Chapter 26: Dean's State of Mind
On the massive skeletal remains, Dragon God Dean stared at Gulu, who stood a hundred meters away, her two middle fingers raised high. For a moment, he couldn't process what was happening.
As an assassination-type contractor, Gulu was no weakling, but going up against someone like Su Xiao or Dragon God Dean put her at a natural disadvantage. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been hunted down by Dean last time.
Gulu's sudden boldness momentarily stunned Dragon God Dean. Anyone with half a brain would suspect a trap, and Dean naturally did.
"Idiot."
Gulu, her mouth dripping with honey-like venom, left that remark and turned to walk into the buildings behind her.
Crack, crack, crack.
Dragon God clenched his fist, the air solidifying in his grip like compressed matter, cracking audibly. He let out a cold laugh.
Dragon God raised one hand, his clawed index finger pointing at Gulu. Crimson light flickered at his fingertip, the converging beam certain to pierce Gulu's skull.
Gulu didn't dodge or evade. Despite the hair-raising threat of the attack, she was confident not only in withstanding it but also in launching a countermeasure. Of course, she only had one chance, and after completing this task, she would have fulfilled the leader's commission and could find an opportunity to slip away.
But just as the crimson light at Dragon God's fingertip reached its peak, it abruptly weakened and then dissipated. He had already determined the trap's nature: the enemy possessed some artifact or item capable of countering attacks, waiting for him to fire that shot.
Dragon God's golden-red energy flared, and he vanished from his spot in an instant. The next moment, he appeared in front of Gulu. This was one of Dragon God's hidden trump cards: he had spatial abilities, specifically combat-oriented spatial powers.
Before Gulu could react, Dragon God's hand closed around her neck. But the instant his hand touched her neck, Gulu's form flickered, as if from a poor signal.
Slap!
Dragon God grabbed "Gulu's" neck—no, he had grabbed Kaisa's neck, and Kaisa was in his human-jar fusion state.
In that instant, Dragon God's scalp went completely numb. The warning from his perception felt like thousands of needles piercing his entire body. He sensed that what he was holding was no longer just a person but something more ancient, sinister, and dark. The weight of that darkness was so oppressive it nearly suffocated him.
Dragon God was a ruthless man. The moment his right hand seized Kaisa's neck, his left hand formed a blade-hand strike aimed at his own right upper arm. He was willing to sacrifice the entire arm.
Puff~
Like a burst cloth sack, Kaisa, held aloft by the neck, exploded into smoke.
Whoosh! A sharp sound of breaking air echoed in Dragon God's ears, followed by a sensation of being pulled into dark, chaotic space. When the world around him stabilized, his left hand, formed into a blade-hand strike, stopped just before his right upper arm.
This was the true face of the trap. The reason Su Xiao had gone to Sister Fish to retrieve Gulu was to present Dragon God with a forced, fatal choice.
If Dragon God attacked Gulu when she appeared, he would be countered by a certain artifact. This artifact was entrusted to Gulu by the leader to settle a debt from the previous incident involving Dawn Paradise. Su Xiao wasn't clear on the specifics; the leader only mentioned that a lingering issue from his assault on Dawn Paradise years ago had been resolved by Su Xiao.
Attacking Gulu would trigger a counter. Capturing Gulu would lead to this outcome. As for letting Gulu leave without a fight, given Dragon God's pride, that was nearly impossible.
The spatial fluctuations dissipated. Dragon God surveyed his surroundings. He was now inside an underground palace, its walls plastered with all kinds of talismans.
The main entrance behind him was wide open, but Dragon God Dean didn't charge out. The reason was that, beneath a statue deep within the palace, a metal chair sat. Su Xiao was seated on it, his posture relaxed, one hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed blade. The other end of the Dragon-Slaying Flash, still in its scabbard, rested on the ground.
"Is this the grave you've chosen for me? Or perhaps your own burial ground?"
Dean looked around, seemingly satisfied with the place. In truth, he had long wanted a one-on-one fight with Su Xiao, but never had the chance.
