Chapter 7: Essence
The transaction between Su Xiao and the Soul Clock Tower was concluded smoothly, with both parties harboring their own ulterior motives… Ahem! Under the premise of full sincerity from each side.
Where to conduct the transaction became the problem. Coming to the Imperial Special Affairs Department? Su Xiao was certainly at ease and welcomed it, but the Soul Clock Tower firmly opposed this. Going to the Soul Clock Tower? Su Xiao agreed, but the issue was that some soul mentors also objected.
The Soul Clock Tower had a total of twelve soul mentors and thirty teaching mentors. These twelve soul mentors were undoubtedly the mainstays beneath the position of Tower Master.
Speaking of which, if it were anyone else, they truly wouldn't dare to kill Black Mentor Emanuele like that. The subsequent various retaliations would be enough to give the perpetrator a hard time.
However, the problem was that Su Xiao wasn't afraid of this retaliation. On the contrary, he welcomed these people coming to deliver World Source to him. Previously, when clearing the Abyss Sprawl Zone, he hadn't gained even 0.1% of World Source, so he urgently needed World Source now.
Whether this world's World Source could reach 350% was, from a certain perspective, just as important as the main mission.
The conservative faction among the twelve soul mentors refused to conduct the transaction at the Soul Clock Tower because Su Xiao wouldn't hesitate to kill a soul mentor.
Ultimately, both sides decided to complete the transaction at the Former Kingdom Council Hall in the rear district of the Royal Palace, a place that had been abandoned for many years.
At one o'clock that afternoon, the Lord's Train entered the Royal Palace. Given Su Xiao's current status and the old king's special permission, he was now one of the few people who could enter the Royal Palace without undergoing inspection.
The train stopped before a fountain pool, startling a large flock of birds into flight. Su Xiao stepped down from the train and had just entered the grand yet aged Former Kingdom Council Hall when he saw a small, withered old man about one meter forty tall, bald, with a total of eleven black holes on his head. This person was the current Tower Master, Xilgeoff.
Xilgeoff gave the impression of having a large head on a small body. Generally, the eyes of Soul Clock Tower members showed a soul-transparent blue, mentor-level was dark blue, while Xilgeoff's eyes were so dark blue they were completely pitch black.
Pitch-black soul energy spread, forming a twisted, many-eyed giant monster. Blood energy surged, and a massive blood beast crouched with a sinister grin. For a moment, the Former Kingdom Council Hall fell into a silence so profound that a pin drop could be heard.
The three soul mentors who had come together broke out in cold sweat on their foreheads. Outsiders couldn't comprehend the pressure they felt facing this Imperial Special Affairs Department Minister. Their skin tingled with a stinging sensation, as if one step forward would lead to a mountain of blades and a sea of blood, while one step back would plunge them into an abyss of ten thousand zhang.
All three soul mentors shared the same hope: to complete the transaction as quickly as possible.
"Heh, heh, heh~"
The pitch-black-eyed Tower Master Xilgeoff let out a laugh, and the dark giant monster representing his aura dissipated.
"It seems both sides are quite sincere."
Tower Master Xilgeoff raised his hand, and a soul mentor beside him handed over a sealing device wrapped in dirty white bandages. This object was about the size of a soccer ball and contained the "Largest Overlord Essence in History."
Su Xiao tossed out the [Soul Secret Treasure Box], while the opposing Tower Master Xilgeoff almost simultaneously threw the sealing device.
Crack, crack, crack~
A crystal layer climbed up Su Xiao's hand as he caught the sealing device with one hand. On the opposite side, Tower Master Xilgeoff's right hand, wrapped in dark soul power, caught the [Soul Secret Treasure Box].
For a moment, both sides fell silent, and the atmosphere in the council hall was a bit awkward.
"..."
Su Xiao and Tower Master Xilgeoff almost simultaneously turned to leave the council hall, but both paused in their steps due to each other's movements.
This was practically an open secret. Both sides' traded items had problems; it was just a matter of who would be more ruthless afterward.
"A guest should go first, Law-Destroying lad. You lead the way."
