Chapter 1 Seemingly Troubled

"Looks like there's trouble," Suren mused.

He hadn't harvested the soul of Pharaoh Cleopatra IX, and immediately guessed where the problem lay.

There were only two possibilities for a body without a soul.

First, the pharaoh had died, and the soul was lost for some reason.

Second, she had feigned death for a different purpose.

After harvesting the memories of those guards just now, Suren was more inclined to believe the latter.

Moreover, with a heritage treasure like the Eternal Key, if the pharaoh wasn't dead, she wouldn't easily allow an outsider to seize it.

But the current situation was that Jay, Ralph, and Marcia had successfully obtained the key and were already working to open the pyramid tomb.

So, where was the problem?

Suren's thoughts raced, and he immediately thought of a possibility: "It seems the Tarris Gods probably want to find out who's controlling things behind the scenes..."

The five of them were contractors summoned by the Demon God's Contract, so even if they were caught, it wouldn't mean anything.

Suren figured that if the pharaoh wasn't dead, she was probably playing along to find the root of the problem.

He looked at the corpse on the ground, and a plan flashed through his mind. He quickly stuffed the corpse into his storage ring.

The surrounding guard legions wanted to stop him, but the Black Scythe slashed down a few times, clearing out a large swath of soldiers again.

At this moment, Suren looked at the dazzling golden Temple of the Sun not far away and charged towards it decisively.

His actions caused most of the Tarris God's top experts, who had originally gone to make trouble for Dou Sheng (Battle Saint) Jay and the others, to return to defend.

But suddenly, the centaur Kamul behind him shouted sharply, "Careful!"

Suren's eyes narrowed, and a needle-like killing intent approached strongly.

At this distance, there was no way to avoid it.

"A demigod of the Tarris Gods..."

Suren murmured inwardly. How could he not have noticed?

Not to mention that Black Crow's vision had already captured the suddenly disappearing hawk-headed demigod, even soul perception had clearly detected this fellow suddenly appearing behind him.

Without hesitation, Suren turned around and punched out at the source of the aggressive killing intent behind him.

"Boom!"

The space where their fists collided seemed like a shattered mirror, with large cracks of lightning-like black space appearing. The terrifying energy shockwave stirred up yellow sand all around.

Suren's body center sank, and the bricks under his feet cracked, but he steadily took the punch.

Opposite him, a hawk-headed man with a pair of golden wings also revealed himself.

This demigod also seemed very surprised that a ninth-tier human could take his punch head-on.

...

This scene left the centaur Kamul not far away stunned.

He stopped there, holding the fully drawn bow.

When he noticed the demigod disappearing earlier, he immediately guessed that the hawk-headed fellow was coming for them.

Kamul also immediately opened his mouth to warn and wanted to shoot an arrow to restrain him.

After all, if this bodyguard died, he would die too.

However, he never expected that this "Nicholas" would actually take a demigod's punch with his bare hands?

This was a genuine demigod.

He thought that only the barbarian Ralph among the five had the physical strength to withstand a demigod head-on. Perhaps the dragon girl Marcia could do it too, but he never expected that the "Death Warlock," who should have had a weak physical body, could do it too?

In comparison, it seemed that he, a near-invincible sub-god archer in the Dakla plane, had become the weakest of the five?

Kamul looked at the shimmering runes like dragon scales all over his body, and his eyes twitched: "Is this guy's dragon bloodline...?"

Although he knew earlier that this "Nicholas" had dragon blood, he still found it unbelievable after seeing it with his own eyes.

Is this a Dragonkin?

When the dragon girl Marcia transformed, she had external manifestations of bestial scales and armor, but what was this?

Rune Body?

He could accept those strange and weird abilities before, but now that his physical body could even fight a demigod, what kind of monster was this?

...

Right after that punch collision, the two were already entangled together, fighting from the ground to the sky, causing the mountains to collapse and the earth to crack.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

"..."

The power of a demigod-level battle was terrifying. The mere aftershocks could kill high-level powerhouses.

