Chapter 56: The Poisoned Pie
Inside the Attribute Enhancement Hall of Reincarnation Paradise.
[Yes/No to pay 1000 Paradise Coins to activate Enhancement Pod 0182.]
Su Xiao stood before a True Attribute Enhancement Pod. After paying 1000 Paradise Coins, the pod opened.
Su Xiao stepped into the pod, which activated and began checking his status.
[Welcome to the High-Grade Enhancement Pod. Your unequipped true attributes are as follows.]
Strength: 82
Agility: 82
Stamina: 82
Intelligence: 82
[Hunter available True Attribute Points: 7.]
Given Su Xiao's development path, it was impossible to make a leap in true attributes through just two derivative worlds. This was a cumulative process—not fast, but certainly not slow either.
After a moment of deliberation, Su Xiao chose the following allocation: Strength +2, Agility +2, Stamina +2, Intelligence +1.
Clearly, the three melee attributes—Strength, Agility, and Stamina—took priority over Intelligence. However, Intelligence could never be neglected, as it directly affected the development and control of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy.
Cyan Steel Shadow was a very powerful energy, yet Su Xiao wielded it with perfect precision. This was the benefit of a high Intelligence attribute. While Cyan Steel Shadow Energy wouldn't cause backlash or similar issues, insufficient Intelligence would prevent Su Xiao from controlling it accurately.
Of course, Intelligence wasn't limited to this; it also influenced perception and other abilities.
Most people believed Intelligence was an exclusive attribute for mage-type classes, but this was a misconception. Intelligence's impact on melee combat, to some extent, was no weaker than the three melee attributes.
Similarly, most skill-type mages didn't enhance Stamina, yet Mage Lords always kept their Stamina at no less than two-thirds of their Intelligence. For every 3 points of Intelligence enhanced, they would enhance 2 points of Stamina.
Mage Lords enhanced Stamina not to improve survivability. In fact, even with enhanced Stamina, due to the nature of their abilities and class traits, they remained fragile. Stamina without equipment and passive skill support didn't significantly boost survivability in melee.
They enhanced Stamina to allow their bodies to withstand the violent elemental and demonic energies. As a high-ranking Mage Lord once said, "If you want to be a cannon, stuff an 'elemental nuke' into your body. Otherwise, no one will fear you."
[True Attribute allocation complete. Enhancement beginning.]
Hum...
The pod began operating with considerable fanfare.
Despite the noise, Su Xiao's expression remained unchanged. Enhancing true attributes differed from enhancing regular attributes—it didn't cause excruciating pain.
Su Xiao's heartbeat accelerated, and his blood flow gradually increased, first doubling, then soon quintupling.
Su Xiao closed his eyes, sat cross-legged on the floor, and sensed the changes in his body.
Half an hour later, the Attribute Enhancement Pod stopped running. Su Xiao stretched his neck and stood up.
"Unexpectedly refreshing."
After this enhancement, Su Xiao realized that the sensation of enhancing true attributes was quite pleasant—far better than enhancing regular attributes.
In truth, this was a process of reaping after hardship. When Su Xiao first enhanced regular attributes, the pod offered a free feature: anesthesia. Using it, he could sleep through the enhancement with no sensation at all.
From the start, Su Xiao had never used the anesthesia function. After he refused it several times, the pod stopped prompting him. By then, even when enhancing regular attributes, the pain and discomfort were significantly reduced.
This was also a form of adaptation, just over a longer period, allowing his body to adjust to this mode of enhancement.
When it came to true attributes, the True Attribute Enhancement Pod had no anesthesia function at all. In Su Xiao's view, it wasn't needed, as enhancing true attributes caused no pain—instead, it felt increasingly invigorating.
What Su Xiao didn't know was that if he had used the anesthesia function earlier, enhancing true attributes would have been a nightmare. There was no free lunch in the world. Any free feature provided by Reincarnation Paradise came with a hidden cost—it was only a matter of time before it was collected.
Su Xiao clearly didn't need to pay that price. His body had long adapted to the sensation of enhancement.
Su Xiao opened his attribute panel to check the enhanced stats.
Health: 100%
Mana: 4076 (Each point of True Intelligence increases Mana by 50)
True Strength: 84
True Agility: 84
True Stamina: 84
True Intelligence: 83
Charm: 9
Luck: 2
...
Mana had broken through the 4000 mark. However, Su Xiao's gaze fixed on the Charm attribute. He blinked, scrutinized it carefully, and confirmed it was indeed the number 9!
"Charm... increased by 1 point?"
This startling discovery made Su Xiao's heart "surge with emotion." His Charm attribute had a tumultuous history—sometimes inexplicably rising by 1 point, sometimes dropping by 1 due to his high kill count. It was the most volatile attribute.
From the current situation, Su Xiao felt his Charm might be approaching the "milestone" of 10 points. But given his kill frequency, it could suddenly drop by 1 at any time.
Su Xiao closed the attribute panel. After the enhancement, he was ravenously hungry. He directly summoned Bubu Wang and Amu, planning to reward the stomachs of the fool and the glutton.
However, when Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Amu arrived at Xia's restaurant, they found a sign hanging on the door.
"Owner is away. Temporarily closed."
Seeing this sign, Bubu Wang rolled his eyes. He suspected Xia was off studying recipes again.
"As expected, her shabby restaurant is about to go out of business due to poor management."
Su Xiao wasn't surprised by Xia's closure.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked, meaning: "Xia's cooking is delicious. It won't go bankrupt, right?"
"Have you seen any other customers when we eat here?"
Su Xiao looked at Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang pondered for a moment, then shook his dog head. He recalled with surprise that there really hadn't been any. A few seconds later, the one human, one dog, and one bull headed straight for the commercial street.
In reality, Xia wasn't bankrupt. This chef on the verge of bankruptcy was currently in some derivative world, engaged in a "magnificent" escape with three female friends. She was almost exhausted like a dog.
On the commercial street, inside a modest but reasonably priced restaurant.
Su Xiao sat at a table, talking to someone on the phone. Beside him, Bubu Wang and Amu were eating voraciously. Not far away, a terrified-looking young waitress stood. Initially, after seeing Amu's eating habits, she suspected Amu might stuff her into his mouth as well, so she kept her distance, running like a rabbit after serving each dish.
Jingle.
The bell on the shop door rang. A person wearing a wine-red robe, a hood, and a high-tech mask entered the restaurant.
The newcomer glanced around the restaurant before fixing their gaze on Su Xiao. Soon, they noticed Bubu Wang beside him.
The newcomer was Shabao. She had come to handle the transfer of the adventure group.
Shabao's gaze shifted between Su Xiao and Bubu Wang. The corner of her mouth twitched beneath her mask. Bubu Wang hadn't appeared during their previous transaction.
"It really is... Beheaded Night."
Shabao had heard of Beheaded Night—someone who soloed an entire adventure group, repeatedly refused invitations from the Traveling Group, and was skilled at decapitating enemies in combat.
Clearly, the rumors in Paradise were relatively reliable. There were no tales of Su Xiao having green fangs or enjoying eating raw human hearts.
"Here? Let's talk about how to transfer the adventure group."
Su Xiao stabbed his fork into the plate in front of him. Amu's large hand retracted, failing to swipe the steak worth 5 Paradise Coins from Su Xiao's plate. Before this, the glutton had already stolen 16 pieces.
Shabao sat silently across the table before suddenly speaking.
"I want to commission you to kill someone for me."
"Not taking it."
"Eh..."