Chapter 56: Gains
The sudden announcement interrupted Su Xiao's discussion with Scythe Tailed, and there was no need to continue anyway, because the authentication for the mark fragments had already begun.
Seeing this ruleless, unrestricted competition authentication, Su Xiao instinctively felt the situation was unfavorable. He had long anticipated someone would manipulate things—otherwise, it wouldn't do justice to the lineup of this chaotic battle of gods—but he hadn't expected them to go this far.
The original 40-minute competition limit had skyrocketed to 72 hours. This full three-day window was enough to bring about countless changes. Who would ultimately claim the prize was truly uncertain until the final authentication deadline arrived.
More accurately, this felt like the final carnival of this world progression. Because this ruleless authentication didn't just target the 30% mark fragment; it meant that once all [Initial Mark] fragments entered the Eternal Frozen Icefield region, they all became lootable.
However, except for that 30% mark fragment, the positions of the other fragments wouldn't be continuously tracked. Instead, every 12 hours, the holders' locations would be briefly revealed.
Entering the Eternal Frozen Icefield meant entering a hunting ground. One moment you might be the hunter, but after obtaining an [Initial Mark] fragment, you could instantly become the prey.
Even more dangerous was that within this ruleless authentication zone, the drop rate for Scarlet Cards was 100%.
Scythe Tailed naturally received the same series of announcements. The cooperation that hadn't even begun was now moot. But before leaving, she said:
"Law Destroyer, don't fall into the abyss like your predecessor..."
With that, Scythe Tailed stood up and walked toward the exit. Just as she reached the door, she paused, turned her head slightly without fully turning around, and asked Su Xiao, "How many have you eliminated?"
Su Xiao naturally knew what Scythe Tailed was asking. She wanted to know how many indestructible Abyss Spawn he had destroyed.
"Three."
"If you encounter a very powerful spawn, I can temporarily be your partner. But only for dealing with spawn."
Leaving these words, Scythe Tailed walked away. In the air where she had stood, a black mark remained, condensing into a black card.
Zzzz~
With a pull of the Spirit Shadow Thread, Su Xiao caught the black card in his hand. He had a feeling that Scythe Tailed was about to advance to Absolute Strength. Perhaps after leaving Wind Sea Continent this time, she would break through.
Su Xiao leaned back on the single sofa, closed his eyes, and pondered for a moment. He urgently needed to know the situation on the Eternal Frozen Icefield. But the Icefield Clan there never interacted with outsiders, and the Beast Clan's spies couldn't reach that area—nor was there any need to.
Speaking of which, the Icefield Clan had existed longer than the Sea Clan or Beast Clan. They were one of the giants of the previous era. As for why they no longer had that grandeur in this era, it wasn't because they had weakened. Rather, the Beast Clan and Sea Clan had first resisted the Abyss's invasion, then engaged in continuous bloody wars with each other. It was their strength that made the Icefield Clan seem slightly weaker.
There was also another factor: Grand Commander Kane's growing wariness of him. Now, mobilizing all of the Beast Clan's intelligence channels was nearly impossible.
Realizing this, Su Xiao knew that to understand the situation on the Eternal Frozen Icefield, he would have to resort to unconventional methods. His first thought was Kaisa, but he quickly dismissed it. Kaisa couldn't possibly know what was happening there. At this stage, Kaisa was busy in the Sea Clan's main city.
Testing the ruthless brother's stance was also an option. But the problem was that Su Xiao suspected the situation on the Eternal Frozen Icefield might have been orchestrated by him. Probing him now would likely lead to being misled.
Su Xiao took out [Elf Will] and put it on his right hand. With a snap, he loosened the glove's edge and flexed his hand. The glove was a bit tight, but it was only temporary.
As the durability of [Elf Will] drained like water, Su Xiao activated the equipment. A spatial vortex appeared before him.
Bang~
A figure flew out, rolling a few times on the coffee table. Its somewhat round belly was particularly noticeable. The irritable little elf, Diagu, was bleary-eyed with drunkenness, one hand on his hip, the other supporting his stomach.
"I can still drink, burp~, ugh!"
The irritable little elf grabbed the ashtray with both hands and vomited violently, finally flattening his stomach again. He looked around dazedly, spotted a towel on the table, mistook it for a blanket, covered himself, and began snoring loudly.
