Chapter 23: The Gods
The Goddess of Fortune and the Goddess of Fate quickly departed, clearly unwilling to linger long in this world where the Abyss was spreading.
Since he had decided to sell these three friendly "Divine Souls" to the Apocalypse Sisters, he naturally needed to build up the momentum in advance. Su Xiao opened his contact list and, using his current Supreme Hunter authority, drafted an email.
[Tip: As both parties are located in different worlds and the Star Realm dimension is relatively distant, sending this email will require an additional Lv.1 Mark Authority.]
Compared to the potential gains, this additional Lv.1 authority was well worth it. Giving the Apocalypse Sisters more time to gather funds, and explaining in advance what he needed, would undoubtedly yield greater returns.
Su Xiao edited the functions of the three Divine Souls—"Enlightening Divine Soul," "Rain-Bathing Divine Soul," and "Luminous Moon Divine Soul"—along with their initial ranks, the various attribute requirements, and the title effect of [God Hunter], "Divine Coronation (Passive)," into the email. He also mentioned which resources would be prioritized in the transaction, etc.
The "Enlightening Divine Soul," "Rain-Bathing Divine Soul," and "Luminous Moon Divine Soul" were all Supreme-level Divine Souls. For Su Xiao, this was no longer an unattainable height. After all, his current strength was conservatively estimated at "Peak Supreme." Whether he had reached the fourth stage, "Super-Peak Supreme," was still unclear, as the improvement to his Blade Dao this time was too significant.
But for the Apocalypse Sisters, who had just been promoted to the Absolute Strength rank, this was undoubtedly a chance to rise to prominence overnight. Or rather, given their development methods, if they had sufficient time to grow, their future achievements would not be low. At the very least, all three had the potential to advance to Supreme, along with the corresponding resources.
The problem was that recently, the Dawn Paradise had been reviving, the Void currents were turbulent, and over ten percent of Absolute Strength-level worlds showed signs of mild Abyss invasion.
Do not think that Abyss invasion is a common occurrence for ordinary Absolute Strength powerhouses. Normally, at the Supreme level, the Paradise camp and the Void Tree would allow contractors to gradually come into contact with Abyss invasions. Otherwise, even if they entered a world with Abyss-level invasion, contractors would not receive related tasks.
The situation of a certain Hunter was clearly different. From the moment he was promoted to Absolute Strength, entering Abyss-infested zones had become as frequent as going home. By the time he reached Supreme, he had directly come to the Ancient Dragon Kingdom, Eberath.
What was truly absurd was not entering Eberath, but receiving a main mission that directly opposed the Abyss Descendants, even requiring him to slay a major boss among the Abyss Descendants to seize a key mission item.
Given the current situation of the Apocalypse Sisters, it was unlikely they would enter an Absolute Strength-tier world with mild Abyss invasion. But the problem was precisely that—the world they had entered this time was indeed one with mild Abyss invasion.
The Apocalypse Sisters were not stupid. They could certainly detect from the clues that the overall situation in the Star Realm was becoming increasingly different, as if something major was about to happen.
In such a large-scale historical event, the more strength one had, the better one could protect oneself. If they could obtain a "Divine Soul"-type class template, their survival rate in the major event would increase by at least 50% to 80%.
This was no exaggeration. "Divine Soul"-type class templates were not weak. Of course, the premise was that they did not encounter someone like Su Xiao. Additionally, although the Apocalypse Sisters were a combination of a leg-breaking fool, a drunkard, and a pushover, they never caused trouble.
It could be said that if they could secure these three "Divine Souls" and successfully complete the class template transformation, their survival rate in the subsequent major events would conservatively be above 80%.
To make the Apocalypse Sisters realize the seriousness of the situation, Su Xiao also attached a few photos to the email. Euphemistically speaking, this was to appropriately increase the crisis awareness of the trading party, thereby enhancing their purchasing intent. As for what photos he sent:
Photo 1: The kilometer-high pile of Abyss Spawn corpses in the "Absolute Dark Zone."
