Chapter 16: The Beast
The old king's death undoubtedly stirred some turbulence in the empire's situation, but all parties chose restraint. The reason was that the three major powers had yet to make their stance known.
This was because the three old immortals were the absolute controllers of these three major powers. At present, the three major powers had reached a preliminary cooperation with Su Xiao. At least until the "Causal Lock Ring" was resolved, the three old immortals and Su Xiao would not allow the situation to descend into chaos. The approach was simple.
If any faction secretly stirred trouble, preparing to muddy the waters completely following the old king's death, then these opportunists would first face the "Mechanical God Cult," "Imperial Royal Family," and "Three Great Ministers"—the three major powers on the surface.
When a rebellious faction successfully weathered the purge from these three surface-level powers, they would feel a sense of, "I've finally risen up! From now on, in this world, the faction under my command will become the fourth major power in this world." This was an illusion.
At that point, one of the "Gods' Cult," "Soul Clock Tower," or "Luen Family" would make their move.
However, the empire had been established for thousands of years, with all kinds of relationships deeply intertwined. The existence of some factions was very subtle and peculiar. The three major powers, from a standpoint of interests, found it inconvenient to act. At such times, a certain Law Destroyer wouldn't mind lending a hand.
Take, for example, our dear Imperial Grand Duke, Nikuniza Clay. First, he was born into the Imperial Royal Family. Second, several generations ago, his family began believing in the Mechanical God Cult. Moreover, he was the chairman of the South Continent Merchant Guild. The import and export of resources from Zone 0 of the Abyss Sprawl all involved this chairman.
It could be said that this family had stacked all their buffs to the max. By the generation of Grand Duke Nikuniza Clay, they had reached the pinnacle of their family history. The family had cultivated two Supreme Strongs! Dozens of Absolute Strongs. Besides the Grand Duke himself, his eldest son, second daughter, third son, eldest son-in-law, and two nephews all held key positions in the empire.
As an ambitious man, the Grand Duke had remained content for so many years largely out of fear of the three major powers and the old king. He had stacked all the buffs he could with the three major powers. Now that the old king was dead and his successor was weak, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To say he aimed to usurp the throne was a pipe dream, but taking the chance to make his family's power rise strong was a must.
In truth, Grand Duke Nikuniza Clay's choice was the problem. The issue was that the cooperation between the three old immortals and the Law Destroyer had been finalized the previous night in the main tower of the Soul Clock Tower. The four parties had agreed on one thing: before setting sail for the "Sea of Life," if any other party dared to jump out and cause trouble, they would be dealt with ruthlessly. And he was the first to jump out.
Thus, Grand Duke Nikuniza Clay was simply unlucky. He truly couldn't hold back any longer. Or rather, he had held back for too long and finally saw the old king die.
Inside the Grand Duke's family estate, within a castle of Baroque style, there was a long corridor with windows on one side. On the other side were the Duke's bedroom, study, and the sleeping quarters he shared with his mistress. After all, facing both his wife and mistress in the master bedroom would inevitably anger his original wife, whose family background was no less impressive than the Duke's.
Other rooms with less favorable lighting included the personal guard's quarters, servant's rooms, and collection rooms.
This spacious corridor, over four meters wide, was paved with precious East Sea White Rock, a type of marble. Due to its formation process, after cutting and polishing, it emitted a faint lavender floral scent. The scent was very subtle but could last for decades. It was a high-end building material sold by the gram.
However, the originally snow-white East Sea White Rock was now stained with blood. The ground was littered with severed limbs and broken bodies. The Duke's eighth daughter, whom he had spent seventy percent of his family wealth to cultivate, a Blood Flesh system Supreme Strong under fifty years old, was now a headless corpse sitting against the wall, her head embedded in the wall.
In just an instant of meeting, the man with glowing red eyes appeared beside Sessi. Then, with an ordinary diagonal slash, even though Sessi had used all her trump card abilities in that moment, it did not affect the speed at which her head flew off.
Or rather, from the moment this monster entered the main gate of the estate, only Sessi had made him draw the long blade at his waist and strike a single slash. As for the rest of the family's death warriors, guards, and bodyguards, as long as they approached within a certain range of this man, who had one hand resting on his sword hilt, they would be shattered in the next instant—arms, legs, and heads flying everywhere.
More precisely, anyone within a radius of 50 meters from him, a diameter of 100 meters, who showed any hostility toward him, would be shattered in the next second, even if he didn't draw his blade.
