Chapter 52: Black Blade
A used title gradually dissipated in Su Xiao's hand. The full moon hung high, its reflection cast upon the shallow lake. Around this reflection was a ring of pitch black, with black liquid flowing down along the edges, giving the feeling that the night sky had sprung a leak, allowing dark corruption to seep out.
Looking up at the full moon now, though it appeared the same as before, it carried an inexplicable psychological pressure, as if staring at it for too long would cause one's very flesh to begin mutating.
Transcendent worlds possessed abundant resources unimaginable in other worlds, along with numerous stable power systems. Yet behind this strength lay a price unknown to outsiders.
The bloodline curse of the Wind Sea Continent granted the Beast and Sea races terrifying fertility enhanced by Abyss power, forcing both sides to control population through war, eventually creating irreconcilable blood feuds. The Witch Realm suffered from corruption's spread. As for Doom Star, this transcendent world's very existence was a calamity in itself.
Su Xiao, who had been sitting in meditation, opened his eyes. He rose from the strange rock and lightly leaped onto the lake surface. With two splashes, he stood on the water. Bubu Wang came to his leg, Baha swooped down to land on his shoulder, and Amu stood behind him. At this moment, the full moon above seemed to magnify and drag forward, making Su Xiao's team appear as if standing before the moon. Such a magnificent sight left the witches a hundred meters away at the lakeshore with an unforgettable memory.
Su Xiao took out the 「Astral Disk」, held its base with both hands, and raised it high to align with the moon. The 「Astral Disk」, stained black by Dark Blood, clicked and turned. Almost simultaneously, the full moon above was reflected by the 「Astral Disk」, transforming into a giant 「Astral Disk」 that also clicked and turned.
Layer after layer of seals opened. Many circular holes appeared in the center of the moon disk above, from which black liquid flowed, cascading into the shallow lake. The lake's ripples calmed, turning into a dark silver expanse.
Su Xiao noticed everything around him fell silent. The witches a hundred meters away at the lakeshore had vanished, as if the edge of this dark silver lake was the end of the world. The next moment, the lake water beneath him surged wildly, pushing him upward like a rapidly rising giant platform.
The platform's speed increased until the surrounding air began to tremble. With a thunderous roar, space shattered, and everything around was swallowed by black liquid.
Perhaps a few seconds, or longer, the black liquid dissolved in the air. Above was a thick black fog. The full moon had disappeared. More accurately, Su Xiao now stood on the moon's surface.
Unlike the expected lunar environment, there was no weightlessness. A grayish-white cotton-like substance floated in the air. The ground was hard grayish-white rock, dotted with craters of various sizes.
On this vast gray rock ground lay a man-made stone path. Each stone slab measured one meter by one meter. This several-meter-wide path stretched forward, leading to a palace-like structure.
This structure was originally built from white stone but had now turned pitch black. Only the pointed top still showed traces of its former white rock. This was the Moon Temple.
Su Xiao walked to the temple's main gate. Using the 「Astral Disk」 as a key, he pressed it against the door leaf. With a crisp click, the disk sank into it. Rings of locking mechanisms on the door returned to place, internal lock bolts retracted one after another, and the sealing runes on the door temporarily fell silent.
Su Xiao pushed both door leaves with his hands. Amid the creaking sounds of opening, the heavy doors of the Moon Temple swung open.
Just as Su Xiao stepped inside, the heavy doors behind him slammed shut with a bang. The sealing runes on the door activated. Seeing this, Bubu Wang let out a timid whimper, then looked up at the large chandelier above. Hiding on chandeliers to avoid impacts was a skill he had mastered.
The empty hall floor bore faint but dense battle scars. Among the deepest were three claw marks, each thirty centimeters wide and several meters long. Blind guess: this was left by the Great Swamp King, Kareya, at the peak of Absolute Strength.
Ethereal whispers seemed to hang in the air, adding psychological pressure to the place's solemnity. Su Xiao stepped forward. When he neared the center of the hall, a crack suddenly appeared on the over ten-meter-tall statue of the First Witch at the far end.
