Chapter 54: Serendipity and Encounter
[The Hunter holds over 1,000 Soul Coins and has participated in multiple World Wars, gaining access to the Trade Street.]
[Note: Only Seventh Rank Contractors may enter the Trade Street.]
[The Trade Street is located east of the Equipment Enhancement Hall…]
Two new permissions: one was the Tree Arena, and the other was the Trade Street.
The former wasn’t urgent for now. Su Xiao still had many matters to handle and certainly wouldn’t go to compete in the arena. Moreover, the Tree Arena had limited competition opportunities. He would wait until after improving his strength and having time to understand the situation there before checking it out.
The Trade Street was near the Equipment Enhancement Hall, not far from Su Xiao’s current location. Since he needed to adapt to his strengthened body anyway, taking a stroll there wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Following the location given by the prompt, Su Xiao arrived at an arched gate over twenty minutes later. The arch was several meters high, with ferocious-looking heads carved on both sides, representing various races. Su Xiao only recognized a small portion of them.
The interior of the arch was pitch black. On both sides stood towering buildings, completely enclosed from above, making it impossible to see inside the arch from a higher vantage point.
Su Xiao reached his hand into the arch. It seemed to pass through a thin membrane, and he touched a hard object. He knocked on it with his knuckles; the texture felt like metal.
A figure walked out from inside the arch. The newcomer wore a metal mask, and their eyes were deep and profound.
"What a serendipity."
The person was draped in a fur-collared coat, with a lean build and a height similar to Su Xiao’s.
"Already at Seventh Rank, huh. Keep fighting. Your ‘prey’ will only get tougher. Kill all those traitorous wastes."
The man turned his back to Su Xiao, raised a hand in farewell, and then walked unhurriedly into the distance. Whether it was an illusion or not, the passing Contractors seemed completely unaware of his existence.
Su Xiao was certain he had never seen this man before, yet the other recognized him. Judging by his tone, he even knew something about Su Xiao’s situation, at least what Rank he had been previously.
Su Xiao stepped through the membrane of the arch. The surroundings dimmed slightly. He raised his hand to check and found it shrouded in black mist; his mask should be the same.
Ahead was a street about ten meters wide, paved with light black stone slabs. The lighting was somewhat dim, but normal vision was fine. The top was sealed off, yet the atmosphere wasn’t oppressive. The semi-enclosed environment gave a sense of security. The fresh air and slightly dim light made one feel much more relaxed.
This was a straight street of unknown length. There weren’t many people on it, and stalls lined both sides.
Su Xiao randomly approached a stall and found it covered in Epic-grade materials, with a few Holy Spirit-grade items mixed in. All prices were listed in Soul Coins. Epic-grade materials cost around 8 to 15 Soul Coins, while Holy Spirit-grade materials started at 30 Soul Coins. The most expensive item was priced at 457 Soul Coins, a material called [Moon Wolf Marrow Fluid], which served both as a material and a Holy Spirit-grade bloodline item.
Su Xiao currently had 1,043 Soul Coins. He had thought himself fairly wealthy, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
The stalls on both sides of the Trade Street were sparse. A world cycle had just ended, and Seventh Rank Contractors were busy improving themselves, with no time to set up stalls. In a few hours, the number of vendors would gradually increase.
What Su Xiao wanted to know now was whether Beini had permission to come here. The Trade Market was vast, but trying to acquire Holy Spirit-grade items there was very difficult, and even Epic-grade items weren’t easy.
Earlier, Su Xiao had wondered why Seventh Rank Contractors didn’t sell Holy Spirit-grade items. Now it seemed the Trade Street was the reason.
By Seventh Rank, Soul Coins were clearly more popular. Sometimes, after killing a powerful enemy in a world, the reward mechanism would grant a certain number of Soul Coins, which could then be spent to exchange items from a reward list. This was a blessing for those with bad luck. Moreover, 1 Soul Coin was roughly equivalent to 150,000 Paradise Coins, exchangeable through Reincarnation Paradise.
