Chapter 3648: The Abyssal Hole

Within the sacrificial ground composed of bones and rocks, large patches of mottled, damp black traces were scattered across the floor, making the abyssal aura here especially dense. Those with abyssal resistance below a certain level would find it difficult to enter this place, let alone fight—just resisting the erosion of the abyssal aura would be hard.

The abyss is like that: only with such resistance does one qualify to enter the abyssal spreading zones; without it, no matter how strong one is, it's all for nothing.

Inside the sacrificial ground, a faint, delirious muttering seemed to come from somewhere unknown. Sitting on the metal seat, the Abyssal Archbishop·Silvuis stared ahead at the Abyssal Hole, his eyes completely black, calm and indifferent.

The Abyssal Archbishop rose from the metal seat; the Abyssal Hole originally before him suddenly shifted position, now floating directly above him.

This let Su Xiao confirm one thing: the so-called Abyssal Hole was not actually a small opening in this world leading to the abyss. If it were, the surging abyssal energy would have blown it open into a full abyssal passage in moments. Instead, the Abyssal Hole was more like a coordinate—a special one that could occasionally connect to the abyss.

A near-substantial pressure came from ahead. Su Xiao placed one hand on his sword hilt, gazing at the Abyssal Archbishop·Silvuis dozens of meters opposite. This formidable foe stood over 2.8 meters tall, clad in a black mist great robe, exuding immense presence. His eyes were pitch black, with no distinction between pupil and sclera, his skin gray-white yet tough, his head of tendril-like hair drifting without wind. Combined with those black eyes, the pressure was explosive.

The cuffs of the black mist robe were unusually loose, revealing that the Abyssal Archbishop's arms occasionally opened eyes—each with crimson vertical pupils. Locking gazes with them made one feel the soul beginning to slow and dull.

Just one glance, and Su Xiao activated "Silver Moon Blade" and "Spiritual Blade," readying his full power: Dead Ash Extinction, Blood Soul, Azure Shadow King, Demon Blade—all ultimate moves, none held back, all used in this battle. As for later fighting traitors, he couldn't worry about that now. Su Xiao was certain: in this battle against the Abyssal Archbishop, if he held back even slightly, he would surely die. The only good news so far was that his prior reserve was a perfect 100% match.

The Apostle's Eye floated behind Su Xiao, beginning to scan.

【Comparing intelligence attributes……Due to enemy status, you can detect up to 45% of enemy data.】

Name: Abyssal Archbishop·Silvuis

Category: Abyssal Powerhouse/Abyssal Spawn

HP: 100%.

Abyssal Power:???

Strength: 297 points (true attribute).

Agility: 295 points (true attribute).

Stamina: 300 points (true attribute, world maximum).

Intelligence: 300 points (true attribute, world maximum).

Charm: 1 point (due to abyssal debuff).

Skill 1, Abyssal Will (Abyssal·Passive, Lv. EX): HP +95,000, Physical Defense +85, ignores all control effects except "Forced Physical," exempt from all mental damage, exempts 96% dark-type damage, exempts 90% fire-type damage.

Skill 2, Life Drain (Abyssal·Passive, Lv. EX):???

Skill 3, Dark Mark (Abyssal·Passive, Lv. EX): The Abyssal Archbishop's attacks carry Dark Mark, lasting 10 minutes (duration doubles when stacked), and each layer inflicts 10% dark-type slow on the target (max slow 45%).

Tip: If Dark Mark reaches 3 layers, it self-detonates, dealing dark-type damage equal to 20% of max HP and reducing the enemy's max HP by 20%; this debuff lasts 1–900 hours (depending on abyssal resistance).???

Skill 5:???

Skill 6, Dark Ring (Active, LV. 90): The Abyssal Archbishop creates a dark shock ring within 30 meters, forcibly repelling all enemies within range and dealing dark-type true damage equal to 12% of enemy max HP plus 5,700 impact damage, with a 50% chance to cause dazed, paralyzed, or shaken states in repelled enemies.

Tip: This ability has a 5-second cooldown and applies 1 layer of "Dark Mark" to the target.????????

Skill 14, Minion Bestowal (Arcane·Passive, Lv. 50): The Abyssal Archbishop grants dark power to his summoned minions, allowing their attacks to also carry "Dark Mark."

Skill 15, Abyssal Hole (Arcane·Passive, Lv. EX): Every 30 seconds, the Abyssal Archbishop can summon dark or abyssal-trait creatures from the Abyssal Hole.

Summon probability: each summon, 86% chance for dark creatures, 12% for abyssal spawn, 2% for immortal-trait abyssal spawn.

Summoned dark creatures: if elite, 10–30; if boss, 3–5 (the Abyssal Archbishop can control up to 900,000–1,200,000 dark creatures).

Summoned abyssal spawn: at most 1–2 per summon (the Abyssal Archbishop can control up to 5 abyssal spawn).