Black corruption spread from within, not falling to the ground but spreading to the ceiling. After eroding an area on the ceiling, that region became unstable. It suddenly bulged while bubbling, and something resembling grayish-white hair extended out, followed by a clawed hand reaching through.
As corruption dripped down, a figure over three meters tall descended. From its form, this was certainly not the First Witch. This being was clad in worn-out battle armor, with a head of fluffy grayish-white hair flowing behind it. A pair of backward-curving horns and those clawed hands revealed its bestial nature. Mist-like cold air exhaled from the breathing holes in its mouth. Its eyes opened.
This was certainly not the First Witch. This was the Corrupted Avatar.
A semi-transparent barrier with black patterns separated Su Xiao from the Corrupted Avatar. Su Xiao noticed this barrier was gradually weakening.
"Roar!!"
The Corrupted Avatar let out a beast-like roar. Layers of airwaves spread, and the sound seemed to have penetrating power, causing the hall's walls to vibrate before settling after a moment.
On the ground before the Corrupted Avatar, dark liquid churned. A spinal column rose from the dark liquid. This spine was over two meters long, its oppressive aura indicating it was left behind by some powerful being after death, now transformed into a spinal blade.
The Corrupted Avatar's right claw grabbed the spinal blade's bone handle. As it pulled the blade from the dark liquid, the liquid surged upward, coating the spine's surface, turning it into a three-meter-long, slightly curved black blade about thirty centimeters wide.
The Corrupted Avatar slightly lowered its posture, its left arm hanging naturally between its legs, its right hand holding the black blade's handle, resting the blade on its shoulder.
"Wuwu... hehehe..."
Mixed sobbing sounds of men, women, old, and young came forth. Tears flowed from the Corrupted Avatar's right eye. It murmured through its half-sealed mouth:
"Why... did you... abandon... us... We... are also part of your souls... part of the witches..."
The Corrupted Avatar sobbed. Just then, its left hand seemed to gain a will of its own, grabbing its own face and tearing off the skin. Strangely, beneath this skin was a face similar to before, but slightly different.
"You coward, crying and whimpering. Let the true avatar awaken! Awaken!!"
The Corrupted Avatar tore off its face again. Layer after layer of faces were removed, revealing the innermost one. This was the true Corrupted Avatar.
This scene occurred because when a witch undergoes corruption, part of their soul is also eroded by the corruption. After the witch dies, this corrupted energy, to some extent, believes itself to be the witch. This was the most terrifying aspect of corrupted energy: it possessed a degree of self-awareness, and each corrupted witch's death left this energy with different conscious characteristics.
The Corrupted Avatar stood there holding the black blade. Its right eye had one pupil, while its left eye socket contained surging darkness forming a vortex with mysterious suction. After a few seconds, the surrounding air calmed.
Crack! Crack!
Just by standing there, the Corrupted Avatar's invisible pressure spread. Fine cracks on the ground radiated outward. When they reached Su Xiao's feet, he felt a heavy weight pressing on his shoulders, as if under gravitational suppression.
"Moo!"
Amu, full of spirit, requested to fight. In the previous battle against the Ancient King, he had charged in and nearly been one-shotted. This time, he was determined to redeem himself.
With a dull boom, Amu charged. Midway through his sprint, he leaped, gripping his Bloodthirsty Battle Axe with both hands, executing a classic sky-splitting strike from axe techniques.
The axe cut through space with a sharp sound, aiming straight for the Corrupted Avatar. The Corrupted Avatar raised its left arm to block. With a tearing sound, Amu's axe cut through like a hot knife through butter, severing the Corrupted Avatar's forearm and embedding deeply into its shoulder.
Crackling～
Frost spread from the wound. Just as Amu prepared to freeze half the enemy's body, then yank the axe to tear it apart, black threads extended from the Corrupted Avatar's severed left forearm, connecting to the broken end. The threads tightened, and the arm restored.
Almost simultaneously, this left hand, moving faster than perception could track, grabbed Amu's head with a slap. Amu felt a tremendous force, nearly snapping his neck, as his head was pulled before the Corrupted Avatar. The dark left eye spun its vortex, actually drawing Amu into it, swallowing him in an instant.
