Chapter 28: A Transaction?

Chapter 28: A Transaction?

The originally gentle healer, Luo Luo, had now transformed into a Scarlet Child. After the Rain Summoner was terrified into a desperate flight by two healing skills, Luo Luo’s gaze shifted to Titan·Griz. This wasn’t targeted, but rather because the earth-vein system ability user Titan·Griz was slower in running.

With a whoosh, a pair of scarlet wings unfurled. Thunder Mage God·Aige and the others realized something was wrong—how could a healing-type possess such a ferocious aura ability?

The chase began. Amidst Titan·Griz’s curses, Luo Luo flew with her scarlet wings, pursuing him to heal, always maintaining a distance of about a hundred meters. Titan·Griz’s curses greatly reduced the guilt in Luo Luo’s heart.

Su Xiao witnessed all of this without intervening. The earlier clash with Mad Feast was just a warm-up, but that warm-up had forced him to use Demon Blade, proving that Absolute Strength opponents were no pushovers.

Bubu Wang and Baha hadn’t been able to come along; they were currently waiting in the spectator seats, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty of tracking. That’s right, Su Xiao intended to continue tracking those two Absolute Strength spellcasters. With such an opportunity, it would be best to eliminate them all, or at least take down one, to pave the way for dealing with Arcane Eternal Star later.

[Old Hunter Title·Ruthless Hunter (Active): Without any medium, forcibly lock onto a designated target within the same world, allowing continuous perception of that target’s specific location for the next 12 hours.]

While this was an option, this ability had a cooldown of 50 natural days. After returning to the Witch Realm, Su Xiao still had to complete his main mission and talent mission.

The five types of Dark Blood corresponding to the main mission hadn’t been obtained yet. The talent mission to kill the “Initial Malignant Transformation” also had no leads.

With these unresolved issues, the trump card of the Old Hunter Title couldn’t be used so recklessly. Su Xiao picked up a maple leaf. In his vision, elemental power slowly drifted from the leaf, likely left behind by Nature’s Daughter·Eluklu as she inadvertently passed through here. This made him hesitate—tracking through this was possible, but the cost was high, and whether it was worth it was a question.

Checking the communication channel for this round of combat, he found only a dozen or so combatants remaining; the others had forfeited. This was normal, as over ninety percent of combatants participated in the Golden Combat to absorb the special golden power from the “Golden Lake.”

With only a dozen combatants left, and the continent continuously shrinking—halving in area after one day, becoming an island after two—by the third day, all combatants would inevitably encounter each other.

Just as Su Xiao was about to leave, a faint soul aura caught his attention. He turned his head toward a maple tree, stepped forward, grabbed a piece of bark, and easily pried it off, revealing soul energy between the bark and the trunk.

This soul energy was slowly dissipating, clearly left here intentionally by someone.

Bait?

Unlikely. Although Su Xiao wasn’t a soul-type, he could judge the concealment of this soul energy. If it were bait, it wouldn’t be this hidden; it was more like a marker for soul-type users.

Su Xiao activated “Hunting Vision” and saw that every dozen meters or so, a maple tree bore such a soul imprint. This made him hesitate about whether to follow.

The probability of a trap was high. Su Xiao decided not to track it. He carefully observed the soul imprint on the trunk, intending to memorize it, and to be especially cautious of any enemy with this soul characteristic in the future. But after staring at the soul imprint for two seconds, he gradually furrowed his brow.

Su Xiao crouched before the trunk, picked up a branch, and drew the soul imprint’s pattern on the ground. Removing the surrounding rings and leaving only its internal structure, it looked like a parchment scroll, but with a mark on it.

The mark appeared as overlapping rings. Understood through the study of formulas, it represented balanced law. But through the study of original sin objects, the pattern represented misfortune—endless misfortune.

Thinking this way, this soul imprint could only have two meanings: either soul-balanced law, but this expression was wrong, like an incorrect description, such as “one apple.” That left only the original sin object interpretation: soul, endless misfortune, ancient scroll.

