Chapter 4028: Interests

Su Xiao had just stepped off the train when he put on the respirator Bubu Wang had crafted. This respirator, with its distinct steampunk style, could filter out fungal spores in the air to the greatest extent possible.

That's right, even fungal spores at the level of Void exotic entities would be detected by him once they drifted into his perception range; this was the power of "Absolute Perception."

The Abyss Archbishop was formidable; in the past, during his peak, he had nearly ascended to the "Supreme Peak." One must know that for an Abyssal entity like the Abyss Archbishop, who possessed conceptual-level immortality, reaching the "Supreme Peak" was several times harder than for other systems, if not more. This was the price of conceptual-level immortality.

Su Xiao was now certain of one thing: with his current means, he truly could not kill the Abyss Archbishop. Otherwise, the previous generation of Law-Killers would not have sealed the Abyss Archbishop in the Eternal Light World. Conversely, not a single member of the Ducain family had been sealed in the Eternal Light World, which spoke volumes.

Sealing the Abyss Archbishop into the "Book of Original Sin" was also unlikely. Setting aside the fact that the opponent was not an object, the "Book of Original Sin" was more targeted toward entities like the Eternal Night Empress, who were semi-souls, or Original Sin items. Even if a sealing opportunity were found, given the Abyss Archbishop's crisis premonition, he would choose to self-destruct the instant before being sealed, only to later "possess" and resurrect in a Dark Bishop in some world.

As for completely eradicating the Dark God Sect, many major factions in the Astral Realm had attempted it over the three eras, and none had succeeded.

Having an unkillable enemy was clearly a huge hidden danger, not to mention that the opponent was gradually recovering his strength.

One might ask, why was the Abyss Archbishop sealed in the first place? The answer is that during the Second Era, the Abyss Archbishop spread the Dark Faith throughout the Astral Realm. The unbridled Dark God Sect led many mid-to-high-tier worlds into chaos and slaughter. The Abyss Archbishop, having harvested massive amounts of faith power, could be said to have been at the height of his influence.

As the saying goes, "When the heavens are mad, there is rain; when a person is mad, there is disaster." The Abyss Archbishop hadn't been mad for many years before a Law-Killer came knocking at his door.

What followed was one hundred thousand years of imprisonment in the Eternal Light World. After Su Xiao arrived in the Eternal Light World, compared to his grudge against the Law-Killers, the Abyss Archbishop clearly wanted to escape even more.

Given the Abyss Archbishop's Abyssal constitution, it was estimated that his lifespan reached the level of hundreds of thousands of years. When he first rose to power, he was only a thousand years old. By age ratio, he was undeniably young and reckless.

After being imprisoned in the Eternal Light World for one hundred thousand years, the Abyss Archbishop's inner attitude was basically: he was honest now, but because he was too concerned with his pride, he wouldn't beg to be let go.

Because of this, after the Abyss Archbishop gained his freedom, he did not spread the Dark Faith everywhere. Setting aside the brutal beatings he received back then, given the current situation in the Astral Realm, spreading the Dark Faith everywhere wasn't just arrogant; it was brain-dead.

Now, the Abyss Archbishop had only one goal: to continuously use his own advantages to improve his combat power and ascend to his former peak. Only in this way could he become one of the dominant figures in the subsequent upheaval of the Astral Realm.

Of course, because he had been imprisoned for too long, his ambition had severely declined. The Abyss Archbishop now tended more toward the idea that only by becoming powerful could he truly be stable, rather than being caught up in the major events about to arrive in the Astral Realm and losing control of his own fate.

It could be said that the imprisonment and reform of the Eternal Light Prison had some effect. After all, that place was so rich in elements that not even a blade of grass grew there. One hundred thousand years was too long—so long that even someone as proud as the Abyss Archbishop began to reflect during the long, boring stretches.

