Chapter 2: One Must Possess Sufficiently High Intelligence
Clearly, the previous generation Star Devourer was outwitted by Su Xiao to its death, and the intense unwillingness before its death coalesced into this inherited thought.
Regarding the need for sufficiently high intelligence, the new generation Star Devourer, still within the Star Giant Tree and not yet fully born, found this very difficult. It used its meager intelligence to think hard for a long time and decided to devour an intelligent soul at the moment of its birth. In this way, by devouring the other's soul, its own intelligence would be greatly enhanced.
Leaving aside whether this method of gaining intelligence through devouring was feasible, the key issue was that the Shadow Devourer, which had just been devoured by the Star Giant Tree, was also a big brainiac. Devouring it might actually lower one's IQ.
Crack, crack, crack~
The branches of the Star Giant Tree twisted into a giant sphere, filled with brilliant starlight. When it exploded with a bang, a figure descended. It looked eight-tenths similar to the Shadow Devourer, except its face lacked ceramic-like cracks. Its appearance was like that of a ten-year-old child, with pitch-black eye sockets and dark purple, vertical pupils like the night stars.
The new generation Star Devourer was born.
After standing dazed for a few minutes, the Star Devourer pressed a hand to its forehead, carefully sensing the wisdom in its mind. Then, inheriting the confidence of the previous generation Star Devourer and possessing the big-brain intelligence of the Shadow Devourer, a smile appeared on its face.
Revenge! It must take revenge! It would use its invincible intelligence to crush its enemy, the Shadow of Law Annihilation. As for why it needed revenge, the Star Devourer itself wasn't clear. Anyway, crushing with intelligence was the way to go.
"Hehehe... hahahaha..."
The Star Devourer laughed as it walked out of the shaded area. The Demon Insect Clan lurking in the surrounding area didn't attack. The reason was that after Jila uploaded a photo of the Star Devourer's beaming face to the team channel, all members of Su Xiao's team discussed it and decided not to eliminate this big brainiac. If the next generation Star Devourer turned out to be much harder to deal with, the loss would outweigh the gain.
...
Inside the Exclusive Room, Su Xiao closed the team channel. For his next world progress, he needed to find a way into [Blazing Sun Star · Chiriad]. In a world full of dangers, having a revenge-seeker like the Star Devourer who would willingly throw itself away was actually a good thing. Who could refuse a cannon fodder with strong immortality?
As for what if he couldn't fool the Star Devourer, Su Xiao had already killed the previous beast-form Star Devourer. Was he afraid of a newborn one?
Su Xiao picked up the Law Annihilation Blade from the weapon rack. This was the blade of Devourer Star · Akas. He sensed it for a moment and found no trace of a Demon Spirit inside. This meant that Devourer Star · Akas had left no remnant soul. When a Law Annihilator died before becoming a Blade Demon, their corresponding Demon Spirit would also perish.
After putting down this Law Annihilation Blade, Su Xiao drew Dragon-Slaying Flash and activated the [Supreme Blade] ability. Black iron sand surged out, enveloping Devourer Star's blade. As the scabbard and longsword gradually shattered, a translucent blue crystal debris emerged, so vast in quantity that it nearly filled the room.
This crystal debris was rapidly absorbed by Dragon-Slaying Flash. Unlike previous devourings of other blade-type weapons, Dragon-Slaying Flash's enhancement this time was very fast. It made sense—absorbing power of the same origin naturally enhanced it faster, without needing conversion.
Half an hour later, the last particle of translucent blue crystal debris in the room was absorbed by Dragon-Slaying Flash. Dragon-Slaying Flash remained silent for about ten minutes, completing this devouring. Su Xiao checked Dragon-Slaying Flash's current attributes:
[Dragon-Slaying Flash +5]
Origin: Shadow of Law Annihilation.
Quality: Eternal Rank.
Category: Longsword.
Durability: 980/980 points.
Attack Power: 900~1043 (Increased by 54~60 points).
Equipment Requirement: Shadow of Law Annihilation.
Base Bonus: True damage dealt by Cyan Steel Shadow Energy increased by 50% (Increased by 20%).
Supreme Blade Effect 1: Sharpness +2112 points (Increased by 500 points).
Supreme Blade Effect 2: Damage Rank +25, Slashing Force Judgment Rank +25 (Newly added trait).
