Chapter 12: Overlord Chest
After successfully slaying the Twin Lords, Su Xiao reached out with one hand toward the corpses before they completely dissipated, activating his Soul Devourer talent. A mass of soul memories the size of a millstone was stripped away. This was the first time Su Xiao had stripped so many soul memories. He did not intend to absorb them; instead, he quickly previewed them, discarding all useless fragments.
This left the soul memories condensed to the size of a fist, pitch black in color. Su Xiao took out a soul container and sealed these memories inside. Speaking of which, this soul container was obtained when he encountered Green Gillian in the previous world.
Su Xiao put away the soul container. Just after the battle, Baha flew over, carrying a faint bloody scent. During Su Xiao’s clash with the Twin Lords, a group of mysterious black wizards had suddenly appeared, but fortunately, Amu and Baha held them off, and they had now retreated.
This place was not safe to linger. Su Xiao constructed a one-time Law-Destroying Teleportation Array. Seeing this, Alanna entered her defensive armor. She felt that after enduring this teleportation once or twice more, she could ride this array even in light defensive gear.
Boom!!
The teleportation array activated, shattering the layered spatial seals around them. These seals had clearly been set by the mysterious black wizards to trap Su Xiao and his group, but they had no effect.
When the spatial teleportation ended, Su Xiao had arrived at District 20 of Moon Ring City. This was a pleasant manor estate. In the summer night, insects chirped incessantly near the pond, and a cool breeze carried away the lingering chill of the northern border.
This was a luxurious mansion gifted by the Moon Witch. Because it was not far from the Wizard Academy, the security here was good, and the environment was suitable for recuperating after a deadly battle.
By the pond in the courtyard, Su Xiao leaned back in a lounge chair. All his wounds had been stitched with Spirit Shadow Threads. After drinking a recovery potion and wrapping bandages, he was mostly fine. Nearby, Bubu Wang looked miserable, with a bandage on its rear—apparently, it had taken an arrow to the butt during the chaos.
At a small table nearby, Alanna was flipping through a pile of ancient texts, investigating the origins of the mysterious black wizards based on the marks on their hands. She pushed up the glasses she habitually wore while reading and had already found some clues about the group.
Only then did Su Xiao have time to check the series of prompts that had appeared.
[Prompt: Your Main Quest · First Ring · Dark Twins has been completed.]
[You have received Commission Voucher (1/5).]
[You have received an Eight-Star to Nine-Star Title Selection Chest.]
[You have opened the Eight-Star to Nine-Star Title Selection Chest.]
[Combat, Defense, Special: You may choose one of these three title types to open this title chest.]
[You have chosen Special-type Title.]
[Randomly drawing…]
[You have received Fantasist (Eight-Star Title).]
[Fantasist (Sealed in Wax)]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Quality: ★★★★★★★★
Category: Rare · Title (Sealed in Wax; usable after releasing this state).
Title Effect: Limit Release (Passive). While wearing this title, the wearer’s mental energy upper limit protection is removed. Subsequent use of mental abilities will permanently increase the wearer’s overall mental damage by 1% to 50%.
Note: Each time a mental ability is used, the title wearer’s mental damage will receive a certain degree of permanent increase. However, due to the risks of releasing the mental energy upper limit, each use of a mental ability has a 5% chance of causing the wearer’s mental energy to enter an uncontrolled proliferation state. This madness is irreversible.
Description: This is a gift for the fantasist, and also the beginning of madness.
Selling Price: Tradable; once the wax seal is released, it becomes non-tradable.
…
This title was very valuable. Su Xiao wasn’t sure about the situation in other Paradise factions, but in Reincarnation Paradise, by the late stages, mental-type contractors were rarely normal. Out of ten, five were calm madmen, two were berserk madmen, two were cheerful madmen, and the last one seemed normal but was actually the craziest of all.
The enhancement effect of the [Fantasist] title was dangerous, but for those already mad, being a bit crazier didn’t seem to matter much. Therefore, this title could fetch a very good price.
[Your Main Quest · Second Ring has been activated.]
[Main Quest · Second Ring: Dark Blood.]
Difficulty Level: Lv.95 ~ Lv.???
Quest Description: Kill one of the leaders of the Dark God Cult, Black Hole · Azler, and seize the portion of Dark Blood he possesses.
Warning: If the Dark Blood is destroyed, your Main Quest will immediately fail.
Quest Time Limit: 10 natural days.
Quest Reward 1: Soul Chest (opening yields 5 to 30 Soul Crystals).
