Chapter 94: Forced Removal
In the lounge of the arena, Su Xiao drank a glass of cold lemon water. The sour taste refreshed him.
Su Xiao had just finished lunch. He came to the arena intending to test the Azure Shadow King through actual combat, but after two consecutive matches, he couldn't find any opponents. Neither the Nameless Saint nor Hugh was willing to fight him.
The Nameless Saint and Hugh occupied the first and second positions in the arena, which was perfectly reasonable. Their strength was evident to all. The former represented the Apocalypse Paradise in the powerhouse competition, while the latter represented the Arcane Eternal Star.
It wasn't just these two. Among the top ten, there were other familiar faces. Woldi of the Demon Race ranked sixth, Yamu of the Sanctuary Paradise ranked ninth. As for the simpleton Mond, Su Xiao didn't see him in the top ten.
Su Xiao guessed that Mond hadn't made it into the top ten because the Demon Race and the Feather Race were at war, leaving Mond with little time for arena battles.
The current problem was that after Su Xiao climbed to the first position, he couldn't find any opponents at all. Thinking about it, since the second and third place had both blocked him, it would be strange if he could match anyone.
With that, Su Xiao brought Bubu Wang and Baha to leave the arena. Halfway there, Bubu and Baha had already wandered off somewhere to have fun.
Returning to his exclusive room, Su Xiao sat on the sofa and took out 30 Soul Crystals (Complete) from his storage space. After reaching Blade Mastery Lv.40 and above, each level-up required 30 Soul Crystals (Complete).
Fighting with the blade was exhilarating, but the cost of improvement was high. Fortunately, it was a cumulative process.
[Yes/No to upgrade Blade Grandmaster Lv.40. Upgrading this ability consumes Soul Crystal (Complete) × 30 + 700,000 Paradise Coins.]
Su Xiao chose to upgrade. The 30 Soul Crystals on the coffee table in front of him all shattered, surging toward him.
Su Xiao's vision turned black and white, black on the right, white on the left, the division clear. Suddenly, black and white began to converge at the dividing line, twisting into a sphere of intertwined black and white.
'The world... begins and ends in a single thought.'
With a bang, the intertwined black-and-white sphere exploded. Countless transparent humanoid figures, each wielding a long blade, charged at Su Xiao, blade auras crisscrossing.
Su Xiao's vision returned to normal. He was still sitting on the sofa in his exclusive room.
[Blade Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.42.]
[Blade Grandmaster: Lv.42 (Passive Skill)]
Skill Effect: Increases blade-type weapon attack power by 609% (increase of 10%), neural reflex speed +191% (increase of 6%), immune to mental control, immune to mind-based seduction, induction, etc.
Lv.10 Ultimate Ability: Rhythm of All Things (Passive) ++++ (Breakthrough of four rank limits)
Lv.20 Ultimate Ability: Soul Blade (Passive)
Lv.30 Ultimate Ability: Blade's Extreme (Passive/Active)
Lv.40 Ultimate Ability: Heart·Soul·Blade (Passive)
...
The Blade Grandmaster ability had undergone some changes. Originally, the Lv.10 Ultimate Ability was Shadow Flash, but after Su Xiao's refinement, Shadow Flash had been categorized into his self-developed blade techniques.
The current Lv.10 Ultimate Ability, Rhythm of All Things, was the initial supplementary ability of the blade technique. After breaking through the limit once more, it had been promoted to the Lv.10 Ultimate Ability.
As for the effect of Rhythm of All Things, this ability was about perceiving nature, greatly enhancing meditation. It seemed inconspicuous, but it was an indispensable aid on Su Xiao's path to becoming stronger.
His personal improvements were largely complete. Su Xiao planned to deal with alchemy next. He had obtained a new formula earlier.
Just as Su Xiao was about to head to the alchemy laboratory, he received a message from Beini. She had contacted a buyer for [Heavenfall Calamity +14]. The bad news was that the buyer was a member of a merchant guild, making the transaction difficult.
It was well known how ruthless merchant guilds were at price suppression. Normally, Beini could easily handle merchant guild members, but this time, the other party had an item Su Xiao desperately needed, putting Beini at a disadvantage.
Upon hearing this news, Su Xiao left his exclusive room and headed to the trade market. The trade market was vast. After wandering around for a few laps, Su Xiao finally found Beini's stall.
The stall was located in the central area of the trade market. Although Su Xiao could use a stall in the trading ground for free, he couldn't occupy it for long.
This stall was purchased by Beini at a high price. Only she, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Amu, or Baha could use it.
Beini wasn't wasting money. She helped Su Xiao sell equipment, items, alchemical potions, and more. Especially the alchemical potions—every time Su Xiao returned to the Reincarnation Paradise, he would prepare over a dozen bottles.
Beini had been selling alchemical potions at the same stall for a long time, building up a reputation. Plus, the equipment and items she sold were of high quality, which naturally increased her fame. The benefits of a fixed stall were evident here.
