Chapter 30: Title Synthesis
The aura of the Progenitor completely dissipated. Seeing this, Su Xiao, with the little remaining strength he had, grabbed the two chests floating in front of him and a sphere formed by golden particles, storing them all in his storage space.
A wave of weakness washed over him. Su Xiao could no longer hold on and fell to the ground with a thud. Fortunately, his health was slowly recovering.
When his health recovered to over 10%, Su Xiao finally regained some strength. He sat up, and only then did he have time to check the rewards from killing the Progenitor. The total was as follows:
[You have killed the World-Destroying Rank existence: Progenitor.]
[You have obtained Golden Skill Points × 10.]
[You have obtained 9,950 Soul Coins.]
[You have obtained Immortal Rank Chest: Progenitor.]
[You have obtained Source Matter Chest.]
[You have obtained Withered World Will.]
[You have obtained 526,000 World Reputation.]
The rewards were generous. Su Xiao checked the information on the [Source Matter Chest] and found that its opening method was the same as a normal chest. There were two possible rewards: a 30% chance of obtaining [Primordial Source Matter] and a 70% chance of obtaining [Power Source Matter]. Since there were many types of [Power Source Matter], the specific reward depended on luck.
Although Su Xiao really wanted to obtain [Primordial Source Matter], he had recently used two portions. Within this world progress, it was best not to use this item again, to avoid increasing his physical attributes too much in a short period, causing maladaptation and a decline in combat power.
Therefore, opening the [Source Matter Chest] could wait for now. Even if it yielded [Primordial Source Matter], he would have to absorb it within Reincarnation Paradise to avoid any accidents during the absorption process.
He took out the [Withered World Will] from his storage space. This item was like golden sand particles, forming a sphere the size of a fist. When he squeezed it with force, it scattered into loose golden light sand, then gradually coalesced again.
This item had two effects. The first was direct use, which would grant a super-massive amount of Luck Attribute within one world progress. Don't think it was just tens or hundreds of points; it was at least six or seven hundred points or more. However, once he left the current world, this effect would disappear.
The other effect was that it could be added when refining titles. However, the item's attributes had a warning: if this item was added during title refinement, then when wearing the resulting title, encountering a World-Destroying Rank existence or an Abyss Spawn would guarantee an attack from them.
As for which choice to make, Su Xiao didn't need to think twice. Increasing his Luck Attribute wasn't useless to him, but the effect wasn't very obvious. Reducing the increased value by one digit would roughly be the actual bonus he could get.
Therefore, he would definitely add this item when refining titles. As for the hostility from World-Destroying Rank existences and Abyss Spawn, even without this effect, as a Shadow of Law Destruction, Su Xiao was naturally hostile to these two types of beings anyway. The moment they met, the hostility would be maxed out.
As for the final 500,000+ reputation points, Su Xiao directly exchanged them for title chests.
[You have exchanged for 526,000 Title Chests.]
[Title Chest: Opening it can grant titles.]
[You have opened 526,000 Title Chests.]
[You have obtained 1-Star No-Attribute Title × 526,000.]
[Due to your repeated chest openings yielding no tradable titles, and the impossibility of selling such titles, the results of your title openings will no longer be announced on the World Contact Platform. If you wish to make an announcement, you can adjust this permission later.]
Su Xiao naturally wouldn't adjust this announcement permission. He stored all the obtained titles into his title list, then raised his hand to catch the Watcher's Ring that Baha handed over. As his follower, Baha could naturally activate this ring as well, so Amu had already teleported back to the Gray Holy Sanctuary.
Su Xiao activated the Watcher's Ring. When the surrounding spatial mist dissipated, he returned to the Gray Holy Sanctuary. The Dark Maiden and the Grocery Guy, Soens, were both absent; they were near the area where the Archbishop of the Abyss and the Star Devourer were clashing.
Arriving at the treatment point, Su Xiao sat on the stone platform. The slightly cool healing energy quickly eased the pain on his body. The feeling of comfort all over made him a bit drowsy.
