# Chapter 10: Pale Lord (Died in the Abyss Battlefield)
...
These were only the known powerhouses. Many more had been forgotten in the river of history. Among the last five of these ten powerhouses, any one chosen at random would be the ultimate final boss of the top echelon in any other eighth-rank world.
Zuiyasi had brought back the upper half of a divine statue. Where he found this thing was unknown, but if the guess was correct, this should be from the Old Church era, located within the Grand Cathedral's divine statue. To this day, it still contained a vast amount of faith power.
Everything was ready. It was time to attempt manufacturing the Source Stone. But just then, Zuiyasi spoke:
"Bai Ye, Shenfu has reached the Inner City, near the Grand Cathedral. The Dead Man's Eye I placed has spotted him."
Zuiyasi naturally mastered the Eye Ritual, after all, he came from Doom Star.
"Expel him."
Su Xiao walked toward the Grand Cathedral's exit. He had experienced Shenfu's methods more than once. The best way to deal with Shenfu was to not give the other party a chance to enter the field.
Seeing Su Xiao's decisive attitude, Zuiyasi, Wude, and Kaisa also walked out together.
Half an hour later, several kilometers east of the Grand Cathedral, on a dilapidated side street with ruined buildings.
Shenfu walked out from a half-collapsed civilian residence. At first glance, one would feel this was an old priest with a kind and benevolent smile. But those who knew him understood how dangerous he was.
Back in the Violator Alliance, Huishenshi died, Xianji died, Minglang died, Shouhao died. Only Shenfu survived. Not only did he survive, but he also achieved his goal in the Treeborn World, which was to break free from the Necronomicon.
Now, beside Shenfu were his two new teammates. One was a little boy sitting on the shoulder of a medium-sized combat mech, named Xiao Ge.
The other was a woman with a hot figure. She had a fishbone braid that reached past her waist, wore a black vest, black gloves on her hands, and a pair of eyes with dark red pupils that looked especially sharp when gazing at others. Her name was Beifuli. She was a madwoman among the Violators, hailing from Reincarnation Paradise.
Beifuli wasn't as famous as Huishenshi or Xianji, but those who truly understood Violators knew how dangerous Beifuli was. Other Violators often worried about being hunted, but Beifuli worried about no one hunting her. Whether as prey or hunter, this madwoman reveled in it.
Shenfu had brought Xiao Ge and Beifuli this time, clearly plotting something.
"Shenfu, you're not scheming against me, are you?"
Xiao Ge, sitting on the combat mech's shoulder, spoke.
"You came here already in the middle of being schemed against."
Beifuli spoke, chewing gum. As she walked, she suddenly stopped.
"Someone's ahead."
Beifuli looked at a three-story building a few dozen meters ahead. This was an abandoned weapon workshop.
"Sensed it? In this damn place, you can sense that far?"
Xiao Ge was surprised. At this location, his tech-based detection devices had mostly malfunctioned, with a usable range of only a few meters.
"Instinct."
Beifuli's hand made a grasping motion. The cobblestones from the nearby wall were pulled down through the air, landing in her hand, then thrown by her.
Boom!
The cobblestone blasted through layers of air waves. Just as it entered the pitch-black workshop, it suddenly lost all momentum.
"This aura, a Blade Grandmaster no doubt. Commission complete."
Beifuli leaped to the top of a nearby building. She and Xiao Ge had received payment from Shenfu to come here.
"Bai Ye, I heard you were here, so I came to catch up."
Shenfu stopped at the main entrance of the workshop, not stepping into the strange darkness inside the building.
The darkness receded slightly. Su Xiao, sitting on a crystal seat, was half-submerged in the darkness, expressionlessly watching Shenfu.
"We're old friends, why be so hostile? Last world we were still allies."
"..."
"Still as cold as ever. I'm not here to be your enemy this time. I heard you were here, so I came to make a deal."
