Chapter 6: Souvenir H (An item of no practical value. After collecting 10 types of souvenirs, you can consume these 10 items to designate the next item to be opened from the Supreme Treasure Box.)
Hint: Opening this treasure box has a low probability of obtaining an item.
Description: All secret treasures are within.
Value: After opening this treasure box, this item will appear in your Honor Shop, and as long as the resource stock for this treasure box is sufficient, it can be exchanged for an unlimited number of times.
Hint: The price of this item in the Honor Shop is 5000 ounces of Space-Time Power.
...
Seeing the attributes of the [Supreme Treasure Box], Su Xiao suddenly felt a headache coming on. This thing was the super-upgraded version of the [Secret Treasure Box]. The memories of opening the [Secret Treasure Box] before were far too vivid. Amu's 'Absolute Defense' great shield, the Dawn Shield, was pieced together from the Dawn fragments he had obtained from opening those boxes.
Before participating in this World Domination War, Su Xiao rarely saw [Primordial Source Matter] or [Primordial Core]. He had saved up for a long time but hadn't accumulated much. This time, however, although these two types of gains were still rare, at least he could occasionally see them. He estimated that [Primordial Core] wasn't just used for advancing to the Supreme rank; even at the Supreme level, it would be a scarce and core resource.
With that in mind, the [Primordial Core Chest] he had obtained before was quite significant. This thing could yield 1 to 10 [Primordial Cores]. In the past, he certainly wouldn't have engaged in such an operation. After all, he was a Hunter. The problem was that he entered this world through the temporary notarization of the Apocalypse Paradise.
In other words, this chest was notarized by the Apocalypse Paradise. Even if he and Kaiser worked together to fleece it, they would be fleecing someone else's wool, not involving the notarization and adjudication of the Reincarnation Paradise.
Su Xiao looked out the window. In the distance were pitch-black steel walls, seemingly endless, towering up into the unknown above. It was time to end this slaughter as quickly as possible. If his guess was correct, no matter how much he tried to turn the tide in this war, he couldn't become the victor. However, he could still reap substantial gains during the process.
He needed to reach the Dark Ruins quickly. The reason was that he had a very good quest.
[War Quest: Battle of the Absolute Strong.]
Issuing Faction: Apocalypse Paradise.
Difficulty Level: Adaptive.
Quest Tier (1): Obtain at least one [Shattered Origin].
Quest Reward: None.
Quest Tier (2): Obtain three or more [Shattered Origins] and hold them until the end of the final phase.
Quest Reward: Common Supply Crate ×1.
Quest Tier (3): Obtain five or more [Shattered Origins] and hold them until the end of the final phase.
Quest Reward: Rare Supply Crate ×3.
Quest Tier (4): Obtain ten or more [Shattered Origins] and hold them until the end of the final phase.
Quest Reward: Apocalypse Supply Crate ×1.
Quest Tier (5): Obtain twenty-six [Shattered Origins] and hold them until the end of the final phase.
Quest Reward: Apocalypse Supply Crate ×5, Sanctuary Chest ×1 (Upon opening, guarantees obtaining one highest-level Sanctuary-type item unique to the Apocalypse Paradise), Apocalypse·Honor Badge (When equipped, reduces the usage cost of the Apocalypse Paradise's Skill Upgrade Pod by 20%).
Hint: Detected as Reincarnation Paradise·Hunter. You can sell this [Apocalypse·Honor Badge] immediately for 5 million Soul Coins.
Quest Duration: Before the end of this Domination War.
Quest Penalty: After completing Quest Tier (1), this quest has no penalty.
Failure Penalty: If Quest Tier (1) is not completed before the end of this World Domination War, all attributes will be reduced by 8%, and the income from the next three world progressions will be reduced by 20%.
...
Su Xiao now had 18 [Origin Fragments]. He couldn't miss such an opportunity. Moreover, since he was about to advance to Supreme, he was looking forward to the output of the [Apocalypse Supply Crate].
The train traveled for over half an hour. After confirming that the Dark Spawn couldn't catch up anytime soon, Su Xiao stepped off the train. The train drove into an alternate space, and the train key in his equipment slot became summonable.
Taking out the [Dawn Pass], Su Xiao half-activated it. A pitch-black teleportation array appeared beneath his feet. At the center of this array was a Ξ imprint.
"This is...?"
Fenny looked puzzled. She felt that this teleportation array was no simple thing. Baha, on Amu's shoulder, cleared up her confusion:
"This is the teleportation array summoned by the Dawn Pass. We're going to the Dawn Ruins."
"Huh?"
