Chapter 39: The Demands

Chapter 39: The Demands

Inside a barbecue restaurant on Sixth District's pedestrian street in the main city of Eternal Ring City.
The meat sizzled, a drop of hot oil oozed out, slowly sliding down the plump, textured meat, finally dripping into the charcoal fire with a hiss, sending up fragrant, smoky fumes.
At a small table, Su Xiao sat opposite High Commander Kane. Since it was already ten in the evening, the barbecue place had only this one table of customers left. The boss's daughter-in-law behind the kitchen curtain yawned, secretly hoping the last guests would leave soon so she could end this busy yet fulfilling day.
Their glasses clinked. High Commander Kane took a hearty gulp of Elemental Brew. With such fine wine, paired with this barbecue featured in the "Ten Thousand World Food Guide," the exquisite taste was easy to imagine.
"I've lived in Eternal Ring City for so many years and never knew there was a little place like this in the Sixth District. I've missed out on quite a treat."
Kane, already slightly tipsy, spoke with a smile. After another bite of the barbecue, he downed half a glass of wine. Ever since he got older, his wife hadn't let him drink much. With Su Xiao inviting him out this time and such excellent wine available, he naturally wanted to indulge.
Setting down his glass, Kane's smile gradually faded. He spoke solemnly, "Bai Ye, this time, the problem is serious."
"How serious?"
Su Xiao's expression remained calm as he slowly chewed the meat. Seeing this, Kane sighed and said, "The Wolf God breaking free is indeed the Dark God Cult's fault, but I'm afraid the seven major families will latch onto the fact that your Winter Legion attacked Floating Light Island."
Kane's words held some truth. Given the situation among the beast clans, Su Xiao's provision of the fungal carpet had allowed the aging Beast King, whose authority had been shaken by his decrepitude, to regain some of his former glory. While it wasn't as strong as in the Beast King's prime, the seven major families had now quieted down for the time being.
The seven families had long coveted the throne. They hadn't dared to show any ambition until the Beast King grew too old to fight. Only when he reached his current state of decline did they dare to test the waters.
After waiting and hoping for so long, they finally saw the Beast King weakened to this point. But then came a Law Destroyer who could create legions and had allied with the Beast King, restoring some of the former luster to the aging ruler's diminished authority.
It was easy to imagine how much the seven families hated Su Xiao. Now that they finally had some leverage, they naturally wouldn't let it go. However, given their current positions, it was mostly just mutual annoyance. Truly bringing each other down was nearly impossible.
"Bai Ye, before I came, the King told me that in all the worlds, only the Moon Wolves and the Law Destroyers can eliminate Abyss Spawn with indestructible traits. Since the Moon Wolves are gone, only the Law Destroyers can do this."
"Impossible. Before I get a chance to kill the Wolf God, it would kill me many times over."
Su Xiao never considered himself a match for the Wolf God, Sean. He had fought a Moon Wolf corrupted by the Abyss before and won for only one reason: that Moon Wolf, though dying, had been constantly resisting the Abyss's influence. In other words, the Moon Wolf he fought, Xidi, had not only received no boost from the Abyss but had actually been greatly weakened by its constant resistance.
The current Wolf God, Sean, was a different case. This was a Moon Wolf completely eroded by the Abyss, with an indestructible trait. Conservatively estimated, its strength was at the "Absolute Strong" level, and in the upper echelon of that rank.
Su Xiao could indeed eliminate indestructible Abyss creatures, but the problem was that he only had one ability to do so: "Demon Spirit Awakening."
"Demon Spirit Awakening: Fully awaken the Blade Demon Spirit within Dragon-Slaying Flash. For the subsequent 30 seconds, the Blade Demon Spirit will enter a 'Rampant Devouring State.' During this time, if it attacks an indestructible Abyss Spawn with less than 10% health, the Blade Demon Spirit will devour the spawn's primordial power, sealing it within Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Tip: After completing the devouring and sealing, the Blade Demon Spirit will begin to consume the sealed 'indestructible Abyss Spawn's' primordial power until fully digested. The absorbed primordial power during this time will be used to permanently increase the maximum achievable quality of Dragon-Slaying Flash and the strength of the Blade Demon Spirit.
