Chapter 28: Chaos and Original Sin
In the chaotic and exiled land, beneath the towering Black Maple Mother Tree.
"Ah~ ah~ ah! Ah-choo!"
Mawen Hua'erzi, looking somewhat weakened, let out a big sneeze. He rubbed his nose and muttered in confusion, "Who's talking shit about me behind my back? But damn, that sneeze felt pretty good."
Mawen Hua'erzi stretched his body. He could feel that both this temporary body cultivated through technological means and his remnant soul were nearing their limits. The gradual fragmentation of his soul didn't provoke anger or panic in him—that was just the kind of person he was. Though sometimes unreliable and carefree, believing everyone had their own destiny, including himself, this time he chose to defy fate.
"Finally found you, but how do I bring you back? And what was that thing drifting past from the endless chaos just now? Looked like half a humanoid shape. Poor bastard, no one can save you, but it seems you've already stopped thinking voluntarily."
Mawen Hua'erzi glanced at the transparent boundary wall not far away. Beyond this semi-transparent membrane lay the infinite chaos, a region not even the peak stages of the Abyss would spread into.
The stronger one became, the more one understood about the Star Realm, the Abyss, and the Elements, the more one realized the vastness of their location. In contrast, even reaching the highest peak still felt interesting, because between the Abyss and Chaos, there were always wondrous changes.
It now seemed that the Supreme Being hadn't been in continuous slumber, but rather distantly observing all this, taking things that interested him or were slightly useful to him. Of course, at the Supreme level, even the wondrous things born from the convergence of the Star Realm, Abyss, Elements, and Chaos—very few could catch his eye. One or two per great epoch would be generous.
Beyond this, the ancient existences lurking beneath the Precipitate of Chaos and the depths of the Abyss—they couldn't even enter the Abyss, let alone approach the Star Realm. Once they showed signs of moving toward the Star Realm, they would face the Supreme. These ancient beings, who had slumbered until now and were equivalent to the powerful supreme rank, only feared the Supreme. They all shared one common title: Ancient Original Sins.
Yes, the Big Daddy-level Original Sin Objects were formed from their fall. Dominating Original Sin (The Collector), Life and Death Original Sin (Necronomicon), Authority Original Sin (Scarlet Scepter), Majesty Original Sin (Sun Mask), Power Original Sin (Nether Bone Ring), Desire Original Sin (Soul Crown), Fate Original Sin (Fate Coin), Gluttony Original Sin (Eye of Antiquity), Wrath Original Sin (The Forsaken), Longing Original Sin (Deep Sea Ancient Urn), Greed Original Sin (Abyssal Jar).
The eleven Original Sin Objects of the current great epoch were all once the "Ancient Original Sin Existences" lurking in the Chaos Domain, the Depths of Precipitate, and the Endless Crest Gaps. Whenever one of them awakened and descended upon the Star Realm, it brought despair, destruction, and calamity—until the Supreme sealed them. These Original Sins could only return to their former lurking places. Those "Ancient Original Sins" that decided to annihilate the Supreme had now all fallen into Original Sin Objects.
Those who knew all this numbered less than a handful, because the threshold for knowing was the Supreme Realm. Below Supreme, knowing about these Original Sin existences would gradually lead to being corrupted by Original Sin. Thus, there was no need for secrecy—those unqualified would perish on their own after learning.
Now there was a problem. If it were several great epochs ago, the Supreme Being would never have suddenly annihilated the Law Destruction Faction and then supported the Spellcasters. Time was the Supreme Being's only enemy.
The Supreme of the past had once led his followers to resist the Elemental Cataclysm and subsequently ascended to the highest position.
The passing of former friends and family didn't change the Supreme. He gradually became a guardian, intimidating those ancient Original Sin existences, occasionally observing major Star Realm events from afar, or some interesting occurrences. He didn't even interfere with the Abyss/Element outbreaks. Whether it was the Abyss Era or the Element Era, it was all part of the Star Realm's cycles and shouldn't be interfered with.
