Chapter 3540

The sky was pitch black. Ever since the Vadi Manor mutated, the entire North District had remained this gloomy and oppressive, the atmosphere exuding an indescribable sense of eeriness.

On the partially damaged clock tower, Su Xiao had already selected his target. All Apollos were to be thrown into the backyard of Vadi Manor. As for the reason, the provocation from the Goat-Headed Demon only accounted for a small part.

Regardless, Su Xiao would not directly bomb the ancient castle of Vadi Manor to level it to the ground. Doing so was for the sake of convenience; after all, the Sanctuary Key was inside the castle. Once the Sanctuary Key was destroyed, Su Xiao's promotion mission would immediately fail.

Even so, Su Xiao still did not intend to enter that castle. He always had a feeling that the wretched place should not be entered. The current head of the Vadi family, Vadi Lifak, had yet to show his face. According to Madam Yan's intelligence, this guy was not dead but was right inside the castle.

Precisely because of this, Su Xiao felt that the castle was a trap set by Vadi Lifak. Of course, Su Xiao was not the only one who had guessed this; the Duke's side had clearly guessed it as well.

From the beginning of the incident until now, the Duke's side had been all thunder and no rain, giving the impression that the "Angry Hammer Organization" had already entered Vadi Manor many times.

This was the Duke's superiority. Once something happened in the High Wall City, the "Angry Hammer Organization" would definitely charge to the front and do many things, but they would certainly be the ones who took the least beatings, appearing to outsiders as the ones putting in the most effort.

Conversely, Madam Yan's Silver Armor Brigade did the most work and took the most vicious beatings, yet gained the least fame. It was no wonder Madam Yan was so hostile toward the Duke.

Right now, whether Vadi Lifak was hiding in the castle was no longer important. Su Xiao looked at an old man in a white robe below.

This person wore a white robe, had a full head of long, pale hair, and sported a long black beard. His eye sockets were dark and slightly sunken, which made him look difficult to get along with. Seeing him for the first time gave one a sense of dread and the certainty that this was a very serious old man.

This person was the Great Sage of the Healing Church's Academic Faction, Turz. He had deep attainments in soul studies, theology, and stigmata studies, belonging to the encyclopedia of soul power and stigmata power.

The entire Academic Faction, which was the system of the Stigmata Academy, was very simple: apprentices, students, mentors, five sages, and the Great Sage located at the very top.

As for Xiusi and Lisi, they were former students within the Academic Faction. After being promoted from apprentices to students, they had graduated.

At this moment, when Xiusi and Lisi saw Great Sage Turz, they both felt subconsciously guilty. This feeling was like just graduating and running into the principal of one's alma mater, and this principal did not have a good relationship with their current boss.

Great Sage Turz had come this time to ensure the barrier was foolproof. His poor relationship with Su Xiao was another matter; right now, the goal was to work together to deal with Vadi Manor first.

"Great Sage, the barrier you set up must be sturdy."

Baha spoke, preparing to liven up the atmosphere. After all, they were about to cooperate, so there was no need to make things too tense.

Great Sage Turz ignored Baha and led his people toward the direction of the barrier, which made Baha exclaim, "Damn it."

"We are all on the same side, don't fuss over small matters."

A middle-aged or elderly man wearing a deep red robe walked over. His face was gentle, and his voice sounded like a spring breeze. This person was Bishop Ansi, a high-ranking member of the Healing Church.

Although the Workshop, the Academic Faction, and the Treatment Institute were all subordinate departments of the Healing Church, Su Xiao, Bishop Ansi, and Great Sage Turz were equals; none could command the others.

Bishop Ansi came to the partially damaged clock tower where Su Xiao was and said, "Bai Ye, I have bad news for you."

"Hmm?"

"A sage from the Academic Faction prophesied that you are the Chosen One. Just a moment ago, Great Sage Turz personally went to the cathedral, wanting to find the Bishop and the Holy Priest, but the Bishop did not see him."

When Bishop Ansi said this, his expression carried a smile. He nudged Su Xiao with his elbow and said, "I support you. I'm at ease with you; I'm going to check on the barrier side."

Leaving these words behind, Bishop Ansi left with a smiling face.

Among the high-ranking members of the Healing Church, Bishop Ansi was a famously nice guy, but one shouldn't trust him too much. Su Xiao could be certain that the other party's relationship with the Academic Faction was definitely not bad either.