"..."
Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha all watched the irritable little elf, who was now snoring away. They finally understood why no one summoned this little elf with SSS+ stealth and reconnaissance abilities. Not only was he constantly cursing, but he was also a drunkard.
Su Xiao had originally planned to send this irritable little elf to scout the Eternal Frozen Icefield. Given his drunken state, that was clearly impossible. But there were other tasks he could entrust to him later, so the durability consumption of [Elf Will] wasn't a total waste.
After a moment of hesitation, Su Xiao decided to contact Shenfu. He was over 80% sure that Shenfu wasn't behind the situation on the Eternal Frozen Icefield. The reason was that Shenfu had previously gone with him to deal with the Soul Death God, then fought the Wolf God, and then faced the Absolute Strength Spellcaster.
The current upheaval on the Eternal Frozen Icefield clearly wasn't something that could be set up overnight. Shenfu didn't have the time to do this. As for whether it was Shenfu's accomplice, the probability was also low.
Soon, the communicator connected. On the other end, Shenfu was silent for a few seconds, then chuckled and said, "White Night, let's make a deal. I'll tell you what you want to know, and you answer what I want to explore."
"Alright."
"Did you open... Grey Gentleman's Scarlet Card?"
"..."
Su Xiao fell silent. The sky outside was darkening, making the unlit inner hall even dimmer. In this gloom, Su Xiao's narrowed eyes held an inexplicable gleam.
"No."
As he spoke, a smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. This time, it was Shenfu's turn to be silent. Because no matter how Su Xiao answered this question, Shenfu wouldn't fully believe it. So it was as good as not asking. This time, Shenfu had rarely suffered a loss.
"I suddenly want to change the question..."
Shenfu didn't care about any dignity of the strong. This old bastard was shameless. But before he could finish, Su Xiao asked:
"What's going on with the Eternal Frozen Icefield?"
Hearing this question, Shenfu seemed to have anticipated it. His tone was calm as he said, "It was that madman from your Reincarnation Paradise."
Su Xiao wasn't surprised that the ruthless brother had obtained the 30.95% [Initial Mark]. What truly puzzled him was how the other party had turned this competition into a ruleless authentication. But soon, Shenfu answered that question.
"I'm sure White Night knows that the previous [Initial Mark] was in the hands of the Icefield Clan's elder."
"Yeah."
"Then do you know how the ruthless brother got that [Initial Mark]?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. Seeing this, Shenfu smiled and continued:
"Most people would think of stealing or offering a price to trade with the elder to get that [Initial Mark] fragment. But the Hunters of your Reincarnation Paradise think differently. The ruthless brother became an elder of the Icefield Clan."
"..."
Su Xiao rubbed his brow with one hand. He finally understood why the competition's authentication time had become 72 hours. The ruthless brother had somehow become an elder of the Icefield Clan.
In other words, that guy could now gather all the Icefield Clan on the Eternal Frozen Icefield to the extreme cold zone, surrounding his ice palace layer by layer.
Going to compete with the ruthless brother for that [Initial Mark] fragment? You'd have to get past the countless Icefield Clan around the ice palace first before you could even see the final boss of the Eternal Frozen Icefield—the ruthless brother.
This was as absurd as if everyone was about to compete for a quest, and the ruthless brother became the NPC who issued the quest, then issued it to himself and applied for authentication from the Void Tree.
That's why it was ??? who obtained the [Initial Mark] fragment. Because now, the ruthless brother was both half a native of this world and a Hunter, so in the judgment, he became ???.
Suddenly, Su Xiao felt this scene was familiar. Then he remembered that when he obtained the 5.1% [Initial Mark] at White Hoof Port, it was a similar situation. At that time, he was surrounded by multiple Sea Clan legions from White Hoof Port. The contractors trying to compete for the [Initial Mark] fragment couldn't get within a dozen kilometers of him and could only watch from afar.
The current situation wasn't unsolvable. If Su Xiao mobilized his dozen elite Beast Clan legions, he could still fight the Icefield Clan. But the question was whether it was worth it.
The start of this ruleless competition also signaled the end of this world progression. Under these circumstances, the remaining stay time became precious.