Shenfu took out a semi-transparent crystal short blade. This short blade faintly showed blue, looking very similar to the energy crystalization formed by the Proud Song ability. The fluctuations on it confirmed to Su Xiao that this was a product of the Law Destruction Faction.
"What exactly this is, I don't know. But from the information I can check, its origin is quite interesting."
Shenfu didn't directly mention Law Destruction. After all, the Law Destruction Faction had Arcane Eternal Star as a powerful enemy. Declaring Su Xiao as a Law Destroyer in front of the other two Violators would be somewhat inappropriate.
"What do you want?"
Su Xiao was very interested in the short blade in Shenfu's hand. Items from the Law Destruction Faction were rare.
"I want Huishenshi's Scarlet Card."
Shenfu's smile was exceptionally kind. This old fox finally showed his tail.
"Already opened."
Although Su Xiao still kept Huishenshi's Scarlet Card, he would never give this thing to Shenfu, no matter how high the other party's offer was. The risks involved were too high.
"Is that so? Then I want the Soul Blood of the Sin God."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. A sealed test tube appeared in his hand. After killing an Ancient God, he naturally collected Soul Blood. This was one of the spoils an Alchemist could gather.
Just as Su Xiao threw the mixed blood, Shenfu on the opposite side also threw the crystal short blade. The moment they crossed paths, both disappeared simultaneously. The Soul Blood returned to Su Xiao's hand, and the crystal short blade returned to Shenfu's hand.
"..."
"..."
Neither Su Xiao nor Shenfu spoke. Xiao Ge, sitting on the combat mech's shoulder nearby, twitched the corner of his mouth. Sometimes, the traps of old Yinbi were this simple and unexpected.
Beifuli watched this scene expressionlessly. She was already getting angry inside, not at the two present, but remembering being schemed against by Huishenshi, then chasing him for several days, only to be schemed against again. Since then, whenever Beifuli heard Huishenshi was nearby, she immediately turned and left. After experiencing the intelligence gap with him, she had no interest in humiliating herself further.
"Bai Ye, we're old friends. Let's both show some sincerity."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. After throwing the sealed test tube, he casually caught the flying crystal short blade.
[You have obtained Seal Blade.]
[Seal Blade]
Origin: Void · Shadow of Law Destruction.
Quality: Seal Item (Only usable by Shadow of Law Destruction).
Durability: 195/340 points.
Equipment Effect: ???
Description: ???
...
What this thing was used for, Su Xiao didn't know either, but he could feel he could activate it.
"A pleasant transaction, Bai Ye. See you later."
Shenfu looked at the darkness inside the workshop. Due to the area's effect on perception, he hadn't fully probed the origin of this darkness.
Hearing Shenfu say this, Su Xiao understood the other party's purpose for coming here. The other party's attitude was clear: bringing two powerful helpers was meant to create a diversion, thereby getting a share of the Inner District of Dead Silence City. As for coming specifically for this transaction, even a ghost wouldn't believe that excuse.
What Su Xiao couldn't quite figure out was, with Shenfu's stable-to-the-point-of-infuriating style, why would he choose to come to the Inner District? There was only one possibility: Kain, who had brought Shenfu here, also had ill intentions, hiding key information from Shenfu, such as not mentioning that Su Xiao had collaborators.
The darkness inside the workshop faded. Zuiyasi, Wude, and Kaisa, standing on the staircase platform behind, appeared.
Seeing these three, Shenfu's kind smile froze for an instant. Last world, Su Xiao, Shenfu, Kaisa, and the Undead Girl had cooperated. Shenfu naturally knew about Kaisa's almost unbelievable methods.
As for Zuiyasi and Wude, these were old rivals from the Treeborn World.
Among these four, excluding the special Kaisa, if encountering any one of the other three alone, Shenfu would choose to engage them. But now facing all four at once, Shenfu's only feeling was bad luck, truly bad luck.
