Chapter 9: Is This Strategy?
On Blazing Sun Star, the newly established Twilight City. The allied base camp was located within the high walls of Twilight City. Even so, the high wall directly ahead had already collapsed, creating a frontal gap in the super-large barrier formed by the surrounding walls.
This gap was intentionally left by the barrier masters of Sanctuary Paradise. Compared to an impenetrable turtle-shell defense, leaving an opening for the enemy to focus their fire was undoubtedly a better choice.
When it came to barrier systems, Sanctuary Paradise was unquestionably the best. In the distance, massive fireballs, each trailing thick, deep-orange flames, flew in. Each was a hundred meters in size, containing highly compressed, high-temperature liquid matter.
Boom!
Deep orange flames erupted across the semicircular barrier, causing an energy-annihilating reaction on its surface. Fortunately, the barrier held firm.
Compared to the strength of the barrier, Sanctuary Paradise's frontal defense didn't look so optimistic. The pinnacle powerhouse of the Sacred Hymn system, Samanya, could well be called the strongest pinnacle powerhouse on Sanctuary Paradise's side. As a Sacred Hymn practitioner, unless facing another pinnacle-level opponent, the arrival of death—in Samanya's view—could be delayed and even reversed. Of course, this required a sufficiently fresh death and a relatively intact body.
To put it simply, as long as she was present before death occurred, within half an hour of death, and with more than 20% of the body remaining, Sacred Hymn Samanya could resurrect them.
This seemingly unreasonable resurrection ability, when its principle was explained, wasn't so magical. Samanya possessed a vast, intangible pinnacle domain, large enough to cover two-thirds of Blazing Sun Star. This domain was invisible and formless, with only one function: fixing a mark.
All allied targets within the Sacred Hymn Mark were automatically marked with a "Sacred Hymn Mark." When death occurred, the "Sacred Hymn Mark" would be passively triggered, absorbing the person's causality and soul into the mark, keeping them in a "living state" for half an hour, frozen one second before death.
After that, Samanya's task was simple: trigger the mark while using her incredibly powerful, wide-range healing ability to restore the remaining remnants of her teammates' bodies. Once the body was fully restored, the causality and soul would return.
If you understood this, the resurrection ability wasn't so unbelievable. But one thing must be clear: if death truly arrived, there was no coming back. Even the Paradise factions and the Void Tree couldn't resurrect the dead. Or rather, what people understood as resurrection was more like replicating the memories and cognition of a loved one, not a resurrection in the causal sense.
All forms of revival must have an absolute condition. Whether it was an Ancient God or an alien existence, the foundation of their revival was three words:
Not completely dead.
At this moment, on the front line of Blazing Sun Star.
"Roar!"
A massive two-headed dark beast roared. A burly man in full heavy armor, like a temple knight wielding a long-handled battle axe, cleaved the dark beast in one swing.
As abyssal blood splattered, the heavy-armored man looked toward their leader. Behind him, floating in mid-air, a series of Judgment Holy Light Swords continuously shot out. This person's strength, even when combined with the pinnacle powerhouses of several Paradise factions, could rank in the top five. This was assuming that the two from Reincarnation Paradise would inevitably take first and second place.
Sacred Hymn Samanya was undoubtedly the ceiling of combat healers, unprecedented and unlikely to be surpassed.
Logically, having such a powerful leader with healing abilities should be a good thing. But the pinnacle contractors on the front line were currently questioning their existence. Their current situation could be perfectly described in one phrase:
Dying and coming back to life.
Initially, relying on their leader's resurrection ability, the pinnacle contractors were quite brave. But as they kept dying, the pinnacle and absolute-rank contractors lost their courage. The reason was that the experience of resurrection was extremely unpleasant. In the words of a bald, disheveled old mage present: "It's like being squeezed and compressed by an invisible giant hand to the size of a marble, then *smack* flattened into a thin slice."
That was the experience of death. The resurrection process was even worse. Did Samanya know this? Of course she did. Her attitude was to look down at them like trash and say with some impatience, "You should be kneeling to kiss the soles of my shoes for coming back to life. And you still have complaints?"
