Chapter 4143: Abyss Elements

The equipment reinforcement machine stopped running. Su Xiao took the sheathed Zhan Long Shan from the protruding iron-black tray and drew the long blade.

Bang!

The sound of a fist striking the equipment reinforcement machine to his rear drew sidelong glances from the crowd. The reinforcement merchant standing before the machine began to spew profanities; after all, failing two consecutive reinforcements from +1 to +2 would make anyone's anger flare up.

Su Xiao sheathed the long blade and left the equipment reinforcement hall calmly. Although weapons reinforced within Reincarnation Paradise default to concealing their sharpness, the current Zhan Long Shan still possessed a keenness that could cut through anything; merely looking at its edge made one's eyes ache faintly.

【Zhan Long Shan +18】

Origin: Shadow of the Law Destroyer.

Quality: Reincarnation-level, Third Rank.

Category: Long Blade.

Durability: 9500/9500 points.

Attack Power: 5290–5560 points (Lower limit increased by 4050 points, upper limit increased by 4105 points).

Equipment Requirement: Shadow of the Law Destroyer.

Supreme Blade Effect 1: Sharpness +34408 points (Highest sharpness among currently known weapons).

Supreme Blade Effect 2: Magic Blade (Core, Active). After activating the Blade Spirit, attacking an enemy unit with less than 30% of their total health allows for the execution of that unit.

Current Blade Spirit Strength: 6605 points.

Reinforcement Effect: Extreme Blade (Passive). Each reinforcement level increases the weapon's sharpness by 25%.

Socket Effect: 3/3 gems.

Soul Gem (Eternal-level gem): This weapon gains the Soul-Severing effect.

Rating: 30000+ points (Reincarnation-level weapon ratings are 15000–30000 points).

Introduction: Slaying gods and demons, severing ten thousand enemies, extinguishing souls and seizing spirits, pacifying the Abyss of Extreme Darkness.

……

After reinforcing to +18, Zhan Long Shan climbed directly to the third rank among Reincarnation-level weapons. To say nothing else, its sharpness of 34408 points was unreachable for other sharp weapons, and the note appended—(Highest sharpness among currently known weapons)—already explained much.

Its durability reached 9500 points, which was exactly what Su Xiao needed. Due to durability issues during the battle against the God of the Underworld, he hadn't dared to use "Perfect Parry" much; even so, by the end of the fight, Zhan Long Shan had only 200 points of durability left. Weapon durability became difficult to increase at this stage; it seemed he would have to devour other high-durability weapons later to push Zhan Long Shan's durability past 10,000 points.

Beyond that was Zhan Long Shan's absurdly high attack power. Surprisingly, it hadn't surged into the second rank of Reincarnation-level weapons; it seemed the top two were stronger than anticipated.

Fortunately, Zhan Long Shan had not reached its limit. While it could not increase in quality further—Reincarnation-level being the peak—it could still grow through "Supreme Blade" devouring other blade-type weapons and further increases in reinforcement level.

At this stage, the higher the reinforcement level, the greater the gain. If reinforcement +19 succeeded, the 34408 sharpness would increase by 25% to 8602 points; not to mention, if +20 succeeded, it would be 43010 × 25% = 10753 points.

Subsequent reinforcement levels could only be accumulated bit by bit, for instance, by obtaining treasures like the "Highest-Grade Reinforcement Stone." The seller of that item had been very reluctant to part with it, but the temptation of the "Immortal Will (Passive)" scroll was too great, and the seller had no other equivalent chips to offer.

Su Xiao did not return to his exclusive room to upgrade "Heavenly Blade Severing Shadow." He took a teleportation array to the Great Gathering Place, passed through it to the public area notarized by the Tree of Void, and entered a small tavern.

The tavern was quiet, with only a few patrons sipping drinks. Upon his entry, the boss behind the bar cast a glance; seeing a new face, he prepared to ignore him, but a second later, his eyes widened, his heart in turmoil. A moment later, he averted his gaze.

Was this tavern usually this quiet? Of course not. The patrons here were of high rank. Before Su Xiao entered, they had been drinking boisterously, but upon seeing him—a face often seen in news and reports, coupled with his notorious reputation—the atmosphere instantly fell silent.

