Chapter 3644

Su Xiao closed the large amount of notarization information that appeared. The rules of this contention were not complicated, but what was interesting was that Su Xiao was no longer a participant this time, and he could not even enter the areas where the contention took place.

If the "Family Mansion" were compared to a dungeon, the five teams of the five contending parties would be equivalent to five teams of players. However, this dungeon was of Nightmare difficulty, and there was no chance of resurrection; dying inside meant losing everything.

Compared to how to deal with the other four parties, Su Xiao had one thing to determine first: whether the host of Boiling Red, Alisa, was willing to participate in this contention. If the other party was unwilling, even if she were tied up, she wouldn't be the main force to "run the dungeon," but an unstable factor that needed to be guarded against at all times. In that case, Su Xiao would rather change people to "run the dungeon."

Although "running the dungeon" this time was fraught with danger, it was also a rare opportunity. In such dangerous areas, all kinds of secret treasures would not be scarce, both due to the environment and because no one had explored the Family Mansion in depth before; explorers hadn't even been able to enter the front door of the mansion before the Family Mansion and the underground palace below were shrouded in fog.

It wasn't that dangerous places necessarily had many treasures, but that dangerous places were rarely visited, making it easier for the first explorer to find good things.

Su Xiao came to the roof of the apartment building and jumped onto the top of the tall water tank to start meditating. He meditated until the afternoon, estimating that the Dark God Sect would not attack for the time being. He used the camp leader authority he had just obtained to notarize this place as a temporary base.

Coming to the back hall on the first floor, Bubu had already tidied up the place to be spacious enough. Seeing this, Su Xiao activated the high-level authority of the team channel to contact Baha remotely. After a brief contact, Su Xiao learned that Baha and the others were still waiting at the Asylum because the Platinum Bishop and the Red-Eyed Woman were nowhere to be found.

According to the agreement, the Platinum Bishop and the Red-Eyed Woman should have gone to the Asylum to meet up with everyone more than 20 hours ago, but until now, the Platinum Bishop had not arrived.

Su Xiao set up a space array on the floor of the back hall. Before long, a reusable Demon Teleportation Array was completed. Ghost City was not too far from the "Northern Empire" and the "Saint Lan Kingdom," so it was worth investing resources to set up a Demon Teleportation Array here.

More than half an hour later, Su Xiao noticed that the space in front of him began to twist in a spiral shape. It was his first time watching someone else use a Demon Teleportation Array at the destination.

The space above the Demon Teleportation Array first appeared to rotate in a spiral, and then the abstract-style Great Priest, Amu, Baha, Dre, Silver Face, and Veronica appeared. This scene was like looking at people inside a washing machine through the glass door of a tumble dryer, but the next second, this "washing machine" exploded, and the space torrent rolled out with them.

Boom!

The people who completed the teleportation were distributed in different locations in the back hall. After everyone calmed down, Su Xiao put a large bunch of keys on the table. Veronica stepped forward first, pondered for a moment, and said, "I want to live on the second floor, what about you guys?"

When several people were choosing rooms, Baha landed on Su Xiao's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Boss, I tracked the Platinum Bishop's trail. He last appeared in a park in the suburbs. According to a servant who passed by walking a dog, he only saw the Platinum Bishop sitting alone on a park bench, as if he were watching the sunset."

"……"

Su Xiao's brow furrowed slightly. Regarding the Platinum Bishop, he had always felt that the other party was both worthy of cooperation and trust, and had some uncoordinated aspects. Whether it was the battle against the Nightmare King or the Sand King, the Platinum Bishop had gone along, although there was no life-and-death battle, but that was not because the Platinum Bishop avoided the battle.

During the Nightmare King incident, it was the action route arranged by Su Xiao, and the Platinum Bishop acted according to the route Su Xiao gave.

During the Sand King incident, the Platinum Bishop was already prepared for a life-and-death battle, but the Sand King paid the price of scrapping a strange object to have the Platinum Bishop teleported away. Moreover, Amu was also teleported away at that time, and according to Amu, they had indeed been falling the whole time.