At this moment, Su Xiao's Beast Clan legions were locked in a bitter battle with the Sea Clan legions at the [Crystal Forest]. Whether they could take the [Crystal Forest] was key to whether the Winter Territory could achieve an S-level territory evaluation.
Since the legendary blacksmith Dwarf King arrived at the Winter Territory and a large amount of crystal resin was obtained from the [Crystal Forest], making the territory increasingly wealthy, the territory evaluation had soared to A+. It was only one step away from S-level.
But that step was a long one. Developing normally would take who knows how many years. However, once the [Crystal Forest] was fully captured, the Winter Territory would have a stable supply of crystal resin. This level of output would surely push the territory to an S-level evaluation.
Once the territory reached S-level, after Su Xiao submitted the [Main Quest: Winter Lord], Reincarnation Paradise would authenticate this territory. That meant having a stable teleportation point and safe zone within the Transcendent Primordial World of Wind Sea Continent.
Being able to directly teleport contractors and workers into this world would save a considerable amount of Space-Time Power. Over the long term, the savings would be substantial. Plus, workers could enter the Transcendent Primordial World, and there was the safe zone of Winter City. In the long run, the total benefits wouldn't be much worse than competing for the [Initial Mark].
There was also another issue: Reincarnation Paradise had never lacked Space-Time Power. Otherwise, it wouldn't have permissions like the [Hunt List: Blood Pact].
Thinking about it this way, the difference in rewards between [Main Quest: Winter Lord·S-level Evaluation] and [World Quest: Mark] wasn't as huge as imagined.
Most importantly, his Beast Clan legions would take at most two days to fully capture the [Crystal Forest]. This was a sure thing. But if he withdrew more than two-thirds of the Beast Clan legions, the subsequent attack would be less certain.
Another drawback was that without mobilizing all his Beast Clan legions, he might not be able to take the Icefield Clan side.
One was a main quest with over 98% probability of completion, the other was a world quest with a 20-30% chance of winning. The choice was clear.
It seemed he had lost the chance to compete for the 30.95% [Initial Mark]. But Su Xiao saw another opportunity in this—the perfect time to 'restock' from the Sea Clan.
The Sea Clan had always been wary of the Icefield Clan. Otherwise, they wouldn't have spent a fortune building the Winter Wall and stationed nearly a fifth of their legions there.
Now that the ruthless brother had become an elder of the Icefield Clan, even if temporary, it was enough to make the Sea Clan feel a strong sense of crisis. No, precisely because it was temporary, the Sea Clan's sense of crisis was stronger. No one could be sure what a temporary elder would do, especially since he wasn't a native of this world.
If the Sea Clan's high-ranking members learned of this, it would be enough to make their hair stand on end. No, perhaps the Sea King had already sensed it. Su Xiao thought this because, after Shenfu brokered a cooperation with the Sea King, the other party hadn't tried to screw him over at the end. That was very unusual.
It wasn't that Su Xiao was speculating that the Sea King was ruthless. The way he had dealt with the Sea God Cult and the Council showed his methods. As an enemy, even with Shenfu as a broker, the Sea King should have set up some traps at the end of the cooperation. Especially since Su Xiao had extorted a hefty sum from the Sea King when dealing with the Wolf God.
More importantly, at that time, Su Xiao's side was already showing signs of attacking the [Crystal Forest]. With all these factors combined, the Sea King's failure to set up a backup plan at the end of the cooperation was truly unexpected.
This made the countermeasures that Su Xiao and Shenfu had prepared all for nothing. They had thought the Sea King had suddenly grown a conscience. Now it seemed that wasn't the case. At that time, the Sea King had already sensed something was wrong with the Icefield Clan and was focused on that.
A long time ago, the ruthless brother had done things like posting a bounty on himself at the Death Paradise's Ranger Guild, then beating up the Death Rangers who came to hunt him. If they paid and signed a contract, he let them go. If not, he killed them and dropped their Scarlet Cards.
Now, this guy had created a ruleless authentication zone with a 100% Scarlet Card drop rate. And in this world, due to Shenfu's influence, many violators had sneaked in. What the ruthless brother wanted to do was obvious. He wanted the 30.95% [Initial Mark], but he also had his eyes on the Scarlet Cards of the many violators in this world. Don't forget, Hunters also get Honor Medals for killing violators.
