Chapter 2: Rescue
The most important thing right now was undoubtedly to find the "Eye Princess." If she died, the main quest would fail, resulting in a total loss right from the start.
Taking out the tracking device made by Bubu Wang, he saw that Beini was 120,000 kilometers away, Amu was 700 kilometers away, Baha was 186 kilometers away, and Bubu Wang was 715 meters away.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang, perched on a skeletal building in the distance, barked, and after a moment, came trotting over happily.
To find someone in this world, one naturally needed to consult the local experts. But before that, he had to do something else. He took out a communicator. Since it was a cross-world communication device, it took a while to connect. When it did, a voice came from the other side:
"My dear friend, Caesar is enjoying the sun and sand right now. At a time like this, you wouldn't have the heart to send Caesar to a place too dangerous, would you?"
After saying this, Caesar let out his signature sly chuckle.
"I'm on Doom Star."
"Huh?!"
It was clear that the scrawny Caesar on the other end had gone from a comfortable reclining position to sitting up abruptly. He put on his round sunglasses, which looked like something a rat would wear, and they immediately slid down to the bridge of his nose.
"To be precise, I'm working with the Night Mother to deal with the Underworld God and Lord Soul."
"Huh??!"
Caesar's exclamation was even louder. Even without seeing him, one could imagine his eyes wide open.
"My dear friend, do you have a chance of winning?"
"Not bad."
"My dear friend, right now, you very, very much need Caesar's help. Don't worry, Caesar will arrive on Doom Star soon. Our friendship doesn't allow me to stand idly by. My conscience won't allow me to do this!"
After saying this, Caesar on the other end decisively cut off the communication. One could imagine that if Caesar didn't arrive in this world within three hours, it would be due to an accident along the way.
Was it because Caesar was loyal? No, no, no. Upon hearing about Su Xiao, the Night Mother, the Underworld God, and Lord Soul, this greedy and cunning bastard's CPU had already started running at high speed. His nose for wealth told him one thing immediately: he had to go to Doom Star this time.
If the Underworld Temple was defeated, its treasury would be looted clean by him.
If the Night Faction was defeated, hehe, it was Su Xiao cooperating with the Night Faction. If Caesar plundered the Night Faction's treasury until it was cleaner than a dog's lick, that would be Caesar's enmity with the Night Faction, unrelated to Su Xiao.
Also, one must not fall into the misconception that just because Su Xiao had a good relationship with Zuiyasi, the Night Faction was necessarily a reliable ally. In the end, this was also an Ancient God faction. Even if the alliance achieved ultimate victory, backstabbing was still possible afterwards.
Even more so, one shouldn't think that because the Night Mother was cooperating with them, she was a friendly Ancient God. This was a completely wrong feeling. Su Xiao, the Night Mother, and the Underworld God were all villains and evil gods in a chaotic melee.
Taking a deep breath of the air, which had a hint of bitter almond scent, Su Xiao was about to summon the Lord's Train when he suddenly felt himself being locked onto.
A crack appeared in the space ahead. Dark red tentacles emerged from the spatial rift, pulling it open on both sides.
A figure over five meters tall stepped out of the spatial rift. Its lower body was composed entirely of dark red tentacles. Its upper body had a torso and arms. Around its neck were upward-gathering tentacles like a pitcher plant. Its head was pointed and thin, with a single eye. The head split apart into tentacles, and on each writhing tentacle was an eye.
This was none other than one of the twelve Archbishops of the Underworld Temple, the Archbishop of Death, Eki.
"Who allowed you to come here?"
Archbishop of Death Eki's Void language was somewhat rusty. He didn't attack immediately, indicating that Doom Star had some trade with the outside world. Archbishop of Death Eki couldn't just attack and kill an outsider on sight.
"This transaction is very important..."
Before Su Xiao could finish, the dark red aura of Archbishop of Death Eki burst forth, like an evil flower spreading and extending outward.
"Trespasser, death sentence."
"..."
Su Xiao's hand rested on his sword hilt. He reflected inwardly that after advancing to the Supreme Peak, no, after advancing to Supreme, he had become less cautious, leading to subpar acting skills when unnecessary.
A large number of dark red tentacles surged forward.
Clang!