In High Wall City, Su Xiao was the director of the Healing Institute, commanding a large number of subordinates and holding a high position in the Healing Church.
When they arrived in Dead Silence City, the trio of good teammates acted together until they split up upon reaching the inner city.
Now, Dean finally had the opportunity for a one-on-one duel with Su Xiao. Honestly, after spending so many days in this world, he wasn't afraid of a direct confrontation. His combat power now far exceeded what it was when he first entered the world. The suppression from this world had significantly weakened as his time here lengthened.
Unfortunately, this situation wasn't the one-on-one duel Dean had imagined. Su Xiao still had to contend with the Holy Hymn Choir, the last Wolf Knight, the first Saintess, and the Sin Collective. He had no energy for a solo fight with Dragon God Dean.
With a click, Su Xiao tapped the sheathed Dragon-Slashing Flash against a raised round stone on the ground. In the next instant, the main gate of the underground palace slammed shut.
Boom!
A gust of wind rushed toward him. Su Xiao's black hair was blown back as he entered a state of spatial penetration. Dean's dragon claw passed through his head, failing to hit a solid target.
A spatial tremor came from above. It was Baha, positioned directly above the palace, activating his Demon Hawk Domain to seal the space here.
「Demon Hawk Domain (Ultimate Skill, Growth Type, Lv.48): Baha possesses six spatial feathers. When it fully 'spreads' its wings, all six spatial feathers shatter, interrupting/sealing all eighth-rank spatial abilities within a 1000-meter radius for 10 minutes.」
With space sealed, not only could Dean no longer use spatial abilities, but even Su Xiao's spatial penetration was affected. His process of penetrating space would now take several seconds instead of being instantaneous, and it carried various risks. Most likely, he would be crushed inside the space and severely injured.
Within the Demon Hawk Domain, Dean frowned. He didn't understand why Su Xiao would do this. Comparing their spatial abilities, Su Xiao's spatial penetration was clearly more effective in combat. This move seemed like self-sabotage.
But then, Dean understood the situation. He realized the enemy wasn't seeking a duel but intended to use this place to kill him.
With the exit sealed, the deathly energy within the palace grew denser, forming visible semi-transparent gray mist. Soon, it filled the entire structure. Although Dead Silence City was saturated with deathly energy, the concentration here was far higher.
"It seems you've figured it out."
Dragon God Dean lowered his stance slightly, the ground beneath his feet cracking. He prepared to charge forward, but due to his extreme speed, he vanished from his spot. However, in the next instant, he reappeared a few meters away, staggering a few steps.
"..."
Su Xiao looked at Dean, whose face had turned deathly pale. At this density of deathly energy, charging around here was suicidal. Su Xiao knew this because the deathly energy reward ability of the Black King Bracer had this exact property.
「Deathly Descent: Upon activating this ability, the surrounding 600 meters will be rapidly assimilated by Dead Silence City, dealing 5% to 23% of maximum health as erosion damage per second. If an enemy unit moves within the range of Deathly Descent, the erosion damage and erosion speed will significantly increase (erosion damage and speed increase by 2 to 6 times, depending on the enemy's stamina attribute and movement speed).」
Once, after Su Xiao activated Deathly Descent, he witnessed an agility-specialized contractor kill themselves in just over a second due to their own speed.
At this moment, the concentration of deathly energy in the underground palace exceeded that of Deathly Descent and the average in Dead Silence City. This meant that the Level 5 protection effect from the Protection Stone could no longer fully negate the deathly erosion.
Moreover, the deathly energy concentration in the palace was still rising. At this point, whether running out or launching an attack was unwise. Mid-to-long-range attacks would inevitably create energy fluctuations, which, within the dense deathly energy, would lead to even more severe erosion.
To put it simply, if Su Xiao gathered a Blood Spear and attacked Dragon God Dean, even if the Blood Spear hit Dean, the damage Su Xiao would take from the deathly energy during the attack would likely exceed the damage inflicted on Dean.
Furthermore, Su Xiao wouldn't give Dean the chance to attack him from a distance. He had been constantly on guard against Dean's origin-level equipment.
