Chapter 4029: Real Stage

Like withered tree roots, they spread out from the space of this world. This feeling was not the Frenzy of Maosheng passing through a space rift to reach this world, but the Frenzy of Maosheng growing into the space and material world of this world. As long as it wanted, its roots would spread out from anywhere in this world.

Not long after the Frenzy of Maosheng arrived, the giant mushroom in "Molten City" began to gradually wither, turning into scattered spore powder and drifting away.

Setting aside the fact that in its peak state, it was also weaker than the Frenzy of Maosheng, and not as ancient as the Frenzy of Maosheng, plus the unknown exotic entity had just awakened not long ago, encountering such a more powerful old predecessor and drifting away from this world was undoubtedly the best choice.

This was exactly what Su Xiao wanted to see. He didn't want to face the situation where it was easy to invite a god but hard to send one away.

He took the 【Book of Gates】 from the storage space, the crystal layer clung to Su Xiao's hand, and he opened the thick cover. On the first page, he used spiritual power to depict the appearance of the chaotic root system.

Several tree roots spread out from the space ahead and intertwined. Su Xiao tore off the first page of the 【Book of Gates】 and handed it to the tree roots that had spread to his front. This deal was completed.

"Woo woo!"

A few meters away, Magic Scythe Aina, who was firmly wrapped by the tree roots and whose mouth was covered by the tree roots, struggled and made "woo woo" sounds. What was a miracle was that she tilted her head and actually broke free from the tree roots covering her mouth, which made her dazed for a moment. But with Aina's intelligence, she immediately realized something.

"I actually also have a legacy item of a previous generation Law-Killer, really, really, so Law-Killer, save this old lady, ah ah ah!"

"..."

Su Xiao closed the 【Book of Gates】 with one hand with a "snap" and nodded slightly to the tree roots in front, indicating that this deal was completed.

The surrounding tree roots began to fade, and along with them, Magic Scythe Aina herself also began to fade. Her expression struggled for a moment. Considering the result of being dragged away by the Frenzy of Maosheng, she would definitely die. She gritted her teeth and said:

"I have a secret treasure that can improve the soul. I know, you Law-Killers, unless you become a Demon-Eating Shadow or a Soul-Severing Shadow, must constantly improve your soul, otherwise, as the Demon Spirit grows, the Demon Spirit will sooner or later take the lead. This secret treasure of mine will definitely satisfy you. It's a life-saving thing, guaranteed reliable!"

When Magic Scythe Aina said this, the 【Book of Gates】 in Su Xiao's hand unfolded, and the tree roots gradually receding into the different space slowed down a bit.

Su Xiao tore a page from the 【Book of Gates】, but the tree roots were still receding. He simply tore off two more pages. Several tree roots spread out from the space ahead, and he handed the three "Tree-Born Pages" in his hand to the tree roots ahead.

Magic Scythe Aina was thrown out from the space rift. Aina, who had escaped death, gasped for air, and then laughed loudly, looking like she hadn't died and had made a profit.

"I'm a person who is very easy to lose memory. What I said just now, I seem to have forgotten."

Aina spoke with a playful grin, which could be described as "very hee-hee."

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak, but took out a contract, on which Aina's name was clearly written. The other party's oral statement just now was mapped onto the contract parchment.

Seeing this, Aina's expression changed from "hee-hee" to "not hee-hee."

It could only be said that this style of doing things was very Green.

The teeth in Magic Scythe Aina's mouth bit until they clicked. A moment later, she took out a mini skull pendant. This mini skull was carved from some kind of crystal, giving people the feeling of grinning.

"Can we make an agreement in advance? When you can't enter the "Soul Land," sell this thing back to me, please, please."

At this moment, Magic Scythe Aina exerted her shamelessness to the extreme. No, it should be that she showed her ability to bend and stretch to the extreme.

"..."

Su Xiao ignored Magic Scythe Aina and looked at the pendant in his hand.

【You have obtained the Soul Relic.】

【Soul Relic】

Origin: Soul Land

Category: Proof/Key.

Durability: 50/50 points (This item can restore durability by absorbing soul energy).

Equipment Effect: Soul Trial (Active), teleport to the "Soul Land" to accept the trial of the guardian. If one passes the trial, one can obtain the qualification to enter the "Holy Spring" and permanently increase soul strength.

