Chapter 49: Scholar
Checking the remaining stay time in Reincarnation Paradise, there was less than a day left. Since he had already decided which world to go to next, it was natural to make some preparations.
As for the [Fate Summoning Authority], it would cause uncertainty in the next world. However, as long as the fate attribute was strong enough, the world entered via the [Fate Summoning Authority] could still be controlled.
After all, the benefits of entering a world with the [Fate Summoning Authority] were too high, almost a 50% increase in the current world's gains, such as the quality of obtained treasure chests, the bounty multiplier of the [Hunt List: Blood Pact], the amount of World Source obtained, and the rewards from main quests, etc.
Checking the remaining Space-Time Power, Su Xiao came to the exclusive Skill Upgrade Pod. He planned to improve his "Abyssology." Although this ability didn't directly enhance combat power, it could save his life in many situations and bring huge benefits.
[To upgrade Top-Tier Abyssology Lv.1, you need to consume 5000 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
The level-up cost for Abyssology didn't increase progressively. Su Xiao chose to upgrade it by 11 levels.
[You have paid 55,000 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[Abyssology is upgrading...]
...
As the Skill Upgrade Pod operated, various high-level knowledge about the Abyss began to appear in Su Xiao's mind. Since the improvement wasn't too significant, and he was already at the "Supreme Peak," he only felt slightly fatigued before adapting to this upgrade.
He had 30,150 ounces of Space-Time Power left. This couldn't be touched; it had to be kept as startup capital for subsequent "Hunt Bounties."
Arriving at the room filled with ritual arrays, Su Xiao took out the "Endless Ring" and activated the sacrificial connection with the "Three Fingers." After a moment, arms with three fingers pushed through a dark membrane, one after another.
Seeing this, Su Xiao took out the "Book of Original Sin." As soon as the "Book of Original Sin" appeared, the "Three Fingers," which had always been somewhat slow and composed, suddenly merged all its arms into a giant-like arm with only three fingers.
These three fingers had molten-iron-cast fire patterns. Su Xiao saw the true form of the "Three Fingers." The three fingers were the thumb, index, and middle finger. The palm below the middle finger had been completely severed, and at the severed end, slow-wriggling deep purple granulation could be seen.
The "Three Fingers" had no nails on its fingers. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that at the position of the thumb's nail, there seemed to be a face with tightly closed features.
The "Three Fingers" was indeed an "Ancient Abyss Existence," but facing Su Xiao, who held the "Book of Original Sin," it changed from a lazy demeanor to one that exuded danger.
Su Xiao opened the Book of Original Sin, revealing the eighth page. As the seal was released, with a hum, the "Causal Rune" inside was released. The reason he hadn't directly given it to the Three Fingers in the last transaction was that, being in Reincarnation Paradise, he had a rare chance to study the "Causal Rune" in absolute safety.
This "Causal Rune" indeed had a strong seductive power, but within the exclusive room fully notarized by Reincarnation Paradise, this seductive power was greatly reduced. Moreover, the enhancement of Alchemy by the causal system was mainly in alchemical creations and alchemical creatures.
Given Su Xiao's terrible Alchemical Mechanics and Biology, to put it bluntly, even if he wanted to use Alchemy to leverage the "Causal Rune," he might not succeed.
Even during the Second Era, when the Alchemy faction was most crazily using causality, Pharmacology was basically not enhanced. The reason was that Pharmacology was the absolute cash cow for alchemists. Potions contaminated by causality had ridiculously strong effects, but they would definitely cause problems when consumed.
Hum~
The "Causal Rune" emitted strong causal fluctuations. The "Three Fingers" used its three fingers to loosely grasp the "Causal Rune" and slowly retreated. Just before completely disappearing from this sacrificial ritual, the "Three Fingers" threw something out.
With a plop, an entire arm fell to the ground. This was a human arm. From its proportions, the person's height was over 2.6 meters, and it was a right arm.
[You have obtained the Right Arm of the First Generation Law Destroyer (Low-Level Activation).]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao was very surprised. According to what he had read in the Soul Library, the First Generation Law Destroyer had died as early as the First Era, suspected to have been killed by the Supreme Being. That meant this arm, severed in battle during the early First Era, hadn't completely died even now.
Before the battle that killed the First Generation Law Destroyer ended, his right arm had been cut off in the fierce fight. Moreover, for some unknown reason, this arm had fallen into the Abyss.
