Chapter 43: Fei
Rumble~
Thunder rolled overhead in the gray sky, and a fine drizzle began to fall over the ancient battlefield. But this clearly wasn't the ancient battlefield's style. Before long, a torrential downpour descended, and under the erosion of blood energy, a light red blood rain fell.
The blood rain was similar to normal rain, aside from the bloody smell and a faint red tint; it lacked the stickiness of blood.
The blood energy surging toward Fei abruptly stopped. This ferocious beast, over thirty meters in length and entirely in beast form, began to change shape. Its body rapidly shrank, and before long, it transformed into a creature five meters tall. Its lower body was upright but still more beast-like, while its upper body resembled a human. Its left hand was a ferocious beast claw with scales on the arm, and its right arm was human, with only a thumb, index finger, and middle finger.
Hum~
A metallic hum sounded as a blood-colored blade flew over. This weapon was over four meters long, shaped like a curved greatsword. The blade edge was lined with beast-tooth structures, and the hilt was covered in writhing tentacles, each as thick as a thumb. As Fei grasped the hilt, these tentacles pierced into various parts of its left forearm.
A bone mask formed over Fei's face, covering its entire visage and revealing a single, vivid red vertical eye. With a series of cracking sounds, the mask around its mouth broke irregularly, exposing sharp fangs.
"Ha~"
Fei exhaled blood energy, and layers of bloody aura spread outward.
"Roar!!!"
Fei let out a roar that had been silent for thousands of years, its gaze fixed on the Law Destroyer sitting atop a massive skull.
"So, you're ready to challenge me."
Su Xiao gulped down the last half of the wine in his bottle. A few drops trickled from the corner of his mouth and chin. After finishing the wine, he calmly rose and leaped down barefoot.
Su Xiao rarely spoke before a battle. The reason was that this fight wasn't just about killing the opponent to win; he needed to obtain the "Blood Source Matter," and this was his only chance to get it. Otherwise, the fusion of the three techniques would be for nothing.
"Kill me, and you'll regain your freedom."
Hearing Su Xiao's calm words, Fei's single eye grew even redder. It vanished from its spot in an instant, and the next moment, the place it had been exploded with a bang, leaving a spatial crack and a sunken crater in the ground.
The blood blade slashed down.
Clang!
The long blade parried, holding firm. This made Fei's single eye widen in surprise. Its proud strength was being blocked so easily.
Fei's vertical pupil reflected Su Xiao's figure, which then shattered—a means of soul destruction.
"..."
Su Xiao remained calm, even flicking his long blade, forcing Fei, who had just delivered a full-power slash, to take a big step back. This enraged Fei to the point where its vertical pupil trembled. It had lost so utterly in strength.
Fei's right claw slammed into the ground. In an instant, the entire ancient battlefield was covered in interwoven metal blood spikes over ten meters long.
Su Xiao stood unmoved. A mist-like white cold air spread, and the metal blood spikes near him were assimilated by crystals. Not only that, but he also controlled the crystal assimilation to spread toward Fei.
Fei immediately leaped back, but the next second, a blood moon appeared above. This blood-red full moon hung high in the sky, and a whistling sound came as blood-colored crystal weapons rained down like arrows, chasing Fei.
Fei charged at full speed toward Su Xiao, the falling crystal weapons pursuing it in a path-like tracking attack tens of meters wide. Fei was furious. The blood energy on its blade was so dense that the curved heavy weapon seemed about to drip blood.
"Roar!"
The surrounding environment changed dramatically. The blood rainstorm grew even fiercer, and the water on the ground rose to knee-deep, as if turning the ancient battlefield into a sea of blood.
Clang!!
Fei's full-power blood blade strike was blocked by Dragon-Slaying Flash. What Fei found even harder to accept was that the long blade was steady, and its wielder stood unmoved.
With a boom, the blood water within dozens of kilometers surged outward, revealing the washed-clean ground. The impact of this clash caused the torrential rain to stop abruptly.
In that instant, Fei felt as if its strong heart had been hollowed out. But then, it steeled itself again, sensing a hint of conspiracy.
