# Chapter 32: Interests
As soon as Su Xiao stepped off the train, he put on the breathing mask made by Bubu Wang. This steampunk-style mask could filter most fungal spores in the air to the maximum extent.
That's right, even fungal spores at the level of Void Existence, once they drifted into Su Xiao's perception range, would be detected by him. This was the power of [Absolute Perception].
The Archbishop of the Abyss was incredibly powerful. In his prime, he had nearly advanced to the [Supreme Peak]. It was worth noting that for an Abyss existence with conceptual-level immortality like the Archbishop of the Abyss, reaching the [Supreme Peak] was several times more difficult than for other systems, or even more. This was the price of conceptual immortality.
Su Xiao was now certain of one thing: with his current means, he truly could not kill the Archbishop of the Abyss. Otherwise, the Ancestral Law Destroyers wouldn't have sealed the Archbishop of the Abyss in the Eternal Light World. In contrast, not a single member of the Dukain Family had been sealed in the Eternal Light World, which spoke volumes.
Sealing the Archbishop of the Abyss into the [Book of Original Sin] was also unlikely. Not to mention that the other party was not an artifact; the [Book of Original Sin] was more targeted at half-souls like the Eternal Night Empress or Original Sin Objects. Even if a sealing opportunity were found, with the Archbishop of the Abyss's crisis premonition, he would choose self-annihilation the moment before being sealed, and later 'possess' and resurrect through some Dark Bishop in a certain world.
As for completely eradicating the Dark God Cult, in the three eras of the Star Realm, many major forces had attempted this, and none had succeeded.
Having an unkillable enemy was clearly a huge hidden danger, let alone the fact that the other party was gradually recovering his strength.
One might ask, why was the Archbishop of the Abyss sealed in the first place? The answer was: during the Second Era, the Archbishop of the Abyss spread the Dark Faith throughout the Star Realm. The unrestrained Dark God Cult caused many mid-to-high-level worlds to fall into chaos and slaughter. The Archbishop of the Abyss, reaping a massive harvest of faith power, was at the height of his power.
As the saying goes, when the heavens are wild, there is rain; when people are wild, there is disaster. The Archbishop of the Abyss hadn't been wild for many years before Law Destroyers came knocking.
After that came the hundred-thousand-year imprisonment in the Eternal Light World. When Su Xiao arrived in the Eternal Light World, compared to the enmity with the Law Destroyers, the Archbishop of the Abyss clearly wanted to escape more.
Given the Archbishop of the Abyss's Abyss constitution, his lifespan was estimated to be at the level of several hundred thousand years. When he first rose to power, he was only about a thousand years old. By age proportion, that was definitely youthful recklessness.
After being imprisoned in the Eternal Light World for a hundred thousand years, the Archbishop of the Abyss's inner attitude was basically: I've learned my lesson. But because he valued face too much, he wouldn't beg for mercy.
Therefore, after gaining freedom, the Archbishop of the Abyss didn't spread the Dark Faith everywhere. Not to mention the beating he took back then was too severe; given the current situation in the Star Realm, spreading the Dark Faith everywhere wouldn't be arrogance—it would be idiocy.
Now, the Archbishop of the Abyss had only one goal: to continuously use his advantages to improve his combat power and reach his former peak. Only then could he become one of the dominant players in the subsequent Star Realm upheavals.
Of course, because he had been imprisoned for too long, his ambition had severely declined. The Archbishop of the Abyss now tended to believe that only by becoming strong could he truly be safe, rather than being swept up by the upcoming major events in the Star Realm and losing control of his own fate.
It could be said that the imprisonment reform in the Eternal Light Prison had some effect. After all, that place had such dense elemental energy that not even a blade of grass grew. A hundred thousand years was too long—so long that even someone as proud as the Archbishop of the Abyss began to reflect during the boring eternity.
