Chapter 56: Searching
In the central area of Skeleton Island, blood flames burned on the remains of the Scarlet Monarch. After confirming this formidable enemy was dead, Su Xiao picked up the floating [Book of Original Sin].
Dark golden energy erupted from the Book of Original Sin, coiling around the Scarlet Scepter. Scarlet energy burst forth ahead, resisting the seal of the Book of Original Sin. Not only that, but the scarlet power also spread toward Su Xiao.
Just as the stalemate ensued, dark green energy spread from the Book of Original Sin. It was the Nether Bone Ring, taking advantage of the weakened sealing force of the Book of Original Sin to release its power.
Was the Nether Bone Ring trying to break free from Su Xiao's seal? Of course not. Before destroying the Book of Original Sin, the core sealing medium, none of these four Original Sin objects could completely break free from the seal, even if Su Xiao released them from the Book of Original Sin.
To put it simply, the karma of these four Original Sin objects was originally connected to Su Xiao. However, through the Book of Original Sin, Su Xiao made a relay for these four 'karma threads.' It became: the karma threads of the Collector, Necronomicon, Nether Bone Ring, and Soul Crown were all connected to the Book of Original Sin first. Then, on the other side of the Book of Original Sin, a single karma thread of the Book of Original Sin extended and connected to Su Xiao's karma.
This way, Su Xiao used the Book of Original Sin as a relay and shield, blocking the direct invasion of the four Original Sin objects. Furthermore, this restricted the four Original Sin objects, making the Collector, Necronomicon, Nether Bone Ring, and Soul Crown completely helpless against Su Xiao until they destroyed the Book of Original Sin.
The structure of the Book of Original Sin was even more peculiar. The four Original Sin objects inside restrained each other. They maintained a united front, meaning they worked together to destroy the Book of Original Sin. Conversely, they did not allow any one of them to escape the Book of Original Sin first.
The erosion of four forces was far more likely to destroy the Book of Original Sin than the erosion of three forces. So it became: since I can't get out, none of you can get out either. Either we all get out together, or we're all trapped here together.
What was even more interesting was that among these four Daddy-level artifacts, there was one with a strong collecting obsession. It seemed to be sealed together with the other three Original Sin objects. However, as long as Su Xiao was not content with the status quo and might seal new Original Sin objects into the Book of Original Sin, this could satisfy its collecting obsession to the greatest extent. Therefore, this guy appeared to be the most active in destroying the Book of Original Sin, but was actually a hindrance.
Of course, one could not be careless with the Collector either. This thing's collecting obsession would continuously raise its upper limit based on the intensity of the last satisfaction. That meant, unless Su Xiao could next seal an Original Sin object stronger than the Scarlet Scepter, he could satisfy the Collector's collecting obsession.
The problem was, where could one find an Original Sin object stronger than the Daddy-level Original Sin object, the Scarlet Scepter? This meant that from now on, the Collector also needed to be sealed. Using Original Sin objects to defeat a powerful enemy this time might be the last time Su Xiao used these things, because it was impossible to satisfy the Collector's collecting obsession to this extent in the future.
Understanding the characteristics of these Original Sin objects through the display on the Book of Original Sin was one of the reasons Su Xiao could simultaneously hold four Original Sin objects. Now, the reason the Nether Bone Ring inside the Book of Original Sin was willing to help Su Xiao seal the Scarlet Scepter inside was entirely malicious.
More Original Sin objects sealed inside the Book of Original Sin meant the Book of Original Sin bore greater pressure and had a higher chance of being destroyed. The Nether Bone Ring's goal from beginning to end was simple: destroy the Book of Original Sin, kill Su Xiao, and find a new holder, because the current holder could not be eroded or controlled by it.
The energy converged. The Scarlet Scepter rapidly shrank and was sealed in the position of the fifth page. Thus, the Book of Original Sin only had the sixth page empty. On the seventh page, the World Devourer was sealed.
The Book of Original Sin actually had an eighth page, but only a small section. It looked like it had been torn off, but in reality, it was growing, indicating that the Book of Original Sin had the potential to seal more Original Sin objects.
As for how to make the Book of Original Sin grow the eighth page, it naturally needed to absorb ownerless Original Sin characteristics. So-called ownerless Original Sin characteristics meant absorbing Original Sin items like [Original Sin Sprout] and [Original Sin Core].
