Chapter 3738: Fate

【Selecting competitive mode...】

【A random selection will be made from the following competitive modes.】

1. Team Battle.

2. Arena Battle.

3. Round-Robin Battle.

……

Three types of competition appeared before Su Xiao. The first involved a chaotic melee of all fourteen participants in one arena. The second required each side to send one person to the arena; if one was strong enough, they could win continuously and wipe out the entire opposing team.

The third, Round-Robin Battle, involved both sides selecting opponents for one-on-one duels. Out of the fourteen participants, a total of seven matches would be held, with the side winning four matches claiming victory in this round.

【Random selection complete, Round-Robin Battle selected.】

Seeing this result, Su Xiao felt slightly disappointed. Given his side's lineup, Team Battle and Arena Battle would have clearly been more advantageous.

Since Round-Robin had been drawn, he had to find a way to cope. It was a very wise decision not to bring Amu into the Watcher's Tower this time.

If Amu had come, he would have occupied a slot, turning the Round-Robin into eight matches. Had he known, he shouldn't have brought Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang and Baja in either, because they were Su Xiao's followers. In such a trial setting, as long as Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baja were within 50 kilometers of Su Xiao, he could summon them.

In this way, Su Xiao, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baja would count as a single competitive slot; this was only natural, just as a summoner wouldn't be counted as multiple individuals for summoning a minion.

Su Xiao crouched halfway, pressing his index finger to the ground. An Aoge crystal summoning array formed. After sensing for a moment, Amu was indeed not far away, having returned from Black Iron City and waiting at the No. 15 train station on the edge of the Corrosion Rain Land.

With a boom, the summoning began. That's right, to prevent the summoning from being interrupted, Su Xiao's summoning array was an improved version, based on the principle of the "Demon Teleportation Array."

Although the Watcher's Tower had layers of spatial seals, summoning followers was a notarization of the Reincarnation Paradise, so it could naturally be achieved. The summoning array flashed, and Amu was ejected, spinning at high speed a few times before landing with a thud.

"Moo?"

Amu stood up and shook his head, feeling no discomfort from the summoning force. He was long used to it; with ordinary summoning arrays, Amu would instead feel uncomfortable, always fearing the weak traction force might break, causing him to fall into the endless spatial mist.

Conversely, the Law-Extinguishing characteristic summoning was like sitting on a launched missile; as long as the thing itself didn't explode, there was no need to care about any spatial mist or spatial vortex.

With Amu present, his side's advantage increased significantly. First was the matchup situation for his side's seven members.

Wood: His abilities were bizarre; the probability of winning against him was very low unless the opponent was a Transcendent.

Zaiyas: A shameless guy with Time-system and Ancient God-immortal system abilities; almost one of his side's guaranteed wins.

Eater of Darkness: A guaranteed win for his side.

Caesar: A forfeit slot for his side.

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang: Originally a surrender slot for his side, but since Xiang Bubu and Amu were both Su Xiao's followers, once Xiang Bubu's round began, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang and Amu would appear together. Since Amu couldn't trigger the Lone Battle Bull ability, the win rate was moderate.

Baja: As an assassination-type, Baja wasn't suitable for this kind of competition. Furthermore, several of Baja's powerful abilities and ultimate moves were important trump cards for his team and shouldn't be used here—it would be a waste. They needed to be saved for more critical moments later, so Baja would maintain his state; if needed, he could forfeit to preserve the team's trump cards.

Su Xiao: Law-Extinguishing Shadow + three Grandmaster techniques. He was at the peak of Tier 9 because Tier 9 only allowed for that level, not because he had reached his personal limit. A Transcendent who hadn't used "Primal Fragments" to ascend might not be his match in the early-to-mid stages of Transcendent. As long as he didn't encounter someone like the Ruthless Brother or the Masked Woman—other powerhouses also capped at the Tier 9 limit—this was a guaranteed win for his side.

This lineup meant that as long as Wood, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, or Baja won any one match, his side would win.

In the open arena, Su Xiao walked toward the central spiral staircase. While waiting for the Round-Robin to start, he tried to check the Watcher's Tower rankings. The person at the very top, who had challenged this trial, was named Puppeteer, who had reached the twelfth floor but failed the final challenge.

