Chapter 96: Please Stop Your Instant Tanking Behavior
The Three Brothers of National Football had clearly failed in their equipment enhancement, and in the crowd, Gulu from the Traveling Group held her forehead. She had recently been locked in a battle with the Equipment Enhancement Hall as well; 60% of the income she earned handling the Tuanzhang's affairs was spent here.
Su Xiao watched the Three Brothers of National Football as they beat on the equipment enhancement machine. After observing for a moment, he circled around and walked past.
"Ura, ura, ura..."
The eldest brother's roar was particularly grief-stricken. The three brothers had come to enhance their protective gear. After the eldest brother's gear shattered, the youngest got carried away, and the result was predictable. Then the second brother also lost his head.
Three pieces of equipment shattered, and all three brothers were furious. After preparing the penalty fees, they began to pummel the enhancement machine. They had been under immense pressure lately, having lost count of how many times they had nearly died. If they didn't vent soon, they would crack.
"Try failing on me one more time!"
The eldest brother took off a ring on his finger, told the second and third to wait a moment, and placed the ring into the enhancement machine.
A few minutes later, a burst of high-temperature steam sprayed from the machine. The enhancement succeeded. The three brothers were all satisfied. A +1 success was still a success; at least it felt much better mentally.
The auras of the Three Brothers of National Football had grown significantly stronger. The number of worlds they had recently experienced was astonishing.
One day, the second brother suddenly said, "Big brother, I feel like either we become sharks in the sea, or we gradually turn into salted fish."
"We will become sharks."
"Alright."
"I... can I become a shark-eagle?" (the youngest spoke weakly)
"Hmm?! (the eldest and second turned to glare)"
"Sharks. We will definitely become sharks!"
After this simple conversation, the three brothers began frantically acquiring World Keys, entering worlds at a high intensity to boost their strength. They had once turned the tide in a fifth-rank War World, and during their last world progress, all three successfully advanced to sixth rank.
An awkward problem emerged: they had advanced too quickly, causing their resources to fall behind. Fortunately, their inherited professions were mid-to-late bloomers, and they were now starting to show their power.
Although the National Football brothers' strength lagged far behind Su Xiao's, they had surpassed many of their former fellow rank contractors. The fact that they had encountered Su Xiao in the Ghost World back then proved they hadn't fallen too far behind.
Or rather, if Su Xiao hadn't participated in the Strongest Warrior Tournament, he would already be seventh rank, while the National Football brothers would be sixth.
A +1 enhancement success. After comforting themselves, the three brothers strode out of the Equipment Enhancement Hall with their heads held high. Even if they were crying inside and couldn't find the right tune to sob to, they didn't show it.
Inside the Equipment Enhancement Hall, Su Xiao removed [Azure Will (Holy Spirit Rank · Pendant)] from his equipment, placed it on a metal tray, and the tray retracted into the enhancement machine.
[Equipment verification in progress... Verification complete. Azure Will (Holy Spirit Rank · Pendant) has no enhancement level. To enhance this equipment, each enhancement consumes Soul Crystal (Complete) × 1.]
[You have used "Proof of Triumph" on "Azure Will."]
[You have paid Soul Crystal (Complete) × 13.]
[You have selected to enhance 13 times consecutively. Success rate: 100%.]
The enhancement machine started up, rumbling loudly, with occasional sparks shooting from the gaps. The noise was impressive.
"Fail~"
A muttering voice came from behind. It was Gulu. This wasn't a coincidence; Gulu had practically been living in the Equipment Enhancement Hall recently. It was fortunate she was a member of the Traveling Group, or she wouldn't have the capital.
Su Xiao felt no pressure. The wait wasn't long; an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Pfft~
Steam burst from the enhancement machine, and the tray popped out. Under Gulu's astonished gaze, the radiance of [Azure Will] became subdued.
[Azure Will +13 successful.]
Su Xiao picked up [Azure Will] from the tray. Seeing this, Gulu narrowed her eyes. She had calculated that this machine had run at least 13 times consecutively, meaning this equipment had been enhanced to at least +13.
Gulu admitted it: she was jealous.
Su Xiao stood in front of the enhancement machine without moving. Wisps of light gold steam drifted from the machine, caused by the effect of "Proof of Triumph."
"If you're not using it, move aside. This is public property."
Gulu smiled, revealing her little canine teeth. She felt that this machine had received some kind of buff—gold steam was coming out of it. This buff wouldn't last long and would soon dissipate. She could try to leech off the effect.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He turned and walked away. Gulu stood there for a moment, thinking, then decided not to try. She felt Su Xiao was scheming against her.
Leaving the Equipment Enhancement Hall, Su Xiao took out [Azure Will +13].
