Chapter 446

Chapter 446: Chapter 443: "Hurry Up, Dame." (Kasiert Alliance Hierarch Additional 3/3)"...We’re here."

Xiber, who was walking ahead holding the Soul Stone, suddenly stopped.

Su Ming’an looked up.

In front of him lay a quiet tribal village with several fires burning on the ground, casting a warm glow on the surrounding silent houses.

Near the houses were clotheslines, meat-smoking racks, cloth sacks, and wild beast furs; Su Ming’an even saw a small sacrificial altar inside, with plates of fruits and smoked meats laid out on a table, backed by a bronze deity statue.

...Was that the so-called Bai Shen?

The night was too dark, and the firelight too dim for him to make out the details of the statue, but it appeared to be humanoid.

"Due to the black mist and wild beasts at night, no one goes out at this time. Everyone should still be asleep," Xiber whispered, her footsteps gentle: "They won’t like me."

Clearly, she had grown accustomed to the attitude of the residents here.

Su Ming’an followed her, silently switching his mode.

He switched to "Shadow."

In Shadow State, the drop in his sanity was suppressed, and his observational ability was enhanced.

This transformation immediately made him aware of a change in the Shadow State. A fine stream of black energy flowed between his palms, like tiny black snakes rapidly coiling around his arms.

He had a feeling that if he triggered a Spatial Vibration now, the power would be much stronger than before.

After leveling up to level 20, a player’s occupation indeed gained significant enhancement.

"We guides can vaguely sense the nearby presence of a deity’s offerings (Silver Star). There should be a small sacrifice field (small instance) near this twenty-seventh Barbarian Tribe," said Xiber, "Yep, definitely over there."

She held up the Soul Stone high.

Under the illumination of the light, Su Ming’an saw the out-of-place building positioned at the center of the tribe.

Amidst the barbaric and wild ambiance of the tribe stood a silver-white, futuristic semi-circular building. It resembled a silver bowl turned upside down on the ground, with a blood-red rune emitting a faint glow on its surface.

Su Ming’an approached and touched the building’s outer wall.

"Ding dong!"

The system notification sounded.

"Didn’t you say that you can see the contents inside such small instances with your prophecy?" Su Ming’an looked at the instance prompt, then turned back to ask her, "What’s inside?"

Xiber closed her eyes, silent as if choosing her words carefully.

"Um..." She began, her voice hesitant, "This should be... a level with fairly low difficulty. And, it should be... probably a contest between individuals."

Su Ming’an shifted his gaze.

By the rules, what Xiber said was not wrong.

But in fact, her words were ambiguous, much like those fortune-tellers at street stalls who could twist any result to fit their versatile fortune-telling terms.

Realizing Su Ming’an’s disappointment, Xiber coughed.

"Currently, I’m not in my best condition. I’ve said it, I don’t like traveling at night," she said. "Next time, I’ll try to provide you with more precise information."

After glancing at her, Su Ming’an crouched down to observe the silver building.

"It seems like at least two people are needed to participate," he said.

These small instances resembled board games, just as the standard version of Three Kingdoms Kill required at least three players to start, and the standard version of Flying Chess required four. If he wanted to enter this instance, he would need to meet the "2-6 people" requirement, meaning at least 2 people to start.

But obviously, in this silent night, there were no other players nearby.

As he pondered, Xiber suddenly became alert.

"Someone’s coming," she suddenly tensed.

"What a coincidence," Su Ming’an looked up. "Is it another adventurer like me?"

"I don’t know, but I heard the wind," she said.

As a hunter making a living by hunting in the forest, she was extremely sensitive to the slightest movement of leaves and grass.

Logically speaking, there shouldn’t be many people around. This area, on the edge of the forest frequented by wild beasts, was not suitable for habitation, only inhabited by lower-ranked tribes capable of surviving here. Furthermore, this instance was the easiest level, with winners only receiving one Silver Star.

In more populated areas, there would likely be instances of greater difficulty and scale. Those instances could yield three to four Silver Stars per win, with many more participants per instance.

