Abundant Martial Arts Virtue
Chapter 555 - 438 Thorny Rose

Chapter 555: Chapter 438 Thorny Rose

"Let’s escape, Little Wu,"

Chris said, biting her lip.

Wu Xiaode felt slightly calmer and looked towards the goddess statue opposite.

"What exactly is this?"

he asked.

Chris quickly explained:

"After the Feeding Demon Master killed various divine spirits, he threw their corpses into an abyss, and this creature was born from the accumulated bodies of countless divine spirits."

"It can use the diverse powers of the divine spirits and is extremely cruel and perverse towards all beings, only fearing the Feeding Demon Master."

Wu Xiaode was slightly taken aback.

He had not expected such bizarre things to exist.

"Now that we have escaped, let’s part ways here, after all, our goals might not be exactly the same,"

Wu Xiaode said towards the goddess statue.

A deep laugh came from within the statue.

"I have left that prison, and now nothing can stop me. Starting with you, I shall make all flesh and souls greet my rebirth with pain and howling,"

Before the voice faded,

slurp—

Holes burst open on the statue.

Blood spattered out, transforming into countless slender red tentacles in mid-air, stabbing towards Wu Xiaode from all directions.

"Impressive,"

Wu Xiaode exclaimed in admiration.

A glazed flame radiated from Wu Xiaode.

—This was the radiance of Evernight City.

It enveloped his entire body, even wrapping around the fairy on his shoulder, extending behind him.

The Black Flag was also shrouded in it.

His figure continuously dodged, but he soon realized his speed was not nearly enough.

The sharp red tentacles pierced through his body in an instant.

Tch.

Indeed, the gap in strength was too great.

Bearing the intense pain, Wu Xiaode shouted, "Leap."

A flash surrounded him.

He found himself already out of harm’s way.

The entire world collapsed rapidly into ashes.

And he reappeared on the coastline of the Shangmo family.

The goddess statue had just begun to draw in seawater.

Chris was still eating her ice cream.

In his hand, he held the White Flag that had not acknowledged a master and turned black.

Rows of ice crystal lettering appeared:

"You have leaped back to five minutes ago."

"Leap radius: 1 hour before and after."

"After your leap, everything on that timeline has been discarded and completely vanished."

"Please start over."

"The only thing not reset by time is your debt to the Flag of No Beginning."

"You are still in a master-recognition relationship."

Wu Xiaode glanced at Chris, who blinked at him.

"You need to master the power of this flag, and quickly!"

Chris telepathically communicated.

Truly back to five minutes ago.

"Does this ’brief leap’ ability require any payment from me?" he asked the flag.

A row of ice crystal lettering emerged:

It said, "Enjoy the thrill to your heart’s content. When your credit limit is reached, the bill will be disclosed."

Wu Xiaode felt a sudden sense of unease and discomfort.

—The way this flag operates, it clearly looks like the work of a seasoned loan shark.

In this game, it wasn’t clear who had fallen into whose hands.

Wu Xiaode simply stopped thinking about it.

Let the chips fall where they may.

After all, the flag had recognized him as its master, and in the Book of the Dead’s description, it had affirmed that it believed it could be sustained by him.

Then so be it, let’s sustain it.

"Is there anything I should be aware of?"

he asked again.

This time, the response was different:

"A complete leap across the entire timeline is costly."

"If the situation is not so dire and you wish to save expenses, please perform the ’brief leap’ on an individual entity."

That figures.

—If only I had used this move on the monster alone.

Wu Xiaode sighed and looked towards the goddess statue.

The statue expressed in a dignified voice:

"Thank you for releasing me. As promised, I used an immense amount of power to activate the Flag of No Beginning, helping you to leave that place—"

"We are even now."

Wu Xiaode was about to speak but suddenly closed his mouth.

Five minutes ago, his response had been "That’s indisputable."

But wait—

On second thought, what was the monster’s intention behind such a statement?

Its previous words were:

"Everything has its own connection. If you plant the cause to save me, then I shall bestow upon you the fruit of being saved. These are my own words."

"Take me away from here, young human man."

Wu Xiaode was no longer the streetfighting boy incapable of refining his skills.

Born with a natural combat sensitivity, a thought flashed through his mind, and he recalled the Feeding Demon Master’s Causality Law Skill.

As powerful as the Feeding Demon Master was, it had a weakness, although not a significant one.

When facing beings with Merit, it must first fulfill their tasks before it could kill and seize their treasures.

If we diverge in thought, we can even combine it with another instance—

"Flag of No Beginning, when we were escaping, you consumed one billion Soul Power but did not recognize a master. What’s the situation with that?"

Wu Xiaode asked through mental transmission.

A line of ice crystal lettering emerged from the Book of the Dead:

"Because it swore to save you, I reluctantly allowed it to use my power once."

A vow!

That’s how it is!

If I do not accept this monster’s word or acknowledge that "we’re even,"

What will happen next?

Wu Xiaode quietly looked at the goddess statue.

The statue once again emitted a soft female voice:

"We are even now, aren’t we?"