If anyone else saw this mark, ninety-nine percent would be utterly confused. In fact, across the myriad worlds, fewer than five people could understand the meaning of this mark. Three were in the Soul Library—the Ancient One, the Spider Lady, and the Soul Elder—one was in the Void, a deceased abyss scholar, and the last one was currently in the seventh round of the Golden Combat Arena, looking at this mark.

“Misfortune Scroll”

This soul imprint represented the “Misfortune Scroll.” What was the “Misfortune Scroll”? It was a pseudo-original sin object, one Su Xiao had long dreamed of.

If original sin objects were classified by danger level, with a full score of 100, then the Collector, the Necronomicon, the Scarlet Scepter, the Nether Bone Ring, and the Abyssal Jar were all big daddies at 100. The Soul Crown was slightly lower, at 99.5.

Water Brother’s Primordial Source Mirror was at 72. As for why Su Xiao could judge so precisely, it wasn’t a talent but rather his extensive contact with original sin objects and frequent reading of related books in the Soul Library.

He had to thank the library’s owner, the Ancient One, for allowing him to freely consult these ancient books not open to the public. This was likely because Su Xiao had sealed five original sin objects.

Father’s Golden Holy Grail had a danger level of 80. By this measure, the “Misfortune Scroll” was a pseudo-original sin object with a danger level of around 30, between true original sin objects and misfortune objects, stronger than the “Primordial Mask.”

Su Xiao had always adhered to a principle: even though he had sealed five original sin objects, he tried to avoid directly using them as much as possible. At most, he cooperated with the “Necronomicon” for mutual benefit. Using or exploiting true original sin objects, in his view, was digging one’s own grave, unless one was strong enough to ignore their backlash.

When he dealt with the Scarlet Monarch earlier, it seemed like he was using original sin objects, but that wasn’t the case. It was the Collector, the Necronomicon, the Nether Bone Ring, and the Soul Crown ganging up on the Scarlet Scepter, not Su Xiao using these four original sin objects.

Now, facing a pseudo-original sin object, he could use it. This wasn’t yet a formal original sin object.

The “Misfortune Scroll’s” characteristic was that writing one’s name on it would gradually strengthen one’s soul, but at the cost of continuously increasing misfortune. For this reason, Su Xiao was especially eager to find this original sin object. To further enhance the Demon Spirit, he needed to increase his soul strength.

In the early, middle, and late stages, his talent ability·Soul Devourer was enough to support his soul strength growth. But in the late late stage, Soul Devourer’s enhancement speed could no longer suppress the rapidly strengthening Demon Spirit.

Especially after Su Xiao advanced to Absolute Strength, the probability of encountering immortal, indestructible Abyss Spawn increased, and he could absorb “Demon Spirit Source Matter” to enhance the Demon Spirit’s strength.

This forced him to find another means to increase soul strength to continue suppressing the Demon Spirit. The problem was that he was a three-technique grandmaster with no spare resources to boost soul strength. The “Misfortune Scroll,” with its low cost but risky method, was very suitable for him.

As for the risk of the “Misfortune Scroll’s” original sin characteristics, let alone it being a pseudo-original sin object, even big-daddy-level original sin objects couldn’t kill Su Xiao; they were forced to coexist with him in mutual disdain. The chance of this pseudo-original sin object killing him with its original sin traits was very low.

Excluding that, the core characteristic of the “Misfortune Scroll” was misfortune backlash. Su Xiao estimated that this misfortune backlash might not be a debuff but a buff. It might even offset the Law-Destroying fortune, making his fortune electrocardiogram fluctuate less.

The soul imprint on the trunk initially seemed like a trap, but on second thought, it was too targeted. Leaving a soul imprint that very few could understand was more like a transaction.

Among this round’s combatants, names flashed through his mind. The most suspicious was the violator·Moon Witch, not Father. If Father had cooperative intentions, he wouldn’t be so subtle; he’d be more direct and sincere.

Thinking this, Su Xiao began tracking the imprint. Following it, he arrived at the eastern area shrouded in mist. This place was a shallow water zone, with water ankle-deep. Aquatic plants grew on the hard, sandy soil, which didn’t sink underfoot.