Summoned immortal-trait abyssal spawn: at most 1 per summon (the Abyssal Archbishop can control up to 1 immortal-trait abyssal spawn, and while such a spawn exists, he cannot activate the Abyssal Hole to summon again).

……

Seeing the Abyssal Archbishop's data, Su Xiao felt an ominous premonition. Among the strong foes he'd faced, none were summoners—let alone this Abyssal Archbishop, whose strength and agility neared 300 points, stamina and intelligence hitting 300—this didn't look like a summoner at all.

The good news was, Su Xiao's current physique wasn't inferior to the Archbishop's; his stats were:

Strength: 300 points.

Agility: 286 points.

Stamina: 300 points.

Intelligence: 286 points.

This physique came from having drunk all the 【Golden Secret Medicines】, pushing true strength and stamina to 291 points, plus the temporary boost from using the "Blade Spirit·Soul Core" of Severed Soul Shadow to kill the church knight.

"Blade Spirit·Soul Core (Passive Trait): When surrounded by enemies, you trigger 'Blade Spirit Carnage' state; in this state, your sword mastery is overloaded, and each kill of a same-rank enemy temporarily raises your main attribute by 1 point. This state lasts 30 minutes, and each stack refreshes the duration.

Tip: True strength attribute can be temporarily raised by up to 10 points.

Tip: True agility attribute can be temporarily raised by up to 10 points.

Tip: True stamina attribute can be temporarily raised by up to 10 points.

Tip: True intelligence attribute can be temporarily raised by up to 10 points.

Tip: This trait can boost true physique attributes above 300 points.

……

Though this ability can boost true physique above 300 points, Su Xiao's current physique can't reach that yet—due to the world's limits and his not having passed the "Iron Trial."

Su Xiao's Bahamut spread its wings on his shoulder, taking flight. It usually says two lines before battle, but thinking it might draw the Abyssal Archbishop's summons, provoking him now was just courting death in style.

Xiang Bubu Wang had hidden in the ceiling corner, standing on one leg like a golden rooster, stepping on a protruding rock with its hind leg. Though the pose was tiring, this was the safest spot in the sacrificial hall—for now, it looked that way.

At the center of the ceiling, a dried, yellowish skull was embedded, with fluids gathering around its eye sockets and finally condensing into a drop that fell downward.

The water droplet slowly deformed mid-fall, and when it was one meter above the ground, it suddenly stopped.

Boom!

Dark and blood collided, causing the midair droplet to evaporate. In the next instant, both auras ceased abruptly. The Abyssal Archbishop remained in place, his black smoke robe slowly drifting, while Su Xiao had already vanished—

Zhing~

The blade rang crisply; the vanished Su Xiao reappeared before the Abyssal Archbishop, his long sword viciously slashing at him.

Thud!

A ring of dark shockwave expanded from the Abyssal Archbishop as center. Su Xiao felt his vision go black; when sight returned, he had been flung several meters back, surrounded by fine dark fragments. The impact sent him flying another dozen meters before he landed in a half-squat.

Blood seeped from Su Xiao's sleeve, trailing along the Dragon-Slaying Flash. He felt his organs shaken by the impact, his whole skeleton seeming ready to fall apart, his left arm aching—a Dark Mark had already condensed there.

In Su Xiao's view, this battle was simple: if he could close in, he'd win quickly; if he couldn't surprise-attack, he'd lose. Overall, Su Xiao had the power to one-shot the Abyssal Archbishop in melee, while the Archbishop had the means to suppress Su Xiao to death. Victory would depend on their performance in combat.

The problem is, the Dark Strike that can be used once every 5 seconds is truly troublesome; this isn't just a simple repelling ability, the "Dark Ring" that follows the repulsion also has a slowing effect, and more importantly, this ability's power is strong—"dealing dark-type true damage equal to 12% of the enemy's maximum health + 5700 impact damage"—even Su Xiao, after taking a few hits, couldn't withstand it.

Su Xiao rose from his half-squat posture, his body slightly lowered, and in the next second, he assumed a charging stance; the Abyssal Archbishop, who had been staring at him, immediately raised his hand, and pitch-black solar flames appeared around him, as if preparing to unleash an outward shock; clearly, besides the "Dark Ring," the Abyssal Archbishop also possesses a repelling-type ability.

However, Su Xiao was only feinting a charge; he did not actually rush forward; his left hand, wearing the Black King's Arm Guard, pointed toward the Abyssal Archbishop.

"Blood Smoke Cannon!"

Bang!

The blood qi compressed to the limit at his fingertip transformed into a crimson beam that blasted out, striking an invisible barrier; upon close inspection, the barrier's surface bore fine scale patterns.

Two powerful repelling abilities, plus a defensive barrier capable of blocking the Blood Smoke Cannon, show how difficult it is to charge at the Abyssal Archbishop—let alone, all of the Archbishop's attacks carry the "Dark Mark," each layer of which adds an additional 10% unpreventable slowing effect; even more absurdly, the Abyssal Archbishop can summon dark creatures or abyssal spawn, making close combat even harder—this guy is practically a nemesis to melee fighters.