Having the Book of Original Sin absorb [Original Sin Sprout] or [Original Sin Core] could improve it in two aspects. The first aspect was accelerating the growth of the Book of Original Sin's pages, allowing the eighth page to form faster.
The second aspect was increasing the strength of the Book of Original Sin, making its seal on Original Sin objects more stable. Of course, this also required Su Xiao's Sealcraft to be strong enough, continuously strengthening the sealing runes on the Book of Original Sin.
In simple terms, the seal of the Book of Original Sin had two points: 1. The inherent strength of the book itself, 2. The strength of the sealing runes on its surface. The two complemented each other, and neither could be absent.
Now that another Original Sin object was sealed inside the Book of Original Sin, and the existing pages were not yet used up, it was naturally more important to increase its strength. [Original Sin Sprout] could be bought from the Abyss Store with Precipitated Glass. Buying things from the Abyss Store was now at a 50% discount, which was both gratifying and somewhat emotionally complex.
Regarding Sealcraft, Su Xiao had already upgraded the learning-type Title [Mysterious Scholar] to nine stars. Now, it seemed insufficient. He would definitely need to perform a limit tempering on this Title later. The level of Sealcraft was directly related to life and death.
Once the Book of Original Sin shattered, five Original Sin objects would immediately cause Su Xiao's death on the spot, not to mention that inside was the World Devourer, whose compound eyes were full of Su Xiao, eager to devour him completely. Thinking of these things, Su Xiao's motivation to master Sealcraft immediately became stronger.
However, for now, Su Xiao had successfully defeated the Scarlet Monarch. After sealing the Scarlet Scepter, he could no longer hold on. The world spun before his eyes, and he crashed to the ground.
When coming to the Eternal Light World this time, Su Xiao estimated that his probability of leaving this place alive was less than 30%. However, after actually arriving, he found that he had underestimated the danger of this place. The Ancestor, Eternal Dark Lord, Star Devourer, Archbishop of the Abyss, World Devourer, and Scarlet Monarch were all formidable enemies that needed to be dealt with.
On the contrary, the major enemies he thought of before entering this world, such as the Shadow Eater, Star Crab, Queen of Agony, and Silver Queen, turned out to be not so difficult to deal with after actually arriving in this world.
Although Su Xiao felt that his own condition was not good, after defeating a host of powerful enemies in this world, the heavy burden on his shoulders completely disappeared. In this state, he sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state.
Everything around was exceptionally quiet. Su Xiao felt that, besides himself, everything else around seemed to drift away. Eventually, the entire world became a feeling of only himself, empty, open.
In this state, the proficiency of Su Xiao's [Heart Meditation] ability began to skyrocket, from Lv.95 (150/32,000,000 proficiency), gradually surpassing half. It seemed like a moment, or perhaps a long time, the proficiency reached its maximum, and his [Heart Meditation] ability increased to Lv.96.
At this moment, Su Xiao only felt an unprecedented sense of ease, making him inevitably drowsy. It seemed that the sunlight filtering through the clouds was a few degrees warmer, and a warm breeze blew against his face. But suddenly, Su Xiao remembered something. He was lying on his back. How could there be wind blowing down from above? This immediately snapped him out of his drowsy state. Opening his eyes, he saw Bubu Wang's dog face leaning over him, along with a moist, warm nose.
Su Xiao sat up. Only then did he have time to check the notification for killing the Scarlet Monarch.
[You have killed the Scarlet Monarch · Eiyishur.]
[You have obtained Golden Skill Point × 13 (This world's single-time Golden Skill Point income limit).]
[You have obtained 12,680 Soul Coins (As the Scarlet Monarch · Eiyishur's combat power extreme value was limited by this world, this is the assessed Soul Coin reward quantity).]
[You have obtained Immortal Chest · Monarch.]
[You have obtained Source Matter Chest (Killing a powerful enemy has a chance to obtain).]
[You have obtained Blood Fragment · Unique (Extremely high rarity item, can be submitted to Reincarnation Paradise for Space-Time Power, or used to enhance Overlord Equipment).]
[You have obtained 540,000 World Reputation (This is the single-time maximum World Reputation obtained from killing a powerful unit within this world).]
