Chapter 3: The Trial
After the mention of Original Sin Objects, the atmosphere in the room grew serious. Clearly, Su Xiao had no intention of sealing another Original Sin object, and Wu De, who had come to send off the "Wild Father," was likewise unwilling to return to the Demon Clan carrying two Original Sin objects.
If Wu De did so, the old demons in his clan might be so angered they would depart from the world on the spot. They had only just gotten rid of the Abyssal Jar not long ago, and the Demon Clan was barely recovering. If they were to welcome a new "father," they truly couldn't withstand it.
Wu De and Zuiyasi had gathered here on Zuiyasi's proposal. Not only that, but this guy was also certain that Su Xiao would definitely come to Sanctuary City.
Zuiyasi's purpose was this: since the news of the Monarch's Treasure had already spread, it was better to keep the benefits within the circle. He simply called the other three "good teammates"—Su Xiao, Wu De, and Kaisa—to find the Monarch's Treasure together and split it equally.
Upon hearing this proposal, Su Xiao was puzzled. He had never really believed in this so-called Monarch's Treasure, but Zuiyasi's attitude clearly indicated that this was the prerequisite for cooperation and a shared goal.
There was an unspoken rule among the "good teammates" when cooperating: during the cooperation, everyone relied on their own abilities and handled their own responsibilities. Even if someone died in the process, it was their own bad luck. They wouldn't stab each other in the back before the task was accomplished, but after defeating all powerful enemies, the backstabbing would be fiercer than ever. Another crucial point was that the premise of cooperation must never be based on deception or falsehood.
For example, this time they said they were cooperating to obtain the Monarch's Treasure, so the Monarch's Treasure must indeed exist. However, before entering this world, Shenfu had used the same method Su Xiao had used before, attracting powerful beings into the Eternal Light World, and the gimmick was the Monarch's Treasure.
Last time, there really was a Black Maple Tree in Dead Silence City. Having such a coincidence once was one thing, but was this Monarch's Treasure also a coincidence? In Su Xiao's view, probably not.
First, one must understand that Zuiyasi and Shenfu actually belonged to the Ancient God faction. To say they had no connection whatsoever would be absolutely unbelievable. Judging by the attitudes of their respective factions, Shenfu's faction and Zuiyasi's faction were in a hostile state.
This brings up the situation on the Transcendent Primordial World: Doom Star. The highest throne on Doom Star belonged to the Underworld God, which was widely acknowledged. The Underworld God had controlled Doom Star for many years, and its power was unquestionable. However, the forces under its command, its hounds, were not as solid as they seemed.
This could be seen from one event: the Winged God: Hegela stealing the [Stellar Eye] from Doom Star. This was not because the Underworld God's power was declining, but because the forces under its command had weakened.
This had caused undercurrents on Doom Star for the past hundred years or so, and recently, the situation on Doom Star had gradually become clearer.
On Doom Star, there were two forces that could, to some extent, threaten the Underworld God's power. One was the "Argo School," the guys who studied Eye Rituals.
Su Xiao had dabbled in Eye Rituals but later decisively gave them up. It wasn't that this knowledge wasn't powerful, but that this kind of Ancient God faction knowledge had deep foundations. The various eyes made from this knowledge were very strong and had excellent growth potential. The dark eyes possessed by Black A were still his core ability.
The problem was that Eye Rituals had too much depth. It was more suitable as a main ability to develop, investing more resources for greater returns. Therefore, Su Xiao decisively abandoned it. His resources in this area were to be invested in Alchemy and Sealcraft.
From the depth of Eye Rituals, one could glimpse the level of the "Argo School." Moreover, Eye Rituals were just one of the Argo School's signature abilities.
The Argo School was indeed very strong, but most of its members were madmen who reveled in insanity. There were some normal and powerful ones, but too few. Therefore, although this force could threaten the Underworld God's subordinates to some extent, its style meant it was destined not to become a mortal enemy of the Underworld God's temple.
As for the other force on Doom Star that could contend with the Underworld God's temple, it was the cult under the Mother of Night. The Mother of Night's power was beyond doubt. She was an Ancient God only slightly weaker than the Underworld God, known as the Mother God of Dark Drowning. The power of her cult needed no further explanation.
Zuiyasi's mother-in-law was the proxy of the Mother of Night. One could imagine Zuiyasi's status in this force, especially after he went to Dead Silence City and brought back [Endless Origin] for the Mother of Night.
[Endless Origin] was a supreme treasure for Ancient Gods, containing a vast amount of divine origin energy. It was one of the creations of the Alchemy Civilization.