With a boom, a spatial rift appeared behind the Abyssal Archbishop—not activated by the Abyssal Hole, but by opening a separate space; within this space, various dark creatures were packed tightly, these being the dark creatures the Abyssal Archbishop had summoned in advance, to be released during battle.

At the moment the spatial rift appeared, Bahar's grin turned especially unrestrained; he was certain the Abyssal Archbishop had not absorbed the Platinum Archbishop's memories, otherwise he wouldn't have locked the summoned dark creatures inside a separate space.

As a spatial-type entity, if Bahar were to rate his spatial abilities on a scale of 1 to 10, it would be...

Spatial Teleportation: 8 points.

Spatial Sealing: 10 points.

Alternate Space Opening/Sealing: 10 points.

Spatial-Type Damage: 2 points.

Long-Distance Teleportation: -1 point (he simply cannot do it).

……

Every time Bahar encounters fellow spatial-types, their evaluation of him is unusually uniform—they grit their teeth and say: "Are you a dog? You've developed spatial sealing to such a perverse degree—how afraid are you of enemies using spatial abilities or spatial items to escape?"

Seeing the Abyssal Archbishop open the alternate space, Bahar's hawk eyes sharpened; he spread his wings, the alternate space closed, and thereafter the space within began to warp, the dark creatures inside being shredded into pulp.

Noticing this, the Abyssal Archbishop, his full-body black smoke robe slowly undulating, turned his gaze toward Bahar, who immediately retreated in flight.

Boom! Boom! Boom……

Black light pillars shot up from the ground, forcing Su Xiao to leap back repeatedly; though he could withstand the impact of these black light pillars, the "Dark Mark" that appeared after being hit was truly unbearable—severely slowed, even using Dragon Shadow Flash to charge forward would be useless; moreover, in this battle, Dragon Shadow Flash cannot be used lightly, for if the enemy detects this ability, they will surely become wary.

Against enemies who fear charges, Dragon Shadow Flash is more important than his ultimate move; he must wait for a sufficiently good opportunity before using it, and it can only be used for offense, not evasion.

Pfft!

Finger-thick black spikes materialized out of thin air, piercing Bahar; his health bar instantly reached the brink of depletion, causing his vision to double and his sight to gradually narrow.

Bang!

Bahar was slapped against the wall by an invisible giant hand; his breath rapidly weakened until it vanished completely—all of this happened too fast, in mere moments.

A thick black light pillar as wide as a water barrel came barreling toward Su Xiao; he blocked it with one hand, the crystalline layer on his hand shattering, and he was flung backward ten or so meters.

As Su Xiao planted his feet firmly on the ground, Bahar by the wall also landed simultaneously; Bahar's eyes were already dull and lifeless; sensing him would reveal no trace of life force—had Bahar died? Of course not; this was Am's original feign-death-and-take-medicine method, developed after dozens of battles against strong opponents and lying on the ground pretending to be dead, forgetting how many beatings he'd taken, a secret technique he devised.

This move is not only mastered by its creator Am, but also by Bubu Wang, Bahar, and Benni; as for why Su Xiao cannot use it, the reason is that he cannot afford to—once he feigns death, the enemy's greatest possibility is to brutally strike him several more times.

The Abyssal Archbishop glanced at the motionless Bahar by the wall, who showed no signs of life, and ceased paying attention to him, instead locking his perception firmly onto Su Xiao.

Boom! Boom!

The ground trembled as dark light pillars struck down in succession, forcing Su Xiao to dodge or swing his blade to scatter them; the impacts caused the walls and ceiling of the sacrificial site to crack layer by layer.

"Blade Path Sword · Blood Shadow."

Su Xiao vanished from his original spot; a straight beam of blood light flashed past, and with a crack, the scale-patterned barrier was shattered; the blade's edge slashed toward the Abyssal Archbishop's skull.

The Abyssal Archbishop's aura shifted slightly; darkness spread outward from him as the center.

Thud!

The Dark Ring surged outward; Su Xiao, only a few meters from the Abyssal Archbishop, immediately lowered his posture; his left hand, wrapped in a crystalline layer and forming crystalline claws, stabbed into the ground, and due to the backward impact, the crystalline claws plowed up gravel that scattered in all directions.

With a thunderous boom, the walls and ceiling of the sacrificial site, unable to bear the weight, shattered apart—but instead of collapsing, the space expanded, revealing an even larger area.

This is a temple covering at least several ten thousand square meters, with a height from floor to ceiling of at least a hundred meters; on the side of this temple lies only half of a massive sunstone disc.

Su Xiao and the Abyssal Archbishop stand upon a circular altar, the flat surface above it having a diameter of roughly a hundred meters, surrounded by concentric descending terraces.

Su Xiao surveyed his surroundings, confirmed that only the battlefield had expanded with no traps, and re-locked his perception onto the Abyssal Archbishop.

