Chapter 40: Conditions
The Lord's Train traveled across the pitch-black earth. This black land was barren, with not a blade of grass growing, and the sky above was also a oppressive darkness. They were not far from the 8th Dark Zone, where a sea of Night Walkers lurked.
So-called Night Walkers were undead that had transformed through a "Bloodthirsty Aberration." Compared to ordinary undead, they were more extreme. They would lie dormant in darkness, but once they sensed the aura of a living being, they would swarm forward, tearing the creature apart and devouring it to temporarily alleviate the soul-twisting erosion of undeath.
Currently, in the 8th Dark Zone, no trace of Night Walkers could be seen. They had all gone to pay homage to the absolute superior, the Undead Monarch. For this reason, everyone had decided to rendezvous at the Dark Zone Sanctuary within the 8th Dark Zone.
This was a small city with a population of tens of thousands. Though the population was small, the people were fierce and tough. That made sense—surviving in an environment like the 8th Dark Zone required being a ruthless character.
More importantly, there was a Purification Device certified by the Void Tree here. Its function was:
[Warning: If you are injured by any undead violators, while taking damage, you will also lose a certain amount of Primordial Life Force, causing your maximum Health Points to decrease from 100%. This portion of Primordial Life Force will be taken by the undead. If you fail to reclaim it within a certain time, you will permanently lose that portion of your maximum Health Points. If you successfully reclaim it, you must go to a designated location, consume a large number of Soul Coins, and undergo purification through a facility certified by the Void Tree before you can safely absorb it and restore your maximum Health Points.]
Everyone had agreed to arrive at the Dark Zone Sanctuary before tonight. As for why these former opponents were now so united—setting aside the words of several violators that the Undead Monarch was only a step away from reaching Supreme-level combat power—just considering the situation in Dawn City made it clear that temporary cooperation was necessary.
By now, Dawn City should have no living people left. According to what Shenfu and the others said, the hundreds of millions of undead across the entire world were converging on Dawn City. If they were merely being gathered, that wouldn't be a major problem. The key issue was that these undead were slaughtering and devouring each other, which would inevitably lead to a large number of powerful individuals emerging within Dawn City very quickly.
This wasn't even the most troublesome part. Those powerful individuals were at most major boss-level threats. The real problem was that the Undead Monarch wasn't a being that had only recently appeared. It had existed since the end of the First Era, but each time it descended, it chose a different vessel.
Before noon today, the most complete descent of the Undead Monarch had been around 80% to 85%. The vessel's physique and willpower weren't strong enough to allow a full descent. The contradiction was that the stronger the vessel's willpower, the more it could resist the descent, even temporarily sealing it.
Xiketo had lost his life in his clash with Tuanzhang, his strength declined, his soul shattered, his intelligence reduced by over 60%, and his causal fate damaged. But this was, after all, the former leader of the violators. If his willpower weren't strong enough, how could he have qualified as Tuanzhang's former adversary?
Therefore, this time, the Undead Monarch had descended 100%, and its four sealed subordinates had also broken free. They were:
- Princess of the Plant Kingdom Yagowa, Lisi Youni.
- Colossus Guardian, Ao.
- Mad Dragon General, Bashide.
- Rotten Insect Abomination, Poison Leech.
Any one of these four could serve as a super-boss in another world, let alone the fact that their ranks of aberrant undead were growing larger by the day. Dawn City now had five major regions, with each of the four leaders controlling one area, and the central region ruled by the Undead Monarch.
Even worse, after the four leaders descended, they would release their respective domains, covering the vast territories they controlled. Within their domains, as the undead devoured and evolved each other, they would be influenced by the environmental domain, evolving toward the characteristics of the leader in that area.
Take the Rotten Insect Abomination, Poison Leech, for example. Within its territory, when undead underwent aberrant evolution, their evolved forms might gain traits like parasitism, insect-leech carriers, rotten insect aggregates, or corrosive insect poison. Of course, an undead could only have one such trait at most.
As for how Su Xiao knew all this, the information Shenfu had sent was extremely detailed, even including illustrations of the four leaders. If anyone thought this old man hadn't been prepared in advance, no one would believe it.
