# Chapter 35: Chance of Victory
Darkness, viscous and liquid-like darkness surged overhead, black insects burrowed through the spatial holes, and at this moment, the Ancient Dragon Kingdom looked like an apocalyptic scene.
Su Xiao stood alone facing this rolling apocalypse, his long blade drawn from its sheath, the tip angled toward the ground. If someone were to paint his silhouette against this apocalyptic scene, it would surely be particularly magnificent.
However, someone was indeed doing this. This was a hunched old man with a mechanical monocle embedded in his left eye, completely replacing its function. Though his face and skin were covered in wrinkles, his four arms indicated he wasn't human. His grayish-white, somewhat disheveled hair was tied into a thick braid, and the long cape he wore was slightly tattered, sometimes blocking his four arms.
He sat on a withered tree stump, before him an easel so ancient it seemed to come from the First Era. This was none other than an ancient existence, the Painter.
Don't think the Painter came to help Su Xiao or anything like that. Such ancient beings don't witness history—they themselves are part of history. Appearing here now was only because, when divining fate, they sensed that the Dukain family, this Abyss insect clan, had several fate lines heading toward destruction, so they came to record.
The image of Su Xiao holding his long blade, tip angled toward the ground, alone facing the world-devouring insects, was what the Painter was now painting. However, it existed in the void between, both within this world and not completely present—it was a pure recorder.
Dark liquid flowed down from above. Su Xiao leaped backward. The moment he jumped, a massive mass of dark liquid crashed down where he had just stood.
Countless pale white skeletons emerged from the dark liquid. A dark gate opened above the bone staircase, and the Dukain Ancestor walked out from the dark doorway, draped in a pitch-black cloak covered with eyeballs.
Beneath the cloak, the body was protected by a writhing insect armor that clung to the skin like a fusion. A single straight horn grew from the head, with branches spreading to both sides at the middle section, making it look like a cross overall.
Insect battle boots stepped onto the bone staircase, making metallic clacking sounds. Long black-purple hair spread out, each strand seeming to have its own life—once sensed, their strong aggressiveness became apparent.
Clack, clack~
A bone staff tapped step by step on the bone staircase. The Dukain Ancestor was actually lame, yet as it walked step by step, the dark sky began to press down, creating a suffocating feeling.
"You Law Destroyers are as reckless as ever."
The Dukain Ancestor spoke, no longer appearing old and weak, at most at the early stage of old age.
The detection-type mechanical bee on Su Xiao's sleeve exploded with a pop, but it had completed its mission.
[This detection failed. The enemy was once a 'Supreme Peak' individual, with undetectable remnants.]
[Due to Bubuteni's Charm attribute being 780 points, significantly higher than the enemy's -15 points, partial information was successfully detected. Information as follows:]
Name: Dukain Ancestor·Bain
Health: 1000%
Abyss Power: 2,800,000/2,800,000 points
True Strength: ???
True Agility: ???
True Stamina: ???
True Intelligence: ???
Charm: -15 points
Skill 1, Abyss Descendant (Abyss·Passive, X): ???
Skill 2, Parasitic Evil Birth (Supreme Passive, X): Using the power of Abyss insects, temporarily 'spawn' powerful beings from the current world, controlling them to fight for the 'Dukain Ancestor'.
Skill 3, Yellow Spring Gaze (Supreme Passive, X): Being stared at by the 'Dukain Ancestor' for more than 2 seconds will result in immediate 'Instant Death'.
Skill 4, Death Sentence (Supreme Passive, X): The 'Dukain Ancestor' can sentence an enemy to death, causing them to suffer 'Soul Execution'.
Warning: This ability has a cooldown of 3 minutes.
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Skill 8, Dark Dominion (Passive, X): Has 'absolute dominion' over dark characteristic energy. Dark-type ability damage +950%, and inflicts 10% of the damage dealt as dark true damage.
Tip: To view the branch characteristics of this ability, open the branch list.
???
???
Skill 17, Evil Awakening (Ultimate·Passive, X): The 'Dukain Ancestor' enters a stronger state at the cost of temporarily reducing 30% of its rationality.
Skill 18, Evil Insect Brain Devouring (Ultimate·Passive, X): Based on 'Evil Awakening', further enhances comprehensive characteristics, but temporarily loses 80% of rationality.
Skill 19, Death Evil Insect Body (Ultimate·Passive, X): Based on 'Evil Insect Brain Devouring', enters an ultimate state, but completely loses rationality until this state ends.
Skill 20, Ultimate Evil (Supreme Peak·Passive/Active, X): As the 'Dukain Ancestor' has not recovered to 'Supreme Peak', this ability is temporarily unavailable.
...
The Dukain Ancestor stopped at the middle section of the bone heavenly stairs, looking down at Su Xiao. There was no anger or hatred in its gaze. It had played games with too many powerful enemies, and the destruction of its painstakingly operated near-Abyss region was certainly a heavy loss, but in the Dukain Ancestor's long life, this could only be considered an unforgettable failure, nothing more.
The Dukain Ancestor had originally been the most insignificant Abyss insect, crawling upward step by step from the humblest weakness. Even after becoming one of the ancestors of several major Abyss clans, it could still face its former weakness and humble origins. In fact, in the Dukain family's internal records, the first line read:
'Our ancestor began as the weakest insect at the bottom of the primordial Abyss.'
This was inner strength—not escaping or hiding from one's former weakness and lowliness. Or rather, given the achievements of the Dukain Ancestor·Bain, though steeped in evil, looking across the Star Realm, this was already one of the most unignorable existences.
