Chapter 25: Charm Judgment
Su Xiao sealed the three floating "Life Crystals" into a container, then tossed it to Kaiser. Among the four members of the 'Good Teammate' group, Kaiser was the safest choice to deliver this item.
Even Su Xiao, a triple Technique Grandmaster, couldn't perceive Kaiser when he was concealed at close range. It was worth noting that a melee Technique Grandmaster's close-range perception ranked among the top three in all ability systems, yet even so, Kaiser remained undetectable while hidden.
All that remained was for Kaiser to deliver these three "Life Crystals" to a certain location in the Wet Salt Zone, where they would be discovered by members of the Lightless Temple searching there. After that, things would naturally fall into place.
To avoid losing the bait while trying to catch the fish, the ultimate failsafe for these three "Life Crystals" was the potent poison hidden within. The concealment of this poison was so profound that even Su Xiao, its creator, couldn't detect any issues by sensing the fluctuations of the "Life Crystals."
The principle was that this was a life-attribute poison. If normal life-attribute source energy was a tonic, then this twisted life-attribute toxin was an uncontrollable extreme tonic—no, it could no longer be considered a tonic, but rather infinite proliferation.
All life attributes, once they exceeded their critical threshold, became the most terrifying poison. This was precisely the case with the life poison within these three "Life Crystals."
In fact, the most exquisite aspect of this poison wasn't its "infinite proliferation" characteristic. Suppose the "Life Crystal" contained 1,000,000 points of Primordial Life Force. In that case, the hidden "Life Poison" only accounted for 1 point of the total.
However, once the Four Titans of the Lightless Temple absorbed these "Life Crystals," that mere 1 point of "Life Poison" would, in an extremely short time, assimilate and proliferate the surrounding 1,000,000 points of Primordial Life Force into "Life Poison."
This was why Su Xiao wasn't worried about the "Life Crystals" strengthening the enemy—because this item wouldn't provide any benefit. As for whether the enemy would discover the poison within the "Life Crystals," this wasn't a needle-in-a-haystack problem; it was finding a single drop of slightly darker seawater in the vast ocean. The difficulty was unimaginable.
Simply put, the moment before the Four Titans of the Lightless Temple swallowed the "Life Crystals," these were still rare life-attribute treasures. But after ingestion, they would transform into lethal poison.
Did you think that was all? Of course not. How could the Holy Flame Alchemist's setup be so simple? The second reactant of the "Life Poison" upon eruption was natural elements. In simple terms, the higher the concentration of natural elements around the poisoned target, the more violently the life poison would erupt. Don't forget, this was the Eternal Light World—nowhere had a richer concentration of natural elements.
Beyond these two characteristics, the life poison had a third property. However, whether this property would trigger remained to be tested in practice.
After understanding the characteristics of the "Life Poison," Zuiyasi and Wude both wore faint smiles while their minds raced, recalling if they had recently stabbed this dog thief in the back. Upon confirming they hadn't, their smiles carried a hint of relief.
This trip to the Wet Salt Zone wouldn't involve only Kaiser. Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, Wude, and the Shadow Devourer would also go together. Discovering three "Life Crystals" out of nowhere would inevitably arouse suspicion.
Conversely, if while searching the Wet Salt Zone for the key to the monarch's treasure entrance, they accidentally found a treasure vault containing three "Life Crystals," it would be more believable. Moreover, these three "Life Crystals" appeared to be naturally formed, stored in this vault after being obtained by someone.
As for where to find this treasure vault, Su Xiao had a prime candidate. He had previously obtained a treasure vault map from the Dark Maiden. That Law-Destroying treasure vault was located in the Wet Salt Zone. He had been too busy before to search for it, so now was the perfect time.
Su Xiao didn't set off immediately. Instead, he took a bottle of potion from a hidden compartment in his workbench. This was prepared while checking the [Source Potion] at the Gray Holy Sanctuary earlier, using the potion room.