That made sense. In the first three rounds, Shenfu's plans had all been foiled by Su Xiao. Now, in the fourth round, it wasn't surprising that Shenfu's plan had successfully unfolded. If Shenfu were easy to deal with, Su Xiao would have killed him long ago. It was this old bastard who had shown him that even after killing a violator and receiving a kill notification and the corresponding Honor Medal reward, the old man would reappear shortly after, as if resurrecting from the dead—a routine he was already accustomed to.
Su Xiao closed the temporary team list. What Shenfu's goal was this time remained unclear, but the current situation demanded cooperation, or else everyone would die here.
Don't think that by not going to Dawn City to compete for the Desire Statue, you could safely leave this place once the round's time limit was up. When the undead army in Dawn City completed its transformation, they would burst forth like demons released from a cage, led by the Undead Monarch and the four leaders, slaughtering every living being in this world.
To these undead, the life force of living beings was as conspicuous as a blazing sun. Their craving and greed for life essence would drive them to hunt down living beings to the ends of the earth.
According to Shenfu's estimate, within at most five days, the undead army in Dawn City would complete its transformation. At that point, the Undead Monarch would also reach its peak. Compared to facing an endless siege of undead, taking the initiative to attack within five days was clearly the wiser choice.
As he pondered, a city with iron-black city walls and a torch towering above the gate came into view. This was the Dark Zone Sanctuary.
The train slowed to a stop. As soon as Su Xiao stepped off, he saw the city guards stationed at the gate. In high-level worlds, it was sometimes like this—regions separated by thousands of kilometers could have vastly different levels of technology and civilization. Dawn City was moderately technologically advanced, while this place had a low level of technology. The most advanced thing here was gas lamps, and the underground's special magnetic field prevented the development of electricity.
A dozen or so city guards sized up Su Xiao's group. After confirming they were all alive, they weren't particularly warm but were still friendly enough. One of the squad leaders even advised Su Xiao, as an outsider, not to go to the Back City Wolf Spider Street, where vile thugs specialized in robbing and even murdering strangers.
A small but fairly full money pouch was discreetly slipped into the squad leader's hand by Baha. The squad leader remained expressionless and personally led Su Xiao's group into the city. Walking through the gate tunnel, Baha casually asked if any other outsiders had come here today.
This level of inquiry naturally didn't warrant concealment from the squad leader. He said that three groups had arrived in succession. Based on the descriptions, Su Xiao identified them as the Kane Team, the Demon Scythe Team, and the Witch Team.
Exiting the gate tunnel, the squad leader waved his hand. A young man in a leather hat, with slightly bulky clothing, ran over happily to serve as Su Xiao's guide. The squad leader left a message to come find him if they ran into trouble before returning outside the gate.
The young guide was very talkative. Before long, he led them to the Prince's Manor. This had originally been the private estate of a Beast Clan prince. After betraying the old Beast King and fleeing here, the recent upheaval in the Wind Sea Continent had caused this Beast Clan prince to leave home on a journey, reportedly possibly dead in the Wind Sea Continent.
As a result, the Prince's Manor had fallen into the hands of the steward. This loyal old steward lived here with the prince's second son. Lacking better means of making a living, he had renovated the manor, living with the prince's second son in the rear small building while converting the main structure into high-end apartments. Although the city's population wasn't large, the occasional adventurers passing through brought decent income.
Shenfu had already rented this place in advance. Additionally, the Purification Device certified by the Void Tree was located in the innermost room on the fifth floor of this apartment building.
Entering the first floor of the apartment, it was an open hall. Though the furnishings were a bit old, they were clean. Going up to the third floor, Su Xiao walked into his pre-booked room. The room was quite spacious, with two bedrooms and a small terrace.
Sitting on a chair on the terrace, Su Xiao soon saw the Zeli Team's five members entering the manor. Their captain, Zeli Na, waved in his direction.
"Bai Ye, next round, watch us shine."
Having said that, Zeli Na walked into the apartment's main entrance. Soon after, the Kane Team also arrived. Their captain, Kane, had already clashed with him before. Water Brother was an old acquaintance, while Guangyan and Yingqin were unfamiliar.