Whoosh! Baha swooped past, its talons grasping empty air. The Bloodthirsty Battle Axe, previously in Amu's hand, fell to the ground with a clang.
Now looking at the Corrupted Avatar, frost spread over its body. Its right eye's pupil had become two: one pitch black, one ice white. Frost surged in the Corrupted Avatar's left hand, indicating it had temporarily gained freezing abilities.
Seeing this, Baha immediately spread its wings and retreated from the Corrupted Avatar, shuttling into alternate space. It naturally guessed the Corrupted Avatar's ability: temporarily devour enemies, swallowing them into an unknown place, and during that time, temporarily possess the devoured target's abilities.
If Baha were devoured, and the Corrupted Avatar, with its unreasonable strength, gained spatial shuttling ability, this battle would become very difficult.
Zheng～
Su Xiao drew his longsword. Amu hadn't thrown this time; he had lured out the enemy's most dangerous ability. If nothing else, if the enemy used this ability on Su Xiao and succeeded, the battle would be over.
The situation differed from what the Moon Witch had described. Entering the Moon Temple didn't lead to meeting the First Witch. Because the corruption had grown further, without defeating this Corrupted Avatar, there was no qualification to even see the First Witch.
Taking a deep breath of the hall's slightly earthy air, Su Xiao didn't release his blood aura this time. A fierce dark wind pressure rushed towards him. He raised his left hand, wearing the Black King Bracer, to block before him. Through his fingers, he saw the black blade approaching.
'Hiss～'
Su Xiao inhaled while fixing his gaze on the approaching enemy. Everything around him slowed down. He sidestepped the descending black blade while leaping backward. With time slowed, this looked both dangerous and effortless.
As he leaped back, the black blade struck the ground, sending gravel flying. Under the black blade's dark erosion, these gravel turned into dark matter. Being hit by them would not only cause health to plummet from erosion but also drastically reduce speed.
In this slowed-down domain, Su Xiao raised his sword hilt while tilting his head. A piece of dark matter flew close past his cheek. Another piece, deflected by the hilt's end, originally heading for his neck, veered off and passed by.
The moment Su Xiao landed, he leaped in place, drawing his legs in as much as possible. The black blade swept horizontally, causing the hem of his long leather coat to flutter loudly.
Slap!!
The end of Su Xiao's sword hilt struck the Corrupted Avatar's neck sideways, causing it to stagger. The descending black blade just barely veered off, passing dangerously close to Su Xiao's left side.
Before the black blade struck and dark matter splattered, Su Xiao had already leaped forward, one foot stepping on the Corrupted Avatar's head. Then he leaped again, avoiding a black blade aimed at his calf while landing on the Spirit Shadow Threads crisscrossing the upper part of the hall.
With a boom, the Corrupted Avatar leaped up in fury, the black blade slashing upward at Su Xiao. But as the blade hit several Spirit Shadow Threads, the threads Su Xiao stood on rapidly rose under tension. He raised his hand, blood aura gathering at his index fingertip, flashing with cross-shaped crimson light.
Bang!
The Corrupted Avatar was blasted down by the Blood Smoke Cannon. The Spirit Shadow Threads coiled above dissipated, and Su Xiao descended.
This exchange showcased Su Xiao's technique master style to the fullest. Facing a powerful enemy like the Corrupted Avatar, he handled it too calmly. Why? Because he had fully mastered the late-stage Law-Destroying ability 「Time: Dominator」.
「Time: Dominator: Skill Effect (Passive, X): When you see through an enemy's weakness using technique-type abilities and attack it, you affect the time field within a 10-meter diameter around you, causing a 0.5-second time "slow phenomenon." Within this area, you ignore the "slow phenomenon" and maintain normal speed to attack the enemy.
Tip: Each technique-type ability generates a "weakness" judgment, and each technique type's derived "weakness" differs. The weaknesses you can perceive are: Power Weakness (corresponding to Blade Grandmaster), Body Weakness (corresponding to Melee Grandmaster), Breath Weakness (corresponding to Blood Spear Grandmaster).