"As expected, he's an Alchemist..."

Kamul looked at the scene with a very complicated expression.

One strike could be said to be luck or a secret method, but to still be evenly matched after so many rounds of entanglement showed his strength.

He thought of some ancient legends passed down by the centaur race.

A plague-like alchemical civilization conquered the heavens, which was a nightmare and dark age for countless planes, and a nightmare for the gods.

But those guys called their civilization "Dawn"!

He never expected to see the legendary God-Stealer—the Alchemist—again today!

At the same time, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

At least, he was a teammate now, and a bodyguard, not an enemy.

The stronger that guy was, the greater Kamul's own chances of survival.

Kamul could see that even in the midst of the great battle, Nicholas was trying his best to fulfill his protection contract.

Although he didn't know how that guy managed to be distracted while fighting a demigod, the Black Scythe was slashing out, and the energy shockwaves from the two's collisions were scattering some of the gathering ten-thousand-man warbands.

Low-level professionals might not see the mystery in this, but when Kamul saw this, he sincerely exclaimed, "What terrifying calculation ability..."

...

Suren had already fought a demigod head-on when he was at the eighth tier. Now that he was at the ninth tier and without the pressure of hierarchical suppression, he wasn't at a disadvantage.

Moreover, the Blasphemer Armor allowed him to quickly digest the various pieces of intelligence he had harvested before. He now knew almost everything about this demigod "Adjudicator" Cecil.

The Falcon Clan of the Tarris Gods excelled in space abilities and wind control, possessed extreme speed, and had outstanding melee combat abilities.

Once he was entangled by this guy, there was almost no possibility of escape.

However, Suren had no shortcomings in terms of either space abilities or physical strength. Even his understanding of the laws was in no way inferior.

The two fought fiercely near the Golden Temple.

Suren acted like he was going to rush into the temple to blaspheme the gods, so Cecil had to defend the temple, putting him in a passive position everywhere.

However, it was difficult to determine the outcome of this level of battle in a short period of time unless one side had an overwhelming advantage.

More and more guards were gathering around, but Suren didn't plan to fight this hawk-headed man to the death here. It wasn't that he couldn't win,

But he was very clear that this desert plane was the ancestral tomb of the Tarris Gods. Although it couldn't accommodate other gods descending into this plane, it didn't mean that the gods of the Tarris race hadn't left any back doors.

If Suren really killed all these guards, it would inevitably attract even greater trouble.

The best option was to stall.

If a god-tier was paying attention, they wouldn't be interested in prematurely intervening in ants fighting.

Moreover, with the hawk-headed demigod defending the Temple of the Sun, Dou Sheng (Battle Saint) Jay and the others had already rushed into the huge pyramid.

He didn't know what mechanism they had triggered, but sand and dust filled the sky, and the entire earth trembled.

Seeing this, Suren decisively chose to withdraw and shouted at the centaur Kamul, "Go!"

Kamul had also been preparing for a long time: "Heroic Charge!"

Don't look at this guy being in a weakened state. As soon as he heard that they were leaving, a wave-like airflow immediately surrounded his four hooves, and he shot out with a "whoosh," leaving a series of afterimages behind him at such a fast speed.

When he charged out alone, countless heroic spirits followed, as if it were a thousand troops and ten thousand horses.

This was a displacement ability and also a group attack skill.

Wherever the centaur trampled, he advanced with irresistible force. Even a ten-thousand-man legion couldn't stop him.

Suren watched and was amazed.

This guy said he was weak, but sure enough, he was still hiding a trump card for survival.

Suren didn't delay himself. While resisting the hawk-headed demigod, he rushed towards the pyramid.

The two were extremely fast, and before the Tarris God's warriors could react, they had rushed all the way through.

Dou Sheng (Battle Saint) Jay and the others had just opened the gate of the tomb, and when they saw Suren and the others rushing over, their expressions were slightly unnatural.

After all, they had previously sold out their teammates.

But they didn't dare to stop them at this moment.

