# Chapter 76: Keep Going, You Can Do It
Su Xiao calmed his mind and sat cross-legged on the blood-red earth of the ancient battlefield.
The normal process for improving Aura Release would be for Su Xiao to use his own aura to resist the blood energy of the ancient battlefield, thereby tempering his aura and achieving the effect of enhancing Aura Release.
However, Su Xiao had long ago found a new approach. He used Cyan Steel Shadow Energy to form a temporary Devouring Core, allowing the Devouring Core to absorb the blood energy, filter, purify, and refine it, ultimately turning it into blood energy that could be directly absorbed by the body.
Pale blue energy surged in Su Xiao's palm. He converted 10,000 Mana Points into Cyan Steel Shadow Energy to form a simplified version of the Devouring Core.
A few minutes later, a simplified Devouring Core appeared in Su Xiao's hand. This thing was as big as a basketball, with an energy thread as thick as a pinky finger connecting the simplified Devouring Core to Su Xiao, wrapped around his arm.
Don't underestimate this energy thread. Inside it were 56 ultra-simplified small Devouring Cores. Su Xiao's Devouring Core had already been upgraded once, and after resolving the hidden danger of the Blade Demon energy, he could fully control the Devouring Core within his body without any usage restrictions.
The simplified Devouring Core floated above Su Xiao. He took a deep breath, and dozens of small openings on the simplified Devouring Core opened up. Like a whale drinking water, it instantly sucked in the ancient battlefield blood energy within a hundred meters around him.
Crack, crack, crack...
After a large surge of blood energy was drawn into the simplified Devouring Core, the core began to operate, purifying, filtering, and refining this blood energy.
Soon, a stream of pale red energy surged out from within the simplified Devouring Core. At this point, the simplified Devouring Core was already blood-red all over, its interior filled with blood energy impurities.
The purified blood energy flowed along the energy thread toward Su Xiao. The 56 even simpler Devouring Cores inside the energy thread began to operate, filtering this blood energy again and again.
In the end, the blood energy was filtered until it was nearly transparent, with only a faint trace of red visible.
The purified blood energy merged into Su Xiao's aura without any obstruction, which was also why he was willing to take the risk of coming to the ancient battlefield.
Just as Su Xiao had absorbed all the blood energy within a hundred meters and was preparing to retreat, the blood-colored giant hand he had been guarding against did not appear.
Noticing this, Su Xiao adopted a try-it-and-see attitude and continued absorbing the blood energy from the ancient battlefield. He had already gotten his money's worth and could retreat at any time.
A blood energy vortex appeared above Su Xiao, and blood energy from nearly half the ancient battlefield surged toward him.
Such a grand commotion—let alone the scavengers on the ancient battlefield, even Su Xiao himself felt a bit worried. He didn't believe that this kind of disturbance wouldn't attract the attention of that white-haired monster.
Crack~
A crisp sound came from above Su Xiao. The terrifying white-haired monster didn't come, but the simplified Devouring Core couldn't hold out anymore. It had already filtered too much blood energy.
Su Xiao cut off his connection with the simplified Devouring Core. This thing was a consumable, and the blood energy impurities inside it were very dangerous.
The moment Su Xiao pulled off the energy threads from his arm, the blood energy vortex above him enveloped him. The mixed blood energy rapidly eroded his body surface, and he was instantly teleported back into the Skill Upgrade Pod.
As soon as he returned to the Skill Upgrade Pod, Su Xiao pressed his hand against the pod wall, veins bulging on his arm, covered in blood-red patterns.
[Warning: The Hunter has been eroded by ancient battlefield blood energy. Multiple bone fractures, mild organ damage, trace amounts of blood energy residue mixed into aura. Pay Paradise Coins to recover? Yes/No.]
"Pa... pay."
Su Xiao tried his best to stay calm. At this moment, the killing intent boiling in his heart was driving him to want to cut everything in sight to pieces.
[Tip: Removing blood energy erosion requires consuming 31,000 Paradise Coins.]
[Tip: Multiple bone fractures and organ damage require consuming 1,700 Paradise Coins.]
