Chapter 42: The Hunter
Light particles formed by daylight slowly drifted upward. Su Xiao sat on a strange rock, his aura much calmer than before.
Although the Archbishop of the Abyss had escaped his cage, which from a long-term perspective made him a troublesome and powerful enemy, it was undeniable that this situation was more favorable to Su Xiao at present. At the very least, he didn't need to exhaust all his means to deal with this formidable foe.
Su Xiao had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before he met the Archbishop of the Abyss again. Before that, he must ascend to the Supreme rank.
Once the Archbishop of the Abyss was outside, he would naturally no longer be restricted by the 「Super-World-Class Sealing Artifice」 of the Eternal Light World. This also meant that the Archbishop of the Abyss's strength would recover to the Supreme level.
Even if the other party couldn't return to his original peak in a short time, Su Xiao had no intention of facing a Supreme-level being while at the Absolute Strength rank. That would be no different from seeking death.
After drinking a few more bottles of Recovery Potion, Su Xiao felt that his condition had recovered to over seventy percent. After resting for another ten-plus hours, he would be fully recovered. Just as he was about to leave this place, an aura made him grip the hilt of the Dragon-Slaying Flash again.
Zheng~
The long blade was drawn. Su Xiao jumped down from the several-meter-high strange rock and walked towards the source of the aura. Due to the floating daylight particles around him, his pace wasn't very fast.
Arriving at the source of the intangible aura, Su Xiao saw a palm-sized piece of transparent flesh struggling and writhing on the ground. It seemed to be trying to form some shape, but failed each time, collapsing into a puddle.
Su Xiao observed this object for a moment and determined it wasn't the Eternal Darkness Lord. Although the aura of this shapeless flesh was exactly the same as the Eternal Darkness Lord's, the Eternal Darkness Lord was already dead.
The earlier strike of Heavenly Might was too terrifying, instantly killing the Eternal Darkness Lord. This mass of shapeless flesh was actually part of the Eternal Darkness Lord's indestructible characteristic. If the Eternal Darkness Lord's indestructible core was a nucleus, then this mass of shapeless flesh was one-tenth of that nucleus. Although it still possessed the indestructible characteristic, it could no longer maintain the Eternal Darkness Lord's state of being unkillable.
This didn't mean these World-Destroying-level beings were easy to kill. Being imprisoned in the Eternal Light World for so many years and still retaining such an indestructible characteristic showed just how difficult it was to kill them at their peak.
Comparing World Force to the food of World-Destroying-level beings, the Eternal Light World was a barren cage with no food at all. The Four Giants of the Lightless Temple were basically starved half to death.
Su Xiao released a Spirit Shadow Thread, pulled up the shapeless flesh, and sealed it in a glass column container, soaking it in a solution. This thing might be useful in the future.
The Spirit Shadow Thread between his fingers dissipated. Su Xiao set up a one-time teleportation array and activated it, teleporting to an abandoned tower near Sanctuary City. Standing here, he saw that the area he had just been in was now a huge cylindrical pit. Because its diameter was over a hundred kilometers, standing at the bottom didn't give the feeling of being underground.
Inside this spectacular giant pit, white light spheres the size of fists were constantly floating out, like a magnificent fountain of elemental power.
The overly extreme elemental power of the Eternal Light World had caused the elemental force here to stagnate. Stagnation brought precipitation, precipitation triggered breeding, and breeding led to mutation.
This was why the Eternal Light World had many monsters that were exceptionally powerful but would die immediately upon leaving this world. They were all born and existed relying on the turbid, precipitated elemental force.
The current situation was that the earlier strike, which had condensed Heavenly Might, had blasted open this stagnation. The re-flowing natural elements had washed away all the sediment accumulated over the years. The spectacular scene before him was the eruption of elemental force.
Su Xiao jumped down from the tower, released his perception, and appeared next to a cave entrance a second later. He then released the Demon Spirit.
Before long, the Demon Spirit dragged out a gray-scaled monster that resembled a giant lizard from the cave. Previously, this monster had the combat power of a Ninth-Rank peak, but now it was listless and weak, seemingly not long for this world.
These monsters relied on elemental sediment to achieve their deformed strength. Now that the elemental cycle of this world had been cleared, the "filth" that had settled at the bottom was naturally washed away. Having lost their source of power, these monsters couldn't even muster the strength to stand up, let alone maintain their previous ferocity.
After the confrontation with the Archbishop of the Abyss, this world had entered a carnival phase for the contractors. The massive release of daylight meant that even outside the sanctuary zone, they could stay for a long time.
