Chapter 28: Yellow Sand and Death?
Su Xiao gripped his longsword, extending his arm straight.
Although he hadn't yet reached the level where the weapon became an extension of his limb, his feeling toward the blade in his hand was already different.
Achieving that level was by no means something that could be done overnight.
Although spending 1000 Paradise Coins in just one hour was costly, Su Xiao felt it was worth it.
Koushirou hadn't taught him any techniques, but he had opened a new door for him.
"Summon Koushirou again."
Su Xiao was in good condition now, so he summoned Koushirou once more.
[Unable to summon the specified mirror image.]
[Beep, Hunter authority activated. Please select summoning duration.]
A smile appeared on Su Xiao's lips. It seemed his identity as a Hunter had some use.
"Three hours."
[Koushirou·Mirror Image summoning in progress. Summoning complete.]
Koushirou appeared again. After appearing, he nodded at Su Xiao without introducing himself.
Su Xiao was a bit surprised. Koushirou seemed to recognize him.
"Then, let's continue the previous training. You have already begun to perceive the blade in your hand."
Koushirou's words made Su Xiao understand why Reincarnation Paradise didn't allow summoning the same mirror image repeatedly.
When the same mirror image appeared, it retained the memories from the previous time. This was undoubtedly a good thing for Su Xiao.
"Now, you are qualified to spar with me. Come."
Koushirou drew his weapon for the first time. Su Xiao recognized that sword—one of the Great Grade Swords, Wado Ichimonji.
Su Xiao stood up, charged at Koushirou with his blade, time was precious, and he had to seize every moment to grow stronger.
The crisp sound of clashing blades rang out. Fighting against an expert like Koushirou was undoubtedly a valuable experience. If not for Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao would never have had such an opportunity.
During the sparring, Su Xiao observed every move Koushirou made, like a dry sponge, rapidly absorbing sword techniques.
After an hour of continuous sparring, sweat soaked through Su Xiao's clothes, and steam rose from his body.
"Now, rest. There are a few points you need to pay attention to..."
During the break, Koushirou began to point out Su Xiao's previous shortcomings.
At this moment, because he was a mirror image, Koushirou taught Su Xiao without holding anything back.
Three hours passed quickly, and Su Xiao still felt unsatisfied.
"Time is up. See you next time."
Koushirou gradually disappeared. Su Xiao wanted to summon him again, but after seeing the remaining 4027 Paradise Coins, he had to give up for now.
Su Xiao took a deep breath. The previous feeling of being able to shatter everything was gone—that was the aftereffect of rapidly increasing attributes.
He clenched his fist, and a series of crisp cracking sounds came from his knuckles. He had become much more accustomed to the suddenly increased attributes. Now, he only needed to complete the final step.
"Paradise, start combat mode."
[Combat mode consumes 10 Paradise Coins per minute. Pay/Decline.]
"Pay."
[Combat mode activated. Mechanical puppets will appear in thirty seconds. Please prepare in advance.]
The surrounding scene began to change, transforming from the original sword dojo into a desert.
The sword dojo was a scene automatically generated when Koushirou appeared, but the current scene was combat mode.
The combat mode would only end when Su Xiao was "killed in battle."
Of course, dying in the [Trial Grounds] was not real death.
A fierce wind blew up yellow sand, and the surroundings were a hazy yellow. A silver-white metal ball emerged from the sand.
That wasn't a ball at all, but the head of a mechanical puppet.
One by one, mechanical puppets made of steel drilled out from the sand. Dozens of red electronic eyes locked onto Su Xiao.
The mechanical puppets grew more numerous, quickly increasing to over a hundred, completely surrounding Su Xiao.
[Time's up. Combat practice begins.]
"Clank, clank, clank~." The sound of uniform metal collisions came. Those mechanical puppets rapidly surrounded Su Xiao from all directions.
The densely packed mechanical puppets all around made Su Xiao cautious. He quickly adjusted his breathing rhythm.