A slash mark appeared out of nowhere, diagonally cutting through the tentacles ahead. The dark red tentacles that shrouded the surroundings and the sky suddenly froze. After a brief pause, accompanied by a crisp ringing sound, all the dark red tentacles were cut into uniform sugar-cube-sized pieces.
For a moment, all of Archbishop of Death Eki's eyes widened. Before the formal fight, he had only vaguely sensed that the opponent was Supreme, and didn't feel particularly dangerous. But with this single exchange, he realized that the human in front of him wasn't not dangerous; he was too dangerous, causing a sensory misdirection.
A spatial rift appeared instantly behind Archbishop of Death Eki. He immediately leaped backward, lying back towards the spatial rift. But the next second, not only did he fail to enter the spatial rift, but all parts of his body except his torso and head suddenly shattered into sugar-cube-sized pieces and scattered down.
Only then did Archbishop of Death Eki perceive that within the world area his senses could reach, there were densely packed slashes. These slashes existed continuously, crisscrossing each other. Because they were so dense, they formed a grid of uniform square shapes.
A blood moon appeared in the sky at some point. Several blood spears flew down, piercing through the torso of Archbishop of Death Eki, who was now only a torso and hadn't yet fallen to the ground, pinning him in place.
Blood energy spread to all the damaged areas of Archbishop of Death Eki. Whenever he tried to activate his regenerative ability, blood smoke would emerge from the damaged areas, consuming the regeneration. Moreover, because these blood spears had pierced his body, all of Archbishop of Death Eki's abilities were suppressed by the blood energy.
"So the Archbishops under the Underworld God aren't Ancient Gods after all."
Su Xiao spoke as he stepped forward. Hearing this, Archbishop of Death Eki's eyes glared wide. He was about to rebuke this person for disrespecting the Supreme God Lord, but then he suddenly remembered how much this person resembled the target in the divine oracle issued by the God Lord.
"Law... Destroyer."
Archbishop of Death Eki gritted his sharp teeth and uttered these words one by one.
"I ask, you answer."
"Hehehe, don't think you can get anything from me..."
A Mercy Thorn formed in Su Xiao's hand. Before Archbishop of Death Eki could finish, it had already sunk into his neck.
An hour later, Archbishop of Death Eki, whose neck and head were almost like a hedgehog, exploded with a bang. The spiritually polluting blood was blocked by the thin crystal layer in front of Su Xiao.
He had just asked the other about the Eye Princess's whereabouts. The result was unexpected. Archbishop of Death Eki, under torture, answered whatever was asked. But regarding any information about the Underworld God, this guy wouldn't utter a single word, even when screaming and crying in agony.
This made Su Xiao realize one thing: if even the Archbishops, who were only in the third tier of the Underworld Temple's hierarchy, were this troublesome, then the entire Underworld Temple might truly be watertight.
The problem was that the framework of the Underworld Temple's first, second, and third tier power system was very stable. It hadn't changed since they followed the Underworld God to establish Doom Star, this Transcendent world. Even if an Archbishop died due to accident or reaching the end of its life, its position would be inherited by its direct line or designated successor.
From the Four Original Sins and the Grand Archbishops down to the fanatical followers, their faith in the Underworld God was quite firm. The Underworld God was an evil god, that was true, but it had never mistreated its followers, even being generous.
If the Machine God Cult was deceived by the Ancestral God, with power and authority as bait, always serving the Ancestral God, then the Underworld Temple of the Underworld God was more like the members of the first, second, third, and fourth tiers actively and seriously managing it, while the Underworld God didn't bother much with these matters.
This clearly meant there was no possibility of internal collapse. But for Su Xiao, it didn't matter. His subsequent plan in this world could be summed up in one sentence:
'Life and death are trivial; if you disagree, fight.'
That's right. If Su Xiao found a safe zone and several highly feasible ideas succeeded, his subsequent experience in this world would be the most enjoyable of all his worlds. Because through a series of battles, he could digest his current power, and to the astonishment of enemies of the same rank, the next time they met, he would inevitably be stronger than before.
[You have killed Archbishop of Death, Eki.]
[You have gained 1652 World Reputation.]
[You can obtain a Reincarnation-level Treasure Chest / 850 Divine Gold Coins.]
...