Just moments ago, a maid had been so frightened she collapsed to the ground, but she wasn't shattered. However, after her lover, a guard, was shattered by dense, suddenly appearing slashes and scattered on the ground, she first felt fear and shock, then intense hatred. The next second, she too was shattered by suddenly appearing slashes, blood splattering everywhere.
Inside the Duke's study.
Drip, drip~
Blood dripped from the tip of the blade. The Duke, his expression gloomy, opened a safe and said coldly, "Have my family members come here. I want to see them now."
Hearing this, Baha chuckled and said, "Getting them to come upstairs is a bit difficult, since they're all mixed up. But sending you off to reunite with your family, I'd be happy to help."
"You!"
The Duke finally broke down. He pointed angrily at Su Xiao and roared, "How dare you!"
Baha instantly appeared above the Duke's head. As he descended, all eight of his eagle claws pierced deep into the Duke's brain, sending him off.
Clearly, the Duke still thought this was a game of power among the empire's high-ranking officials, where losing would at most mean a loss of interests. However, this was a clash of madmen. He dared to enter the game, so he had to be prepared to have his entire family sent off. It wasn't that the Duke lacked experience; it was that in his entire life, he had never come into contact with such top-tier and dangerous power lurking in the darkness. The top-tier authority he perceived was actually just the puppet of these dormant behemoths.
Unfortunately, the Duke had bet almost everything on this rise. So, the wealth in his safe was reduced to a pittance. Better than nothing, though.
Ten minutes later, the Duke's estate was engulfed in raging flames. On the Lord's Train, Su Xiao opened a list. These were the people the old king had commissioned him to kill. The position of Minister of the "Imperial Special Affairs Department" saved him a lot of trouble. In less than five days in this world, he had already progressed to this extent.
Leaving aside the fact that repaying kindness was a good and worthy way of doing things, the name of Grand Duke Nikuniza Clay appeared both on the old king's kill list and on the favor-commission list of the three major powers.
At one o'clock that afternoon, Su Xiao sat on the terrace of a pointed-roof building. Inside this building, besides him, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha, there were almost no other living things left. This time, he didn't make a move; he let Amu handle it. The gradually subsiding angry shouts and screams from downstairs indicated that things were almost finished.
When Su Xiao acted, he generally ignored those who held no hostility toward him. Killing defenseless people was meaningless and only increased the risk of his Charm Attribute dropping.
When Amu acted, aside from the young, he left almost no survivors. Amu didn't harm the young because, in a world not long after Su Xiao had created him, he had been saved once by a cocky little brat.
After a while, Amu walked onto the terrace, carrying a Dark War Axe stained with blood.
"Amu, hungry."
Amu spoke in a deep, rumbling voice. You have to say, you really have to say, Amu was getting more and more fluent with these four words. Of course, only these four words.
"We'll head back to the train in a bit. Go find the Alchemy Maid."
"Amu."
Just as Amu spoke, a gray bird flew in. This lively little thing landed on Bubu Wang's head. Among the four choices present, it felt Bubu Wang was the easiest to get along with.
Taking the letter pouch from the gray bird's back—this method was very primitive, yes, but it also didn't leave traces easily—he opened the letter. It was a message from Vice Chancellor Enmu, or rather, part of the transaction between the old king and Su Xiao.
Su Xiao helped the eldest prince clear these obstacles on the condition that the old king would inform Su Xiao of the approximate locations of the three major treasure vaults of the Gods' Cult, the Soul Clock Tower, and the Luen Family.
The old king didn't ask Su Xiao what he intended to do with this information. He simply summoned Vice Chancellor Enmu immediately after Su Xiao left and instructed him to prioritize the protection of the empire's underground grand treasury.
Furthermore, on top of the existing defenses, he temporarily increased the defensive strength by several dozen times. It would be gradually reduced to the previous defense level only after a certain Law Destroyer had left.
In truth, the old king was overthinking it. Su Xiao had no interest in the empire's grand treasury. The reason was that the current Minister of the Imperial Treasury Supervision Department was named Nicholas Kaiser.
After being supervised by Kaiser for so many days, was the imperial treasury still worth coveting? Fortunately, the old king had the foresight. Before this clash began, he had already exchanged the secret treasures accumulated in the imperial treasury over the years for a certain type of resource, which would play a crucial role in the decisive moment.
Just as he returned to the train, a faint aroma of grilled meat wafted over. Today's lunch was herb-crusted lamb chops, mixed vegetable soup, steamed fish, and fragrant rice. The Alchemy Maid, Vienia, was gradually improving her cooking based on Su Xiao's tastes. This was evident from the rice, grilled lamb chops, and so on. However, there was still room for improvement. Braised and charcoal-grilled dishes were more to Su Xiao's liking.