When Su Xiao woke up, several hours had passed. His health had recovered to over 90%, but due to his injuries not being fully healed, even at the recovery point, he couldn't fully restore his health. However, after drinking several types of recovery potions, his injuries began to gradually heal. This was the advantage of being a master alchemist; even with severe injuries, he could quickly recover his combat power.
Opening the title list, there were already a large number of 1-Star No-Attribute Titles, enough to synthesize 5 8-Star No-Attribute Titles. Seeing this, Su Xiao activated the Void Tree's title refinement disc and began synthesizing titles. Fortunately, synthesizing titles within this world didn't require a fee. Otherwise, the Soul Coins needed just for title synthesis would be a huge expense.
After deducting the required amount for synthesizing 5 8-Star No-Attribute Titles, Su Xiao still had 269,820 1-Star titles. As the saying goes, if luck is bad, use strength to make up for it. This was exactly that kind of situation.
Su Xiao's two main titles, [Deep Blue Shadow] and [War Lord], were both 8-Star titles. To become the ultimate victor, upgrading these two titles to 9-Star was essential, especially [Deep Blue Shadow], a combat-type title.
Su Xiao planned to upgrade [Deep Blue Shadow] first. There were several reasons. First, he had to deal with the remaining three of the Four Giants of the Lightless Temple. Second, killing the Progenitor this time had yielded an item called [Withered World Will], which could be added during title synthesis.
If he wasn't mistaken, adding this item during title synthesis would likely cause the title's effects to gain attributes targeting World-Destroying Rank existences and Abyss-type enemies.
The synthesis speed of No-Attribute Titles was faster than expected, as this was more like the condensation and refinement of title energy. In total, it took two hours to complete the refinement.
[You have obtained 5-Star No-Attribute Title × 5.]
Seeing this, Su Xiao took out [Deep Blue Shadow] from his title list. With a crisp sound, he embedded it in the center of the refinement disc. Then he took out [Withered World Will]. The golden light particles of [Withered World Will] attached themselves to [Deep Blue Shadow].
Five grooves appeared around the title refinement disc, indicating that a maximum of five sub-titles could be embedded. With five crisp sounds, five 8-Star No-Attribute Titles were embedded in them.
[Yes/No to proceed with this title refinement.]
[Success rate for this refinement: 100%.]
[This refinement has been confirmed. Estimated time to complete: 12 hours.]
Closing the prompt, Su Xiao began to think about his subsequent plans. His goals in this world were not complicated; he just needed to complete two tasks: the Talent Task: First Stage and the Legendary Task: Eternal Light Lord.
Although the goals were clear, accomplishing these two things was very difficult. At present, he had only completed one-third of one of these tasks, and he had almost died in the process. Moreover, the remaining three of the Four Giants would only be harder to deal with.
In this fight against the Progenitor, Su Xiao actually had a significant advantage. First, the Dragon-Slaying Flash's [16] ability perfectly countered the Progenitor's [Immortal Body]. Second, the Progenitor's most troublesome ability, [Soul Severing], was naturally countered by the Blade Grandmaster's [Soul Severing].
Without these two advantages, although Su Xiao might still have won this battle, it would have been much more dangerous. He actually had a few trump cards left unused, such as [Dead Silence Annihilation] and the extremely high burst of [Azure Shadow King] at the end of the battle.
It wasn't that Su Xiao underestimated his opponent and held back these two moves; rather, he was guarding against any trump cards the Progenitor might have. In fact, the Progenitor did have a backup plan, but in the end, the alchemical poison erupted, and the Progenitor's backup plan couldn't be used.
Among the remaining Four Giants, Su Xiao's next target was the Star Devourer. This World-Destroying Rank existence's Immortal Source had been exhausted. Unless it could escape this place and go outside to devour planetary power, the Star Devourer's Immortal Source could not be restored.
As for the remaining Eternal Dark Lord and the Archbishop of the Abyss, Su Xiao wasn't very confident about killing them. The Eternal Dark Lord had only been imprisoned here for a few thousand years, so his Immortal Source might not be exhausted yet. The Archbishop of the Abyss, on the other hand, was a conceptual type of immortality, making it even more troublesome.
