Chapter 49: An Unexpected Transaction
Rainwater droplets slid down blades of grass, glistening momentarily under the sunlight before falling into puddles, creating shallow ripples. The fresh scent of vegetation lifted one's spirits.
Unfortunately, the atmosphere here was tense. Above this wetland, the sky was clear for miles, but a hundred meters away, dark clouds densely gathered over the forest, with faint rumbles of thunder echoing.
Su Xiao sat on a strange rock at the center of the wetland. Several small sparrows landed on his shoulders or nearby. As he poured some grain into his palm, the sparrows eagerly flocked to feed, showing no fear of Su Xiao.
In the past, this would have been absolutely impossible. Su Xiao's blood energy caused all non-domesticated animals within a one-kilometer radius to flee wherever he went. Even the rats in the sewers would relocate, all due to the faint, looming aura of his blood energy.
The reason small animals now dared to approach Su Xiao was twofold. First, his blood energy abilities had been consolidated, all specialized into the Blood Spear Grandmaster, dramatically improving his control over blood energy. Second, after slaying the Wolf God, the aura brought by his own blood energy had undergone a qualitative advancement.
This increase in blood energy intimidation, while not directly boosting combat power, greatly enhanced the impact of blood energy on an enemy's mental state.
Under these circumstances, the reason these small creatures dared to approach Su Xiao was that his blood energy intimidation had exceeded the upper limit of what they could sense. Simply put, Su Xiao's blood energy was so powerful that it caused their perception to overload, resulting in a sense of no threat.
To the point where a natural perceptual misdirection occurred. These small creatures subconsciously felt that approaching Su Xiao wasn't dangerous, but rather gave them a sense of "security."
Of course, in the eyes of those with similar strength or slightly weaker than Su Xiao, his blood energy was so potent that when it spread, it could mildly distort space.
Boom~!
A thunderclap startled the sparrows on Su Xiao, causing them to fly away. Looking up, the sky above the wetland remained clear, while above the forest a hundred meters away, dark clouds loomed. These clouds moved with whatever was inside the forest, gradually pressing toward the wetland.
On the strange rock, Su Xiao's expression remained calm. If it came to a direct confrontation, he was certainly no match for the world-destroying existence, the Devourer of Darkness. But as a Law Destroyer, he naturally wouldn't clash head-on with this world-destroying being. This wetland appeared ordinary, but everything was arranged. If the Devourer of Darkness dared to step into this area, its wonderful journey through the Eternal Light World would officially begin. Who knew how many "world-destroying brothers" were waiting in the Eternal Light World, smiling and waving at it.
Suddenly, the dark clouds pressing down from the sky stopped. The existence within the forest halted at the edge, seemingly wary of this wetland.
A hundred meters away, Su Xiao saw the Devourer of Darkness standing among the trees. It still appeared as a young boy, but its eye sockets were pitch black, with faint white light threads twisting and circling within.
The Devourer of Darkness lifted one foot, as if to step into the shallow water of the wetland. But just as its foot was about to descend, a mere 0.1 centimeters from touching the water, it suddenly stopped. Instead, it looked up at Su Xiao with a hint of mockery.
Then, using both index fingers to pull at the corners of its mouth, like a child making a face and sticking out its tongue, it extruded a mass of black tentacles covered in flesh spikes, creating an utterly macabre grimace. This caused the Devourer of Darkness's dignity to plummet, but it was both creepy and somewhat amusing.
That said, the Devourer of Darkness wasn't the type of world-destroying existence that maintained dignity. Unlike beings like the Silver Queen, World-Corroder, or Queen of Agony, it did whatever it wanted. Aside from "exchange," it had no rules.
It went without saying that this Devourer of Darkness had likely suffered at the hands of Law Destroyers before. It might have even been caught once by a Law Destroyer using the "Sealing Blade," but escaped. That's why it now refused to step into this wetland, and even prevented its energy fluctuations from spreading here.
This was why world-destroying existences were countered by Law Destroyers. As long as the setup was complete, Su Xiao could sit still and do nothing. Even if the Devourer of Darkness attacked him with long-range abilities, once its power entered the formation boundary, it would be immediately captured, and the Devourer of Darkness would be dragged in and banished to the Eternal Light World.
As for why Law Destroyers were so effective against world-destroying existences, it was simple: practice makes perfect. The Law Destruction faction had been opposing world-destroying existences for who knows how many years. They had even created the Eternal Light World, a "world-level" prison for world-destroying existences, which showed how abundant their capture methods were.