Since the cooperation, everything the Platinum Bishop had done had nothing suspicious. The aspect that made him appear uncoordinated was also after Su Xiao had been to the Meteor Fire Land and saw that stone tablet.

The problem was that it was the Sun Bishop who told Su Xiao about the existence of that scorching desert, and after Su Xiao had been to the Meteor Fire Land and asked the Platinum Bishop about it, the Platinum Bishop not only didn't speak vaguely or dodge the question, but was very curious about the Meteor Fire Land. Later, when he had free time, he asked Su Xiao about the Meteor Fire Land many times.

Especially when Baha asked, since you are so curious, why don't you go see it yourself? The Platinum Bishop's answer was very straightforward: he went, but was blocked by the barrier like a heavenly wall. Because he attacked the barrier, he attracted the residents of Melt Iron Town, who complained to him. After all, that was someone's doorstep. The Platinum Bishop finally had to give up on blasting open the barrier, and he estimated that he couldn't blast it open anyway.

This was the aspect of the Platinum Bishop that Su Xiao couldn't see through the most. The other party not only didn't avoid the suspicious aspects of his identity but was even more curious than outsiders. All kinds of behaviors were the state that a person who had lost part of their memory should express.

Now the Platinum Bishop had left without saying goodbye, and the Red-Eyed Woman was not with him at his last appearance.

Su Xiao pondered for a moment, but there were too few clues, so he didn't consider this aspect for the time being, and turned his gaze to Baha:

"Go find Boiling Red."

"Got it."

Baha stepped onto the teleportation array and returned to the Alliance's Kusi City to find Alisa.

……

Dark Cathedral, inside the underground palace.

Several rows of arm-thick candles were placed along the walls on both sides of the hall, illuminating the place while also giving it a sense of ritual.

Located on the high platform on the inner side, a figure lay coiled there; it was the leader of the Dark God Sect, Abyss Leader Silvis.

The upper body of Abyss Leader Silvis was a human body. Although the figure was strong, the skin was pale, and the long black hair drifted on its own. The lower body was like black mud, just like a thick snake body, on which eyes would occasionally open. These eyes had chaotic overlapping rings in their pupils, giving people great mental pressure.

Before, the human upper body of Abyss Leader Silvis, especially the face, had expressions and demeanor that were extremely stiff and eerie. Now, although there were still some, it was much better than before. At least when it opened its eyes, it wouldn't make people feel like two invisible hands were pulling the upper and lower eyelids of this eye apart.

What was even more different from before was that the Law-Extinguishing Blade that had pierced into its black-mud-like lower body was gone. It was unknown whether it had pulled it out itself or had help from others. After losing the restraint of the Law-Extinguishing Blade, the aura of Abyss Leader Silvis was stronger and darker than before.

Three bishops and two elders were kneeling on one knee on both sides of the wide rock bed. Among the three bishops, one looked like a ghost, another was riddled with holes, and black sticky insects were wriggling inside, making people's scalps tingle. The last female bishop satisfied all fantasies about a noble lady's image—a plump but not greasy figure, lazy and charming temperament. But if one knew what she had done, it would only make people's hair stand on end, and they would immediately not dare to have any improper thoughts about her.

These three bishops were Bishop Ghost, Bishop Black Insect Enod, and Bishop Blood Demon. It is worth mentioning that Bishop Blood Demon was the biological mother of the Asylum criminal Banshee, which was the origin of the name Banshee.

Compared to these three bishops, the elder kneeling on one knee on the other side of the bed was not so eye-catching.

Darkness had a profound aura, shrouding the palace with Abyss Leader Silvis as the center, which made the group of sect members kneeling below only dare to crawl on the ground to feel slightly at ease under this aura.

But the protagonist in the palace today was not these Dark God Sect backbones, nor the three bishops, and even, it was not Abyss Leader Silvis, but the Black-Robed Priest Haudes, who was kneeling ten meters in front of the bed with his forehead pressed against the ground.

At this moment, Priest Haudes's body was trembling slightly. Although he was one of the few people Silvis thought highly of, he knew very well that as long as he displeased this person, he would be cruelly punished at best, and die miserably on the spot at worst.