Fenny was stunned. She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "If we don't abide by the Void Tree's notarization, won't we get into trouble?"
"Of course not."
Baha's tone was so certain that Fenny got the feeling this group was particularly experienced in such matters.
"Hey, relax, little lady. In our past World Domination Wars, we hardly ever followed the Void Tree's notarized quests. Nothing ever happened."
Baha tried to bluff... ahem, persuade Fenny.
"It'll deduct Void Tree Reputation!"
"You'd need to have some first."
Baha muttered under his breath, but Fenny clearly didn't hear him. She asked, "What?"
"Ah~, nothing. Let it deduct, so what."
"The consequences are serious! I'm telling you, it's very dangerous if your Void Tree Reputation drops below 50!"
Fenny's tone was firm. She had decided that although these guys were ruthless killers who wouldn't blink an eye, they hadn't abandoned her, a healer, through so many dangerous situations before. She certainly couldn't watch this Hunter jump into a pit now.
"Not over 50."
Baha glanced at his boss, Su Xiao, a rather interesting smile on his face.
"Little lady, don't worry. That's dangerous for you. Anyway, are you coming or not?"
"Can't we try to defeat the Dark Hybrid? Hey, wait a minute! You... you guys!"
Fenny stomped her foot in anger but could only run over to the teleportation array. Baha, with his sharp tongue, said, "Oh? Not afraid of losing Void Tree Reputation now?"
"The more people sharing the deduction, the less each one loses."
After saying that, Fenny started muttering to herself. The next second, the teleportation array activated.
...
Dark Ruins, Southeast side, on a stone-paved street.
The shops on both sides had characteristics typical of Paradise factions, blending aesthetics from different eras and people. At the end of the road was a fountain. Continuing forward was an open plaza, presumably a trading square.
Su Xiao stood on this street. He tried to check the locations of Amu, Baha, and Beini, but the result showed that he couldn't detect the followers' positions. Inside the Dawn Ruins, any unreasonable situation was reasonable.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked softly, meaning, "Master, what do we do now?"
Su Xiao took out the [Dawn Badge]. This was a necessary item to activate the [Potential Transcendence Device], and this [Potential Transcendence Device] was one of his ultimate goals for participating in this war.
He tried to activate the [Dawn Badge]. A wave of resonance gradually spread. After a moment, he vaguely sensed that the nearest [Potential Transcendence Device] was to the southwest. He led Bubu Wang and quickly walked towards the direction of the resonance feedback.
Just as he reached the fountain pool, a strange sense of crisis struck. It was a danger warning from [Grandmaster Instinct]. He dodged into a nearby shop. Bubu Wang vanished on the spot. The divine skill 'You Can't See Me' was truly a god-tier skill from the early stages to the very late game.
After a brief silence, a figure walked over from the opposite side of the trading square. His clothes were tattered, and his aura felt like a Violator, yet there was an essential difference. The feeling was... dark and chaotic, yet possessed an extremely pure sense of power. Su Xiao tried to use the Apostle's Eye to detect him.
[Comparing both parties' Intelligence attributes... Due to the current environment, successfully detected 25.6% of the enemy's data.]
Name: Violator No. 105???
Health: 100%
???
True Strength: 800 + 120 points.
True Agility: 526 points.
True Stamina: 128 points.
Intelligence: 53 points.
Charm: 298 points.
Skill 1, Strength Pollution (Passive, X): Due to contamination by the 'Collective,' Strength attribute has reached its peak, with an additional 350 points.
Skill 2, Strength, Ah (Passive, Lv.95): Strength-based attack power increased by 36.8%, and inflicts 'Crushing Annihilation' effect.
Skill 3, Finite Life (Passive, X): This unit can only exist within the Dawn Ruins. If it leaves the Dawn Ruins, it will die instantly while its body, unable to bear its current power, will undergo a violent explosion.
Skill 4, Dawn Sanctuary (Passive, X): When this unit's health drops to 1% within the Dawn Ruins, it will be granted an 'Indestructible Judgment.' For the subsequent 3 seconds, this unit will be immune to death.
...
The strength of Violator No. 105 was troublesome, but with Su Xiao's combat power, he was confident he could drain its health in one slash. After a 4-second delay, a second slash would kill it.
The key issue was that he didn't know if these wandering, mindless Violators were rare. If a group came, it would be no joke. This one was contaminated by 'Strength Pollution.' Who knew what other types of pollution existed within the Dawn Ruins?
