# Chapter 8: Su Xiao's Body Defense, This is the Final Layer of Damage Reduction
...
After these layers of reduction, when the "Soul Thunder Prison" was activated, it dealt a total of 12 points of mixed damage to Su Xiao. Moreover, due to Aige's core passive ability, this damage was not triggered once per second, but 3 to 9 times per second. Because of certain characteristics of the World Thunder, the number of triggers was determined by the luck of both parties.
Thinking about it this way, Aige's "Soul Thunder Prison" was quite terrifying. After all, the base damage was 700 to 1500 points per second + 5% of maximum health as lightning damage + magic damage + soul damage. If triggered 9 times per second, instantly killing an enemy was not out of the question.
The luck judgment was completed in an instant. Yes, Su Xiao immediately triggered a damage frequency of 9 times per second. Terrifying arcs of electricity crackled all over his body, and then he sustained continuous mixed damage of 12 points, 10 points, 11 points, 10 points, 8 points, 5 points, and 7 points. The damage notifications flooded the screen.
Xianlulu, who was in her attached state, was stunned on the spot. She swore that, except for very low ranks, she hadn't seen single-digit damage notifications in battle for a very, very long time.
When Thunder Mage God Aige saw these notifications, he couldn't help but put on a pained expression, because he felt that the enemy he encountered today was his ultimate nemesis—high lightning resistance, strong magic resistance, and an absurdly high soul strength.
However, deep down, Thunder Mage God Aige also had a thought: an enemy like this, with such abnormal resistances and health, as well as that terrifying charge speed, might not have very strong attack capabilities. Perhaps he was the type who relied entirely on his Blade Grandmaster ability for damage, while all other abilities were defensive?
This was Aige's final guess that allowed him to continue fighting without having a mental breakdown. At that moment, a gust of wind pressure rushed toward him, blowing back his white hair. He clasped his hands together, and simultaneously activated magic, soul, and lightning-type shields and defensive measures. A total of over a dozen layers of various shields appeared, and lightning patterns climbed across his body surface, providing high damage reduction while also allowing him, to a certain extent, to substitute mana consumption for health loss.
Crack!
The gleaming blade tip pierced through layer after layer of shields, stopping two centimeters in front of Aige's brow. This single strike made Aige completely put on a pained expression. This enemy's attack ability was equally absurd.
Half an hour later, on the pockmarked earth, Aige, wearing tattered robes, lay in a pit. He turned over, his blood-stained hand supporting the ground, but in the next second, a long blade sliced through the base of that arm, severing it at the shoulder. Aige failed to get up. He rolled over again, lying on his back staring at the sky, and finally let out a long breath. He had lost, not because of a gap in strength or poor performance, but because he was countered to the point of doubting his existence.
"Go ahead, don't think you'll get a single Soul Coin from me. Before coming to find you, I was mentally prepared to die at your hands. That's how we contractors are."
Although facing certain death, Aige did not lose his composure. Instead, he spoke with a hint of a smile.
"..."
Su Xiao looked at Aige without speaking. He always felt that the other party was too calm, unnaturally calm in the face of life and death.
From Aige's words and actions, it was clear that he was not a cold person. A powerhouse of this style, though unafraid of a deathmatch with an enemy, also cherished his own life and would do his utmost to preserve it.
Aige's abnormal behavior at this moment had only one possibility: he had a guarantee that he would absolutely not die. A simple life-saving item could not provide such confidence. But if it was a life-saving authority from Apocalypse Paradise, that was different. After all, a Battle Angel of Aige's strength was not common, and having a corresponding life-saving authority was not surprising.
As for whether Reincarnation Paradise had such a life-saving authority, it actually did, but the probability of obtaining it was very low. Even when completing tasks with such reward levels, the rewards given by Reincarnation Paradise were more focused on enhancing combat power. This also meant that the life-saving method for their contractors was to choose to kill the enemy. As long as the enemy was dead, they were naturally safe.
Thinking back to how Aige hadn't even used a life-saving teleportation item earlier, it could be guessed that the other party felt he couldn't escape this time and chose to "wait for death" to trigger that life-saving authority.
Su Xiao estimated that the authority wasn't as perfect as imagined. Although this type of authority was powerful, it also had many restrictions. One of the conditions of Aige's life-saving authority was likely that dying by self-destruction could not trigger it. Only by dying at the hands of an enemy in a causal sense could the authority be triggered normally.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao's thoughts became clear. He flicked his wrist, and a hollow crystal spike embedded itself in Aige's shoulder. In an instant, Aige found that the part of his body below his neck had lost all sensation. This made his expression turn serious, losing the previous calm.
"Name your price."
Aige's attitude took a sharp turn, as if he hadn't been the one saying he wouldn't take out even a single Soul Coin moments ago.
"I have three questions."
Su Xiao finally spoke. Seeing this, Aige breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. As long as there was room for negotiation, things could be handled.