And so, with Sacred Hymn Queen and the Sanctuary Paradise forces stationed there, the Blazing Sun Star base camp remained relatively stable. But the gradually retreating front line indicated one thing: after Wind Sea Continent was breached, the next to be conquered would be Blazing Sun Star. The current erosion status was:
Void Battlefield · Abyss Erosion Rate: 31.62%.
Ten Thousand Races Realm · Abyss Erosion Rate: 4.92%.
Witch Realm · Abyss Invasion Rate: 21.69%.
Blazing Sun Star · Abyss Erosion Rate: 21.77%.
Ancient Dragon Kingdom · Abyss Erosion Rate: 15.22%.
Wind Sea Continent · Abyss Erosion Rate: 86.95%.
...
Wind Sea Continent, on the high wall of the second defense line.
Su Xiao closed the current Abyss Erosion rates of each war zone. Battle situations could be misjudged, but the Abyss Erosion rate was a bloody reality. The current situation was that the core battlefield wasn't optimistic. Since the war began, the Abyss Erosion rate had been steadily increasing. The Ten Thousand Races Realm was performing stably.
The situation on Wind Sea was getting worse. The situation on Blazing Sun Star was expected to be bad. But the Holy Light faction's Witch Realm had pulled off a major stunt. Looking at that Abyss Erosion rate, it might be even more dangerous than Blazing Sun Star.
On the other hand, Ancient Dragon Kingdom, which had started in a terrible situation, had seen its Abyss Erosion rate decrease thanks to the defensive counterattacks of the Death veterans.
It could only be said that, although the Death veterans often came in second, they indeed had real strength. This was even with Death Paradise's strongest war-system pinnacle powerhouse, the Necromancer Grand Mage Sun Seth, being deployed to the core battlefield. Otherwise, the situation in Ancient Dragon Kingdom would be even better.
Compared to these, the "Campaign Branch Mission: Wind Sea Battlefield" had undoubtedly made Su Xiao resolve something. Not to mention the "Super · Massive Final Contribution Points," the [Ultimate Harmonization Stone] was a must-have.
Su Xiao even suspected that the person who could trigger this mission would see a different "Reward 2." It was highly likely that the Void Tree had tailored it specifically. And this [Ultimate Harmonization Stone] might be appearing for the first time in history.
This situation undoubtedly meant that Su Xiao had a higher ceiling for the Supreme Realm, which was crucial for his future challenge against the Supreme Being. However, all of this was based on winning the battle on Wind Sea Continent.
Time was short. Su Xiao immediately applied for the teleportation permission to return to Reincarnation Paradise. Other participants naturally wouldn't have this permission, but Su Xiao was the captain of the reinforcement squad. When the main battlefield didn't request reinforcements, he could move freely to a certain extent.
A teleportation sensation emerged. When it ended, Su Xiao had returned to Reincarnation Paradise.
"Bubu."
"Woof!"
"Go to the Void Command Post and find Tuanzhang."
"Woof."
"Baha, go to the Ten Thousand Races Realm."
"Understood."
"Beini."
"Meow."
"The Great Gathering Place."
"Meow!"
Beini indicated she had it covered.
After arranging this, Su Xiao activated the teleportation permission again. Target: Eternal Light World · Gray Holy Sanctuary.
When the teleportation ended, Su Xiao saw the pitch-black sky and the black, droplet-shaped substances floating above. This indicated that the Abyss power in Eternal Light World was already very strong. The good news was that this place had little strategic value. It was the remaining part of a Transcendent Realm that had collapsed and was barely saved, so it hadn't been attacked by the Abyss faction.
Entering the Gray Holy Sanctuary, Su Xiao saw the three legendary blacksmiths observing a warhammer in the forging workshop, along with the hammer's forger, Lide. It was evident that Lide, who was usually unkempt, bearded, rough, and fond of drinking, was now showing a bit of an apprentice's nervousness.
What Lide didn't expect was that, when it came to forging, the three legendary blacksmiths didn't have the aloof air he had imagined. Even the indifferent Demon Blacksmith was willing to discuss the warhammer's strengths and weaknesses and share his own experience.