Continuing to track the soul aura, after running for over ten minutes, Su Xiao abruptly stopped, his hand pressing on his sword hilt. He sensed the aura of a spellcaster, right ahead.

Facing Su Xiao’s sudden appearance, one of the two spellcasters in the distance immediately released their aura, causing the water elemental power here to boil. It was clear this was an all-elemental spellcaster who could decide which natural element to use based on the environment. This was likely Nature’s Daughter·Eluklu.

In stark contrast to Nature’s Daughter·Eluklu was the mysterious spellcaster accompanying her. This person’s aura was calm yet eerie. Even at first sight, Su Xiao sensed danger. This person was completely different from Eluklu—Eluklu’s strength came from accumulated experience and knowledge, while this person’s came from killing, darkness, and souls.

A breeze passed, rippling the shallow water. Soul Herder·Hughn stood there calmly, dressed in a simple black robe, his naturally curly long hair loose, his face showing a sickly pallor. His right hand, wrapped in bandages, gave a withered impression.

Some called him Soul Herder, others Black Soul Hughn. Though he, like Nature’s Daughter·Eluklu, concealed his identity, Eluklu spent most of her time in her magic tower, while Hughn was Arcane Eternal Star’s sharp blade, eliminating dissidents and secretly dealing with those who dared challenge Arcane Eternal Star.

Given Hughn’s talent displayed in his youth, he shouldn’t have been treated this way. All this was because his father was an abyss scholar, a traitor despised by Arcane Eternal Star’s mid-to-high ranks.

With a crack, a soul orb struck the surveillance eye above, shattering it into mist. Combatants could choose to do this—if they didn’t want the arena to broadcast the battle, they could destroy the surveillance eyes, as everyone’s trump cards were their biggest secrets.

At this moment, the arena audience sighed in regret, but there was nothing to be done. Fortunately, Death Paradise’s Guangyan and Yingqin were clashing with the violator·Iron Fist·Barul, drawing the audience’s attention to that large screen.

……

The ripples on the shallow water gradually calmed. Soul Herder·Hughn looked at Su Xiao with a smile. This gaze felt somewhat familiar to Su Xiao. A previous opponent had had a similar look, though not exactly the same, it was like they were cut from the same mold.

Unfortunately, due to factional hostility, Su Xiao and that opponent were destined to be enemies. Without that hostility, that lazy, humble, and easygoing guy might have become a friend.

“Hughn, let’s retreat. As an elemental spellcaster, fighting a Law Destroyer is too foolish. Don’t push yourself…”

Nature’s Daughter·Eluklu hadn’t finished speaking when a roar sounded in her ear.

Boom!

Soul Herder·Hughn, covered in black flames, charged at Su Xiao first. Water splashed as he closed in to within a few meters of Su Xiao.

Seeing this, Nature’s Daughter·Eluklu’s eyes first showed surprise, then narrowed. She gritted her teeth and said, “Bastard!”

After saying this, Eluklu decisively chose to forfeit. However, to forfeit, one had to ensure they weren’t attacked for 2 seconds. Hughn charging at Su Xiao gave Eluklu this opportunity.

Fierce wind pressure rushed toward him. Su Xiao, holding his longsword, crouched low. He could feel the burning pain of the soul black flames approaching, even with his 890-point soul strength, he couldn’t be careless.

Clang~

Dragon-Slaying Flash tore through space, slashing toward the charging Soul Herder·Hughn. This strike was meant to force the enemy back, to avoid being suppressed by the soul black flames from the start.

Suddenly, the black flames and soul aura ceased, vanishing without a trace. The longsword smoothly passed through Soul Herder·Hughn’s neck, killing him on the spot.

With his head separated from his body, Soul Herder·Hughn splashed into the shallow water. Blood from the severed neck gradually stained the water red. The head that landed ahead still bore a faint smile.

[Purification Scroll] appeared in Su Xiao’s hand, ready to be crushed at any moment. Necessary caution minimized the chance of a reversal—for example, when having the chance to kill an enemy, don’t waste words, or assume victory after the enemy’s death.

