Chapter 57: An Unexpected Encounter?
Drip, drip, drip~
A droplet of dark green liquid fell. Su Xiao opened his eyes, raising his hands to look at his misty, translucent arms. This was clearly a spiritual body, meaning he was either in an illusion or a dream.
After enhancing a series of abilities and feeling deeply fatigued, Su Xiao had rested in his exclusive room a few hours ago. He could confirm this wasn’t an illusion—as a Blade Grandmaster, being dragged into an illusion while asleep was too absurd. Thus, this place was closer to a dream or nightmare.
Su Xiao tried to wake up, only to find he couldn’t. He was trapped in this nightmare.
Looking around, Su Xiao realized he was on the edge of an island. The sky was pitch black, and the endless sea behind him was equally dark. He could faintly see broken warships anchored in the shallow waters. Judging by their scale, each must have once known glory.
He turned his gaze to the island itself. It was vast, shrouded in dark green mist. Within that mist, he vaguely sensed the fleeting forms of wandering souls. This was an island cloaked in death and curses.
Su Xiao crouched, plunging one hand into the soft, black soil. A chill that pierced the soul reached him. He grabbed a handful and sniffed—a stale, rotting stench entered his nostrils.
He reached out toward the dark green mist. Wisps of it clung to his fingertips. The moment they touched, the mist deepened into a profound dark green tinged with white. Power—endless, boundless power—was within reach. If Su Xiao chose to accept it now, he could gain this strength without cost.
Hiss~
The white-tinged dark green evaporated from Su Xiao’s fingertips. This was the Nether Bone Ring. Once worn, it granted infinite Nether power.
Unlike the false allure of the Soul Crown, the Nether Bone Ring truly and permanently gave its wearer power—until they reached the peak of their potential. Then, the ring would devour them.
Where did the power granted by the Nether Bone Ring come from? The answer: it was accumulated from previous wearers, devoured by the ring. Choosing to wear it led to only one outcome—being consumed. This was an inescapable fate.
Once worn, gaining power required accepting Nether Force, a branch of Abyss energy. Accepting it meant one’s consciousness would be subtly eroded by the Nether. By the time the ring devoured them, the wearer wouldn’t resist—they would see it as destiny, an inevitable fate.
What was truly terrifying was that after the wearer was consumed, a vast area around their death site would be covered in Nether Mist.
Any living being enveloped by this mist would quickly turn into wandering souls, vengeful spirits, wraiths, undead, or frenzied beasts. The mist would spread by eroding the world, continuing until the entire world was shrouded. Then, the mist would be filled with wandering souls and frenzied beasts.
These souls would gather, using Nether Force to construct a world-level teleportation array, sending the world’s core—the Nether Bone Ring—to a world without Nether Mist.
Would avoiding the ring keep you safe? No. The wandering souls and frenzied beasts in the mist would soon be drawn by the ring, killing any wearer who refused it, leaving the ring behind—either dormant or waiting for a new owner.
Most Original Sin Objects were like this. When ownerless, their danger was minimal. But once discovered and claimed, the danger skyrocketed.
Su Xiao’s eyes snapped open. He looked around—still his exclusive room. He took out the Abyss Box that Sefeiliya had ‘given’ him. As expected, it was now covered in cracks.
Go to Sefeiliya for a new one? Impossible. The only solution was to improve his sealing skills. With strong enough sealcraft, he could temporarily suppress the Nether Bone Ring.
Moreover, now that Su Xiao understood the ring’s nature, he had an idea. What if the Nether invaded the Eternal Light World? Countless wandering souls, vengeful spirits, wraiths, undead, and frenzied beasts would flood the place. This would undoubtedly attract many world-destroying races and Abyss Spawn.
As for whether the Nether Mist could enter the Eternal Light World, others might not be sure, but as a Law Destroyer, Su Xiao could guarantee it—no barrier would stop it. He held the Blade of Law Annihilation. The real question was whether those souls and beasts were strong enough.
He checked the time. He’d slept about seven hours. Despite the Nether Bone Ring’s influence, the sleep quality was decent.
About ten hours remained until the Empty Seat Banquet. Su Xiao didn’t plan to arrive too early. He contacted Beini, who was still at the Great Gathering Place. She reported that the aura-type abilities he needed had been bought, costing over 40,000 Soul Coins in total.