Therefore, before completing the Talent Task: First Stage, Su Xiao would not allow any of the Four Giants to have a chance to escape the Eternal Light World. Moreover, this wasn't just for the talent task. If any of the Four Giants escaped, the consequences would be endless. An immortal enemy with Supreme strength was a headache just to think about.
Listening to the forging sounds coming from the giant workshop, Su Xiao began to refine his subsequent plans. With the Progenitor slain, the other three powerful enemies would surely notice and become more cautious and filled with killing intent.
Previously, the intelligence the Four Giants of the Lightless Temple had received was that a Law Destroyer who hadn't yet reached Absolute Strength had come to the Eternal Light World. Because of their wariness of the Shadow of Law Destruction, the Four Giants were somewhat cautious of Su Xiao, but it was only caution.
Compared to finding the Monarch's Treasure and obtaining the key to leave the Eternal Light World, seeking revenge on a Law Destroyer who hadn't yet reached Absolute Strength seemed less important. Therefore, the Four Giants' attention had previously been focused on the Monarch's Treasure.
But now, the Progenitor had been killed by this Law Destroyer, who had only recently reached Absolute Strength. This made the other three of the Four Giants feel a great threat. This sense of threat was enough for the Four Giants to temporarily abandon the key in the Monarch's Treasure and turn their attention to dealing with Su Xiao.
Realizing this, Su Xiao knew it was time to open the Monarch's Treasure. Only by doing so could he lure out the wary Four Giants of the Lightless Temple. However, before that, he had one more thing to do.
Arriving at his temporary room, Su Xiao saw Amu, whose complexion had improved a lot. But for some reason, Amu seemed a bit down. Even when it had almost been one-shotted by a big boss before, it hadn't been like this. When asked, Amu took out its Dragonheart Axe.
The Dragonheart Axe's appearance had changed drastically. The ice-blue dragon heart at the center of the axe head had stopped beating and was completely shriveled. This weapon, which had accompanied Amu for a long time, had its source power drained by the Progenitor's ability and was about to become an ordinary battle axe. No wonder Amu was feeling down.
After examining the battle axe for a moment, Su Xiao picked it up and walked out of the room, heading to the Molten Giant's workshop. Seeing Su Xiao arrive, the Molten Giant stopped forging. When he saw the Dragonheart Axe in Su Xiao's hand, the Molten Giant shook his head, indicating that he couldn't do anything about it either.
"This weapon's source power is about to be exhausted."
Hearing that it was a source power exhaustion, Su Xiao frowned and thought for a moment. He did have an item with exceptionally strong source power, and this item's enhancement had also reached its limit. More importantly, he couldn't use this item normally.
That's right, it was the Bloodthirsty Battle Armor. Not all quasi-Original Sin Objects could become true Original Sin Objects. For example, the Bloodthirsty Battle Armor had reached its enhancement limit and could no longer devour Original Sin characteristics.
Strangely enough, Su Xiao had fed the Bloodthirsty Battle Armor several [Abyss Buds], yet it ultimately failed to become an Original Sin Object. On the other hand, the Primordial Mask, which hadn't received any resources and had even run away, was only one step away from becoming an Original Sin Object.
Because of this, Su Xiao had never sealed the Bloodthirsty Battle Armor in [Original Sin Book]. Although the Bloodthirsty Battle Armor had grown to its limit, the problem was that Su Xiao couldn't wear this armor. It provided a high amount of attack lifesteal, but it also reduced sanity. For a Technique Type, trading sanity for lifesteal was a bad deal.
After Su Xiao took out the Bloodthirsty Battle Armor, the Molten Giant became interested. Among the three legendary blacksmiths, the Molten Giant was best at forging armor. After studying the Bloodthirsty Battle Armor for a moment, he said he could try to forge this semi-fluid armor into the Dragonheart Axe. If successful, not only would the Dragonheart Axe's source power be restored, but its strength would also undergo a qualitative improvement.
