# Chapter 52: Count Me In
Seeing Bubu Wang's reaction, Su Xiao slowly approached the elliptical building and leaned against the wall beside the door to look inside.
The sacrificial altar was spacious, about three hundred square meters, circular in shape. Stone statues lined the edges, with names carved beneath each one. Although Su Xiao didn't recognize these characters, he understood the meaning of one name: Wild Hunter·Kefirson.
The floor of the sacrificial altar was paved with light yellow stone slabs. It was these slabs that gave the place a sense of security.
At the center stood a gray square stone covered in black patterns. Just one glance made one feel dizzy, as if their spirit was being drawn into those patterns.
The reason Bubu Wang had reacted earlier was because the innermost part of the sacrificial altar sat a figure. He wore black scale armor and held a scepter. It was none other than Day King·Elders, the ruthless man who had once tormented Bubu Wang in the royal palace to the point of questioning its existence.
As if sensing Su Xiao's gaze, Day King·Elders opened his eyes. The scale armor on his face made it impossible to see his features.
"The living."
Elders spoke, but he didn't stand up, merely sitting on the tall stone chair.
After a moment's hesitation, Su Xiao entered through the main door of the sacrificial altar. He sensed no hostility from the Day King.
"We... have met before. You were the one who placed Sayeto on the throne."
The Day King's voice was muffled by his face armor. He released his scepter, which stood upright where it was left.
"Go back. There is no hope here anymore. Coexistence is the best way. We are traitors, the traitors of Dead Silence City."
After saying this, the Day King closed his eyes, and the armor on his body gradually turned gray-white, transforming into a stone statue.
Clearly, the Day King hadn't been completely assimilated by Dead Silence City yet, because he wasn't originally a resident here. His current state was merely due to the responsibility of the Adegesh bloodline.
From the empire's perspective, Day King·Elders was almost a saint. He was full of ideals, but to allow humanity three hundred more years of peace, he abandoned everything and sat on the throne.
[Tip: The Hunter has entered a safe zone, the Sacrificial Altar.]
[Do not actively attack Day King·Elders. This action will bring enormous risk.]
[The Sacrificial Altar has been activated. The Hunter can use the Dark Star Stone at the center to enhance talent abilities. This is a technology left behind by the Mortia Kingdom, extremely rare.]
[Each activation of the Dark Star Stone consumes 5% of the Dark Source. Each talent can be enhanced up to 4 times. Current enhancements: 0/8. Enhancement intensity depends on talent potential.]
...
Confirming the sacrificial altar was safe, Su Xiao approached the Dark Star Stone, the square stone covered in black patterns. It stood about one meter tall, appearing stone-like but was actually the core of some star.
Amu and Veroni both entered the sacrificial altar. Only Bubu Wang was still hesitant. After hesitating for a long while, it tremblingly entered.
Crack~
The petrified Day King opened one eye, scaring Bubu Wang into quickly running to Su Xiao's side, pressing tightly against him. Its look at the Day King clearly said: Don't touch me, I was wrong.
Using the most defiant eyes to express the most cowardly meaning, only Bubu Wang could pull that off.
Su Xiao didn't pay attention to the "friendly" exchange between Bubu Wang and the Day King. He raised his hand and pressed it on the Dark Star Stone. A surge of black energy emerged out of nowhere, flowing into the Dark Star Stone.
[You have consumed 5% of the Dark Source.]
[Please select the talent to enhance: Soul Devourer (S-grade) / Blood Beast (SSS-grade).]
As soon as Su Xiao chose to enhance Soul Devourer, sudden excruciating pain caused his whole body to lose strength. After stabilizing himself, he sat cross-legged before the Dark Star Stone.
Su Xiao's current feeling was very similar to when he first awakened the Soul Devourer talent. Something inside his body seemed to be broken down inch by inch, becoming stronger before reassembling.
The pain made time feel long. After an unknown period, Su Xiao, covered in cold sweat, finally came back to his senses.
"Hoo~"
Su Xiao let out a long breath, veins bulging on his neck. After checking his talent ability, his eyes twitched. It wasn't that the enhancement effect was bad—it was very good. But the feeling he just experienced, he would have to endure it three more times. No, he had a total of 27.9% Dark Source, meaning he could enhance Soul Devourer four times, and the remaining Dark Source could enhance Blood Beast once.