Under Xiao Ge and Beifuli's surprised gazes, Shenfu turned and walked away. He didn't think bringing two hired helpers against the "Good Teammate" foursome had any chance of victory. Or rather, after one or two exchanges, whether he could retreat was unknown.
"Bai Ye, not keeping that old fellow?"
Zuiyasi spoke.
"Not interested."
Su Xiao had killed Shenfu twice before. The time in Bei City was particularly memorable.
After Zuiyasi's Dead Man's Eye confirmed that Shenfu and the others had gone all the way out, quickly left the Inner City, and finally disappeared at the Outer District's exit, the group returned to the Grand Cathedral.
Inside the Grand Cathedral, Su Xiao began setting up the formation diagram in the center's open space. Although he had obtained four high-level energies — Abyss Energy, World Force, Faith Power · Eternal Life, and Endless Death — how to synthesize the Dead Silence Origin remained a problem.
In Su Xiao's view, the probability of synthesizing the Dead Silence Origin was unimaginably low. Back then, the arrival of Dead Silence also had some coincidental elements. Of course, even if Dead Silence hadn't arrived, this world would have had similar disasters. This was the inevitable result of various factors combining.
Su Xiao couldn't replicate the scene of Dead Silence Origin's birth back then, but he had another way to manufacture Source Stones. First, he needed to trace back what a Source Stone was.
Back then, the Healing Church cut a piece from the Supreme Holy Ground's massive Origin. Due to the Healing Church's later processing, this piece became the "Initial Source Stone." After the "Initial Source Stone" was split into five, they became Source Stones.
Su Xiao couldn't manufacture the Dead Silence Origin, but he had a way to create the "Initial Source Stone," because the "Initial Source Stone's" structure was simpler. It involved compressing and crystallizing the four high-level energies that made up the Origin, transforming them from energy form to material form. With Su Xiao's current Alchemy level, this was achievable.
After Su Xiao narrated the Alchemy process required to manufacture the "Initial Source Stone" to Zuiyasi, Wude, and Kaisa, the three all showed expressions of understanding. But none asked further questions or offered help, just sitting on the steps watching.
The newly obtained "Ring Holy Mark" was very useful in manufacturing the "Initial Source Stone." Su Xiao even suspected that the Healing Church had used the "Ring Holy Mark" as a foundation, combined with the environment inside the Grand Cathedral that had no Dead Silence energy, to create the "Initial Source Stone."
Su Xiao first used the "Ring Holy Mark" as the central hub, then supplemented it with an Alchemy formation diagram, amplifying its synthesis characteristics by dozens of times. Only then could the four high-level energies be more stably compressed and crystallized.
The formation diagram activated, then exploded with a bang.
Su Xiao got up from the pit in the wall. He had Bubu Wang and Baha, hiding behind the pillars, use a wooden wheelchair to temporarily move Dazhujiao away from this place. Manufacturing the "Initial Source Stone" was not a simple matter, and the risks were not low.
After Dazhujiao left, Su Xiao continued testing the feasibility he had pre-conceived. Half an hour later, Zuiyasi, Wude, and Kaisa also left the Grand Cathedral.
One hour later.
Boom!
An explosion spread. In Gulu's small room, the door was pushed open a crack from inside. After confirming it wasn't an enemy attack, Gulu hugged her pillow and hurriedly left.
That night, around the Anmian Courtyard where the Grand Cathedral was located, many Dead People arrived. Standing in the darkness, they looked at the Grand Cathedral's windows with confusion, not understanding why muffled sounds or flashes of light came from inside from time to time.
The next morning, Gulu cautiously pushed open the Grand Cathedral's door. It wasn't that she was timid, but in the latter half of the previous night, Zuiyasi had wanted to open the door and ask Su Xiao about his progress. The moment the door opened, Zuiyasi was blasted by an energy explosion from the main entrance all the way to the courtyard gate's post.
