Chapter 3700: Demands

Main City, Yonghuan City, inside a barbecue restaurant on the pedestrian street of the Sixth District.

The meat sizzled on the grill, a drop of hot oil seeping out and slowly sliding down the plump texture of the meat, finally dripping into the charcoal fire with a hiss, sending up a cloud of charred, fragrant smoke.

At a small table, Su Xiao sat opposite Grand Commander Kane. Since it was already 10:00 PM, they were the only customers left in the restaurant. Behind the kitchen curtain, the owner's daughter-in-law yawned, secretly hoping the last table would leave soon so she could end this busy and fulfilling day.

Glasses clinked, and Grand Commander Kane took a hearty gulp of elemental fine wine. Such excellent wine, paired with the barbecue recorded in the annals, made for a truly wonderful experience.

"I've been in Yonghuan City for so many years, yet I never knew there was such a small shop in the Sixth District. I've missed out on quite a treat."

Grand Commander Kane, already slightly tipsy, spoke with a smile. After tasting another piece of barbecue, he drank most of his glass. Ever since he reached his later years, his wife hadn't allowed him to drink much, but with Su Xiao inviting him out and such fine wine available, he naturally had to indulge.

Setting down his glass, the smile on Grand Commander Kane's face gradually faded. He said in a deep voice, "Bai Ye, the problem this time is serious."

"How serious?"

Su Xiao's expression remained unchanged as he slowly chewed the meat. Seeing this, Grand Commander Kane sighed and said, "The Wolf God has broken its seal. It is indeed the Dark God Sect's fault, but I fear the Seven Great Families will seize upon the fact that your Winter Legion attacked Floating Light Island."

Grand Commander Kane's words were not without reason. Given the situation on the Beastkin side, because Su Xiao provided the fungal mat, the old Beast King's royal authority—which had been wavering due to his extreme old age—had recovered to its former height. Although it couldn't reach the level of the Beast King's prime, the Seven Great Families had become obedient for the time being.

The Seven Great Families had long coveted the throne. Before the Beast King grew so old that he could still fight, they hadn't dared to harbor any ambition. It was only when the Beast King aged to his current state that the Seven Great Families dared to probe slightly.

They had hoped and prayed, finally waiting for the Beast King to age to this point, but who would have thought a Law-Breaker capable of creating legions would appear and cooperate with the Beast King? This allowed the Beast King's royal authority, which had been depressed by his aging, to recover some of its former glory.

From this, one could imagine how much the Seven Great Families hated Su Xiao. Now that they could finally catch some leverage, they naturally wouldn't let it go. However, given their current status, it was just a matter of mutual annoyance; it was almost impossible to truly cause each other to lose power.

"Bai Ye, before I came, the King told me that in the Myriad Worlds, only the Moon Wolves and Law-Breakers can eliminate Abyss-corrupted creatures with the Undying trait. After the Moon Wolves went extinct, only Law-Breakers could do this."

"Impossible. Before I have the chance to slay the Wolf God, it would have enough time to kill me many times over."

Su Xiao never considered himself a match for the Wolf God, Xie En. He had fought a Moon Wolf eroded by the Abyss before, and the only reason he won was that although that Moon Wolf was dead, it had been resisting the Abyss's corruption the entire time. In other words, the Moon Wolf Xie Di he fought back then not only lacked the Abyss's buffs but had actually become much weaker due to its constant resistance.

The current Wolf God, Xie En, was a different case. This was a Moon Wolf completely eroded by the Abyss, and it possessed the Undying trait. Conservatively estimated, its strength was at the level of a Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe, and it had to be in the upper echelon at that.

Su Xiao could indeed eliminate Abyss creatures with the Undying trait, but the problem was that he only had one ability that could eliminate them: 【Blade of the Demon】.

During this period, if he attacked an Undying Abyss-corrupted creature with less than 10% health, the Blade Spirit would devour the creature's origin power and seal it within Checking Zhan Long Shan.

Hint: After completing the devouring and sealing, the Blade Spirit will begin to consume the sealed origin power until it is completely digested. The origin power absorbed during this period will be used to permanently increase Checking Zhan Long Shan's quality cap and the Blade Spirit's strength.

