Chapter 7: The Peculiar Team
Outside Twilight City, within a town beneath its walls.
In an abandoned small square, Su Xiao looked at the map in his hands. Baha had bought it from an antique shop in the town. According to Archbishop of the Abyss Berheva, most antique shops in the Southern Continent buy and sell stolen goods. This map of Twilight City cost Baha five Sun Gold Coins.
With the strength of Su Xiao's team, they could certainly just rob the place, but losing face in this world for a mere ten Sun Gold Coins wasn't worth it.
In truth, every world has a hidden "reputation value," simply put, one's fame. Unless one can completely eradicate all traces without leaving a single witness, forcibly taking things will inevitably lower one's reputation in that area, potentially affecting subsequent plans. After all, you never know who the antique shop owner's backer might be.
Viewed from above, beneath the thousand-meter-high walls surrounding Twilight City, towns of various sizes were spaced every few kilometers. These towns were collectively called the Sub-City Towns, while those more than five kilometers away from Twilight City were known as Outer City Towns.
The blood moon at night made the world outside Twilight City's walls seem like a purgatory after dark. Even during the day, when the dim sun hung high, the Sub-City Towns weren't entirely safe. Monsters still appeared during the day, just in fewer numbers than at night.
Further out, the Outer City Towns either had underground shelters in every household or were themselves eerie towns. Outsiders who accidentally wandered into an eerie town would either be assimilated by the strangeness or, worse, be devoured entirely.
Compared to the past, Twilight City had indeed declined and decayed somewhat. It was no longer the former supreme peak city of the Transcendent Realm, Blazing Sun City. Even so, land within Twilight City was still incredibly valuable. This world didn't lack fertile land, but it did lack land that was both fertile and safe. Therefore, although Twilight City was vast, most of its land had to be used for food production.
Looking at the entire Outer District, the outer rings were all breeding grounds and farmlands. The residents of the Outer District tried to live as close to the Inner District's walls as possible.
He had just agreed to meet Archbishop of the Abyss Berheva in the Outer District. Now it seemed they would have to pass through a large area of farmland to get there.
Su Xiao, Green Gillian, and Xiao headed towards the city gate. For some reason, Xiao deliberately walked on Su Xiao's right side, using him to separate Green Gillian. It seemed Green Gillian's increasingly malicious gaze had made Xiao uneasy.
"Who are you?"
During the journey, Xiao suddenly spoke. Hearing this, a knowing smile appeared on Green Gillian's face. Baha, full of mischief, asked, "Can I tell her?"
"Of course. This kind of thing will be exposed sooner or later. Besides, Xiao is already on the pirate ship. She also has a grudge against Arcane Eternal Star."
Hearing this, Baha cleared his throat and introduced solemnly, "Actually, this is the famous Ancestral Female Law Destroyer, Lady Green Gillian!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Xiao stopped in her tracks, staring at Green Gillian in shock. The next second, her figure faded, as if she had never existed.
"Hey! Don't go! I just wanted to make a friend!"
Green Gillian was clearly a bit embarrassed and angry. Baha smirked and whistled, admiring the scenery around him.
"Tsk~ My ideal main wife in this world is gone. I need to find a new one."
Green Gillian started muttering to herself. Su Xiao ignored her. If an outsider saw this, they wouldn't think Green Gillian was an ancient figure like an Ancestral Law Destroyer. She had adapted to the modern era in no time, using all sorts of slang and trendy phrases.
When they reached the city gate, it was already noon. Su Xiao produced a document from a high-ranking noble of the Inner District, and the city guards quickly let them through. This was perhaps the strongest elite legion Su Xiao had ever seen. The main gate's city guard, totaling over a hundred members, were all Absolute Strength combatants. However, their aura was different from normal Absolute Strength powerhouses. Their presence was sharp and iron-blooded, but lacked the weight of Absolute Strength.
If he wasn't mistaken, these soldiers were pseudo-Absolute Strength level, created by consuming large quantities of "Monster Hearts." To withstand the nightly descent of darkness, it was estimated that their peak combat phase wouldn't last more than five years, and their average lifespan was likely under forty. It seemed that to defend Twilight City, both the nobles and the common residents had paid a heavy price.
If surrounded by tens of thousands of such soldiers, even a top-tier Supreme powerhouse would likely be overwhelmed and would have to retreat.
If the Outer District's city guard was like this, then the Sun Warriors of the Inner District must be even stronger. The Old Guardians formed by them were undoubtedly the peak combat power among the major forces in this world.