Gulu poked her head in to look around the Grand Cathedral, seeing Su Xiao sitting at the center of the formation diagram. At this moment, Su Xiao was holding a black crystal between his thumb and index finger. He had successfully manufactured the "Initial Source Stone" using the four high-level energies.
Overall, the reason Source Stones could provide protection wasn't because they could resist the Dead Silence Origin, but because their characteristics were similar. Just like fire doesn't ignite fire, the Dead Silence Origin had no consciousness or thoughts.
With the "Initial Source Stone" successfully manufactured, splitting it into Source Stones wasn't difficult, just time-consuming.
"My dear friend, let me try?"
Kaisa, who had walked in, spoke. Hearing this, Su Xiao tossed the "Initial Source Stone" to Kaisa.
Kaisa cleared his throat, took out the [Fraudster's Head Wrap] and put it on his head, then took out over a dozen strange badges and hung them along the lower edge of the [Fraudster's Head Wrap]. Finally, he took out the Abyssal Jar and placed the "Initial Source Stone" inside.
Kaisa muttered something no one could hear, pressed one hand on the Abyssal Jar's opening, shook his head and trembled all over.
After a moment, Kaisa's movements abruptly stopped. He held the Abyssal Jar with both hands and poured outward. Four Source Stones fell onto the wooden table.
Su Xiao picked up a Source Stone. With a clink, the Source Stone was attracted to the Black King Bracer, then turned into black energy and entered the bracer.
Su Xiao quickly discovered the difference between the man-made Source Stone and the natural Source Stone. Although the effect was the same, the man-made Source Stone would slowly dissipate. After about a dozen years, this Source Stone would evaporate. The five natural Source Stones didn't have this flaw.
Witnessing the Source Stones being produced, Gulu found it hard to express her feelings at this moment. In her view, using game logic, Source Stones were the ultimate quest items of this world. One had to go through hellish trials to obtain at most five.
But these four guys were preparing for batch, stable production. Judging by the momentum, they definitely weren't planning to make 50 Source Stones. Perhaps they wanted to make 500.
That noon, Su Xiao controlled the formation diagram to gradually fall into silence. Two "Initial Source Stones" landed at the formation diagram's center. In the past, the Healing Church must have tried man-made Source Stones. Unfortunately, there were many difficulties.
Or rather, the Healing Church had also made this kind of Source Stone before. But as time passed, the man-made Source Stones all dissipated, leaving only the five natural Source Stones.
Su Xiao threw the newly manufactured two "Initial Source Stones" into a large metal bowl. This metal bowl was a ritual vessel, about half a meter in diameter.
Gulu, sitting on the chandelier, looked at the hundreds of "Initial Source Stones" in the ritual vessel. She was no longer surprised, somewhat numb.
Next came Kaisa's turn to shine. Su Xiao walked into a small room. During the manufacturing of the "Initial Source Stone," he had to maintain a high level of concentration. Now he just wanted to sleep.
Just as he lay down on the small wooden bed, the Void Tree's notification appeared.
[Notification: As the total World Source obtained by Contractors in this world has reached the standard, the Title Shop will fully open in 2 minutes.]
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao sat up. Using his own Reincarnation Mark as a medium, he opened the Title Shop certified by the Void Tree. The next second, a large book materialized in front of him.
This large book, over 1 meter tall and 50 centimeters wide, slowly opened. The first page was densely packed with fingertip-sized empty slots. The one-star titles above had already been exchanged.
Su Xiao mentally flipped backward. After flipping to the seventh page, he saw the five seven-star titles above. As for the eighth page with only one eight-star title, he didn't plan to look. This time, he had gone deep into Dead Silence City, naturally lacking the energy to search for Ancient Gold Coins. As a result, his current Ancient Gold Coins were still 6,017.
He had never cared about the empty promises from Gongjue. To make that guy Gongjue produce Ancient Gold Coins, unless a blade was already at his throat, Gongjue would definitely renege.
