Chapter 501 - Four Hundred and Ninety-Eight: ’Humans, Descend.

Chapter 501: Chapter Four Hundred and Ninety-Eight: ’Humans, Descend.The next moment, Qin Chunyao stood before him, and the duel had already begun.

Facing the Number One Player, Qin Chunyao appeared completely unfazed.

"Hello," she said with a slight smile, her expression soft and gentle.

Su Ming’an ignored her, knowing that she was a major player in the conspiracy.

A string of colorful gemstones appeared in Qin Chunyao’s hand, and the painful expression on her face was clearly visible as she crushed them.

The gemstones radiated light, showering down upon Su Ming’an as a system notification appeared.

Qin Chunyao’s strength was related to her gemstones, and she also possessed skills similar to sound control. This move was clearly premeditated.

The appearance of Mentality Points made them certain that Su Ming’an was in a Shadow State, warranting such an action.

In her view, after Su Ming’an’s strength was reduced by 300%, any top-ranking player could go toe-to-toe with him.

She extended her hand, making a plucking gesture as if playing an invisible ancient zither, a ripple of invisible waves transmitted towards him.

Su Ming’an saw a vivid desire in her eyes.

This desire, he had seen far too much of it in just the past few days.

He reached out his hand, but Qin Chunyao promptly erected a Defensive Barrier, clearly fully prepared for his Spatial Vibration.

However, it was utterly useless.

Because Su Ming’an’s base strength was not its original value.

It was eight times that.

"Boom——!"

A loud boom echoed.

An unbelievable damage number leaped from Qin Chunyao.

The audience sighed, feeling that the timing of this group of players’ attack on the Number One Player was truly unfortunate.

As observers with a god-like perspective, they had known for some time that Su Ming’an had found the last Oracle, and he was now almost sweeping through Qiongdi. This group neither acted early nor late, but chose now to make their move... It was just bad luck.

But Qin Chunyao and the others had no choice; after all, who could have anticipated such an instance with an eightfold strength increment? If they did not eliminate the threat now, it would only become more difficult later. This time, they simply ran into the line of fire.

In a way, it was like a performance decreed by fate.

They seemed to be pushed by someone, crafting the myth of the Number One Player’s invincibility.

It was Qin Chunyao and her team who had crafted this stage.

"Boom——!" With a casual strike, Su Ming’an instantly took down Wei Yaxin, who had just entered the fray. As both lay dying, he approached Bonnie.

The little girl’s arm was still broken, her face marked with clear curse scars, making it evident she wouldn’t live much longer.

"Did you kill Sister Flora?" Bonnie looked up, her question pointing directly at that.

"Yes," Su Ming’an did not deny. He had killed Flora in the Dawn instance at the farm.

"You’re a bad person!" Bonnie’s expression immediately turned angry, pointing at Su Ming’an with an accusatory demeanor, "Sister Flora was a good person! You killed her—you’re a bad person!"

Su Ming’an glanced at her.

"Your definition of a good person is really subjective," he said.

Children are the most innocent.

In such a world, they are easily influenced by others. Bonnie had already been controlled by Flora, who presented herself as a "soul sister."

...and he never believed in this "good person" theory.

Suddenly, Bonnie turned around, looked at Noel in her white dress, and shouted loudly,

"—You, you are also a bad person! It’s all you! It’s all you! You captured Nana and Duoduo, it was you who modified them—"

Noel’s expression changed slightly.

However, before Bonnie could finish, Su Ming’an shattered her skull with a flick of his finger.

He knew what Bonnie was about to say. It had already happened in an abandoned session of the Seventh World. A woman had heartbreakingly accused Noel of enticing children into undergoing body modifications.

But currently, that incident hadn’t happened yet, and Noel had not been exposed in front of the whole world. Perhaps Bonnie, under Flora’s influence, wanted to expose it through the mouth of a child, but Su Ming’an wasn’t about to let her finish her tirade—this was a duel, not a street fight.

After Bonnie fell dying, Shadow walked over with a smile on his face.

"Ah, what a pity, what a pity. It seems that we must give our dear Number One Player a little reward for a successful counterattack," Shadow said, standing in front of him, face to face.

Looking at Shadow, who resembled the real boss rabbit, Su Ming’an genuinely felt something subtle.

Those red eyes stared at him, unblinking and devoid of any mechanical coldness.

