Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 845 The Pioneers (Part 2) [5.5K words]

Before Xin Lailai could finish speaking, the Death Keeper's cold and indifferent voice suddenly fell, causing Xin Lailai to pause. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the Death Keeper calmly looking at the blood-red giant egg in the distance, his scabbard in hand, his body slightly leaning forward, making a gesture as if to draw his sword.

"Wait a minute, Death Keeper, you wouldn't..."

"One strike." "Hmm?"

"You just said that killing it in one hit would be enough, right?"

A dense aura of death rose up, and a bone-chilling cold began to spread from the Death Bearer. He glanced at Xin Lailai and said calmly, "Since that's the case, there's no need for so much trouble."

"It...can't stop this stab I've left for you."

As the cold words fell, a piercing sound of blades exploding rang out, and a massive amount of death energy soared into the sky, coalescing behind the deceased into a gigantic ghost god a hundred feet tall.

Meanwhile, with an incredibly cold and focused gaze fixed on the giant blood-red egg that was more than ten kilometers away, he suddenly took a step forward amidst the astonished expressions of Xin Lailai and Yamu.

Boom! ! !
The next instant, a terrifying sonic boom, accompanied by a massive shockwave, exploded from the spot, like the roar of a demon. Propelled by the LV.20 Kick Master's specialization, it and the Deathbringer became a long, dark streak, traversing thousands of meters in an instant:

Zheng——! !

Suddenly, the whole world fell silent.

The rustling of root-like tendrils, the erosion of the barrier by abyssal energy, the heartbeat emanating from the giant egg… all the sounds of the world seemed to vanish rapidly with that sudden burst of pitch-black light, and then…

break out.

Dark Slash - God Annihilation.

boom! ! !
In an instant, a terrifying, indescribable sound of shattering erupted from everyone's ears. A jet-black color shot into the sky from the blade of the one who had killed him, swallowing everything in front of him in the spatial rifts that spread in all directions.

When everything calmed down, the land that had been covered by a large number of roots disappeared. In its place was a dark slash that seemed to have been cleaved in the world itself, splitting the earth and the sky in two, and stretching for tens of thousands of meters.

[Note: The current squad member "Deathbringer" has killed the Abyssal Spawn - Thirsty Offspring]

[Notification: The current squad member "Deathbringer" has killed Abyss Spawn...]

[Hint: Currently...]

【…】

[Note: The current squad member "Deathbringer" has killed the Abyssal Spawn - Thirsty Offspring]

[Notification: The current squad member "Deathbringer" has killed the Abyssal Spawn, Unborn Thirst!!]

"I said, Captain Hei..."

The sound of swallowing saliva could be heard. At the exit of the cave, Yamu stared at the scene before him, blinked twice, looked at Xin Lailai beside him, and tentatively asked, "This move... did she really leave it for you?"

"..."

When asked, Xin Lailai didn't speak immediately. Instead, she stared at the huge slash mark in the distance that exuded a terrifying death aura and a sharp chill. Her eyelids twitched uncontrollably. After a long while, she finally spoke in a somewhat stiff voice, "I didn't expect... she improved so quickly."

Dark Slash - God Annihilation.

In fact, he had already experienced this move when he first obtained the professional template, and had even been knocked over by it once. However, because the flaws in it were too obvious, by the time he experienced it a second time, he was able to use his sword skills to neutralize it.

At the time, he thought that if the other party wanted to complete such a profound ultimate move that combined the advantages of the three moves, they would have to wait until the fourth rank.

But now, in less than two worlds of progress, the opponent has already perfected this slash that can overturn them head-on despite the huge numerical difference. They have even added the dashing style of Dark Slash: Death Thrust to the original three-in-one, completely solving the original mobility problem.

"...Hey, Captain Black, what exactly did you do to provoke him?" Yamu glanced at the Death Keeper who was watching them out of the corner of his eye, his expression twitching slightly, and asked Xin Lailai with some curiosity.

"Don't ask me, I only won a few games and then... well, I might have gone a bit overboard back then." Xin Lailai said, slightly rubbing her forehead. After recalling what she did after getting the professional template, she fell silent.

"Pfft, I knew you'd get your comeuppance for what you did back then, Lai Lai!" Ling Yuzi chuckled in the soul space, her face full of teasing expressions.