The moment this thought appeared, the vivid red of Fei's single eye dimmed slightly, indicating that the probability of condensing the "Blood Source Matter" had decreased.
Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao met Fei's single eye.
'Time: Dominator.'
Thump~
A time-slowing phenomenon enveloped Fei, but Fei grinned, showing its sharp teeth. The enemy was indeed not as invincible as it had imagined.
The blood energy on Fei's body withered, and it used this to break free from the time slow, leaping backward.
Su Xiao made a slashing motion forward, and a black slash mark appeared in front of Fei. This restored some of Fei's battered confidence, and it prepared to shatter the incoming black slash with its blood blade.
Suddenly, the black slash transformed into the Blade Demon Spirit. Su Xiao, who had "swapped" positions with the Blade Demon Spirit, appeared in front of Fei, who had just landed with its right claw on the ground. He delivered a simple, unadorned straight kick.
Such a simple, even crude attack stirred Fei's cruel and battle-hungry nature. But in the next instant, everything stopped.
Su Xiao's straight kick hit Fei's abdomen. At that moment, Fei felt as if time were flowing backward. It recalled its weak beginnings, the protection of its kin, and finally, how its entire clan was slaughtered by that terrifying existence. It would never forget the figure shrouded in primordial natural elements, with a bone ring on its index finger.
!
Fei's single eye widened. It had no idea what was happening to it.
Boom!!!
Like a meteor collision, Fei's body instantly bent into a < shape.
Fei turned into a blood streak and crashed into the deepest red rock wall of the ancient battlefield, like a falling meteor striking it, creating a pit over ten thousand meters in diameter. A shockwave spread, pulverizing the scattered debris into dust.
At the center of the pit, Fei's pupil was redder than ever. It tried to break free, but its whole body was numb, causing it to fall from the rock depression and crash to the ground. It propped itself up with its beast claw.
With a retching sound, Fei vomited a large amount of blood and organ fragments. It knew that if the enemy attacked now, it would be dead.
Fei looked up and saw the figure that seemed human but was monstrously powerful, holding a long blade with the tip pointing diagonally at the ground, walking step by step. Seeing this figure, Fei felt a sense of true power.
The fur on Fei's body burned like blood flames. It grinned a ferocious smile, then grasped the hilt of the blood curved blade with both hands and aimed the tip at itself.
Pfft!
The blood curved blade pierced Fei's chest, causing its sharp teeth to grind together with a cracking sound.
"Utika, Pusewei" (Beast language: Father, forgive me).
Blood-colored smoke rose from Fei's body. The beast scales on its right arm sprang up like sharp blades. Its single eye shed a red liquid. The successive injuries from the fierce attacks and that seemingly ordinary kick that had nearly cost it half its life made Fei decide to bet everything on the next strike.
In the next strike, either it would be blocked and die from backlash, or it would kill the enemy, gaining life and even greater power.
Thick, dark red liquid oozed from the skin of its right arm, causing the entire arm to become beast-like. Wherever it touched space—or rather, the world region—the blood power eroded it with a hissing sound.
Boom!
Fei vanished from its spot. The ground along its path exploded, and wherever its right arm passed, it left a dark red trail that eroded and spread deep into the world.
Fei instantly appeared in front of Su Xiao. Its single eye was red to the extreme.
The wind pressure hit Su Xiao's face, but he remained calm. Just as Fei charged at him with godlike speed, he was in the middle of a slow step. As his foot touched the ground.
'Extreme Blade: Star Realm!'
With Su Xiao at the center, everything within several hundred meters suddenly froze. The star realm in this area resonated and synchronized with his technique power, making it appear clearer and brighter. Everything around entered "Star Realm Freeze."
The fiercely charging Fei was now frozen half a meter above the ground, its right arm raised and claw extended, the dark red liquid on it eroding the space along its path.
At this moment, frozen in midair, Fei sensed something wrong in the first 0.5 seconds. It felt like a small insect fixed in amber, unable to move as the amber completely dried. Its body, energy, soul, and even its existence were firmly "frozen" here. Fei, who had never known fear, now felt an uncontrollable dread spreading in its heart.