The train started moving. As lunch began, the Alchemy Maid, Vienia, became truly busy. Amu's appetite was considerable, and Vienia's cooking skills were only slightly inferior to Xia's. If Vienia's cooking skill was Lv.92, then Xia's was Lv.95.
The Lord's Train's destination this time was very far. It would even have to pass through two sea regions, crossing the territory of the Seven Seas Alliance along the way. That's right, Su Xiao was heading to Zone 0 of the Abyss Sprawl on the South Continent.
After lunch, and after cleaning the interior of the Lord's Train again, the Alchemy Maid, Vienia, sat by the window, staring blankly outside, as if recalling where she should ultimately go.
In the afternoon, the Lord's Train traveled over the sea. Since it was traveling within an alternate space, land or sea made little difference to the Lord's Train. At most, it would switch to a different driving mode, reducing the speed by about 5%.
While passing through the territorial waters of the Seven Seas Alliance, the Lord's Train slowed down and stopped for cooling. It wasn't strictly necessary, but to ensure the good condition of the Lord's Train's semi-biological engine, it was best to let it cool for a while after several hours of travel. Of course, this was under the premise of not being in a hurry. When there was an urgent matter, resting was out of the question. Continuous travel for half a month was commonplace.
Su Xiao noticed that most of the islands of the Seven Seas Alliance were floating in mid-air. At first glance, the civilian technological level lagged behind the empire. It was a mix of the electrical age and biological-side technology, giving a stronger cyberpunk feel. This was especially true when a few youths with different colored hair, riding ghost-fire flying boards, whooshed past.
A few seconds later, a small fleet of flying ships chased past. Based on the flashing lights on the bottom of the small flying ships, this represented public security and supervision in the Seven Seas Alliance. Watching this scene, this place felt even more cyberpunk.
Compared to here, the well-governed empire was very un-cyberpunk.
After the Lord's Train's complete cooling system finished its restart, the train started again. Su Xiao went to the bedroom, sat cross-legged, and meditated. Before he knew it, he was deeply immersed. When he emerged from meditation, the train had stopped. They had arrived at their destination.
Compared to that, Su Xiao was more concerned about the changes in his own meditation. He checked his meditation ability and saw:
[Heart Meditation: Lv.110 (Passive)]
Skill Effect: Current "Heart Endurance" for Technique-type abilities is 8200 points.
Current "Heart Malice" for the three Technique abilities + Heavenly Edge Shadow Slash is 5890 points.
...
When Su Xiao first mastered the blade technique, he had also automatically mastered the meditation ability. Later, this ability evolved into "Heart Meditation." Moreover, when Mawen Hua'erzi taught Su Xiao, he didn't care much about other things. He only emphasized the Devouring Core and repeatedly urged Su Xiao never to give up on meditation, which seemed useless but actually bore the weight of the Law-Destroying Blade in his hand.
Currently, the "Heart Meditation" ability, due to the meditation bonus from [Origin Stone: World]'s power—specifically, "Each meditation will increase the current meditation ability's progress by 10%"—Su Xiao didn't use the planned 110 days to reach Lv.110 max level for [Heart Meditation]. Instead, he achieved this in less than 50 days.
Ever since [Origin Stone: World] was activated to the "Sealing Stage," its bonus to meditation was outrageous. Each meditation caused the "Heart Value" of Heart Meditation to increase by small increments.
Furthermore, the growth of the Technique Grandmaster system was very dependent on talent. That is, one must first ensure that the "Meditation Ability" reaches a certain level before being able to improve the Technique Grandmaster ability.
A more intuitive way to put it is: one must ensure that one's "Heart Endurance" is greater than "Heart Malice." The so-called "Heart Malice" is the burden on one's heart, spirit, and mind caused by the improvement of one's Technique abilities. Once this burden exceeds one's endurance, it leads to a rampage of power, and the consequences are predictable.
Simply put, improving Technique abilities is about improving oneself. Everyone has a beast within their heart. As oneself improves, this beast naturally improves as well. This is the meaning of meditation.
When the Technique ability level increases, the corresponding overall physical strength can be improved. Then, the overall physical strength will, in turn, enhance the practical combat power of the Technique abilities.
Based on Su Xiao's known situation, Lv.110 was the max level for the meditation ability. The problem was that after his meditation ability reached Lv.110, it didn't transform into an X. As for using a Golden Skill Point to raise it to X, that was even more impossible.
