Chapter 10: Choice
The southern polar sea winds howled, stretching across an endless icefield. The temperature here was so low that ordinary powerhouses would be instantly frozen; those below the Absolute Strength rank could hardly endure it.
The Demon Maiden, Mi'erwei, and Yeluo Yiliya shivered from the cold, both sniffling as they looked toward Demon Scythe Aina. Aina scratched her blue short hair, staring doubtfully at the dark teleportation array beneath her feet.
"It shouldn't be like this."
Demon Scythe Aina still refused to admit that her teleportation methods were unreliable.
Why had the three come here? The reason was that, in Yeluo Yiliya's fate perception, they needed to go to the main base of the Underworld God Temple, the "Eternal City: Orr," more precisely, District 035 of the Eternal City.
Upon hearing this, Mi'erwei and Aina flatly refused. Were they looking for death? Going to that damned place, the main stronghold of the Ancient Gods.
However, Yeluo Yiliya's next words made them waver. In a hidden underground treasury of an abandoned estate there, there were 428 "Soul Crystals."
Among the Apocalypse Three Sisters, whether it was Demon Scythe Aina, Demon Maiden Mi'erwei, or Yeluo Yiliya, "Soul Crystals" were their most core resource for strengthening. The Demon Scythe, Demon Transformation, and Causal Witch systems required "Soul Crystals" ten times more than other systems.
Especially the Demon Scythe; its core skills in the late stages didn't need "Primordial Cores" as much but rather more "Soul Crystals."
Among the three, Demon Scythe Aina was the strongest. If they succeeded, she should take the largest share. But Yeluo Yiliya proposed a split of 4:3:3, with Aina taking 4, and she and Mi'erwei each taking 3.
To this, Demon Scythe Aina naturally refused outright, saying, "I must take ninety percent, or no one gets anything." But after Yeluo Yiliya sweetly smiled and mentioned a specific date, Aina clicked her tongue in disdain, muttered that forty percent was acceptable, and the deal was struck.
However, there was a problem: the hidden treasury had a self-destruct mechanism and required an opening disc. Yeluo Yiliya was confident about this and asserted that the disc was in the "Barren Stone Mountain Range," even specifying its exact location.
Demon Scythe Aina and Demon Maiden Mi'erwei exchanged glances, confirming their thoughts. This time, they seemed to have stumbled upon a super benefactor. Though the benefactor had come to them voluntarily, it appeared very harmless.
"Can you do it or not? Let me handle it."
Demon Maiden Mi'erwei summoned her "Wondrous Wand." Seeing this, Demon Scythe Aina raised her hand to refuse, then clasped her hands together.
Rumble~
Space trembled. The next moment, their surroundings changed. Before them stretched an endless mountain range covered in pitch-black trees.
"Haha, I told you I could do it. You didn't believe me..."
Before Demon Scythe Aina could finish, she suddenly turned her head to look at the peak of the tallest mountain. In an instant, her scalp went numb. She saw a heavy black afterimage clashing with a blue slashing light.
A brief silence followed.
Boom!!!
Demon Scythe Aina felt as if the world around her was about to explode. Everything trembled. Yeluo Yiliya collapsed without a word, blood streaming from her seven orifices. Demon Maiden Mi'erwei let out a cry, blood spraying from her nose and mouth. Just as she felt the world slipping away, she pressed her "Wondrous Wand" against her chest.
Poof~
White smoke dispersed. Demon Maiden Mi'erwei transformed herself into a spotted deer. Her "Transformation Art" had a peculiar trait: though it had no offensive capability, it could ignore many attacks. Direct attacks from peak powerhouses could certainly break through the limits of transformation, but the distant shockwaves were barely survivable.
In her deer form, Mi'erwei held the "Wondrous Wand" in her mouth. With another bang, Yeluo Yiliya, who had just been revived by a potent healing potion forced down by Demon Scythe Aina, turned into a little white sheep.
"Me, me, me."
Though Demon Scythe Aina was a Supreme, she chose to avoid the nearby battle. Which Supreme would willingly get involved in a peak-level fight?
