Chapter 3715: Absolute Strength

In the peripheral area of the Dark Salt Lake, amidst a vast expanse of crystallized black thorn thickets, a translucent blue crystal sphere with a diameter of three meters smashed a large area of black thorns into powder. The entire crystal sphere was pitted and scarred, as if it had been severely corroded and subjected to intense impact.

With a 'snap', an arm reached out from within the crystal. As the sphere shattered, the figure inside crawled out, tumbling to the ground with a thud due to the shock of the intense impact.

Su Xiao let out a long breath. Facts proved that his decisive use of the 【Drifting Bait】 was the correct choice.

"Drifting Bait Effect: After 1.57 seconds of mental channeling, you can perform a spatial drift, randomly appearing at a safe location 50 kilometers away.

Note: During channeling, you will gain Water Protection (high toughness, high-strength defense)..."

The movement range of the 【Drifting Bait】 did not escape the attack range of the Ultimate Blood Spear, but it was already far from the center. Coupled with triple external defensive capabilities—first, the Water Protection of the 【Drifting Bait】, which was exceptionally tough, and the second layer of defense, the soul plating of the Night of the Wild Hunt.

"Soul Plating (Equipment Passive): If no attack is received within 24 hours, this equipment will form an invisible soul plating, circling around the wearer. This plating only manifests before receiving an attack; under normal conditions, it is completely hidden.

The plating durability is: (Wearer's maximum HP 10%) + (Wearer's Soul Strength × 10 × Wearer's Soul Energy Tier), which is 157,630 points of durability."

In addition to this, Su Xiao used his remaining Qing Gang Ying energy to construct a crystal layer, which not only clung to his skin but also continuously thickened until it became a sphere.

The good news was that because Su Xiao was more than 50 kilometers away from the center of the Blood Spear explosion, when the shockwave arrived, it blew him and his triple defenses away together. The bad news was that such an impact was still quite brutal.

Su Xiao glanced at the notifications and did not see the one he had expected. He raised his hand, made a grasping motion, and temporarily constructed a soul mark, crushing it with a 'snap'. Every few seconds, he heard the roar of a dragon in the distance.

With a 'whoosh', the Eldest Son of the Abyss Dragon swept past at a low altitude. Su Xiao vanished from where he stood and appeared on the back of the Eldest Son of the Abyss Dragon.

The Eldest Son of the Abyss Dragon flew toward the center of the Blood Spear explosion. Just as they entered the range, Su Xiao saw the water level rising continuously in the giant crater below. Water resources were already abundant here, but because this was an area eroded by the abyss, even the water that seeped up turned into black water carrying intense salt and dark matter.

First, there was a "Sun Holy Sword," and then an "Ultimate Blood Spear." These two strikes had cleared the dark pollution here completely. The sky was clear, the air was no longer foul, and it even felt somewhat fresh.

The freshwater lake rapidly forming below caused the area to gradually become misty with water vapor. He believed that within a few years, this place would become a home for various water birds, aquatic organisms, or mammals.

However, compared to this, Su Xiao only cared about one thing now: where was that old spellcaster who had taken a "Sun Holy Sword," been poisoned with intense toxins, witch-toxins, and soul-toxins, and then hit by an "Ultimate Blood Spear," and why was the opponent still not dead?

The wind whistled past his ears. Su Xiao looked down from the dragon's back; everywhere he looked was lake water. He couldn't perceive the location of Dean Guya at all. Seeing this, Su Xiao leaped off the dragon's back. Just as he was about to land on the water's surface—

Crack, crack, crack!

A deep freeze spread. In a very short time, a large area of the lake surface was frozen, and eventually, this vast lake that had just formed was completely frozen solid.

"Blade Dao Blade · Blood Blade!"

Clang!

A sharp slashing sound rang through the sky. A straight blood-red line shot directly beneath the ice surface. Just as Su Xiao pushed forward a thousand meters deep, a heatwave rushed toward him. With a 'boom', it knocked him backward, sending him flying.

The lake surface that had just been frozen was suddenly melted by the scorching heat again. This was the destructive power of a spellcaster on the environment. After all, they were a group of guys who devoured natural elements to gain power; having such means was not surprising.

A black shadow rushed from the bottom of the lake. Finally, a figure wearing tattered robes with most of its head shattered floated to the surface. It was Dean Guya. He stood calmly on the water's surface. The left half of his head was gone, the edges were jagged, and there were traces of blood-gas erosion.

