Chapter 4210

In the deepest, darkest place stands a towering great hall.

This great hall seems naturally formed; though its substance resembles oil and feels somewhat rough, it also bears the weight of endless ages, as if it will stand here forever.

Outside the abyssal great hall stand fully black-armored knights with three arms and a single eye on their chests, all in slumber; should intruders arrive, they are the first to face, and essentially, they are indestructible beings, part of the hall itself, born of abyssal power.

The hall's doors are shut tight; within its dim interior, at the farthest side, the figure on the abyssal throne bows its head slightly, crowned with tangled, darkened wooden horns, no longer an ill omen; if such a visage appeared among newborns of the abyssal kin, the whole clan would feel honored—it is one of the most innate manifestations of abyssal power.

Not far to the right of the throne lies a hidden door; entering it reveals a secret space behind the throne's solid wall, covering roughly a hundred square meters, arranged with a ritualistic, dark, mysterious aura.

Drip, drip~

Dark blood drips from the woodenized fingertips above, falling into the black pool below, sending slow ripples that have spread for ages; today, however, the black pool stirs: an arm-shaped form rises from the viscous black liquid, slaps the edge with a crack, the right hand wearing a red armguard, abyssal power tracing patterns upon it, forming rings on the back of the hand.

……

Su Xiao lies on the bed in the resting room; Bubu Wang, Amu, Bahu, and Bennie take Kelra to the Void Tree's grand gathering grounds to stroll, now faced with choosing one of three options for the "Ultimate Boundary·Star Realm" ability; the first is immediately ruled out, as it would disrupt the already-formed system.

The second and third options: one extends the duration of Star Realm stasis with fixed range, the other pushes it to the extreme, even allowing the entire Star Realm to be frozen for three seconds, while continuously intensifying the "Star Realm Stasis" process.

This raises a question: when facing a strong foe, with Su Xiao's attack methods, does freezing for 3 seconds versus 15 seconds truly matter? If an enemy cannot be killed within 3 seconds, can 15 seconds really do it? Moreover, the subsequent enemies requiring "Ultimate Boundary·Star Realm" to deal with can be counted on one hand.

First, consider battling the Abyssal Lord: Su Xiao estimates that if he chooses the second trait, "Star Realm·Stasis" would have no chance to appear in this fight; conversely, the third trait is different.

If Su Xiao truly could freeze the entire Star Realm for three seconds, then the frozen Star Realm would resemble a vast radiation zone of the "Ultimate Boundary·Star Realm" ability, likely spreading this stasis to some degree into the great hall where the abyssal throne resides; even if it cannot freeze that abyssal region, such a battle—even if it only briefly hinders the enemy—would be the decisive key.

Moreover, the ultimate goal of continually enhancing "Ultimate Boundary·Star Realm" is to counter the Highest One's ability to freeze the Star Realm.

"Tip: 'Absolute Stasis' can suppress other Star Realm stasis abilities within the same system, even nullify their effects."

The good news is, with "Absolute Stasis," one can nullify the Highest One's Star Realm stasis ability.

The neither-good-nor-bad news is, the Highest One also possesses "Absolute Stasis," so both sides cancel each other out; thus, this trait must be chosen.

【Your "Ultimate Boundary·Star Realm" ability has completed advancement.】

【Ultimate Boundary·Star Realm: (Transcendent Level·Active)】

Active effect: You fully unleash your technique master's might, influencing the Star Realm's operation in the world you inhabit, placing this realm into "Star Realm·Absolute Stasis" for 3 seconds.

Tip: When this ability can freeze the entire Star Realm, its stasis intensity reaches the limit.

Tip: Usable once every 5 natural days, depending on your current Peak Stamina attribute, reducible to a minimum of once every 3 natural days.

……

Su Xiao needs no excess traits in "Ultimate Boundary·Star Realm"—pure, stable, strong; these three together will never disappoint at critical moments.

【Life Pulse, (Ultimate Boundary·Passive).】

Passive effect: You have gained deeper insight into the Star Realm, mastering "One of the Star Realm's Highest Rules·Life's Pulse"; when your Life Core is completely shattered, heralding death, you will channel vast "Star Realm Origin Power" to resist this death, resisting it 100% while gaining a continuous 5-second "Invincible State" and immediately restoring 50% of your Life Core.

Tip: After successfully resisting death, you may delay activating this ability for up to 600 seconds; the life-giving awakening it brings will activate on its own.

Tip: This ability can trigger in any environment, even if you are in the Abyss/Elemental setting, or even in Chaos, it remains activatable.

