Chapter 51: Raging Beast
Inside the Dawn Paradise, District 2, in front of the main entrance of the Attribute Enhancement Hall.
"We're here. The last usable 'Potential Transcendence Device' is right inside. By the way, this place has become my home. As a polite Hunter, I believe you won't mess with other people's belongings."
Dean walked into the Attribute Enhancement Hall, but after a few steps, he noticed the man behind him hadn't followed.
"What's wrong? Afraid I set a trap? That's not like you Hunters."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He simply took out a particularly blood-red "Scarlet Card." Dean, who had a smile on his face, suddenly froze.
"This... what is this? How could I..."
Dean's body suddenly stiffened. Behind him, a massive phantom figure was faintly visible. From the ten fingers of this phantom, strands of thread hung down, connecting to Dean's body.
Sure enough, Su Xiao's perception was correct. Dean was a sub-body controlled by one of the five fragments of the Forbidden Mark, the "Puppet Mark"—in other words, Gray Gentleman's puppet.
Logically, since Gray Gentleman was dead, Dean should have died along with him like the other puppets. The key point was that Gray Gentleman was once one of the hopes for Dawn Paradise's revival. With his authority level in Dawn Paradise back then, sending a puppet into the Dawn Ruins was hardly difficult.
Dean wasn't a Violator from the previous era at all. He was a Violator of the current era. Sent into the Dawn Ruins, the memories implanted in him were that he had once been a Worker in Dawn Paradise from the previous era, mainly responsible for the daily maintenance of the Paradise's infrastructure.
Because he shared the same Violator mark, the wandering Violators here naturally wouldn't attack Dean. This also made him one of the very few living people in the Dawn Ruins.
Gray Gentleman was indeed dead, but Dawn Paradise was the sealed zone of the "Forbidden Mark." This prevented the death spreading from the main body through the "Puppet Mark" from reaching Dean inside Dawn Paradise.
This was Gray Gentleman's life-saving trump card. After his main body was killed, if Su Xiao opened his treasure chest, it would be equivalent to releasing the "Puppet Mark" from the Scarlet Card. Coupled with the fact that Gray Gentleman wasn't completely dead, the "Puppet Mark" would default to inheriting to Dean.
Moreover, since Dawn Paradise was the highest-tier holder of the "Puppet Mark," the mark would naturally be transmitted into Dawn Paradise. The moment Dean inherited the Puppet Mark, Gray Gentleman's consciousness could use the environment of Dawn Paradise and his absolute lower-level suppression over his puppets to instantly take over the nest, achieving this seemingly absurd but actually reasonable resurrection.
But Gray Gentleman never imagined that when Su Xiao opened Scarlet Cards at low ranks, he had suffered "shampoo attacks," "massive new sock attacks," and so on. Su Xiao was already at Absolute Strength, and the shampoos he opened at First Rank still weren't used up.
If Su Xiao didn't open this Scarlet Card, the entire plan would immediately stall. This also caused Dean, as a puppet, to completely forget his puppet master. He even mistakenly believed he was just an ordinary Worker who had luckily survived.
"My head hurts... I feel like I've seen you before."
Dean looked at Su Xiao in confusion. Suddenly, he felt a chill on his neck. He raised his hand to touch it, and a line of blood stained his fingers. He became even more puzzled: "Why..."
His head hit the ground. Dean's headless body turned to run, but after three seconds, it fell with a thud.
The "Scarlet Card" in Su Xiao's hand, which had been emitting a faint red glow, gradually returned to its normal appearance. Seeing this, he put the "Scarlet Card" away. One more task added: use this "Scarlet Card" as a sensing device to detect if there were any other of Gray Gentleman's puppets in the Dawn Ruins.
But for some reason, Su Xiao always felt that this was just the beginning. He had always had a doubt: as a Puppet Master, was Gray Gentleman truly dead?
He was very confident about whether he had killed Gray Gentleman back then. The problem was, after fighting other holders of the Forbidden Mark, it was completely different from his previous confrontation with Gray Gentleman. It felt like... Gray Gentleman himself *was* the "Puppet Mark." Unless this mark was destroyed, the most extreme way to kill him was to seal him within the Scarlet Card.