If an Ancient God obtained [Endless Origin] and implanted it into their divine body for a period, the adaptability of [Endless Origin] would activate, causing the divine origin energy inside to transform into the origin characteristics of that Ancient God.
Thus, the Ancient God could devour the massive amount of divine origin energy within [Endless Origin], and this divine origin energy had an extremely high compatibility with the Ancient God system, nearly reaching 100%.
If an Ancient God devoured all the vast origin energy within [Endless Origin], they would become extremely powerful, let alone the Mother of Night, who was only slightly weaker than the Underworld God.
Because Zuiyasi brought back [Endless Origin], the Mother of Night gifted him a Heart of All Things. This was a treatment that even Zuiyasi's mother-in-law, as a divine proxy, did not have.
Zuiyasi was ruthless enough to directly devour the Heart of All Things. Facts proved that this guy just didn't seem arrogant anymore. The arrogance of his youth was still there, but it had become more restrained after he got a wife and children.
Zuiyasi had always given the impression of having strong immortality and indestructibility, and besides that, his parasitic marrow worms. In fact, parasitic marrow worms were his wife's specialty. Zuiyasi's core abilities were only two: immortality and time manipulation.
Shenfu and Zuiyasi's cult were always hostile. Considering that Shenfu was likely the one who spread the news of the Monarch's Treasure this time, everything became clear.
Given Shenfu's methods, it was highly possible that several world progressions ago, he knew that the followers of the Mother of Night were searching for the Monarch's Treasure. Since they were hostile, they would naturally pay close attention.
Originally, Shenfu wasn't interested in the Monarch's Treasure in the Eternal Light World. It wasn't that he wasn't tempted by the treasure, but that the Eternal Light World was too dangerous. However, this time, being dragged in by his teammate Beifuli, Shenfu came up with this plan, killing two birds with one stone: attracting greedy people to the Eternal Light World to serve as scapegoats while also annoying the hostile faction.
That was also why Zuiyasi came to the Eternal Light World. Others feared dying here, but he truly wasn't afraid. Even a world-destroying existence, without understanding his abilities, would most likely be unable to kill him.
Things having developed to this point, Zuiyasi revealed a secret to Su Xiao and Wu De. Compared to other things in the Monarch's Treasure, there was a weapon inside that could pierce any defense. That was his primary target. Whether he obtained this weapon wasn't the key point for Zuiyasi; what mattered was that the enemy didn't get it.
Hearing about a weapon that could pierce all defenses, Su Xiao felt this claim was too absolute. But on second thought, if this weapon's erosion characteristics were powerful, it would indeed be the bane of defensive types.
"This weapon you mentioned, what type is it?"
Wu De wasn't very interested in this weapon; he still preferred Soul Stones and [Primordial Fragments].
"It's a ranged weapon. I don't know the specifics either."
Hearing Zuiyasi's words, Su Xiao became somewhat interested in this weapon. He guessed it might be the Dead Silence Ember. Given the preciousness of the Dead Silence Ember, it was fully qualified to be included in the Monarch's Treasure.
The so-called Monarch's Treasure was actually related to the [Soul Crown]. It was from a ninth-rank high-tier world. A monarch obtained the [Soul Crown] and put it on. After that, a tyrant famous in the outside world appeared.
If it weren't for later clashing head-on with the "Witch Realm," the tyrant's Calamity Legion might not have been destroyed to this day. This was the [Soul Crown]. Although it was slightly inferior to the [Necronomicon] and the [Nether Bone Ring], once a powerful monarch put it on, its destructive power could be considered the greatest among Original Sin Objects.
The Monarch's Treasure came about because of that tyrant. At his peak, the tyrant dared to provoke the "Gloomy Continent" and the "Witch Realm." One could imagine how much treasure he had accumulated. He was also a peculiar person. After the Law Annihilation era ended, this guy actually hid his treasure in the Eternal Light World.
As long as it wasn't found by world-destroying existences or Abyss Spawn, there was no need to worry about others discovering this treasure. There was also a saying that before his destruction, the tyrant fled here, to a tomb built by the undead, resembling an underground palace. His treasures were also in this underground palace.
Besides this information, Zuiyasi also mentioned one point: according to investigations by members of his faction, the tyrant could freely enter and leave the Eternal Light World because he had obtained the [Moon's Radiance], a gemstone pendant with an ancient appearance.
If the Eternal Light World was described as a huge prison, then the Law Annihilators and the Silver Moon Wolf were the hunters of this prison, and the Eternal Light Watchers were like jailers.
