Chapter 35: Madness and Choice
Su Xiao finished his daily meditation. Although the decisive battle was imminent, he could not skip this routine. Checking the team storage space, the nine types of "Supreme Passive" scrolls were in place. Due to the severe shortage of space-time power this time, he had also borrowed 50,000 ounces from Kaiser, promising 20% interest—meaning he would repay 60,000 ounces upon returning to Reincarnation Paradise. The reason for such a dire need for space-time power was that this time, he was not only enhancing his physique but also other aspects.
Opening the notification list and scrolling up, he quickly found the kill rewards related to Soul Lord. Although it was a group kill, which significantly reduced the individual rewards, the [Reincarnation Grade Chest: Peak Collection] was guaranteed.
As for the exchange of 100 Peak Destiny points, after weighing the five options, he made his choice.
[You have paid 100 Peak Destiny points.]
[You have obtained Primordial Core × 100.]
……
None of the rewards exceeded 80 Peak Destiny points per item. However, compared to the kill rewards of Soul Lord, slaying Soul Lord himself held greater significance for Su Xiao.
All along, when facing Arcane Eternal Star, he had relied on the protection of Reincarnation Paradise to avoid being surrounded and killed. Now, he possessed the power to contend with Arcane Eternal Star.
Although Soul Lord was not the strongest among the three peaks of Arcane Eternal Star, he had always been the sole peak powerhouse on the surface.
As the saying goes, the card played on the table, even if it is a big card, is certainly not the biggest trump card. After Soul Lord's death, the two peaks who immediately stepped forward, Freezing Wind King and Raging Sea·Hels, revealed that Freezing Wind King, who had always kept a low profile, possessed an extremely formidable deterrent force at the peak level.
That guy who used to seem unreliable, lazy, and perfunctory about everything—when he got serious, he was terrifying. This reminded people of a conversation between Freezing Wind King and his son on the spectator stands of the past powerhouse tournament, right after he had just met an old flame:
Freezing Wind King: "Don't stay cooped up at home all the time. Come out and see the world."
Wind Prince: "O-okay."
Wind Prince was stunned. His father was a pacifist, usually stern, but never this domineering.
Freezing Wind King: "We have to fight the Law Destroyers again. But this time, there's only one Law Destroyer. Fortunately, only one."
Wind Prince: "Father, aren't we pacifists..."
Freezing Wind King: "A thousand years ago, I was one of the main forces against the Law Destroyers."
Wind Prince: "Huh?!"
Wind Prince was dumbfounded. He had indeed never heard of this.
At the time, Wind Prince thought his father was bragging. How could someone at the Absolute Strength level be one of the main forces against the Law Destroyers? In fact, what Freezing Wind King said with a lazy smile was the truth.
Never forget that Freezing Wind King was the leader of the Elemental Faction. For Arcane Eternal Star, what did the Elemental Faction represent? Wasn't the power of spellcasters derived from devouring elemental forces?
The name Freezing Wind King was not famous in the Second Era because he was formerly known as Mad King·Erod, the Elemental King who gradually went mad after battles, Erod.
That is, after entering the Third Era·Arcane Age, Arcane Eternal Star achieved absolute dominance, so Mad King·Erod no longer needed to display his power. When he entered his battle state, not only were enemies afraid, but even his own side was terrified to watch.
Coupled with the successive deaths of former formidable enemies like Mawen, Green, and Archid, Freezing Wind King grew tired of fighting and weary of conflict and madness. This gave rise to the lazy leader of the Elemental Faction in the Third Era, Freezing Wind King.
In the Third Era, Arcane Eternal Star could have dominance, but as the strongest overlord, it shouldn't exert too oppressive a rule. After Soul Lord, Dean Guya, and others discussed this with Mad King, Freezing Wind King emerged. After that, Freezing Wind King could never go back. This life was far more enjoyable than being the Mad King.
What elemental madness? What being one of the few strongest at the peak level? Was the delicate hand of his feathered lover not fragrant? Was the tenderness of his old flame, the Night Temptress Witch, not gentle? Or was the pleasure den of Void·Saint Geya not enjoyable? He couldn't go back, absolutely couldn't. He would be Freezing Wind King for eternity. Mad King? He didn't know that person.
However, when Arcane Eternal Star truly needed someone to step up, Freezing Wind King still removed the five rings that sealed his elemental power and became Mad King·Erod once more.
The reappearance of Mad King·Erod immediately quelled the restlessness of the major Void forces, who had believed he died in his final battle with the old Law Destroyer.
In fact, not only the major forces of the Star Realm, but aside from a few high-ranking members, even the spellcasters of Arcane Eternal Star thought Mad King was dead. However, the cause of death they knew differed from the outside world. No one dared to investigate. Years later, the rapidly "promoted" Freezing Wind King was undoubtedly someone the Elemental Faction members were more willing to support, rather than the Mad King who terrified them all.
The major forces of the Star Realm did retreat again, but it was useless. A god high above could not bleed. Even if the injury was minor, just a scratch on the skin, its authority would never be the same, let alone the fact that Soul Lord, one of the three peaks of Arcane Eternal Star, had died on Doom Star.
