Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 577 Crimson Inventory and Visit

When Luo Xiu opened his eyes again.

He saw the silvery mist spreading before him and could smell the strong stench of blood. He realized that he was still bathed in the blood of Helmond and that his ascension to the Abyss was complete.

"……call."

He let out a long breath—

This advancement of the [Abyss] to the fifth level of destiny, and the resulting increase in his strength, met Luo Xiu's previous expectations. Furthermore, the abilities of the "Apostle of the Styx" remained consistent with his previous life, meaning he now possessed the power to truly act as the representative of the [Abyss]'s destiny will, thereby commanding those abyssal beings.

In the previous life, only a very small number of players advanced to become "Styx Apostles" in their journey through the [Abyss]. Ultimately, this was due to the rarity of the corresponding "Divine Heirs," and those Divine Heirs that could be truly controlled by players were even rarer.

As for the natives of the [Abyss] destiny—after version 3.0 "Abyss Upside Down," Luo Xiu saw the natives' "Styx Apostles."

They were all incredibly strong, and every "Styx Apostle" encountered by players in the previous life would inexplicably turn a siege battle into a large-scale battle, demonstrating their terrifying ability to command the Abyss.

However, the advancement conditions for this hidden profession are not actually prepared for ordinary Abyss Level 4 Destiny Transcendents. The vast majority of "Styx Apostles" are higher-level Transcendents, such as those who have advanced to Level 6 or 7 of Abyss Destiny and then take Abyss - "Styx Apostle" as their second profession.

Or, like Luo Xiu, after advancing to a higher level in a non-Abyss destiny path, he might try to hunt down an Abyss deity, contract a "True Ancestor Demon," and then advance the Abyss to the fifth level of destiny path, becoming a new "Styx Apostle."

However, the latter is more theoretically feasible than practically feasible.

Because the vast majority of those who enter the Abyss from a non-Abyss destiny path will become "XX Saints", "XX Great Lords" or "XX Rulers" who prioritize the Abyss as their first destiny path, it is unlikely that they can truly advance from zero in the Abyss.

However, there are indeed those who have truly embarked on the path of the Abyss and become "Apostles of the Styx" on their first advancement within the Abyss. But that requires extraordinary luck, essentially making them chosen ones.

—That requires becoming a "Demon Mentor" in the "Fourfold Fate Path" and directly gaining the recognition of the "True Ancestor Demon" and establishing a contract with it; it also requires discovering another "True Ancestor Demon" and, after beating it to a pulp, allowing the "True Ancestor Demon" you have contracted to spy on its true name.

Then, the demon mentors who are only at the "Fourfold Fate" level need to recite their true name and withstand the backlash of the true name—at this point, they can already deter a large number of people who want to become "Apostles of the Styx" in their first promotion.

This is only part of the "strength" aspect. The real difficulty lies in finding and controlling a [Abyss] god's offspring.

This is not something that can be accomplished simply by having strength. There are also great differences between "divine offspring". For example, under the premise of four destinies and with the help of the "True Ancestor Demon", one must encounter a [Abyss] divine offspring that is not in its complete form and control it in order to complete the advancement to "Styx Apostle".

But if you encounter a [Abyss] god-child, such as Helmond, the "Dragon of Evil" or "Child of the Dragon God," then the grass on your grave should be three meters high by now.

Luo Xiu knew that this was an almost impossible task for a [Abyss] transcendent who was attempting to advance to the "Styx Apostle" for the first time.

But someone actually did complete it, and it was someone Luo Xiu knew well, someone whose influence on the entire "Apocalypse World" was quite significant—

That is the true source of the disaster in version 2.0, "Crimson Tide"—the ruler of the Crimson Continent—the "Crimson Khan"—the "Crimson King" Azagus!
That was one of the true demigods of the Abyss.

In Luo Xiu's memory, the "Crimson King" Azagus, whom he finally met in his previous life, was level 149, while the "demigod" was only level 100 at the beginning.

It is no exaggeration to say that he was a being capable of taking on any other destiny path and all the demigods under that destiny path alone.

Its strength is incredibly incredible.

In other words, the Crimson Continent remains isolated from the other continents. Otherwise, the major powers on the other continents wouldn't be embroiled in endless internal strife and warfare; they would have long ago set aside their differences, formed alliances, and united against external threats.