"My descendants, fight for me."
The Dukain Ancestor's bone staff tapped on the bone steps beneath its feet.
Thump~!
A shockwave containing both death and life spread out. This was nearly impossible, but from an Abyss insect to the Dukain Ancestor, such an achievement was actually more incredible than this.
On the wide bone staircase, flesh and bones surged. In a very short time, Beast Lord, Centipede Councilor, Red Scorpion Empress, Council Head·Egu Baiya, Insect Man·El, Liana, Hidden Abomination, Bogdo, and other Abyss descendants all appeared. They clustered around the Dukain Ancestor·Bain, standing or sitting on the bone heavenly stairs—the entire Dukain clan, gathered together.
"Go, my children."
The moment the Dukain Ancestor finished speaking, all Dukain family members charged toward Su Xiao. The Red Scorpion Empress was fastest, disappearing as red fluid and reappearing behind Su Xiao, revealing her malicious true form with a scorpion tail. Compared to her aura, Scorpion Lady was like a little side dish.
'Heaven's Wrath·Thunderclap Fall!'
Crack!
The realm thunderclouds that had been blocked by the flowing darkness above instantly scattered the darkness. Because this was a Transcendent World, coupled with temporarily abundant elemental power, a realm thunder pillar over a hundred kilometers in diameter fell in an instant.
Several hundred kilometers away, Su Xiao appeared where he had 'swapped' positions with the Demon Spirit. The moment he appeared, he could barely stand, golden arcs surging all over his body. This was why, after starting a death battle with a powerful enemy, he didn't use 'Heaven's Wrath·Thunderclap Fall' to call lightning and then 'swap' positions with the Demon Spirit.
Not to mention that during battle, the Demon Spirit needed to be within a few kilometers of him for such a 'swap' to be fastest. A farther 'swap' was possible, but would require an awakening time. In Su Xiao's current stage of combat, this brief time was enough for the enemy to take his life.
Second, Su Xiao needed to complete the 'swap' the instant the realm thunder fell. Otherwise, the realm thunder might strike in an L-shape, sharply turning before landing to track Su Xiao several hundred kilometers away. Don't doubt it—this was the strongest thunder, realm thunder.
Crushing a bottle of 'Crimson Potion' and using a 'Battle Potion', Su Xiao boarded the Lord's Train, letting Bubu Wang start the train and charge toward the Dukain Ancestor's direction. The battle had only just officially begun.
A distance of several hundred kilometers was just a short while for the Lord's Train. The earth had turned from pitch black to scorched. The bone heavenly stairs and the high hall summoned by the Dukain Ancestor were now in tatters. Ancient wyverns spawned by 'Parasitic Evil Birth' spread their dragon wings, forming a charred giant sphere.
The Lord's Train charged straight through, crashing into and shattering the charred sphere with a boom. The next moment, a dark giant hand emerged, pressing down toward the Lord's Train.
Clang!
A blade flash passed—it was Su Xiao standing on the train roof. Under the train's high speed, the hem of his long leather coat flapped noisily.
From the shattered charred sphere, it seemed the Dukain Ancestor had 'summoned and spawned' ancient dragons from the First Era of this world to successfully block the terrifying realm thunder just now.
Su Xiao leaped from the Lord's Train. Using the train's diving momentum, he slashed and shattered a kilometer-sized dark sphere ahead.
After this dark sphere shattered, it dissolved into the air like ink stains, confirming to Su Xiao that the Dukain Ancestor was stealing this world's World Force to form darkness.
The Dukain Ancestor stood in the surging darkness, facing the approaching Technique Grandmaster. It raised a single hand.
"Death."
The charging Su Xiao suddenly stopped for an instant. As one 'Blade Heart' shattered, his long blade slashed down fiercely.
Before the blade arrived, the wind pressure hit. A black blood mark suddenly appeared on the side of the Dukain Ancestor's neck, standing out clearly against its pale neck skin. Worth mentioning, due to resisting the realm thunder, its insect armor was in regeneration.
The Dukain Ancestor didn't sense the aura of a top Technique Grandmaster from Su Xiao. The problem was, this Law Destroyer's slashes were far more terrifying than ordinary top Technique Grandmasters.
'Darkness.'
Thump!
Su Xiao's entire body ached violently. He was sent flying by a weightlessness impact. Midair, his hand wrapped in crystal layer suddenly grabbed through space.
With a crack, Su Xiao's left hand seemed to emit white freezing mist, allowing him to hang in midair as if climbing with one hand.
'Extreme Blade·Blood Smoke Cannon.'
Su Xiao pointed his long blade forward. Blood Smoke Cannon gathered at the blade tip, unleashing with tremendous force.
Bang! The Dukain Ancestor's hand aimed at Su Xiao was knocked upward by the Blood Smoke Cannon, interrupting a method that would have pierced dark insects into Su Xiao's brain.
"Moo!"
Amu roared, charging toward the Dukain Ancestor. Note that the Dukain Ancestor was standing on surging dark tides. For Amu to charge over like this, it was unlikely to get close.
But Amu was no ordinary bull. When it charged onto the dark semi-fluid tide, it was immediately blocked and bound by the dark tide. It grabbed the dark tide with both hands, as if about to starve to death, and frantically stuffed it into its mouth.
Seeing this, even the Dukain Ancestor couldn't help but chuckle lightly. It was indeed amused by this Minotaur's stupidity. But the next second, its smile froze on its face. The reason was that this Minotaur, like slurping jelly, frantically sucked and swallowed, actually gulping down one-fifth of the Dukain Ancestor's dark tide.