The current conflict was that the Abyss Archbishop's entire left arm had been struck by the Triple Soul Slash. This kind of soul injury made his strength recovery very slow, let alone dreaming of exceeding his former peak. And as for the hostility toward the Law-Killer, previously, the Abyss Archbishop had a fire in his heart.

But at this moment, sensing this Law-Killer who was at the very least a "Top-Tier Supreme," the nameless fire in the Abyss Archbishop's heart suddenly extinguished by more than half. He estimated that in this confrontation, the probability of his body dying and being reborn was over ninety percent. He was also a "Top-Tier Supreme," true, but ultimately, this Law-Killer's abilities were his natural counter.

Yes, Su Xiao was the natural counter to the Abyss Archbishop. The reason was that the Abyss Archbishop was a powerful entity of the Dark Mind system. The "Mind Control Immunity" possessed by ordinary Blade Masters really couldn't resist the Abyss Archbishop. The problem was that Su Xiao's Blade Master ability was particularly outrageous in this regard.

A particularly interesting situation thus emerged: Su Xiao truly did not want to continue entangling himself in a life-and-death struggle with this guy who couldn't be killed no matter what. To put it bluntly, killing the opponent didn't even yield a kill reward, and since this guy posed no harm to the Astral Realm now, killing him wouldn't even trigger a Void Tree mission.

As for the Abyss Archbishop, he wanted even less to be at odds with a Law-Killer whose combat power had soared by several tiers in such a short time. Moreover, who knew if one day this guy would find a way to kill him completely? It wasn't that the Abyss Archbishop lacked confidence in his "immortality," but he truly felt uneasy facing a guy who had sealed six "Big Daddy" level Original Sin items.

Yet, neither side was the type to take the initiative to negotiate; one was indifferent and decisive in killing, the other was dark, arrogant, and cold.

Fate was just that wonderful. Today, there happened to be a guy present who had both status and strength, and who didn't care about face—ah no, sometimes they were just plain shameless.

Magic Scythe Aina stood to the side with one hand on her hip, her grinning expression clearly saying, "Fight, hurry up and fight, this old lady is already prepared to watch the show."

Magic Scythe Aina's gaze inadvertently flickered and saw the hulking Amu. This made her knit her delicate brows and bite her thumb nail in thought. The people of the Green clan were indeed of poor character, but the intelligence of the Green clan was generally quite high.

Magic Scythe Aina squinted at Amu, then shifted her gaze toward Su Xiao, and finally looked at the Abyss Archbishop. Her eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"Oh~, oh? Oh!"

Magic Scythe Aina made a strange sound, clapped her hands, and looked as if she had an idea.

"You two! Let's hold off on fighting for now."

Magic Scythe Aina shouted. Su Xiao, who was just about to erupt with blood energy, slowed his movements, and the darkness of the Abyss Archbishop opposite also calmed down a bit.

"You two, do you have some irreconcilable grudge that requires a life-and-death outcome? Even if you do, this old brother can't be killed. Your grudge will just be like a lump of paste, stirring and stirring, and in the end, there will be no result."

When Magic Scythe Aina said this, she raised her hand to indicate that it was meaningless. As if possessed by great mercy, she continued:

"Why don't we put down our grudges, our hearts filled with gratitude and..."

Magic Scythe Aina stopped here, having seen the Battle Angel Celine walking off the train. A life-and-death battle was about to take place; Su Xiao certainly wouldn't let Celine continue to hide, after all, they had already discussed various cooperation matters.

Celine had just gotten off the train when Magic Scythe Aina walked up quickly, the smile on her face changing from the previous playful grin to one from the heart.

"Hello, miss, may I ask if you are of the perception system?"

"Eh?"

Celine was a bit dazed. She looked Magic Scythe Aina up and down. Aina was wearing a tube top, with a white shirt over it. The loose white shirt had no buttons and was completely open. On her lower body, she wore ultra-short shorts, and two short-handled battle scythes hung at her waist. Between the two small scythes was a fine chain as thick as a little finger. The depths of her eyes were pitch black, and her pupils had a golden-white shimmer.