Great epoch after great epoch passed, until the last great epoch—the early stages of the ancient era—when the Supreme Being suddenly fell into true slumber. When he awoke, he understood that under the flow of the river of time, nothing was absolutely immortal. But someone always had to occupy this position to intimidate those "Ancient Original Sins" that would eventually awaken. So he descended to the Star Realm.
At that time, the Supreme was different from now. He descended like a world-destroying demon. His thinking then was still to force the Supreme-level experts of the ancient era to take this step toward him. The Original Sins ultimately needed someone to guard them, and achieving his level was the qualification.
The experts of the ancient era were completely dumbfounded. Compared to the Abyss and Element Cataclysms, this world-destroying demon was truly more terrifying. At that time, the challenge of Supreme-level experts against the Supreme officially began.
When the first Supreme-level expert felt qualified to defeat the Supreme, they went to challenge him. The Supreme naturally showed no mercy. Without reaching his tier, there was no possibility of intimidating those "Ancient Original Sins." The result was that the first challenger died in a single exchange. It was also at this time that the Supreme detected that the causal fate of Supreme-level experts was qualified to be devoured by him.
Yes, it was that exaggerated. Only the causal fate of this tier was qualified to be devoured by the Supreme.
There was a misconception that the Supreme came from the ancient epoch. Actually, this wasn't entirely wrong, because historical records only went back to the ancient epoch, giving the misunderstanding that the Supreme was an existence from the ancient epoch. In truth, the Supreme came from a much more distant great epoch.
One by one, Supreme-level experts challenged him, but none were even close to being his match. All had their causal fate devoured by the Supreme. Even the Supreme himself didn't realize that by the end of the ancient era, his gaze when looking down at the Supreme-level experts of that time was like looking at some kind of delicacy.
By this era, from the perspective of the First Generation Law Destroyer, one could fully understand the difference between the Supreme Being of the past and now. Devouring Supreme-level fates did allow the Supreme to regain clarity and stop slumbering, but having devoured so many Supreme-level experts' causal fates, the Supreme was gradually being influenced.
He had transformed from the former guardian of the Abyss, Elements, and Star Realm into a terrifying existence that waited for Supreme-level experts to challenge him, or even actively prompted Supreme-level experts to challenge him, so he could devour their causal fate!
At first hearing, the Supreme killing and devouring the causal fate of Supreme-level experts to continue existing did seem rather degrading. How could such a person achieve such accomplishments? How could they become so powerful? How could they have such qualifications? In fact, the Supreme of the past wasn't like this. He had watched over the Abyss, Elements, and Star Realm for who knows how many great epochs, but he ultimately lost to time.
The former Supreme guardian, under the erosion of time, had become the Supreme of Ultimate Evil. The reason for annihilating the Law Destruction Faction of the Second Era was that the First Generation Law Destroyer's inheritance to the Second Era's Law Destruction system mentioned something—letting Blood Demon Blade·Bane Diva know that without reaching the promotion specifications left by the First Generation Law Destroyer, one must not advance to the Supreme Realm.
Subsequently, Bane Diva told this to the Law Destroyers who were confident of advancing to the Supreme Realm. Mawen Hua'erzi and Green Gillian were still one step short of possibly advancing, so before the Law Destruction Faction's fall, neither needed to know this dangerous secret.
Although the Law Destroyers of the Second Era's Law Destruction system were few in number, each was at the Supreme Peak level. The Supreme of Ultimate Evil detected what these Law Destroyers were doing and immediately annihilated them all. Since the Law Destroyers were unwilling to advance to Supreme... what about the Spellcasters?
The real reason the Supreme Being supported the Spellcasters could only be described as chilling. From the First Era, the Supreme only waited for challengers and didn't act proactively—like the First Generation Law Destroyer's challenge.
Later, it gradually became proactively promoting the Supreme fates most suitable for him to devour, which were the Law Destroyers and Spellcasters. This was also why the Supreme didn't devour the previous generation Abyss Lord or go find the Tuanzhang—it seemed he had devoured a certain generation of Abyss Lord before, or perhaps it was a fate of the chosen, and the result wasn't good.
