Chapter 39: Devouring Annihilation
Inside a skill upgrade pod within the Skill Upgrade Hall.
[Selection complete. To upgrade 'Aura Release Lv.34', pay 100,000 Paradise Coins + Soul Crystal (Large) ×1. Pay/Decline?]
The cost to upgrade Aura Release was getting higher, but Su Xiao didn't mind. If others spent 100,000 Paradise Coins and one Soul Crystal (Large) to raise it by one level, he could raise it by at least five levels—a massive profit. Moreover, upgrading 'Aura Release' also increased his aura intensity, which in turn boosted the base damage of Blood Beast.
As soon as Su Xiao paid the fee, a teleportation sensation washed over him.
Blood-red earth, a sky filled with dark clouds, and endless corpses as far as the eye could see. Su Xiao had arrived at the Ancient Battlefield again.
Before coming to upgrade his Aura Release ability, Su Xiao had already restored his mana to full. He immediately converted 7,000 mana points into Azure Steel Shadow energy, forming a temporary Devouring Core to absorb the drifting blood energy on the Ancient Battlefield.
Five minutes later, three energy lines connected to Su Xiao's arm. Inside each line were over a dozen miniature Devouring Cores, filtering the blood energy. Above him floated a fist-sized simplified Devouring Core.
A blood energy vortex formed above him. Su Xiao converted an incredibly massive amount of blood energy, but for the entire Ancient Battlefield, what he absorbed was just a drop in the bucket. If he drained all the blood energy from the Ancient Battlefield, the next time he met Alice, she would only be qualified to tremble before him.
After over a dozen rounds of filtration and purification, the blood energy clung to Su Xiao's body surface, gradually merging with his aura. It was as if he was wrapped in a coat of blood energy. This kind of blood energy could no longer be obtained by slaughtering living beings; it was a purer form of energy.
Blood-red patterns appeared on Su Xiao's cheeks. His eyes slowly opened, red light flickering in his pupils. He was nearing his limit. If he continued absorbing blood energy, who knew what problems would arise.
Crack!
The simplified Devouring Core shattered, and the blood energy above enveloped Su Xiao. Eroded by the mottled blood energy, his only feeling at that moment was... a desire to shatter everything within his sight.
A teleportation sensation surged. After spending 53,800 Paradise Coins, the red light in Su Xiao's eyes faded. He sat cross-legged in the skill upgrade pod, meditating for a moment until his mind calmed, no longer affected by the blood energy.
[Aura Release has been upgraded to Lv.35.]
[Aura Release has been upgraded to Lv.36.]
[Aura Release has been upgraded to Lv.37.]
...
[Aura Release has been upgraded to Lv.42.]
...
As before, the upgrade range was extremely exaggerated. Considering the speed at which Su Xiao absorbed blood energy on the Ancient Battlefield, it was only natural that the upgrade range wouldn't be low.
[Aura Release Lv.42 (Active/Passive)]
Skill Effect (Active/Passive): Continuously release aura within a 58-meter range. All enemy units within this area undergo a Willpower check. If the enemy fails the check, they enter a state of panic, which can be dispelled by mental purification skills.
Hint: If an enemy enters a state of panic, Stamina consumption rate +40% (increased by 5%), Physical Defense -39 points (increased by 12 points). When the enemy uses a skill, there is a 12% chance of failure (increased by 2%).
Hint: Upgrading this skill also increases aura intensity and slightly enhances Willpower.
Hint: Due to absorbing a large amount of pure blood energy, Willpower +29 points (increased by 10 points).
Hint: Due to absorbing a large amount of pure blood energy, Willpower check rank +1.
Hint: Due to absorbing a large amount of pure blood energy, aura can deal Willpower × 10 soul damage to 'foreign entity' enemies.
...
Compared to the overall attribute boost of Aura Release, Su Xiao was more interested in the base damage increase of his newly mastered ultimate move, Blood Beast.
Blood Beast Talent Effect (Active): Generate a Blood Beast using your own aura. The Blood Beast can be formed instantly and directly pounce on an enemy (requires the enemy to be within 10 meters). It deals 2,100 base damage (increased by 300 points) + Strength attribute × 4.5 (450 damage) + Agility attribute × 3.7 (370 damage) + Stamina attribute × 6.8 (687 damage) as damage that ignores physical defense, causing the target to lose focus or become stunned for 0.3 to 7.5 seconds.
Total Damage: 2,100 base damage + 1,507 damage ignoring physical defense (total damage intensity of 3,607 points).
...
Su Xiao hadn't tested the power of Blood Beast yet. If this thing pounced on an enemy, they should probably die quite cleanly.
The only thing that soured Su Xiao's mood was that his Charm attribute, which was previously only 10 points, had now dropped to just 3 points. That's right, Charm was down to 3 points. Su Xiao planned to salvage this pitiful attribute soon. If he let it slide, who knew if this attribute would become negative the next time he upgraded his blood energy.
Just as Su Xiao was about to go find Sha to test the power of Blood Beast, Bubu Wang suddenly sent a message: that Epic-grade sniper rifle had arrived.
Receiving this message, Su Xiao was a bit surprised because the timing didn't match up. But considering the special circumstances during the previous teleportation, he didn't dwell on it.