Poof~
Demon Scythe Aina turned into an ostrich. Thus, with the ostrich leading, followed by the deer, and the little white sheep at the rear, the fleeing three sisters escaped toward the outskirts of the "Barren Stone Mountain Range." Even in such danger, Demon Scythe Aina didn't forget the disc needed to open the treasury, which was located in the peripheral area, relatively far from the battle.
Boom, boom!!
The earth trembled. A slashing light shot into the sky. The ostrich-form Aina suddenly stopped, looking upward. The sight before her was unforgettable.
In the sky was an endless slash mark. The world had been split open. Thick Abyss seemed ready to pour down. A layer of seven-colored light membrane blocked the Abyss's invasion. As the world's depths rapidly healed, the scene changed to show the entire sky cleaved apart.
Boom!!
The earth trembled again. Both soil and rock turned dark red, gathering toward the center like a rolled-up carpet, then blasted outward.
Crack!!
The surrounding space was covered in cracks. On this basis, three crisp slashes—clang, clang, clang—neatly cut through these spatial fractures. The next moment, these three slash marks exploded violently, turning into countless slashing lights that converged and struck toward the source of the dark power, followed by a deafening roar.
Aina chose to continue running at full speed. This place was too dangerous. Just then, she suddenly saw a golden star appear in the sky. How could a star appear in broad daylight? The next second, she realized it was a falling golden star.
With a world-shaking boom, Aina's ears rang. After flying over ten kilometers, she got up from the ground, shook her head, and sensed that the aura of the deadly battle at the mountain peak had changed from two to three: one blood-red, one pitch-black, and one golden.
Honestly, Aina really didn't want to leave, but the situation was growing more dangerous. So she chose to run while turning her head to look back. In ostrich form, this gave her surprisingly good visibility.
The blood-red aura and golden power suppressed the pitch-black. Seeing this, Aina knew that among the three powerhouses, two were ganging up on one. But more than that, she was concerned that, despite her transformation slowing her escape speed, she had been running for nearly half an hour and still hadn't left the battle's affected area.
The blood-red and golden forces increasingly suppressed the darkness. Eventually, after a violent eruption of dark power that even temporarily suppressed the blood-red and golden forces, even severely wounding them, the dark power withered and dissipated.
This was a death without defeat. Such were the Abyss Descendants, especially the Luren family in their prime state. They could be reborn from the Abyss in less than a day, and if needed, compress that time to a few hours—though at a corresponding cost.
After the dark power fell, the blood-red and golden forces didn't stop. Not only did they not stop, but the battle grew even fiercer.
Boom~
A shockwave spread. Suddenly, Aina felt the surrounding world become viscous, as if submerged in liquid. Even at such a distance, the effect was this strong. If this were the core area of the ability, wouldn't the world come to a halt?
Clearly, Aina was mistaken. World-stopping was strong, but far from the unsolvable "Star Realm Stasis."
Slashing lights cut through the golden power, flying diagonally into the sky. The golden power suddenly weakened, then dispersed. This made Aina and Mi'erwei stop in their tracks. Yeluo Yiliya took a moment to react before stopping; among the three, she was the slowest runner.
Aina wanted to say something, but only an ostrich call came out. Her approximate meaning was:
'Is that Law Destroyer this strong?'
Just as Aina gestured this, on the distant shattered mountain range, golden power surged into the sky. The battle continued, even more earth-shattering than before.
After a full hour of running, the Apocalypse Three Sisters finally escaped the battle's affected area. Thanks to the special state of transformation, only Yeluo Yiliya suffered minor injuries.
Aina looked into the distance. The next moment, she felt a shockwave hit her face, followed by a deafening roar that made her ears ring. She saw a blood-red afterimage fly out, disappearing into the distant horizon. It felt like it had been sent flying by a single staff strike.
It was karma. Not long ago, Su Xiao had kicked the Deer God flying to who-knows-where with a straight kick. Now, the Deer God had sent him flying from the Barren Stone Mountain Range to the north of the "Eternal City: Orr." More intuitively, he had flown across about a third of the land distance of Doom Star.
