Chapter 73: Unexpected Gains
The food was quickly served. Faced with Xia's culinary delights, Divine Emperor and Old Goat maintained some restraint, but Matcha completely let loose, eating with no trace of ladylike grace.
Su Xiao finished the broth in his bowl, having devoured a large bowl of noodles. The feeling of fullness prompted him to pull out a cigarette and light it. Xia wasn't using ordinary ingredients; otherwise, a single bowl of noodles wouldn't have given Su Xiao such a sense of satiety.
Divine Emperor set down his knife and fork, took a small sip of the red wine in his glass, and said, "Bai Ye, regarding the Dire Wolf Set..."
"Price-wise, 3 million Paradise Coins, plus at least 11 Soul Crystals (Complete), plus..."
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Old Goat suddenly had an 'asthma attack,' dry coughing incessantly. At that moment, the words 'plus' sounded like the voice of a nightmare.
"If you don't have enough Paradise Coins, I can consider letting you pay in installments."
"Pfft~"
Chief Healer Matcha wiped a bit of orange juice from the corner of her mouth. She was astonished to discover that Su Xiao was about to set them up with high-interest loans—no, it should be Paradise loans?
"Thank you for the kind offer, Brother Bai Ye, but our team's funds are quite sufficient lately."
Divine Emperor took a deep breath and retrieved two items from his storage space.
A Paradise Coin savings card with a face value of 3 million, plus a scroll.
"This ability should suit you well, Brother Bai Ye. It's called Soul Scythe."
Divine Emperor pushed a parchment scroll in front of Su Xiao.
[Soul Scythe · Shadow (The character 'Shadow' is only visible to Shadow of Law Destruction)]
Origin: Dark Crow Star (also known as Witch World)
Type: Skill Scroll (Passive Class)
Prerequisite: True Strength 108 points, True Agility 125 points.
Shadow of Law Destruction Prerequisite: Must have mastered the Slaughter Shadow ability and the Soul Severing Shadow ability (this prompt is only visible to Shadow of Law Destruction).
Skill Effect: When attacking, inflicts 17 points of damage that ignores physical defense (this is the initial effect at Lv.1, skill name is Soul Hunting Scythe).
Effect Visible to Shadow of Law Destruction: According to the records on this scroll, it can unlock the Soul Scythe form of Slaughter Shadow.
Introduction: Beneath the Soul Scythe, all is nothingness.
Introduction Visible to Shadow of Law Destruction: This is an ability developed by an Ancestral Law Destroyer on Dark Crow Star.
...
"Dark Crow Star."
Su Xiao put down the scroll without changing his expression. He had been to Dark Crow Star before, and what left the deepest impression was the 'old, weak, sick, and disabled' group of four.
"Brother Bai Ye, once this ability matures, it will definitely be a great asset to you."
Divine Emperor was clearly a bit pained. He had traded a large batch of resources for this scroll, which had immense growth potential. He knew Su Xiao fought with blade techniques, so this passive ability was exactly what Su Xiao needed.
"Add 10 Soul Crystals (Complete)."
"Our team's funds..."
Divine Emperor's heart ached. He hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't voice his thoughts.
"This is the limit, Brother Bai Ye. I acquired Soul Scythe. You wouldn't need too many trivial resources, so I consolidated them into this."
Divine Emperor's attitude was sincere. Su Xiao thought for a moment and agreed to the transaction. The price increase was just a casual remark.
[You have obtained Soul Scythe Shadow (Knowledge Class Skill Scroll / Passive Class Skill Scroll)]
Su Xiao used the Paradise Coin savings card and picked up the [Soul Scythe Shadow] skill scroll. For this item, he wouldn't hesitate even if it meant trading an entire Dire Wolf Set, or even a Holy Spirit-grade piece of equipment.
To date, Su Xiao had never seen a Law Destroyer ability that wasn't strong—not a single one.
"Bai Ye, is that installment plan offer you mentioned still valid?"
Matcha spoke with a full smile.
"What about it?"
"I want to buy [Mother of the White Goat] on installments!"
Matcha's imagination was so vast it was truly admirable.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't respond.
"I'll do 60 installments. Wait, Tuanzhang, don't pull me. I really want to... Ahhh! Let me go! I'm not crazy! I want to use motherly love to heal you all, you ungrateful brats! Ugh~ Tuanzhang, I was wrong, don't hit my head..."
Matcha was dragged out of the restaurant by Divine Emperor, leaving Xia, who seemed to have something to say, behind.
"You... haven't paid the bill yet."
Xia looked at Su Xiao. Su Xiao flicked the ash from his cigarette, and Xia instantly knew this was a free meal. Her heart was utterly calm; she was used to it by now.