In reality, people had a big misunderstanding about the three legendary blacksmiths. They thought they were aloof and kept their skills secret. In fact, the Demon Blacksmith was just too lazy to take apprentices. The Molten Giant and the Dwarf King genuinely couldn't teach apprentices. The Dwarf King was a prime example.
Seeing Su Xiao arrive, the three legendary blacksmiths didn't say much. Su Xiao took out the [Endless Ring]. Upon seeing this item, the three legendary blacksmiths all stood up. The Demon Blacksmith grabbed the [Endless Ring] and, after a preliminary inspection, his demonic eye, which seemed to have magma flowing inside, narrowed slightly. He said:
"Could it be that you want to..."
"Original Sin."
"This..."
The Dwarf King also frowned.
"Can the three of us really succeed?"
The Molten Giant spoke in a rumbling voice, his tone serious.
"If you can't, no one can."
Su Xiao's affirmation of the three legendary blacksmiths made them all fall silent. The Molten Giant nodded first: "Alright."
"Okay."
"Since you two aren't afraid of losing your craft, then I'm not either."
The Dwarf King grinned. The Demon Blacksmith looked around and asked, "Right here?"
It was obvious that the Demon Blacksmith wasn't satisfied with the forging environment here.
Su Xiao spoke: "Go to the Ten Thousand Races Realm."
"Hmph. I've heard about your influence in the Ten Thousand Races Realm."
The Dwarf King's words made the Demon Blacksmith stop talking.
Aoge crystals spread under Su Xiao's feet, forming a massive, realm-level teleportation array. Seeing this, the Demon Blacksmith frowned. After observing for a moment, having no understanding of it, he stepped onto it. The Dwarf King and the Molten Giant did the same.
Hmm~
As the teleportation array activated, a faint rumbling sound came from under their feet. The three legendary blacksmiths gradually widened their eyes. The Demon Blacksmith, holding the [Endless Ring], had the curled demon horns on his head glowing with firelight.
"You bastard..."
The Dwarf King realized something was wrong, but it was too late.
Boom!!
The wide-eyed three legendary blacksmiths disappeared from the spot. As for the forging workshop, Baha, who was in the underground "Star Glory City" of the allied base camp in the Ten Thousand Races Realm, had already made arrangements. There was a top-tier forging workshop built by the "Gil Elus Family" there. Borrowing it temporarily, the Gil Elus Family wouldn't refuse.
After teleporting the three legendary blacksmiths, the others in the Gray Holy Sanctuary—the healer Sifreya, the recently returned Yusha and her master, the miscellaneous goods seller Soens, and even the withered tree-like Old Tree Clan with its small tree sprout—were all teleported as well. Of course, this time he used the teleportation permission. Using the Law-Destroying Teleportation Array on them would be too demonic.
Eternal Light World had very few living beings to begin with. Now, besides the local wildlife, only the tall Star Tree and the Jila insect race remained. Moreover, as this world was slowly being eroded by Abyss power, various wild animals were becoming dark, irritable, and bloodthirsty.
Arriving at the Star Tree, Su Xiao stored the modified, over ten-meter-tall wooden wine vat into his team storage space. The environment here was no longer suitable for continuing to brew and store "Elemental Brew."
After doing this, Su Xiao took out the [Library Silver Coin]. Using it, a soft, weak, and even slow teleportation sensation brought him to the Soul Library.
After the scene changed, Su Xiao stood inside the Soul Library. Even though the little elves had meticulously crafted and maintained it, the place still had a faint smell of old books due to the large number of ancient texts stored here. He went up the spiral staircase on the inner side of the library to the second floor and entered a sealed room.
The inner side of the sealed room was occupied by tree roots. Amidst these tangled roots, a figure could be vaguely seen. This figure had five arms, and its skin was dry but had a fine texture. On the palms of its five arms were eyes. This was the owner of the Soul Library: the Ancient One.