Su Xiao naturally knew who this was. In the previous world progress, he had even cooperated with her. She wore a fox mask, with a Gothic-style doll hanging beneath it. Her true name was unknown; only that she was female and held the status of No. 2 in the Phantom Troupe.

Gulu coming to the Eternal Light World this time was certainly not a death wish, but rather accompanying her big sister. Puppeteer had come to take this opportunity for a top-difficulty ascension—an opportunity she had waited a long time for.

Following the central spiral staircase, Su Xiao arrived at the first floor of the Watcher's Tower. This place was an arena, with a yellow sand field of over a thousand square meters in the center, surrounded by rings of spectator seats.

At this moment, seven violators were on the yellow sand field, two of whom Su Xiao recognized: Beverly and Xiao Ge.

Seeing it was Su Xiao, Beverly's eyes narrowed slightly, and her black-gloved fists clenched with a crunch. The hot-bodied Beverly, wearing a black tank top, with a fishbone braid reaching her waist and dark red pupils, gave off an exceptionally sharp feeling.

The other five violators were no small characters either: Black Hunter, White Bone Man, Insect Controller, Soul Ghost, and Moon Witch.

Among them, Moon Witch, wearing a pale purple dress with long silver hair, was the most eye-catching, especially her gentle temperament, which would make those with weak wills subconsciously doubt: Is this really a violator? Perhaps, no, the judgment must be wrong.

That's right, Moon Witch was a top-tier Charisma-type ability user. She didn't use active abilities to charm others; truly powerful Charisma-types wouldn't deliberately enhance their own allure. Instead, they would intentionally lower it. A truly terrifying Charisma-type made others feel a subconscious sense of goodwill upon meeting them.

One might ask, when two people meet, it's very normal to feel a bit of goodwill and fantasy toward someone as gentle and stunning as Moon Witch. No one would be guarded against that bit of goodwill in their hearts.

That was where the problem lay. Moon Witch could let that bit of goodwill toward her unknowingly turn into a seed, which would then gradually take root and sprout, eventually growing robustly in a person's consciousness and judgment. By then, that person would be obedient to Moon Witch.

If the Grey Gentleman hadn't died, then the Priest, the Grey Gentleman, and Moon Witch would be the ceiling of the violators below Transcendent. It was worth mentioning that Moon Witch came from the Holy Light Paradise.

Besides Moon Witch, the other four violators were Black Hunter, White Bone Man, Insect Controller, and Soul Ghost. Soul Ghost had already been hit, floating behind Moon Witch. Judging by that look in his eyes, there was no possibility of him breaking free from this state with his own abilities.

Beverly looked at Moon Witch with vigilance. She knew the other's abilities weren't aimed at the opposite sex; as long as one had a bit of goodwill toward Moon Witch, they would be hit. Staying vigilant like this, Beverly sized up Moon Witch's dress; the style made her feel it was quite nice.

Thinking this, Beverly shifted her gaze, but for some reason, her mind kept thinking about that dress, and then her brain automatically filled in Moon Witch's appearance. The other's gentle, approachable temperament made her feel Moon Witch was becoming more and more pleasing to the eye. Perhaps she could cooperate with her later; she subconsciously looked at Moon Witch again.

Slap—!

A small hand slapped Beverly across the face; it was Xiao Ge. Beverly immediately shuddered. She had clearly been on guard internally, yet she had still almost been influenced by Moon Witch's ability. The other's methods were truly too subtle and caught her off guard.

Xiao Ge spoke in the team channel shared only by him and Beverly: "Sis, what are you doing? Did you almost get hit?"

"Fart, how could your sister be so easily bewitched?"

"I just took a picture of your expression. Do you want to see it yourself?"

"Delete it."

"No."

Xiao Ge smiled, revealing a mouthful of neat white teeth, but his sister just stared at him, and sent in the team channel:

"Three."

"Two."

"Already deleted."

Due to bloodline suppression, Xiao Ge honestly deleted the photo. Beverly began to size up the few people opposite them, suddenly feeling that this competition didn't look optimistic.