Su Xiao was only a beginner in this regard. The "Awakening Stele" recorded quite a bit of knowledge on this subject, including trap types, lure types, and even bait types.
Some genius and devilish Law Destroyer had invented bait-type banishment. This involved creating bait that certain world-destroying beings liked, then hiding miniature banishment formations inside. When the world-destroying being ate it, nothing would happen at first. But as digestion progressed, the formation would suddenly activate, causing the being to be banished to the Eternal Light World.
The Devourer of Darkness picked up a stone from the ground, tossed it in its hand, then threw it.
Boom!!
A straight black trail appeared between Su Xiao and the Devourer of Darkness. This was a spatial trace left by the stone. It grew narrower as it approached Su Xiao. The reason was that the stone couldn't withstand such kinetic energy. Friction with space caused it to be depleted by the time it reached Su Xiao, leaving behind a cone-shaped trace.
Looking again at the Devourer of Darkness, it had vanished. This clearly showed that it both hated Su Xiao and feared the Law Destruction Shadow's methods against world-destroying existences.
Confirming that the Devourer of Darkness had left, Su Xiao extended one hand forward, palm down. As he gathered his power, the dispersed "Sealing Blades" that formed the formation boundary reassembled.
His relationship with this Devourer of Darkness was incredibly delicate. Without any preparation, he was certainly no match for it. But once the formation boundary was set, if the Devourer of Darkness stepped into it, Su Xiao could instantly deal with it, sending it to the Eternal Light World.
Su Xiao checked the team channel. The message was that Molei and the other two had been picked up by the Storm Flame Dragon and were leaving the Sea Clan's territory at maximum speed. This was an unspoken cooperation with the Sea King. Of course, if the Sea King decided to tear up the agreement, the "Sun Pillar" would be ready at any time.
It was no wonder the Sea King had set up today's situation. The cause of all this was Su Xiao's statement of his plan to Shenfu. His exact words to Shenfu were: first assassinate the Sea King, then place the "Sun Holy Sword" on the seabed diagonally below the Sea Clan's main city, and blow the city apart.
It was best to control the explosion so that the workshop district and backstreet district were separated and pushed away. This would easily achieve the goal of rescuing the Dwarf King.
After hearing Shenfu's description, the Sea King himself didn't laugh, but his left and right ministers, along with several trusted aides, burst out laughing. Anyone with any sense wouldn't do this. This wasn't rescuing the Dwarf King; this was a madman trying to destroy the Sea Clan's main city. Impossible. Absolutely no one would do this.
However, after Shenfu showed the Sea King and the others present the aftermath of Arcane Eternal Star being hit by two Sun Holy Swords, the Sea King became somewhat worried. He tactfully asked Shenfu, what was the approximate probability that this Law Destroyer would actually do this?
Shenfu's answer was relatively fair: less than 0.5%. But the problem was, the Sea King couldn't afford to gamble. Additionally, he actually wanted to get rid of this hot potato, the Dwarf King. Over the years, the Dwarf King had trained many master craftsmen for the Sea Clan. Even though the Sea Clan was keeping the Dwarf King under house arrest, they had to treat him with respect.
More importantly, as a legendary blacksmith, the Dwarf King was far from weak. Among the three legendary blacksmiths—the Demon Blacksmith, the Dwarf King, and the Molten Giant—none were weak. How could a frail physique work beside the World Furnace, which could burn even the strong? Especially when sometimes, obsessed with forging, they would stay by that furnace for years on end.
The reason the Dwarf King was under house arrest was more because the Sea Clan had control over his disciples.
Su Xiao took out a Soul Crystal Core. Though somewhat reluctant, this was the safest way to leave this place. He activated the crystal, which was engraved with formation diagrams.
Boom!
Space trembled. When everything settled, Su Xiao had returned to the underground first floor of the Lord's Castle. He was about to step off the teleportation array when he suddenly stopped in place.
Two hands reached around from both sides of his neck, feeling like a gentle embrace from a kind older sister. The fingers were long, the skin deathly pale, and the nails pitch black with a hint of crimson.
In that instant, Su Xiao's physique and soul seemed to freeze simultaneously. His right hand was about to press on the sword hilt at his waist, but his instinct told him that if he touched the hilt, he would surely die.
An eerie coldness and sense of desolation came from behind. Su Xiao sensed that the being behind him had thin, blood-red lips, pitch-black eye sockets, long black hair flowing down, and a magnificent white robe tinged with bloodstains. This was, the Candle Woman.
Whether it was an illusion or not, compared to the previous two encounters, this time when Su Xiao encountered the Candle Woman, he felt that her aura was slightly different from before. More precisely, the previous two times, this being was pure eeriness and life-devouring. Beyond that, he couldn't sense anything else, instinctively causing despair.