The First Generation Law Destroyer died in the Void, and there were too many barriers between the Void and the Abyss. That meant, under multiple coincidences, the death causality of the First Generation Law Destroyer hadn't spread to this right arm due to the death of the main body.
Even so, from the First Era to now, it still had "Low-Level Activation," which was indeed too exaggerated. As for whether it was caused by erosion from Abyssal energy.
With Su Xiao's "Top-Tier Abyssology, Lv.12 (Passive)," he could be very certain that this arm hadn't been eroded by the Abyss at all. In fact, compared to the arm still having "Low-Level Activation," the fact that it had been in a distant place in the Abyss without being affected by Abyssal power at all was even more astonishing.
Crack, crack, crack~
Su Xiao wrapped his right hand in a crystal layer, picked up the [First Generation Right Arm], and quickly went to the Alchemy Laboratory. Although his Alchemical Mechanics and Biology weren't great, the "Limb Life Support Device" he made was definitely top-notch. It was truly a case of necessity determining quality. Moreover, after creating the prototype, Bubu Wang later enhanced it with technology.
Taking out a brand new "Limb Life Support Device," he stored the [First Generation Right Arm] inside. As the device was closed, the screen on top lit up, starting to display the status of the [First Generation Right Arm]. Finding the status very stable, he decided to study this thing during the next rest period.
During this rest period, because he needed to advance to "Supreme Peak," he hadn't even returned to the Real World.
Just then, Su Xiao received a mail from a rare goods merchant. This was the upper profession of appraisers. Previously, in the Ten Thousand Races Realm, he had bought an unknown crystal for 12,000 Soul Coins. Now, this crystal had been appraised.
The crystal contained colorful light, with a strong natural elemental feel. Besides that, a familiar yet unfamiliar "sense of fate" emanated from the crystal. He came to the Black Maple Tree, sat down to meditate, which gradually gave him a more intuitive experience of the fate sense within the colorful crystal in his hand. This was... the fate aura of the Shadow of Law Destruction.
This confirmed one thing for Su Xiao: buying this unknown crystal back then wasn't a coincidence. There was a certain fate interference involved, and the party that created this fate resonance had no ill intentions. Otherwise, he would have detected it earlier.
Crack, crack, crack~
The colorful crystal in Su Xiao's hand made a strained cracking sound, eventually shattering with a bang.
The surrounding scenery was gradually enveloped by white light, leaving only Su Xiao and the Black Maple Tree behind him, completely immune to this elemental illusion.
Plants grew around, quickly turning into a vast white flower sea. In the distance, a windmill slowly turned. On the endless flower fields, flower farmers were working hard. Behind a middle-aged woman, a young child was chasing a honey-bellied stag beetle in the flower field.
The honey-bellied stag beetle, full of nectar, flew with a buzzing sound, dragging its bloated belly. The gray-haired child fell but didn't care. He wasn't just playing; honey-bellied stag beetles were the favorite pets of city children. Catching one meant extra income.
"Yes, even then, I knew how to help my mother with household expenses. But who would have thought that I would later become a Spellcaster and be given the title of Magic Energy Mentor."
Sitting casually in the white light, a man with gray hair, dressed in loose black coarse cloth, spoke.
"Don't think that when we first clashed, I only had eight magic cores... oh right, using your Paradise faction's judgment, that was about the Eighth Rank level. Even though I was only quasi-Eighth Rank back then, my teaching level for enlightening new Spellcasters was among the top ten in all of Arcane Eternal Star."
Being powerful didn't mean being good at teaching. Moreover, the enlightenment for new-generation Spellcasters didn't require profound knowledge; it was all about magic knowledge below the Third Rank, even below the Second Rank. And enlightenment was very important for a new Spellcaster.
Of course, this didn't mean that Hylos had a high status in Arcane Eternal Star. At most, he had a bit more status than other mentors, similar to a teaching director position.
Arcane Eternal Star had too many talented people. Therefore, at that time, Hylos couldn't even be considered middle management. He only had some say in one school district of the "Midtime Academy." The problem was that Midtime Academy had over 200 school districts.
Back then, Magic Energy Mentor Hylos went to "Source: Divine Land" to steal natural elements. A total of 156 Spellcasters were dispatched: 1 quasi-Eighth Rank, 102 Seventh Rank, 41 Sixth Rank, and 12 Fifth Rank.
Moreover, it was a Seventh Rank world. The quasi-Eighth Rank Magic Energy Mentor Hylos was invincible there. More accurately, it was actually a teaching trip. The 102 Seventh Rank Spellcasters were formally learning how to steal a world's natural elements.