"It’s just that the location of our dear Number One Player has been exposed..." Shadow said loudly, "Everyone must step up their efforts! I am really looking forward to... you creating a miracle of comeback—"

The players remained silent.

God knows why Su Ming’an’s strength had suddenly become like this.

Except for Yuriklu, a participant in the "Cursed Ghost and Man" instance, who kept silent, everyone else looked puzzled.

As the victor of the counterattack, Shadow, according to the rules, awarded Su Ming’an a piece of Red Level equipment, which Su Ming’an fed to the Sword of Yarman.

[: Devouring other equipment will charge your weapon, and after the charge bar is filled, your weapon will upgrade further (Can break through the Purple Grade limit)

Note: Sacrificial weapons must not be plundered or gifted weapons.]

With a piece of Red Level equipment, the evolution progress bar of the Sword of Yarman increased by 8%, which seemed like a substantial requirement.

If he could feed it to the Gold Level, perhaps it would gain an abnormal additional ability like Noah’s Chain.

"Whoosh—"

The Exile Conference ended, and a white light enveloped the players.

When he opened his eyes again, Su Ming’an saw a dark tunnel ahead.

A knight in armor was waiting there; it was the guard from Noel’s side.

"You have arrived, this way please. The Saintess is waiting for you," said Knight Yade.

Su Ming’an followed him, and they walked through the stone underground chamber to a simple room.

Dawn was breaking. Noel, in her white dress and with golden hair lit by the sunlight, her sea-blue eyes clearer than ever, sat there, a picture of peaceful times.

"...You’ve arrived. This is the only unblocked tunnel exit. Push this door, and you’ll be very close to the ancient castle," Noel said as he heard him approach.

"Okay, thank you," Su Ming’an moved past him.

"Just now..." Noel hesitated for a moment. "Thank you for not letting her continue. So, what about my human experiment...?"

"We’ll talk later, I have to go now." Su Ming’an didn’t have time to discuss these matters with Noel; he needed to check on Xiber first.

He stepped out.

The dawn light hit his eyes, warming him.

Although the nights in Qiongdi were terrifying, the arrival of daytime brought a sense of renewal.

As he exited, he headed straight toward the direction of the ancient castle, the guards on either side staring in disbelief as he passed so boldly.

"...Is this the target?"

"Yes! Look at the Divine Envoy on his shoulder!"

"Quickly report to the Young Tribe Leader Fengchang..."

A group of people swiftly surrounded Su Ming’an, intent on stopping him.

They had only taken one step when they were all simultaneously knocked to the ground.

Su Ming’an swept past them, and the eerie ancient castle appeared before him.

Just like before, Fengchang and the Great Elder Feng Le were waiting there.

"...You really did come back." Fengchang looked at him, his eyes full of bloodshot.

Last night, just as Su Ming’an had arrived here, he had been taken away by the crow Yinke and escaped into the tunnel.

"...You saw it too, Qianqian is a monster," Fengchang said. "You must have come up from the tunnel wanting to compromise with us. My earlier offer still stands. Qianqian Zeven is the source of all catastrophes. Once you kill her, I am still willing to envision the future of Qiongdi together with you."

He knew why Su Ming’an had returned.

There was nothing in that tunnel, only some relics and soil. Having lost his guide and without any Soul Stones, Su Ming’an, if interested in the rights of the First Tribe, would definitely surface.

Su Ming’an glanced around and didn’t see Su Rin’s figure.

He didn’t know where Su Rin had gone; it seemed Su Rin hadn’t had the chance to inform Fengchang about his increase in strength.

"Su Ming’an, as long as you kill her, I..." Fengchang seemed to still want to persuade when he saw Su Ming’an also took a step forward.

"Humans, fall into decay," Su Ming’an said in a calm tone.

Fengchang and the Great Elder looked at him, perplexed.

"Darker than the darkest black, more painful than the greatest pain..." Su Ming’an continued.

Feng Le: ?

Fengchang: ...

Fengchang: —!

Fengchang’s expression suddenly changed, "Wait, you..."

"...more terrifying than death, you, Feng Qiqi, belong to the Darkness of the Abyss, the foremost among Demon Kings..."

"Enough!" Fengchang’s face drastically altered: "You are..."

Su Ming’an took a colorful candy from his pocket.

