# Chapter 10: Double
Through the sparse jungle, the fiery sunset could be seen at the horizon. Inside the jungle, Su Xiao sat cross-legged on a thick log several meters in diameter, meditating. Several squirrels emerged from the hollow trunk, and one of them even climbed onto Su Xiao's head, holding a pine cone while standing on its hind legs to look into the distance.
Normally, small creatures like squirrels wouldn't dare come so close to Su Xiao. In fact, due to his blood energy, they wouldn't even approach within a kilometer of him.
After Su Xiao used the Blood Resonance of his Blood Spear Grandmaster ability to fully consolidate his blood energy system, once he restrained his blood energy, not even weak creatures—let alone those not comparable to him in strength—could sense his blood energy unless he actively released it.
In the past, Su Xiao actually had two basic abilities related to blood energy: "Blood Spear Grandmaster" and "Aura Release." This exemplified the saying, "Too many, not refined." To use a more common analogy, Su Xiao's previous blood energy abilities were like breathing through both his mouth and nose simultaneously—while it didn't hinder breathing, his control was poor.
Now, with only "Blood Spear Grandmaster" as his blood energy basic ability, it was like breathing solely through his nose. Not only was his breathing natural, steady, and stable, but his control had also skyrocketed.
Su Xiao opened his eyes. He took out a bag of Bubu Wang's nut mix snacks, tore open the oil-paper seal, and soon the squirrels stuffed their cheeks like hamsters. One greedy squirrel even half-buried itself in the bag to eat, kicking its two exposed hind legs contentedly.
Looking around Su Xiao, one would notice that besides the many broad-leafed plants, there were no beastmen. In fact, over a hundred beastmen were hidden in the surrounding area. After all, they were elites from various beastman legions. Regardless of their character, in terms of ability, there were truly no weaklings in the Lord's team.
Seeing that the time was right, Su Xiao switched to the War Lord title. The next moment, an invisible wave swept through. The sudden surge in power nearly caused the hidden beastmen to lose their concealment.
Hidden in the jungle, Ergin, Viper, and Evil Fang all felt a vast, scorching energy erupt from within their hearts. This energy then flowed through their limbs and bones, making their bodies stronger, their skin tougher, their bones more solid, and the abilities they possessed significantly enhanced.
This was the bonus provided by War Lord: "All True Attributes +20 Points" and "All Ability Levels Increased by Lv.18."
Not only that, Ergin also sensed that a soft, warm energy core seemed to have appeared in his heart, making the blood within it different.
With each heartbeat, the warm blood in his heart carried the sun-like warmth throughout his body, nourishing his life force. He even felt that if he were injured, this warm energy would quickly heal his wounds. This was "Sunlight Nourishment."
"Sunlight Nourishment (Passive): While under the sun's rays, recover 1% of maximum health per second."
Furthermore, Ergin noticed that a power resembling the blazing sun appeared faintly on his skin. It seemed that each of his subsequent attacks would carry this effect. Although this would consume additional stamina, compared to the formidable attack power gained, the extra stamina cost was negligible.
Long ago, Ergin had heard that some powerful lords had abilities that could enhance the combat power of their subordinates. Previously, he thought this was similar to tribal shamans' abilities like "Inspire" or "Energize." Now, he realized it was nothing like that—the two were on completely different levels.
Just as Ergin thought the enhancement was over, four layers of aura effects enveloped him. These were Bubu Wang's auras: "Ice Aura's Recovery Effect," "Maximum Health Increased by 35%," "Stamina Recovery Speed Increased by 40%," and "Movement Speed Increased by 20%."
This sudden surge in power made Ergin close his eyes and let out a long breath. He felt that among "Leader-level" enemies, he was now invincible. In fact, this wasn't an illusion. Not to mention Leader-level, even among "Lord-level" enemies, few could match him. Of course, against "Overlord-level" enemies like Su Xiao, Ergin was still insignificant.
Strangely, although all the buffs and auras were applied to Ergin and the other beastmen, their loyalty didn't immediately increase by 70 points. This was the peculiarity of the Sun Lord.
The Sun Lord title didn't forcibly brainwash its targets. Instead, as long as Ergin, Viper, and Evil Fang fought under the effect of the Sun Lord title, their loyalty would increase steadily and relatively quickly, with a maximum increase of 70 points. This increase was gradual and subtle.