[Tip: Removing blood energy residue from aura requires consuming 57,200 Paradise Coins.]
[Paradise Coins payment completed. Beginning repairs.]
...
A few minutes later, Su Xiao wiped the sweat from his face. The boiling killing intent in his heart had dissipated like smoke, and he had returned to his usual state.
Su Xiao checked his "Aura Release" ability. This ability had increased by a full 12 levels!
[Aura Release Lv.68 (Active/Passive)]
Skill Effect (Active/Passive): Due to absorbing excessive blood energy, this effect is in transformation. Estimated to require 20 or more natural days.
Tip: Due to absorbing large amounts of purified blood energy, Willpower +61 points (increased by 20 points).
Tip: Due to absorbing large amounts of purified blood energy, Willpower Judgment Rank +2.
Tip: Due to absorbing large amounts of purified blood energy, aura can deal Willpower × 12 soul damage to "foreign entity" type enemies.
...
Seeing the changes in "Aura Release," Su Xiao tried to release his aura. The aura was successfully emitted. Clearly, only the skill effect of "Aura Release" was in transformation; it didn't affect Su Xiao's ability to release his aura.
The bonus obtained by Blood Beast was also affected. The base damage intensity increased from 4,753 points to 4,780 points.
The reason the increase was so small was that the enhancement hadn't been completed yet. Over the next 20 natural days, as the Aura Release ability transformed, the attack intensity of Blood Beast would also gradually increase. How high it could ultimately reach was something to look forward to.
Su Xiao walked out of the Skill Upgrade Hall. Aside from [Mother of the White Goat], all the resources he had obtained had been converted into strength.
This time, Su Xiao clearly felt that his strength had increased significantly. Having just upgraded many abilities, he directly returned to his Exclusive Room, took off his clothes, and fell asleep.
After sleeping for nearly ten hours, Su Xiao woke up to the aroma of food. Bubu Wang's dog face appeared before him, its wet nose exhaling warm air.
"Too close."
Su Xiao sat up from the bed and casually took half a box of fried chicken pieces from Beini's cat paw. Beini was annoyed~
"Amu, come with me to the Arena in half an hour."
"Moo."
Amu was chewing food and spoke indistinctly. This time, Su Xiao was taking Amu to fight in the arena, first to assess Amu's endurance, and second to train Amu as a tank.
After washing up, Su Xiao took Amu straight to the sixth-rank Paradise Arena. In less than half an hour, he entered the rest area of the arena.
[You have entered the Paradise Arena (Sixth Rank).]
[Current match: Match 138,540.]
[Competitor: Su Xiao.]
[Status: Good.]
[Paradise Arena Ranking: 36,109 (Sixth Rank).]
[Consecutive Wins: 77 matches.]
[Top Ten Honor Rewards: Not obtained.]
...
While enjoying his breakfast, Su Xiao chose to match an opponent.
[Matching...]
[Opponent successfully matched. Opponent's arena ID nature: Death Paradise.]
[Opponent's Arena Ranking: 35,607.]
...
A teleportation sensation appeared. Su Xiao put down his breakfast, and the next moment, he and Amu were teleported to the arena grounds.
Fine sand was blown up by the breeze. This yellow sand venue was about 200 meters in diameter. The surrounding circular spectator stands were buzzing with noise. For sixth-rank arena matches within the top 50,000, there wasn't a single empty seat!
On the elevated commentary platform, a Gray Crow clan commentator took a deep breath. This was the fifth match he was commentating. His handsome face showed some nervousness. His family had paid a great price to get him here. As long as his battle commentary was outstanding enough, he could use his income to help his clan members.
"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening."
As soon as the Gray Crow clan commentator finished speaking, the spectator stands fell silent. Sweat seeped from his temples.
"Damn! You scared me to death!"
"What are you yelling about?"
"Sorry!"
After a very straightforward apology, the Gray Crow clan commentator continued:
"Both competitors have entered. They are... a melee type and a summoner type?"
The Gray Crow clan commentator stared at Su Xiao, then glanced at Amu beside him.