Before long, only Su Xiao and the boss acting as bartender remained in the tavern. The boss felt immense pressure, wanting to speak several times but holding back.

Su Xiao glanced at the bartender, whose enthusiastic smile turned stiff.

"……"

Su Xiao took out a bottle of Elemental Brew. This tavern was peculiar; it didn't serve guests, nor did it provide drinks. It seemed one had to bring their own.

Shortly after, a girl in a cream-colored tracksuit with a fresh, refined temperament walked into the tavern. Upon entering, she noticed the atmosphere was off, but seeing the Hunter sitting at a small table drinking alone, she roughly guessed what was happening.

"Sorry, bartender, put the tab for the tables that left on me."

Her voice was delicate and clear, very pleasant to hear. Just by speaking, she made people want to listen—this was the persuasive power of a top-tier charm system.

The bartender nodded without a word. Seeing this, the girl in the tracksuit gave a wry smile, dimples appearing as she said, "Hello, everyone calls me Dream Cat."

"Hmm."

Su Xiao looked at the girl opposite him. Dream Cat, who had sat down, didn't feel awkward. Before coming, the Leader had told her about this man's reticence, but she hadn't been seated long before she began to feel the pressure.

"Have we met before?"

"No."

"Then why are you looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with my outfit today?"

Dream Cat was under significant pressure. As a charm-type, she had dealt with all sorts of people, which was her greatest strength. Yet, through this initial exchange, she could sense the aura and morality of the person opposite her—what she felt now was a terrifying presence like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

In Dream Cat's eyes, the man holding the wine bottle was backed by a dark red expanse, wisps of darkness diffusing. Those eyes, glowing red with pitch-black depths, were truly… terrifying and filled with oppressive force.

"You look very much like an old acquaintance I once knew."

Su Xiao spoke.

"Oh? Is she your..."

"I slaughtered her."

Su Xiao wasn't making it up; the girl calling herself Dream Cat really did look like Xi from Apocalypse Paradise, the opponent he had encountered during his first World Conquest Battle.

"Ha, haha~, what a unique fate."

Dream Cat decided to complete this transaction as quickly as possible. Being stared at by this Hunter was too terrifying; she was somewhat grateful that this was a notarized area of the Tree of Void.

The reason Su Xiao and Dream Cat were meeting here was to trade the 【God Hunter】 title. The appearance of this title was essentially non-replicable.

Originally, the plan was a three-way trade between Su Xiao, the Wandering Hunter Ross, and Dream Cat: Su Xiao would provide the title, Ross would provide "Soul Energy Crystals," and Dream Cat would provide what Ross needed. As it turned out, Ross obtained enough "Soul Energy Crystals," but Dream Cat failed to get what Ross required.

Dream Cat compensated Ross for part of his losses, and since "Soul Energy Crystals" were only needed by Law Destroyers, Ross went directly to Su Xiao to trade. Both parties were extremely satisfied, which left Dream Cat frustrated. After much hesitation, she contacted Su Xiao directly, leading to this meeting.

"Mr. Bai Ye, although I am called the weakest Supreme Battle Angel, I think that is a prejudice."

"……"

Su Xiao looked at Dream Cat. Her sweet smile stiffened slightly. She was now certain that the invincible negotiation effect of her charm attribute had zero effect on this man.

"Mr. Bai Ye, I am actually a good friend of Mo Lei's, so we are friends of friends, which makes us friends too."

Hearing this, Su Xiao stared at the girl opposite him again, memorizing this pleasant-looking face. If they met again, he could practice the mutual distribution of wealth with her.

"I have a feeling it would have been better not to try to build a connection. How could that silly girl Mo Lei be reliable? I'm the silly one for believing her nonsense."

Dream Cat sighed after speaking and took out a translucent gem with golden light flowing inside. She said, "This is a Miracle Gem. With Mr. Bai Ye's experience, you must know it."

As she spoke, Dream Cat displayed the attributes of the "Miracle Gem."

"Miracle Gem: Can be used on eight strongest Eternal-level gems to complete their promotion. However, after the current owner of the gem dies, the 'Strongest Gem' that has been limit-broken will drop back to 'Eternal-level'."

Putting down the "Miracle Gem," Dream Cat glanced at the "Soul Gem" embedded at the end of the hilt of the blade at Su Xiao's waist.