The result was that the Supreme Being's interference caused Arcane Eternal Star to produce no Supreme-level experts at all. Moreover, compared to the Spellcasters of other great epochs, the Spellcasters of this era were even one step weaker than when the Spellcaster faction was at its weakest in the ancient era.
From the current perspective, Arcane Eternal Star lacked sufficiently powerful and threatening opponents. Coupled with the fact that the overall combat power level of the Star Realm was indeed mediocre, this allowed the Spellcasters of this era to still maintain dominance.
Objectively speaking, although the Spellcaster faction in the First Era was scattered, it still produced formidable figures. After forming Arcane Eternal Star in the Second Era, one could only say that this Star Realm overlord was undeserving of its name. When Su Xiao annihilated Arcane Eternal Star, there wasn't even anyone capable of fighting. The only one, Biting Wind King, was an Elemental Spirit King transformation, barely qualified to face Su Xiao directly. In fact, the Spellcaster system should have been very powerful.
Mawen Hua'erzi felt his remnant soul crack further. He looked at the communicator in his hand—this Paradise-produced item was truly good stuff, able to transmit these secrets over such a distance.
Five hours later.
In the meeting hall, Su Xiao put down the communicator. He had reviewed all the text intelligence just received. The accuracy of this intelligence was not low.
Simply put, before the ancient era, the Supreme Being was the supreme guardian of all realms. Of course, if a Supreme-level expert came to challenge him, he wouldn't show mercy. However, unlike the ancient era, he wouldn't devour the causal fate of his defeated opponents.
Speaking of which, what was more lamentable was that if Su Xiao had lived before the ancient era, the Supreme Being, whose consciousness hadn't yet deteriorated, might have even become his mentor. The Supreme of that time only felt fatigue—the fatigue of guarding all realms for too many years. But the current Supreme felt no fatigue at all, only ultimate evil and a desire for domination that had grown to its limit. Everything must be dominated by him, or else it shouldn't exist.
This was why the Element Scholar was so cautious in helping Su Xiao obtain the "Peak Path," and why the Tuanzhang wanted the outside world to believe that Su Xiao had only obtained the "Abyss Heart" and that the "Element Eye" was divided with the Undying Old Man. It seemed both the Element Scholar and the Tuanzhang sensed the increasingly powerful malice from the Supreme.
He no longer needed anyone to reach his level. He was no longer the supreme guardian watching over all beings from the top of the Star Realm, nor was he the one who occasionally observed interesting events in the Star Realm, even laughing softly, or occasionally taking on different identities to experience a life in the Star Realm.
The existence now at the top of the Star Realm, eroded by the long river of time, had its heart gradually filled with control, domination, and ultimate evil. What was even more terrifying was that it remained as powerful as ever.
Su Xiao's thoughts gradually became clear. He first needed to win the Abyss War. Otherwise, once the Abyss invasion came, even if he were a Supreme-level expert, he wouldn't have a good outcome. He needed to achieve the perfect balance of Abyss/Element first, before considering the final battle with the Supreme.
As for the "Ancient Original Sins," Su Xiao didn't plan to actively provoke them. As the sealer of Original Sin Objects, he knew all too well their indestructible nature. It now seemed that these Original Sin Objects would eventually awaken, just over a very long time span. It might take several great epochs before there were signs.
It appeared that even if he truly defeated the Supreme Being and became the pinnacle, the view from the top wouldn't be lonely. The "Ancient Original Sins" each harbored their own malice.
For now, he didn't need to consider these things. This exchange with the Ancestral Law Destroyers had been very fruitful. First were the three secret techniques of the Law Destruction system. Because these three secret techniques were difficult to master in terms of timing, without a master's supervision, one might easily ruin their own ability system.
The three secret techniques were: Dissolution Omen, Fusion Demon Heart, and Limit Devouring.
All three secret techniques shared a characteristic: once mastered, they couldn't be improved by any means, and each mastery lasted for 15 natural days. Once the time was up, the core of these secret techniques would dissolve on their own. If needed again, they could be re-mastered.
First, "Dissolution Omen." Using this ability on a Law Destruction ability would cause that ability to "dissolve," and the dissolved technique power would nourish other Law Destruction abilities. Soul Severing Shadow, Demon Devouring Shadow, Space Rending Shadow, Azure Steel Shadow, and Azure Shadow King could not use "Dissolution Omen"—they could only be nourished by the technique power dissolved by "Dissolution Omen."
