# Chapter 5: Dawn Fragment (Dawn Paradise External Defense Fragment, High Judgment Value, No Practical Use Value, Precious, High-Priced, But Useless Souvenir)
...
Originally, Su Xiao planned to have Molei open this treasure chest and the [Abyss Treasure Chest], but the maximum upper limit of their gains was truly too high. With the slightest misstep, Su Xiao's luck could plummet to the "Catastrophe Level."
This led Su Xiao to conclude that having Molei help open treasure chests was indeed the most profitable method, but there was also such a thing as too much of a good thing.
After discussing the general cooperation, Molei and her two companions found that the aspects they were responsible for were much safer than expected, so they naturally agreed to the cooperation. However, when the contact person arrived, the three of them gradually put on pained expressions. That's right, it was Kaiser.
Previously, Su Xiao had commissioned Kaiser to help upgrade the [Endless Ring], but plans changed. Later, the Wolf God broke free from its seal, giving Su Xiao a better way to upgrade the [Endless Ring]. The problem was that he had already paid Kaiser, and Kaiser had no habit of refunding money.
Those tens of thousands of Soul Coins would serve as this time's payment. Kaiser naturally agreed to this—as long as there was no mention of refunds, everything else was negotiable.
Currently, Kaiser was leading Molei and Moon Apostle as they infiltrated the Sea Clan's main city. Hao Mei didn't need to infiltrate; she was currently the person with the highest amount of faction reputation gained in the Sea Clan faction, except she had chosen to remain anonymous.
In truth, it wasn't that Hao Mei was particularly low-key, but rather that she had too much existing faction reputation. It was three digits higher than the second-place Death Paradise Ranger Four Brothers. This left the Ranger Four Brothers completely baffled. The combined reputation of all four of them couldn't surpass the anonymous top-ranked person. However, what comforted the Ranger Four Brothers was that this top-ranked big shot seemed to be saving up money and hadn't gone crazy exchanging at the faction shop.
Hao Mei wasn't saving money; she simply couldn't spend it. She knew very well how she had obtained this reputation. For example, right now, she was completing a task whose danger rating had extended beyond the edge of the task list. This task was named "Capture the Enemy Grand Commander and Winter Lord, Kukulin Bai Ye, Alive."
That's right, Su Xiao was now one of the two Grand Commanders of the Beast Clan. There were many reasons for this. First, he represented the Beast Clan this time at Mingguang Island. The Beast Clan had suffered losses on the front lines and didn't have abundant resources. Rather than taking out a large amount of resources to reward Su Xiao, it was better to give him a sufficiently high position without real power.
Kane had been the sole Grand Commander for so many years. The authority that should have been divided between two Grand Commanders was basically all in his hands. This was also why the Beast King felt comfortable bestowing the Grand Commander position on Su Xiao.
Furthermore, Su Xiao was the exclusive provider of the fungal carpet. No other party could replicate it even if they tried.
Not only that, but Su Xiao now had 10 Beast Clan legions, and his subordinate Eugin was skilled in warfare. They were also preparing to attack the "Crystal Forest" soon. If they captured it, the wealth of the Winter Territory would immediately skyrocket several levels.
Now, the Beast King and Kane both regretted it somewhat but had no solution. They somewhat regretted elevating Su Xiao to the Lord position. What was even more uncomfortable was that the Seven Great Families were watching covetously, and the Beast King and Kane couldn't do without this increasingly dangerous Winter Lord.
The benefit of pushing Su Xiao to the Grand Commander position was that once his subordinate Eugin captured the "Crystal Forest" and the Winter Territory began producing "Crystal Resin," the Beast King's attitude would become: "White Night, look, the Beast Clan is currently short on 'Crystal Resin.' As the Beast Clan's Grand Commander, shouldn't you contribute?"
This was the Beast King's cunning strategy. This one wasn't just powerful as a War King; he also understood authority management clearly. By offering a high position without real power, he achieved three goals at once.
As for refusing the Grand Commander position, that was even more impossible. Su Xiao was a Hunter of the Paradise faction. He wasn't obsessed with power, but he needed the benefits derived from a high status. Refusing would be a huge loss.
When Hao Mei successfully completed the terrifyingly dangerous task of "Capture the Enemy Grand Commander and Winter Lord, Kukulin Bai Ye, Alive," she was calm, having experienced this several times before. Molei, however, was shocked by the sight, feeling that she had seen similar operations before in the World of Paintings.