She had advised him then that he should stop after winning a few real games, and there was no need to keep using the illusion of the chess game to provoke a hopeless opponent. But he remained unusually confident, saying that such a good opportunity was rare and he should fully enjoy the pleasure of victory. And now…

"Ahem, I was just urging her to get stronger. After all, we're teammates, and if the Deathbearer gets stronger, it'll benefit us too." Xin Lailai coughed lightly, her voice slightly lacking in confidence as she explained, while her mind raced, trying to figure out how to counter that attack. Just then—

Buzz, rumble—! !

A violent tremor came from the ground. Looking out, on the horizon at the edge of their vision, a dark, surging wave suddenly rose up and then rushed toward them at a speed visible to the naked eye.

[WARNING: Large-scale abyssal biological activity detected. We are currently counting the number of high-risk units...]

"So you're already starting to snatch food? Heh, you must be really hungry and thirsty."

Xin Lailai glanced at the abyssal creatures attacking from the sky, the ground, and even the depths of the earth, and smiled mockingly, a cold glint flashing in her dark pupils.

Well, let's finish up the important business first, then we can worry about how to solve the problem of the Death-Holder's Divine Annihilation Slash.

With this thought in mind, Xin Lailai decisively took a step forward, rushing to the bottom of the abyss hole amidst a huge sonic boom. With a thought, she slammed the abyss suppression device located in her storage space onto the ground and began operating it with practiced ease on the branding interface:
[Note: The Abyss Suppression Device has been activated. The current mode is: Disintegration Mode]

[A massive abyssal energy convergence point has been detected. Calculating the time required for its disintegration...]

[Calculation complete. Based on the current intensity of the abyss energy convergence point, the estimated disintegration time is 917 seconds.]

Boom——! !

A cold notification sound flashed through my mind, and as the last message fell, an incredibly dazzling white beam of light shot up from the top of the abyss suppression device and slammed heavily into the hundreds-of-meters-wide abyss hole in mid-air, causing the surrounding space to tremble.

"I'll leave the above-ground and underground parts to you." After fully activating the Abyss Suppression Device, Xin Lailai looked at the Death Keeper and Yamu behind her and said.

"Understood!"

Upon hearing this, Yamu's lips curled into a slight smile, and the golden lightning in his pupils surged. In front of the two of them, he slammed the blade into the ground. With this action, a bolt of golden lightning more than ten meters thick instantly surged up from the earth, illuminating the sky in a brilliant gold.

The Wrath of Heaven: The Prison of Judgment!
Boom——! !

A violent thunderclap descended, and countless golden lightning bolts erupted from the cracks in the earth, engulfing an area of ​​several hundred meters in a chaotic dance of snakes.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, one can see that with the arrival of Thunder Prison, Yamu transformed into a massive furnace, beginning to devour and transform the surrounding abyssal energy at an incredibly terrifying speed. Golden lightning overflowed from his seven orifices, and the lightning arcs, condensed to near-material form, climbed along his body all the way to the blade. From a distance, it looked as if a god had descended.

Element transformation.

Unlike conventional elemental life forms that can only convert secondary abyssal energy, the executor, as the most direct agent of the elements, possesses a true ability to convert even the purest abyssal energy into elemental energy, much like a miniature abyssal purification device.

When this ability is applied in actual combat, what it manifests is this scene of golden lightning cleansing the world—

Within the Thunder Prison, all is a Pure Land.

"Ruaaa——!!"

A piercing shriek rang out, and on the ground, one after another, abyssal creatures hidden deep underground burst forth from the ground amidst screams, desperately rolling and thrashing about, trying to extinguish the golden arcs of lightning that were constantly spreading on their bodies with the energy of the abyss.

In the distance, the abyssal creatures that should have charged forward in one go looked at the golden lightning prison that illuminated most of the sky. Unanimously, under the instinctive fear brought by the boundary lightning, their momentum of sprinting turned into low growls of shock and anger on the periphery.

"Roar--!!"

A deafening roar erupted. As Thunder Prison descended, the overlord-level abyssal creatures further away, seemingly dissatisfied with the hesitation of the cannon fodder in front, let out a series of intimidating growls. The abyssal creatures at the forefront trembled, and ultimately, driven by fear, roared as they charged towards the three of them. But the next second—

"LAaaaa——!!"