Not to mention anything else, the ruthless brother had turned the Eternal Frozen Icefield into the area with the highest profit for killing violators.
And there was another question: Was Shenfu really unaware of this? Although this old bastard was a violator, he had killed more violators than Su Xiao the Hunter.
Considering these factors, Su Xiao decided it was best to stay away from the Eternal Frozen Icefield for now. It seemed that the ruthless brother, who had obtained 30% of the [Initial Mark], had a good chance of winning. But of the remaining 70% [Initial Mark], only a portion had been obtained by the competitors.
Moreover, with [Initial Mark], it wasn't about having the most. As long as you ranked first among all competitors, even if it was just 0.001% more, you were the absolute winner. That was the most interesting part of this world quest: the winner takes all.
The current [Initial Mark] distribution was: the ruthless brother held 30.95%, Shenfu held 20.3%, the violator Beifuli held 8.75%, and Su Xiao held 5.1%.
However, compared to 'restocking' from the Sea Clan, there was something more urgent. The fluctuations within the [Pseudo Law-Destroying Blade] had subsided, and the soul of Tide Hunter was still there, meaning she had resisted this invasion. It was time to rescue her from the [Pseudo Law-Destroying Blade] before she was completely assimilated by the demon spirit energy inside.
Arriving at the blacksmith workshop next door, Su Xiao borrowed a workspace. He fixed the [Pseudo Law-Destroying Blade] on the workbench in the center of the room and set up numerous stripping marks around it.
Two hours later, everything was ready. Su Xiao stood before the workbench, calmed his mind, and released five Spirit Shadow Threads from the fingertips of his right hand. Into these five slender, tough threads, he infused soul energy as part of their composition. This way, the energy-based Spirit Shadow Threads gained the property of binding souls.
As the surrounding array activated, dark blue smoke drifted from the [Pseudo Law-Destroying Blade] on the workbench. The next moment, the Spirit Shadow Threads plunged into it. An immense resistance was felt, like slowly piercing a hair into jelly. The deeper it went, the harder it was to control the direction.
A soul's call—more accurately, a cry for help—came from within the demon spirit energy. This was clearly Tide Hunter, still conscious, sensing the foreign energy entering the demon spirit energy and calling for help. This made the direction of the Spirit Shadow Threads clearer.
As the threads gradually extended into the demon spirit energy, they finally wrapped around something. It felt like a soul. Su Xiao began to pull it out. It didn't take much effort, and he almost dragged it out of the demon spirit energy. But at the critical moment, his movement stopped abruptly.
It was a hand with slender, jade-like fingers and fair skin. On the back of the hand were faint black patterns. They didn't look like added decorations but seemed naturally formed, as if the hand was meant to be this way. The black nails weren't long but gave a sense of slenderness and beauty. It was hard to imagine black nails could be so aesthetically pleasing.
This hand reached outward. Su Xiao, as if possessed, raised his hand and interlocked fingers with it. A vague, distant, seductive laugh echoed in his ears. But the next second, Su Xiao's hand suddenly tightened. The fair hand was crushed into black smoke, forming a smoke-like shape that vaguely resembled a hand. It seemed to want to grab Su Xiao's sleeve but ultimately failed, retreating back into the demon spirit energy of the [Pseudo Law-Destroying Blade].
Zzzz~
The Spirit Shadow Threads extended again. This time, the soul sensation was much clearer, no longer so ethereal. With a forceful pull, immense resistance was felt.
With a splash of black liquid, Tide Hunter's soul was pulled out. She gasped for air instinctively, black liquid dripping from her mouth and nose, evaporating upon contact with the air.
"Huff! Huff! I was almost... assimilated... What the hell is in your storage space?!"
The soul-form Tide Hunter was still shaken. Having been baptized by demon spirit energy, her appearance had changed. Her eyes were black, the outer ring of her pupils blue, becoming more white toward the center. Her hair was pitch black. Against the black eyes and hair, her skin looked even paler.
However, Su Xiao's eyes filtered out all aesthetic considerations. He grabbed Tide Hunter's wrist and observed. Her nails were normal color, and there were no naturally formed faint black patterns on the back of her hand. So, whose hand had he pulled out earlier?
"Is there another soul inside?"
Su Xiao looked at Tide Hunter and pointed at the [Pseudo Law-Destroying Blade].