To make an analogy, the importance of this dark tide to the Dukain Ancestor was equal to 'Wild Hunt Night' for Su Xiao.
The Dukain Ancestor rarely showed some anger in its eyes. Its hand raised, and a dark giant beast grabbed Amu with a crash. A terrifying scene appeared—the dark giant beast transformed into millions of insects, drowning Amu while frantically biting him.
The Dukain Ancestor stopped looking at Amu. In its view, this stupid bull was as good as dead. But it soon discovered that the dark tide beneath its feet was actually decreasing.
'Blade Path Sword·Flow.'
Clang!
The Dukain Ancestor's right hand turned pitch black, raised, and caught 'Flow'. This wind scar with powerful slashing force was held in its hand like this.
"At this level of technique, yet with such slashing power, astonishing."
The Dukain Ancestor flicked its dark hand. The wind scar of 'Flow', carrying the crisp sound of slashing, hit Amu who was being bitten by thousands of insects. Blood splattered everywhere, the wound deep enough to reach bone.
Seeing this, Su Xiao knew that his blade technique development couldn't keep up with his blade technique progress. But there was no help for it. After he advanced to Supreme, his Blade Grandmaster ability had progressed by leaps and bounds. However, all this wasn't a problem. With Reincarnation Paradise's 'Land of All Beings' assistance, this drawback could soon be remedied.
And after using 120 'Initial Skill Points' to upgrade, an awkward situation appeared—Su Xiao's melee basic attacks now exceeded 90% of his current blade techniques. He could confirm that these blade techniques weren't in vain, but these foundational blade technique things urgently needed a qualitative change.
Breakthrough during this battle? Su Xiao had never had such thoughts. If he dared to slack off for even a moment now, the Dukain Ancestor would take his head.
If some blade techniques weren't working well, then melee slashes and 'Blade Path Sword·Extreme' had received an epic enhancement.
Su Xiao's 'Blade Heart' shattered another one, but he confirmed that the Dukain Ancestor hadn't been staring at him continuously. This made him discover a problem—the hundreds or thousands of eyes born in the space behind the Dukain Ancestor could all trigger the Dukain Ancestor's 'Yellow Spring Gaze' ability.
The good news was, for some reason, Amu hadn't triggered a single instant death judgment. This made Su Xiao think of a possibility. Amu, having devoured over 30 portions of 'Abyss Source Matter', had gained an Abyss constitution. Was the hidden benefit of this characteristic immunity to instant death? No. Complete immunity to instant death was such a powerful ability that it would definitely manifest. So it could only be that Amu, due to having an Abyss constitution, simply wouldn't receive instant death judgments.
It was like yelling at a deaf person—it wasn't that the deaf person wasn't afraid of being scolded, they simply couldn't hear. No matter how creatively the other party cursed, it was zero damage.
Su Xiao's 'Blade Hearts' were limited, so he had to end this quickly. What he needed to do now was get within three meters of the Dukain Ancestor, but the other's dark tide was truly troublesome...
Well, it was no longer troublesome. Amu was being gnawed by dark insects until his whole body was bloody and mangled, and had also taken a Death Dark Spear from the Dukain Ancestor. The power of this thing—even if Su Xiao took one hit, he'd lose half his life.
Amu roared in pain, but it didn't stop him from stuffing dark tide into his mouth.
This truly angered the Dukain Ancestor. It raised a single hand.
'Darkness.'
Starting from the Dukain Ancestor's hand, darkness suddenly erupted, then quickly contracted. The World Force consumed by this caused the surrounding world to instantly turn gray-white, losing some of its color.
'Grant.'
The dark sphere in the Dukain Ancestor's hand disappeared. Almost instantly, Su Xiao felt a hair-raising sense of crisis. He slashed diagonally—a slash carrying the characteristic of 'Perfect Block'.
'Perfect Block.'
Clang!!
The dark sphere that would have instantly appeared inside his skull, then triggered a dark explosion, was actually blocked and bounced out from a spatial gap.
The Dukain Ancestor had certainly experienced the Silver Moon Wolf's 'Perfect Block' ability.
But this current situation—an attack-type slash that carried the characteristic of 'Perfect Block'—the Dukain Ancestor had never seen such a thing. And 'Dark Fate' wasn't a physical characteristic slash or attack ability. Could such abilities also be blocked?
For a moment, the Dukain Ancestor actually gained new understanding of the Moon Wolf clan's 'Perfect Block' ability. If the Moon Wolves knew about this, they might blush with embarrassment and emphasize again that their 'Perfect Block' ability really wasn't this strong.
Su Xiao slashed diagonally, creating a black mark in the space ahead. He charged fiercely into it. The next second, in the spatial area before the Dukain Ancestor...
Thump!
A dull sound caused the space before the Dukain Ancestor to be covered with protruding cracks. This area of space shattered, and a figure holding a long blade charged out.
The Dukain Ancestor manipulated darkness, preparing to blast Amu away. But Amu bit down on the space before him, causing it to crack with a snap.
Boom!
Violent repulsive force acted on Su Xiao and Amu. The flesh on Amu's body was torn, but his two large hands stabbed into the dark tide. His solid flat teeth firmly bit into the space. He actually withstood the Dukain Ancestor's dark impact.
Su Xiao, who had just charged out from the spatial rift, successfully evaded the dark impact behind Amu. The ground where he and Amu stood was plowed away over a hundred meters deep.