Not only that, after the initial 0.5 seconds, even Fei's thoughts began to freeze to some extent. It could only watch as the Law Destroyer, holding the long blade, walked step by step. It was even affected by the "Star Realm Freeze" here, and its thoughts of struggling were also sealed.
The instinctive fear of death made Fei's body try to break free from its current situation, but it was futile.
Su Xiao simply stepped forward and slashed cleanly with his long blade, severing half of Fei's right arm and cutting off its head without mercy.
Because it touched the only unaffected entity in the "Star Realm Freeze" area—Su Xiao, or rather, the long blade he held—Fei's head flew forward a bit. Blood spurted from the severed neck, forming numerous droplets in the air.
"Extreme Blade: Star Realm" only lasted 3 seconds, but in a battle of this level, 3 seconds was enough to decide life and death. When the "Star Realm Freeze" phenomenon faded, Fei's head hit the ground. Its headless body stumbled a few steps before crashing to the ground like a runaway war chariot, plowing up a fountain-like spray of mud several hundred meters long.
After Fei's head landed, its pupil suddenly contracted. By the time it tried to defend, it was too late.
Fei's head looked at the Law Destroyer standing with his blade, his gaze calm. Only now did it realize that the Law Destroyer had frozen the "Star Realm" in this area.
It had seen such a terrifying ability once before. In fact, its father had died under this ability. That terrible enemy had frozen the star realm and, with a casual gesture, touched its father's head with a finger, causing it to explode with a bang.
That was the strongest Fei, but it died so simply.
"You, will, challenge, the Supreme."
Fei's Void language was stiff.
"Oh."
Su Xiao stepped forward, reaching out to grab Fei's single eye, preparing to take the "Blood Source Matter." He had done his utmost; it was time to take it.
"Wait, wait."
The dying Fei mobilized the remaining blood energy to form a sharp beast claw, grabbing its own eye.
"Roar!!"
Even the mighty Fei roared from the excruciating pain of tearing its own fate. When it pulled out its bloody eye, the eye began to melt. The remaining vivid red pupil turned into a blood-red source matter sphere, the size of a fist, beating slowly like a heart.
"Must, win!"
Fei handed over the "Blood Source Matter."
"Alright."
Su Xiao reached out and took the "Blood Source Matter." The next second, with a pop, Fei's head exploded into a thick blood mist, its skull shattering. The last star realm beast, Fei, was completely dead today.
Ironically, it had been saved by the Law Destroyer and imprisoned by them. The reason the Sleep Guardian was on the ancient battlefield was to prevent others from approaching the depths where the beast Fei resided.
Putting away the "Blood Source Matter," Su Xiao looked around. Seeing no one, he covered his mouth with one hand, but couldn't hold it back. With a retching sound, he vomited a large mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments.
Was Fei completely crushed? Of course not. Fei's power was terrifying. With Su Xiao's current strength attribute of 2569 points, even a perfect parry of that heavy slash left his right arm numb and his internal energy churning. Fei was the physically strongest opponent he had ever encountered.
In fact, if he had used "Extreme Blade: Star Realm" later, he would have had a better chance of obtaining the "Blood Source Matter" by killing Fei. But he really couldn't hold out any longer. Continuing to maintain a calm facade would have led to disaster, because this battle was never just about killing the enemy; obtaining the "Blood Source Matter" was the true victory.
Su Xiao activated his Reincarnation Paradise mark. Since there was still time left in the cycle, the free teleportation activated. When the teleportation fluctuation faded, he was in his exclusive room. He activated the injury recovery authority.
[To restore current physical damage, you need to pay 115,972 Soul Coins.]
An expenditure of nearly 120,000 Soul Coins. This was the increased resource consumption that came with a powerful body. Fortunately, he also had blood energy abilities; otherwise, the blood energy erosion damage would have made the recovery cost even higher. There were still important matters to attend to, so he couldn't slowly recover. He chose to pay the Soul Coins.
Opening his mail list, the Soul Master had already replied. As expected, the Soul Master was willing to pay a high price for the "Soul Source Matter": 8 million Soul Coins + a sun-system explosion-type core technique.