Tip: This effect has a long cooldown, depending on your Origin Life Force volume.

……

The split-off life-preserving ability remains formidable and deceptive; the moment death is successfully resisted marks the beginning of turning defeat into victory.

Closing the skill list, Su Xiao soon falls into sleep, awakened by the email notification's chime; he sits up from bed, opens the email to see over a dozen messages, mostly about wartime council convocations, unrelated to him, merely troop deployments across the front lines.

In just over 30 hours, war will resume; now, the headquarters' participants are tenser than at the war's outset, when all believed the Abyssal Gate had opened, unleashing endless abyssal creatures.

The result, however, was that the current Abyssal Lord's dozen or so abyssal legions—especially the first to third legions' ferocity—had already been experienced by the participants; had it not been for the Abyssal Gate projection limiting those three legions on the main battlefield, over 40% of those present would already be dead.

The abyssal faction is not dark-driven beasts; the current Abyssal Lord harbors grand ambition, clear purpose, his legions fearless and united; if our side cannot withstand the abyssal legions, all will die. Conversely, the abyssal kin now face existential extinction: should the Star Realm not enter the Abyssal Age, the abyssal species will perish—this is a war of survival for both sides.

Worth noting: the abyssal kin and abyssal lineage/abyssal creatures are not the same; the former are the peoples who lived and thrived in the Star Realm during the Abyssal Age, originally born from the abyssalized Star Realm, while the latter two are born within the Abyss itself.

Ignoring these emails, Su Xiao sees Caesar's message: that side has already ravaged the Bronze Clan, now ravaging the Fish Clan, next target the New Insect Clan; as for the Beast Clan and the Amalgam, they have no clan vaults or resource-hoarding habits.

Caesar means the Bronze, Fish, and New Insect clans' treasuries are to be split 70-30, Caesar taking 70, Su Xiao's side 30, because Su Xiao slew the chieftains of the five great abyssal lineages, turning what was once only a chance to loot the Bronze Clan into an opportunity for Caesar to await the showdown with the "Abyssal Cache," now also having cleared the Fish and New Insect clans.

Caesar is greedy, no mistake, but when dividing spoils, he won't be stingy with friends—provided they are his friends.

The next email is from the "Merchant Guild Alliance," i. e., "Giant Bank" + "Underworld Bank," meaning they intend to buy shares in the "Void Bank," but can only offer 15 million ounces of spacetime force; note: the wealth of the Arcane Eternal Star is concentrated in the "Void Bank," so the Merchant Guild Alliance's offer is tantamount to outright robbery.

To make such an offer, they must have long hidden in obscurity; more remarkably, this is the Giant Bank's opening bid, while the Underworld Bank's side says their funds are insufficient, they dare not take advantage of the Highest One to press prices, words sound pleasant, but attitude is better.

The Giant Bank then says, besides them, no one would buy the "Void Bank" at this juncture, even if the asset is under notarization by the Void Tree, sent to unknown lands; later, acquiring sufficient shares would allow them to recall the Void.

Su Xiao currently holds "Share Certificate·19%" of the Void Bank; moreover, after this abyssal campaign, the major powers holding scattered shares may not remain certain; currently, the notarization states that upon the death of a "Void Bank Share" holder, their shares are evenly distributed among other shareholders.

Would Su Xiao accept 15 million ounces for the Void Bank shares? Of course—who would refuse free 15 million ounces? Furthermore, this "Merchant Guild Alliance" maneuver is indeed shocking, accomplishing what even the "Wall-Riding Master" demon clan failed to do: they are preparing to ride the wall.

This top-secret information is now known only to a few high-ranking members of the Merchant Guild Alliance, plus Caesar and Su Xiao; Su Xiao learned it from Caesar.

These Merchant Guild Alliance folks, who knows where they got their means, can achieve abyssalization with high probability; in the face of such vast abyssal power, Star Realm lifeforms retaining reason while abyssalized is unthinkable—but considering the Merchant Guild Alliance's wealth, after the Arcane Eternal Star's fall, they are among the Star Realm's top financial powers, second only to the Goblin Merchant Guild, and indeed cannot withstand the combined wealth of Lao San and Lao Si.

The Merchant Guild Alliance's plan is clear: even if the Abyssal Age descends, abyssal kin cannot possibly survive in the Star Realm by eating raw meat and drinking blood like primitive tribes; where there is civilization, there is currency; in a few hundred years at most, a thousand at longest, the Merchant Guild Alliance will rise anew in the Abyssal Era.