After passing through the somewhat cold, several-hundred-meter-long city gate tunnel, the air that greeted them had a hint of fresh grass and trees. This was a train station. Looking into the distance, the rice paddies stretched endlessly. The wind rustled the heavy rice ears, creating a sound like a vast golden ocean.
Boarding the train, the scene before them made one wonder if this was truly the extremely dangerous former Transcendent Realm.
"Law Destroyer."
A whisper, as if from nothingness, sounded in Su Xiao's ear. He opened his eyes and found that Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and even Green Gillian beside him were all acting normally.
A hallucination? Su Xiao didn't think someone with his soul strength would suddenly have auditory hallucinations. He closed his eyes and listened carefully. At first, it was quiet, but soon, a sound like a candle slowly burning came from the air. He entered a meditative state.
"Don't be deceived by the illusions constructed by the God Clan, Law Destroyer."
Su Xiao opened his eyes. This time, it was definitely not a hallucination. Someone was trying to communicate with him from a distance. Faced with this situation, he took out a large bowl-like ritual vessel, had Amu stand in front and hold it with both hands, and then poured a liquid silver-like solution into it.
The other party clearly hadn't expected Su Xiao to be so knowledgeable. After a few seconds of hesitation, writing appeared on the solution. As if worried Su Xiao wouldn't understand the local script, the other party wrote in Void Numbers: 25, 1350.
He had Baha fetch the train manual, flipped to District 25, and looked down the list. Gray Stone Road, 1350, Old Friend's General Store.
This location was somewhat remote, on the very edge of the Outer District, almost bordering the large northern slums. The public security and sanitation here were terrible, marked as "Civilians Prohibited at Night."
The last sentence contained a lot of information. Twilight City's night was definitely not a curfew. It meant the defense method here was different from the Underground City's reliance on human lives. There was clearly a large-scale formation or barrier that protected the entire Twilight City at night.
Otherwise, given the length of the walls surrounding Twilight City, even if there were tens of millions of troops within, it wouldn't be enough to defend the walls.
Su Xiao should have ignored such an unknown invitation, but the mark left by the other party was precisely to prevent that. This mark was from an old friend, the Scroll Master. After leaving the Eternal Light World, he had somehow ended up here.
"Are you sure this is an invitation from the Scroll Master? If so, I'll temporarily excuse myself."
When Green Gillian said this, her tone was unusually guilty. This made Baha curious and ask, "What kind of shady thing did you do to that old man?"
"It's nothing much. I just sold all the rare scrolls he had accumulated for decades."
"Were you in a hurry to get stronger?"
"No, I was already at the Supreme Peak back then."
"Then why?"
"During that time, I was trying to seduce Anna, the owner of the Death House. I was short on cash, so I borrowed some from the old man."
Having said that, Green Gillian opened the window, jumped onto the roof, and disappeared from perception in no time. It seemed that after hitchhiking to Twilight City, she didn't plan to continue traveling with Su Xiao.
The scenery outside the window flew by. Half an hour later, a burning wooden house came into view. Nearby were several patches of blood and fragments of clothing. Such traces only appeared when particularly ferocious beasts had devoured everything, including the bones. It showed that Twilight City wasn't as safe as it seemed.
When the train gradually stopped, a distant bell sounded. Looking in the direction of the sound, the noon sun was somewhat dazzling. Every day, the Inner City of Twilight City would ring a large bell, marking noon.
There weren't many passengers at the station. On a bench on one side of the platform, several half-grown youths were squatting or sitting. They wore ill-fitting clothes, and their skin had a wrinkled, dirty look from not bathing for a long time. Their eyes darted around, looking for pickpocketing targets.
The Outer District of Twilight City had a characteristic: the closer to the Inner City walls, the better the public security. Conversely, the outermost areas of the Outer District weren't much safer than the northern slums.
There were quite a few pedestrians on the street. The morning's heavy rain had cooled the weather, so everyone had added an outer layer of clothing. The means of transportation on the street were like a museum of the ages, ranging from extremely ornate carriages to steam-powered cars and bold diesel-burning vehicles.
The entire district had a complete power and drainage system, but steam and gas pipes also crawled all over the walls. The feeling was that this world had a tech tree, but it was very unevenly distributed. The Inner District had one tech level, the Inner Ring of the Outer District another, and the outermost Outer District was a chaotic mix.
Taking the public train for four stops, they arrived at Old Friend's General Store at 1350 Gray Stone Road. The store was at a crossroads, three stories tall. The windows on the second and third floors were boarded up from the inside. Since this block was so chaotic that even the Sheriff didn't want to come, naturally no one suspected anything.
The situation inside was unknown. Su Xiao had Amu and Baha stay outside, while Bubu Wang followed him in.