Su Xiao leaped onto Amu's shoulder, one foot stepping on Amu's shoulder, the other on Amu's bloody left hand, and he leaped out with a boom.
After Amu landed, blood splattered everywhere. But this simple-minded bull let out a roar, not retreating but advancing, charging toward the Dukain Ancestor.
Just as Su Xiao arrived before the Dukain Ancestor, he was greeted by absolute darkness. If anyone else entered within ten meters of the Dukain Ancestor, whether perception, vision, hearing, or other senses, they would be temporarily deprived. Note, not suppressed or blocked, but the more unresolvable deprivation.
But 'Absolute Perception' couldn't be deprived.
'Darkness.'
The Dukain Ancestor raised its hand, already aimed at the approaching Su Xiao. Terrifying impact force came before Su Xiao.
'Swap.'
Su Xiao exchanged positions with the Demon Spirit.
Boom!!
A thunderous sound that echoed over a thousand kilometers shook the surrounding space repeatedly. Before the Dukain Ancestor was a layer upon layer spreading, soundwave-like world wound. This wasn't simply breaking space—it had left a wound on this world.
"Hoo~"
The Dukain Ancestor let out a long breath. Using this attack was also a heavy burden. But somehow, it was certain by intuition that it couldn't let this Law Destroyer get close, or there would be serious consequences. This Law Destroyer had most likely recently received a massive enhancement, making his mid-to-long-range lethality and close combat strength not on the same level.
'Instant Return.'
Su Xiao returned to the position where he had 'swapped' with the Demon Spirit—that is, before the Dukain Ancestor.
Hum!
Golden light burst from Dragon-Slaying Flash. This was the scene when technique energy was extremely concentrated. The next second, this golden light contracted, turning Dragon-Slaying Flash's blade golden.
A melee slash.
Clang!
The slashing sharpness that pierced the heavens forced the Dukain Ancestor, who had been preparing to use an insect substitute to bear this attack, to twist its body and endure. It wasn't that it didn't want to use the substitute—this terrifying slash, with its regional slashing might, caused the soul thread connection between it and the insect substitute to snap and break.
This was what it looked like when basic attacks were ultimate moves in the late stage. No matter how mysterious the enemy's abilities, when the slashing power was sufficient, it would affect the spatial energy, soul energy, etc., over a large surrounding area.
When everything around was severed by the slashing might, the only remaining choice was to endure.
The long blade clashed with the dark staff-sword. With a crack, the dark staff-sword shattered on contact. The long blade slashed down. The Dukain Ancestor's left arm, most of its left torso, and even half of its left leg were all severed.
'Darkness.'
Boom!!
Su Xiao instantly disappeared from his position, reappearing over a kilometer away, flying backward while trailing specks of blood.
The Dukain Ancestor landed. At its severed arm, torso, and leg positions, flesh rapidly spread. But the next second, the flesh forming the arm, torso, and left side burst apart. This was the soul-slashing of a Blade Grandmaster.
The dark tide surged over. Seeing the current dark tide, even the Dukain Ancestor couldn't help but twitch its cheek. That stupid bull had eaten it down to one-fifth. It simply used this dark tide to form its left arm, torso, and left leg.
The Dukain Ancestor stepped forward. With each step, space twisted, allowing it to instantly cross a kilometer. It wanted to take advantage of Su Xiao being heavily injured to completely eliminate this Law Destroyer.
"Moo!"
Amu charged over in large strides. He now had unparalleled survivability, but Abyss-type enhancements were always extreme and came with sacrifices. Amu's attack power wasn't enough to threaten the Dukain Ancestor. The problem was, Amu was now carrying a 'Blazing Sun's Wrath·Apollo'.
This made the Dukain Ancestor frown. It raised its hand toward Amu. Amu and the 'Blazing Sun's Wrath·Apollo' were sent flying. Midair, to avoid being further entangled by this simple-minded bull, the darkness in the Dukain Ancestor's eyes nearly boiled. A giant phantom appeared—this was none other than this world's World Giant, now become one of the Dukain Ancestor's abilities.
The World Giant, with its dark giant hammer, swung horizontally at Amu. As the surrounding space shattered with crackling sounds, this attack that caused cracks in the world hit Amu.
The surrounding sounds disappeared for an instant due to the excessive volume. Amu turned into light and disappeared into the distance. The half-sun that suddenly appeared on the distant horizon was caused by the explosion of that 'Blazing Sun's Wrath·Apollo'.
Who said Amu was simple-minded? The fact that he took the 'Blazing Sun's Wrath·Apollo' from the team storage space instead of the 'Sun Holy Sword' showed that Amu wasn't actually stupid.
The Dark World Giant collapsed, temporarily unable to be summoned again.
Although Amu was beaten down, life or death unknown, compared to the past when he would exit after taking a big move, the current Amu could make even a terrifying enemy like the Dukain Ancestor start to find him troublesome. Amu was simply too hard to kill.
Sharp slashing might approached. The Dukain Ancestor's right hand turned pitch black. Just as it was about to manipulate the surrounding world to bind the approaching slashing might, it discovered that the incoming blade light was entirely black-blue, with black smoke spreading on it.
"Roar!"
An ancient wyvern with only half its body remaining as bones was spawned under the effect of 'Parasitic Evil Birth'. It spread its dragon wings and flew backward.
Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao swapped positions with the exploding black-blue blade light—that is, the Demon Spirit—and slashed diagonally upward.
Clang!