Tip: The devouring and digestion time is generally 3 to 10 days (specific time depends on the strength of the indestructible Abyss Spawn and the Blade Demon Spirit). During this period, the Demon Blade ability of Dragon-Slaying Flash will be temporarily unavailable."
In other words, for Su Xiao to kill the Wolf God, Sean, with the "Rampant Devouring State" Demon Blade, he would first need to reduce the opponent's health to below 10% to have a chance.
Su Xiao was never arrogant enough to think he could challenge an "Absolute Strong" with peak ninth-rank combat power. To put it bluntly, unless the opponent was extremely old or severely injured to the point of death, even the weakest Absolute Strong could kill the strongest ninth-rank.
Going from ninth-rank to "Absolute Strong" was completely different from advancing from eighth-rank to ninth-rank. Advancing from eighth to ninth was a recognition and affirmation of combat power improvement; this process didn't actually increase combat power.
But advancing from ninth to "Absolute Strong" genuinely boosted combat power. Even without using "Primordial Fragments" to achieve this, there was a huge improvement, though using "Primordial Fragments" brought an even more exaggerated increase.
Therefore, Su Xiao would never consider challenging the Wolf God, Sean, alone. However, if it were a team effort, and the team included two or more Absolute Strong fighters of similar strength to the Wolf God, then it might be worth considering.
As for dying from the area-of-effect attacks of an Absolute Strong battle, Su Xiao wasn't worried about that. He had 720,000 health points. At the last Empty Seat Banquet, he had specifically asked the Tuanzhang about matters related to Absolute Strong fighters, including whether they all had around 700,000 to 800,000 health.
At the time, the Tuanzhang had looked at Su Xiao with a skeptical expression, thought for a moment, and then said with a smile, "You can understand it that way, I suppose. Better to be safe."
From the Tuanzhang's words, it was clear that 700,000 to 800,000 health points, while not exceptionally high among Absolute Strong fighters, was certainly not in the range of being easily one-shot.
Furthermore, if he participated in the team to eliminate the Wolf God, Sean, the kill reward would definitely be Su Xiao's. Only his Demon Blade ability had the potential to kill the Wolf God. Anyone who tried to steal the kill would only cause a team wipe.
Moreover, with the Wolf God, Sean, on Floating Light Island, Su Xiao couldn't reach the Wolf Grave. Speaking of which, Floating Light Island had a deep connection with the Moon Wolves. One Moon Wolf was sealed there, and another was buried there. This had been confirmed by High Commander Kane: there were indeed two Moon Wolves.
The Wolf God corrupted by Abyssal energy had come to this world when it was first invaded by the Abyss. At that time, Sean, the Silver Moon Wolf, had not yet been crowned the Wolf God. During the beast and sea clans' greatest crisis, Sean held off that wave of Abyssal invasion. As a result, he could no longer suppress the accumulated Abyss and darkness within him and was corrupted by the Abyss.
In the final moments, with no other choice, the beast and sea clans, with Sean's consent before he lost consciousness, sealed him away. After that, both clans respectfully called him the Wolf God.
Years later, the seal was accidentally damaged. Fortunately, at that time, the Wind Sea Continent had the Supreme Strong, Spider Lady, who resealed the Wolf God.
Many years later, during the chaotic war between the Law Destroyers and the Spellcasters, a critically injured Moon Wolf came to the Wind Sea Continent. Despite the beast and sea clans' full efforts to save it, it eventually died there and was buried on Floating Light Island.
Because of this, the world had two Wolf Swords. One was the Wolf God, Sean's, early sword, currently stuck in the backrest of the Sea King's throne.
There was another greatsword, forged by the Dwarf King for the Wolf God, Sean. It was the Moonlight Greatsword Sean used when fighting the Abyss in this world. It was sealed along with the Wolf God, Sean, and it was because of this sword that Sean could be sealed.