"I... am."

For some reason, Celine felt a bit nervous.

"That's great! I'm currently in special need of finding a perception-type partner to cooperate with. For this, I am willing to pay a reward that will definitely move you."

While speaking, Magic Scythe Aina had already calmly taken Celine's hand. At first, Celine didn't feel anything, after all, they were both women, but the way the other party's thumb rubbed back and forth on the back of her hand made her gradually feel that something was wrong.

Suddenly, Magic Scythe Aina seemed to think of something. She looked at Su Xiao and the Abyss Archbishop, who were looking at her with unfriendly gazes. Just half a minute ago, it was she who shouted for the two to stop, but upon seeing Celine, Magic Scythe Aina had left them both hanging there.

This made Magic Scythe Aina curse herself for being shameless in her heart. Encountering such a captivating perception-type girl, how could she be distracted by the trivial matters of those two guys?

"To ensure our better cooperation later, I have some questions that I need you to answer."

Magic Scythe Aina's smile became even more brilliant.

"Ah?"

Celine was completely bewildered.

"How old are you this year? You must not have a boyfriend yet, right? Looking at your life source fluctuations, your age definitely isn't large. To have these achievements at this age, you must have never talked to a boyfriend. That's great... cough~, being too competitive isn't good either. How much do you weigh? What type do you like..."

Magic Scythe Aina began to ask questions in succession until she asked about Celine's measurements, at which point Celine retreated several large steps in vigilance, looking at Magic Scythe Aina with the gaze one would use for a pervert.

"Damn, this familiar sense of déjà vu."

Baha was shocked. After all, in the previous world, they had just seen Green Gillian. The one before them was simply the Third Era version of Green Gillian—the youth version. This made Baha subconsciously ask:

"Hehe, I guess your surname is Green."

"How did you know?"

"Holy crap!"

Baha was so shocked he almost bristled.

Magic Scythe Aina looked at Celine with some reluctance. Suddenly, she thought of something, and the smile on her face was extremely brilliant.

"You two, how about we make a deal? After this deal, our new and old grudges will be wiped clean, how about that?"

Magic Scythe Aina spoke. While speaking, she also peered into the train, but since it was one-way glass, she didn't see Celine's figure.

"What do you mean?"

As Baha spoke, he landed on Su Xiao's shoulder. Baha was already very mature in dealing with various events. He didn't need Su Xiao's eye signal to know what Su Xiao meant. He also saw that his boss was a bit tired of the dispute with the Abyss Archbishop, who had conceptual-level immortality; it truly had no benefits.

"I, from this, Battle Cow Brother?"

Magic Scythe Aina asked tentatively.

"Amu, his name is Amu."

Baha corrected.

"Oh, hello Amu," Magic Scythe Aina nodded to Amu, then continued: "From Amu's situation, I can judge one thing: he survived the Abyssal power erosion that should have killed him ten times, a hundred times, and even turned a misfortune into a blessing. Don't question this point, I am a Magic Scythe."

When Magic Scythe Aina said this, she picked up a small wooden stick and gestured as she continued:

"So I guess that in your squad, there is a member with particularly high attainments in Abyssal studies."

Hearing Magic Scythe Aina's words, Baha didn't speak, because this kind of question was not something he, as a follower, should answer.

"Yes."

Su Xiao's words made Magic Scythe Aina snap her fingers.

"Then the problems of the three of us are perfectly solved. I propose, shall we talk on the train? This way, we can show our initial sincerity to each other."

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak. The Abyss Archbishop was silent for a moment, then said:

"Can."

After speaking, the Abyss Archbishop's gaze turned to Su Xiao.

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak and went straight into action, stepping onto the Lord Train and temporarily turning off the defensive anti-enemy mode.