There was no World Source reward, which was normal in a Transcendent world. Su Xiao had experienced the authentication of "World Reputation" before. This meant that in several safe zones of this world, there were World Shops authenticated by the Void Tree.
The World Reputation earned could be spent at the World Shops, and the total amount earned would be automatically recorded. The subsequent world settlement upon returning to Paradise would be based on the total "World Reputation."
Although Archbishop of Death Eki was taken down by Su Xiao like a noob, his combat power was between newly advanced Supreme and veteran Supreme. He was the lowest ranked among the twelve Archbishops. This was quite exaggerated; the third-tier members of the Underworld Temple were all at the Supreme level.
Su Xiao summoned the Lord's Train, boarded it, and sat down. He took out his communicator and called Zuiyasi.
After a moment, a childish voice came from the other end: "Hello, who are you?"
Judging by the voice, it was ninety percent Zuiyasi's son, Griffin, the little rascal who could drive both Zuiyasi and Ona to their wits' end.
Just as Griffin's childish voice came through, Ona's scolding voice followed. Then, Griffin's running and happy laughter grew louder in the communicator, indicating that Griffin had grabbed the communicator and run off.
However, with Griffin's short legs, he was caught by his mother in no time. Then came a few howls of Griffin being "lovingly disciplined" by his kind mother. After Ona apologized, the communicator finally reached Zuiyasi, who had just woken up from a deep sleep and sounded a bit dazed.
"Sorry, you know, to welcome this big event, I forced myself to advance to Supreme. As the price, sigh~"
Zuiyasi sighed.
"..."
Su Xiao knew this bastard too well and simply didn't respond.
"Bai Ye, don't you want to know at all what terrible price your friend paid to advance to Supreme?"
"No."
"Since you sincerely asked, I have no choice but to tell you."
Zuiyasi began to narrate his "price." However, it sounded more like showing off, showing off the advantage of the Undying System in the late game regarding the "Causal Price" paid for devouring.
"Alright, tell me why you contacted me this time."
"Eye Princess."
"Borrowing money? Hey, although I usually refuse to talk about borrowing money, since we're brothers, tell me, how much do you need?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. If Zuiyasi would rather lend money than talk about it, that was very telling.
"I'll go ask the Night Mother."
"You really dare to say that, calling my god by her true name and abbreviating Night Mother to Night Mother. But if you go to the Night Mother to discuss this, whether your cooperation can continue is really uncertain."
Zuiyasi finished speaking and even chuckled. Suffice it to say, a bastard is a bastard. Expecting this guy's faith to be devout was pure nonsense. Also, Zuiyasi didn't become the son-in-law of the Night's Deputy, High Priestess Ulu Loy, under the Night Mother because of devout faith.
It was because this bastard, years ago, had offended High Priestess Ulu Loy and simply kidnapped her daughter, Ona. In Zuiyasi's own words:
'I kidnapped that priestess's daughter, sweet-talked her, and fled with her for about two months. The first month, I tied her up and fled; the second month, she led me to flee. People are emotional creatures; companionship breeds affection.'
Expecting such a guy to have devout faith in the Night Mother was obviously unrealistic. But this was precisely why Su Xiao chose to cooperate with Zuiyasi on Doom Star.
He wasn't sure how long the cooperation with the Night Mother would last. Also, Zuiyasi and Ona were not Ancient Gods in essence; they were of the Ancient God System. What was the Ancient God System? On Doom Star, they had another name: Wizards.
"Bai Ye, have you heard of the Abyss Heart?"
"No."
Su Xiao's answer made Zuiyasi on the other end chuckle. Suffice it to say, only someone used to this bastard's passive provocation would not feel that this guy was very punchable.
"Let's put it this way. To ascend above Supreme, one must obtain the Abyss Heart or the Elemental Eye to have a chance. That one from your Reincarnation Paradise obtained the Elemental Eye in the Second Era..."
Zuiyasi began to narrate the general situation. First, one must know that the seats of Supreme Peak were limited in each era, and the "Supreme Realm" above Supreme had only two seats.
These two seats corresponded to the "Abyss Heart" and the "Elemental Eye." Obtaining these two didn't mean one was qualified to ascend to the Supreme Realm and successfully break through the Supreme Peak; it only gave one a chance.
Zuiyasi had seen in the secret records of the Night God Cult that the two "Supreme Realm" of the First Era were one unknown and the other was the previous Lord of the Abyss.
