Chapter 88: The Power Accumulated
With a crackling sound, three gems shattered, their fragments converging together as a surge of energy enveloped them. Moments later, the fragments fused into one, the process surprisingly smooth.
[You have obtained Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete]
[Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete]
Quality: Legendary
Type: Gem/Special Item (Rare Item)
Effect 1: When inlaid into a weapon, weapon sharpness +28 points.
Effect 2: This gem can be synthesized. Upon obtaining five Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete, they can be synthesized into Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Complete.
Note: Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete is an inlay-type gem; Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Complete is a power inheritance gem.
Rating: 530 points (Legendary item rating ranges from 400 to 530 points).
Description: After unlocking the inlay slot on equipment, gems can be inlaid into it.
...
The inlay attribute of [Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete] was simple: weapon sharpness +28 points. Yet this simple attribute alone made Su Xiao's heartbeat quicken.
At gold quality, with +10 enhancement, Dragon-Slashing Flash's current sharpness was 40 points. A 28-point increase—the effect was self-evident.
If Su Xiao obtained five [Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete] and inlaid them all into Dragon-Slashing Flash, how sharp would it become? Capable of cutting through space? It wasn't impossible.
The Soul Severing Shadow Stone only increased one attribute: sharpness. That was quite intriguing. What was such sharpness meant to sever? From the name "Soul Severing," perhaps what it cut was the soul.
If Su Xiao gained the ability to sever souls, his slashes would become a different concept entirely. The soul—even a minor wound to it would bring severe consequences, let alone a full cut.
Soul severing was still some distance away for Su Xiao, and this was all speculation. For now, it was more practical to inlay the [Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete] into Dragon-Slashing Flash.
[Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete] resembled a fragment of broken crystal, cyan in color.
[To perform this inlay, you need to pay 40,000 Paradise Coins.]
The inlay fee was within acceptable range. Su Xiao chose to inlay. The [Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete] in his hand floated up, rapidly shrinking in size until it became the size of a grain of rice.
White light enveloped the hilt of Dragon-Slashing Flash. A small groove gradually appeared at the end of the hilt, and the greatly reduced [Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Incomplete] inlaid into the groove. The inlay was complete. Dragon-Slashing Flash's attributes now had an additional inlay effect: sharpness +28 points!
Su Xiao swung Dragon-Slashing Flash. A sobbing sound of air being cut came through. He looked at the blade's edge. This sharpness could no longer be described by phrases like "hair-splitting" or "cutting iron like mud." For Dragon-Slashing Flash, most metals were like blocks of tofu—seemingly hard, but easily sliced through.
The resources Su Xiao had obtained in the Primordial World were rapidly converting into his strength. Of course, this wasn't over yet; the main event was still to come.
After completing the main mission in the Shia World, Su Xiao had gained the authority to "increase any currently mastered skill by 1 level."
Such precious authority naturally couldn't be used on abilities that could be enhanced, like Blade Master or Azure Steel Shadow. This was a special reward reserved for MAX (max level) skills.
Su Xiao's MAX skills were: Absolute Magic Constitution, Supreme Blade, Spirit Shadow Constitution, and Devouring Core.
He had already upgraded Supreme Blade once, and the effect was obvious. This time, which ability to upgrade made him hesitant.
First, he ruled out Devouring Core. It wasn't an ability in urgent need of improvement.
Both Absolute Magic Constitution and Spirit Shadow Constitution were survival-oriented abilities. If he had to choose between the two, Su Xiao leaned toward Spirit Shadow Constitution.
Spirit Shadow Constitution increased Su Xiao's health proportionally based on his mana value, directly tied to his survivability.
What Su Xiao lacked wasn't offensive power, so he decided to upgrade Spirit Shadow Constitution.
[Yes/No to upgrade Spirit Shadow Constitution. Upgrading this ability will incur significant risk.]
This prompt reminded Su Xiao of the agonizing experience when he first awakened Spirit Shadow Constitution. But that couldn't stop his determination to grow stronger.
"Upgrade."
[Spirit Shadow Constitution skill breaking through the upper limit in progress...]
As soon as the prompt appeared, Su Xiao's head buzzed, as if someone had smashed a hammer onto his crown.