After Kaiser had lunch and ate until his neck was full, he left satisfied. The two parties had agreed to assassinate the Sea King the day after tomorrow.
If not mistaken, the internal conflicts within the Sea Clan were actually quite significant. The Sea King, the Sea God Church, and the Council of Elders were outwardly united but inwardly divided. Although the current Sea King was in his prime, the Sea God Church and Council of Elders each had their own candidates back then. It was precisely because of their disagreement that the current Sea King had his opportunity.
Even so, after the Sea King ascended, his authority was never very stable. This could be seen from when Su Xiao was previously schemed against by the Sea Clan and teleported to the main battlefield, surrounded by a Sea Clan legion.
Back then, that Sea Clan legion was commanded by a Sea Clan commander, a dwarf adjutant, and a deep-sea siren. Although the Sea Clan commander seemed to have the highest status, the other two weren't low either.
Among these three, the Sea Clan commander was from the Sea King's faction, the dwarf adjutant had a background in the Sea God Church, and the deep-sea siren came from the Council of Elders.
The alliance with Arcane Eternal Star was led by the Sea King. This was clearly an attempt to stabilize the main battlefield situation first, push back the Beast Clan, and while the Beast Clan licked their wounds, deal with the Sea God Church and Council of Elders.
The current problem for the Sea Clan was that after Arcane Eternal Star entered the scene, the main battlefield situation indeed reversed, making the Sea Clan the side with a great advantage. But getting rid of this hegemon faction wouldn't be so simple.
This was also why Su Xiao chose to assassinate the Sea King. He could be certain that the assassination methods he had set up wouldn't kill the Sea King, but that wasn't important. At this stage, if the Sea King was assassinated, especially within the Sea Clan's main city, the first suspects would definitely be the Council of Elders and the Sea God Church.
However, Su Xiao didn't plan to frame the Council of Elders and Sea God Church for this. He could find a better scapegoat—the Dark God Cult. From the outside perspective, the Dark God Cult had just released the Wolf God. After the Wolf God's eternal slumber, the Beast Clan and Sea Clan would inevitably deal with the Dark God Cult.
At this critical juncture, the Dark God Cult, desperate, choosing to assassinate the Sea King wouldn't be too surprising. After all, they were the malignant tumor capable of breaking the Wolf God's seal.
Suddenly, Su Xiao seemed to understand why the Dark God Cult hadn't been completely eradicated over so many years. Not only did they have incredibly high group annihilation resistance, but they were also the natural scapegoat. No matter how outrageous the incident, as long as it was said to be the Dark God Cult's doing, few would doubt it. After all, this malignant tumor was usually like this—they did everything except good deeds.
Additionally, the strange existence in the Sea Clan's main city could be dealt with at the same time. That thing had come looking for him once before. Although it was driven away by Su Xiao's three Original Sin Objects, for some reason, its malice hadn't diminished.
Especially when Baha was patrolling the Lord's estate and saw small black footprints on the courtyard wall. Those footprints indicated that the Black Eye existence had come more than once, only refraining from acting due to fear of the Original Sin Objects.
Su Xiao estimated that something he was wearing attracted this Black Eye existence, or perhaps there was a more obscure reason.
Through Grand Commander Kane, Su Xiao found information about the Black Eye existence and discovered that this thing was more troublesome than imagined. However, considering that it was something Kaiser feared and Shenfu evaluated as a strange existence, everything became reasonable.
This Black Eye existence belonged to the Dark Spirit category, not beings like Candle Woman or Maosheng's Frenzy. Dark Spirits were world-destroying level existences.
So-called Dark Spirits were a rare and dangerous type of existence. Their appearance involved a process where a world was eroded by the Abyss. After the Abyss's invasion, the world consciousness underwent mutation due to being enhanced by Abyss power.
This mutation was irreversible. Some world consciousnesses directly merged into the world itself—this was the best case scenario. Such worlds were so wealthy it was bewildering.
There were several other possible mutations, but Su Xiao wasn't clear on the specifics. He only knew that one type of mutation involved the world consciousness dividing into a group of Dark Spirits.
From another perspective, this was the dark version of a World Child. Moreover, these things were almost immortal. Even if killed, they would absorb world power somewhere in the world and revive.
Not only would they revive, but after being killed, they would carry revenge hatred, causing them to split from one into two when reviving, and the two Dark Spirits would go seek revenge together.
After a battle, if both Dark Spirits were killed, within a short time, four Dark Spirits would come knocking, and so on.