The sharp decline in the combat power of the native monsters in the Eternal Light World meant that these originally terrifyingly powerful monsters would now enter the kill lists of the contractors.
After the battle between Su Xiao, the Eternal Darkness Lord, and the Archbishop of the Abyss, the danger level of the Central Area had greatly decreased. As for the Wet Salt Zone on the west side, it wasn't as dangerous as before either. The danger there mostly came from the underground world and native monsters. Now, one of them had been swept clean by the Nightmare Blood Shadow, and the other had been greatly weakened due to the washing away of elemental sediment.
That said, the high-danger zones of this world still had three left: the Erosion Rain Land, the Sand Sea, and the Wild Overgrowth Land.
Su Xiao activated the Watcher's Ring. When the spatial mist dissipated, he had already returned to the Gray Sanctuary. Just as he returned, he saw the Dark Maiden standing quietly to the side with her hands clasped at her lower abdomen. Whether it was an illusion or not, he vaguely sensed that the dark aura on the Dark Maiden was a bit more active, while her own aura seemed slightly weaker.
"Law-Destroying Lord, you have been eroded by the Scarlet."
Having said that, the Dark Maiden walked ahead and then sat on a stone chair against the wall, gesturing for Su Xiao to sit on the chair opposite the stone table. Once Su Xiao was seated, the Dark Maiden said:
"Law-Destroying Lord, please give me one of your hands."
"..."
Su Xiao placed his left arm on the stone table. The Dark Maiden across from him sat down, her translucent blue crystal hands gently holding Su Xiao's left hand. Wisps of darkness surged on her hands, drawing out the small amount of Scarlet power that had eroded Su Xiao, sealing it into the Dark Maiden's slender ring.
"Law-Destroying Lord, have you found the Awakening Stone?"
Hearing this, Su Xiao asked, "So, you know what is stored in the treasure vault that the treasure map points to?"
Su Xiao said this because the 【Scarlet Awakening Stone】 was found in a Law-Destroying treasure vault, and the map fragments pointing to this vault were provided by the Dark Maiden.
"Of course not. So, Law-Destroying Lord, have you found the Awakening Stone?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He took out the 【Scarlet Awakening Stone】 and placed it on the table.
"Law-Destroying Lord, are you... truly ready to face the source of this Scarlet, the Scarlet Monarch? He is more powerful than the Archbishop of the Abyss, the Star Devourer, the Ancestor, and the Eternal Darkness Lord."
"Mm."
Upon receiving the reply, the Dark Maiden's voice remained gentle as she said:
"As you wish. I need to make some preparations and will be away for a while, but I promise it won't be long. Law-Destroying Lord, please take care of yourself and don't almost die again from improving your abilities."
The Dark Maiden stood up, gently bowed slightly to Su Xiao in salute, and then walked at a not-too-fast pace towards a statue. She pulled out a sheathed sharp sword from it, wrapped it tightly with black cloth straps, and then stepped onto a teleportation array, leaving the place.
Due to the impact of the elemental torrent earlier, Su Xiao still felt a bit weak. He walked towards his temporary room. Passing by the workshop, he found Solomon inside. Su Xiao nodded at Solomon, indicating that things were taken care of. Seeing this, Solomon also nodded in understanding.
Arriving at the door of his temporary room, Su Xiao noticed that among the several doors nearby, one wooden door that had been locked before was now open. He stepped forward and tried to push the door, but found it locked from the inside.
It should be a member of the Gray Sanctuary who had been out and had now returned. Su Xiao didn't knock. Instead, he returned to his room, sat cross-legged on the bed, and meditated to rest.
Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha weren't in the Gray Sanctuary. Earlier, when outside, Su Xiao had sent them to Sanctuary City in advance to ensure that the Lightless Temple there didn't have problems. At least until a new Four Giants were chosen, this faction couldn't have issues.
After resting for a while, Su Xiao's feeling of weakness receded a bit. He checked the rewards from killing the Star Devourer. The Golden Skill Point, Eternal Chest, and Source Matter Chest were all temporarily stored. As for the 【Star Crystal Core】, it was a good item. Adding this material when enhancing an Eternal-level weapon could raise a +0 Eternal-level equipment to +5, saving a lot of rare Origin Stones.
Enhancing an Eternal-level weapon required at least a rare Origin Stone, meaning a precious Origin Stone with a unique suffix. The higher the rarity of the Origin Stone used, the higher the success rate of this enhancement.