Su Xiao gave Bubu Wang a look. Bubu Wang quietly moved to a high vantage point, activating all aura abilities. Although perception couldn't be extended here, auras were buff skills and wouldn't be blocked by the perception suppression effect. Moreover, Bubu had developed this aura effect to be uniquely indiscriminate. It didn't distinguish friend from foe. This meant that the moment an enemy entered the aura's range, they would receive Bubu Wang's buff, but they would also be detected by Bubu.
Violator No. 105 wandered around the trading square. Su Xiao walked out of the abandoned shop and slowly approached Violator No. 105. The moment he did, the previously wandering Violator No. 105 suddenly turned its head. Because the turning force was too great, and due to its uncontrollable physical strength, it snapped its own neck with a *crack*.
Su Xiao took a step forward, and in the next instant, he had already arrived beside Violator No. 105 using Dragon Shadow Flash. The longsword in his hand swept horizontally.
*Clang!*
After a clean and sharp slash, Violator No. 105's head flew up. Its health plummeted to 1%, but it didn't fall. Instead, its entire body muscles bulged, instantly transforming into a five-meter-tall headless little giant. It swung one hand down to swat Su Xiao.
Su Xiao sidestepped slightly while slashing upward, severing the giant arm that Violator No. 105 had swung down. The severed arm, propelled by the immense force of the slap, was flung away and smashed heavily into the circular wall of the trading square. The terrifying force shook the entire trading square.
Su Xiao frowned slightly. Even though he had met the blow with the edge of his longsword, he could still feel its weight. If he were hit directly, it would definitely be a problem.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Three slashing lights intersected. Violator No. 105 was cut into several pieces. Even so, it could still move. The severed limbs flailed chaotically. But as soon as the 3 seconds passed, these severed limbs suddenly stopped, then, as if triggering some chain reaction, they exploded with a series of *bang bang bang* sounds.
[You have killed Violator No. 105???]
[You have received 3680 Hunter Gold Coins.]
...
Seeing this number of Hunter Gold Coins, Su Xiao was surprised. Violator No. 105 indeed possessed extraordinary strength due to 'Strength Pollution,' but in terms of actual combat power, he estimated it was only worth 200 to 300 Hunter Gold Coins.
The [Old Hunter] title had been upgraded, becoming a full-potential, single-attribute title. However, its enhancement wasn't about increasing the total value of gains from killing enemies. That was a constant set by the Void Tree and the four major Paradise factions. [Old Hunter] increased the maximum possible value of obtainable gains.
So what had forcibly raised an enemy originally valued at 200 danger points to 3680? The answer was obvious: the environment. Su Xiao was currently inside the Dawn Paradise, killing Violators.
Another crucial point was this: if he had obtained entry by defeating the previous round's Dark Hybrid, then upon entering the final stage of the Domination War, the Void Tree would have granted Su Xiao a corresponding notarization mechanism.
If that were the case, he would have entered the 'Dawn Ruins' under a fully controllable notarization mechanism. Conversely, he had now entered the 'Dawn Paradise' to kill Violators through his own personal means.
The 'Dawn Ruins' and the 'Dawn Paradise' were currently the same place, yes, but in the notarization of the kill judgment, they were completely different things.
Su Xiao didn't know how many of these wandering Violators, whose consciousness was dead but bodies still lived, were in the Dawn Ruins. But he could be certain of one thing: when the Reincarnation Paradise had launched a massive attack on the Dawn Paradise back then, the Dawn Paradise would 99.99% not have sent its Contractors into mission worlds to execute tasks. On the contrary, it would have forcibly teleported all Contractors back.
That final battle must have been exceptionally brutal, but the ultimate result was the Dawn Paradise falling silent, not being breached or completely annihilated. Even a non-replicable secret treasure like the [Potential Transcendence Device], which could raise the peak of physical attributes to 900 points, wasn't obtained by the Reincarnation Paradise. That said it all.
Judging by this, the number of wandering Violators here must be substantial. For Su Xiao, that meant a sea of Hunter Gold Coins.
Su Xiao's [Abyssal Shadow] title required a massive amount of 'Spreading Hotbeds' to enhance its potential. Given Su Xiao's god-awful luck, he estimated that 500,000 Hunter Gold Coins would be enough to complete the enhancement of [Abyssal Shadow]. That would be the blessing of the Ancestral Law Destroyers. Bah, this bad luck was inherited from the Law Destruction faction. The blessing of the Ancestral Law Destroyers might just make things worse.
Besides enhancing [Abyssal Shadow], Hunter Gold Coins had another use:
[Hunter Gold Coins: These coins can be traded, but only between owners of the Old Hunter title or titles of the same type as Old Hunter, for trading and transfer.]