He quickly returned to his Exclusive Room. As soon as he entered, he saw a sniper rifle with a pitch-black body and several blue energy grooves on its surface. The gun had a very technological feel, about two and a half meters long, slender overall, and much easier to carry than Duke of Annihilation.
Su Xiao placed one hand on the gun body and checked its attributes.
[Devouring Annihilation]
Origin: Void · Seventh Energy Weapon Workshop
Quality: Epic
Category: Heavy Sniper Rifle
Caliber: 12.67mm (Special Energy Ammunition)
Magazine Capacity: 10 (Single Shot/Burst Fire)
Durability: 0/97 (Half-destroyed, unusable. Due to low damage level, weapon performance not reduced.)
Attack Power: 219～327 (Duke of Annihilation attack power: 154～213, this is after +13 enhancement.)
Equipment Requirements: True Strength 90 points, True Stamina 90 points, Basic Gun Skill Lv.35 or above.
Equipment Effect 1: Burst Fire Mode (Active): Devouring Annihilation has a built-in 3x to 59x adaptive scope, adjustable automatically or manually. After activating Burst Fire Mode, Devouring Annihilation can achieve the fire rate of a standard automatic rifle, with no reduction in bullet attack power (in Burst Fire Mode, the gun's size can be reduced to 157cm).
Hint: This skill has no cost and no cooldown.
Equipment Effect 2: Hunting Mode (Active): Switch to energy-charged mode. Bullet attack power increased by 70%. This is a single-shot mode. Each shot requires manually pulling the bolt (Hunting Mode cannot reduce the gun's size. Theoretical range is 6,750 meters, actual recorded range is 6,625 meters).
Hint: This skill has no cost and no cooldown.
Equipment Effect 3: Grinning Frenzy (Active): This is Devouring Annihilation's ultimate ability. When activated, the anti-gravity kinetic magnetic field inside Devouring Annihilation is fully activated. Bullet flight speed increased by 800%, lasting 30 seconds.
Hint: This ability consumes 480 mana points, cooldown 10 hours.
Rating: 695 points (Epic equipment rating range: 530～700)
Introduction: Even in the Void, this is an infamous weapon, banned from production over a dozen times.
Price: 387,000 Paradise Coins.
...
It could be said that this sniper rifle named Devouring Annihilation was nearly perfect. In Burst Fire Mode, it had a fire rate close to an automatic rifle, with no reduction in attack power. In Hunting Mode (single-shot), bullet attack power increased by 70%. Considering the attack power of [Devouring Annihilation], the attack intensity in Hunting Mode was almost exaggerated.
What surprised Su Xiao even more was that this gun actually had an ultimate ability. Bullet flight speed increased by 800%. Even if it only lasted 30 seconds, it was enough for Su Xiao to fire 10 shots in Hunting Mode.
Ask yourself, what is the biggest problem with ultra-long-range sniping? The answer is definitely bullet flight speed. When the distance exceeds 2 kilometers, you have to start predicting the enemy's movements. Beyond 3 kilometers, it's almost inhuman—you have to guess the enemy's movement trajectory for a period of time in advance.
With the 'Grinning Frenzy' ability activated, even for a shot at 5 kilometers, the actual flight time of the bullet would be similar to shooting at a target within 700 meters, since the flight speed was increased by 800%.
The current problem was that this sniper rifle, considered a contraband item in the Void, was now damaged. Earlier, Su Xiao had wondered why killing a Blind Holy Blade, who was close to his strength, would yield an Epic-grade sniper rifle. Now he understood—this gun was contraband in the Void and was slightly damaged, rendering it unusable.
When it came to repairing the sniper rifle, going to Lide might not be as reliable as Su Xiao fixing it himself. This wasn't a game where you could fix everything with a hammer.
Repairing an Epic-grade sniper rifle required a professional.
Twenty minutes later, on Machinery Street, inside an alley piled with discarded parts.
Bang, bang, bang.
Su Xiao pounded on a metal door, sending rust flakes flying. With a creak, the metal door opened. A girl with a messy mop of blonde hair, wearing a white shirt and ultra-short denim shorts, stood inside the room.
"I knew it was you from the knock. Come in."
The Machinery Girl scratched her messy blonde hair. Her exposed forearms were fair but showed faint muscle contours. Although this girl had top-notch looks, she survived on real skill. Even the leader of a large adventure group would greet her politely. When it came to tech-type equipment, Su Xiao only went to the Machinery Girl for repairs because she was professional and reliable.
"What do you need?"
"Repair a sniper rifle."
"I figured. Let me see it. We're old friends, so I'll give you a tenfold discount."
"..."
Su Xiao took out Devouring Annihilation from his storage space.
"Nice piece. But... repairing this thing, you'd better be ready to go bankrupt. This is Void-made, and the kicker is, it's contraband in the Void. Something about sniping some prince or whatever—a really bizarre story. That's why the parts for this thing are incredibly hard to get."
Upon seeing the Epic-grade sniper rifle Devouring Annihilation, the Machinery Girl immediately became interested. More importantly, she knew the gun's origin—that was true professionalism.