Chapter 32: A Solution
The methods of Shenfu and the others were quite clever. Before this round was even half over, they had already obtained four pieces of [Shattered Origin]. If he were to engage them through conventional means, defeat would be inevitable. For this reason, Su Xiao chose a rather unconventional approach.
Inside the Sealed Sanctuary, Su Xiao opened the communication list on the World Contact Platform. Nine out of ten names and avatars had dimmed, indicating these individuals had left this world. Only three remained: Su Xiao, Fenni, and Yuewu. Among them, Yuewu currently held four pieces of [Shattered Origin].
Without needing to think, it was clear that Shenfu had left these four pieces of [Shattered Origin] behind before departing. An undeniable fact was that if Yuewu could truly hold onto these four pieces of [Shattered Origin] for six natural days, she would undoubtedly be the victor of this round.
In the final comprehensive evaluation, holding each piece of [Shattered Origin] would significantly boost her score. Even if she did nothing else this round, relying solely on these four pieces of [Shattered Origin], she could achieve an S rating.
How Yuewu planned to resist the incoming Nether Curse, Su Xiao didn't know. He opened the World Contact Platform and found a message Yuewu had posted five minutes ago.
Yuewu (Watchful Paradise): "If I can hold out for six days, maybe the final winner will be me?"
Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise): "Good luck to you."
Su Xiao wasn't being sarcastic; he genuinely hoped Yuewu would succeed. If she could indeed last six days, it meant she had a method for long-term, powerful defense against the Scarlet, Nether, and Distorted Blazing Sun.
Among the six Original Sin objects Su Xiao held, his relationship with [Scarlet Scepter] and [Sun Mask] was the worst, reaching a level of "Extremely Hostile." [Nether Bone Ring] was slightly better, at a "Cold" level.
These relationships with the Original Sin objects were self-defined by Su Xiao as: Neutral, Temporary Neutral, Average, Cold, Hostile, Extremely Hostile.
Currently, his relationships with the six Original Sin objects were:
Collector: Neutral.
Soul Crown: Temporary Neutral.
Necronomicon: Average.
The remaining three were at Cold and Extremely Hostile. The Temporary Neutral relationship with [Soul Crown] was because he had previously helped it successfully seal a Daddy-level Original Sin object. What it had devoured, the [Twisted Entanglement Core], was two Daddy-level Original Sin objects entangled and coiled together, mutually destroying each other into eternal silence.
After obtaining this item, Su Xiao's greatest gain was learning that only a Daddy-level Original Sin object could destroy another Daddy-level Original Sin object, and it had to be through mutual annihilation.
Beyond that, he had gradually come to understand the Original Sin characteristics represented by the six objects he held:
Collector: Sin of Domination.
Necronomicon: Sin of Life and Death.
Scarlet Scepter: Sin of Power.
Sun Mask: Sin of Majesty.
Nether Bone Ring: Sin of Strength.
Soul Crown: Sin of Desire.
…
Among these, the Original Sin represented by [Sun Mask]—Su Xiao initially thought it was the "Sin of Pride." Later, he realized that using pride to symbolize [Sun Mask] was belittling this Daddy-level Original Sin object.
The Original Sin characteristic of this object was to stand at the pinnacle of the heavens, overlooking all beings with supreme will. It was an absolute majesty and eternity. Describing this Original Sin characteristic with pride inevitably seemed shallow.
More accurately, the Sin of Pride was a branch of the larger Original Sin characteristic known as the "Sin of Majesty." However, since this sin couldn't be precisely described yet, it was temporarily called the "Sin of Majesty," or the Supreme Sin, Eternal Sin.
Additionally, Su Xiao had only recently clarified the Original Sin characteristic of [Necronomicon]. Previously, he thought [Necronomicon] represented the Sin of Death, but that was inaccurate. [Necronomicon] was the sin between life and death—a longing for life and a fear of death, forming "Absolute Terror."
This was why those who dared to touch [Necronomicon] would have translucent tentacles sprouting from their bodies, their heads tilted back, mouths stretched wide, drool flowing from the corners, tears of blood streaming from their eyes, and a desperate, hoarse roar toward the sky. At that moment, they experienced the extreme despair between life and death, pushing the concept of "unable to live, unable to die" to its peak.