"How is that possible? It's pitch black in there. Besides me being trapped, there's no other soul fluctuation. I'm sure of it."
"Oh."
"That's not the point! What the hell is in your storage space?! Say something!"
The more Tide Hunter spoke, the angrier she got. She had been sleeping inside [Source], which was quite comfortable. Plus, the power of [Source] nourished her, slowly making her stronger even in sleep. It was even more comfortable.
But this comfortable life didn't last long. Tide Hunter suddenly discovered that a nasty neighbor had moved into the storage space. Fortunately, this neighbor was sealed in a charcoal box and was just fragments.
Thus, Tide Hunter's comfortable sleep ended. After all, having the Abyssal Jar fragments as a neighbor would keep anyone from sleeping soundly.
Fortunately, this terrifying neighbor left not long after. Tide Hunter thought to herself, Law Destroyer, you have some conscience after all. Then she continued sleeping.
But one day, Tide Hunter was startled awake by a new, sealed neighbor. And that neighbor's seal was becoming increasingly unstable, until it almost failed.
Who was this neighbor? Naturally, it was the [Necronomicon] in the charcoal box.
The experience of living next to an Original Sin Object was predictable. But Tide Hunter had been through all sorts of hardships. After adapting for a while, she barely got used to this new neighbor.
Just as Tide Hunter thought that having one Original Sin Object as a neighbor was the limit, a second new neighbor arrived. Yes, another Original Sin Object.
Tide Hunter silently 'blessed' Su Xiao for a long time before she somewhat adapted. She almost laughed at herself. Her experiences in the Tianba Clan before this were nothing compared to the thrill and danger of this period.
Just as Tide Hunter thought that living with two Original Sin Objects as neighbors was the limit, a third Original Sin Object neighbor arrived. Although her emotions were complicated, she almost laughed out loud. Holding three Original Sin Objects at once was truly eye-opening.
But soon, Tide Hunter found that living with three Original Sin Objects wasn't unbearable. And the benefit was that her various resistances were slowly improving. It wasn't much in the short term, but over time, it was a form of training.
Finally, Tide Hunter saw an opportunity to leave. She chose to control [Source], slowly approaching the charcoal box containing the [Pseudo Law-Destroying Blade]. This led to the subsequent series of events.
It was precisely because she had lived with three Original Sin Objects for so long that Tide Hunter's soul resistances had greatly improved, allowing her to withstand the demon spirit energy's invasion. But even so, after escaping, Tide Hunter felt drowsy. Before her soul returned to [Source], she repeatedly emphasized that she didn't want to go back into Su Xiao's storage space.
In response, Su Xiao gave Tide Hunter three choices: put [Source] into his personal storage space, put it into the team storage space, or part ways here.
Tide Hunter chose to go into the team storage space first. It was safe enough there. She just wanted to sleep for a while now. They could discuss other matters later.
Su Xiao put away the [Pseudo Law-Destroying Blade], greeted the Dwarf King, and headed to a warehouse on the back street of Winter City. He had previously accepted a commission from the Hunter Guild. After confirming that he couldn't claim his own bounty, he decided to steadily develop his Hunter identity. It was time to submit the commission.
Su Xiao equipped the [Hunter] title. His aura changed, and a metal mask appeared on his face. After completing the disguise, he activated a Hunter identity ability. The wall in front of him twisted, and a spatial door opened. This was the door to the Hunter Guild.
Stepping into the spatial door, after a spatial fluctuation, Su Xiao arrived at a place that looked like a general store. A prompt appeared.
[You have arrived at Hunter Guild Branch 109.]
The furnishings were mostly wooden, giving a sense of age. Su Xiao had been here once before. He skillfully walked to the inner wooden counter. Behind the wooden railing, a scar-faced old man glanced at Su Xiao and said, "Badge."
"..."
"Commission completed?"
"Yeah."
Su Xiao took out a soul fragment of the aberrant beast Erba. Its condition was enough to prove that Erba had been killed.
After confirming it, the scar-faced old man pushed out a leather pouch containing [Precipitated Glass] and a silver badge.
[You have obtained Precipitated Glass x62.]
[You have obtained Hunter Badge (With this badge, you can open a spatial passage to the Hunter Guild headquarters, and commission rewards will increase by 10-15%).]