Hint: The devouring and digestion time is generally 3 to 10 days. During this period, Checking Zhan Long Shan's 'Magic Blade' ability will be temporarily unavailable.

In other words, if Su Xiao wanted to slay the Wolf God Xie En with the 'Magic Blade', he would at least need to bring the opponent's health below 10% to have a chance.

Su Xiao would never be arrogant enough to think he could challenge a Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe with his peak Tier 9 combat power. To put it absolutely, as long as they weren't too old or wounded to the point of death, even the weakest Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe could beat the strongest Tier 9 to death.

The transition from Tier 9 to Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe was completely different from the promotion from Tier 8 to Tier 9. The promotion from Tier 8 to Tier 9 was a recognition and affirmation of combat power; this promotion process did not increase combat power itself.

However, the promotion to Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe truly increased combat power. Even without completing this point, there would be a huge improvement, but the improvement brought by doing so was even more exaggerated.

Therefore, Su Xiao would never do something as foolish as challenging the Wolf God Xie En alone. But if it were a team, and the team included two or more Supreme Powerhouses with strength similar to the Wolf God Xie En, then it could be considered.

As for dying in the area-of-effect attacks caused by the battle between Supreme Powerhouses, Su Xiao wasn't worried. He had 720,000 health points. At the last Void Feast, he had specifically asked the Leader about Supreme Powerhouses, including whether they all had 700,000 to 800,000 health points.

At the time, the Leader looked at Su Xiao with a suspicious gaze, pondered for a moment, and then smiled, saying, "You can understand it that way, actually. It's safer to be cautious."

From the Leader's words, it was clear that 700,000 to 800,000 health points, while not considered tyrannical among Supreme Powerhouses, certainly didn't mean they were easily killed in one hit.

Moreover, there was another point: if he participated in the team to eliminate the Wolf God Xie En, the kill reward would definitely be Su Xiao's. Only his 'Magic Blade' ability had the possibility of eliminating the Wolf God. Whoever tried to steal the kill from him would only lead to a total party wipe.

Furthermore, with the Wolf God Xie En on Floating Light Island, Su Xiao couldn't go to the Wolf Tomb. Speaking of which, Floating Light Island and the Moon Wolves had a deep connection; one Moon Wolf was sealed there, and another was buried there. This had been confirmed by Grand Commander Kane—there were indeed two Moon Wolves.

The Wolf God eroded by Abyss energy had come to this world long ago when it was first invaded by the Abyss. At that time, Xie En, as a Silver Moon Wolf, had not yet been crowned with the title of Wolf God. When the Beastkin and Sea Tribes were in their greatest danger, it was Xie En who resisted that wave of Abyss invasion, and because of this, it could no longer suppress the Abyss and darkness that had accumulated in its body for so long, becoming eroded by the Abyss.

At the final moment, the Beastkin and Sea Tribes, forced by necessity, could only seal Xie En before it lost consciousness, and with its consent. After that, the Beastkin and Sea Tribes honored this individual as the Wolf God.

However, years later, the seal was accidentally broken. Fortunately, the Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe Spider Lady of that era in the Wind Sea Continent resealed the Wolf God.

And years later, during the chaotic battle between Law-Breakers and Spellcasters, a severely wounded and dying Moon Wolf came to the Wind Sea Continent. Although it received the full treatment of the Beastkin and Sea Tribes, it eventually died there and was buried on Floating Light Island.

It was precisely because of this that there were two Wolf Swords in this world. One was the Wolf God Xie En's early Wolf Sword; the one currently stuck on the back of the Sea Tribe throne was this one.

Actually, there was another great sword, which was forged by the Dwarf King for the Wolf God Xie En. It was the Moonlight Great Sword that the Wolf God Xie En used when resisting the Abyss of this world. Later, it was sealed together with the Wolf God Xie En, and it was precisely because of this great sword that the Wolf God Xie En could be sealed.

As for the second Wolf Sword, it was the Wolf Sword of the Silver Moon Wolf that arrived in this world later, which had been stuck in front of the tombstone in the Wolf Tomb ever since.

