228: Chapter 228 Five Million Arrives! Hey bro, want to take it off yourself or should I help you?

Boom!

The energy storm from the exploding black sphere swept across the entire sinkhole.

The moment the silver-blue stream of light burst out of the black sphere, Samuel was still gripping his bone staff.

The bloodshot veins in his eyes bunched together, and his cracked lips had just parted by half an inch.

The last bit of holy radiance had only just emerged from his chest when the surrounding air was already sucked dry.

Time slowed down at this moment.

Samuel only saw a right hand covered in silver-blue lattice patterns rapidly enlarging in his field of vision.

The next instant, five fingers clamped onto his neck.

"You... uh..."

His throat bone tightened, and the second half of his sentence was forcibly choked back.

Su Ming did not throw a punch.

The seven thousand tons of explosive True Mass were still pressing forward, dragging a vacuum trail across half the sinkhole behind him.

The layer of holy radiance shield that Samuel had just gathered lasted less than half a beat before shattering with a bang.

His black judgment robe pulled taut backward, and Samuel gripped Su Ming's wrist tightly with both hands, holy radiance flickering chaotically from his fingertips.

Su Ming's hand felt a bit itchy from being scratched.

This old man didn't have much strength left, but his nails were quite long.

"Cross-border service concluded!"

He sank his waist and abdomen, pressing his right arm downward.

"Time to settle the bill now."

The delayed roar caught up.

The two plummeted from mid-air straight to the bottom of the sinkhole.

The space behind Samuel was dragged into a distorted indentation, and several basalt rocks that had not yet fallen along the way were grazed by the edge, shattering into pieces on the spot.

When they were still a dozen meters from the ground, Su Ming once again forcibly reined in his power.

He couldn't actually crash him into nothingness.

An eighth-tier powerhouse is interrogation material if alive, and a military merit voucher if dead.

If he were reduced to just a mist of blood, it would be a huge loss.

Boom!

Samuel turned into a human-shaped meteorite, pressed by Su Ming's single hand into the rock layer at the bottom of the sinkhole!

The entire sinkhole floor sank downward.

Spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly for hundreds of meters, centered on the point of impact.

Samuel's sternum and spine were shattered the instant he was pressed into the rock layer.

Half of the staff head bounced off more than ten meters, embedding itself into a stone crevice.

This arrogant Divine Court eighth-tier Judge, who had just been pronouncing the fate of all living beings, was now like a dead dog with its tendons pulled out.

His limbs were twisted at bizarre angles, embedded in the human-shaped crater, with only two fingers still twitching.

Fragments of internal organs with a golden luster were constantly gushing from his mouth and nose.

Su Ming half-squatted beside him, his palm still clamped around his neck.

His gravitational perception swept around.

His heart was still beating; he wouldn't die for the time being.

He lifted Samuel halfway out of the rock pit and changed him into a position where he wouldn't easily be crushed by rocks.

Just as he finished, muffled sounds came from overhead one after another.

Twelve auras collapsed simultaneously.

The [World-Ending Judgment] was shattered from its core, and Samuel was suppressed on the spot, causing the Formation patterns originally connected within the bodies of the twelve Abyss Knights to all backlash.

The hexagram on the first knight's breastplate exploded first.

The dark gold armor plates caved inward, the heavy sword in his hand slipped, and his body fell from mid-air.

Immediately following were the second and the third.

They were like a flock of broken-winged crows swept down by a gale, slamming back into various parts of the sinkhole floor with a "bang!", their dark gold armor covered in cracks.

Not one of the twelve seventh-tier Peak powerhouses could steady themselves. The holy radiance on their bodies drilled back into their armor against the flow of the Formation patterns, and their shoulder guards, bracers, and breastplates cracked one after another.

The Forbidden Spell pressure that had shrouded the entire area vanished into thin air.

The sinkhole fell silent.

Everyone who had luckily survived, without exception, was dumbfounded.

"Dad...?"

Night Crow supported Ye Canglan, looking at the expression of seeing a ghost on his father's face, forgetting the injuries on his own body for a moment.

Ye Canglan's jaw was almost hitting the ground.

He could sense the life auras of the twelve knights. They were all alive, but all paralyzed.

If any one of this group were released, it would be enough to put several cities in the Western Frontier on highest alert.

Now, they were lying in a neat row.

He couldn't understand it.

How could someone who didn't use any Source Energy shatter an eighth-tier Peak Forbidden Spell from the inside using only their Physical Body?

That was a Forbidden Spell.

How was this any different from blowing up a nuclear bomb with a fist?