The Law Annihilator's [Sealing Blade] and the Silver Moon Wolf's [Moon's Radiance] were keys that could freely enter and leave the Eternal Light World. The Eternal Light World didn't recognize the Law Annihilators or the Moon Wolf; only by possessing the key could one freely enter and leave.
The tyrant could freely enter and leave this place because he had obtained the [Moon's Radiance]. Now, that [Moon's Radiance] pendant was in the Monarch's Treasure.
What was more dangerous than coming to the Eternal Light World? The answer was: letting the world-destroying existences and Abyss Spawn here obtain the [Moon's Radiance], allowing these monsters to escape. That would lead to endless trouble. These terrifying beings, imprisoned for thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years, would never forget the Shadow of Law Annihilation, nor the last Law Annihilator: Su Xiao.
Su Xiao had heard rumors about the tyrant, but he had just learned that the tyrant had hidden all his treasures in the Eternal Light World. If what Zuiyasi said was true, Su Xiao needed to find these treasures. Even if he couldn't obtain anything, he had to shatter that [Moon's Radiance].
There were three parties targeting the Monarch's Treasure this time. First, the "good teammates" group of four, which went without saying. Kaisa was delayed by something and should arrive soon. Given Kaisa's personality, he wouldn't miss this treasure.
The second force was Doom Star, the hounds under the Underworld God. Besides these powerful hounds, Shenfu was temporarily cooperating with this side.
What these people wanted from the Monarch's Treasure was unknown for now. Presumably, what they were targeting was also what Zuiyasi and the force behind him wanted.
Zuiyasi didn't mention this aspect of information, which was understandable. The "good teammates" would ensure the authenticity and accuracy of the information. As for whether everything was disclosed, that depended on the situation. This was the style of the "good teammates" group of four when cooperating. Some things were known between them and didn't need to be spelled out.
The third force searching for the Monarch's Treasure was the Lightless Temple, the force under the Eternal Dark Lord. Su Xiao guessed correctly. The Sanctuary City they were currently in was indeed "protected" by world-destroying existences, and it was the three strongest world-destroying existences in this world, plus the strongest Abyss existence in this world, who jointly "protected" this place. They were:
Star Devourer (World-Destroying Existence).
Ancestor (World-Destroying Existence).
Archbishop of the Abyss (Abyss Existence).
Eternal Dark Lord (World-Destroying Existence).
...
Su Xiao didn't know much about the other three giants of the Lightless Temple, but he knew a bit about this Archbishop of the Abyss through records in the Soul Library.
This guy was very terrifying. Any world with a Dark God Cult would definitely have an Archbishop of the Abyss, or rather, a will avatar. The Archbishops of the Abyss in each world were different, but they had one thing in common: their appearance was due to the consciousness avatar of this Archbishop of the Abyss from the Eternal Light World.
Sometimes, it wasn't that the powerful beings in those worlds were willing to become Archbishops of the Abyss, but that under the trend of fate and causality, they became Archbishops of the Abyss, like the Archbishop of the Abyss in the Shadow World, Silvis.
And the Archbishop of the Abyss in the current Eternal Light World was the ultimate original body of the Archbishops of the Abyss. Without the seal of the Eternal Light World, this ultimate original body of the Archbishop of the Abyss was indestructible. Even if one went through great pains to kill it, it would soon be reborn through an Archbishop of the Abyss in some world.
As long as there was a Dark God Cult, new branch individuals of the Archbishop of the Abyss would appear. As long as there were branch individuals, the ultimate original body of the Archbishop of the Abyss would never be eliminated.
More precisely, as long as there was an Abyss, there would be people craving that powerful and dark power. The Dark God Cult would naturally appear. This was the reason why the Archbishop of the Abyss was difficult to eliminate.
That was why the Ancestral Law Annihilators imprisoned the Archbishop of the Abyss in the Eternal Light World, a world without Abyss power.
The Ancestral Law Annihilators paid a considerable price to imprison the Archbishop of the Abyss here. They couldn't casually experiment to see if they could kill the Archbishop of the Abyss here, and the Archbishop of the Abyss himself didn't dare to easily experiment whether he could be reborn outside the Eternal Light World through death. The situation was temporarily deadlocked.
The result was that the Law Annihilators trapped the Archbishop of the Abyss, while the Archbishop of the Abyss had plenty of time to wait. He could even wait until the Eternal Light World collapsed before going out.
In this world, there were four existences like the Archbishop of the Abyss, with supreme strength and difficult to kill!
Su Xiao, currently stuck at the promotion barrier, couldn't fully utilize many of his abilities. He couldn't even defeat an Absolute Strong who had used five [Primordial Fragments] to advance, let alone a supreme-level existence.