A moment later, on the Lord Train, Su Xiao and the Abyss Archbishop sat opposite each other, with Magic Scythe Aina on the side. At first glance, it looked very much like Su Xiao and the Abyss Archbishop were playing some kind of game, with Magic Scythe Aina acting as the referee.

Magic Scythe Aina cleared her throat and said: "First, let's talk about my purpose. My strength has reached a bottleneck. I need a passage that can safely enter the middle and lower Abyssal regions, and then from there, climb back to the material world. This is the opportunity for me to go further. Law-Killer brother, you can definitely do this, right?"

"Can."

"That's great."

Magic Scythe Aina clapped her hands and continued: "In return, I will help the Abyss Archbishop heal the causality of his lost left arm caused by the multiple Soul Slashes."

Hearing this, the Abyss Archbishop's eyes flickered, and he nodded to indicate that this was a deal he could accept.

But the next second, Su Xiao and Magic Scythe Aina both looked at the Abyss Archbishop. Su Xiao and Magic Scythe Aina had both put chips on the table in this deal; the Abyss Archbishop's current situation was undoubtedly a free ride.

The Abyss Archbishop was clear about this. He pondered for a moment and said: "I have a soul skill secret technique that can nourish the origin life."

After speaking, the Abyss Archbishop took out a pitch-black scroll and placed it on the table. It could be seen that this scroll had once fallen into the Abyss and was later obtained by the Abyss Archbishop.

Su Xiao picked up the scroll on the table, and a prompt appeared.

【You have obtained the "Soul Nourishing Ritual" scroll.】

【Soul Nourishing Ritual】

Origin: Second Era · Soul Bell Tower

Type: Ritual carrier/Ritual core item.

Effect: One can set up a Soul Nourishing Ritual according to the records on this scroll. If the holder has not mastered the relevant soul-system basic abilities, they can use this scroll as the core of the ritual to set up the ritual. As a price, this ritual scroll will be consumed.

Ritual effect: According to the current soul strength of the ritual beneficiary, permanently increase their health points. The increase range is: for every point of current soul strength, permanently increase 850 points of "Basic Health."

Warning: This ritual can benefit at most once. If one undergoes this ritual a second time, it will inevitably lead to soul deformity, bringing irreversible serious consequences.

Introduction: The relationship between soul and body is far more wonderful than people imagine.

Su Xiao put down the 【Soul Nourishing Ritual】 scroll. This thing was very suitable for him. The problem was that he didn't have this thing; at most, he couldn't increase a large amount of health. But if this deal couldn't be completed, then the Abyss Archbishop would lose the soul causality of his left arm. This deal was not each taking what they needed, but each paying an equivalent chip.

Su Xiao took out a bottle of "Elemental Brew" and poured three cups. The Abyss Archbishop originally wanted to refuse, but as a collector of fine wines, the moment the "Elemental Brew" drifted into his nose, he found it hard to refuse.

"No need to be so polite, hahaha."

Magic Scythe Aina picked up the wine glass, drank it in one gulp, and then very naturally picked up the remaining half bottle of "Elemental Brew," wanting to drink it all alone.

"Abyss old brother, you took out this scroll, very good, but is it really worthy of your left arm?"

Magic Scythe Aina seemed like a jerk, but in her heart, she was clear as a mirror about this deal. This deal was: don't look at what each other took out, look at what they got. She got the opportunity to go further in strength, which was priceless to her. The Abyss Archbishop recovered his left arm, and his road to recovering strength turned from a single-plank bridge into a flat road.

Correspondingly, Su Xiao only got a ritual scroll that could increase a large amount of health.

The Abyss Archbishop was certainly not stupid. Taking out the 【Soul Nourishing Ritual】 scroll just now was to test whether the Law-Killer opposite was insatiable. Now it seemed that the other party hadn't even expressed an opinion, and this deal, which was good for all three parties, could be done.

The Abyss Archbishop took out an item, placed it on the table, frowned slightly, and said: "I don't want to continue being hostile to you, who has obtained this item."