The 41 Sixth Rank Spellcasters were Hylos's former students. This 99.99% safe opportunity was rare, so Hylos brought all his former students along to help them get familiar with element theft outside the Void environment by the time they reached Seventh Rank.
As for the 12 Fifth Rank Spellcasters, these were juniors from several major factions in Arcane Eternal Star with strong family backgrounds. They were forcibly stuffed into Hylos's group to see what it was like to seize elemental power outside the Void environment, commonly known as "broadening their horizons."
This world, notarized by the Void Tree but whose destruction and prosperity the Void Tree wouldn't interfere with at all, was extremely safe for these Spellcasters. A Seventh Rank world couldn't be entered by Eighth Rank combat power. The quasi-Eighth Rank Spellcaster Hylos was invincible. The problem was, they encountered the Shadow of Law Destruction, Bai Ye.
The result? Total annihilation, including Magic Energy Mentor Hylos.
However, Magic Energy Mentor Hylos had two bodies. After one died, his consciousness returned to the main body in Arcane Eternal Star, successfully escaping death.
"Bai Ye, actually, I died long ago. Killed by you, tortured to death by Spellcasters. They were too eager to know if the Abyss and elements could be transformed into each other. Cursed to death by Star Realm anomalies, devoured by Abyss Spawn. Every time I die, I can recall something new. What sudden enlightenment of an Elemental Scholar? I am merely the carrier of the consciousness of generations of Elemental Scholars."
The hooded Elemental Scholar Hylos looked up, vaguely revealing a face that was nearly half-dried under the hood.
"This is fate, and also a curse of extreme pain. Bai Ye, you might not believe it, but although I have no power now, I am harder to kill than those Abyss Descendants. The assassination department members of Arcane Eternal Star have killed me tens of thousands of times in various ways, yet I still wake up, my broken body slowly recovering. But what about the soul? Having endured too much pain, the soul shrivels."
Elemental Scholar Hylos raised his right hand, the loose sleeve sliding to his elbow, revealing his withered right hand and forearm. This arm, as if air-dried, seemed to have worms slowly burrowing inside.
"Being able to confide this to you feels really good. Although I can't understand how you, with your own perseverance, step by step killed your way to becoming the sole chosen one, telling you these secrets doesn't incur fate's backlash. As a return, I'll give you a time."
Elemental Scholar Hylos smiled.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He knew that the Elemental Scholar, who had endured endless pain, just wanted to vent and didn't need a reply.
"The time you have before being swallowed by Original Sin is... only 30 days. These Original Sin objects have been waiting for you to ascend to the peak of supremacy. The stronger you are, the more powerful the Original Sin causality they can trigger. If not for the Collector's collecting obsession being constantly satisfied, this time would be even shorter. I don't want you to die, but I can only help you this far."
"Payment."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing this, Elemental Scholar Hylos's smile gradually became brilliant, yet also carried a hint of helplessness and distortion. He said:
"If, I say if, you can truly defeat that one someday, you will be the indisputably strongest. At that time, kill me. Let me sink into darkness, away from the pain of endless death and resurrection. Back then, that one from your Reincarnation Paradise stopped at the step of the Lord of the Abyss. I hope you can go further."
Leaving these words, Elemental Scholar Hylos's body began to gradually shatter, and the surrounding elemental environment also tore apart, like a painting being ignited, quickly burning out and dissipating.
Su Xiao opened his eyes. Regardless of whether what Elemental Scholar Hylos said was true or false, it was indeed necessary to resolve the backlash of the "Original Sin Causality" as soon as possible.
The five on Doom Star were the starting point for breaking this causality. Like a play, directly entering the final part would be very abrupt, inevitably making the breaking of the "Original Sin Causality" extremely dangerous.
Therefore, the first act of this performance had to be opened by those five. If the opening was exciting enough, one of them would inevitably have a role later. Su Xiao walked through the door on the inner side of the planting area into the Alchemy Laboratory, coming to a half-human-tall metal container.
Opening the container, inside was black liquid. Su Xiao reached his bare hand into the black liquid. With 268 points of Abyss Resistance, he could indeed do this.
From the liquid Abyssal energy, he fished out the [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask]. At this moment, the mask had become even more grayish-white, its texture softer, and it had grown a part. From the previous soft mask, it had become the size of a half-hood, able to completely cover the face, even extending to areas behind the ears.