This thing could be traded. Powerful Hunters, Battle Angels, Pioneers, Death Rangers, etc., all had this title. This meant that finding a trading partner later on wouldn't be difficult. Su Xiao was already at the peak of the Absolute Strong rank; this was the late game, making it even easier to find one.
Su Xiao suddenly felt that the harvest of Hunter Gold Coins this time might become one of his main sources of income, providing a significant boost for his advancement to Supreme.
But there was a problem now. There were indeed many wandering Violators here, but how should he kill them? Without the ability to kill them instantly, the loud noises from the kills would inevitably attract more and more Violators.
As for using the Sun Holy Sword, he still had one in his storage space. But even if he attracted a large number of Violators and then detonated it, the number he could kill would still be limited. This made Su Xiao fall into deep thought.
After a few seconds, Su Xiao took out his communicator and tried to make a call. After a moment, the call was connected. He asked first:
"At the outskirts of the ruins?"
"What's up, my dear friend? I'm about to come into the ruins to meet you."
"Don't come yet."
Su Xiao's words made Kaiser, who was about to activate a strange teleportation array, stop. This teleportation array was very peculiar... ahem, it should be said, very strange. The entire array was composed of rags, broken hair, bone fragments, and even suspicious-looking soup stock. At its center was a Violator's brand emitting a faint black light.
"My dear friend, how big is the business this time?"
A dark yellow glint shone in Kaiser's eyes, instantly maxing out his treacherous aura.
"I'll give you ten percent."
"No, no, no. I need at least seventy percent. Kaiser is always the one who works the hardest."
"Twenty percent at most."
"I think sixty percent is my bottom line..."
After some haggling between the two, they decided on the subsequent gains: Kaiser would get thirty percent, Su Xiao seventy percent. Their plan could be summed up in four words: Use the tiger to drive away the wolves.
After Su Xiao and Kaiser confirmed each other's spatial coordinates, both sides began to set up. Su Xiao looked around the trading square, feeling it was a good place. The venue was large enough, although there might be ghost-like Violators wandering in.
"Bubu."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang activated the team storage space and took out various equipment. The Little Bu, the Mechanical Bee Swarm, etc., were all taken out. He even temporarily launched a low-altitude satellite to ensure the signal in the surrounding area was stable enough.
Half an hour later, the sky above the trading square flickered. A honeycomb-like grid canopy enveloped the area. Then came the projection and camouflage phase. After everything was set up, the entire trading square was sealed off. From the outside, the trading square appeared empty.
Su Xiao took out 120 [Soul Crystals]. This was enough to level up his Blade Grandmaster skill by one rank, but it was a necessary cost. He took out a precision instrument, placed it on a crystal formation diagram, put in the 120 Soul Crystals, and started it.
After waiting for nearly an hour, Su Xiao turned off the smelting instrument, which was glowing red hot. He opened it and poured out a liquid 'Pure Soul Solution.' It was mixed with an inert solution to prevent the soul power from dissipating without a medium, which also gave the solution a silver color.
Su Xiao thought for a moment. He rejected several sealing formulas because the sealing depth was insufficient. Once the target died once, the sealing formula would naturally lose its carrier. However, he wasn't skilled in 'Causality-type' seals. That was a different sealing system.
But as a Sealing Master, Su Xiao quickly found a clue. He needed this sealing formula to be tough enough to withstand violent attacks. He wasn't worried about that. The six Daddy-level Original Sin items currently represented how solid his sealing formula was.
Since he couldn't lock onto causality, he would make the sealing formula have tracking properties. This way, he wouldn't be afraid of the target dying. After death, it could immediately track the target and continue attaching the sealing formula.
To ensure foolproof success, Su Xiao chose 'Soul Energy' as the carrier for this sealing formula. This was one of the highest-level sealing carriers.
After waiting for the soul solution to cool for a few minutes, he plunged both hands into the container. Under his control, the soul solution adhered to his hands like mercury. He sat cross-legged on the ground, holding his hands as if grasping something, and began constructing the sealing formula using the soul medium on his hands.
With his current level of Sealing Arts, he could probably reach around 3500 layers. Please don't misunderstand. It wasn't a total of 3500 layers. It was constructing 3500 layers of sealing formula per second. A strict teacher produces outstanding students, let alone having six strict teachers for 'meticulous guidance.'
Ten minutes later, Su Xiao finished weaving the sealing formula. It wasn't that he could only weave 2.1 million layers of sealing formula; he had run out of soul solution.
