Chapter 21: Semi-Finished Product
Inside the massive crater blasted out by the battle, Su Xiao pulled out a bottle of [Vitality Concentrate] and drank it. In the previous fight, he appeared uninjured, but that wasn't the case. Whenever he fought a Sin God, sin flames would slowly burn within his body. It was only because everyone present had strong willpower that they didn't show the pain of being scorched by the sin flames.
After killing the Sin God, Su Xiao immediately felt the burning sensation in his heart and lungs subside. His vitality had dropped to 63.9%. After drinking the [Vitality Concentrate], a cool sensation spread through his abdominal cavity.
The fact that Su Xiao had lost this much health just from the sin flames burning inside him showed how terrifying this ability was. This was also why Grand Sage Turz had risked his life to deliver that heavy blow to the Sin God. In a prolonged battle, everyone present would be worn down and killed.
In this battle, Grand Sage Turz's Holy Radiance directly broke through the Sin God's surface defense, evaporated most of the dark matter it could control, and drastically reduced its speed. This was the most crucial part. Without the Grand Sage's move, there would have been no way to surround and attack the terrifyingly fast Sin God.
Inside the crater, Su Xiao looked toward the temple. The temple itself was undamaged, but the black rock foundation beneath it was mostly exposed.
Letting Baha carry Grand Sage Turz's remains, Su Xiao climbed several hundred meters up the black rock wall before reaching the stone platform in front of the temple's main entrance.
Entering the temple, a faint chill drifted over. What met his eyes were hanging chains, ritual lamps, and cloth-like sealing talismans.
Su Xiao walked to the innermost part of the temple, where a pair of double wooden doors stood. They gave off a feeling of decay, rot, and age, yet they seemed indestructible.
Su Xiao placed both hands on the doors and pushed. With a rumbling sound and falling dust, the at least 10-centimeter-thick wooden doors slowly opened. Gray-white cotton-like substances drifted out from the gap. Seeing this, he knew that behind these doors lay the Origin: Dead Silence City.
Su Xiao had only seen this gray-white cotton-like substance in Dead Silence City. Seeing it brought back many memories: the People of Death, Tree Erosion, the Crow Doctor, the Birth Sanctum, the Black King, Ken Lahan.
Confirming that this door led to Dead Silence City, Su Xiao stopped pushing. The two wooden doors swung back on their own and slammed shut with a bang.
Having just fought a desperate battle with a Sin God, charging straight into Dead Silence City now would be far too arrogant. Or rather, it would be underestimating the Origin: Dead Silence City.
[Promotion Quest: Fourth Ring: Open the Door (Completed).]
[You have received Shelter Stone ×10.]
[Promotion Quest: Fifth Ring will be activated after entering Origin: Dead Silence City.]
[Tip: You must activate this quest within 2 natural days, or the promotion quest will fail.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao didn't feel relieved. The generous time limit indirectly reflected the danger of entering Dead Silence City.
As Su Xiao was thinking, Wood and Zuiyasi walked up from behind. Wood asked, "White Night, is Dead Silence City behind that door?"
"Yes."
"Are we going in together, or..."
Zuiyasi started to speak. Hearing this, Wood said, "I'm badly injured. I need to rest until at least tomorrow morning. Otherwise, Zuiyasi, why don't you go in first and take a look?"
Hearing this, Zuiyasi smiled and turned his gaze to Su Xiao.
"I'm even more injured."
Su Xiao certainly wasn't planning to go in now. Tomorrow morning was a good time. He had previously spread the news about the Black Maple Tree being inside Dead Silence City precisely to get more people to enter, thereby sharing the risks he would face.
The three stood silently before the door. After a moment, they reached a wordless consensus: don't go in yet. Wait for others to enter and see how things go.
Bang! A signal flare shot into the air. Half a minute later, a spatial ghost door appeared in the temple. It was Hughs, Lady Marina, the Holy Maiden, and Bishop Anse. As for the others, they had all been vaporized by the Grand Sage's Holy Radiance.