[Mad Laugh Ghost Mask]
Origin: Abyss Bottom.
Quality: Abyss Grade.
Category: Parasitic Mask.
Durability: 1/500 (continuously increases after parasitism).
Usage Requirement: None.
Equipment Effect 1: Dream Parasitism (Active): When this mask is contaminated by the causality, aura, bloodstains, etc., of someone other than you that can represent "individual existence," it will invade the "Dream Realm" and, after the target falls asleep, quietly complete facial parasitism on them.
Tip: After completing Dream Parasitism, the "Ghost Mask" will undergo causal-level fusion with the parasitized target's face skin.
Tip: Current state, the only way to remove the "Ghost Mask" is to permanently abandon one of your own causal existences while peeling off your entire face.
Equipment Effect 2: Parasitizing (Passive): As the "Ghost Mask" parasitizes, its equipment durability will continuously recover. Reaching 50 points means initially influencing the parasitized target's subconscious choices. When durability recovers to 200 points, the "Ghost Mask" can, to a certain extent, beguile the parasitized target. When durability recovers to 500 points, the "Ghost Mask" can perform "Grimacing Mad Laugh."
Equipment Effect 3: Grimacing Mad Laugh (Active): Emit a "Grimacing Mad Laugh," forcing all individual targets within a 5000-meter radius to laugh madly, and this mad laugh lasts at least 3 seconds.
Tip: When the "Ghost Mask" completes this mad laugh, it will completely replace the parasitized host.
Tip: A fully promoted "Ghost Mask" can, every 10 seconds, cause any target within a 500-meter radius to enter a mad laugh lasting 0.5 to 300 seconds. When the mad laugh exceeds 5 seconds, the laugher will subsequently suffer an instant death judgment every second.
Tip: If the "Ghost Mask" releases "Mad Laugh Causality Pollution," then the mad laugh will become contagious. Before the laugher dies from the "instant death judgment," all targets who see/hear, or perceive the mad laugh through any means, will be infected by the mad laugh, entering a mad laugh state, and this target will still be highly contagious.
Tip: All targets who die from the mad laugh will have their corpses controlled by the "Ghost Mask." These corpses can complete instructions to a certain extent, or emit mad laughs again to pollute the surrounding area with mad laughter.
Equipment Effect 4: Recovery Calamity (Core Passive): The "Ghost Mask" is in recovery. Each time it completely parasitizes a target, it will recover to a certain extent.
Tip: Each time the "Ghost Mask" completes a full parasitism, you will obtain a "Causality Core."
Rating: 24680 points.
Introduction: Hahahahaha!!!
Selling Price: Cannot be sold.
...
The [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] was very sinister. Su Xiao came to the Eye Ritual area, looking at the five sealed containers ahead, which represented the five Devourers. In the end, he chose the Third Generation Devourer: Dark Sun.
The reason was that although this guy had high combat power, second only to Black A, the hexagonal warrior created when he didn't control the scale back then, this guy had low intelligence. This would undoubtedly allow the [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] to complete parasitism more safely.
This time going to Doom Star, Su Xiao wasn't fighting the "Underworld God Temple" alone. To be clear, that was unrealistic. First of all, the Underworld God was a "Supreme Peak," and a very powerful one in that tier. Moreover, Doom Star had been a Transcendent World since the early to mid Second Era.
So many years had passed. No one could guarantee that the "Underworld God Temple," which had monopolized the resources of a Transcendent World for so long, wouldn't have powerful Ancient Gods between "Super Top-Tier Supreme" and "Supreme Peak." That would be unreasonable.
For example, on the Arcane Eternal Star side, the apparent combat power, not counting the Supreme Being, was just Soul Lord as a Supreme Peak, Mage Sage Seraphilia as a newly advanced Supreme, Fierce Wind King as Absolute Strong to Supreme (unknown), and a series of other Absolute Strong high-levels.
This was actually very reasonable. With this configuration, plus the invincible Supreme Being, Arcane Eternal Star was the undefeated overlord of the entire Star Realm. Why would they need to additionally reveal which Spellcaster had advanced to Supreme, or even Supreme Peak?
Among the four major factions, the leader of the Arcane faction, Mage Sage Seraphilia, being either top-tier Absolute Strong or newly advanced Supreme was normal. After all, it was the only newly rising faction among the four.