In other words, even if Ergin's loyalty increased by 70 points due to the Sun Lord, going from -20 to 50, his treacherous nature wouldn't change. It was just that due to the gradual loyalty increase, he wouldn't be so quick to rebel.
As for Viper and Evil Fang, their gradually increasing loyalty would make them completely abandon any thoughts of betraying Su Xiao. Of course, their personalities wouldn't change. Viper's fence-sitting nature wouldn't disappear, and Evil Fang's cruelty and cunning would be hard to eliminate.
Simply put, when Viper's loyalty reached 100 points, even as a fence-sitter, he would fence-sit within the faction. For example, in the boss team, if Ergin and Evil Fang had a disagreement, Viper would definitely sit on the fence, stirring up trouble. He'd tell Ergin, "Big brother, I support you," and then tell Evil Fang, "Fourth brother, second brother has been lording over us for so long. Can we tolerate this? I support you."
When Ergin and Evil Fang were about to fight, Viper would immediately come to Su Xiao, looking worried, and say, "Sir, Ergin and Evil Fang have fallen out. Please go see them. I couldn't stop them."
No doubt, Viper would do this. However, Ergin and Evil Fang wouldn't have such a conflict. Although Evil Fang was cruel and cunning, he was very afraid of Ergin.
With the combined buffs from Sun Lord and Bubu Wang's auras—eight types in total—the beastman elites of the Lord's team had noticeably changed in aura. Even a mixed-blood elf, who was previously at the bottom of "Elite-level," immediately perked up, reaching at least the upper tier of "Head-level," close to "Big Head-level."
Everything was ready. They only needed to wait for the Sea Clan's transport team to enter the ambush point. Meanwhile, 10 kilometers away.
A Sea Clan transport team of about a thousand was moving through a valley. The team had no vehicles because, given the terrain at the edge of the main battlefield, vehicles would actually be slower.
Over a hundred giant fishmen were carrying huge alloy boxes, each 3 meters high and over 2 meters wide. Upon closer inspection, these alloy boxes were sealed with spatial runes, similar to slowly opening spatial storage containers. Each box, seemingly only 3 meters high and over 2 meters wide, actually contained 19.5 to 20 tons of energy crystals, requiring large spatial devices to open or seal.
A total of 120 giant fishmen were carrying such boxes. This meant the transport team was carrying over 2,000 tons of energy crystals. After purification and catalysis, they would obtain at least 22 to 24 tons of active crystal resin—a huge fortune. But for the "Crystal Forest," this was just an afternoon's output. This explained why the Beast Clan and Sea Clan had been fighting over the "Crystal Forest" for years.
Not only the local factions, but even the spellcasters who came here couldn't help but covet it. For example, the spellcaster currently sitting on a sea beast at the front of the transport team: Soul Hand·Faster.
Faster glanced at the sunset on the horizon. The fortress wasn't far now, which relaxed his nerves a bit. At the same time, he felt even more hatred for a certain Law Destroyer. If that guy hadn't blown up the Prosperous Star, he wouldn't have been transferred to the Wind Sea Continent. In this war world, he had to be cautious everywhere. Even though he was at the top tier of Ninth Rank combat power, it was still dangerous here.
"The transport team is occasionally attacked, but what you did before was also walking on the edge of a blade. You should be used to this environment by now. I don't want to say much, but you should know this is one of your few opportunities."
Faster looked at the figure sitting on a sea beast diagonally behind him. This person wore a black robe and a hood. Under the hood, the eyes had pitch-black pupils, white outer rings, and a black central pupil at the center point—so deep it was mesmerizing.
The person didn't speak, just broke a piece of dried meat in their hand and put it in their mouth to chew.
"Remember, if Lord Soul hadn't protected you, you wouldn't even have this chance to redeem yourself."
Hearing this, the black-robed person sneered and said, "Arcane Eternal Star has just been using me all along. Don't act like you're doing me a great favor."
"So you knew. Good that you know."
Faster gave the black-robed person a meaningful smile and then ignored them. But at that moment, a sound of breaking wind came from ahead.
Bang!
A nearly three-meter-long spiral metal arrow shot toward him. Faster tilted his head to dodge. The wind pressure from the spiral arrow blew off his hood, revealing a bald head covered in black runes, adding a sense of toughness to his appearance.