On the other side, the Mountain Demon, lying in the pile of rubble, had already transformed back into human form.

It was staring fixedly at that back with eyes that looked at an ancient Vicious Beast.

Now it finally understood.

When Su Ming said they were "spoils of war" just now, he really wasn't joking. They had truly entered his asset pool.

The Mountain Demon scraped the rubble in front of it toward its head, moving very lightly, fearing that if the sound were too loud, Su Ming would remember there were still two items here that hadn't been inspected.

Tiger Fiend lay not far away, its ice-blue slit pupils filled only with confusion and lingering fear.

It had actually dared to provoke this monster that could take a bath in a Forbidden Spell; it was simply tired of living.

"Big brother..."

The Mountain Demon's shoulder twitched, and it immediately glared over, signaling it to shut up.

Tiger Fiend lowered its voice even further.

"If we turn over a new leaf now, is it still too late?"

The Mountain Demon twitched the corner of its mouth.

It didn't know if it was too late.

But it was certain that whoever dared to mention the words "Silver Blood" right now was truly tired of living.

...

A fit of coughing came from the bottom of the sinkhole.

Ye Xiao pulled half his face out of the rock layer, first touched his waistband to confirm his last bit of dignity was still there, and then looked up while sucking in cold air.

He saw Samuel embedded in the pit and the twelve knights strewn about in a circle, and the corners of his mouth immediately curled upward.

"Did you see that!"

"This is my Brother Ming! What eighth-tier Judge? To put it bluntly, isn't he just a flying punching bag?"

Young Master Gu Lingfeng turned his head, glanced at Samuel, and then glanced at Ye Xiao.

"If you have the guts, go say that to his face..."

Amidst the dust and smoke, Su Ming stood up from the rock pit.

The sole of his shoe stepped on a broken piece of the staff, emitting a soft sound.

He looked down.

It was the old man's cane.

The middle section of the staff was broken into three pieces, and the holy radiance circuits engraved inside were all extinguished. The black crystal embedded at the top was split in two, and one half had flown off to who knows where.

Su Ming felt a tightness in his chest.

He had reined in his power too late just now.

This thing looked valuable at a glance!

He bent down to pick up the half-broken bone staff, flipped it over to examine it, and rubbed off a layer of dust with his thumb.

"What a waste..."

After just one look, the heartache he felt instantly flew to the ends of the earth.

[Host: Su Ming]

[Life Form: Third Life Form · Star Core Embryo (Electron Degenerate State)]

[True Mass: 1355 tons]

[mass points Balance: 5387100]

Five million three hundred and eighty-seven thousand!

His mass points had directly broken through the five-million mark!

Samuel alone contributed enough to equal more than half a Magic Spider nest. That final Forbidden Spell had contributed over three million mass points to him.

International friends are indeed thoughtful.

He continued to look down.

[Planetary-level exo-colonial star core armor: sinking star]

[Current repair level: 58.33%]

[Second-stage basic structure repair complete]

[Basic spatial resistance module surface reorganization complete]

[New: Spatial Resistance Coating]

[Effect: The armor surface can pre-divert spatial cutting and local collapse, providing an additional 35% damage reduction and structural repulsion against eighth-tier and below spatial attacks. Specific effects depend on attack intensity, Law completeness, and current armor state.]

The repair level of the sinking star had broken through the 50% threshold in one go, reaching 58.33%.

It had also unlocked a new module specifically targeting spatial attacks.

After the spatial resistance coating covered it, the silver-blue lattice on the surface of the sinking star became a layer thinner. It wasn't regressing, but tightening up. The few thin cracks torn open by the Law of Destruction earlier had closed, and the sleeves returned to the appearance of ordinary casual wear.

He raised his hand and flicked his cuff.

"I'm rich, I'm really rich this time..."

The feel hadn't changed, but the defense had increased again.

The heartache Su Ming felt over the broken bone staff immediately faded quite a bit.

After confirming his gains, he twisted his neck with satisfaction.

Next, it was time to recover assets.

He strode forward, like a slaughterhouse owner inspecting his own facility, strolled over to pick up the other half of the judgment bone staff, and put the two broken pieces together.

[Swallowable target detected!]

[Broken Bone Staff of the Holy Radiance of the Death Herald: eighth-tier remnant]

[Internal core Law has been largely lost, holy radiance circuit damage rate 89.3%, spatial anchor structure broken]

[Estimated convertible mass points: 235000]

Two hundred and thirty-five thousand?

Su Ming's eyelid twitched.

Just this fire poker could be exchanged for two hundred and thirty-five thousand mass points? Then how much would a complete one be worth?