Tower Master Xilgeoff spoke with a chuckle, leaping backward onto the council table. His loose robes and aura gave the impression that this Tower Master was far more formidable than the intelligence suggested. Being able to open eleven "Spirit Holes" made him a ruthless figure among ruthless figures in the history of the Soul Clock Tower.
"..."
After leaving the council hall, Su Xiao directly boarded the Lord's Train and headed out of the Royal Palace. He needed to find a place to deal with this object in his hand, which was practically a time bomb.
When the Lord's Train stopped again, it was over 3,000 kilometers east of the Royal City. This was the former No. 58 Abyss Sprawl Zone. The original garrison legion hadn't withdrawn yet. When they saw a vehicle of astonishing speed stop, the fortress just began to muster, only to realize it was the Lord's Train. This matter was reported to the stationed Honorary Second Lieutenant, a female officer whose order was succinct: pretend not to have seen it.
Su Xiao arrived at the center of this pitch-black land. A breeze blew past; the place was somewhat damp and cold. He released his blood energy, forming a "Blood Iron Oath" on the back of his left hand. Pressing his hand to the ground, Ao Ge crystals spread to form a summoning array.
The blood-colored light of the summoning array blazed. When the blood light faded, a bloodhound with dark red, hairless, oily skin, tight and tough muscles, and a body length of over thirty meters appeared. It was the only defensive-type bloodhound among all the bloodhounds and also the one Su Xiao trusted most: Giant Blood Fang.
"Bai, Ye, Lord."
Giant Blood Fang spoke in a deep, rumbling voice. Its Void language had improved, at least better than last time. Though halting, the pronunciation was at least accurate.
Compared to the last meeting, Giant Blood Fang's aura was now at least thirty percent stronger. Presumably, having devoured over 300 "Titan Dragon Hearts" last time had increased its size from the 20-meter class to the 30-meter class.
Not only that, but the Overlord Equipment [Blood Iron Hell Hound], ranked 157th among Overlord Equipment, had been activated.
"Killing Resonance (Core, Passive): You will enhance the bloodhound you summon. The enhancement magnitude will be based on your Charm attribute. Due to the special nature of the bloodhound clan, the lower your Charm attribute, the stronger this enhancement effect.
Your current True Charm attribute is: -35 points.
Current enhancement intensity: 826%.
Tip: Bloodhounds you have summoned and that have been under the enhancement effect of this Overlord Equipment's 'Killing Resonance' for more than 5 natural days will receive a significant permanent boost in combat power (the boost magnitude will depend on the current combat power of the bloodhound)."
Giant Blood Fang's muscles rippled all over. Its skin changed from light red to dark red, and in relatively weaker defensive areas like the neck and abdomen, fist-sized semi-circular bones pushed up under the skin. A flowing liquid substance slowly coursed beneath the skin. When Giant Blood Fang was injured, this liquid skin would immediately fill the wound.
Su Xiao released 500 "Titan Dragon Hearts" from the team storage space, piling them into a small hill. After receiving his permission, Giant Blood Fang began devouring them voraciously. Soon, it had swallowed the last "Titan Dragon Heart." As before, it had over a dozen "Titan Dragon Hearts" in its belly that it hadn't absorbed yet.
Leaving Giant Blood Fang to digest the "Titan Dragon Hearts" nearby, Su Xiao took out the sealing device that looked like it was wrapped in bandages. Looking at the visibly drifting darkness on it, he used [Corrupted Demon Eye].
"[Corrupted Demon Eye]: After use, it can briefly see through darkness or remove intense darkness from an object."
The special energy of [Corrupted Demon Eye] drilled into the seal. Once [Corrupted Demon Eye] took effect, Su Xiao tossed a severed finger to Giant Blood Fang, which swallowed it in one gulp.
"[Suffering Severed Finger (Single-Use Item): When carrying this item, if you are subjected to curses and malevolent resentment (ultra-high-risk negative states), this severed finger will actively absorb the curses and malevolent resentment you are about to endure.]