As for the second Wolf Sword, it belonged to the Silver Moon Wolf that came to this world later and was stuck in front of the tombstone at the Wolf Grave.
The reason Su Xiao wanted to go to the Wolf Grave was not just to pay respects to the Law Destroyer's former blood oath ally. By offering fresh meat before the Wolf Grave, the [Silver Moon Blade] could grow once. Currently, the [Silver Moon Blade] had reached the second tier of Overlord equipment. One more growth would bring it to the first tier, the level of top-tier Overlord equipment.
Of course, Su Xiao had another option: wait until the beast or sea clans resealed the Wolf God, Sean, and then go to Floating Light Island. This was safer but offered lower rewards.
In reality, everything hinged on one premise: what kind of danger would the Wolf God's breakout bring?
From a piece of information revealed by High Commander Kane, Su Xiao assessed the severity of the situation. The beast and sea clans on the main battlefield were preparing for a temporary truce, both withdrawing to their fortress cities to establish defensive lines.
The reason was that when the Wolf God, Sean, was sealed, an Abyss Hole had appeared within the seal. This hole continuously spewed out Abyssal energy. If it wasn't sealed quickly, it would soon turn into an Abyss Passage.
More critically, the Wolf God, Sean, was in the sealing hall where the Abyss Passage was located. To close the Abyss Passage, they had to get past the Wolf God. The problem was that fighting the Wolf God in such dense Abyssal energy made victory highly unlikely.
Currently, the Abyssal energy was only spreading across Floating Light Island and the surrounding sea. Once the Abyss Passage formed, the gushing Abyssal energy, if unchecked, would engulf most of the Wind Sea Continent within days.
The beast and sea clans had successfully resisted the Abyss's invasion before, but no force could claim a 100% chance of withstanding it, especially the intensity of an invasion corresponding to a Transcendent Primordial World.
Why did Arcane Eternal Star cooperate with the sea clan? Only for elemental artifacts, trying to increase the total natural elements in the void and thus slow the frequency of Abyss Passages appearing. Ultimately, Arcane Eternal Star also didn't want to face the Abyss's invasion directly.
The current problem on the Wind Sea Continent was that if the Wolf God couldn't be sealed or defeated quickly, the Abyss's invasion was inevitable, and time was running out. The Abyss Hole was gradually expanding into an Abyss Passage, taking anywhere from a few days to half a month.
This was why the beast and sea clans had temporarily ceased hostilities. Both the Beast King and the Sea King agreed that the priority was to resolve the Abyssal invasion caused by the Wolf God's breakout.
Using beast or sea clan legions to solve the current problem was impossible. Given the concentration of Abyssal energy on Floating Light Island, any beast or sea clan soldier approaching the surrounding waters would lose their mind to the Abyssal energy. Against the Abyss, a human wave tactic was useless.
How to solve this? The method was simple: before the Abyssal energy concentration in the sealing hall reached a certain level, form a team of strong individuals, penetrate the center of Floating Light Island, defeat the Wolf God, and then close the Abyss Hole.
It sounded simple, but the actual operation was extremely dangerous. Worse, not all strong individuals had high Abyss resistance. This wasn't the era when the Wind Sea Continent had just resisted the Abyss's invasion. The current beast and sea clans no longer had high Abyss resistance.
In other words, being powerful alone wasn't enough to qualify. One needed both strength and sufficient Abyss resistance.
"Bai Ye, you might need to go to Floating Light Island. If you need anything, just tell me. I'll make sure it's provided."
"No need."
Hearing this, High Commander Kane was taken aback, then said, "There's no need to be polite."
"I'm not being polite. If I need anything, I'll demand it from the sea clan. Even with a temporary truce, they're still the enemy faction."
"Just as the King said, Law Destroyers don't have a habit of taking advantage of allies."
With these words, High Commander Kane stood up to leave. Before going, he took the half-empty bottle of Elemental Brew, apparently considering it a rare and fine vintage.