[Azure Will +13 (Holy Spirit Rank · Pendant)]
Durability: 85/90
Equipment Prerequisite: Mastery Level Lv.30 or above in Melee Basic Ability (Only one pendant equipment can be worn).
Equipment Effect (Unique): All melee-type abilities have their overall damage intensity increased by 31% (+13 enhancement provides an additional 11% damage intensity bonus).
Rating: 1000+ (Holy Spirit Rank equipment ranges from 700 to 1000 points)
Description: This is... the Azure Will. Only technique masters are worthy of wearing it.
Selling Price: This item cannot be sold after being worn.
...
Fighting with a blade is also a melee-type ability. This means that even if other abilities are excluded, the damage intensity of Dragon-Slaying Flash has increased by 11%.
If you add the bonus from Blade Grandmaster, it completely outclasses enhancing only Dragon-Slaying Flash. This shows that enhancing [Azure Will] is the wiser choice, yielding greater benefits.
Returning to his Exclusive Room, Su Xiao placed Dragon-Slaying Flash on the wooden table and took out two gems from his storage space: [Mystic Trace Gem] and [Flowing God].
Mystic Trace Gem: When embedded in a weapon, weapon sharpness +85 points. Each attack on an enemy reduces their defense by 8% (this effect can stack, up to a maximum of 30% defense reduction, lasting 30 minutes).
[To perform this embedding, a total of 700,000 Paradise Coins must be paid.]
Two Holy Spirit Rank gems, each costing 350,000 Paradise Coins to embed. Su Xiao chose to embed them.
The Mystic Trace Gem and Flowing God Gem rapidly shrank, eventually becoming the size of rice grains, embedded at the end of Dragon-Slaying Flash's hilt. There was still one more slot for embedding a Holy Spirit Rank gem.
Currently, Dragon-Slaying Flash had a sharpness bonus of up to 320 points, plus the defense reduction effect. Combined with the high true damage of Azure Steel Shadow energy, the terrifying bonus from Blade Dao, and the bonus from Azure Will, when Su Xiao fought a sixth-rank main tank, the tank's protective gear was like a sheet of paper. As for shields, at best they were paper folded over.
Without a suitable gem, Su Xiao didn't continue embedding. Whether he could get the last Holy Spirit Rank gem depended on the black market merchant. The Black Sail Merchant Guild had specialized gem traders. Su Xiao now had 322 Soul Coins (seventh rank), so he wasn't worried about the price of a Holy Spirit Rank gem. The key was finding one suitable for Dragon-Slaying Flash.
As for the [Gem Bag] Su Xiao had obtained, it wasn't worth mentioning. He almost regretted not selling it.
Most matters were handled. Su Xiao could now focus on researching the new alchemy formula: Tree of Life.
Thinking about alchemy, Su Xiao hesitated. This ability had been immensely helpful to him. He was torn about whether to invest resources in it—very important resources.
Weighing the pros and cons, Su Xiao felt alchemy was worth the investment. His current strength was inseparable from alchemy. In worlds with major factions, Su Xiao could ignore the influence of his Charm Attribute and become a honored guest of those factions precisely because he had mastered alchemy.
Of course, if it were a neutral evil, chaotic neutral, or chaotic evil faction, Su Xiao wouldn't even need alchemy to secure a high position. With his Charm Attribute and aura, the leaders of such factions would, upon seeing him, go through the impression change of: This isn't a lawful faction person → Strong enough in combat → Worth recruiting → Excellent cooperation partner → One of us.
Su Xiao took out the [Book of Doors], opened its heavy cover, picked up a fountain pen, and began writing on the first page. He planned to use the [Book of Doors] to trade with void entities.
Soon, an entire page was filled. Su Xiao closed the [Book of Doors] and began to wait.
A few minutes passed. The [Book of Doors] suddenly flipped open on its own, then closed again after a moment. An entity had attempted a trade, but unfortunately, the alchemy knowledge it offered was not certified by the Void Tree and Reincarnation Paradise. It wasn't that the knowledge was bad, but the trade was unequal. The knowledge it presented wasn't worth a single "Treeborn Page."
After another half hour or so, the Book of Doors opened again. On the first page, the Treeborn Page, the text Su Xiao had written gradually disappeared. The entire page began to blacken from the top, spreading downward.
A metal page covered in twisted writing slowly appeared, inch by inch replacing the "Treeborn Page." The trade was complete.
The black metal page floated up gently, splitting apart with a rustling sound, forming a metal book at least ten centimeters thick.
With a thud, the black metal book fell onto the carpet. Su Xiao picked it up. It felt very heavy.
The value of this item was beyond doubt, having been double-certified by both the Void Tree and Reincarnation Paradise.