After an unknown amount of time, Su Xiao slowly woke up. Surprisingly, there was no imagined soreness in his body. On the contrary, the activity of his various organs had greatly increased. The most noticeable improvements were in lung capacity and blood oxygen levels. He opened the information for Spirit Shadow Constitution.
[Spirit Shadow Constitution (Passive Skill)]
Skill Effect 1: Reconstructs the body, dispersing mana stored in the brain throughout the body.
Skill Effect 2: Mana and the body undergo a wonderful fusion, forming a beneficial cycle. Health is greatly enhanced, increased by 45% of total mana value (increased by 15%).
Note: Current mana value: 4626 points. Health increased by 2081 points.
...
As Su Xiao's mana value increased, the health boost from Spirit Shadow Constitution became more substantial. After breaking through the level upper limit, this boost could no longer be described as substantial—it was astonishing. This was the power of accumulation.
In terms of survivability, Su Xiao could now completely outclass over 95% of main tanks within the Third Rank, at least in terms of health value. As for physical defense, that was a bit more difficult, since main tanks invested all their resources into defense. But don't forget, Su Xiao's speed was incomparable to those clumsy main tanks. So it wasn't an exaggeration to say his survivability outclassed over 95% of Third Rank main tanks.
Su Xiao had already converted all the resources obtained from the Primordial World into his own strength. Now, he only needed to absorb the essence of the Reborn Dragon. After that, his power growth would slow down.
Su Xiao took out the essence of the Reborn Dragon. He was in good condition now, and it had been a long time since his last absorption.
The Devouring Core within him gradually awakened. Blue smoke enveloped Su Xiao's left arm. As the smoke drifted, it formed a skull, which seemed to be sneering at him.
This smoke skull was an ability Su Xiao had developed, called "Sneer Warning." Currently, the sneering skull was only the size of a fist, indicating that the Devouring Core was in a usable state.
Don't think the Devouring Core was a cooldown-free ability. On the contrary, it also had a cooldown, but the cooldown was constant based on Su Xiao's condition.
If he absorbed a large amount of life energy in a short period to enhance his Azure Steel Shadow ability, Su Xiao risked transforming into the Blade Demon, with unimaginable consequences.
The role of the Sneer Skull was to warn. When Su Xiao absorbed life energy, the Sneer Skull would grow larger. Once it reached a certain size, Su Xiao had to immediately stop running the Devouring Core and wait for the skull to gradually shrink.
A fist-sized Sneer Skull was the safest. When it expanded to the size of a washbasin, Su Xiao could go berserk at any moment, eventually becoming the Blade Demon.
The blue smoke on Su Xiao's arm enveloped the essence of the Reborn Dragon. In an instant, a large stream of pure life energy was extracted from the essence, surging into Su Xiao's body and heading straight for the Devouring Core.
The Devouring Core was located near Su Xiao's heart. After absorbing this large stream of life energy, the Devouring Core began to operate, purifying and converting the life energy. The originally emerald-green life energy was transformed into a colorless energy by the Devouring Core.
The colorless energy surged out from the Devouring Core. The Azure Steel Shadow energy within Su Xiao's body swarmed forward, devouring this colorless energy.
Pure life energy continuously flowed from the essence of the Reborn Dragon. The Devouring Core accepted it all without refusal, absorbing as much as came, eventually converting it into colorless energy to enhance the Azure Steel Shadow ability.
Su Xiao's current Azure Steel Shadow ability was at Lv.39. When it reached Lv.40, a new additional ability would appear, or there would be a qualitative change.
The energy required to raise Azure Steel Shadow from Lv.39 to Lv.40 was more than Su Xiao had imagined. Fortunately, the essence of the Reborn Dragon had ample energy.
After Su Xiao finished enhancing his Azure Steel Shadow ability, his next target was the Arena. He had already reached 11th place in the Third Rank Arena. He was curious about one thing: with his current strength, could he reach first place in the Arena, defeating Mad Fox?
The reward for first place was undoubtedly very tempting. To obtain that reward, Su Xiao would first have to take down Wild Flame and Mad Fox.