Moreover, the Supreme Being showed no attitude towards this, just as after destroying the Law Destruction Faction in the past, he merely looked down from above. This made the major forces of the Star Realm gradually understand that in his eyes, if Arcane Eternal Star truly fell, the force that defeated Eternal Star could become the next Void overlord.
If that Law Destroyer could truly defeat the Underworld God, he would surely be able to decide the outcome against Mad King·Erod. At that point, it was not impossible for the major forces of the Star Realm to swarm Arcane Eternal Star and defeat the culprit behind the Abyss invasion.
This was also Arcane Eternal Star's greatest fear. Otherwise, why wouldn't they gather their forces for a desperate battle on Doom Star? When had Arcane Eternal Star ever suffered such a loss?
Now, the Void was turbulent, just waiting for a powder keg to completely ignite the situation. Then, a chaotic battle would be inevitable.
Su Xiao was not concerned about this for now. His priority was the decisive battle with the Underworld God. He had to win before considering these matters.
Continuing to check the notification list, he found the kill rewards for the Ancient God·Ubo·Sara. The [Reincarnation Grade Chest: Peak Collection] was guaranteed. As for the exchange of 100 Peak Destiny points, due to his relatively low combat contribution in this battle, the available rewards were inferior to those from Soul Lord. He decisively chose.
[You have paid 100 Peak Destiny points.]
[You have obtained Primordial Core × 100.]
……
A total of 200 [Primordial Cores] were obtained. However, enhancing [Heavenly Edge Shadow Slash] required a massive amount of this resource.
[You have submitted the bounty 「Azguk」.]
[Due to the multiple bounty + bounty correction of the 「Hunt List: Blood Pact」, you will receive a bounty worth a total of 720,000 ounces of space-time power.]
[You have obtained Space-Time Stone Fragment × 70,500 (This is an equivalent item, can be sold to Reincarnation Paradise at any time for 705,000 ounces of space-time power).]
[You have obtained the Malicious Prophet (This item is valued at 15,000 ounces of space-time power in this judgment).]
……
「Malicious Prophet (Abyss Curio): Can consume current fortune for divination. There is a 50% probability of absolute accuracy and a 50% probability of absolute error. The result will depend on this item's 'mood'. A 'happy' prophet will give an accurate divination, while a 'grumpy' prophet will give a wrong answer.」
This thing was quite peculiar. As for consuming fortune, with -15,000,000 fortune points, he didn't have to worry about overdrawing his fortune by using [Malicious Prophet] multiple times. The problem was this thing's mood.
Su Xiao picked up the divination card in front of him. On the card was a beautiful prophet with gorgeous attire, light purple eyeshadow, and a cold expression. It was clear that after falling into the hands of Su Xiao, who had a true charm attribute of -45 points, the prophet's mood was very unhappy. But that was fine. After spending some time with her, she would know who she had fallen into.
Furthermore, this [Malicious Prophet] was an Abyss Curio. When divining, its resistance to the magnitude of causal fate was incredibly high, after all, it had the Abyss's causality as its backing.
Putting away the [Malicious Prophet], Su Xiao took five legendary famous swords from his storage space. This was the payment from Sealing Master·Tulin·Black Tower. The reason was that the Ancient God·Ubo·Sara had fallen, but the [Ancient Eye] had not returned to Tulin·Black Tower. If Tulin·Black Tower still refused to pay under these circumstances, then he could experience the "Law Destruction Formula."
As for where the [Ancient Eye] had gone, Su Xiao estimated that this "Daddy Grade·Original Sin Object" was waiting. Currently, it had three causal threads: Su Xiao, the Underworld God, and the Blade Demon. However, none of these three were good choices.
If the Underworld God became the final victor, even if targeted by the [Ancient Eye], he could still achieve the Supreme Realm in the future. A "Daddy Grade·Original Sin Object" would be unwilling to entangle itself with the Supreme Realm, as the risk was too high.
Su Xiao was also not a good choice. At the peak level, Su Xiao was already sealing seven "Daddy Grade·Original Sin Objects."
The Blade Demon was likewise not a good choice. The Blade Demon's causality was too chaotic. Moreover, the Blade Demon was trying to find himself. Once the Blade Demon fully recovered his self, the external causality of the [Ancient Eye] would snap due to the Blade Demon's death, causing it to fall into the Abyss or be submerged in the River of Time. When it would reappear in the world was unknown.
Therefore, the best choice for the [Ancient Eye] was to wait for the decisive battle between Su Xiao and the Underworld God. When the victor was decided and the causality of one side dissipated, the [Ancient Eye], relying on this peak-level causality strong enough not to disappear completely in a short time, would enter a state without an owner. At that time, it could choose an unlucky force.
In fact, the [Ancient Eye] had already chosen its target. It seemed to find the Devil Clan of the Void quite pleasing to the eye.
Su Xiao drew Dragon-Slaying Flash. The [Supreme Blade] ability activated. An iron-sand-like substance enveloped the five legendary famous swords. The enhancement of Dragon-Slaying Flash began. As for devouring [Finality], that was still impossible for now.
This enhancement should be enough to push Dragon-Slaying Flash's rating past 25,000 points. Although it still fell short of the ideal 30,000 full rating, it would be enough to withstand this desperate battle.
[You have sold the rare treasure: Abyss Magic Crystal.]
[You have obtained 200,000 ounces of space-time power.]
[You can choose one of the following permissions.]