Everyone arrived on the yellow sand field. The next second, both sides were teleported to the spectator seats on either side. A virtual screen appeared above the field. After a random draw, the violators were to send their participants first.

The method of the Round-Robin Battle was very simple. After one side sent a participant, the other side could choose any participant to respond. In the next round, the winning side would send a participant first, and the other side would choose to respond. As the side acting second, they undoubtedly had more of an advantage.

After discussing for a moment, the seven violators decided to have Black Hunter go out first.

Black Hunter flashed onto the yellow sand field. He wore a short windbreaker and a hood, his hands were pitch black, and viscous liquid seeped from his hands, dripping onto the yellow sand and making a hissing corrosive sound.

Dark liquid floated around him, causing the air over the entire yellow sand field to distort.

Su Xiao walked out from the gate opened on the yellow sand field. Just as he stepped onto the yellow sand field, a countdown appeared above.

"I've heard of the Night of Decapitation long ago. I didn't expect to cross swords today. Don't say my abilities are despicable."

Dark liquid continued to flow from Black Hunter's hands, shrouding a large area of the ground around him. Just then, the countdown ended, and the battle began.

The Demon Spirit was released from Zhan Long Shan. Almost simultaneously, a blood-red phantom appeared behind Su Xiao, pulling a soul bow to the limit and firing the Demon Spirit, which had turned into a black smoke arrow.

Boom!

The Demon Spirit arrow was blocked by the hardened black liquid, exploding like iron sand. This made Black Hunter, behind the barrier, feel suspicious. This Night of Decapitation, with his well-known reputation, had a very strong attack speed, but his attack intensity really wasn't much.

But in the next instant, Black Hunter noticed that the Demon Spirit in front of the barrier suddenly disappeared. Su Xiao, dozens of meters away, suddenly appeared there. He didn't draw his blade, but instead delivered a simple, unadorned straight kick.

This made Black Hunter feel a bit of anger. The Night of Decapitation had always been famous for his Grandmaster-level blade techniques. To face him now without even drawing his blade was too condescending.

Although he thought this in his heart, Black Hunter still strengthened the defensive power of the liquid barrier in front of him. Then, in his energy perception, this barrier suddenly disappeared. A biting wind rushed toward his face, blowing his hair into a vertical style with a whoosh, and the Origin-level cloth armor he was wearing actually made a sound like tearing cloth, cracking into fine lines.

Black Hunter's pupils had shrunk to the limit. He immediately activated his life-saving equipment, preparing to teleport a hundred meters away. Unfortunately, under this straight kick with "Ascension-level" attack judgment, that life-saving ring shattered with a crack.

Splat—

An invincible barrier emitting a golden light appeared in front of Beverly, Xiao Ge, Insect Controller, and the others. Black Hunter was evenly distributed across this invincible barrier.

Beverly, Xiao Ge, White Bone Man, Insect Controller, and Soul Ghost looked at each other, feeling a bit fortunate in their hearts. Fortunately, it wasn't an Arena Battle, otherwise, there might have been a terrifying scene of one kick per person.

"The... problem isn't big. Everyone can only fight one round."

Xiao Ge spoke. Hearing this, White Bone Man, Insect Controller, and Soul Ghost echoed him. They had already started competing; surrendering directly was truly unwilling. This kind of opportunity to be summoned by the Watcher's Tower was hard to come by.

【Prompt: You have killed violator 18***50. You have obtained 2 Honor Medals.】

No Scarlet Card dropped. Su Xiao turned and walked toward his side's spectator seats. His side had won this round, and it was his side's turn to send a competitor first.

Although Su Xiao, Zaiyas, Wood, and Caesar all knew the subsequent plan, they still discussed it simply and decided to let Zaiyas go up.

"Ahem!"

Zaiyas coughed dryly, meaning Su Xiao and Wood were blocking the passage to the yellow sand field. Although it seemed like that, the true meaning was: 'Move aside, I'm going to show off.'

Zaiyas walked onto the arena field. The one who walked out opposite him was Beverly. The moment the battle began, Beverly had already appeared in front of Zaiyas, grabbing his head with one hand.