At this moment, the Abyssal Archbishop was already floating a few meters above the altar, looking down at Su Xiao, making a single-handed upward-supporting gesture.

With a boom, the entire surface of the altar beneath Su Xiao's feet began to levitate; the immense pulling force caused the hundred-meter-diameter giant stone slab to crack, and opposite him, the Abyssal Archbishop, floating in midair, made a false grasp with one hand, causing the stone slab to immediately shatter, all fragments rushing toward Su Xiao.

"Blade Path Sword · Blood Blade."

Su Xiao transformed into a blood line and shot straight upward, dodging the surrounding debris; he felt the impact coming from below, looked up, and saw those debris fragments had already coalesced into a black bead the size of a marble; had he been caught earlier, he would have been left with no remains—this isn't a matter of defense, but clearly this move exploits the compressive force when the Abyssal Hole closes.

The Abyssal Hole does not close without cause; certainly, the Abyssal Archbishop activated it to summon abyssal creatures, and only afterward did the Abyssal Hole close.

Su Xiao fell rapidly; the moment his feet touched the ground, he sensed a malicious wind rushing toward him—nearly thirty four-winged black flying insects, their mouthparts exceptionally ferocious and full of malice, flew at him at extreme speed.

A "Blood Soul" entered Su Xiao's spine, enhancing his blood qi system ability once.

"Blade Path Sword · Slay!"

Su Xiao slashed diagonally; with a whoosh, a blood-colored chain of light swept out; the "Slay" empowered by the Blood Soul produced a dark-red chain of light, within which countless tiny sparks flickered.

The slashing chain of the "Slay" enveloped all the black flying insects; after a series of sharp, miserable cries, most of the insects were shattered into crackling fragments, while the remaining few had blood flames burning on their bodies as they lunged at Su Xiao.

Clang!

The long blade swept over, cutting down four of the five remaining black flying insects; only one was exceptionally tenacious, continuing to lunge at Su Xiao.

Just as Su Xiao was about to chop this black flying insect in two with one strike, a subtle spatial fluctuation appeared—this thing actually possessed spatial properties.

In the critical moment, Su Xiao leaned to the right, the originally targeted neck escaping harm, his left arm went numb, and the black flying insect had already attached itself to it.

Su Xiao's left arm, visible to the naked eye, withered rapidly; after the black flying insect sucked blood, it suddenly exploded, blasting Su Xiao off balance as he staggered two steps sideways.

Blood, carrying vitality, flowed into his left arm; the withered limb, thanks to Su Xiao's formidable physique, quickly recovered.

This injury made Su Xiao certain of one thing: the elite dark creatures summoned by the Abyssal Archbishop are by no means minor fodder—even summoning the lowest-tier elite dark creatures is this difficult to deal with; if he were to summon abyssal spawn, or the indestructible trait-abyssal spawn, then there would be no chance of victory.

"Blade Path Sword · Flow."

The graceful wind-trace slash swept past, layer after layer of invisible barriers were cut apart; when the wind-trace reached before the Abyssal Archbishop.

"Dark Ring."

The Abyssal Archbishop raised his hand, and with a thud, the wind traces were scattered. This Dark Ring ability not only repels enemies but can also blast away slash marks.

The Abyssal Archbishop descended from midair, and as soon as he stepped onto the ground, black thorns like tentacles probed out from the earth. These sharp-tipped tendrils extended in length, enveloping the Abyssal Archbishop from behind. As he controlled them, these thousands of tendrils suddenly elongated, lunging toward Su Xiao.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Su Xiao slashed through several tendrils in succession, and the sensation of his strikes was like cutting metal. He charged forward at full speed, and black tendrils pursued him, stabbing at his path and erupting in a loud barrage.

Clang!

The longsword surging with blue arcs of electricity was blocked by dozens of overlapping black tendrils. Su Xiao was now within two meters of the Abyssal Archbishop, but at this critical moment, the tendrils blocking the Dragon-Slaying Flash turned from hard to soft, wrapping around the blade. Almost simultaneously, tendrils erupted from the ground behind Su Xiao, arcing toward his spine and back of the head.

In such a life-or-death moment, Su Xiao still did not use Dragon Shadow Flash, but instead delivered a straight kick—as the saying goes, one force breaks ten thousand techniques.

His right foot and calf, encased in crystal layers, broke through the Abyssal Archbishop's black tendrils ahead like splitting bamboo. Facing the straight kick, these black tendrils shattered like glass.

Boom!!!

The Abyssal Archbishop in his black-smoke robe was flung backward, shattering the wall of black tendrils behind him, leaving scattered black bloodstains along the way.

With a boom, the Abyssal Archbishop plunged into half of the massive sunken rock slab, then fell with the rubble onto a large flat plain before the sunken rock slab.

