Chapter 32: Elements and Ambition
The death of Scale-Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo meant that only one more "Peak Origin Blood" was needed to complete the "Abyss Eye Ritual." Once that was done, the "Abyss Heart" would manifest, and a brutal struggle for it would begin.
Su Xiao hung up the communication. He wasn't worried about Shenfu breaking his word. The operations the other party was conducting were aimed at something far greater; otherwise, he wouldn't be so composed. It was worth noting that, for Shenfu, the Doom Star was as special as the "Eternal Light World" was for Su Xiao.
Opening his team's communication channel, Su Xiao saw the entertaining content inside. Green Gillian had previously said she would teach Aina the "Green Family Secret Technique." When they met, she indeed taught it, and even shared her experience and insights.
Aina was so embarrassed she didn't know where to look, especially since they had previously exchanged pleasantries—she had cursed quite harshly. In response, Green Gillian said it was no big deal; the surname Green greeted people that way.
This made Aina even more embarrassed. Seeing the younger generation so well-behaved, Green Gillian used the surplus materials from setting up the "Elemental Ritual" to help her set up the enlightenment formation for the "Green Secret Technique." Aina was moved at the time.
Aina successfully mastered the "Green Family Secret Technique." However, mastering it inevitably left her weakened. Fortunately, they were in Sanctuary City, which was safe enough. The problem was that the danger came from within. Green Gillian's smile gradually turned friendly as she gave Aina a thorough beating and then locked her in a cage that had been prepared in advance.
Aina's personality was indeed somewhat nasty, but compared to the most malicious female Law Destroyer in history, there was still a huge gap. At this moment, Aina was calling for help in the team channel, while Green Gillian laughed wildly. Everyone else looked speechless yet amused, like bystanders enjoying the drama.
Even funnier was Aina's schizophrenic-like speech. She first "greeted" Green Gillian for a while, then suddenly stopped. After a moment, she began to sincerely apologize. After a brief pause, she started "greeting" again, repeating the cycle.
Interestingly, the "Green Secret Technique" was real, and Green Gillian's experience and insights into it were also genuine. She hadn't passed these secret teachings to the Green Family but only to Aina.
To put it simply, the comprehensive strength of the "Green Secret Technique" was 50, but after Green Gillian's improvements, its strength reached 180 to 200. Her talent was genuinely strong, and her personality was genuinely nasty—no exaggeration.
The "Elemental Awakening Formation" that Green Gillian had set up was nearing completion. Su Xiao planned to go take a look. It was in a sealed building south of Sanctuary City. Amu and Bubu Wang had gone there to prevent any enemies from infiltrating.
Just as Su Xiao was about to leave, Baha flew in through the window and said, "Boss, White Bull is here."
Earlier, during the call with Tuanzhang, White Bull had said he wanted to have a drink with Su Xiao. Under normal circumstances, this would be fine, but Su Xiao was currently involved in the struggle for the "Abyss Heart." Under such circumstances, coming to have a drink was unreasonable. It clearly meant that White Bull had important matters to discuss, but at the time, besides Tuanzhang, there were others present, making it inconvenient to speak.
Now it seemed that the Wandering Hunter·Ross had been by Tuanzhang's side at the time.
Speaking of which, Hunters, Battle Angels, Death Rangers, Pioneers, and others who had advanced to the Supreme Peak rarely entered mission worlds. Once they did, they would inevitably trigger main quests. Compared to such risks, taking on long-term missions was a lower-risk and more stable way to obtain resources.
These long-term missions were not actively released; Contractors/Hunters had to accept them. After advancing to Supreme, they could accept them at the mission release machines in the Guild Hall. Some time-sensitive emergency missions would also be prioritized for Hunters whose current "long-term mission" status was stable.
Generally, these missions were released to several Hunters simultaneously, and whoever accepted first would execute them. Such missions would disappear as soon as they were released because the rewards were exceptionally high.
Moreover, after completing the first "long-term mission" from the mission commission machine, one could choose to delay entering mission worlds. As a result, some Contractors whose potential was deemed exhausted would rarely be passively triggered into world progress unless they received a conscription mission.
Thus, in the later stages, the probability of encountering a Supreme Peak from the Paradise lineup in a mission world was not high. If you went to the Guild Hall and found someone who looked idle, they might be a Supreme Peak from the Paradise lineup.
An even more interesting situation was that nearly half of the Supreme Peak seats in the Third Era's Star Realm were occupied by the Void Tree's fair mechanism. These seats were then allocated based on the comprehensive strength of each Paradise. The Reincarnation Paradise had the most, followed by the Death Paradise, and then the Apocalypse Paradise.
Don't underestimate the Apocalypse Paradise just because it often got beaten by the Reincarnation Paradise and Death Paradise in previous world wars; its overall strength was not weak.
Interestingly, Su Xiao did not occupy the peak seat allocated to the Reincarnation Paradise but instead took one of the remaining half of the Star Realm's seats. This meant he was competing with Star Realm powerhouses and firmly holding his position.
To put it more bluntly, those like Su Xiao, who had the ability to steadily advance, would compete for their own seats, leaving the directly allocable seats for those who might or might not make it, giving them a boost. Every Supreme Peak was an important individual unit in fair judgments.
Was it unfair for the Void Tree to directly occupy half of the Third Era's peak seats? The Paradise powerhouses who used these seats to advance to Supreme Peak could not refuse conscriptions related to the Star Realm's survival. When needed, they truly had to fight for their lives.
In contrast, when facing the Star Realm's survival crisis, if given a choice, 70% of Star Realm powerhouses would not want to be the first to confront such danger.
"Bai Ye, I heard you killed the Spider Lady."