"Who allowed you to act without authorization?"

Abyss Leader Silvis spoke in a somewhat stiff tone. Hearing this, Priest Haudes closed his eyes in despair. He knew that he was done for this time; his eager-for-success action caused the sect's plan to fall through.

"You should be thrown into the insect pool."

Hearing this, Priest Haudes couldn't even maintain his kneeling posture and collapsed there. He had of course seen the miserable state of being thrown into the insect pool. It was where every piece of flesh and soul was bitten by ten thousand insects, and one couldn't die immediately. Someone had once wailed in the insect pool for days before dying miserably.

"However, you rescued Hatred, which is enough to make up for your stupidity, and there is even some left over."

Abyss Leader Silvis threw out a black crystal, which made Priest Haudes feel like he was on a roller coaster, turning from despair to great joy. He looked at the "Abyss Condensation" in front of him. If he absorbed this thing, his strength would definitely advance by leaps and bounds, and he might only be half a step away from the strength of a bishop.

"I, Haudes, thank the Pope from the bottom of my heart, oh no, from the bottom of my soul, I……"

Priest Haudes still wanted to continue flattering, but Abyss Leader Silvis raised his hand to signal him not to continue, and asked:

"The person I asked you to find, did you bring her back? I mean, bring her back safely."

"Is it the woman with beautiful red pupils? I brought her back."

Space cracks appeared behind Priest Haudes. A monster that looked like a python and an insect drilled out, opened its circular mouth filled with sharp teeth, and spat out the Red-Eyed Woman, whose clothes and cheeks were stained with sticky liquid.

"Why is she in a deep sleep?"

Abyss Leader Silvis asked. Hearing this, Priest Haudes hurriedly explained: "The person you asked me to catch, Pope, how would I dare to do anything? She was just hit hard on the head and fainted. This woman is very difficult to deal with. In the end, my subordinates controlled a group of brats to rush at her, and only then did this woman not dare to make a move."

Speaking to the end, Priest Haudes smiled flatteringly. Using other people's kindness was one of the Dark God Sect's most commonly used means.

Priest Haudes just wanted to continue taking credit, when suddenly, wind pressure hit his face. Abyss Leader Silvis, who was on the bed a moment ago, had appeared in front of Priest Haudes.

Slap!!

Flesh and broken bone fragments splashed everywhere. Abyss Leader Silvis very casually pulled with one hand, and Priest Haudes was smashed to pieces.

"Before you set off, I said twice to bring her back safely. You swallowed her into the insect belly, so you deserve to die."

The black mud of Abyss Leader Silvis's lower body surged. After he reached the side of the Red-Eyed Woman, his human upper body leaned over to look at the Red-Eyed Woman, as if he wanted to lift the Red-Eyed Woman lying on the ground with one hand, but seeing the darkness drifting on his hand, he hesitated.

Just at this moment, the Red-Eyed Woman, who was lying on the ground pretending to be unconscious, opened her eyes. She couldn't care about her usual elegance, jumped up from the ground, and gave Abyss Leader Silvis a hook punch to the face with all her might.

With a bang, the air wave spread. Abyss Leader Silvis tilted his head slightly, while the Red-Eyed Woman felt her breath choke with pain. Her palm bones and forearm bones should have both been fractured—a typical case of zero damage to the enemy and 999 self-inflicted damage.

After giving Abyss Leader Silvis a punch, the Red-Eyed Woman turned and fled toward the outside of the underground palace. Along the way, the Dark God Sect members on both sides did not dare to stop her.

Abyss Leader Silvis looked at the three bishops kneeling on one knee, signaling the three to catch the Red-Eyed Woman back and imprison her in the side hall.

As the base of the Dark God Sect, as soon as the Red-Eyed Woman ran out of the underground palace, she was blocked by two cathedral knights in full heavy armor, nearly four meters tall. These human tanks had no emotions and only acted according to instructions and orders.

