Chapter 82: The Situation at Third Rank
Sweat beaded on Su Xiao’s temples, his jaw muscles bulging as a crimson gleam flickered in his pupils.
“Kill Stan.”
Su Xiao muttered under his breath, then paused, realizing that even if he wanted someone dead, he wouldn’t voice it aloud.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the smoke skull. It was now the size of a washbasin, seeming to sneer at him.
Su Xiao immediately shut down the Devouring Core, despite his strong desire to continue absorbing the pure life energy.
The Devouring Core had no limit, but Su Xiao did. No matter how powerful an ability, it couldn’t be enhanced indefinitely in a short time, especially something as violent as Azure Steel Shadow. Among the enemies he’d faced so far, only a handful had energy that Azure Steel Shadow couldn’t devour.
Stopping the absorption, Su Xiao examined the Reborn Dragon’s essence. It was still brimming with vitality. Though the energy within was vast, it couldn’t withstand this kind of consumption.
Roughly estimating, Su Xiao had absorbed about a third of the essence’s energy, which surprised him—he’d thought it was nearly half.
During the absorption, Reincarnation Paradise had issued numerous prompts. Su Xiao opened them.
[Azure Steel Shadow has been upgraded to Lv.34.]
[Due to a massive influx of pure life energy into your body, your Health Points have permanently increased by +50.]
[Azure Steel Shadow has been upgraded to Lv.35.]
[Azure Steel Shadow has been upgraded to Lv.36.]
[Due to a massive influx of pure life energy into your body, your Health Points recovery per minute has permanently increased by +5.]
[Azure Steel Shadow has been upgraded to Lv.37.]
[Azure Steel Shadow has been upgraded to Lv.38.]
[Azure Steel Shadow has been upgraded to Lv.39.]
[Due to a massive influx of pure life energy into your body, your physical defense has permanently increased by +4, and your abnormal status resistance has permanently increased by +3%.]
…
Azure Steel Shadow had jumped nine levels, from Lv.30 to Lv.39. After reaching Lv.30, each subsequent level required an increasing amount of high-tier biological energy. For example, going from Lv.30 to Lv.31 might need 2 energy points, but reaching Lv.32 would consume at least 4.
Su Xiao seriously doubted that even if he devoured a Tailed Beast now, it would be uncertain whether he could raise Azure Steel Shadow by even one level.
The smoke skull dissipated, shrinking over time. When it returned to the size of a fist, Su Xiao could absorb the essence’s energy again.
As for having Bubu Wang absorb this energy, they’d tried that before. That guy, after consuming pure life energy, became noticeably more energetic, bouncing around like he was on drugs, even biting Amu a few times. Then… nothing. Bubu Wang needed high-tier creature flesh and blood, not energy.
Skill 4: Advanced Creature (Active MAX): Bubuteni can evolve by devouring the flesh and blood of high-tier creatures.
…
The ability description was clear. The attempt failed, but because Su Xiao had created Amu, Bubu Wang’s combat power had greatly increased.
Su Xiao opened the Azure Steel Shadow skill description to check how much it had improved.
[Azure Steel Shadow: Lv.39 (Active Skill)]
Usage Condition: After activating (Azure Steel Shadow), the Hunter consumes 118 mana points per minute. Automatically deactivates when mana falls below 1%.
Skill Effect: When (Azure Steel Shadow) is active, each melee attack burns 205 mana points from the enemy and deals true damage equal to 1.5 times the burned mana (328 true damage). The enemy will suffer intense pain from the mana burn.
Lv.20 Additional Ability
Proud Song: This is a defensive form that can generate energy shields of any shape to block enemy attacks. Shield strength is proportional to mana consumed, with a single-use mana cap of 600 points (increased by 100 points).
Lv.30 Additional Ability
Soul Electrification: When Azure Steel Shadow energy burns an enemy’s mana, there is a 16% chance to trigger one of three abnormal statuses: paralysis, immobilization, or dizziness (trigger probability increased by 4%). The duration of the abnormal status ranges from 0.2 to 3 seconds (determined by the Hunter’s Intelligence attribute).