After doing this, Su Xiao posted a message in the team channel, summoning the other "good teammates" to gather at the workshop in Black Iron City. This time, opening the Monarch's Treasure wasn't just about destroying the key [Moonlight] that could leave this world; it was also about competing for the treasure itself. Whether it was [Primordial Fragment] or [Soul Crystal], both were resources Su Xiao needed.
Needless to say, Soul Crystals were essential for Technique Types in the later stages. As for Primordial Fragments, they were equally important. Besides needing to consume a [Primordial Fragment] to stabilize one's physique after each use, among the several prerequisites for advancing to the Supreme Rank, [Primordial Fragment] was definitely a key component.
Reaching the Absolute Strength Rank was not Su Xiao's ultimate goal. His enemies were too strong, so he had to advance towards the Supreme Rank. Advancing to Supreme was different from advancing to Absolute Strength. When advancing to Absolute Strength, as long as one had enough courage and didn't consider the strength after advancement, it was entirely possible to do so without using [Primordial Fragment]. As long as one successfully advanced to Absolute Strength, they would obtain 1 Primordial Skill Point.
However, to advance to Absolute Strength, one of the several prerequisites was 50 [Primordial Fragments]. This was a necessary resource; without it, one wouldn't even have the qualification to advance.
Su Xiao currently had 2 [Primordial Fragments], still far from the 50 needed. But he had to start accumulating them early, to avoid being short by half the amount like when he advanced to Absolute Strength.
Since entering the Eternal Light World, Su Xiao hadn't rested much. Now that he had finally defeated a powerful enemy, the burden in his heart eased a bit. Coupled with the effects of his injuries, he unknowingly fell asleep.
When Su Xiao woke up, it was already evening. The hunger in his stomach made him want to find a restaurant in Black Iron City. As soon as he left his room, he saw the Dark Maiden sitting quietly there.
"Law Destroyer Lord, you have succeeded."
Hearing this, Su Xiao sat on a stone chair opposite the Dark Maiden. Across the small stone table, the Dark Maiden took out a treasure map from a hidden compartment in the table.
Taking the map, Su Xiao found that it covered the Wet Salt Zone area, closer to the depths of the Wet Salt Zone, near a small town.
"The treasure vault indicated by the last map fragment was empty."
"This time it won't be."
The Dark Maiden answered very calmly, even taking a sip of the freshly brewed Maple Tea.
"..."
Su Xiao suddenly felt that this statement was off. Whether it was an illusion or not, he felt that the Dark Maiden seemed to know that the last treasure vault was empty.
"Could it be that you knew the last treasure vault was empty?"
"Of course not, Law Destroyer Lord."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't say anything. He had a feeling that the Dark Maiden seemed to be slowly testing something while maintaining goodwill within the same faction. However, given the Dark Maiden's personality, if she didn't want to say something, no method of questioning would work. It was probably related to the thing the Dark Maiden had sealed.
Amu's condition hadn't fully recovered yet, so Su Xiao only brought Bubu Wang and Baha when he left the Gray Holy Sanctuary. They then arrived at the edge of the Wet Salt Zone and took the Wild Beast Train to Black Iron City.
Two hours later, in Black Iron City, on a somewhat remote food street, inside the Exotic Beast Restaurant, Su Xiao, who had just had a hearty meal, was feeling his physique gradually returning to its peak state. Just then, a prompt appeared.
[Deep Blue Shadow has successfully advanced to a 9-Star title.]
[Deep Blue Shadow]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Quality: [Nine Stars]
Category: Title: Rare.
Title Effect 1: Adaptive Power, all damage rank +1.
Title Effect 2: Deep Blue, your overall body speed increases by 29.75%.
Title Effect 3: Wrath Shadow, when fighting against World-Destroying Rank existences and Abyss-type enemies, deals an additional 10% true damage.
Description: This is the wrathful shadow within the deep blue.
Selling Price: Cannot be sold.
The boost from [Deep Blue Shadow] was a qualitative improvement. Even for an Absolute Strength Rank Su Xiao, wearing this title would increase his speed by nearly one-third, showing the title's power.