[Purification Scroll]
Origin: Eternal Light World·Scroll Master.
Quality: World-Class.
Category: One-time scroll.
Equipment Effect: Upon use, immediately remove any Abyss erosion being endured.
Rating: 6000 points (World-class item rating: 10-6000 points).

……

Curses, causal misfortune, etc., Su Xiao could block with the “Book of Original Sin.” What he truly feared was Abyss-type erosion. Killing Soul Herder·Hughn in one strike made him wonder if the enemy was the type that “activates abilities upon death.” Normally, he’d be reluctant to use the precious scroll given by the Scroll Master, but this sudden situation required a precaution.

Drip, drip~

Water droplets fell from the sword tip. Su Xiao checked the kill notification, confirming the fact that he had killed Soul Herder·Hughn. This soul-type Absolute Strength had been slain so easily.

Without the soul imprint as a foundation, Su Xiao would have been certain this was a trap. But given the current situation, no matter how he looked at it, Soul Herder·Hughn wanted to die here, or rather, wanted to die at the hands of a Law Destroyer.

Su Xiao approached Soul Herder·Hughn’s corpse. A crystal layer climbed onto his hand, and he touched the other’s back with his index finger. A black-gray mist spread, penetrating and eroding the crystal layer.

With a snap, Su Xiao shattered the crystal layer. The unsupported black-gray mist struggled in the air for a moment before reluctantly dissipating. Based on his experience, this was a curse poison of extremely high intensity.

Suffering from such a curse poison, Soul Herder·Hughn endured unimaginable pain every second. Transferring this pain to someone else for half a second would be enough to drive them to hysteria, yet Hughn had grown accustomed to this torment.

A person with such unyielding will wouldn’t seek death due to suffering. More importantly, after Hughn’s death, his source power was drained by causal force in an extremely short time, as if it had been transferred away.

Su Xiao thought of possession through a corpse but then dismissed the idea. The moment Hughn died, the pseudo-original sin object “Misfortune Scroll” fled. This meant Hughn was truly dead. As for why the “Misfortune Scroll,” a pseudo-original sin object, would flee—encountering Su Xiao, who held the “Book of Original Sin,” how could it not?

The “Misfortune Scroll” was indeed a pseudo-original sin object, but it also had the original sin characteristic of “kill transfer.” The causal line of the “Misfortune Scroll” was already connected to the “Book of Original Sin,” so Su Xiao wasn’t worried about not finding this pseudo-original sin object in the future.

No matter how he looked at it, Soul Herder·Hughn was a decisive old yinbi. If he didn’t roughly investigate this matter, there might be future troubles.

Su Xiao reached down, carefully extracting Soul Herder·Hughn’s soul memories. Killing this enemy in one strike yielded considerable gains. Besides a [Soul Mage Chest] that could potentially yield a supreme treasure, he also had a lead on the “Misfortune Scroll.” He didn’t believe Hughn had no gains—rather, the person Hughn wanted to protect even at the cost of his own life would benefit from this.

The soul memories gradually separated. Su Xiao didn’t choose immersive viewing. The curse poison Hughn suffered was terrifying, and even Su Xiao, as the Holy Flame Alchemist, couldn’t neutralize it. So he let these soul memories evolve on their own, then observed the images they presented.

The first soul image showed a burly man with a gentle face. This was Soul Herder·Hughn, one of Arcane Eternal Star’s high-ranking members. After the war with the Law Destroyers, this soul scholar’s status equaled that of Sefeiliya, the Fierce Wind King, and Dean Guya. He was also from the same school as Soul Lord, taught by the same mentor.

No matter how one looked at it, this man was destined to become one of Arcane Eternal Star’s giants, until he delved into abyss studies for the sake of Arcane Eternal Star’s future, becoming an abyss scholar. He proposed that if Arcane Eternal Star continued to devour natural elements, more Law Destroyers would inevitably appear.

Regardless of the correctness of this statement, this abyss scholar’s ideology directly touched the core interests of over 95% of spellcasters. The two sides broke ties, and the final result needed no guessing—the abyss scholar suffered a crushing defeat.