Note: This abnormal status takes effect without any judgment.
Note: This ability is passively triggered with no cooldown.
Note: Abnormal statuses cannot stack.
…
Mana consumption had increased. Even though Su Xiao now had 3,526 mana points, if he kept Azure Steel Shadow active continuously, his mana would be depleted in about 30 minutes. But the cost was worth it—328 points of true damage was terrifying.
Continuously activating Azure Steel Shadow was a tactic from Su Xiao’s rookie days. Now, he only activated it just before landing a strike, drastically reducing mana consumption. Each activation lasted about 0.7 to 1.4 seconds, never exceeding 2 seconds.
Although Su Xiao hadn’t gained attribute points or Paradise Coins from the Ancient Castle World, his strength had undergone an earth-shattering transformation. The reward of four 80-point attributes, the creation of Amu, and the massive boost to Azure Steel Shadow—combined, it was impossible not to increase combat power.
Su Xiao’s time in Reincarnation Paradise was running short. Soon, he would return to the Real World to relax his mind before facing the next derivative world.
Thinking about the next derivative world, Su Xiao was curious. Though he had just advanced to Third Rank, his strength already surpassed many Third Rank Contractors. How would Reincarnation Paradise send him to a derivative world?
As for how Su Xiao knew his strength exceeded most Third Rank Contractors, it was from information gleaned from Fatty.
Su Xiao had previously fallen into a misconception: that all Third Rank Contractors had broken the 80-point barrier. In reality, only a minority had.
Su Xiao, along with the Three Brothers of National Football and others, were fast growers. The Detective Loli and Gold-Rim Glasses Guy had been at Third Rank for a long time. As for Fatty, he’d also been at Third Rank for a while but was pursuing multiple attributes breaking 80 points simultaneously, which delayed his entry into the Ancient Castle game.
In Fatty’s words, as long as Su Xiao didn’t provoke the top-tier adventure groups or the strongest echelon at Third Rank, most Third Rank Contractors were no match for him.
Breaking the 80-point attribute barrier was something that typically happened between late Third Rank and Fourth Rank. Yet Su Xiao had done it right after advancing to Third Rank, and with four attributes at once, giving him four main attributes.
Su Xiao was curious about his current strength. Verifying this wasn’t hard—the Third Rank arena had refreshed. Since he hadn’t made the top ten at Second Rank, his Third Rank arena ranking had been reset, placing him last, matching him with Third Rank newcomers.
For some reason, Su Xiao suddenly thought, wasn’t this like bullying the weak? In his view, the Gold-Rim Glasses Guy and Detective Loli, who’d been at Third Rank for a while, were only so-so. Especially the Detective Loli—if she fought Su Xiao, she’d be pinned down and rubbed in the dirt in every way.
From the Detective Loli’s fragmented comments, it was clear her strength was mid-tier at Third Rank.
Su Xiao found this puzzling. That little girl? Mid-tier at Third Rank?
Though the Detective Loli’s strength wasn’t impressive, the top echelon at Third Rank was not to be underestimated. Take Huang Fen, for example. If he faced Huang Fen now, Su Xiao would likely be the one to die nine times out of ten. Huang Fen wasn’t incapable of advancing to Fourth Rank—he was deliberately suppressing his growth. Stan was Fourth Rank, managing his Fourth Rank subordinates in derivative worlds, while Huang Fen handled the Third Rank ones.
Rumor had it that if Stan and Huang Fen fought to the death, Stan wouldn’t have a guaranteed win. Huang Fen was a monster at Third Rank, a Contractor with Third Rank status but Fourth Rank strength.
As powerful as Huang Fen was, he wasn’t without rivals at Third Rank. His opponent was someone under Divine Emperor’s command: a support-type Contractor named Crazy Fox, whose combat power was jaw-dropping for a support class—specifically a healing-type support.