Leaving the barbecue restaurant, Su Xiao leaped onto the roof in a few bounds, then jumped. The Storm Flame Dragon flew over, carrying him on its back. After reaching a certain height, it broke through layers of airbursts with a roar, flying towards Floating Light Island.
On the dragon's back, Su Xiao took out a communicator to contact Kaisa. Some plans needed to be changed.
Early the next morning, over the sea near Floating Light Island, the sky was dim. On Floating Light Island, black mist and thin, pale green soul embers drifted, a scene of darkness and decay.
Within the spreading black mist, it seemed there were thousands of malicious eyes. At the very center of Floating Light Island, a great hall had risen from underground, standing amidst the spreading black mist. For some reason, seeing this sealing hall, Su Xiao felt an inexplicable throb. It was a throb from the Azure Steel Shadow energy, as if an unfamiliar old friend was inside that sealing hall, like a proud warrior alone within it.
Behind the sealing hall, there seemed to be a backyard not submerged by the black mist. The ground there still had flowers and grass, with warm tones and a faint blue moonlight. If he guessed correctly, that was the Wolf Grave.
Around the Wolf Grave were twisted and dense dark structures, blocking all paths leading there. Flying in from above was even more impossible. The concentration of Abyssal energy there would instantly corrupt the minds of most living beings.
Only by passing through the sealing hall could one safely reach the Wolf Grave behind it. Discovering this, Su Xiao abandoned the plan to sneak onto Floating Light Island. After having the Storm Flame Dragon fly farther away, he took out a Soul Crystal Core engraved with formations and crushed it.
With a boom, a one-time Demon Teleportation Array appeared out of thin air, enveloping Su Xiao and the Storm Flame Dragon. This type of one-time teleportation array was convenient to use but very expensive.
When the spatial fluctuations dissipated, a cold wind blew. Su Xiao had returned to the backyard of the Lord's Manor in Winter Twilight City. Now, he just had to wait for the sea clan to send someone to find him.
He would still be cooperating with the beast clan later. Demanding a high reward at this point would seem like taking advantage of their misfortune. On the other hand, the sea clan was the enemy. Even with a temporary truce to fight the Wolf God, once the Wolf God was defeated, they would be enemies again. In such a situation, he would definitely bleed the sea clan dry.
The reason Su Xiao was sure the sea clan would come to him wasn't for anything else. The sea clan's high-ranking members likely knew that the Demon Blade could kill indestructible Abyss Spawn. Even if they didn't, High Commander Kane would find a way to let them know.
Regardless, Floating Light Island was the sea clan's territory. Even if the Winter Legion had previously captured Floating Light Island, it was only a temporary occupation. Facing the sea clan's reinforcements, the Winter Legion would eventually withdraw. So now that there was a problem on Floating Light Island, the sea clan was more anxious than the beast clan. The Abyssal energy spreading from there would hit the sea clan first.
As Su Xiao pondered, he walked into the back hall of the castle. As soon as he entered, he saw the Spotted Fox Clan member, Pielu, hurrying over with a beaming smile, saying in a low voice, "My Lord, a sea clan member came to see you. I felt this was unusual, so I arranged for him to stay at the hotel closest to the manor. Should I go inform him that you've returned?"
Pielu was always steady. If it had been Viperser and the others who saw a sea clan member coming, they would have already entertained them in the dungeon.
"Mm, have him come see me."
Su Xiao went up to the second floor and sat down in the inner hall. Before long, a dwarf merman entered the inner hall. Seeing this person, Su Xiao felt he looked familiar. He was sure he had seen him before.
"This sudden visit is out of necessity, Lord. Do you remember me? Back on the main battlefield, you spared my life."
The dwarf adjutant spoke with a warm smile, as if he hadn't nearly died at Su Xiao's hands.