……
Su Xiao activated the Watcher Ring and, along with Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha, returned to the Gray Sanctuary. Bubu Wang and Baha's injuries were not severe; they would be fine after drinking a Recovery Potion. Amu was more seriously injured, but after drinking the Recovery Potion, Amu firmly refused Su Xiao's offer to treat him, reasoning that Su Xiao had just defeated the Scarlet Monarch and was too tired. He would just recover after returning to Reincarnation Paradise.
After the teleportation was complete, the surrounding spatial mist dissipated. Compared to before, the Gray Sanctuary now appeared dilapidated. This place was maintained by the power of the Dark Maiden. Currently, the Dark Maiden's condition was at its worst, and the space here was becoming difficult to maintain.
Just as the spatial fluctuations around subsided, Su Xiao heard a loud crash, followed by a jolt. When everything calmed down, the Gray Sanctuary was covered in cracks.
Daylight streamed through the skylight above. The thick, translucent crystalline layer made the daylight no longer harsh. Su Xiao came to the entrance of the Gray Sanctuary. As soon as he pushed open the door, a stream of cool, fresh air rushed in. The sight before him was an endless sea of forests. The Gray Sanctuary was located on a platform halfway up a mountain peak.
Feeling the natural air coming towards him, Su Xiao felt this place was very much like the Wild Overgrowth. He took out a terminal to locate his position and found that he was indeed within the range of the Wild Overgrowth, but on the southern side, not far from [Station 6]. He could go to Iron City through [Station 6].
Originally, the Gray Sanctuary was located in a separate space. That separate space had collapsed, causing the Gray Sanctuary to be here. Su Xiao turned and went back inside the Gray Sanctuary. As he passed by the old Tree Clan member fused with the central pillar, he found that the old Tree Clan member had completely lignified, losing the life aura of a Tree Clan member.
After hanging a walnut-sized, golden skull pendant of the Scarlet Monarch on the branches of the old Tree Clan member, Su Xiao came to the recovery point he had set up earlier. Yusha was sitting on the stone steps beside it, leaning back and asleep, drool flowing out. This was not sleeping soundly, but a deep coma caused by the massive loss of Primordial Life Force.
The Dark Maiden lay collapsed on the stone platform. Although there was a recovery aura, her aura was growing weaker. The one in the best condition was Sauness, but he was also severely injured and not yet healed.
Su Xiao took out a vial of potion. After Sauness drank it, his condition immediately improved. Su Xiao came to the Dark Maiden's side and pressed two fingers to her neck. The faint warmth indicated that the Dark Maiden was about to die.
"How is she?"
"Very serious. In a few hours, she will die."
"Can she be saved?"
"Yes."
Hearing this, Sauness was somewhat surprised. As a fellow member of the Gray Sanctuary, he naturally knew the price the Dark Maiden paid to open the Dark Seal. This made him can't help but sigh and say:
"I sometimes wonder if you are not a Blade Grandmaster, but the strongest Alchemist in the Void."
"Someone did call me that before."
"Who?"
"The Alchemist Guild of the Void. But their words are not credible."
Hearing this, Sauness shook his head and said, "I heard that the Alchemist Guild of the Void has considerable prestige in this area. Why is their praise not credible?"
"Because their president's Alchemy level is quite average."
At these words, Sauness was momentarily at a loss for how to respond. After a few attempts, he only replied with an 'Alright.'
After initially determining the Dark Maiden's condition, Su Xiao understood what was going on. Earlier, when the Dark Maiden was treating him, he had faintly sensed that the Dark Maiden seemed to be sealing something, and that the sealed object had a Dark attribute.
Now it seemed that what the Dark Maiden was sealing was something like a Dark Source. This thing was the key to opening the Dark Seal. The problem was that nothing would exist forever for no reason. The Dark Source was the same. The reason it had been preserved intact until now was that the Dark Maiden nourished it with her Primordial Life Force.
Over time, this Dark Source became the Dark Maiden's life essence. The price of opening the Dark Seal was to use the Dark Source as a starting point to assimilate the entire Dark Seal, then shatter the Dark Source, causing the entire seal to open and break.
This was also the reason the Dark Maiden was about to die. She no longer had a life essence, or rather, her original life essence had almost no life force left, all used to nourish the Dark Source to keep it existing.
