Chapter 7: The Conspiracy
Within the underground space beneath the beast town, Su Xiao did not summon the [Awakening Stele] here. Setting aside the risk of it being destroyed, enhancing the Azure Steel Shadow ability was completely different from using the [Primordial Source Matter] for devouring abilities.
Furthermore, the [Exclusive Skill Upgrade Pod] itself possessed formidable defensive capabilities. Even if an enemy attacked, it could provide a certain degree of resistance, not to mention the external protection of the Lord's Train outside.
The safe area certified by the Void Tree within this world sounded good, but based on Su Xiao's experience, it was usually a building of modest size, at most a few dozen square meters. Moreover, when the indigenous people of this world entered this Void Tree-certified safe area, the safe area would immediately become invalid. Only after everything calmed down would it revert to being a safe area.
In the past, there were contractors who attempted to exploit the safe area by using door-blocking tactics to kill boss-level enemies. The end result was that the safe area temporarily contracted, shrinking to only protect the world store, which was the size of a vending machine. The metal door of that building was forcibly breached by a minor boss, and the few contractors trapped inside died miserably.
Besides enhancing the Azure Steel Shadow ability, Su Xiao also needed a sufficiently safe place to summon Ayesha/Delona. Please do not misunderstand—this was not to protect them, but to avoid their abilities causing large-scale fate distortions that would attract the attention of other peak powerhouses.
Peak powerhouses had too much experience. If they discovered that Su Xiao had summoned the daughters of the Warm Bed to this world, and considering that he had sealed multiple Original Sin Objects, they might actually deduce that his Original Sin Karma was about to erupt. At that point, things would be dire.
Apart from peak powerhouses, one person posed a huge threat to Su Xiao: the Priest, who had basically mastered all existence power. It was quite possible that this super old yinbi had already sensed that Su Xiao's Original Sin Karma was about to erupt.
Fortunately, the Priest's arrival in this world meant he would inevitably be at odds with the Ancient Gods. His initial power was stolen from the power of the Ancient Gods. The Priest's system was completely different from the wizard system. Wizards could only borrow the power of the Ancient Gods, while the Priest mastered it like an Ancient God himself. Hence, he was often called a humanoid Ancient God.
Pulling open a hidden compartment beside the seat that contained dozens of communication devices, Su Xiao picked up one, hesitated for a few seconds, then dialed. After a moment, the call connected, and both sides remained silent.
Half a minute later, the Priest broke the silence, saying, "It's been a long time since we cooperated in the Dawn Paradise. I didn't expect us to meet again in the Doom Star."
The Priest was clearly talking nonsense. Previously, in the World of Gods, they had been trying to kill each other. This was a way to save face.
"Yeah."
Su Xiao's timely response let the Priest on the other end know that cooperation was possible this time.
"You help me kill and banish the Undying Old Man. In return, I'll assist you in resolving your Original Sin Karma. You should be able to judge that the daughters of the Warm Bed alone are not enough to solve this trouble."
"What about adding Kaisa?"
Hearing this, the Priest was silent for a few seconds, then laughed and said, "Adding Kaisa, I'm sure you have a 90% chance of resolving the Original Sin Karma at a sufficiently painful cost. Let's be optimistic and calculate at a 98% success rate. With your luck, are you really comfortable with a 98% success rate? My old friend."
By the end, there was a hint of amusement in the Priest's tone.
"..."
The communicator in Su Xiao's hand creaked and groaned, about to be crushed by him, signaling the breakdown of this negotiation. The Priest on the other end knew that if this Hunter really went all out, there was nothing he wouldn't dare to do or face. That was also the reason for his current strength.
"Change the target to the Underworld God. He is our common enemy. You settle your grievances with him, and I'll take his divine nature source. Although, I don't think we are a match for the Underworld God."
Hearing this, Su Xiao frowned slightly. He could tell that the Priest had more to say. The Priest on the other end continued:
"White Night, haven't you noticed? There are very few Ancient Gods in this world. Only six have shown themselves: the Underworld God, the Night Mother, and the Four Original Sins under the Underworld God."
"Yes."
"Tell me, where did all those other Ancient Gods go? Who has the ability to devour them all? The Doom Star has never been the lair of the Ancient Gods. This is a trap that the strongest Ancient God has been setting for years."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, but he remembered something. He had once killed an Ancient God named Feather God·Hegra, who had stolen the Underworld God's [Stellar Eye] and hid in the "Container" of the Dark Star World, just to escape the Underworld God's pursuit.