Photo 2: The Abyss Passage at the innermost part of the "Absolute Dark Zone," with densely packed blood-red eyes inside.
Photo 3: The Corrupted Lake.
Photo 4: The shallow waters of the Corrupted Lake, floating with countless white bones.
Photo 5: The sky of this world, like a dark vortex, sunless and gloomy.
...
As for whether the Apocalypse Sisters would need to face these things in the future, how could this be called intimidation? It was clearly about cultivating the trading party's crisis awareness.
After editing the email, he chose to send it.
[Tip: It has been verified that you have completed the "Side Mission: Ancient Divine Power."]
[This mission has no mission reward.]
Closing the prompt, Su Xiao walked out of the Pantheon and looked at the endless Corrupted Lake before him. He approached the lake.
Crack, crack, crack~
A crystal layer wrapped around his right hand as he reached into the Corrupted Lake. Two seconds later, he withdrew his hand from the dark red viscous lake water. The crystal layer already showed obvious signs of erosion.
With a crackling sound, the crystal layer shattered. Su Xiao roughly guessed the origin of this Corrupted Lake. It had no direct connection to the Abyss Descendants. This place was most likely one of the battlefields between the Ancient Dragons and the gods. Some powerful Ancient Dragons and gods had fallen here, and the power of the gods seemed to have a strong corrosive nature.
When the Abyss began to erode this world, it naturally spread here as well. The residual polluted divine power of the gods, amplified by the Abyss's power, gradually formed this Corrupted Lake.
To dive into this Corrupted Lake, one needed not only Abyss resistance but also resistance to the pollution of divine power. Over the course of an era, under the influence of growth and derivation, the Corrupted Lake gradually formed an ecosystem, and some extremely dangerous insect species began to breed and thrive here.
"Black Leech."
"Hmm?"
Black Leech, Kenbas, who was gazing at the Corrupted Lake, turned his gaze.
Su Xiao opened the team storage space and took out a total of 50 "Titan Dragon Hearts." Seeing these "Titan Dragon Hearts," Kenbas's gaze became exceptionally fervent.
"Hard work. This is your deserved reward."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Kenbas fell silent for a moment. He longed for these "Titan Dragon Hearts," but to be fair, he felt he hadn't contributed much this time. Before encountering the Beast Lord, he had indeed done a lot. But during the battle with the Beast Lord, his orders were to stay hidden and not act unless Su Xiao was completely defeated or other disruptors appeared.
Thus, Kenbas hadn't died even once in this world. His original plan was to die no more than five times and not retreat, otherwise, he wouldn't be worthy of this high reward.
In the end, Kenbas said nothing more. After swallowing all the "Titan Dragon Hearts" with his dark shadow, he slightly lowered his head to Su Xiao in respect before canceling the summoning contract and dragging himself back to his home in the Underworld using his soul imprint. This was also why the Iron-Blood Hounds could become such powerful summoned beings.
After Kenbas left, Su Xiao released his blood energy. An iron-blood imprint appeared in his palm. He formed an "Iron-Blood Pact" on the back of his left hand and pressed his hand to the ground. Aoge crystals spread to form a summoning array.
The blood-red light of the summoning array blazed. When the blood light dissipated, an Iron-Blood Hound appeared. It had dark red, hairless, oily skin, tightly packed and tough muscles, and was over twenty meters long. This was the only defensive Iron-Blood Hound among all Iron-Blood Hounds, and also the one Su Xiao trusted the most—Giant Blood Fang.
Giant Blood Fang's attack methods ranked around twentieth among Iron-Blood Hounds, possibly even around fiftieth. But when it came to defense and survivability, Giant Blood Fang was undoubtedly among the top few.
"Bai, Ye, Lord."
Giant Blood Fang spoke, uttering a deep but very unfluent Void language. To think, the last time they met, Giant Blood Fang couldn't even speak the Underworld language of his home world properly. After all, Iron-Blood Hounds were a combat race.
