Chapter 26: The "Trial Card" Expires
Su Xiao locked the bedroom door, the thick curtains blocking the light and casting the room into dimness.
Bubu Wang was blending into the environment, guarding the door. Amu was on the first floor of the small building, and Baha was on the rooftop. With such tight security, Su Xiao felt much more at ease. Before fully mastering the Azure Shadow King, any interruption would have severe consequences—not necessarily instant death, but it would leave hidden flaws, preventing him from ever completely controlling the Azure Shadow King.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed. He first entered a meditative state, adjusting his condition to its peak.
The surrounding environment took on an ethereal quality. The colors of everything faded, yet they existed with striking clarity. Su Xiao could sense the clear wood grain on the cabinet a few meters away, the traces of insect damage amplified by his perception.
Beneath the small building, various insects were awakening in early spring. A sparrow flew across the sky; winter's scarcity of food had left its small body thin and weak, yet it still chirped incessantly, as if celebrating the arrival of spring.
Everything was natural and peaceful. The blade art was such a wondrous thing. When killing enemies, blood splattered and severed limbs flew, but during cultivation, it was natural and serene, using the heart to comprehend.
Su Xiao had absorbed the blood energy of ancient battlefields and had slain countless beings. Even so, he had never developed a heart demon or gone mad with slaughter. The reason was his daily practice of heart meditation. How he fought enemies didn't matter, but after killing, he had to calm his heart. He only acted according to his own will, not driven by heart demons or killing intent to go on a rampage. In Su Xiao's view, that was no different from death.
"Hoo~"
Su Xiao slowly exhaled. Unconsciously, two hours had passed. This was the only drawback of meditation—when perceiving nature, one unconsciously ignored the passage of time. Meditating in each world brought a unique experience.
In the Holy Grail World, it was "Wailing." In the Shia Continent, it was "Light." In the Dark Crow World, it was "Murmuring Whispers," like a dark, enchanting witch softly whispering in the ear. In the Ghost World, it was "Distortion." In the Black King World, it was "Dead Silence." In the Wizard World, it was "Weeping."
The Light and Dark World had no particular characteristics, at least not that Su Xiao had sensed. This world seemed to be shrouded by something, likely the influence of an Ancient God.
In truth, Su Xiao was still somewhat uneasy about delving deep into Doom Town. The Ancient God inside was arguably the strongest he had ever encountered. Even Mage Sage Seraphilia of Arcane Eternal Star hadn't given him such a sense of oppression.
It could be said that this Ancient God was a "meet-and-die" situation. Even so, Su Xiao still planned to explore Doom Town. He had a bold idea. If his conjecture was correct, this Ancient God would be an opportunity.
Putting these thoughts aside for now, Su Xiao remained seated cross-legged on the bed, gradually activating the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy within his body. If he wasn't mistaken, this was his last Shadow Burn.
Shadow Burn was a "trial card," generated by pushing Su Xiao's body to its limits. He had previously misunderstood one thing: this ability wasn't meant for combat.
Su Xiao had wondered why the Azure Shadow King's consumption was so absurdly high. The ability to recover 20% upon killing an enemy was useless against strong foes, though it was decent for group battles. The problem was, he couldn't even activate Shadow Burn during group battles—he'd be exhausted within half an hour. Having more mana was pointless; was he supposed to take it to the grave?
To address this, Su Xiao had even developed the Blade Shadow Burn. Looking back now, this seemed to have deviated from the right path. After all, no other Law Destroyer was guiding him. His unreliable mentor, Mawen Hua'erzi, had met Su Xiao fewer than ten times in total, making it difficult to provide guidance even if he wanted to.
Only now did Su Xiao understand that Shadow Burn's purpose was to train the body, allowing it to gradually adapt to the Azure Shadow King. The mana recovery derived from Shadow Burn was merely to prevent mana depletion during combat training.
Miscellaneous thoughts quickly faded. The Cyan Steel Shadow Energy within Su Xiao's body was fully activated. Blue flames rose from his skin, drifting like flowing smoke.
Dark blue patterns emerged on both sides of Su Xiao's cheeks. Unlike before, these patterns began spreading down to his ears, then along his neck to his torso.
Before long, the dark blue patterns extended from Su Xiao's sleeves, climbing onto his hands.
Su Xiao's body had fully adapted to Shadow Burn. The Cyan Steel Shadow Energy within him was activated to its limit, flowing through his blood throughout his body.
*Thump!*
His heart beat like a drum, one exceptionally heavy pulse. Pain, numbness, itchiness, and swelling—several sensations echoed throughout his body. Su Xiao furrowed his brow, feeling as if his body was being torn apart inch by inch, then healing, then tearing again.
The blue flames on his skin surged more violently. Su Xiao focused his mind, struggling to stay conscious. The Law Destroyers' ability enhancements were never a pleasant experience. Thinking about it, the previous Law Destroyers pursued power. The abilities they developed only considered three points: 1. Was it strong enough? 2. Would mastering it kill you? 3. Would it damage one's own essence?
If these three points were met, then the ability was considered successfully developed. As for the experience of mastering it, if other Law Destroyers were still alive, they would only chuckle and say, "We all went through this. Just endure it."
Contrary to meditation, Su Xiao felt time stretch endlessly. Every minute, every second seemed to freeze, the tearing pain throughout his body growing stronger.
Half an hour later, sweat dripped from Su Xiao's chin. His health had dropped to 42%. Yes, a Law Destroyer's ability enhancement could be so extreme as to cost health.
Su Xiao had already forgotten how he had endured that half hour. After getting through it, he suddenly realized that the excruciating pain all over his body was nothing—because now... it hurt even more.
Enduring the pain of cultivation was the path to strength. Su Xiao firmly believed this, so he chose to bear it and carefully experience it. This way, he wouldn't have the same experience again in the future, because he would have grown accustomed to it.
When Su Xiao fought enemies and had an arm cut off, he didn't even blink. It wasn't that he felt no pain or sensation. When a limb was severed, the wound would first go numb, then excruciating pain would gradually emerge from the numbness. When his stamina attribute wasn't high enough, this pain would require all his strength and focus to resist, forcing him to move slowly.
This was why people often could only crawl after a sharp weapon cut to the waist—one thing affects the whole. Pain was the body's protective mechanism. Once it exceeded a threshold, it became an enemy, one that required all one's strength to fight.
After being baptized by various Law Destroyer abilities, Su Xiao's pain tolerance was very high, which greatly aided him in battle.
Unconsciously, the excruciating pain within Su Xiao subsided. He immediately felt his body lighten. The Cyan Steel Shadow Energy within him was more condensed. The quantity hadn't increased, but the density had at least doubled.
He could feel a significant improvement in his speed. Although it wasn't as exaggerated as the boost from Shadow Burn, this was a permanent enhancement, not a "trial card."
[Prompt: Your Cyan Steel Shadow ability intensity has increased. Energy burning damage increased by 260 points.]
[Your health has increased by 7,500 points.]
[Your base neural reflex speed has permanently increased by 20 points.]
[Your base dynamic vision has permanently increased by 17 points.]
[Prompt: Base neural reflex speed and base dynamic vision can only be improved by increasing the agility attribute or through the awakening of very few abilities.]
...
Before Su Xiao could even open the Azure Shadow King's skill list to check, several prompts appeared. These weren't abilities of the Azure Shadow King, but permanent gains to his body after fully mastering it. Although the "Shadow Burn trial card" was gone, he had grown stronger through the process of experiencing it.