In fact, Feather God·Hegra's betrayal of the Underworld God was very puzzling. What was he after? Just to steal the [Stellar Eye], which he could only activate lightly with his current strength? Then he was hunted by the Underworld God's minions until he hid in a sealed "Container" in some world.
Remember, in the past, the Ancient Gods in the Doom Star were the rulers of various city-states and could freely suck the life out of this world. The Doom Star itself was a very fierce Transcendent Primordial World, constantly absorbing nutrients from surrounding worlds. Moreover, it was a Transcendent Primordial World slowly moving within the Star Realm.
Now it seemed that Feather God·Hegra was the smartest among the Ancient Gods. He sensed something was wrong with the Doom Star and simply stole the [Stellar Eye]. Rather than becoming the strongest Ancient God's nutrient, it was better to hide.
And why was there a rumor in this world that the "Heart of the Abyss" was about to appear? This was clearly the Underworld God using the "Argo School" to create the "Abyss Technique" that could summon the "Heart of the Abyss" here.
The Underworld God first devoured all the Ancient Gods in this world except for the Night Mother and the Four Original Sins, making himself vaguely reach the extreme of peak powerhouses. Next, he would obtain the "Heart of the Abyss" and achieve the supreme realm.
But things didn't go as planned. Although the "Argo School" established the Abyss Technique, the Eye Princess went missing. That was the current situation. The Eye Princess was with Su Xiao. If it were just that, it wouldn't be a big deal. The Underworld God would let Su Xiao experience the ultimate limit of the peak realm. But one by one, peak powerhouses entered this world, completely disrupting the Underworld God's plan.
Moreover, the Underworld God had planned to eliminate Su Xiao first. But after learning about his battle with the Deer God, the Underworld God decided to wait and see. Now, no one would believe that this Law Destroyer had just recently been promoted to the peak realm.
Looking at the world hole that hadn't healed since being kicked open by the "Straight Kick," anyone who said this guy had just been promoted to the peak realm—the nearly ten peak powerhouses in this world—wouldn't believe it.
Lord Soul had personally gone to see it. Not only was there no sign of healing, but the dark destruction marks were still spreading to the world hole. In the end, even Lord Soul fell silent.
That meant Su Xiao now had a rare opportunity to enhance his Azure Steel Shadow ability and resolve his Original Sin Karma. One place appeared in his choices: Sanctuary City·Gran, the lair of the Dark God Cult.
The Dark God Cult was an absolute oddity among the evil factions. If the world was stable, the Dark God Cult was undoubtedly a cancer. But if the world was chaotic, the Dark God Cult was a relatively conservative force. If the world's environment was extremely harsh, the Dark God Cult would likely rise up to resist.
Don't think that the Dark God Cult had abandoned evil and turned to good. Their ultimate goal was definitely to defeat the current rulers and then replace them. The problem was that the Dark God Cult's system had a 90% chance of developing into a situation where, soon after, they would be surpassed and defeated by other forces. Then, with astonishing tenacity, they would gradually recover amidst heavy sieges, eventually becoming a public nuisance and cancer in the world.
What Su Xiao valued about "Sanctuary City·Gran" was that there were no peak powerhouses there, yet it had never been destroyed. There were only two possibilities. One was that "Sanctuary City·Gran" could hide itself on the existential level, like the Night Mother's base "Hidden City·Argo." If the door wasn't opened from the inside, outsiders couldn't enter at all.
The second was that "Sanctuary City·Gran" had unparalleled defensive capabilities. This could be directly ruled out because no matter how strong the defense, it could be broken one day.
That left only one possibility: "Sanctuary City·Gran" had unparalleled escape capabilities. It was a mobile city that could teleport entirely at any time, and even abandon areas that had been invaded by enemies.
Either it could fight, hide, or run. A city had only these possibilities. To find the trace of "Sanctuary City·Gran," he would definitely need to find a local snake in this world. He took out the communicator to contact Zuiyasi. After a moment, it connected:
"You're really ruthless, White Night. I heard you and the Deer God turned a resource area of the Underworld God's Temple into a lava lake."
Hearing this, Su Xiao wasn't surprised. Before clashing with the Deer God, he had first killed one of the Underworld God's Temple's twelve archbishops, the Death Archbishop·Uchi. The reason the Deer God came looking for him was that he suddenly discovered an external powerhouse had entered the resource area under his jurisdiction.