With a boom, the metal spiral arrow hit a shark clan member behind and exploded. From the sound, it was clearly a centaur's spiral arrow.
"Ambush!!"
The sharp cry of a sea demon spread across the battlefield. Then, figures rushed out from the side jungle. Among them, a blood beast clan member made an ultra-long leap, attacking Faster.
Faster casually clenched his hand. With a hum, the blood beast clan member stopped mid-air a few meters in front of him. Then, as if twisted by two invisible giant hands, he was literally wrung into a cup-thick, several-meter-long spiral pillar of flesh. The lingering wail of the blood beast clan member seemed to still hang in the air.
Faster stood up from the sea beast's back, looking at the charging beastmen ahead. His brow furrowed slightly. He didn't understand why such an elite beastman team, almost entirely composed of Head-level and Big Head-level fighters, would ambush a transport team.
Although puzzled, Faster didn't slow down. He pushed his hand forward, and with a thud, an invisible shockwave spread forward. The charging beastmen were forced to slow down, and some even began to retreat from the impact.
The dense forest from which the beastmen had emerged was instantly blown away, revealing flat, muddy ground. This momentum continued for several kilometers before stopping.
The instigator of all this, Faster, pressed his hand down. A gravity field covering several kilometers descended. Ergin, who had been at the front, felt a heavy weight on his shoulders and crouched down. Compared to him, the tree clan member Giant Armor was even more unlucky. It was directly lifted by the gravity, as if grabbed by an invisible giant hand, causing green juice to squeeze from its mouth and head.
The beastmen had just received a wave of enhancements and were eagerly anticipating a great slaughter, only to be harshly educated by a spellcaster. This was actually normal. If spellcasters weren't strong enough, they wouldn't have become the strongest overlords in the void. They enhanced themselves by devouring one of the two strongest source forces. Their strength was taken for granted.
Just as Faster was about to crush Giant Armor from a distance, a sound of breaking wind came from the side. He released his soul energy, blasting toward the attacker.
Thud!
The attacker shattered. But the next moment, a figure made of dark blue smoke appeared beside Faster. A soul-deep chill enveloped him. Faster looked sideways at the smoke figure. He was certain he had never seen anything like this in his life.
"Soul Torrent!"
Faster's eyes bulged. He released a "Soul Torrent" that ignored friend or foe, sending both Sea Clan members and sea beasts flying. The black-robed person also retreated.
When the Soul Torrent stopped, the smoke figure was still standing there. The next moment, a spike pierced through its head, dispersing it. But the scattered black smoke gradually reformed.
A crystal long blade formed in the smoke figure's hand. It slashed at Faster. Faster initially wanted to retreat, but then he noticed that the smoke figure's slashing ability seemed weak. Besides, although he was a spellcaster, his close combat ability was far from weak. A soul greatsword gathered in his hand, and he clashed with the smoke figure.
Clang! Wind pressure scattered, and the ground around them was peeled back. Faster forced the smoke figure back a step. He pressed forward, delivering another powerful slash.
But at that moment, the smoke figure blurred and swapped positions with someone. Su Xiao appeared opposite Faster, his long blade meeting Faster's soul greatsword.
Crack! The soul greatsword shattered spectacularly. Along with it, Faster's composure shattered as well. As he leaped back, he clasped his hands together.
"Soul Storm!!"
Faster's eyes widened to their limit. Veins bulged on his neck. He unleashed the most powerful Soul Storm of his life.
The storm enveloped Su Xiao. It was filled with soul blades spinning at terrifying speed. Countless soul blades cut into his body. In a very short time, his "Absolute Magic Constitution" and "Law Annihilation (Passive)" both maxed out, providing 60% magic damage reduction plus an additional 190 points of magic resistance. This was extra resistance. As a Law Destroyer, Su Xiao's base magic resistance was already high—at least over 300 points.
This meant he now had 60% magic damage reduction. The remaining 40% magic damage would be further reduced by various passive abilities, and finally cut by over 500 points of magic resistance, before becoming the actual magic damage dealt to Su Xiao.
Was that all the damage reduction? No. Faster, the unlucky guy, was a soul system + magic system user. So his abilities dealt mixed soul and magic damage. This meant the damage would first be reduced by Su Xiao's 710 points of soul strength before becoming the final damage dealt.