The high-ranking members of the Healing Church were divided into three categories:

1. People like Su Xiao and Great Sage Turz, who rose to power through hard strength, using power or knowledge to crush all who refused to submit, finally rising to power forcefully.

2. Successive generations of Holy Maidens, who had status from the moment they were born.

3. People like Bishop Ansi, who were adept at playing both sides, being slick and smooth, saying what people wanted to hear to people and what ghosts wanted to hear to ghosts. When a major incident occurred, such people were unreliable, but in normal development, such people were indispensable. Once such people were lacking, the Healing Church would become disconnected, thus appearing high and mighty and being met with hostility from everyone.

A simple analogy would be letting Su Xiao and Great Sage Turz go to the cathedral to preside over Sunday sermons for the believers; that was simply not reliable. Su Xiao and Great Sage Turz were indeed top-tier in their respective fields, but they were too hardcore.

Conversely, Bishop Ansi could complete such things very well and use this to build up a good reputation for the Healing Church over time.

Su Xiao looked a hundred meters away, where the hub of the barrier was. At this time, Great Sage Turz, Bishop Ansi, and several Academic Faction teachers, plus even more apprentices, were all there.

The Academic Faction had mobilized all its power this time, plus brought out a large amount of resources to set up the barrier. This was, of course, not to help Su Xiao. Or rather, the fact that the Academic Faction had provided materials so readily when Su Xiao was making explosives earlier was because they were waiting for this.

Upon learning that Su Xiao wanted to bomb Vadi Manor, many in the Academic Faction opposed it. Great Sage Turz overcame all objections, not only providing the materials to make the explosives but also forming a barrier team in advance.

An old man is shrewd, an old horse is slippery. Don't look at Great Sage Turz as someone who doesn't smile and keeps a straight face every day; in reality, he was also an old schemer—ah, no, that's an old schemer with profound knowledge.

In Great Sage Turz's view, Vadi Manor definitely had to be bombed, but there was a prerequisite: the barrier had to be set up first.

Looking at the entire High Wall City, besides the Academic Faction, there was no other organization capable of handling this matter.

Bombing Vadi Manor and the surrounding area was originally something everyone nominally opposed. Using the barrier to stabilize the explosion and reduce the damage caused by the explosion was undoubtedly a good reputation.

People like Great Sage Turz didn't care about reputation themselves; what he valued was giving the Stigmata Academy more fame. In this way, the talents within High Wall City would flock to them, instead of often being intercepted by the Steam God Sect and the High Wall Council.

Originally, Great Sage Turz had this goal, until a sage in the Stigmata Academy he managed prophesied that Su Xiao had become the Chosen One.

In this way, the situation changed. Such an ancient tradition as the Chosen One had been collectively opposed by the Academic Faction many years ago, and the selection and recruitment of the Chosen One had been abolished. In the Academic Faction's view, relying on the Chosen One to solve problems was not feasible; the ashes and remains on the 11th floor of the cathedral were ironclad proof.

In the Academic Faction's view, the method they were currently implementing was the good strategy. Without this method, there would not be the High Wall City of today.

Su Xiao was not clear about what method the Academic Faction used, but he could be certain of one point: if he wanted to enter the Root of the Dead City, it would affect the Academic Faction's most fundamental foothold, and his identity as the Chosen One destined him to go to the Dead City.

In this way, his conflict with the Academic Faction had already reached an irreconcilable level.

On the clock tower that only had half left, the cold wind blew with wisps of purple mist. Su Xiao tossed the Apollo in his hand and activated it.

The Apollo had a total detonation time of 15 seconds. After Bubu Wang's calculations, with Su Xiao's strength and his distance from the backyard of Vadi Manor, if he threw it when the Apollo was 2 seconds away from exploding, it could achieve an instant explosion when it reached the vicinity of the Goat-Headed Demon, not giving the other party a chance to react.

Crack, crack, crack~

The crystal layer spread on Su Xiao's right hand. As time passed second by second, the Apollo in his hand began to turn scorching red. He assumed a throwing posture.

Boom!

A scorching golden-red trail streaked out. After the Apollo broke through several air explosions, it flew into the hole reserved by the barrier. The next instant, it had reached the purple-black dense fog in the backyard.

A giant claw covered in black scales came to meet it; it was the Goat-Headed Demon. It was just about to grab the Apollo.

Thud!

The Goat-Headed Demon felt a buzz in its brain. At this moment, it saw the light.

