Chapter 1: Entering
With less than an hour of remaining stay time, Su Xiao walked into the Alchemy Laboratory and activated the "Eye Ritual" he had set up earlier.
A slimy, squirming sound came from ahead. One by one, wet and cold eyes gradually rolled upward, revealing pupils composed of even smaller eyes, all staring at Su Xiao. This caused his karma to be immediately tainted by the aura of an Ancient God.
Su Xiao simply sat on the crystal chair and waited. When the time reached the limit of his stay in Reincarnation Paradise, he activated his [Fate Summoning Authority].
[Detected that you are about to enter a new world progression. Due to the selection of "Fate Summoning," the next world will be determined by your karmic fate.]
[You are about to enter: Transcendent Realm · Doom Star.]
[Warning: Doom Star is among the most dangerous worlds in the Supreme Rank tier. You must carefully consider whether to enter this world.]
[Entry to Doom Star has been selected.]
[Transmission begins.]
[This transmission is estimated to require a wait of 1 minute and 52 seconds.]
...
Seeing the last prompt, Su Xiao felt a flicker of doubt. Was this the time to be transmitted to Doom Star? It didn't seem so; he hadn't been sent yet. This waiting time might be a countdown...
A countdown!
Su Xiao suddenly recalled that sometimes, when the world was too far away, a countdown would occur. A typical 3-2-1 countdown meant a sudden blow to the back of the head. A 5-4-3-2-1 countdown meant a heavier blow. If it was a 10 to 1 countdown, then prepare yourself mentally.
The problem was, this countdown was calculated in minutes. When the time entered the single digits, the countdown font suddenly turned blood red. Su Xiao became even more certain: this was indeed the transmission countdown.
When the number reached 0, Su Xiao suddenly felt all the hair on his body stand on end. In the past, it was just a sensory illusion, but this time, he truly felt a gust of wind strike the back of his head.
Boom!!!
Su Xiao's vision plunged into darkness. At that moment, time itself seemed to lose all meaning.
"Yawa gusi, wawa mushi..."
Su Xiao awoke amidst a neat and grand chorus of prayers. As soon as he opened his eyes, he sat up from the wooden bed he was lying on. No, this wasn't a proper bed. It was a crude shelter built from arm-thick logs, covered with leaves and vines, barely enough to keep out the rain.
Su Xiao pressed a hand to the back of his head. After a moment, the aftereffects of the transmission gradually faded, allowing his perception of the world to become clear.
The sky was a gloomy, murky yellow. The air was scorching hot. The earth was a barren, lifeless yellow-brown. Not far away, a stream flowed with highly toxic murky water. The air was thick with a stifling smell. On this desolate land, the most common sight wasn't rocks, but scattered piles of bones of varying sizes.
These bones were stacked into peculiar shapes, resembling the character "feng." However, when piled up with bones and the small amounts of dried, dark red flesh still clinging to them, they exuded a sense of eerie majesty.
In the distance, as far as the eye could see, countless beings from various races lay prostrate. A third of them were humans, more were lizard-like humanoid Lizardmen, and the rest were strange-looking alien races.
The intelligent beings of this world harbored no conflicts whatsoever. Their racial divisions were naturally very unified: Humans, Lizardmen, and Aliens. Or rather, as long as they were living beings, they would try to help each other whenever possible. Because here, simply surviving and reproducing took all their strength. They truly had no energy left for racial strife or vying for interests.
The Ancient Gods of Doom Star maintained a standard of "equality for all beings" towards all intelligent life. As long as they didn't drive these "livestock" to extinction, everything was fine.
Even if the native population of this world was on the verge of extinction, it didn't matter. Among the Four Original Sins under the God of Death, Lust · Ina and Gluttony · Quek could cause the native population to skyrocket within a few years. This was the main reason the intelligent beings of this world hadn't died out yet.
Su Xiao saw, a hundred meters away, countless Humans, Lizardmen, and Aliens kneeling, stretching to the horizon. They chanted unintelligible prayers. Influenced by some power, their prayers were perfectly synchronized. Though each individual's voice was low, when gathered together, it shook the heavens and earth.