Prompt: The soul energy of the "Holy Spring" can permanently nourish and strengthen the soul, and is one of the best ways to improve soul power in the Astral Realm.

Current number of trials accepted: 0/0 times.

Number of trials acceptable: 3/3 times.

Introduction: Experience the weight of fate and the price of strengthening the soul.

Price: Before using it three times, it cannot be traded, sold, or abandoned.

This was also why Su Xiao was willing to take out three "Tree-Born Pages" to save Magic Scythe Aina. Of course, this was based on the premise that the Frenzy of Maosheng only had malice toward Aina and didn't necessarily have to kill the other party. Otherwise, Aina would be dead for sure.

Looking at Aina's expression, this Soul Land clearly had its own ways.

Su Xiao's plan in his heart gradually improved. If he could really take the top spot on the "Prestige Ranking" of this world this time, perhaps there was a possibility of activating the "Exclusive Supreme Passive · Source of Power" in advance.

In this way, his strength would likely soar. Strength and the benefits he could get after entering a world were directly proportional; this was snowballing.

Based on Su Xiao's estimation of the strength of the "Exclusive Supreme Passive · Source of Power," if he didn't activate this ability, when he returned to the Reincarnation Paradise this time and entered the next world, assuming his initial combat power was 10, the final benefits he could plot would be about 8~12.

If he activated the "Exclusive Supreme Passive · Source of Power," his initial combat power when entering the next world would likely soar to over 50. This ability, which occupied five "Supreme Passive · Skill Slots," had a lot of weight.

Then it would be: the initial combat power of the next world was 50, and the final benefits he could plot would be about 45~60.

Calculated this way, after ascending to Supreme, attempting to ascend to "Supreme Peak" in three world progresses was really not a delusion.

Su Xiao stepped toward "Molten City," but the next second, he stopped. The reason was that the Blade Demon Spirit, which had refused to cooperate with him and convert the swallowed "Abyssal Origin Energy" into "Demon Spirit Essence," had actually begun to convert.

Su Xiao summoned the train, and amidst Aina's bewilderment, he boarded the train again.

"Wait!"

Aina's words hadn't finished when the train started. One hour later, in the ruins of a small town near the Dark Forest, the Lord Train stopped near a workshop.

A battle had occurred in this workshop, and long-dried blood stains spread out from inside. Speaking of which, this was the "Wild Hunt Workshop," which was the place where the 【Hunting Heart】 of the Wild Hunt Workshop was crafted. Su Xiao's intuition ability being able to reach Lv. EX to obtain "Absolute Perception" was also thanks to the 【Hunting Heart】.

Inside the train, Su Xiao walked into the spacious bedroom in the rear carriage and sat cross-legged on the carpet. The sheathed Checking Zhan Long Shan was placed flat on his legs. Because the Demon Spirit strength of the Blade Demon Spirit had reached the current limit of 6605 points, this meant that it would not, and could not, absorb the "Demon Spirit Essence" it obtained by converting "Abyssal Origin Energy" anymore.

This meant that Su Xiao could swallow the "Demon Spirit Essence" obtained all by himself. One portion was a permanent increase of 100,000 health points and 2 points of Abyssal resistance. Previously, killing the Abyssal Ancient Dragon had yielded a large amount of "Abyssal Origin Energy," causing the current Checking Zhan Long Shan to have some black smoke slowly diffusing when the long blade was unsheathed.

Was it Su Xiao's miscalculation, not expecting the Blade Demon Spirit, after its Demon Spirit strength reached such a high level, to be able to completely resist his control and stop converting "Abyssal Origin Energy"? Of course not. As long as he returned to the Reincarnation Paradise, these would not be problems. Being in his exclusive room in the Reincarnation Paradise, the Blade Demon Spirit would definitely be unable to resist Su Xiao's control.

Why did the Blade Demon Spirit have this change at this moment, willing to help Su Xiao convert "Abyssal Origin Energy"?

This was not hard to guess. The Demon Spirit had powerful perception—no, it should be sensing power. It sensed earlier than Su Xiao that there was a powerful enemy in "Molten City," a powerful enemy sufficient to make Su Xiao die here.