In return, Su Xiao had to provide the "Soul Source Matter" and additionally help the Soul Master prepare a secret medicine.
Seeing this, Su Xiao opened his contact list, found the Priest's contact, and communicated with him in text.
Bai Ye: "[Soul Source Matter], 10 million Soul Coins + a sun-system explosion-type core technique."
Priest: "Agreed."
...
Su Xiao took a screenshot of this conversation and sent it to the Soul Master. After a while, the Soul Master's reply came.
In the Soul Master's words, his previous offer was somewhat rash. He was willing to pay 11 million Soul Coins plus a sun-system core technique that would surely satisfy Su Xiao to complete the deal. As for the medicine preparation, he didn't mention it at all.
Why did the Soul Master's attitude change so quickly? The answer was that trading with Su Xiao meant at most a financial loss, but he would definitely get the "Soul Source Matter." On the other hand, if the "Soul Source Matter" fell into the Priest's hands, the Priest wouldn't use it but would sell it to the Soul Master. The problem was that trading with the Priest might require less than a tenth of the Soul Coins to get the "Soul Source Matter," but whether he would die in the next world or ultimately keep it was unknown.
Now, with the "Death Mark," the Priest was as absurd as Su Xiao. Su Xiao had pure, powerful strength, while the Priest was pure cunning.
The Soul Master chose between the two and picked Su Xiao, the Hunter. At the very least, when not in the same world and competing, this person was trustworthy.
Before long, the Soul Master arrived at the Great Gathering Place and completed the trade with Beini there. Su Xiao retrieved the rewards from the team storage space.
[You received an 11 million Soul Coin savings card.]
[You received the Sun Mark (World Class).]
[Sun Mark]
Origin: Blazing Sun Star · First Era · Sun Altar.
Quality: World Class
Category: Technique Core.
Item Effect: This mark is in its initial state. Its current enhancement to sun explosion/combustion characteristics is between 2% and 5%. You can allow this mark to absorb enough high-level energy to restore it to its former peak strength, or even exceed it.
Warning: If this mark absorbs too much energy, it may explode, causing massive damage.
Rating: 6000++++++
Description: Are you ready to pay the price?
Selling Price: 23,000 Soul Coins.
...
Was this item weak? It was a product of the former "Sun Altar," possibly one of the Sun faction's treasures. Was it strong? In its initial state, it clearly required heavy investment.
After pondering for a moment, Su Xiao went to the Alchemy Laboratory, made some preparations, and then left the exclusive room with Bubu Wang.
Xia's Restaurant.
Su Xiao knew that Xia was out at this time, buying fresh ingredients. That was Xia's style; cold storage was her limit, and freezing was absolutely unacceptable, unless it was some particularly absurd ingredient brought back by a certain someone. And that cold storage had sealing techniques installed.
Using the key to open the door, Su Xiao searched for a while and only found the desserts Xia had made for Beini that morning. Standing in the kitchen, hesitating as he looked at the various utensils, Su Xiao used his terminal to order food delivery. Before long, the delivery robot arrived at the door. Even now, he still hadn't figured out how this custom kitchen worked.
A few minutes later, a figure entered the restaurant. This person was dressed in a tight black leather suit, with a ponytail hanging past her waist. Her completely black eyes made people instinctively avoid direct eye contact. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't black leather at all; it was more like a living creature that formed the suit, replacing most of her skin. Looking closely, one could see scale patterns.
The newcomer was Sha, an old friend of Su Xiao's. Compared to their last meeting, Sha's mind had recovered, but her aura was like a fighting beast, fiercer and more aggressive than before. In fact, this was the real Sha. Previously, due to her constant ill health, she had been forced to suppress her aggressive nature.
Sha's aura felt vaguely familiar to Su Xiao. Abyss Descendant? Not quite. It was developing in that direction. She was probably about to join some Abyss Descendant group and was undergoing a growth trial.
Behind Sha was a large witch hat. This gray witch hat, though made of soft fabric, didn't droop limply. It was the "true body" of the Undead Girl, whose eyes were also completely black but without the aura of an Abyss Descendant.