"Spit it out. What do you want this time?"
"Where is Sanctuary City·Gran?"
"This..."
Zuiyasi winced on the other end and continued, "I am indeed a local snake here, but you're asking me about a place that can sink into the Dark Sea at any time, and even the managers of Sanctuary City·Gran aren't sure where it will appear next..."
"I'll prepare three potions for you."
"Where are you?"
"Beast Town?"
"There's no teleportation tower there. I'll come over now. It'll take about half an hour. See you in half an hour."
Zuiyasi finished speaking and hung up.
The train drove out of the underground space beneath the beast town. Over ten minutes later, a figure walked into the beast town. He wore pure white clerical attire, a twisted cross around his neck with the image of a sufferer, hands in his pockets, and a faint, mocking smile on his face.
"White Night, long time no see. You're actually at the peak realm now. Tsk tsk tsk, it's really infuriating. Look at my age. Do I still have a chance to be selected by the Paradise faction?"
Zuiyasi was as annoying as ever. Don't misunderstand—this wasn't Zuiyasi with his mouth fully open. His wife, Ona, was following behind.
Ona wore a dark-style nun outfit that was very aesthetically pleasing, with a gentle smile on her face. This was her apology for her husband's inappropriate words.
Don't think Ona was just a gentle and virtuous beautiful wife. The "Marrow Worm" that could quietly parasitize into someone's brain was Ona's doing. The "Marrow Worm" could seamlessly alter a person's subconscious, making them think that what they were doing was what they wanted.
It was worth mentioning that the former warm little cotton-padded jacket, now a leaky cotton-padded jacket, Boiling Red, had one in her head. It had transferred from a wizard that Boiling Red killed, where the "Marrow Worm" had been parasitizing the wizard's brain.
"God says, you two have gone astray."
The benevolent Priest was standing not far away, unknown when he had appeared. The moment they sensed the Priest's presence, Zuiyasi and Ona reacted. One had translucent tentacles emerging from his sleeve, and the other spread "Marrow Worm" embryos, smaller than dust particles, over a dozen-meter radius. Not even inhalation was needed; mere skin contact could trigger parasitism.
However, these "Marrow Worms" could not parasitize the Priest because, at this moment, the Priest had ceased to exist in the "concept of existence." The "Marrow Worm" embryos hatched in his hand, and the thread-like "Marrow Worms" wriggled in confusion, eventually drying up due to prolonged exposure to the external environment.
When an ability is ridiculously strong in one aspect, it is bound to be very fragile in another.
Seeing that the time was right, Su Xiao spoke up, "He's one of us."
As for why he didn't say it earlier, neither Zuiyasi and his wife nor the Priest would consider each other as future collaborators without understanding each other's methods.
Everyone boarded the train. The train started. Zuiyasi held a large glass of beer, downed half of it in one gulp, and sighed, "The Doom Star has no shortage of supernatural resources, but there are too few usable living resources. High-quality alcohol is definitely a rare commodity here. Sigh~ In the early years, there were Void merchants who came to sell alcohol, but those brain-dead witch-hunting teams would rob them on sight. Now, no alcohol merchants are willing to come."
Zuiyasi grumbled for a while, then changed the subject and said, "If we want to take down Sanctuary City·Gran, the controller there, the Dark Archbishop·Palmer, is a tough nut to crack."
"Details."
Baha landed on Su Xiao's shoulder and spoke.
"That guy is ruthless enough. To avoid being taken over, he deeply merged with that Sanctuary City. To be precise, Sanctuary City·Gran is him."
"Oh?"
The Priest was quite interested. He thought for a moment and asked Su Xiao, "White Night, do you have any alchemical poison that can make someone severely poisoned through 'existence karma'?"
As the Priest spoke, the train stopped. A demon girl was the first to board. Seeing Bubu Wang, she grinned and came over. The tech gadgets Bubu Wang had given her for self-defense last time were really useful. She planned to sweet-talk this doggo into giving her a few more types.
"I don't know if there's such an alchemical poison, but there is this kind of demon contract."
Wood boarded the train. Old Demon·Mamon did not come along because he wanted to experience the local customs of "Sanctuary City·Gran." Moreover, everyone's destination was "Sanctuary City·Gran."
"Coincidentally, I have the coordinates of 'Sanctuary City·Gran.' The Dark Archbishop·Palmer wanted to make a deal with our demon clan, but the negotiation isn't going well. His offer is far from the sincerity he wrote in the invitation."