Su Ming turned his head abruptly, his gaze like two bright searchlights, crossing the hundred-meter distance and locking firmly onto the Abyss Knights lying paralyzed on the ground.

Twelve of them.

Twelve whole "resource packages" of seventh-tier Peak powerhouses wearing full sets of fine equipment.

Twelve dark gold heavy cross swords.

Twelve sets of heavy armor engraved with spatial Formation patterns.

Although the Formation backlash caused cracks in the armor plates, the main structure was still intact. Especially the breastplates and backplates; their material density was much higher than the bone staff.

"Heh..."

Su Ming rubbed his hands and walked toward the twelve knights.

Footsteps rang out one by one in the dead-silent sinkhole.

Every step knocked on the hearts of the twelve knights.

Watching the monster with glowing green eyes approaching them, a sense of humiliation and fear a hundred times stronger than facing death emerged in their eyes.

They were the most elite warriors of the Divine Court, the sharpest swords in the hands of the Judge.

They had received Soul imprints on their first day of joining the group; death was just returning to the Divine Court. Having experienced countless bloody battles and faced Source Beast Dominators more terrifying than the Mountain Demon and Tiger Fiend, they had never felt the slightest fear.

But now, they were afraid.

In that young man's eyes, they could see no respect for the strong, nor any dignity belonging to a victor.

Only... the naked greed of a butcher seeing high-quality pork belly.

Su Ming quickly walked to the nearest knight.

The knight struggled to lift the heavy sword in his hand, but because his Origin was exhausted and he was suffering from Formation backlash, he didn't even have the strength to lift his arm.

Su Ming stopped, looked down at him from a high position, and then slowly swept his gaze over the other eleven people.

He cleared his throat and said in an extremely kind and gentle tone:

"Big brother, are you going to strip yourself, or should I help you strip?"

"..."

The twelve Abyss Knights froze in unison.

Strip... strip what?

"I advise you to be sensible and take the initiative."

While they were still hesitating, Su Ming had already started working. While dismantling the first knight's bracer, he casually reminded them: "Armor plates, inner lining, spatial bracelet, hand them all over."

As his voice fell.

The other eleven watched this scene, their breathing completely disrupted.

Humiliation! Extreme humiliation!

"If there are any Formation patterns on your undergarments, you'd better confess voluntarily. Don't wait until I find the hidden layers, it'll be awkward for everyone..."

Night Crow turned his head away silently.

Young Master Gu Lingfeng closed his eyes.

Ye Canglan raised his hand and pressed his brow.

Just a moment ago they were fighting an eighth-tier Forbidden Spell, and now they had entered the post-battle stripping phase. Even for an old man like him, this battlefield pace was a bit hard to keep up with...

Su Ming removed the first shoulder guard, and it felt heavy in his hand.

The System prompt popped up accordingly.

[Seventh-tier Peak standard Abyss shoulder guard detected, Formation patterns damaged, main material integrity 82%!]

[Estimated convertible mass points: 18600!]

Just one shoulder guard, eighteen thousand six hundred.

"Line up, one by one."

The knight in the very middle had his chest heaving violently, and he gritted his teeth to squeeze out a sentence: "The Divine Court will remember the shame of today."

"It's even better if you put it on my tab." Su Ming nodded, "Bring more treasures next time."

Just when everyone thought this battle would end in an extremely absurd way of "robbery"—

A sudden change occurred.

Su Ming's fingers stopped on the knight's armor buckle.

The skin on the back of his neck tightened slightly.

His gravitational perception had been covering the entire sinkhole. Samuel, the twelve knights, the Mountain Demon, Tiger Fiend, and Ye Canglan; every mass feedback was under his control.

But before that sound appeared, he hadn't captured any extra mass.

The next instant, the light in the rock pit where Samuel had crashed dimmed.

There was no spatial fluctuation.

There was also no Source Energy reaction.

A black shadow clinging to the rubble rose from behind Samuel, its silhouette so thin it had almost no thickness.

Night Crow turned his head first.

"Boss, behind you!"

Su Ming had already turned around.

But that shadow was faster.

A pale hand reached out from the shadow, five fingers spread, and pressed precisely onto the top of Samuel's skull.

Samuel's whole body stiffened, and unprecedented horror erupted in his previously unfocused pupils

"Click..."

The person in the shadow leaned down, close to his ear.

"Shh—"

"God cannot save you."

"But the Underworld River... can!"

Under the five fingers, a [Ferryman's Mark], pitch-black as ink, lit up eerily in Samuel's desperate gaze!