How could it not see the light? The Apollo was about to explode right in its face. If Su Xiao had thrown it any more accurately, it would have gone right into the Goat-Headed Demon's mouth.

Golden flames came head-on. The Goat-Headed Demon let out a roar. The environment here was special, and the purple-black fog spreading around significantly suppressed the explosive power of the Apollo.

It had to be said that in a world of this tier like the Dark Continent, the power of a single Wrath of the Sun, Apollo, was no longer as world-destroying as it once was.

Continuing to develop the Apollo was certainly a good method, but this was a bottleneck. With Su Xiao's current alchemy, wanting to cross this bottleneck depended too much on luck.

As the saying goes, if the quality isn't enough, then increase the quantity until it starts to undergo a qualitative change. 10 Apollos + special high-explosive gunpowder equals a "Sun Barrel"; 100 Apollos + fission solution + special glass column container equals a "Sun Pillar."

600 Apollos + fission solution + special glass column container + a large amount of concentrated faith power, Sun + sunlight amplification, equals a "Sun Holy Sword."

The dull sound of the explosion spread within the barrier. The sun flames spread out, eroding each other with the purple-black dense fog in the backyard. On the opposite side, the sun flames engulfed the castle, reached the front yard, and burned the dark purple biological tissue entrenched in the front yard.

These dark purple biological tissues melted like accumulated snow, being burned into ashes. The sun flames continued to spread, burning the buildings around the manor until they evaporated into a gaseous state on the spot, finally being blocked by the barrier.

Looking at this barrier that resembled an inverted large bowl, it was now filled with golden sun flames.

After a moment, the sun flames dissipated. At the barrier hub a hundred meters away from the partially damaged clock tower, a group of Stigmata Academy teachers and students looked at each other.

"Just this?"

A mentor was stunned. They had set up for so long, and then it was all over with just this one hit? Let alone bursting the barrier, right now, after the explosion was consumed by the dense fog, the castle, and so on, it hadn't even affected the barrier much.

"Watch your words."

Great Sage Turz spoke sternly, and the group of teachers and students no longer dared to show the "just this" expression.

Great Sage Turz looked in the direction where Su Xiao was. He seemed to ponder for a moment, then said, "Activate all sub-nodes and let the barrier reach its maximum strength."

Hearing this, the group of Stigmata Academy teachers and students were full of doubts, but they dared not disobey Great Sage Turz and could only do as told.

Great Sage Turz didn't know much about explosives, but he knew the vice-dean of the Treatment Institute, his old rival. Either he didn't do it, or he did it to the best, or rather, he did it to the extreme.

Boom!

Another Apollo flew into the barrier, followed by an explosion. The flames still spread, but this time the Goat-Headed Demon's roar was even more furious.

The third Apollo followed closely, and the dull sound and sun flames spread within the barrier.

At the barrier hub, the group of Stigmata Academy teachers and students all had the expression of watching fireworks. In the shadows not far away, Madam Yan was a bit worried. If the explosives Su Xiao made really weren't powerful enough, wouldn't the materials she provided be a loss?

After the three Apollos were thrown, and the sun flames within the barrier dissipated, Su Xiao observed the situation inside. Of course, he would save where he could; if three Apollos could settle it, he wouldn't use others.

Unfortunately, that ancient castle still stood firmly there. Apart from scorch marks on the outer wall, under the protection of a certain energy, it actually had no other damage.

The Goat-Headed Demon brother was also unexpectedly sturdy. It roared in the flames, but alas, it still couldn't leave the manor and that purple-black dense fog, and now could only rage on the spot.

Seeing this scene, Su Xiao took out a "Sun Barrel" and threw it directly.

The wooden "Sun Barrel" flew in the sky, tracing an arc into the barrier. Almost at the same time, a blood spear was constructed above Su Xiao.

With a whoosh, blood flames ignited on this blood spear. Su Xiao controlled this blood spear to thrust out, heading straight for the "Sun Barrel."

Just as the "Sun Barrel" flew above the castle, the blood flame spear that arrived later pierced through it. This was the characteristic of the "Sun Barrel": it was unstable when detonated, but it could be detonated in unconventional ways. It could only be said that this characteristic had both advantages and disadvantages.

The explosion spread. First, a shockwave swept across the castle, and the outer walls of the castle cracked with a pop.

Like a small sun appearing in mid-air, this small sun was not big at first and even contracted, but in the next instant, the radiance of the sun suddenly bloomed.