Jingle~
The copper bell on the door clashed. The entire general store was about sixty square meters. There were wall-mounted shelves on both sides, a semi-circular wooden counter against the inner wall, and a door leading to the inner room on the other side, along with stairs to the second floor.
In front of the stairs was a round table. Three brothers, who were triplets dressed as shop assistants, were sitting around the wooden table, eating pan-fried round pastries and drinking strong tea. Their gazes were all on Su Xiao. Although they didn't look hostile, based on Su Xiao's experience, he immediately judged that these three had some skill. It would probably take ten seconds—no, considering the triplets' shared mind, about twelve seconds—to kill them all.
He approached the counter. Inside, a girl with a single ponytail was sleeping soundly on the counter, drooling. Her white shirt-like fitted clothes vaguely revealed the muscle contours on her back. She looked like a youthful, pretty girl, but she definitely had considerable melee combat ability.
Knock, knock~
Su Xiao knocked on the counter. The girl, who had already woken up, reluctantly got up. She yawned, stretched, and said, "Dad, the guest you're waiting for is here."
A moment later, the door to the inner room opened. Inside was an extremely dense darkness. An old figure, draped in a dark green robe and carrying an oil lamp, stood in this darkness, as if merged with it.
"Our mutual friend has something to attend to and is temporarily away. Perhaps we can talk."
The old man in the darkness spoke. The candle flame in his lamp was very special, an exceptionally dim yellow.
"..."
Su Xiao walked into the darkness-shrouded inner room. It felt as if a layer of black liquid covered the floor, walls, and ceiling. This black liquid also devoured light sources. Only the candlelight from the old man's lamp was not consumed.
After sitting opposite each other at a wooden table, the old man placed the lamp on the table and said, "I've known the Scroll Master for many years. I invited him here this time out of necessity. If we don't get rid of that Undying One, we have no chance of entering the center of Twilight City, let alone ending the Sun God Clan's desperate struggle. The former God Clan has now become pitiful creatures who can't even continue the Blazing Sun Bloodline."
The old man's face, half-lit and half-shadowed by the candlelight, showed a mocking yet somewhat sorrowful smile.
"The only passage from the Inner City to the Central District is guarded by that Undying watchdog. No one can pass. So, I found an old friend to think of a solution. We found one. Originally, I wanted our disciples to take the opportunity to deal with that Undying One, but now there's a better candidate."
The old man's cloudy eyes stared directly at Su Xiao, clearly wanting Su Xiao to deal with the Undying One he mentioned.
Su Xiao had no interest in this old man's enemy, but he was very interested in the method the Scroll Master had found to kill the Undying One. Among his future enemies, there might be Undying Ones. After all, when an Undying One was within this world, even a killing ability couldn't slay it.
"The Sun God Clan must be eradicated. They..."
Before the old man could finish, his left eye suddenly expanded several times. Starting from this point, various parts of his body swelled up one after another. His violently trembling pupils caused blood vessels to burst in his right eye. He almost squeezed out from between his teeth: "Old..."
Bang!
The old man exploded. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere. In front of Su Xiao, a thin crystal wall had just formed, and mixed flesh and bone fragments dripped down it. On the other side of this crystal wall, an eyeball formed from soul energy appeared.
This soul eye stared at Su Xiao. After remaining still in mid-air for a few seconds, it burst with a pop, choosing not to attack Su Xiao with this.
Just one look, and Su Xiao knew this was the work of the Soul Academy. This twisted, deformed soul power, aside from the Soul System's "brain-opening" branch, no other soul system branch could possess.
Short, muffled sounds of fighting came from the general store outside. Half a minute later, the fighting outside subsided. The wooden door was pushed open. A burly figure, draped in a tattered robe and wearing dark gold armor inside, stood at the door. With a thud, the ponytail girl who had been sleeping on the counter was thrown in, her body twisted. Her dull pupils indicated she was dead.
The person outside said nothing, turned, and left. Soon, a raging fire started. The dark liquid in the inner room gradually melted away as the old man died.
Su Xiao sat on the wooden chair, unconcerned about the flames spreading around him. Bubu Wang beside him emerged from stealth and brought over a notebook. This notebook wasn't from the old man or the ponytail girl, but from a man named Nizane.
The main content of the diary wasn't important, but in scattered mentions, it revealed that besides the Old Guardians, the Great Library, and the Old Nobility, there was a fourth force in Twilight City. This force was called the Night Guild, which had gradually risen years ago with the support of the Great Library.