Those 40,000 Soul Coins bought three skill scrolls: Blood Qi Concentration, Lord’s Intimidation, and Aura: Heart Core. All were basic aura abilities.
Su Xiao didn’t care much about the specific attributes of these aura abilities, but they had to meet two criteria: 1. Good adaptability—after he mastered them, they would transform into Blood Qi-type aura abilities. 2. Massive aura output.
After reaching Lv.60, his Blood Spear Grandmaster had condensed into a divine skill called Blood Soul Resonance:
Lv.60 Ultimate Ability: Blood Soul Resonance (Passive): Can fuse aura-type abilities (requires the aura ability to be at X or higher). After fusion, the aura ability will be removed from the skill list, but your current Blood Qi intensity and total Blood Qi will not be reduced. Completing this fusion will enhance Blood Spear Grandmaster to a certain degree and further improve your Blood Qi quality.
After a moment of meditation, Su Xiao activated the Blood Soul Resonance trait of Blood Spear Grandmaster. The next second, he felt his Blood Qi split into two streams—one controlled by Blood Spear Grandmaster, the other by Aura Release, X.
A few seconds later, the Blood Qi controlled by Aura Release was fully absorbed into Blood Spear Grandmaster’s control. The Aura Release skill vanished from the skill list.
This Blood Qi fusion felt excellent. Previously, when releasing Blood Qi, Su Xiao had always sensed a slight obstruction, but he couldn’t pinpoint the cause.
Now he understood. If his Blood Qi was 100 points, Blood Spear Grandmaster controlled 80, while Aura Release managed the remaining 20. Now, all 100 points were under Blood Spear Grandmaster’s command, making control far smoother and more effortless.
[Blood Spear Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.71.]
[Blood Spear Grandmaster: Lv.71 (Passive)]
Skill Effect: Blood Qi attack power increased by 602% (increase of 25%). Body energy control greatly improved (Azure Steel Shadow/Blood Qi).
Blood Qi Intensity: 163 points (increase of 28 points).
Lv.10 Ultimate Ability: Killing Spear Blade (Passive)...
Lv.20 Ultimate Ability: Ruthless Spear Blade (Passive)...
Lv.30 Ultimate Ability: Iron-Blooded Spear Blade (Passive)...
Lv.40 Ultimate Ability: Death Before Surrender (Passive)...
Lv.50 Ultimate Ability: Blood Fade (Passive)...
Lv.60 Ultimate Ability: Blood Soul Resonance (Passive)...
Lv.70 Ultimate Ability: Blood Soul: Convergence (Passive/Active)...
Seeing the increase in Blood Qi Intensity, Su Xiao decided to use this method to enhance Blood Spear Grandmaster in the future.
Moreover, fusing the aura ability greatly improved Blood Qi control. Su Xiao estimated that his speed in forming a Blood Beast had dropped from 0.27 seconds to about 0.12 seconds. Such a dramatic improvement came from switching from dual-minded Blood Qi activation to instant activation via Blood Spear Grandmaster alone.
This gave Su Xiao a new combat tactic: a straight kick, a blade slash, and a Blood Beast pounce—a smooth, devastating three-hit combo.
With three aura-type skill scrolls in hand, Su Xiao left his exclusive room and headed to the Skill Upgrade Hall. Half an hour later, he activated the skill upgrade pod and crushed the scroll in his hand. A colorless energy flowed up his arm and into his body.
[Prompt: You have mastered Lord’s Intimidation, Lv.1.]
[Based on the Hunter’s personal aura characteristics, Lord’s Intimidation, Lv.1 has been transformed into a Blood Qi-type aura ability.]
[To upgrade Lord’s Intimidation, Lv.1, you need to pay 120 Soul Coins. Yes/No?]
As expected of a high-rank aura ability—even level 1 cost 120 Soul Coins to upgrade. But for Su Xiao, this was a steal. He knew all too well the cost of upgrading Blood Qi-type aura abilities.
After paying 120 Soul Coins, a teleportation sensation hit him. His surroundings blurred, then sharpened.
The ground was dark red, as if soaked in blood. In the distance, a giant’s corpse lay prone, its oak shield shattered. The bodies of various racial powerhouses littered the ancient battlefield. The stench of sulfur hung in the air from demon corpses.