Su Xiao examined the [Soul Scythe Shadow] scroll in his hand. For anyone other than a Law Destroyer, this was a skill scroll that could be used directly. For Su Xiao, it was much the same.
'Soul Scythe Form' and 'Soul Hunting Scythe' were two different abilities. Using the scroll directly would allow one to master the Soul Hunting Scythe passive ability.
However, studying the patterns and writings recorded on the scroll would reveal the principles and formation process of the Soul Scythe Form. That was the true ability of a Law Destroyer.
Su Xiao read the handwriting on the parchment but couldn't understand it at all. That wasn't a problem. The hidden text set by the Law Destroyer had six different decryption methods.
Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surged at Su Xiao's fingertips. The moment it touched the parchment, it traced along the characters, outlining different words—a common language of the Void that Su Xiao had already mastered.
'No need to thank me, no need to know who I am. You only need to know that we are both Law Destroyers, and this journal is an item with 'Paradise' characteristics, very safe.'
'The Soul Scythe requires long-term development and the awakening of Soul Severing Shadow to be used. To be precise, the Soul Scythe is a branch ability of Soul Severing Shadow, using Slaughter Shadow as its carrier when activated.'
Below these two paragraphs was a large amount of scattered records. Su Xiao thought for a moment and chose to copy down the information above.
This Ancestral Law Destroyer was aware of the existence of Paradise. After obtaining this skill scroll, they recorded the knowledge of the Soul Scythe Form onto it. One reason was for easy preservation; the other was to prevent outsiders from deciphering it.
They would rather let the Soul Scythe Form be lost than let outsiders crack it. This showed how dire the situation was for that Ancestral Law Destroyer at the time.
Su Xiao couldn't develop the Soul Scythe Form yet; that would have to wait until he mastered Soul Severing Shadow. However, he could use this skill scroll immediately.
After recording the knowledge of the Soul Scythe Form, Su Xiao used the skill scroll in his hand. It was a passive ability, unrelated to the Law Destroyer, but worth investing Paradise Coins in.
[You have mastered Soul Hunting Scythe Lv.1.]
[Soul Hunting Scythe: Lv.1 (Passive Skill)]
Skill Effect: When attacking, inflicts 17 points of damage that ignores physical defense.
...
It didn't look impressive, but this was only the effect at Lv.1. After investing Paradise Coins to upgrade it, the effect would increase significantly.
Su Xiao left Xia's restaurant and returned to his Exclusive Room. During this time, he had been looking for a buyer for [Mother of the White Goat], but so far, he hadn't received a satisfactory offer.
The best way to sell it would be to trade it for a Holy Spirit-grade piece of equipment suitable for Su Xiao. Unfortunately, Holy Spirit-grade equipment was too rare.
When Su Xiao returned to his Exclusive Room, he found that Bubu Wang, Baha, and Amu had already gone off together to have fun, while Beini was at the Trade Market gathering price information.
Su Xiao sat on the sofa and took out Soul Crystals one by one from his storage space.
[Yes/No to upgrade Blade Grandmaster Lv.35. Upgrading this ability requires consuming 500,000 Paradise Coins + Soul Crystal · Complete × 15.]
Su Xiao currently had 54 Soul Crystals and was well-stocked with Paradise Coins, so he chose to upgrade Blade Grandmaster by three consecutive levels.
One by one, the Soul Crystals shattered in Su Xiao's hand. The next moment, his vision went dark.
Within Su Xiao's line of sight, a grassland appeared. On the grassland stood three translucent figures, their bodies formed from the fragmented Soul Crystals.
Clang!
Three blades slashed towards him. There was no possibility of dodging. Su Xiao was engulfed by the blade light, and a vast amount of knowledge, insights, and realizations about blade techniques flooded into his mind.
Su Xiao's eyes snapped open. He was still sitting on the sofa in his Exclusive Room.
[Blade Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.36.]
[Blade Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.37.]
[Blade Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.38.]
[Blade Grandmaster: Lv.38 (Passive Skill)]
Skill Effect: Increases blade-type weapon attack power by 571% (increase of 27%), neural reflex speed +169% (increase of 15%), immune to mental control, immune to mind-system bewitchment, inducement, etc.
Initial Additional Ability: Rhythm of All Things X++ (breaks through the upper limit by two ranks).
Lv.10 Ultimate Ability: Absolute Shadow Flash (self-developing...).
Lv.20 Ultimate Ability: Soul Blade (Passive).
Lv.30 Ultimate Ability: Blade's Extreme (Passive/Active).
...
Although the blade technique didn't seem to have improved much on the surface, that wasn't the case in actual combat. Moreover, once Blade Grandmaster reached Lv.40, there would be a significant boost.