The Night Guild's philosophy differed from the Old Nobility's neutrality and the Great Library's belief that all the world's strong should participate in the Blazing Sun Bloodline inheritance. The Night Guild firmly believed that all the world's calamities were actually caused by the Sun God Clan. They thought the Blazing Sun Bloodline shouldn't be inherited anymore, and even if it wasn't, the sun in the sky wouldn't fall, and the blood moon would disappear.
In short, one sentence: destroy the Sun God Clan. After this view was exposed, the Great Library, which had originally provided resources for their rise, quickly stated that they weren't familiar with the Night Guild.
The result was obvious. The Night Guild was destroyed. This general store was probably the Night Guild's last stronghold. Previously, the high-ranking officials of Twilight City couldn't be bothered with these few people, given their unusual relationship with the Great Library. But now, these Night Guild members were trying to ally with a Law Destroyer, which was a different matter.
As for why the Soul Academy made a move, it was unknown. It was probably due to an old grudge with the Night Guild, and they took the opportunity to wipe them out while also selling a favor to the Sun God Clan, i.e., the royal family of Twilight City.
However, neither the royal family nor the Soul Academy chose to clash with Su Xiao. Given the number of Absolute Strength powerhouses in this world, it was somewhat illogical to say they feared a strong person. The only explanation was that both Twilight City and the Soul Academy were imprisoning an Undying, Indestructible Abyss Spawn and consuming massive resources to do so.
In fact, provoking an Undying, Indestructible Abyss Spawn was an extremely painful affair. You couldn't destroy it, nor could you let it roam free. Otherwise, it might soon return and make the major force that once sealed it pay the price.
But if you sealed it for a long time, you had to continuously invest resources to strengthen the seal. Moreover, the longer you sealed this Undying, Indestructible Abyss Spawn, the deeper the grudge accumulated.
Considering that the Underground City was the only major city in the Northern Continent, Twilight City, the Soul Academy, and the Divine Cult naturally had to place informants there to prevent this force, which wasn't under their control, from harming their interests. Thinking about it this way, the scene of Su Xiao completely destroying the Undying, Indestructible Abyss Spawn in the Underground City would naturally be quickly known by the high-ranking officials of the three major forces.
The Southern Continent experienced a Blood Night descent about once a month. Considering that Blazing Sun Star was known as the world closest to the Abyss, the number of Undying, Indestructible Abyss Spawns here should be considerable, perhaps as many as a dozen.
Following this reasoning, the three major forces—Twilight City, the Soul Academy, and the Divine Cult—might each be sealing two or three Undying, Indestructible Abyss Spawns, and these Abyss Spawns were putting a lot of resource pressure on them.
Thus, when Twilight City and the Soul Academy acted to completely destroy the Night Guild, it made perfect sense for them not to provoke Su Xiao, or even to avoid offending him in attitude.
Su Xiao would certainly agree to the three forces' invitation to deal with the Undying, Indestructible Abyss Spawns. By destroying these Abyss Spawns, he could not only gain progress on the "Abyss Mission," but also use the Blade Demon Spirit to devour the Abyss Spawn's source energy, thereby increasing his "All Potential Limit Rank" and "Abyss Resistance," as well as the Blade Demon Spirit's "Demon Spirit Strength."
Even so, directly agreeing to the three forces' invitation would still be somewhat of a loss. He could easily demand a high price, and the three forces would definitely not refuse this high price. Compared to the cost of maintaining the Abyss Spawn seals, such compensation was within an acceptable range.
Su Xiao walked out of the burning general store. Bubu Wang began searching for the Scroll Master's scent in the air. A moment later, led by Bubu Wang, Su Xiao, Amu, and Baha arrived at a barbecue restaurant. Amu looked quite happy, while Su Xiao and Baha looked at Bubu Wang.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked, indicating that the scent tracking wouldn't be lost. It was better to eat first to divert the enemy's attention, as there were currently three groups secretly watching them.
After a moment's thought, Bubu Wang, who usually acted silly, had done this well. At this moment, the three groups secretly monitoring Su Xiao almost laughed out loud. They had just seen Bubu Wang sniffing the air and thought this dog had discovered something, only for it to track to a barbecue restaurant.
During lunch, Bubu Wang suddenly disappeared. It had gone to track the Scroll Master's location. Time passed minute by minute. Su Xiao acted like a leisurely diner, eating barbecue and savoring his own brewed wine. After an hour, Bubu Wang sent back information: it had found the Scroll Master's trail.
The Scroll Master was in a heavily guarded building in the Inner District. He had clearly been set up by his unreliable old friend from the Night Guild. However, there was no need to worry about the Scroll Master's safety.