So, although the Soul Storm looked terrifying and had an extremely high attack frequency, the actual damage per hit was really low. Occasionally, a soul blade would deal single-digit damage, which seemed somewhat pitiful.
Faster stared at the Soul Storm several dozen meters ahead. He already had a battle plan: first, use the Soul Storm to reduce Su Xiao's stamina and defense, then use his ultimate killing move, and then... run. While the Law Destroyer was weakened by his ultimate move, he would immediately retreat.
Under Faster's gaze, Su Xiao walked out of the Soul Storm. Faster's expression went from shock to confusion, then to intense disbelief. From the day he mastered the Soul Storm, he had never imagined anyone could simply walk out of it.
Boom! Faster's robe shattered. His heart turned soul-blue. He converted 90% of his original life force into soul energy. This meant that even if he escaped today, his remaining lifespan would be reduced by over 90%.
"Ha!"
Faster clapped his hands together. A war soul knight on a warhorse manifested behind him. The war soul knight was entirely composed of soul energy. Under Faster's control, the war soul knight charged, shattering space, and fiercely rushed toward Su Xiao.
"Blade Path Sword: Extreme."
Clang!
The long blade clashed with the lance. The terrifying power turned into white light, enveloping everything around.
When everything settled, Su Xiao stood in a crater several kilometers in diameter. The heat from the energy collision had vitrified large areas of the ground. The war soul knight had shattered, its shell scattered on the ground. Opposite him, Faster had become emaciated, skin and bones. His hair was dry and gray.
"Defeated... so thoroughly."
Faster was very calm. Having been defeated head-on, he had no resentment or unwillingness. The next moment, a blade aura sealed his throat. Faster fell to the ground.
Su Xiao tore open his right sleeve and poured a bottle of [Vitality Essence] over it. The several bloody gashes on his right arm healed at a visible rate.
Tossing aside the empty potion bottle, a blood energy phantom appeared above Su Xiao. He controlled the Blade Demon Spirit to transform into a black smoke arrow, then tossed it upward. The blood energy phantom caught it, drew the bow, and shot the black smoke arrow into the distance.
In the distance, a black-robed person was sprinting through the jungle. Suddenly, they sidestepped. A black smoke arrow barely missed them, embedding itself in a giant tree opposite.
This made the black-robed person sigh in relief. But the next moment, they found that the black smoke arrow embedded in the tree had dispersed and reformed into a black smoke figure. With a surge of spatial fluctuation, Su Xiao and the Blade Demon Spirit swapped positions.
Seeing Su Xiao here, the black-robed person gritted their teeth so hard they creaked. The intense hatred was almost overflowing.
Su Xiao placed his hand on his sword hilt. First, he recalled the demon spirit, then released it again, controlling it to charge at the black-robed person opposite.
Just as the black-robed person was about to counter the demon spirit, spatial fluctuations suddenly appeared behind them. Su Xiao, who had appeared behind the black-robed person using Dragon Shadow Flash, delivered a side kick.
This side kick wasn't particularly fast. The black-robed person immediately lunged forward to dodge. But the next moment, Su Xiao swapped positions with the demon spirit, now facing the black-robed person. Strangely, because they had lunged forward to avoid the kick, they were now rushing toward Su Xiao.
Bang!!
The black-robed person turned into a blur, flying sideways in a straight line, crashing through several giant trees before landing. And this was with Su Xiao not using full force on his side kick.
After landing, the black-robed person covered their mouth with one hand but couldn't stop the blood from spilling. Blood flowed through their fingers. Yet they didn't give up. They got up and tried to flee.
Wind whistled past their ears. The black-robed person sprinted through the dense forest, surprised to find that the enemy wasn't pursuing. This was both unbelievable and allowed them to finally focus on assessing their injuries.
Upon sensing, they found their right arm was numb. Pulling back their sleeve and removing their black glove, they saw their right arm covered in dark blue patterns, emitting faint dark blue smoke. Worse, the dark blue patterns on their right arm were climbing upward, about to reach their torso.
Seeing this, the black-robed person didn't hesitate. They raised their left hand, chopping down like a blade. But the hand chop stopped halfway. Their left arm also began to go numb. They bit off their left glove and found their left hand also covered in dark blue patterns.
Even so, the black-robed person didn't give up. They tried to continue fleeing, but their arms uncontrollably stabbed into the tree trunks on either side.