Perhaps even Beverly herself didn't notice that a few drops of dark red blood had stained the skin of her arm. The two had almost brushed past each other. Zaiyas's headless body stood there, as if he hadn't reacted to the fact that his head had been taken.

Strangely, Beverly, who had snatched the enemy's head, just kept holding the head with one hand, poised to step forward. A close look at her pupils would reveal that they were moving rapidly, representing that her thinking was in a highly active state, very much like she was fighting a strong enemy in her imagination, while in reality, she was motionless.

Tick, tick—

The sound of a clock ticking second by second came. A few seconds later, bloodstains suddenly appeared all over Beverly's body, and these bloodstains became increasingly dense. The Zaiyas head in her hand turned into black tentacles, flying back to Zaiyas's severed neck and gradually reconstructing his head.

Zaiyas walked toward his side's spectator seats. Just as he was about to leave the yellow sand field, he snapped his fingers with a pop. Washinoki Washinoki Jishi of meters behind him, Beverly, who had been standing there like a statue, had the bloodstains on her body explode like they had been detonated. With a pop, she sprayed a large amount of blood beads around her. Beverly, who had triggered her life-saving item and surrendered in time, was instantly teleported back to the spectator seats on the other side.

Su Xiao, Wood, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, Caesar, and Baja said nothing, but the look in their eyes toward Zaiyas on the field below was exceptionally consistent: 'That scoundrel actually succeeded in showing off.'

Who knows which genius on the other side suggested having Beverly deal with Zaiyas. In fact, Beverly's strength wasn't weak, but Zaiyas was a natural counter to this type of melee fighter.

Su Xiao and Zaiyas appeared one after another, the purpose being to take the first two rounds. Out of seven rounds total, after taking two, the other side would inevitably think about turning the situation around. In that case, they would definitely send their most powerful person to win one back; otherwise, once they lost three in a row, the margin for error later would be too low.

Caesar put the Abyss Jar on his head and stepped into the yellow sand field. As Caesar moved forward, darkness like the abyss pushed forward.

Seeing this formation, the heads of the few people on the opposite side buzzed. The Law-Extinguishing and Ancient God-system were already outrageous enough, and now came one with an even more fierce deterrent. Several violators looked at Moon Witch. As a violator on the same level as the Priest, at such a critical moment, it must be Moon Witch's turn to go up.

"Fine, but don't blame me if I lose. I just happened to want to appreciate the methods of the Deceiver, Caesar."

Moon Witch, sitting on the bench, crossed her fingers and stretched lazily with a sense of languor. White Bone Man, Insect Controller, and Beverly turned their heads to avoid her gaze. Soul Ghost, who had just escaped a disaster from her, also immediately shifted his gaze.

"I'm not as scary as you think. If you don't believe me, you can ask Soul Ghost if I took the initiative to lift the ability. Although we are temporary teammates, I also cherish this fate."

Hearing Moon Witch say this, Soul Ghost remained silent, just glancing at his empty storage space. However, the equipment in his equipment slot hadn't moved at all, which was very strange. Although Soul Ghost hated Moon Witch to the core in his heart, he also felt that taking the risk of losing his life to try and retaliate was not as good as staying away from her. After all, his carefully crafted equipment and abilities were all still there.

Moon Witch walked onto the arena field, looking at Caesar with the Abyss Jar on his head opposite her. Although she was still elegant, she was facing a formidable enemy in her heart.

But who knew, the next second, the black mist behind Caesar dissipated rapidly like it was leaking, and the Abyss Jar on Caesar's head disappeared, revealing his sneaky, wretched expression.

Such a disparity made Moon Witch stunned for a moment. Then, her face turned pale, and she immediately said: "I forfeit."

Because of Moon Witch's forfeit, Caesar, who had just prepared to take off his shoes to try and turn the situation around, was teleported to his side's spectator seats. This made Caesar laugh exceptionally cunningly. As long as Moon Witch on the opposite side made a move, Caesar would immediately forfeit; fighting was not what he was good at.

Having accidentally won the third round, the gazes of Su Xiao, Zaiyas, and Wood all turned to the Eater of Darkness. Although the Eater of Darkness was still a bit unhappy in his heart, he still stood up and walked toward the yellow sand field.