A piercing shriek, sharp enough to pierce eardrums, exploded out. A colossal shadow abruptly rose from the ruins of the crimson egg, unfurling its wings amidst the dark green flames that were gradually burning away its flesh. Like a knight loyal to a king, it let out a menacing shriek towards the distant abyssal creatures. With this shriek, the dark red tentacles that had been on the ground seemed to receive a signal; the membranes concealing countless eggs burst open simultaneously from the dark green flames that had silently spread to the far distance. Millions of mosquito-like abyssal creatures surged forth, transforming into a massive dark green firestorm that swept towards the distant abyssal creatures in the raging flames.

Boom!

Beneath a sky thick with thunder, the thirsty offspring, burning with dark green netherflames, collided with the abyssal creatures that surged forward like a tidal wave, under the command of their mother queen, who had transformed into her netherworld servants. Then, under the watchful eyes of Xinlailai and Yamu, they rapidly twisted and expanded, and then…

explosion.

Boom boom boom boom——!!

In an instant, a series of intense explosions, so numerous that it was impossible to distinguish how many there were, rang out from the battlefield.

One by one, the thirsty offspring, transformed into servants of the underworld, carried away swarms of abyssal creatures with suicidal attacks.

The slain abyssal creatures staggered to their feet amidst the dark green flames, roaring as they charged towards the normal abyssal creatures who should have been on the same side, ultimately transforming into new flesh bombs that triggered an endless chain of corpse explosions in the dark green sea of ​​fire.

"Holy crap... Captain Black, didn't our Ice Queen say that her summoned creature was just there to make up the numbers?"

"You believe her just to make up the numbers?"

"Uh, okay, it is indeed my problem."

Beneath the Thunder Prison, Yamu gazed at the situation that had been suddenly reversed, and out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the skinny skeleton huddled in the corner, whose features were completely unrecognizable. His expression twitched slightly.

If you hadn't witnessed it with your own eyes, who would have thought that such an ordinary little skeleton, which you wouldn't even glance at if you threw it on the roadside, was actually a hidden undead overlord who could control such a terrifying army of undead?

"Should we say that this little skeleton has an exceptionally good foundation, or that the inheritance of the Underworld Lord is simply too abnormal?"

"Or rather, it's a combination of both."

In mid-air, Xin Lailai gazed at the scene in the distance that was beginning to tilt to one side, her eyes flickering slightly.

In fact, not to mention Yamu, even he was shocked by Fabu's performance, but then realized that given the Little Skeleton's development trajectory, it would be unreasonable if he didn't show this kind of performance.

Or rather, aside from the profound heritage of the Underworld Lord, there is only one very simple reason why the other party could achieve this:

An extreme case of specialization in one subject.

As a summoned creature of the Death Keeper, with the Netherworld Mark and the Death Keeper's protection, the opponent doesn't need to worry about any personal combat strength. They only need to develop their perception and necromancy abilities to the extreme... to be precise, their undead transformation and corpse explosion abilities.

As for powerful permanent summons? Strong individual combat power? Excellent survivability?
For other undead mages, these might be indispensable steps to reach the top tier, but for Fabu, who is a summoner, these issues are not a concern from the start.

A powerful permanent summon? No matter how powerful, how many blows can it withstand from a Death Slayer who is an outsider?

Powerful individual combat ability? No matter how strong the undead are in one-on-one combat, can they still be defeated by the Death Keeper, who is an outsider in the elite tier?

Excellent survival ability? Other undead do this because they are afraid of decapitation, but decapitating the entire Netherworld army... well, as long as you have the ability to charge into the army and decapitate an outsider, you can boldly try to do it.

It's fair to say that, judging from Fabu's performance, the fact that the undead... or rather the summoner class is considered the least suitable class for individual development among top-tier classes is absolutely not without reason.

Although it's a bit disheartening, the truth is that even if one receives the same inheritance, Fabu, who exists as a servant of the dead, is definitely more useful in terms of potential than those necromancers who need to consider other shortcomings.

"roar…!!"

On the battlefield, time ticked by, and the overwhelming abyssal creatures, as if sensing something, began to rush towards the direction of the abyssal suppression, but they could not break through the blockade of the Netherworld army.