Why was [Necronomicon] so fond of evil gods? Because compared to various beings and other divine systems, evil gods had a high "threshold." For 99.99% of beings, when subjected to this "Absolute Terror" between life and death, their soul, spirit, causality, and destiny would all evaporate within one second. This went beyond the concept of death; it was annihilation.
When an evil god faced this "Absolute Terror" between life and death, it would take about 4 to 5 seconds before complete annihilation. That's why evil gods were said to have a high "threshold" between life and death.
The reason Su Xiao hoped Yuewu would succeed this time was that if she truly had a method for "powerful defense" against the Scarlet, Nether, and Distorted Blazing Sun, he would have to find a way to obtain it later. Even if it cost him tens of thousands of Soul Coins this round, it would be worth it. After all, [Scarlet Scepter] and [Sun Mask] had a strong inclination to kill Su Xiao.
However, Yuewu was destined to disappoint Su Xiao. Just as he posted on the World Contact Platform, he received a reply from Yuewu.
Yuewu (Watchful Paradise): "I was just joking. I'm retreating too. I can already see the curse approaching from afar. The first three rounds against you were really testing my mentality, but the fourth round is finally my home turf. See you then, (Kiss mark)."
After Yuewu left this message, her name and avatar in the contact list dimmed. As a rare Charm-type Absolute Strong, her words were naturally graceful and charming. Or rather, because this was a high-stakes match, Yuewu was holding back.
With Yuewu's departure, only Bai Ye's team remained in the World Contact Platform, causing it to close automatically.
[Prompt (Void Tree): Detected that only one team remains in this world. According to the arbitration rules, this round of the competition will end early.]
[You have obtained five pieces of [Shattered Origin] from this world.]
[You have become the winner of this round. Settlement for this round is beginning.]
[Settling…]
[Settlement complete. Since you hold all the [Shattered Origin] in this world, you will default to an S+ (Highest) rating. Your team members will default to an S rating.]
[Detected that your team's contribution is special. Only team member Healer Fenni has sufficient contribution to qualify for this rating sharing.]
[You have obtained an S+ rating. Your team member Healer Fenni has obtained an S rating. Due to the low contribution of other team members, who have now left this world, they cannot share in this team rating.]
[Rewards will be distributed based on this round's ratings.]
[As the top scorer of this round, you will receive a 40% share of 50,000 ounces of Space-Time Power. You obtain 20,000 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[Your team member Healer Fenni, as the second-place scorer, will receive 30% of 30,000 ounces of Space-Time Power, which is 9,000 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[The remaining 21,000 ounces of Space-Time Power will be awarded to other participants based on their rating rankings and levels.]
[Detected that no other participants remain in this world. Redistributing rewards…]
[Distribution complete. The remaining 21,000 ounces of Space-Time Power will be sealed as cumulative rewards into the "Desire Statues" of the next round (there are a total of six Desire Statues, each guaranteed to contain a piece of [Shattered Origin] and ??? rare treasures, or Tree Store exclusive potions, etc.).]
…
With 20,000 ounces of Space-Time Power in hand, this wasn't Su Xiao's biggest gain this round. He checked the remaining stay time. If he chose to leave this world immediately, the remaining 6 days of stay time would be cleared, but he would receive corresponding rewards. If he chose to stay, his remaining stay time would be halved, meaning he could stay in this world for three more days.
Of course, he chose to stay. Just then, a prompt related to the bounty appeared.
[You have completed Bounty 4: Perfectionist: Obtain 15 pieces of [Shattered Origin] before the start of the fourth round.]
[Due to the multiple bounty + bounty correction of the "Hunt List: Blood Pact," you will receive a total bounty of 25,000 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[You have obtained Time Stone Fragments × 1500 (this is an equivalent item, which can be sold to Reincarnation Paradise at any time for 15,000 ounces of Space-Time Power).]
[You have obtained Heaven's Wrath: Torrent Flash (Unique Trait Skill Scroll, this item is valued at 10,000 ounces of Space-Time Power in this judgment).]
…
A dazzling golden skill scroll appeared in Su Xiao's hand. He examined the scroll's traits.
[Heaven's Wrath: Torrent Flash (Passive Skill): This is an advanced derivative of Heaven's Wrath: Torrent Slash. It can only be mastered after Heaven's Wrath: Torrent Slash has been upgraded to X.]
[Prompt: This series of abilities has a total of three branches. The base is "Heaven's Wrath: Torrent Slash," and the branches are Torrent Flash, Torrent Domain, and Torrent Art.]