One by one, spirit shadow threads as thick as little fingers formed. Giant Blood Fang opened its large mouth and approached, allowing the crystal spikes at the tips of the spirit shadow threads to pierce the inner wall of its mouth. It closed its mouth and waited.
After doing this, Su Xiao opened the sealing device.
Boom!!
Violent dark power erupted from within the seal. This dark entity clearly had intelligence and knew how to disguise itself. Its outer layer was darkness, inside was a layer of emerald green virulent curse, and at the very core was darkness so dense it seemed endless.
The dark power formed a skull head and ferociously lunged at Su Xiao. Giant Blood Fang was already tightly bound by black tentacles, clearly indicating that the dark evil within this seal had eroded it to a certain extent and could initially sense the outside situation.
Moreover, this dark evil was cunning enough to have endured without devouring the giant Overlord Essence it was parasitic on. It clearly knew that if it did so, it would be sealed by the Soul Clock Tower for eternity unless the Soul Clock Tower was destroyed. Its hatred for the Soul Clock Tower was already irreconcilable.
The Soul Clock Tower was using an open scheme. If Su Xiao released the dark evil and didn't deal with it, the entity, continuing to exist by parasitizing the Overlord Essence, would inevitably absorb the essence completely, using its power to breed a body that could contain it. This meant the Soul Clock Tower had freeloaded the [Soul Secret Treasure Box] from Su Xiao.
As for Su Xiao dealing with the dark evil, the Soul Clock Tower would be even more delighted. Regardless of the battle's outcome, even if the dark evil was destroyed, the giant Overlord Essence it parasitized would inevitably be riddled with holes, its essence power drained by the dark evil during the battle, perhaps even completely drained.
What the dark evil needed to do now was to feign a lunge at Su Xiao while actually planning how to escape this place.
The dark skull lunged at Su Xiao. He slashed forward with his blade.
'Perfect Block.'
Clang!
A metallic ringing sound. The dark evil felt its consciousness tremble violently, forced to detach from the Overlord Essence it parasitized. This Perfect Block had truly stunned the dark evil.
Su Xiao had even blocked Duke Kain's ancestor's "Dark Space: Transfer-type Instant Death Ability." The dark evil charging at him was far easier to block than Duke Kain's ancestor's "Instant Death Black Sphere."
However, the next thing was something the dark evil never expected. This Law-Destroying Shadow actually raised one hand, extending spirit shadow threads from it. This motion and the overall structure of the spirit shadow threads flying out suddenly reminded the dark evil of the one who had sealed it back then: Turin Black Tower.
The dark evil never imagined that the Law-Destroying Shadow it encountered was actually a sealing master. This was completely unreasonable. Which Law-Destroying Shadow would try to master sealcraft? Wasn't that just asking for trouble?
In reality, Su Xiao didn't want to master sealcraft either. It was mainly due to the urging of six strict masters. He either became a sealing master or died at the hands of a Daddy-level Original Sin Object. It was a binary choice. Clearly, maximizing his mastery of sealcraft was the more reasonable option.
Spirit shadow threads formed the first layer of the seal. At this moment, the dark evil still had some hope, expecting this Law-Destroying Shadow to only have a preliminary grasp of sealcraft. But in the next second, a total of 3,562 layers of seals were formed in just one second.
Five minutes later, the dark evil within the new seal had fallen into despair. A total of 1.05 million layers of sealing runes imprisoned it within the seal. This "new home" was far more robust than the "old home." The previous sealing device had just over 5,000 layers. Now, the trailing digits of this seal's layers were ten times more than the "old home's" total.
Su Xiao's earlier setup was, of course, an act for the dark evil's benefit. If the entity discovered that the seal opener was fearless, it might panic and destroy the parasitized Overlord Essence. To appear more convincing, Su Xiao had even used [Corrupted Demon Eye].
As the sealing device was fully opened, the Overlord Essence, like a large mass of dark gold flames, floated in mid-air. After confirming the essence was fine, he took out the [Covenant Object (Special Item)] and activated it.
Yes, this item could be activated. However, once activated, if he couldn't produce forging materials satisfactory to the Demon Blacksmith, the Demon Blacksmith would take back this [Covenant Object].