But this was normal Dark Spirits. The one encountered now was an absolute anomaly even among Dark Spirits. It was called a "Darkness Devourer." Initially, the "Darkness Devourer" grew stronger by devouring other Dark Spirits. When all Dark Spirits in its birth world were devoured, it would leave that world and go to worlds with Dark Spirits to continue devouring.
At this stage, the "Darkness Devourer" was called a "Drifter." This continued until it devoured enough to undergo a crucial transformation.
This transformation was strange and hidden. Each "Darkness Devourer" would have unique characteristics unique to them. For example, the one encountered now likely had "Exchange" as its characteristic.
If someone wanted to obtain the "Initial Mark" fragment held by this "Darkness Devourer," they just needed to ask, and it would give it. Since it was an exchange, something had to be given in return. The problem was that what needed to be given wasn't determined by the trading party but by the "Darkness Devourer." It wanted something, and the trading party had to provide it.
If the trading party reneged, it was considered an exchange failure. In that case, the "Darkness Devourer" would go out of control, first devouring the trader, then pursuing the trader's causal connections, devouring everyone related to the trader one by one, until the spreading causal threads broke, and only then would the "Darkness Devourer" be satisfied.
Three types of "Darkness Devourers" were the most terrifying: the first was the Wish type, the second was the Exchange type, and the third was the Oath type.
The one in the Sea Clan's royal city was clearly an Exchange-type Darkness Devourer. Its terrifying degree was such that even the Sea Clan chose to yield to some extent, giving all the "Initial Mark" fragments they held to this Darkness Devourer, maintaining a state of peaceful coexistence.
After learning that this Darkness Devourer was a world-destroying level existence, Su Xiao understood why this thing's malice toward him was so strong.
Without even thinking, he knew that this existence definitely had grudges with the Ancestral Law Destroyers. Considering its "Exchange" ability, it had probably been taken advantage of by Ancestral Law Destroyers before. The unscrupulous mentor and the malicious female Law Destroyer could really do such things.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao completely understood why, when they first met, the Darkness Devourer's gaze contained satisfaction and mockery. This was clearly inwardly pleased—finally catching a Law Destroyer who hadn't reached Supreme strength. Then, after discovering that Su Xiao carried three Original Sin Objects, the Darkness Devourer was very unwilling, so unwilling that it had been coming to the estate recently, standing on the wall, looking at the castle in the wind and snow.
Thinking this way, since he had already completely offended this Darkness Devourer, he might as well take the initiative. At worst, he would seal it in the Eternal Light World. There were already world-destroying level existences there like the World Devourer, Silver Queen, Pain Queen, and Star-Clinging Crab. One more wouldn't make a difference.
Was Su Xiao's attitude toward the Eternal Light World one of giving up in despair? Of course not. Past Law Destroyers had imprisoned countless world-destroying level existences in that damned place. And world-destroying level existences weren't friendly with each other.
This caused mutual elimination among world-destroying level existences, survival of the fittest. Currently, those who could occupy a place in the Eternal Light World were existences with abilities so ferocious they sent chills down one's spine. If the Darkness Devourer was sent there, there was a ninety percent chance that this newly arrived world-destroying level existence would dislike the old prisoners of the Eternal Light World and start fighting.
Thinking this way, sending more world-destroying level existences to the Eternal Light World wasn't giving up in despair. Instead, there was a decent chance that the risks of going to the Eternal Light World later would be somewhat reduced.
The situation Su Xiao least wanted to see was arriving at the Eternal Light World only to have those old prisoners, imprisoned there for millions of years, awaken one after another. That would be the most unsolvable dead end. Conversely, if the world-destroying level existences there fought among themselves before he arrived, the situation would be better.
Assassinating the Sea King, plus angering the Darkness Devourer—these two things combined would be enough to leave the guard forces in the Sea Clan's main city confused for a while. Taking the opportunity to rescue the Dwarf King would mean the plan was successful.
Just as Su Xiao was thinking this, Baha flew in and said in a low voice, "Boss, Shenfu came looking for you. Amu blocked him in the backyard."
"..."
Su Xiao's brow furrowed slightly. He wasn't surprised that Shenfu hadn't died, but that old bastard Shenfu coming to find him probably meant no good. However, not seeing him would be an even greater hidden danger.
A moment later, in the inner hall on the second floor, Su Xiao and Shenfu sat opposite each other across a tea table. Su Xiao picked up a teapot and poured tea for Shenfu across from him, as if there were no grudges between them.