"No," Wu Xiaode spoke up, "you were merely helped by our power to barely acquire the aid of the Flag of No Beginning and followed us to escape the prison you fear."

The goddess statue said, "I recognized the true Flag of No Beginning and spent one billion Soul Power."

There’s hope.

A certain indescribable feeling emerged in Wu Xiaode’s heart, as if he had grasped onto something.

He shook his head and said,

"Actually, I’ve recognized the Flag of No Beginning. Once I use it when I’m at my wit’s end, it will allow me to leverage it to escape by means of a high-interest loan—"

"You just hitched a ride."

The goddess statue fell into silence.

Chris jumped onto Wu Xiaode’s shoulder, then climbed onto his ear, and said anxiously in a low voice,

"This guy is strange; I hope it’s not what I’m thinking."

"It’s exactly what you’re thinking," Wu Xiaode responded.

The voice of the goddess statue suddenly deepened,

"If you encounter danger and I save you, then we’re even. That’s undeniable."

Wu Xiaode said, "That depends on the level of danger."

"Life-threatening," declared the goddess statue.

Even Wu Xiaode had to admit to that point.

"Then you just wait to save my life," he said.

"I don’t need to wait; waiting is for all beings, while I am the master of the divinities,"

said the goddess statue.

Suddenly, a hole burst open behind it.

A scarlet Blood Stab streaked across the Void, instantly opening a temporal-spatial passage.

On the other side of the passage burst forth an intense aura of destruction—

"Jump."

Wu Xiaode uttered.

In the blink of an eye,

the Void sealed itself.

The temporal-spatial passage disappeared.

The scarlet Blood Stab flew over the goddess statue’s back.

The hole closed up.

Everything seemed as if it had never happened.

The prompt rune then appeared:

"You used a ’brief jump’ on the statue’s Blood Stab."

"It returned to five seconds ago."

Wu Xiaode looked at the goddess statue.

The goddess statue also looked at him.

"Interesting fellow, but your efforts are in vain,"

said the statue as four orbs of earth, water, fire, and wind were already prepared in front of it.

"I am about to awaken, and I shall become the true being that reigns over this world!"

The goddess statue issued a majestic declaration.

Wu Xiaode uttered again,

"Jump."

In the blink of an eye,

the four orbs vanished into thin air.

—They returned to the moment before they had condensed.

Yet the flow of time for all other things remained unchanged, continuing to move forward.

That is to say, they were erased.

"..." said the goddess statue.

"..." Wu Xiaode.

"You damned brat," the goddess statue said coldly.

Wu Xiaode was about to speak when two lines of ice crystal text appeared:

"Your credit limit is about to be reached."

"You have one more use of ’brief jump.’ Please handle the current situation cautiously."

Only one chance left.

Wu Xiaode steadied himself without showing any change in his demeanor and said lightly,

"I have acquired the Flag of No Beginning and can control time at will."

"If you still harbor evil thoughts and wish me harm—"

"Would you believe that I can send you back to the moment of your imprisonment, to remain in the cell of the Feeding Demon Master, until eternity?"

The goddess statue fell into a long silence.

Suddenly,

a "ding" sound echoed.

A row of blood-red text appeared on the Book of the Dead:

"Due to not completing the vow within the specified time, the secret Causality Law Skill has failed."

"The opposing party’s Causality Law Skill has backfired."

"The current backlash effect is as follows:"

"The current monster can choose to become your servant or become a regular Awakener."

"You cannot refuse—"

"This is the law of causality you both forged in the moment of escape; those who defy it will die."

"Please note, if the opposing party chooses to be your servant, they still have the chance to fulfill the law of causality and will regain freedom once completed."

Wu Xiaode curled his lips.

This guy’s causality was really secretive, with no magical fluctuations from beginning to end.

It was merely during the time in the cell that he had chosen to accept her proposal, and as a result, the law of causality was established.

Even just now, if he hadn’t been a little vigilant—

she would’ve been free.

She could’ve even killed him directly.

Clatter!

In the din of falling stones, the stone on the surface of the goddess statue all rolled off.

A girl with gray-white hair and blood-red eyes appeared before Wu Xiaode.

"Hehe, you really are a suitable master," said the girl with a curtsy, continuing with a smile, "Thank you for saving me; from now on, I will loyally serve you."

Wu Xiaode fell silent.

The party had chosen to become his servant.

But—

They never asked for his consent!

The causality was already established, and he had no choice in the matter!

"Master, why do you look so troubled?" asked the girl with a hint of malice.

Wu Xiaode ruffled his hair.

Forget it.

There was already one Shen Xiujun.

Another one, actually, wouldn’t matter.

Let’s all be doomed together.

—But this one seemed to be afraid of the Feeding Demon Master, and he didn’t know whether she would continue to be so defiant if he took her back to the bar.

With this thought, Wu Xiaode mustered up some energy, forced a smile, and said,

"Hello, Thorny Rose."

"Come with me; I have a few friends I’d like to introduce you to."