Ultimately, the Blade Demon Spirit didn't want to kill Su Xiao; it wanted to take the lead. So the Demon Spirit didn't want Su Xiao to die. If it were a Demon Spirit with a strength below 3000 points, it wouldn't have this reaction at all. After the Demon Spirit strength reached 6605 points, the Demon Spirit still didn't have thoughts or wisdom, but its instinct was more powerful.

The instinctual resistance to death and dissipation made it make the current choice.

A large amount of "Demon Spirit Energy" surged out from Checking Zhan Long Shan. It was still the original process. Su Xiao, through the double filtering and conversion of "Demon-Eating Constitution" + "Swallowing Core," obtained a permanent gain energy and then absorbed it with his own physique.

Several hours passed, Su Xiao opened his eyes, feeling the surging vitality in his body. His "Basic Health" broke through 10 million points. There was a huge gain in sensing—no, this was no longer sensing, but feeling, just like the intuitive physical feeling of whether one was full or not in daily life.

【Your maximum health has permanently increased by 1.2 million points.】

【Your Abyssal resistance has permanently increased by 24 points.】

The feeling of swallowing "Demon Spirit Essence" all by himself was very wonderful. Su Xiao checked his current health, which had reached an astonishing 9.43 million points. He was only one Ducain family powerhouse away from 10 million points.

It was a pity that the Twin Kings gave up their status and power as Abyssal lineage, otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to win at that time. Now that he thought about it, the Twin King brothers had been cursed by fate since their birth.

He started the Lord Train, and not long after, he returned to the position where he had encountered the Abyss Archbishop before. Su Xiao had just gotten off the train when he saw Magic Scythe Aina lying on a boulder several meters high, sleeping in a particularly indecent posture.

"Back?"

"..."

Su Xiao ignored Magic Scythe Aina. He was certain that this descendant of Green Gillian was not talking to him.

Speaking of which, compared to Green Wei, who was cultivated by Mage Sage Sephiria using Green Gillian's cells, Aina truly looked like Green Gillian's own daughter, even inheriting her sexual orientation.

This made one think, if Magic Scythe Aina met the somewhat shy Green Wei, he dared not think about it, he dared not think about it. The family style of the Green family was truly something that made people's expressions complex.

A hot wind blew in his face. Su Xiao looked at the sky and found the dim yellow snowflakes above. When these snowflakes fell on him, the greed in his heart was gradually awakened.

Abyss Jar?

Su Xiao was certain that this was the Greed Original Sin, but feeling it carefully, it was not. The main position of the Greed Original Sin was still the Abyss Jar, and the Greed Original Sin before him was more like a lower-level Original Sin power.

The "Book of Original Sin" appeared in Su Xiao's hand. The next second, the snowflakes in the sky stopped, but the sky remained dim yellow. The greed gradually emerging in the hearts of Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, Celine, and Magic Scythe Aina behind Su Xiao gradually faded.

Su Xiao arrived at the city gate of Molten City. This old metal giant gate was already covered with mushrooms, causing it to be riddled with holes.

Crack, crack, crack~

The Pride Song Crystal spread along Su Xiao's feet. In a very short time, it clung to the city gate ahead and the metal high wall for hundreds of meters around, assimilating it into crystals. After completing the crystal assimilation, white mist like freezing air drifted from the crystal high wall.

Su Xiao's hand pressed on the end of the hilt.

Boom!

The high wall, hundreds of meters high and several kilometers wide ahead, all exploded into crystal fragments. Doing this didn't consume much of Su Xiao's mana. It wasn't used for defense, just spreading and assimilation. It didn't require particularly high crystal strength; it relied on the invasion characteristics of the ultra-high-level Green Steel Shadow energy, which was turning invasion into crystal assimilation.

This scene fell into Celine's eyes. She had already regretted not choosing a technique-system profession when she was at a low tier, and now she regretted it even more. Her inner monologue was: technique-types are really strong in the late stage.

The crystal continued to spread along the ground. Su Xiao walked on the crystal road several meters wide, avoiding touching the mushroom fungi in the city to the greatest extent. Facing a Void exotic entity, one could not be too cautious.

A smell that felt both warm and turbid diffused in the city. This was very much like the smell of mushrooms, but a bit different. Su Xiao gradually found himself in Molten City and discovered that the buildings here were all very tall.