Having witnessed the terrifying combat power of "Nicholas" earlier, the three of them immediately recognized that he was the legendary Mechanical Alchemist.

Moreover, with a hawk-headed demigod and a large number of pursuers behind them, if they really had any crooked thoughts, the three of them wouldn't be able to stop them at all.

Suren and the centaur Kamul didn't have the leisure to pursue anything now. Completing the Demon God's Contract after opening the tomb door was the most important thing.

In the blink of an eye, the two groups had merged.

In an instant, Dou Sheng (Battle Saint) Jay released a Dou Qi (Battle Qi) shockwave, the centaur Kamul launched another round of arrows, the barbarian Ralph chopped out a bloody thunder with his axe, the dragon girl Marcia breathed dragon breath, and Suren slashed with his Black Scythe...

The five of them unleashed their attacks together. Even the hawk-headed demigod couldn't avoid them, and the several ten-thousand-man warbands that were chasing them were instantly scattered. The few of them successfully rushed into the tomb passage.

...

This was a dark divine passage leading to the underground. Suren and the five others charged all the way and soon could no longer hear the pursuers behind them.

"Go further down! As long as we can put the Eternal Key on the bottom altar, the mission will be complete!"

"Alright!"

The few of them continued downwards.

Although Suren and Kamul had been schemed against earlier, neither of them mentioned it.

They were very clear that there was no point in fighting each other to the detriment of both sides now.

The atmosphere in the team was slightly tense.

But the five of them still walked towards the depths of the tomb together.

The structure under the pyramid was very complex, and the space was much larger than it looked.

Even this small tomb passage for transporting corpses had a height of more than five meters.

The five of them were all here for the first time, so they maintained caution about this unfamiliar environment. However, after carrying bricks for more than half a month, they also knew some necessary information.

This was a tomb, a place for storing corpses.

Not long after entering, a large number of colorful murals had already appeared on the walls of the passage.

The Tarris Gods believed in the Sun God, so the murals were full of worship of the sun. There were also a large number of people with jackal heads, hawk heads, crocodile heads, and baboon heads, with brown or dark brown skin. These were the Tarris Gods.

But the most numerous were the contents about corpses being made into mummies.

Suren had harvested a lot of memories before, so he knew very well.

The Tarris Gods believed that the body was the container of the soul. They were certain that the soul would be resurrected after death, so they had to preserve the body so that the soul would have its own residence. Then, they invented various embalming techniques to make the corpse into a mummy and store it in the tomb, waiting for the day it could be resurrected.

Of course, this was the information that believers could access.

Suren himself also had a deep understanding of the laws of death. Resurrection wasn't that simple.

After entering, he had been observing the various energy fluctuations that overflowed in this passage.

However, suddenly, the sound of stone rubbing against stone came from the passage.

The centaur Kamul said with a serious expression, "The tomb door we came in through has been sealed off."

The expressions of the other three also changed slightly.

Suren naturally noticed it immediately. As soon as the tomb door was sealed, the various defense restrictions inside the pyramid were activated.

This was a god-tier restriction!

Fortunately, the restriction had no offensive power. It seemed it only wanted to trap those who broke into the tomb inside.

Suren understood the most obvious function of the restriction: Spatial displacement was forbidden here.

However, he wasn't flustered.

He had the support of the God-King artifact Ouroboros Temporal Ring, and after trying it, he could still use it.

The others had obviously also discovered this.

The atmosphere was somewhat heavy. The only good news was that they didn't have to deal with the pursuers outside.

Since things had come to this, the few of them didn't delay and continued to walk towards the depths of the tomb passage.

They would not consider how to get out for now. They had to send the Eternal Key to the designated location first. By canceling the Demon God's Contract, perhaps everything would change for the better.

...

After all, the five were peak existences among humans, so although they encountered some trouble in the tomb passage, they resolved it without any danger.

Soon, they arrived at a super-giant space.

It was filled with deathly aura, and they couldn't see the end of it at a glance.

What was even more exaggerated was that countless coffins were placed here densely.