[Match... Begin!]
Golden large characters appeared in the sky. Su Xiao took a folding stool from his storage space, unfolded it, and sat down. He would stay seated here and let Amu block the enemy's attacks.
Dozens of meters away, Su Xiao's opponent was momentarily stunned. He held a long spear, had a lean build, long white hair, and his aura leaned toward sharpness and speed.
"Are you... looking down on me?"
White-haired man Cang Hu lowered his eyelids, a hint of anger in his heart.
"Moo!"
Amu roared. A cold-ice war hammer materialized in his hand, and he charged quickly toward Cang Hu.
"Lightning Step..."
Cang Hu disappeared from his spot in an instant. A white electric arc flashed, and he appeared right in front of Amu.
"The competitor from Death Paradise lives up to his reputation. This strike of his..."
The Gray Crow clan commentator's tone was extremely excited. After all, this was the first time he had seen a competitor use a big move right from the start.
Puchi!
Blood splattered. Amu stopped in his tracks, one hand gripping the long spear that had pierced his left chest. Ice spread along the spear. The enemy's attack hurt him, but it was just painful. This thunderous big move only cost Amu 5% of his health!
The sand beneath Cang Hu's feet sank, veins bulging on his neck. However, even using all his strength, the long spear in his hand couldn't penetrate any further after sinking in a small section. The enemy's physical defense was quite terrifying.
"Spear Blade Tornado."
"Nameless."
"Pain·E!"
Spear light crisscrossed, forming an air current around Cang Hu. Amu, however, remained in a defensive stance, standing still. After a full half minute, Amu wiped the blood from his face and swung his cold-ice war hammer downward. The attack was so clumsy that most of the audience was embarrassed.
Half an hour later...
Cang Hu crouched on one knee, panting heavily. His clothes were tattered, and wisps of cold air rose from his body.
The cold air attached to his body surface drastically reduced Cang Hu's speed. He simply couldn't get around Amu to fight Su Xiao in the distance.
Amu raised his cold-ice war hammer and swung it down. Seeing this, Cang Hu first leaned his body sideways, then leaped backward, agile and graceful.
Compared to the flashy Cang Hu, Amu was much more straightforward. When the enemy attacked, he used his left hand's cold-ice shield to block, then raised his right hand and swung the hammer down~
It was this simple attack that tortured Cang Hu to the point of agony. They had been fighting for half an hour, and the enemy's health... had fully recovered! That's right, fully recovered.
At first, Cang Hu could still injure Amu with his long spear, but after Amu's health dropped dozens of times, his health recovery speed began to become terrifying.
After all, this was an ability obtained from 13 Seal Boxes. Having this level of strength wasn't surprising.
What made Cang Hu even more despairing was that his real opponent had been sitting in the distance the entire time.
"Ah!!"
Cang Hu, his face covered in blood, roared and charged toward Su Xiao. The Gray Crow clan commentator on the commentary platform had long stopped talking. He couldn't continue commentating.
"You can do it, young man! Don't give up!"
A loud shout came from the audience. The spectators began cheering for Cang Hu. It felt like a righteous young challenger was taking on the big bad boss, with the surrounding onlookers cheering him on while eating popcorn.
With a whoosh, Cang Hu rushed in front of Su Xiao. Lightning surged on the long spear in his hand. The corners of Cang Hu's mouth slightly lifted. After fighting until now, he could finally face his enemy directly.
Su Xiao raised his hand. Cang Hu, who was charging toward him, suddenly showed a pained expression.
Puchi!
The shattered blade form of Banishment burst out from Cang Hu's chest. Cang Hu fell face-first onto the yellow sand in front of Su Xiao. Blood spread beneath him. He tremblingly raised his hand.
"You dropped in rank, fighting in the arena. What despicable behavior!"
Cang Hu glared at Su Xiao.
"Really... really weak."
A spectator who had been cheering just moments earlier let out a dry laugh. Hearing this, Cang Hu's mouth opened and closed before he disappeared, probably "greeting" the other person's family and friends.