The resurrected ancient dragon was cut in two with one slash. It wasn't that the dragon was weak. This ancient dragon was a powerful being from the early First Era, too far away in time. Even if temporarily resurrected by 'Parasitic Evil Birth', it was mostly in skeletal form.
Su Xiao advanced forward. Suddenly, a hair-raising sense of crisis made him twist his body. A black insect, extending a hundred meters long, as thick as a python's water barrel, opened a dark mouth full of sharp teeth and bit past Su Xiao.
Blood splattered everywhere. Su Xiao's left arm was gone. Facing this situation, he had plenty of experience. As his left arm was lost, crystals spread, and a 'Battle Prosthetic·Left Arm' quickly formed.
The impact of this evil insect bite slowed Su Xiao's advance. Opposite him, the Dukain Ancestor stood atop a dark evil insect several meters thick and hundreds of meters long. Behind it were dark evil insects as thick as water barrels, covered in eyes, ferocious and terrifying.
Su Xiao's 'Blade Heart' shattered another one. His entire body ached as if blood was about to burst out, but he was remarkably calm.
The Dukain Ancestor pointed forward with one hand. The hundreds of dark evil insects behind it, like launched giant cannon fists, came crashing toward Su Xiao. But being hit by them wasn't like taking a heavy punch—it meant having a large chunk of flesh bitten off, or even having one's head or entire upper body bitten off in one go.
Boom, boom, boom...
The dark evil insects formed afterimages. Su Xiao leaped between their attacks, occasionally slashing out, and several dark evil insects' heads would be severed.
"In my name, I sentence you to death."
The Dukain Ancestor's newly restored bone staff stabbed forward into a dark eye. This dark eye let out a sharp and painful roar, then its pupil transformed into the shape of a Law Destruction mark.
Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao's 'Blade Heart' shattered another one.
This was what fighting Abyss descendants was like. If one didn't have enough means to negate 'instant death', they wouldn't even qualify to fight them.
This shattered 'Blade Heart' caused Su Xiao's entire body to ache. As he dodged the dark evil insects' bites, his movements slowed. A dark evil insect opened its mouthparts several meters in diameter and swallowed him in one gulp.
Just as it successfully swallowed Su Xiao into its mouthparts, this dark evil insect turned blazing red. The terrifying dark red flame inside it, called Abyss Karma Fire, was detonated by the Dukain Ancestor.
The moment it swallowed Su Xiao, this dark evil insect suddenly froze. Its filthy and chaotic vertical pupils quickly took on a crystal color. Then, this water-barrel-thick, hundreds-of-meters-long dark evil insect crystallized and froze.
Crack, crack, crack!
Crystallization rapidly spread outward. The Dukain Ancestor, atop the largest dark evil insect, floated upward. In a very short time, everything below that touched the ground was crystallized.
Bang! Everything within dozens of kilometers on the ground exploded into crystal fragments.
Su Xiao crouched among these crystal fragments. He looked at the Dukain Ancestor and made a grasping motion with one hand toward it, causing all the crystal fragments to fly and converge toward the Dukain Ancestor.
A dark evil insect hidden in a 'spatial rift' suddenly appeared, biting vertically down at Su Xiao from above.
'Feather Shell.'
Feather-like crystal fragments scattered. Su Xiao leaped backward, penetrating through space like a soul leaving its body, leaving behind a crystal shell that was shattered in one bite.
Midair, the Dukain Ancestor frowned at the approaching crystal fragments. These crystal fragments had no offensive properties, but combat instinct told it not to touch them.
Boom! The Dukain Ancestor's dark aura erupted, blasting the surrounding crystal fragments away. But these crystal fragments rapidly dissolved, transforming from crystal state to energy state, forming energy threads as thick as little fingers—a super-enlarged version of Spirit Shadow Threads.
First, it must be understood that both Proud Song Crystals and Spirit Shadow Threads were transformed from Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. That is, except when Proud Song Crystals were completely solidified into crystal state—forming 'Battle Prosthetics' and such—they could be reconverted to Cyan Steel Shadow Energy form and then form Spirit Shadow Threads.
Looking at the Spirit Shadow Threads that spread over dozens of kilometers, piercing into and through space, the Dukain Ancestor suddenly felt something was wrong. Behind it, a dark evil insect formed, preparing to swallow it.
A boom sounded—actually several consecutive booms, but because they were linked so quickly, they sounded like one. Su Xiao stepped on the Spirit Shadow Threads and appeared before the Dukain Ancestor.
'Blade Path Sword·Extreme.'
Hum!!
Intense golden light—no, because the golden light was too dense, it had turned dark gold—enhanced Dragon-Slaying Flash's blade edge, slashing toward the Dukain Ancestor.
The Dukain Ancestor's eyes widened slightly. Its combat intuition told it very clearly that if it took this slash, even as an Abyss descendant, it wouldn't come out intact. If this Law Destroyer disregarded martial virtue and directly activated Demon Blade, dying here in one blow was also possible. Ultimately, its current form was too weak.
"Sigh."
The Dukain Ancestor let out a sigh. Before enduring this slash, its pupils shattered.
Clang!!
A slash mark appeared on the Dukain Ancestor's forehead, as if about to split it in two.
"Old thing, you finally agreed to let us out."
A smile gradually appeared on the Dukain Ancestor's face. Its body's flesh surged, growing from just over two meters tall to five meters tall. Black worms surged all over its body, forming a humanoid monster with eight python-like insect arms.
The Dukain Ancestor's evil had awakened.
Boom!!
Violent black waves erupted centered on the Evil Ancestor. It had over a dozen eyes of various sizes. Its mouth's cheeks split open, forming a grinning shape, with sharp teeth and forked tongues extending out.