Su Xiao pressed one hand to the ground, activating a pre-prepared alchemical array. Half-meter-thick transparent barriers appeared within the palace, separating Su Xiao and Dean while firmly blocking the stone door at the exit.
With the deathly energy erosion, this alchemical array wouldn't last long, but it was enough. In fact, it was bait. If Dragon God Dean chose to destroy these barriers, the energy fluctuations would cause him to die faster from the deathly erosion.
Through the half-meter-thick transparent barrier, Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the ground. The Black King Bracer and Protection Stone gave him roughly Level 6 protection. Without consuming any recovery items, he would undoubtedly last longer.
On the other side, Dean realized the danger of this place. He raised his hand, pointing his index finger at Su Xiao. Crimson light had just begun to gather at his fingertip when he spat out a large mouthful of golden-red blood.
After catching his breath, Dean walked step by step to the barrier and punched it. A large crack appeared on the barrier.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Dean coughed repeatedly. The tips of his hair began to gray and wither, and his skin became dry and cracked. Noticing this, Dean took out a golden bean and tossed it into his mouth. His condition immediately improved.
By now, Dean fully understood the situation. Although this place was a deadly trap, the danger wasn't his alone. The enemy on the other side was also bearing an equal amount of risk.
Rather than a trap, this was more like a contest—not of combat power, but of wealth. In an environment filled with layers of mechanisms, the more one probed, the more one would be outmaneuvered. Conversely, wearing the enemy down first and then dismantling the traps to escape was the safest option.
As for dismantling the traps in front of the enemy, Dean had barely entertained the thought before dismissing it. That hunter must have set up all kinds of contingencies.
With that in mind, Dean sat down on the ground. The situation had entered a phase of comparing supplies—whoever had more recovery potions would win.
In terms of recovery potions, Su Xiao's storage space currently held 137 bottles of Vitality Essence. Competing with an alchemist in recovery item quantity was unwise.
However, given Dragon God Dean's wealth, he likely had a considerable number of recovery items in his storage space. Indeed, Dean took out several potions, flicked off the cork stoppers with his thumb, but didn't immediately drink them.
On the other side of the barrier, Su Xiao took out a bottle of Vitality Essence, uncorked it, and drank it. Seeing this, Dean downed his own potion.
"I have dozens of bottles of this stuff."
Dean spoke. The erosion from the deathly energy was unpleasant. Anyone with weak willpower would be screaming in agony from the whole-body pain, but Dean showed no change in expression.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't respond, but he spat out the Vitality Essence he had just drunk. This place was filled with Ethyl Sulfide Boiling Gas. Drinking a recovery potion in this environment was no different from consuming a deadly poison.
Seeing Su Xiao spit out the potion, Dean knew something was wrong. The increasing concentration of deathly energy, the spatial seal of the Demon Hawk Domain, the barrier generated by the array, and the comparison of potion stocks—all of it was deliberately shown to Dean.
From the very beginning, Su Xiao's goal was to make Dean drink a high-quality recovery potion here. That potion would turn into a deadly poison. Combined with the erosion of the deathly energy, even if Dean was the strongest eighth-rank contractor of Apocalypse Paradise, he would die.
Dean let out a "wow" as a massive amount of blood sprayed from his mouth, mixed with fragments of stomach, liver, and other organs. The amount of blood he vomited formed a pool two meters in diameter.
"You..."
Dean tried to stand, but his vision blurred. He let out another "wow," vomiting an enormous amount of blood. He was stunned, unable to understand what kind of poison could affect him, a ninth-rank contractor, so severely.
"Blood for blood. You killed my brother in Phantom Water World. This isn't over... wow!"
Dean vomited another mouthful of blood. Hearing this, Su Xiao frowned. He had been to dozens of mission worlds, but he was certain he had never been to Phantom Water World. In fact, he had never even heard of it.
A thought crossed Su Xiao's mind. Could this Dragon God Dean have mistaken his target?
If this was true, the psychological shock would greatly accelerate the enemy's death. So Su Xiao said:
"Unfortunately, I've never been to Phantom Water World."
As he spoke, the ultimate ability of his adventure group triggered, gradually restoring his health.