As long as the Dark Maiden could regain a life essence, she could gradually recover. However, there were two choices. One was to create a life essence that was stable but emitted very little life force. In this case, the Dark Maiden would lose all her existing power and be inferior to ordinary people, unable to even run quickly. The corresponding benefit was that the Dark Maiden could live for a long time with this stable life essence.
The second method was to move the Dark Maiden's original, but extremely weak, life essence to the position where she sealed the Dark Source. Then, use a small amount of Dark energy to activate this life essence, and set up an extremely stable Devouring Core to wrap around this life essence.
In this way, the Dark Maiden's strength would not be weakened in the slightest. However, the remaining Dark life essence would not allow her to live long. Correspondingly, she could hunt Dark creatures or kill World-Destroying level creatures. By absorbing the essence of these beings, she could use the Devouring Core within her body to convert it into Dark energy, thereby nourishing her own Dark life essence.
As for how to choose, the Dark Maiden herself could not choose, as she was in a deep coma. Su Xiao looked at the stone statue with several weapons inserted into it. From the details of these weapons, it could be seen that they were regularly and meticulously maintained. Especially the sharp sword. When the Molten Giant had repaired the nicks on this weapon earlier, he had lamented that such an ancient weapon, frequently used in battle, could be maintained so well.
How the Dark Maiden would choose was already revealed in her daily life. Moreover, the myriad realms were so vast; who wouldn't want to go out and see? Traveling while hunting Dark creatures and World-Destroying level creatures was quite nice just to think about. If she was chased by a World-Destroying level enemy outside, it didn't matter. She could return to the Eternal Light World. If the enemy chased her here, the Demon Insect Race would give them a warm welcome.
After stabilizing the Dark Maiden's condition so she could hold on for over 24 hours, Su Xiao entered a meditative state. With Bubu Wang's aura, his Mana Points quickly recovered until full, reaching 96,698 points.
Su Xiao converted all his Mana Points into Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, then released the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, allowing it to semi-crystallize, floating in front of him. He wrapped it in a layer of Soul Energy to prevent this Cyan Steel Shadow Energy from contacting the external environment.
He continued meditating to recover Mana Points, repeating this process five times. After gathering 480,000 points of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, Su Xiao used this Cyan Steel Shadow Energy to construct a purely energy-based Devouring Core. This was not simple. Energy in an uncontrolled state was softer than blood, flesh, etc. Keeping it in the complex structure of the Devouring Core stably could be imagined how difficult it was.
After doing this, Su Xiao peeled off the Dark Maiden's extremely weak Dark life essence, embedded it in the center of this Devouring Core, then implanted it into the Dark Maiden's heart. Finally, he used various high-grade potions to stabilize everything.
In Su Xiao's residence, he turned off the various environment-stabilizing devices. This treatment was very successful, and the Dark Maiden was unconscious throughout. The treatment experience should have been good.
Su Xiao glanced at the Dark Maiden lying on the surgical bed. Then he noticed that the Dark Maiden could actually release perception. That meant the Dark Maiden had been conscious earlier and had perceived the entire process of him treating her. Thinking about it this way, her treatment experience probably wasn't too good.
Just as Su Xiao was about to walk out of the room, he suddenly noticed a tear flowing from the Dark Maiden's right eye. How polite. They were all members of the same faction; there was no need to be moved to tears.
After leaving the room, Su Xiao found Sauness sitting on the steps, confronting Yusha, who had her hands behind her back. Yusha stubbornly tilted her head, her entire face expressing: 'I won't!'
Seeing Su Xiao arrive, Sauness remained expressionless but sighed and said, "Since you won't listen to my teachings, I'll find you another mentor."
"Find one then."
Yusha was clearly a stubborn donkey personality. Normally, no matter how she was spoken to, she was cheerful. But once she became obstinate, she instantly transformed into a stubborn donkey girl.
"Bai Ye, it seems I can no longer teach Yusha. I'll entrust her to you from now on."
"Master, I was wrong."
Yusha immediately gave in. She was very afraid of Su Xiao at this moment, especially since, just a few hours ago, Su Xiao had treated her Primordial Life Force deficiency. This made her legs weak just seeing Su Xiao now, let alone becoming his disciple.