Clearly, Su Xiao's "Heart Meditation" ability hadn't reached the expected max level. And all along, he had a certain self-awareness that he was never an ultimate genius. So, if "Heart Meditation" hadn't reached max level, there must be a reason.
Opening his personal information list, a preliminary check revealed the reason. He hadn't guessed wrong. It was the True Willpower of 2172 points that had further raised the upper limit of "Heart Meditation."
How much it had increased was unknown for now. However, the current meditation ability could no longer level up by a few levels every few days like before. He wasn't worried about this. The key to the meditation ability was persistence.
Also, after his previous Soul Strength rank increase, he had obtained the top-tier physique ability "Bathing the Heart with Soul." While increasing Soul Strength, it also raised the True Willpower attribute.
Su Xiao stepped off the train. The light in the surrounding scene dimmed. This was the feeling of entering the Abyss Sprawl. He looked into the distance. Behind him was an endless dark sea. He took a sealed lump from his storage space. After unsealing it, a crystalline card appeared in his hand. It was the invitation given to him by Xifu, one of the Ten New Stars.
As he took out the invitation, the prying gazes from the surrounding darkness receded. He walked forward into the darkness ahead. A faint sense of teleportation washed over him. He didn't resist. A brief teleportation sensation occurred. He was still on the South Continent, but he had passed through the outer areas of the South Continent and the Abyss creature-occupied zones of the inner rings, directly arriving at the center of this continent: the Beast Arena.
Based on the faintly captured aura during the teleportation, Su Xiao estimated that there were many Abyss creatures inhabiting this dark continent. Among this vast number, quite a few were Absolute Strong and Supreme Strong.
In the Star Realm, there was a common understanding: when calculating the number of Absolute Strong and Supreme Strong, Abyss creatures were not counted by default. This was because some Abyss creatures born in the Abyss were Absolute Strong from the start. Some were ridiculously born as Supreme Strong.
The corresponding price was that over ninety percent of these naturally Supreme Strong Abyss creatures could never leave the Abyss, drifting within it for eternity.
However, there were exceptions to everything. The Abyss Sprawl was an exception for these Abyss creatures. But this was their limit. If they left the Abyss Sprawl, they would be eroded by natural elements and perish in no time.
All the Abyss creatures here loved deathmatches. Therefore, the South Continent was filled with various types of arenas. The Beast Arena, located at the center of the South Continent, was the largest and highest-spec arena.
Why were the Abyss creatures entering this place so belligerent and fond of fighting? The reason was the "Dark Corruption" characteristic of the Luen Family, which made the mind belligerent and war-loving.
Initially, it was just the mind. As the "Dark Corruption" deepened, it gradually penetrated the soul and karma. Finally, they would either be killed by other powerful beings, becoming nutrients, or become members of the Luen Family.
Su Xiao walked toward the main entrance of the Beast Arena. This building was very similar to a magnified dozens of times ancient Roman Colosseum. A hundred-meter-high archway welcomed everyone here.
As soon as Su Xiao stepped into the portal, a hot wind hit him. He noticed that there were quite a few Abyss creatures here. Some were composed of countless black worms, some were beast-like mini-giants, and some looked like canines but had slender mouths and were covered in eyes.
Upon seeing Su Xiao, these Abyss creatures whispered among themselves. It was evident that the Abyss creatures who could come to the "Beast Arena" generally had more rationality. Those with more bestial nature than reason also existed, but they were all in deathmatches.
A Law Destroyer appearing in an arena full of Abyss creatures was quite a spectacle. To be safe, Su Xiao only brought Amu, leaving Bubu Wang and Baha on the Lord's Train. He had to say, the Lord's Train was proving to be more and more convenient to use.
Passing through the archway, there was a terrace ahead. At the end of the terrace, one could see the central combat zone of the "Beast Arena." This was a field several hundred meters wide, paved with fine black sand. Originally, this was white sand from the nearby beach, but it had been stained black by the blood of Abyss creatures.
Surrounding the circular deathmatch zone were layers of ring-shaped stands. These stands were simple rock structures. Apart from being extremely sturdy, comfort was not considered at all. Even more explosive was that there were no barriers or the like around the deathmatch zone. It was common for battles to randomly take a few spectators with them.
From the black bloodstains on the surrounding spectator stands, which couldn't be washed away even after repeated scrubbing, one could imagine how fanatical and bloody this place was when a deathmatch began.
Upon arriving here, a feeling of bloodlust gradually surged within Su Xiao. He immediately understood why the Great Elder of the Luen Family had invited him here and had Xifu, one of the Ten New Stars, deliver the invitation.