In addition, the effect against World-Destroying Rank existences and Abyss-type enemies was exactly what he needed now. However, the appearance of this attribute wasn't entirely unexpected.
Having advanced to 9-Star, [Deep Blue Shadow] was already very powerful, but this wasn't the limit. 9-Star titles didn't just correspond to the 9th Rank tier; they corresponded to the 9th Rank to Supreme Rank range. Therefore, the gap between 9-Star titles was particularly large.
9-Star titles could also be refined and enhanced using 5 9-Star sub-titles, but this would only increase the title's strength, not its star rating. This was called Limit Refinement.
After a 9-Star title completed one Limit Refinement, the next refinement, even if all five sub-title slots on the refinement disc were filled with 9-Star titles, the success rate for this refinement would not be 100%, but would drop to 80%.
After completing the second Limit Refinement, the success rate for the third Limit Refinement would drop to 20%. For the fourth, it wouldn't even reach 5%. As for the fifth Limit Refinement, theoretically, it was possible, but the success rate was less than 0.1%. Therefore, no one had ever managed to perform five Limit Refinements on a 9-Star title.
This time, entering the Eternal Light World, due to the absurd danger level of this world, tradable titles could be obtained from title chests. For Su Xiao, whose Charm Attribute was -21 points, obtaining titles had always been a weakness. Therefore, he planned to take this opportunity to buy a few 9-Star titles with Space-Time Power and perform one Limit Refinement on [Deep Blue Shadow].
Opening the World Contact Platform, Su Xiao edited a message. The content was that he wanted to buy 9-Star No-Attribute Titles with Space-Time Power. He hadn't decided on the exact amount of Space-Time Power per title yet; he would discuss it with the seller later.
Returning to the workshop, Su Xiao found that Zuiyasi, Wude, the Dark Devourer, and Kaisa had all arrived. Without further ado, the group set off for the entrance to the Monarch's Treasure.
When the group arrived at the innermost area of the Wet Salt Zone, beneath a rocky sky wall, they found a large number of Lightless Temple members guarding the area. This was the entrance to the Monarch's Treasure discovered by the Lightless Temple.
The entrance to the Monarch's Treasure was on this stone wall, about two meters above the ground. There was a lock plate there. Over a dozen Lightless Temple mages were frowning and studying the lock plate. Without using brute force, opening this lock plate was extremely difficult.
"How do we get past..."
Before the Dark Devourer could finish his sentence, he saw Su Xiao beside him walk out of cover and head straight for the thousands of Lightless Temple members guarding the area.
Su Xiao hadn't taken many steps before a Lightless Temple member spotted him. This Temple Knight's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he shouted:
"Stop! If you take one more step, I'll..."
The Temple Knight's voice grew softer, and his gaze gradually shifted from fierce to panicked and fearful. He snatched a portrait from a colleague's hand and carefully compared it, finding that it matched the person in front of him exactly.
Su Xiao almost brushed past the Temple Knight. The once ferocious Temple Knight now didn't dare to move a muscle. Even though sweat was dripping down his face under his metal helmet, he didn't dare to twitch his face. This was the pressure of a Law Destroyer, or rather, the pressure after killing a World-Destroying Rank existence: the Progenitor.
Su Xiao walked calmly through the path that the crowd had made for him. He looked at a red-robed priest and said, "You, come here."
Hearing this, the red-robed priest pointed at himself. The other two red-robed priests beside him instinctively moved a few steps away from him. The red-robed priest's eye twitched, and he reluctantly stepped forward.
"This... friend, what brings you here... hahahaha."
At the end, the red-robed priest let out an awkward and stiff laugh. As for why he was like this, it was simply because he didn't want to die for nothing. Just a moment ago, through his superior, the Temple Priest Commander Ezele, he had learned that a supreme existence had died at the hands of the Law-Destroying Shadow: Bai Ye.
From this, it could be seen that the Divine Father, who was disguised as the Temple Priest Commander Ezele, was about to start causing trouble. Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked punishment from the Four Giants to release the news that the Progenitor had died at the hands of the Law-Destroying Shadow: Bai Ye.