It was surprising that there were other players roaming the night in such a remote area.

"They’re coming." Xiber’s gaze firmly locked onto the barely moving tree shadows.

Su Ming’an watched that area closely.

As the wind stirred, a shade of the same transparent light slowly passed through the dense black fog, and an old man holding a Soul Stone, dressed in a snow-white sacrificial robe, approached slowly. The warm golden light surrounding him made him look approachable.

"...It’s the 69th-ranked ’Believer,’ Salas, a participant from the fourth tribe and the Sacrificial Elder leading their tribe’s rituals," Xiber recognized him immediately, her expression beginning to turn frantic.

When she caught Salas’s gaze, she immediately turned away, "Adventurer, let’s go. Salas can transform the power of faith into the power of light that he can wield—I can’t beat him..."

"Don’t panic, it’s just the sixty-ninth rank," Su Ming’an grabbed her arm.

He stepped forward, getting closer to Salas.

"...Hmm?" Salas saw Xiber but seemed not to recognize her.

Xiber had been exiled from her tribe since she was a child, living on the edges of the world, and after years of growth, her appearance had significantly changed—very few could still recognize her.

"To encounter adventurers here," Salas said, "seems like someone very confident in their own skills."

In Qiongdi, attacking other adventurers was prohibited during the day, but at night, attacks were unrestricted. Therefore, those out at night were often very confident in their own abilities.

"I’ve never seen the likes of this one before." Salas sized up Xiber. "Not one of the top-ranked monsters, weak in presence, unstable in footsteps, devoid of vitality—A support type Guide, perhaps?"

He immediately saw through Xiber’s inability to fight. After all, her frail physique made it easy to see that she was a little girl with insufficient physical quality.

"Looks like I can achieve an easy victory," Salas said with a smile.

His smile remained kind, like that of a purely benevolent old man.

But as one of the hundred participants, he knew that in this war, it was either kill or be killed.

Even if he was a big-hearted Sacrificer on regular days, once the war began, he could only fight to survive.

"Unfortunately, you’ve met us. It looks like this unfamiliar young girl is not a combat-type Guide. You... haven’t found a combat-type companion yet, have you?" Salas raised the serpent head scepter in his hand, "I think we don’t even need to go to the small sacrifice field next door; let’s settle it outside."

He gave up entering the instance, preferring to settle life and death in the forest itself.

"Into the instance!" Xiber immediately thought of this and yelled at Su Ming’an, "Go in now!"

If the number of players hasn’t reached the specified amount, players could also enter the instance to wait until the player count is sufficient for the instance to begin.

Unrestricted fighting was not allowed inside the instance; if they could enter the instance right now, they could immediately escape the threat from Salas outside.

Xiber was anxious, but Su Ming’an just looked at her.

"Don’t panic," he said.

"..." Xiber’s eyes widened slightly.

In the next moment, Su Ming’an stepped closer again, raising his right hand toward Salas who had just raised his scepter.

Salas didn’t retreat. As someone whose power derives from curses, he was used to wielding great power and believed that even summoned outsiders couldn’t match their strength, just as his own homegrown adventurers couldn’t beat him.

The golden light emerged in front of his scepter, but at that moment, a somewhat panicked shout came from the dense bushes behind him: "—Salas, stop fighting, let’s go!"

Salas furrowed his brow.

"Salas—quick, let’s go!!!"

The cries from the bushes grew more terrified, verging on screaming.

Xiber stood rooted to the spot.

In front of a powerful adversary, she had always retreated, hidden, and run with her tail between her legs, but now, in front of her... appeared an adventurer who didn’t even dare to show his face, instantly losing his nerve.

"Don’t panic, adventurer, the other Guide is just a little girl who can’t fight," Salas offered a reassuring tone, thinking his own adventurer was scared.

"I’m telling you to run—!!" The hidden adventurer became more frantic, his voice trembling, "The problem isn’t the Guide; it’s her adventurer, damn it! Hurry up! I don’t want to die with you!"

His voice quivered, hysterical, as if he was desperate to grab Salas and flee.