None of this was a problem. The possibility of internal conflict in the temporary team was extremely low. They had all fought their way to the Absolute Strength level through sheer hard power. Any fool lacking such basic situational awareness would have been eliminated long ago.
The Demon Scythe Team and Witch Team arrived one after another, followed by the Gentleman Team. Interestingly, the Gentleman Team's members changed batch after batch, but the mid-level Hai E was surprisingly tenacious.
However, judging by Hai E's dazed expression at the moment, he was already somewhat despairing, feeling he wouldn't survive the final round. He had been present during the earlier negotiation with Xiketo. Surviving the subsequent upheaval was only because, in the chaos, he had fallen into the underground shaft of the Eternal Life Society headquarters.
Half an hour later, several figures walked into the Prince's Manor. At the front was Hao Tao, bare-chested, with a lion-like mane of wild hair flowing behind him. Beside him was a mature woman wearing glasses, a black dress with gold trim on the edges, and a ruby earring on her right ear. This was actually the Platinum Apostle. When possessing a body, the Platinum Apostle didn't care about gender, only whether the body's abilities were useful.
Seeing Su Xiao at the edge of the third-floor terrace, the Platinum Apostle curled the corner of her mouth and said, "Looks like you've been having good luck lately, Bai Ye."
"You too."
Baha, perched on Su Xiao's shoulder, spoke.
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
"Tuanzhang hasn't come to catch you yet. Isn't that your good luck?"
Baha's attack power was always outstanding. The Platinum Apostle's smile faded a bit as she walked toward the apartment's main entrance in high heels.
"Bai Ye, have you had dinner yet?"
Shenfu spoke.
"No."
"The dinner here is pretty good. I've ordered a table for six in the evening. Come down and eat then."
Leaving these words, Shenfu also walked into the apartment's main entrance. Further back, Yue Wu glanced at Su Xiao, her expression calm, even frowning slightly—clearly the disgust of facing an enemy. It could be said that Yue Wu's acting was still top-notch. Having signed over 2,000 contracts, she naturally couldn't show any connection to Su Xiao.
Further behind, the chubby Black Demon stopped, looked at Su Xiao with confusion for a few seconds, then walked into the apartment. The Bandage Man walked with a somewhat odd gait, like a not-very-agile marionette.
Everyone had arrived. Su Xiao checked the time—four in the afternoon. He looked at the slightly yellowish sky, then closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.
At six in the evening, the sky had darkened. The roars of beasts and chirps of insects came from the swamp area to the south. Su Xiao stood up and walked into the room. Bubu Wang was sleeping soundly. He patted Bubu Wang, who whimpered twice, too lazy to get up for dinner, wanting to sleep a bit more.
Going to eat, Amu was definitely enthusiastic. Beini jumped onto Su Xiao's shoulder, burrowed into his clothes, and poked her head out from the collar. Baha landed on his other shoulder. Today was actually Baha's day to shine. If the subsequent negotiations didn't go smoothly, it would be the main damage dealer.
Knock knock~
He knocked on Fenny's door, but there was no response. Trying the door, it wasn't locked. Moments later, Fenny was dragged out of dreamland, extremely unwilling, saying, "I'm not going. You decide. In the Cursed Land's Yuhui City, I helped restore your mental energy, and it seriously drained me. I feel so weak. Let me sleep a bit more."
Having successfully "transferred" from a healing-type giver to a weakened milkmaid, Fenny reluctantly followed Su Xiao downstairs. However, before the banquet hall on the second floor, Fenny slapped her cheeks to perk herself up. She now represented the Bai Ye Team's members. In this life-or-death competition, she absolutely couldn't show any weakness.
Pushing open the door to the banquet hall, the atmosphere was quite lively. The Zeli Team's Soul Master, tank-type Hamdi, the Demon Scythe Team's old priest, and others were drinking and chatting merrily. Guangyan and Yingqin were still spreading dog food. Next to them, Greed Youteluo looked utterly speechless. Water Brother was carving a wooden figurine, seemingly a human figure. Heiyan, the Curse Warlock, the Poison Priest, and Hai E were playing cards.