This wasn't an exaggeration. Back then, the old Yinbi trio—Shenfu, Su Xiao, and Gray Gentleman—each had a unique skill. Shenfu had the Initial Death, Su Xiao was the Shadow of Law Destruction, so what was so hard to understand about Gray Gentleman merging with the "Puppet Mark"?
Regardless of whether Gray Gentleman had completely merged with the Puppet Mark or become one with it, let him stay in the Scarlet Card. If Su Xiao truly climbed to the pinnacle, even if Gray Gentleman had a chance to break the seal, he would only face more complete destruction.
Su Xiao took out the "Book of Original Sin" and released the Evil Heart from the ninth page.
"You!!"
The Evil Heart's expression was both angry and twisted, but sensing Su Xiao's 'kind' gaze, it could only hold back. Ignoring the Evil Heart, he sealed the "Scarlet Card: Gray Gentleman" into the ninth page of the "Book of Original Sin." Su Xiao hadn't forgotten how this guy had schemed against him before.
After doing this, Su Xiao walked over to Dean's headless corpse.
Crack, crack, crack~
A crystal layer climbed up Su Xiao's right hand. But this time, the Aoge Crystal appeared a dark, nether-like green. He plunged his hand into the headless corpse without any resistance, then pulled, dragging out a transparent figure—it was Dean's soul, which hadn't dissipated yet.
Seeing this, the Evil Heart's expression twitched violently. It considered itself very evil, but witnessing this scene of grabbing a soul with bare hands, it couldn't help but feel its heart race.
Several Spirit Shadow Threads pierced into Dean's soul body. Su Xiao closed his eyes to probe the soul memories. After a moment, he took out a Soul Crystal Core, crushed it, and while the soul power dispersed, used this soul energy to materialize the soul memory he had just seen.
It was a first-person perspective, showing the disassembly and maintenance of the "Potential Transcendence Device." Su Xiao looked at Bubu Wang.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang's meaning was clear: it could understand, but it needed some time to digest how to start the "Potential Transcendence Device" and complete the supply of Space-Time Power, etc.
Seeing that Su Xiao wasn't paying attention to it, the Evil Heart quietly retreated. After moving a certain distance, it started running on its tiny legs. Feeling it wasn't fast enough, it began running on all fours.
Su Xiao naturally knew the Evil Heart had slipped away. He didn't care and was sure it would come back. This was the Dawn Ruins. He had brought things here for notarization. If it wanted to leave, it had to wait for the battle to end and leave with Su Xiao, or else be trapped here forever.
After Bubu Wang figured out the content of the soul memory, Su Xiao took Bubu into the Attribute Enhancement Hall. Compared to the Attribute Enhancement Hall in Reincarnation Paradise, this one was smaller, and the appearance of the Attribute Enhancement Pods was also different.
Arriving at the "Potential Transcendence Device" shown in the soul memory, Su Xiao looked up at the massive device. It was set up on a black iron platform several meters high. Walking up the steps, the main door of the device was tightly closed. Below, cables disappeared into the iron-black base.
Su Xiao took out the [Dawn Badge]. The "Potential Transcendence Device" in front of him reacted.
Buzz~
An dark light appeared on the Potential Transcendence Device. The main door's hatch gradually became transparent like glass. Due to the lack of prompt notarization, the device's hatch displayed Void Language.
`Unauthorized (Void Language)`
Su Xiao inserted the [Dawn Badge] into the slot on the right side of the hatch. With a puff, steam surged from the bottom edge of the entire Potential Transcendence Device. The Void Language on the hatch changed.
`Insufficient Space-Time Power. Unable to complete this activation.`
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked. It opened the rear cover of the device and pressed the manual activation button. This caused a tray to extend from the bottom of the Potential Transcendence Device.
Seeing this, Su Xiao took out the 2000 "Space-Time Stone Fragments" he had and placed them into this large tray. Bubu Wang pressed the start button again. The tray retracted. The Potential Transcendence Device rumbled for a while, and the text on the hatch changed.
`Activation energy has reached 48.8%.`
Su Xiao did have the remaining Space-Time Power, but it was stored within his mark. He tried placing one hand on the hatch door. A prompt appeared.