"Long time no see."
Sha sat down, leaning back with her hands behind her head and naturally placing her feet on the table. Su Xiao paused in eating his noodles and looked at Sha. This made Sha pause, then sheepishly retract her legs.
Even after reaching her current level of abyssal transformation, the memories of being treated by Su Xiao remained a nightmare she would never mention to anyone, and some parts were extremely embarrassing.
"..."
Su Xiao looked at Sha and nodded. Sha was already used to Su Xiao's silence.
This time, Su Xiao hadn't invited Sha but the Undead Girl. He took out the [Sun Mark] and placed it on the table, along with several bottles of secret medicine he had just prepared to enhance abyssal characteristics.
"Enhance it to the limit."
"There will be" the Undead Girl began, then the hat on her head opened a mouth and spoke in a seductive mature voice: "a price."
"Fine."
"Hey, hey, no greeting for an old friend?"
Sha picked up a bottle of the secret medicine from the table, clearly interested. Hearing this, Su Xiao nodded seriously and replied:
"Next time we meet, I'll kill you."
"Tsk, don't be so heartless. And are you sure you can still beat me next time?"
The black leather suit on Sha's body rippled, indicating she was stirred to aggression. Leaving these words, Sha turned and walked out of the restaurant. The Undead Girl also got up. After they left, the Undead Girl asked:
"Are you sure you can beat Bai Ye?"
The first half was the Undead Girl's own voice, the second half the mature voice of the witch hat. Sha was used to this way of speaking.
"Of course not."
"Then don't provoke him."
"I'm fast. You'll take the beating. Perfect."
Sha snapped her fingers in front of the Undead Girl, causing even the Undead Girl's usually expressionless face to show a hint of helplessness.
...
Returning to his exclusive room, Su Xiao went to the room with the exclusive skill upgrade pod. Entering, he took out the existing "Soul Crystal" and "Primordial Core."
[To upgrade Blood Spear Grandmaster lv.91, you need to consume 30 Soul Crystals + 285,000 Soul Coins.]
Su Xiao had already raised Blade Grandmaster and Melee Grandmaster to x. For Blood Spear Grandmaster, there was no need to proceed step by step; he immediately maxed it out.
A total of 2,640 "Soul Crystals" and 35 "Primordial Cores" were shattered, along with 18.855 million Soul Coins consumed. Of course, the newly obtained "Blood Source Matter" was also used.
Just a moment ago, Su Xiao had been at the peak of wealth after withdrawing from the Apocalypse Sisters and selling Black Maple Tree yields. In fact, he had never been so rich. But after upgrading the three technique grandmasters, this harvest was nearly exhausted, leaving only 1.11 million Soul Coins, 138 "Soul Crystals," and 7 "Primordial Cores."
This was still quite wealthy, but compared to before, it was a world of difference.
Moreover, the Endless Ring hadn't been upgraded yet. The "Supreme Attribute Passives" for Strength, Agility, and Stamina also needed to be purchased. Dragon-Slaying Flash was also "hungry." After its qualitative upgrade in the last world, activating [Supreme Blade] now revealed that it didn't even devour "Eternal Rank" blade-type weapons.
This was the most troublesome issue. It could still devour but didn't devour "Eternal Rank" blade-type weapons. This only indicated one thing: Dragon-Slaying Flash's rating had reached 13,500 points, and as it approached the current upper limit of 15,000 points, it became more picky about the weapons it devoured. This also meant greater expenditure.
From this perspective, the remaining 1.61 million Soul Coins suddenly seemed lonely.
And the [Endless Ring], this glutton, was being upgraded. It was estimated that there was a 90% chance it would become an even bigger glutton.
The upgrade of Blood Spear Grandmaster began. Vast amounts of pure blood energy surged within the exclusive skill pod, converging toward Su Xiao. He sat cross-legged in meditation.
Six hours later, Su Xiao, with blood smoke rising from his body, opened his eyes. This upgrade went more smoothly than expected. He used 10 Golden Skill Points to raise Blood Spear Grandmaster from lv.110 to x.