All Humans, Lizardmen, and Aliens shared one commonality: hanging from their necks, by rough string or animal sinew, was a rib bone. As they prayed, the Ancient God's honorific name carved on the rib emitted a faint white light.
To survive on Doom Star, the first thing one had to do was believe in an Ancient God. The method of belief was "simple": upon reaching adulthood, extract one of your own ribs and dedicate it to a certain Ancient God, i.e., engrave the God's honorific name upon it. Of course, one couldn't know the God's true name, but the honorific name could be learned. For example, the most frequently engraved honorific name on Doom Star was that of the God of Death.
Only by becoming a follower of an Ancient God could one qualify to survive on Doom Star. Otherwise, the toxic air, the poisonous water, and the madness, loss of control, and mental erosion that could be transmitted through various means, all of which were ubiquitous, would be enough to take one's life.
Su Xiao looked at the murky setting sun on the horizon. Doom Star rarely had mornings or noons; it was more often the time of sunset in the afternoon, or the dim light of early morning.
[Entering World: Doom Star.]
World Difficulty: Lv.89 ~ Lv.105.
Location: Soul Graveyard · Aiso Gobi.
World Source: 0% (Cannot be obtained).
World Introduction: The beginning and the end of all things.
Death God Temple: The absolute ruler of this world, controlled by the strongest Ancient God, the God of Death. Under the God of Death are the Four Original Sins, acting as trusted confidants and right-hand men. In addition, there is a large pack of its hounds, including the twelve bishops led by the Archbishop, and the Witch Hunter Corps.
Night God Cult: Dominated by the God of Dark Indulgence, the Night Mother · Umnayara. A powerful force located in the Hidden City · Yargu, second only to the Death God Temple.
Yargu School: Originally a neutral faction, but after having its lair seized by the Night Mother and being hunted by the Death God Temple, it has now launched a full-scale counterattack against both sides.
Dark God Cult: This is an evil faction that believes in the Abyss. It is an ancient force that grew and ravaged this world before it transcended. It has now allied with the "Yargu School," providing shelter for a large number of commoners while forming a resistance alliance against the Ancient God forces. Its headquarters is located in the Sanctuary City · Orr (a large sanctuary city).
[World, Begin.]
...
The world introduction this time contained very little information. It wasn't that Doom Star lacked historical events, but rather that the suffering of its inhabitants was so immense it was beyond counting.
As the strongest Ancient God of this realm, one of the components of the God of Death's faith was pain, and pain constituted a large part of this faith power.
In fact, pain was never solely a negative emotion. On a karmic level, one branch of pain was actually life. Only the living could feel pain.
In many high-rank worlds, there was a power system known as the "Miracle of Pain." In reality, the true origin of this power system was Doom Star.
More precisely, it was the largest city-state on Doom Star, the Eternal City · Orr, located at the foot of the Death God Temple, in a towering building called the "Beast Church."
The "Beast Church" was the headquarters of the Witch Hunter Corps. These witch hunters were the loyal hounds of the God of Death. In the past, they were called Divine Servants, until the "Yargu School" used the "Eye Ritual" to allow the power of the Ancient Gods to be wielded not only by the Gods themselves. Witches were born.
Witches could grasp the power of the Ancient Gods to a certain extent. The price was madness, bodily mutations, loss of control, and madness from gazing upon unspeakable aberrations. These were common occurrences. Yet, this still couldn't stop the endless stream of aspiring witches.
These mere ants had actually grasped power equal to the Ancient Gods. Even if this power wasn't strong enough, not even a tenth, and they were constantly paying the price for this blasphemy, it was still an affront to the Ancient Gods of the "Death God Temple." With the God of Death's tacit approval, the Witch Hunter Corps was formed.
Initially, the headquarters of the Witch Hunter Corps wasn't the "Beast Church," but was called the Divine Judgment Church. However, when these hounds of the Gods actually faced the witches, they found things weren't so simple.
This was the power of the Ancient Gods. The hounds, starting from cruel rage, were gradually beaten awake. A witch-hunting team of 15 members would suffer nearly half casualties when dealing with a single witch, and they weren't even guaranteed to capture her.