The five seven-star titles ranged in price from 592 Ancient Gold Coins to 6,000 Ancient Gold Coins. Su Xiao naturally had his eye on the most expensive one. He would only take it when the exchange permission opened.
The competition for the eight-star title should be between only a few people. But this seven-star title worth 6,000 Ancient Gold Coins would definitely have more competitors.
There were actually quite a few Contractors who came to Gloomy Continent this time. Moreover, those who dared to come here generally had real skills. This also meant that many among them could save up over 6,000 Ancient Gold Coins.
With so many competitors, and all of them exchanging for this seven-star title the moment the exchange permission activated, whether one could get it depended largely on luck.
Time passed minute by minute. Just as the countdown reached 0, Su Xiao made the exchange.
[You have paid 4,600 Ancient Gold Coins.]
[You have obtained Miracle Maker.]
[Miracle Maker]
Origin: Void Tree
Quality: ★★★★★★★
Category: Title
Title Effect: When manufacturing, there is a probability of entering the peak manufacturing state you can achieve, thereby manufacturing a "Miracle" that surpasses "Perfect" quality.
Description: Is this a miracle? No, this is the peak you can achieve. Breaking through perfection is what a manufacturer should pursue.
Price: Cannot be sold.
...
Among the seven-star titles, Su Xiao didn't exchange for the [Death Blade] worth 6,000 Soul Coins, although this title seemed somewhat suitable for him.
There were two reasons. First, many people were eyeing this title. Second, Su Xiao already had the eight-star title [Deep Blue Shadow]. [Death Blade] was clearly also a combat-type title.
How could a combat-type seven-star title compare to the eight-star [Deep Blue Shadow]? Besides, whether he could grab it depended entirely on luck. Just based on luck alone, Su Xiao's chances of getting it fell to the back ranks.
The second-ranked [Golden Guardian] was worth 5,600 Ancient Gold Coins, but this title should also have many people watching it.
On the other hand, the third-ranked [Miracle Maker] was clearly not favored by most Contractors. This was a title that enhanced manufacturing.
With few competitors, likely none, and a high probability he could use it himself, Su Xiao naturally wouldn't miss it. Facts proved that exchanging for [Miracle Maker] was the right choice.
Closing the title list, Su Xiao soon fell asleep. After sleeping for about eight hours, his eyes suddenly opened. A familiar aura had arrived nearby. He sat up from the bed.
Creak~
The door was pushed open. Amu, with scars on his face, neck, and chest, poked his head in to look around.
"Injuries have accumulated severely. After returning, you need deep treatment."
Hearing Su Xiao say this, Amu didn't react at first. But thinking carefully, wasn't this saying he needed a major overhaul?
"Moo."
Amu, who had never backed down on the Abyss Battlefield, was now somewhat panicked, as if his bovine life was about to face a great calamity.
Amu entered together with Bubu Wang and Baha. His changes were not small. Although the Dragonheart Axe in his hand showed many signs of wear and tear, this 1.8-meter-long, 75-centimeter-wide single-blade long-handled battle axe had more of a killing weapon's charm. The handle wrapped in Abyss Spawn outer skin gave a strong sense of deterrence.
Su Xiao checked Amu's information and found that Amu's ability system had changed considerably from before. Nearly 60 ounces of World Force had brought Amu a huge improvement, allowing him to obtain an Ultimate Skill ability on the Abyss Battlefield. The information was as follows:
Amu (Follower · Fierce Winter War Bull)
Health: 100%
Ice Energy: 19,800 points (Recovers 60 points per minute)
Strength: 249 (True Attribute)
Agility: 152 (Fierce Winter War Bull Form)
Stamina: 257 (True Attribute)
Intelligence: 230 (True Attribute, Fierce Winter War Bull Form)
Charm: 9
Skill 1: Unyielding War Bull (Passive, Lv.72): Reduces 31% of damage taken. Ice-type slow resistance +89%. Physical defense +82 points. Health +39,200 points.
Tip: This is an ability granted by Elemental Constitution.