The Abyss Archbishop's words were very high-level; they not only resolved the meaningless hostility that was harmful to both sides but also highlighted the preciousness of this item.

"I guarantee with my personal reputation that our old grudges are wiped clean."

"Good."

The Abyss Archbishop's "Good" was full of aura. At the same time, he raised his hand, and a ring came into view. The Law-Killer faction mark on it represented that it once belonged to a Law-Killer.

【You have obtained Prideful Mad Song (World-Class Equipment).】

【Prideful Mad Song】

Origin: Void · Demon Blacksmith.

Quality: World-Class.

Category: Ring.

Durability: 598/850 points.

Equipment Requirements: Shadow of Law-Killer, Green Qing Qing Gang Ying Lv. 95 or above.

Equipment Effect: Prideful Mad Song (Core · Passive), "Pride Song Crystal" formation and spreading speed increased by 185%, comprehensive strength increased by 5 times, and it possesses "Invasion Characteristics."

Rating: 10200 points (This is an ultra-limit equipment among World-Class equipment, currently ranked 485th among World-Class equipment).

Introduction: A work of the Demon Blacksmith.

Price: After activation, it cannot be sold, transferred, etc., and will inevitably drop upon death.

Through this piece of equipment, Su Xiao knew that World-Class equipment was the same as Overlord equipment. Once it reached a high tier, what mattered was the equipment rating and ranking. As for the increase range of 【Prideful Mad Song】, it could only be described as outrageous.

First, the basic strength of "Pride Song Crystal" was determined by the level of the Green Qing Qing Gang Ying ability, which was currently:

"Can generate crystals of any shape to defend against enemy attacks. Crystal strength is directly proportional to the mana consumed. The maximum mana consumption for a single time is 31900 points, and the crystal layer defense tier is +40."

Su Xiao previously thought that the more mana consumed, the higher the durability of the "Pride Song Crystal," while the "crystal layer defense tier" was a defense characteristic outside of durability. Later, he discovered that this was not the case.

The maximum mana consumption for a single time was 31900 points, which meant that if Su Xiao used 31900 points of mana to form the Pride Song Crystal, then as long as the coverage range of the Pride Song Crystal did not exceed a certain degree, its "crystal defense tier" was 40. The Pride Song Crystal had no durability at all, or other trivial judgments; this thing only had this one line of "crystal defense tier."

And the 【Prideful Mad Song】 ring directly increased the current Pride Song Crystal's "crystal defense tier +40" to "crystal defense tier +200." More importantly, it was this "Invasion Characteristic."

Crack, crack, crack~

The crystal layer instantly clung to Su Xiao's right hand. Compared to the previous spreading speed, it was more than twice as fast. Whether it was defense or attack, it was a qualitative improvement.

Su Xiao's right hand, covered in the crystal layer, drifted with white smoke like icy cold air. This meant that the Pride Song ability could not only be used for defense; later on, it was not impossible for Su Xiao, while squatting on the ground, to press one hand on the ground, and everything within dozens of kilometers around would be assimilated by the Pride Song Crystal, making the surroundings look like a frozen area at first glance, when in reality, all enemies were crystallized.

【Prideful Mad Song】 was ranked 485th among World-Class equipment, largely because of its particularly poor applicability; only a Shadow of Law-Killer could use it.

"It seems we are both very satisfied with each other's chips."

Magic Scythe Aina pressed one hand on the Abyss Archbishop's left arm. The Abyss Archbishop's left arm withered, and the feeling of soul body rebirth made the Abyss Archbishop frown. A moment later, Magic Scythe Aina opened her eyes, her face pale and weak as she said:

"You can feel it, right? Your left arm soul body has begun to be reborn."

As soon as Magic Scythe Aina finished speaking, her left arm began to wither. Clearly, she was not treating soul injuries; she was cutting off the causality of the Abyss Archbishop's left arm being soul-slashed with her magic scythe and absorbing it onto herself.