The first witch in history was created by the Ancient God scholars of the "Yargu School." This school had been probing the power of the Ancient Gods for years. Although the power they grasped was less than a tenth of a same-rank Ancient God, the witches used the "Eye Ritual" to construct a technique within their bodies, allowing them to further utilize the Ancient God power they held.
Simply put, if the Ancient Gods could destroy the world, suck it dry, and leave it dominated by despair, then the witches were powerful individuals. In terms of domination, the witches were less than a thousandth of the Ancient Gods. Furthermore, a witch could never defeat an Ancient God; this was fate. If the witches were willing to submit to the Ancient Gods, they would be the most competent hounds.
Except for a very few, the witches' attitude towards the Ancient Gods was remarkably consistent: they had to find a way to face the Gods directly and then kill all these evil deities who dominated and ravaged their homeland.
When facing an Ancient God, a witch was a small fry. But when facing a witch-hunting team, the witch would wind up and deliver a resounding slap across the face.
I can't face an Ancient God directly. My combat power isn't as good as the Spellcasters or the Law Destroyers. But besides them, who am I afraid of? You hounds dare to hunt me?
For a long time, the Witch Hunter Corps hid in the "Eternal City," until one of the Four Original Sins, second only to the God of Death, Wrath · Stein, took over the corps. From then on, the Blood of the Mad Beast became the source of the corps' power, and they truly began hunting witches.
Witches were formidable fighters, but facing a dozen individuals who could lose control and go berserk at any moment, and who could resist most witchcraft, the witches could only choose to retreat or flee.
Thus, the Witch Hunter Corps went down the path of the "Mad Beast Disease" power system without looking back, leading to the current situation where members executed for losing control due to beast transformation were over a dozen times higher than those killed in battle.
This wasn't the only organization hunting witches. There was also the "Mercy Cathedral." Although this organization was in the second tier, the danger of joining it was truly comparable to believing in an Ancient God.
A kind bishop, gentle nuns, a soft, dry bed. A weary traveler sleeps in the bed for one night and wakes up the next day looking radiant. As for what they might turn into, that's unclear. Staying in human form is considered extremely lucky.
Do you think the "Mercy Cathedral" is a seemingly warm but actually terrifying den of evil? Not quite. Sleeping a night in the "Mercy Cathedral" at least means you wake up. The "Beast Town," located several thousand kilometers east of the Soul Graveyard · Aiso Gobi, is the truly terrifying place.
Beast Town has a permanent population of over 100. During the day, it's a small town with a mysterious charm. The townsfolk are hospitable, the malt beer at the tavern is famous far and wide, the widowed landlady of the restaurant is alluring, and aside from the cold innkeeper, it seems like a perfect little town trip. However... it's best to leave Beast Town before dinner. After all, who becomes dinner depends on whether there's a full moon that night.
Please don't misunderstand. In Beast Town, becoming dinner is actually one of the better outcomes. Once, two witch-hunting teams entered Beast Town to surround and kill a witch. In the end, the witch and the townsfolk shared a meal together. After the hunters received the warm, heartfelt hospitality of the townspeople, they all fell asleep quietly in the natural cold storage underground.
Later, one of the Four Original Sins, "Wrath · Stein," went to Beast Town, and the matter was dropped. There were rumors that Beast Town itself was a bizarre entity, and its residents were more like parasites on it, like lice or fleas.
Beast Town, Dream Castle, Innsmouth. Doom Star had too many strange regions. Among these three, Innsmouth was the absolute big brother. Not only did the "Yargu Academy" come here after losing its lair, but Innsmouth also had a building called the "Second Asylum."
Doom Star had no shortage of madness. Those who needed to be labeled as madmen here were already dangerous to a certain degree. In a place of extreme madness and threat like Innsmouth, the creatures that needed to be locked up in an asylum were terrifying beyond imagination.
Of course, compared to these three regions, the "Eternal City · Orr" was the ultimate boss. This was the lair of the Ancient Gods. It was said that upon stepping into the Eternal City, one could directly smell the despair and pain in the air. This was a special environment created over time by the massive amount of faith power from despair and pain converging there.
Yes, this was the formidable enemy Su Xiao had to face this time: the stronghold of the God of Death.
As the leader of the "Death God Temple," the God of Death had absolute control over it. The structure of the "Death God Temple" was: the God of Death was supreme, below were the Four Original Sins, namely:
Slaughter · Richmond.
