Chapter 29: Endless Ring
Inside a luxurious mansion on South Street in the Fifth District of Eternal Ring City, the morning sunlight streamed into the room. The various furniture in the living room had been cleared away, leaving the space empty. The floor was covered in spatial array diagrams, and having been used once, the high temperature from the array's activation had burned through the carpet, deeply embedding the patterns into the floor.
Su Xiao sat on the lone chair in the living room, staring at the array diagram on the ground. The [Law-Destroying Teleportation Array] had been developed, but the problem was that no one dared to use it yet. Even Su Xiao himself had reservations about the array. Although it was a 'launch-type teleportation' akin to a space railgun, the issue was how powerful this 'launch' would be, which remained difficult to determine.
Earlier, when dealing with the ambush, Su Xiao had teleported a crystal statue to the backyard of the Lord's Manor in Twilight City. But half an hour ago, Su Xiao had contacted Bubu Wang and Baha, who were still at the manor, asking them to check the teleportation array in the backyard warehouse to see if the crystal statue was intact.
The response was: What crystal statue? Not even a trace was found. Moreover, the teleportation array in the backyard warehouse looked as if it had been punched down from the heavens by the sky itself, leaving a sunken, heart-stopping shape. Last night, everyone in the manor had heard a loud bang but couldn't pinpoint the source. This morning, the mystery was finally solved.
Su Xiao's original plan was to coat himself in a crystal layer and then try experiencing the [Law-Destroying Teleportation Array]. But after seeing the photo Baha sent of the backyard teleportation array, he gradually abandoned that idea.
He could be sure of one thing: as long as he used the [Law-Destroying Teleportation Array] once and survived, his spatial resistance would greatly increase. Then, using it again wouldn't be as dangerous. Although the experience would be extremely unpleasant, using it multiple times would gradually lead to adaptation until he became completely accustomed to it, just like how he now used the demon teleportation array.
This made Su Xiao wonder if, for the first few uses of this teleportation array, he could use protective gear to withstand the impact force of the teleportation. Proud Song's defense was poor against this, likely because the hard-on-hard collision drastically reduced its defensive capability.
If he used soft against hard, might it be much better? For example, cultivating a highly resilient spore cyst through the insect nest, wrapping himself in this cyst before teleportation, thereby greatly reducing the risk of teleportation.
It might seem like a lot of effort just to complete a teleportation, but one must not forget that this is also a form of training—training that enhances spatial resistance. When facing a space-system powerhouse, having high spatial resistance is a huge advantage, at least preventing the opponent from directly teleporting you to a dangerous area.
That's right, high-rank space-system users are that shameless. As long as they have 2 to 3 seconds to gather power, they can teleport an enemy far away.
Su Xiao took out his communicator and contacted Shenfu. After learning that the other party was also in Eternal Ring City and was about to complete the transaction of [Temple Key] with Kaiyin, Aige, and Lilya, Su Xiao left the house and took a public train to the district where Shenfu and the others were located.
When he arrived at a villa area, he saw Shenfu dressed in black attire. The other party still looked kind and benevolent. If one only judged by appearance, this was a white-haired, kindly old priest.
"They've been waiting inside. Let's go."
Shenfu spoke with a smile on his face. It wasn't a fake smile; he was genuinely in a good mood due to meeting an old friend. The friendship was indeed real. However, for Shenfu, scheming against old friends came without any psychological burden.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't say anything and arrived at a mansion with Shenfu. Before even entering, he could sense two very alert auras inside—Kaiyin and Aige.
The door was opened by a woman dressed in witch attire with a languid demeanor. It was the witch, Lilya. Holding a long smoking pipe in one hand, Lilya exhaled purple mist. She glanced at Su Xiao with a complex expression and said, "Two gentlemen, please come in."
A moment later, the five of them were seated on the sofas in the living room. Kaiyin, sitting across from them, broke the silence and said, "Two gentlemen, the [Temple Key] is indeed something we need, but it's only one part of the world mission, not the final required item."
Kaiyin's meaning was clear: the [Temple Key] was indeed a mission item, but it wasn't the most important part of the mission. Therefore, if the price was too high, the three of them might not be unwilling to abandon this world mission. After all, they were only on the second ring, and the cost of giving up wasn't as high as one might imagine.
"Don't worry, we won't ask for an exorbitant price. Just 200,000 Soul Coins. Bai Ye and I will each take 100,000."
Shenfu's words made the expressions of the two opposite them darken. The witch Lilya, however, remained expressionless, her eyes always smiling as she looked at Su Xiao.