After hearing the dwarf adjutant's words, Su Xiao recalled that it was true. Once, surrounded by a sea clan legion, he had indeed let a sea clan member go. However, he had been wearing the Bloodthirsty Battle Armor at the time, which inevitably affected him, so his memory of it wasn't particularly vivid.
"Lord, our King heard a rumor that a Law Destroyer can kill the indestructible. I won't waste words. Our sea clan deeply respects the Wolf God, but he has been completely consumed by the Abyss. It's time to let him rest. Don't you agree?"
"Yes."
"Then you agree?"
The dwarf adjutant was overjoyed.
"Of course not. Although I am a Law Destroyer, my strength is meager. I am not qualified to deal with the Wolf God."
"?"
The dwarf adjutant's expression gradually became confused. The humanoid monster in front of him, who had single-handedly annihilated a sea clan legion, claiming to have "meager strength" was truly beyond his tolerance. Wasn't this the same person who had killed two Dark God Cult deities on the tribal territory and leveled their main base, the Nether Cathedral?
"Lord Bai Ye, just name your conditions. I will do my utmost to satisfy them."
"Is that so?"
Su Xiao's eyes took on an unusual gleam. The dwarf adjutant across from him instinctively shuddered inside. The "certainly" he had intended to say was unconsciously changed to, "I will do my utmost."
"Alright then. Send me that Wolf Sword on your throne."
"This... that's not good. That sword was gifted to our first Sea King by the Wolf God. It has been stuck in the throne since the founding of Yatuo Ancient City..."
Before the dwarf adjutant could finish, Su Xiao interrupted, "Just borrowing it."
"Please wait a moment. I'll contact our Executor. How many days would you need to borrow it? Could it be damaged? Our sea clan's Absolute Strong, Lord Zakawa, will personally escort the Wolf Sword here. We need your permission for our Absolute Strong to enter Winter Twilight City's territory."
The dwarf adjutant was thorough, asking questions while already contacting the sea clan.
"That's fine. Lord, do you have any other requests?"
"Yes."
"Please, speak."
"This Abyssal artifact of mine needs to devour rare weapons, armor, and such to grow. This artifact can greatly reduce the risk of this trip and increase the chance of defeating the Wolf God."
Hearing this, the dwarf adjutant's smile relaxed a bit. The sea clan was not short of rare weapons and armor.
"Think carefully. I mean, let this Endless Ring devour until it reaches its limit."
Su Xiao took out the Endless Ring. This was why he had contacted Kaisa earlier. As the saying goes, plans change. No one expected the Wolf God on Floating Light Island to break free.
According to the original plan, the [Endless Ring] could at most be raised to a rating of 3500 to 4000. The number of equipment pieces in a single treasury wasn't as high as one might imagine.
Now, it was different. Su Xiao's condition was to let the [Endless Ring] devour until its limit, meaning reaching a rating of 6000.
Given the sea clan's wealth in equipment, after a moment's deliberation, the dwarf adjutant nodded in agreement. But the next second, Su Xiao's words made him freeze.
"Those are my only two conditions."
Hearing this, the dwarf adjutant's smile abruptly stopped. He had been prepared to be bled dry, but this lord only made two requests, which genuinely made him uneasy.
With a particularly anxious heart, the dwarf adjutant left a communicator and departed, using a teleportation array to return to the sea clan's main city, Yatuo Ancient City, to report Su Xiao's two conditions to the Sea King.
In the fifth-floor greenhouse of the castle, Su Xiao sat cross-legged in meditation. Now, he just had to wait for the sea clan's news. Of course, it also depended on the lineup the beast and sea clans sent. If the lineup wasn't strong enough, he naturally wouldn't go to Floating Light Island to die.
Just then, the communicator beside him rang. The dwarf adjutant's voice came through: "Lord Bai Ye, could we perhaps modify the terms we discussed?"
"What is it?"
"This thing you took out, called the [Endless Ring], has already devoured the high-quality weapons and armor from five entire treasuries. From the looks of it, it still hasn't had its fill."
"..."