Soul Herder·Hughn was this abyss scholar’s son. He and his younger brother were both called prodigies by their mentors, until after their father’s death, Hughn was notified to leave “Zhongshi Academy” and go to Grey Iron Star, where he learned killing, survival, and strength.

Soul Lord, as a friend of this abyss scholar, didn’t stand idly by. Her situation at the time was also difficult, so difficult that she could only choose one: save Hughn or his younger brother. Soul Lord chose the latter, and Hughn’s younger brother was named Hughg.

That’s right, the lazy soul-type spellcaster who clashed with Su Xiao during the Strongest Warrior Competition, the one who used soul black flames—Hughg.

Hughg was now one of Soul Lord’s most trusted people, yet he served as the warden of Arcane Eternal Star’s underground prison. On the surface, this was a high position, but it was a role that invited resentment. The underground prison held few valuable enemies; ninety percent of its inmates were their own people. And with Hughg in this position, no one dared to try to recruit or befriend him.

It wasn’t that Soul Lord was harming Hughg. Though she was a Supreme, she couldn’t make unilateral decisions in Arcane Eternal Star, especially with the Supreme Being above her. She wasn’t Arcane Eternal Star’s strongest or its controller.

The warden of the underground prison was the highest position Soul Lord could arrange for Hughg. After all, he was the son of an abyss scholar, a traitor’s son.

Seeing these soul images, Su Xiao understood why Soul Herder·Hughn had come here to die. This was a multi-purpose move, and it wasn’t a battle but a transaction—a transaction between a spellcaster and a Law Destroyer.

First, why did Soul Herder·Hughn die? The answer was that Hughn fought for Arcane Eternal Star in this Golden Combat, unexpectedly encountering a Law Destroyer who countered spellcasters. After clashing, Hughn, to cover his companion’s escape, fought to the death with the Law Destroyer and perished.

Nature’s Daughter·Eluklu saw Hughn get killed in one strike? No problem. After returning, Eluklu would only say that Hughn fought fiercely with Bai Ye and ultimately lost due to his curse poison flaring up.

Why? Not to mention that she and Hughn were friends, he indeed charged at Su Xiao to cover her retreat. If Eluklu told the truth after returning, she’d only be asking for trouble.

Soul Herder·Hughn being killed in one strike was his own mistake. He originally used the pseudo-original sin object “Misfortune Scroll” to suppress the curse poison in his body. But when he faced Su Xiao, the “Misfortune Scroll” he held was terrified, similar to when the “Greedy Life Tree” encountered Su Xiao.

The suppression provided by the pseudo-original sin object “Misfortune Scroll” suddenly vanished, and the curse poison erupted instantly. By the time Hughn tried to react, he was already killed in one strike. In the brief moment before death, Hughn only had one thought: this guy’s blade was too oppressive.

As a three-technique grandmaster technique-type, Su Xiao could instantly kill an enemy showing such a flaw. Otherwise, what kind of life-and-death technique-type would he be?

Soul Herder·Hughn died fighting a Law Destroyer. How should the leaders of Arcane Eternal Star’s four major schools respond? Since the elder brother died fighting a Law Destroyer, continuing to dwell on the younger brother’s identity as a traitor’s son would indeed be inappropriate. Moreover, after so many years, Hughg’s character was evident to all.

Second, Soul Herder·Hughn, suffering from the curse poison, was in too much pain. He wanted release, but he was a proud man who didn’t want to die at the hands of an ordinary enemy. When he coincidentally encountered Su Xiao in the Golden Combat Arena, he had already made his decision.

This series of plans by Soul Herder·Hughn was hastily arranged after this chance encounter with Su Xiao. Due to time constraints, it wasn’t precise, but it was sincere. Whether it was the “Misfortune Scroll” or the supreme treasure he carried, both were hard-to-refuse conditions. He had some understanding of the Paradise faction’s rule that killing enemies could yield treasure chests.