Crimson mist drifted across the battlefield—the lingering Blood Qi of countless fallen experts. As an energy, Blood Qi didn’t decay over time, but even so, no one actively absorbed it here.
In fact, being teleported to an ancient battlefield to upgrade Blood Qi-type abilities wasn’t about absorbing Blood Qi. It was about sitting quietly, resisting the battlefield’s Blood Qi erosion, and thereby strengthening one’s own Blood Qi. Resistance, not absorption.
This time, Su Xiao didn’t start absorbing immediately. There were many dangers here. Fortunately, aside from the relatively dangerous Sleep Guardian, he feared no other soul ghosts or evil spirits on the battlefield. More accurately, those things should fear him.
He took five elite Demon Beast embryo eggs from his storage space and activated them. A few minutes later, five slightly underdeveloped elite Demon Beasts crawled out of their hardened shells.
That wasn’t all. Su Xiao took out five crystals and tossed them. Each elite Demon Beast swallowed one. Then, following mental commands, they sprinted in five different directions.
Time passed. About half an hour later, a blue pillar of light shot into the sky in the distance. The energy released felt somewhat similar to the energy from the Awakening Stele.
Indeed, Su Xiao had taken some Awakening Stele energy, mixed it with a large amount of Azure Steel Shadow energy, and compressed it into a crystal using Aoge: Passive. This was to lure away the battlefield’s Sleep Guardian—a Law Destroyer corpse transformed into a guardian. The energy burst would likely attract it.
One elite Demon Beast’s mental link broke, meaning it had been killed. Whether or not the Sleep Guardian was drawn away, Su Xiao had to start absorbing Blood Qi.
He took out the Ancient Dragon Heart Core and activated it. This item could store a massive amount of Blood Qi.
[Ancient Dragon Heart Core]
Origin: Second Era: Alchemical Civilization.
Durability: 630/1200 points.
Equipment Effect 1: Absorb (Active): This equipment can absorb and store a massive amount of dragon-type, dark-type, and blood-type energy.
Note: This equipment can stably store high-rank energy.
Equipment Effect 2: Capacity Increase (Core Passive): Increases energy storage capacity by 35%.
Equipment Effect 2: Secondary Capacity Increase (Core Passive): Increases energy storage capacity by 50%.
Equipment Effect 3: Tertiary Capacity Increase (Core Passive): Increases energy storage capacity by 70%.
Equipment Effect 4: Quaternary Capacity Increase (Core Passive): Increases energy storage capacity by 95%.
Su Xiao only knew it had huge storage. As for absorption speed, he’d have to test it.
Boom!
A muffled sound came from Su Xiao’s hand. Under the Ancient Dragon Heart Core’s suction, the Blood Qi above formed a vortex, and a massive amount surged toward him.
Seeing this, pale blue energy gathered in Su Xiao’s palm. He converted 20,000 mana points into Azure Steel Shadow energy to form a simplified Devouring Core.
Moments later, a temporary Devouring Core appeared in his hand, half a meter in diameter. A thumb-thick energy line connected the simplified Devouring Core to Su Xiao, wrapping around his arm. This line contained over 300 small Devouring Cores.
The Devouring Core floated above Su Xiao. Under his control, over a hundred holes on its surface opened. Like a whale drinking, it instantly sucked in all the ancient battlefield Blood Qi within a hundred meters.
The massive Blood Qi entered the simplified Devouring Core, which began processing—purifying, filtering, and refining it.
Pure Blood Qi flowed through the energy line toward Su Xiao. The 300-plus small Devouring Cores inside the line filtered it repeatedly. By the end, the Blood Qi was nearly transparent, with only a faint red tint visible. Without a doubt, Su Xiao had filtered and refined the purest Blood Qi.
The pure Blood Qi merged into Su Xiao’s aura without any resistance. This caused his newly acquired Lord’s Intimidation, Lv.1 to skyrocket.
After 15 minutes, the Blood Qi absorption stopped abruptly. The surrounding area had been drained. Su Xiao checked the Ancient Dragon Heart Core—it wasn’t even full, only at 58.2% capacity.
[Your Lord’s Intimidation has been upgraded to X.]
Seeing this, Su Xiao immediately chose to return to the skill upgrade pod.