Crack!
The nearby space cracked as if struck by a hammer. After a brief silence, that space silently shattered. A figure emerged from the broken space: burly, with dark red, rough skin, curved ram horns on its head, and eyes as if molten lava burned within. It was the Demon Blacksmith.
His steel needle-like beard was slightly red, like red-hot iron needles, suggesting he had been in the middle of forging when Su Xiao summoned him.
"Kid, you'd better have a good reason..."
Before the word "reason" was fully spoken, the Demon Blacksmith stopped, staring at the Overlord Essence floating in mid-air. Always cold and inwardly angry, the Demon Blacksmith's eyes widened slightly. His lips beneath his beard trembled. He opened his mouth to speak but didn't know what to say.
The Demon Blacksmith approached the giant Overlord Essence, gently pressing his rough hand onto it:
"Old friend, we haven't seen each other for an era. To meet again, only to see your essence."
The Demon Blacksmith sighed and finally shook his head. Few things could move him anymore, and even when they did, his heart, worn smooth by time, quickly calmed.
"You can take your old friend away."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing this, the Demon Blacksmith turned his head to look at Su Xiao and nodded, meaning: it wasn't in vain that I forged for you so many times. But the Demon Blacksmith sighed again:
"This old friend of mine loved battle all his life. This was his inevitable end. And you, kid, are worthy of this essence. Tell me, what do you need forged?"
"..."
Su Xiao drew the [Seal Demon] scabbard from his waist. This scabbard was forged by the Demon Blacksmith. Now, using this Overlord Essence for further forging and enhancement, no one in the entire Star Realm was more qualified than the Demon Blacksmith.
"Seal Demon, huh. I did leave potential for it back then."
The Demon Blacksmith took the [Seal Demon] scabbard, waved his hand, and stored away the giant Overlord Essence. He walked toward the space that had just shattered, and a few seconds later, the dark crack in that space healed.
After Giant Blood Fang spat out the [Suffering Severed Finger], Su Xiao sent it to find Leshma. He still needed to find a way to make Leshma the World Child, ensuring that before obtaining the "Star Heart," Leshma wouldn't die at the hands of the Soul Clock Tower or the Mechanic God Cult's high-ranking members.
Boarding the Lord's Train, around two in the afternoon, Su Xiao returned to the Royal City. He headed straight for the Royal Palace, disembarking not far from the Royal Hall and walking in.
On the elevator, the leading captain of the guard looked lazy, as if he had come to work without waking up.
On the fifth floor of the Royal Hall, before the bedroom door.
Knock, knock, knock~
The captain of the guard knocked on the bedroom door. From inside came the continuous coughing of King Roald Saint Adez. The drowsiness in the captain's eyes faded, replaced by a look of worry and helplessness.
"Who's here?"
"Mr. White Night."
"Oh, White Night. Let him come in himself."
Hearing this, the captain of the guard wanted to say something but, never having the habit of questioning the king, opened the door for Su Xiao to enter.
Entering the bedroom, Su Xiao smelled a strong herbal scent. He sat down on a wooden chair beside the bed and saw that the old king, already thin, was now nothing but skin and bones, on the verge of death.
"You're dying."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing this, the old king was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"Yes, I'm... cough, cough, cough... dying."
The old king spoke weakly but with a smile.
Su Xiao took out a bottle of [Eternal Life Potion].
"[Eternal Life Potion]: After use, lifespan limit +30%, and receive a corresponding amount of lifespan replenishment."
"You don't have to die."
Su Xiao tapped the crystal potion bottle with his finger.
Seeing the [Eternal Life Potion], a glimmer of hope appeared in the old king's eyes, but then he weakly shook his head with a smile:
"I will die, not just because my body and soul are exhausted. It's because the Tower, the Cult, and the Dark Beasts have reached their limit of tolerance for me. If I die, we might win. If I cling to life, our chances of victory... are too low."
The old king took a deep breath and continued:
"Your coming here is already my luck, no, my fortune. So, put that thing away quickly. I'm afraid I won't be able to resist clinging to life. No one wants to die, and neither do I."