Su Xiao hung up the communication and resumed his meditation. This was why he had contacted Kaisa to suspend the cooperation regarding the [Endless Ring]. If they continued that plan, the [Endless Ring] could at most devour the equipment from one treasury. Now it had devoured the equivalent of five treasuries' worth, and it still hadn't reached a rating of 6000.
As for the 50,000 Soul Coins he had paid Kaisa earlier, he could entrust Kaisa with another task later. Once Soul Coins were in Kaisa's hands, prying them out was extremely difficult. Fortunately, Kaisa didn't have a habit of defaulting on cooperation.
That afternoon, the dwarf adjutant, with bloodshot eyes, and a tall, muscular giant merman who wasn't wearing armor but exuded a powerful aura, arrived at Winter Twilight City. Exiting the teleportation tower, they headed straight for the Lord's Manor.
In the banquet hall, the silent Absolute Strong, Zakawa, carrying a large sword case, opened it with a click when Su Xiao entered. A well-maintained Wolf Sword with several nicks on the blade was revealed.
Su Xiao grasped the Wolf Sword with one hand. Absolute Strong Zakawa was about to stop him but saw a blue light representing moonlight appear on the sword, only to vanish instantly.
"What a pity. It's dead. Stick it back in the throne."
Su Xiao released the hilt and tapped the mechanism beside the sword case. The case closed. From the feel and precision, this was likely made by the Dwarf King.
Absolute Strong Zakawa stood up and left without a word, unwilling to stay in Winter Twilight City for even a second longer. This wasn't rudeness but rather high emotional intelligence. As an Absolute Strong of the sea clan, staying in a major beast clan city would constantly threaten the city. Leaving immediately after finishing business was the best choice for both sides.
In the banquet hall, the dwarf adjutant placed a wooden box on the table. As the box opened, a black ring, several times larger than a normal ring, was revealed. Black mist spread from the edges of the box, covering the table before flowing down to the floor like reverse incense.
Su Xiao picked up the [Endless Ring]. A feeling of the purest life force hidden within extreme darkness emerged.
[Endless Ring]
Origin: Abyss.
Quality: Abyss Grade.
Type: Enhancement Equipment (Carry on person or place in personal storage space to take effect. Placing it in team storage or other spatial storage devices will negate the bonuses).
Equipment Effect 1: Thriving Life (Core · Passive), while carrying this equipment, Health Points +200 (This equipment provides an additional 20 Health Points per rating point).
Tip: Total increase of 120,000 Health Points!
Equipment Effect 2: Slow Absorption (Core · Passive), can slowly devour equipment or special artifacts. Before completely devouring the equipment, the [Endless Ring] will temporarily gain its characteristics and enhance the temporarily acquired ability based on the [Endless Ring]'s current rating.
Tip: This ability's effect has reached its maximum.
Equipment Detriment: Dark Indulgence (Passive), while carrying this equipment, you will gradually be invaded by the darkness of the Abyss (Due to your Abyss Resistance of 20 points, you can temporarily resist 'Dark Indulgence' for a certain period. If the duration of this equipment's bonus exceeds 24 hours, you will begin to suffer the effects of 'Dark Indulgence').
Tip: An estimated 28 to 30 points of Abyss Resistance can completely resist this detriment.
Rating: 6000 points (Abyss Grade equipment rating is 1 to 6000 points).
Description: Darkness is always silent. Silence breeds sedimentation. Sedimentation brings decay. Decay transforms into nutrients. Nutrients nourish life. At the very center of darkness, the purest and most robust life source matter is nurtured.
Selling Price: Cannot be sold after activation.
...
Su Xiao held the [Endless Ring] in his hand. He felt his life force rapidly strengthening, increasing by about one-sixth before settling.
Su Xiao was very satisfied with the effect of the [Endless Ring]. Besides this, there was another matter: the team of strong individuals to enter the center of Floating Light Island and fight the Wolf God in the sealing hall had already been selected. Besides Su Xiao, there were four other members.
Sorry, I overslept and just finished writing the update. It's been a long time since I slept for nine hours.