"Cough cough~"

The Abyssal Archbishop covered his mouth with a dry cough, black blood seeping from between his fingers. The power of that kick was astonishing—though it left him dazed, it also woke him. One might ask: whose will does the Abyssal Archbishop truly possess? The Platinum Archbishop? Hatred? Actually, neither. It is the Abyssal Leader, Silvies, fused with the Immortal Trait·Abyssal Spawn.

The one now awakened is precisely the Abyssal Leader·Silvies, or rather, it is now more fitting to call him the Abyssal Archbishop.

"I have ultimately succeeded."

After rising from the ground, the Abyssal Archbishop made a vague grasp with one hand, and a half-blade scepter appeared in his hand, meeting the incoming longsword.

With a clang, the wind pressure from the slash dispersed, and darkness surged over the Abyssal Archbishop's body.

"Dark Ring!"

Boom!

The dark ring shockwave expanded outward. Caught in it, Su Xiao could only retreat with the force. Upon landing, he immediately rolled sideways, as a massive black hand slapped down where he had been, leaving a deep imprint on the ground.

"Blade Dao Sword·Qing Gui."

While in the side roll, Su Xiao slashed out with Qing Gui, sending forth a cyan-blue blade light.

With a crack, Qing Gui was smashed apart by the Abyssal Archbishop's scepter, leaving him dazed, as if sensing deception, so he chose not to attack proactively but instead formed several layers of barriers ahead.

Charging forward, Su Xiao delivered several consecutive slashes, shattering all invisible barriers. He inhaled deeply the air tinged with the Abyss and bloodlust, then slashed toward the Abyssal Archbishop's head.

With one slash, the Abyssal Archbishop exploded with a bang, causing Su Xiao's pupils to rapidly constrict as a sense of mortal danger surged.

"Blade Dao Sword·Time."

The impact of Time expanded from Su Xiao as the center, slowing the scattered black liquid, falling stone fragments, and the air ripples from the shattered invisible barriers—as if everything within ten or so meters had been put in slow motion.

In this slow motion, Su Xiao strained to lean back, while the large mass of black liquid before him began to gradually form a half-human, half-beast enemy, opening its maw with fangs of black liquid to tear at him.

The ground trembled as the black-liquid monster collapsed onto it, carving a huge crater. Su Xiao then leapt backward with all his strength to dodge the impact. Though he avoided the crush and bite, the monster's claws raked his shoulder, and some black liquid seeped into the wound, burrowing into his body.

The moment Su Xiao landed, spirit-shadow lines appeared in his hand. These lines pierced his chest, and after 1.5 seconds, he pulled hard, drawing them out. At their ends, black leech-like worms writhed—clearly deadly things that had nearly burrowed into his heart.

After flinging away the black leech worms, Su Xiao looked ahead. The black liquid surged, first forming a humanoid shape, then gradually shifting into the likeness of the Abyssal Archbishop.

A black vortex appeared behind the Abyssal Archbishop, and from it descended a figure nearly five meters tall—a humanoid creature resembling a small giant, its head wrapped in blackened, hardened strips of cloth, skin black with a blue tinge, thick arms, one hand gripping a crimson battle-axe, and black tendrils hanging from its back. This is the Abyssal Spawn·Parasite Warrior.

The Parasite Warrior consists of two parts: an external carapace and an internal body. The internal body is a worm-like Abyssal Spawn, while the external carapace is a physically strong species—what exactly, no one can say for certain.

"Roar!!"

The Parasite Warrior bellowed, about to chop the Abyssal Archbishop with its axe, when it received a sigil command from the Abyssal Archbishop, turning its gaze to Su Xiao and charging forward with heavy steps that made the ground tremble.

"I fucked up!"

Bahu, who had been preparing to play dead and wait for a chance to strike the Abyssal Archbishop hard, leapt up from the ground. After a spatial fluctuation, he appeared behind the Parasite Warrior, his eagle claws piercing into its nape. Using the warrior's running inertia, like tossing a sack, Bahu flung this much-larger enemy away.

Seeing this, the Abyssal Archbishop raised his hand and made a pressing gesture toward Bahu, causing Bahu to feel a prickle of dread—just moments ago, the Archbishop had pressed from afar, nearly killing him.

Chime!

Qing Gui slashed, and the Abyssal Archbishop's long-distance press toward Bahu's arm was cut off at the forearm, no blood spattering. The severed forearm turned into black liquid, flowing back to rejoin the Archbishop's arm at the break point.

Seeing this, Bahu spread his wings and flew toward the Parasite Warrior—his task now simple: hold the warrior in place.

Drip, drip~

Blood dripped from Su Xiao's chin. He could feel his condition worsening. Each time he charged the enemy, he paid a heavy price, especially each time he endured the Dark Ring shockwave, compounded by the "Dark Mark" on his body, which had already detonated twice!

A dark energy mixed into Su Xiao's life force. Even if Qing Steel Shadow energy could dispel it, this is delicate work—difficult even in battle, let alone while walking.