Not only that, Dean Guya's torso was also severely damaged. Broken ribs protruded in a horrifying posture. The exposed heart was damaged, but it was being supplemented by magic energy, beating one by one, transmitting blood and the magic energy within to all parts of the body.

Suddenly, Dean Guya pressed down with one hand. A gravitational force tilted downward, slamming onto Su Xiao, causing Su Xiao, who was on the water's surface, to be pressed down with a 'boom'. The originally flat water surface actually formed a downward square groove.

Entering the spatial penetration state, Su Xiao was naturally unaffected by gravity. He quietly released his magic spirit, letting it submerge into the water below, and then he stepped on the water surface, rushing toward Dean Guya in the spatial penetration state.

The phantom of the Elder's Book appeared behind Dean Guya. He pushed forward with one hand, stirring up layers of black ripples—ripples that were like large rings nested within small rings—and they surged toward Su Xiao.

Thud!

Su Xiao felt as if he had slammed into a solid wall. Not only that, the water molecules all over his body suddenly vibrated, causing his vision to blur.

Dean Guya, who was not a spatial-type, could actually directly attack Su Xiao in the spatial penetration state. In fact, this was not surprising, because many previous generation Law-Defiers had similar movement methods.

Everything before his eyes appeared as double images. Su Xiao did not feel discouraged by the current situation. He was a Tier 9 top-tier combatant fighting against a top-tier Absolute Strongman. Even before the battle, the opponent had suffered fatal injuries and was in a terrible state, but an Absolute Strongman was still an Absolute Strongman.

To put it more bluntly, if an Absolute Strongman wasn't strong to this extent, what would be the point of pursuing Absolute Strength? Why bother saving up Primal Fragments?

Just as Su Xiao's vision was filled with double images and he was affected by the vibration state, Dean Guya's aura, which had been declining to the point of near-death, suddenly climbed a notch. He converted the small remaining portion of his magic energy into gravitational metal, causing this iron-sand-like gravitational metal to form a sharp cone nearly three meters long.

Boom!!

The surrounding water surface suddenly sank. Countless water droplets flew up due to the chaos of gravity. Dean Guya raised his tattered arm, his index finger pointing at Su Xiao.

The gravitational cone pierced through layers of air explosions, carrying the weight of ten thousand jun and unparalleled lethality as it struck toward Su Xiao's front.

One must know that at this moment, Su Xiao was still in the negative state caused by the vibration. But even so, he still perceived the fatal attack that had entered his perception circle. Although his current perception circle was only 10 meters, his capture ability and reaction speed were absolutely unparalleled.

Su Xiao felt that everything around him had slowed down a bit, including the black gravitational cone that was still rotating in mid-flight. A type of energy he had developed for a long time but was using for the first time was distributed throughout his limbs and bones in an instant. This was the protective energy brought by three types of technique abilities.

Clang!!

A crisp sound traveled far. An impact spread with Su Xiao as the center, causing the lake water around him to surge into a wave, rushing toward the surroundings.

Su Xiao held his blade with his right hand and braced the blade body with his left, blocking Dean Guya's strike in a plain and unadorned manner. This was the "Perfect Block" ability.

"Perfect Block" could indeed block attacks, but the subsequent vibration damage could not be exempted. Fortunately, Su Xiao had an ability called "Perfect Parry," which derived a fairly high amount of vibration damage reduction, exempting at least 40% of the vibration damage.

Although he successfully blocked it, Su Xiao's HP dropped by a large chunk, and the durability of Zhan Long Shan was consumed by nearly one-fifth. He would need to find the Dwarf King or return to find Reed for repairs. More importantly, the protective energy throughout his body was exhausted; it would take at least 10 seconds to re-condense and block again.

"Perfect Block" was stronger than imagined, successfully blocking a strike from a top-tier Absolute Strongman on the verge of death. But this ability wasn't as wonderful as imagined. Blocking once every 10 seconds? Absolutely not. At this moment, the bones all over Su Xiao's body felt like they were about to fall apart. In a battle with a strong enemy, blocking once every 10 seconds was seeking death.

In the entire battle, blocking at most two fatal and unavoidable attacks was the optimal frequency. If he really blocked an enemy's attack once every 10 seconds, he could indeed block multiple attacks, but he would also lose the ability to counterattack and would be suppressed to death.

At this moment, a few dozen meters away, Dean Guya, who was almost in a near-death state, gradually widened his only remaining eye. He felt that the blocking method just now looked familiar, like... the combat technique of the Moon Wolf?