This time, though equally eerie and cold, it wasn't as despair-inducing as before. This made Su Xiao wonder: could it be that after two encounters, they were slightly familiar, and this time the Candle Woman wasn't here to take his life, but to trade?
This wasn't Su Xiao's delusion, but a guess based on the properties of [Half-Melted Fat Wax].
[Half-Melted Fat Wax]
Origin: Void Crevice
Category: Strange Item
Description: The Candle Woman is a void anomaly. Her existence is accompanied by many mysteries. She wanders in the crevices of the void. Most void anomalies are unwilling to interact with her. Only beings like the Flourishing Madness and the Lord of the Old can match the Candle Woman.
The Candle Woman is the embodiment of eeriness. She can appear wherever there is candlelight, flames, or burning residue. She has no physical form and is nearly indestructible. Hunters can use 'Half-Melted Fat Wax' to trade/exchange with the Candle Woman within Reincarnation Paradise. The items obtained are uncertain.
Hunters can also attempt to use 'Half-Melted Fat Wax' to trade/exchange with the Candle Woman within mission worlds. Due to the Candle Woman's numerous uncertainties, this behavior will bring unknown risks and rewards.
Price: Sellable, tradable, non-destructible.
...
Theoretically, it was possible to trade with the Candle Woman. Moreover, last time on Nightmare Island, Su Xiao gave the Candle Woman a "Treeborn Page." After that, in the Candle Woman's view, Su Xiao had transformed from a walking life source into a life source she could trade with. But if the trade wasn't enjoyable, she would eat him.
It could only be said that this lady's perspective was quite pure. In her eyes, all living beings seemed to be divided only into delicious and not delicious.
Su Xiao checked the world contact platform. Shenfu's name had turned gray in the contact list but hadn't disappeared. This meant Shenfu had died, but not completely. It seemed the Candle Woman found Shenfu not tasty, even unpleasant, so after eating Shenfu in the underground palace, she didn't track the causal line to completely eliminate him. If the Candle Woman had done that, Shenfu would have truly died.
Among the three giants of anomalous beings, Su Xiao had the most contact with the Flourishing Madness. Their current relationship was that as long as Su Xiao didn't attack first, the Flourishing Madness wouldn't harbor ill intentions. Of course, if Su Xiao chose to attack, the Flourishing Madness wouldn't show mercy either.
As for the Candle Woman, after the previous two meetings, it seemed trading was now possible.
Finally, the Lord of the Old. This one harbored the purest malice. If encountered in a mission world before reaching a certain level of strength, there was no chance of escape.
Madness, eeriness, and malice—these were the three most intuitive feelings given by the three giants of anomalous beings.
Just as Su Xiao was considering how to deal with the Candle Woman, the basement door was pushed open. It was Bubu Wang, who had sensed the teleportation array being activated and judged that Su Xiao had returned, so he came to check.
Not only Bubu Wang came, but also Xian Lulu, who had nothing better to do. Upon feeling the eerie coldness approaching, Xian Lulu's tears almost overflowed from her eyes.
Beside her, Bubu Wang forced himself to stay calm. In front of a cat, even if he was scared to death, he had to maintain a composed demeanor.
Ignoring Bubu Wang and Xian Lulu, who were nearly petrified with fear, Su Xiao tried to raise his hand. The next second, he felt the Candle Woman's nails, which brought a chill to the soul, touch his neck.
With a tearing sound, Su Xiao pulled a "Treeborn Page" from his storage space, holding it between his index and middle fingers. The Candle Woman's hand reached out, lightly touching the "Treeborn Page." The page began to decay, and a thin, glowing white energy within it flowed into the Candle Woman's black nails.
Su Xiao faintly sensed that the Candle Woman behind him had significantly less malice. However, unlike trading with the Flourishing Madness, the Candle Woman wasn't satisfied after receiving one "Treeborn Page."
He had 1.5 "Treeborn Pages" left. He took out another one, which also turned into glowing white energy absorbed by the Candle Woman's nails. The Candle Woman's right hand, which had reached in front of Su Xiao, clenched.
Su Xiao made a gesture to receive. The Candle Woman's hand opened, and several items fell into his hand.
[You have obtained Primordial Fragment × 1 piece.]
[You have obtained Worn Ancient's Proof (Although this item is worn, it is a symbolic object. It can be exchanged for 1500 Library Silver Coins from the Soul Elder in the Soul Library).]