Wah! The Evil Ancestor spewed out a large number of insects. These insects burrowed into this world's space, beginning to pollute this region's world.
'Kill! Destroy! Annihilate!!'
The Evil Ancestor was practically hysterical. The ground beneath its feet sank with a boom. It actually charged actively toward Su Xiao, its insect arms biting at him.
Clang, clang, clang!
Quick blade cut through the chaotic insects. The Evil Ancestor's eight insect arms were sliced apart, but they immediately regenerated. These weren't the core parts of its body, so there was no soul-slashing situation.
The long blade slashed down with force, bringing wind pressure. The oncoming slash caused the five-meter-tall Evil Ancestor's body to be pressed down with a boom, forcing it to one knee.
Clang.
The long blade slashed through the Evil Ancestor's head from a distance, cutting off half of its head diagonally.
A straight kick. Bang! The Evil Ancestor nearly fell to the ground, going from one knee to supporting itself with one hand. The long blade slashed in from its shoulder.
"Heh, hahahaha!"
Mad and extremely evil laughter came from the Evil Ancestor's mouth. Its entire body quickly grew a large number of black insect arms, entangling Su Xiao. Completely disregarding the slashing wounds, its mouthparts opened wide enough that black blood splattered from the corners. A large number of dark insects spewed from its mouth, pouring down toward Su Xiao's head.
The surrounding space was too severely damaged by insect bites to use 'Dragon Shadow Flash' or 'Feather Shell'. Swapping with the Demon Spirit was possible, but the problem was that 'Swap' only had two uses left.
The good news was that the Dukain Ancestor was different from the Abyss Ancient Dragon. It didn't have the ability to instantly restore health to full. It seemed that should be unique to the Ancient Dragon system, only reaching that level of power after being unrestrictedly enhanced by the Abyss.
After taking two melee slashes from Su Xiao, the Evil Ancestor's health dropped below 600%. This showed how terrifying Su Xiao's slashing power was at this stage. The Dukain Ancestor was unquestionably the strongest in this world.
Crystals spread. The filthy insects pouring down toward Su Xiao's head crystallized and spread toward the Evil Ancestor's body.
The Evil Ancestor leaned back with all its strength. Crack! It broke free from the crystal assimilation, but its lower half was torn off. Numerous eyes appeared on its body.
"I curse you, senility (Unknown Language)."
The Evil Ancestor emitted a murmuring sound like from the underground underworld, using a language never heard before.
Su Xiao, who was about to step forward, suddenly felt his entire body strange. He raised his hand holding the blade and found it aged and withered. His skin had lost vitality, becoming wrinkled and loose. His hair uncontrollably grew long and turned gray-white. His vision had even blurred somewhat.
Su Xiao had truly aged. Logically, the Evil Ancestor should have taken the opportunity to attack, killing him while he was aged and weakened.
But the Evil Ancestor's radial pupils suddenly contracted to their limit. On the side of its neck, a pale arm broke through and grew out. This arm aimed at Su Xiao. It was actually... going to remove Su Xiao's aging?
After entering the second stage—that is, after the 'Evil Awakening' ability was triggered—the Dukain Ancestor's rationality decreased by one-third. In exchange, it gained powerful close combat ability, even able to fight Su Xiao in melee.
But the decrease in rationality caused the Dukain Ancestor, now the Evil Ancestor, to overlook one problem—Blade Grandmasters sometimes grew stronger with age.
'Extreme Blade...'
As Su Xiao slashed out this strike, the aging curse quickly lifted, but it was already too late.
Clang!!
A slash mark spread diagonally into the sky. This black slash mark would exist for a very long time. The world where it passed was cut open.
The Evil Ancestor couldn't dodge this slash at all. But the second before being hit, its head suddenly swelled—its third stage, 'Evil Insect Brain Devouring'.
The Evil Ancestor quickly transformed into a giant brain monster. Its entire body spewed semi-transparent insects. These insects had undying characteristics and were extremely difficult to deal with. Once an enemy was contaminated by even a little, these insects would rapidly multiply.
Furthermore, given enough time, the Brain-Devouring Ancestor could fill the entire Ancient Dragon Kingdom with these transparent insects, from ground to sky.
But just as the Brain-Devouring Ancestor entered its third stage, a black slash mark suddenly appeared on its torso. Facts proved once again that Blade Grandmasters were more terrifying in their old age. What's more, Su Xiao had used 120,000 'Supreme Potential Points' to advance to Supreme and obtained:
[Due to your ultra-limit specification Supreme advancement, you have obtained ??? Supreme Upper Limit!]
This was a real, existing upper limit, not an illusory, verbal claim that Technique Grandmasters grew stronger with age. Of course, as a Reincarnation Paradise Hunter, Su Xiao's path toward the strongest wouldn't involve growing stronger with age. He would either die halfway or reach the peak while still relatively young.
The Brain-Devouring Ancestor naturally discovered that entering this stage wasn't enough to withstand that terrifying slash from before. It immediately entered its ultimate form, 'Death Evil Insect Body'.
"Roar!!!"
The terrifying evil thing from the Abyss finally revealed its true form. A hundred-meter-tall massive body, roughly resembling an ancient wyvern that had been skinned alive, with bone spikes covering its back. Its wings were formed from individual dark evil insects, with soft, drooping insect bodies hanging like tassels beneath the wings. It had six heads and long necks tightly coiled together, the six heads squeezing and fusing into one twisted head.