The reason Su Xiao wanted to go to the Wolf Tomb was, of course, not just to see the former blood-sworn ally of the Law-Breakers. Offering fresh meat in front of the Wolf Tomb would allow for one growth. Currently, the Overlord-tier equipment had reached the second echelon, and it only needed one more growth to reach the first echelon, which was the level of top-tier Overlord equipment.

Of course, Su Xiao also had another choice, which was to wait for the Beastkin or Sea Tribes to reseal the Wolf God Xie En again before going to Floating Light Island. This would be safer, but the rewards would be lower.

In fact, all of this was based on one premise: what kind of danger would the Wolf God bring when it broke out of the seal?

Through a piece of news revealed by Grand Commander Kane, Su Xiao estimated the severity of the situation: the Beastkin and Sea Tribes on the main battlefield were preparing to temporarily cease fire and withdraw from the main battlefield to establish defensive lines in their respective fortress cities.

The reason for this was that at the same time the Wolf God Xie En was sealed, an Abyss Hole appeared within its seal. That Abyss Hole continued to gush out Abyss energy. If it wasn't sealed as soon as possible, this Abyss Hole would soon turn into an Abyss Passage.

What was even more fatal was that the Wolf God Xie En was in the sealed hall where the Abyss Passage was located. To close the Abyss Passage, one had to get past the Wolf God. The problem was that fighting the Wolf God while immersed in dense Abyss energy had very low odds of success.

Currently, the Abyss energy was only scattered on Floating Light Island and the surrounding sea area. Once the Abyss Passage formed, the gushing Abyss energy, if not blocked, would shroud most of the Wind Sea Continent within a few days.

The Beastkin and Sea Tribes had indeed successfully resisted the Abyss invasion in the past, but the problem was that no faction dared to say they could 100% withstand the Abyss invasion, especially the Abyss invasion intensity corresponding to a Transcendent Origin World, which was extremely terrifying.

Why did the Arcane Eternal Star cooperate with the Sea Tribe? It was just for elemental artifacts, attempting to increase the total amount of natural elements in the Void to slow down the frequency of Abyss Passage appearances. Ultimately, the Arcane Eternal Star didn't want to face the Abyss invasion directly either.

The problem in the Wind Sea Continent now was that if the Wolf God couldn't be sealed or defeated as soon as possible, the Abyss invasion would definitely come, and time was running out. The Abyss Hole was gradually expanding into an Abyss Passage; it would take a few days at the shortest, and half a month at the longest.

This was also the reason for the temporary ceasefire between the Beastkin and Sea Tribes. The Beast King and the Sea King both meant to first resolve the Abyss invasion brought about by the Wolf God breaking the seal.

It was impossible to solve the current trouble with the Beastkin Legion or the Sea Tribe Legion. Given the concentration of Abyss energy on Floating Light Island, whether it was Beastkin soldiers or Sea Tribe soldiers, as soon as they approached the surrounding sea area, they would be eroded by Abyss energy until they lost their minds. Human-wave tactics were ineffective against the Abyss.

How to solve this problem? The method was simple: before the Abyss energy concentration in the sealed hall reached a certain level, form a powerhouse team, penetrate into the center of Floating Light Island, defeat the Wolf God, and close the Abyss Hole.

All of this sounded simple, but the actual operation was extremely dangerous. What was even more fatal was that not all powerhouses had high Abyss resistance. This was no longer the era when the Wind Sea Continent had just resisted the Abyss invasion; the current Beastkin and Sea Tribes had long since lost their high Abyss resistance.

In other words, just having great strength didn't qualify one for entry; one had to have both strength and sufficient Abyss resistance.

"Bai Ye, you might need to go to Floating Light Island. If you need anything, just tell me, and it will definitely be satisfied."

"No need."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, Grand Commander Kane was stunned for a moment, then said, "There's no need to be polite."

"I'm not being polite. If I need anything, I'll make my demands to the Sea Tribe. Even if there's a temporary ceasefire, they are still a hostile faction."

