Chapter 2173: For Sera

The sharp pain in Lirin's body continued unabated. Although he didn't fight often, his willpower was relatively firm, so he clenched his fists and continued to control the surrounding tree branches.

A huge cyan-blue blade glow slashed toward him. Lirin instantly judged that the tree branches in front of him couldn't withstand this blade glow.

The Green Ghost slashed through, eventually disappearing into the soil layer behind.

Lirin lost control of his body again. Just as he wanted to use his blood to generate tree roots to entangle his severed left side, Su Xiao lunged in front of him.

Dense slashes suddenly appeared, seemingly cutting open the air in this area. With the assistance of the Apostle's Eye, Su Xiao saw Lirin's health suddenly slide to 20%.

*Bang! *

Su Xiao stepped on Lirin's shattered body, and the surrounding dirt walls shook. It looked like if Su Xiao came again, this place would collapse.

Su Xiao pressed one hand to the ground, and Green Steel Shadow energy spread from his hand, with pale blue electric arcs surging.

Suddenly, Lirin's shattered body trembled, and the vitality in his flesh and blood was quickly stripped away. The battle ended.

In the final analysis, Lirin's strength lay in the power he held. Coincidentally, Su Xiao was also a duke. If the Sera Empire were still in its prime, even if Su Xiao were stronger than he was now, he wouldn't be able to obtain such a status in a short time. But the current Sera Empire was already riddled with holes.

It was difficult to pick a "fruit" from a towering tree; one needed to climb up bit by bit. But if this towering tree was already severely tilted and about to fall to the ground, then picking the "fruit" wasn't difficult. Moreover, this "fruit" didn't taste good, and no one would come to cause trouble.

Lirin lost. His strength was quite different from Su Xiao's, and his combat experience and technique ability were not just a little bit behind. Even Lirin had never fought a life-or-death battle with anyone. He was born a duke and simply never had such an opportunity. If he weren't a Holy Descendant, he would have been killed by Su Xiao the moment they engaged.

Lirin's shattered body slowly gathered together. In the end, he barely managed to piece himself into a relatively complete state and stood up from the ground with some difficulty.

"In the end, I was still powerless."

As Lirin spoke, he staggered a few steps to the side, unable to support himself any longer, and fell to the ground with a *thump*, facing death.

"Everything I did was for Sera. But the one who truly understood what I was trying to do was you, Kukulin."

The luster in Lirin's eyes faded rapidly, and the sunlight shone on his nearly shattered face.

It had to be said that Lirin was a respectable opponent. At least he dared to stand up and try to save Sera. If it weren't for their opposing stances, Su Xiao would have chosen to cooperate with Lirin instead of the wavering Old Duke.

The fate of the Sera Empire was already sealed; Lirin was just unwilling to accept it, that was all. In Lirin's view, Su Xiao, who had dragged him out, understood what he wanted to do better than anyone else. Revitalize the empire? From the beginning, Lirin actually knew that the empire was beyond saving.

【Hint: You have killed Duke Lirin.】

【You have obtained 10.8% of the World's Source.】

【You have obtained an Epic-grade treasure chest (64%).】

【Hidden Quest: Pantheon (Completed).】

【You have obtained the Stone of Destiny (Holy Spirit-grade gemstone).】

【Stone of Destiny】

Origin: Tier 6 Native World

Quality: Holy Spirit-grade

Type: Gemstone/Prop (Rare)

Effect 1: After being inlaid into equipment, it increases the equipment's luck attribute bonus by 5 points.

Effect 2: After using this gemstone, it can permanently increase the luck attribute by 2 points and obtain the blessing of a luck-based deity. The blessing will last for 3 natural days, during which luck will receive a significant bonus.

Score: 927 points (Holy Spirit-grade item scores are 700–1000 points).

Introduction: Today must be a lucky day.

Seeing the attributes of this gemstone, Su Xiao fell into deep thought: could he beat the Goddess of Luck now?

Although the Goddess of Luck had always appeared slightly cowardly, she was still a deity in charge of luck and fortune, and could not be underestimated.

After a preliminary assessment, Su Xiao felt that he probably couldn't beat her. If he could advance to Tier 7 or even a higher tier, then he could give it a try.

Picking up the treasure chest from the ground, Su Xiao walked toward an underground passage. Although Lirin was the leader of the Pantheon, killing a duke was easy to do but hard to explain.

Following the passage dug by the miners, Su Xiao returned to the surface. Shouts still came from a kilometer away; the battle there hadn't ended, but this had nothing to do with Su Xiao.

