Chapter 4: Just after completing the fusion, the beastly nature of the Indestructible Abyss Spawn was intense, at its most irritable stage. That's why it lost its head at the end, choosing to charge at Su Xiao upon sensing his retreat. As it turned out, even an Abyss Summoner shouldn't actively charge at a Law Destroyer who cultivates three techniques.
With these factors combined, Su Xiao still fought a perilous battle. Was his combat strength weak? To be precise, no. Enemies like the Archbishop of the Abyss simply shouldn't appear within this world.
Su Xiao narrowed his perception range to enhance his sensing, but he didn't detect the Platinum Archbishop's aura. Clearly, the Platinum Archbishop was already gone. Noticing this, he clenched his hands in a grasping motion, activating the Soul Devourer talent. He only stripped and examined the soul memories, without absorbing them.
Su Xiao had refrained from absorbing the Sand King's soul memories due to danger, and this one was even more lethal. He could confirm that if he absorbed the Archbishop of the Abyss's soul memories, whether he'd grow stronger was unknown, but severe Abyss corruption was certain.
A light orb filled with black, flocculent structures appeared between Su Xiao's hands. He began stripping fragments of soul memories to examine. Most were scenes of the Sun God Cult fighting Abyssal creatures, while some were pitch black. In that darkness, a faintly glowing purple creature could be seen swimming. Just seeing this memory image sent chills down one's spine, as if a fear from the depths of the soul was about to spread out.
If his guess was correct, this was the soul memory of the Indestructible Abyss Spawn. The massive, glowing purple creature swimming in the darkness should be an extremely terrifying existence among Abyss Spawn.
Continuing to examine the soul memories, a few minutes later, Su Xiao finally found the image he wanted. It was an endless, lush forest, teeming with vegetation and wildlife. Deep within this forest stood a small cabin.
A figure in loose clothing with long, gray-white hair sat before the cabin. His posture was casual, holding a bottle of wine and wearing round-rimmed glasses. Though aged, he exuded a unique masculine charm. His muscles had weakened with age, but his frame suggested he had been a powerfully built man in his youth. What left the deepest impression were his sharp, piercing eyes. With just one look, Su Xiao judged that this person was definitely a Blade Grandmaster.
This was the Betrayer, or rather, Su Xiao's greatest enemy in this world: the Abyssal Shadow.
Su Xiao continued probing the soul memory, determining it was from a few months ago. Suddenly, the soul orb between his hands burst apart. This was normal; such soul orbs gathered after killing an enemy didn't last long.
As the soul orb quickly dissipated, Su Xiao was about to check the newly appeared kill notification when he sensed Abyss energy rushing toward him. It was a small black orb left after the outer part of the soul orb dissipated. About the size of a marble, it had a somewhat illusory texture, as if condensed from a mass of darkness.
Su Xiao held it aloft with one hand, examining it. He found that it contained some dark knowledge about the Abyss, preserved with soul energy as a carrier.
Undoubtedly, this dark knowledge was ancient and powerful. But mastering it would lead to mental derangement, distortion, and even complete insanity at best. At worst, it could cause one to mutate into a monster, both physically and spiritually.
Su Xiao's plan was that if he could return to Reincarnation Paradise alive this time, he'd visit the Soul Library to see if they could make this dark knowledge safe to master. If not, he'd sell it to the Soul Library, likely fetching a large number of library silver coins.
Taking out a charcoal box, Su Xiao carefully placed the black orb inside without touching it, then began multiple layers of sealing. He had become extremely professional in this regard—not by choice, but because possessing three Original Sin items required sealing abilities that were both professional and powerful.
After finishing, Su Xiao checked the kill notification that had appeared.
[Notification: You have killed Archbishop of the Abyss · Silvis.]
[You have obtained 6120 Soul Coins.]
[You have obtained Golden Skill Points × 2.]
[You have obtained 32.8% World Source.]
[You have obtained Dark Writhing (Abyss · Ritual Item).]
[You have obtained Abyss Chest (Upon opening, has a chance to obtain Abyss products).]
Seeing the notification for the Abyss Chest, Su Xiao instinctively frowned. This was indeed a rare good item, only obtainable by killing powerful Abyss creatures or strong Abyss-attribute individuals. The problem was, he had already opened two "Daddy-level" artifacts from Abyss Chests and had absolutely no desire to open a third.