Did the demon clan lack this idea? Answer: they had it, but lacked the wealth to procure the wondrous treasures capable of turning toward abyssalization before the Abyssal Cataclysm begins.

Speaking of which, whether choosing abyssalization like Sha, or advancing further on the abyssal path like the Undead Sister, they should have met their own ends—or perhaps not yet dead, but their situation must be dire; everyone has their own fate, this is Sha and the Undead Sister's respective choices.

The Merchant Guild Alliance's more audacious move is dispatching all forces under its command belonging to the Underworld Bank to participate in this Abyssal Contention War.

When the time comes, if the Star Realm faction wins, the Giant Bank will be utterly annihilated by "enemies," its wealth seized by the former ally Underworld Bank; thus, the Underworld Bank, having participated in the great war, can continue as one of the Star Realm's major powers.

This is also why the Giant Bank seeks to press Su Xiao to the limit on price,

Should the abyssal faction win, then the Underworld Bank will be utterly annihilated by "enemies," its wealth taken by the Giant Bank; as a bystander in the final battle, the Giant Bank faces low probability of retaliation from the abyssal faction.

Moreover, the survivors will be the few abyssalized high-ranking members of the Merchant Guild Alliance; they will lie low, then gradually use their wealth to become major powers.

Su Xiao replies to the Merchant Guild Alliance's email, raising the price of "Void Bank Shares" to 20 million ounces—not because he doesn't want to immediately take the 15 million ounces of spacetime force to boost himself, but because agreeing to the Merchant Guild Alliance's opportunistic plunder would fully alert them, causing them to abandon this deal; one thing must be admitted: in such a situation, those still willing to buy the Void Bank are indeed only the Merchant Guild Alliance.

As for how to subsequently locate the Merchant Guild Alliance's whereabouts and exterminate them completely, no need to wonder—they surely have ample anti-tracking measures and hide in an extremely secret area.

For this, Su Xiao prepares to use the 【Malicious Eye Prophet】 to divine the Merchant Guild Alliance's position; sounds incredible? Once the principle is known, it's not hard to grasp.

Use the 【Malicious Eye Prophet】 to divine the Merchant Guild Alliance's whereabouts.

Divination will surely fail, but even the most advanced anti-tracking and divination methods leave traces; Su Xiao will chop this causal trail to pieces with one blade.

The Merchant Guild Alliance's all anti-tracking measures are shattered.

Using the "Bad-Omen Prophet" that had just completed "Formatting" again for divination.

Kill all members of the "Merchant Guild Alliance," during which let Caesar squeeze the "Merchant Guild Alliance" dry to prevent high-ranking members from fleeing with funds.

Retrieve the "Void Bank Shares," and distribute the remaining proceeds according to the pre-agreed ratio.

Sell the "Void Bank Shares" to the Goblin Merchant Guild or the Gilthilliu Family, and personally guarantee that once sold, they will not be reclaimed.

……

Indeed, such a simple plan, once sufficient strength is attained, there's truly no need to continue scheming against the "Merchant Guild Alliance"; moreover, without any groundwork laid, the "Merchant Guild Alliance" is more likely to agree to this deal.

Sincerely destroying the "Merchant Guild Alliance" is certainly only possible after winning the Abyssal Campaign; previously, there was indeed no time, so selling the "Void Bank Shares" early to earn a sum increases the chances of victory in the final battle against the Abyssal Lord.

After replying to the email, Su Xiao looked at the next one, sent by Logistics Officer Taelier, which read: "In the 'Spacetime Power Theft Case,' the Immortal·Aqis was indeed involved, but this guy is a scapegoat."

He completed an important task on the Void Battlefield in the first half: destroying the dark power source in the western war zone, which greatly enhances the Abyssal Legion within a few hundred kilometers, and there are multiple primordial abyssal entities stationed there.

The Immortal·Aqis led several peak squads, successfully seized this dark power source, and when submitting the task, he did not submit it to the Void Tree but to the Dawnlight Paradise, due to a bonus.

As a result, he obtained the "Resource Allocation Permit·2,000,000 Ounces"; the Immortal·Aqis didn't think much of it—among the 12 peak and 183 supreme individuals, after distribution, he himself received 220,000 ounces of spacetime power.

The issue lies with these 2,000,000 ounces of spacetime power, which Dawnlight Paradise allocated via the Void Tree's campaign dispatch from the Initiation Paradise; thus, during the previous meeting, the Immortal·Aqis sweated more as he listened.