The coffins had the distinctive characteristics of Tarris civilization. The coffin lids had human figures, painted with bright colors such as peacock blue, black, and red, and inlaid with various exquisite gems.

A small number were forged from pure gold, some were wooden coffins, and some were pottery pots.

The value of the coffin directly indicated the status of the mummy inside during its lifetime.

Suren knew that only Tarris Gods above the seventh tier were qualified to send their mummies into the tomb to wait for resurrection.

Over countless years, countless coffins had accumulated here.

This was just one of the locations in the entire desert plane.

The bottom layer? Obviously not.

The secrets hidden in this tomb were far more numerous than what they saw.

Suren's eyes swept over the scene, carefully examining everything in front of him.

His gaze fell on the surrounding relief murals, which used a large amount of space to carve various mysterious symbols. This was the Book of the Dead.

The most important book of the Tarris civilization. It was said that this was a book written by high-level gods for the dead to read, and it hid the secrets of resurrection.

"These look a bit familiar..."

Suren looked directly at the rune-like symbols, lost in thought.

Writing was a simplification of runes, and its essence was to describe the mysteries of the universe. All civilizations were like this.

Alchemists were good at researching and deciphering all kinds of writing.

Suren was proficient in deciphering various writings. Now, with the super computing power supported by the Blasphemer, he automatically deciphered them in his mind the first time he saw those symbols.

Looking at the origin of the laws pointed to by those symbols, he felt inexplicably familiar. Wasn't this a bit similar to the secret art of death on the golden scroll High Man's Admonitions in his hand?

However, before he could think too much, someone shouted not far away, "Don't look! I feel like there's something wrong with those symbols."

Suren tilted his head and saw that it was Dou Sheng (Battle Saint) Jay who spoke.

There was indeed something wrong with these symbols, because they were for the dead or those who were proficient in the laws of death to see.

Ordinary people would have their lives drawn unknowingly if they looked at them.

It was like a curse.

However, what Suren cared about wasn't this. He looked at Jay, a trace of suspicion flashing in his eyes.

Even without being reminded, Kamul, Ralph, and Marcia had noticed the problem and averted their eyes.

Jay continued, "After passing the tomb group in front, there will be the altar. Let's go over quickly."

Ralph and the others had no objection and prepared to continue forward.

However, Suren stood where he was.

When the other four saw that he didn't move, they immediately became vigilant.

In this gloomy tomb, any abnormality would make people feel that something bad was about to happen.

Because they had fought together before, the centaur Kamul had a good impression of Suren. He didn't think the danger came from him and asked, "What's wrong?"

The other three also cast doubtful glances.

Suren narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "That... I want to ask, where is the Eternal Key?"

Jay responded, "It's with me. What's wrong?"

Suren looked at him and asked, "Can I see it?"

Hearing this, Jay asked cautiously, "What do you mean?"

Obviously, he didn't intend to take it out, and then he seemed to suddenly understand, "Does Your Excellency want to talk about what happened before?"

At this point, the expressions of the barbarian Ralph and the dragon girl Marcia also became serious, vaguely guarding Jay's side.

They thought that Suren was asking this now because he wanted to question the betrayal before, and they might turn hostile.

After all, the three of them were a temporary alliance, so they would naturally stick together at this time.

And having seen the power of "Nicholas," the Mechanical Alchemist, they didn't dare to be careless at all.

"..."

Seeing this posture, Suren raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and he had already confirmed it in his heart.

He smiled apologetically and shook his head, and said, "You don't have to be so nervous. You don't have to give it to me, just take it out and let me take a look. I just want to confirm something."

"..."

As soon as he said this, Jay's expression was obviously not right.

He didn't act.

If it was just to take a look, it would naturally not be a big problem.

But intuition told "him" that he must not take it out!

And it was because of this hesitation that his two teammates, Ralph and Marcia, immediately became suspicious.

The two of them were not weak in their scheming, so how could they not have guessed that there was a problem with the current situation? They decisively opened a distance.