Thud!!

A loud noise came from within the barrier. The entire barrier was reflected into a brilliant gold by the sun flames inside, and it even forcibly expanded by a circle.

At the barrier hub, several mentors responsible for stabilizing the barrier were blown away on the spot by the shock feedback from the formation. Fortunately, the other mentors had real skills and immediately filled in.

The mentors and apprentices responsible for stabilizing the barrier all began to feel the pressure. They could even feel the sun-like scorching heat fed back from the formation.

Just as the group of mentors and apprentices were about to turn red in the face, the explosion within the barrier finally subsided.

"The Dean is still the one with foresight."

A mentor flattered Great Sage Turz at a very opportune time. Alas, the Great Sage didn't pay him any mind at all, but was looking at the castle emitting blue smoke within the barrier, and the Goat-Headed Demon in the residual purple fog in the backyard, whose whole body was scattering sparks and who could barely stand straight.

In the backyard, the Goat-Headed Demon spat out a large mouthful of blood mixed with sparks and fell to the ground completely.

On the partially damaged clock tower outside the barrier, Su Xiao naturally saw the Goat-Headed Demon. The "Sun Barrel" didn't kill the other party, which was something he hadn't expected. Carefully observing the purple-black dense fog near the other party, he estimated that it was this dense fog that allowed the Goat-Headed Demon to hold on until now. Otherwise, if three Apollos had been thrown down, the Goat-Headed Demon would have already passed away.

Su Xiao clasped his hands together, and blood energy erupted within his body, forming a phantom that looked like both human and beast around him.

The blood energy phantom was about 10 meters tall, resembling the fierce beast Fei. The upper body looked like a human, the left hand was a ferocious beast claw with scales on the arm, and the right arm was a human arm, but the hand only had three fingers: the thumb, index, and middle finger, with no ring finger or little finger.

After the blood energy phantom was successfully constructed, Su Xiao took out a glass column over a meter tall from his storage space and tossed it up. The large hand of the blood energy phantom held the "Sun Pillar" within it.

A hundred meters away, Great Sage Turz witnessed this scene from beginning to end. After he saw the "Sun Pillar," the cheeks of his old face seemed to twitch.

Buzz!

Dark golden energy surrounded the Great Sage. He didn't intend to stop Su Xiao through negotiation; that was useless. He had to take a more direct approach.

Boom!

The blood energy phantom threw the "Sun Pillar," blasting out layers of sonic booms. A large dark golden energy hand grabbed from bottom to top, but with a slap, it grabbed nothing.

"..."

Su Xiao looked down at the Great Sage. The two stared at each other for less than a second before the Great Sage disappeared from where he was, appearing calmly on the barrier hub formation.

Inside the barrier, the "Sun Pillar" streaked out a golden-red afterimage. The next second, it had appeared in front of the Goat-Headed Demon brother.

In this short time, the Goat-Headed Demon brother seemed to have thought of a lot. Perhaps it was: 'I just took a look at you, is it worth making such a big scene to deal with me? Did I kill your whole family? Hmm?!'

Thud!!!

A dull explosion sound that made one's heart tremble came, and then everyone present felt a buzz in their ears.

The sun flames were so dense that they appeared brilliant gold, like the color of the sun. The Goat-Headed Demon bore the brunt. As the sun flames swept over, its flesh and blood were instantly evaporated, leaving only a skeleton shape, and then this skeleton was also burned into ashes in the sun flames, finally burning into a gaseous state due to the high temperature.

The sun flames crushed over the castle with a barbaric posture. The castle was like building blocks under a steamroller, quickly falling apart under the high temperature, and finally leveled to the ground.

After the castle shattered, twisted dark tentacles spread out. This was the existence from beyond the sky, the Dark Walker, a spawn of the abyss.

In the past, this was a tricky existence, but right now, under the purification of the Sun Fire, the darkness it erupted seemed somewhat insignificant and was instantly wiped out and engulfed.

Finally, the unlucky one was the barrier. The entire barrier was like a balloon being blown up quickly. The transcendent beings present whose body energy had been drained all scattered like birds and beasts. Let alone others, even the Duke and Madam Yan quickly withdrew with their people.

At the barrier hub, Great Sage Turz knew that continuing like this wouldn't work. Without seeing him make any moves, the entire formation operated under overload, and the top of the barrier opened.

Boom!!