Supreme Blade Effect 3: Demon Blade (Core · Active): ...
Current Blade Demon Spirit Intensity: 560 points.
Inlay Effects: 3/3 slots.
Soul Gem (Origin Rank Gem): This weapon gains Soul Severing effect.
Rating: 9250 points (This weapon's rating range is 3000~15000 points) (Rating upper limit increased by 3000 points).
Description: Slay gods and punish evil, sever souls and vanquish demons, seal demons within the blade, slay the immortal and indestructible!
...
The enhancement to Dragon-Slaying Flash was astonishing. The increase in true damage from Cyan Steel Shadow Energy and the 500-point sharpness boost were already impressive. But [Blade-type Weapon Damage Rank +25] and [Blade-type Weapon Slashing Force Judgment Rank +25] were simply outrageous. Back when Blade Grandmaster was at Lv.82, the gains in these two aspects were barely comparable.
More importantly, this had opened a pathway for Dragon-Slaying Flash to enhance these two traits—a process from nothing to something. However, considering that Devourer Star's blade was one of the three strongest Law Annihilation Blades, the above enhancements were no longer unreasonable.
What was truly unreasonable, though currently inconspicuous, was the [Rating Upper Limit Increased by 3000 points] concerning Dragon-Slaying Flash's future potential. The difficulty of raising a weapon's ultimate potential was more than ten times that of enhancing its current strength.
Su Xiao took a screenshot of Dragon-Slaying Flash's attribute list and sent it to Lide. This old friend loved seeing the attribute lists of powerful weapons. Su Xiao figured that seeing Dragon-Slaying Flash's rating upper limit of 15000 points would greatly improve Lide's painful mood from repairing the Wild Hunt Night.
Su Xiao went to the Alchemy Laboratory. When he returned earlier, he had used 85,000 Soul Coins to purchase some soul-trait alchemy materials, and used [Star Fruit] as the main ingredient to prepare [Star Spirit Potion]. It had now passed the self-reaction stage.
As expected, [Star Spirit Potion] was only one step away from completion. Su Xiao finished the subsequent preparation, opened the cooling device, and when the liquid mist fluid used for alchemical cooling lost its activity, the cooling was complete.
[Star Spirit Potion (Perfect)]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise · Holy Flame Alchemist
Quality: Eternal Rank · Rare
Type: Permanent Enhancement Potion.
Effect: After drinking, permanently increases Mana Points by 20,000, True Stamina by 45, and Soul Strength by 55.
Perfect Grade Bonus: After drinking, permanently reduces damage taken from Star-type attacks by 15%.
Rating: 5998 points (Eternal Rank quality potion rating range is 3000~6000 points).
Description: To be determined (You may freely set it).
Price: To be determined (You may freely set it).
...
The focus of this potion was to enhance Soul Strength. Consequently, the increase to Mana Points and True Stamina was not as high as expected.
Su Xiao's current Soul Strength was 940 points. After drinking [Star Spirit Potion (Perfect)], it would reach 995 points, only 5 points short of 1000.
More troubling was that he needed 1000 Soul Strength to activate [Trial Token (Eternal Rank)] and undergo the third round of Soul Trial: Soul King Trial.
To re-suppress the Blade Demon Spirit, which had reached an intensity of 560 points, he had to fulfill the above conditions. Therefore, this mere 5-point gap in Soul Strength was critically important.
In this situation, the Black Sail Merchant Guild was the first choice. Su Xiao contacted a black merchant, who quickly replied.
[Dark Nourishment (Permanent Enhancement Item): Using this crystal permanently reduces True Stamina attribute by 10 points, while permanently increasing Soul Strength by 8~10 points (This enhancement item is effective for Soul Strength below 1200 points).]
[Abyssal Contract (Contract Item): Sign a transaction contract with the Abyssal Warden. Permanently reduce True Strength, True Stamina, and Willpower by 2 points each, and permanently increase Soul Strength by 5 points (This contract is only effective for those with Soul Strength below 1100 points).]
[Elder Sacrifice (Ritual Item): Sacrifice a portion of Primordial Life Force (3000~1,000,000 points) to the Elder Lord, thereby permanently increasing Soul Strength (amount depends on the Primordial Life Force sacrificed).]
[Warning: Elder Sacrifice carries high risk.]
...