Countless weapons attacked from all sides, enveloping Su Xiao completely.
Several silver blade lights flashed, and large swaths of mechanical puppets shattered.
Su Xiao was different from before. Now, whether in physical fitness or swordsmanship, he had greatly improved.
Metal shattered, yellow sand splashed, and a brutal slaughter began...
Ten minutes later, Su Xiao was teleported to the entrance of the [Trial Grounds].
As soon as he appeared, Su Xiao felt his head, confirming it was intact. Earlier, under the siege of those mechanical puppets, his head had been smashed...
"So realistic."
Su Xiao left the [Trial Grounds] with a smile on his face. Although he had spent over 4000 Paradise Coins in total, he had adapted to his current body.
And the gains were not limited to this; his Blade Mastery had also improved.
Skill Two.
Blade Mastery: LV.2. (Passive)
Skill Effect: Increases melee attack power by 12% and proficiency with blade-type weapons.
...
Blade Mastery had increased by one level. According to Su Xiao's understanding, improving Blade Mastery was very difficult, requiring a Soul Crystal (Small) and 1000 Paradise Coins.
To upgrade his [Shadow of Law Destruction] skills, besides training on his own, he needed to use Soul Crystals plus Paradise Coins.
Now Su Xiao understood the value of Soul Crystals. He had only obtained one Soul Crystal (Small) by luckily killing an elite creature.
He had searched for Soul Crystals in Reincarnation Paradise's Trade Market, but no one was selling them.
Not to mention selling, most Contractors didn't even know what Soul Crystals were.
So the Soul Crystal (Small) in his hand was extremely precious.
Returning to his Exclusive Room, Su Xiao spent 100 Paradise Coins to expand the bedroom, bathroom, and other rooms within the exclusive space, and arranged the furniture he had bought.
After some decoration, Su Xiao's Exclusive Room was transformed, becoming not only spacious but also much more luxurious.
Sitting on the soft big bed he had bought for 40 Paradise Coins, Su Xiao fell into deep thought.
He now had one Soul Crystal (Small) in his hand. He had two choices: upgrade an existing skill or unlock a new skill.
Given the current situation, besides the [Cyan Steel Shadow Energy] skill and [Blade Mastery], Su Xiao didn't have many combat skills.
However, he already had a general goal: to make swordsmanship the main force in battle, with other abilities as support.
This was a very promising path. In many derivative planes, there were such powerhouses.
In the world of One Piece, the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, fought using swordsmanship.
Although it was called swordsmanship in the One Piece world, Mihawk used a blade. It wasn't just Mihawk; Shanks and others did the same.
This showed that specializing in one ability had great potential.
Su Xiao's application of [Cyan Steel Shadow Energy] wasn't even proficient yet, so he wasn't in a hurry to acquire new skills.
Thinking this way, it came down to choosing between upgrading [Cyan Steel Shadow Energy] or [Blade Mastery].
After hesitating for a long time, Su Xiao finally chose to upgrade [Blade Mastery]. This would make his strength increase more noticeably.
[Consumed Soul Crystal (Small), 1000 Paradise Coins. Upgrading Blade Mastery.]
Su Xiao was dazed for a few seconds, then felt some knowledge enter his mind—knowledge of swordsmanship.
He checked Blade Mastery again.
Skill Two.
Blade Mastery: LV.3. (Passive)
Skill Effect: Increases melee attack power by 14% and proficiency with blade-type weapons.
...
Using a Soul Crystal to upgrade a skill had no sense of difficulty. It didn't even require adaptation; he directly mastered it.
No wonder Soul Crystals were so rare. For such a heaven-defying item, Su Xiao was extremely lucky to have obtained one from a green treasure chest.
Actually, it wasn't just luck. In the nightmare difficulty world, the rewards for killing enemies were greatly increased. Such good fortune might rarely occur in the future.