In an instant, the five people stood on one side each, as if they had instantly become five forces and began to suspect each other.

Seeing this, Suren had already understood everything.

He spoke again, "If you don't want to take it out, that's fine. I suggest that you give the Eternal Key to anyone you trust to keep it."

The Eternal Key was the key to opening the most core area of the tomb. This was a heritage secret treasure of the Tarris race, so it was naturally impossible to take it out for outsiders.

Seeing that things were exposed, Jay didn't hide it anymore, and let out a chuckle.

As soon as this laughter came out, Ralph and the three of them felt their hairs stand on end.

At this moment, how could they not understand that there was a big problem with this "Jay"!

...

Jay looked at Suren and sneered, "How did you see through it?"

Suren was not afraid of the mental control, "Do you think I will tell you?"

As soon as these words came out, the air was filled with killing intent.

In the current situation, it was already obvious who the enemy was.

The barbarian Ralph also roared and instantly entered a berserk state. His whole body rose several meters, and his blood-red killing intent was like a flame.

The dragon girl Marcia instantly transformed, and dark red dragon scales covered her whole body.

And the centaur Kamul, who had not fully recovered, also quickly opened the distance, and the elemental bow in his hand had already condensed.

But Jay was faster!

He chose to take the initiative to attack!

The Dou Sheng (Battle Saint)'s body was filled with Dou Qi (Battle Qi), and was also attached to a layer of dark gray flame.

This was actually the Void Poison Flame, which ranked second in the Dou Qi (Battle Qi) Continent!

With the strange fire attached to his body, the surrounding void seemed to be burned through, presenting circles of wavy lines.

Ralph and the three of them were also very afraid.

They had seen the power of this strange fire before. It was a rule attack that could easily burn an eighth-tier professional to ashes. Even they had to be very careful.

However, Suren's face was calm.

In his eyes, the strange fire had completely lost its secrets.

This was a bit like the cosmic source quality in the field of alchemy, which allowed professionals to touch the mysteries of the rules with the help of external forces.

The difference was that the strange fire was more of an attack method.

And this Void Poison Flame was a special kind of fire that contained the power of space rules, allowing people's attacks to be attached with space damage.

However, the power of the strange fire was directly proportional to the strength and understanding of the laws of the user.

Jay's understanding of the laws of space... was nothing in Suren's eyes!

...

Jay rushed over!

The Dou Qi (Battle Qi) Continent didn't have any fancy techniques. It relied on close-range combat with Dou Qi (Battle Qi).

And he also had the Void Poison Flame attached to his body, so anything he touched, whether it was a field, shield, or armor, would be burned to ashes.

This was almost the dream of all close-range combat professionals.

Moreover, Jay himself had mastered a lightning-fast body technique. He rushed forward, almost unavoidable!

Before, he said that he could withstand two or three ninth-tiers, which was a humble statement. With this combat power, even a demigod would have to be wary.

This guy's goal was also very clear, he flashed and struck towards Suren.

The hand knife wrapped in Dou Qi (Battle Qi) was like a sharp blade, easily piercing Suren's death field and even piercing through his body-protecting domineering aura.

Jay was also overjoyed.

He was confident that it was impossible for anyone of the same level to avoid such a close-range attack!

The centaur Kamul and the three others in the distance were worried, and secretly said that if "Nicholas" died, the problem might develop in a very bad direction. After all, only he had seen the problem.

However, at this second, an unexpected scene appeared.

Suren stood there without dodging at all. Even the expression on his face was still so indifferent, as if he hadn't reacted at all.

Until Jay's Dou Qi (Battle Qi) hand knife had pierced his chest.

At this moment, it was as if time had stopped!

Suren's eyes narrowed, and he punched out.

In the eyes of the other four, they saw this incredible scene.

His movements were like fast-forwarded by several times, while Jay's movements were slowed down by several times!

With this punch, before the hand knife touched his chest, he punched Jay's chest.

With a "boom," the figure flew out.

...