The current contradiction was that the Archbishop of the Abyss's entire left arm had been triple soul-severed. This soul injury made his strength recovery very slow, let alone surpassing his former peak. And regarding the hostility with the Law Destroyer, the Archbishop of the Abyss had a fire in his heart before.
But at this moment, sensing this Law Destroyer who was at least [Top-Tier Supreme], the nameless fire in the Archbishop of the Abyss's heart suddenly dissipated by more than half. He estimated that in this confrontation, the probability of him dying and being reborn exceeded ninety percent. He was also [Top-Tier Supreme] now, but ultimately, this Law Destroyer's abilities were a natural counter to him.
Yes, Su Xiao was a natural counter to the Archbishop of the Abyss. The reason was that the Archbishop of the Abyss was a powerful being of the Dark Mind System. The [Mind Control Immunity] possessed by ordinary Blade Grandmasters really couldn't resist the Archbishop of the Abyss. The problem was that Su Xiao's Blade Grandmaster ability was particularly absurd in this regard.
A particularly interesting situation thus emerged. Su Xiao indeed didn't want to continue entangled fighting with this guy who couldn't be killed. To put it bluntly, killing him didn't even yield kill rewards, and since this guy currently posed no threat to the Star Realm, killing him couldn't even trigger a Void Tree mission.
On the Archbishop of the Abyss's side, he even less wanted to antagonize a Law Destroyer whose combat power had skyrocketed several tiers in a short time. Moreover, who knew if one day this guy would find a way to completely kill him. It wasn't that the Archbishop of the Abyss lacked confidence in his [Undying Immortality]; it was that facing someone who had sealed six Big Daddy-level Original Sin Objects, he had no confidence.
But neither party was the type to initiate peace talks. One was indifferent and decisive in killing; the other was dark, proud, and aloof.
Fate was so wonderful. Today, there happened to be someone present who had both status and strength, plus didn't care about face—or rather, sometimes simply had no shame.
Demon Scythe·Aina stood to the side with one hand on her hip, her grinning expression clearly saying: Fight, fight quickly! I'm ready to watch the show.
Demon Scythe·Aina's gaze inadvertently swept and saw the tall and sturdy Amu. This made her furrow her delicate brows and bite her thumbnail in thought. The Grimm Clan's character was indeed vile, but their intelligence was generally quite high.
Demon Scythe·Aina squinted at Amu, then shifted her gaze to Su Xiao, and finally to the Archbishop of the Abyss. Her eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Oh~, oh? Oh!"
Demon Scythe·Aina made strange sounds from her mouth, clapped her hands together, and looked like she had found a solution.
"Both of you! Please wait a moment before fighting."
Demon Scythe·Aina shouted loudly. Su Xiao, who was about to erupt with blood energy, paused in his movements. Across from him, the Archbishop of the Abyss's darkness also temporarily subsided a bit.
"Both of you, do you have any irreconcilable grievances that must be settled by one of you dying? Even if you do, this old guy can't be killed. Your grievances will just be like a mess of paste, stirred and stirred, with no result in the end."
Demon Scythe·Aina raised her hand to indicate this was meaningless. She seemed possessed by great compassion as she continued:
"Why don't we put aside our grievances, fill our hearts with gratitude and..."
As Demon Scythe·Aina spoke, she saw Battle Angel·Shilin stepping off the train. Since a deadly battle was imminent, Su Xiao naturally wouldn't let Shilin continue to hide. After all, they had already discussed various cooperation matters.
As soon as Shilin got off the train, Demon Scythe·Aina quickly walked up to her. The smile on her face changed from the earlier joking grin to one that came from the heart.
"Hello, madam. Are you a Perception-type?"
"Huh?"
Shilin was a bit confused. She looked Demon Scythe·Aina up and down. Aina wore a tube top on her upper body, with a white shirt outside. The loose white shirt had no buttons and was completely open. She wore ultra-short shorts on her lower body, and two short-handled war scythes hung at her lower back. Between the two small scythes was a fine chain as thick as a pinky finger. The depths of her eyes were pitch black, with a faint gold-white glow in her pupils.