Giant Blood Fang had only recently learned the Void language, and even now, he could only say a few words.
"This is the Corrupted Lake. In the northern part of the lake center, at the bottom of a submerged ruin, there is a golden statue I need. This is a fragment. Can you withstand the erosion of the Corrupted Lake?"
After hearing Su Xiao's words, Giant Blood Fang approached the Corrupted Lake, sniffed the water, and without a second word, plunged headfirst into the lake.
Time passed minute by minute. A full hour later, with a splash, dark red liquid splashed. Giant Blood Fang crawled ashore, his skin tattered and covered with all kinds of rot insects and leeches.
With a bang, Giant Blood Fang released his iron-blood dark red aura, blasting or evaporating the rot insects and leeches on his body. White steam hissed from his skin as cells regenerated at high speed. However, the erosion was too severe. Some erosion holes revealed the bones inside, along with semi-eroded organs.
Giant Blood Fang made a retching motion and spat out a statue from his mouth. Most of its surface was dark red, but some parts showed a golden color. The statue depicted a figure with six wings and four arms, its head featuring a vertical mouth and jaw, with cold, indifferent eyes on either side of the jaw. It was the image of a certain god.
Small flying machines rose and sprayed painkillers and recovery potions around Giant Blood Fang, causing his tense body to gradually relax. Eventually, he lay on his side, his abdomen heaving violently from heavy breathing, indicating he was not having an easy time.
After a moment, Giant Blood Fang stood up again. Su Xiao took out a "Titan Dragon Heart." It was clearly the first time Giant Blood Fang had seen a heart of this level from a powerful being.
After all, the hearts of powerful beings that Iron-Blood Hounds hunted and seized were not meant to be absorbed by them. No powerful being would deliberately make their heart suitable for Iron-Blood Hounds; instead, it served their own body.
As for the insect nest custom-made "Titan Dragon Hearts," they were designed with the Iron-Blood Hounds' massive demand for Primordial Life Force in mind, along with absorption efficiency and, more importantly, compatibility.
That's right, the Primordial Life Force within the "Titan Dragon Hearts," when cultivated in the insect nest organs, involved a trace of Iron-Blood Hound blood. This resulted in the Primordial Life Force within the "Titan Dragon Hearts" having over 95% compatibility with the Iron-Blood Hound race.
In the past, if Iron-Blood Hounds hunted a powerful being's heart with over 20% compatibility, it was considered very lucky. Therefore, even Kenbas, who had a particularly cold and cruel personality, was tempted by the "Titan Dragon Hearts" to the point of having clear eyes.
A total of 380 "Titan Dragon Hearts," each the size of a millstone, over a meter in diameter, heart-shaped, and covered with blood vessels and meridians, were piled in front of Giant Blood Fang. The previously somewhat wilted Giant Blood Fang half-rose, ate one, and chewed it. Before long, his strength recovered by seventy percent, and he began eating the "Titan Dragon Hearts" one by one.
After Giant Blood Fang had consumed all the "Titan Dragon Hearts," his aura noticeably increased by a few points. However, he swallowed the last dozen or so directly, seemingly intending to take them back for other Iron-Blood Hounds. Giant Blood Fang's personality was clearly an anomaly among the combat-oriented Iron-Blood Hounds, as he would take care of the young and weak of his race to some extent.
"Hard work. Go back and rest."
"Bai, Ye, Lord."
Giant Blood Fang lowered his head in respect, using the only four words he knew to bid farewell to Su Xiao before returning to the Underworld.
Inside the boiling machine made by Bubu Wang, bubbles gurgled. Checking the temperature, it had reached 1800°. Through the crystal layer, Su Xiao saw that the statue inside had shed its dark red rust marks and turned golden. He opened the boiling machine, and a light red turbid liquid flowed out from the bottom.
[You have obtained the Golden Statue of the Gods (This was forged by the gods in the First Era using the power of gold).]
[You have the following three choices.]