After a moment's hesitation, Su Xiao pressed his hand on the Dark Star Stone again...
Two hours later, Su Xiao stared straight ahead. After a few seconds, he came back to his senses. During this time, he was thinking about one thing: if enhancing the relatively mild Soul Devourer talent felt like this, what would enhancing Blood Beast feel like?
After four consecutive enhancements to Soul Devourer, Su Xiao could intuitively feel the change in this talent ability. Although this wasn't a second awakening of the talent, it could be considered a minor awakening.
[Soul Devourer]
Category: Slaughter Talent (Awakened Once)
Grade: S (Maximum grade for first awakening)
Talent Effect (Passive): After killing a target, permanently steal 1~50 mana points (upper limit increased by 20 points), and restore an equal amount of mana and health points (e.g., permanently increase mana by 50 points after killing an enemy, restore 50 mana and health points).
Tip: Each derivative world can permanently increase mana by up to 400 points (upper limit increased by 200 points). If the stolen mana reaches the upper limit, Soul Devourer will be fully activated, increasing the recovery effect after killing enemies by 50%.
...
Soul Devourer's intensity had doubled. If the battle was fierce, each world could increase mana by 400 points, and the recovery effect had also increased by nearly half.
Su Xiao was somewhat looking forward to what changes a second awakening of Soul Devourer would bring. Awakening a talent and permanently enhancing a talent were different—the former caused a qualitative change, while the latter increased existing intensity.
After resting for a while, Su Xiao pressed his hand on the Dark Star Stone again. This time, he was going to enhance the Blood Beast talent ability.
Boom!
Blood energy erupted with Su Xiao as the center point, blowing Bubu Wang's fur. Bubu Wang had no reaction—it was long used to this.
Bubu Wang had no reaction, but Veroni was different. She instinctively stepped back a few steps, her pupils gradually contracting. She stared at Su Xiao in shock, thinking: "Who exactly did I enter Dead Silence City with? Have I lived long enough?"
Visible blood energy filled the sacrificial altar, even spreading out from the windows, forming a Blood Beast above the sacrificial altar that roared at the sky.
...
On the outskirts of Dead Silence City, near the ring river area, on top of a church roof, the blood-soaked Old God Stick lay on the roof. Near him lay a corpse—a little girl with black hair, her body covered in tattered wounds.
The Old God Stick's blood-stained fingers twitched. He slowly sat up, the skin on his face somewhat gray-white, even cracked.
"Already reached the center, huh. I need to... hurry too."
The Old God Stick stood up and looked behind him—a large area of Dead Silence City residents' corpses.
With a click, the long-handled blade in the Old God Stick's hand shortened. The serrated blade edge was covered in blood and shredded flesh. The Old God Stick had once been a hunter, a hunter who had undergone ice therapy.
Holding a saw blade in one hand and a metal book in the other, the Old God Stick jumped down from the roof. This book recorded all the monsters he had ever hunted. On the last page, it recorded himself: Mad Hunter·Ken Lahan.
...
Nearly half an hour later, inside the sacrificial altar, Su Xiao stood up, covered in blood energy. Seeing his appearance, Veroni felt something was off.
"Maybe we should run first. He seems a bit off."
"Woof~ (You're overthinking it)."
Bubu Wang tilted its head. Not to mention Su Xiao in this state, even when he had just returned from the ancient battlefield completely eroded by blood energy, Bubu Wang had seen that—that was truly terrifying.
"Next destination, Birth Hall."
Su Xiao exhaled blood energy. He had been near the Birth Hall before but hadn't entered, because the most terrifying resident of Dead Silence City was there—the fully assimilated Black King·Adegesh.
Now, Su Xiao planned to slaughter that former king. He had searched everywhere he could. The last piece of the Black King Set would either be obtained in the Birth Hall or in the Supreme Sanctuary.
"Kukulin, if you're going to the Birth Hall, count me in."
An old man in a dark brown long leather coat covered in mottled bloodstains leaned against the main door. A saw blade stood beside his foot. The skin on his face had some cracks, and his gray-white short hair made him look fierce and bloodthirsty.
"That's... freaking awesome."
Seeing the Old God Stick like this, Veroni muttered. Suddenly, she felt like she was the most useless one here.