"Ask away."
"First, do we have any past grievances?"
"No."
"Second, if someone with no enmity toward you suddenly struck you with lightning, what would you think?"
"I would be... very angry."
When Aige said this, the smile on his face carried a hint of awkwardness.
"Third, if you were struck by lightning dozens of times for no reason, and then the person who struck you, after losing, said to you, 'That's how contractors are,' what would you think?"
"Uh... well..."
Aige was completely speechless and finally fell silent, waiting for death.
Three "Mercy Spikes" slid out from Su Xiao's sleeve and pierced fiercely into Aige's neck, even penetrating the bone. Aige stiffened on the spot, his vision instantly going dark. Before fainting, he felt as if every cell in his body was wailing.
Seeing this, Xianlulu on Su Xiao's shoulder was a bit frightened, but then she remembered the three questions Su Xiao had just asked. This time, it was indeed the other party who had struck first. Thinking of this, the good-aligned Xianlulu's acceptance of the scene before her increased slightly.
Su Xiao picked up the unconscious Aige and walked toward the farm warehouse he had chosen earlier. But as soon as he took a step, he remembered that the entire farm had been blown into a large crater by Aige.
Su Xiao took out his communicator and contacted Pilu. The other side quickly found out whose farm this was. After having Pilu give the farm owner sufficient compensation, Su Xiao asked Pilu to find the nearest building with few people around.
An hour later, Su Xiao pushed open the door of a barn. The stone-paved floor was covered with some straw. After a preliminary cleanup, he threw Aige into a corner and closed the door, behind which the cold wind howled.
In the dim barn, Su Xiao took out the [Dark Writhing (Abyss Ritual Item)], as well as [Corrupted Flesh], [Ritual Blood], and other materials. He mixed the crushed [Corrupted Flesh] with the [Ritual Blood] and used this mixture as a medium to draw a ritual array on the ground. Beside him, Xianlulu grew more and more uneasy as she watched. In a weak voice, she asked, "What are we going to do?"
"Summon an evil god."
"?"
Xianlulu's watery big eyes were filled with great confusion and bewilderment. She seemed to think she had misheard and let out a confused "Huh?"
Everything was prepared, only lacking the bait sacrifice. Su Xiao had originally planned to use only the mixture of [Corrupted Flesh] and [Ritual Blood] as bait. Now that someone had voluntarily delivered themselves, he naturally couldn't let them come for nothing.
Su Xiao pulled the three "Mercy Spikes" out of Aige's neck. Aige woke up a few seconds later. His constantly twitching eyelids showed that during this short period of unconsciousness, he had had a very unforgettable experience.
"Name your price. No need to continue."
Aige was completely defeated. Although he had a life-saving authority, today's matter was no longer just about losing his life.
"500,000 Soul Coins."
"Dream on!"
Aige immediately perked up again. Even with his wealth, directly taking out 500,000 Soul Coins was too absurd.
Su Xiao didn't say any nonsense. He kicked Aige in the face, sending the other party's subsequent greetings back down his throat, and then dragged him to the center of the array, pouring the dark red mixture over him.
After doing this, Su Xiao activated the ritual with the [Dark Writhing (Abyss Ritual Item)]. The atmosphere in the barn changed drastically, disguised as a dim, sinister-style hall.
The ground was covered with ritual candles, the walls were carved with eerie spell patterns, and black-robed believers prostrated on the ground. Meanwhile, the blood-stained Aige was disguised as a young girl in a pure white dress lying on the altar.
From Aige's furious gaze, one could tell his mood at the moment. But in the next second, a demon spirit entered his body and began to temporarily control his movements.
As the array was activated, ethereal whispers appeared in the air. In the first few minutes after the ritual was activated, aside from the eerie atmosphere, not much changed. But when an evil and powerful will responded to this sacrifice, the atmosphere here underwent a dramatic transformation.
Thick, murky gray evil aura spread out, and a huge door made of flesh appeared above the array.
This door opened like a large mouth, even revealing sharp teeth. Inside this flesh door, a hand covered with eyes reached out. The eyes on it looked around left and right. After confirming there was no problem, a breath of air spread out from within the flesh door.
"Ant, kneel and present the sacrifice."
A voice that made one's heart ache came from within the flesh door. Behind it was a hundred-meter-tall giant figure, composed of numerous huge heads and arms, looking very terrifying. This was the evil god of this world, the Corrupted Origin.
Under the terrifying pressure of the Corrupted Origin, the disguised Aige was controlled to hold up a basketball-sized large heart. The heart was still beating vigorously, and the evil fluctuations on it were very strong. For an evil god, this was an irresistible treasure. Even absorbing it directly could greatly enhance its divine nature.
