Chapter 25: Getting Stronger and Even Stronger
Leaving his exclusive room, Su Xiao headed straight to Xia's restaurant. He had only eaten simple things in the past 36 hours, and now he was ravenous. He felt like he could eat a whole cow.
Familiar with the route, he arrived at Xia's restaurant. Xia was lying bored on a dining table, yawning.
"This crappy shop is doomed~ (going under)."
Xia lazily sat up and had just taken out a tablet when Su Xiao walked into the restaurant.
"Oh? You survived."
Xia looked at Su Xiao in surprise.
"Is surviving such a strange thing?"
Su Xiao picked up the menu on the table and ordered over a dozen dishes, then tossed the menu to Bubuteni.
Bubuteni's dog face showed a contemplative expression. A furry paw patted the menu repeatedly, indicating the selection of certain dishes.
Although it was a bit odd for a canine to order food, Xia still noted down the dishes Bubuteni had chosen.
After Bubu Wang ordered several dozen dishes, Xia's expression started to sour. Having customers was good, but this canine was way too much of an eater.
"Can you finish all that?"
Su Xiao looked at Bubuteni.
"Woof."
"Whatever you want."
Su Xiao could already understand some canine speech. His beast language was around level 6, with the max being level 10~.
"Um~, guest~."
Xia let out an awkward laugh, interrupting Bubuteni from continuing to order.
"We're out of ingredients. That's all we have."
Xia was a bit embarrassed. Her shop didn't stock too many ingredients, since there weren't usually many customers.
Bubuteni stared at Xia, his gaze clearly saying: 'What kind of crappy shop is this?'
Xia was stunned. She felt like she had been looked down on by a dog, even though this dog was imposing in appearance and had high intelligence.
Xia glanced at her own slender arms and legs, then at Bubuteni's size, and decided to endure it.
Xia started bustling around in the kitchen, while Su Xiao and Bubuteni feasted in the dining area.
An hour later, Xia was drenched in sweat, leaning against a chair, motionless. Sweat dripped down her cheeks, making it look like she had done something unspeakable with Su Xiao, but that wasn't the case. She had just been cooking the whole time.
"This isn't eating a meal, it's so tiring... My waist."
Sweat plastered Xia's hair to her face, but when she saw the 100 Paradise Coin savings card Su Xiao had left on the table, she couldn't help but smile.
"Generous guest."
...
Walking through Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao patted his stomach contentedly and headed straight for the Attribute Enhancement Hall.
His three main attributes were about to reach 30 points. Once all three main attributes hit 30, a new skill for Shadow of Law Destruction would unlock.
This time, Su Xiao planned to appropriately increase his stamina attribute, at least to 20 points.
Arriving at the Attribute Enhancement Hall, he paid 100 Paradise Coins to gain access to an attribute enhancement pod.
[Welcome to the Attribute Enhancement Pod. Your unarmored attributes are as follows.]
Strength: 29
Agility: 28
Stamina: 18
Intelligence: 28
Charm: 3
[Hunters may freely distribute attribute points: 16 points.]
[Ding, detected that the Hunter's main attributes are Strength, Agility, and Intelligence. Please prioritize enhancing these three attributes.]
With a total of 16 attribute points to freely distribute, Su Xiao's allocation was: Strength +3, Agility +4, Intelligence +4, Stamina +5.
This time, he focused on strengthening the stamina attribute. Stamina couldn't be too low. Strength, Agility, and Intelligence all needed to be supported by Stamina. If the three main attributes were too much higher than Stamina, the body's functions would start to break down.
For example, throwing a punch with 50 points of Strength while having only 10 points of Stamina would cause the arm to break down mid-swing. That was self-harm, not combat.
[Attribute distribution complete. Enhancement begins. Enhancement will be accompanied by significant pain. Use anesthesia function? This function is free.]
Su Xiao ignored the prompt and chose to start the enhancement.