With a 'bang', a black shadow like a shark breaking through the water slashed a crystal long blade toward Dean Guya. Seeing the magic spirit, Dean Guya ignored the magic spirit's slash and leaped backward, because he knew that compared to being slashed by the magic spirit, the Law-Defier about to swap positions was more fatal.

Dean Guya's act of lifting himself with gravity affected his already terrible injuries. Coupled with the soul-toxin, which was slow to take effect but had the strongest staying power, he not only failed to float backward but also vomited a large mouthful of blood with a 'wow'.

Su Xiao appeared in front of Dean Guya, swapping positions with the magic spirit. But Dean Guya showed no panic or rage. The magic core within his heart activated, causing cracks to spread across his heart while simultaneously shooting out a black ray from within.

The black ray pierced through Su Xiao's chest. It was only a few centimeters away from piercing his heart and shattering the Devouring Core within. However, while being attacked, Su Xiao had already delivered a straight kick.

Thud!!

Dean Guya broke through a wave of air and flew out, flesh and bone fragments splattering. He flew backward for several kilometers before landing on the water's surface. After plowing up a large spray of water, he knelt on one knee, vomiting blood filled with organ fragments.

Wind pressure rushed toward him. At this moment, Dean Guya actually felt a sense of time displacement, the pressure of facing those old enemies from the past once again.

Dark clouds gathered in the sky due to gravity, forming a giant dark cloud vortex. Muffled thunder rolled within. Under the might of heaven, it was a life-and-death battle between a spellcaster and a Shadow of Law-Defiance on the lake.

"Ha!"

Dean Guya's beard and hair flew. A gravity storm spread with him as the center. Because the ability activation force was too great, his protruding broken ribs flew out, and the surrounding water surface was pressed by gravity until it was as hard as a steel plate.

In this gravity storm that continuously tilted toward the surroundings, a hand wrapped in a crystal layer reached out. Resisting the weight of ten thousand jun, it grabbed Dean Guya's face with a 'snap', causing Dean Guya's aura, which had always been as still as an ancient well, to suddenly choke.

Subsequently, a long blade wrapped in black-blue smoke, at a speed that wasn't exactly fast, resisted the gravity storm and pushed outward, stabbing toward Dean Guya firmly and steadily.

"Ha!!"

The flesh on Dean Guya's face flew off, leaving only a one-eyed skull. But even so, Zhan Long Shan still firmly stabbed into his chest and heart. Finally, with a 'crack', it shattered his magic core.

In an instant, the surrounding gravity storm dissipated. Dean Guya knelt on one knee with a 'thud'. Facing the slash of the Magic Blade, he did not die immediately.

Su Xiao leaped backward, distancing himself from this dying enemy to avoid a desperate counterattack.

"Huff~! Huff~!"

Dean Guya gasped for air, blood dripping down his jawbone. Then he actually stood up again, but because his body and soul were dying, he eventually fell over, only able to support himself on the water's surface with one hand. He looked up at Su Xiao, that single eye staring at Su Xiao, without hatred or anger, more like he was scrutinizing him, a feeling that gave one the impression that this old spellcaster would stand up again.

However, this was just an illusion. Even an Absolute Strongman spellcaster could not withstand the slash of the Magic Blade. Dean Guya's aura completely dissipated, and he could no longer stay on the water's surface, sinking into the lake water.

Clang~

Zhan Long Shan broke through the water and flew to Su Xiao, who held it in his hand. After shaking off the water, he sheathed the long blade.

Absolute Strongman Spellcaster Dean Guya, executed!

Standing on the water's surface, Su Xiao let out a long breath. Even in the head-on battle stage, Dean Guya had already been near death, but he still exerted great pressure on him.

Not only that, his HP had dropped to below 20%. Throughout the entire process, he was only hit by Dean Guya once. His 860,000 HP had been cleared by more than half, and the remaining HP damage was from the vibration of blocking one attack perfectly, as well as the aftermath of area-of-effect attacks.

From the very beginning, Su Xiao's goal was to ambush Dean Guya. The reason was simple: after witnessing the survivability of the Knight Commander, he had a new understanding of the survivability of Absolute Strongmen, and Absolute Strongman spellcasters, even if they weren't as durable as the Knight Commander, were definitely not fragile.

Facts proved that Su Xiao's speculation was correct. The physique of an Absolute Strongman spellcaster was not weak at all. After all his ambush methods were exhausted, he still had to add a straight kick and the slash of the Magic Blade.

If the ambush target had been Serphilia, the scene might have been that he couldn't win, because Serphilia's Li element was not a magic-type ability. Conversely, Dean Guya's gravity-type ability had a clear magic-type tendency, which allowed the "Magic-Immune Physique" to bring Su Xiao high damage reduction.