"Did you force the lock?"
Su Xiao's question caught the red-robed priest off guard, but he quickly answered no.
"Is that so? Then you all go back first. Tell the Eternal Dark Lord that I'll be waiting for him inside."
With that, Su Xiao walked up to the lock plate, took out a key, and inserted it. The lock plate then turned on its own, and two double doors of a spatial gate opened.
The Lightless Temple members guarding the area gradually retreated. When they were far enough from Su Xiao, they began to flee for their lives. Seeing this, Su Xiao ignored these rabble. Killing these small fries might drop chests, but the probability was too low. It was better to let them go and cause some trouble for the Four Giants of the Lightless Temple.
If the Four Giants punished these people, who would they resent more? The Law Destroyer who spared their lives despite being an enemy? Or their cruel leader who punished them? If the Four Giants didn't punish these people, it would be even worse. From then on, when Lightless Temple members saw Su Xiao, they wouldn't even try to resist. Compared to being loyal to monsters, saving their own lives was clearly more important.
Su Xiao reached his hand into the spatial gate. A pulling sensation came. Even without entering, he could feel that the location of the Monarch's Treasure was much larger than he had imagined.
...
Central Area, a wasteland.
Darkness slowly seeped out from the ground. In the Eternal Light World, the only person who could cause such a large-scale terrain change was naturally the Archbishop of the Abyss.
At this moment, the Archbishop of the Abyss's face was pale to the point of being eerie. The black bishop's robe he wore was also somewhat tattered. Repelling the Star Devourer was very difficult for the Archbishop of the Abyss, who was within the Eternal Light World. Nevertheless, the Archbishop of the Abyss had emerged victorious.
The Archbishop of the Abyss spread his hand. As darkness surged, a [Sealing Blade] emerged from the darkness and fell into his hand. Faced with the Law Destroyer's open scheme, the Archbishop of the Abyss couldn't refuse.
"Finally, I can leave this cage."
The Archbishop of the Abyss held the [Sealing Blade] with one hand and then activated it. With a hum, a spatial passage appeared. However, this spatial passage was somewhat unstable. Then, the [Sealing Blade] in his hand shattered.
With the Archbishop of the Abyss's insight, a fake [Sealing Blade] or a [Sealing Blade] he couldn't use wouldn't fool him. The result was indeed as expected. This [Sealing Blade] had indeed briefly opened a gap in the spatial seal of the Eternal Light World.
The Archbishop of the Abyss didn't hesitate any longer and charged into it. A large amount of spatial mist appeared.
However, what the Archbishop of the Abyss didn't know was that although this [Sealing Blade] was real and had indeed briefly opened a gap in the spatial seal of the Eternal Light World, forming a spatial passage, this spatial passage had some problems.
Normally, this spatial passage should be straight, with the exit leading to the outside world. But the [Sealing Blade] that Su Xiao had set up was designed to open a U-shaped spatial passage.
The spatial seal of the Eternal Light World was very much like a giant sphere covering the Eternal Light World. If a U-shaped spatial passage was opened, it would be like pressing this U-shaped passage onto the spherical spatial seal. The entrance was in the Eternal Light World, and the exit on the other side was actually also somewhere in the Eternal Light World.
The Archbishop of the Abyss only felt a booming spatial tremor. This spatial teleportation was faster than he had expected. It was completed in an instant, not giving him a chance to break the spatial passage to prevent any problems with the teleportation.
After the spatial teleportation ended, the Archbishop of the Abyss found the view before him suddenly opening up. Even with his cunning and experience, a smile couldn't help but appear on his face. At this moment, the Archbishop of the Abyss's feeling was: 'This outside world looks pleasing to the eye no matter how you look at it, especially that somewhat familiar massive building in the distance.'
Suddenly, the smile on the Archbishop of the Abyss's face froze, because the more he looked at that massive building in the distance, the more he felt that it looked like the Sanctuary City of the Eternal Light World.