After reading this email, Su Xiao replied acknowledging the matter and admitting his earlier miscalculation—he had previously judged it as a free gain of 48,000,000, deemed insufficiently precise, since the "Spacetime Power Theft Case" amounted to 50,000,000; but now adding these 2,000,000 ounces clearly shows his estimate was spot-on.

Just as the email was sent back, Logistics Officer Taelier replied with:

"You can, take it, good, investigate, ah."

From the text, one can see Logistics Officer Taelier gradually gritting her teeth; Su Xiao weighed the situation, feeling that the team leader and Logistics Officer Taelier, having been busy over the past 12 hours, likely had little chance to be intimate, both being extremely occupied; the team leader probably hasn't sold himself out yet, and even if old feelings rekindled, it would only happen after winning the Abyssal Campaign—so, eight or nine out of ten, this is Taelier's intuition; well, no evidence, no big problem.

Even if there were evidence, denying it wouldn't matter much.

Moreover, the current primary suspect is the Immortal·Aqis; Su Xiao opened the email, expressing trust in the Immortal·Aqis, stating that based on his performance in the campaign, he certainly wouldn't do such a thing.

At this moment, the Immortal·Aqis, having just finished breakfast, saw this email—his expression twisted; though his acquisition of 2,000,000 ounces was neither proper nor legitimate, it was still legitimate task earnings; and why should he, who took 2,000,000 ounces, bear the blame for 50,000,000 ounces? That despicable fellow who swallowed 48,000,000!

Latest⊥novel⊥first⊥release⊥on⊥⊥⊥first⊥release!

The Immortal·Aqis, just about to reply, wanted to curse the bastard who swallowed 48,000,000, but his usual caution made him silently delete the text he had already typed; for some reason, after deleting that passage, he felt relieved inside, yet his back turned icy cold, his neck slightly numb, his head feeling as if it had flown up, light and floating.

This sensation, as if his head had been chopped off with a blade, made the Immortal·Aqis shiver, then he deleted an earlier section as well and chose to send.

In the lounge, Su Xiao closed the email list, calmed his breath for a moment, entered a meditative state, and unknowingly, his "Heart Meditation" ability increased by one level—not due to any insight, but the lingering effect of this promotion to the supreme; when he ended meditation, a prompt appeared.

【Prompt: All your supreme main attributes have reached 100 points, first triggering "Extreme Realm System·My Own Domain," you have mastered the "Spirit Life Core."】

"Spirit Life Core (Extreme Realm Ability): Constitutes 30% of the current life core upper limit as 'Spirit Energy Life Core,' requiring consumption of 450,000 points of 'Azure Shadow King Energy'; the formed 'Spirit Life Core' has two effects: it can be used as a life core to resist damage, and in the next attack, it can carry the 'Spirit Life Core,' thereby causing a more fierce attack (attack intensity depends on the 'Spirit Life Core' strength and the number of 'Spirit Life Cores' carried in this attack)."

Current life core upper limit: 1,410 cores.

Current number of spirit energy cores that can be formed: 423 cores.

Prompt: All spirit life cores can be carried in a single attack.

Prompt: Since the "Spirit Life Core" is formed from your own bodily energy, it is permanent; before destruction, there is no time limit on existence, and it has self-metabolism; when the "Spirit Life Core" exists for over 365 natural days, it will gradually undergo metabolic replacement via your own bodily energy.

……

Undoubtedly, this is the best opening ability, perfectly matching Su Xiao's style of a casual slash becoming a ultimate move; this ability integrates offense and defense to the extreme, truly raising Su Xiao's "Azure Shadow King Energy" to 538,420 points, transforming it into formidable combat strength during battle.

The first strike at the opening is crucial; whether one can gain an advantage in subsequent combat largely depends on this strike.

【Prompt: You have triggered the following bounty hunts.】

Gate Nodes: Destroy three gate nodes (pay 60,000 ounces of spacetime power to activate this bounty; completing it yields 150 times the bounty amount).

Ultimate Hunter: Slay three super-gigantic primordial abyssal entities (pay 45,000 ounces of spacetime power to activate this bounty; completing it yields 200 times the bounty amount).

Supreme Dragon Rider: Slay the abyssal camp's supreme dragon rider (pay 250,000 ounces of spacetime power to activate this bounty; completing it yields 200 times the bounty amount).

Abyssal Lord: Slay the Abyssal Lord (pay 100 ounces of spacetime power to activate this bounty; completing it yields the final bounty of the "Hunter's List·Blood Covenant").

