Chapter 31: Combustion
Deep within the Ryuudou Temple, the main worship hall.
Su Xiao lay flat on the ground, motionless, seemingly asleep. Beside him lay the corpse of the Grudge Orphan, Hughes.
"It seems... luck was on my side this time."
Su Xiao sat up and glanced at Hughes' corpse. In terms of pure combat strength, Hughes was more than a cut above him, yet in the end, Su Xiao had emerged victorious. This was partly due to his own abilities, but also because Hughes was unfamiliar with his own power.
Su Xiao speculated that Hughes had only recently evolved into this state. His attacks were monotonous; it didn't seem like he was accustomed to using heavy weapons, and he wasn't familiar with using his skills either.
If Su Xiao had possessed Hughes' attributes and skills, he would never have charged headlong at the enemy. Instead, he would have opted for a prolonged battle. With that soul-eroding aura, no one could outlast Hughes.
Su Xiao let out a long breath. Now that Hughes was dead, the danger level within the Ryuudou Temple had drastically decreased. As long as he wasn't surrounded by a large group of resentment creatures, leaving the temple wouldn't be a problem.
But Su Xiao wasn't planning to leave the Ryuudou Temple just yet. He still remembered a previous prompt from the Reincarnation Paradise.
[Talent Awakening Mission completion degree being evaluated. The Hunter's actions within the next five hours will determine the final completion degree of the Talent Awakening Mission. Current completion degree: 34%.]
From this prompt, it was clear that within the five hours after the mission was completed, Su Xiao's actions would determine the final completion degree of the Talent Awakening Mission.
The importance of the completion degree was self-evident. The higher the degree, the stronger Su Xiao's awakened talent would be.
Talent grades ranged from E-rank to SSS-rank. The completion degree of the Talent Awakening Mission determined the grade of Su Xiao's awakened talent ability.
As far as Su Xiao knew, the maximum grade for a first-time talent awakening was S-rank. The highest grade, SSS-rank, could only be achieved through a second awakening.
Regarding the second awakening, Su Xiao only knew one piece of information: it couldn't be accomplished by simply completing a mission or gathering items. It required a great deal of luck and strength.
With the current completion degree of 34%, a B-rank talent awakening would be considered good. An S-rank was completely out of the question.
"I have to keep going."
Su Xiao stood up, walked over to Hughes, and pulled the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his body. As for the Dawn War Cry lodged in Hughes' eye socket, that gun had already exploded from the misfire.
If the big boss, the Grudge Orphan Hughes, had been killed by Su Xiao, then the resentment creatures scattered throughout the Ryuudou Temple were no match for him. He searched the room for a while before finally finding the node of the barrier beneath the water pool.
Cyan Steel Shadow Energy clung to the Dragon-Slaying Flash. With one slash, the blade pierced the magic node of the barrier, and the barrier around the room disappeared.
Not only did the barrier around the room vanish, but the several layers of barriers that had appeared earlier also disappeared. Only the outermost barrier, which concealed the Ryuudou Temple, remained. That barrier likely had an independent magic supply.
Just as Su Xiao was about to step out of the main worship hall and cut his way through the Ryuudou Temple, a sharp pain shot through his chest.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Su Xiao coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. His injuries were more severe than he had imagined; they couldn't be suppressed by a few bottles of No. 1 Potion.
Realizing this, a look of unwillingness flashed in Su Xiao's eyes. Was he just going to give up like this?
In his current physical state, it was clearly impossible to cut through the Ryuudou Temple. Su Xiao's body was undoubtedly strong, but it was still flesh and blood, with its limits. This limit couldn't be ignored just by roaring, "I have to save something!"
Forget cutting through the Ryuudou Temple; in his current condition, it was uncertain whether he could even handle a dozen resentment creatures at once.
After thinking for a moment, Su Xiao pushed open the door of the main worship hall and climbed over the surrounding wall.
As soon as he landed, a large number of rat-like creatures, covered in spines, spotted him.
"Squeak~"
Hundreds of resentment rats let out simultaneous shrieks. These resentment rats had virtually no combat ability; they were only responsible for giving warnings.
Su Xiao swung his blade, killing a few resentment rats that charged at him, and quickly rushed down the mountain. Five minutes later, he reached the mountainside.
"If this works... the completion degree shouldn't be too low."
Su Xiao muttered to himself before concentrating. About thirty seconds later, he remotely detonated a bomb he had left inside the Ryuudou Temple. A blinding light erupted behind him, completely silent.
In the Ryuudou Temple area, a fireball one kilometer in diameter began to combust, as if a sun had fallen and crashed into the temple. Soil, steel, cement—everything was vaporized.
Boom!
A ringing sound filled his ears as the wind pressure blasted toward him. Su Xiao raised his left arm, wrapped in a crimson bracer, to shield his face.
The sun was blooming, incinerating everything!
The scorching heat rushing down from the mountaintop forced Su Xiao back a few steps. He had left his only Sun God Apollo inside the main worship hall and had now detonated it.
[Sun God Apollo]
Quality: Purple
Type: Consumable
Effect: Can be activated at any time by consuming 1 Mana Point (detonation range: 2 kilometers; the creator's detonation range extends to 4 kilometers). After detonation, deals 6000 points of True Burning Damage within 1000 meters, followed by 2000 points of Flame Burning Damage.
Note: Detonating Sun God Apollo requires 30 seconds.
Rating: 143
Introduction: The majesty of the sun is not to be challenged!
...
The Apollo's combustion continued. The power of this bomb lay not in its explosive force, but in the combustion effect it produced upon detonation.
[You have killed a resentment Attendant.]
[Obtained World Source 0.2%. Current total World Source: 43.0%.]
[Obtained Holy Church Merit Points: 9.]
...
[You have killed a resentment Attendant.]
[Obtained World Source 0.1%. Current total World Source: 43.1%.]
[Obtained Holy Church Merit Points: 9.]
...
Kill prompts kept appearing. In an instant, Su Xiao saw at least a hundred kill prompts. Whether the Holy Church Merit Points were valuable was unknown, but the rapid increase in World Source delighted Su Xiao.
Two seconds after the Sun God Apollo's combustion began, the kill prompts stopped appearing. The World Source Su Xiao had obtained had already reached an astonishing 61.4%. He had never obtained this much World Source in a single derivative world before.
This made Su Xiao curious: what would happen if the World Source reached 100%? Shaking his head, with his current strength, obtaining 100% World Source was unlikely.
Besides, the Ryuudou Temple was a hidden area; otherwise, there wouldn't be this much World Source.
[You have killed a resentment Attendant Leader.]
[Obtained World Source 4.1%. Current total World Source: 65.2%.]
[Obtained Holy Church Merit Points: 100.]
...
When the Apollo's flames finally died down, the Ryuudou Temple had vanished. The area that disappeared had been vaporized by the intense heat.
The current site of the Ryuudou Temple had become a forbidden zone for living beings. The one-kilometer explosion radius of the Apollo had razed it to the ground!
The mountaintop where the Ryuudou Temple once stood was glowing red-hot. The rocks there had turned into magma from the high temperature. The air above was distorted, and even at the mountainside, Su Xiao could feel the terrifying heat.
Although the effect was astonishing, Su Xiao couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. The cost of crafting the Sun God Apollo was simply too high.
Since the Talent Awakening Mission was closely tied to the Ryuudou Temple, Su Xiao decided to raze the temple to the ground. This was more effective than simply cutting through it, and it should significantly increase the mission's completion degree.
But this wasn't the end. Su Xiao took out an item dropped by the Grudge Orphan, Hughes: [Book of Confession (Mission Item)].