Quest Reward 2: Commission Voucher (1/5; upon collecting all vouchers, you can claim 3.5 million Soul Coins, 100 Soul Essences, 1 Power Source Matter, and 1 Vitality Source Matter deposited with the Void Tree by the Night Witch Guild).
Quest Penalty: Current Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence, and Charm attributes -10%.
…
Seeing the difficulty of the second ring quest, Su Xiao sensed trouble. The difficulty level Lv.95 ~ Lv.??? likely corresponded not to Black Hole · Azler’s combat power but to a worse scenario—the exposure of Su Xiao’s motive for the second ring quest.
If that happened, given Black Hole · Azler’s ruthlessness as one of the three leaders of the Dark God Cult, this super old schemer might personally extract the Dark Blood, making things very troublesome.
Although Black Hole · Azler and the Twin Lords were both leaders of the Dark God Cult, their styles were completely different. Black Hole · Azler never stood in the open but remained behind the scenes. More precisely, before the Archbishop of the Abyss returned here, the Dark God Cult in this area was led by Black Hole · Azler.
If the Wizard Faction’s hatred for the Twin Lords was 2000, then their hatred for Black Hole · Azler was at least 50,000 or more. The Sky City becoming the eerie, dark place it was today was certainly one of Black Hole · Azler’s doing.
Black Hole · Azler had a trusted subordinate known as the Madman. This guy named Madman had once blown up an entire district of Moon Ring City. Key locations of the Wizard Faction, such as the Ancient King City and Giant Armor City, had all been attacked by this guy, suffering heavy losses.
Killing Black Hole · Azler was already difficult enough, but ensuring the seizure of the Dark Blood from him was even more challenging.
Su Xiao took out the [Astral Disk] obtained from killing the Twin Lords. Earlier, when he had scanned the Twin Lords’ information, some key details were important:
「Name: Light/Dark Lord.」
「Category: Elemental Child/Abyss Child/Former Dual Guardians of the Astral Tower.」
Among these categories, Abyss Child was understandable, and Elemental Child was also comprehensible. The relationship between the Abyss and natural elements was not as completely opposed as low-rank contractors believed.
What was truly puzzling was the identity of 「Former Dual Guardians of the Astral Tower.」 Given the Twin Lords’ pride, who was inside the Astral Tower that made them willingly serve as door guards?
Su Xiao took out the [Astral Disk] from the Twin Lords and checked its attributes.
[Astral Disk]
Origin: Witch Realm.
Category: Key/Seal Core.
Durability: 1460/1500 points.
Effect: After absorbing enough Dark Blood, this item can be used to open the Astral Tower.
Description: The black hole that devours hearts, the forgotten ancient king, and the one abandoned by darkness—are you ready to hunt for Dark Blood? Are you ready to defeat these powerful beings?
…
Su Xiao put away the [Astral Disk]. This item was extremely important and could not be lost. He took out the soul container, opened it, and a fist-sized mass of soul memories floated up. His hands formed an empty grip, and several blue energy threads pierced into these soul memories.
Like watching a movie, a series of soul images flashed before Su Xiao’s eyes. After a moment, he discovered a serious problem: Black Hole · Azler was too cautious. This guy was so cautious that he had never met the Twin Lords in person. As fellow leaders of the Dark God Cult, this was absurd.
Among these soul memories, compared to information about Black Hole · Azler, his trusted subordinate Madman appeared much more frequently. Various meetings were handled by Madman on behalf of Black Hole · Azler. This led some Dark God Cult members to suspect whether the Black Hole faction among the three Dark God Cult factions—Extreme Dark, Black Hole, and Ancient—was already under Madman’s control, and whether Black Hole · Azler had long since died.
This must be a rumor. Madman was indeed powerful and a complete madman, but he was not qualified to inherit the Dark Blood.
Su Xiao estimated that if he hunted based on these soul memories, the target would definitely be Madman, not Black Hole · Azler. But that was enough. As long as he pulled this thread and kept pulling, the Archbishop of the Abyss, Platinum Apostle, and Shenfu would eventually be unable to bear it.
After roughly understanding the information in the soul memories, Su Xiao was about to stop previewing when he suddenly discovered a somewhat special soul memory among the chaotic fragments.
It was a very ordinary antique shop. Entering it, one could exchange a Soul Coin with the shop owner for a gold coin. Then, go to a nearby dwarf bank, enter the elevator, and throw this gold coin into a slot hidden under a mechanism. The elevator would then descend all the way, stopping before a long corridor.
