Chapter 1558 - 24: The Mastermind

Chapter 1558: Chapter 24: The Mastermind

"Cough cough cough..."

After a violent dry cough, the lady lying on the ground lifted her head. She looked pitiful, but when she ravaged this city, she wasn’t as sympathetic as she seemed now.

Su Xiao approached the lady and sliced through her avatar. With a legendary level, strengthened +13 Dragon Slash full of Blade Edge value, he could do as he pleased, and this was even before the Awakening of the Blade.

Squatting in front of the lady, the long knife pierced through her abdomen as insurance.

"I ask, you answer."

"Okay, okay."

The lady was smart; she knew Su Xiao wasn’t the kind of righteous person with a sense of justice. If he were, at most, she’d die, and she wasn’t terribly afraid of death.

"Are there any other witches in the city?"

"No, yes."

As the lady spoke, she began to fall into shock. Su Xiao took out a painkiller and administered it directly into her vein.

"Just the three of you?"

"Yes."

Hearing the lady’s answer, Su Xiao frowned. Three elemental witches, even if all of them were third stage, wouldn’t dare to ravage a city.

"Who ordered you?"

"It was... Lady Mira."

"Mira?"

Su Xiao took out the bounty order he carried and quickly found one with a bounty as high as 580 gold coins.

Mira, a fourth-stage elemental witch, Blood Witch, with a bounty of 580 gold coins, had destroyed four human cities.

A fourth-stage elemental witch, that’s city destruction level. As for the fifth-stage elemental witches, they are a calamity.

"Where is she?"

"Outside the city... farm, let me... be free."

The painkiller quickly became ineffective, surprisingly weak against witches.

The long knife swung, and the lady was no longer in pain. Although they hadn’t made any agreement, both were clear that as long as the lady provided information, Su Xiao would grant her a swift end.

Su Xiao was curious why three third-stage witches dared to ravage a large city. Now it was clear; they had someone supporting them from behind, giving them the audacity.

At this point, Su Xiao finally had time to check the continuous notifications.

After killing three witches, Su Xiao gained a total of 1.3% of the Source of Exploration, a rare resource, where a single witch would only provide a fraction.

The Talent Ability Soul Devourer was about to devour a full 200 Mana Values, and he also gained a lot of Holy Healing Church reputation, totaling 260 points. This wasn’t calculated by the witch’s strength but by what crimes they had committed. The more heinous the crime, the more Holy Healing Church reputation gained.

[Note: Hunter’s Holy Healing Church reputation has reached 320/100 (white level) and can upgrade Witch Hunter level at the Holy Healing Church Headquarters or any city branch.]

Not only was there an upgrade to Witch Hunter, but Su Xiao also had three treasure chests waiting for selection.

A. You obtain Golden Treasure Chest ×2, Legendary Treasure Chest ×1.

B. Curse Resistance (unique to this world): 25% resistance increase against Curse Witches’ curses and erosive abilities (already have 40% curse resistance, the higher the base resistance, the harder the subsequent improvement).

...

Su Xiao initially thought that killing any type of witch would grant resistance of that type. Now it seemed not the case; only curse resistance was available as a reward.

After hesitating for a moment, Su Xiao chose one Legendary Treasure Chest ×1 and 10% curse resistance. This was the most reasonable choice since Reincarnation Paradise offered this kind of curse resistance reward, meaning there was a possibility of facing a very formidable Curse Witch or trap during his Main Task.

If it were the usual Derivative World, Su Xiao wouldn’t receive ’curse resistance,’ but this time he self-funded entry into the world, and the Main Tasks were of his own choosing.

Collecting the blood, palm prints, and avatar fragments of the three witches, Su Xiao inquired the officials who had arrived at the farm’s location and drove out of the city.

When such events occur inside the city, that witch named Mira would surely notice. Now it was a race to see whether she could run faster or if Su Xiao’s tracking ability was superior.

When Su Xiao arrived at the farm about a kilometer outside the city, a foul stench greeted him.

Upon entering the farm, the stench reached an eye-watering level, and even Bubu Wang put on an oxygen mask.

Leaping from the carriage, Su Xiao signaled A Mu to lead the way and Bubu Wang to scout. As for Meilodi, just like her name, she could remain beautiful in the car.

Cow carcasses lay scattered throughout the farm. If Su Xiao guessed correctly, Mira used the blood and flesh of these cows to cultivate demonized versions of ’Blackfish Bugs.’

There were three wooden houses on the farm. Using infrared, heat sensing, and acoustic methods, Su Xiao confirmed no one was inside.

A Mu led the way. With a bang, the wooden house door was smashed, triggering no traps.

Everything inside the wooden house had been moved out, and a black and red formation diagram was drawn on the ground, the color of dried blood.

After a cursory observation of the formation diagram, Su Xiao was certain that Blackfish Bugs were cultivated here.

[Note: Hunter has triggered a side mission.]

[Side Mission: Origin of the Blackfish Bug.]

Difficulty Level: Lv.33

Mission Brief: Find the origin point of the Blackfish Bug, destroy it, and kill its cultivator.

Mission Time Limit: 2 natural days.

Mission Reward: Dark Raven World reputation +2 points (slightly famous), Soul Crystal (Large) ×3

Mission Penalty: Deduct 50,000 Paradise coins. If insufficient, equivalent value of equipment and items will be deducted.

...

Seeing the mission rewards and penalties, Su Xiao promptly accepted the mission. The formation diagram used to cultivate demonized Blackfish Bugs was right in front of him. The mission’s difficulty lay in tracking Mira.

If tracking other witches without any clues, Su Xiao would also have a headache. Witch Mira’s purpose for creating Blackfish Bugs was parasitic eggs, containing large amounts of life energy, which was her flaw.

Blue smoke emanated from Su Xiao’s hands, gradually enveloping him. With the Core of Devour fully activated, his vision changed, transforming the world into black and white. A faint green mist floated in the air, trailing into the distance.

"Bu Bu, take the carriage and track me along the way."

"Woof."

With a bang, the ground beneath Su Xiao’s feet shattered, the black and red formation diagram shattered.

A few quick steps, and Su Xiao disappeared from Bubu Wang’s sight. While the carriage was suitable for long-distance travel, tracking was obviously faster on foot.

Tracking the green mist in the air, Su Xiao followed the trail of life energy, which originated from half the population of Nikto City.

Crossing a large wilderness, three hours later, Su Xiao arrived at a small settlement. Though called a settlement, it was not a witch’s territory, with no towering walls nor a lord.

A railway passed through the settlement, where a ticket office provided convenient transportation, attracting merchants.

As Su Xiao approached the settlement, the green mist grew thicker, indicating that the witch named Mira had slowed. She likely didn’t believe anyone could track her, assuming she destroyed everything on the farm that could give her away, leaving only the formation to distract the enemy.

Tracking the life energy, Su Xiao arrived at the settlement’s train station. After questioning the middle-aged ticket lady, he learned a train had just departed ten minutes ago.

Continuing along the railway made tracking simpler; the witch taking the train showed she had already relaxed her guard.

Half an hour later, a train billowing black smoke appeared in Su Xiao’s sight. He sped up and leaped into the guard rail of the last carriage, knowing the fourth-stage witch named Mira was on that train.

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