"As expected, just as the King said. Law-Breakers don't have the habit of taking advantage of allies."

Leaving these words behind, Grand Commander Kane stood up and left. Before leaving, he even took the half-bottle of elemental fine wine he had left, clearly feeling it was a rare vintage.

After leaving the barbecue restaurant, Su Xiao leaped onto the roof and jumped. The Storm Flame Dragon flew over, carrying him on its back. After flying to a certain height, it broke through layers of air explosions with a boom and flew toward Floating Light Island.

On the dragon's back, Su Xiao took out his communicator to contact Caesar; some plans needed to be changed.

Early the next morning, in the sea area near Floating Light Island, the sky was dim. At this moment, on Floating Light Island, black mist and thin, ghostly green soul embers were scattered—a scene of darkness and decay.

In that scattered black mist, there seemed to be millions of malicious eyes. At the very center of Floating Light Island, a great hall had already risen from underground, towering amidst the scattered black mist. For some reason, after seeing this sealed hall, Su Xiao felt an inexplicable palpitation. This was a palpitation from the Qing Gang Ying energy; an unfamiliar old friend seemed to be inside that sealed hall, standing alone like a proud warrior.

Located behind the sealed hall, there seemed to be a backyard not submerged by the black mist. There were flowers and plants on the ground there, the tones were warm, and a faint cyan moonlight shone through. If he wasn't mistaken, that was the Wolf Tomb.

The Wolf Tomb was surrounded by twisted and dense dark buildings, sealing off all paths leading there. As for flying in from above, that was even more impossible; that concentration of Abyss energy would instantly erode the minds of most living beings.

Only by passing through the sealed hall could one safely reach the Wolf Tomb behind it. Discovering this situation, Su Xiao abandoned the plan to sneak into Floating Light Island. After letting the Storm Flame Dragon fly further away, he took out a Soul Crystal core engraved with array patterns and crushed it.

With a boom, a one-time Demon Teleportation Array appeared out of thin air, shrouding Su Xiao and the Storm Flame Dragon within it. This one-time Demon Teleportation Array was convenient to use, but the cost was too high.

When the spatial fluctuations dissipated, a cold wind blew. Su Xiao had returned to the backyard of the Lord's Manor in Twilight Winter City, and now he just had to wait for the Sea Tribe to come looking for him.

He still had to cooperate with the Beastkin later, so asking for high rewards at this time would inevitably seem like taking advantage of the situation. Conversely, the Sea Tribe was a hostile faction. Although they were temporarily cooperating to fight the Wolf God, once the Wolf God was defeated, they would be enemies again. In such a situation, he would definitely have to fleece the Sea Tribe.

The reason Su Xiao was certain the Sea Tribe would come to find him wasn't because of anything else; the Sea Tribe high command likely knew that the 'Magic Blade' could eliminate Abyss-corrupted creatures with the Undying trait. Even if they didn't know, Grand Commander Kane would find a way to let them know.

Regardless, Floating Light Island was the Sea Tribe's territory. Even if the Winter Legion had occupied Floating Light Island before, it was only a temporary occupation. Facing the Sea Tribe's reinforcements, the Winter Legion would definitely withdraw later. So now that there was a problem on Floating Light Island, the Sea Tribe was more anxious than the Beastkin. The Abyss energy was spreading from that starting point, and the first to suffer would definitely be the Sea Tribe.

Su Xiao walked into the back hall door of the ancient castle while pondering. As soon as he entered, he saw the Striped Fox Clan member Pilu walking over quickly, smiling and whispering, "My lord, a Sea Tribe member has come to find you. I felt this matter was unusual, so I arranged for him to stay at the hotel closest to the manor. Do you think I should go notify them that you have returned?"

Pilu was always steady. If it were Viper and the others who saw the Sea Tribe coming, they would definitely have invited them into the dungeon by now.

"Hmm, let him come see me."

Su Xiao walked up to the second floor and sat down in the inner hall. Before long, a dwarf fishman walked into the inner hall. Seeing this person, Su Xiao felt he looked familiar; he had definitely seen this person before.