Wood sat down. Thus, Su Xiao, Wood, and Zuiyasi, the good teammate trio, were reunited. This time, they also had the strong ally Priest, and Zuiyasi's wife, Ona. This lineup really made one break out in a cold sweat for the Dark Archbishop·Palmer.
If it were a head-on battle, this small team wouldn't rank high in the current Doom Star. Not to mention the current strongest peak powerhouse, the Underworld God, and the Abyss Descendant duo of Spider Lady and Crimson Beast·Diro, the combat power of the Deer God and Lord Soul was undeniable.
But if it were a conspiracy, then this five-person team's lineup would make even the Dark Archbishop·Palmer, let alone a peak powerhouse, immediately raise their guard. Once caught, Su Xiao in the team was also at the peak realm, even if he had just been promoted not long ago.
At this moment, in Sanctuary City·Gran.
This large city was currently located on a medium-to-large island in the southern part of the Ancient Sea. Because it was a relatively marginal area of this world, there were rare gaps in the dark clouds above, and beams of light shone down.
The residents on the streets hurried along. Although the Sanctuary City seemed to isolate danger, in return, they had to pay a heavy price. Even the teleportation tower in the city center could take them to the Void, as long as they paid enough tree coins.
But the identity of a Sanctuary City resident was engraved on the soul. If they exceeded the time limit and didn't return to the "Gloomy Grand Cathedral" in the Sanctuary City for baptism, they would suffer the tragedy of their soul being devoured by ten thousand insects.
At the innermost part of Sanctuary City·Gran stood a thousand-meter-tall giant statue. Yes, this was a statue of the Dark Archbishop·Palmer.
Below the statue was a hundred-meter-tall, utterly ugly black building, the Gloomy Grand Cathedral. Inside the fifteenth underground floor of the Gloomy Grand Cathedral, the place was empty except for a central glass column. The floor was pitch black, like a layer of black liquid. To be precise, this was the Dark Sea.
The glass column was three meters wide and seven meters tall. Inside was a pale golden solution. In the solution was a figure with three arms, a very small torso and limbs, but a very large head. The back half of his huge head was open, and black tentacles extended from his malformed brain, reaching upward.
Yes, this was the Dark Archbishop·Palmer.
The Dark Archbishop·Palmer suddenly opened his eyes. His eye sockets were pitch black, and his pupils showed a deep soul blue. Suddenly awakened, the Dark Archbishop·Palmer looked puzzled, not understanding the source of this sudden palpitation.
...
On the Lord's Train, Su Xiao looked at the spatial coordinates on the table. Because the Dark Archbishop·Palmer had complete control over Sanctuary City·Gran, from a causal perspective, the coordinates of Sanctuary City·Gran were also equivalent to the existence of the Dark Archbishop·Palmer.
The eyes of everyone present turned to the Priest. The Priest clasped his hands and began to pray. The note with the spatial coordinates on the table quietly burned, leaving only a string of spatial coordinates, as if embedded in the air. These coordinates twisted and transformed, turning into a ball of black mist, representing the existence of the Dark Archbishop·Palmer.
The Dark Archbishop·Palmer, whose existence had been stolen, immediately sensed it and prepared to reclaim these existence black mists. But the next second, Su Xiao stuffed the [Book of Original Sin] into this ball of existence black mist. This was forming a vortex. The black mist, which was about to be sucked away, suddenly stopped moving.
Wood took out a quill, dipped it into this ball of black mist, took a portion, and used it as black ink to write the contract content on a piece of Contract Parchment. It was worth mentioning that this piece of Contract Parchment was provided by Su Xiao.
After the contract was formed, the black ink that made up this contract actually let out a roar:
"Who are you! Who... are you!!"
A voice full of authority came from within the contract. Su Xiao pressed his hand on this contract. The Contract Parchment began to separate into layers, eventually becoming sixty layers. Moreover, each contract was linked to many sub-contracts.
"The guilty shall be banished."
The Priest raised his hand. All the Contract Parchments were sucked into his hand, turning into strands of existence causal threads. These threads were absorbed by a vortex, eventually spreading to the main body of the Dark Archbishop·Palmer.
At this moment, in Sanctuary City·Gran, amidst a rumbling sound, came the roar of the Dark Archbishop·Palmer from underground. The next moment, the thousand-meter-tall statue in the city suddenly disappeared. Along with it, the Dark Archbishop·Palmer himself vanished. As for the banishment location, it was a distant place in the Abyss, the area where the "Three Fingers" were located during the last sacrifice using the [Endless Ring].