Prompt: This is a world bounty.

Prompt: After completing this bounty, your "Hunter's List·Blood Covenant" will be filled, thereby obtaining the "Final Bounty."

……

【Warning: Detected sharing behavior by hunters on bounty tasks; sharing bounty tasks is prohibited in this Abyssal Campaign.】

Well, it seems continued operation is impossible; as for having operated only once, and the Void Tree's reputation dropping by? points, that's nothing—after all, currently holding a large amount of merit points that cannot be exchanged for supplies; after this campaign ends, if we lose, it has nothing to do with Su Xiao; if we win, it will surely mean ruthlessly operating several times while already possessing massive merit points, at which point the Void Tree's reputation will definitely plummet to new lows.

Four bounty tasks: the first has a quota of 9,000,000 ounces of spacetime power; the danger of the "Gate Nodes" was anticipated early; the second must be completed in the subsequent melee—no super-gigantic primordial abyssal entities have appeared yet, but their vitality must be formidable, so the bounty for three is 9,000,000 ounces.

The third bounty, "Supreme Dragon Rider," is almost certainly the strongest daughter of the warmonger; with this supreme being's strength, a worth of 50,000,000 ounces is unsurprising; if not for the bounty increasing every 10,000,000 ounces, the bounty total would be harder to calculate, and this individual's bounty would be even higher.

As for the bounty corresponding to the contemporary Abyssal Lord, this happens to be the final bounty required to complete the "Hunter's List·Blood Covenant"; upon reflection, it makes sense—since the "Hunter's List" must eventually be filled, this "Final Bounty" is highly anticipated.

All four bounties accepted; thus, Su Xiao can accept bounties up to the full limit; he rose and walked toward the room's exit; just after leaving the main camp, a World-Ending Wing dove down, lowered its dragon head before him, he leapt onto its dragon back, and the World-Ending Wing spread its wings and took flight.

Riding on the World-Ending Wing's dragon back is far from comfortable; Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the rough, asphalt-like dragon skin, recalling the Storm Flame Dragon·Dysis—though its size of over ten to nearly twenty meters is suitable for riding, Dysis is covered in scale-feathers; thinking of this, he opened the insectoid list and checked on Barbatos's condition, unexpectedly finding that Barbatos had already awakened, in a regenerable state, with regeneration requiring 36 hours to complete.

On the dragon's back, the high-altitude wind howled in his ears; Su Xiao did not head straight for the "World Wall," charging through it straight to the Abyssal Dragon Base would indeed be the shortest route, but along the way, he would have to slaughter vast numbers of Abyssal Legions; thus, he detoured, flying over the original Feather Clan garrison—namely, the southeast side of the Mammon Mod Fortress entrance—before that, which is the optimal route.

Three hours later, the Mammon Mod Fortress came into view; this once-majestic fortress, now eroded by abyssal power, shows several signs of dark decay.

It also seems to foreshadow that the demon clan's glory in the previous great epoch has vanished with the complete downfall of the Mammon Mod Fortress; yes, the demon bloodline originates from ancient times, even earlier; initially, they were also formidable figures, but in the present era, inexplicably, they began to decline.

As the elder of the Great Library's Soul said, the demon clan lost the "Sacrifice and Rearing" core power; ancient demons were universally extremely evil, with constant internal strife, yet relied on immense combat strength to let the demon clan flourish to the end.

This is because the demon clan never abandoned "Sacrifice"; as long as living beings offer sacrifices to them, they gain power; of course, the brutal cost soon follows, ultimately culminating in tragedy.

This seemingly insignificant act, which appears to yield little benefit, actually contains immense causal power; the demon clan, having lost this causal system power, is merely a strong aberration nurtured by the Celestial Realm Authority System; demons cannot be bound by inner thoughts—only extreme evil can unleash extreme power; this is also why, in the current epoch, only one "Extreme Position Demon" has appeared, still relying on absorbing Celestial Realm power.

Su Xiao seemed to understand why this epoch's ancient god system is so strong—because the "Sacrifice" power has been occupied by the ancient god system.

Actually, the path to the strongest power system is just a few: Abyss, Element, and Celestial Realm are the three strongest T0 tiers; afterward come Sacrifice, Primordial Life, and a few others as first-line; besides, in the current epoch, there is also a super-first-line tier, which is five—namely, the Fate System.