The enhancement of Eternal-level weapons was the most special. Each enhancement level was a hurdle. Reaching +5 was already uncommon, +7 was very rare, and the difficulty of reaching +10 was even more exaggerated. As for +10 and above, unless one had a very top-tier Origin Stone, it was best not to try.
Putting away the 【Star Crystal Core】, Su Xiao checked his current reputation value of over 500,000 and chose to exchange it for Title Chests.
[You have exchanged 538,000 Title Chests.]
[Title Chest: Upon opening, you can obtain ★~★★★★★★★★★ Titles.]
[You have opened 538,000 Title Chests.]
[You have obtained 538,000 One-Star No-Attribute Titles.]
[Because you have opened chests multiple times without obtaining a tradable title, the results of your title openings will no longer be announced on the World Contact Platform...]
[Because you have obtained 1,000,000 One-Star No-Attribute Titles consecutively from Title Chests, this behavior is unprecedented and meets one of the conditions for triggering an achievement task. You will receive an achievement reward, a special title: Indomitable.]
...
Su Xiao opened the title bar. A special title with no star rating appeared in it.
[Indomitable]
Origin: Void Tree.
Quality: Special.
Category: One-time Title (This title will be consumed after being worn once).
Title Effect: After wearing, you can open the Title Task List, displaying the trigger locations or trigger conditions for all title tasks in the current world.
Introduction: As the first person to obtain this title, you can draft the introduction for this title yourself.
Selling Price: Cannot be sold.
...
This one-time title was unexpectedly useful. Su Xiao activated the Title Refinement Disc, and he activated both the Refinement Disc certified by the Void Tree and the one certified by the Reincarnation Paradise simultaneously. Through the two title discs, he began synthesizing a large number of One-Star No-Attribute Titles.
The synthesis speed of One-Star No-Attribute Titles was very fast. After more than two hours, Su Xiao obtained 5 Eight-Star No-Attribute Titles. He pulled over a Title Refinement Disc, took out the Eight-Star title 【War Lord】, and set it in the central slot. Then, in the five surrounding slots that appeared, he set 1 Eight-Star No-Attribute Title each, and finally chose to start the refinement.
After doing this, there were still over 400,000 One-Star No-Attribute Titles left. Su Xiao pushed the Refinement Disc that was in the process of refinement away and used another Refinement Disc to start synthesizing One-Star No-Attribute Titles. A moment later, he used 78,125 One-Star No-Attribute Titles to synthesize 5 Seven-Star No-Attribute Titles. Then, he took out 【Ancient Scholar】 and set this title in the center of the Refinement Disc.
That's right, Su Xiao planned to upgrade the 【Ancient Scholar】 title to Nine Stars. The reason was that he needed to further improve his Sealcraft. Improving Sealcraft wasn't done through skill scrolls or similar means, but by mastering it himself. Therefore, this title, which could improve reading and learning abilities, was particularly crucial.
The level of Sealcraft was directly related to Su Xiao's life safety. If the four Original Sin Objects he had sealed went out of control, it would be certain death.
In the end, Su Xiao consumed a total of 468,750 One-Star No-Attribute Titles. Around the 【Ancient Scholar】 title, which had been upgraded to Eight Stars on the Refinement Disc, he set 5 Eight-Star No-Attribute Titles. He chose to start the refinement. When this refinement was finished, 【Ancient Scholar】 would be upgraded to a Nine-Star title.
After doing this, Su Xiao lay down on the wooden bed. Although the bedding underneath was a bit hard due to age, it was nothing compared to the fatigue that was overwhelming him.
When Su Xiao woke up, it was already noon the next day. He sat up, was dazed for a moment, and when he regained clarity, he felt that yesterday's fatigue had been completely swept away. Not only that, but because he had been in the rich and pure elemental force yesterday, he now felt exceptionally refreshed.
[Title Refinement Completed.]
[War Lord has been upgraded to a Nine-Star title.]
[Ancient Scholar has been upgraded to a Nine-Star title.]
...
Both titles had been upgraded to Nine Stars. Below, there was a contact-type notification. It was from Aduo'er, who had upgraded the 【Miracle】 title to Nine Stars and wanted to meet him at the Black Iron City for the trade.
After eating something simple, Su Xiao walked out of the bedroom. He glanced at the door next door. It was still tightly shut, but he could faintly hear snoring coming from inside. It seemed this unknown member had been traveling outside for a long time and was now sleeping soundly after finally returning to the Gray Sanctuary.
Using the Law-Destroying Teleportation Array to reach Black Iron City, the impact of the teleportation was quite invigorating. When Su Xiao arrived at the Black Iron Coin Exchange, it was almost noon.