"……"

Su Xiao picked up the "Miracle Gem," examined it for a moment, and put it down.

"Not enough."

Su Xiao was dissatisfied with the offer because the "Miracle Gem" could be produced through the 【Peak Box】 in the Honor Store. He didn't know the path for Apocalypse Paradise, but the item wasn't unique, whereas the 【God Hunter】 title was nearly one-of-a-kind.

Dream Cat looked troubled, though she was confident inside. Her eyes flickered, and she said with a smile, "Then, I'll add a secret."

"……"

"Mr. Bai Ye, we haven't worked together, but I trust the Leader's guarantee. I can tell you this secret first."

Dream Cat smiled with her dimples. A moment later, she walked out of the tavern holding the sealed 【God Hunter】 title. In fact, before selling this title, Su Xiao had asked Xia if she needed anything like a "God of Cooking Soul," since he had eaten many free meals there—though he had indeed forgotten.

Xia's answer was firm: absolutely not. She didn't know what the power of a "God Soul" was, but she was certain that what she wanted was for her own skills to reach the peak. Moreover, she could feel that her skills had reached a certain critical point; taking one more step would bring a great change.

Clearly, Xia's situation was completely different from Mo Lei's. Mo Lei was a combat-type gradually transitioning to a resource-type. It wasn't that Mo Lei wasn't hardworking or lacked talent; it was just that the situations Mo Lei the little angel experienced would have killed anyone else.

She had encountered the Gray Gentleman and almost died; she had met the Priest and almost died again; she had temporarily "cooperated" with the Blood God and gained his recognition, only to almost die again; and she frequently encountered Su Xiao—though she wouldn't die from that, she would lose a mountain of soul coins every time.

One could only say that Mo Lei was a miracle. It was no wonder she frequently topped the "Apocalypse Paradise Annual Silly Ranking."

Inside the tavern, Su Xiao finished the wine in the bottle and was about to get up when he remembered he hadn't paid the bill—a habit he'd picked up from eating at Xia's—only to realize he hadn't even ordered a drink.

Half an hour later, in his exclusive room, Su Xiao sat cross-legged before the Black Maple Tree. The sheathed Zhan Long Shan lay across his lap, the Soul Gem at the end of the hilt glowing with a strange luster under the tree.

The information from Dream Cat was indeed enough to make up the difference in the trade and was exactly what he needed right now.

Before the Soul-Severing Shadow fully awakened, his Blade Master, Soul-Severing Shadow, and the Soul Gem's triple soul-severing characteristics were invincible. But at the Supreme Peak, it wasn't that these means weren't strong, but they lacked their former dominance.

Now, the Soul-Severing Shadow's soul-severing characteristic combined perfectly with the 220 points of soul-severing intensity from Blade Master. If the Soul-Severing Shadow was a "Soul Blade," then the 220 points of intensity from Blade Master were the "sharpness" of that blade.

In this way, the "Soul Gem" was in an awkward position; its soul-severing characteristic was completely crushed by the Soul-Severing Shadow. Not to mention the "Soul Gem," even the soul-severing effect of Blade Master was far inferior to the Soul-Severing Shadow—the "sever and extinguish" characteristic was simply too powerful.

With a "Miracle Gem" in hand, he could promote the "Soul Gem," but Su Xiao had another choice: "Abyss Gem" plus "Elemental Gem."

Su Xiao wasn't planning to use both strongest gems simultaneously—the resulting gem curse was no joke. This involved the secret Dream Cat had mentioned: "Abyss Gem" and "Elemental Gem" could be synthesized.

The synthesis method involved creating a container, half-filled with elemental energy and half with abyssal energy, then placing the "Abyss Gem" into the elemental energy and the "Elemental Gem" into the abyssal energy.

In this way, the two gems would begin to attract each other and fuse into a new gem. This gem would be powerful and dangerous; before recognizing its holder, it might even launch a fierce backlash.

As a charm-type, Dream Cat knew many secrets, and this was one of the most valuable ones she knew.

Su Xiao took out the 【Eye of Omniscience】. This item could still be used three times. The Old God Ubo-Sathla had indeed fallen, but its fall did not lead to a weakening of the power of the Eye Ritual; on the contrary, the Eye Ritual was now stronger—it was one of the eternal powers.