When Su Xiao entered the banquet hall, Shenfu raised his hand, signaling him to take a seat next to him. The table was laden with rich food. Su Xiao began enjoying dinner. Fenny maintained her elegance, while Amu started wolfing down food. Next to Amu, the bespectacled girl Shuifu moved aside a bit, because Amu's eating style was quite ferocious. With her small build, she was a bit worried that the Minotaur next to her might accidentally stuff her into his mouth while eating.
"Bai Ye, fate in this world is truly wonderful. I originally thought we would be locked in a life-or-death struggle the whole time. I never expected we'd be forced to join forces."
Hao Tao across from him spoke, holding a bottle of strong liquor and chugging a few gulps.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't respond. He reached out and caught the bottle of strong liquor Hao Tao tossed over, used his thumb to pop the cork, and poured himself a glass.
In a cheerful and relaxed atmosphere, the banquet gradually came to an end. After the messy table was cleared, over half of the contractors present either lit cigarettes or cigars, or poured themselves a cup of light tea, all waiting for Shenfu to speak.
"Everyone, things have come to this point, which none of us wanted to see."
"Hehe~"
The boy-like Heiyan laughed out loud. Shenfu looked at him with a kindly smile. At first, Heiyan was indifferent, but after locking eyes with Shenfu for two seconds, he sheepishly looked away, choosing to back down.
"Shenfu, don't bully the little one on our team."
Witch Lilya spoke, placing a hand on Heiyan's head. After she spoke, the Demon Scythe Tailide, who had been sitting back with eyes closed, opened her eyes. Both the Witch Team and the Demon Scythe Team were from the Holy Light Paradise faction. Tailide would naturally back up Witch Lilya. The Demon Scythe faction was like that—indifferent to those unrelated to them, but protective of those who were.
"Alright, everyone, let's continue listening to Shenfu. The cause of this matter is no longer important. What we face is the result."
Kane, with his gray-white hair combed back, dark golden vertical pupils, and full-body metal armor, spoke, bringing the atmosphere back to a relaxed harmony.
To avoid an awkward silence, Zeli Na said, "Shenfu, since you've gathered us here, you must have a plan to deal with the Undead Monarch in Dawn City."
"That's right."
Shenfu took out a small projection device, adjusted it, and pushed it to the center of the table. The current layout of Dawn City was projected. He said, "At least for four days, we can't enter Dawn City. The high-intensity undead causality will erode any living being that enters."
Hearing this, Water Brother asked, "No way to solve it?"
"At least I don't have one. I don't know about you all..."
Shenfu looked around. Zeli Na, Water Brother, and others all indicated they had no solution. When Shenfu's gaze fell on Su Xiao, Su Xiao thought for a moment and said, "There is a way."
"Oh? Do tell. I have great faith in Bai Ye's methods."
Witch Lilya expressed her stance, having cooperated with Su Xiao before.
"Since Dawn City is filled with undead causality, we could use deathly stillness to erode it..."
"No."
Witch Lilya immediately rejected it.
"Rejected."
Water Brother also expressed his stance.
"That's not a good idea."
The Platinum Apostle also spoke.
"Negative vote. Count me in."
Shenfu also opposed. Seeing everyone's reaction, the Witch Team's healer, Shennü, asked, "This ability called deathly stillness, is it very dangerous?"
"Actually, the Second Era should have had four transcendent worlds."
The Platinum Apostle didn't continue. Shennü nodded, already understanding what danger level deathly stillness was. She looked at Su Xiao, her assessment of this hunter's danger level rising another notch.
"Bai Ye, besides deathly stillness erosion, is there no other feasible method?"
Shenfu's question drew everyone's attention to Su Xiao.
"There is."
"I'm all ears."
"Send some gifts to the Undead Monarch."
"Alright, let's start discussing the next topic. How to deal with the Undead Monarch in four days."
Shenfu directly dismissed the feasibility of sending a "Daddy-level Original Sin Object." Compared to having a Daddy-level Original Sin Object in Dawn City, the currently pervasive undead causality suddenly seemed more acceptable. Besides, that undead causality would dissipate in four days.
