Chapter 27: Insight and Lineup
After accepting the bounty mission, "Fate's Choice," Su Xiao unhesitatingly took on the second bounty, "Azguk." The appearance of this bounty essentially granted him a crucial piece of intelligence for free.
Since the Azguk Family had quietly arrived in this world, it seemed that the Spider Lady was more like a smoke screen released by the Azguk Family, leading the powerful beings of this world to believe that she was their representative, sent alongside Dilo.
The attitude displayed was clearly: even if they successfully seized the "Heart of the Abyss," they would faithfully offer it to the Lord of the Abyss, showing no intention of becoming the next Lord of the Abyss, willing to serve as the most loyal hound of the current Lord.
Now, it appeared otherwise. The Azguk Family not only wanted to seize the "Heart of the Abyss" but were also extremely resolute about it. This led Su Xiao, who had experienced countless schemes and intrigues, to suddenly consider a possibility.
This matter might even be related to the Abyss Doom Calamity.
First, it was clear that the current Star Realm was indeed severely imbalanced between Abyss power and natural elemental power, which was the cause of the Abyss Calamity. However, the strong aggressiveness of the current Lord of the Abyss also played a significant role in this calamity.
Arcane Eternal Star was indeed a beastly train without brakes, speeding at full throttle, dragging everyone into the dark abyss. Yet, the imbalance between the Abyss and elements happened so quickly, there must be an entity within the Abyss fanning the flames—indeed, the Lord of the Abyss.
The previous Lord of the Abyss was like this, and the current one was even more so.
Initially, this could not be confirmed. However, upon gradually discovering that the current Lord of the Abyss intended to let the Abyss invade the Star Realm, driving those "Ultra-Massive Ancient Abyss Entities" that were unwilling to approach elemental forces to tear and devour the Star Realm, it became clear.
It could then be determined that the rapid imbalance between Abyss and elemental forces was caused by the current Lord of the Abyss, who had the Abyss power erode the natural elemental layers of the Star Realm at a higher intensity.
Now that the "Heart of the Abyss" from the Third Era had appeared, could it allow the next Lord of the Abyss to ascend? At that time, the clash between the old and new Lords of the Abyss, regardless of the outcome, could significantly delay the arrival of the Abyss Doom Calamity.
Even if this was drinking poison to quench thirst, the strongest overlord force in the Star Realm would willingly drink it. Moreover, while this overlord force could crush other major powers, if they were all attacked together, there was still a chance of victory.
Did the entity that made Arcane Eternal Star invincible in the Star Realm truly care whether Arcane Eternal Star was destroyed? At worst, it could support a new overlord force—be it the fence-sitting expert, the Demon Race, the beauty ceiling, the Feather Race, or the declining Star Clan and Soul Clan.
Arcane Eternal Star was not irreplaceable. What truly threatened that entity was not the Abyss Calamity but the passage of time, second by second. However, this entity was not in a hurry; it only needed to wait, watching the challengers climb upward. Of course, if a challenger failed, their causal fate would belong to it.
Among these challengers, only one had not had their causal fate devoured. If not for that strongest challenger, before challenging the Supreme Being, having part of their body notarized by a certain Paradise faction, that challenger would have been utterly annihilated.
Yes, this challenger was known as the First Generation Law Destroyer. The only remaining part of their body, after being notarized by the Paradise faction, fell into the distant depths of the Abyss as the "First Generation Right Arm." Had Su Xiao not traded with the "Three Fingers," he would never have obtained this item.
Moreover, he exchanged the "Causal Rune" for the "First Generation Right Arm." What magnitude of item was the "Causal Rune"? Just look at the Second Era: Alchemical Civilization to understand.
The Supreme Being might have also discovered that the First Generation Law Destroyer seemed not to have been completely annihilated. Therefore, he used some residual bones of the First Generation Law Destroyer to create a bone ring, hoping to sense where the unconquered body parts of the First Generation Law Destroyer were. Although there was a faint sensation, it was limited to that.
In the Second Era, the bone ring made from residual bones was strengthened once by a power of the same origin. This was why the bone ring on the Supreme Being's index finger was made from the arm bone of Mawen Hua'erzi, the leg bone of Green Gillian, and the skull bone of the First Generation Law Destroyer. In truth, the main material was still the residual bones of the First Generation.
Even if one reached the Supreme Peak, there was still a huge gap compared to the Supreme Being. To put it bluntly, the Peak Realm was indeed the ceiling of the Star Realm. The strength differences among those at this tier mainly depended on accumulation and whether their peak abilities countered each other. Therefore, calling the Night Mother a newly ascended peak was indeed inaccurate. The only difference between her and other peak powerhouses was accumulation, not realm.
Of course, if one were an "Extreme System," they wouldn't need to worry about peak ability countering issues. The "Extreme System" was a hexagonal warrior.
As for the Supreme Realm, it was essentially a super-enhanced Peak Realm—not a full level up, but about half a level. The only two powerhouses in the current era who could break through the ceiling of the Supreme Peak were evident from the attribute description of "Tree's Grace" by Reincarnation Paradise, which clearly stated, "Has a chance to break through the limit," rather than "advance."
The Supreme Realm could easily defeat the most extreme strength of the Peak Realm, but it certainly could not annihilate the Second Era: Law Destruction Faction in such a manner. This was also why, subsequently, no major force in the Star Realm dared to show any open dissatisfaction with Arcane Eternal Star. The annihilation of the Second Era: Law Destruction Faction was too terrifying.
Among the generations of challengers, only the First Generation Law Destroyer stood alone among the Supreme powerhouses who had challenged the Supreme Being. Moreover, even after his death, the Supreme Being had not devoured his fate. Was it unwillingness? Or inability? Perhaps the latter was more likely.
A clearer speculation was that the Peak Realm was Level 1, the Supreme Realm was Level 1.5, and the Supreme Being might be 2+1=3 levels. The extra +1 level came from the current strongest ability, "Star Realm Stasis." As for "Star Realm Stasis," the Tuanzhang had yet to find a countermeasure. The only known method was for two "Star Realm Stasis" abilities to cancel each other out.
As for whether the Tuanzhang would fight the Supreme Being, the Tuanzhang had no such intention. His decisive battle with the previous Lord of the Abyss had only ended in a draw. Without crossing that step, the more dangerous next step would not cause the Tuanzhang to lose such rationality.