Twilight Palace, Fourth Floor.
The entire fourth floor had turned into a flaming limbo, with the ground's layer of rocks melted by the high temperature, transforming into a layer of magma.
Drip, drip...
The glowing red liquid dripped from the ceiling of the fourth floor, which started to turn into magma.
The air twisted, seemingly scorched by 6,000 points of damage caused by the sun's fire, creating a dazzling dark red glare that made people instinctively squint. Breathing here felt like torture with every inhale.
Three hundred seven contractees from the Paradise of Dawn perished here, leaving only evidence of their existence: the floating dust particles in the air.
If the temperature of the fourth floor were measured at this moment, it would be at least above 2000 degrees. Mind you, this was after the dissipation of Apollo's Sunfire.
Standing on the staircase leading to the fifth floor, Su Xiao felt the scorching heat from the fourth floor, burning his exposed skin even with the protection of the counterattack shield. He was acutely aware of the searing heat.
Su Xiao glanced at the notification from the Cycle Paradise: After Apollo's explosion, he gained a total of 1084 Paradise Merits, undoubtedly a substantial amount.
Of course, Su Xiao could only claim this sum partially for himself. Apollo's success in killing the enemy involved contributions from others, such as the golden scroll contributed by Yan Chen, the cover provided by the clown, and more.
The division of the spoils would have to wait. However, as the central orchestrator, Su Xiao naturally aimed to get the lion's share, and Yan Chen would also get a substantial portion.
Stepping back slightly, Su Xiao frowned. The fourth floor was too dangerous for him to enter now.
The lethality of the fourth floor was not just due to the high temperature alone. Apart from the temperature exceeding 2000 degrees, the magma dripping from above and the flames burning consumed considerable oxygen. The fourth floor was currently in an anoxic state, and Su Xiao standing at the staircase, could sense the airflow sucking towards the fourth floor.
Anoxic condition + high temperature + magma + various poisonous gases produced after the explosion + the flame radiation from Apollo's explosion, an additional 2000 points of flame burning damage.
Yan Chen blocked the staircase from the fourth floor to the third floor, while Su Xiao blocked the stairs from the fourth floor to the fifth. In their plan, Xi would die nine times in the flaming inferno of the fourth floor.
However, the two didn't know Xi couldn't die nine times. She had only four chances of revival left. After failing five times, she would be officially declared dead.
Su Xiao stared at the shadow of a cat on the fourth floor. He had seen this cat before.
Xi had already been burnt to death once, meaning she had four lives left. However, she didn't immediately resurrect, deliberately suppressing her resurrection ability because she knew that reviving now would mean certain death.
However, Xi couldn't entirely control this resurrection ability. The cat's shadow floated mid-air, forming a sphere and initiating Xi's revival.
Cries of battle came from the third floor, indicating Yan Chen and others clashing with the contractees from the Paradise of Dawn.
Su Xiao gazed at the crystal-clear sphere within tens of meters, sensing its robust vitality.
If Xi wanted to leave the fourth floor, her only way out was through the staircase blocked by Su Xiao. The other staircase from the fourth floor to the third was too far away, at least 700 meters, while Xi was only about a dozen meters from Su Xiao. It was only logical for her to break through towards Su Xiao's side.
Click...
The energy cocoon shattered, and Xi appeared. She quickly generated crystals beneath her feet, encapsulating the ground she stood on.
As flames surged, Xi's clothing was incinerated by the high temperature in the air. Her movements paused, instinctively shielding her chest with her arms, forming a thin layer of blue crystal armour on her body's surface. Xi held her breath, arched her body, and leapt towards Su Xiao.
Naturally, Su Xiao had to stop Xi. His black and white twin pistols appeared in his hands, but just as he was about to shoot, he sensed something was amiss. He immediately leapt backwards, jumping up to the upper floor.
Click, click, click...
The blue armour on Xi's body cracked extensively due to the high temperature on the fourth floor. With a snap, the blue armour shattered. Astonishingly, the usually aloof Xi experienced a wardrobe malfunction, fortunately escaping from anyone's sight.