It could only be said that this was worthy of the black merchants. As long as there was a need and one was willing to pay sufficient compensation, they could dig up all sorts of strange items from the guild's material warehouse.
In the end, Su Xiao bought [Abyssal Contract] for 50,000 Soul Coins. Strangely, the black merchant didn't raise the price, breaking their usual style. This felt very similar to when Su Xiao sold [Will Gem] a few hours ago. However, with [Will Gem], there was a decent chance it would come back.
Not that Su Xiao would kill and steal treasure—he didn't have the habit of doing that with items already sold. Rather, [Will Gem] would return on its own. Even if both parties disliked each other, the fact that he was the previous holder of [Will Gem] was something no one could change.
Beini completed the transaction with the black merchant at the Great Gathering Place. Moments later, the contract scroll appeared in the team storage space. Su Xiao took it out, checked the contract content, and wrote on the signature line:
Hunter · Dead Silence White King · Eternal Light Supreme Will · Shadow of Law Annihilation · Kukulin Bai Ye.
At the same time, inside the Warden's Office of the Abyssal Prison, the Abyssal Warden, dressed in a purple-black suit with a rose at his chest, had a skull-like head with dried, tight skin and flesh, and burning green soul flames in his eyes.
A contract parchment from the upper shelf of the wall cabinet flew over and unfurled before the Abyssal Warden. Recalling it, the Abyssal Warden remembered this was a contract once given to a young man who longed for stronger soul power. He wondered if that young man was alive or dead now.
When writing began to appear on the contract, the Abyssal Warden knew it wasn't that young man using it. The young man was probably dead. This contract had changed hands countless times and was now being activated by someone else. But that didn't matter. To the Abyssal Warden, as long as he could get the oath price from the signer, it was fine.
When he saw the three characters "Hunter" on the signature line, the Abyssal Warden's green soul flames condensed, as if a person were squinting. Just the meaning behind these three characters made the Abyssal Warden feel troublesome.
After the four characters "Dead Silence White King" appeared, the Abyssal Warden realized things weren't simple. Dead Silence City—how famous it was. It was hard not to have heard of it. It was a world that was only one step away from becoming a Transcendent Primordial World. Mentioning the Eternal Life God only inspired full respect.
If someone casually called themselves the Dead Silence White King, the Abyssal Warden would only think they were arrogant. But being able to use these four characters as a contract name and sign it on a contract—that wasn't arrogance. That meant they had truly been crowned king by Dead Silence, and only then were they qualified to do so. Otherwise, the backlash of the contract force was no joke.
When the title "Eternal Light Supreme Will" continued to appear on the contract parchment, the Abyssal Warden's soul flames visibly flared, and his body leaned forward slightly. It felt like he was opening his eyes wide and leaning in for a closer look.
When the four characters "Shadow of Law Annihilation" appeared on the contract parchment, the Abyssal Warden was already holding the contract with one hand.
Until the name "Kukulin Bai Ye," the Contract Master, appeared on it, the Abyssal Warden raised his other hand, grabbed the other corner of the contract parchment, and tore it apart with a ripping sound. The price of this contract, he gave it for free, willingly for free. Was this cowardice? Yes and no. It was respect for the Contract Master. When encountering a Contract Master, the best choice for this trap contract was to immediately admit defeat and run.
At this moment, inside the Exclusive Room.
Su Xiao watched the gradually fading price on the contract, feeling slightly disappointed. This contract was a trap. He could tell from the patterns, the thickness of the parchment, and the contract drafting style. The other party had some skill, making this contract a double-layer structure.
Unfortunately, after Su Xiao signed this trap contract, the other party chickened out. Otherwise, once the contract's price took effect, it would immediately trigger the trap contract Su Xiao had prepared. Simply put, by using the contract price that needed to be paid, he would make the other party sign a contract.
When the other party realized they had been tricked into signing a contract, they would be pleasantly surprised to find that this contract had 59 layers.
Contract force erupted from the contract parchment in front of him. A surge of Primordial Soul Energy emerged from within the contract. Su Xiao absorbed it, feeling his own soul being nourished. His Soul Strength began to increase point by point until it rose by 5 points and stopped.
Soul Strength had finally reached 1000 points. Su Xiao took out [Trial Token (Eternal Rank)] and activated this special equipment. The next moment, a teleportation sensation hit him.
...