[You have obtained Abyss Soul Stone × 3 pieces (Rare item).]
[You have obtained Half-Melted Fat Wax (remaining one quarter).]
...
The Candle Woman's presence behind him gradually faded. Su Xiao slowly relaxed. Trading with the Candle Woman was too risky, and each time required two "Treeborn Pages."
Su Xiao put away the [Primordial Fragment] and [Worn Ancient's Proof]. These were good items. He picked up one [Abyss Soul Stone] and sensed that there seemed to be a familiar aura within it. But upon closer inspection, it felt somewhat unfamiliar. The energy inside seemed somewhat similar to the Blade Demon Spirit?
However, Su Xiao didn't intend to let the Blade Demon Spirit devour this item, whose attributes were all ???. The unknown risks were too great.
"Scared me to death."
Xian Lulu spoke with a grievance-filled whimper, quickly climbing onto Su Xiao's shoulder. Feeling that wasn't safe enough, she burrowed into the back of his long leather coat, finally gaining a bit of security.
After Su Xiao went up the stairs, he looked at Bubu Wang, who was crouching at the doorway. This time, Bubu Wang had improved quite a bit, not being scared half to death. He was about to tell Bubu Wang not to block the door when he noticed Bubu Wang's little expression: 'Don't move, I peed! Master, you go first, I'll follow later.'
"..."
After Su Xiao left the basement, Bubu Wang cleaned himself up, even took a bath, then came to the inner hall on the second floor. His dog eyes held a hint of laughter as he looked at Xian Lulu, as if to say, 'Look how scared you were. I didn't even shiver once.'
Su Xiao didn't have to wait long. That evening, the Storm Flame Dragon carried the Apocalypse Sisters back. Su Xiao received the Space Sealing Sphere from Molei.
After weighing his options, Su Xiao didn't deploy this in the backyard. Instead, he went to the adjacent flower field. This wasn't within the Lord's estate, but due to the precious flowers planted there, it was also surrounded by walls. Its overall size wasn't much smaller than the Lord's estate.
As Baha lifted the spatial seal, the alternate space unfolded. Spatial fluctuations blurred the surroundings. A workshop, several times larger than the adjacent castle, gradually materialized, eventually occupying the rear half of this area.
When everything settled, the spatial frost on the workshop's outer walls dissipated. The two metal doors at the front were closed. As Su Xiao pushed them open, dozens of craftsmen of various appearances came into view. Surrounded by them was the Dwarf King, with a robust build, hair messily scattered, and beard braided into a whisker braid.
Su Xiao looked up at the Dwarf King's face. The Dwarf King, over five meters tall, looked down at Su Xiao. His gaze held not joy, but more a sense of reminiscence.
Su Xiao looked at the Dwarf King, feeling something was off but unable to pinpoint it. However, he quickly realized: with this height of over five meters, how could he be called a dwarf?
But then again, if the Dwarf King was from the era of giant beasts, it made sense. The giant beasts were thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of meters in size. The Dwarf King, at just over five meters, was indeed a dwarf.
"That old goat's sword sheath looks pretty good. Very good."
Hearing this, Su Xiao drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from its sheath and tossed it to the Dwarf King. The Dwarf King caught the sheath, drew the long blade, looked at its sharp edge, and said:
"This weapon is sharp. It seems your journey has been full of hardships and powerful enemies."
The Dwarf King tossed the Dragon-Slaying Flash back to Su Xiao. His rough hand stroked the forging table as he continued, "It's been a long time since I forged armor. Do you wear armor?"
"No."
As soon as Su Xiao said this, he noticed the Rune Master beside the Dwarf King making exaggerated expressions, frantically signaling Su Xiao to say he wore armor. The opportunity to have the Dwarf King forge armor was indeed rare.
"But I need to forge another Law-Destroying Blade."
Hearing this, the Dwarf King frowned, thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "My skill isn't high enough to forge a Law-Destroying Blade. Besides, that's not a weapon that can be forged."
Su Xiao took out a design drawing. Seeing no one else around, he explained his plan to cheat the Hunter Guild to the Dwarf King. The Dwarf King, upon hearing this, wasn't surprised but instead felt it was very Law Destroyer-like.
"A fake Law-Destroying Blade, huh. That's possible, but a Law-Destroying Blade has a demon spirit inside."
"That's no problem."
Kaisa's voice came. The Dwarf King looked over, squinting at Kaisa for a moment, then said with slight surprise, "Are you the fraudster who scammed the Goblin Company over a dozen times?"
"Mr. Dwarf King, that wasn't fraud, that was business cooperation. In business, there are always gains and losses."