The battle started quickly. It was the Eater of Darkness versus Xiao Ge. Xiao Ge was just about to summon his combat mecha when he felt something was wrong. The enemy opposite him didn't give him the slightest sense of crisis.

Coupled with the other's weird smile full of shark teeth, it gave Xiao Ge a faint feeling of touching death. Thinking of Moon Witch who had forfeited directly just now, Xiao Ge made a decision in his heart. There was no need to suffer serious injuries for this challenge.

"Forfeit."

As soon as Xiao Ge forfeited, the six violators were teleported away simultaneously. Speaking of which, these few were lucky. Even with Moon Witch there, if they had drawn a Team Battle, at least five of these seven violators would have been left here forever.

【Prompt: Your team has won the first round of the challenge. Do you want to settle the challenge rewards?】

【If you choose not to settle for now, this reward settlement will accumulate. For every round of challenge completed, this reward will increase by 1.5 times.】

No need to rush the settlement. To get the highest reward limit, he had to wait until the twelfth floor challenge was successful before making the final settlement.

As Su Xiao made his choice, the ceiling at the top opened, and the metal spiral staircase with handrails descended with a clatter.

After ascending a hundred meters along the metal spiral staircase, an alluring aroma of food drifted into his nostrils, making his saliva secrete and his stomach issue a dissatisfied protest. Only by devouring a meal could he appease his stomach's complaints.

After arriving at the second floor, this place was a restaurant. Although not luxurious, the furnishings had a sense of age. Located in front was a long dining table, about two meters wide and eight meters long, with eight chairs placed in front.

Behind this dining table was a giant chef over five meters tall. Further behind him were cutting boards, kitchen utensils, and the like. The fire under the soup pot was burning, as if some delicacies had already been cooked, waiting for Su Xiao and the others to arrive.

【The second floor of the Watcher's Tower challenge has been opened.】

【Challenge content: Endless Delicacies.】

【This round is a reward-type challenge level.】

……

After checking the content of this challenge, Su Xiao knew what was going on. First was this giant chef. In the second floor of the Watcher's Tower, he was the absolute ruler. If he wanted, he could even put the Eater of Darkness on the cutting board and chop him to death with a kitchen knife.

This giant chef would determine the corresponding food intake based on the strength of each guest and cook delicious food with rare ingredients for the challengers to taste. But there was one point: this giant chef respected ingredients and even more respected food; he absolutely did not allow waste. Once the delicacies he cooked were placed there and no one enjoyed them, everyone present would be put on the cutting board.

Determining food intake by strength was not good news. Don't forget, there was an Eater of Darkness with Transcendent strength in the team. What was even worse was that the Eater of Darkness had little interest in these delicacies.

Eight seats. Amu sat in the middle seat facing the giant chef, while the Eater of Darkness sat on the far left.

The giant chef looked down at the few people sitting there, his face full of a big beard. He scooped out several large bowls of meat soup, and the dining table seemed to have its own consciousness, with each bowl of meat soup sliding to the front of each person.

An even stranger scene was that eyes opened on all kinds of tableware, and they carried malicious anticipation, expecting the few people present to be killed on the spot by the giant chef.

Su Xiao picked up the meat soup and took a sip. If it weren't for frequently enjoying Xia's delicacies, encountering such powerful culinary skills on par with Xia's, he might not have been able to resist the temptation of this food and would have downed the meat soup in the bowl in one gulp.

Su Xiao had just finished enjoying a bowl of meat soup when a large portion of seafood noodles appeared on the table in front of him. He hadn't eaten a single meal since entering this world, and he happened to be very hungry, so he picked up the tableware and started enjoying the food.

The seafood noodles were eaten, followed by a portion of grilled shrimp. Although he didn't know what kind of shrimp this was, the taste was very good, followed by a portion of mushroom soup. After eating this portion of food, Su Xiao felt a strong sense of fullness.