As Su Xiao produced this potion with intense dark characteristics, the Shadow Devourer's attention was immediately drawn, but it soon stopped paying attention, knowing that in the 'Good Teammate' squad, there was never any gift without reason.
"This expedition to explore the Scarlet Castle was my proposal. Apart from you, everyone else gained something. We're cooperating, and the rewards can't be disproportionate to the contributions."
As Su Xiao spoke, he tossed the [Shadow Secret Potion] in his hand to the Shadow Devourer. The moment the Shadow Devourer grasped the potion with one hand, it couldn't let go. However, a suspicion that this might be a trap made it want to decline the potion. Unfortunately, its hand suddenly moved on its own, uncorking the bottle and gulping it down.
The Shadow Devourer stared at the empty potion bottle in its hand, its heart beginning to race. Its brain entered maximum processing speed, trying to figure out what was going on. But even as its CPU nearly burned out from overthinking, it couldn't find any hidden scheme.
There was actually no scheme. The main reason was to prevent it from quitting the team due to this setback, especially since among the upcoming enemies was the long-time adversary, Shenfu.
Back in the Wind Sea Continent, why had the Shadow Devourer sought out Su Xiao? Because Su Xiao was a Law Destroyer? That was only one reason. The real reason was that Shenfu wanted to steal the "Mark Fragment" from the Shadow Devourer but couldn't confront the Absolute Strong-ranked Shadow Devourer directly, hence this strategy.
After joining the 'Good Teammate' squad and listening to Su Xiao's explanations, the Shadow Devourer had realized what was happening. It was nursing a grudge, waiting to find Shenfu.
Ask yourself, what kind of enemy did Shenfu least want to face? It was someone like the Shadow Devourer—a straightforward brute. As long as the Shadow Devourer encountered Shenfu and began pursuing him, it would no longer listen to a single word of Shenfu's persuasion. Even if the Shadow Devourer couldn't truly kill Shenfu, it could still disrupt Shenfu's plans.
In the previous world progression, it seemed they had ultimately defeated Shenfu. But don't forget, although Shenfu had lost everything, as a user of the Ancient God system, he had entered a coexistence phase with the Original Sin Object: Golden Holy Grail. After allowing a humanoid Ancient God to obtain a massive amount of pure divine blood, the results were predictable.
Even if Shenfu were to advance to Absolute Strong right now and possess considerable strength at that rank, Su Xiao wouldn't be the least bit surprised. The good news was that Shenfu probably hadn't completed his breakthrough trial yet; otherwise, greetings from that direction would have arrived long ago.
After explaining to the Shadow Devourer that they shared a common enemy and giving it the potion, the always-worried Shadow Devourer finally relaxed and left shortly after.
Only Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, Wude, and Kaiser remained in the workshop. The four sat around a round table. Zuiyasi was the first to produce several sealed boxes, all filled with Precipitated Glass.
[You have obtained 4680 Precipitated Glass.]
Zuiyasi's harvest was decent. Su Xiao deposited all the Precipitated Glass into the Abyss Shop, then exchanged for 2 "Primordial Fragments." Originally, the cut was supposed to be twenty percent, but if Zuiyasi had enough "Primordial Fragments," this Ancient God system user could advance to Absolute Strong within this world progression. This would undoubtedly be a great help against the Four Titans of the Lightless Temple.
Therefore, the 1624 Precipitated Glass that Zuiyasi should have paid could be deferred. If the other party's Precipitated Glass reserves remained tight, they could substitute with other items.
Wude beside him didn't produce a large amount of Precipitated Glass. Instead, he took out a sculpture about 20 centimeters tall. This sculpture looked as if it were covered in a layer of asphalt, with multiple faces on its head. The feeling was as if many suffering souls were drilling out of this body, then freezing in place.
[You have obtained the Pain Statue.]
[Pain Statue]
Origin: Bottom of the Abyss.
Quality: Abyss Rank.