If there are no external enemies, the country will inevitably perish.

"..."

Luo Xiu recalled these things.

With the arrival of version 2.0, "Crimson Tide," fast approaching, Luo Xiu naturally thought of these things.

He then turned his attention back to himself and began to take stock of what he had gained from this promotion.

It must be said that this advancement to the fifth level of the [Abyss] Destiny and becoming a "Styx Apostle" has been a very rewarding experience.

First is the "Legendary" milestone feat, 【Abyss Saint】. Although its effect is only half effective, it still provides a significant attribute bonus.

Furthermore, he has gained an additional "demon" contract slot—he can now summon and contract a second demon. If he can do this, then including "Four-Winged Angel" Tatia, "Creator of All Things" Amber, and "Lord of the Dead" Sather, he will have four gods from those he has summoned and contracted.

That would be a completely new True Ancestor Demon—that's what Luo Xiu was thinking. But he didn't have a clear goal yet. Perhaps if he encountered a "True Ancestor Demon" that he liked later, he could consider defeating it and making it willingly sign a contract with him.

And these are just the most basic improvements.

The most significant improvement comes from the new promotion to the [Abyss] class – "Styx Apostle". Its two unique skills, [Guidance of the Styx] and [Feast on the Blood Hunt Path], are particularly noteworthy. The former can be considered the core skill of the "Styx Apostle".

【The Guidance of the Styx】—This ability can command a vast area of ​​abyssal beasts and demons, directing them toward designated beacons. This is the greatest strength of the "Apostle of the Styx"—it no longer needs to rely on summoning or contracts to create torrents of abyssal beasts and demons at will.

This technique also needs to be combined with another technique—[Surge of Scars], which is a technique that creates new "scars" on the earth, allowing abyssal beasts and demons to surge from the abyss to the surface.

The former "Devourer Dragon," Fafnir Ramzanx, once used this technique. Luo Xiu had seen this technique recorded in the "Abyss Codex" before, and the corresponding learning requirement was the fifth level of the [Abyss] Destiny.

Although the Seven Abyss is currently still under the Great Seal, the seal has been severely loosened and damaged, so the [Surge of Wounds] can still take effect, but it is weaker than a normal tear in the wound, and the quality and number of abyssal beasts and demons that can surge out are weaker.

After leaving the [Divine Prison Lock], returning to the Holy Abyss and the real world, and after a few days when the power of the "Styx Apostle" has stabilized, he will go to the book to learn this skill.

Luo Xiu thought to himself.

Another special skill belonging to the "Apostle of the Styx" is the "Feast on the Blood Hunt Path," a royal skill that can acquire a large number of followers.

However, the "Demon Lord" who advances from "Demon Mentor" also possesses the same skills, and many [Abyss] Destiny classes also have the same or similar skills.

In the Abyss, this is actually regarded as an important symbol of strength and status. The more "followers" one has and the stronger one is, the more dominance and influence one has in the Abyss.

This skill is actually only effective against Abyss Beasts and demons below the rank of "True Ancestor Demon". In Luo Xiu's current view, it is more of a means to obtain a large number of cannon fodder, and its impact on high-ranking Saints is not too high.

However, the Styx Apostle's unique skill—"Raging Blood River"—is incredibly powerful. It can overwrite, transform, or destroy other area effects within a large area, and grant all friendly targets within the [Abyss] area a resurrection chance. This gives the Styx Apostle terrifying crowd control and removal capabilities.
For example, when Luo Xiu in his [Abyss] form faces multiple enemies, if the individual strength of the enemy is weaker than Luo Xiu's, but they have already set up more than a dozen domains to lock onto Luo Xiu, he only needs to unleash [Blood River's Raging Waves] once to transform or destroy all the enemy domains, thus instantly reversing the battle situation.

If the enemy you face is the "Apostle of the Styx", then unleashing the "Raging Blood River" skill is a complete waste of time and energy. But if the "Apostle of the Styx" is yourself, then it is an undisputed divine skill.

Luo Xiu thought to himself.

He was still quite satisfied with the result of this promotion, and after feeling the changes in his body for a while, he stood up from the blood pool and gradually returned his spirituality to [Radiance].