"Old thing, you're really ruthless."
Kaiyin said this with a full smile on his face. Shenfu still looked kind and benevolent as he took out the [Temple Key] and placed it on the table.
"We don't have 200,000 Soul Coins, but we do have a supreme treasure. I wonder if you two are interested. We can trade item for item."
As Aige spoke, he took out a sealed box. With a serious expression, he opened it and poured its contents onto the coffee table. It was a black ring, slightly larger than a regular ring. The moment this object touched the coffee table, the entire table was stained pitch black. Black mist, like reverse-flowing incense, spread over the teapot and settled along the edges downward.
This black metal ring was covered in dense runes. The inside of the ring appeared empty, yet it gave the feeling that it contained endless darkness. However, at the center of this darkness, there was an extremely pure life force. Without even thinking, one could tell that this item could greatly increase health points.
[Endless Ring]
Origin: Abyss.
Quality: Abyss Grade.
Type: Enhancement-type Equipment.
Equipment Effect 1: Thriving Life (Core · Passive), while carrying this equipment, Health Points +200 points (this equipment provides an additional 20 Health Points per point of rating).
Tip: This bonus does not disappear immediately after losing this equipment but will gradually diminish over the next 24 hours.
Equipment Effect 2: Rapid Devouring (Core · Passive), can permanently increase this equipment's rating by devouring high-value items such as equipment, props, gems, etc.
Equipment Effect 3: Slow Absorption (Core · Passive), can slowly devour equipment or special items. Before completely devouring the equipment, the [Endless Ring] will temporarily gain its characteristics and enhance the temporarily obtained ability based on the [Endless Ring]'s current rating.
Equipment Penalty: Dark Indulgence (Passive), while carrying this equipment, you will gradually be invaded by the darkness of the Abyss (due to your Abyss Resistance being 20 points, you have already exempted the [Dark Indulgence] effect brought by the current stage of the [Endless Ring]. However, as this equipment's rating increases, the [Dark Indulgence] it brings will become stronger, requiring higher Abyss Resistance to exempt).
Rating: 10 points (Abyss Grade equipment rating ranges from 1 to 6000 points)
Introduction: Darkness is always silent. Silence gives rise to sedimentation, sedimentation brings decay, decay transforms into nutrients, nutrients nourish life. At the very center of darkness, the purest and most thriving life source matter is nurtured.
Sale Price: Cannot be sold after activation.
...
The characteristics of this equipment were very interesting. Undoubtedly, its origin was significant, and calling it a supreme treasure was not an exaggeration. However, the Abyss origin immediately made one feel a bit uneasy.
"This item..."
Aige began to speak, ready to praise the advantages of this item, but Su Xiao picked up the [Endless Ring] from the coffee table, causing Aige's words to come to an abrupt halt. Even Lilya, who had been looking at Su Xiao with a smile in her eyes, withdrew her smile, her expression becoming unusually serious and solemn.
Su Xiao held the [Endless Ring] between his thumb and middle finger, even tapping it with his index finger. In a calm tone, he praised, "This item is not bad."
"Uh... haha, it... it is not bad."
Aige's expression was a bit dazed. As someone with top-tier ninth-rank combat power, he couldn't understand why Su Xiao dared to pick up this thing with his bare hands and calmly comment that it was not bad.
"Bai Ye, you... don't feel anything wrong?"
Kaiyin was sitting on the edge of the sofa, looking as if he was ready to leap back and get away from Su Xiao at any moment.
"It's very wrong. I'm being severely eroded by this item."
Su Xiao placed the [Endless Ring] back on the coffee table. Saying that picking up this thing had no effect at all would be a lie, but it was just a slight numbness in his fingertips. Compared to holding the [Soul Crown] with his bare hands, this feeling was nothing—a small witch compared to a great one.
"Severely eroded..."
Kaiyin, Aige, and Lilya were all a bit speechless. This 'severe erosion' was truly too perfunctory.
"As everyone knows, items from the Abyss have extreme duality. This item looks good, but its side effects are astonishing."
Shenfu paused after saying this, then continued, "Look at Bai Ye, he's been eroded by the darkness to the point of not speaking."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kaiyin, Aige, and Lilya were even more speechless. Originally, their plan for today was to first bring out the [Endless Ring], using the threat of Abyss invasion as a deterrent. Then, Kaiyin would take out an Abyss-characteristic [Dark Matter Core] as a bargaining chip, to ensure that they, whose abilities were suppressed, wouldn't go from verbal negotiation to physical confrontation.