Snap! A black slash mark exploded on the Death Evil Ancestor's chest. This was why it didn't reveal its 'Evil Insect Body' but rather the ancient wyvern it had once devoured—it needed the ancient wyvern's astonishing flight speed.
Clang!
The long blade broke through the air. The Death Evil Ancestor endured this slash, large amounts of black insects scattering—this was the Death Evil Ancestor's blood. It spread its wings and flew up with a boom. One wrong decision had put it at a huge disadvantage. This was also why the Dukain Ancestor urgently needed to recover to 'Supreme Peak'.
In the past, it could stack four states simultaneously, rather than switching between them like now. And stacking states didn't cause rationality to decrease. It was just the lingering effects of being soul-slashed multiple times by Green Gillian, which hadn't healed to this day.
The Death Evil Ancestor flew up with a boom and disappeared at the horizon. Su Xiao was about to pursue on foot but gave up. Chasing at ancient dragon-level flight speed on foot was too stupid. The Lord's Train was driven over by Bubu Wang. He leaped onto the roof. Worth mentioning, Amu was recovering from injuries inside the carriage.
Crack, crack, crack~
Crystal layer spread beneath Su Xiao's feet. Although the crystal layer provided stability, he crouched down as a safety measure. The Lord's Train started with a boom, chasing the Death Evil Ancestor.
At this moment, in the Queen's City·19th District, Back Street Walking District.
Today was the Queen's City's annual Bumper Summer Festival, marking the approach of midsummer. Various fruits and vegetables unique to the 19th District were about to be marketed and transported to other districts. This was the main income source for most laborers in the 19th District, truly worth celebrating.
At the festival venue, various fruits and vegetables were displayed on wooden shelves along the street for people to take freely. The 19th District's finances were quite good, and with several capable middle-level officials, the district's already decent economy had moved forward thirty places.
A girl with fresh floral decorations on her head and a hint of shyness in her eyes stood on the street steps, looking around, waiting for her lover. Compared to the more outgoing residents of the neighboring 27th District, residents of the 19th District were generally more conservative. But the girl standing on tiptoes, looking around, had decided in her heart to give her already-engaged lover a little gift that crossed the boundary of conservatism.
Across the street, a teenage boy out with his family was somewhat distracted. Watching his younger siblings' happy smiles, the rebellious teenager snorted dismissively. His slightly chubby father, seeing this, sighed inwardly, feeling like his eldest child had been raised wrong.
People on the street laughed and talked. Children chased and played. Food vendors' cries were endless.
In the midst of this lively beauty, a wind-breaking boom sounded. With a crash, the massive ancient wyrm crashed down on this street block. Large buildings turned to powder. The surrounding pedestrians weren't even reduced to flesh—they were turned into blood mist by the terrifying force impact, spreading around. None survived.
From all over the Death Evil Ancestor's body, thin insects grew. These insects burrowed into the ground, continuously spreading and multiplying. In a very short time, they covered the entire 19th District.
Thump~thump!
A huge heartbeat sound appeared. All living beings in the 19th District had their hearts beat at the same frequency, and they beat their last simultaneously, producing such a huge heartbeat sound.
In an instant, this prosperous and beautiful district turned into a dead city. Massive amounts of stripped life force converged toward the Death Evil Ancestor.
The Lord's Train crashed through buildings. The next second after the Death Evil Ancestor devoured these life forces, it was sent flying into the distance with a boom.
Python-like dark insect bodies grew from the Death Evil Ancestor's back. It transformed into a humanoid form overall, with wings on its back, over a dozen dark insect bodies behind it, and holes covering its thick arms. This was the Death Evil Ancestor's strongest form. And the black slash mark on its chest had been smoothed away.
A blood shadow charged from the direction where the Lord's Train had been. Seeing this, the Death Evil Ancestor's large hand stabbed into the darkness, pulling out a twisted blade and slashing toward the approaching blood shadow.
Clang!
The Death Evil Ancestor's twisted blade was blocked, but the smile on its face grew more cruel. Its massive body instantly transformed into a sea of Abyss insects, enveloping Su Xiao within. More precisely, the surrounding kilometer range was flooded by these Abyss insects. If not for the Lord's Train's protection, Bubu Wang would have been instantly killed. Baha could hold out for a while, but he was a Space System after all.
Dense slashes passed around Su Xiao. His perception range contracted to a five-meter diameter, making the slashes within the perception range denser. Even so, insects that broke through the slashes still opened their sharp mouths to bite, each bite taking a piece of flesh.
"Mad Devour."
A harsh voice like scraping glass came. The surrounding Abyss insects suddenly erupted with even denser Abyss aura, causing Su Xiao to be drowned on the spot.
The moment he was drowned by the insect sea, Su Xiao's 'Blade Hearts' shattered several in succession. Even more terrifying, his life-saving ability 'Blood Controller' was instantly triggered. Death was coming head-on.
Several Abyss insects broke through Su Xiao's body defense, burrowing into his right arm and back, leaving finger-thick blood holes. This brought intense pain and the powerful force of these few Abyss insects frantically squirming within his flesh.
Crystal assimilation spread, forcing back the encroaching insect sea by a few points. The few insects that had burrowed into his right arm and back immediately died and were pulled out of his flesh by Spirit Shadow Threads in crystallized form.
In his ears was the rustling sound of insects squirming and rubbing. Su Xiao knew that life and death hung in this instant. His aura was remarkably calm. Suddenly, he penetrated through space.
'Blade Path Sword·Soul·Ring Break.'
