Chapter 32: Trap
The wind howled past at high altitude. As the Storm Flame Dragon lowered its flight altitude and descended below the clouds, the wetland environment below came into view. All kinds of animals never seen before inhabited this area, and plants grew exceptionally lush in the muddy water.
Looking into the distance, the Holy Serpent Tribe, settled on the flat area halfway up the mountain, came into view. On the mountain behind the tribe were large carvings of snake scales. Unlike the expected primitive tents, most of the buildings within the tribe were made of rock. The central area featured a massive bonfire pit that appeared to be half-extinguished.
As the Storm Flame Dragon approached, hunting roars echoed continuously from the buildings of the Holy Serpent Tribe. Some tribe members even leaped onto the stone rooftops, looking up at the approaching Storm Dragon. Clearly, the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze had given prior notice; otherwise, a volley of war spears would surely be flying toward the sky at this moment.
The exotic beast Erba was dropped at the foot of the mountain. As soon as this massive beast landed, many Holy Serpent Tribe members came running, some climbing up the snake scales with great excitement.
With a whoosh, the Storm Flame Dragon swept past at low altitude, pressing down the treetops in its path with the strong wind. When it glided to the flat area halfway up the mountain, right in front of the giant bonfire, the Storm Flame Dragon landed. The Voodoo Sorcerer Baze, who had been waiting there, stepped forward with a smile, since Su Xiao had brought gifts this time.
"Bai Ye, you're being too polite."
Although the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze said this verbally, his old face was beaming like a blooming old chrysanthemum. The flesh and blood of a ten-thousand-meter-level exotic beast was good stuff. Although the Holy Serpent Tribe had the qualifications to hunt such a beast, the cost would be too great.
Guided by the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze, Su Xiao walked into the treehouse symbolizing the High Priest. This treehouse was built on the foundation of a towering giant tree, covering about a dozen square meters. The walls inside were covered with shelves displaying all kinds of bizarre items. At the center of the treehouse was a floor table. After sitting down on the animal hide on the ground, the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze across from him poured Su Xiao a cup of beverage.
The beverage in the cup was thick, fragrant, and mellow. It seemed to be made by roasting some kind of fruit kernel, then grinding it and brewing it. It had a slightly burnt flavor and a hint of fruit wine aroma. Overall, it was quite decent.
"Bai Ye, a suspicious fellow showed up at our tribe recently. He claimed to know you. I thought he looked like a spy from the Soul Herding Tribe, so I locked him in the dungeon. Do you know this person?"
Hearing this, Su Xiao, who was enjoying the beverage, paused for a moment. After thinking for two seconds, he said, "I don't know him."
"I thought so. How could you possibly cooperate with that kind of divine stick."
The Voodoo Sorcerer Baze smiled very naturally. Hearing the words "divine stick," Su Xiao seemed to "just remember" something and asked, "Could it be that he's a priest?"
"Hiss... it seems so."
The Voodoo Sorcerer Baze looked "greatly alarmed," as if he was worried he had imprisoned one of their own.
"He is indeed our collaborator. You locked him in the dungeon?"
"It was my oversight. Look at this mess. I'll have him released immediately."
"No matter. Keep him locked up for now."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the smile on the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze's old face seemed even more cheerful.
"The dungeon is damp and humid. These old bones of mine shouldn't stay there long."
The priest pushed open the door and walked into the treehouse. After politely closing the door, he sat down cross-legged by the floor table.
Seeing that the dungeon hadn't held the priest and that he had walked into the priest's house so openly, the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze wasn't surprised. This was, after all, a collaborator chosen by the Law Destroyer Kukulin Bai Ye. How could he lack means? The reason he had imprisoned the other party earlier was mainly because he sensed this person was dangerous, and also, using the imprisonment as a pretext, he wanted the other party to suppress the evil beast at the bottom of the tribe's dungeon.
"What a misunderstanding. If I had known you were one of us, how could I have locked you up with that evil beast? As compensation, I sincerely apologize to you."
The Voodoo Sorcerer Baze's attitude was particularly sincere. As for material compensation, don't even think about it.
"It's a small matter. Besides, that evil beast tasted pretty good."
Hearing this, the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze was secretly shocked. He really hadn't expected the priest to have devoured that evil beast.
In fact, it wasn't just the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze who was wary of the priest; the priest was equally wary of him. On the very first day the priest arrived, Baze had poisoned him into unconsciousness. Given the priest's ability characteristics, anyone who could poison him into submission must have formidable means.
As for Su Xiao's personal abilities, both the priest and the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze had witnessed them, so they naturally recognized him as a collaborator. Now that the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze and the priest had also seen each other's capabilities, the cooperation among the three was essentially settled. This was the way of evil-aligned cooperation—the process didn't matter; what mattered was personal ability.