Kaisa shrugged innocently. However, the Dwarf King didn't believe his explanation and changed the subject, saying, "Forging a fake Law-Destroying Blade requires very rare main materials."
"..."
Su Xiao took out [Eternal Scepter (???)]. He had obtained this item some time ago, but from the start, he felt it didn't fit his ability system. He had kept it because of its high quality.
"Eternal Scepter? Where did you get this? You're a Law Destroyer, do you need this to suppress the Abyss Passage?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, indicating that he wanted to use this as the base material for forging the fake Law-Destroying Blade. The Dwarf King pondered for a moment and said it was feasible.
As for the demon spirit aura of the Law-Destroying Blade, that was easy. During forging, they would infuse a large amount of Abyss energy. Kaisa, who held the Abyssal Jar, could provide high-purity Abyss power.
With both of these, the Dwarf King's attitude was that he could try forging it. As for whether Su Xiao could later use the Supreme Blade ability on this weapon to make it more like a Law-Destroying Blade, the Dwarf King couldn't guarantee that. After all, this was his first time forging a fake Law-Destroying Blade.
After entrusting this forging commission, Su Xiao returned to the adjacent castle. It was already late, and he hadn't rested much in recent days, so he went to bed early.
At four in the morning the next day, Baha knocked on the bedroom door. After Su Xiao got past the initial daze of waking up, Baha said, "Boss, the Dwarf King wants you to come over."
"Forging done? That fast?"
"Doesn't look like it."
"..."
After washing up, Su Xiao headed to the adjacent building. As soon as he entered the workshop, he saw the Dwarf King and several of his disciples gathered around the forging furnace, discussing something.
Upon approaching and inquiring, Su Xiao learned that after the Dwarf King started forging based on the Law-Destroying Blade design drawing Su Xiao provided, things were normal at first. Using the [Eternal Scepter]'s material as the main base, they infused high-purity Abyss power.
But the more they forged, the more the Dwarf King felt something was off about this half-finished blade. That inexplicable sense of natural perfection made him somewhat addicted to this forging session. He ended up adding 1200 ounces of space-time power and various high-value materials as filler, seeking to perfect this forging.
Needless to say, aside from the three "Primordial Fragments" from the Rune Master, this was additional thanks from the Dwarf King.
The current situation was that this fake Law-Destroying Blade wasn't finished yet. Or rather, no one was sure what would ultimately be forged. Perhaps the final result wouldn't be a fake Law-Destroying Blade at all.
Su Xiao searched his storage space and took out [Divine Cult Badge], [World Ring (World-Class Item)], and [Traitor's Will (World-Class Item)].
Although [Divine Cult Badge] was very powerful, the problem was that when Su Xiao faced a powerful enemy one-on-one, he had no chance to use it. Last time he forced its use, he nearly died. Another issue was that as the world difficulty increased, the value of [Divine Cult Badge] would decrease.
It would be better to use the large amount of equipment source energy within it for this forging, to see what could be created. After all, the Dwarf King had already invested 1200 ounces of space-time power in this forging, so he must have some confidence. As for [World Ring] + [Traitor's Will (World-Class Item)], these were accidental products from raising the Devourer. By the ninth rank, they were basically useless.
Besides these, Su Xiao also thought of another item: the [Abyss Soul Stone × 3] he had just obtained from the Candle Woman. This was an item from the Abyss origin, and its attributes were all ???. Who knew if carrying it for a long time would pose risks. He had originally planned to sell it to someone fated, but it seemed that wouldn't be necessary now.
Beside him, Kaisa was scratching his head anxiously. It had to be said that in this rescue of the Dwarf King, Kaisa had taken the money but hadn't done much. Gritting his teeth, he took out a large jar of ultra-high-purity Abyss power, so large that even the Dwarf King took notice.
Looking at these items on the forging table, the Dwarf King's first action was to have most of his disciples leave the workshop, keeping only a few with superb skills and considerable strength.
As forging began, Su Xiao left the increasingly hot workshop and returned to the castle. He next had to deal with one matter: killing an Absolute Strong Spellcaster. With the Dwarf King on his side now, he had already seized the initiative.
Time passed quickly, and by noon, a disciple of the Dwarf King came carrying a long charcoal box. After setting down the box, he gestured that Su Xiao should be careful when opening it.
Su Xiao hadn't expected the forging to be completed so quickly. As he opened the charcoal box, dark blue smoke emanated. A long blade, black with a hint of blue, lay within the box.
[You have obtained Fake·Law-Destroying Blade·Demon Spirit Will (Unawakened State).]