"Feng Qiqi, Fengchang." He said, "Faith can’t represent everything."

"How is it you..." Fengchang still remembered the young man who had saved him in his childhood.

That outsider had appeared as quickly as a fleeting flower, appearing swiftly and disappearing just as quickly. To this day, he still didn’t know the man’s identity or name.

In these five years, using the influence of the First Tribe, he had conducted extensive searches across the scope of Qiongdi but had found no trace of the man. He had thought the young man had died in that great fire, so much so that not even his body was found.

But now, it seemed he had reappeared.

Yet he was standing by Qianqian’s side.

Even more, his face was completely different than before.

Fengchang wanted to say something, but Su Ming’an directly swept past him, heading towards the Stone Fortress.

"Are you going to kill Qianqian Xiber?" the Great Elder confirmed.

"No," Su Ming’an said. "She is the only hope of the oldest God; your faith has been twisted."

"Obstinate fool!" the Great Elder, infuriated, extended his hand, and a gold energy emerged, firing towards Su Ming’an in front—

"Boom—!"

Su Ming’an’s expression remained unchanged; he didn’t even turn his head.

The gold energy passed through his body, but it was like a trivial wind had blown by—aside from slightly lifting his robe, it didn’t harm him at all.

"How is it possible..." The Great Elder could not believe that his strike had no effect.

Su Ming’an extended his hand.

The Great Elder didn’t have time to dodge and was engulfed by the omnipresent vibrations—

Bright red numbers jumped out from the Great Elder.

"Ding-dong!"

[Blade of Freedom (Purple Grade): "No one can tame the wild souls of the Qiongdi people... except for the light and freedom he brings."

Attack Power: 30~50

Durability: 15/15

Equipment Requirement: Magic Series Occupation, Mentality Points 100 or above.

Special Attributes: Chaos Attribute, suppresses spells of all classes.

Special Attributes: Spell Vamp, capable of recovering 5% of the health from the damage dealt.

Passive Skill (Spellblade): Possesses specialized bonus in melee-magic attacks, dealing augmented magic damage when attacking with this equipment.]

Su Ming’an hadn’t expected Feng Le to drop such a special weapon.

He had thought that killing Feng Le might drop a long-range magic wand or some divine defense equipment, not a melee Spellblade.

The dagger, glowing with golden light, was not made of steel but a luminescent gold that looked fluid, somewhat similar to black mud but slightly more solid.

He held the dagger, feeling quite comfortable with it. The built-in spell vamp was a attribute he had never seen before; the equipment encyclopedia on the forum rarely had any vampiric attributes, let alone spell vamp.

If the damage of 5780 from earlier had regenerated health, it would have been almost 300 HP recovered, nearly filling up his health bar in Shadow State.

Though he thought his health in Shadow State didn’t really matter...

He stowed away the Blade of Freedom. That chaos attribute was also impressive, aiding his grand plan of slashing through enemies in Shadow State.

Feng Chang silently watched all this, watching Su Ming’an approach the ancient castle without stopping him.

Knowing that Su Ming’an was the one who had saved him five years ago, his mind was still a bit tangled. Scenes from the past kept resurfacing, and he remembered the moment he parted ways with Xiber.

Back then, he told her that once he had everything under control in the First Tribe, he would come back to pick her up.

...But why.

Why did she have to worship that Evil God?

Su Ming’an neared the old castle covered with mud.

Thanks to the strength enhancement, these dizzying, sanity-draining visuals no longer affected him.

Feeling the presence of a living creature, numerous tentacles greedily reached out. They surged from the blocked gates, encircling him.

...Were all these Xiber?

Su Ming’an raised his head to look at the room where she was supposed to be, but he could only see the black windows encased in mud and tentacles.

For some reason, she had turned into this ghastly figure.

Perhaps the power bestowed upon her by Jiu Shen had driven her out of control. After all, deities lack a clear distinction between good and evil, even the most ancient gods could possess powers that seem utterly evil.

Faced with these looming tentacles, he didn’t move.

And these tentacles, it seemed, had no intention of killing him, but merely wrapped around him, holding him back, like they had previously done with Edward and Yamada Machiichi, attempting to drag him inside.

He was dragged into the darkness, surrounded by layers upon layers of tentacles like intertwined branches, all around were the wet, soft sensations, as though he had entered the viscera of an animal.