Between these tall buildings, Giant race members covered in mushrooms lay scattered. From their completely pitch-black eyes without light red pupils, one could see that they were all secondary lineage members. It seemed that the Giant race "Breeding Factory" had a high consumption, which made the Abyssal lineage here "darkly corrupt" every Giant race member to the limit.

As he moved forward, one forging factory after another came into view. The physical advantages of the Giants made them very good at forging, plus the racial talent of ancestral memory allowed them to reach a level in forging studies that other races could hardly reach.

Speaking of which, the racial talent of the Dwarf race was also ancestral memory, and the Dwarf race in the Astral Realm was not the gnomes people imagined.

This so-called dwarf was a dwarf among the Giant race, or more accurately, a gnome race among the Giant race that had been isolated and differentiated. Over time, it formed a huge base. To draw a line with the Giant race, they called themselves the Dwarf race.

Looking at the Dwarf King, one of the three legendary craftsmen, with his burly height of over five meters, one knew that this was indeed a small individual among the Giant race.

Speaking of which, the three legendary craftsmen—the Demon Blacksmith, the Molten Giant, and the Dwarf King—two out of three were Giants, which showed the forging talent of the Giant race. And although they had powerful natural combat power, they were one of the most peace-loving races in the Astral Realm.

Walking all the way to the inner city area, a super-giant factory came into Su Xiao's view. He destroyed the metal seal and walked inside. He saw rows of female Giant race members fixed on breeding positions. Their whole bodies were inserted with catheters, and containers several meters high containing most of the green nutrient solution were fixed above them. However, all the female Giant race members were dead, and their whole bodies were covered with mushrooms.

What made people feel sad was that these Giant race members who loved nature and peace were not full of fear before they died, but were calm. This was only after undergoing huge and long suffering that they would welcome death like this.

This was the evil of the Abyssal lineage. Speaking of which, Lady Scorpion seemed to have stayed out of it, but both sides knew that this was just a delaying tactic for each other. Lady Scorpion's enemies in the Astral Realm would definitely come looking after the Ducain family was destroyed. The evil consequences planted in the past would sooner or later have to be swallowed.

Crack, crack, crack~

The crystal spread and assimilated the surroundings. A moment later, the Giant breeding factory shattered into a large number of crystal fragments. Su Xiao continued to go deep into Molten City. He had already seen the Council Hall of the Ducain family from afar.

Boom, boom, boom...

The earth shook, and a tall figure walked over. Its height was several hundred meters, and it was somewhat similar to the Molten Giant, one of the three legendary craftsmen. However, the Molten Giant was not so tall.

In fact, the Molten Giant was already very old. The Molten Giant race was just like this; the older they were, the lower their height would gradually become.

The Molten Giant race seen at this time was clearly relatively young. Its whole body was covered with mushrooms, and its eyes were pitch black, but at the bottom of its eyes, there was still some flame color, representing that it had not been completely eroded.

The young Giant arrived near Su Xiao and fell down with a boom, leveling a large area of buildings around it. One of its big hands raised.

"Bagoo (Giant language · Friend)."

The Law-Killer and the Molten clan were of course friends, but this friend came to find Su Xiao not to ask for help; he was already bound to die. Coming here was just because he didn't want to continue to endure the pain of multiple erosions. Dark corruption, corrupt lakes, etc., were all eroding this young Giant.

Zing!

The blade light soared into the sky. The young Giant's eyes widened a bit, and then he fell into a calm of relief.

【You have completed Bounty 3 · Giant's Sorrow: Destroy all Giant race "Breeding Factories" and kill the only Molten Giant in this world.】

【Due to the multiple bounty + bounty correction of "Hunting List · Blood Pact," you will receive a bounty with a total value of 12500 ounces of Space-Time Power.】

【You have obtained Space-Time Stone Fragment × 650 (This is an equivalent, which can be sold to the Reincarnation Paradise at any time to obtain 6500 ounces of Space-Time Power).】

【You have obtained "Overlord Treasure Chest · ★★★★★" (This item is equivalent to the value of 2400 ounces of Space-Time Power in this judgment).】

【You have obtained Item Enhancement Permission +13 (This item is equivalent to the value of 3600 ounces of Space-Time Power in this judgment).】

The gains were put away directly to be studied later. Now that he was in a dangerous area, Su Xiao walked toward the Council Hall.