Tip: Under this ability's enhancement, attacking an enemy's weakness deals base attack + 8.5% of the enemy's maximum health as defense-ignoring damage.
Tip: Due to your Melee Grandmaster characteristics, your straight kick, as long as it hits the enemy's torso, will definitely trigger a weakness effect.」
……
「King's Crown (Full Score: World-Class Equipment)
Equipment Effect 2: Malicious Stare (Core: Passive), When murderous intent surges in your heart and you gaze into a target's eyes, the target suffers immense psychological pressure and mental damage, taking "True Mental Damage" equal to (your True Willpower difference) × 52.6 per second, along with "Immobilization" and "Gaze Lock" effects that the target absolutely cannot remove, until this target dies.
Tip: This effect works on enemies of the same tier but cannot bring "strong control" effects.
Tip: This passive effect is enhanced based on the intensity of negative Charm attributes.」
……
In the confrontation with a powerful enemy like the Corrupted Avatar, the damage from 「King's Crown」 was secondary. The key was its attack method: primarily mental damage with a small amount of soul damage characteristics.
Su Xiao truly didn't care about this mental damage, even "True Mental Damage." In his view, it wasn't strong. For example, the Corrupted Avatar opposite had a "Twisted Willpower" of 492 points. Calculated this way, one second of eye contact only dealt 3051 points of True Mental Damage.
The key point was the small amount of soul damage attached by 「Malicious Stare」, which didn't even make it onto the equipment's attribute description. As everyone knew, mental damage was comprehensive. What did "comprehensive" mean? For example, if the enemy was human, mental damage caused overall mental field damage to the human-shaped target, not from inside out, first injuring the brain. If mental damage were that powerful, able to ignore physical and soul defenses to directly assault the fragile brain, Su Xiao would definitely have mastered some mental abilities.
Mental damage was a process from outside to inside, like surging tides. The key was that when 「Malicious Stare」 caused mental damage, it attached that small amount of soul damage.
Soul damage was mostly "point" or "line" shaped attacks. First, it had to hit the enemy's soul body, then spread like ink in water, causing damage to spread.
「Malicious Stare」 broke this rule. Due to Su Xiao's -22 Charm attribute bonus and 940 Soul Strength derivation, 「Malicious Stare」 gained soul-characteristic attacks that could cover the enemy's entire body surface.
This characteristic attack could just trigger the "weakness" from the 「Time: Dominator」 ability. As a three-type grandmaster, Su Xiao could certainly capture weaknesses on enemies of the same tier: "Power Weakness," "Body Weakness," "Breath Weakness." There were too many weakness types; the enemy couldn't guard against them all.
The key problem was that it was really hard to hit an enemy's "weakness," especially when two technique grandmasters fought. Both sides would guard against this move. This meant in a battle, Su Xiao could only hit 1-2 weaknesses, and those were "strong weaknesses" from straight kicks.
The low-intensity soul-characteristic attack attached by 「Malicious Stare」 was enough to hit "weaknesses." However, because the attack intensity wasn't as fierce as Su Xiao's normal slashes, it couldn't trigger the 8.5% maximum health defense-ignoring damage from "weakness," but triggering "time slow" was already very strong.
As long as he successfully made eye contact with the enemy, there was a 90% chance of triggering one of the three weaknesses: Power, Body, or Breath, thus causing 0.5 seconds of "time slow."
This was why, in the previous exchange, the Corrupted Avatar was suppressed by Su Xiao. From the battle's start to now, less than five minutes, a total of 6 "time slows" had been triggered. At this moment, Su Xiao finally understood why the ancestral Law Destroyers passed down 「Time: Dominator」, this ability with extremely high prestige but lackluster combat performance.
This ability was like an aged wine. First taste: spicy, harsh on the throat. But once understood and savored, it had a lingering aftertaste, a flavor one could enjoy for a lifetime without getting tired.