"What... what kind of shameless ability is this!"
The black-robed person ground their teeth. They swore they had never seen a more shameless ability. It ignored physical and energy attacks, could swap positions, had offensive capabilities, and could even control others.
Soon, the dark blue patterns spread to the black-robed person's face. With extremely unwilling eyes, they leaped onto a tree branch and began jumping between trees, heading toward Su Xiao.
On the battlefield outside the jungle, with a boom, Ergin, wielding a long-handled war blade, kicked a fishman head flat, then brought down his fierce weapon like a horse-slaying blade, cleaving the fishman head in two.
After killing the enemy, Ergin looked at the war blade in his hand, slightly unaccustomed. In the past, when facing a fishman head, he would need to suppress them for several rounds before killing them. But now, killing this fishman head felt like killing an ordinary grunt. Not only that, the giant fishmen weren't as durable either. Before he could even enjoy the fight, the tall giant fishmen couldn't hold on and died on the spot.
The expected chaotic battle didn't happen. After the Lord's team clashed with the transport team, it was a complete rout. Within minutes of fighting, over a thousand fishmen were nearly wiped out. Some giant fishmen simply knelt and surrendered. This one-sided slaughter quickly crushed morale.
"Ah~"
Evil Fang tilted his head back, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed the deep-sea pituitary he had been holding between his fingers.
"What are you doing swallowing a sea beast's pituitary?"
Viper asked with a puzzled expression.
"Eating it raw strengthens the kidneys."
"Oh~?"
Viper's eyes lit up with surprise. He began looking around, searching for the sea beast he had poisoned earlier.
Not far away, the tree clan member Giant Armor sat up from the ground. Its branch-like hands began feeling its torso and head. It had thought it was going to die. But after basking in the sunset for a while, not only had its injuries mostly healed, but it also felt stronger. Moreover, it found that it seemed more durable.
This was because the Sun Lord's "Sunlight Nourishment" ability had an additional effect on Giant Armor. This was both because solar energy highly resonates with plant races and because of Giant Armor's personal constitution.
Others' "Sunlight Nourishment" effect: While under the sun's rays, recover 1% of maximum health per second.
Giant Armor's "Sunlight Nourishment" effect: While under the sun's rays, recover 2% of maximum health per second. Additionally, each time its body is damaged beyond 15% of its maximum health, its health and physical defense permanently increase (the increase amount depends on the degree of damage).
Su Xiao naturally noticed Giant Armor's talent. If properly nurtured, this would become the main tank of the boss team. Plus, Giant Armor's large size made it suitable for both offense and drawing fire.
After ordering the cleanup of the battlefield, Su Xiao walked toward the jungle. Not far in, he saw a figure standing under a giant tree. As he recalled the demon spirit, the black-robed person collapsed from exhaustion. Their hood had long fallen off, revealing none other than the Crow Woman.
The beastman scouts had only detected one spellcaster, which was normal. Crow Woman's abilities weren't magic-based. As for why she was sent to the Wind Sea Continent, it was likely that someone had vouched for her and sent her here to redeem herself.
Crow Woman leaned against the giant tree, smiling at Su Xiao. "Bai Ye, you can't use me anymore. Maybe even you don't know this, but those who once abandoned the 'Necronomicon' aren't qualified to hold it a second time. So, do it."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He just sat down opposite Crow Woman. After not seeing her for a long time, he noticed something: because Crow Woman had once held the "Necronomicon" and survived, she had gained a certain degree of resistance to Original Sin Objects.
Although this resistance wasn't high enough to use Original Sin Objects, if most people's limit was holding one Original Sin Object, Crow Woman could hold two simultaneously.
Su Xiao still didn't speak, which made Crow Woman a bit irritable. She said, "Don't bother trying. The Necronomicon won't choose me again."
"Who said I only have one Original Sin Object."
"?"
Crow Woman couldn't immediately process this statement. The impact was too great. Under her stunned gaze, Su Xiao took out two sealed charcoal boxes.
"You... you're making me choose one of two?"
Crow Woman's eye twitched as she spoke.
"Don't underestimate yourself. You can have both."
As Su Xiao spoke, he placed both charcoal boxes in front of Crow Woman. Clearly, this time, when "sending a gift" to Arcane Eternal Star, Su Xiao had prepared double the joy.