[Blood Spear Grandmaster: x (Passive)]
Skill Effect: Blood attack rank +247 (increased by 193). Any blood-type attack will reduce the enemy's total defense by 95% (increased by 65%).
Blood Energy Intensity: 1,530 points (increased by 1,090 points).
Basic Effect: When your health drops to a near-death state, all your melee attack damage increases by 70% (current near-death health is less than 25% of max health).
x Ultimate Ability: Annihilation Blood Spear (Supreme Rank · Passive). Consume 80% of blood energy to quickly form an "Annihilation Blood Spear" with an attack intensity equal to current base blood energy intensity x (Strength + Stamina + True Willpower + Soul Strength). The flight speed of this blood spear will depend on your Agility attribute. You can attack enemies in the following ways:
Melee Grip: In this state, the "Annihilation Blood Spear" will receive bonuses from your technique abilities, gaining the "Absolute Pierce" characteristic and can be detonated.
Warning: Detonating the "Annihilation Blood Spear" in grip state has a 98.55% or higher probability of destroying your left arm, causing "Devouring Annihilation" level permanent damage.
Soul Control: In this state, the "Annihilation Blood Spear" has a maximum attack range of 20 kilometers. Beyond this range, the "Annihilation Blood Spear" will self-destruct.
Tip: The closer the "Annihilation Blood Spear" is to you, the faster its flight attack speed.
...
The life-saving divine skill "Blood Controller" of "Blood Spear Grandmaster" disappeared, replaced by a pure attack ability. Su Xiao tried to activate this ability, holding his hands as if grasping something.
Hum~!
Dark red blood energy appeared, forming the prototype of a blood spear. As he pulled his hands apart, a two-meter-long, spiral-shaped blood spear formed. The moment it formed, a feeling of palpitation appeared.
Going to the trial room, Su Xiao held the blood spear in his left hand and thrust it at the highest-strength metal post here.
With a crack, the "Annihilation Blood Spear" easily pierced through the metal post. It seemed the "Absolute Pierce" characteristic was very powerful. However, a thought occurred to Su Xiao: what would happen if he used the "Annihilation Blood Spear" to pierce Amu's "Dawn Shield"?
After a while, Amu stood in front holding the "Dawn Shield." Su Xiao's blood energy slowly rose, and he thrust the "Annihilation Blood Spear." An unexpected sensation appeared—there was no feedback of hitting a hard object; instead, it successfully pierced through.
The "Dawn Shield" was unharmed. The "Annihilation Blood Spear" had successfully pierced it. But the next second, under the influence of some unknown force, the "Annihilation Blood Spear" was consumed. It seemed the "Absolute Pierce" was a very powerful and absurd characteristic. However, the "Dawn Shield" was also in a special state at this time.
After the Dawn Paradise revived, Su Xiao didn't let Amu continue using this "Dawn Shield." After all, it was originally composed of the external defenses of the former Dawn Paradise and would certainly have Dawn Paradise's notarization. Taking it into a mission world recklessly might cause problems.
From this estimation, although the "Annihilation Blood Spear" was strong, it wasn't strong enough to pierce the external defenses of a Paradise faction. This was Reincarnation Paradise, and Dawn Paradise's defense notarization for the "Dawn Shield" would certainly be suppressed to the minimum here.
That is to say, for now, the "Annihilation Blood Spear" wasn't enough to face Paradise-level defense notarization. But below that level, this blood spear could pierce anything. If so, even losing "Blood Controller" was acceptable. Moreover, he could consider mastering a "Supreme Passive" similar to "Blood Controller" later, since there were enough "Supreme Passive Skill Slots."
After all, "Blood Controller" was only an "Absolute Strong Rank Passive." During the life-and-death battle with the Dukain Ancestor, the life-saving effect of "Blood Controller" had already felt like it was about to be broken through.
The Blood Spear Grandmaster upgrade was complete. Su Xiao felt that his three technique abilities had no room for further improvement. It was time to use [Above Grandmaster] to fuse the three technique abilities into one and advance to the final technique ability.