Inside the Black Iron Coin Exchange, a figure draped in a black robe with a mask on their face sat on the seat next to Su Xiao.
"..."
Su Xiao frowned at Aduo'er, not understanding why she was wrapped up so tightly.
"Bai Ye, this should be our last title trade in this world. After this, I'm leaving."
"Mm?"
Su Xiao felt a bit puzzled. Logically, after he had taken care of the Four Giants, the danger level in this area had decreased considerably. Under these circumstances, Aduo'er should be taking the opportunity to gain some benefits, not leave early. This didn't make sense.
Aduo'er wasn't one to beat around the bush. She said directly, "Yesterday, I used a small portion of Space-Time Power to buy a good item. But the seller told the Nightmare Ghost Kain about it. Now, Nightmare Ghost is very interested in killing me for a Scarlet Chest. My perception-type equipment warns me every half hour."
Hearing the name Kain, Su Xiao was a bit puzzled. This soul-type who was like a scraper often got his teammates killed, but he wouldn't target Aduo'er just because she had shown Space-Time Power, looking for a chance to kill her for a Scarlet Chest.
"What did you buy?"
"This."
Aduo'er took out a crystal eyeball. Su Xiao took it, examined it for a moment, and found that it was clearly a quest item. Thinking about it this way, it made sense. Aduo'er had bought the other party's key quest item, so of course, they would be targeting her.
"This is a quest item."
"Uh~?"
Aduo'er was stunned. She raised her hand to take back the crystal eyeball, examined it carefully, and then scratched her head. Her expression was a bit interesting as she said, "So, I accidentally bought someone's key quest item?"
"..."
"Then, what do I do? This is awkward. I can't just sell it back to Nightmare Ghost, can I?"
"Sell it to him for double the price."
"This~, not good," Aduo'er said this, but she was actually a bit tempted. She asked tentatively, "How about I give it to you?"
After saying this, Aduo'er handed the crystal eyeball to Su Xiao.
At the same time, in a civilian house a few kilometers away, the image in front of them was showing Aduo'er handing the crystal eyeball to Su Xiao in real-time. Seeing this, the expressions of Lightning Mage Sage Aige, Witch Liliya, and Nightmare Ghost Kain were all quite interesting.
Inside the Black Iron Coin Exchange, Su Xiao looked at the crystal eyeball between his fingers. Before long, a figure walked towards him. It was Lightning Mage Sage Aige.
"Bai Ye, name your price for this thing. We..."
Before Lightning Mage Sage Aige could finish, Su Xiao had already thrown the crystal eyeball out. Aige caught it with one hand, a look of confusion on his face.
"There's something I need to entrust to you later. Consider this a down payment."
Without waiting for Lightning Mage Sage Aige's reply, Su Xiao activated the Watcher's Ring and disappeared from the spot.
"Wait..."
Aige's words had just left his mouth when he found that Su Xiao opposite him had vanished. This made him feel a bit uneasy. This Hunter, who had extorted 200,000 Soul Coins from him not long ago, was now being so generous. The more Aige thought about it, the more flustered he became.
...
Inside the Gray Sanctuary, the spatial mist dissipated. Su Xiao sat on the steps of the recovery point. His condition hadn't yet returned to its peak. After resting for a few more hours, he would be fine. Then, he would go to Sanctuary City to discuss the subsequent matters with Shenfu. He wouldn't meet Shenfu before his condition was fully restored.
Su Xiao opened the title bar. 【War Lord】 and 【Ancient Scholar】 had both been upgraded to Nine-Star titles. In the title bar, there were also 7 Nine-Star No-Attribute Titles. He decided to perform the first Limit Refinement on 【War Lord】. After setting the titles on the Refinement Disc, a prompt appeared.
[Yes/No to proceed with this Limit Refinement.]
[All Nine-Star titles can be Limit Refined a maximum of 5 times.]
[Remaining Limit Refinement attempts for this title: 5/5 times.]
[This is the first Limit Refinement. Success rate: 100%.]
...
Su Xiao chose to proceed with the refinement. Once this refinement was completed, he could use this title to deal with those World-Destroying-level clans in the Wild Overgrowth Land, thereby completing the legendary task. However, before that, dealing with the Nightmare Blood Shadow was more urgent.
Flipping through the title bar, Su Xiao checked the 【Ancient Scholar】 that had been upgraded to Nine Stars. When he tried to check it, the title was in a pending selection state. After checking the prompt that appeared, he learned that after this title was upgraded to Nine Stars, it could undergo a characteristic choice. This choice would determine the final attribute bias of this title.