Hearing this, Dean sneered. He stared intently into Su Xiao's eyes. After a few seconds, his sneer faded. No matter how he looked at it, in this situation, Su Xiao had no reason to deny having been to Phantom Water World or killing Dean's brother.
An unacceptable reality emerged, but Dean immediately dismissed it. He had confirmed through multiple methods that Su Xiao had killed his brother. His brother wasn't some nobody but someone with talent, perseverance, and financial support from Dean. There were playback images, witnesses from Apocalypse Paradise contractors who saw the fight, and feedback from several items—all pointing to Su Xiao as the killer.
"Oh, it was Huishenshi."
Su Xiao figured it out. Dragon God Dean's revenge was clearly a setup by Huishenshi. Although Huishenshi was dead, this must have happened several world progressions ago.
This incident must have occurred before the Treeborn World began. At that time, both Su Xiao and Huishenshi hoped the other would die before entering Treeborn World. Framing and setting up the other was an obvious tactic.
And indeed, Dean's brother was killed by Huishenshi, who then framed Su Xiao. Huishenshi was certain that, given Dragon God's pride and love for his brother, he would seek revenge on Su Xiao.
This happened four world progressions ago. At that time, Su Xiao had just left Alliance Star and hadn't yet entered the World of Paintings. Huishenshi killed Dean's brother and, along with Shenfu, staged the scene.
It wasn't surprising that those two old schemers could pull this off, especially since Huishenshi had already obtained various permissions from Dawn Paradise. These astonishing permissions were the main reason Dean fell for it.
At the time, this was a deadly situation. Su Xiao was just one step away from reaching peak eighth-rank combat power.
When Dragon God Dean learned of his brother's brutal death—his head severed and hung up—he immediately investigated. It didn't take much effort to pinpoint a suspect: the Reincarnation Paradise hunter, the Night of Decapitation. After multiple confirmations, Dean launched his revenge.
Although Dean was known as the strongest eighth-rank contractor of Apocalypse Paradise, that was in the past. He had already advanced to ninth rank. But to eliminate Su Xiao, he was willing to use rare permissions to enter an eighth-rank world with his power partially sealed.
Dean couldn't track Su Xiao, but he could track Bubu Wang. Unfortunately, Dean's first attempt at revenge was thwarted because Su Xiao entered the World of Paintings. Dean, having sealed his own power to enter an eighth-rank world, had no chance of entering the World of Paintings—a special competition involving representatives from various paradise factions and major void powers.
His first revenge attempt was blocked. Dean lost his appetite, found no pleasure in intimacy, and even his drinks tasted off. In short, he was thoroughly frustrated. At the time, Dean thought, "Just you wait. Let's see what happens when you enter a regular native world."
In his anticipation, Su Xiao entered Ser Star. That time, he represented Reincarnation Paradise in a world invasion and fought a world war under those conditions.
Given Dean's situation, with the two highest-priority events—world invasion and world war—occurring simultaneously, even if he poured all his resources, he couldn't enter Ser Star.
Frustrated for the second time, Dean grew even more furious. His thought was, "I dare you to keep entering these high-permission eighth-rank worlds."
As if hearing Dean's wish, after leaving Ser Star, Su Xiao entered Treeborn World in the next world progression.
Treeborn World was independently certified by the Void Tree, and each contractor, hunter, or battle angel could only enter once. Dean had already been there, so he couldn't go again. He was frustrated for the third time, nearly vomiting from anger.
But as a ninth-rank contractor, Dragon God Dean was patient. He went through his normal world progressions and waited. When the next world progression began, Dean thought, "You bastard! I dare you to enter another special eighth-rank world!"
As if hearing Dean's wish again, Su Xiao used Nightmare's Beginning to enter Pandora Star, a world invaded by the Nether.
After failing to track Bubu Wang again, Dragon God Dean nearly spat blood. He almost wanted to know what kind of damned worlds this Reincarnation Paradise hunter kept going to. Couldn't he just enter a normal native world? A more "normal" world?