Su Xiao checked the kill notification that had just appeared. The content was:

【You have killed Absolute Strongman Spellcaster Dean Guya.】

【You have obtained 3 Golden Skill Points.】

【You have obtained Magic Soul Treasure Chest (Treasure chest item, obtained by killing a magic-type Absolute Strongman. After opening, there is a high probability of obtaining "Primal Fragment", the quantity is determined based on various factors).】

【Detected that the "Awakening Monument" you possess is already imbued with a Vengeance Mark notarized by the Tree of Void and Reincarnation Paradise. Because you successfully killed an Absolute Strongman Spellcaster of the Arcane Eternal Star faction, this Vengeance Mark has been activated.】

【You have obtained Vengeance Soul × 1 (Notarized characteristic item, use this item on the "Awakening Monument" to unlock Shadow of Law-Defiance Advanced Ability).】

Seeing this notification, Su Xiao thought about what was going on. This was the layout of the previous generation of Law-Defiers. Through the notarization of the Tree of Void and Reincarnation Paradise, the "Awakening Monument" was notarized, and then by paying a price, the Vengeance Mark effect was imbued on it.

Through the current "Awakening Monument", Su Xiao could master abilities in the Shadow of Law-Defiance inheritance system, such as Magic Spirit Awakening, Perfect Physique, etc. These were abilities that all Law-Defiers could master through the "Awakening Monument".

The so-called advanced abilities were the private goods of the previous generation of Law-Defiers. Those were abilities that were very powerful but not suitable for all Law-Defiers, so they were not included in the essential abilities of the inheritance system.

Su Xiao was still very interested in these private goods abilities, especially the passive advanced abilities. These abilities had a high degree of development and were all used to improve basic attacks. As long as he could master them, they would be 100% compatible.

The abilities of the Law-Defiance system were so unique. Either one couldn't master them at all, or once mastered, they were basically 100% compatible. It was just that the process of mastering them was quite unforgettable.

Su Xiao leaped onto the back of the Eldest Son of the Abyss Dragon. On the side of Baham and the Beastman Legion, they couldn't trap Serphilia for too long. Once Baham's spatial interference ability failed, Serphilia would escape. At this moment, it was better to leave this place as soon as possible. Su Xiao had already decided that before reaching "Absolute Strength," he would never engage Serphilia.

On the dragon's back, Su Xiao drank a bottle of recovery potion and looked down at the hole in his chest. Not only was the wound healing, but the damaged part of the Night of the Wild Hunt long leather coat was also slowly repairing itself.

There was one thing that puzzled Su Xiao: after he executed the Absolute Strongman spellcaster, why didn't the "Hunting List · Blood Contract" provide corresponding bounty feedback? One must know that he had previously used this Blood Contract to place a bounty of 1000 ounces of space-time power on the Absolute Strongman spellcaster. The current return should have reached 5000 ounces of space-time power.

Not only that, the previous bounty for the Wolf Tomb hadn't been triggered either. The bounty of 100 ounces of space-time power hadn't shown a reward notification of 500 ounces. At that time, he thought the rewards hadn't accumulated enough and were waiting for enough to be issued. Now it seemed that was not the case.

Su Xiao tried to check the "Hunting List · Blood Contract". This hidden permission function actually changed from a gray state to viewable.

【Bounty 1: Wolf Tomb (Achieved, waiting to claim Space-Time Stone Fragments).】

【Bounty 3: Execute Absolute Strongman (Achieved, waiting to claim Space-Time Stone Fragments).】

【You have applied to claim.】

【You have obtained Space-Time Stone Fragments × 550 (This is an equivalent, selling it at Reincarnation Paradise can obtain 5500 ounces of space-time power).】

Seeing this situation, Su Xiao knew what was going on. When he first received the "Hunting List · Blood Contract" in the previous world, every time he completed a bounty, he would obtain a certain amount of Space-Time Stone Fragments. The remaining reward quota was determined by what supplies he needed, and then he would draw within that scope.

Now that Su Xiao possessed the "Hunting List · Blood Contract" and could decide the bounty content himself, it had changed. Within each world progress, only when completing the first bounty was it a "Space-Time Stone Fragment" + "Rare Supplies" bounty reward. The remaining bounty content would only reward "Space-Time Stone Fragments".

Regarding this situation, Su Xiao did not feel disappointed, because this was the only way he could stably obtain space-time power. He had a feeling that the higher the tier, the more useful space-time power would be. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before his current space-time power wouldn't be enough.