Seeing Su Ming’an standing beside Xiber, the player really wanted to run away, but he dared not leave the light of the Soul Stone in Salas’s hand, trembling behind the bushes instead.

At that moment, he was filled with rage—why had he left his house at night, why hadn’t he chosen the daytime when players couldn’t attack each other? He had run into the most terrifying fellow right after stepping outside...

Why! His luck wasn’t even E!

"Shit!!"

The player cursed under his breath, not caring about his own Salas anymore and sprinting into the black fog.

He didn’t mind staying in the Black Mist, as long as he didn’t stay too long to avoid catching a curse, but if he directly encountered the Number One Player, it would be all over. He definitely didn’t want to show his face in the world summit competition and die instantly!

Seeing this, Salas frowned, feeling disappointed by the player’s timidity. In his view, an adventurer like Su Ming’an who lacked curse power was not to be feared at all.

He glanced at Xiber indifferently and decided to prioritize the safety of his own adventurer and chose to turn around and leave.

However, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Don’t go." Su Ming’an said, "I’ve had my hand raised for a long time."

Feeling a sudden surge of power behind him, Salas’s expression abruptly changed.

However, it was too late for him to raise his Magic Shield.

The next moment.

"Boom——!"

The loud noise, like an explosion, resounded through the quiet forest.

In an instant, grass and leaves flew about, the originally solid tree trunks, as fragile as sticks, bent, and a wild wind swept past Xiber’s astonished eyes, with tiny leaf fragments brushing past her eyelashes.

The color of blood red, like a flower, blossomed before her eyes, accompanied by torn fabric.

In her eyes, the powerful Guide, the extremely prestigious Sacrificial Elder of the fourth tribe, Salas, was instantly transformed into a burst of torn bloodlight.

Salas’s white robe was soaked with blood, and the expression of arrogance and disdain on his face was also instantly torn apart.

After the aftershock of the space had subsided, what she saw was a "Believer" reduced to a pool of bloodied mud.

Salas died before her eyes, like a dog that had been killed.

And the black-haired young man, who delivered this horrific strike, lowered his hand.

"You see, Xiber." Su Ming’an turned his head, looking at her: "In the end, it’s pretty simple, isn’t it?"

That Spatial Vibration just now, he had only infused it with half of his Mana Points.

...yet it immediately annihilated this formerly untouchable high priest and also killed the player who hadn’t shown his face.

Even though this had something to do with Salas’s extreme contempt for adventurers, not even raising a Defense Shield, Su Ming’an gradually realized that the previously somewhat underrated Shadow State seemed to be exhibiting increasingly terrifying powers.

The "Lighthouse Chain," which could increase the attack range by 50%, caused this strike to have a very broad reach, almost leveling the entire area.

"Ding dong!"

He received a system notification.

He had killed the and obtained a Red Level weapon that Salas dropped.

He glanced at the weapon, a healing Magic Wand with the attribute of light, which was of no use to him, so he would give it to Lin Yin later.

But killing Salas didn’t result in any Silver Stars dropping.

This meant that if a player were to fight from beginning to end over these fifteen days, it would not work; players had to participate in mini instances to obtain Silver Stars, as killing other players didn’t yield Silver Stars.

If all the competitors were killed, there would be no one left to participate in the mini instances.

Given the rules prohibiting player combat during the day, this instance clearly did not encourage killing each other in the wild.

Su Ming’an stuffed the Magic Wand into his backpack, turned around, and faced Xiber’s somewhat fluctuating gaze.

Her eyes, usually as still as dead water, finally changed. When she looked at him, her eyes showed a hint of lively emotion, like water birds slowly sweeping across the water surface.

She was shocked by his strength.

Even though she knew that Su Ming’an was the first-ranked adventurer, she had no idea what the overall level of adventurers was; in her view, the bunch summoned here surely couldn’t defeat curse-empowered Guides.

...But she hadn’t expected.

There would be someone like Su Ming’an among these adventurers capable of instant-killing a Guide.

At this moment, in Su Ming’an’s live broadcast room, the viewers were also shocked:

"Another heretic enemy of the world setting, Su Ming’an always gets matched with these extremely special identities."