At this moment, under the disguise, Aige, holding the giant heart, had his mentality shattered. The reason was that, in the sight and perception of others, he was indeed holding a giant heart. But he himself knew that what was in his hand was not a heart at all, but an ancient book made of various types of leather paper. This thing was not thick, only a few dozen pages, but the chilling feeling it gave made Aige certain that this thing was definitely an Abyss Original Sin Object.
Aige was not wrong. This item was called the "Necronomicon." Even among Original Sin Objects, it ranked among the top few big daddies.
But at this moment, the evil god Corrupted Origin did not know that the giant heart was a disguise. The disguise characteristics of the [Dark Writhing (Abyss Ritual Item)] were quite strong. This was an item Su Xiao had obtained after defeating the Archbishop of the Abyss. Having such an effect was not surprising. Moreover, this disguise was also enhanced by the "Necronomicon."
Inside the flesh door, a large hand of the evil god Corrupted Origin reached out, grabbed the giant heart, and said in a deafening voice, "Ants, I am very satisfied with the sacrifice you have presented..."
The Corrupted Origin's words stopped abruptly because the giant heart in its hand had reverted to the Necronomicon. Translucent tentacles extended from the Necronomicon, each deeply embedded into the Corrupted Origin's large hand. More translucent tentacles penetrated the flesh door behind, merging into various parts of the Corrupted Origin's body. Some exposed translucent tentacles writhed wantonly.
After a bone-chilling wail, the Corrupted Origin's large hand retracted into the flesh door. Unfortunately, this could not shake off the Necronomicon. After the flesh door disappeared, faint remnants of wails and roars could still be heard in the air. However, the roars no longer carried authority and evil, but more of a bluff.
Su Xiao put away the [Dark Writhing (Abyss Ritual Item)] and erased all traces in the barn to prevent innocent people from accidentally touching these dangerous remnants. He looked around and found Xianlulu huddled in a corner, her watery big eyes wide open, filled with shock and fear.
He pulled Xianlulu out of the wooden barrel in the corner. Perhaps because she was too scared, Xianlulu simply burrowed into Su Xiao's clothes, sticking her head out from his collar. If Beini saw this, she would definitely be furious, thinking: 'Scooper, you have another cat outside.'
Su Xiao walked over to the fallen Aige and asked, "Are you okay? If you're still in decent condition, we can continue after the Necronomicon returns."
Hearing this, Aige's cheek twitched. It was as if his cognition had been refreshed as he asked, "Are you... deliberately fishing for evil gods?"
"Sort of."
"Do you... do this often?"
"Occasionally."
Hearing Su Xiao say "occasionally," Aige's eyes were full of disbelief. From Su Xiao's proficiency in setting up the array and other aspects, it didn't look like "occasionally" at all.
Su Xiao took out an injection gun, pressed a potion bottle into it, and said, "Don't worry, this is a recovery potion."
After saying this, Su Xiao prepared to inject it to help Aige recover his condition.
"Brother, I'm convinced, completely convinced. I really don't have 500,000 Soul Coins, but I do have 200,000."
"Deal."
Su Xiao agreed without hesitation. Aige subconsciously thought, 'I set the price too high.'
"How about 150,000? You should at least give me a chance to bargain."
"..."
Su Xiao took out the injection device he had just put away. Aige quickly said, "200,000, 200,000. I was just joking."
Hearing this, Su Xiao took out a contract and showed it to Aige. Aige's face turned green. He gritted his teeth and said, "White Night of Reincarnation Paradise, Wood of the Void, Shenfu of Sanctuary Paradise, and the deceased Huishenshi—the contracts of you four are very famous."
"I took your Soul Coins, so I have to let you go. Your revenge is something I have to guard against."
Hearing this, Aige was extremely uncomfortable. He could confirm at this moment that as long as he handed over the Soul Coins, Su Xiao would really act as if nothing had happened before. The problem was, he really didn't dare to sign this contract.
"Don't worry. I swear by the Law Annihilation that this contract is fine."
"This..."
Aige frowned in thought. He had certainly heard of the Shadow of Law Annihilation. It was a very legendary faction. Although this faction had declined, many of its deeds were still passed down. Moreover, the more critical issue was that Aige felt he really had no choice at this moment. That was the key point.
In the end, Aige pressed his palm print on the contract and took out two Apocalypse Paradise Soul Coin savings cards with a limit of 100,000 each.
A moment later, Su Xiao stood at the barn door, watching Aige limp away into the distance. Xianlulu on his shoulder muttered, "That guy got lucky. Let's see if he dares to ambush again next time. But Bai Ye, you actually let him go. I thought..."
Before Xianlulu could finish, the parchment contract floating in front of Su Xiao suddenly split into 40 layers. Each layer was as thin as a cicada's wing, but each displayed different contract content.
"What did you think?"
"Nothing, nothing."
Xianlulu looked at the contract parchment that had split into 40 layers, her eyes full of shock. Her mind had received a tremendous impact.