A small amount of blood energy flowed into the 【Eye of Omniscience】. The orange-sized eyeball trembled, growing two thin, matchstick-like arms, followed by two equally thin legs. It stared at Su Xiao, vibrating the air to emit a dull mental fluctuation, meaning:

【Wish.】

Su Xiao weighed his options and said in Abyssal language:

"Abyss, Gem."

Hearing Su Xiao speak Abyssal, the 【Eye of Omniscience】 was clearly stunned. Then, flesh began to proliferate on the eyeball, forming a fragmented Abyssal message:

【Abyss, Hotbed, Mother.】

Seeing this message, Su Xiao immediately thought of the Dark Hotbed. The only one in the Abyss qualified to be called "Mother" was the Dark Hotbed.

The 【Abyss Gem】 was in her hands—both easy and difficult to deal with. The easy part was that he had some connection with the Dark Hotbed; the difficult part was that if the 【Abyss Gem】 had special significance in the Abyss, he shouldn't even think about trading for it.

Arriving at the room where the Lord's Train was parked, Su Xiao began to construct a summoning array on the ground. A moment later, the array responded with rising darkness. Upon activation, the figure of the Abyss Daughter appeared.

"Oh~! What an extraordinary place."

The Abyss Daughter looked around, her gaze fixing on the Awakening Monument.

"Your mother, has a gem?"

"Hmm? How did you know? That is her beloved treasure."

Hearing this, Su Xiao felt a sense of dread. It seemed this time, he could only use the "Miracle Gem" to promote the "Soul Gem" and see if it could develop unprecedented characteristics—at the very least, push the soul-severing intensity higher.

"This is one of Mother's favorite collections."

Hearing the word "collection," Su Xiao knew this was half-successful. He asked, "If I trade..."

"Impossible~. Mother's collections all have special meaning. To Mother, value is unimportant; meaning is what matters."

"……"

Su Xiao said nothing and walked toward the Lord's Train. Seeing this, the Abyss Daughter followed. The two arrived at the bedroom in the rear carriage and stopped before a display rack containing various collections:

Moon Bone: Obtained from defeating the Ancient God Moon God; the first Ancient God defeated.

Crown Fragment: Obtained from defeating the Black King.

Broken Gun-Blade: Weapon fragment of the Iron Feather King.

Rudder Wreckage: Rudder fragment of the Doom.

Withered Gem: From the Eternal Light World, embedded in the Progenitor's forehead (a ruby still attached to a small amount of gray skin).

Beast Wang Guan: Broken crown of the old Beast King from the Wind Sea Continent.

Witch Pendant: A gift from the Moon Witch.

Dark Gold Badge: Requires achieving permanent hatred with the Golden Faction.

Old Sun Remnant: Sun fragment scattered when the "Old Sun" fell on the Blazing Sun Star (the piece from the sun's core).

Transcendence Ember: A large piece of ember produced when the Pantheon World transcended to the Myriad Races World (shaped like a half-burning metallic meteorite).

Meteorite Star World Core Fragment: The largest remaining fragment.

Dark Statue (Valueless, Rare Item): Image of the previous Abyss Lord.

……

Su Xiao removed the Crown Fragment, Broken Gun-Blade, Rudder Wreckage, and Witch Pendant, signaling that except for these four, she could take the rest, and let the Dark Hotbed choose one, or at most three, to trade for the 【Abyss Gem】.

Seeing these collections, the Abyss Daughter was quite moved. She could feel that behind every collection, there was perhaps a magnificent story.

Su Xiao tossed out a "Primordial Core"—he couldn't be stingy now. The Abyss Daughter caught it and said with a smile, "Leave it to me. I'll need... five hours at most. Summon me again then."

With that, the Abyss Daughter left with the collections, stepped back onto the teleportation array, and vanished after a brief spatial tremor.

Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the carpet in the train's bedroom, taking out a total of thirty portions of "Initial Source Matter" and 300 "Primordial Cores." In the past, he would have upgraded "Heavenly Blade Severing Shadow" by 10 levels at a time, but with 1150 points of Supreme Stamina, that was no longer necessary.