"So, no one knows the whereabouts of this Soul Death God?"
The priest set down the worn parchment, which contained intelligence records about the Soul Death God.
The Voodoo Sorcerer Baze nodded thoughtfully and added, "As far as I know, this soul-type deity is not only the god worshipped by the Soul Herding Tribe but also one of the three supreme deities of the Dark God Cult. He rarely appears personally. Even when besieging soul-type powerhouses to plunder their soul source matter, he always has his followers do it."
After saying this, the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze picked up a snack from the table and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly. This was a food wrapped in tender leaves, containing roasted insect eggs, one of the delicacies of the Holy Serpent Tribe.
"In other words, finding the Soul Death God is far more difficult than killing him?"
As the priest spoke, he looked toward Su Xiao, meaning whether Su Xiao had a way to track down the Soul Death God.
"They sent an archbishop to contact me, but I estimate that's just to have the Dark God Cult members set up an ambush. The Soul Death God doesn't intend to act personally."
Hearing this, the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze frowned with worry, while the priest remained kind and benevolent. From this, it could be seen that the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze was more eager to eliminate the Soul Death God. Over the years, the Soul Herding Tribe had always been hostile to the Holy Serpent Tribe, and the main reason they dared to do so was the Soul Death God backing them from behind the scenes.
"If I'm not mistaken, the Dark God Cult's Death God, Lust God, and Serpent God all seem to be within the same divine domain. Dealing with the three supreme deities of the Dark God Cult simultaneously would be quite troublesome, not to mention that the Dark God Cult has many fanatical followers."
Hearing the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze's words, a peculiar gleam appeared in Su Xiao's eyes. He asked, "Are you sure the Death God, Lust God, and Serpent God are all in the same divine domain? Or rather, are you sure the Soul Death God is in a certain divine domain?"
"Positive."
"In that case, does the Soul Herding Tribe occasionally offer sacrifices to this deity?"
"Not occasionally, but frequently. The relationship between the two sides is more like protection granted in exchange for benefits."
The Voodoo Sorcerer Baze's tone was firm, clearly indicating he had specifically investigated this matter before.
Being in a divine domain and frequently receiving sacrifices—combining these two factors, Su Xiao suddenly thought, why go looking for the Soul Death God's whereabouts? Wouldn't it be better to lure him out? Then they could set a trap to reduce the difficulty of killing the Soul Death God. No, better yet, just have the three of them gang up on the Soul Death God alone.
"Bai Ye, you mean to lure the Soul Death God out with sacrifices? That... probably won't work. That deity is very vigilant about such things. There was once a tribe that tried to use the entire tribe's strength to kill him, but the sacrifice ritual couldn't even attract the Death God."
Hearing this, Baha beside him revealed a mischievous smile and said, "Priest, rest assured, we're professionals in this area."
"Is this plan really feasible?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. In his view, this plan had at most a sixty percent success rate. He could set up the sacrifice ritual, and with the enhancement of [Dark Writhing (Abyss Ritual Item)], the ritual would be particularly tempting. The problem was, it still wasn't stable enough.
If Su Xiao's ritual technique + Dark Writhing + Goblin Jump were combined, then it would be stable. Thinking of this, Su Xiao took out a Soul Coin and made as if to flick it away. But considering the distance, one coin might not be enough force. He simply took out a bag of Soul Coins and tossed them onto the table.
"My dear friend, throwing things around is not a good habit."
Kaisa's sudden appearance without any warning made both the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze and the priest grow alert. After understanding the current situation, Kaisa's eyes gleamed with a thief's light. Goblin Jump was his specialty; he had even practiced it before.
After discussion, the four of them felt that the combination of ritual setup + Dark Writhing + Goblin Jump still wasn't stable enough. It would be best to create a sacrifice that the Soul Death God couldn't resist.
In the end, it was decided that each of the four would contribute one precious material, and then Su Xiao would concoct them. Su Xiao naturally accepted this proposal. He took out a bottle of [Fallen Blood]. Seeing this, the priest diagonally across from him produced a sealed bottle. Opening it, it was filled with pure divine blood. This divine blood was so pure it was almost unbelievable. As for its origin, no explanation was needed.
The Voodoo Sorcerer Baze hesitated for a moment, then reached behind him and took out a clay pot. From inside, he pulled out a semi-transparent tentacle. Judging by the fluctuations, it should be part of some very powerful Abyss Spawn.
Finally, only Kaisa remained. Taking things was his specialty, but giving things out made him so uncomfortable he was scratching his ears and cheeks. In the end, he took out a small jar of high-purity Abyss energy.