A burly figure, draped in pure black beast hide and wearing a beast skull on his head with two horns on the bone, walked into the room and sat on the oversized sofa prepared by Deer God and Di Luo during their last visit.
"I came to have a drink with you."
After speaking, White Bull grinned. Coming to drink without bringing any alcohol clearly meant he was craving his old friend's stash.
"..."
Su Xiao tossed over a wooden barrel of Elemental Brew. White Bull pried open the top seal, took several big gulps, and said cheerfully, "If I die, at least I've had this drink. Worth it."
"..."
"Just kidding. My injuries are healed. I won't die easily."
White Bull laughed heartily, as if he didn't care if he died the next moment. For an emperor of the dark world, this was normal. The moment White Bull stepped into the dark world, the moment he became that nameless, strong little gang leader on the streets, he was destined to have no tomorrow.
White Bull and his few trusted subordinates all shared one principle: they could die, but they had to have been glorious, even if only briefly at the peak.
In fact, without the "damaged cells" caused by the Abyssal Dragon's attack, White Bull would not have lived to this day. Given his extreme and arrogant way of reaching the peak, it would have been unreasonable if he hadn't collapsed from the "Beast Power" within him at his peak.
The interesting part was that White Bull, who was already beginning to decline in strength, was injured by the Abyssal Dragon and fell to the early to mid Supreme stage. Subsequently, under the erosion of the "damaged cells," he directly dropped to the Absolute Strength limit. Moreover, this wasn't a decline in strength but a permanent loss—there was an essential difference. This was the price, the retribution for being betrayed by his own power.
At the Absolute Strength rank, the backlash of the "Beast Power" was far less severe than before. After all, White Bull had once advanced to the peak, and his body had been nourished by peak power. For a time, White Bull, betrayed by his own power, couldn't die.
The "damaged cells" and the "Beast Power" continued to erode each other, causing White Bull to continuously lose health but live longer. This was why, despite visiting famous doctors across the Star Realm, his injuries could not be cured—the injury structure was too complex.
Under Su Xiao's major overhaul, White Bull miraculously recovered, though this was inseparable from various top-tier potions.
White Bull suddenly spoke gravely, "Is it safe here on a causal level?"
"With this, it's definitely safe."
Su Xiao took out the "Origin Stone: World." Seeing this, the tipsy smile on White Bull's face completely disappeared. He stared at Su Xiao with dangerous eyes and asked, "Bai Ye, can I trust you?"
"No."
"Uh..."
White Bull was choked and almost couldn't respond. Then, he shook his head with a smile and said, "Yeah, the only person you can rely on is yourself. By the way, Nilin... is dead."
White Bull said this in a casual tone, as if the deceased wasn't his sister, one of his most cherished close relatives.
"Oh."
Su Xiao's response was also calm. He had seen too much life and death.
"I once climbed to the peak and made those old immortals fear me for years. But my 'dear' subordinates, over the years, have brought me too many enemies, making my death come closer and closer. Actually, it's fair. The ones willing to risk their lives for me aren't good people. If they were strong and didn't cause trouble, major forces would be fighting to recruit them. How could they join my ranks? You know me—I would never resign myself to death. Given my situation, I had no choice but to pursue the 'Elemental Core.'"
As White Bull spoke, he smiled with gritted teeth. This was the greatest risk of being an underground emperor. His subordinates were indeed willing to die for him, but they were also inherently vile thugs.
At the last Empty Seat Banquet, the item White Bull requested was the [Elemental Core]. The reason it was so memorable was that upon hearing this request, Tuanzhang said, 'White Bull, calm down. You shouldn't desire it.'
"Tuanzhang said I shouldn't desire it, but I did. That damned Elemental Scholar·Herros showed me the power of the 'Elemental Core,' and I couldn't refuse."
White Bull paused and continued, "I really got it, but I lost it quickly. However, I obtained something that would leave me with no place to die. I went to find Tuanzhang earlier, wanting to give it to him. He said that now, only you need it."
White Bull pulled out a short knife from beside his calf, partially removed his upper garment, revealing his strong left arm and part of his chest. Using the sharp knife, he cut open his left arm, deep enough to reach the bone. Then, he pulled out a semi-unfolded scroll that looked like leather from inside his arm. Because flesh had grown and adhered to the scroll's material, the sound of tearing flesh rang out continuously.
A blood-soaked scroll came into White Bull's hands. He tentatively asked, "Bai Ye, are you familiar with the Elemental Scholar·Herros?"
"Met him twice."
"Oh?"
"Once, I almost killed him. The other time, he became an Elemental Scholar."
"I see." White Bull looked at the scroll in his hand and said, "I was set up by that Elemental Scholar."
"..."
"It belongs to you now."
White Bull handed the scroll to Su Xiao. Su Xiao glanced at White Bull, then reached out and took it. White Bull turned and left without any hesitation. All decisions had been made before he came. Hesitation was not his style.
Watching White Bull disappear into the distant crowd on the street, Su Xiao did not offer any compensation. The reason was that this was White Bull's choice, not a transaction.
[Prompt: You have obtained the "Path to the Peak."]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao finally understood why White Bull had been so cautious this time. He walked over to the Lord's Train beside him, sat at the mixing table, took out a large bottle of inert solution, spread the scroll in a shallow container, and poured the inert solution over it. After a while, the content on the scroll began to clear.
This was a script Su Xiao had never seen before. It wasn't from this era, nor did it seem to be from the ancient times. It came from a much older era—the primordial period? He wasn't sure. He activated his Reincarnation Mark to apply for authorization.
[You have chosen the Decryption Authorization.]
[Because the knowledge content required for decryption has become extinct, you can complete this decryption through the following two methods.]