The two "Supreme Realm" of the Second Era were Tuanzhang and the current Lord of the Abyss.
As for the "Supreme Realm" of the Third Era, both seats were vacant. However, half a year ago, the aura of the "Abyss Heart" appeared on Doom Star.
This was why the Undying Old Man, Deer God, Spider Lady, and Crimson Beast Dilo had all come to this world. The opportunity to break through the Supreme Peak was here.
If this were true, then the "Supreme Peaks" who came to this world might be more than these. For example:
Moon Witch Sesshirisu, Demon Old Hag, Goblin Elder Maza Bia Dorty, Abyssal Dragon, Blade Demon, Underworld Lord. These former dormant Supreme Peaks might all appear.
Moon Witch Sesshirisu was an acquaintance of Su Xiao. She seemed trapped on the moon of the Witch Realm, but as long as this witch was willing, as a Supreme Peak, she could leave. Although in the Witch Realm before, Moon Witch Sesshirisu hadn't acted, that was because she was facing the witch's destiny of "Malignant Transformation," the causal destiny of a healer unable to heal herself.
The fact that the Witch Realm was still stable, unlike the Wind Sea Continent which was occupied by the Abyss Descendants, spoke volumes. The Abyss Descendant Azguk coveted the Wind Sea, while the Abyss Descendant Bronze coveted the Witch Realm. Bronze hadn't acted because Sesshirisu, the Moon Witch, was still there.
The Demon Old Hag needed no introduction. The Demon Race had been fence-sitters several times but was still a major Void force because of her protection.
Goblin Elder Maza Bia Dorty showed himself as a top Absolute Strength, because the Goblin Merchant Guild was a merchant guild, doing business. If Maza Bia Dorty truly revealed himself as a Supreme Peak, he would inevitably be feared.
But without strong military force, the Goblin Merchant Guild would have been devoured by the major forces of the Star Realm long ago. Now, the probability of this Goblin Elder coming to Doom Star was really not low.
The probability of the Abyssal Dragon coming was low. This one had a Black Maple Tree. Its strength could be referenced by the Blade Demon. Without Supreme Peak power, how could it so openly possess a Black Maple Tree?
Su Xiao knew even less about the Underworld Lord. This one was always known for being low-key. But Su Xiao always believed that the Underworld Lord's low profile was more like accumulation. When the accumulation was sufficient, he would surely come out to contend. The Underworld was beaten down by the Lords in the First Era and had been recovering for over an era. Only now was there a possibility of standing up again.
One must know that the Underworld's scale was not inferior to the Void. Also, being beaten down by the Lords was not shameful. From the First Era to the Third Era, the Lords were the most adept at war among the hegemon forces. At that time, over ninety percent of the Lords were besieging the "Netherworld Realm."
The fact that the "Netherworld Realm" wasn't destroyed was itself a display of strength. The Lords were both tired of fighting and would have to pay a great price to destroy the Netherworld Realm.
Su Xiao suddenly realized one thing: besides avoiding direct hostility with the Undying Old Man, he might be hostile to nearly ten other Supreme Peaks. There was only one [Abyss Heart]. Which Supreme Peak didn't want to go further?
And the Eye Princess was the only clue to finding the [Abyss Heart].
"So, where is the Eye Princess?"
Su Xiao's words made Zuiyasi silent for a few seconds before he said, "Beast Town."
...
The scenery outside the train was flying by. Meanwhile, in the north of Eternal City, darkness shrouded the area. As a severe Abyss spread zone, coupled with the vastness of Doom Star, no force would actively approach this place.
Beast Town seemed to be the boundary between the Abyss spread zone and the normal area. Looking down from above, one could even see that the Abyss had eroded some buildings on the back side of Beast Town, but for some reason, it hadn't continued to spread.
It seemed that the unknown existence that constituted Beast Town had reached some kind of treaty with the Underworld God, blocking the Abyss's spread here. In return, it wouldn't be expelled from this world by the Underworld God.
Beast Town had a characteristic: in the grayish gloom of the day, the townspeople were all asleep behind closed doors. Every night, they would leave their homes and begin their day's work and life.
Today, Beast Town was especially lively. Most of the townspeople had gathered in the central square. A bonfire was burning, and the townspeople were singing and dancing, circling the fire with indescribable joy.
