Chapter 81: The Tomboy
The Apostle's Eye in Su Xiao's hand had undergone a dramatic transformation. Its size remained largely unchanged, but overall, it was dozens of times more intricate than before.
As Reed had said, the nature of the Apostle's Eye hadn't changed, but its detection rank had risen significantly, and it was now a piece of equipment with no energy consumption.
If he used the Light Gold quality Apostle's Eye for surveillance, it would consume Su Xiao's mana. Now, however, it was different. The Apostle's Eye could automatically absorb energy to recharge itself.
What Su Xiao valued most was the increase in detection rank. A detection rank as high as six stars would be desirable even for Sixth Rank contractors. If he offered to trade the Apostle's Eye for an Epic piece of equipment, those Fifth or Sixth Rank contractors would agree without hesitation.
It might seem that the Apostle's Eye didn't provide a direct boost in combat power, but that wasn't the case. Knowing yourself and knowing your enemy ensures victory. Sometimes, being able to learn information about an enemy could determine the outcome of a battle.
The enemy's type, status, abilities, whether they had dangerous ultimate moves, etc.—this intelligence was decisive in combat. No contractor would ignore such information. Those who didn't care about it were already dead.
Excluding the usage rights to the equipment synthesis machine, Su Xiao had essentially traded the Ascension Set for a high-rated Epic piece of equipment, plus 1.1 million Paradise Coins. No matter how he looked at it, this deal was worth it.
Most of the items Su Xiao had obtained in the Crow Continent had been converted into strength. He only had over a million Paradise Coins left, plus a medal.
Compared to the Paradise Coins, Su Xiao wanted to first try out the function of this medal.
[Chaos Medal: Carrying this medal activates a permission in the Reincarnation Paradise Trial Grounds, allowing the selection of any basic ability instructor. The instructor's basic ability rank is Grandmaster Lv.45 or above.]
The Chaos Medal was definitely a good thing, so Su Xiao headed straight for the Trial Grounds.
Half an hour later, in front of the main gate of the Trial Grounds. Compared to the Attribute Enhancement Hall and the Equipment Enhancement Hall, the Trial Grounds were noticeably quieter. It was very friendly to newcomers, but at Su Xiao's stage, he no longer needed mirror images as sparring partners.
Walking into the Trial Grounds, it was somewhat empty and not very large, with only a few dozen teleportation arrays.
Su Xiao took out the Chaos Medal, and a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[The Hunter has used the Chaos Medal. Please select the instructor type.]
[Tip: After this selection, the instructor type cannot be changed.]
If he were at the Third Rank, Su Xiao would definitely choose the Blade category. But with his current blade skills, a Grandmaster Lv.45 instructor wouldn't be of much help.
On the contrary, if he chose Close Combat or Spear Techniques, the benefits would be enormous. Su Xiao's Close Combat or Spear Technique abilities were only at the Mastery level, not even reaching the Master level. With a Grandmaster-level instructor, the speed of improvement for these two abilities could be imagined.
However, Su Xiao was faced with a difficult choice. Both Close Combat and Spear Techniques were important. Close Combat could complement his blade skills, while Spear Techniques included both mid-range shooting and long-range sniping.
After pondering for a moment, Su Xiao decided to choose a Close Combat instructor. After all, he was more inclined towards melee combat, and the Side Kick was a Close Combat technique.
As soon as Su Xiao made his choice, a teleportation sensation washed over him. White light flashed before his eyes, and he appeared inside a dojo. The next moment, something soft pressed against his back, and an arm wrapped around his neck.
A blue light flickered in Su Xiao's eyes. Dragon-Slaying Flash unsheathed itself, the blade standing vertically in front of his neck.
"Oh?"
A surprised voice came from behind Su Xiao. Before he could grab his sword, two legs coiled around his waist.
There were many things Su Xiao couldn't be sure of, but the one thing he was certain of was that the instructor he had chosen was somewhat eccentric. He had just teleported in, and she was already ambushing him.
Bang!
Su Xiao was pinned to the floor.
"Hahaha."
A 'hearty' laugh came from behind him. Hearing this laugh, Su Xiao immediately thought of a certain woman.
"To meet you here, what a strange fate."
The woman behind Su Xiao wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed her elbow against his spine. In the current situation, Su Xiao couldn't get up.
"Sha?"
Su Xiao turned his head to look behind him. It was indeed the half-elf tomboy. Back in the Demon Castle, Su Xiao had learned a certain ability from her. That ability was called... Instinct!
"Not bad hearing. I thought you were strange back then. So you're a contractor from Reincarnation Paradise."
Sha didn't get up but instead leaned her head closer to Su Xiao.
"Hey, how about a deal outside the contract?"
Sha had cut her hair short now, but her voice hadn't changed, still carrying a hint of hoarseness.
"A deal outside the contract?"
Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surged from Su Xiao's body, and Sha immediately jumped up.
"Of course. According to the contract, I will teach you close combat abilities, but only close combat abilities. At least, that's what's stated in the contract."
As she spoke, Sha pulled up her top. There was a scar on her side, pitch black and looking hideous and terrifying.
"Because of some matters, I offended people from Arcane Eternal Star in the void. You can imagine the result. From the looks of things recently, I probably won't live much longer. This thing is gradually corroding my life force."
Sha pointed to the scar on her side as she spoke.
"The terms of the deal."
Su Xiao sheathed Dragon-Slashing Flash and looked Sha up and down. Indeed, there was a wisp of black energy on her side, slowly eroding her life force.
"Help me enter Reincarnation Paradise. As for the reward, of course, it's my combat knowledge."
"Impossible. If I'm not mistaken, you were only temporarily teleported here and will return to the void later. I won't be going to the void anytime soon."
"It doesn't matter. As long as you can come to the void once within half a year, provided you have a way to bring me into Reincarnation Paradise."
"..."
Su Xiao pondered for a moment. He did have a way to bring Sha into Reincarnation Paradise. Reed was a precedent. With a strong person like her, plus his Hunter authority, it wasn't impossible to help Sha enter Reincarnation Paradise.
Clearly, Sha must have offended an enemy she couldn't defeat in the void and was thinking of taking refuge in Reincarnation Paradise.
"Of course... it can be done."
Su Xiao weighed the pros and cons. He and Sha had no real friendship, at least not yet, so he had to consider it from a profit perspective.
"Alright then. If you enter the void, you can arrange a meeting place with me, and we'll meet there."
As she spoke, Sha waved her hand to activate the one-way teleportation function.
"Wait."
"What for?"
Sha looked at Su Xiao with confusion.
"Have you forgotten... something important?"
"Uh~ It seems I have."
Sha cleared her throat, closed the teleportation function, and lunged straight at Su Xiao...
Ten hours later, Su Xiao left the Trial Grounds with an exhausted body, as if he had been drained by some female demon. During these ten hours, his Close Combat Mastery had been raised to Lv.44, a full four levels.
More importantly, Sha was very skilled in the Side Kick. Her exclusive ability, Mad Scorpion Tail Whip, was a Side Kick-type ability. When she was sealed by Alice, the level of Mad Scorpion Tail Whip was as high as Lv.69. Now, Sha's seal had been lifted.