The Apocalypse Three Sisters stood on a cliff, looking at the "Barren Stone Mountain Range" before them. It was no longer a mountain range but a flat, rocky expanse leveled to the ground. The space above was covered in slash marks and golden sun-fire burning through space. The kilometer-wide fist imprint in the sky was left by the Crimson Beast Dilo. From the cracks in the fist imprint, dark Abyss power slowly seeped down.
...
Beast Town, several hundred kilometers to the east. This place was now a meteor crater dozens of kilometers in diameter.
Su Xiao rose from the crater, which was burning with golden flames. As soon as he stood up, he felt a dizzying spin. His two life-saving measures were "Two Life Cores" + "Extreme Blade Heart."
"Life Core (Life Passive): When your health reaches 0.1%, you will not die. The 'Life Core' immediately shatters, restoring 100% of your Primordial Life Force (i.e., fully restoring current health), removing 'all negative states,' and recovering 'any bodily damage.'"
"Extreme Blade Heart (Blade Passive): When health is below 1%, each Blade Heart can block one 'fatal attack.'"
Both life-saving measures were used to survive. In this clash with the Deer God, Su Xiao felt that the opponent was a notch stronger than before. Especially after he killed the Deer God with "Extreme: Star Realm" combined with consecutive Azure Steel Shadow true damage slashes, the Deer God was reborn from golden blood, and his combat power increased further.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Su Xiao covered his mouth, coughing dryly. Blood seeped through his fingers. Though he had been beaten quite badly this time, his combat experience had skyrocketed, especially from the chaotic battle with the Crimson Beast Dilo and the Deer God.
Summoning the Lord's Train, Su Xiao went to the bedroom in the rear carriage. After drinking a chilled custom recovery potion, he recovered somewhat. In the bathroom, warm water washed away the bloodstains on his body. After treating the major injuries, he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep. Not only was he physically exhausted, but the Crimson Beast Dilo had also devoured a significant amount of his "Primordial Life Force."
This permanently reduced his Supreme health by 2.12 million points. In the past, this would have been an extreme loss. Now, his Supreme health cap was 50 million points, with an overflow of over 6 million Primordial Life Force awaiting conversion. Generally, once he accumulated another 50 million points, another "Life Core" would form.
Now, this overflow Primordial Life Force nourished the loss. Su Xiao's Supreme health gradually returned to the 50 million cap.
Though his current strength wasn't yet enough to face the Deer God, Su Xiao could clearly feel that this increase of 84 points in all Supreme attributes had significantly strengthened him at the peak level.
For other peak powerhouses, enhancing Supreme physique was the most time-consuming and least efficient method. But this couldn't withstand the qualitative change from quantitative accumulation. Continuously building a foundation like this would become incredibly formidable once it reached a certain level.
Su Xiao's two opponents this time, the Crimson Beast Dilo, directly devoured others' Primordial Life Force, taking millions of points in one go. As an Abyss Descendant, he was immortal and indestructible. The Deer God, with his unyielding battle will, was also immortal and grew stronger each time he stood up.
Facing these two absurd opponents, Su Xiao wasn't intimidated. He fought the Deer God to the end. The reason he was sent flying by the Deer God was that he was about to enter the "Selfless Realm." Even the Deer God, with his unyielding battle will and immortality, didn't want to face one of Su Xiao's current "Selfless Realm" slashes.
Su Xiao's goal had always been to reach the peak. Though he hadn't yet reached the very top, he was at least in the top tier. The feeling of clashing with various powerful beings in the Star Realm was excellent.
Unfortunately, he didn't encounter Spider Lady this time. Su Xiao estimated that, with his current strength, he had a chance to kill Spider Lady, even if she had become an Abyss Descendant. He still had methods.
As for why he didn't kill the Crimson Beast Dilo this time, there was simply no opportunity. It seemed like he and the Deer God were ganging up on the Crimson Beast Dilo, but in reality, it turned into a three-way brawl. In a non-duel situation, even with "Demon Spirit Awakening: Causal Severance," it was nearly impossible to kill an Abyss Descendant of Dilo's caliber.