As for world-destroying existences at the Absolute Strong level, there was a group in this world. Yes, a group. The Wind Sea Continent didn't have many Absolute Strong, but here there were many. This was accumulated. Before the Law Annihilation era, every world had world-destroying existences, but after the Law Annihilation era ended, more than 90% of world-destroying existences were imprisoned in the Eternal Light World.
Furthermore, the various seals in the Eternal Light World were not repaired. No, it wasn't just that they weren't repaired. Over the years, the core members of the Lightless Temple had been destroying these seals everywhere in the Eternal Light World. They were the subordinates of the three strongest world-destroying existences in this world, plus the strongest Abyss existence in this world, so they naturally didn't care about releasing more world-destroying existences.
The situation in the Eternal Light World was very dangerous. Su Xiao had anticipated this, but he didn't expect it to be this perilous. This forced him to make some changes to his plan. The worst-case scenario was to complete the 300-point attribute breakthrough without being exposed, thus allowing him to advance to Absolute Strong.
As for the world-destroying existences here, there was no rush to deal with them. After becoming strong enough, he would return to this place, clean up some of these world-destroying existences, and reseal those that couldn't be eliminated.
However, Su Xiao always had a doubt: didn't the Ancestral Law Annihilators have any preparations for the worst-case scenario?
Based on his personal experience, Law Annihilators coming to the Eternal Light World had no power boost whatsoever. If the timeline went back to the Law Annihilation era, when the seals of the Eternal Light World malfunctioned and most world-destroying existences broke out, how should the Law Annihilators and the Moon Wolf have responded?
Su Xiao didn't believe that the Ancestral Law Annihilators hadn't considered this situation. Just looking at the spatial seals of the Eternal Light World, one could see how thorough the Ancestral Law Annihilators' preparations were. For example, Wu De and Zuiyasi wouldn't dare come here if they didn't have the round-trip teleportation authority certified by the Void Tree.
Besides the certified teleportation of the Void Tree and the Paradise, as well as the [Sealing Blade] and [Moon's Radiance], the spatial seals of the Eternal Light World were unsolvable. The Ancestral Law Annihilators had set up spatial seals that could last until today. How could they not have a plan to deal with a large number of world-destroying existences breaking free and rampaging in the Eternal Light World?
Putting this aside for now, regarding the trial mission, after Su Xiao arrived at Sanctuary City, the mission could indeed be activated, but it displayed: "Waiting for relevant personnel to come and receive you. Hunter, please do not move from your location."
Kaisa was late. After Su Xiao, Wu De, and Zuiyasi waited for a while, the door was knocked. It wasn't Kaisa. If Kaisa had come, he would have appeared directly in the room.
Zuiyasi got up to open the door. He was the strongest at handling unexpected situations. Even if someone suddenly cut off his head, he would more likely hold his head with one hand and ask the other person what they wanted with a smile.
After Zuiyasi opened the door, he whispered a few words with the person outside, then turned his head and said, "Bai Ye, it's for you."
With that, Zuiyasi fully opened the door, allowing Su Xiao to see the person outside.
This person wore a tough and thick long coat with many small pockets sewn on. On his wide waist belt hung various odds and ends. He carried a large leather bag on his back, which looked like it had been used for many years. The person wore a face mask and gloves with obvious wear marks, even showing the fingertips.
The person outside looked Su Xiao up and down, then glanced at Zuiyasi and Wu De before pointing outside, indicating that he wanted to talk to Su Xiao alone.
"Brother, come in and talk. The two of us just happen to need to go out for a while."
As Zuiyasi spoke, he had already left a message in the team channel they had just entered: 'Don't use the shelter stones of Sanctuary City.'
After Zuiyasi and Wu De left, the person sat down opposite Su Xiao. After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "Are you hungry?"
"No."
"Haha, I am."
The person took off his backpack and started rummaging through it, pulling out a few strange-looking fruits.
"..."
Su Xiao picked one up and took a bite.
"How does it taste?"
"Not bad."
"Just not bad? I think it tastes good."
The person pulled down his face mask, took a big bite of the fruit, and instinctively placed his other hand under his chin to catch the juice.
"Are you... an Eternal Light Watcher?"
Su Xiao looked at the person opposite him. The other's aura was somewhat similar to the Moon Wolf, yet different. This was a perception feedback unique to the Blood Oath.
"Where are there any real Watchers anymore? I'm at most half of one. Oh, by the way, my name is Suoensi."
Suoensi ate the fruit, his eyes unconsciously scanning the surroundings. This was a habit developed from facing danger for a long time.
"There is still one real Watcher, but he's already senile. If you communicate with him, he'll piss you off to death."