Su Xiao's 2172 points of True Willpower were not for show. Just as he was about to take a step forward, a figure wearing small round sunglasses, with flesh like withered wood and eerie green flame in its eye sockets, blocked Su Xiao's path.
"Ohohoho, this is not a place for non-Abyss creatures to be, handsome. You need a guide."
A rebellious-looking Devil Clan girl grinned, revealing a mouthful of shark-like teeth.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't intend to pay attention to this Devil Clan girl. But when she lowered her head, used her diamond-manicured index finger to hook down her small round sunglasses, fully revealing her eerie green flame, he changed his mind.
"I might need a guide. But first, there's something to take care of."
As Su Xiao spoke, he took off his "Wild Hunt Night" long leather coat, adjusted the sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash, and tossed the "Wild Hunt Night" long leather coat to the Devil Clan girl.
"This..."
The Devil Clan girl tilted her head in confusion. She looked at the long leather coat in her hand. Although she was only skilled in gem appraisal, she could tell at a glance that this was a valuable, no, a shockingly valuable powerful piece of armor. She suddenly had the thought, "Should I just run away with this?" But after glancing at the 3.5-meter-tall, unfriendly-looking Minotaur, she dismissed the idea.
Before she ran away from home, her elder brother had taught her: "Greed is allowed, but don't be greedy for things beyond your capacity to bear."
"If you call me 'handsome' in that flippant tone again, Amu will break your legs immediately."
Su Xiao spoke with his back to the Devil Clan girl. After saying this, he leaped from the circular spectator stands onto the black sand field in the center.
This was the "Beast Arena," the highest-spec deathmatch venue on this dark continent. Usually, there were quite a few Abyss creatures from the "Beast Arena" or powerful beings from other races seeking strength here. However, having one match here every half a month was already considered rare.
Entering the deathmatch zone here meant, at the very least, challenging the Ten New Stars. This required challenging arenas level by level on this dark continent until one obtained the "Invitation to the Beast Arena" to stand on this field.
Why did the Great Elder directly give Su Xiao the "Invitation to the Beast Arena"? Did he expect him to challenge the arenas level by level? That wasn't an invitation; that was a provocation. If so, it wouldn't be Su Xiao setting foot on the South Continent; it would be the "Sun Holy Sword" being planted on this South Continent.
Su Xiao stood on the black sand deathmatch zone and looked around. He noticed that in a very short time, thirty percent of the seats in the surrounding spectator stands were already occupied.
One by one, figures leaped or teleported onto the circular high wall at the edge of the black sand field. A total of ten Abyss creatures were present. Among them was Xifu, one of the Ten New Stars, shirtless, with a lion's mane of hair, and over five meters tall.
The other nine were undoubtedly the remaining Ten New Stars. Xifu's aura wasn't the strongest among them; he ranked fourth.
Among the three stronger ones, one was composed of numerous "Scale Vipers." The so-called "Scale Viper" was an Abyss creature resembling a black-scaled snake. However, the Scale Viper had no head. In place of its head were numerous tentacles. When spread open, they revealed sharp, barbed teeth. This was the third-ranked among the Ten New Stars, named Chi Hui.
The second-ranked was an Abyss creature that occasionally took human form and occasionally beast form, composed of black flesh. It was currently transformed into an Abyss giant serpent, its head covered with hundreds of eyes, coldly looking down at Su Xiao. Its name was Gui Xiang.
The strongest among the Ten New Stars was a giant crouching on the stone wall. He looked like a mini-giant. Apart from the secondary eyes on either side of his normal eyes, he was indistinguishable from a human.
This was only on the surface. In reality, the strongest of the Ten New Stars was one who, upon defeating someone, would devour and replace them. Or rather, losing to him meant not only losing one's life but also having everything one once possessed taken away. His name was Wu Mian Gui.
Xifu looked at Su Xiao standing on the black sand field, grinned, and said, "Bai Ye, you can choose any one of us ten to have a deathmatch with. Don't worry, the rest of us will just watch until a day later, when the next deathmatch must begin."
Xifu was a bit eager, his pupils almost becoming vertical like a beast's.
Su Xiao placed his hand on the sword hilt at his waist, looked around, and said in a calm tone, "I'm in a hurry. All ten of you, come at me together."
As soon as these words were spoken, the gradually noisy spectator stands of the arena suddenly fell silent, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. The Devil Clan girl, witnessing this scene from the stands, widened her eyes in shock, and the small round sunglasses she was wearing slipped down a bit.