`[Yes/No to supply Space-Time Power to this device. This action requires 21,000 ounces of Space-Time Power. The Space-Time Power consumption caused by the activation of other related linked devices, related notarization fees, and replenishment of this device's rare consumables, etc., will be borne by Reincarnation Paradise for you at 99.99%, totaling 18.6 ounces.]`
Choosing Yes, Su Xiao felt a large amount of Space-Time Power surge from his Reincarnation Mark into the device's core.
Puff~
Amidst the steam, the hatch of the Potential Transcendence Device opened. Inside, beams of green light scanned his body. Then, a fixed recliner rose from the bottom. He tried lying on it. All the locking mechanisms locked into place, and then the device stopped.
Su Xiao could only move his eyes now. He glanced left and right, the corner of his eye twitching slightly. He said:
"Bubu."
Hearing Su Xiao's tone, knowing that if it kept being mischievous it would get a slipper, Bubu Wang immediately started the device. Watching the hatch close, Bubu Wang released various types of defensive combat robots, positioning them around the Potential Transcendence Device. Then, it focused intently on observing the various data changes of the device to prevent any accidents.
As for Su Xiao inside the Potential Transcendence Device, the moment it started, to put it politely, he felt as if he had seen the reincarnation of all things in the world. To put it bluntly, he almost died instantly. A surging force rushed into his body, rampaging around, making him feel like his body could shatter at any moment. If he hadn't had 800 points of True Stamina attribute, he absolutely couldn't have withstood this kind of enhancement.
The world seemed to fade away. Su Xiao could only hear his own heartbeat, and with each beat, his blood surged to every part of his body. A unique energy within the blood was absorbed by his body's tissues.
Su Xiao suddenly opened his eyes. He was immersed in a pale green life solution. Because he had woken up, the Potential Transcendence Device began to drain the life solution. When he stepped back onto the bottom of the pod, he nearly fell to one knee. He steadied himself by holding onto the pod wall with one hand.
The power in his body felt completely drained, but with each heartbeat, the force temporarily suppressed within his heart burst forth. Besides this, he also felt a wondrous change in his life force. However, this change needed a catalyst to activate—it required a promotion in his life essence... or rather, his rank.
The gradually filling power within him allowed Su Xiao to walk out of the Potential Transcendence Device. He placed one hand on his chest, feeling himself. This feeling of power made him have the illusion that he could fight even a Supreme Strong.
Yes, Su Xiao was very sure this was an illusion. Even the weakest Supreme Strong couldn't be beaten by the strongest Absolute Strength. The accumulation from First Rank to the peak of Absolute Strength was all about laying the foundation for the Supreme rank.
Su Xiao checked his own information. Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence attributes had all reached 900 points. Not only that, but the original light gold font of his True Attributes had all turned into a deep, dark gold.
He had a very strong feeling that 900 points was the limit an Absolute Strength could reach. Before breaking through to Supreme, even increasing by 1 point would lead to quite disastrous results—either mutation or death.
Walking out of the Attribute Enhancement Hall, a loud boom came from afar. Nether-green Nether Flame shot into the sky. All the wandering Violators touched by this Nether Flame began to be assimilated and devoured by the Nether.
"Bubu, which round is this?"
As Su Xiao finished speaking, Bubu Wang jumped down from the building.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang said it was the sixth round. This meant the Raging Beast was about to reveal its final form.
Boom!!
The Nether Flame spread layer by layer. The Nether Raging Beast fell with a thud. Don't think it was weak. Su Xiao had stayed in the Attribute Enhancement Hall for 26 hours. To withstand such an intense siege for this long was already terrifying.
A dark red soul power surged into the sky. Seeing this color, Su Xiao knew the characteristic of the "Soul Crown" had arrived. Sure enough, a giant crown phantom appeared in the sky. The Nether Raging Beast that had just died reformed. Its body length reached a kilometer scale, its entire body dark red. It had over a dozen crowded beast heads. All the heads were eyeless, their fangs a translucent blue, and the drool at the corners of their mouths was a dark blue.
"Roar!!"
A powerful soul wave spread. The Soul Raging Beast's body mutated, turning into a kilometer-tall giant. But its head was still over a dozen huge, ferocious beast heads. Multiple arms mutated and grew out. These arms held various types of bone weapons, each one exceptionally large.