"I... am."
For some reason, Shilin felt a bit nervous.
"Great! I really need to find a Perception-type to cooperate with right now. For that, I'm willing to pay a reward that will definitely move you."
As she spoke, Demon Scythe·Aina had already subtly taken Shilin's hand. At first, Shilin didn't feel anything unusual—after all, they were both female. But when the other party's thumb rubbed and circled on the back of her hand, she gradually felt something was wrong.
Suddenly, Demon Scythe·Aina seemed to think of something. She looked at Su Xiao and the Archbishop of the Abyss, who were staring at her with unfriendly expressions. Just half a minute ago, she had shouted for them to stop, but after seeing Shilin, Demon Scythe·Aina had left them hanging.
This made Demon Scythe·Aina curse herself for being shameless in her heart. How could she be distracted by those two guys' troubles when she had encountered such a captivating Perception-type girl?
"To ensure our subsequent cooperation goes smoothly, I have some questions that I need you to answer."
Demon Scythe·Aina's smile grew brighter.
"Huh?"
Shilin was completely dumbfounded.
"How old are you this year? You must not have a boyfriend yet, right? Judging by your life source fluctuations, you can't be very old. To have this achievement at this age, you definitely haven't had a boyfriend. Great... ahem~, being too competitive isn't good either. What's your weight? What type do you like..."
Demon Scythe·Aina started asking questions continuously. When she asked about Shilin's three measurements, Shilin warily stepped back several large paces and looked at Demon Scythe·Aina with the gaze one would give a pervert.
"Damn, this familiar sense of déjà vu."
Baha was shocked. After all, in the last world, he had seen Green Gillian. The one in front of him was practically the Third Era version of Green Gillian·Youth Edition. This made Baha ask subconsciously:
"Hehe, I bet your surname is Green."
"How do you know?"
"Damn!"
Baha was so startled he almost bristled.
Demon Scythe·Aina reluctantly glanced at Shilin. Suddenly, she thought of something, and the smile on her face was extremely bright.
"Both of you, how about we make a deal? After this deal, let's wipe the slate clean of all our past grievances, old and new. How about that?"
Demon Scythe·Aina spoke, occasionally glancing into the train. Unfortunately, it was one-way glass, so she couldn't see Shilin's figure.
"What do you mean?"
As Baha spoke, he landed on Su Xiao's shoulder. Baha was very mature in handling various situations. Without needing Su Xiao's signal, he knew what Su Xiao meant. He could also see that his boss was tired of the pointless conflict with the Archbishop of the Abyss, who had conceptual-level immortality. It truly had no benefits.
"I can tell from this... War Bull Bro?"
Demon Scythe·Aina tentatively asked.
"Amu. His name is Amu."
Baha corrected.
"Oh, hello Amu," Demon Scythe·Aina nodded to Amu, then continued: "From Amu's situation, I can judge one thing. He survived an Abyss power erosion that should have killed him ten or a hundred times over, and even turned misfortune into fortune. Don't question this—I am a Demon Scythe."
Demon Scythe·Aina picked up a small stick and gestured as she continued:
"So I guess that your team has a member with particularly high Abyssology attainments."
Hearing Demon Scythe·Aina's words, Baha didn't speak. Such questions were not for him, a follower, to answer.
"Yes."
Su Xiao's words made Demon Scythe·Aina snap her fingers.
"Then all three of our problems are perfectly solved. I suggest we talk on the train? That way, we can show each other our preliminary sincerity."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. The Archbishop of the Abyss was silent for a moment, then said:
"Agreed."
With that, the Archbishop of the Abyss's gaze turned to Su Xiao.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He directly put it into action, stepped onto the Lord's Train, and temporarily closed the defense against enemy mode.
A moment later, on the Lord's Train, Su Xiao and the Archbishop of the Abyss sat facing each other, with Demon Scythe·Aina on the side. At first glance, it looked like Su Xiao and the Archbishop of the Abyss were engaged in some kind of game, with Demon Scythe·Aina as the referee.