Given the Dark Archbishop·Palmer's caution, he would only need some time to return to the Star Realm. After all, the Dark God Cult's faith was the Abyss. It was precisely for this reason that the Priest banished him to the Abyss. This highly compatible resonance caused the Dark Archbishop, who was already bearing an astonishing contract power, to be banished immediately.
Inside the train, Su Xiao put down a ball of "causal threads" in his hand. This was the ownership of Sanctuary City·Gran. As for the Dark Archbishop·Palmer, after facing the "Three Fingers," he died on the spot. Speaking of which, this guy had made all kinds of precautions but had never considered that he would die in the Abyss. Hence, he had no defenses against this.
As for who would control "Sanctuary City·Gran" next, everyone would draw lots. Su Xiao's team often drew lots and had a ready-made drawing device. After a moment, Su Xiao, Wood, Zuiyasi, and Ona all looked at the Priest.
"It seems fate has chosen me."
The Priest put down the golden lot in his hand.
"Objection." ×5
Su Xiao, Wood, Zuiyasi, and Ona spoke in unison. As for why there were five voices, Wood's sister also objected.
Anyone present could control "Sanctuary City·Gran," except for the old Priest. Therefore, the second draw included Bubu Wang, Baha, Mierv, and the Eye Princess.
The second round of drawing went smoothly. It wasn't the Priest or Su Xiao. Everyone present knew very well that these two absolutely could not control "Sanctuary City·Gran." One would make "Sanctuary City·Gran" no longer safe, and the other might turn "Sanctuary City·Gran" into a strange situation, like turning the Sanctuary City into a lord-system city with formidable combat power.
Mierv raised the golden lot in her hand, smiling victoriously and showing her full mouth of shark teeth. She took the causal threads symbolizing "Sanctuary City·Gran" and looked at the Priest, meaning, "How do I use this?"
"Feel it."
"And then?"
"Accept it with your existence."
"Huh? Accept it with my existence? What does that mean? I don't understand."
Mierv scratched her head. The Priest glanced at Mierv, then at Wood. Wood coughed lightly, a bit embarrassed: "My sister has been away from home for many years... Well, it's my fault for not teaching her well."
After a round of on-site teaching by Wood, Mierv went from being a bit confused to being completely confused. Her eyes showed a purity that had never been polluted by knowledge. She scratched her head, simply stuffed the causal thread ball into her mouth, and swallowed it with a gulp.
The Priest smiled even more benevolently and said, "That works too."
"Then why didn't you tell me to do this earlier?"
The Priest didn't answer Mierv's question, just smiled without speaking.
The train stopped. Everyone got off. The train drove into an alternate space. Zuiyasi suddenly said, "I'll handle the teleportation. We only need three teleportation relays..."
Before Zuiyasi could finish, a Law-Destroying Teleportation Array formed under Su Xiao's feet, spread, and instantly enveloped everyone present. Zuiyasi's face turned green:
"Wait!"
Boom!
Everyone present disappeared.
Sanctuary City·Gran, near the innermost inner city area, under a large bridge.
Zuiyasi, Ona, Wood, and Mierv were all holding onto the bridge pillar, bent over, roaring like dragons. The Priest stood calmly. As for why he stood still without moving, don't ask. Whoever asks dies.
As for the Eye Princess, she had already fallen asleep. But judging by her furrowed expression, she didn't seem to be having good dreams.
[Tip: Your Main Quest·First Ring·Eye Princess (Completed). Detected that the Eye Princess is currently in a relatively safe state. This quest has been auto-submitted.]
[You have obtained Reincarnation Emblem ×5.]
...
This quest had a duration of 15 days. Su Xiao had originally planned to delay the quest deadline for a few days before submitting it. He didn't expect that making the Eye Princess too safe would cause the quest to auto-complete.
[Main Quest·Second Ring (Triggered).]
[Main Quest: Ritual.]
Difficulty Level: Lv.103.
Quest Brief: Complete the activation of the "Abyss Eye Ritual."
Quest Duration: 15 natural days.
Quest Reward: Reincarnation Emblem ×6
Quest Penalty: Forced execution.
...
The quest information was as sparse as ever. Considering that the "Abyss Eye Ritual" was established by the Argo School, activating it would inevitably require the help of the Ancient God scholars there, and specifically, those with exceptional skills.