Chapter 44: Ancient Battlefield
The next morning, Su Xiao woke up very early. He checked his mana, which had recovered to 7,026 points. As his True Intelligence attribute increased, his mana recovery rate also improved. Additionally, Bubu Wang's Ice Goddess aura effect provided a bonus of 5 extra mana points per minute.
After weighing the options, Su Xiao decided to take a risk and enhance a certain ability. Due to his rapid strength growth, this ability had begun to lag behind his pace.
If he enhanced this ability through normal means, there would be little risk. However, Su Xiao used unconventional methods. For the cost others paid to raise one level, he could raise three to five levels, or even more.
Bringing along the "mobile blue buff" Bubu Wang, Su Xiao headed straight for the Skill Upgrade Hall. This crushed Bubu Wang's hopes of going out to play, as enhancing that ability required a significant amount of mana.
Soon, Su Xiao arrived at the Skill Upgrade Hall. Familiar with the layout, he went to the inner area and found an unused Skill Upgrade Pod.
Pfft~
Steam hissed as the pod sealed shut. Bubu Wang curled up in a corner of the pod and started catching up on sleep.
[Please select the skill you wish to upgrade.]
Su Xiao selected the "Aura Release" ability. Due to an unexpected incident, he hadn't upgraded this highly practical ability in a long time.
[Selection complete. To upgrade Aura Release Lv.18, you need to pay 50,000 Paradise Coins. Yes/No.]
"Pay."
As soon as Su Xiao spoke, a teleportation sensation washed over him. When his vision cleared, he found himself in an ancient battlefield.
The ground was dark red, as if soaked in blood. The skeletal remains of a dragon sprawled across a low hill, its mouth clamped around a black heart. Not far away stood a giant in red armor, its chest cavity hollow and empty.
Corpses of powerful beings from various races littered the battlefield. Due to the presence of demon corpses, the air was thick with a sulfurous stench. Just breathing it in caused dizziness.
Crimson mist drifted across the battlefield—the lingering blood energy of countless powerful beings who had died here. Perhaps even the slaughter of a million lives wouldn't produce such dense blood energy.
Compared to mere butchery, the blood energy here was more condensed and pure. It had become a form of energy that could be used as a weapon. This place was once a prosperous region in the Void, but it became this ancient battlefield after the decisive battle between the Law Destruction Faction and the Spellcasters.
For the races of the Void, this was a forbidden zone. A certain "extremely insane" entity had once resided here permanently. Even though that entity had now moved to the deepest part of the Black Abyss, no one was willing to come here, except for a few wandering treasure hunters.
Su Xiao had entered the Void, but he could return to Reincarnation Paradise at any time. He was only here to upgrade his ability, not to carry out a mission in the Void.
The moment Su Xiao appeared, the surrounding battlefield blood energy surged toward him. This blood energy was highly corrosive. If it invaded the body, the consequences would be dire, unless one could quickly return to Reincarnation Paradise.
The normal process for upgrading Aura Release would be: Su Xiao uses his own aura to resist the battlefield's blood energy, thereby tempering his aura and achieving the upgrade effect.
But last time, Su Xiao had a brilliant idea. He converted mana into Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, forming a "temporary Devouring Core" outside his body. This core absorbed, purified, and refined the battlefield's blood energy, which he then used to enhance his own aura intensity.
This way, the battlefield blood energy would corrode the temporary Devouring Core instead. Su Xiao only needed to dispel this core to prevent the blood energy from invading his body.
Undoubtedly, Su Xiao's plan was well thought out and, through practice, proved successful. However, no one expected that last time, while he was absorbing blood energy, a massive blood-red hand suddenly appeared in the battlefield.
This time, Su Xiao planned to take what he could get and leave. He would improve as much as possible. What he didn't know was that the owner of that blood-red hand—a gaunt monster with white hair—had been casually crushed to death by the Blade Demon. In other words, as long as the Blade Demon didn't come, the ancient battlefield was no longer dangerous. As for the Blade Demon, he was deep in the Black Abyss, lying in a sea of living beings, lost in thought.
Blood energy surged around Su Xiao. His eyes drooped slightly. Resisting the battlefield's blood energy with his own aura was difficult, and during this process, he also had to construct a simplified Devouring Core.
Pale blue energy gathered in Su Xiao's palm. Considering the blood-red hand might reappear at any moment, he only converted 1,000 mana points into Cyan Steel Shadow Energy to form a simplified Devouring Core.
A few minutes later, a simplified Devouring Core appeared in Su Xiao's hand. A thin energy line, as thick as a pinky finger, connected the core to him. Don't underestimate this energy line—it contained fifteen ultra-simplified mini Devouring Cores. Su Xiao's Devouring Core had already had its limit increased once, and after resolving the Blade Demon energy issue, he could fully control the Devouring Core within his body without any usage restrictions.
The simplified Devouring Core floated above Su Xiao. He took a deep breath. Dozens of small openings on the core opened wide, and like a whale inhaling water, they instantly sucked in all the battlefield blood energy within a thirty-meter radius.
Crack, crack, crack...
Cracks gradually appeared on the simplified Devouring Core. Su Xiao wasn't surprised. This thing was only for temporary use, which made it safe—preventing him from being eroded by unrefined battlefield blood energy and losing his mind.
A large surge of blood energy was drawn into the simplified Devouring Core, which then began to operate, purifying and refining the energy.
Soon, a stream of pale red energy emerged from the core. By now, the simplified core was blood-red and filled with impurities.
The purified blood energy traveled along the energy line toward Su Xiao. The fifteen even simpler Devouring Cores inside the line began to work, purifying the blood energy again and again.
In the end, the blood energy was purified until it was almost transparent, with only a faint trace of red visible.
After sixteen rounds of purification, the blood energy merged into Su Xiao's aura, causing it to rapidly strengthen.
The reason Su Xiao carried such heavy blood energy wasn't solely because he had killed many people—that was only a small factor. Except in war-type worlds, his kill count in other worlds was limited. The main reason was his absorption of the ancient battlefield's blood energy.
After absorbing blood energy in the ancient battlefield last time, Su Xiao's aura became terrifying. This was also the main reason his Charm attribute couldn't function properly.
After stabilizing over several worlds, the blood energy on Su Xiao had gradually faded. Perhaps after a few more worlds, the blood energy that made people shudder would dissipate. But now, he had come to the ancient battlefield to absorb more blood energy, pushing his blood energy to new heights.
Perhaps when his blood energy reached a certain level, using Aura Release could even achieve the effect of Conqueror's Haki. Of course, this required a very high level of Aura Release.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the dark red soil. He sensed his aura increasing at an astonishing rate. Above him, due to the absorption of the simplified Devouring Core, a blood-red vortex had formed.
Su Xiao didn't get lost in the rapid enhancement of his aura. He remained vigilant. If anything went wrong, he would immediately let the battlefield blood energy invade him, triggering the teleportation mechanism.
However, Su Xiao absorbed blood energy in the ancient battlefield for a full ten minutes without any abnormalities.
With a crack, the simplified Devouring Core shattered. The blood-red vortex enveloped Su Xiao, and he was instantly teleported back to the Skill Upgrade Pod.
Ao! A miserable howl echoed as Bubu Wang was startled awake. The fur on its back stood on end, and its hind legs trembled uncontrollably.
In front of Bubu Wang, Su Xiao's face was covered in red patterns, and his eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Bubu Wang.