Just walking into the Council Hall, he saw Ducain family members in various postures. Without exception, they were all covered with mushrooms. This made Su Xiao certain of one thing: this unknown Void exotic entity was, to some extent, more dangerous than the Candle Girl.

The Candle Girl would leave after harming an area, while this Void exotic entity, if it weren't for the Frenzy of Maosheng coming, might not have spread to how large a range. If things went wrong, it would have turned the Ancient Dragon Kingdom into a mushroom world.

Passing through these Ducain family members who had died and were reborn in the Abyss, Su Xiao jumped onto the council table and looked at Council Chairman Ergubaya sitting at the head of the table opposite.

"Cough, cough, cough! In the end, it is, inescapable from the hands of the Law-Killer."

Council Chairman Ergubaya spoke weakly to the extreme. Its eyes had turned dim yellow, and the strong Original Sin aura made Su Xiao certain that the Original Sin item with the Greed Original Sin was occupying one of Ergubaya's body organs. The preliminary judgment was the eyes.

"However, you bastard, are much more ruthless than the previous generation of Law-Killers."

As Ergubaya spoke, it coughed dryly one after another, coughing up a large amount of flesh and blood. As soon as this flesh and blood left its body, it began to turn into lumps of mushrooms.

"At the very least, the previous generation of Law-Killers didn't use Astral exotic entities to harm us. However, I also, left you, a gift..."

Council Chairman Ergubaya just said this when he found Su Xiao, who was standing on the council table in front of him, walking over step by step.

A scene that could be called a famous scene appeared. Su Xiao, standing on the council table, stepped on Council Chairman Ergubaya's forehead, then leaned forward, his thumb, index finger, and middle finger in a claw shape, grabbing toward Council Chairman Ergubaya's right eyeball.

Council Chairman Ergubaya was so angry that the teeth in its mouth bit until they clicked, and its expression twisted, but it couldn't move a bit, because this Law-Killer actually grabbed its Original Sin right eye with his bare hands and peeled it outward just like that.

"Ah!!"

Council Chairman Ergubaya let out a humiliating roar. No longer was there the overlooking of everything of the old immortal monster of the past. The instant after the Original Sin item was peeled out, its aura suddenly weakened.

"You, will, die in, Ducain..."

Boom!

Su Xiao kicked sideways, shattering Council Chairman Ergubaya's skull. For this Leech Insect that had been hiding in the dark, there was no need to be polite at all. At least in his view, Council Chairman Ergubaya was far inferior to the Beast Master in terms of being a powerful person.

With a "snap," Council Chairman Ergubaya turned into a large number of bright red leeches and burst open. These bright red leeches quickly withered. Ergubaya died and returned to the Abyssal area to be reborn. It looked like it died simply, but if one recalled slightly, one would find that this old guy truly had tenacious vitality. It was heavily injured by the previous generation of Law-Killer in the past, and then it was entangled by both an Original Sin item and an unknown Void exotic entity.

Su Xiao's right hand unfolded, and the dim yellow eyeball in his hand shattered. This Original Sin item clearly knew that Su Xiao, who held the "Book of Original Sin," was not to be trifled with. Su Xiao was also not prepared to seal this Original Sin item. The six "Big Daddy" level Original Sin items in the "Book of Original Sin" were already under full pressure.

【You have killed Council Chairman Ergubaya.】

【You have obtained 185,000 points of Shelter City Prestige.】

【You have obtained 30,000 Hunter Gold Coins.】

【You have obtained Abyss Treasure Chest · Leech.】

With the death of Council Chairman Ergubaya, three 【Ducain Family Badges】 scattered down. Picking them up, Su Xiao had five 【Ducain Family Badges】.

【Main Mission: Family Badge.】

Difficulty Level: Lv. 98.

Mission Introduction: Obtain at least three "Ducain Family Badges" and submit them to the Reincarnation Paradise.

Current "Ducain Family Badge" holding quantity: 5.

Mission Deadline: 30 natural days.

Mission Reward: Primordial Core × 2.

Mission Penalty: Forced execution.

【Detected that the Hunter already holds all "Ducain Family Badges," and the conditions for completing the main mission have been met. You have the following two choices.】

1. Immediately submit all "Ducain Family Badges," complete the main mission, end this world progress, and return to the Reincarnation Paradise within 1 hour.

