immortal body, but now, not only did she lack an immortal body, she didn't even have strong self-healing abilities.
This made Su Xiao feel something was very wrong. Although he had obtained the Sanctuary Key, he hadn't reached a conclusion about the Wadi family's purpose. From the current clues, it seemed that the Wadi family had simply used a small portion of the Eternal God's divine power to summon some extraterrestrial beings, leading to their own destruction, and that was it?
Su Xiao looked around. This cave-like place was a dead end with no further way in. He took out the [Sacred Divider], preparing to enter the Pseudo-World to investigate. He had been involved in the Wadi family's upheaval from start to finish. If he didn't completely deal with the Wadi family, he would feel a lingering threat. If members of the Wadi family suddenly jumped out to retaliate later, it would be troublesome.
Just as he took out the [Sacred Divider], Su Xiao noticed it had turned from black to translucent. He tried to activate it.
Click!
The [Sacred Divider] fully expanded. Su Xiao felt a pulling force, followed by an extremely strong spatial resistance.
When everything settled, Su Xiao found that he hadn't entered the Pseudo-World but had arrived at a rectangular sacrificial hall. This was a depth world, a small material world attached to the main world. This 300-square-meter sacrificial hall was the entirety of this depth world.
The walls on both sides of the sacrificial hall were covered in oil paintings, all old portraits of figures. Their clothing was noble, their hair colors and attire similar, and their features bore some resemblance.
These oil paintings were portraits of successive heads of the Wadi family. At the innermost part of the sacrificial hall, a large gray stone chair stood. An old man sat on it, his hair withered and sparse, almost skin and bones. But his aura was very dangerous, a mix of greed, rationality, and madness that instinctively put one on guard.
The God of Gods floated up, and Su Xiao activated it to scan the person opposite.
This person hidden in the darkest place was not the current head of the Wadi family, Wadi Lifak, but his ancestor, the original founder of the Wadi family, Wadi Trechi.
The resurrection of the Eternal God's statue, the Pain Maiden's immortal body, and now this undying old man—all the information successfully connected. Su Xiao understood what was going on.
From the founding of the Wadi family to the present, although the head of the family seemed to change, with each generation being a pillar of combat power, in reality, from the day the Wadi family was founded until now, the head had never changed. It had always been this undying old man, Wadi Trechi.
The upheaval in the Wadi family was because this old monster was about to die. He didn't want to die; he wanted to continue living. So, this old monster stole a small amount of the Eternal God's divine power, summoned the Pain Maiden, and stole her immortality.
ps: (Continue flipping to see the Yue Shitu Easter egg chapter. Hope all you readers and uncles can leave comments + like, this is the best encouragement for Feiwen and the artist little sister).