Su Xiao looked at the four materials before him and felt at a loss for where to start. Mixing these materials together to concoct something—how could the result possibly be beneficial? But Kaisa patted his chest and guaranteed that as long as the concocted item was of high enough grade, it would work.
This was the core characteristic of Kaisa's ability. Kaisa couldn't disguise a stone as gold—that would be changing the value, not the characteristic. But Kaisa could disguise a cup of origin-level poison as a cup of origin-level nectar—the grade remained the same, but the displayed characteristic changed.
For example, now, as long as Su Xiao concocted something of high enough grade, after the sacrifice ritual began, Kaisa could disguise it as liquid [Soul Source Matter] of astonishingly high quality.
Su Xiao took out various tools and began concocting. A few hours later, he looked at the dark red liquid churning inside the concoction container. He estimated that if someone absorbed this stuff, they'd either die or be half-dead. But this thing wasn't meant to be absorbed; it was only for disguise.
Su Xiao picked up a small jar of high-purity Abyss energy. This was the final step—to use this to extremely enhance the concoction to a higher quality. After pouring the Abyss energy into it, the liquid in the container quickly turned pure black.
After it cooled, Kaisa stepped forward to inspect it and nodded with satisfaction.
"Is there any ruins or ancient ruins around here?"
Kaisa tucked away the sealed bottle. Hearing this question, the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze thought for a few seconds and came up with a suitable place.
Two hours later, in a stretch of ruins. Scattered here and there were half-collapsed stone houses, looking like the remnants of a settlement after some tribe had declined. At the innermost part stood a towering rock temple.
Bubu Wang ran into the open-air temple, looked around, and began setting up the place. In about an hour, it became completely enclosed, with strange array diagrams on the ground. Candles were placed around the ritual array.
All kinds of large and small sinister items were placed around the ritual array. When everything was ready, Xianlulu, witnessing all this, was stunned. Her thought was, how many times had they done this to be so skilled?
[Dark Writhing (Abyss Ritual Item)] activated. In an instant, the area around the ritual array turned pitch black, with only faint candlelight visible. Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Baha, Xianlulu, the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze, and the priest all hid in the surrounding darkness, leaving only Kaisa on the ritual array as the center of attention.
Kaisa took out the Abyssal Jar and put it over his head. This made the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze's old face twitch. Originally, when Su Xiao suddenly brought in Kaisa, the old priest was slightly dissatisfied, since he didn't know who Kaisa was or what Kaisa could do. But after witnessing this scene, the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze had no objections to Kaisa joining.
He had lived for over two hundred years. Although he had seen Original Sin Objects with his own eyes, he had never seen anyone put an Original Sin Object over their head. This behavior exceeded the understanding of this ninth-rank top-tier powerhouse.
The surroundings were pitch black, with only a faint light on the ritual array. After merging with the jar, Kaisa took out the [Deceiver's Headwrap] and put it over the Abyssal Jar.
Then Kaisa began dancing wildly, performing some unknown ritual. After a few minutes, his appearance gradually changed, becoming a devout follower draped in a black robe. He held a ritual vessel in both hands, filled with liquid [Soul Source Matter].
Eerie and mysterious whispers drifted through the air. In this atmosphere, a spatial vortex suddenly appeared. Then, a voice speaking the language of the gods came through.
"My devout follower, I answer your call and come."
Pale, withered arms reached out from the several-meter-high spatial vortex. Several hands reached toward the ritual vessel filled with [Soul Source Matter]. Although they tried to suppress it, those hands trembled slightly with excitement.
In the darkness, Su Xiao frowned. He felt that the aura of the deity being lured was wrong—there wasn't a strong soul fluctuation.
When the oval-shaped giant head emerged from the spatial vortex, Su Xiao confirmed that this was definitely not the Soul Death God, but some unknown demigod.
Kaisa also noticed this and was so angry he almost blew his nose off. He had been busy for so long, sweating buckets, only to lure in some weakling demigod from who knows where.
Baha emerged slightly from the darkness, took a deep breath, and roared with full force: "Scram!!"
Hearing this full-throated shout, the demigod was stunned for a moment, then a fierce look appeared in its eyes. But the next second, the darkness behind Baha receded a bit, revealing the half-hidden figures of Su Xiao, the priest, and Baze. A pair of eyes glowing red and a pair of eyes glowing dark green were both fixed on the demigod at the center of the array. Even more terrifying was that in the darkness, there seemed to be an invisible giant mouth that had devoured who knows how many deities, gradually baring its fangs.
Seeing this scene, the fierce look in the demigod's eyes vanished instantly. Its gaze became exceptionally clear, and it slowly retreated toward the spatial vortex. But the next moment, the invisible giant mouth that shot out from the darkness bit it and, like pulling a worm out of a dead tree stump, dragged it out of the spatial vortex, leaving a trail of slime along the way.