After finishing the fruit in his hand, Suoensi stood up and said, "Let's go. We're going to the Gray Sanctuary. As a Law Annihilator, your ability to perceive those monsters should be stronger than mine. You should have sensed what the Eternal Dark Lord here is. Don't worry about me leading you into a trap. Look at this."
Suoensi took out a ring with the mark of an Eternal Light Watcher. Not only that, but Suoensi also activated the ring to some extent, verifying his previous statement that he was at most half an Eternal Light Watcher.
"It was the old tree in the Sanctuary that told me to come find you here. Although that old tree is senile, what it says when it's clear-headed is still trustworthy. After all, that one is a true Eternal Light Watcher."
After saying this, Suoensi didn't prepare to leave Sanctuary City through the main gate. He knew this place well. Entering here was simple, but leaving was extremely difficult.
The deeper they went into the lower city, the dimmer the light became, until only a faint glow from above remained. The surrounding buildings became crowded. Some commoners could only live in sheds, covered with ragged cloth barely enough to cover their bodies, curled up in the darkness, skin and bones.
Thump, thump, thump!
In a narrow alley piled with many trash cans, Suoensi knocked on a thick wooden door. The door didn't open directly. A hole opened in the middle section, with a slide track going down. Suoensi took out a small cloth bag and poured a dry, red berry into the door hole. After pouring about half the bag, he knocked twice on the wooden door.
The person inside seemed to be counting. A few seconds later, the wooden door opened. The faint light inside illuminated the side face of a girl with youthful vitality but somewhat rough skin. Her eyes, with dark circles, held a dangerous wildness.
"Suoensi, you broke the rules!"
With a bang, the wooden door was slammed shut by the short-haired girl. This was because Suoensi had brought a stranger here, arousing the short-haired girl's vigilance. Seeing this, Suoensi poured the remaining half bag of berries into the door hole as well.
"It seems I'm going to permanently lose a partner. What a pity."
Suoensi made as if to turn and leave. The thick door, reinforced with metal bars, opened a crack. The short-haired girl narrowed her eyes, her dark circles making her look unfriendly.
"Who is this guy?"
"He's an old friend I haven't seen for a long time. Don't worry, he's not dangerous. He's not even very good at fighting."
"Heh~"
The short-haired girl let out a slightly mocking laugh. Her eyes clearly said: 'Do you believe that yourself?'
"This one time only. No next time. Those hyenas from the Lightless Temple have gone crazy lately, suddenly barging into our territory."
The short-haired girl gestured for the two outside to come in quickly. After they entered the small building, she stuck her head out the door, looked left and right, and only closed the door after confirming no one was following.
The two-story small building had a considerable area. The first floor alone was over a hundred square meters. Even so, it still felt crowded. The place was divided into multiple rooms, each with several children. Their eyes showed no shyness. At such a young age, they had already experienced the cruelty and terror of this world. Some younger ones clutched the berries Suoensi had used as an entry fee.
The short-haired girl's name was Yousha. Under Yousha's lead, the three passed through a narrow corridor in the partition and arrived at a secret room. There was an old but well-maintained teleportation array here.
While Suoensi took out a bag of fine shelter stones, Yousha activated the teleportation array.
When the spatial fluctuations around them dissipated, Su Xiao had arrived in a cave. Suoensi put on the Watcher ring and introduced, "The Gray Sanctuary was originally built to guard against the destruction of all seals. That's why it was established in an independent, stable space. It's also the reason we can still live to this day."
Suoensi pressed one hand to the ground. With a hum, golden light surged, and a dense array pattern spread across the ground. The next second, multiple lock plates appeared in the surrounding space. When all the lock plates were opened, Su Xiao's vision blurred, and then he was obscured by spatial mist.
When everything settled, he was standing on a teleportation platform. The building he was in now was quite large, with a relatively open interior. There were many sculptures and seats. Some stone seats were embedded directly into the walls. Looking up, the ceiling was a dome, sealed by a dull crystalline substance. Behind that crystal seemed to be flowing light, which was why a gentle light shone down from above.
[Tip: You have arrived at the Gray Sanctuary.]
[Your trial assessment has officially begun.]
[The first phase of the trial mission has been activated. You need to go to the Watcher's Tower and activate the "Super World-Level Sealing Spell" left by the Law Annihilation Faction, sealing the maximum achievable combat power in this world to the Absolute Strong level.]
[Because you have arrived at the Gray Sanctuary, all related permissions here have been fully activated.]
[Your reputation in the Gray Sanctuary is: 950000/950000 (Blood Oath Ally).]
...