Third, Soul Herder·Hughn wanted to shake off the pseudo-original sin object “Misfortune Scroll” that had plagued him for years. Without this pseudo-original sin object, Hughn wouldn’t have ended up like this. He could have held on for at least another hundred years, securing a higher position for his younger brother and accumulating more source power.

Soul Herder·Hughn wasn’t good-tempered. Since the pseudo-original sin object “Misfortune Scroll” had tormented him for so long, he would find it a wild father. No one was more suitable than Law Destroyer·Bai Ye. This guy was so terrifying that he occasionally sent big-daddy-level original sin objects to Arcane Eternal Star.

Facts proved Soul Herder·Hughn’s guess correct, and the wild father he found for the “Misfortune Scroll” was even fiercer than he estimated. The “Misfortune Scroll” was scared away.

Thinking about it, Su Xiao was practically the “Primordial Mask’s” biological father. The “Misfortune Scroll,” only slightly stronger than the “Primordial Mask,” would naturally flee upon encountering Su Xiao.

Couldn’t Soul Herder·Hughn, as an Absolute Strength, deal with a pseudo-original sin object like the “Misfortune Scroll”? This involved the issue of “original sin resistance.” Please don’t compare Su Xiao’s “original sin resistance” with other Absolute Strength. Even a Supreme, seeing the current “Book of Original Sin,” would have their eyes twitch violently.

[Notification: You have killed Soul Herder·Hughn.]
[You have obtained the Soul Mage Chest (chest-type item, obtained from killing a magic-type Absolute Strength. Upon opening, there is a high probability of obtaining “Primordial Fragments,” quantity determined by various factors).]
[You have obtained 30 natural days of misfortune causality (the cause of this misfortune: the Misfortune Scroll escaping).]

……

The gains were good. Su Xiao glanced at Soul Herder·Hughn’s gradually dissipating remains, sheathed his longsword, and looked toward where Nature’s Daughter·Eluklu had disappeared. A small amount of elemental power controlled by magic energy still drifted there. Next time they met, he would try to kill this spellcaster.

Su Xiao returned to the ancient ruins in the central area and checked the communication channel. Only three names remained: Father, Thunder Mage God·Aige, and Moon Witch.

With a rumble, a heavenly thunder struck in the red maple forest. A few seconds later, Thunder Mage God·Aige was eliminated. Strangely, Father immediately forfeited afterward. This old man must have completed his purpose here and, weighing the gains and losses of fighting Su Xiao, chose to retreat gracefully.

Only Su Xiao and Moon Witch remained. At this moment, Moon Witch’s mood was at rock bottom. As a charm-type Absolute Strength, she had successfully eliminated four participants and finally made it to the end. But her opponent was Su Xiao, with a charm attribute of -22 points.

Normally, the seventh round of the Golden Combat Arena should end here. The remaining Su Xiao and Moon Witch would advance to the eighth round. After their clash, the winner would become the champion of this Golden Combat. But as time passed, Su Xiao didn’t receive an advancement notification. This meant he had to fight Moon Witch, and the winner would advance to the eighth round.

Confirming this, Su Xiao opened the communication channel and typed:

Secret Art User (Reincarnation Paradise): “Central area ruins, settle this.”
Moon Witch (Holy Light Paradise): “I have no masochistic tendencies. This process can be skipped.”
[Notification: As combatant·Moon Witch has chosen to forfeit, you will advance to the eighth round (final round) of this Golden Combat.]
[This battle location: Ancient Battlefield·Giant Beast Burial Ground (the battle area has been notarized; risks present in the ancient battlefield will not affect this combat).]
[This battle opponent: Madman.]

……

Seeing this notification, Su Xiao knew Madman’s trump card for participating in this combat. This guy, through some method, had skipped the seventh round and directly advanced to the eighth. It was likely the effect of that “Champion Ring,” for which Madman had nearly blown up the 10th district of Falling Star City.

The champion position of the Golden Combat Arena was not far off. Su Xiao stepped into the teleportation array that appeared before him. He always felt that defeating Madman would mean defeating the mastermind behind this game, Black Hole·Azle. Moreover, Madman was harder to deal with than he appeared—beneath his bold exterior, he hid many things.