The Ancient One had gray cloth wrapped around its head, revealing only its right eye. Due to Su Xiao's arrival, its right eyelid trembled. With a cracking sound like pottery shattering, the Ancient One opened its right eye.
"Law... Destroyer."
The Ancient One raised an arm wrapped in bandages, palm up, meaning for Su Xiao to place his hand on it.
"..."
Su Xiao extended his right hand. Suddenly, the Ancient One's hand, wrapped in yellow-gray bandages, grabbed his right hand. He instinctively tried to pull back, but surprisingly, his strength, which could overpower other pinnacle beings, couldn't budge the Ancient One. This was the first existence that Su Xiao couldn't move since his Supreme strength reached 40 points.
"Hmm, you have... a strong physique, but... it's not enough, not strong enough. It plundered from the Abyss... the maximum possible... physique. It is the strongest physique among all the Lords of the Abyss throughout history. It occupies... two shares: its predecessor's and its own. Therefore, it surpasses... the other Lords of the Abyss in the river of time, and has greater... ambition."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, just nodded to show he understood.
"What is the matter... this time?"
The Ancient One spoke. If anyone else from the Soul Library saw this, they would be shocked speechless. Coming here to ask a question and getting a response from the Ancient One was a blessing. Getting the Ancient One to speak proactively was basically impossible. Why did Su Xiao receive such treatment? Was he a chosen one? Of course not. It was because he was currently sealing eight daddy-level Original Sin objects, and one of the Soul Library's main duties was to seal Original Sin objects.
So-called "Heaven's Chosen" was not a blessing, but a badge earned through strength and courage.
"Sealing eight Original Sin objects simultaneously is very difficult. Is there any way..."
Pfft!
The Ancient One's hand pierced its own chest, pulling out a severely withered, yet still slightly beating, shriveled heart. This was one of its three former hearts.
The Ancient One placed the heart in Su Xiao's hand and said in a hoarse voice: "Let your... sealing container... devour it."
"Thank you."
After thanking him, Su Xiao was about to leave when he suddenly thought of another matter: the mastery of elemental power. Hearing this, the Ancient One pointed upwards, meaning for Su Xiao to go find the Soul Elder at the top. After giving this information, the Ancient One fell into slumber.
A moment later, at the top. The Soul Sage, whose head was large and floated like a huge, translucent blue jellyfish, was in an inverted floating state. It used the translucent blue tentacles on its back to hold many ancient texts. After flipping through one, it would release it, and the text would float weightlessly. Under the Soul Elder's influence, everything except Su Xiao was weightless and floating.
After searching for a moment, the Soul Sage let out a satisfied "Hmm~" sound. It said:
"There is indeed a method, but it's very dangerous."
"How dangerous?"
"The success rate is less than one in a hundred."
With that, the Soul Sage handed the ancient text in its hand to Su Xiao. After examining the contents, Su Xiao understood that this was a method to master elemental power through a special technique using "Elemental Source Matter."
"What if I use multiple portions of 'Elemental Source Matter'?"
"That won't work, Law Destroyer. Quantity can only increase the probability to a certain extent, not cause a qualitative change..."
Before the Soul Elder could finish, Su Xiao stated clearly: "What about using 200 portions?"
"Well, hmm~, it is feasible, but who can absorb that much Elemental Source Matter? Whether it's Abyss Source Matter or Elemental Source Matter, as 'Supreme Source Matter,' absorbing a dozen or so portions is considered gifted. Absorbing several dozen... Elemental Source Matter is unlikely. As for Abyss Source Matter, that requires an incredibly strong digestive system. And if someone could truly devour and absorb that much 'Abyss Source Matter,' they would likely obtain the Gluttony Original Sin. It has been a very, very long time since anyone was qualified to awaken the Gluttony Original Sin."
"Why?"
"Only living beings can possess the Gluttony Original Sin. But how could a living being have such a powerful stomach? Therefore, the Gluttony Original Sin is the Abyss Original Sin power with the lowest cost. Its only side effect is an extremely strong appetite. Compared to the costs of other Abyss Original Sins, Gluttony ranks in the middle to lower tier in terms of power performance, but its side effects are minimal.