The sun pillar shot into the sky. Actually, it should have been like this a long time ago. The "Sun Pillar" was different from the "Sun Holy Sword"; it wouldn't perform a super-large-scale explosion but would form an explosion pillar, destroying everything within the range. The Academic Faction wanting to use the barrier to keep all the explosions inside was clearly unrealistic.

The sun flame pillar replaced the original purple light pillar, and even evaporated it with high temperature. Only the sun flame pillar stood between heaven and earth. After the energy-venting sun flame pillar rushed to the highest point, the top suddenly spread out, crashing into a sky full of fire rain.

Looking up and seeing this scene, Bishop Ansi's face turned almost green. If this sun fire rain were allowed to fall, half of the buildings in High Wall City would be burned away.

Su Xiao, of course, would not be hostile to the entire High Wall City. He took out the 【Sun Disk】. As soon as he let go, the 【Sun Disk】 activated itself. The sun flames within the barrier and the sun fire rain that had not yet fallen all rolled back and were absorbed into the 【Sun Disk】.

Ever since obtaining the 【Sun Disk】, Su Xiao hadn't been able to check the attributes of this thing. Apart from the name, this thing only had one attribute: "Needs to absorb a large amount of sun-characteristic flames to activate."

Originally, Su Xiao's idea was to make Apollos, then the explosion would produce sun flames to activate it. After testing it himself, he found that the sun flames produced by one Apollo weren't even one-thousandth of what the 【Sun Disk】 required.

This thing clearly couldn't be activated like this, but needed that kind of dangerous place burning with sun flames, or simply rushing to the vicinity of the sun and throwing it into the sun.

The former required opportunity; as for the latter, with Su Xiao's current strength and means, throwing the 【Sun Disk】 into the sun could be achieved, but how to get it back? Throw it in, activate it successfully, and then abandon it?

The 【Sun Disk】 could absorb the characteristics of sun flames, which was also the reason Su Xiao chose to use Apollos to bomb Vadi Manor. He could stop at the right point, significantly reducing the possibility of destroying the Sanctuary Key.

Su Xiao jumped down from the partially damaged clock tower. At this time, at the barrier hub, the Great Sage was nowhere to be seen. Presumably, this old guy was exhausted and didn't want to stay and lose face. As for those apprentices and mentors, they were already lying all over the ground, and some apprentices had simply fainted from physical exhaustion.

【You have killed the Goat-Headed Demon.】

【You have obtained 10.35% of the World's Source.】

【You have obtained the Twisted Abyss Treasure Chest.】

【Hint: Opening this item has a probability of obtaining an item with twisted abyss characteristics.】

Although the names of the 【Twisted Abyss Treasure Chest】 and the 【Abyss Treasure Chest】 are similar, they are vastly different. The former opens to obtain items with twisted abyss characteristics, that is, equipment or other things affected by abyss power, while the 【Abyss Treasure Chest】 opens to obtain abyss products.

What are abyss products? The answer is Black Maple Tree seeds, Original Sin items, Source Demon Mirror, etc.; these are abyss products. Opening just one would make one rich on the spot.

【You have killed the Dark Walker.】

【You have obtained 9.92% of the World's Source.】

【You have obtained the Immortal-grade Treasure Chest: Dark Object.】

Generally, Immortal-grade treasure chests with unique suffixes are very prestigious, which shows that the Dark Walker's strength is not weak. Looking at it this way, killing an enemy of this strength only yielded 9.92% of the World's Source; the gold content of the World's Source in this world is very high.

【You have killed the Messenger from Beyond (1/2).】

【You have obtained 5.3% of the World's Source.】

【You have obtained the Slippery Biological Tissue Ball (1/2).】

【Hint: This item can be sold, or returned to the Messenger from Beyond. If this item reaches its complete form, it can be opened as a treasure chest-type item.】

The harvest was not small. Su Xiao let Baha go to the backyard to pick up the treasure chests, and he led the others to the original site of the castle.

There were five creatures from beyond the sky: the Daughter of Pain, the Dark Walker, Little Flower, the Messenger from Beyond, and the Goat-Headed Demon.

Right now, two and a half had been bombed to death. The remaining Little Flower didn't need to be bothered with; it was at Lisi's house. And as for the Messenger from Beyond, this thing was half dead.

Su Xiao was seeing such a peculiar existence as the Messenger from Beyond for the first time. Killing half of the other party not only yielded kill rewards but also obtained a slippery biological tissue ball.

