Chapter 34: Harvest
The spatial mirror within the rock temple vanished. Seeing this, Su Xiao, Shenfu, Voodoo Sorcerer Baze, and Kaisa all remained silent, but everyone present knew this cooperation wouldn't end here. The Dark God Cult still had two gods. Since enmity had been established, the follow-up had to be resolved to prevent the Lust God and Snake God from retaliating.
Although, in reality, there was over a 90% chance the Lust God and Snake God wouldn't seek revenge, in the minds of the four good teammates, they had already been defaulted as vengeful deities holding grudges. Faced with such vengeful gods, even without applying the Law-Destruction formula, they had to be slain.
"In matters like this, we still lack experience."
Shenfu sighed with slight regret. Hearing this, Voodoo Sorcerer Baze looked puzzled, then realized what was meant. Indeed, if after defeating the Soul Death God earlier, everyone present had feigned severe injury or near-death state, the Lust God and Snake God would likely have charged over with their subordinates at top speed.
This would not only save time searching for those two gods but also allow traps to be set within this rock temple, waiting for the enemy to step into them willingly.
The lingering soul aura around them completely dissipated. Just then, Su Xiao sensed that his nine-star title [God Hunter] seemed to have seized something.
「God Hunter Title · Title Effect 3: Hunt and Seize (Passive) — Upon killing a divine unit, seize its 'Divine Soul.'」
To be precise, "Divine Soul" was somewhat similar to a divine seat or divine core. Only by possessing the corresponding Divine Soul could one master the divine abilities accompanying it.
This was less apparent for combat-type gods, but for Divine Souls like Luck, Fate, or Life, their accompanying divine abilities were the core abilities of the corresponding deity.
When dealing with divine enemies this time, Su Xiao naturally equipped the [God Hunter] title, especially given its powerful bonus: "When fighting divine units, deal an additional 15% to 30% true damage."
It seemed the fairly durable Soul Death God couldn't withstand Su Xiao's two combo sets, largely due to the high true damage sustained.
Su Xiao held the floating treasure chest with one hand. Although he was teamed with Shenfu, he had full ownership of this chest. This was both because he dealt massive damage to the Soul Death God and because, in the distribution of spoils, Shenfu had chosen to favor Soul Coins and World Sources.
The moment Su Xiao touched this [Origin-Level Chest · Soul Death God], a burning pain appeared in his eyes—it was his mastered "Soul Gaze" ability stirring.
[Prompt: Detected that you have completed the Soul Trial.]
[Because this skill scroll was originally under notarization, while exempting the Soul Death God from extracting your Soul Source, it also reduced the benefits of the Soul Trial to a certain extent.]
[Detected that you did not complete this trial through the method of "breaking free," but by slaying the Soul Death God. The benefits of this trial will be greatly increased.]
[Due to the incomplete prerequisites of this trial, you must submit the obtained "Origin-Level Chest · Soul Death God" as the notarized item for this trial, and permanently lose the "Soul Gaze" ability, to complete this trial and receive the corresponding rewards.]
[Prompt: Detected that the Soul Death God has been slain at this stage. Before this "Divine Soul" finds a new suitable host and the new Soul Death God's comprehensive combat power reaches the Ninth Rank, some characteristics of your current Soul Gaze skill will be reduced, such as the inability to perform Soul Execution on enemies (as there is currently no Soul Death God).]
...
There was quite a bit of prompt content. First, regarding the "Soul Gaze" skill scroll, it was originally obtained by Tuanzhang, who then had Gulu sell it to Su Xiao at a low price on Trade Street.
This seemed like a hidden trap, but it wasn't. This was a skill scroll notarized by Reincarnation Paradise. After mastering the Soul Gaze ability, the Soul Death God couldn't activate its side effects—namely, extracting Su Xiao's Soul Source. It was essentially freeloading off the Soul Death God's trap.
Throughout the battle with the Soul Death God, Su Xiao wasn't affected by it due to the Soul Gaze ability. He had been somewhat puzzled by this, but now it seemed that Tuanzhang had notarized the Soul Gaze skill scroll through Reincarnation Paradise. Under Reincarnation Paradise's notarization, the Soul Death God's setup was insignificant.
As for the "Soul Trial," Su Xiao estimated that mastering "Soul Gaze" meant automatically accepting this trial. However, unlike normal trial-takers targeted by the Soul Death God, he was completely exempt from its influence throughout.
This was why he needed to pay the extra [Origin-Level Chest · Soul Death God] to complete the trial with a low evaluation.
Generally, completing a trial with a low evaluation was a loss, especially when paying the [Origin-Level Chest · Soul Death God] and permanently losing the "Soul Gaze" ability.
The problem was that Su Xiao didn't complete the trial by "breaking free" from the Soul Death God's bindings; he directly killed the Soul Death God. This raised the trial evaluation, which was nearly at E-rank, to SS to SSS-rank.
With that in mind, this trial was worth completing, especially since after the Soul Death God was destroyed, the execution effect of the "Soul Gaze" ability was lost. This was reasonable—every time this ability triggered, it was actually the Soul Death God executing and harvesting the enemy's soul.
As Su Xiao made his choice, the chest in his hand gradually disappeared. Instead, he felt a slight soreness in his eyes as a stored ability was stripped away. This brought no discomfort but rather a refreshing sensation of removing a foreign object.
This was because the Soul Gaze ability wasn't entirely his own. If Su Xiao were of another system, he wouldn't feel this so clearly, but as a Technique-type, his many abilities formed a cohesive whole centered on his own physique.
As for the "Goddess's Favor" ability within it, this was indeed based on the "Luck Divine Soul" of the Goddess of Fortune. However, Su Xiao carried the Law-Destruction fortune, so this ability, aside from increasing his Luck Attribute, had no effect on fortune whatsoever. That's why he couldn't feel this ability at all.
With "Soul Gaze" permanently stripped, a prompt appeared.
[Prompt: Soul Trial reward being determined...]
[Because you successfully slew the Soul Death God, the rewards for this trial are greatly increased. You may choose one of the following abilities as the reward for this Soul Trial.]