After Shenfu took a sip of tea, he coughed repeatedly. His aura was even weaker than when dealing with the Darkness Devourer before. He asked, "White Night, was that Abyss Hole closed?"
"Seems like it."
"It wasn't you who closed it?"
Shenfu's tone was as if they were chatting casually. Su Xiao shook his head, fiddling with the tea set the Divine Emperor had given him, and said, "Of course not. Only those Spellcasters know how to close Abyss Holes now. I haven't obtained that technique yet."
Hearing this, Shenfu nodded thoughtfully, appearing calm on the surface, but internally preparing to properly "thank" the person who closed the Abyss Hole in the sealed hall.
Earlier, during the battle with the Wolf God, Shenfu was suddenly engulfed by darkness and disappeared without a trace. This was because the Wolf God's ability had caused him to fall into an Abyss passage.
Shenfu was also a tough guy in terms of willpower. He didn't slide down the passage into the Abyss but climbed back out from inside. However, just as he was about to reach the exit, some bastard closed that Abyss Hole. Fortunately, Shenfu had many strange methods and escaped using death + reincarnation techniques.
Although Shenfu didn't say it explicitly, his inquiry about who closed the Abyss Hole made Su Xiao realize that this old bastard had probably fallen into the Abyss passage behind that Abyss Hole earlier.
This suddenly reminded Su Xiao why he had felt something was watching him from the darkness connected to the Abyss Hole before he closed it. It turned out to be Shenfu inside. He had thought some Abyss creature was about to burst out.
Shenfu asked with a kind smile, "It really wasn't you who closed it?"
"Of course not. I swear by the name of the Law Destroyer."
Hearing this, although Shenfu still had some doubts, he didn't say anything more. Yet, for some reason, he always felt that before that Abyss Hole was closed, the person outside was indeed the Hunter, White Night.
"I have a commission here. Interested?"
The reason Su Xiao said this was because he had an idea. Rather than continuing to guard against that old bastard Shenfu, it might be better to continue cooperating. Besides, this old bastard coming here definitely had a purpose.
Indeed, Shenfu had come for the 20% "Initial Mark" fragment held by the Darkness Devourer. Shenfu had been robbed of quite a bit of Divine Blood by the Darkness Devourer and had suffered a loss in silence. The more he thought about it, the more stifled he felt. Usually, he was the one scheming against others in the shadows. When had he ever suffered such a loss in silence?
Additionally, he estimated that the one who closed the Abyss Hole was most likely Su Xiao. This definitely warranted a proper "thank you."
These two things combined made Shenfu's subsequent plan very clear. His goal was never revenge or anything like that, but the 20% "Initial Mark" fragment. To achieve this, he needed the Sea Clan's main city to fall into complete chaos, giving him an opportunity.
"Tell me about your commission?"
Shenfu spoke with a smile.
Su Xiao didn't answer directly but asked, "You came to find me. Something on your mind?"
"Yes."
Shenfu knew he couldn't brush it off, so he simply admitted it.
The two sitting opposite each other across the tea table both looked at each other. The meaning was obvious—since neither wanted to make the first move, they would reveal their cards simultaneously.
Su Xiao: "I plan to assassinate the Sea King."
Shenfu: "I intend to assassinate the Sea King."
Su Xiao and Shenfu spoke at the same time. Although the wording was slightly different, the meaning was exactly the same.
"..."
Su Xiao looked expressionlessly at the old bastard across from him. He was certain that this old bastard's goal was the 20% "Initial Mark" fragment held by the Darkness Devourer.
Shenfu looked with a smile at the Law Destroyer across from him. He could conclude that this Law Destroyer's goal was the Dwarf King. Otherwise, there would be no need to go as far as assassinating the Sea King. Especially since the Dwarf King's chief disciple, the Rune Master, was in the workshop in the estate's backyard. It couldn't be wrong.
Both parties knew each other's goals clearly but didn't make them explicit. Some things, once made explicit, would create a different situation.
After Shenfu left, Su Xiao took a sealed charcoal box from his storage space. He removed the seal, opened the charcoal box, and inside was an energy ball that showed crimson through the darkness. This thing was about the size of a marble and exuded a strong sense of misfortune.
[Source of Misfortune (Special Misfortune Object): Can enhance the characteristics of one piece of equipment or cause that equipment to become misfortune-ized.]