A few minutes later, the huge lady nearly three meters tall, Bishop Blood Demon, entangled the Red-Eyed Woman with blood-like scarlet semi-fluid. From Blood Demon's speechless expression, it could be seen that she had also been punched by the Red-Eyed Woman, who had exhausted her body energy and could only attack with her bare hands.

A group of people walked into the side hall. Blood Demon's scarlet touch flicked, throwing the Red-Eyed Woman behind a small table, pointing to the various scrolls on the small table, and said coldly:

"The Pope has an order: before this evening, you must learn these secret arts."

"?"

The Red-Eyed Woman behind the small table was very confused. She looked at the secret art scrolls on the table, which looked expensive at a glance. She hesitated for a moment and asked in her unique, slightly crisp voice: "What if I say no?"

"If you don't do it... no dinner tonight."

Saying this, Blood Demon herself was stunned and bewildered. She examined the Red-Eyed Woman opposite her, seriously suspecting that this was the biological daughter of their leader Silvis.

"I want to... leave this place?"

The Red-Eyed Woman asked with some uncertainty. After all, she was now in the enemy's base. Saying this, she felt strange herself.

"Cough~, hmm~, as long as you don't leave the scope of the Dark Cathedral and the underground palace, you can wander around, but you must have cathedral knights following you."

After saying this, Blood Demon, as a bishop of the Dark God Sect, was completely confused, examining the Red-Eyed Woman again, observing whether her eyebrows and eyes looked like their Pope.

At this moment in the underground palace, a group of Dark God Sect backbone members had all retreated. In the empty space of the large palace, only Black A and Vivi remained. Vivi half-hid behind Black A. No matter how many times she came to this place, she felt terrified in her heart, especially when she saw Abyss Leader Silvis on the bed in front. She was a bit reckless when she came for the first time and made eye contact with Abyss Leader Silvis. That kind of death-like suffocating feeling made Vivi have nightmares for days.

Different from others' respect, Black A, who carried the "Abyss Meteor" sword, still had his usual cold expression.

"Black Mud, do you have something for me?"

Black A asked. Hearing this, Vivi behind him immediately held her breath. At this moment, she even thought about where she hoped to be buried.

"Void Tree, have you heard of it?"

Abyss Leader Silvis did not care about Black A. He had seen too many people who were obsequious. Now encountering this greenhorn Black A, and the unique abyss aura of the other party, made him look pleasing to the eye instead.

"Of course I've heard of it."

"That's good. The Void Tree dragged the Family Mansion of the Yuge family back and notarized it. I am also one of the parties in the notarization. This time, you will fight for me."

"I refuse."

Apparently, Black A inherited the nature of needing more money.

"……"

Abyss Leader Silvis ignored Black A. He pressed the mechanism beside his hand, and the rock secret door behind the bed rose, revealing a pool filled with liquid abyss energy. This was abyss energy that had consumed a huge amount of resources and had been specially transformed, with relatively small side effects after absorption.

"How much are you offering?"

Black A suddenly changed his mind. Hearing this, Abyss Leader Silvis's face showed a somewhat stiff smile, saying: "Agree to fight for me, and I will let you jump in now."

"Good."

Black A agreed without hesitation. The other party gave too much, so much that it could not be refused.

……

"Ugh~, you guys, what kind of broken teleportation array is this, ugh~, my newly bought shoes were, thrown away, ugh~"

Inside the base apartment, Alisa grabbed the vomit bag with both hands, her face full of hopelessness.

Alisa agreed to participate in this contention because Boiling Red said that the person she was going to meet was very important and must be respected. Therefore, Alisa changed into a formal dress before going out and even put on a little light makeup. Actually, she just applied a little eyeshadow, but now, the formal image she had carefully prepared was all gone.

After resting for a while and taking a bath, Alisa, who had changed into loose sportswear, finally regained her usual vitality. She carried the sword bag downstairs and looked around. Hmm, confirmed the look in her eyes; except for that dog, everyone else was someone she couldn't beat.

This was of course. This was a Ninth Tier upper-middle echelon world, and the subordinates Su Xiao chose were all the elite of this world. And like the Great Priest, they were veteran powerhouses at the top echelon of this world.