Seeing this, the Abyss Archbishop got up and left. Looking at the direction, he was going to "Molten City."

Magic Scythe Aina peered around. Seeing the Abyss Archbishop walk away, Aina's pale face quickly recovered. After she got off the train, she induced vomiting with the middle and index fingers of her right hand. Not long after, she spat out some black matter, and her left arm quickly recovered. Don't look at Aina having her left arm back like this; in reality, the Soul-Severing Shadow's soul slash was not recovered, but transferred to her magic scythe avatar. With Aina's strength, she only had two avatars, and one of them had permanently lost its left arm.

Aina, who returned to the train, could be described as being in high spirits. She glanced at Celine, sat opposite Su Xiao, picked up the remaining half bottle of Elemental Brew, drank a large gulp, and asked:

"Where are you going next?"

"..."

"I'm not in a hurry to get the method to enter the middle and lower Abyssal regions. Where are you going later?"

"Of course, Molten City."

Baha's words made Magic Scythe Aina's eyes light up. She said: "Are you going to deal with the Abyssal lineage?"

"Of course."

"Holy crap!"

Magic Scythe Aina slapped the table and stood up, saying indignantly: "As a Magic Scythe, exterminating the Abyssal lineage is my duty. No need to say more, I'll go with you and kill that old leech in Molten City."

"Leech."

Baha asked in confusion.

"Yeah, don't you know? The Ducain family represents insects among the Abyssal lineage. For example, the Beast Master corresponds to the Savage Rage Insect, the Scorpion Empress represents the Poison Insect, the Twin Kings are the Ghost Snake Insects, and Council Chairman Ergubaya is the Leech Insect."

Magic Scythe Aina opened the chatterbox, drinking and saying:

"Several Abyssal lineages have different characteristics. Ducain is 'Insect', Azuguk is 'Fish', Rune is 'Beast', Bronze is 'Bird', and the Aggregate is 'Plant'? It seems to be like this."

Magic Scythe Aina said this, suddenly widened her eyes, and said angrily: "You don't even know these, and you say you are proficient in Abyssal studies? You guys belong to the fraud..."

Aina just said this, Su Xiao tried to activate the newly crafted rune seal, and the feeling that a directional Abyssal passage was about to open made Aina immediately swallow her words.

"So? Do you agree to let me go with you? I can help you deal with powerful enemies, you know."

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak, walked off the train, and controlled the Lord Train to hide into the different space. He opened the respirator's filter device and looked at Molten City ahead. Even though he hadn't entered the city yet, he had a faint feeling of palpitations, as if stepping into this place, he might really die here.

He didn't know how powerful this awakened Void exotic entity was, but considering that the other party had already finished harming Council Chairman Ergubaya, it was time to let the other party leave.

Su Xiao took a small piece of tree root from the team storage space and tried to activate this item. Seeing this, Magic Scythe Aina's expression twisted.

"Mao, Maosheng? Wait, don't bring it here, I've offended it!"

Unfortunately, Magic Scythe Aina's words were a bit late. The small piece of tree root in Su Xiao's hand had already begun to grow, piercing into the space where they were.

The tree roots spread out from the space and wrapped around Magic Scythe Aina. Aina immediately remained motionless, muttering apologies in her mouth. In terms of the ability to cause trouble, Green Aina and her predecessor Green Gillian were on par.

Magic Scythe Aina was indeed late in shouting, because besides the Frenzy of Maosheng, Su Xiao could also bring the Candle Girl or the Lord of the Old Days, because this time he had to pay a page of the 【Book of Gates】, plus he was the holder of the "Book of Original Sin," sealing six Original Sin items. After these two received a page of the 【Book of Gates】, they would 99% leave, rather than show strong malice toward Su Xiao.

The problem was that Magic Scythe Aina had a little secret she didn't say, which was that she had actually offended the Candle Girl and the Lord of the Old Days too. ===== CHAPTER 4029 =====