The sound of an ancient bell came. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the sun behind the clouds cast a pale golden afterglow across the entire sky.
Su Xiao walked toward the Soul Hall ahead. The two heavy silver-white metal gates opened. Entering inside, he could see battle marks on the floor, ceiling, and pillars, as well as dried bloodstains from Soul Masters scattered here.
Su Xiao took out [Trial Token (Eternal Rank)] and activated it.
[Trial Token]
Equipment Requirement: Soul Strength above 600 points.
Equipment Effect 1: King Soul Power (Passive)...
Equipment Effect 2: Soul Trial (Active). Can be used to undergo a Soul Trial (Soul Trial consists of three tests in total).
Tip: Each time a Soul Trial test is passed, one strong soul within this equipment will be consumed.
Tip: This equipment contains the souls of three strong beings: Soul King, Giant General, and Blood Queen (Only Soul King remains).
Tip: When all strong souls within this equipment are consumed, this equipment will shatter and provide you with a substantial soul nourishment.
Tip: This soul nourishment will permanently increase Soul Strength by 100 points.
Rating: 6000 points.
...
Spatial fluctuations came from the innermost part of the Soul Hall. Su Xiao stepped forward and arrived at a spatial door. He pressed one hand against it. Last time, this was how he went to the Soul Trial grounds.
Since he had already defeated the Giant General and the Blood Queen, Su Xiao was directly teleported to the innermost part of the second hall. Ahead was a metal door, golden in color. This represented the final Soul Trial test.
[Yes/No to proceed with the third Soul Trial.]
[To undergo this round of trial, you must use the Soul King's Soul to open this door, and your own Soul Strength must be above 1000 points.]
...
Su Xiao pushed the metal door with both hands. Amidst the rumbling sound of the door opening, the Soul King Hall was revealed.
Entering the Soul King Hall, it wasn't as imagined—the Soul King holding a Soul Greatsword, ready to fight Su Xiao to the death. The hall was somewhat empty. The throne at the back was empty. At the center of the hall was a greatsword pedestal, with a golden greatsword half-sunk into it.
Su Xiao stepped forward, grasped the sword hilt with one hand. The next instant, the scene before him changed drastically. It was a desolate land under a murky yellow sky. The space between heaven and earth was full of cracks. A figure, wearing a worn-out crown, draped in a tattered cloak, and so thin it was just skin and bones, sat on a large Soul Throne.
"Is it... a Law Annihilator? Unfortunately... you are not my successor. We Soul Masters are not qualified for that."
The Soul King raised his hand, and the swirling gales around them stopped. After the environment quieted, he continued, "My inheritance greatsword will be temporarily kept by you. Help me choose a suitable successor. My reward will satisfy you."
As soon as the Soul King finished speaking, the surrounding gales began to howl again. Su Xiao's eyes opened. He was still in the Soul King Hall, holding the Soul Greatsword he had pulled from the pedestal.
[Trial Token (Eternal Rank) will trigger its final enhancement. This equipment is about to shatter.]
[Trial Token has shattered. You have received a "massive" amount of Primordial Soul Energy nourishment from within this equipment. Over the next 8~10 natural days, your Soul Strength will increase by a total of 100 points.]
[You have accepted a commission task certified by Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Commission Task (Single Ring).]
Difficulty Level: Lv.5~Lv.95.
Task Brief: Find a suitable successor for the Soul King's Soul Secret Art. After finding a suitable candidate, you can use the Soul Greatsword to go to the "Soul King Hall." The Soul King's soul body will subsequently sleep and wait within the "Soul King Hall."
Task Time Limit: Before the Soul King's soul body completely dissipates.
Task Reward: ???
Task Penalty: None.
...
Su Xiao hadn't even seen what the challenge content was, but he had accepted a task. However, it made sense. Given his current strength, it would be strange for the Soul King to accept his challenge. After the Soul King's death, his soul body had existed for a long time. If he fought Su Xiao again, his soul body might shatter midway.
Although there was no challenge, both sides had achieved their respective goals. This was already good. Su Xiao activated his Hunter's Mark and returned to Reincarnation Paradise.
When the spatial fluctuations subsided, he was back in his Exclusive Room. He pushed open the door to the Enhancement Room, came before the Awakening Stele, and pressed one hand against it. Various "General Passives" appeared before his eyes.