Chapter 70: Mage's Nightmare
After completing the blade technique upgrade, Su Xiao roughly figured out the additional abilities of Grandmaster-class abilities. Using his own and Sin's abilities as reference, Grandmaster Lv.10 mostly grants attack-type abilities, while Lv.20 leans toward defense-type. As for Lv.30, that remains unknown for now—Su Xiao won't reach that level anytime soon.
[Yes/No to upgrade Blade Grandmaster Lv.20. Upgrading this ability requires Soul Crystal·Complete ×10 + 300,000 Paradise Coins.]
The "grace period" for Blade Grandmaster had passed, and the upgrade cost was starting to get steep.
For some reason, Su Xiao had a strange feeling that Blade Grandmaster hadn't yet unleashed its full combat potential. Maybe he hadn't found the right approach yet, and that method would take time to figure out.
After studying for a while, Su Xiao temporarily gave up. Learning "Blade Technique Active Abilities" through purchased scrolls was simply unreliable. Those active blade abilities couldn't gain passive effect boosts. To put it bluntly, those flashy, over-the-top active abilities weren't even as lethal as Su Xiao's basic slashes—all show and no substance.
Moreover, in Su Xiao's eyes, those abilities all had flaws. Since they weren't self-developed techniques, the starting stances of those contractors when drawing their blades were somewhat stiff, which made Su Xiao uncomfortable to watch.
Su Xiao couldn't understand how those contractors tolerated such rigid starting stances. When a blade technique master develops his own sword art, he tailors it to his own physique, strength, arm length, and blade nature. Learning such abilities through scrolls without in-depth research and modification was like wearing someone else's clothes—stiff movements were inevitable, especially for blade techniques developed by non-humans.
Putting that aside for now, Su Xiao sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash and attempted to activate the authority he had obtained earlier—the Law-Destruction Shadow ability corresponding to mastering 100 attribute points.
A surge of azure-blue energy emerged. Seeing this azure-blue energy, Su Xiao leaped up from the bed. Every hair on his body stood on end, and his instinct was sounding an alarm—rashly accepting this azure energy could mean death.
However, this energy had tracking capabilities. After making a sharp turn midair, it directly plunged into Su Xiao's body.
*Bang!* Su Xiao crashed to the floor. His fingers twitched once, then went still.
Su Xiao wasn't unconscious, nor had he lost awareness—he simply couldn't control his body from the pain. A torrent of azure-blue energy rampaged through him. His usually ferocious Cyan Steel Shadow Energy crumbled on contact, and after being baptized by the azure energy, it too became violent and frenzied.
A full half hour passed before Su Xiao could lift his arm. A syringe appeared in his hand. After hesitating for a long time, he tossed it aside.
With great difficulty, he sat up. Su Xiao tried to forcibly enter a meditative state. He attempted it multiple times, but each time failed due to the searing pain. His current sensation was like having hundreds of blades stabbed into him, twisting and churning.
After dozens of attempts, Su Xiao finally found some stability. Once he entered the meditative state, the intense pain throughout his body gradually subsided.
After an unknown amount of time, the energy inside Su Xiao disappeared—no, it was devoured by the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. Once he entered meditation, the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy gradually regained its former ferocity.
[Hunter has mastered new ability: Slaughter Shadow.]
[Slaughter Shadow, X (Exclusive Growth-Type Ability)]
Skill Effect: Increases Proud Song state intensity by 180%. Allows Cyan Steel Shadow Energy to be converted into a physical state for external release and controlled within a 50-meter range.
Tip: The strength, lethality, speed, elemental penetration, and controllability of the physical Cyan Steel Shadow Energy depend on Intelligence attribute (current True Intelligence attribute is 104 points).
Tip: The overall strength of this ability can increase as Cyan Steel Shadow Energy improves.
...
Su Xiao closed the skill list. Placing one hand on the ground, he attempted to release Cyan Steel Shadow Energy while solidifying it.