Usage Effect: ??? (Only usable by Abyss system ability users.)
Rating: ??? (Visible after activation.)
Description: A ritual item placed at a designated location, capable of switching between light and darkness in that area.
Selling Price (Abyss Shop): 5300 Precipitated Glass.
...
This item was definitely an important object from some dangerous zone. As the item description indicated, passing through that dangerous area would require this [Pain Statue].
However, no one knew where that dangerous zone was. There was a ninety percent chance it wasn't in the Eternal Light World. The reason was that with this world's extreme elemental environment, the possibility of such an Abyss region existing was too low.
Thinking this way, keeping this item worth over 5000 Precipitated Glass was less beneficial than converting it into Precipitated Glass to buy "Primordial Fragments."
Wude wasn't in a hurry to advance to Absolute Strong; he was still in the stage of accumulating "Primordial Fragments." Therefore, Su Xiao sold this item to the Abyss Shop, exchanged a "Primordial Fragment" for him at an 80% discount, and returned the remaining 2244 Precipitated Glass to him.
Finally, it was Kaiser's turn. This scoundrel naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity to exchange for "Primordial Fragments" at an 80% discount. He immediately produced 6112 Precipitated Glass. After Su Xiao earned 1528 from this, he helped Kaiser exchange for two "Primordial Fragments."
This transaction seemed very profitable for Su Xiao—earning a net 764 Precipitated Glass per "Primordial Fragment" exchanged. But don't forget, the Abyss Shop had inventory limits. However, since this expedition to the Scarlet Castle was Su Xiao's proposal, he would naturally fulfill all his promised commitments.
After handling these matters, Su Xiao went to the second floor of the workshop and stood on a Law-Destroying Teleportation Array. He originally wanted Zuiyasi and Wude to come along, but both declined. Seeing this, Su Xiao activated the Law-Destroying Teleportation Array.
Boom!
A spatial explosion occurred. Zuiyasi, watching from the side, instantly got a new hairstyle. Judging by his serious expression, he wouldn't be trying this Law-Destroying Teleportation Array in the future.
...
The sky was dim and dark. Su Xiao looked around; he had arrived at a dilapidated stone hut. This location was near the Scarlet Castle, not too far from the spot marked on the treasure vault map.
Su Xiao took out the Watcher's Map to check the surrounding area. That Law-Destroying treasure vault was about 30 kilometers away. On the way, he might pass by a small town called Laughing Madness Town. During the day, everything was normal, but after nightfall, adventurers heard all kinds of mad laughter coming from within. None of the adventurers who went in to investigate ever came out.
Previously, the Miscellaneous Goods Brother, Thornes, had mentioned that in the Corrosive Rain Land, one should never enter any cave, and in the Wet Salt Zone, one should avoid any town, preferably not even approach within a few kilometers.
After determining the direction, Su Xiao headed alone toward the location of the treasure vault. Not long after he left, at the spot where he had been, fluorescent blue particles scattered. These particles flickered, and a young girl appeared. She had fair skin that emitted a faint fluorescence, and short blue hair that slowly scattered light particles. This was the new member of the Magic Soul Team, the Light Spirit Clan's Ling Yao, who was tracking Su Xiao to demand an explanation for the Scarlet Castle mission.
"Strange, how does this guy keep disappearing and reappearing? Could he also have telepathic movement abilities?"
Ling Yao pondered for a few seconds before deciding not to dwell on it. Although she was nominally here to demand an explanation for the Scarlet Castle mission, she had another purpose. Before entering this world, she had cooperated with Shenfu. Currently tracking Su Xiao was to secretly place a coordinate on him and apply bad luck, making Su Xiao increasingly unlucky.
Placing a coordinate to monitor Su Xiao's position in real-time was part of Ling Yao's cooperation with Shenfu. Applying bad luck, however, was because she was very unhappy about having her mission stolen—it wasn't part of the cooperation with Shenfu.