A thin figure sat curled up on the ground, wearing a hood. She ignored everything around her. Under her hood, her eyes darted left and right. When she saw the old town chief and the sheriff staring straight at her not far away, she sighed.
Clack, clack~
The sheriff, wearing metal-soled boots, strode over. He stopped behind the girl, grabbed her hood, and let her golden-brown hair fall loose. This girl, just over 1.5 meters tall, was easily lifted by the hood by the sheriff, who was over three meters tall. Because the clothes under her armpits were stressed, the girl, in her silence, also had a slightly comical feeling of being hung up.
"How surprising. You're actually worth so much. The Argo School is willing to pay 12 million Tree Coins to buy you."
The sheriff, with dark red pupils, grinned, revealing a mouthful of metal teeth. The Tree Coins he mentioned were Soul Coins.
Due to the continuous chaotic battles and the complete lack of credibility of the major forces in this world, several mainstream currencies had collapsed. The Soul Coins authenticated by the Void Tree had naturally become the main currency of this world.
However, the natives of this world were more accustomed to calling them Tree Coins. The reason was that on the back of the Soul Coin, there was a convex embossed print of a tree shape. By simply running a finger over it, one could clearly feel that it was genuine. This was the best and most direct anti-counterfeiting measure.
"What time will the scholars from the Argo Academy arrive?"
The old town chief spoke. His voice was deep and gloomy, and his mouth didn't move when he spoke.
"Almost here..."
Before the sheriff could finish, the roar of a train was heard. A train pulled into the town and stopped in the central square. The train door opened, metal steps extended, and a man stepped down from the train. He was wearing a long black leather coat with dark red inner collar and other parts. Under the long leather coat, a sword belt was wrapped around his waist, and a sheathed medium-length sword was inserted in the belt.
The originally lively bonfire suddenly became quiet. Over a hundred townspeople stared expressionlessly at the newcomer.
"Outlander, don't you know that entering someone else's territory without permission is very rude?"
The old town chief spoke. With his mouth not moving and his corpse-like complexion, it was quite intimidating.
The old town chief appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly, he was secretly wondering why Beast Town hadn't devoured this intruding outsider.
In reality, after Su Xiao entered Beast Town, Beast Town wouldn't activate, because Beast Town didn't want to become a new resident of the eighth page of the [Book of Original Sin].
"I am actually a very reasonable person."
Su Xiao looked around, finally fixing his gaze on a girl being held by an iron-blooded, metal-toothed strongman. That was the Eye Princess. The quest target prompt had appeared.
"I take her away, or I kill you all."
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, the sheriff holding the Eye Princess not far away gritted his metal teeth until they creaked. His pupils began to turn red.
In an instant, Su Xiao appeared in front of the sheriff and delivered a simple, unadorned straight kick.
Boom~!!!
The world within a large area trembled. The sheriff turned into a blazing red ray of light. This was because the force of the straight kick was so terrifying that his body burned up in the intense friction of the violent backward flight through space. However, because his body had absorbed the kick's force, the terrifying straight kick force directly snapped his neck, causing his head to spin and fly up in place.
At the moment the sheriff was blasted out by the straight kick, including the old town chief, everyone present suddenly forgot that there was such a person as the sheriff.
This was because the force of this kick was so terrifying that at the moment of its eruption, it impacted and cracked the sheriff's causal existence. After he flew out and burned up, his causal existence gradually re-aggregated under the effect of the Star Realm's rules. Only then did the old town chief and the others remember that there was such a person as the sheriff.
"Can I take her away now?"
Su Xiao looked at the old town chief.
"Can... can."
The old town chief chose to retreat in fear, because he had already figured out who this was. The aura that erupted from the opponent in that instant was unmistakable: it was the Peak Realm. This was an existence that even Beast Town itself was unwilling to be an enemy of.
Su Xiao looked down at the Eye Princess. Holding the sheriff's head in one hand, he tried to put on a kind smile. After all, this was the target he needed to protect. Blood dripped from the severed neck of the head in his hand. He slightly lowered his head, looked directly at the Eye Princess, and said:
"Don't worry, I'm here to save you."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the Eye Princess, looking up at him slightly, gulped. She was extremely scared right now.