Cutting his palm, Su Xiao used his own blood to form a mark. Then, using the sealing formula, he wrapped this blood mark in the center. After completing this, he held the sealing formula in his hands and began to compress it.
*Crack, crack~*
Sounds like glass breaking came from between Su Xiao's hands. It wasn't the sound of the sealing formula itself, but the surrounding space being compressed to the point of cracking. When everything was done, a palm-sized formula imprint appeared between his hands. This imprint emitted a white light so intense that staring directly at it would sting the eyes.
Su Xiao gradually pulled his hands apart, confirming that the sealing formula was fixed in this space. He then began setting up a teleportation array centered on this spot. This wasn't for outward teleportation; it was a receiving end.
Meanwhile, at the outskirts of the ruins, inside a dim hall, the members of the Kane Team were hiding behind a broken stone pillar at the back door of the hall. The team consisted of Captain Kane, member Water Brother, a bottle-bottom-glasses healer, and a two-headed man.
This two-headed man had two bald heads. One of the heads was asleep. It was worth mentioning that this was actually two participants, an elder brother and a younger brother. The younger brother would remain asleep except during combat, with the elder brother as the main consciousness.
Sounds of tearing and swallowing came from the dim hall. The glasses-wearing healer looked up to peer. Even with the two-headed man's perception-blocking ability, seeing the Dark Hybrid still made her heart flutter.
"Captain, this situation is really strange. Did we just win by lying down?"
The glasses-wearing healer spoke, her gaze fixed on the dark area inside the hall.
"Probably... I guess."
Kane's expression was a bit speechless. He had searched all morning and finally found his Dark Hybrid. But before he could make a move, his Dark Hybrid, which had the characteristics of a Steel Demon Heart, had already been killed. It had been torn apart alive by a furious beast-like creature over seven meters long, covered in gray fur that seemed to burn with Sun Flame. It was now devouring it raw.
"Tylid, are you done on your end?"
Kane looked at the Demon Scythe user, Tylid.
"Mm."
The taciturn Tylid stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall, seemingly resting with her eyes closed.
The glasses-wearing healer beside him spoke: "What is this monster?"
"If I'm not mistaken, it's Bai Ye's Dark Hybrid."
Kane's words made the glasses-wearing healer's expression quite interesting. She pushed up her glasses with the side of her hand and asked incredulously, "This monster is a Dark Hybrid?"
"Yes."
Kane looked at the Dark Hybrid in the dark area. Even knowing that the Dark Hybrid couldn't detect them, he still felt a chill in his heart.
Just then, the Dark Hybrid that was feasting... no, it was more appropriate to call it a Sun Hybrid. The Sun Hybrid seemed to sense something. It stopped eating, licked the black blood from its mouth, sniffed the air, and its vertical pupils gradually turned into the scorching, dark gold of a blazing sun.
*Boom!*
The Sun Hybrid leaped, shattering the hall. It ran on all fours, having become more beast-like. Before long, it arrived near a familiar scent. It saw a particularly detestable-looking little old man holding a clay pot emitting a bloody smoke. The scent of that bloody smoke was exactly what it had to kill.
The Sun Hybrid suddenly pounced forward, swatting Kaiser away with one claw, completely ignoring Kaiser crashing heavily into the black iron sky wall. The Sun Hybrid grabbed the clay pot with one claw, crushed it, and the bloody smoke that dispersed made it even angrier.
Unable to find its target, the Sun Hybrid looked at the detestable little old man it had just swatted away. To its confusion, the little old man, who felt so weak, was standing safely under the black iron sky wall. Then, he scurried away in a flash. His escape speed was so fast that even the Sun Hybrid hesitated, feeling that it definitely couldn't catch up to that detestable and wretched little old man.
However, the Sun Hybrid didn't notice that the clay pot it had just crushed had stained its claw with a black mark. The next instant, a formation diagram appeared beneath the Sun Hybrid.
The Sun Hybrid was very sharp. It destroyed the formation diagram under its feet with one claw while leaping out of its range. Then, under Kaiser's beaming gaze in the distance, it landed on the real teleportation formation diagram that Kaiser had prepared long ago. To prevent the Sun Hybrid from retaining any spatial characteristics, Kaiser's teleportation formation diagram wasn't spatial in nature; it was a very rare 'Door-type' characteristic.
The Sun Hybrid only felt a blur before its eyes. When the surrounding world stabilized, it found itself in a spacious square. A sealing formula that had been waiting for it didn't give it a chance to react. It firmly adhered to the Sun Hybrid's chest and abdomen, even burrowing into its flesh, finally locking firmly onto its soul level.