Space rippled. After returning to the pod, Su Xiao felt dizzy from absorbing too much Blood Qi. He braced one hand against the wall.
Bang! A blood-red crystal claw pressed against the wall. His pupils were blood-red now. Fortunately, long meditation allowed him to maintain his sanity.
[Prompt: To remove ancient battlefield Blood Qi erosion, consume 4,250 Soul Coins.]
[Prompt: To remove Blood Qi residue from your aura, pay 5,870 Soul Coins.]
[To heal physical damage, pay 602 Soul Coins.]
Su Xiao chose to pay all. The blood-red crystals on his arm shattered, and the red in his pupils faded.
After meditating for a moment, Su Xiao used Blood Spear Grandmaster to fuse Lord’s Intimidation, X. Half an hour later, the fusion was complete. Lord’s Intimidation vanished from the skill list.
[Blood Spear Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.72.]
Through these two upgrades, Su Xiao roughly understood the pattern. Fusing an X-rank aura ability raised Blood Spear Grandmaster by 1 level. Fusing an X-rank ability raised it by about 2–3 levels. The former was more suitable. If he needed to raise Blood Spear Grandmaster further, he’d have to use Golden Skill Points, which was less efficient than using Soul Crystals.
Su Xiao estimated that raising Blood Spear Grandmaster by 1 level cost about 24,000 Soul Coins. Either way, it was far cheaper than using Soul Crystals, and the effect was the same.
He crushed the Aura: Heart Core skill scroll. After mastering it, he headed back to the ancient battlefield. The skill upgrade pod fell silent.
5 minutes.
10 minutes.
20 minutes passed. Space rippled, and Su Xiao suddenly appeared, crashing into the pod wall with a bang. His left forearm, wrapped in a crystal layer, blocked a longsword. Though pierced, the blade stopped a few centimeters from his neck.
Su Xiao turned his head to look into the spatial rift. The Sleep Guardian, with its gray-white hair and pitch-black eyes, stared back at him. The rift began to close, and the guardian withdrew its blade.
Unlike before, when a single touch from the Sleep Guardian meant instant death without Reincarnation Paradise’s protection, Su Xiao was no longer so easily crushed. He estimated that next time, he could try fighting it. The joy of growing stronger lay in this—once-unbeatable foes drawing closer, until finally, he defeated them.
After spending Soul Coins to remove the ancient battlefield’s Blood Qi erosion, cleanse his aura of residue, and heal his injuries, Su Xiao fused Aura: Heart Core with Blood Spear Grandmaster. The process was becoming routine.
[Blood Spear Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.73.]
Though he still had the Blood Qi Concentration skill scroll unused, after this round of upgrades, Su Xiao had only 518 Soul Coins left. A few hours ago, he had 410,000. Now, it had dropped to three digits.
That didn’t matter. Su Xiao still had the Death Gem, worth 450,000–500,000 Soul Coins. Earlier, he’d tried contacting Solomon and the Undead Girl, but both were still in their mission worlds. Now, Solomon was out, though the Undead Girl remained.
Su Xiao contacted Solomon. To his surprise, the reply came within minutes. This was normal—Solomon’s Reincarnation Paradise friend list had only three people: Su Xiao, one dead, and one who could never contact him again. Merchants and such were in his temporary contact list.
White Night: “Busy?”
Solomon: “.”
White Night: “[Death Gem (Origin-level Gem · Unique · Undead-type Exclusive · Highly Rare)].”
Solomon: “Need Soul Coins now? Can offer 45. By the end of the next world progress, 53.”
White Night: “Pay 100,000 as deposit. Take the gem first. Settle the remaining 430,000 after the next world progress.”
Solomon: “I’ll notarize a contract soon. If I die, I’ll compensate you with 430,000 worth of equivalents. [Soul Greenhouse (World-level · Building)], [Ancient Fire Seed]...”
The collateral Solomon notarized was clearly worth over 430,000 Soul Coins. Su Xiao had obtained Eternal Spring and other treasures; Solomon, being of similar strength, naturally had his own trump cards.
Solomon needed time to gather the 100,000 Soul Coins deposit. Su Xiao wasn’t in a hurry. He returned to his exclusive room, where Baha and Beini were already waiting. They would accompany him to the Empty Seat Banquet. Bubu Wang was fast asleep, and Amu had no interest in going.