The Hunter Badge in hand, Su Xiao took out two broken divine source cores. Seeing these two items, the scar-faced old man became interested. He took them and observed them for a moment before asking, "Soul Death God and Lust God?"
"Yes."
"It seems our new member has some skills. Mind telling me how you dealt with these two gods?"
The scar-faced old man's attitude had changed from his previous coldness.
"Cooperated with the Law Destroyer and the Ancient God system."
"Cooperated with the Law Destroyer? Aren't you tempted by the bounty on him?"
The scar-faced old man's eyes gleamed. He seemed to be smiling, but there was a hidden murderous intent.
"I don't have the habit of backstabbing friends. Besides, are all the bounty commissions from your Hunter Guild this talkative?"
Su Xiao's tone began to show impatience. He showed no tension about being wanted for over 2 million Soul Coins. Instead, he calmly admitted that he was friends with the Law-Destroying Shadow, Su Xiao.
Sometimes, the more you avoid something, the more suspicious you become. But openly admitting it makes it easier for others to believe. For example, now, the scar-faced old man, who had been eager, returned to his previous coldness.
[You have obtained 1100 Precipitated Glass.]
The bounty for the Soul Death God and Lust God was much higher than for Erba. Su Xiao opened the bounty list and browsed for a while but didn't find any suitable commissions. However, his own bounty had increased by over a hundred thousand Soul Coins.
He went to the spatial barrier at the back, used the Hunter Badge to open a spatial door, and walked in. As soon as he left, the scar-faced old man took an old communicator from a hidden compartment under the counter. After some crackling interference, the call connected. The scar-faced old man said:
"Xiao, the Law Destroyer's trail wasn't found, but his friend has joined our Hunter Guild. If you have questions, you can ask him. But be careful—he's one of us now, so don't cause trouble."
The other end didn't respond. After a few seconds, the call was hung up.
...
Winter Territory, Lord's Manor.
Su Xiao put down the communicator. He had just contacted Kaisa. As expected, now was the best time to 'restock' from the Sea Clan's faction store. Although they were targeting the Sea Clan's treasury, the process still had to go through the faction store. Kaisa was handling the specifics.
Regarding going to the Sea Clan's main city, with the Hunter disguise, the risk wasn't high. Besides, the Sea Clan's high-ranking members were now focused on the Eternal Frozen Icefield.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Xiao went to the basement of the castle and activated a special teleportation array that emitted trace amounts of Abyss energy. This was set up by Kaisa. The Sea Clan's main city had tight spatial blockade now. Using a demon teleportation array could force a breakthrough but would be detected. Kaisa's array was slow but silent.
Su Xiao stayed in the spatial mist for several minutes before it dissipated. He found himself in a small room of a few square meters. Pushing open the wooden door, he was in a supply station in the Sea Clan's main city. The furnishings were shabby and old. It seemed Kaisa was not well-liked and had been assigned to this remote supply station.
With Kaisa's skills, how could he be disliked? He did this on purpose. Only in such a remote place could he operate more conveniently.
The supply station wasn't large, about thirty square meters. The doors and windows were nailed shut with wooden boards, covered in meaningless graffiti. Although these graffiti looked chaotic, if anyone tried to break in, these seemingly unreliable scribbles would provide astonishing defense.
After another soft, weak teleportation sensation, Hao Mei arrived. After a series of tasks, including capturing the Beast Clan's Grand Commander alive and obtaining various Beast Clan intelligence, Hao Mei's reputation points had reached a level that made her want to drown her sorrows in alcohol.
However, although Hao Mei's reputation points were exaggerated, she couldn't use them to exchange items at the Sea Clan's faction store. The reason was that these reputation points hadn't been fully authenticated. They looked good but were useless. Fortunately, Su Xiao and Kaisa didn't plan to use these useless reputation points in the official faction store anyway.
Kaisa, behind the counter, cleared his throat. He first put a hood over his head, then muttered something in an unintelligible language. At that moment, Hao Mei received a series of prompts.
[Prompt: The Sea Clan faction store has been opened. You can exchange items by consuming your current reputation points.]
[Current reputation points: 18,569,000 (These reputation points are uncertain. You can convert them to Sea Clan general reputation at a ratio of 10,000:1).]