After Su Xiao left the Gray Sanctuary with Bubu Wang and Baha, daylight shone down. Due to the previous decisive battle with the World Devourer, the clouds above had been scattered, and daylight shone down again, causing the vegetation in the Wild Overgrowth to begin withering.
[Tip: Your talent awakening quest · Shadow of Law Destruction (Phase 1) has been completed.]
[This quest has a total of three phases, but only Phase 1 can be activated in this world. When you subsequently enter a Transcendent Primordial World, you can activate the subsequent two phases of the quest according to the situation. After completing this quest, your 「Law Destruction Talent · Shadow Hunt」 will awaken to its limit.]
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao leaped onto the back of the Demon Flame Dragon · Barbatos. Barbatos spread its wings and took off. The wind whistled past his ears. Su Xiao looked down at the scene below. The view was one of devastation.
He checked the [Hunt List: Blood Pact]. There were a total of five bounties. [The Apostle's Game], [Molten Giant], and [Dead Silence Annihilation] were all completed. [Origin Stone: World] and [Nightfall] remained.
[Bounty 3 · Origin Stone: World: Find a piece of Origin Stone: World (Fragment) (Bounty reward: 7,500 ounces of Space-Time Power)]
[Bounty 5 · Nightfall: Briefly cause Nightfall to descend upon the Eternal Light World (Requires paying a bounty deposit of 10 ounces of Space-Time Power to activate this bounty. As this bounty is extremely difficult, upon completion, you will receive a 500x additional bounty reward)]
Up to now, Su Xiao still hadn't found the piece of [Origin Stone: World (Fragment)] in this world. As long as he had this piece of [Origin Stone: World (Fragment)], he could synthesize a complete Origin Stone and see what attributes this strongest Origin Stone actually had.
But Su Xiao had searched almost the entire Eternal Light World and still found nothing. On the dragon's back, he pondered for a moment and decided to deal with this matter last.
When the Demon Flame Dragon · Barbatos flew over the allied base camp, Su Xiao found that the Elemental Zone, originally underground, had leveled with the ground due to the earth's crust's self-recovery. Naturally, this had lifted the base camp's insect nest and the Star Giant Tree up.
Barbatos swooped down. Several sleeping Demon Flame Dragons woke up, letting out a series of roars. Su Xiao walked down along the dragon's wing, entering the sleeping nest through the main passage of the base camp's insect nest.
Previously, Jila had manipulated a massive number of insects to fight the World Devourer and had now fallen asleep. After confirming Jila's condition was good, Su Xiao activated the War Lord Title and flipped through the notification records to find a previous notification.
[Tip: The Eternal Light Lord ability of Insect Race Dominator · Jila has achieved a high compatibility resonance with your existing Title · War Lord. Yes/No to perform this resonance? After completing the resonance, the War Lord Title will undergo significant changes. Careful consideration is required.]
[Tip: This resonance can be performed at any time.]
Previously, Su Xiao had not allowed the War Lord Title to resonate with the Demon Insect Race because he could confirm that once this resonance was performed, the War Lord Title would definitely undergo a huge change, to the point where it might no longer be a Legion-type bonus Title.
The strength of War Lord was beyond doubt. If he were at the Seventh, Eighth, or Ninth Rank, Su Xiao would definitely not change the characteristics of this Title. However, now, as his strength increased, the worlds he entered were all ultra-high-rank worlds. These worlds all had their own major forces, and these major forces, without exception, knew about the existence of the Paradise, and could recognize that Su Xiao was a Shadow of Law Destruction from the Law Destruction Faction.
Under such circumstances, these major forces naturally would not allow Su Xiao, as a Shadow of Law Destruction, to command the armies under their command, even temporarily. The situation in the Wind Sea Continent was an exception, as the factions there were too special. This meant that the powerful Title War Lord would be 99% unusable in subsequent worlds.
Using a powerful Title that would no longer be practical in the future to transform into a powerful Title that would likely be practical was a no-brainer. Therefore, Su Xiao chose to let the War Lord Title resonate with the Demon Insect Race.
[The resonance is about to be performed. As this process is a transformation of the Title's characteristics, it can be completed within half an hour.]
[Resonating...]
[Resonance begins. All combat insect units of the Demon Insect Race will permanently receive the following bonuses.]