The old king laughed so hard he coughed repeatedly.
"By the way, White Night, why are you here this time?"
"The Imperial Special Affairs Department's financial deficit."
"Hmm?"
The old king was a bit puzzled, frowned in thought for a few seconds, then nodded in understanding: "This isn't the time to investigate that. I'll approve some operating funds for you. How much do you need?"
"80 million Kugo."
"You bastard, why don't you just rob a bank?"
"Can I?"
"Of course not!"
Su Xiao nearly made the old king sit up in anger. After thinking for a moment, the old king took the approval slip handed by a maid and wrote a funding limit of 12 million Kugo.
"That's all. Not a single Rank more."
(Rank: Imperial currency, 1 Kugo equals 10 Rank. Rank has greater circulation in the market.)
"..."
Su Xiao put away the approval slip. He had originally hoped for 8 million Kugo, so 12 million was an unexpected gain. After bidding farewell to the old king, he had just left the Royal Hall when he felt a faint sense of being watched.
The train left the Royal Palace. Near King's Avenue, Su Xiao got off the train and entered a restaurant. After ordering, he sat in contemplation. As for what he was contemplating, it was how, as a Blade Grandmaster, he had been dragged into an illusion, and this illusion was attempting to influence him.
Opening the skill list, he selected Blade Grandmaster and checked its branch list:
"Immune to Mental and Psychic Control (This trait has the highest priority)."
At this stage, Su Xiao had a general understanding of the priority of various abilities. For example, "having the highest priority" wasn't the peak; the true peak was "Absolute Trait." If he encountered an enemy with "Absolute Illusion," his blade's immunity in this area would be suppressed and fail.
The immunity trait wasn't the problem. So, the issue lay with the enemy's ability and the related judgment.
In fact, Blade Grandmaster had always been immune to "Mental and Psychic Control," not all abilities of these two systems.
However, before the Absolute Strength level, and even at the Absolute Strength level, his Blade Grandmaster skill level had always been higher than his current rank, causing one of its branch effects to completely nullify "Mental and Psychic abilities."
In reality, Blade Grandmaster had always targeted the control traits of both. To put it more simply, the control effects of Mental and Psychic systems were like sharp needles. Blade Grandmaster's defense in this area was brief but intense. But if faced with a sustained, prolonged Mental or Psychic ability, although it could block it, it couldn't completely stop it.
A shield can block a sword but not a flood. That was roughly the feeling.
More importantly, the current environment wasn't born from Su Xiao's mind. This so-called illusion was actually infecting the world of this region, turning it into an illusion. After Su Xiao entered, he still maintained inner clarity, indicating that Blade Grandmaster's resistance to Psychic abilities was still active.
But this also served as a wake-up call for Su Xiao. Ultimately, Blade Grandmaster was a core combat ability. Its immunity and resistance to "Mental and Psychic Control" were branch bonuses. If the capacity of the Blade Grandmaster bucket was 100, the portion allocated to "Mental and Psychic Control Immunity" was only about 5. It was already a miracle that it had held out this long.
Suddenly, Su Xiao had an inspiration. Why insist on using Blade Grandmaster's derivative to resist "Mental and Psychic Control"? He could master a "Absolute Trait" passive. After all, Psychic-type Abyss beings were not uncommon.
The characteristic of this system was that the influence was either minor, but once they managed to invade, the final outcome was almost certainly death.
"[Immortal Will (Passive, X)]: After mastering, gain 'Absolute Will.'"
He hadn't mastered this ability back then because it conflicted with Blade Grandmaster's willpower trait. However, he could consider using it to exchange for another type of "Absolute Will."
"Absolute Will" wasn't singular. The "Absolute Will" from Duke Kain's ancestor was fully named "Absolute Unyielding Will." Even if temporarily retreating or evading, it never gave up on a goal.
This clearly severely conflicted with Blade Grandmaster's willpower trait. Blade Grandmaster's will was to press forward without hesitation. A retreating or evading Blade Grandmaster had no chance of achieving today's "Heavenly Edge Shadow Slayer."