As if hearing Dean's wish once more, Su Xiao entered Gloomy Continent. After successfully tracking Bubu Wang, Dean's hands trembled with excitement.
That's why, at the beginning of this world, Dean came knocking. Originally, Dean thought that no matter how strong an eighth-rank hunter was, there was a limit.
But after actually fighting, Dean thought, "Holy shit! Is this guy really eighth-rank? Even mid-to-low ninth-rank contractors can't handle him."
After four world progressions of bitter pursuit, when he finally caught up, he found he couldn't win. Dean nearly broke down. To make matters worse, treating his soul injuries cost him 100,000 Soul Coins.
And the doctor was a fake, giving him potions laced with soul poison. He had to pay a heavy price to remove it.
Now, after spending some time in this world, Dean's suppressed power had noticeably increased. Just as he was preparing to settle the score with Su Xiao in Dead Silence City, he learned that he had been targeting the wrong person all along. This was a trap set by the deceased Huishenshi to eliminate the Night of Decapitation.
"Pfft!"
Dean vomited another mouthful of blood. He tremblingly raised his hand to point at Su Xiao, his lips moving as if to say something, but he didn't know what to say.
What shattered Dean's mentality even more was that Huishenshi was already dead. That meant he had been thoroughly played by a dead violator.
"Roar!!!"
Dean roared, half-dragonifying. The golden-red scales on his body stood on end from sheer rage. Moreover, azure-blue chains binding him appeared and then rapidly shattered. A powerful aura and pressure burst forth from Dean.
The moment Dean's power returned to its peak, a repulsive force blasted him into a spatial gap, expelling him from this world.
At the spot where Dean vanished, several items fell. Then, Soul Coins scattered into the air—Dean's 35,000 Soul Coins paid to the Void Tree as collateral for entering a lower-rank world.
In the Void Tree's judgment, Su Xiao had expelled Dean, so the collateral became Su Xiao's spoils.
Besides the Soul Coins, the items that fell were Dean's gains in this world. Since he entered through a special method, he only obtained these rewards after entering Dead Silence City.
Su Xiao first destroyed the alchemical array, then used the mechanism inside the statue to open the palace entrance, gradually reducing the deathly energy concentration. More importantly, he released the Ethyl Sulfide Boiling Gas so he could drink recovery potions.
After a while, detecting that the air was free of Ethyl Sulfide Boiling Gas, Su Xiao took out a bottle of Vitality Essence and drank it. His health rapidly recovered, and the discomfort from the deathly erosion disappeared.
Su Xiao finally understood why he felt Dragon God Dean was off and why avoiding a direct confrontation with him was the right choice.
It was a pity that Dragon God Dean hadn't entered Ser Star or Pandora Star. That would have been much more interesting.
In Ser Star, Su Xiao commanded hundreds of thousands of boar knight legions. The sun-worshipping pig-headed people would have warmly welcomed Dragon God Dean. In that situation, a ninth-rank contractor with power sealed to eighth-rank peak wouldn't have been able to cause any trouble.
As for Pandora Star, Su Xiao had developed an insect race there. Even if Dragon God Dean's power hadn't been suppressed, he would have died there. The endless insect legions—Dean could fight ten thousand, a hundred thousand, even hundreds of thousands. But what about millions? And the Titan's plasma cannon rain?
Su Xiao collected the Soul Coins piled on the ground. One by one, the coins flew into his storage space. After taking 25,000, he stopped, leaving 10,000.
In this matter, although Kaisa hadn't contributed much, he had provided intelligence and brought Dragon God Dean here. Giving him 10,000 Soul Coins as a share wasn't too much. So Su Xiao placed an immortal-rank gem on top of the Soul Coin pile.
"My dear friend, this is too kind. I didn't do much."
Kaisa appeared out of nowhere, saying this while quickly pocketing the Soul Coins and gem.
Su Xiao obtained three items. One was a 30-centimeter-tall statue of the Eternal Life God. Its specific function was unclear, and it couldn't be taken out of this world.
The second was a black tree seed. The more Su Xiao looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. Then he remembered—wasn't this the Pitch-Black Seed he obtained after killing the Twisted War Armor in the previous world?