"That player was so unlucky just now, clearly also a big shot in the top hundred, slaughtering us like chickens, yet he died before even showing his face in front of Su Ming’an."

"***’s stream went black, it’s him! Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter, the one who got instant killed was this guy, truly satisfying... "

"This is troublesome," Su Ming’an said, not minding the shock on Xiber’s face but instead looking down at the two clumps of flesh on the ground: "Having killed this player, there’s no one left to join me in this mini instance..."

Xiber took a deep breath.

Her hands trembled slightly as she gripped her brass compass, her eyes shifting swiftly, seemingly deep in thought.

She thought.

For the victory this time, she seemed to have mysteriously gained a huge bargaining chip.

This adventurer... is very strong, extremely strong.

If they truly can make it to the end... "

She blinked, then suddenly turned her head toward a direction.

"Someone else is coming," she said.

The commotion here was too loud, leveling an entire area. If there were any bold players nearby, they would surely come to check out the situation.

A faint firelight slowly lifted the dense black mist, and a moment later, a tall female figure with blood-color pattern marks walked over, her body wrapped in a black robe.

This was a guide who did not look like a good person at first glance. Her eyes were elongated, the pupils a purplish blue with high cheekbones, making her resemble a witch from medieval history about to be put on the execution stake, an aura of darkness and melancholy surrounding her.

Upon seeing Su Ming’an and Xiber, she paused in her steps.

"Shall we continue forward? My adventurer," she asked, turning to the back: "Judging by the scene here, the opponent is not someone to be trifled with."

Behind her, a voice came with a smile:

"Didn’t you just say that there’s a mini instance ahead? We’ve come this far; let’s not miss it. Let’s move forward."

A moment later, a fair-skinned player with golden hair and green eyes appeared before them.

He had a serene demeanor, his peaceful face and emerald eyes radiant like jade, his skin pale, resembling a freshly sculpted statue, fragile and delicate.

Su Ming’an recognized him at once.

And when the other saw Su Ming’an, he showed no fear, only smiling.

"We meet again." Boris spread his hands: "Su Ming’an, we really are, really fated. After coming here, the first player I see is you...though this time, I regretfully didn’t prepare a new story for you."

Su Ming’an knew that Boris was also among the top hundred. The other owned Phoenix Feather skill, so he wouldn’t die from being killed.

But in the Seventh World, he had killed him more than once. Theoretically, his power should have decreased considerably due to the Phoenix Feather.

Yet Boris still made it into the top hundred.

... How did he manage that? Special identity?

"Ah, put your hand down, Su Ming’an. You holding your hand up at me, it scares me," Boris said with a smile: "We don’t have any deep-seated hatred, do we?"

"Hard to say," Su Ming’an said.

"Even if you kill me, I still have the Phoenix Feather skill," Boris helplessly spread his hands in a surrender gesture: "How about, join me in this mini instance, let’s see the situation first? Mindless slaughter is meaningless, you’ve realized that, haven’t you?"

Su Ming’an lowered his hand.

Considering that killing Boris here would reap him no benefits and would instead lose someone to help fill the numbers for the instance, he might as well let him try the instance with him.

"Come in," said Su Ming’an, watching Boris enter the mini instance before turning and choosing to enter himself.

Xiber slightly widened her eyes.

She was amazed to watch An Liya, who ranked 78th as ’Painbearer,’ passing by her like an attendant without daring to speak, while she watched like a king inspecting her guards.

When did even An Liya start lowering her eyes in submission to her?

Glancing at Su Ming’an, who was calmly preparing to enter the instance, Xiber, at this moment, finally experienced what it was like to bask in reflected glory.

... Is this what it meant to cling to the powerful?

She was getting a bit addicted.

Her own adventurer... seemed to naturally possess a "deterrent" buff against other adventurers.

"Whoosh—"

Su Ming’an opened his eyes, momentarily dazzled by the bright indoor light.

The mini instance was an empty sealed room. In front of him was a pink shield, separating him and Boris.