There were two choices: Black Technology-type knowledge mastery and Mysterious-type knowledge mastery. Su Xiao naturally chose the latter. Pharmaceutics and Sealcraft both belonged to the Mysterious type, and Sealcraft was a major branch of the Mysterious type.
[Ancient Scholar title is transforming...]
[Transformation complete. You have obtained the Nine-Star title: Mysterious Scholar.]
[Mysterious Scholar]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Quality: ★★★★★★★★★
Category: Rare Title
Title Effect 1: Scholar (Passive). When wearing this title, reading efficiency +95% (increased by 12.5%), reading immersion +92% (increased by 59.3%), knowledge imprint interpretation efficiency +82% (increased by 72%), 「Greatly」 improves knowledge mastery efficiency.
Title Effect 2: Focus (Passive). While mastering knowledge, there is a chance to enter a 「Focused State」. Upon entering this state, the bonuses from the 「Scholar Passive」 are increased by 2 to 5 times (can reach the upper limit, depending on one's own Mental Strength and Soul Strength caps).
Title Effect 3: Inspiration (Passive). While mastering or absorbing knowledge, your Mental Strength will receive permanent growth improvement (the more profound or mysterious the knowledge absorbed, the more significant the permanent improvement from this bonus).
Title Effect 4: Rationalist (Passive). Can directly read high-danger records or ancient texts, such as terrible knowledge from alien beings, or even directly read dark knowledge originating from the Abyss, and discern the parts that can be mastered.
Introduction: Maintain caution and reverence, explore that mysterious and fascinating knowledge, and taste the sweetness of mystery.
Selling Price: Cannot be sold.
...
Although this title didn't directly improve combat power, it was extremely important. Putting it back into the title bar, Su Xiao took out the 【Miracle】 that had been upgraded to Nine Stars. This trade with Aduo'er was indeed very profitable. Just 260 ounces of Space-Time Power in exchange for a practical Nine-Star title.
[Miracle]
Title Effect 1: Nurture (Passive). Can temporarily wrap any held title through this title and nurture it, nurturing the current star rating of this title to the wrapped title.
Tip: Activating this ability will consume this title...
...
Among the several titles Su Xiao currently had, there were four worth using this title to upgrade to Nine Stars: 【Blood Will】, 【Miracle Maker】, 【Natural Resonance】, and 【Old Hunter】.
【Blood Will】 was related to the improvement of Blood Qi, 【Miracle Maker】 was related to potion concoction, 【Natural Resonance】 was related to meditation, and 【Old Hunter】 was related to the identity of a Hunter.
Before encountering the Platinum Apostle and the Archbishop of the Abyss, Su Xiao would have prioritized upgrading 【Miracle Maker】, then 【Blood Will】, then 【Natural Resonance】, with 【Old Hunter】 being the lowest priority.
But after experiencing these formidable beings in the late game, Su Xiao felt that the Three-Star title 【Old Hunter】, obtained when he became a Hunter, might be one of the strongest titles in the late game.
Su Xiao took out the 【Old Hunter】 title and activated the 【Miracle】 title. The 【Miracle】 title gradually turned into a gel-like substance, wrapping the 【Old Hunter】 title inside.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the recovery point and closed his eyes to meditate. A few hours later, a prompt appeared.
[Old Hunter has been upgraded to a Nine-Star title.]
[Old Hunter]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Quality: Special (Only obtainable by Hunters)
Category: Title
Title Effect 1: Hunting Mark (Active). Can continuously track a target using a medium (the medium can be the target's bloodstains, hair, personal belongings, clothing fragments, residual aura, or even trace amounts of nearly dissipated body energy).
Tip: This skill has no cost. Each tracking can last for 10 to 48 hours (depending on the medium). Even if the prey is in another world, the tracking state can still be maintained.
Tip: This skill can be used once every 2 natural days.
Title Effect 2: Ruthless Hunter (Active). Without any medium, forcibly lock onto a specified target within the same world, thereby continuously sensing the specific location of this target for the subsequent 12 hours.
Tip: If this hunt is completed, using this ability this time has no cost.
Warning: If this hunt is not completed, your True Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence, and Charm attributes will be permanently reduced by 5%.
Title Effect 3: Old Hunter (Passive). For each successful hunt of a target, this title will permanently stack 1 layer of 「Hunt」 effect. For every cumulative 5 layers of 「Hunt」 effect, this title will gain a permanent combat-type bonus effect.
Introduction: Flee in fear, then... die in despair.
Selling Price: Cannot be sold.