"This presumptuous visit is truly a last resort, Lord Lord. Do you still remember me? On the main battlefield before, you spared my life."

The dwarf adjutant spoke with a face full of enthusiastic smiles, as if he hadn't almost lost his life at Su Xiao's hands before.

After listening to the dwarf adjutant's words, Su Xiao remembered that there was indeed such a thing. That time, he was surrounded by a Sea Tribe legion, and he did indeed let a Sea Tribe member go afterward. However, he was wearing the Bloodthirsty Battle Armor at the time, so he was inevitably affected, and he didn't have a deep memory of it.

"Lord Lord, our King heard a rumor that a Law-Breaker can slay the Undying. I won't say too much nonsense. We of the Sea Tribe respect the Wolf God, but he has been completely swallowed by the Abyss. It is time to let him rest in peace. Don't you agree, Lord?"

"Yes."

"So, you agree?"

The dwarf adjutant was overjoyed.

"Of course not. Although I am a Law-Breaker, my strength is minimal, and I am not qualified to deal with the Wolf God."

"?"

The dwarf adjutant's gaze gradually became confused. The humanoid monster in front of him who had slaughtered a Sea Tribe legion said his "strength was minimal"—this truly exceeded his limit of tolerance. Was it not you who went to the tribal territory, slaughtered two gods of the Dark God Sect, and razed the Dark God Sect's base, the Nether Cathedral, to the ground?

"Lord Bai Ye, just make your demands, and I will do my best to help you satisfy them."

"Is that true?"

Su Xiao's gaze revealed an inexplicable luster. The dwarf adjutant opposite him subconsciously shivered in his heart. The "definitely true" he originally wanted to say subconsciously changed to: "I will do my best."

"Alright then, send over that Wolf Sword on your throne."

"This... that wouldn't be good, would it? That was gifted to our first Sea King by the Wolf God. Since the establishment of the ancient city of Yatu, it has been stuck on the throne..."

Before the dwarf adjutant could finish speaking, Su Xiao interrupted, "Just borrowing it."

"Please wait a moment, I will contact our Executive Officer. May I ask how many days you intend to borrow it for? Will it cause any damage? Our Sea Tribe's Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe, Lord Zhakawa, will personally escort the Wolf Sword here. I need your permission for our Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe to step into the territory of Twilight Winter City."

The dwarf adjutant considered things very comprehensively. While asking, he was already contacting the Sea Tribe.

"That is no problem, Lord Lord. Do you have any other requirements?"

"Yes."

"Please speak."

"This artifact of mine from the Abyss needs to devour rare weapons, battle armor, etc., to grow. This artifact can significantly reduce the risks of this trip and increase the possibility of defeating the Wolf God."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, the smile on the dwarf adjutant's face carried a bit of relief. The Sea Tribe was not short of rare weapons, battle armor, etc.

"You need to consider it clearly. I mean, devour this Endless Ring to its limit."

Su Xiao took out the Endless Ring. This was the reason he had contacted Caesar before. As the saying goes, plans don't change as fast as reality. Who would have thought that the Wolf God on Floating Light Island would break the seal?

According to the previous plan, it would at most be upgraded to a rating of 3500–4000. The number of equipment pieces in a treasury wasn't actually as large as one might imagine.

Now it was different. The condition Su Xiao set was to let it devour to the limit, which meant letting it reach a rating of 6000.

Because they were wealthy in terms of equipment, after pondering for a moment, the dwarf adjutant nodded and agreed to this requirement, but Su Xiao's next words made the dwarf adjutant freeze.

"I only have these two requirements."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, the smile on the dwarf adjutant's face stopped abruptly. He had originally prepared to be fleeced, but this Lord only made two requests, which truly made him panic.

With an exceptionally uneasy mood, the dwarf adjutant left a communicator and departed, returning to the Sea Tribe's main city, Yatu Ancient City, via a teleportation array to report Su Xiao's two requirements to the Sea King.

In the flower room on the fifth floor of the ancient castle, Su Xiao sat cross-legged in meditation, waiting for news from the Sea Tribe. Of course, it also depended on the lineup sent by both the Beastkin and the Sea Tribes. If the lineup wasn't strong enough, he naturally wouldn't go to Floating Light Island to die.