The attribute enhancement pod began to operate. Su Xiao closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the floor. His jaw muscles bulged, and his skin gradually turned red.
Just as Su Xiao prepared to welcome the intense pain, the unbearable agony he had imagined didn't appear.
Although enhancing attributes was still not easy, it was much better than the previous feeling of being worse than dead.
Su Xiao was a bit puzzled, then thought of something. Maybe it was because he had enhanced his stamina.
After a long while, the enhancement pod stopped. The redness on Su Xiao's skin faded. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
Crack, crack, crack~.
Surging power welled up inside him. Having an unarmored stamina attribute over 20 points didn't trigger a reward; that was a privilege only for the three main attributes.
Now, Su Xiao's attributes had become:
Strength: 32
Agility: 32
Stamina: 23
Intelligence: 32
Charm: 3
That unarmored 3-point charm attribute was a bit glaring, but the other attributes were all very strong.
With an unarmored stamina of 23 points, plus the bonus from Arena King, it reached 25 points. His survivability had increased by a tier, but he still needed to be careful. This didn't solve the problem of being focused down and killed instantly.
All three main attributes had exceeded 30 points. Su Xiao asked Reincarnation Paradise, after the reward for reaching 20 points in attributes, how many points were needed for the next reward.
Reincarnation Paradise's reply was to raise all three main attributes to 50 points. The reward at that point would be vastly different from the one at 20 points. Each attribute's reward could significantly enhance his combat power.
Su Xiao checked the skill list for Shadow of Law Destruction. Sure enough, a new skill could now be unlocked. The requirements weren't low: Soul Crystal (Medium) + 5000 Paradise Coins.
He didn't unlock the new ability immediately. Instead, he left the Attribute Enhancement Hall and returned to his exclusive room.
Back in his exclusive room, Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed.
At this moment, Bubuteni was full of energy. His big, dark eyes scanned around. The dumbbell had already been sacrificed, handle and all. He walked over to the sofa and stared at it blankly, seeming to take an interest in this object. The sofa was in despair; it was worth 15 Paradise Coins.
Su Xiao didn't notice Bubuteni. He needed to upgrade his Shadow of Law Destruction skills. Several abilities needed improvement.
He took out all the soul crystals he had obtained and placed the [Golden Honor Scroll] in front of him.
Soul Crystal (Small) × 2, Soul Crystal (Medium) × 1.
Su Xiao picked up two Soul Crystals (Small). He planned to upgrade the Azure Steel Shadow ability first. Currently, Azure Steel Shadow had reached Lv.7 and was very powerful.
Consuming two Soul Crystals (Small) + 2000 Paradise Coins, the Azure Steel Shadow skill rose by two levels.
[Azure Steel Shadow has been upgraded to Lv.8.]
[Azure Steel Shadow has been upgraded to Lv.9.]
The peculiar energy within Su Xiao grew. He had a vague feeling that Azure Steel Shadow would undergo a qualitative change upon reaching Lv.10.
Azure Steel Shadow: Lv.9 (Active Skill)
Usage Condition: After activating (Azure Steel Shadow), the Hunter consumes 5 mana points per minute. Automatically deactivates when mana falls below 1%.
Skill Effect: After activating (Azure Steel Shadow), each melee attack will drain 34 mana points from the enemy and deal an equal amount of true damage. The enemy will suffer intense pain from the mana burn.
...
Azure Steel Shadow's damage was becoming increasingly terrifying. What did 34 points of true damage mean?
However, the consumption of 5 mana points per minute was also a headache. Assuming Su Xiao didn't have his talent ability, his current mana pool was only 320 points. Azure Steel Shadow could last for at most one hour.
After strengthening Azure Steel Shadow, Su Xiao picked up the [Golden Honor Scroll]. This scroll could upgrade his Blade Specialization to Blade Mastery.
Blade techniques were Su Xiao's core ability. Each level-up enhanced his combat power, let alone an entire rank upgrade.
Calming his mind, Su Xiao used the [Golden Honor Scroll].