Any force that captured the Scroll Master would typically go through this attitude change: murderous intent → cold interrogation → learning his identity → ecstatic joy → gradually becoming friendly → treating him as an honored guest → "Master, you can go anywhere except outside our territory. Master, have you had lunch? How was your meal? Are you used to the food here? If you have any requests, just name them."
The strongest Scroll Master in the myriad realms, the top-tier World Painter. These two identities alone were enough for any force to treat the Scroll Master as an honored guest.
Thinking about it this way, there was no need to rescue the Scroll Master for now. After all, Su Xiao was a lone Hunter. Compared to traveling with him, the Scroll Master would be safer staying in Twilight City.
Even so, he needed to see the Scroll Master as soon as possible. The method he had thought of to kill the Undying One was what Su Xiao needed. If he encountered an Undying One later and couldn't handle it, the consequences would be dire.
Besides this matter, Archbishop of the Abyss Berheva and former noble Albers were making good progress. Through a few bottles of enhancement potions not available in Twilight City, they had established a connection with the Old Nobility. With proper maneuvering, Albers would soon have some authority in the Inner District.
After waiting another half hour in the restaurant, two figures walked in: Zuiyasi and Wude. After sitting down, Wude remained silent. Although this guy usually didn't talk much, it was different from Su Xiao's taciturn nature. Noticing this, Baha asked:
"Wude, what's with that expression like you lost a million Soul Coins?"
"He came here for nothing this time."
As a "good teammate," Zuiyasi spoke with a smile. This was the nature of good teammates: they cooperated against the final boss, but that didn't stop the wonderful bond between "good teammates" of: "You have something unhappy? Tell me about it, so I can be happy."
"He brought that Original Sin Object from the Devil Clan. After arriving in this world, he originally wanted to give it to Twilight City. But he didn't expect that the Central District of Twilight City already had an Original Sin Object, which almost exposed his 'gifting' behavior."
Hearing Zuiyasi's words, Su Xiao's expression became serious. He decided to avoid the very center of Twilight City as much as possible in the future.
Aside from this, the qualification to be the representative team of Twilight City had been secured by Zuiyasi and Wude. After arriving in Twilight City, they had simply found a captain of the Imperial Guard at the city gate and told him they wanted to represent Twilight City in the battle to reclaim the "Sun Source Stones."
Upon hearing this, the Imperial Guard captain immediately invited Zuiyasi and Wude into the city. Soon, a high-ranking noble met with them. Learning that the team had another member and confirming that Su Xiao was also an Absolute Strength powerhouse, they immediately agreed. Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, and Wude would form a team as representatives of Twilight City to reclaim the "Sun Source Stones."
There was a prerequisite: the Twilight City team needed four members. Besides Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, and Wude, there would be a mysterious lady. This lady was an Absolute Strength powerhouse from Arcane Eternal Star, the Daughter of Nature, Ailukelu.
The original situation should have been that, led by Soul Lord, a group of spellcasters from Arcane Eternal Star would come to kill Su Xiao. But somehow, Mawen Hua'erzi, the Old Law Destroyer, and the Black Mist Figure had used some method to block Soul Lord and the other spellcasters outside this world.
The current situation was that Su Xiao and the Daughter of Nature, Ailukelu, were both members of the Twilight City team. If they openly fought, it would not only be slapping Twilight City's face; it would be kicking them down and stomping on their face.
Perhaps the high-ranking officials of Twilight City also felt that having a Law Destroyer and a Spellcaster team up was unreliable no matter how you looked at it. The problem was that the deadline they had agreed upon with the other two forces was approaching, and they had to field a team with an average combat power of Absolute Strength.
The high-ranking officials of Twilight City had to choose: either send their own family's outstanding members to their deaths, or let the Law Destroyer and the Spellcaster team up and pretend not to know about it. Clearly, they chose the latter.
Perhaps Twilight City felt this was indeed somewhat inappropriate, so before the four set out, they had to go to the Inner District's Council Hall. All four had to sign a contract guaranteeing that the team wouldn't have internal strife.
Hearing Zuiyasi's account, Baha was dumbfounded. It used its two wings like hands, pressing them against its head. Since Blazing Sun Star had almost no contact with other worlds in the myriad realms, the high-ranking officials of Twilight City didn't know about recent events. Their understanding of Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, and Wude was limited to them being a Law Destroyer, a Devil Clan member, and an Ancient God System member. They didn't know that two of them were Contract Masters.
Therefore, the high-ranking officials of Twilight City made two astonishing decisions: 1. Let a Law Destroyer and a Spellcaster team up. 2. They were about to sign a contract simultaneously with two Contract Masters.