How other Law Destroyers triggered 「Time: Dominator」, Su Xiao didn't know. The reason was that not many Law Destroyers successfully mastered this ability. Su Xiao's method of triggering it was eye contact. As long as the enemy's gaze met his, it worked. In battle, not looking at the opponent's eyes was actually quite difficult, nearly requiring giving up a large degree of visual field height to achieve this.
Don't think vision was unimportant in high-tier battles. Although perception was 360° without blind spots and faster than visual capture, some abilities could fool perception. For example, Su Xiao's Azure Demon ability. Please don't laugh; Azure Demon was indeed a slash-type attack that enemies of the same tier couldn't perceive.
Su Xiao looked at the Corrupted Avatar several tens of meters away. This battle had to be finished quickly. Otherwise, once the First Witch appeared, he would definitely lose.
Boom!
The entire hall floor trembled. The Corrupted Avatar charged. At such a distance, wind pressure came head-on, and a sense of locked aura hit him. Su Xiao knew the next attack couldn't be dodged. This should be some powerful ability of the Corrupted Avatar.
The black blade swung, attaching unparalleled suction, as if even his soul would be pulled in.
'Perfect Block!'
Clang!!
Dragon-Slaying Flash clashed with the black blade. Impact spread, shattering the surrounding space. But the next second, a sudden change occurred. The hardened black liquid on the black blade changed form, partially detaching into nearly two-meter-long black spikes that pierced Su Xiao's chest, abdomen, left arm, etc. What continued to clash with Dragon-Slaying Flash was the exposed spinal blade.
A top-heavy weakness hit him. Su Xiao could feel his stamina being drained by these black spikes, causing the black liquid to increase. Several spikes piercing his chest even lengthened a bit, their tips becoming sharper.
"Roar!"
The Blood Beast formed and pounced, hitting the Corrupted Avatar and exploding, blasting it back. The black liquid partially connected to the spinal blade retracted, turning the spinal blade back into a black blade. Blood patterns appeared on the black blade, and the bone handle stained red at one section. When the handle completely turned blood-red, this black blade would fully awaken.
This gave Su Xiao the feeling that the truly troublesome thing was actually this weapon. Although the Corrupted Avatar was powerful, it should have only been born a few decades ago. Compared to this weapon that had existed for an era, the gap was too great.
This made Su Xiao speculate: could this be the legendary weapon, Black Blade: Wild Hungry Wolf? The most special moon wolf among the Silver Moon Wolf clan, the only one who didn't use a greatsword, Black Moon Wolf: Hilebruh's weapon.
A dozen meters away, the Corrupted Avatar swung the black blade horizontally in the air. Whoosh! Black liquid extended, suddenly increasing the black blade's attack range several tens of times.
Everything around Su Xiao slowed down. The black blade swung toward his neck. He used Dragon Shadow Flash to penetrate space, appearing before the Corrupted Avatar. A diagonal slash as fast as thunder. Though this slash's cutting power was moderate, its speed was extreme.
Puchi～
Black blood splattered. A slash mark appeared on the Corrupted Avatar's chest. Starting from this mark, blue arcs surged and spread, causing it to enter a paralyzed state.
「Soul Electrification (Passive): Greatly enhances the control characteristic of Cyan Steel Shadow energy. When Cyan Steel Shadow energy burns the enemy's body energy, there is a 15% chance of triggering a paralyzed state (this is an absolute control effect, cannot be exempted by any means), abnormal state duration 0.2-3 seconds.」
After one Soul Electrification slash, Su Xiao's longsword executed five rapid consecutive slashes. The speed was so fast that afterimages of his figure lingered in the air.
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme.'
One most vicious 'Extreme' as the finisher. The longsword deeply slashed through the Corrupted Avatar's throat. After being injured, the Corrupted Avatar's size actually increased, reaching three meters. The black blade also lengthened according to the user's size change.
Entering a strong super-armor state, the Corrupted Avatar swung the black blade at Su Xiao in an overhead chop, wild and full of power. But at this moment, several sharp tentacles extended from the black blade, piercing into the Corrupted Avatar's side neck one after another. This caused the Corrupted Avatar's overhead chop to veer off, hitting the ground beside it. Frost spread across this ground area.