Alas, this system either produces salted fish in abundance—like the Fortune Goddess, Fate Goddess, etc. —or hasn't risen yet, only to be killed mid-way by Su Xiao and others, such as the Platinum Apostle, who is one of them.

A deep, muffled roar echoed in his ears; Su Xiao passed through a layer of invisible world wall, and the surroundings immediately became dark and damp, yet somehow carried a hint of warmth? The Abyss has actually never been icy cold; its generation properties will definitely bring a touch of warmth.

A black crystal appeared in Su Xiao's hand; he tossed it onto the back of the World-Ending Wing; the next second, the World-Ending Wing began violent abyssal transformation, appearing able to last a dozen or so minutes before turning into an abyssal creature; also, only under this current gradual abyssalization state will it not draw attention from the abyssal faction.

Abyssal Dragon Base: a dim great canyon, located at the innermost side, presenting a cylindrical shape ten thousand meters wide; on the ground lies half a meter deep black liquid; formerly, the Abyssal Dragons slept in this underground hot spring flowing through; the black maple trees are located at the center, nourished by the earth veins; at this moment, the Abyssal Dragon's whereabouts are unknown, the black maple tree is also gone; the center of the Abyssal Dragon Base is a towering crystal monument over ten meters high—this is precisely the "Gate Node."

The primordial abyssal entities led by Scalescale·Kuenha are stationed here; besides, the Second Elder of the Fish Family, the Fish Family's Sixth·Deep Sea Shadow, and several members of the Bronze Family are also stationed here.

In addition, there were tens of thousands of elite black knights led by the Black Knight Commander, Mokei, each wielding heavy weapons and carrying a large bow on their backs—more than sufficient in length to hunt down beings the size of World-Ending Wings.

A dark magic dragon flew into the sky, transforming into a dark humanoid form. The frenzied-scaled Kuhnenha, its entire body covered in black scales, opened its single vertical eye and gazed upward. Initially doubtful for a few seconds, its eyes suddenly widened, and without hesitation, it seized the Black Knight Commander Mokei's neck with one hand while driving its other claw into the neck of a nearby elite black knight.

Pfft!

Black blood sprayed, scattering into scales before it even hit the ground. The black knight whose throat was pierced exploded into a shower of black scales, and the Frenzied-Scaled Kuhnenha, still gripping the Black Knight Commander Mokei's neck with one hand, vanished without a trace.

"Huh?"

Not far away, the gaunt Second Elder Dikenujia, resembling an old man, shuddered in shock. It slammed the pendant on its neck into pieces. As for abandoning the defense of the "Gate Node"—which would inevitably lead to death later—Kuhnenha had fled, which could only mean one thing: the Slaughter God has arrived!

The Grand Elder's eyes widened, about to draw a life-saving artifact, but unfortunately, it was too slow by a move.

Boom!

A figure landed, crimson blood energy erupting suddenly. The landing figure was bare-chested, with a knife belt around the waist and a long sword in hand that appeared to be coated with a layer of spiritual energy plating. As he raised the sword and slashed downward in a false cut, the spiritual plating shattered, and a wave of cutting force exploded outward.

Dong!!!

The Abyssal Dragon Base instantly vanished. As far as the eye could see, the surrounding area became a flat crystalline plain. From today onward, the terrain of this place is completely transformed, and so will its corresponding environment. In several years, this land will even begin to naturally produce unique crystal minerals and may evolve into crystalline pseudo-lifeforms, forming a wondrous and stable ecological system here. This is the strike carrying 423 "Spirit Life Cores"—possessing terrifying power capable of instantly annihilating peak realm experts, as well as long-lasting regional effects.

Located beneath the "Gate Node," the Fish Clan Grand Elder maintained a posture ready to use a life-saving measure. With a crack, its crystalline body shattered, along with its causality and everything else.

With a boom, centered on Su Xiao, all crystallized statues in the surroundings shattered—only the "Gate Node" in a state of boiling power remained unharmed. Su Xiao deliberately refrained from attacking it, but the next second, dark liquid surged from the "Gate Node," gradually forming a dark creature resembling a giant slime.

"Roar!"

Layer upon layer of black sound waves spread outward.

Su Xiao stared at this dark creature and did not immediately slash it to death.

Black Demon.

"Roar!!"

The Black Demon let out a bellow at Su Xiao—part anger, mostly chaotic and painful fury—then lunged forward in a frenzied killing intent that nearly boiled over. Seeing this, Su Xiao vanished from his spot and reappeared, now within two meters of the lunging Black Demon, and swung his long sword forward with full force.