The "Absolute Will" Su Xiao needed was fully named "Absolute Unshakable Will." Its compatibility with Blade Grandmaster was at least 70%. In the "Absolute Trait" ability system, this compatibility was already quite high.
The "Absolute Perception" Su Xiao had mastered had 100% compatibility with him because it was an ability he had gradually improved.
After this "Absolute Unshakable Will" ability replaced the blade's "Mental and Psychic Control Immunity" trait, the portion Blade Grandmaster had originally allocated to this aspect would be enhanced to Blade Grandmaster's combat traits. This would undoubtedly strengthen the blade.
The situation Su Xiao was currently facing was clearly a Psychic-type at the Supreme level. In fact, compared to his suspicion about not being able to resist the Psychic ability, the Psychic-type Charlotte maintaining this illusion was far more solemn. If using an illusion to erode a normal Supreme was a slow but interesting process, using an illusion to erode this Law-Destroyer was terrifying.
The blood-colored aura emanating from him had already burned several holes through the illusion. She had no energy left to erode that blood-energy monster. Maintaining the illusion, trapping this monster within it, and then immediately fleeing was the most important thing to do now.
Inside the illusion, Su Xiao examined the tableware in his hand. It had a certain sense of reality. It seemed the peak of illusion systems was to turn illusion into reality. Such illusion systems would undoubtedly be extremely difficult to deal with.
The current illusion had actually stimulated his blood energy, causing his long-dormant "Talent Ability: Blood Beast" to finally show signs of transformation. From defeating Fei to absorbing the "Blood Source Matter," this feeling had always been there but never as strong as now.
Su Xiao stood up and walked toward the bar. The next second, the noisy restaurant fell into a dead silence. All the diners looked at him expressionlessly.
Su Xiao grasped his sword hilt with one hand and drew the blade from the temporary scabbard inserted into his waist belt.
'Extreme Blade: Absolute Illusion.'
The long sword continued to be drawn. Before it was fully out of the scabbard, the surrounding illusion shattered like glass, bursting apart. The scene returned to a normal restaurant, with diners continuing their conversations or enjoying their meals.
Traces of blood spread outside the restaurant, left by the illusionist.
Zheng~
The long sword finally fully drawn, its tip pointed at the blood drops on the ground. The blood drops flew up, landing on the sword tip, and gradually formed fine blood-colored veins along the blade.
'Blood Blade: Heart Rending.'
At the same time, the illusionist Charlotte, who had been constantly shifting through illusions and quickly leaving the Royal City's range, finally breathed a sigh of relief. But suddenly, she felt a warmth at the tip of her nose. She raised her hand to touch it, and her hand was stained with blood.
"Damn it, Mechanic God Cult..."
Pfft!
Blades of blood burst out from various parts of the illusionist Charlotte's body. She fell to her knees, vomiting a large amount of blood.
She truly couldn't understand what grudge this Law-Destroyer had against illusion systems, to have developed blade techniques specifically targeting them. Moreover, those techniques were clearly deeply developed, possibly among his most proficient blade techniques.
With a thud, this Supreme illusionist named Charlotte slammed her forehead heavily onto the ground and died like that. She had never imagined that as a Supreme, she would die so insignificantly. In fact, she wouldn't have if she hadn't, as a long-renowned Supreme on the surface of this world, provoked those unknown but generally monster-level Supremes. That was truly seeking death.
Su Xiao boarded the train and left the Royal City. He didn't return to the Imperial Special Affairs Department headquarters for now because his "Talent Ability: Blood Beast" was about to undergo a qualitative transformation.
Meanwhile, the twelve soul mentors of the Soul Clock Tower were using every means to track Su Xiao. The reason was that the pit they had dug for him was a dark evil that would kill on contact. The pit Su Xiao had dug for them was that he had placed a contract in the ninth layer of the [Soul Secret Treasure Box].
The contract itself was never dangerous. As for the contract's content, it was simple: opening the ninth layer of the [Soul Secret Treasure Box] was equivalent to signing that contract, which meant agreeing to temporarily hold the "Book of Original Sin."