【Yes/No to upgrade Heavenly Blade Severing Shadow to Lv. 130? This upgrade requires 4.5 million ounces of Space-Time Power, 300 Primordial Cores, and thirty portions of "Initial Source Matter."】

With a massive amount of Space-Time Power in hand, Su Xiao chose to upgrade. All the "Primordial Cores" around him shattered, the "Initial Source Matter" broke through its container, and combined with the massive influx of Space-Time Power, the three fused under the notarization mechanism into a unique transparent energy that surged into Su Xiao's body.

A sudden darkness descended, making Su Xiao feel as if he were falling—first a blurry sensation of falling into water, then a hazy sound.

Su Xiao sat up in the water, the sounds in his ears becoming clear.

"We, in the end, are to be defeated."

A man holding a black long blade stood tall and thin, immovable by anything. His graying hair was blown by the wind; the earth was withered and pale, everything in sight appearing as if it had withered under intense eternal light.

On the entire battlefield, only the Black Blade Elder remained alive. He was the strongest, standing at the front. The Elemental Spirit King descended, holding a weapon made of elemental power, resembling both a sword and a long staff, with a cape of transparent, slowly fluttering strips behind him.

The Elemental Spirit King's weapon pointed at the Black Blade Elder's brow. The entire Star Realm was withered and pale under the scorching elemental power. The eternal daylight extinguished all life, and even the surrounding Abyss was being converted into more elemental power due to the imbalance.

Yes, under extreme elemental power, the Abyss would be assimilated and converted into elemental power, just as a strong Abyss would swallow elemental power.

The Abyss that people feared was assimilated to distant lands, where the giant abyssal drifts existed, far from this blinding elemental power.

A golden glimmer appeared in the center of the Black Blade Elder's pupils. He became more powerful, his gray hair flying, his presence awe-inspiring.

At this moment, above.

A figure sat on a high throne, elbow resting on the armrest, chin supported by one hand, looking down at everything. He did not intervene because he hadn't been as strong then, but for those who trusted and supported him, he had defeated the Elemental Spirit King of that time. But that was meaningless; once the Abyss or Elements completed large-scale erosion, everything was too late. One could only wait for the Abyss/Elements to subside, rebalance, and welcome the next Great Epoch—unless one could stop it when the Abyss/Elements first spread.

The spread of the Abyss might still be manageable, but after the elemental power went out of control, the conversion was simply too fast.

More intuitively, the Abyss eroded inward, first swallowing the elemental layer, then invading the Star Realm. The Elements assimilated outward, converting massive abyssal areas into elemental areas, then scorching the Star Realm within to a pale, withered state.

Boom!

The Black Blade Elder charged forward, his black blade meeting the elemental weapon...

Su Xiao opened his eyes suddenly, his breathing quickening. Calming his breath, he was certain that what he had just seen was the end of the Ancient Era.

Checking the time, over four hours had passed. He looked at the upgraded "Heavenly Blade Severing Shadow" ability.

【Heavenly Blade Severing Shadow, Lv. 130 (Extreme Technique, Passive)】

Basic Effect: Total technique ability intensity increased by 750% (increased by 283%).

Skill Effect: Extreme Blade (Exclusive Passive). This characteristic is the "foundation of moves" for current technique abilities. All technique moves used with your long blade will have their total power fixed based on this ability...

Current Extreme Blade Foundation Intensity: 430 points.

Extreme Effect 1: Heavenly Blade Severing Shadow (Extreme, Exclusive Passive). Your blade technique abilities are no longer confined to past moves. You can execute blade moves highly compatible with the current battle and environment based on different worlds and enemies, and even temporarily call upon the power of the current environment to further increase the power of your blade moves.

Extreme Effect 2: Realm of No-Self (Extreme, Exclusive Passive). Enter the "Realm of No-Self," briefly forgetting all past blade moves and retaining only the current move being used, elevating it to the extreme.

Current Realm of No-Self Limit: 21.6 times move power.

Note: This characteristic should have been elevated from "7.7 times move power" to "12.7 times move power," but because your Heavenly Blade Severing Shadow had an extra upgrade at Lv. 100 and Lv. 120, the two extra upgrades combined to elevate the "Realm of No-Self" from 12.7 times to the current "21.6 times move power."