When Su Xiao's injuries were 80% healed, the Lord's Train returned to "Sanctuary City: Gran." Gran was lively in the evening. The past week was the Wine Festival, and with the Dark Bishop Palmer, who ruled the city, dead, the residents were celebrating.
Notably, many residents who had left the city earlier had returned in the afternoon, making the once-quiet Sanctuary City lively again.
Compared to the bustling city center, the dark cathedral on the city's side, shrouded in shadows, was quiet and safe. Su Xiao returned to the third floor of the cathedral, the room with the "Awakening Stele," and found it fully furnished. This had been done gradually by Bubu Wang.
The room had a faint floral scent drifting from a large flower field to the south. The natural fragrance of plants and wood was relaxing, and the overall warm tones of the room added a sense of comfort.
Sitting cross-legged on the carpet, Su Xiao contacted Beini. Following the usual procedure, he had Beini purchase 7 to 10 Supreme passives and contact the Goblin Merchant Guild to sell the existing Space-Time Power at a ratio of 1:423.
The Goblin Merchant Guild welcomed this business. Initially, they were quite dissatisfied with the ratio. The guild's general manager, Jinguwo, endured the pressure to proceed with the deal. But after the transaction volume exceeded 500,000 ounces of Space-Time Power, the guild's high-ranking members were grinning from ear to ear.
With the Abyss calamity approaching, having a large amount of Space-Time Power was undoubtedly beneficial. Even in the worst-case scenario, the Goblin Merchant Guild could ensure its survival by paying a massive amount of Space-Time Power.
Under normal circumstances, this would work. However, the current Lord of the Abyss seemed intent not just on spreading the Abyss across the Star Realm but also on driving the massive "Ancient Abyss Entities" drifting in distant places to devour, smash, and tear apart the Star Realm.
Thus, the Goblin Merchant Guild had to stake everything this time. There was indeed no retreat.
Su Xiao didn't have to wait long. Ten "Supreme Passive" skill scrolls appeared in the team storage space. He took them out and summoned the Lord's Train into the room, which was large enough. The right side of the room was reserved for summoning the Lord's Train.
Entering the "Exclusive Skill Upgrade Pod" in the rear carriage, Su Xiao crushed the skill scrolls one by one. They transformed into special awakening energy that merged into him, forming and awakening various Supreme-tier abilities.
[You have mastered Soul Radiance, Lv.21.]
[You choose to upgrade "Supreme Passive: Soul Radiance" to X. Total cost: 33.8 million Soul Coins. Proceed with this upgrade?]
...
The ability upgrade began. This time, he would max out ten "Supreme Passives." However, there was a problem: he had no Golden Skill Points left. This wasn't a big issue. X-level "Supreme Passives" could still be absorbed, but the "Supreme Attribute Points" gained wouldn't be as many as those from X-level ones.
Fifteen hours later, ten X-level "Supreme Passives" appeared in Su Xiao's Supreme-tier skill list. Fortunately, his "Supreme Skill Slots" were plentiful, with a cap of 22. Currently, 7 were permanently occupied, 10 were temporarily occupied, leaving 5 spare.
He should indeed look for a few Supreme passives worth keeping. The "Awakening Stele" did have such abilities, but mastering them was so dangerous that even the Ancestral Law Destroyers called it "extremely perilous."
Translating the danger levels expressed by the Ancestral Law Destroyers:
Can be safely mastered = No accidents during mastery; won't die.
No risk = About a 20-30% chance of dying during mastery. Of course, if one's physique is strong enough, there's no risk, so it's considered no risk. If you die, it's your own fault. Don't blame the ability. Besides, just look at how strong it is after mastering it.
Risky = With proper preparation, there's still a 30-40% chance of kicking the bucket.
Quite dangerous = Even after preparing everything, there's still a 60-70% chance of dying from mastering this ability.
Extremely dangerous = There's a 90% chance of dying from mastering this ability. But because the ability is absurdly strong after mastering, it's recorded.
Furthermore, the "Supreme Passives" of the Law Destruction faction were generally not recorded on the "Awakening Stele" but on the "Inheritance Stele," which had been completely shattered in that epic bloodbath.
To be more precise, only two abilities were recorded on the "Awakening Stele."