Crack, crack, crack~

The crystal layer wrapped around Su Xiao's hand. He picked up a biological tissue ball from the scorched earth. When he picked it up, this thing was still stringing with the ground. Because it was too slippery, it was a bit hard to hold.

Looking at the hint, this thing could be opened as a treasure chest when collected. What was even more peculiar was that Su Xiao could return this thing to the Messenger from Beyond, thereby reconciling with the other party.

Su Xiao didn't have this idea. If he saw this eerie existence that didn't know how to escape, slaughtering it to collect the other half of the 【Slippery Biological Tissue Ball】 was the first choice.

What Su Xiao cared about most was that the explosion just now didn't kill the two most critical targets. One was the current head of the Vadi family, Vadi Lifak, and the other was the existence from beyond the sky, the Daughter of Pain.

The Sanctuary Key was in the hands of the Daughter of Pain. Madam Yan said this herself. Presumably, this intelligence would not be false.

After searching the ruins, Su Xiao learned the whereabouts of the Daughter of Pain. A crack appeared on the ground, inside which was a dense purple semi-fluid. Without thinking, he knew the Daughter of Pain must be hiding in here.

"Moo."

Amu pushed away the Silver Wolf Girl, Marina, who was about to jump down to test it. When it came to tankiness, Marina, even after wolf-transforming, couldn't compare to Amu.

Amu was seen carrying the Dragon Heart Axe on its shoulder and jumped down directly, then got stuck. The width of the crack only allowed Amu to enter its legs, getting stuck firmly at the waist.

"Moo!!"

Amu thrashed back and forth and even swung its axe a few times, but the result was useless. The expressions of Xiusi and Lisi were exceptionally serious. They both wanted to laugh but didn't dare, fearing Amu would chop them.

Su Xiao easily pulled Amu out, then jumped into it. Baha and Old Chaman followed closely behind. The Silver Wolf Girl, Marina, followed in Amu's footsteps and also successfully got stuck there.

Su Xiao felt himself sinking. After touching the purple semi-fluid around him, he could feel a cold sensation. About a few seconds later, his feet felt empty, followed by the feeling of free fall.

Su Xiao's feet hit solid ground. He looked around. This was a place composed of purple solid tissue, a passage several meters high. The passage walls around were covered with black star spots.

Baha and Old Chaman fell from behind. Su Xiao walked along the passage. After walking more than ten meters, the front was a dead end.

Zing!

The long sword slashed through, and the purple solid tissue was slashed with a cut nearly a meter deep, but immediately, this purple solid tissue gathered together.

If he destroyed it forcefully, he might be able to open a path, but this would consume a large amount of stamina. If he encountered an enemy later, it would be very dangerous.

There must be a path ahead. What could be certain was that the Daughter of Pain had retreated here and activated some kind of mechanism to seal the path.

Su Xiao took out the 【Sacred Divider】 and took out a small bottle, injecting a total of 3 ounces of space-time power into it and activating it. 1 ounce each time, it could be used three times.

Pop!

A dream-like fluctuation spread. The world around Su Xiao changed greatly. Baha and Old Chaman behind were excluded. Su Xiao came from the original purple passage into a fluorescent blue passage. This was the "Pseudo-World," and the front was no longer a dead end.

Su Xiao continued to move forward. After walking dozens of meters, the front of this fluorescent blue passage twisted together, and it was covered with small flowers.

Su Xiao gripped the 【Sacred Divider】 tightly, and the unfolded 【Sacred Divider】 closed. He immediately broke away from the "Pseudo-World."

When he returned to the real world, that is, the material world, he was still in the purple passage, only he had already passed that sealed passage and arrived on the other side of the seal.

Su Xiao knew one of the uses of the 【Sacred Divider】. He continued to move along the purple passage. After walking about a hundred meters, he arrived at a place that resembled an underground karst cave.

Under a stone tablet, a woman with long black hair was leaning and sitting there. Her hair was long and dense, which was clearly her weapon. It was the Daughter of Pain.

At this time, the Daughter of Pain was severely carbonized all over, clearly affected by the Sun Pillar.

"I am finally going to die."

The Daughter of Pain spoke. Her language tone was strange, but it had a kind of spiritual resonance, making one understand what it meant.

"Is there anything wrong with being beautiful?"