As for the Magic Energy faction, its leader, Dean Guya, was killed by Su Xiao. The reason was that Dean Guya was the dean of "Midtime Academy." When Arcane Eternal Star first rose, he held this position. And "Midtime Academy" had produced too many strong individuals for Arcane Eternal Star. In the past, even Seraphilia, as a young girl, was a student of "Midtime Academy."
Moreover, the Magic Energy faction was the one to be most wary of among the three major factions. Even if they suddenly produced a "Supreme Peak," it would be normal. Because monopolizing such massive resources, and the power system mastered by Spellcasters, was one of the two strongest systems in the Star Realm.
The Magic Energy faction seemed more like it was lying dormant and waiting, waiting for the Void, that powder keg, to be ignited before truly showing its fangs.
As for the Soul faction, with Soul Lord as its face, it was actually in the worst position within Arcane Eternal Star. After all, it wasn't a direct line of the Element system, but a major branch of the "Soul Clock Tower" that later allied.
Therefore, the Soul faction needed to show enough aggressiveness. Soul Lord had to let the outside world know that Arcane Eternal Star's "Supreme Peak" was in the Soul faction.
On the other hand, the Element faction's leader was Fierce Wind King. The Element faction gave people a feeling of laziness and casualness. Whether it was Fierce Wind King, his son Wind Prince, or a host of high-level members, 70% were like this.
Why was that? Who would be particularly restrained at home? Definitely slippers and pajamas, as relaxed as possible. Not to mention, the name "Element Faction" itself represented a lot. Elements were the power source of Arcane Eternal Star, the most core part of being the overlord.
Therefore, there had always been a rumor that Fierce Wind King had actually long been a "Supreme Peak," but there was no need to announce it publicly, as it would bring no benefits. Instead, it would put pressure on the major Void forces, leading to various alliances.
Imagine, if Fierce Wind King announced that he had advanced to Supreme Peak, what benefits would he get? Status? He was the leader of the "Element Faction," one of the most powerful people in the entire Star Realm.
Wealth? Don't joke. This guy even had surplus Black Maple Tree quotas every month.
Moreover, if this were announced, whenever troublesome matters requiring a strong individual arose, they couldn't designate Arcane Eternal Star's only Supreme Peak, Soul Lord. Therefore, Fierce Wind King would never admit to being a "Supreme Peak."
Of course, if the Void truly erupted into all-out chaos, Fierce Wind King would let the world know just how strong a traditional Element system Supreme Peak Spellcaster really was.
The reason Su Xiao was weighing Arcane Eternal Star was that this time, when he dealt with the Underworld God, Arcane Eternal Star's Soul Lord had over a 70% chance of showing up. After all, there was no conflict between Spellcasters and Ancient Gods.
The Underworld God would disdain cooperation invitations from others, but Arcane Eternal Star's Soul Lord was someone the Underworld God would consider. Moreover, given the current situation, there was over a 90% chance the Underworld God would agree to cooperate.
Because at this moment on Doom Star, besides the absolute ruler, the Underworld God Temple, the top-tier force was the Night God Cult. The Night Mother, Umnayara, who had long obtained the "Infinite Origin," had already successfully advanced to "Supreme Peak" when Su Xiao was in the Dawn Ruins.
As fellow Ancient Gods, the Night Mother was no match for the Underworld God. But if Su Xiao and Soul Lord also entered the fray, the outcome would be uncertain.
Moreover, Su Xiao was certain that an old friend would definitely come to Doom Star this time. That's right, the one who had fully mastered the "Existence System," Shenfu.
Besides that, there was news from Zuiyasi that the Undying Old Man of the Starry Sky Seat was on Doom Star. This was news from a few days ago.
Even more outrageous was that a month ago, Deer God had appeared on Doom Star and killed several Ancient Gods.
Thinking this was all? Not at all. The "Night God Cult," as the local power, had a very high grasp of intelligence on Doom Star. There was intelligence that the new elder of the Abyss Descendant Azguk Family, Spider Woman, had arrived on Doom Star a few days ago.
With her was a member of the Rune Family, the Fourth Seat, Crimson Beast Dilo. This one was also a Supreme Peak.
That meant the upcoming "Supreme Peaks" on Doom Star were as follows:
Underworld God, Su Xiao, Soul Lord, Night Mother, Undying Old Man, Deer God, Spider Woman, Crimson Beast Dilo.
Eight Supreme Peaks were clearly going to have a god-level free-for-all on Doom Star. This made people worry whether "Doom Star" would become the first Transcendent World among the three of the Second Era to fall.
PS: (Tomorrow is Sunday, a day off. Please understand, dear readers.)