From Luo Xiu's body outline, a pale golden glow emanated from within, the spirituality of [Radiance] was "purifying" him, and the "Heart of Revelation" was also harmonizing [Radiance] and [Abyss] towards coexistence.

It's a very strange feeling.

Since completing his advancement and emerging from the spiritual sea belonging to the [Abyss], Luo Xiu, who was still in the [Abyss] state, had been constantly hearing seductive and persuasive whispers in his ears.

But as the spirituality of [Radiance] gradually returned, these eerie whispers gradually disappeared, allowing Luo Xiu to gradually regain his own clarity and purity.

In truth, the spirituality of someone who has just advanced to the fifth level of the [Abyss] is unstable. Many [Abyss] Saints go mad as soon as they cross this threshold. However, Luo Xiu merely allowed the influence to gradually fade away. The spirituality of [Radiance] continued to protect him until the last trace of dark, corrosive spirituality emanating from him was completely subdued.

Now, if another [Radiant] Saint were standing opposite him, he would no longer be able to sense any profound spirituality emanating from Luo Xiu.

However, this was for safety reasons, as they wanted to conceal their presence.

Luo Xiu still had 500 free attribute points, so he increased the "resistance" attribute to over 5,000, completely blocking any possibility of outsiders detecting the dark spiritual energy on his body, and then prepared to leave the [Divine Prison Lock].

He raised his hand, and the Dragonfire Demon Sword that had pierced Helmond's heart began to tremble violently. Until its spiraling blade slowly detached from Helmond's heart, a large amount of dragon blood gushed out like a burst dam, and the Dragonfire Demon Sword returned to Luo Xiu's hand.

He is ready to leave.

There will be other uses for Helmond's blood later, so we'll collect it then. And perhaps later we'll need to release Helmond from the chains of the gods once more, to allow him to "regain some vitality."

Luo Xiu thought to himself.

He then turned and walked toward the vortex gate he had entered through.

And then he heard—

"Durant's...bloodline..."

"..."

Hastia, the "Spirit of Authority," had been continuously and softly murmuring before. He had consciously blocked out His voice, but just as he was about to leave, he heard it again.

That feeling of being enveloped by profound malice surged up once more. Luo Xiu suddenly felt a rather noticeable stinging sensation—Hastia's power seemed to have recovered considerably.

Was it because Helmond, the "Child of the Dragon God," was weakened by having his blood drawn, that Hastia was able to catch his breath? Luo Xiu vaguely sensed that Hastia was about to condense the next "Avatar of Hastia" and cause it to emerge from the [Divine Prison Lock].

He sensed Hastia's presence, and then He heard His voice in his ears—

"you……"

“Blasphemy…how blasphemous…”

“I will definitely… hunt you down… Durant’s bloodline…”

"..."

Luo Xiu turned around to look.

His gaze pierced through the billowing fog and saw that the broken Dragonborn King was also looking at him. They stared at each other for a long while before Luo Xiu turned his head away and stopped looking at him.

There is no reason to stop Him.

Coincidentally, Quesanx wanted to see Hastia, and His incarnation could silently prove something to Quesanx.

Luo Xiu thought about these things in the end.

Then, without looking back, he walked towards the exit.

Hastia's voice gradually faded, and his figure eventually disappeared into the depths of the mist.

……

The time comes at night.

Half a day has passed since Luo Xiu returned from the "Sacred Abyss" to the real world.

Nothing major happened during the half-day, and no clergy member noticed anything unusual about their "archbishop." Everything proceeded as usual, following its established order.

The Supreme Being seemed to have no intention of interfering in matters here, and only Daveld had come to see him to discuss matters concerning the church. As evening fell, Luo Xiu finished his work and prepared to rest.

He knew that the "Holy Blood" Knights from the Holy Court would arrive the next day, and he needed to rest early in order to deal with the legendary "Dragon Blood Knight Commander" Demosth.

But just before Luo Xiu was about to rest, his temporary attendant, a priest, came and said to him with a hint of apology and trepidation—

"I apologize for disturbing you so late at night, Archbishop."

"Lord Monigne and Her Highness the Saintess have come to pay you a visit."

……

(End of this chapter)