The Grand Sage had previously opposed these irrelevant people following along, but unfortunately, various interests within High Wall City were tied to this matter. Directly turning against them wasn't necessary, so he had let them ride the steam train together.
Now, not to mention those people, even the steam train and the surrounding railway tracks had been vaporized by the Holy Radiance.
At the critical moment, Hughs had opened a spatial ghost door at the fastest speed of his life. Lady Marina grabbed Hughs, the Holy Maiden, and Bishop Anse, and rushed through the door, barely avoiding being vaporized by the Holy Radiance.
Speaking of the Holy Radiance, they had Gulu to thank. When the Holy Radiance spread, Gulu happened to be with Bubu Wang, so she took Bubu Wang along and fled.
Bubu was quite afraid of such ultra-large-scale lethal abilities. However, Bubu Wang had [Bud of Creation (Life Saver)] to protect itself, so it wouldn't lose its life. But consuming that life-saving item was still a significant loss.
After Hughs arrived, he looked at Su Xiao with a questioning gaze, asking where to go.
"The Grand Cathedral."
Hearing this, Hughs clasped his hands together and opened another spatial ghost door. Everyone, including Gulu who had just arrived, entered it.
When the spatial fluctuations dissipated, Su Xiao was already in the back hall of the Grand Cathedral. Kaisa had disappeared earlier, and no one knew where he went. Su Xiao was long accustomed to this.
When entering Dead Silence City later, there was no need to look for him. Su Xiao was certain that as long as there was an opportunity to gain benefits inside Dead Silence City, Kaisa would definitely appear. Their cooperation had always been like this—they never acted together for long periods.
The other two good teammates were a different case. He had to enter Dead Silence City with those two. When danger came, Su Xiao wasn't sure he could outrun Wood, but he had absolute confidence he could outrun Zuiyasi.
As long as he ran faster than Zuiyasi, the danger would catch up to Zuiyasi first. In common parlance, as long as he ran faster than his teammates, the bad luck would fall on them. Later, he could help treat their injuries for free, even using precious or rare secret medicines. But at the critical moment, he definitely wouldn't take a beating for them. This fully demonstrated the deep friendship between "good teammates."
Arriving at the Grand Cathedral, Zuiyasi and Wood both left. The three agreed to meet tomorrow morning at the headquarters of the Healing Institute, then use Hughs's ability to go directly to the temple and enter Dead Silence City.
Su Xiao looked at Madam Smoke beside him. Her attire was somewhat light at the moment, her smoke dress only maintained at a summer level.
"For you."
Madam Smoke tossed over a small wooden box. Su Xiao caught it and opened it to find five [Shelter Stones] inside.
"Sigh~"
Madam Smoke sighed and walked toward the back door. She had clearly been preparing to enter Dead Silence City with them. She had even prepared the [Shelter Stones]. These five [Shelter Stones] were the last reserves of the High Wall Council.
Unfortunately, before even entering Dead Silence City, Madam Smoke had been taught a lesson by the Sin God. She had nearly been beaten to death. After witnessing Su Xiao and Grand Sage Turz's full combat power, she completely gave up on going to Dead Silence City.
Madam Smoke walked out of the Grand Cathedral. Sunlight poured down, making her squint. Looking up at the sun, every time she saw it now, she remembered the Ancient God who was kicked straight into the sky and exploded by the sun.
In the back hall of the Grand Cathedral, Su Xiao told Hughs and Lady Marina to return to the Healing Institute headquarters first. Baha and Amu were to go to the South District to check on the two mining brothers and retrieve the [Starflow Ore] they had dug up there.
Su Xiao sat on a long bench, with Bubu Wang crouching beside him. Only now did he have time to check the kill rewards. The total was as follows:
[You have killed the Sin God of Sin: Wompish.]
[You have gained 27.95% World Source.]
[You have gained 4270 Soul Coins. You may exchange them for any of the following rewards as desired.]