"Dark Mark: Upon reaching three layers, it self-detonates, dealing dark-element damage equal to 20% of maximum HP and reducing the enemy's maximum HP by 20%. This debuff lasts 1–900 hours (depending on Abyssal resistance)."

The most troublesome aspect of this ability is not the damage, but the 20% reduction in maximum HP—meaning Su Xiao's current maximum HP is only 60% left, greatly diminishing the effectiveness of healing abilities and potions. Worse still, he already has two layers of Dark Mark on him; once it reaches three, it explodes, and there's no way to stop it.

With a whoosh, a black tendril flew past Su Xiao's cheek, nearly brushing it, the sound of breaking wind rushing toward him—it was the Abyssal Archbishop launching a surprise attack, clearly having noticed Su Xiao had already detonated two Dark Marks.

"Dark… Rage Tide."

The smoke robe on the Abyssal Archbishop fluttered and crackled as the dark tide spread from him as its center. Merely reading the skill data might suggest he is a summoner, but in actual combat, that is not the case. His core ability is "Dark Mark," a fusion of damage, life-force suppression, and slowing, which pairs well with strong area-of-effect abilities.

The dark tide continued to spread outward. Although Su Xiao had retreated at full speed, the slowing effect on him made it hard to avoid being affected. This so-called Dark Rage Tide ability has moderate power, but as a multi-stage impact ability, it will continuously trigger "Dark Mark."

Pa, pa! Two sounds! The clothing on Su Xiao's rear shoulder and side waist bulged outward, indicating the Dark Marks attached there had detonated. Blood trickled down from beneath his windbreaker. After these two Dark Marks exploded, Su Xiao's maximum HP was reduced to only 20%, making recovery potions virtually useless.

Boom!

The dark impact surged forward, blasting Su Xiao into the rear wall, his HP dropping sharply. For an ordinary ninth-tier melee fighter, after having maximum HP reduced to 20% and taking this hit, he would likely be on the brink of death.

But given Su Xiao's vitality, even with his maximum HP reduced to 20%, he still has over 140,000 HP. However, if two more layers of Dark Mark were stacked, he would be slain by this ability—correct, Dark Mark can kill enemies.

"No wonder it's the vitality that obliterates laws."

As the Abyssal Archbishop spoke, he controlled a pillar of dark light and slammed it down upon Su Xiao.

Boom!

The ground where Su Xiao stood sank into a cylindrical depression. He knelt on one knee, one hand braced on the ground, with blood spattering around the surrounding terrain.

"Farewell, Obliterator of Laws."

The Archpriest of the Abyss once again manipulated a dark light pillar, smashing it down, but Su Xiao evaded it with a ghostly sidestep; know that if he were struck again, he would be killed on the spot.

Su Xiao, amidst the broken stone pillars, leapt a few times and arrived at the flat ground beneath the sun rock slab.

Seeing this, the Archpriest of the Abyss narrowed his eyes slightly, considering a possibility: that this Mie Fa had deliberately wounded himself to this extent, waiting for him to rush in and kill the opponent, thus choosing to recklessly approach.

Thinking of this possibility, the Archpriest of the Abyss was no longer in a hurry; he wanted to wait for the fluctuations of the Abyss Hole to subside, so as to summon dark creatures and kill this Mie Fa in the most stable way.

Blood gradually stained the rocky ground beneath Su Xiao's feet red, and an object appeared in his hand: the 【Drifting Bait】, a life-saving item 'gifted' by Morel.

A strange spatial fluctuation appeared; sensing it, the Archpriest of the Abyss showed a brief flash of surprise in his eyes—he had not expected Su Xiao to actually flee.

Of course he had to flee; right now he could not possibly match the Archpriest of the Abyss in hammer blows, getting close was extremely difficult, and adding the troublesome 'Dark Mark' to the extreme, if he did not withdraw now, would he wait to die? As for Bubu Wang and Bahamut, Bahamut himself is spatial, so retreat is easy, while Bubu Wang had fully blended into the environment, especially after the sacrificial ground was smashed and the temple revealed, Bubu Wang had already been hiding at the entrance, ready to slip away at any moment.

Seeing Su Xiao about to retreat, the Archpriest of the Abyss's undying trait—Abyss Spawn—immediately flared with rage.

"Don't even think about it."

The Archpriest of the Abyss's tentacle-like hair fluttered, the ground beneath his feet cracked, and he advanced toward Su Xiao; as long as he came within a certain distance, his dark ring could disrupt the spatial fluctuation of that strange object, and even if it could not stop its activation, it could delay it.

Sensing the Archpriest of the Abyss rapidly approaching, Su Xiao, holding the 【Drifting Bait】, froze for a moment, then thought: after Silviss fully merged with the undying trait—Abyss Spawn, his judgment should fluctuate between strong and weak; earlier the opponent had been very alert, but now, after being stimulated, the ferocity of that undying trait—Abyss Spawn had erupted.