The [Abyss Chest] gave a unique feeling. With good luck, it could yield any treasure; with bad luck, it would saddle you with an Original Sin item. Both immense wealth and utter disaster lay within.
Compared to the [Abyss Chest], Su Xiao was more interested in the [Dark Writhing]. It was a mass of writhing black liquid dotted with tiny red particles. Checking its attributes, there was only a brief description.
[Dark Writhing (Abyss · Ritual Item): Can greatly enhance the success rate of summoning or sacrifice (minimum 35%, maximum 70%). If unconcerned about angering the summoned entity, it can also significantly disguise the value of the sacrifice and the summoning scene.]
Undoubtedly, for summoners, this was a rare treasure. Outside of combat, summoners' biggest headache was failing to summon powerful battle creatures. With this, they could trick such creatures into being summoned. Especially within the Paradise, there was no need to worry about backlash from the summoned creature. At worst, the contract would fail, with basically no risk.
But in Su Xiao's view, this item shouldn't be used for summoning battle creatures. It was a perfect tool for fishing for evil gods. First, acquire a related evil god item or material, then construct a summoning/descent array, place the evil god-related item on it.
Then use [Dark Writhing] to disguise both the sacrifice and the summoning scene, wait for the evil god to descend, and the subsequent process naturally needed no further explanation.
Su Xiao was quite satisfied as he put away [Dark Writhing]. He sat in focused meditation, expelling over 70% of the darkness within him, then stood and approached the Abyss Hole, activating the corresponding mark authority.
Clatter, clatter, clatter~
Black-red chains appeared behind Su Xiao, climbing up his right arm. With the reinforcement from Reincarnation Paradise, he pressed one hand against the Abyss Hole.
Boom!
A muffled thunderclap seemed to ring in Su Xiao's ears. Amidst the interweaving of darkness and white light threads, the Abyss Hole before him gradually contracted, growing smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared. Just before vanishing, there seemed to be a "pop" sound, like something being snapped. It felt like breaking a thread—an invisible thread that had spread from within this world through the Abyss Hole into the Abyss.
The thumb-thick black-red chains on Su Xiao's right arm retracted, eventually vanishing into the air behind him. He tried to grab the invisible thread just now but grasped nothing.
Another muffled rumble came, and gravel and dust fell from above. After the previous battle, this holy hall wouldn't hold much longer. Before it collapsed, Su Xiao picked up the remains of the Indestructible Abyss Spawn from the ground, left the Archbishop of the Abyss's corpse where it was, and walked out along the upward stairs.
Following the underground passage, Su Xiao reached a stone door. Bubu Wang pulled the mechanism lever, and the stone door slowly opened. Looking out, it seemed to be a side hall of an underground palace.
Entering the side hall, Su Xiao found it neatly cleaned. Someone must have lived here a few hours ago. A stack of scrolls on a low table caught his attention. He picked one up and unrolled it, discovering it was a secret transmission of the Sun God Cult.
Su Xiao guessed this was where the Red-Eyed Woman had been imprisoned. Interestingly, the Platinum Archbishop, Abyss Leader · Silvis, and Hatred were all hostile to each other for various reasons, yet all three had shown special care for the Red-Eyed Woman, the sole survivor of the Sun God Cult.
When Su Xiao reached the first floor of the Gloomy Cathedral above, a fierce battle was raging before the main entrance. Led by the Ghost Priest, a group of Dark God Cult members were exceptionally ferocious.
Boom! Boom!
Loud noises came from ahead. Su Xiao didn't plan to intervene again; he needed to clear the dark energy from his body as soon as possible. Fortunately, ending the chaos here didn't necessarily require his involvement.
Su Xiao tossed the Abyss Spawn remains in his hand. The black, beast-fur-like remains landed with a "plop" near the Ghost Priest. The Ghost Priest initially paid no attention, ready to continue fighting, but suddenly sensed Su Xiao's aura. This made him stop immediately. He first looked at Su Xiao standing inside the main gate, then turned his gaze to the remains on the ground. This clever yet vicious fellow turned and fled without a moment's hesitation.
With the Ghost Priest, one of the main forces, fleeing in such chaos, the other Dark God Cult members sensed something was wrong. Just then, panicked shouts came from behind the group: "Run! The leader has been defeated! The Ghost Priest has fled!"
Hearing this, the Dark God Cult members all looked at the dark-aura-emitting remains. Before long, they fled without a trace.