The second secret technique, "Fusion Demon Heart," was even more wondrous. It could fuse two Law Destruction abilities together, but what ability would ultimately result was uncertain. Soul Severing Shadow, Demon Devouring Shadow, Space Rending Shadow, Azure Steel Shadow, and Azure Shadow King could not be fused with other abilities using "Fusion Demon Heart."
The third secret technique, "Limit Devouring," was the most unique. It could be applied to any Law Destruction ability, allowing that ability to devour other Law Destruction abilities to enhance its upper limit.
The characteristics of these three secret techniques simply couldn't be recorded on the "Awakening Stele." Without a fully developed Law Destroyer providing guidance from a late-stage perspective, a wrong choice in the ability system would cause problems. The various abilities of the Law Destruction system showed different levels of strength in the early, middle, and late stages.
Among these abilities, Su Xiao needed to use "Secret Technique·Limit Devouring." He planned to use this ability to enhance "Time·Dominator."
This ability previously could enhance the duration of "Extreme Realm·Star Realm." However, after "Extreme Realm·Star Realm" completed a significant upgrade, "Time·Dominator" could no longer enhance the current "Extreme Realm·Star Realm." Clearly, "Time·Dominator" needed its rank elevated before it could again enhance "Extreme Realm·Star Realm."
After using "Secret Technique·Limit Devouring" to complete the advancement of "Time·Dominator," he could use "Soul Energy Crystals" to max it out. At that point, the strength of "Extreme Realm·Star Realm" would skyrocket.
Beyond this, there was actually an ability to enhance techniques, whose principle was to use one's own body energy to nourish core techniques. Logically, Su Xiao needed this ability very much. The problem was, could the current Lv.335 "Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing" ability still be nourished by this ability?
Currently, improving "Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing" first required raising its upper limit level before achieving subsequent improvements. After discussion, the Ancestral Law Destroyers determined that this technique-enhancing ability could indeed no longer enhance "Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing."
A moment later, Su Xiao left the meeting hall and arrived at the western battlefield.
The sounds of battle cries, beast roars, and occasional explosions filled the air. The smells of blood, burning, and upturned earth mixed together.
Clang!
A black-blue blade aura shot up into the sky, charging straight toward the Abyss Legion ahead. It was like a vertical black-blue wall of heaven. Wherever it passed, the Abyss races caught in its path had black-blue smoke rising from their bodies, their bodies turning to black ash that scattered. This phenomenon was spreading to the surrounding area—this was the ultimate Demon Devouring Shadow.
The Old Law Destroyer stood amidst the scattering dark ashes, his completely black eyes giving off an intense oppressive feeling.
A light slashing sound came from Green Gillian, who was lazily slacking off. She casually wounded a Serpentfolk. The Serpentfolk retreated several steps, only to find a very shallow wound on its neck, barely bleeding.
With a squelching sound, a soul body emerged from the Serpentfolk's neck. This was actually most of its soul. The Serpentfolk soul bit onto its own original body's neck, devouring itself completely, then split in two, quietly appearing at the necks of an Evil Pu Clan member and a Twisted Treefolk.
Before long, in a large area in front of Green Gillian, soul bodies began emerging from the necks of Abyss races, devouring themselves. Minutes later, the tens of thousands of meters tall Dark Giant fell with a crash, and a massive soul body stood up.
With Green Gillian at the center, a large number of soul bodies began spreading. These soul bodies were either mad, laughing eerily, or filled with extreme bloodlust.
You could say Green Gillian was evil, but you absolutely couldn't say she was weak. And she usually suppressed her abilities, otherwise she would be a mobile soul disaster.
Star Devourer·Arcas made a horizontal slash, sending out a large number of light blue bead chains. After these bead chains pierced through enemies' bodies, they would rebound with greater speed and lethality, continuously splitting until they reached the horizon, where they exploded into azure blue spatial shockwaves.