Just then, the communicator on the side rang, and the voice of the dwarf adjutant came from inside: "Lord Bai Ye, look, can the conditions we discussed be changed appropriately?"

"How so?"

"The thing you brought out, this so-called 【Endless Ring】, has already devoured high-quality weapons and battle armor from five entire treasuries. Looking at the situation, it seems it hasn't had enough to eat yet."

"..."

Su Xiao hung up the communication and continued meditating. This was the reason he had contacted Caesar to interrupt the cooperation regarding the 【Endless Ring】. Continuing that plan would at most allow it to devour high-quality equipment from one treasury. Now that it had already devoured the amount of equipment from five treasuries, it still hadn't reached a rating of 6000.

Regarding the 50,000 Soul Coins previously paid to Caesar, he could entrust Caesar with another matter later. The difficulty of getting Soul Coins back once they were in Caesar's hands was truly too great. Fortunately, Caesar didn't have the habit of reneging on debts in cooperation.

That afternoon, the dwarf adjutant, with bloodshot eyes, arrived at Twilight Winter City together with a tall, giant fishman who wasn't wearing battle armor but had a powerful aura. After exiting the teleportation tower, the two headed straight for the Lord's Manor.

In the banquet hall, the Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe Zhakawa, carrying a large sword case, remained silent. Seeing Su Xiao walk in, the tall fishman opened the sword case. With a click, a Wolf Sword that was well-maintained but had many nicks on the blade was revealed.

Su Xiao gripped the Wolf Sword with one hand. The Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe Zhakawa was about to stop him, but found that the cyan color representing moonlight appeared on the Wolf Sword, only to vanish in a flash.

"A pity, it's dead. Stick it back on the throne."

Su Xiao released the hilt and pressed the mechanism next to the sword case. The sword case closed. From the texture and precision, this thing should have been made by the Dwarf King.

The Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe Zhakawa stood up and left, not intending to stay in Twilight Winter City for even a second. This was not rudeness, but rather a display of high emotional intelligence. As a Supreme Foreign Qiangzhe of the Sea Tribe, staying in a major Beastkin city would undoubtedly threaten the city at all times. Leaving immediately after finishing the business was the best choice for both sides.

In the banquet hall, the dwarf adjutant placed a wooden box on the banquet table. As the wooden box opened, inside was a black ring a few sizes larger than a finger ring. Black mist spread along the edge of the wooden box, scattering on the banquet table. After covering the banquet table, it flowed toward the ground like incense smoke flowing backward.

Su Xiao picked up the 【Endless Ring】. A feeling of the purest life force hidden within extreme darkness appeared.

Origin: Abyss.

Quality: Abyss-tier.

Type: Buff-type equipment.

Equipment Effect 1: Robust Life. When carrying this equipment, Health +200 points.

Hint: A total increase of 120,000 health points!

Equipment Effect 2: Slow Absorption. Can slowly devour equipment or special artifacts, and before completely devouring this equipment, it will temporarily gain its characteristics and enhance the temporarily obtained ability based on the existing rating.

Hint: This ability effect has reached its maximum.

Equipment Debuff: Dark Drowning. While carrying this equipment, you will be gradually eroded by the darkness of the Abyss.

Hint: An estimated 28–30 points of Abyss resistance can completely resist this debuff.

Rating: 6000 points.

Introduction: Darkness is always serene. Serenity derives sedimentation, sedimentation brings decay, decay transforms into nutrients, and nutrients nourish life. In the very center of darkness, the purest and most robust life essence is conceived.

Selling Price: Cannot be sold after activation.

Su Xiao held the 【Endless Ring】 in his hand. He felt his life force being enhanced at a very fast speed, calming down after increasing by about one-sixth.

Su Xiao was very satisfied with the effect of the 【Endless Ring】. Besides that, there was one more thing: the powerhouse team to go to the center of Floating Light Island to fight the Wolf God in the sealed hall already had candidates. Besides Su Xiao, there were four other members. ===== CHAPTER 3701 =====