Ling Yao had tracked for a long time before finally picking up Su Xiao's trail. But upon arriving at the Scarlet Castle, after weighing the options, she didn't enter. Although she had long completed the 300-point attribute trial, she hadn't yet advanced to Absolute Strong, so she chose to wait outside the castle.
But after waiting for half a day, she finally saw her target emerge, only for him to suddenly disappear. This infuriated Ling Yao. The thirst from waiting on the Wet Salt Ground made her even more irritable. She decided she couldn't let this slide, so she searched the surroundings. Unexpectedly, she encountered a guy named Rational Beast and received a side quest from him. After completing it, she made a small profit.
Just as Ling Yao was about to leave, her tracking target suddenly reappeared. This made Ling Yao decide she couldn't hesitate any longer. She would maintain a distance of 1 kilometer and act. The target was a melee Technique Grandmaster, with average mid-to-long-range perception.
At this moment, Ling Yao was sitting on the roof of a stone hut, her calves swinging back and forth, her gaze fixed on the distant figure. When she determined the distance had reached about 3 kilometers, she smiled, revealing her little white teeth.
"Get ready to be unlucky, you bastard who stole my mission."
Ling Yao clasped her hands together, and a faint glow gradually appeared in her eyes. As she spread her hands apart, a translucent mark appeared between them. This mark flew out, moving at a relatively slow speed but with tracking capabilities.
This was Ling Yao's specialty. She could make this mark slowly track the enemy. As the mark gradually approached the enemy, its characteristics would slowly change, ultimately disguising itself to be like the enemy's own aura. Even if it attached to the target's clothing, the target would find it difficult to detect.
At this point, Ling Yao should have left—at least that was Shenfu's plan. But now that the main task was done, it was time for Ling Yao to handle personal grudges.
Black energy threads detached from Ling Yao's hand. These were the bad luck she had extracted from the surrounding world. Now, she wanted these bad luck threads to track the target, making him increasingly unlucky for the next 30 natural days.
[Your Bad Omen ability has been activated.]
[This ability will receive dual enhancement from your Charm and Luck attributes, and will perform a Charm and Luck attribute check against the enemy. If the check passes, the ability's intensity will be enhanced or weakened based on the check result.]
[Note: Due to the special nature of the enemy's Charm attribute, regardless of whether this check succeeds, you will suffer the "Blood Malice" effect.]
[Charm attribute check in progress...]
[Your True Charm attribute is 360 points, which is 7560 times that of the enemy.]
...
Seeing this prompt, Ling Yao blinked. She suspected she had misread it. Staring intently, she confirmed it—yes, over 7000 times.
Ling Yao's mouth twitched, and she used her mark's function to screenshot this prompt. The next second, subsequent prompts appeared.
[Your Bad Omen ability was originally set to last 30 natural days, but due to the Charm check, this ability has received a super-massive enhancement.]
[Check complete. The enemy will suffer the "Bad Omen" debuff. This debuff state will last for 630 natural days.]
...
Ling Yao's eyes unconsciously widened a bit, filled with confusion. She really hadn't expected her "Bad Omen" ability to be enhanced to this extent.
At this moment, Ling Yao still didn't know that the limit of her "Bad Omen" ability was far from this.
[Warning: You have triggered the "Blood Malice" effect derived from the enemy's Charm attribute. Your location for the next 24 hours will be perceived by the enemy.]
[Warning: You have triggered the enemy's luck counterattack ability "Indestructible Fortune."]
[Indestructible Fortune (Special, Passive): If secretly attacked by fate-system or causality-system abilities, it will trigger a luck counter-effect, enhancing the incoming ability by 5 to 10 times using Law-Destroying fortune, and reflecting it back onto the caster.]
[Indestructible Fortune ability has taken effect. This ability will enhance the "Bad Omen" debuff effect by 10 times and reflect it back onto you.]
[You have suffered the "Bad Omen" debuff. This debuff state will last for 6300 natural days.]
...