Unfortunately, the plan was beautiful, but when it came time to execute it, the three of them witnessed Su Xiao picking up the [Endless Ring] with his bare hands and praising it as not bad.
From the current situation, it was clear that Kaiyin and the others had all tried to touch the [Endless Ring], and the results were predictable. As for carrying this item for a long time to gain its bonuses, that was simply asking for death.
This also meant that the [Endless Ring] had theoretical supreme treasure value, but in reality, few could use it.
"My seventy percent, this item covers it. Shenfu, your thirty percent, you set the price yourself."
After Su Xiao finished speaking, he looked at the three opposite him. After receiving their unanimous agreement, he put away the [Endless Ring]. If developed well, this item could provide a high health point bonus, even surpassing the [Divine Judgment] ring.
The way to enhance the [Endless Ring] was simple and crude: any valuable equipment, props, gems, etc., could be devoured. Of course, Abyss-characteristic items were its favorites. If it could devour the [Original Sin Sprout], perhaps its rating could be greatly increased?
The good news was that this item was clearly not an Original Sin type but an Abyss-characteristic equipment with strong gains and strong penalties.
As long as the rating of the [Endless Ring] was increased, one could get a bonus of 20 Health Points per rating point. Besides this characteristic, the [Slow Absorption] effect of the [Endless Ring] was also interesting.
Simply put, let the [Endless Ring] slowly devour a piece of equipment. This process might take days, ten days, or even longer. During this time, although the devoured equipment would gradually disappear, the [Endless Ring] would temporarily steal its characteristics and enhance this stolen ability based on its current rating.
Equipment like [Berg Heart] and [Divine Judgment] ring couldn't be used this way. Although it would bring high bonuses for a period of time, it would also consume these precious equipment. Conversely, detection equipment like [Eyes of the Gods], which had already fallen behind in rank, could be used this way.
Of course, all of this was based on the premise that the rating of the [Endless Ring] had already been raised. Fortunately, for Su Xiao, this wasn't too difficult.
Kaiyin, Aige, and Shenfu whispered for a moment. Finally, with Aige's expression growing increasingly gloomy, the transaction was completed. Shenfu placed the [Temple Key] on the coffee table.
Su Xiao looked at the witch Lilya opposite him. For some reason, from the beginning until now, she had been looking at him with a smile in her eyes. That wasn't the main point. She was a Divination System + Causality System. There was one matter he could entrust to her.
"Witch, there's a transaction. Are you interested?"
Su Xiao spoke. Upon hearing this, the languid Lilya took a light puff from her long smoking pipe and said with a smile, "Quite interested. Tell me what it is."
"Peering into the past."
"A very distant past? This is the Wind Sea Continent. For things too far in the past, I might not be able to see them."
When it came to business, Lilya no longer had a smile in her eyes, but her tone remained languid and charming.
"It's just last night's matter."
"That's simple. Are there any strong individuals present?"
"Yes."
"What level?"
As Lilya spoke, she tapped her long smoking pipe on the ashtray on the coffee table. Purple ashes fell inside, with faint purple light drifting from them.
"Absolute Strong."
"If there's only one Absolute Strong, although it's a bit difficult, it's still manageable. After all, it's just something that happened last night, very recent."
Upon hearing this, Su Xiao thought for a few seconds and said, "It should be more than one. Three to five? Hard to determine exactly."
"That makes it a bit troublesome."
The witch Lilya smiled even more charmingly.
"Name your price."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the witch Lilya didn't directly name a price but instead said, "Fate is a very marvelous thing. Last time I fought you, you almost took my life."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, but he was very puzzled. Before today, had he ever met this witch named Lilya? He had no memory of ever meeting her. Could it be that he had been affected by some mental ability? That shouldn't be the case. He was a Blade Grandmaster and could ignore such things.
Seeing Su Xiao's silence, Lilya said languidly, "As repayment for you sparing my life once, I'll help you with this divination for free."
"..."
Su Xiao still didn't speak. He had never felt that his memory was problematic. Except for occasionally forgetting Youyou... Youyou An? Let's just say that. Except for occasionally forgetting Youyou An, he remembered everything else clearly, let alone enemies he had fought.
"Actually, I've always been puzzled. You, known as the 'Night of Decapitation,' why did you spare my life that time? I was the one who challenged you, so even if you killed me, I would have had no complaints. But you spared me."
"..."