Lust · Ina.
Gluttony · Quek.
Wrath · Stein.
According to the intelligence provided by Zuiyasi, these four were between Super-Top Supreme and Supreme Peak, and some might have even newly succeeded to "Supreme Peak." After all, these four had reached this level of power since the early Second Era. They couldn't advance in the Second Era because there were too many Supreme Peaks back then, and the "Seats of the Strong" for Supreme Peaks in the Star Realm were limited.
But in the Third Era, there were enough vacancies in the "Seats of the Strong" for Supreme Peaks. The former Night Mother · Umnayara was on par with the strongest of the Four Original Sins, Slaughter · Richmond. Now that the Night Mother had successfully advanced, Slaughter · Richmond's chances were also high.
Don't forget, Slaughter · Richmond was fanatically loyal to the God of Death, and the God of Death controlled 80% of Doom Star's resources, which would undoubtedly be heavily tilted towards Slaughter · Richmond.
Furthermore, each of the Four Original Sins commanded powerful forces, so strong that any one of them had the power to destroy the "Yargu Academy."
If not for the constant containment by the Night God Cult, the "Yargu Academy" would have been the first to be destroyed. The Ancient God scholars there were too threatening with their research on the "Eye Ritual."
Besides the powerful Four Original Sins, the "Death God Temple" also had the Archbishop · Saul and his twelve bishops, all loyal hounds of the God of Death.
The twelve bishops ruled over the twelve city-states of Doom Star, or rather, controlled the life and death of over 90% of the world's population.
For example, the Soul Graveyard · Aiso Gobi, where Su Xiao currently was, belonged to the jurisdiction of "Chaos City."
The good news was that Su Xiao's own faction wasn't weak either. In the Night God Cult, the Night Mother · Umnayara was the leader, but she didn't have absolute control like the God of Death.
The Night Mother's direct line consisted of the High Priestess · Ululoy and the Chief Priest · Bergmann.
At first glance, these two names were very unfamiliar. In reality, they were Zuiyasi's mother-in-law and father-in-law.
Also holding important positions in the Night God Cult were the "Three Chief Priests of the Tribunal," namely the Chief Priest of Punishment, the Chief Priest of Karma Fire, and the Chief Priest of Confession.
As an Ancient God, the Night Mother's actions were essentially establishing her own company to challenge the current strongest conglomerate. The Three Chief Priests of the Tribunal were undoubtedly the original shareholders.
The Night God Cult was a haven for witches. Any witch who hadn't gone mad could come to the "Hidden City · Yargu" to seek refuge, leading many witches to join the Night God Cult and believe in the Night Mother.
If the God of Death's faith was pain and domination, then the Night Mother's faith was tranquility and darkness. Obviously, if the latter ruled Doom Star, life here would be a bit better.
As for freeing Doom Star from the rule of the Ancient Gods, that was currently impossible. Doom Star was a Transcendent Realm established by the Ancient Gods. This world needed to absorb the World Force of other surrounding worlds to remain stable. At most, a change in the ruling Ancient God would alter the world's environment.
This was why witches generally supported the Night Mother. Living in a world plunged into long-term darkness was indeed much better than a world where the air was toxic, the fresh water was poisonous, plants were either dead or twisted, the sun was eroded, and the moon was polluted.
Su Xiao took out a [Soul Crystal], bit off a piece with a crunch. The risk of this gamble with the God of Death was pushed to the extreme. If he messed up, he would die here. Of course, he should eat something good.
As for the major forces and numerous strong individuals of this world, Su Xiao wasn't too concerned. His subsequent plan was very simple: encounter one, kill one.
[Detected that the Hunter is located in the Transcendent Primordial World · Doom Star. Your Talent Mission Phase 3 is activating (This mission has a total of three phases. Upon completion of all phases, your Law-Destroying exclusive talent ability, Shadow Hunt, will awaken).]
[Talent Awakening Mission · Shadow of Law Destruction (Phase 3).]
Difficulty Level: Lv.105.
Mission Brief: Slay the "Strongest Ancient God · God of Death."
Mission Time Limit: 60 natural days.