In front of the dining table, Su Xiao dropped the napkin in his hand. The noodle soup in Ghost City was average and didn't quite suit his taste. He pointed to the seat opposite and told Alisa that she didn't need to be restrained.

After Alisa sat down and picked up the tableware, although the food on the table was tempting, she had tasted all kinds of rare delicacies in the Mono family, not to mention eating dinner, she wanted to ask a few questions more.

Slap~

Fate Dominator lit a cigarette in a state without activating its ability. Silver Face, who was waiting on the side, handed over an ashtray and used it to replace the empty plate in front of Su Xiao.

"If you have any questions, just ask."

Su Xiao naturally saw Alisa's thoughts; the look of wanting to ask questions was almost written on her face.

"I actually have one question: why do you manufacture devourers? Is there some ultimate conspiracy? A mastermind boss? Or something like destroying the world?"

"Don't think too much, there is no specific reason. Devourers were initially... weapons. Later, the development deviated, but the characteristics were better, so we just went with the flow, and that's how we have today's devourers."

Su Xiao did not deceive Alisa. The facts were indeed so. The initial version of the devourer was a weapon thrown at the enemy's base. It wasn't until later that Su Xiao discovered that this thing's autonomous action ability was stronger than imagined, and then it was developed generation by generation.

And there was no specific purpose for the Devourer Contention. It was just to know the actual combat characteristics and limit situations of several generations of devourers, which would be convenient for the formation of mining teams later.

It was just unexpected that the Devourer Contention prototype was first recognized by the Reincarnation Paradise, and then favored by the Void Tree, notarized to the current specification.

Su Xiao manifested the brand notarized by the Void Tree. Baha on the side introduced to Alisa: "This is the Tree Brand. With it, you are a participant in this contention. Without it, entering the 'Family Mansion' will lead to being hunted down."

"Hunted down by whom?"

"Guess."

Baha started to laugh wickedly. Alisa didn't guess. She raised her hand to touch the brand, and before long, she knew the detailed use of this brand.

Seeing this, Baha continued: "Alisa, the contention starts tomorrow at noon. You have to be prepared in advance."

"Hmm, then I'll go back and have a good sleep."

"Wait, asking you to prepare doesn't mean asking you to rest, it's to give you a cheat... cough~, to strengthen your strength."

After Baha finished speaking, it tilted its head, meaning for Alisa to find its boss. It couldn't do the thing of improving the other party's strength.

Su Xiao extinguished the cigarette between his fingers and stood up to come to the single sofa. After sitting down, he pointed to the single sofa opposite separated by a coffee table. Alisa sat on it generously. Although she went on a long journey alone and was not very familiar with the people around her, she dared to chase and kill Black A with a sword bag, which was obviously unrelated to personalities like being shy or timid.

"What do you want, say it."

Su Xiao opened his mouth, which made Alisa opposite hesitate. She originally intended to be polite, but after hearing the consciousness exchange of Boiling Red, she decided not to be polite. The information Boiling Red conveyed to her was very simple: this is a biological father, don't be polite, just ask for it.

"I fight with a long sword, so I want some sword technique insights?"

Alisa was still a little bit unable to let go. There were very few records of technique-type abilities because the insights of technique-type abilities were too difficult to record with words or imprints. One must have a very deep realization to be qualified to summarize such insights.

But this was not a problem. First of all, Su Xiao was a Lv. 70 Sword Technique Master, and he had obtained many ancient books and records in many native worlds and places like the Dead City. He also joined hands with Caesar to patronize the library of the Dragon Academy, and had also been to the Void Great Library. The most heavyweight one was the Soul Library.

These experiences allowed Su Xiao to get many records about sword technique insights, and he himself was a Sword Technique Master. He wouldn't keep sword technique insights that didn't have extremely divine charm.

Soon, all kinds of notebooks, ancient books, and bound scrolls were piled into three piles.

Su Xiao pointed to the leftmost pile on the coffee table: "This pile is for meditation, perception, and understanding nature and the world."

Su Xiao pointed to the middle pile on the coffee table: "This pile is for sword technique ability development, dealing with enemies, and sword technique improvement experience."