Su Xiao remained silent. How would he know why he spared her? What puzzled him even more was, when exactly did this so-called fight happen?
"I had killed too many during that period and felt a moment of compassion."
Su Xiao found an excuse to brush it off.
"Pfft~, sorry, I suddenly thought of something very funny. Please continue."
Kaiyin rubbed his face with one hand, barely holding back a laugh.
"You... don't remember that fight when we were on opposing sides?"
The witch Lilya was no longer languid but stared at Su Xiao with a serious expression.
"My memory is... quite average."
"But that was just two months ago."
When the witch Lilya said this, she slightly lost her languid, elegant witch image, her gaze somewhat questioning life itself.
"..."
Su Xiao had no recollection of this matter at all. If he had even a bit of related memory, he could have played along. But the problem was, not only was there no subtitle or script, he hadn't even seen a single frame of this show. No matter how good his acting skills were, he couldn't keep it up, especially since the witch opposite him was a Divination System + Causality System.
"That time I challenged you, trying to peek into your causality, I almost died. You didn't sense anything?"
Hearing this, Su Xiao thought carefully and concluded that he had sensed nothing at all.
"From a sensory perspective, I didn't feel anything specific."
"Impossible."
The witch Lilya was a bit unsettled.
"This might be a bit offensive, but would you feel a speck of dust landing on you?"
Hearing this, the witch Lilya opposite him was stunned. After a few seconds, she said, "Wait, let me process this. So, all the Causality System users who have been causing you trouble, you didn't sense them? Didn't you notice that many Causality System users have challenged you?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. In all this time, including Lilya whom he had just met, he could count the Causality System users he had encountered on one hand. As for fighting, he was very puzzled. How did Causality System users fight with their enemies?
"You don't know that you're quite famous in our Causality System circle?"
The witch Lilya seemed to have discovered something astonishing, her eyes burning with curiosity.
"..."
"The most powerful Causality System users from the fourth to eighth ranks, each rank's top few, have all been 'educated' by you. You really didn't feel any effect from Causality System abilities?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't answer this question. The reason was that Causality System abilities had no effect on him, so how could he have sensed them? The Shadow of Law Destruction was an Element Guardian. While having the [Law-Destruction Fortune] leading to poor luck, his own causality was exceptionally vast. It could be said that there were gains and losses.
The witch Lilya opposite him was silent for a moment before deciding not to bring up this matter anymore. The reason was that she found it a bit hard to accept internally. That previous challenge had almost killed her from causality backlash.
At this moment, the witch Lilya finally understood why the infamous Law Destroyer opposite her had spared her life. The reason was that the other party hadn't even sensed the so-called challenge. She had been fighting against the air.
Thinking of this, an inexplicable sense of shame washed over her. The witch Lilya slowly exhaled. Her temporary teammates, Kaiyin and Aige, both stood up, using the excuse of going out for some fresh air. But after they closed the door, cheerful laughter came from outside. This made Lilya grip her long smoking pipe tightly, silently deciding to make those two unlucky for a couple of days.
Shenfu also stood up and left. After Shenfu left, the witch Lilya looked at Su Xiao with a serious expression and said, "Bai Ye, be careful of that old guy. He's carrying something extraordinary."
"An Original Sin Object."
"You... you sensed it?!"
"I perceived the characteristics of that Original Sin Object."
"?"
The witch Lilya's gaze was somewhat confused. She didn't understand what kind of outrageous statement this was. Perceiving the characteristics of an Original Sin Object was no longer just absurd; under normal circumstances, it was suicide.
"No need to be so nervous. I have a few Original Sin Objects, so that one won't come after me just because I sensed it. I can vaguely feel that it's repelling me."
"??"
The witch Lilya's gaze became even more confused. She had just heard something as horrifying as "I have a few Original Sin Objects."
The witch Lilya was silent for a few seconds before saying, "We're partners, right?"
"Mm."
"Then for the sake of my life, I won't divine your future from now on. At least, I won't divine any future involving your Original Sin Objects."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't say anything. He simply took out a fragment of an array diagram and asked the witch Lilya to use it to peer into what had happened last night.
More precisely, among those who had ambushed him last night, how many were [Absolute Strong], and who were those [Absolute Strong]. He planned to hunt one of them, an Absolute Strong Spellcaster.
Besides that, regarding Shenfu, he didn't know if Shenfu had found an Original Sin Object or had been entangled by one. If it was the latter, then helping Shenfu transfer this Original Sin Object to Arcane Eternal Star seemed like a good choice.