As for Blood Demon Blade·Bane Diva, this Ancestral Law Destroyer had already gone far away. From the blood light that occasionally erupted, it could be seen that he was fighting ancient Abyss existences, apparently encountering old enemies.
Even so, the Abyss Legion continued to surge forward. These were only the 10th, 11th, and 12th legions of the Abyss army. The other nine legions hadn't been deployed yet, showing how confident the Abyss faction was this time.
Clang~
Su Xiao drew his long blade. He briefly disappeared, then reappeared several kilometers away, amidst the charging Abyss Legion.
After one slash, a large area of Evil Pu Clan cavalry nearby was crushed into blood by the slash's pressure. They first crashed to the ground, then splattered.
Just over ten minutes later, in the command post within the Crimson Fortress, Abyss Governor·Moyam, who was arranging the encirclement, began to feel the pressure on the enemy's western defense line. The Law Destroyers of the Second and Third Eras had gathered on this defense line. Abyss Governor·Moyam immediately sent out all the hard-to-kill ancient Abyss existences and dispatched more Twisted Treefolk to this battle line, determined to hold back the Law Destruction faction.
From the start of the war until now, this was the first time the offensive and defensive positions had shifted. A few hours later, Abyss Governor·Moyam, Grand Commander·Alva Erso, and Blood Legion Commander·Lettiher stood before a tall floor-to-ceiling window. With solemn expressions, they watched below as the Law Destruction faction, like a countercurrent, gradually carved a bloody path, approaching the Crimson Fortress.
Suddenly, a figure like a werewolf, with gray-black fur, appeared behind Blood Legion Commander. The black blade "Wild Hunger Wolf" recreated by "Past Reappearance" was already at the Blood Legion Commander's neck. One could only say, worthy of being the sneaky one among the Moon Wolves, even able to infiltrate the Crimson Fortress.
A scorpion tail quietly appeared, popping Black Moon Wolf·Silebukh with a crack, turning him into black blood. It was the Illusory Demon Scorpion striking from the shadows. Silebukh naturally wouldn't die so easily—this was just his clone. He could even clone his weapons.
Crack!
A long blade pierced through the slightly curved thick glass. No, this was a special crystal material. The entire Crimson Fortress had millions of layers of magical defenses, plus its construction material was Dark Precipitate from the Abyss region. Its sturdiness needed no elaboration. Yet now, it was pierced by a single thrust from a Law Destroyer named Kukulin Bai Ye.
Moreover, he had forcefully pushed through despite the repulsive force of three Abyss Gates. The surrounding world was distorted by the repulsive force. The inserted long blade carried surging slash pressure. Even with the Crimson Fortress's massive magical protections, the entire fortress began to shake.
With a rumble, the Law Destroyer who had arrived was finally blasted back by the repulsive force. Abyss Governor·Moyam's expression remained unchanged. Beside him, Grand Commander·Alva Erso's golden-patterned cheek twitched twice as he muttered:
"This... monster."
How wondrous. An Abyss system, and an Abyss system commander, calling a human a monster. This was slander, blatant slander!
...
At the top of their own base camp, Su Xiao stood up again. He had felt the repulsive force of the Abyss Gates. He couldn't enter the Abyss from here in the future. He needed to think of other methods.
Cutting open an Abyss passage to enter the Abyss was unrealistic. It might have been possible in the past, but now the Abyss was violently invading the Star Realm. Doing so would likely result in mistakenly entering distant lands, or even more unknown places.
Thus, first going to the Underworld, then from the Underworld to the Abyss, was the most feasible method currently. However, the Underworld had been occupied by the Abyss faction. Otherwise, the Underworld Lord wouldn't have so easily given up the Underworld.
But for now, he still needed to kill Dark Tide Shadow·Avila before considering other matters. And the Tuanzhang had given Su Xiao a sufficiently accurate standard.
Su Xiao and the Tuanzhang were old friends, and now they were in the same boat, so there was naturally no issue of mutual suspicion or defense. Su Xiao had sent his current personal data to the Tuanzhang, who made an assessment.