Crack! The crystal card in Su Xiao’s hand shattered. Space rippled. When the teleportation ended, he stood on an old platform. The sky was dusky yellow. Wind howled across the yellow Gobi, sand pelting a nearby metal signpost with a clatter.
The Empty Seat Banquet was in the same location as last time, so naturally, they’d take the demon clan’s train.
Ding-ding-ding~
The urgent bell of an arriving train rang. As gravel trembled on the ground, a fully metal, iron-black ram-headed train roared in. This steel beast screeched to a halt, its doors hissing steam before opening.
Su Xiao boarded the train. The same announcement as before played:
“Welcome aboard the Newgate Express. Enjoy your journey.”
Su Xiao glanced at his ticket and took seat B2-55. Usually, this train ran every two days, sometimes every half month or even monthly. The reason for choosing the old location for the Empty Seat Banquet was that the Tuanzhang had somehow acquired many tickets and used them to host the event.
Clang, clang, clang~
The sound of a copper bell came. A hunched, withered old woman approached, her right arm carrying a bamboo basket. Around her neck hung an old copper bell tied with a thick rope. Her dry, split gray hair and eyes that seemed to contain magma revealed she was a demon. More precisely, she was the strongest demon. But the Demon Old Hag only protected the demon clan; if the demon clan’s higher-ups wanted something from her, it depended on her mood.
This was someone who could go toe-to-toe with the Lord of the Old Days, only settling through mutual agreement.
As the Demon Old Hag appeared, all perception in the carriage was suppressed. This meant no hostility or fighting was allowed here.
Soon, the Demon Old Hag reached the aisle beside Su Xiao. He placed his ticket into her bamboo basket.
The Demon Old Hag turned her head to look at Su Xiao, staring for over ten seconds before shifting her gaze and shuffling forward.
Clearly, she had never seen someone carrying three Original Sin Objects at once. Today, she paused to observe.
Su Xiao closed his eyes to rest. Baha yawned and put on an eye mask. Beini sat in the special seat—on top of Su Xiao’s head—curiously observing her surroundings.
The train started, occasionally passing through space. About half an hour later, it stopped, and a few passengers boarded.
An hour later, when the train stopped again, several passengers got on. Two of them passed by Su Xiao. A faint, familiar scent made him open his eyes.
Two figures came into view. Not only was the scent familiar—Green Gillian and her master, Mage Sage Seraphilia.
Their eyes met. Seraphilia’s pupils instantly turned golden with Li Element. Understandably, she had previously invited the Holy Flame Alchemist to Arcane Eternal Star as a representative, only for the Holy Flame to be the Law Destroyer, Bai Ye. Before leaving, he had blown up two resource stars of Arcane Eternal Star.
Just as Seraphilia was about to speak, Baha grinned brilliantly. Seeing Baha, Seraphilia recalled their last encounter on the demon train, where this noisy feathered creature had nearly driven her to a breakdown. It didn’t directly insult her, but every word cut deeper than any curse.
Seraphilia narrowed her eyes. She glanced at the Demon Old Hag at the ticket collection point. Fighting on this train would not only yield no advantage but also delay important matters.
Seraphilia and Green Gillian sat in the seats opposite. Green didn’t even dare to breathe loudly.
Last time’s encounter was a coincidence, but this time, Su Xiao suspected otherwise. The Tuanzhang had given him these three tickets, ‘coincidentally’ aligning with Seraphilia’s schedule. The Tuanzhang was indeed ‘quite mischievous,’ having noticed Seraphilia had booked this train and deliberately arranged Su Xiao’s seat opposite hers.
Su Xiao closed his eyes to rest, but he felt someone staring at him. Opening his eyes, he saw Seraphilia glaring at him. If looks could kill, he would have died at least dozens of times by now.
Being stared at by someone sitting opposite, especially with such murderous intent, was uncomfortable. So, Su Xiao said:
“Seraphilia, last time you saw me, you smiled and invited me to dinner. Now you want to devour me alive. I didn’t realize you were so fickle.”
He looked calmly at Seraphilia across from him. Hearing this, she took a deep breath but said nothing, turning her gaze to the window. Her enemy was right in front of her—she couldn’t outtalk him and couldn’t attack. Clearly, she was already mentally broken.