Tessa ordered her subordinates not to pursue. This was a wise choice—not to let them go, but because pursuing now would make them desperate cornered beasts. Better to let them flee first. It was predictable that these Dark God Cult members would likely have internal conflicts, or at least split into several groups, if not act alone.
Tessa's subordinates were Hunter units, experts at tracking. Plus, the areas around Ghost Soul City were dangerous terrain, making subsequent tracking easier. Few of these Dark God Cult members would escape the Hunter units' pursuit.
Two hours later, on the spacious terrace at the top of the Gloomy Cathedral, Su Xiao sat cross-legged in meditation, using Cyan Steel Shadow energy to clear the dark energy from his body. Before long, the dark energy was completely cleansed.
Ending his meditation, Su Xiao exhaled a turbid breath. His injuries were mostly healed, and the dark energy was gone, making him feel much better. Just then, footsteps came from behind. It was Tessa. She took off her shoes and stepped onto the terrace rug.
Carrying a lunch tray, Tessa sat diagonally behind Su Xiao and set down the tray. For some reason, she suddenly leaned forward, pressing her body against Su Xiao's back. Her left arm first rested on his shoulder, then moved to encircle his neck. Sensing this, Su Xiao took a deep breath and held it.
The next moment, Tessa abruptly locked her arm around Su Xiao's neck, wrapped her legs around his waist, and executed a perfect rear-naked choke.
"You bastard! Sending my sister into the Nightmare Mansion! I'll fight you to the death today!"
"..."
Su Xiao was exceptionally calm. He had high resistance to this move.
"Tell me! Why did you choose my sister?"
"Ms. Tessa, if you keep choking him like that, my boss can't speak."
"I know. I did it on purpose."
Tessa released the choke and fell silent for a moment before asking, "Give me a reason. Why did you choose my sister for the Nightmare Mansion?"
"No reason. Boiling Red and your sister chose each other."
"So, my sister willingly went to that cursed mansion?"
Tessa's eyes still held a hint of disbelief.
"No. I tricked her into going."
"You..."
Tessa's eyes twitched with anger, but then she shook her head with a smile and said, "My sister isn't that stupid. Tell me, what benefits did you give her?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He simply took out Elisa's resource supply list. Tessa looked at the long list of potions, their effects, and various Grandmaster-level secret transmissions. She hesitated but held back. After a moment, she tentatively asked:
"I still have considerable room for growth, you know. That Devourer—do you have any extras? Give me one too, plus everything on that list. I don't need the blade techniques; I want energy control."
"..."
Su Xiao remained silent, clearly not planning to entertain Tessa's attempt at freeloading.
"My sister... she won't die, will she?"
"Not sure."
"Tch."
Tessa's eyes showed conflict, but she said nothing more. She clearly didn't intend to keep coddling and protecting her sister, knowing that without facing external dangers, one could never become strong.
Tessa stayed for a while before leaving. She would be the busiest person afterward. Su Xiao closed his eyes and continued meditating. He was both waiting for the competition results and considering something—the Betrayer's whereabouts.
According to the soul memory image, it was a vast forest. In this world, only one forest of that scale existed: the "Baer Great Forest" adjacent to the Saint Lan Kingdom. Its area was second only to the Northern Border, larger than both the Saint Lan Kingdom and the Alliance, and was the territory of the Beast Clan.
The fact that it was Beast Clan territory didn't need consideration. The Beast Clan wouldn't dare provoke the Betrayer, and no one had heard of anyone uniting the Beast Clan. It seemed the Betrayer disdained such actions.
For now, Su Xiao not only wouldn't seek out the Betrayer but would also guard against a potential attack. The reason was that Dragon-Slaying Flash had just devoured the essence of an Indestructible Abyss Spawn. It would take 3 to 10 days to complete the devouring, during which the Demon Blade ability couldn't be used.
Even at his peak, Su Xiao's chances against the Betrayer were low. If he faced the Betrayer without being able to use Demon Blade, he would surely die.
Furthermore, once Dragon-Slaying Flash completed this devouring, its power would significantly increase, undoubtedly improving his odds against the Betrayer.
Time passed quickly in meditation. As night approached, a notification about the competition appeared.
[Notification: The contestant under your command, Elisa, has killed the mansion owner, the Countess.]
[Elisa has obtained the "Underground Palace Key."]
[As the leader of the winning faction in the first stage, you may choose one of the following resources.]