[As you are a direct subordinate of Supply Manager Nicholas Kaisa, and in recognition of your outstanding performance, he has applied for you to access the Sea Clan internal store.]
[Verification: This is a store outside of authentication content. It is a three-party transaction between the Sea Clan, Nicholas Kaisa, and you. The Void Tree will no longer deeply interfere, and such events are outside the scope of authentication.]
[Due to Nicholas Kaisa's skill, Faction Bully (Active, X), Kaisa has forcibly altered the Sea Clan's internal exchange list!]
[Prompt: Balance mechanism triggered. As this is a maximally expanded exchange list, the reputation points you need to pay will be increased by 20 times.]
[As your actions have affected the balance mechanism to a certain extent, your Void Tree Reputation will decrease.]
[Due to Nicholas Kaisa's [Faction Bully] ability and Hunter White Night's Hunter permissions, this Void Tree Reputation deduction will be recalculated.]
[Verification: You were coerced by Hunter White Night, and the above actions are outside the scope of authentication. Your Void Tree Reputation will not be deducted.]
[Nicholas Kaisa's Void Tree Reputation -3200 points (Due to this unit's Void Tree Reputation being too low, deduction failed).]
[Hunter White Night's Void Tree Reputation -3500 points (Due to this unit's Void Tree Reputation being too low, deduction failed).]
[You can exchange items from the following list using your current reputation points.]
[Automatic exchange has been enabled. The items you exchange will be distributed as follows: Nicholas Kaisa receives 45%, Hunter White Night receives 45%, and you receive 10%.]
...
Seeing this series of prompts, although Hao Mei was panicking inside, she maintained a calm exterior.
Su Xiao was already used to Kaisa's operations. As for giving Hao Mei 10%, that was only fair. Although they had caught Hao Mei and forced her to cooperate, cooperation required benefits. Besides, without Hao Mei's extremely high Void Tree Reputation, this series of operations wouldn't have been possible.
As Hao Mei's Sea Clan reputation points rapidly decreased, various items were exchanged. As for the origin of these items, Kaisa had connected them to the Sea Clan's treasury under the guise of the Sea Clan internal store. The most ingenious part was that this wasn't an operation on the Void Tree-authenticated faction store but was classified as a three-party transaction between the Sea Clan, Kaisa, and Hao Mei. This significantly reduced the risk.
[You have obtained Eternal Life Source x8.]
[You have obtained Soul Crystal x20.]
[You have obtained Soul Crystal Core x495.]
[You have obtained Deep Sea Secret Scale (Sea Clan-specific resource).]
[You have obtained Overlord Essence x26.]
[You have obtained Common Origin Stone x15.]
[You have obtained Weapon Box (Contains 10 Immortal to Origin rank weapons).]
[You have obtained Supply Crate·Large x2 (Open to view the resources inside).]
[You have obtained Supply Crate·Extra Large (Open to view the resources inside).]
[You have obtained Treasury Door Fragment (Rare metal item).]
...
Various items appeared before Su Xiao, and he quickly stored them in his storage space. At that moment, a loud crash came from outside, as if some massive beast had slammed into the building. Not only that, the nearly finished exchange was abruptly terminated. The Sea Clan had taken measures. Even against Kaisa, they weren't completely helpless.
Layer upon layer of spatial blockade appeared outside. Seeing this, Hao Mei felt a strong sense of panic, as if there was no escape.
In contrast, Su Xiao and Kaisa were unusually calm. Su Xiao released his Spirit Shadow Threads and, with a ripping sound, tore up the carpet on the floor, revealing a pre-set [Law-Destroying Teleportation Array].
Su Xiao slowly exhaled, adjusting his state. Kaisa put the Abyssal Jar on his head and began taking out various strange items to enhance his defenses.
"How dangerous is this teleportation array?"
Hao Mei swallowed as she spoke.
Su Xiao thought for a moment and answered truthfully, "When I ambushed and killed an Absolute Strength, I used it as a trap."
"!!"
Hao Mei was shocked. She immediately took out various life-saving items that even made Su Xiao and Kaisa take notice, and applied them all to herself.
Everything was ready. The Law-Destroying Teleportation Array activated.
Boom!!