It could be said that Beini's stall was a must-visit for many merchant guild members after each world progression ended.
At the moment, Beini was crouching behind the stall. In front of the stall stood a man wearing a top hat with a fake smile plastered on his face.
"Meow."
Beini pointed at the fake-smiling man, indicating that this was the buyer for [Heavenfall Calamity +14].
"Sir, you are?"
The fake-smiling man looked at Su Xiao, not paying him much attention. In his mind, the truly troublesome one was that cat—an old rival.
"Barter?"
Su Xiao picked up [Heavenfall Calamity] from the stall, his thumb brushing over the three gems at the end of the gun's handle.
"Of course not, sir. Please don't misunderstand. My offer is already very fair. 'Hunting Ring' itself is a Holy Spirit rank item, and its eight socket slots are enough to demonstrate its value."
With that, the fake-smiling man paused, as if waiting for Su Xiao to respond. Unfortunately, Su Xiao completely ignored him.
"The value of Heavenfall Calamity is unquestionable. According to market prices, Holy Spirit rank equipment ranges from 50 to 120 Seventh Rank Soul Coins. Of course, the enhancement level and socket effects of Heavenfall Calamity need to be calculated separately. Assuming its base price is 107 Soul Coins, the +14 enhancement level makes its value quite impressive."
The fake-smiling man praised [Heavenfall Calamity] without reservation. As for his claim that Holy Spirit rank equipment was priced at 50 to 120 Seventh Rank Soul Coins, that was indeed true. Almost all high-level merchants used Seventh Rank Soul Coins for transactions.
As a buyer, the fake-smiling man naturally wouldn't keep praising [Heavenfall Calamity]. Sure enough, after a moment of silence, he began to devalue it.
"However, sir, the socketing on Heavenfall Calamity is problematic. Gems already socketed into a weapon depreciate by 63.7% in price. Moreover, one of the three socket effects is quite unsatisfactory. It has nothing to do with combat and leans toward resource searching. Additionally, one of the weapon's attributes is designed for mining. Therefore, the total value of Heavenfall Calamity is 354 Soul Coins."
The fake-smiling man's offer wasn't actually low. He was laying the groundwork for the next transaction because he intended to exchange a special piece of equipment called [Hunting Ring] for [Heavenfall Calamity].
"If you want to convert Seventh Rank Soul Coins into Paradise Coins, we welcome that too. The exchange rate in the Reincarnation Paradise is 1 Seventh Rank Soul Coin equals 150,000 Paradise Coins. If you sell the Soul Coins to us, the price is 1 Seventh Rank Soul Coin equals 151,370 Paradise Coins."
As soon as the fake-smiling man finished speaking, he noticed Su Xiao had already lit a cigarette.
"Wait a moment."
Su Xiao's fingers pressed against the gems socketed into [Heavenfall Calamity]. [Heavenfall Calamity] was quite special. From the current situation, selling it with the gems attached would be a loss. Others weren't fools—they wouldn't miss such a good opportunity to drive down the price.
"Friend, what are you doing?"
Crack~
Su Xiao pried a gem off [Heavenfall Calamity], a Holy Spirit rank gem called [Fortune Stone].
As soon as Su Xiao forcibly removed this gleaming golden gem from [Heavenfall Calamity], it shattered into sparkling dust in his hand.
The fake-smiling man understood and let out a bitter laugh. The other party was far more decisive than he had expected, directly forcibly removing the gems from [Heavenfall Calamity].
After gems were socketed, regardless of what weapon they were attached to, if sold together with the weapon, shrewd merchants would calculate the weapon's base price and the gems separately, discounting the gems by over 60%.
Su Xiao intended to forcibly remove the three gems from [Heavenfall Calamity]. If he could safely remove [Storm Fang] or [Flowing God], he would make a huge profit. The Dragon-Slaying Flash desperately needed these two gems.
Storm Fang (Holy Spirit rank gem): Attacks deal Agility × 2.7 defense-ignoring damage and inflict a continuous bleeding effect.
Flowing God (Holy Spirit rank gem): Weapon sharpness +130 points, penetration +53 points.
With a crack, [Storm Fang] was forcibly removed by Su Xiao, only to shatter in his hand instantly. Even with his Lucky King blessing, the probability of successfully removing a gem was very low. Two Holy Spirit rank gems, gone just like that.
Crack.
[Flowing God] was removed. Su Xiao looked at the gem between his fingers. If this one shattered too, he would take a loss. But he could afford it.
[You have obtained 'Flowing God·Holy Spirit rank' gem.]
Su Xiao stored the [Flowing God] gem and tossed the [Heavenfall Calamity] in his hand to the fake-smiling man.
"Name your price. There are no gems on it now."
"Alright. My offers are always fair."
The fake-smiling man thought for a moment, then took out a metal bracelet and a small pouch containing Soul Coins.