Demon Scythe·Aina cleared her throat and said: "First, let me state my purpose. My strength has hit a bottleneck. I need a safe passage to enter the mid-to-lower layers of the Abyss, and from there, climb back up to the material world. This is my opportunity to advance further. Law Destroyer Bro, you can definitely do this, right?"
"Yes."
"Great."
Demon Scythe·Aina clapped her hands and continued: "In return, I will help the Archbishop of the Abyss heal the karma of his left arm, which was lost due to multiple soul-severing."
Hearing this, the Archbishop of the Abyss's eyes flickered slightly. He nodded to indicate that this was a transaction he could accept.
But the next second, both Su Xiao and Demon Scythe·Aina looked at the Archbishop of the Abyss. In this transaction, Su Xiao and Demon Scythe·Aina had both put forward bargaining chips. The Archbishop of the Abyss's current situation was undoubtedly getting something for nothing.
The Archbishop of the Abyss understood this. He pondered for a moment, then said: "I have a soul technique secret method that can nourish and strengthen primordial life."
With that, the Archbishop of the Abyss took out a pitch-black scroll and placed it on the table. It could be seen that this scroll had once fallen into the Abyss and was later obtained by the Archbishop of the Abyss.
Su Xiao picked up the scroll on the table. A prompt appeared.
[You have obtained the [Soul Nourishment Ritual] Scroll.]
[Soul Nourishment Ritual]
Origin: Second Era·Soul Clock Tower
Type: Ritual Carrier/Ritual Core Item.
Effect: Can be used to set up a Soul Nourishment Ritual according to the records on this scroll. If the holder has not mastered the relevant Soul System basic abilities, this scroll can be used as the core of the ritual to set it up. As a price, this ritual scroll will be consumed.
Ritual Effect: Based on the current Soul Strength of the ritual beneficiary, permanently increase their Health Points. The increase magnitude is: for each point of current Soul Strength, permanently increase 850 points of [Base Health Points].
Warning: This ritual can only be benefited from once. If subjected to this ritual a second time, it will definitely cause soul distortion, leading to irreversible serious consequences.
Introduction: The relationship between soul and body is far more wonderful than people imagine.
...
Su Xiao put down the [Soul Nourishment Ritual] scroll. This thing was very suitable for him. The problem was that without it, he could at most not increase a large amount of Health Points. But if this transaction couldn't be completed, the Archbishop of the Abyss would lose the soul karma of his left arm. This transaction wasn't about each taking what they needed; it was about exchanging bargaining chips of equal value.
Su Xiao took out a bottle of [Elemental Brew] and poured three glasses. The Archbishop of the Abyss originally wanted to refuse, but as a fine wine collector, the moment the aroma of [Elemental Brew] entered his nose, he found it hard to refuse.
"You don't have to be so polite, hahaha."
Demon Scythe·Aina picked up her glass and drank it in one gulp. Then, with a very natural movement, she picked up the remaining more than half bottle of [Elemental Brew] and prepared to monopolize it.
"Abyss Bro, the scroll you took out is good, but can it really match your left arm?"
Demon Scythe·Aina seemed very despicable, but in her heart, she was crystal clear about this transaction. This transaction wasn't about what each party took out; it was about what each party got. She got the opportunity to advance her strength, which was priceless to her. The Archbishop of the Abyss recovered his left arm, turning his path to recovery from a single-plank bridge into a broad road.
In contrast, Su Xiao only got a ritual scroll that could greatly increase his Health Points.
The Archbishop of the Abyss was certainly not stupid. Taking out the [Soul Nourishment Ritual] scroll just now was a test to see if the Law Destroyer across from him was insatiably greedy. Now it seemed that the other party hadn't even expressed his stance. This transaction, which was good for all three parties, could be completed.
The Archbishop of the Abyss took out another item and placed it on the table. He frowned slightly and said: "I don't want to continue being hostile to you after you obtain this item."