Based on Su Xiao's current various abilities, equipment, all attributes at 203 points, and Lv.335 "Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing" ability, he was not yet enough to defeat the Abyss Lord. Through a "one-time item" worth 1.29 million ounces provided by Logistics Chief·Tylir, the Tuanzhang obtained an accurate evaluation.
Su Xiao needed to raise his Supreme attributes to over 300 points, plus further advance "Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing," to have a possibility of defeating the Abyss Lord. If possible, strengthening Dragon-Slaying Flash to +30 would add a bit more chance of victory.
Beyond this, "Extreme Realm·Star Realm" could also be considered for improvement.
As for why Supreme attributes needed to reach 300 points, it was because the last time he mastered "Extreme Ability·Soul Life Core" was when Supreme attributes reached 100 points. This ability wasn't used in the confrontation with Dark Tide Shadow·Avila. It would be used as the opening strike in the battle to decide life or death.
When Supreme attributes reached 200 points, no "Extreme Ability" appeared, but upon reaching 300 points, he would master a new "Extreme Ability" reaching a new height.
Su Xiao leaped down from the top of the base camp. Ten minutes later, in his exclusive room in Reincarnation Paradise, he sat cross-legged before the Awakening Stele, taking out a "Soul Energy Crystal." This was a method once researched by Star Devourer·Arcas: using the Awakening Stele to absorb a "Soul Energy Crystal," then using that power to master new Law Destruction abilities.
Simply put, consuming "Soul Energy Crystals" to convert them into "Law Destruction Skill Points."
Su Xiao began mastering various Law Destruction skills. Regardless of whether he needed them, after mastering all the Law Destruction abilities of the current great epoch, he began mastering the Law Destruction abilities on the Awakening Stele from the ancient era, then used "Soul Energy Crystals" to gradually max out these abilities.
Except when Barbatos appeared, Su Xiao had been continuously releasing Demon Spirits on the battlefield to kill enemies and accumulate "Soul Energy Crystals," allowing the stock of "Soul Energy Crystals" to withstand such consumption.
When Su Xiao had maxed out all the Law Destruction abilities that were originally Lv.EX, he formed a peculiar hand gesture. Aokage crystals formed the core inscription of an ability, which was the "Secret Technique·Limit Devouring" ability.
The next thing was simple. He attached the temporarily mastered "Limit Devouring" to the "Time·Dominator" ability, then used "Time·Dominator" to devour all the Law Destruction abilities he had just mastered and maxed out.
This process wasn't slow, completing in just over five hours. A prompt appeared.
[Your Time·Dominator has completed this advancement. It has advanced to Star Realm·Dominator.]
Checking the characteristics of "Star Realm·Dominator," it indeed still enhanced the "Extreme Realm·Star Realm" ability. Its upgrade cost was:
"Star Realm·Dominator (Each upgrade requires 8 'Soul Energy Crystals')."
Very expensive, but for an ability related to "Extreme Realm·Star Realm," this upgrade cost was not surprising. The next step was simple. Su Xiao began upgrading "Star Realm·Dominator" without limit until only 11 "Soul Energy Crystals" remained. His "Star Realm·Dominator" ability actually disappeared from the skill list.
Turning to the skill page where "Extreme Realm·Star Realm" was located, he saw the "Star Realm·Dominator" ability again. Now this ability was located below the "Extreme Realm·Star Realm" ability, with strands of power spreading toward the "Extreme Realm·Star Realm" ability. Finally, the "Star Realm·Dominator" ability disappeared completely, and "Extreme Realm·Star Realm" also completed its final qualitative change.
[Extreme Realm·Star Realm: Lv.EX (Transcendent Level·Active)]
Active Effect: You fully release your Technique Grandmaster's might, causing the entire Star Realm to enter "Star Realm·Absolute Stasis" for 3 seconds.
Note: This ability can only be used once every 4 natural days. Based on your current Supreme Stamina attribute, this can be reduced to a minimum of once every 3 natural days.
...
Su Xiao felt himself, then activated the teleportation authority. A few seconds later, he returned to the Void base camp. Just after returning, a high-pitched dragon roar came from outside. It was Abyss Dragon, and Dark Tide Shadow·Avila. It was time to kill this Abyss Supreme-level expert.