Duke Lirin was assassinated by the Pantheon—this was the news that was about to spread.

Su Xiao recalled Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha. After wandering around the streets for a few laps, he arrived in front of a wooden hut at the edge of the city.

Pushing open the door, the Iron Feather King was sitting on a small wooden bed. He was sitting cross-legged, holding a very old book in his hand.

"Lirin is dead?"

"Not sure."

"Coming here, are you here to kill me?"

"No."

"Then are you here to send this old fellow off?"

"No."

"Hahaha."

The Iron Feather King's hearty laughter came. A moment later, he put down the ancient book in his hand.

"Then just stay here for a while. What utility value does an old fellow like me have?"

The Iron Feather King closed his eyes. He was sensing nature. Knowing he was about to die, he didn't want to give up his pursuit of technique.

Before long, the sound of chopping wood came; it was Amu preparing to start a fire to cook. It was hungry.

Su Xiao certainly wouldn't kill the Iron Feather King. He had no interest in being hunted by a behemoth like the Sera Empire. Even if it was about to perish, the Sera Empire was not to be trifled with.

Killing Lirin was one thing, but killing the Iron Feather King was equivalent to poking a super-giant hornet's nest. Over 90% of the soldiers and powerhouses in Yalansi City would be enraged, the kind that would fight to the death.

As for Su Xiao coming here, he certainly wasn't here to avoid the limelight, but was waiting for something to happen.

The Iron Feather King wasn't talkative, and as for Su Xiao, besides eating and sleeping, he could meditate for a whole day.

After about two hours, rapid footsteps came. Lady Moon Wolf pushed open the door of the wooden hut. After standing outside the door for a few minutes, she left without saying anything.

Time passed inadvertently, and 4 days passed quickly. Su Xiao didn't show any anxiety; the time limit for the fourth ring of the main quest was 20 days, and only a few days had passed.

During these 4 days, the Iron Feather King occasionally chatted with Su Xiao, mostly about interesting things he had seen in his youth. A few times, he implicitly expressed that only the spear-blade was the strongest, and sword art had to be secondary. Su Xiao held the opposite opinion.

On the morning of the 5th day, the Iron Feather King sat up from the wooden bed and coughed dryly for at least a few minutes. He didn't say anything, just went behind the wooden hut and started digging a pit.

Before long, a not-too-deep dirt pit was dug. The Iron Feather King took a straw mat a few centimeters thick from a shed next to the wooden hut, turned back to the wooden hut, spread the straw mat on the wooden bed, and lay down on it.

"There is a pit in the backyard. When you leave in a while, bury me by the way, wrapped in this thing."

The Iron Feather King patted the straw mat beneath him, lay there as if asleep, and died of old age.

A wisp of cold air suddenly appeared, quickly condensing into an eyeball. Just as the eyeball shape condensed, it shattered the next moment.

Five hours later, imperial border.

Black smoke on the battlefield shot straight into the sky, a war hammer smashed through a shield, half-buried in the mud. On the west side of this battlefield, large animal-skin tents were set up.

*Thump, thump, thump... *

A huge hollow ice drum was struck. Although the sound was dull, it could travel very far. Stout soldiers walked out of the tents. They were all wearing armor; the forging process of these armors wasn't exquisite, but they were thick and sturdy. Without a certain amount of strength, one couldn't wear this thing at all.

Among the many soldiers stood a man with an exceptionally tall and strong build. An ordinary knight's sword in his hand was like a model toy.

Over a hundred thousand soldiers from the extreme cold gathered. They were all riding polar wild boars with fangs. These polar wild boars were clad in iron armor and looked very enduring. On those sharp fangs, there were bloodstains that couldn't be washed off.

"The Empire's Guardian is dead! The Empire's Guardian is dead!"

Roars spread. A moment later, the soldiers of the Northern Alliance all placed one hand on their chests and lowered their heads slightly. They hated the Iron Feather King and feared the Iron Feather King, but they also respected the Iron Feather King from the bottom of their hearts.

"Directly attack Yalansi City! Kill all the Holy Descendants! Avenge our ancestors!!"

The ice drum was struck again. Hearing this drum sound, the polar wild boars' eyes began to turn red, roars were endless, and over a hundred thousand polar cavalry began to charge, shaking the mountains and the earth.

The Empire's Guardian, the Iron Feather King, was dead. The Northern Alliance had attacked.

Miaoshuwu ===== CHAPTER 2174 =====