The Archbishop of the Abyss's words were too skillful. They both resolved the meaningless hostility that was detrimental to both sides and highlighted the preciousness of this item.
"I swear on my personal honor that our past grievances are wiped clean."
"Good."
The Archbishop of the Abyss's 'good' was said with full aura. At the same time, he raised his hand, revealing a ring. The Law Destruction Faction mark on it indicated that it had once belonged to a Law Destroyer.
[You have obtained Proud Song (World-Class Equipment).]
[Proud Song]
Origin: Void·Demon Blacksmith.
Quality: World-Class.
Category: Ring.
Durability: 598/850 points.
Equipment Requirement: Shadow of Law Destruction, Azure Steel Shadow Lv.95 or above.
Equipment Effect: Proud Song (Core·Passive), [Proud Song Crystal] formation and spread speed increased by 185%, comprehensive strength increased by 5 times, and grants it [Invasion Characteristics].
Rating: 10200 points (This is an over-limit equipment among World-Class equipment, currently ranked 485th among World-Class equipment).
Introduction: The work of the Demon Blacksmith.
Price: After activation, cannot be sold, cannot be transferred, etc. Will definitely drop upon death.
...
Through this equipment, Su Xiao understood that World-Class equipment and Overlord equipment were the same. At high tiers, what mattered was the equipment rating and ranking. As for the improvement magnitude of [Proud Song], it could only be described as absurd.
First, the base strength of [Proud Song Crystal] was determined by the level of the Azure Steel Shadow ability. Currently, it was:
[Can generate crystals of any form to defend against enemy attacks. Crystal strength is proportional to the mana consumed. Single mana consumption upper limit is 31900 points. Crystal Layer Defense Rank +40.]
Su Xiao had previously thought that the more mana consumed, the higher the durability of [Proud Song Crystal], and that [Crystal Layer Defense Rank] was a defense characteristic outside of durability. Later, he discovered that this was not the case.
The single mana consumption upper limit was 31900 points, meaning that if Su Xiao used 31900 points of mana to form Proud Song Crystals, as long as the coverage range of the Proud Song Crystals didn't exceed a certain degree, its [Crystal Defense Rank] would be 40. The Proud Song Crystals had no durability or other trivial judgments. This thing only had [Crystal Defense Rank].
And the [Proud Song] ring directly increased the current [Crystal Defense Rank +40] of the Proud Song Crystals to [Crystal Defense Rank +200]. More importantly, there was this [Invasion Characteristics].
Crack, crack, crack~
The crystal layer instantly attached to Su Xiao's right hand. Compared to before, the spread speed was more than twice as fast. Whether for defense or attack, this was a qualitative improvement.
Su Xiao's right hand, covered in the crystal layer, emitted white smoke like icy cold air. This meant that the Proud Song ability could not only be used for defense. It wasn't impossible that in the future, Su Xiao would crouch down, press one hand on the ground, and everything within several tens of kilometers around would be assimilated by the Proud Song Crystals, making the surrounding area look like a frozen zone at first glance, but actually crystallizing all enemies.
[Proud Song] was ranked 485th among World-Class equipment, largely due to its particularly poor applicability. Only the Shadow of Law Destruction could use it.
"It seems we are all satisfied with each other's bargaining chips."
Demon Scythe·Aina pressed one hand on the Archbishop of the Abyss's left arm. The Archbishop of the Abyss's left arm withered. The feeling of the soul body regenerating made the Archbishop of the Abyss frown deeply. After a moment, Demon Scythe·Aina opened her eyes and said weakly, her face pale:
"You can feel it, right? The soul body of your left arm has begun to regenerate."
As soon as Demon Scythe·Aina finished speaking, her left arm began to wither. Clearly, she wasn't treating soul injuries. She used the Demon Scythe to cut off the karma of the Archbishop of the Abyss's left arm being soul-severed and absorbed it onto herself.