In the distance, Ralph and the three others immediately understood something when they saw the strange scene, and they said in shock, "The power of the law of time!"

This was almost one of the most mysterious and difficult laws to master in the universe.

They never expected that "Nicholas" had mastered it!

One had to know that to control a peak ninth-tier existence, it meant that his understanding of the law of time was also at the peak of humanity.

How was that possible... Was this guy a freak!

Before, it was already unbelievable that so many super-powerful abilities were gathered on one person, but now he came again?

Oh, that's right!

This guy was the legendary Mechanical Alchemist!

However, before his thoughts could fly away, with a "bang," the figure landed. Jay smashed dozens of coffins before he stopped, and then couldn't help but spurt out a mouthful of old blood, staining his clothes red.

With just this face-to-face encounter, he was seriously injured!

The three of them looked at the person in the ruins with an incredible gaze, and then looked at "Nicholas" who was standing in place.

What surprised the three of them even more was that this guy ignored the rule-burning of the Void Poison Flame. He directly punched Jay in the chest?

This also meant that he also had a super-strong understanding of the law of space to ignore the strange fire!

Seeing this, the centaur Kamul suddenly felt much better, and was comforted in his heart: I knew it, it's not that I'm weak, but this guy is too perverted.

Before, being with this "Nicholas" in the breakout made him feel like he was a rookie.

Now, looking at Jay, who was knocked flying with a punch, he suddenly wasn't depressed anymore.

However, this was not the time to watch the show.

Jay's body-protecting Dou Qi (Battle Qi) was broken by that punch and didn't recover for a short time. The other three were all top experts and had already spotted the opportunity.

Kamul shot an arrow at Jay's lower abdomen, which was not fatal, but could prevent him from condensing Dou Qi (Battle Qi).

Ralph and Marcia were extremely fast, and they had already flashed to the left and right, breaking Jay's left and right arms.

They all wanted to catch him alive.

Having lost the first chance, he was severely injured with one move. Surrounded by four top powerhouses, Jay would not be able to stir up any waves, no matter how strong he was.

However, even though Jay was captured and unable to move, he didn't care about his situation at all. Instead, a strange smile overflowed from the corner of his mouth.

Seeing this, Ralph and Marcia's faces changed drastically, and they quickly retreated, while entering a state of full defense.

Because they saw that this guy had chosen to self-destruct!

The Dou Qi (Battle Qi) Continent cultivated Dou Qi (Battle Qi), and they were like gas storage tanks. Once detonated, the power would be several times their own strength.

The power of a ninth-tier Dou Sheng (Battle Saint)'s self-destruction was enough to make a demigod resent him on the spot!

However, at this critical moment, a figure flashed and appeared in front of Jay, reaching out and pointing at a vital point.

A bizarre scene appeared.

Jay, who was bulging like an about-to-explode balloon, suddenly had all the Dou Qi (Battle Qi) in his body leaking out like a dam breaking.

The self-destruction was actually terminated!

Even Jay, the person involved, looked shocked: How did this guy do it?

...

Suren's eyes flashed, and with the All-Knowing Eyes of the second solution, he had clearly seen the flow of energy in Jay's body in this self-destructive state.

After analyzing the point of leakage in his mind, he poked it and solved the problem.

Even if he guessed wrong, it wouldn't be a big problem.

Suren estimated the destructive power of the explosion, and it was likely that he wouldn't die.

This time, Suren didn't give him a chance.

Compared to torturing a living person, he preferred soul searching.

With that finger, he poured death energy directly and ended Jay's life.

The corpse's Dou Qi (Battle Qi) leaked out, and a "gray mist" appeared.

However, at this moment, the Void Poison Flame lost its host's Dou Qi (Battle Qi) control and immediately backlashed, burning the corpse to ashes.

A terrifying nuclear explosion-like energy burst out.

Suren was not afraid of the terrifying spatial fluctuations and reached out to explore it.

A small gray flame was reflected in his eyes, and he murmured, "A strange fire... a good treasure."