Even if a powerful abyssal creature managed to break free from the shackles of the Netherworld army, it would almost certainly be instantly killed by the Thunder Prison constructed by the Boundary Lightning and the giant ghost god condensed from death energy, and then transformed into Netherworld soldiers to be used as large bombs.

[Hint: Destruction complete. The Abyss Hole has been successfully destroyed. Elemental Light Bridging will begin shortly. Estimated completion time: 3 seconds]

Finally, accompanied by a cold notification sound, the enormous hole in the sky collapsed with a deafening roar, transforming into incredibly violent spatial fluctuations that caused the entire world to tremble violently.

As for the abyssal creatures that had been charging wildly, they seemed to sense something and began to flee frantically into the distance like a receding tide. Then—

[Bridge complete, elemental light delivery commencing!]

boom--! !

A pure white beam of light, hundreds of meters thick, crashed down, turning the entire world into a vast expanse of white. It evaporated the fleeing abyssal creatures and everything in sight into nothingness at a visible speed.

[Note: Pioneer mission completed. No assistance was requested for this mission, and mission rewards will be calculated at 100%. Mission contribution is being tallied...]

[Statistics complete. Based on the scale of this destruction of the abyssal wormhole, the following rewards have been obtained.]

……

1. Squad members' expedition contribution points +34916.

2. Squad skill experience points +34916.

3. Squad members' additional privilege level +LV.3.49
……

[Note: Since the Pioneer's current Expedition Contribution has exceeded 100,000 points, the "Expedition Contribution Shop - Tier 7" is now available.]

ended.

In mid-air, Xin Lailai, who was using her protective energy to resist the scorching light of the elements, looked at the scene before her. After gazing at it for a while, she finally turned her attention to the settlement information on the brand interface.

"A single mission can yield over 30,000 expedition contribution points...?"

Expedition contribution.

This is a limited expedition-exclusive quota that can only be obtained in small quantities by defeating powerful abyssal creatures with strength at least at the lord level.

In terms of efficiency, the benefits from expedition contribution points may be far less than the treasure chests obtained from killing abyssal creatures, but for those in the outsider tier, the advantage of almost not consuming the power of notarization makes it the main source of their expedition benefits.

Take them for example. Without wasting supply quotas to replenish the notarized effect of their marks, the treasure chests that their marks can generate in a single expedition will only yield about 10 billion Paradise Points.

The expedition contribution points they gained in the second phase alone amounted to 86523 points, and this was even after they shared the points equally with White Demon and others. Converted to Paradise Points, this is equivalent to a full 8.65 million Paradise Points.

Considering that closing an Abyss Hole yields approximately 20,000 to 40,000 contribution points without requesting assistance, it means that as long as they can perfectly complete more than one Pioneer Mission, the benefits from Expedition Contribution Points will surpass those from Treasure Chests in every aspect.

If they could destroy all 17 Abyss Holes without relying on the Legion and White Demon Randy's power... the resulting gains would be enough to fill all the Paradise Points they needed for Tier 4 in one go, with some left over.

This is the allure of expeditions, and why so many people say that only by joining the top echelon and obtaining the qualification for expedition recruitment can one truly go far on the path of a contractor.

Just look at their resource acquisition efficiency in other worlds when they are at the third tier. Even the Dark Glow Star World Conquest, which has the most generous rewards, only brings less than half the benefits of participating in an expedition. It can be said that whether or not one can obtain the recruitment qualification for an expedition is completely different from the difference between two worlds in terms of a contractor's development in Paradise.

Of course, considering that their expedition contribution points will eventually be used to exchange for extremely rare resources like gold skill points that money can't usually buy, if they really want to support their basic resource consumption at the fourth tier, they will probably have to start with the Black Bug Merchant Guild run by the three little ones.

[Announcement (Tree of the Void): Notarization complete. The current Tier 3 World Layer planet, Isolated Island 1, has been changed to the "Astral Notarization Area"]

Seconds later, a cold and authoritative announcement descended along with a massive tree shadow that suddenly appeared in the sky. In mid-air, Xin Lailai withdrew her gaze, looked at Yamu and the Death Bearer beside her, and calmly spoke:

"Let's go."

"It's time to pick the next 'fruit'."

……

(End of this chapter)