Seeing this, the Archbishop of the Abyss stood up and left. Judging by his direction, he was heading to [Blazing City].
Demon Scythe·Aina craned her neck to look. Seeing that the Archbishop of the Abyss had gone far, Aina's pale complexion quickly recovered. She got off the train and used her right middle and index fingers to induce vomiting. After a while, she spat out some black substance. Her left arm quickly recovered. Although Aina now had a left arm, in reality, the soul-severing of the Soul Severing Shadow hadn't been healed; it had been transferred to a Demon Scythe incarnation. With Aina's strength, she only had two incarnations, and one of them had permanently lost its left arm.
Returning to the train, Aina was as refreshed as a spring breeze. She glanced at Shilin, then sat opposite Su Xiao, picked up the remaining half bottle of Elemental Brew, took a big gulp, and asked:
"Where are you going next?"
"..."
"I'm not in a hurry to get the method to enter the mid-to-lower layers of the Abyss. Where are you going next?"
"Blazing City, of course."
Baha's words made Demon Scythe·Aina's eyes light up. She said: "Are you going to deal with the Abyss Descendants?"
"Of course."
"Damn!"
Demon Scythe·Aina slammed the table and stood up, speaking with righteous indignation: "As a Demon Scythe, eliminating Abyss Descendants is my duty. No need to say more. I'll go with you. Let's kill that old leech in Blazing City."
"Leech?"
Baha asked doubtfully.
"Yeah, don't you know? The Dukain Family represents insects among the Abyss Descendants. For example, the Beast Lord corresponds to the Mad Rage Insect, the Scorpion Empress represents the Venomous Insect, the Twin King is the Serpent Insect, and the Council Leader·Eugubaya is the Leech Insect."
Demon Scythe·Aina opened a floodgate of words. While drinking, she continued:
"The several Abyss Descendants all have different characteristics. Dukain is [Insect], Azguk is [Fish], Rune is [Beast], Bronze is [Bird], and the Collective is [Plant]? Something like that."
Demon Scythe·Aina suddenly widened her eyes and said angrily: "You don't even know this, and you claim to be proficient in Abyssology? You guys are practically cheating..."
Just as Aina said this, Su Xiao attempted to activate the talisman he had just made. A feeling that a directional Abyss Passage was about to open made Aina immediately swallow her words.
"So? Do you agree or not? Let me come along. I can help you deal with powerful enemies, you know."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He walked off the train and manipulated the Lord's Train to vanish into the alternate space. He opened the mask's filtering device and looked ahead at Blazing City. Even before entering the city, he felt a faint sense of heart palpitations, as if stepping into this place might truly cause him to die here.
He didn't know exactly how powerful this already-awakened Void Existence was. But considering that the other party had already finished off Council Leader·Eugubaya, it was time to make it leave.
Su Xiao took out a small section of tree root from the team storage space and attempted to activate this item. Seeing this, Demon Scythe·Aina's expression twisted.
"Mao, Maosheng? Wait, don't lure it here! I've offended it!"
Unfortunately, Demon Scythe·Aina's words came too late. The small section of tree root in Su Xiao's hand had already begun to grow, taking root in the space where they were.
Tree roots spread out from the space and wrapped around Demon Scythe·Aina's body. Aina immediately remained still, muttering apologies under her breath. In terms of trouble-causing ability, Green·Aina and her predecessor Green·Gillian were a match.
Demon Scythe·Aina had indeed called out too late, because besides Maosheng's Frenzy, Su Xiao could also lure Candle Woman or the Lord of the Old Days. This time, he was going to pay a page of [Book of Doors], and as the holder of [Book of Original Sin], which sealed six Original Sin Objects, after these two received a page of [Book of Doors], there was a ninety-nine percent chance they would leave, rather than showing strong malice toward Su Xiao.
The problem was that Demon Scythe·Aina had a little secret she hadn't mentioned: she had actually offended Candle Woman and the Lord of the Old Days as well.