Skill 2, Ice Energy Conversion (Passive, Lv.60): Each point of Intelligence attribute can additionally increase health by 55 points + 0.6 points of physical defense (Currently gained 12,650 health points, 138 physical defense points).
Skill 3, Ice Armor (Passive, Lv.32): Due to this unit's internal Ice Energy forming a biological circulatory system, when taking any damage, 60% of the lost health will be replaced by Ice Energy (If Amu takes 10 damage, 4 health + 6 Ice Energy will be deducted).
Skill 4, Ice Flame Life (Passive, Lv.37): For every 10% of health lost, additionally increase health recovery speed.
Tip: For every 10% health lost, increase health recovery speed by 10 points per second, up to a maximum of 60 health points per second recovery.
Tip: This ability uses natural element circulation as a life energy source, no consumption, no cooldown.
Tip: This ability, when in Lone Bull state, while gaining increased health recovery speed, will also increase movement speed (This bonus is not activated).
Skill 5, Elemental Constitution (Core Skill, X · Passive): Elemental Constitution has extremely strong natural element affinity, can form a good circulation with natural elements, thereby strengthening itself.
Tip: After each completion of natural element circulation, permanently and slightly increase Health, True Strength, True Stamina, True Intelligence attributes.
Skill 6, Fearless War Bull (Ultimate Skill, Lv.10 · Ultimate Level Unique Passive): When Amu has important allied units nearby, it will additionally increase physical defense, health, and Stamina attribute.
Tip: For each additional important allied unit near Amu, it will additionally increase 20 points of physical defense, 3,500 health points, and 2 points of Stamina attribute.
Tip: This ability can stack up to three layers, meaning it can receive bonuses from up to three important allied units.
Current important allied units: Hunter · Su Xiao, Sky-Rending Evil Dog · Bubuteni, Sky-Hunting Demon Eagle · Baha, Cat Shadow · Beini.
Skill 7, Lone War Bull (Ultimate Skill, Lv.10 · Ultimate Level Unique Passive): When Amu is more than 1 kilometer away from all important allied units, it will enter Lone Bull state and perform True Attribute replacement. It will temporarily lose its True Intelligence attribute, which will transform into True Agility attribute. Strength, Agility, and Stamina will be True Attributes (i.e.: True Strength 249 points, True Agility 230 points, True Stamina 257 points).
Tip: After entering Lone Bull state, Amu's Strength, Agility, and Stamina attributes will increase by 2 points.
Tip: After entering Lone Bull state, Amu will lose the freezing, shaping, and spreading abilities of ice. This ability will transform into "Frost Invasion," "Chilling Axe Blade," and "Brutal Charge."
Frost Invasion (Passive): With Amu as the center point, form a frost zone with a diameter of 20 meters. Enemy units within this zone will continuously suffer frost damage and slow effects. Even after leaving this zone, they will still be affected by frost slow for 10 to 30 seconds.
Chilling Axe Blade (Passive): While Amu loses the freezing, shaping, and spreading abilities of ice, Ice Energy can grant the weapon an extremely strong chilling sharpness effect (This bonus can greatly increase the Dragonheart Axe's sharpness and weapon attack power).
Brutal Charge (Active): After becoming Lone Bull, Amu will no longer be gentle. It can select an enemy and perform a locking charge toward them. During the charge, it will gain high damage reduction and continuously increasing speed. When hitting the target, it will cause collision damage based on Strength difference, and perform a Stamina judgment. If the enemy fails the judgment, the enemy will enter a 0.2 to 3-second concussion or stun state.
Tip: This ability has a cooldown of 12 hours.
Tip: Within 5 minutes after Brutal Charge ends, if Amu successfully kills the target of this charge, this ability will immediately refresh.
...
Tip: The Ultimate Skills "Fearless War Bull" and "Lone War Bull" are both Ultimate Level Unique Passives. Under any circumstances, they cannot be triggered simultaneously.
...