Chapter 69: Witness
The cafeteria's business was booming. Inside the booth where Su Xiao and Kuang Hu sat, blue smoke slowly drifted. Su Xiao lit a cigarette and felt a bit more alert, but he was still drowsy.
"What does Divine Emperor mean?"
Su Xiao tossed the cigarette in his hand to Kuang Hu. Kuang Hu hesitated for a moment before pulling one out and lighting it.
"At least he didn't say anything before I left. That thing in your hands is hard to swallow, but you have to swallow it. I still need to ask your opinion—what resources do you need recently? We'll prepare them as soon as possible."
Kuang Hu's purpose in inviting Su Xiao out to eat was certainly not simple. The value of the [Team Rank Promotion Scroll] was too high. For the Divine Emperor Adventure Group to buy this thing, it would almost drain the team's assets, if not completely. So Kuang Hu came to probe the price. As for why Divine Emperor didn't show up himself, it might be because he didn't want to be provoked.
"Paradise Coin transactions are also acceptable."
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Kuang Hu coughed repeatedly, a look of 'despair' in his eyes. Buying the [Team Rank Promotion Scroll] wasn't a matter of a few million Paradise Coins. If paying purely in Paradise Coins, even tens of millions wouldn't be enough.
"As for what resources I need, Soul Crystals (Complete) will do, high-purity life energy is also fine, or special quality equipment?"
"Special quality equipment?"
Kuang Hu was slightly puzzled, then seemed to think of something.
"Of course, if you can't pay in one lump sum, you can also pay in two or three installments, but the cost of payment will increase each time."
Su Xiao exhaled a puff of blue smoke, a smile appearing on his face.
"You're... setting up a loan for our regimental commander? Or is it usury?"
Kuang Hu's voice changed slightly as he stared at Su Xiao in shock.
If Su Xiao were trading with an individual, he certainly wouldn't choose this method. But Divine Emperor is a large adventure group. Lending them 'money' was still reliable, but the interest would be terrifying—at least over 40% of the total value of the [Team Rank Promotion Scroll].
"Your understanding isn't wrong."
"Uh~"
Kuang Hu hesitated for a moment, then smiled. There was actually nothing to hesitate about. Su Xiao only selling the [Team Rank Promotion Scroll] to them was already a very sincere transaction.
The twin-tailed cute girl and the seaweed-haired youth beside Kuang Hu exchanged glances, both looking a bit disillusioned with life. Their entire net worth might not even cover the trailing digits of the [Team Rank Promotion Scroll]'s transaction price.
"We'll prepare as soon as possible. At most 12 hours."
"Alright."
Su Xiao stood up and left. He planned to go back and sleep in, recharge his energy, and then try to master the new ability of the Shadow of Law Destruction.
After returning to his Exclusive Room, Su Xiao collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
Not knowing how long he slept, Su Xiao crawled out of bed, dazed for a moment as usual, before his eyes regained their usual sparkle. After washing up, he felt refreshed. Previously, in the Ghost World, he had exhausted many brain cells outsmarting those old yinbis. Now his condition was surprisingly good—in fact, it had never been this good.
This made Su Xiao wonder: could being an old yinbi also be a quality that could be improved? As he continued scheming with other old yinbis, would his own level of old yinbi-ness also increase?
Shaking his head, Su Xiao felt he probably wasn't an old yinbi yet. Probably not.
If Lady Nancy were still alive and learned of Su Xiao's thoughts, she would definitely roar: "F*ck you, you and Harold are both no good—no, you're even worse. I was almost played for free by you."
Sitting cross-legged on the soft bed, Su Xiao took out all the Soul Crystals (Complete) from his storage space—10 in total. He checked his current Paradise Coins: 1.41 million.
Opening the skill list and checking Blade Technique, Su Xiao's Blade Grandmaster had reached Lv.13, and after the previous sedimentation, it could be upgraded again.
[Yes/No to upgrade Blade Grandmaster Lv.13. Upgrading this ability requires Soul Crystal (Complete) ×1 + 100,000 Paradise Coins.]
Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then chose to upgrade 7 levels at once, raising Blade Grandmaster to Lv.20. He still vividly remembered how powerful Evil was.
With a crisp crackling sound, 7 of the 10 Soul Crystals (Complete) in Su Xiao's hand shattered. Paradise Coins flowed away like water, quickly consuming nearly half.
The shattered Soul Crystals (Complete) transformed into a stream of crystalline energy, enveloping Su Xiao. The next moment, a thunderclap seemed to explode in his ears, and white light surged before his eyes.
When Su Xiao's vision returned, he found himself on a frozen, snow-covered tundra. Amidst the swirling snow, a man in linen clothes, holding a black wooden sword, was chopping at a towering ancient tree. This tree was at least several hundred meters tall, its trunk at the base over ten meters thick, and it was entirely iron-black in color.
"One thousand thirty-nine, one thousand thirty-nine..."
The man in linen clothes was chopping at the giant tree, stroke after stroke. His body was covered in frostbite, thick calluses visible on his palms. He looked gaunt and sallow, constantly repeating a single number. He had been chopping here for an unknown amount of time, and one thousand thirty-nine represented 10.39 million strikes.
With a crisp crack, the wooden sword in the man's hand shattered. He staggered back a few steps, then fell to the ground with a thud, frozen to death by the cold wind. He died in obscurity, yet he was pursuing the pinnacle of the blade.
Su Xiao walked over to the linen-clad man, crouched down, and closed the eyes of this man who sought to attain enlightenment with a single thought.
The man burst into particles of light. His soul shattered, his memories shattered, leaving only the purest essence—the understanding of the blade gained from millions of strikes.
Su Xiao hesitated for a moment, then didn't reach out to touch the sharp radiance. Instead, he walked to the towering ancient tree. A black wooden sword appeared in his hand.
Slap!
A perfectly ordinary horizontal slash sent a small spray of wood chips flying. The next moment, Su Xiao felt time accelerate rapidly, while his intended slashing motion was slowed tens of thousands of times. At the same time, he saw many figures—men and women in linen clothes, standing before the ancient tree, chopping stroke after stroke. Some succeeded in comprehending something, but most froze to death here.
A stabbing pain appeared in Su Xiao's mind, and the next moment, his eyes snapped open. The furnishings of his Exclusive Room came into view.
Su Xiao panted rapidly for a moment, sweat soaking his clothes. He glanced at the alarm clock by the bed. Only ten minutes had passed, but he had witnessed many things.
[Blade Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.14.]
[Blade Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.15.]
[Blade Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.16.]
...
...
[Blade Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.20. Derived ability at Lv.20 obtained.]
[Blade Grandmaster: Lv.20 (Passive Skill)]
Skill Effect: Increases blade-type weapon attack power by 408% (increase of 63%), neural reflex speed +79% (increase of 35%), immune to mental-type control, immune to mind-type bewitchment, inducement, etc.
Initial Additional Ability: Rhythm of All Things X+ (breakthrough limit one rank).
Blade Aura: Lv.65 (increase of Lv.5).
Lv.10 Ultimate Ability: Shadow Flash (Active).
Lv.20 Ultimate Ability: Soul Blade (Passive). Through years of accumulated training, your blade technique has merged into your soul. You can exempt most damage and instant-death effects from the soul level (immune to 50% soul damage, exempt one lethal execution effect).
Tip: After exempting one execution effect, the Soul Blade ability will fall silent for 15 natural days.
The ability derived from Blade Grandmaster reaching Lv.20 was not an offensive ability, but immunity to 50% soul damage and exemption from one execution. As for the 15-day silence period, Su Xiao didn't care at all. How unlucky would one have to be to encounter two enemies with execution abilities within half a month?
Su Xiao possessed an execution ability himself, so he knew how unstoppable this kind of ability was. Many of his previous narrow escapes were because enemies had execution abilities. Fortunately, his physique had been tough enough before, forcing out the enemy's execution ability before he reached the execution line.
For example, with Evil earlier, the five thrusts to Su Xiao's chest were an execution ability. If Su Xiao's health had been below 20% at that time, he would have been blown to pieces by Death Sentence·Twilight Explosion.