As long as one had enough Soul Coins, Holy Spirit-grade items weren’t hard to find on the Trade Street. Although finding something suitable was still tricky, it was far better than searching for a needle in a haystack in the Trade Market.
After walking a few minutes down the Trade Street, Su Xiao noticed a doorway in the wall beside the street. He stepped inside. Within Reincarnation Paradise, he wasn’t worried about encountering danger.
Light flickered before his eyes. Su Xiao looked around and found himself back at the entrance of the Trade Street. Understanding dawned on him. The Trade Street must be very long, and those doorways along the street were exits, saving a lot of time.
Su Xiao headed toward his Exclusive Room. He planned to first consolidate his resources, improve his strength, and then bring Beini to the Trade Street for a "spending spree." As for Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha, their first visit to the Trade Street might interest them, but after a few times, they’d rather wander around elsewhere.
When Su Xiao returned to his Exclusive Room, he only saw Bubu Wang lying on the bed.
"Bubu, did the potential activation work?"
"Woof."
Bubu Wang jumped off the bed, its eyes saying it had discovered something very important.
From Bubu Wang’s account, Su Xiao learned that its first potential activation had gone quite well. Its True Agility attribute had jumped directly from 100 points to 126 points. Such an exaggerated increase was mainly due to Su Xiao’s boost, as the potential activation ability came from the [Subordinate Contract Mark].
The higher Su Xiao’s Agility attribute, the greater the increase in Bubu Wang’s Agility during potential activation. A single increase of 26 points had left Bubu Wang stunned.
Bubu Wang also had another ability for potential activation: the Charm attribute. With an enthusiastic attitude, Bubu Wang attempted potential activation on its Charm attribute. The result was that Bubu Wang’s Charm attribute actually increased by 1 point.
Bubu Wang was incredulous. It knew perfectly well that Su Xiao’s Charm attribute was 1 point. It had taken the risk of its Charm attribute dropping to test what would happen if Charm fell below 1 point and whether there would be serious consequences.
If there were negative effects, Bubu Wang would report the findings, and Su Xiao would use that information to convert some True Attribute Points into regular attribute points to raise his Charm.
Bubu Wang’s test result showed that a drop in Charm wasn’t as bad as imagined, at least according to the potential activation outcome.
"Oh? The Charm attribute actually increased by 1 point."
Su Xiao was also surprised. This gave him a bold conjecture. Raising the Charm attribute wasn’t easy, but making it drop below 1 point wasn’t simple either. The Charm attribute seemed to stubbornly stay at 1 point for a long time, holding firm in a way that was hard to believe.
"Woof (personally tested)."
"Mm, a good attempt."
"Woof."
"No reward. This bed seems a bit lower…"
"Woof woof!"
Bubu Wang wagged its tail rapidly, meaning: "Master, the treasure chests haven’t been opened yet! So many chests, you have to open them! I’ll help open them too."
"…"
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed and took out five treasure chests and one Scarlet Card. Among the chests, four were Holy Spirit-grade, and one was a growth-type equipment chest that could yield white to Holy Spirit-grade growth equipment.
Su Xiao picked up the first Holy Spirit-grade chest. This was dropped by Bone Spider Carlo, the old councilor’s maid. Among the four Holy Spirit-grade chests, this one had the lowest value.
Lighting a cigarette, the Lucky King state activated. Su Xiao planned to open the Archbishop’s chest and the growth-type equipment chest last, as both should bring him surprises.
[You have opened a Holy Spirit-grade chest.]
[You have obtained Spider’s Tear (Holy Spirit-grade · Pendant).]
The surprise came too suddenly. Without even checking the equipment’s attributes, Su Xiao knew this item was definitely valuable. Any pendant was valuable, as one could wear many pieces of equipment, but only one pendant could be equipped.