【Prompt: Your real stamina attribute has permanently increased by 1 point.】

【Detected that you have not yet broken through the 300-point attribute barrier, you cannot increase your body attributes on this basis.】

【Notarization clause triggered. This is your gain in this challenge. Due to unavoidable circumstances, you cannot obtain this gain, and it will be obtained in another form.】

【You have obtained 1 real attribute point.】

【You have obtained 2 real attribute points.】

【You have obtained 5 real attribute points.】

【You have obtained 3 real attribute points.】

【You have obtained 2 golden skill points.】

……

A total of 11 real attribute points and 2 golden skill points were obtained. Under normal circumstances, after eating these delicacies, his strength, agility, and stamina attributes would increase by 11–12 points, and one or two skill levels would increase. But because he hadn't broken through the 300-point attribute barrier, these rewards were converted into real attribute points and golden skill points.

With Su Xiao's current physique, these delicacies could all increase his body attributes. One could imagine the rarity of the ingredients used. In contrast, these ingredients would provide a huge amount of body energy. Even for Su Xiao, he couldn't eat any more food at this moment.

The Eater of Darkness ate the least. He was not only uninterested in these delicacies but also the fastest to get full.

Shifting his gaze to Amu, he saw the simple-minded one roll his big hands, and the delicacies in front of the Eater of Darkness arrived in front of him. Meanwhile, the giant chef in front of the kitchen stove continued to cook various delicacies.

After Amu had a good feast, the giant chef in front of the kitchen stove turned off the fire with a pop. He turned his head to look at Amu, who had licked the plate clean and eaten all the delicacies because the food supply couldn't keep up.

Amu could be said to be satisfied. With a whoosh, the screen in front of the dining table was pulled shut, and this round of reward levels ended.

【Prompt: Your team has passed the Endless Delicacies challenge. Do you want to settle the challenge rewards?】

【If you choose not to settle for now, this reward settlement will accumulate. For every round of challenge completed, this reward will increase by 1.6 times.】

After the prompt appeared, the ceiling in the center of the second floor opened, and the metal spiral staircase descended with a clatter.

In this round of challenge, Amu ate so many delicacies that could increase his body attributes, his strength, agility, and stamina attributes would inevitably have a significant increase.

Su Xiao walked onto the spiral staircase leading to the third floor. When he arrived at the third floor, a crystal giant door emitting soul-blue light blocked the way forward, and he pressed his hand on it.

【The third floor of the Watcher's Tower challenge has been opened.】

【Challenge content: Soul Victor.】

【In this round of challenge, only one person can challenge at a time.】

【A total of three consecutive wins is a successful challenge.】

【You are about to face the first round of strong enemies. You need to be prepared, and in this battle, you can only use soul power as a means of combat.】

……

After the prompt ended, the crystal giant door in front opened with a clatter, and a grey fog wall appeared behind Su Xiao, isolating Zaiyas, Wood, and the others.

Several figures walked out of the soul mist in front. These were all his opponents for this round. But when Su Xiao saw these figures clearly, he stopped his forward pace, because walking out of the soul mist were exactly the Soul Guard, Thorn Woman, Ghost Hunter, Soul Mage, Black Steel Knight, and the final Soul Lord, each of whom Su Xiao had beaten once in the Soul Arena.

After these six appeared, their appearance postures were different, and with the soul mist, they had more style, especially the Ghost Hunter, who was still as arrogant as the first two times they met.

"You are the challenger? Don't blame us for being despicable by six against one, this is the notarized rule..."

The Ghost Hunter, carrying dual blades and crossing his arms, suddenly stuttered halfway through his sentence. Behind him, the Soul Lord, who was looking at the side at a 45-degree angle upward and didn't even bother to look directly at his opponent, found that his subordinate had stuttered halfway through his entry line.

The Soul Lord maintained his current pose, but poked the Ghost Hunter's back lightly with his hand. But this subordinate, who usually liked to show off and had no other shortcomings, was still stuttering at this time and didn't continue his line, which made the Soul Lord feel angry in his heart.

The Soul Lord turned his head toward the front with a bit of anger, and then performed a facial expression show. After seeing that the challenger was Su Xiao, the bit of anger on the Soul Lord's face was quickly replaced by astonishment, followed by a forced smile, but because it was too forced, he couldn't even maintain the forced smile, and finally directly put on a mask of pain. Also putting on masks of pain were several of the Soul Lord's subordinates.

(End of chapter)