However, powerhouses of the Abyss system are very wary of the Gluttony Original Sin. Even if the possessor of the Gluttony Original Sin isn't strong enough yet, they won't risk getting close. Because once the Gluttony Original Sin appears, even if its possessor is destroyed, the Gluttony Original Sin will only transfer, not go dormant. And it will transfer to an even stronger living being.
It is said that after the Primordial Clan Emblem was destroyed, it would always reassemble over the course of time. But if the Primordial Clan Emblem is devoured by the Gluttony Original Sin, that is the true end. And those ancient Abyss existences that cannot be eliminated by any means—their nemesis is the Gluttony Original Sin."
Upon hearing this, Su Xiao finally understood why Amu could devour dozens of portions of Abyss Source Matter. It wasn't that Amu sought the Gluttony Original Sin; it was that the Gluttony Original Sin was destined to choose Amu. Other Abyss Original Sins parasitized or dominated their possessors. But Amu and the Gluttony Original Sin were different; their "eat, eat, eat" philosophies were too compatible.
Because of this, Amu was now fighting on the front lines of Wind Sea Continent, devouring and consuming wildly, his whole body emitting black smoke. If not for the friendly identification mark, the pinnacle contractors of Apocalypse Paradise might have thought he was from the Abyss faction.
However, it wasn't long before Amu became a key target of concern for the pinnacle contractors. The pinnacle contractors in this area all understood one thing: they absolutely must not let this Gluttony Ox die. The reason was that those Abyss aberrations that were extremely difficult for others to deal with, when facing this Gluttony Ox, were either swallowed in one gulp or pounced upon and bitten to pieces and eaten.
Therefore, Amu had become the key focus of Iron-Blooded Rose Betansina on the Wind Sea battlefield. Those who dared to be on the front line weren't afraid of death, but they didn't want to die from a sneak attack by some bizarre Abyss aberration ability.
The Soul Elder weighed the matter and gave his answer: impossible. Using this secret technique + 200 portions of "Elemental Source Matter" to master elemental power would indeed guarantee a 100% success rate. The problem was that absorbing 200 portions of "Elemental Source Matter" was a guaranteed death sentence.
Getting this answer, Su Xiao took the Elemental ancient text, retrieved the [Library Badge], and left the Soul Library. His destination was his exclusive room in Reincarnation Paradise.
In the planting area, Su Xiao stopped in front of the newly transplanted Black Maple Tree. Compared to his own, this newly acquired one was taller and thicker. Yet he felt that although this Black Maple Tree was lush, it wasn't very robust. If he dared to use Space-Time power to accelerate its growth, this Black Maple Tree from Arcane Eternal Star would definitely dare to die on him.
He looked at his own Black Maple Tree. Although it wasn't as tall as the Arcane Star Black Maple Tree, it felt solid and robust. Even if thrown into a harsh environment immediately, it would surely be the last plant to die.
The feeling these two Black Maple Trees gave was too different. The one on the right was a proper rich young lady. Give her the slightest bit of attitude, and her leaves would wither tomorrow. If not saved immediately, she would really die on you. The one on the left, well, was a strong young man. Kick it, and you'd feel like the trunk was hurting your foot.
To personify the known Black Maple Trees:
The one from Abyss Dragon was a noble lady who never left her home.
The one from Daomo was a wilderness survival master.
Su Xiao's was a strong young man.
The one from Arcane Eternal Star was a sickly rich young lady.
As for the one from the Law Destruction faction of the Second Era, that was definitely a strong man who had trained in the Diamond Body. It gave the impression that it didn't need guarding; it could beat up any thief itself, and with a flurry of root shadow punches.
Leaving the planting area, Su Xiao opened the notification list. Previously, after killing the Abyss Descendant Black Serpent, he had completed the "Abyss Mission: Death's Grant."
[You have chosen to submit the Abyss Mission: Death's Grant.]
[Current Mission Completion Rate: 800% (Single-time limit).]
[As the mission completion rate is the single-time limit, you may choose four types of rewards from the following mission rewards.]