Prompt: If you choose this way to complete the main mission, you can obtain at most an S+ Supreme Tier World Evaluation.

2. Use the current "Ducain Family Badges" to open the real stage of this mission.

Prompt: If you choose this way to complete the main mission, you can obtain at most an SSS Supreme Tier World Evaluation.

Prompt: Detected that this is the first mission world after the Hunter ascended to Supreme. This behavior will have huge risks. Correspondingly, this behavior will also increase your world evaluation upper limit (theoretically it can reach SSSS level, which is "Reincarnation Level World Evaluation").

Prompt: Each paradise faction will give a unique reward to the contractor who reaches SSSS level world evaluation for the first time ("SSSS level is Reincarnation level, Apocalypse level, Sanctuary level, Death level, etc.").

Just ascended to Supreme, one should be safe, but this opportunity to reach SSSS level world evaluation could only be triggered by an ultra-high difficulty main mission in the first world after ascending.

One must note that even if Su Xiao completes the exceptionally dangerous main mission · real stage of this world, it doesn't mean he can definitely obtain an SSSS level world evaluation; it just means he has the qualification. It also depends on other evaluations to decide his final world evaluation.

First is faction prestige.

This is not a problem at all. If it weren't for only calculating 200,000 faction prestige, he wouldn't even need to consider other factors for world evaluation; he would be SSSS level directly.

Secondly is the influence on this world.

This is even less need to consider. Ducain has been beaten by Su Xiao to what extent? Three councilors, two beheaded, one forced to retreat, the council chairman couldn't make a move and was pitted to death.

Su Xiao's situation now is that he has the chips to get SSSS level, the key is that there is no upper limit for this rating. As such, he chooses to accept the real stage of the main mission of this world.

Almost the moment Su Xiao received this mission, he felt the environment he was in darken a bit. He seemed to have entered Molten City more deeply. The Molten City he was in before, as well as the one-third of the world area on the northernmost side of this world, close to the "Abyss Near Area," its true appearance was displayed in Su Xiao's eyes.

What met his eyes was a scene of decay and ruin. The world space was riddled with holes everywhere, as if it had been eaten by insects. The world power was severely exhausted. Nearly half of the Ancient Dragon Kingdom · Eberias seemed to be dying.

Su Xiao had taken the Lord Train to most of the important areas of this world. He opened the map memory function of the Dawn Team, marked Molten City, and with the "Abyss Near Area" on the north side of Molten City as the center, let the gray-white spread on the map.

Soon, a scene appeared. Molten City was like the source of pollution leakage, invading nearly half of the world. "Coincidentally," the Empress City, Corrupt King City, and Elf Kingdom of the Ducain family were just located on the edge of this pollution area, forming a semi-enclosure, barely avoiding being affected.

Coupled with the fact that this world was being invaded by the Abyss, no one dared to perceive the depth of the world they were in. That was asking for trouble by being eroded by Abyssal power. Looking at it from another angle, this further concealed the situation of this world.

The former Transcendence World · Ancient Dragon Kingdom was actually being swallowed by something unknown, eaten into a riddled state, and the various resource outputs of the Empress City, Elf Kingdom, and Molten City might have had 90% of them go into the mouth and belly of this existence.

Now looking back, Lady Scorpion, who owned the Empress City, actually needed to take risks and rely on the potion business to make a fortune to save resources to ascend, which in itself was very suspicious. This was also the reason why Su Xiao had never killed Lady Scorpion.

The reason was that he always suspected whether Lady Scorpion was using massive resources to cultivate some secret treasure, and that secret treasure had a certain destined connection with her. In the judgment of the Void Tree, even if it was collecting debts, wealth involving one's own safety would definitely not be touched, and would not even be mentioned.

Now it seemed that 90% of Lady Scorpion's wealth in the past had been handed over to this unknown existence.

【Warning: You have triggered the World Mission · Real Stage of this world.】

【Main Mission: Dark Holy Land.】

Difficulty Level: Lv. 97.

Mission Introduction: Enter the "Abyss Near Area" of this world.

Mission Deadline: 5 natural days.

Mission Reward: None (The reward method for this mission is cumulative calculation).

Mission Penalty: Forced execution.

... ===== CHAPTER 4030 =====