Su Xiao looked at the rightmost pile: "These are the late works of more than a dozen Sword Technique Masters."

"So many~"

Alisa picked up a notebook with tattered edges and yellowed paper. After reading two pages, her gaze became more and more serious, and her sitting posture became upright. She changed from the holding posture of reading a novel to holding the notebook with both hands.

"Can I borrow these to read?"

Alisa looked at Su Xiao with eager and sincere eyes.

"At my current level, I don't need these anymore. They are yours."

"Tha, thank you."

Alisa's look at Su Xiao began to be exceptionally clear because she had a feeling of meeting a big father at this moment, especially after getting the temporary brand and being able to see the data of these ancient books.

Su Xiao took out a batch of potions and placed them on the table. Not long after getting the temporary brand, Alisa, who had just adapted a little, received the first tip, the content of which was:

【You have obtained the following potions in total:】

【Ancient Magic Potion · Five-time Improvement · Perfect (Permanent Buff Potion).】

【Dawn Flame · Five-time Improvement · Perfect (Permanent Buff Potion).】

【Holy Dragon Protection · Four-time Improvement · Perfect (Permanent Buff Potion).】

【Stigma Potion · Four-time Improvement · Perfect (Permanent Buff Potion).】

【Active · Strength · Two-time Improvement · Perfect (Permanent Buff Potion).】

【Radiance Potion · Two-time Improvement · Perfect (Permanent Buff Potion).】

【Tree Life · Perfect (Permanent Buff Potion).】

【Ancient Secret Potion · Perfect x2 (Permanent Buff Potion).】

……

Even Alisa, who was born in the Mono family, had never seen such a potion lineup. At this moment, she deeply realized why Boiling Red said that the person in front of her was her biological father.

Alisa hesitated and asked: "These, drinking them together will cause problems, right?"

"Definitely."

Baha flew over, pointed with its eagle claw and said: "Drink this before meals, this, and this, then eat. Drink this after meals, this, and then sleep. Drink this when you wake up in the morning, understand?"

"Un... understood."

Alisa carried a batch of potion bottles in one hand and a large bag containing all kinds of ancient books and sword technique insights in the other hand upstairs. Every step she took on the stairs felt unreal. What happened today was like a dream.

Su Xiao looked out the window. The environment was still dim, but he could see the afterglow of the sunset faintly at the edge of the dark clouds. He didn't know why the Platinum Bishop looked at the sunset before disappearing.

Su Xiao took out the 【Awakening Stone】. This 【Awakening Stone】 was different from the one obtained before. The previous 【Awakening Stone】 had clearer characteristics and was specifically used to awaken the Magic Blade ability. This one now did not have such pure characteristics but was more general. There were several Law-Extinguishing abilities that could be awakened and deeply strengthened with it.

After slightly activating the Awakening Stone in his hand, Su Xiao felt that there were four abilities he could awaken and deeply strengthen, which were:

"Spirit Shadow Constitution, Lv. EX", "Dragon Shadow Flash, Lv. EX", "Slaughter Shadow, Lv. EX", "Green Shadow King, Lv. 39".

Among the four choices, Su Xiao first excluded "Green Shadow King, Lv. 39" because this ultimate ability could still be improved with Law-Extinguishing skill points, and he seriously suspected that there was some ability that could qualitatively change "Green Shadow King" that he hadn't mastered yet.

Just as Su Xiao was pondering which ability should be deeply strengthened, the Void Tree's tip appeared.

【Tip (Void Tree): Detected that the Hunter is the initiator of this contention, and in the subsequent contention, you have a very high probability of obtaining "Abyss Sediment".】

【Whether to consume 100 ounces of Space-Time Power to permanently activate the opening and exchange authority of the Abyss Shop. The Abyss Shop is one of the highest-level facilities notarized by the Void Tree. You can use "Abyss Sediment" or "Sediment Glaze" to exchange for rare materials in this shop, or unique materials in the Abyss Shop.】

PS: (Sunday, rest for one day, to prevent the recurrence of old illnesses, readers, please forgive me.)