……

Su Xiao had been worried that "Heavenly Blade Severing Shadow" would develop into an overly bloated system; if it had developed two more characteristics, it wouldn't have been a good thing. As for the "Realm of No-Self," the blade move that had successfully shattered the Meteorite Star no longer needed its value questioned.

Leaving the Lord's Train, Su Xiao activated the summoning array he had just laid out. A moment later, there was a response.

Dong~

Space vibrated. After the Abyss Daughter appeared, she stumbled a few steps and sat on the ground. The look she gave Su Xiao was filled with resentment.

"Can't you use a different spatial array?"

"No."

Such a simple answer left the Abyss Daughter speechless. She took out the various collections she had taken and finally produced a lychee-sized, pitch-black gem. Unexpectedly, what she had traded for this 【Abyss Gem】 was:

"Dark Statue (Valueless, Rare Item): Image of the previous Abyss Lord."

"Commission complete, I'm leaving."

The Abyss Daughter left. Su Xiao had Baham return the various collections to their places and took out the 【Eye of Omniscience】 again.

A moment later, he put away the 【Eye of Omniscience】, which still had one use left. The answer given by the 【Eye of Omniscience】 was actually a symbol:

ψ

This was the symbol representing the Tree of Void. Yet, before using the 【Eye of Omniscience】, Su Xiao had already tried using the 【Tree of Void Vault Application Permission III (30% off)】, and neither the "Abyss Gem" nor the "Elemental Gem" were in the Tree of Void's vault.

Su Xiao pondered for a while and tried to submit an application to the Tree of Void to purchase an "Elemental Gem." The answer he received was:

【Your Tree of Void reputation is too low, and this item cannot be obtained through trading.】

Seeing this, Su Xiao understood what was going on. He took out his communicator and contacted Mo Lei. After waiting for over ten minutes, Mo Lei answered, her voice sounding like she had just woken up.

"Do me a favor."

"Sure~"

Mo Lei looked like she was about to fall asleep again at any moment.

"Try submitting an application to the Tree of Void to exchange a Soul Gem for an Elemental Gem."

Hearing this, Mo Lei was suddenly wide awake and sat up, fearing that this Law Destroyer was about to perform some strange operation again.

After the Law Destroyer's reputation guarantee proved ineffective, he provided a personal guarantee, and Mo Lei believed him. Before leaving the exclusive room, Su Xiao paid 150,000 soul coins to non-destructively strip the "Soul Gem" from Zhan Long Shan.

Arriving first at the Great Gathering Place, then at the fully open area notarized by the Tree of Void, Su Xiao saw Mo Lei at a cold drink shop.

With Mo Lei's Tree of Void reputation, the application was naturally successful. She bit her straw, her eyes darting away as she said:

"It requires a replacement fee of 50,100 ounces of Space-Time Power."

"……"

Su Xiao directly traded 51,000 ounces of Space-Time Power to her. Mo Lei was stunned, wanting to say something but stopping. Finally, she said dejectedly, "Sorry, I wanted to pocket 100 ounces as a service fee."

"……"

Su Xiao said nothing, but Mo Lei suddenly felt that silence was more powerful than words. It was as if the Hunter were saying, "It's fine, next time I see you, I'll take it back. The Space-Time Power is just temporarily stored with you, don't feel guilty."

The more Mo Lei thought about it, the angrier she got. Finally, she angrily exchanged the "Elemental Gem" and handed it to Su Xiao.

Five hours later, in the alchemy laboratory of Su Xiao's exclusive room, the container holding both abyssal and elemental energy was completed. Half abyssal power, half elemental power—the two were distinct, yet they felt as if they were "assimilating/swallowing" each other.

Su Xiao placed the "Abyss Gem" into the elemental energy and the "Elemental Gem" into the abyssal energy. The next moment, a massive surge of energy rushed toward him. The two gems clicked together, and the fusion began.

Mo Lei became more and more angry. In the end, she angrily exchanged the "Element Gem" and handed it to Su Xiao.

Five hours later, in the alchemy laboratory of Su Xiao's exclusive room, the container containing both abyss and element energy had been manufactured. Half abyss power, half element power, the two were distinct, but had a feeling of "assimilating/swallowing" each other.

Su Xiao put the "Abyss Gem" into the element power and the "Element Gem" into the abyss energy. The next moment, a huge amount of energy rushed toward him. The two gems clicked together, and the fusion began.