An explosion spread from the rear district of the Sea Clan's main city. The teleportation tower that was used to interfere with Su Xiao and his group's spatial movement was blasted into a pile of debris.
...
Winter City, Lord's Manor, Castle Basement.
When the spatial fluctuation ended, Hao Mei was lying unconscious in the center of the teleportation array. Su Xiao and Kaisa each raised their left and right hands, supporting themselves against the nearest wall. Their expressions showed they weren't feeling well. They leaned against the wall to recover.
An hour later, in the inner hall on the second floor, Su Xiao sat on a single sofa and took a sip of hot tea. The gains this time were extremely abundant, but not entirely unexpected. The Sea Clan was the enemy, so there was no need to be polite. Shortly after this world progression began, Su Xiao and Kaisa had started preparing for this, leading to this harvest.
Just as Su Xiao was thinking about whether he should go to the Eternal Frozen Icefield to see what was happening, a prompt appeared.
[Prompt: The Legendary Degree Ranking settlement has begun.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao dismissed it. This Legendary Degree Ranking had nothing to do with him, given his -??? Legendary Degree. But soon, a series of subsequent prompts appeared.
[The rewards for the Legendary Degree Ranking have been distributed.]
[Verification: The final stage of the [Initial Mark] fragment competition has begun. The [Initial Mark] fragment acquisition status will be announced shortly.]
[Prompt: Due to the ruleless authentication, the scope of [Initial Mark] fragment holders will be broader, and the scope for selecting the final winner will also be broader.]
[Initial Mark Fragment Holding Ranking is as follows.]
First Place: Beast King (Void Tree·Temporary Authentication), holds 35% Initial Mark.
Second Place: The Ruthless Brother (Reincarnation Paradise), holds 30.95% Initial Mark.
Third Place: Shenfu (Sanctuary Paradise), holds 20.3% Initial Mark.
Fourth Place: Beifuli (Reincarnation Paradise), holds 8.75% Initial Mark.
Fifth Place: White Night (Reincarnation Paradise), holds 5.1% Initial Mark.
...
Seeing this ranking, Su Xiao's expression became serious. The seemingly simple ranking contained a wealth of information. First was the Beast King in first place.
The Beast King holding 35% of the Initial Mark wasn't surprising. What was surprising was how he ended up on this ranking. But considering the ruleless authentication that the ruthless brother had set up, it wasn't that absurd.
The bigger issue was the total amount of Initial Mark: 35% + 30.95% + 20.3% + 8.75% + 5.1% = 100.1%.
How could the Initial Mark exceed 100%? No matter how you looked at it, this was suspicious. First, the Initial Mark itself wasn't particularly valuable, but replicating it was extremely difficult. This item was the key to a [Space-Time Power Storage Device] of Dawn Paradise. That's why its intrinsic value wasn't high, but replicating it was nearly impossible.
This reminded Su Xiao of something. Grey Gentleman had once tried to revive Dawn Paradise, and Shenfu had been fully involved in that plan. So, Shenfu had a significant connection to Dawn Paradise.
If Shenfu had obtained some of the highest-level authorizations from Dawn Paradise, with his cunning, he might indeed be able to replicate a certain amount of [Initial Mark]. So, the total reaching 100.1% wasn't surprising. The extra portion likely had only symbolic meaning, no practical value. Otherwise, this method would be beyond the capabilities of a contractor or violator.
In simple terms, the [Initial Mark] that Shenfu replicated had no real effect. It could only make someone rank higher on the list. When the final settlement came, those replicas would be eliminated, and only the genuine [Initial Mark] would be compared.
As for why the Void Tree allowed this, it wasn't hard to understand. The Void Tree didn't distinguish between violators and contractors. In the Void Tree's judgment, the ability to replicate [Initial Mark] was itself a skill and personal ability.
This meant that some fake [Initial Mark] replicas had been mixed into the existing [Initial Mark]. But no one knew who held them. When the final settlement came, those replicas would be useless.
In that case, Shenfu, the only one who knew the distribution of genuine and fake [Initial Mark], could potentially become the final winner with a seemingly losing amount of [Initial Mark].
Yes, the chaotic battle of gods had begun. Among these gods, some were 'restocking' from the Sea Clan, some had created a ruleless authentication zone to maximize kill profits, and now there was someone who could replicate [Initial Mark].