The general plan was set. After tonight's discussion, on the morning of the fourth day, everyone would set out for Dawn City. However, there was one more point that made everyone wait for Shenfu to continue—how to kill the Undead Monarch.
"Theoretically, the Undead Monarch cannot be destroyed."
Shenfu projected a hologram of the Undead Monarch and began explaining the general situation. First, the Undead Monarch had three layers of undying traits. The first was an unbreakable recovery ability. Even if its head was blown apart, it could recover within 0.1 seconds. Its Health Points recovery rate was a terrifying 300% of maximum Health Points per second.
With a maximum Health Points of 650%, the Undead Monarch could fully restore its special life force—or undead power—in less than 3 seconds.
Even more absurd, with the support of the World Force, the Undead Monarch had five times its maximum Health Points in protective energy, meaning 3250% of false health. Before this false health was depleted, you couldn't truly harm the Undead Monarch.
Even more ridiculous was that the Undead Monarch's exaggerated Health Points recovery also applied to restoring false health. In just 11 seconds, this absurdly high false health could be fully restored.
First, understand that, to some extent, the Undead Monarch was the world's consciousness after malignant mutation. Having such survivability within this world wasn't surprising. Before the World Force of this world was exhausted, you couldn't truly harm the Undead Monarch.
Of course, there was a second method. If the World Force were directly applied to the Undead Monarch, it would be easier to break. The key was that the World Force was channeled through three core hubs before converging on the Undead Monarch.
These three Core Hubs were located within the heart cores of the three undead faction leaders: Princess Lisi Youni, Colossus Guardian Ao, and Rotten Insect Abomination Poison Leech.
Even more troublesome was that these three Core Hubs resonated with each other. If one was shattered, it could be restored through the resonance of the other two in a short time. Therefore, all three Core Hubs had to be shattered simultaneously within a very short time.
The only good news was that these three Core Hubs were resonance-type hubs. If they got too close to the Undead Monarch, they would produce a resonance reaction, causing the World Force output to be interrupted.
Compared to the three leaders, Mad Dragon General Bashide was stronger. He was involved in the Undead Monarch's second layer of undying. In the Second Era, Mad Dragon General Bashide's loyalty earned the greatest trust from the Undead Monarch of that era. The monarch gave him a small portion of its undying source blood.
This not only gave Mad Dragon General Bashide combat power beyond the other undead leaders but also meant that if the Undead Monarch met with an accident and was destroyed for some reason, this undying source blood would allow the Undead Monarch to resurrect in a short time.
In other words, this battle required that, at the start of the fight, the Princess, Colossus Guardian, and Rotten Insect Abomination be killed simultaneously. This would effectively break the Undead Monarch's defense, stripping it of its 3250% false health and its ridiculous recovery rate of 300% maximum Health Points per second.
Then, two teams would be needed—one to engage Mad Dragon General Bashide, and the other to go straight for the Undead Monarch. After the general team succeeded, the Undead Monarch had to be killed within 5 to 10 minutes, or everything before would be for nothing.
Even more deadly was that all five teams would have to fight through a sea of undead throughout the entire battle.
One thing was certain: the only person present capable of killing the Undead Monarch was Su Xiao. The Undead Monarch's third layer of undying came from the world's environment. In this environment, if a normal undead's undying level was 10, which could be dealt with by some killing methods, then the Undead Monarch's undying level in this environment would be over 300,000. It would require Su Xiao's Demon Blade Execution + Boundary Ring to ensure complete annihilation.
In the end, the teams were divided as follows:
- Demon Scythe Team: Responsible for killing the Princess.
- Kane Team: Responsible for killing the Colossus Guardian.
- Shenfu Team: Responsible for killing the Rotten Insect Abomination Poison Leech.
- Hao Tao Team: Responsible for killing Mad Dragon General Bashide.
- Bai Ye Team: Responsible for killing the Undead Monarch.
- The Undead Team, composed of three necromancers—Death Soul Sister, Lujiade, and Bandage Man—would be responsible for summoning a large number of undead to hold back the undead army in the city.