The corridor was not wide. Walking straight ahead would lead to a wooden counter. Sit down and wait. If the owner of this place was present, a small curtain ahead would slowly open. If after five minutes the curtain showed no movement, one could leave. Returning to the elevator, the slot would spit out a Soul Coin.
This hidden place was on a pedestrian street in Night City. Su Xiao planned to check it out later. Through the soul memory images, he saw the mark of the Void Tree on the gold coin exchanged for a Soul Coin.
He stored this soul memory back into the soul container. Thanks to this soul container crafted by some master artisan, the soul memories stripped by his Soul Devourer talent had more uses. Storing soul memories in the container could preserve them for at least 5 to 8 days, while the soul memories of powerful beings could last even longer. This gave him more operational space, unlike before, when stripped soul memories would dissipate within minutes.
Just as Su Xiao put away the soul container, a strange fluctuation appeared. It felt like… someone was summoning him? No, it was his summoned creature trying to contact him through the summoning contract.
Translucent blue crystals spread from the lounge chair to the ground, forming a summoning array. The tree spirit of the Greedy Life Tree was summoned. Its roots reached out, carrying five 「Life Fruits.」
Su Xiao picked one up. A refreshing fragrance entered his nostrils. Just smelling it made his internal Primordial Life Force feel more vibrant.
「Life Fruit: After consumption, permanently increases HP by 35,000 points (due to the extremely high-tier nature of this Life Fruit, even multiple consumptions will still yield enhancement effects).」
Harvesting five 「Life Fruits」 put Su Xiao in a good mood. He took out a sealed bottle of Eternal Spring Water and tossed it to the tree spirit. As for why he didn’t give more Eternal Spring Water, it would provoke the tree spirit’s greed.
His injuries had recovered over 70%. Su Xiao got up and entered the mansion, descending to the basement, which Amu had arranged as an alchemy lab. Amu knew nothing about potion brewing, but setting up a potion lab was something he was skilled at.
Sitting at the brewing table, Su Xiao switched to the [Miracle Maker] title and began potion brewing. He did not brew the five 「Life Fruits」 into five potions but into one. The advantage of this was to minimize the diminishing returns from consuming multiple potions brewed from 「Life Fruits.」
Although 「Life Fruits」 could be consumed multiple times, Su Xiao estimated that after about 20, the effect would diminish. Calculated this way, consuming multiple 「Life Fruits」 could increase HP by about 700,000 points, which was already an astonishing boost.
If he used five 「Life Fruits」 as a single batch to brew a potion, given his alchemy level, he was confident he could get far more than a 700,000 HP boost.
Therefore, even if this 「Life Secret Medicine」 brewed from five 「Life Fruits」 increased HP by less than 175,000 points, in the long run, it was still a gain, since he controlled the [Greedy Life Tree] and had a stable source of 「Life Fruits.」
As dawn approached, Su Xiao finally finished brewing. The liquid in the crystal vial showed a pale gold color, with fluorescent green light particles flickering inside. He activated 「Hunting Vision」 and noticed that the ancient beings drifting in spatial gaps were attracted nearby. They emitted low hums like those from ancient times, swam in the surrounding spatial gaps for a while, then left one by one.
These ancient beings would not snatch treasures from the material world. However, due to their massive size and terrifying appearance, they were often mistaken for horrible monsters. In reality, these big fellows were very gentle. Su Xiao had even sat cross-legged on one’s back, drifting through spatial gaps, but he hadn’t drifted too far before leaving the gap to avoid getting lost. It could only be said that the stronger one became, the more wonderful the world they saw.
The potion on the table had cooled. Su Xiao picked it up, and its attributes appeared before him.
[Life Secret Medicine (Perfect)]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise · Holy Flame Alchemist
Quality: Eternal Rank · Rare
Type: Recovery Item.
Effect: After consumption, permanently increases HP by 120,000 points and permanently increases abnormal attribute resistance by 20 points.
Perfect Grade Bonus: After consumption, additionally permanently increases HP by 30,000 points and increases healing-type ability resistance by 10 points.
Rating: 6000 points (Eternal Rank potion rating ranges from 3000 to 6000 points).
Description: Pending (Hunters can freely set).
Price: Pending (Hunters can freely set).
…
Successfully brewing an Eternal Rank max-rated potion put Su Xiao in a good mood. He drank the [Life Secret Medicine]. First, he felt a burning sensation in his chest, which then gradually became warm. The comfortable warmth was extremely soothing, speeding up his injury recovery.