Su Xiao was sure that the several factions currently participating in the battle were all staring at the Soul Raging Beast. The kill reward was so abundant, who wouldn't be tempted? It all depended on who could snatch the critical killing blow when the Soul Giant Beast was about to die.
Su Xiao wasn't too worried about this. The new move he had developed was particularly suitable for this situation.
Meanwhile, on the southeast side of the Dawn Ruins, near the Equipment Enhancement Hall.
The five members of Kane's team, the few from the Demon Scythe team, and even Hao Tao and Shenfu had all gathered here. These four teams had the same goal: seize the kill reward from the Soul Raging Beast. However, the four teams had already agreed to join forces first to grab the kill reward, and then fight each other afterwards.
Everyone present was smart. So, before the Soul Raging Beast fell, internal conflict was unlikely.
"Blood Ji, your long-range ability is the strongest. If you find any competing faction, attack directly."
Kane spoke. Blood Ji nodded to show she understood. Then Kane looked at Hao Tao:
"Brother Hao Tao, I'll send you over later. Shenfu, you come too. Your weakening ability is key for Hao Tao to kill that Raging Beast. Besides, both of you have Violator marks, so the risk of entering that area is very low."
Kane's words made Hao Tao frown while stroking his chin, but he eventually nodded in agreement. Everyone looked at Shenfu.
"My ability doesn't require getting close."
Shenfu's smile was still kind, but there was something he didn't say: flying within the range of a certain someone's ability was truly an act of remarkable courage.
"Shuang Sheng, what's the status of the Raging Beast?"
Hearing this, the bald man said, "Not yet. It's at 99.84%. Should we move when it reaches 15%?"
"No, we move at 20%. Any problems?"
Kane looked at Hao Tao. Hao Tao frowned for a few seconds, then said, "With Shenfu's weakening, if I go in at 40%, one punch should bring it down to over 20%. The rest is for Demon Scythe lady. No problem, right?"
"No."
Demon Scythe: Talid stated. This made everyone secretly sigh in relief. With Talid's finishing move, it was very stable. As for the kill reward, everyone was in Shenfu's temporary adventure group. With the group's reward notarization, the kill reward wouldn't go directly to an individual but would have a buffer period. This was also the opportunity for the four teams to cooperate.
However, during the negotiations, there were disagreements. As the organizer of this alliance and the owner of the temporary adventure group, Shenfu took a 20% share of this reward. Initially, everyone opposed it. But if they didn't use this adventure group ability to unite, they would definitely be a scattered mess, so they had to compromise.
Time passed second by second. The roars of the Raging Beast and the wandering Violators were endless. The bald man, vaguely protected in the center by the group, couldn't help but feel excited. In his own adventure group, he had seen many big bosses, but a reward level like this was indeed his first time.
"Blood Ji, the Raging Beast's health is about to reach 40%. I'll give you the specific coordinates of Hunter: Bai Ye. Suppress him from a distance."
The bald man spoke. It could only be said that at this late stage, only this kind of Perception-type specialist could still sense a Blade Grandmaster. After all, although a Blade Grandmaster's perception range was small, the perception rank was very high.
"No problem."
Blood Ji held up one hand as if supporting something. Crimson blood formed a spiral round sword three meters long. Her eyes became increasingly crimson. But in the next instant, a "Blazing Sun Blood Spear" shot over. Blood Ji didn't hesitate. She abandoned this attack and activated her life-saving secret treasure at the same time.
Thud!
After a dull roar, Blood Ji turned into an afterimage and flew out of the smoke. Where she had just been standing, there was a diagonal, bottomless stone pit several meters in diameter.
"This is...?"
Blood Ji crouched fifty meters away. If she hadn't activated her life-saving secret treasure just now, she might have been instantly killed.
Over ten kilometers away, a ten-meter-tall blood energy phantom stood behind Su Xiao. Its form resembled the fierce beast "Fei," but only the upper body. The upper body was human-like, the left hand a ferocious beast claw with scales on the arm, the right arm a human arm, with only the thumb, index, and middle fingers on the hand.
The blood energy phantom held a Soul Great Bow forged by the Demon Blacksmith in its left hand. This was its exclusive weapon. White smoke was still rising from the three fingers that had just released the soul bowstring.
This attack had a total of four types of bonuses stacked, respectively.