Su Xiao crouched to avoid the splattering dark matter. He executed a side kick, hitting the Corrupted Avatar's waist and abdomen. The power of his side kick was easy to imagine. After this side kick, he followed up with a straight kick.
Dong!!
The Corrupted Avatar flew out as an afterimage. Facts proved that using a Moon Wolf's exclusive weapon to fight a Law Destroyer wasn't a good choice, especially when this was a legendary weapon with some consciousness.
"Roar!!"
The Corrupted Avatar roared. Corruption invaded the black blade. After not being activated by blood for a long time, the Black Blade: Wild Hungry Wolf was inevitably suppressed.
The black blade swung the next instant. Everything around Su Xiao slowed down. He smoothly dodged this slash while executing an upward slash, severing the Corrupted Avatar's left forearm. Blue arcs immediately spread from the severed area, climbing all over the Corrupted Avatar's body.
Zheng! Zheng! Zheng! Zheng! Zheng!
Five consecutive slashes with full power and speed, all cutting through the Corrupted Avatar's throat. Two of these slashes triggered Soul Electrification.
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme!'
Zheng!
One powerful slash. The Corrupted Avatar's head flew up. Crack! Blue arcs burst out again. This was the fifth time Su Xiao had triggered the Soul Electrification effect in a short period.
「Joy Transfer (Special Title): Select a target for judgment. If judgment passes, swap fortune with the target for the next 24 hours.
Tip: After using this ability once, this title will be consumed.」
That's right, Su Xiao had used this newly acquired title. As for the target, of course it was Molei.
At this moment, in Apocalypse Paradise, Molei's exclusive room, bedroom.
Various plush toys Molei had collected were placed everywhere in the bedroom, even surrounding the bed, forming a semi-circular low wall. Inside the thick quilt, Molei was hiding, only showing the area above her nose. Her little eyes had the feeling that the whole world was plotting against her.
Time rewinding to half an hour ago. Molei, about to return to Apocalypse Paradise, heard her storage space communicator ring. She took it out and saw it was Su Xiao contacting her. As someone about to return to Apocalypse Paradise, Molei naturally became lively again. But after answering the call, Molei's eyes moistened.
This was a commission. As long as she cooperated with Su Xiao in using a title ability, she would receive 100,000 Soul Coins as payment. As for the 24-hour fortune swap, Molei wasn't worried at all, even a bit amused. She was about to return to Apocalypse Paradise; what was there to fear? Especially since it was only 24 hours.
What truly made Molei's eyes brim with tears was that after being extorted by Su Xiao so many times, she was finally seeing some return money. Although 100,000 Soul Coins was a small amount, it was still return money.
Molei was very happy. On her way to the Witch Guild headquarters, she even wore headphones and hummed a tune. This continued until the title ability activated. She temporarily gained Su Xiao's fortune. The next second, crack! A world thunder struck several tens of meters away. Molei fully realized the seriousness of the situation.
Molei felt as if she were in a world full of malice. The surrounding flowers, grass, trees, mud, water, and stones all wanted to kill her in various ways at any moment. The rumbling thunder in the sky seemed prepared just for her.
This feeling was like a lively, happy little deer suddenly finding itself in a dark forest full of monsters and demons. In the surrounding darkness was malice that infinitely bred fear.
As for why Su Xiao didn't usually feel this way, ask: a fierce beast covered in blood aura, even if it walked into a dark forest, was just going home. How could it feel danger or malice? Even if there was, it was him bringing danger to this dark forest.
In the quilt, Molei glanced at the timer by her bedside and found only thirty minutes had passed. She felt terrible. She swore this was the most dangerous 100,000 Soul Coins she had ever earned in her life.
At this moment, in the Moon Temple, Amu, who had fallen out of the darkness, sat on the ground panting heavily. Baha landed on his shoulder, vigilantly looking around.
In the inner area of the hall, Su Xiao held the Corrupted Avatar's severed head in one hand and stepped forward to the First Witch's statue. The next second, with a crack, a piece of the statue before him shattered. Black flames that could simultaneously burn flesh and soul spread out from within.