When Su Xiao arrived at the chaotic battle area where Serphilia was surrounded, he saw corpses everywhere, as well as countless Li element weapons nailed to the ground. Compared to the bravery at the beginning, now many beastmen around Serphilia were carrying a bit of fear. If it weren't for morale supporting them, they might not have dared to continue rushing toward Serphilia.

Drip, drip~

Blood dripped from the cuffs of Serphilia's gold-white spellcaster robe. This wasn't her blood, but those brilliant golden pupils were now so sharp and powerful that people didn't dare to look her in the eye.

Hum~!

The horn of retreat sounded, causing the beastman warriors surrounding Serphilia to retreat rapidly. Sensing this situation, Serphilia had a bit of an ominous premonition in her heart.

A figure walked over step by step. Serphilia was just about to attack, but immediately stopped the gathering of Li elements, because the person walking over was her disciple, Green Wei—more accurately, Green Wei under the control of the magic spirit.

"You..."

Before Serphilia's "You are despicable" could be uttered, the magic spirit detached from Green Wei's body. Almost simultaneously, Li element threads pulled the unconscious Green Wei away, behind Serphilia.

Under Su Xiao's control, the magic spirit's face gradually became clearer. He spoke through the magic spirit: "The cost of surrounding you exceeds the estimate, so you can go."

"That old immortal, is he dead?"

When saying this, Serphilia seemed a bit sad, but in front of the enemy, she didn't show it.

"Yes."

"Very good, then you have to lose a few more beastman legions."

Layers of golden ripples appeared above Serphilia, and Li element weapons appeared and disappeared.

"Are those juniors of yours who were teleported to the abyss erosion area really irrelevant? Are you not going to rescue them? Considering you are a spatial-type, if you go now, it should still be in time."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, Serphilia's eyes narrowed slightly. She tried several times before suppressing the anger in her heart. Finally, she disappeared from the spot with Green Wei. However, before she left, the look she gave Su Xiao was impressive—the look of wanting to grind someone to dust couldn't be hidden.

Seeing this, Su Xiao ordered Ergein to retreat, telling him to take the legion and return to the "Crystal Forest" at full speed. If nothing went wrong, the Sea Clan there would take the opportunity to counterattack.

Su Xiao checked the team channel and found that after the Priest received the kill reward, he immediately exited the team. This was not a good sign, indicating that the old guy's plan had reached the final stage.

What was the Priest's plan? Su Xiao hadn't figured it out, but one thing was certain: this old guy definitely had a big plot. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gathered so many rule-breakers into this world.

Rule-breaker Beverly, rule-breaker Xiao Ge, Nightmare Ghost Kain, Witch Lilia, and Lu Ge and others were actually all on the Priest's side; it just hadn't been reflected much.

What really puzzled Su Xiao was how the Lightning God Aige could have gotten mixed up with Nightmare Ghost Kain and Witch Lilia. Aige was a very serious Battle Angel.

Nightmare Ghost Cain is famous for pitting his teammates to death, consuming their souls, and plundering the wealth of his deceased teammates through team skills; to say he is notorious is no exaggeration. Witch Lilia is slightly better, but her personality is also both righteous and evil. Furthermore, can a witch who can be feared by Nightmare Ghost Cain be simple?

Although Su Xiao wanted to know what these rule-breakers, or people who weren't rule-breakers but were better than rule-breakers, had gathered in this world for, he had had too many things to do before and had no energy to clash with them.

Su Xiao closed the team channel. There was no need to worry about the Priest exiting the team for now. Witch-toxin Warlock Baze had also retreated, which was understandable. As for the Diviner Perier, she was already returning to Eternal Ring City, it seemed she also knew that the subsequent situation was not good.

The Demon Teleportation Array started. When the spatial fluctuations dissipated, Su Xiao, Baham, and Fairy Dew had returned to the first basement level of the Lord's Manor's castle. Returning to this place, Su Xiao relaxed a lot. First, he went to the third floor to return Morey's pendant and ornaments, then came to the flower room on the fifth floor to meditate and recuperate from his injuries.

But he hadn't meditated for long before Su Xiao found that the situation in the World Contact Platform was wrong. An announcement had actually appeared. After opening it to check, he found that the message scrolling speed inside was extremely fast. After checking for a moment, he confirmed one thing: the competition for the "Initial Mark" was about to reach its most intense stage. In other words, this immortal brawl was about to begin. ===== CHAPTER 3716 =====