Chapter 23

The prompt vanished; the room fell silent.

“Heh~, I don’t believe I’ll be trapped to death here.”

Su Xiao sat down, settling in to wait out the Lunhuileyuan .

He now understood one thing: the 【World Tree Ring】 in his storage space was an extremely valuable item.

From the 【World Tree Ring】’s rating: ???, it was clear the Lunhuileyuan seemed unwilling to reveal the item’s true worth.

【Please the Hunter sell the World Tree Ring so the Lunhuileyuan may absorb World Power.】

The prompt reappeared; Su Xiao paused, then asked:

“What is your purpose in transporting me to the derivative world? And what exactly is this ring?”

Unexpectedly, the Lunhuileyuan gave him an answer.

【The Lunhuileyuan and the Hunter share a ‘symbiotic’ relationship: Hunters or other contractees enter derivative realms to explore and obtain World Sources; the Lunhuileyuan requires World Power to evolve and maintain its normal operations.】

【The World Tree Ring contains vast amounts of World Power. Please sell it immediately.】

【The following content cannot be viewed due to insufficient permissions.】

……

Although the Lunhuileyuan provided few hints, Su Xiao grasped the most critical point.

The Lunhuileyuan had sent him to the derivative world solely to obtain World Power through him.

This so-called World Power must be extracted from World Sources—hence the Lunhuileyuan rewarded him according to the quantity of World Sources he gathered.

The Lunhuileyuan likely operated under certain rules; otherwise, it would have forcibly seized the 【World Tree Ring】 instead of asking him to sell it.

His status as a Hunter proved one thing: under normal circumstances, the Lunhuileyuan could not directly execute contractees.

As long as he did not violate the Lunhuileyuan ’s regulations, it could not punish him—nor any other contractee—which is precisely why Hunters existed.

A Hunter, in essence, was dispatched into derivative worlds to handle contractees who broke rules without technically violating the Lunhuileyuan ’s regulations.

For example, a contractee discovers a loophole in the Lunhuileyuan ’s rules and exploits it for personal gain.

At such moments, Su Xiao’s moment arrives.

Without needing to think, those ‘rule-breaking’ contractees must be powerful and extremely cunning.

Su Xiao remained seated on the floor, idly playing with the 【Dragon-Slaying Flash】.

He had a bold idea: to blackmail the Lunhuileyuan .

Though it seemed like courting death, his status as a Hunter meant the Lunhuileyuan wouldn’t dare harm him.

Su Xiao was gambling—on whether his Hunter status mattered. If it didn’t, then all his nightmare-difficulty trials had been for nothing.

Time ticked away, and finally, after two hours, a prompt appeared before him.

【Special Mission: Choice】

Difficulty Level: ???

Mission Brief: Deliver the 【World Tree Ring】 to the Lunhuileyuan .

Mission Details: None

Mission Deadline: Five minutes.

Mission Reward: A legacy with extremely high compatibility to the Hunter’s innate talent.

……

A smile appeared on Su Xiao’s face—his Hunter status was more valuable than he’d imagined; the Lunhuileyuan had actually issued a mission.

After a moment’s thought, Su Xiao accepted the mission.

For the cold, heartless Lunhuileyuan , he had no certainty—he still needed to survive within it.

【Special Mission: Choice, completed. Preparing to distribute reward. Hunter, prepare yourself.】

Prepare? This reward must be significant.

Immediately after the Lunhuileyuan ’s prompt, a beam of light appeared in the room, enveloping Su Xiao.

Su Xiao sat motionless, staring straight ahead, eyes unfocused, occasional flashes of blue light flickering within them.

At this moment, Su Xiao’s consciousness had arrived in a vast, boundless hall.

The hall was impossibly enormous, its edges invisible.

Su Xiao scanned the surroundings and saw six stone statues, each over a hundred meters tall—humanoid figures, magnified many times.

“Heir… come forward.”

A solemn voice echoed; Su Xiao tensed—this voice came from one of the stone statues before him.

“The pact made long ago has reached its time for fulfillment.”

Another statue spoke; Su Xiao’s arrival triggered a chain reaction—all six statues began speaking.

“You are the final heir. Our legacies end here.”

“Whether we vanish into the river of time, or whether the spellcasters do—this is your trial.”

“Spellcasters disrupt the balance of world and matter; their so-called magic consumes the power of rules.”

“Foolish spellcasters—even if our bodies are destroyed, our consciousness endures.”

Su Xiao stood still, his scalp prickling—these speaking statues were far stronger than he could imagine.

And these statues were not living beings, merely the lingering consciousnesses of immensely powerful entities.

“Destruction, birth, annihilation, revival—all occur within this Sacred Place of Origin.”

“Heir, remember the name we share: we are the Shadows of Law Annihilation, the natural enemies of all spellcasters!”

All six statues opened their eyes and fixed their gaze on Su Xiao; he felt a violent surge of energy flood into his body, followed by dizziness and a ringing in his ears.

……

“Huff… huff… huff~.”

Su Xiao awoke in the room, gasping for breath.

He was still in his private room; the previous scene felt like a dream.

【Reward complete. Private Room activated.】

After the Lunhuileyuan ’s prompt, a door appeared on one wall of the private room—signaling he could finally leave.

But Su Xiao no longer cared—he felt an overwhelming energy surging within him, threatening to burst him apart.

“What… the… hell.”

Su Xiao could no longer speak normally; the energy inside him was rapidly altering his body.

His blood flowed at high speed; the unknown energy was not destroying his body, but strengthening it—albeit in an extremely brutal manner.

His cells underwent transformation; the most noticeable change was his hair—his black locks faintly began turning gray, though the shift was minimal and nearly imperceptible.

He collapsed with a thud, feeling he could no longer hold on—if this continued, he would die soon.

【Detecting abnormal life signs of Hunter. Preparing to activate recovery function. This function will consume Hunter’s Paradise Coins. Yes/No?】

At this moment, the Lunhuileyuan ’s voice no longer sounded cold—it was like celestial music to Su Xiao.

“A… activate.”

Agony flooded his body, gradually devouring his consciousness.

The moment Su Xiao spoke, emerald light enveloped him, and his Paradise Coins began rapidly decreasing.

In less than five seconds, the recovery function consumed over a thousand Paradise Coins.

After Shiji seconds, the energy within him vanished, fully absorbed by his body; the recovery function shut down simultaneously.

Su Xiao sat up, testing his movements—he immediately noticed something strange.

“What… is this?”

He stared at his hands in disbelief; after absorbing that energy, he felt stronger.

No—he felt much stronger.

Yet this increase in strength came not through the Lunhuileyuan ’s aid, so the Lunhuileyuan gave no notification.

He opened 【Personal Information】 and froze in place.

The reward from the World Tree Ring far exceeded his wildest expectations.