*Crack, crack, crack...*
Cyan Steel Shadow Energy spread outward along the ground. Under Su Xiao's manipulation, over two-meter-long energy spikes rose up, looking like pale blue crystals.
Su Xiao tapped one of the energy spikes with his hand. The texture was harder than most metals he had encountered, and he could perform secondary manipulation on them.
As a blue light flickered in Su Xiao's eyes, the energy spikes detached from the ground and floated above him.
Su Xiao pointed his finger forward. A muffled *bang* sounded from above his head, startling him into turning his head—he thought the energy spikes had exploded.
That wasn't the case. The wall in front of Su Xiao was riddled with arm-thick holes. The *bang* was from the energy spikes flying so fast that they briefly broke the sound barrier.
Su Xiao pushed open the door to the training room. The wall on the other side of the room was also full of holes. The energy spikes had pierced through who knows where.
The attack power and flight speed of Slaughter Shadow were far greater than Su Xiao had imagined. This ability was simple in effect: it converted Cyan Steel Shadow Energy into a physical form. The specific shape depended on his personal preference, while the power and speed of these physical energy constructs depended on his Intelligence attribute.
Undoubtedly, this was an extremely powerful ability. In terms of practical combat value, it was on par with his blade technique—each had its own strengths, and they didn't conflict but could be combined.
The Intelligence attribute Su Xiao had been raising all along was finally showing its edge. Whether Slaughter Shadow was powerful or not hinged entirely on Intelligence. During the test, the flight speed of Slaughter Shadow had even surprised Su Xiao—it was too fast, faster than blade aura.
The Law-Destruction Shadow ability corresponding to 100 attribute points—Su Xiao was very satisfied. But he needed some time to adapt. This ability combined with his blade technique would definitely unleash extremely formidable combat power.
As for the defense boost to Proud Song state from [Slaughter Shadow], that was just a bonus.
Su Xiao generated an energy shield with 200 points of strength in front of him. He wanted to test whether he could control the shattered pieces of the shield. If he could, then the energy shield would be a divine skill combining defense and knockback.
Clenching his right fist, Su Xiao punched the energy shield. A 200-point strength shield shouldn't be too tough.
*Boom!*
Su Xiao's cheek twitched. A numbing sensation came from his fist. He hadn't even cracked the 200-point strength shield with one punch. Slaughter Shadow's enhancement of Proud Song was greater than he had imagined.
Drawing Dragon-Slashing Flash, Su Xiao slashed down. The energy shield shattered on impact. He could manifest a maximum strength of 800 points for the shield, which made him wonder if he could even cut through an 800-point shield—probably not in a short time.
As the shield shattered, a blue light flickered in Su Xiao's eyes. Fragments of the broken shield flew backward, embedding themselves into the opposite wall.
Su Xiao sat back on the bed. Based on the information he had obtained earlier, the fewer physical energy constructs formed by Slaughter Shadow, the more terrifying their lethality and speed. Therefore, forming a single Cyan Steel Shadow weapon was the best choice—almost all Law Destroyers did this.
One of the main reasons Law Destroyers were called mage natural enemies was because of Slaughter Shadow. Law Destroyers had two abilities that made spellcasters tremble in fear: first, their blade technique combined with Cyan Steel Shadow Energy; second, the physical weapons formed from Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. The elemental penetration they carried almost drove spellcasters to despair. And now, Su Xiao had truly become a spellcaster's bane.
Mage Lords kiting? Sorry, but a mage's short legs couldn't outrun Cyan Steel Shadow weapons. Long-range bombardment? If a mage dared to bombard Su Xiao from afar, he would show them something called elemental penetration.
Su Xiao was hesitating over what kind of Cyan Steel Shadow weapon he should construct. If he consistently constructed the same weapon, it would exponentially increase his construction speed.
A blade? Su Xiao quickly dismissed that idea. Even a hiltless longsword wouldn't fly fast enough. A Cyan Steel Shadow weapon needed strong penetration. Its volume couldn't be too small—that would affect attack power—nor too large—that would slow flight speed. Above all, the wounds it inflicted had to be severe enough.