Among the boosts from [Life Secret Medicine], the exaggerated 150,000 HP increase needed no explanation. The perfect grade bonus of 10 points of healing-type ability resistance was a very interesting trait. If he encountered a powerful poison healer in the future, this resistance would come in handy.
Poison healers typically killed by temporarily removing the enemy’s 「Fated Upper Limit,」 then over-healing until the Primordial Life Force grew malignantly, causing a miserable death.
This 「10 points of healing-type ability resistance」 did not reduce the effectiveness of healing abilities on Su Xiao but made his 「Fated Upper Limit」 trait harder to close. Before the 「Fated Upper Limit」 failed, the poison healer could not over-heal him.
Leaving the alchemy lab, the early morning sun streamed through the curtain gaps. In the dining room, Alanna said, “Mr. White Night, breakfast is ready.”
Alanna gave a shy smile, hesitated, then pointed to the table with one finger, saying somewhat happily, “I made breakfast myself. Mr. White Night, please try it.”
“…”
Su Xiao sat down at the dining table and examined the breakfast for a moment but couldn’t figure out what it was. He picked up a piece and tasted it. The more he chewed, the deeper his frown became. The breakfast wasn’t bad, but the layers of flavor were too many, and the texture was particularly complex. One moment it felt like chewing gum, and after a few chews, it became like braised meat.
“Let’s just order food from now on.”
“What’s wrong? Is my breakfast that bad? I ate it myself, and it tasted pretty good.”
With that, Alanna sat down and ate breakfast. Judging by her expression, it really did taste good to her.
Su Xiao took another bite. The flavor was still extremely complex, but… it actually seemed to taste good? After the meal, he took out the 「Universal Food Guide」 and recorded Alanna’s breakfast in it. This was the most complex and unique breakfast he had ever eaten in terms of flavor and texture.
After breakfast, Su Xiao went alone to the teleportation tower in his district, heading to Night City. When the spatial teleportation ended, he had arrived at the teleportation tower in Night City. There were few people here during the day, and the staff looked somewhat drowsy.
Leaving the teleportation tower, Su Xiao wandered to a pedestrian street. After searching for a while, he found an antique shop. Entering, the shopkeeper behind the counter was a Sea Race member.
Su Xiao placed a Soul Coin on the counter. The shopkeeper glanced at Su Xiao, then took a gold coin from under the counter and silently placed it on the counter.
Taking the gold coin, Su Xiao followed the images from the soul memories to find the dwarf bank. Through the elevator, he reached a long corridor. At the end of the corridor was a wooden counter similar to a shop, with a black curtain behind the wooden bars.
Su Xiao sat down at the wooden counter. As soon as he sat, the curtain ahead opened on its own, and a prompt appeared.
[Prompt: You are about to trade with a Divine Merchant. This is a neutral unit certified by the Void Tree. If you choose to attack, you will suffer multiple consequences.]
[Your method of trading with the Divine Merchant is barter; no exchange list will be triggered. Whether the trade succeeds depends on mutual agreement.]
[You may use Divine Bones as the main trading chips to reach a deal with the Divine Merchant. Each trade requires you to first display your chips, after which the Divine Merchant will present corresponding items based on their judgment. If both parties agree, the trade can be completed.]
…
A humanoid creature weighing at least several thousand jin sat behind the wooden counter. It had multiple arms, but each hand had only two fingers, like a human having only a thumb and pinky. Its head, aside from the breathing pores near the mouth, was covered in eyes of various sizes. However, the gentleness in each eye made it not terrifying. Its fat made its skin appear layered, making one wonder if the Divine Merchant could rise from that wide seat.
More importantly, the Divine Merchant had no language ability, so beside its hand was a circular mechanism with two simple expressions on the front and back: a smiling face for agreement and a sad face for refusal.
Su Xiao only had one [Divine Bone (Origin Rank)]. However, his [God Hunter] title gave him two 「Divine Souls,」 namely 「Soul Death God (Nine-Tier Divine Soul)」 and 「God of Misfortune (Upper-Tier Divine Soul).」
Divine Souls were very rare. They had many names, such as Divine Core or Divine Position. With this item, there was a 95% chance of becoming a corresponding Divine System being.
For example, with the Divine Soul of the Soul Death God, normally, when a deity was killed, their Divine Soul would scatter. Then, under the effect of causal force, when someone could become the new Soul Death God, the Divine Soul would slowly gather in their Primordial Energy, forming the Divine Soul representing the Soul Death God.