For Su Xiao, this was a great advantage; this formidable enemy was indeed a close-combat nemesis, but a close-combat nemesis could not be arrogant enough to actively approach a master of the Three Techniques Sect—this would come at a cost, an immeasurably heavy one.

"Blade of the Silver Moon·Moon's Oath (Active): Using this blade to cut the palm, if equipment requirements are met, no substantial damage will be taken; for the following 30 minutes, the weapon held by the user will be granted the 'Moon Blade' effect.

Moon Blade (Passive): Within 30 minutes, increase weapon sharpness by 120 points, increase weapon attack power by 30 points.

Moon Blade (Active): During the duration of Moon Blade, you may reactivate this ability; upon activation, the weapon sharpness and attack power boosts will double (increasing sharpness by 240 points and attack power by 60 points); in the following 30 seconds, your movement speed, attack speed, and reaction speed will increase by 35%, and weapon attacks will additionally inflict true damage ignoring defense equal to your actual agility attribute × 3.2.

The power of moonlight flowed along the hilt of the Dragon-Slaying Flash, entering Su Xiao's body, causing his pupils—turned azure from switching to 'Swift·Soul Core'—to be surrounded by silver-green rings.

Pfft!

The blood-long spear pierced the chest, not the enemy's, but Su Xiao used Dragon-Slaying Flash to pierce his own chest, immediately putting him into a 'near-death state,' but due to the exemption of the Black King's Arm Guard, he suffered no penalties from that state.

"Blood Spear Sect Master·Lv. 40 Ultimate Ability: Live After Death (Passive): When your health drops to near-death state, your soul power will be fully activated; during this period, all your melee attack damage increases by 65%."

Su Xiao had entered his third stage, while the Archpriest of the Abyss was still in his first stage, and suddenly stopped in place; even if he took a few more steps forward, he could bring Su Xiao into the dark ring's strike range and kill him on the spot, yet those few meters made him feel the approach of death.

Huff~

Like a breeze passing by, Su Xiao vanished from the spot; the Dragon Shadow Flash ability allowed him to appear behind the Archpriest of the Abyss in the next instant.

Sensing the spatial passive behind him, the Archpriest of the Abyss's eyes showed a hint of a smile; the enemy had taken the bait.

Thud~!

The impact of the dark ring, centered on the Archpriest of the Abyss, spread out, sweeping over Su Xiao, but had no effect on him, because he had re-entered the spatial penetration state.

"Dragon Shadow Flash Trait: If Dragon Shadow Flash (Active) is on cooldown, it can be forcibly used; after use, the cooldown time of Dragon Shadow Flash temporarily increases to 5 minutes; if forcibly used continuously, it will impose a heavy burden on the body, temporarily raising the cooldown to 20 minutes."

Su Xiao appeared before the Archpriest of the Abyss, causing the Archpriest's breath to catch, and he instinctively raised his hand.

"Blade Way Sword·Time."

The impact of Time caused the Archpriest of the Abyss's speed to plummet.

Clang~

The long sword swept past, severing the Archpriest of the Abyss's left arm; as the arm turned into black liquid, Su Xiao's Blade Domain ability activated, granting additional benefits, and within the Blade Domain, his slash damage increased by another 20%.

"Blade Way Sword·Extreme."

The long sword drew a black trace in the air—this is the mark of space being severed; the long sword diagonally slashed across the Archpriest of the Abyss's chest; as the ultimate great wave of the Archpriest of the Abyss, his health plummeted by a large margin, nearly one-third, from which one can imagine how terrifying Su Xiao's slash power is under multiple attack buffs.

The Archpriest of the Abyss only felt that after this slash, whether his body or soul, it was as if he had been cut by millions of blade edges; his body immediately went numb, and black blood uncontrollably gushed from his mouth and nose.

"Roar!!"

The Archpriest of the Abyss roared due to the undying trait—Abyss Spawn within him, but Su Xiao again penetrated space; though he did not move from his spot, he dodged the dark mark effect accompanying the roar.

At the moment Su Xiao disengaged from spatial penetration, a blood soul entered his body.

"Super·Blood Smoke Cannon."

With a boom, one-third of the Archpriest of the Abyss's skull was blown apart, causing him to stagger back; Su Xiao stepped forward and delivered a penetrating straight kick.

The Archpriest of the Abyss was not kicked flying; the penetrating effect caused his rear black smoke robe to explode, revealing torn flesh and blood; after taking this kick, his entire body went numb, and he dropped to one knee.

The long sword slashed continuously, five several-meter-long, intersecting light-blue blade auras struck the Archpriest of the Abyss's body; these blade auras immediately exploded, blasting the just-mobile Archpriest of the Abyss into flying backward.

"Blade Way Sword……"

Su Xiao's Blade Way Sword did not slash out, but he tilted his head to dodge a finger-thick black beam; he now cannot be hit even halfway, or the dark mark will bury him here.