Xi didn't have time to worry about the clothing mishap; her skin was rapidly burning, and she would die soon.
[Warning: You are in an oxygen-deprived environment.]
[Warning: You are in a high-temperature environment, suffering 500 points of burning damage per second for 4 seconds. If you don't leave the high-temperature environment within 4 seconds, you will suffer 260 points of burning damage per second until leaving the area.]
[Warning: You are in a toxic gas environment; breathing this air will cause 210 points of burning damage and 170 points of poison damage per second.]
[Warning: Your skill 'Crystal Control (Innate Passive) Lv.39' is suppressed by the high-temperature environment, effectiveness -70%, crystal consumption +300%.]
[Warning: Your skill 'Crystal Encasement (Innate Passive) Lv.32' is suppressed by the high-temperature environment and disabled.]
A series of warnings appeared; Xi glanced at these bloody red warnings and immediately understood the severity of the situation.
"At most, I'll survive for 2 seconds."
Xi murmured; her body stiffened, and she quickly crystallized. Crystallization meant death for Xi.
Ding!
The crystallized Xi fell to the ground, and the crystallized form shattered after a moment. Crystal shards sprayed out for dozens of meters, and everything began to crystallize wherever the bits landed, whether it was the ground or the magma. Xi had three resurrection chances left.
The cat's shadow reappeared, and there were vast crystalline structures within tens of meters around it. Xi's one resurrection opportunity nullified the threat from the magma.
Assimilating temporarily from the cat's shadow, Xi surveyed her surroundings and realized that Su Xiao wasn't on the fourth floor. She immediately prepared to revive. However, a black shadow flashed, and Su Xiao appeared at the staircase between the fourth and fifth floors.
Su Xiao looked at the cat's shadow, holding something in his hand.
"It seems you wanted a showdown with me, but you won't get that chance."
As Su Xiao spoke, he threw the object in his hand, which turned out to be the Apollo that had activated to stop abruptly. The once-activated Apollo was now somewhat unstable, and Su Xiao didn't plan to carry it with him.
The cracked surface of Apollo rolled under the cat's shadow. Seeing this fiery red sphere, Xi began to despair as her enemy didn't leave her the slightest chance.
With this realization, Xi's gaze turned resolute. She swiftly initiated her revival while controlling the shadow.
Emerging from the cocoon, Xi first perceived the chilling threat beneath her feet, feeling like being stripped naked and thrown into an icy landscape. It was bone-chillingly cold.
"Crystal Soul."
Xi pointed her finger at the scorching air, causing a massive crystalline net to spread, rushing toward the passage from the fourth floor to the fifth.
The high temperature around her quickly blurred Xi's vision, and she felt burning sensations all over her body.
"These lunatics... Read the book."
Xi's body crystallized again, and she only had two revival chances left.
The Apollo on the ground rapidly expanded, turning into a massive fireball with a diameter of hundreds of meters, as if someone had forcefully stuffed the sun into the Twilight Palace's fourth floor.
The fireball swiftly expanded.
Boom!
A loud boom resounded, unlike any other bomb explosion. This was a low, deep sound emanating from the explosion of Apollo, turning the fourth floor into a furnace with nothing but flames inside.
The Twilight Palace was sturdy enough; otherwise, it would have been reduced to a pile of debris long ago.
With the second Apollo exploding on the fourth floor, if it was previously a fiery inferno, it was now a prohibited area for all living beings.
Inside the "forbidden zone," an energy cocoon ruptured, revealing the crystallized form of Xi. Before she could resurrect, she was instantly blown up again by the Apollo's explosion. The temperature from the blast was too high, and it caused real damage. Xi had only one revival chance left.
The temperature on the fourth floor had risen from over 2000 to 3000 degrees. The energy inside the Twilight Palace was suppressed at a high level, turning the ground and walls of the fourth floor into large quantities of magma flowing towards the third floor.
A shout came from the third floor, followed by a bustling of footsteps and Yan Chen's angry curses. Some keywords like "White Night," "Your Sister," and others were faintly audible.