Chapter 56: Paradise Arena
Su Xiao hung Dragon-Slaying Flash at his waist and left his exclusive room.
Twenty minutes later, he stood before a magnificent building. Above the massive gate was a circular emblem, while the stone path in front of the building was covered in various messages.
"Getting stronger is intoxicating, and so is having your equipment explode."
"I, a mere third-rank, forcefully enhanced my main weapon and died at the age of 32. That's that."
"Known highest enhancement level record: Gold-quality firearm (pistol) upgraded to +15, its power completely outclassing a Legendary sniper cannon."
Every time he came to the Equipment Enhancement Hall, Su Xiao felt a sense of irreversible fate. This time, he planned to enhance three pieces of equipment: Devouring Annihilation (Epic sniper rifle), Killing Instinct (Epic), and Fate Dominator (Legendary).
Entering the Equipment Enhancement Hall, there were many contractors here since the derivative world had just ended. Pushing through the crowd, Su Xiao arrived before an equipment enhancement machine.
[Welcome to Equipment Enhancement Machine No. 1443. Holder's Paradise Coins: 1,840,810.]
As Su Xiao operated it, the machine's tray slid out. He placed Fate Dominator on it. The maximum enhancement level this time was 10; beyond +10, the equipment risked breaking. Su Xiao relied entirely on Fate Dominator for opening treasure chests, so this equipment absolutely could not have any accidents.
[Equipment verification in progress... Verification complete. Fate Dominator (Legendary) has no enhancement level. To enhance this equipment, each enhancement requires 100,000 Paradise Coins.]
Fate Dominator's enhancement cost was steep—100,000 per attempt. If it didn't reach +10 within 18 tries, the loss would be unimaginable.
Su Xiao took a deep breath and began setting the equipment enhancement machine, configuring it to stop at +10. The machine whirred to life, rumbling loudly, with occasional sparks shooting from its gaps—a spectacular sight.
Lighting a cigarette, Su Xiao began to wait. Over ten minutes later, he glanced at the enhancement log and immediately closed it—it was too nerve-wracking.
[Fate Dominator +1 successful.]
[Fate Dominator +2 successful.]
...
[Fate Dominator +8 successful.]
The enhancements from +1 to +8 went smoothly, but after +8, things took a turn for the worse.
[Fate Dominator +9 failed. Dropped to +7.]
[Fate Dominator +8 successful.]
[Fate Dominator +9 failed. Dropped to +7.]
...
After a full half-hour, the equipment enhancement machine finally stopped. Su Xiao's Paradise Coins were reduced to just 240,810.
[Fate Dominator +10]
Quality: Legendary
Durability: 84/90 (Increased by 10)
Equipment Effect 1: Fortune Plunder (Passive) — No change.
Note: Fortune stored at 91.5%.
Equipment Effect 2: Fortune Power (Active) — Consume one Soul Crystal (Fragment) to convert soul energy into fortune, temporarily increasing the holder's Luck Attribute by 12 points (increased by 2 points). Effect lasts 10 minutes.
Note: Fortune Power (Active) cooldown is 2 natural days (reduced by 1 natural day).
Equipment Effect 3: Goddess of Fortune's Blessing (Passive) / Goddess's Sorrow (Passive) — This skill is not yet activated.
+5 Additional Effect: Slightly increase fortune during combat.
+8 Additional Effect: If Fortune Power (Active) is on cooldown, it can be forcibly used at 30 times the consumption. If forcibly used again, consumption increases to 300 times, with an upper limit of 760 times.
+10 Additional Effect: Negate negative effects caused by enemy Luck Attributes below 25 points.
Rating: 530+
Description: A product of fate and fortune combined. Is the Goddess of Fortune smiling? Perhaps, but she might also weep.
...
The Lucky King state's Luck Attribute bonus increased by 2 points, and the cooldown was reduced by one-third. Su Xiao was very satisfied with this result.
As for Fate Dominator's additional enhancement effects, all three traits were powerful. The slight fortune boost during combat was practical without needing explanation.
The forced use of Fortune Power (Active) was also decent. One Soul Crystal (Large) could be shattered into 93–106 Soul Crystals (Fragments). Using it forcibly once was acceptable, but a second forced use would consume 3 Soul Crystals (Large). At the upper limit, it reached 7.6 per use—a massive loss. Of course, once Fate Dominator's cooldown recovered, the consumption would reset to 1 Soul Crystal (Fragment) per use.
The +10 additional effect solved a major problem for Su Xiao, giving him a way to deal with contractors who fought using Luck Attributes.
Su Xiao took out Devouring Annihilation from his storage space. Although he had no Paradise Coins left, enhancing Epic equipment didn't consume Paradise Coins—it consumed Soul Crystals (Large).
[Equipment verification in progress... Verification complete. Devouring Annihilation (Epic) has no enhancement level. To enhance this equipment, each enhancement requires 1 Soul Crystal (Large).]
Su Xiao still had 28 Soul Crystals (Large). As long as he wasn't too unlucky, enhancing one piece of equipment was fine, and he might even be able to enhance Killing Instinct as well.
About an hour later, Su Xiao walked out of the Equipment Enhancement Hall with a blank expression. He decided to head to the arena.
Given Su Xiao's current mood, his first few opponents would not have a pleasant experience. Earlier, while enhancing Devouring Annihilation, either the equipment enhancement machine had malfunctioned, or his recent luck had been too good, causing a deficit. He had consumed a full 16 Soul Crystals (Large), yet Devouring Annihilation had only reached +4. Keep in mind, Su Xiao had even forcibly activated the Lucky King state by consuming 30 Soul Crystals (Fragments).
Arena, Fifth-Rank Competitor's Rest Room.
[You have entered the arena. Please select a mode.]
[Arena Mode / Spectator Mode.]
[Spectator Mode: Watch other competitors' battles. Costs 1,000 to 12,000 Paradise Coins per hour. You may select matches to watch.]
[Current ongoing matches: 16,754.]
[Arena rankings have been refreshed. Detected that the Hunter has advanced to Fifth Rank.]
[Note: As this is the Hunter's first entry into the "Paradise Arena," the following regulations must be read.]