- Zeli Team and Witch Team: Responsible for providing timely reinforcements to the above teams and dealing with possible unexpected situations.
This formation was agreed upon by everyone. However, one thing was clear to all: defeating the Undead Monarch would be extremely difficult. All members of the temporary team would temporarily set aside their conflicts. The problem was that if they really could defeat the Undead Monarch, the subsequent free-for-all among the gods might be even more explosive.
Hao Tao, Shenfu, Su Xiao, Kane, the Platinum Apostle, and Tailide looked at each other, confirming through eye contact that before the final boss fell, they would be like brothers. But after the final boss fell... heh.
There were quite a few healers and support types present: the old priest, Shennü, Weiwei Yin, Heiyan, and Fenny. The five of them looked at each other. After sensing the looks Shenfu, Su Xiao, Kane, and others exchanged, these five healers were terrified. With their small builds, how could they withstand the havoc of these gods? As soon as the fight started, they, as healers, would die from unknown large-scale abilities.
The five healers confirmed through eye contact and agreed that the moment the final boss fell, they would quickly form a healer team, stack shields, buffs, and heals on each other, and flee the god-level free-for-all area together.
All five healers strongly felt that when there was an external danger, these powerful teammates were very reliable. But once the external danger disappeared, these powerful teammates were very likely to become the source of a new danger.
"Ahem~"
Fenny coughed dryly. She looked around at the six combat-type powerhouses present and said in a relatively tactful way, "I propose that if we really can defeat the Undead Monarch, we should immediately celebrate for a few minutes."
Fenny's words were high in emotional intelligence. She meant that after the Undead Monarch fell, all you combat monsters shouldn't immediately start fighting. Give us time to run far away.
After discussing the plan to deal with Dawn City, everyone got up and left one after another. Baha, on Su Xiao's shoulder, said, "Three necromancers, would you mind staying a moment?"
Hearing this, Death Soul Sister paused. She did have some grudges with Su Xiao, but she wasn't lacking in situational awareness. She had already decided that even if she wanted to settle the score, it would have to wait until the next round. In this round, whether it was cooperative combat or the subsequent competition for the Desire Statue, personal grudges shouldn't be brought in.
"I have a not-quite-mature plan. I wonder if you three are interested."
"Well, Bai Ye, given our situation, while it hasn't reached the point of immediate life-or-death, we do have conflicts. This form of cooperation... I need to think it over carefully. Give me some time."
Death Soul Sister pressed her hands on the armrests of her chair, making as if to stand. The other two necromancers weren't very interested either. One was Lujiade from the Holy Light Paradise faction's Witch Team, and the other was simply a violator, Bandage Man.
Why would Su Xiao want to cooperate with a necromancer he had a conflict with, one he didn't know, and one from an opposing faction? Because this was about whether he could break Shenfu's scheme in this round and become the winner. Moreover, he was currently teaming up with Shenfu, Hao Tao, and the Platinum Apostle. Compared to his grudges with them, his conflicts with Death Soul Sister and Bandage Man were truly insignificant.
Just as the three across from him were getting up, Su Xiao said, "Is that so? What a pity. This plan requires enough undead. If it succeeds, each of us might get over 90,000 Soul Coins."
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, Death Soul Sister, Lujiade, and Bandage Man, who had already stood up, now sat upright across from him, their expressions serious. It seemed these three necromancers were very, extremely, and particularly interested in this "not-quite-mature" plan and the profit of at least 90,000 Soul Coins per person.
Rest
One day (actually two days due to jet lag). This morning, Feiwen's neck was a bit sore, but he was used to it. However, after writing for two hours, he felt a bit dizzy and didn't dare to push through. It's not that he's gotten cocky after some success; it's really this stubborn cervical spondylosis. Ah~ No update today. Update tomorrow. Please forgive me, dear readers.
"Reincarnation Paradise" Rest
Being typed, please wait a moment. After the content updates, please refresh the page to get the latest update!
"Reincarnation Paradise" Dream Book Chinese full text update, remember the URL: www.mcxs.info