Mission Reward: Law-Destroying Talent · Shadow Hunt completes awakening.
Mission Penalty: None.
...
[Warning: If this Talent Awakening Mission fails, your "Law-Destroying Talent · Shadow Hunt" will never be able to awaken.]
[Warning: If this Talent Mission fails, the [Origin Stone · World] you possess will shatter after 36,500 natural days.]
...
The importance of the [Origin Stone · World] needed no elaboration. If this Talent Awakening Mission failed, this Origin Stone would shatter in 100 years. At that point, Su Xiao would no longer be the Chosen One.
Leaving aside the impending Abyss Catastrophe, the failure of the "Talent Mission" leading to the gradual shattering of the [Origin Stone · World] also represented one thing: this talent ability was the key to whether Su Xiao could reach the peak.
[Tip: You have triggered a side mission, The Revenge of the Beast Clan.]
[Side Mission · The Revenge of the Beast Clan]
Difficulty Level: Lv.104.
Mission Brief: Fulfill the promise made when obtaining the Beast Clan's legacy. Kill the "Abyss Descendant · Spider Lady" during this world progression.
Mission Time Limit: Before the end of this world progression.
Mission Reward: Goblin Merchant Guild Storage Certificate (Use this certificate to retrieve the corresponding item stored in the Goblin Merchant Guild vault).
Mission Penalty: Randomly deduct one of your main equipment pieces.
...
[Checking the Hunter's current comprehensive combat power...]
[Check complete. As the Hunter's current comprehensive combat power is in the top tier of this world, a related difficulty-level main mission has been formulated.]
[You have triggered the main mission for this progression.]
[Main Mission: The Eye Princess.]
Difficulty Level: Lv.101
Mission Brief: Find the "Eye Princess" within 48 hours and protect her until she completes the "Ritual Awakening."
Mission Time Limit: 15 natural days.
Mission Reward: Reincarnation Emblem × 5
Mission Penalty: Forced Execution.
...
Seeing the content of this main mission, Su Xiao felt a sense of foreboding. Whether it was the "Side Mission" to kill the Spider Lady or the "Talent Mission" to slay the God of Death, although he found them very difficult, he remained calm inwardly.
But this main mission truly made him frown. Because he was better at killing enemies. When it came to protection, he couldn't say he was completely clueless, but it was clearly a blind spot. His best method of protection was: when enemies attacked, take the initiative to kill them all, or be proactive and kill anyone who might threaten the "Eye Princess" in advance.
A protection plan gradually took shape in Su Xiao's mind. First, he had to find the "Eye Princess." Then, he would have her list all her enemies and make a list.
Then, he would take the initiative, bringing the "Eye Princess" along to "pay a visit" to each enemy's home and kill them all. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about the enemy suddenly assassinating the Eye Princess and causing her to die.
It wasn't that Su Xiao was bloodthirsty, but there were indeed too many strange long-range lethal methods in this world. If he simply tried to protect the Eye Princess tightly, the likely outcome was that she would suddenly and inexplicably die.
[Tip: Detected that the Hunter's Honor Store has reached Lv.30. Related permissions will be activated upon entering the world.]
[Permission 1: You can temporarily summon the Honor Store within a few limited safe zones certified by the Void Tree in this world to exchange for items.]
[Permission 2: For each subsequent level increase of the Honor Store, you will gain 1 Honor Store refresh chance.]
[Permission 3: For each subsequent world you enter, the Honor Store will automatically refresh once.]
[Honor Store refreshing...]
[Refresh complete. A total of 652 exchange options have been temporarily removed from the Honor Store. 185 new exchange options have been added.]
...
This was undoubtedly good news. Su Xiao activated his Reincarnation Brand and found that, sure enough, the Honor Store had appeared in the brand's list. With 62 [Reincarnation Emblems] in hand, this was undoubtedly an opportunity.
Originally, Su Xiao hadn't considered the possibility of defeating the God of Death through one-on-one combat, after all, this was the strongest Ancient God who had advanced to "Supreme Peak" in the early to mid-Second Era.
But after several permissions of the Honor Store were activated, Su Xiao had a very bold idea. So bold that if it succeeded, he was confident he could challenge the God of Death alone.