Su Xiao placed a [Divine Bone (Origin Rank)], along with [Soul Death God (Nine-Tier Divine Soul)] and [God of Misfortune (Upper-Tier Divine Soul)], on the counter. This greatly interested the Divine Merchant inside.
A bottle of [Primordial Potion] and an [Overlord Chest] were placed on the table. As an Absolute Strong, it was hard to refuse [Primordial Potion], but Su Xiao had already consumed the strongest [Primordial Potion], so he was not interested in this bottle.
Seeing this, the Divine Merchant was a bit troubled. It put away the [Primordial Potion] and placed a bottle of [Vitality Source Matter] on the counter. This Source Matter, which could greatly increase HP, was very attractive, but Su Xiao had just consumed the 「Life Secret Medicine」 and could not use this [Vitality Source Matter] for a while.
The Divine Merchant was very interested in the two Divine Souls. Finding that [Vitality Source Matter] still didn’t move Su Xiao, it put away the [Vitality Source Matter] and placed a small sealed bottle containing [Power Source Matter] on the table.
Seeing this, Su Xiao took out a thumb-sized vial of Ancient God Source Blood and placed it on the table. This made the Divine Merchant hesitate no more, and the trade was completed.
[You have obtained Power Source Matter × 1 portion.]
[You have obtained Overlord Chest × 1.]
[You have obtained Strange Pouch (You can put items into this pouch. If the Divine Merchant is interested in the item, they will come to your world to trade with you. If not, the pouch will spit out the item).]
…
After completing the trade, Su Xiao noticed the spatial array beneath his feet lighting up. Sensing no danger, he stood up, and the next second, he was teleported back to the antique shop.
The harvest was good. Since his injuries were not fully healed, Su Xiao went to the teleportation tower to return to District 20 of Moon Ring City. By 9 a.m., he was back at the temporary mansion.
In the inner hall on the third floor, Su Xiao sat on a single sofa. Earlier, he had obtained one portion of Power Source Matter through a bounty mission. Now he had another. Coupled with just defeating the Twin Lords, he should have a buffer period. Using both portions of Power Source Matter now was a good choice. Moreover, future enemies would only be stronger. If he could quickly adapt to the enhanced physique and turn it into combat power, the subsequent risks would be lower.
Yesterday, killing the Twin Lords also yielded a [Source Matter Chest]. Su Xiao planned to open it. If it gave another portion of Power Source Matter, he could withstand the boost from three portions, as using Power Source Matter consumed a lot of 「Primordial Fragments」 to stabilize his physique.
[You have opened the Source Matter Chest.]
[You have obtained Thunder Breath Source Matter.]
Seeing this result, Su Xiao was fairly satisfied. Although he couldn’t use it himself, this item was quite valuable. It could greatly enhance lightning affinity, while his lightning control relied on lightning resistance.
Since his luck was decent, yielding [Thunder Breath Source Matter], Su Xiao took out the [Overlord Chest] he had just obtained. Speaking of luck, this [Overlord Chest] originated from Reincarnation Paradise, meaning opening it would yield an Overlord Equipment from Reincarnation Paradise’s Overlord equipment inventory. Among the various Paradise factions, Reincarnation Paradise had the most Overlord equipment in its inventory.
[You have opened the Overlord Chest.]
[You will receive an Overlord Equipment with high compatibility with you.]
[You have obtained Bloodthirsty Madman (Max Rating · Overlord Equipment).]
…
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly. The last time he obtained [Bloodthirsty Madman], he had given it to Kaisa. Now he had opened it again.
But thinking carefully, this type of combat equipment, compared to items like the Misfortune Gold Coin or the Ouroboros Stone Tablet, had higher resistance for Kaisa. Moreover, Kaisa simply couldn’t use combat equipment like [Bloodthirsty Madman] the way he used the Ouroboros Stone Tablet. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but his ability traits made it impossible.
Given Kaisa’s nature of plucking feathers from every passing goose, how could he let [Bloodthirsty Madman] rot in his hands? Selling this max-rated Overlord Equipment to a destined buyer was the best choice.
Now it seemed that the destined buyer hadn’t lasted long before meeting an untimely end. Afterward, [Bloodthirsty Madman] returned to Reincarnation Paradise’s Overlord equipment inventory, only to be opened by Su Xiao again.
Su Xiao had a feeling that he was being targeted by [Bloodthirsty Madman], which was why he had opened it again. But this time, the situation was different. He looked at the [Bloodthirsty Madman] ring floating before him and took out the 「Book of Original Sin.」