Whoosh! Soul black flame ring-shaped blade light slashed outward centered on Su Xiao. But facing the surging Abyss insects, it had zero attack power.
This was natural. Su Xiao had slashed out this Ring Break while in a space-penetrating state. In less than 0.5 seconds, the spatial dimension he was in was bitten through by Abyss insects, forcing him out of space penetration.
It seemed like a useless slash with huge cost. But the purpose of this slash was to determine the enemy's position through the outward-spreading soul ring slash. This sudden inspiration technique worked.
The Death Evil Ancestor's filthy and powerful soul, even when spreading 'Soul·Ring Break' through spatial cracks, still showed some fluctuation. Plus, the surrounding space had been riddled with holes by Abyss insect bites.
The moment he determined the Death Evil Ancestor's position, 'Dead Silence Ember' appeared in Su Xiao's hand. Feeling the faintly transmitted dead silence power in his right palm causing skin stinging, he pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A hundred meters was just an instant for 'Super·Ember Annihilation Bullet'. The Ember Annihilation Bullet hit the enemy's chest among the Abyss insects a hundred meters away, causing the Abyss insect swarm to momentarily freeze.
Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao entered a near-death state. Although no Abyss insects were close, being within this insect domain caused his health to rapidly decline. In at most 3 seconds, he would die here.
Black-blue smoke emerged, passing through the insects ahead. No matter how the Abyss insects bit, they couldn't stop the Demon Spirit. The reason was that on the fired Ember Annihilation Bullet was wrapped a small amount of Demon Spirit energy.
Su Xiao instantly swapped positions with the Demon Spirit, appearing before the Dukain Ancestor. This so-called 'Death Evil Ancestor' state, at its core, was fundamentally the Dukain Ancestor.
"Death."
The Dukain Ancestor seemed to have been waiting. More deadly, Su Xiao's 'Blade Hearts' had been exhausted in this Abyss insect sea.
Just as death approached, Su Xiao again 'swapped' positions with the Demon Spirit. The Demon Spirit took this instant death judgment.
'Instant Return.'
Su Xiao returned from outside the Abyss insect sea back into it. But this time, his health recovered a small portion—he had crushed a bottle of 'Crimson Secret Medicine'.
Su Xiao successfully launched a surprise attack before the Dukain Ancestor. This slash was so powerful that the surrounding Abyss insects shattered with crackling sounds.
"Death, Recurrence."
The Dukain Ancestor pointed at Su Xiao again. The two were close at hand.
If nothing unexpected happened, Su Xiao had lost this round. Instant death would take effect before the long blade. The problem was, if he didn't have some certainty, would Su Xiao be so reckless as to 'Instant Return' into the Abyss insect sea?
The moment he 'Instant Returned', a huge sound came from outside the insect sea. It was Baha's close-range spatial teleportation, prepared from the start of the battle. More precisely, on Amu's body, a single-use ultra-fast teleportation had been formed that could activate normally even in broken spatial areas.
The pupils in the Dukain Ancestor's eyes emitted faint light. Opposite it, the long blade covered with black-blue smoke broke through a large number of Abyss insects, stabbing toward the Dukain Ancestor's chest—a Demon Blade execution slash.
Crack!
A horrifying scene appeared. Amu suddenly appeared behind the Dukain Ancestor. Amu didn't have powerful attack power, but he had a stomach sac that could devour Abyss-type creatures, and a set of teeth that had also been enhanced by the Abyss, particularly surprisingly good teeth. The Amu that appeared behind actually opened its mouth to the maximum and bit off one-third of the Dukain Ancestor's head.
The Dukain Ancestor's pupils trembled chaotically. At the same time, the blade covered with black-blue smoke had pierced through its chest. Behind it, a crystal sky wall formed. The long blade pierced through, pinning the Dukain Ancestor to this crystal wall.
Boom! The entire world trembled from this blade.
Covered in blood, his long leather coat torn to strips hanging down, fortunately held by the blade belt at his waist so Wild Hunt Night didn't scatter.
Bare-chested, Su Xiao gradually pulled out the long blade that had pierced the Dukain Ancestor's chest. As the blade withdrew, the crystal sky wall behind the Dukain Ancestor cracked. Along with it, as the blade covered with black-blue smoke was pulled out, it extracted a pure black power from the Dukain Ancestor's body. This caused the Dukain Ancestor's hands to form claws, its two-thirds remaining head's pupils trembling, unable to move at all.
Clang!
Su Xiao slashed horizontally. The long blade left specks of black-blue residual flames in the air. With one slash, the Dukain Ancestor's head flew off with a sound.
The scene of Su Xiao beheading the Dukain Ancestor with one slash was frozen and recorded, forming a painting where only the scattered flame embers had color, everything else having lost some color due to this world's withering. Magnificent, with a sense of fate.
The surrounding Abyss insect sea dissipated with a bang, leaving floating embers in the air. The Dukain Ancestor tremblingly raised its hand. Its flying head opened its eyes wide:
"You... traitors, you... traitor, Abyss..."
The Dukain Ancestor's headless body raised its hand, as if trying to grasp something distant.
Snap!
The Dukain Ancestor exploded into a large number of Abyss insects. Before they could land, they were burned up by 'Blood Ember Embers' in the air.
Su Xiao flicked the long blade in his hand, causing the clinging embers to scatter everywhere. The long blade returned to its sheath.
The Dukain Ancestor had been slain!
PS: (Final battle chapter. Didn't want to take a day off and post the next day, so today's update postpones the holiday to tomorrow. Dear readers, please forgive me.)