"An ignorant commoner," observed Xiusi, glaring at Su Xiao with rising hostility. "To think you'd be like this. You'll become my sustenance."
Xiusi raised the muscular curved blade, and as the muscles surged on it, it seemed to come to life. After a moment, Xiusi's hand holding the blade drooped as if activating the blade had drained a lot of its energy.
Su Xiao couldn't help but look at the muscular curved blade, but it appeared unchanged from before.
He took out a bottle of Potion No. 1 and drank it down. His health quickly recovered, but his severe pain remained. Realising this, Su Xiao knew he couldn't delay any longer. His forehead had already begun to ache, and after being corrupted by that aura for a long time, his reaction speed had slowed, and there were several times when he almost couldn't perceive the enemy's attacks.
Activating the skill attached to his arm guard, Su Xiao's health suddenly dropped by about a third, and a large amount of blood flowed from his body.
A red blood mist clung to Su Xiao's body surface as he activated the "Lord of Bulls Armored Arm" skill, "Lord of Bulls' Fury," which consumed 30% of his health but increased his strength by 15 for ten seconds.
Su Xiao prepared to go all out. If he couldn't resolve or defeat the enemy within these 10 seconds, his journey in the Reincarnation Paradise would end here, becoming nourishment for the monster before him.
A surge of powerful energy welled up within him, and at this moment, Su Xiao's strength exceeded Xiusi's.
Su Xiao's body bent, and the Dragon Flash in his hand emitted a dazzling light. This was him converting all his remaining mana into Azure Steel Shadow energy and attaching it all to the Dragon Flash. Although it was somewhat wasteful, it would significantly enhance the blade's power.
Boom.
A circular pit appeared under Su Xiao's feet, and he disappeared from his original position, reappearing in front of Xiusi.
With both hands holding the blade, Su Xiao poured all his strength into it.
Faster, it had to be faster, too fast for the enemy to react.
The long blade fell, and the sudden burst of aura from Su Xiao left Xiusi stunned. It instinctively raised the muscular curved blade in its hand.
The Dragon Flash collided with the muscular curved blade, sending shockwaves rippling.
With a loud bang, cracks appeared in the barrier around the room, and Xiusi's feet sank into the ground. Caught off guard, it knelt in front of Su Xiao.
Xiusi's pupils trembled. It was actually kneeling before a human, which infuriated it.
"A mere mortal!"
Xiusi roared angrily as if insulted beyond imagination.
But in the next moment, its anger vanished. The Dragon Flash had pierced the muscular curved blade and, at that moment, revealed its enhanced quality of +12.
With a swish, the Dragon Flash cut through the muscular curved blade and slashed directly at Xiusi's shoulder.
Clang.
The Dragon Slaying Flash entered Xiusi's body, and a large amount of Steel Shadow energy raged inside Xiusi.
"Ah!"
Xiusi let out a roar, and Su Xiao's ears rang.
The Dragon Flash continued to cut downward from the shoulder to Xiusi's abdomen. Xiusi's internal organs were severely damaged, nearly cutting its upper body in half.
Crack, crack, crack.
Xiusi's bones quickly regenerated, tightly enveloping the Dragon Flash inside its body.
Su Xiao tried to pull out the Dragon Flash, but it was firmly embedded in Xiusi's body, and he couldn't move it an inch.
Without hesitation, Su Xiao released the hilt of the Dragon Flash and used his bare fists to strike Xiusi's face. Even though ten seconds hadn't passed, his strength attribute could suppress Xiusi.
Bang.
Su Xiao's fist broke several of Xiusi's teeth. Xiusi, a ferocious character itself, drove its ten-finger bones into Su Xiao's chest.
Splash.
All ten fingers penetrated Su Xiao's chest cavity, and Xiusi began to squeeze, intending to crush Su Xiao's internal organs. But Su Xiao's physical attribute was vital, with a vitality of 60 points, making his body challenging.
With a loud retch, Su Xiao spat out a mouthful of blood. He and Xiusi were entangled on the ground like rolling gourds.
An energy shield was generated before Su Xiao's chest, immobilising Xiusi's hands.
Enduring the intense pain in his chest, Su Xiao used both fists to strike left and right, raining blows onto Xiusi's head.
Bang, bang, bang...
In just two seconds, Su Xiao delivered dozens of punches. This high-level boss, Xiusi, had clearly never been beaten down before, let alone being ridden on top of. It was left stunned by the relentless attack.
The fists continued, but after Su Xiao had punched out hundreds of times, the effect of "Lord of Bulls' Fury" disappeared, and a sense of weakness set in.
Sensing Su Xiao's fists losing their strength, with cracks all over its skull, Xiusi seized the opportunity to counterattack. It exerted force with its hand and snapped several of Su Xiao's ribs with a crisp sound.
The severe pain made Su Xiao's consciousness begin to blur, but if he gave up now, the outcome would only be one word: death.
A flintlock pistol appeared in Su Xiao's hand, the "Dawn Roar" given to him by the old priest. Seeing this flintlock pistol, Xiusi's eyes filled with fear; it seemed to recognise the weapon.
"Dawn..."
Su Xiao didn't care about Xiusi's thoughts. He inserted the flintlock pistol's barrel into Xiusi's eye socket, which Su Xiao had already shattered. The cold barrel pressed directly against Xiusi's brain.
"No!!!"
Bang!
Smoke spread and golden holy water exploded in Xiusi's brain.
Hiss~
A foul stench spread and Xiusi's body twitched, gradually transforming. Its height returned to that of an ordinary person, and flesh appeared on its body, once again taking on a woman's appearance.