[Warning: Due to this item's characteristics, you must use this item within 2 natural days, or you will suffer its backlash. The equipment chosen for enhancement must be equipment you have equipped or held for more than 30 natural days.]
That's right, after Su Xiao filled the [Azure Will +13 (Holy Spirit Rank Accessory)] with misfortune, this thing became the [Source of Misfortune]. And it had to be used, which was very characteristic of misfortune.
The equipment Su Xiao wore and held was all what he needed. For a moment, it was really hard to choose. Finally, he took out an ancient ring. This item was called [Ancient Killing Ring +13 (Holy Spirit Rank)].
Although this thing could be used for the subsequent assassination of the Sea King, he wasn't really going to kill the Sea King. Whether he had this equipment wasn't the key point. Besides, compared to other necessary equipment, this one was very unstable. After equipping it, there were four debuff effects. This equipment was most suitable for taking a risk.
As Su Xiao used the [Source of Misfortune] on the [Ancient Killing Ring], a crimson radiance burst forth. A misfortune so dense it reached its peak quickly changed the characteristics of this equipment. After just over half an hour, the transformation of this equipment was complete. Its attributes became:
[Misfortune Ancient Ring]
Quality: Misfortune (Can enhance this equipment's strength by injecting misfortune).
Enhancement: This behavior will bring unknown risks.
Category: Ring
Durability: 1/1 (Extremely low durability consumption when worn and used, extremely fragile when enduring attacks, weak against all characteristic attacks).
Equipment Requirements: None
Equipment Effect 1: Lethal Range (Passive · Unique), when attacking enemies at range, the farther the distance from the target, the greater the damage increase.
Tip: When attacking enemies at range, the damage dealt will increase by 1.2 to 3.8 times.
Equipment Effect 2: Misfortune Revelation (Passive · Unique), when attacking enemies at range, your negative attributes will provide bonuses to this ancient ring, thereby increasing ranged damage.
Tip: When attacking enemies at range, the damage dealt will increase by 8.2 times (-19 points of Charm attribute and your luck, the damage intensity added).
Equipment Effect 3: Energy Adaptation (Passive): To activate this equipment's characteristics, you need to consume a certain amount of body energy. The consumption rate is: for every 0.2 times increase in ranged attack intensity, 1000 points of Mana need to be consumed for enhancement.
Tip: To reach the theoretical maximum attack intensity bonus, one attack requires consuming 60,000 points of Mana.
Equipment Debuff 1: Fragile (Passive · Cannot be Exempted), during wear, any judgment deemed as an attack, regardless of which body position of the wearer is hit, will cause this equipment to immediately shatter. Once this equipment is damaged, it cannot be repaired by any means.
Equipment Debuff 2: Slow Movement (Passive · Cannot be Exempted), after wearing this equipment, you can only move at walking speed. Once movement speed exceeds the predetermined value, the misfortune within this equipment will spread out and attach to you.
Equipment Debuff 3: Slow Removal (Passive · Cannot be Exempted), to remove this ring's wear, you need to cut off energy resonance with this equipment through mental power 5 seconds in advance. Only after completely ending the resonance can you remove this equipment. If forcibly removed, this ring will immediately be destroyed.
Equipment Debuff 4: Slow Energy Accumulation (Passive · Cannot be Exempted), after this equipment's bonuses take effect three times, it will enter a 120-hour period of silence. During this time, equipping this equipment will only trigger equipment debuffs.
Equipment Debuff 5: Misfortune Entanglement (Passive · Cannot be Exempted), if this equipment is permanently damaged, all the misfortune inside it will surge into the user, causing a permanent reduction in a certain amount of Luck attribute.
Equipment Debuff 6: Misfortune Awakening (Core · Passive · Cannot be Exempted), can devour large amounts of misfortune to enhance this equipment's strength, but will also cause this equipment to gain more "Equipment Debuffs."
Equipment Debuff 7: Abyss Craving (Core · Passive), you can inject Abyss energy into this equipment to greatly enhance its strength and significantly reduce the Mana consumed per attack.
Rating: 3180 points (The rating standard for Misfortune Objects is similar to Abyss level, but some measurement criteria differ).
Introduction: The appearance of this equipment might be due to the unique potential of a certain Hunter?
...
After seeing the attributes of the [Misfortune Ancient Ring], for some reason, Su Xiao suddenly felt that this thing's characteristics were somewhat similar to the "Primordial Mask" and "Bloodthirsty Battle Armor."