Su Xiao turned into a blood shadow and vanished, appearing behind the Archpriest of the Abyss; the surrounding environment silently shifted to black and white, except for the blood line that had slashed the Archpriest of the Abyss, which was bright red; afterward, this slash erupted, causing the Archpriest of the Abyss to retreat repeatedly.

Although the Archpriest of the Abyss retreated, the slash wound on his chest healed quickly, but at that moment, he suddenly paused his steps and spat out a large mouthful of black blood from his mouth.

This made the Archpriest of the Abyss very doubtful; in fact, the issue is not in this battle, but in the hatred he fused with—hatred that had previously been imprisoned in the third layer of the madhouse dungeon, which Su Xiao deliberately left unchecked, allowing the Dark God Sect to rescue it, in order to judge what the Dark God Sect truly seeks.

Ask yourself, would Su Xiao leave no means against the criminals in the third layer of the dungeon? Let them be rescued? Of course not, especially hatred; Su Xiao had long suspected whether this thing was truly Abyss Spawn, but could only sense it like that, detect it, and once no trace remained, that faint yet present Abyss aura—Su Xiao naturally wanted to treat it accordingly; he had prepared three kinds of alchemical potent poisons, one of which he developed specifically to target Abyss creatures.

At the start of this battle, Su Xiao had Bubu Wang emit catalytic mist to activate that poison against Abyss creatures; his plan was to wait for the poison to take effect, then use it as an opportunity to rush in and continue attacking to suppress the Archpriest of the Abyss, but who would have thought the poison would act too slowly, so slowly that Su Xiao nearly got hammered to death by the Archpriest of the Abyss.

With a wow, the Archpriest of the Abyss spat out another large mouthful of black blood from his mouth, his mouth full of sharp teeth clicking and clacking, his right arm had become unusually thick and even grown claws; it turned into a afterimage, leapt up, and its claws grabbed at Su Xiao.

The Death-Blaze Extinction appeared in Su Xiao's hand, the barrel aimed at the Archpriest of the Abyss, and five consecutive shots fired the Extinction rounds empty.

The Archpriest of the Abyss fell downward, his chest severely petrified, many positions rotted into fine fragments that fell off, and his recovery ability was temporarily suppressed by Death-Blaze.

A blood-energy phantom appeared above Su Xiao, the soul great bow drawn, the crystal spear formed by the Green Shadow King shot out, piercing the Archpriest of the Abyss's chest and pinning him to the ground.

Su Xiao took a few steps forward, black-blue smoke clung to the Dragon-Slaying Flash, and the Magic Blade ability activated.

With a click, the Archpriest of the Abyss broke free from the crystal spear's restraint; his right arm, severely mutated, moved at extreme speed, its claws lunging at Su Xiao.

At this moment, stimulated by the sensation of death, Su Xiao became extraordinarily focused; he leaned backward, and for each degree he leaned back, an unformed crystal figurine appeared at his original position, as if he were leaning back after an afterimage; this made his backward lean speed at least 20% faster than the limit state.

The claws nearly grazed Su Xiao's nose tip as they passed; this was certainly his closest brush with death.

At the moment of completing this evasion, Su Xiao entered the spatial penetration state.

Thud, thud, thud~

The continuous dark ring impacts, centered on the Archpriest of the Abyss, spread out; such reckless use of the dark ring caused cracks to appear all over the Archpriest of the Abyss's body, but for the sake of killing Su Xiao, the Archpriest of the Abyss no longer cared about these.

Several consecutive dark rings were dodged by Su Xiao in spatial penetration state; he exited spatial penetration, and opposite him, the Archpriest of the Abyss gathered his right arm, then backhanded a claw at Su Xiao.

Zing—!

A light but lightning-fast slash cut through the neck of the Abyssal High Priest, its motion halting abruptly, for this was a slash imbued with a demonic blade, enough to slay it with only 21.9% of its life remaining.

After this slash, the world seemed to fall silent, the dust and energy fragments drifting nearby appearing to freeze for a few seconds.

The claw suspended before Su Xiao froze, its five fingers instinctively curling slightly, after which the arm lost all strength and drooped.

Su Xiao stepped forward with a body barely able to hold up, thrusting his blade into the Abyssal High Priest's chest; the long sword still emitted black-blue smoke as he drew it out, a jet-black energy, accompanying the blade's withdrawal, was stripped from within the Abyssal High Priest's body—this was the source energy of the indestructible trait, Abyssal Spawn, now devoured by Dragon-Slaying Flash.

This frenzied creature from the Abyss, sealed by Dragon-Slaying Flash, would then be devoured and utterly annihilated.

In this battle, Su Xiao's final two strikes: one to slay the foe, one to seal the demon!

With a thud, the Abyssal High Priest collapsed beneath the half-remaining Sunstone Plateau, the darkness on his body rapidly dissipating as his form returned to its former state.

Su Xiao sheathed the Dragon-Slaying Flash still drifting with black-blue smoke; the Abyssal High Priest, slain.