Earlier, in his exclusive room, he had used it as a prop while activating Deathly Descent, and it was taken away by the People of Death. Now it had returned. What a strange fate.
However, after being eroded by deathly energy, this item was unusable. At best, it was a souvenir.
The last item was a sealed, ancient glass bottle. The bottle was dull and gray, its mouth sealed with amber-like resin.
[You have obtained 519.5 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[Warning: Do not open this sealed bottle casually, or the Space-Time Power inside will be lost. You need to pay a fee to transfer the Space-Time Power from the sealed bottle after returning to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Tip: The fee is 10% of the transferred Space-Time Power.]
Seeing this, Su Xiao once again felt the abundance of opportunities in Dead Silence City. He wondered where Dean had found this treasure.
Kaisa's eyes went wide. Seeing this, Su Xiao said, "Want half?"
Hearing this, Kaisa felt a pang of heartache. He said painfully, "No, no. I didn't contribute that much. I don't deserve such a big share."
With that, Kaisa walked out, his heart aching. He was reluctant, but after working together for so long, the principle was always: the more you contribute, the more you get. Kaisa was greedy, but he knew that steady gains were the way to satisfy his greed in the long run.
Su Xiao didn't leave the underground palace immediately. He sat cross-legged to rest. He wondered what expression Dragon God Dean would have when they met in a ninth-rank world in the future. Dean's revenge story could easily rank in the top ten—no, top five—of the "Apocalypse Paradise Annual Brain Hemorrhage Incident List."
Three hours later, Su Xiao had recovered. He took Bubu Wang and Baha out of the palace and headed straight for the Holy Ten Church to the west.
The People of Death they encountered along the way were noticeably fewer. Su Xiao avoided them, following a side street until he reached a wide, patterned avenue.
This avenue was about half a kilometer long. On both sides stood church knights in full heavy armor, wielding large shields and spike lances.
The reason there were no People of Death here was these church knights. Although they were being eroded by deathly energy, they were still alive.
A few Eternal Beings wouldn't have surprised Su Xiao too much, but these hundreds of church knights were all Eternal Beings who had survived since the Age of Gods. That was hard to believe. Could it really be, as the rumors in High Wall City said, that faith in the Eternal Life God granted immortality? That seemed too easy.
After long-range detection, Su Xiao found that these church knights were no weaker than the People of Death in the inner city. Some were even stronger.
The problem was that two factions of church knights stood on either side of the avenue. At the end of the avenue, after climbing a dozen steps, was the Holy Ten Church.
The magnificent church was also heavily guarded by church knights. It seemed the only way in was to fight through the avenue.
Su Xiao wondered how previous Chosen Ones had reached the Holy Ten Church to challenge the Holy Hymn Choir. Fighting through? That was unrealistic. Besides, if someone had fought through before, the church knights here would have been wiped out.
Thinking this, to the surprise of Bubu Wang and Baha, Su Xiao stepped out from his hiding spot and walked openly toward the avenue.
Chilling gazes gathered on him. The church knights stared. When they noticed the Black King Bracer on Su Xiao's arm, they showed hostility but didn't charge.
Under the hostile and cold stares of the church knights, Su Xiao walked down the avenue, climbed the steps, and stopped before the main door of the Holy Ten Church.
Just as he raised his hand to push the door, the metal giant door rose with a clang. He stepped inside the Holy Ten Church, finding it cylindrical, about a thousand square meters in size. On the middle section of the front wall were five platforms several meters high. Five figures stood on them, clad in armor mixed with metal and fabric. They had slender but powerful builds.
With a rumble, the metal door behind him slammed shut, sealing the Holy Ten Church. The five figures in front grasped their weapons and leaped down from the platforms, taking positions in front of and behind each other.
These were the combat powerhouses of the Healing Church: the Holy Hymn Choir. To date, no Chosen One had truly defeated them. At best, they had gained their recognition and temporarily taken the Source Stone.
The Holy Hymn Choir's abilities were nearly unbeatable against a single strong opponent. But this time, they had met their ultimate counter.