The Daughter of Pain was very calm. She recalled the past: the harbor at night, the townspeople with twisted expressions of anger holding torches, the iron-cast woman full of rust, the harbor judge looking down at her, and those guys who usually called themselves gentlemen and nobles, all watching with pleasure and cold eyes, as well as the expressions of those noble ladies on the other side who seemed to be smiling but not smiling.

The Daughter of Pain died out of jealousy—jealousy of her beauty, jealousy of eternal youth, jealousy of immortality.

"In the pain of drowning, have I already become a monster? It seems... I have also eaten many living beings."

The Daughter of Pain's voice had just fallen.

Zing!

A cold light flashed and disappeared, crisp and neat. The long sword in Su Xiao's hand slowly returned to its sheath. With a thud, the Daughter of Pain's body turned into burning debris with sparks and drifted away.

Su Xiao grabbed a key in mid-air, and a hint appeared.

【You have completed the Promotion Mission: Third Ring, Sanctuary Key.】

【You have obtained Shelter Stone x7.】

【You have killed the Daughter of Pain.】

【You have obtained 12.7% of the World's Source.】

【You have obtained the Immortal-grade Treasure Chest: End of Suffering.】

The kill reward was generous, but Su Xiao had a doubt. Previously, Baha had picked up a pale pottery shard that flew out of Vadi Manor. This thing was related to the Daughter of Pain.

Through this pale pottery shard, Su Xiao saw some scenes: the Daughter of Pain had an immortal body, she was trapped in an iron-cast woman, thrown into the deep sea, drowned and resurrected, constantly cycling in pain.

The Daughter of Pain should have had an immortal body, but right now, let alone an immortal body, she didn't even have a stronger self-healing ability.

This made Su Xiao feel very wrong. Although he had already obtained the Sanctuary Key, he hadn't reached a conclusion about the Vadi family's purpose. From the current clues, it seemed the Vadi family just borrowed part of the divine power of the God of Immortality, summoned some creatures from beyond the sky to bring about their own destruction, and then that was it?

Su Xiao looked around. This place that resembled an underground karst cave was a dead end, with no place to go deeper. He took out the 【Sacred Divider】, preparing to enter the Pseudo-World to take a look. He had participated in the Vadi family's upheaval from beginning to end. If he didn't thoroughly arrange the Vadi family, he always felt like there was a bone stuck in his throat. If people from the Vadi family suddenly jumped out to retaliate later, that would be bad.

Just as he took out the 【Sacred Divider】, Su Xiao found that this thing had changed from black to semi-transparent. He tried to activate it.

Click!

The 【Sacred Divider】 was fully unfolded. Su Xiao felt a pulling force, followed by extremely strong spatial resistance.

When everything subsided, Su Xiao found that he had not entered the Pseudo-World but had arrived at a sacrificial ground whose overall layout was rectangular. This was a deep world, that is, a small material world hanging on the main world. This sacrificial ground of more than 300 square meters was the entirety of this deep world.

The walls on both sides of the sacrificial ground were covered with oil paintings, all old portraits of people. Their clothing was noble, their hair color and attire were the same, and their eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar.

These oil paintings were portraits of successive heads of the Vadi family. And at the very back of the sacrificial ground, a gray stone chair was placed there. This stone chair was very large, and the old man sitting on it had withered, sparse yellow hair and was almost thin to the point of being skin and bones, but his aura was very dangerous. That feeling of being greedy, rational, and crazy at the same time made one subconsciously vigilant.

The God of Gods floated over, and Su Xiao activated it to detect the person opposite.

This person hiding in the darkest corner was not the current head of the Vadi family, Vadi Lifak, but his ancestor, the first head who founded the Vadi family, Vadi Treich.

The resurrection of the God of Immortality sculpture, the Daughter of Pain's immortal body, and now this old immortal—all the intelligence was successfully connected together, and Su Xiao knew what was going on.

From the founding of the Vadi family to today, it seemed the head of the family was always changing, and every generation was a pillar of combat power. In reality, from the day the Vadi family was founded until now, the head of the family had never changed; it had always been this old immortal, Vadi Treich.

And the Vadi family's upheaval was because this old monster was about to die. He didn't want to die but wanted to continue living, so this old monster stole a small amount of the God of Immortality's divine power, summoned the Daughter of Pain, and seized her immortality.

PS: (Continue flipping to see the Moon Apostle easter egg chapter. I hope all the readers will leave a comment + like. This is the best encouragement for Feiwen and the artist lady.)