Dark green hair lay on the ground, and Xiusi had lost its breath. The flintlock pistol was embedded in her eye socket; she was the female executor mentioned by the old priest, the one who had saved many lives with this gun. But today, she died under this gun.
According to the old priest, this female executor had long been dead, but that wasn't the case. There must be a story behind it, a story worthy of being written into a novel, but Su Xiao didn't want to delve into it.
"You have killed the Lord-level creature, Xiusi."
"Kill the boss-level creature to obtain extra rewards, 7000 Joy Coins + Soul Crystal (Medium) x2.
"Orphan of Resentment·Xiusii is a lord-level creature, gaining 13% of the world's origin, totalling 42.8%.
"You obtained the Book of Repentance (quest item).
"You obtained a treasure chest (golden).
...
Su Xiao didn't bother to look at the items on the ground. Instead, he grabbed Xiu Si's fair arms and pulled her hands out of his chest. "Cough..."
Su Xiao coughed up a large amount of blood, staining Xiu Si's chest red, preventing her lifeless body from further exposure.
"This woman is ruthless."
Su Xiao lay beside Xiu Si's corpse, trembling as he poured two bottles of the first-tier potion and poured them into his mouth. At this point, he didn't care about the side effects of the medicine; he just wanted to stay alive.
A small amount of mana in his body transformed into Azure Steel Shadow energy, eradicating the interstitial cells in the first-tier potion.
Due to the incorporation of interstitial cells, the first-tier potion had a strong healing effect, especially for internal injuries.
Su Xiao's several ruptured internal organs were repaired, and after lying on the ground for half an hour, he finally regained some strength.
Picking up the items dropped by Xiu Si, Su Xiao was stunned when he touched the Book of Repentance (quest item), and a smile appeared on his face.
The talent awakening mission was completed faster than expected. Only a few hours had passed from infiltrating the Temple to now.
"There's time to complete the main mission. I wonder how many of those heroic spirits are still alive."
Su Xiao sat on the ground; he needed to rest now, but he couldn't shake the feeling of unease. He had encountered two groups of heroic spirits plus Masters on the way, but he hadn't encountered a single Contractor. This was highly unusual. Where had all the Contractors gone? Were they hiding?
Su Xiao had checked the Derivative World Communication Platform before. At first, there was nothing unusual with the platform, but as time passed, fewer and fewer Contractors spoke on the platform. Now, there were hardly any Contractors speaking.
...
Fuyuki City, at an underground bar.
The bar's doors were tightly closed, and if you looked through the crack in the window, you could see dozens of corpses lying on the floor.
Three men and women sat inside the bar, seemingly unconcerned about the bodies on the ground.
A seductive woman stood behind the bar, her long purple wavy hair and her voluptuous figure making her very enticing.
"Brother Huang, it's so boring here. How about we tear through this Derivative World? It's only a second-tier world."
The woman leaned over, intentionally giving the man in front of the bar a glimpse of her assets.
The man picked up his glass and downed the fiery liquor inside.
"No, the boss instructed us to clean up the Contractors in this Derivative World first to prevent that kid from teaming up with other Contractors. That kid should be busy fighting with heroic spirits right now. Whatever the boss says, I'll do."
The man exhaled a breath, and faint sparks could be seen in the hot air. His name was Huang Feng, the vice-captain of the Bloodgate Adventure Team, a third-tier Contractor who had once chased Gudao.
"He's just a second-tier rookie. No need to be so serious."
The woman straightened up, feeling a bit annoyed by her failed seduction.
"Shut up, Die. It's only because Brother Huang is in a good mood. If the boss were here, you'd be dead for speaking like that."
A chubby man sat in the corner, and in front of him knelt a second-tier Contractor, looking dazed.
"Chubby, don't tease him. He's my slave, not a dog."
"Ha, isn't being enslaved by you the same as being a dog? I'd rather be a dog than be enchanted by you."
Chubby tossed a peanut, and the second-tier Contractor immediately caught it in his mouth.
"So obedient. If I had known, I would have specialised in psychic abilities."
Chubby kicked the second-tier Contractor away.
"How's the progress?"
Huang Feng spoke; he was usually reserved and taciturn, one of the two people Stein trusted the most.
Stein only trusted two people: his wife and Huang Feng. They had a close bond even before entering the Reincarnation Paradise.
"It's going well. We haven't alerted anyone. There are just five 'left,' and these five seem to have sensed something and are hiding."
Die smiled, her charm-based abilities making it easy for her to control second-tier Contractors.
"We have five days left on the Catalyst Clock. Find the remaining five Contractors within ten hours."
Huang Feng poured another glass of liquor.
"Understood."
Die stretched lazily and walked out of the bar.
"Brother Huang, is it okay for us to kill second-tier Contractors like this? Are we not violating taboos?"
Chubby seemed genuinely worried.
"Our powers are restricted, so using standard methods won't break any rules."
Huang Feng fell silent, and the bar descended into silence.
...
In a sewer in Fuyuki City, a man covered in mud sat, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
"Damn, where did these lunatics come from? Without saying a word, they started hunting me down. Did I mess with their ancestors or sleep with their wives or something?"
If Su Xiao had seen the man's face, he would immediately recognise him as the Umbrella-less Brother, the wild main tank he had encountered during the Survival Trial.
The Umbrella-less Brother wore unique clothing with a noticeable bulge on his back, housing a simple parachute. It seemed that the Survival Trial had left a lasting impact on him, giving him a strong sense of unease.
"Ah, second-tier is too dangerous. First-tier is better..."
The Umbrella-less Brother sighed, his recent experiences filled with frustration. He had been fleeing since entering the Holy Grail World, all the way up to now.
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