After a burst of hurried chewing and screams, the darkness fell silent. Kaisa at the center of the array wiped the hot sweat from his forehead and continued preparing for the Goblin Jump.
Unfortunately, after Kaisa worked for another ten-plus minutes, he lured in another exotic beast that was half-fused with a divine creature. This time, the priest acted directly.
A ridiculous scene unfolded. First a demigod, then a half-beast deity, followed by a hybrid divine creature, and finally an aberrant creature that had devoured divine blood—one after another, they were lured in. The Soul Death God wasn't attracted, but the priest's invisible giant mouth ate until it was half-full.
Kaisa, sweating all over his forehead, sat down on the array. It wasn't that the direction of the sacrifice's lure was wrong, but that Wind Sea Continent, this Transcendent Primordial World, had too many monsters and freaks.
Just as Kaisa was about to make one last attempt, and if it failed again, he would rest for a while, a spatial vortex over ten meters tall appeared ahead.
Gray-white cold mist spread out from within. Bone hands reached out from around the spatial vortex, like rivets locking onto its edges, making the entire spatial vortex look like a gate of death. Especially the row of skulls at the top, giving the impression that this was a passage to the underworld.
A figure over ten meters tall, draped in a black robe, stood within the spatial vortex. The edges of the black robe were embroidered with gold threads, clearly not ordinary. Under the loose hood was thick darkness and five eyes emitting soul-blue-white light. The Soul Death God had arrived.
Inside the spatial vortex, the Soul Death God extended a hand that seemed to be only bones but was actually covered in soul-flesh skin. Using that massive hand, it lifted the ritual vessel with one hand and spoke in soul-language: "You are devout."
After saying this, the Soul Death God was about to lift the ritual vessel into the spatial vortex. This showed how cautious the Soul Death God was—it never left the spatial vortex the entire time. Unlike those demigods, who almost couldn't help pouncing out when they saw so much [Soul Source Matter].
Just as the Soul Death God was about to lift the ritual vessel into the spatial vortex, the vessel burst with a pop. The [Soul Source Matter] scattered everywhere. Almost simultaneously, the spatial vortex twisted under Baha's interference.
In the darkness outside the ritual array, Su Xiao slightly crouched to gather power. The advantage of the straight kick was perfectly demonstrated at this moment—the enemy couldn't sense him charging up an ability because there was no energy fluctuation.
A crystal layer climbed up Su Xiao's right calf, and Cyan Steel Shadow energy attached to it. But that wasn't all. A strand of ancient god characteristic energy also climbed onto it—this was one of the priest's trump cards. Almost simultaneously, a dark green voodoo energy also climbed onto the crystal layer of his right calf.
Su Xiao disappeared from his spot using the Dragon Shadow Flash ability. This action caused the disguise of [Dark Writhing (Abyss Ritual Item)] to fail. Everything around him burst like bubbles, returning to the original appearance of the rock temple.
But at the same time, Su Xiao had already ambushed in front of the Soul Death God and delivered a straight kick.
Crack!
A layer of soul shield wall shattered with a sound. This kick from Su Xiao contained not only all the power of his Melee Grandmaster Lv.74 but also the Cyan Steel Shadow ability, along with various passive-type buffs, plus the priest's trump card and the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze's strongest voodoo ability.
Boom!!!
Xianlulu, hanging on Su Xiao, had her ears ringing and her vision turning white. She wasn't hit by the attack, just shaken by the sound waves caused by this straight kick. The dangerous part was that Xianlulu's health had dropped by a large chunk from the shock.
The moment it took this straight kick, the pupils in the Soul Death God's five eyes twisted. The spatial vortex it was in exploded, the surrounding space shattering like glass. A large mouthful of black blood sprayed out from the various air holes in its faceplate's mouth area.
After taking this straight kick head-on, the Soul Death God flew backward in a straight line. Before it could crash through the wall, Baha, who had been waiting there, spread its wings and opened an alternate space passage.
Crack!
The Soul Death God almost shattered the alternate space passage directly. Baha was so strained that its feathers were standing on end as it barely maintained the alternate space passage without breaking, allowing the Soul Death God to plunge into it and reach the alternate space Baha had chosen.
Su Xiao, the priest, and the Voodoo Sorcerer Baze all charged into the alternate space together. Inside the alternate space, the Soul Death God had just stood up. Judging by its slightly staggering steps, this straight kick had hit it hard. More than that, from the Soul Death God's dazed gaze, it was clear how much the Goblin Jump had impacted its psyche. This deity, which had existed for several thousand years, truly had never experienced anything like today.