Chapter 54: The Invitation to the Empty Seat Banquet
After bidding farewell to the Divine Emperor, Su Xiao returned to his exclusive room. The benefits of a long-term trade with the Divine Emperor were now evident—the other party had a decent chance of obtaining a [Basic Passive Scroll]. This wasn’t even a matter of price anymore; it was simply too difficult to buy.
Sitting on the bed in his exclusive room, Su Xiao took a gem from his chest. The gem was entirely cyan in color and was called [Wolf Soul Stone].
Attempting to check the properties of the [Wolf Soul Stone], a prompt appeared.
[This Holy Spirit-level gem is undergoing transformation. Data cannot be viewed.]
Since obtaining this gem, Su Xiao still didn’t know what type it was. For now, he could only wait.
“Woof.”
Bubu Wang barked, meaning that the leaves and branches of the Black Maple Tree had been sorted. He asked if they should cut some new branches and leaves.
“This is enough. We’ll see how things go at the Empty Seat Banquet.”
Su Xiao tossed the World Core (Fragment) to Bubu Wang, instructing him to insert it into the soil near the Black Maple Tree, at least a few meters away, to test whether it would help the Black Maple Tree grow.
With the Empty Seat Banquet imminent, Su Xiao naturally had to prepare. His bargaining chip this time was the branches and leaves of the Black Maple Tree.
Among the members of the Starry Sky Seat, the Blade Demon had a Black Maple Tree that was 27.54 meters tall—the tallest known Black Maple Tree in the Void, about three meters taller than the one on Arcane Eternal Star.
If the Blade Demon brought a large section of Black Maple Tree to the Empty Seat Banquet, Su Xiao’s potential gains would be very limited.
However, a long time ago, Mawen Hua’erzi had sent Su Xiao a message, telling him to use the Black Maple Tree as leverage and raise the price as high as possible.
Mawen Hua’erzi was indeed a shameless mentor, but he had never deceived Su Xiao. Moreover, Su Xiao knew that the Blade Demon was also a member of the Starry Sky Seat. Mawen Hua’erzi must have found some way to prevent the Blade Demon from bringing Black Maple Tree products to the Empty Seat Banquet.
Thus, as the exclusive supplier of Black Maple Tree products at this Empty Seat Banquet, Su Xiao’s holdings could command a higher price.
In truth, Su Xiao was more curious about whether the Blade Demon would directly draw his blade and attack upon meeting him. If so, wouldn’t he be walking to his death?
The likelihood of this happening was very low. If outright robbery were possible, Su Xiao suspected the Blade Demon would have long been expelled from the Starry Sky Seat.
Assuming the members of the Starry Sky Seat were trustworthy, Su Xiao could present another bargaining chip: his alchemy skills.
The Tree Sage was a renowned alchemist even in the Void. Su Xiao believed that with his current level of alchemy, he could secure a status higher than that of an ordinary member within the Starry Sky Seat.
At that time, if members of the Starry Sky Seat needed to order alchemical potions or items, they would have to provide their own alchemical formulas and materials. Su Xiao would only charge a crafting fee. Not only would he gain substantial benefits, but he could also acquire many formulas—killing two birds with one stone.
Moreover, Su Xiao didn’t believe the Blade Demon was as completely irrational as legend claimed. If that were the case, it was unlikely he would join the Empty Seat Banquet. The Blade Demon was probably just not entirely clear-headed, occasionally indulging in wanton slaughter, or perhaps he had periods of lucidity.
If the Blade Demon came to order alchemical potions or items, Su Xiao would directly refuse. To this day, he still didn’t know why the other party wanted to kill him.
Setting these thoughts aside, the Empty Seat Banquet was an opportunity regardless. Whether he could fully rise within the seventh rank and lay the groundwork for greater strength depended on this.
Entering the Alchemy Laboratory, Su Xiao began exchanging materials to concoct [Oceanic Essence]. After completing five bottles of [Oceanic Essence], he took out the Alchemy Codex, flipped to the second page, and stared at the Mysterious Eye depicted there. This was to enhance the intensity and resilience of his mental strength, striving to turn the page as soon as possible.
After staring at the Mysterious Eye for half an hour, Su Xiao went to the bed and fell asleep as soon as he lay down.
In a haze, Su Xiao saw a blue glow. As his vision drew closer, the blue glow became clearer. Eventually, he realized it was his shameless mentor, Mawen Hua’erzi.
“Blade Demon… over there… you bring…”
“What?”
“Can… you hear… what kind of broken…”
Mawen Hua’erzi’s voice came in fragments before fading away.
Su Xiao suddenly opened his eyes, sat up in confusion on the bed. He seemed to have just seen Mawen Hua’erzi.
Lost in thought, Su Xiao got out of bed in a daze and headed toward the bathroom. Along the way, he seemed to step on two furry, stick-like objects—one thick, one thin.
“Meow!”
Beini, whose tail had been stepped on, jumped up. The next moment.
“Woof!”
Bubu Wang also sat up, his tail similarly stepped on. Seeing this, Beini felt a sense of balance restored.
After washing up, Su Xiao felt refreshed. With his current mental state, it was most suitable to go to the Land of All Beings and study “Secret Technique: Heavenly Flow.”
Twenty minutes later, in the training ground.
[Land of All Beings: Fifth Layer has been opened. Cost: 3 Soul Coins per hour.]
Amidst the raging snowstorm, Su Xiao sat cross-legged on a frozen rock. The Land of All Beings had seven layers in total. He had never obtained access to the sixth layer, and the method for doing so remained unknown.
Taking out the scroll for [Secret Technique: Heavenly Flow] from his chest, Su Xiao unrolled it. On it were Tianba clan characters the size of rice grains, along with several oddly shaped diagrams.
After a preliminary examination, Su Xiao learned that [Secret Technique: Heavenly Flow] was not a water-attribute blade technique but rather leaned toward the swiftness and sharpness of wind, with a sense of ethereal grace.
Su Xiao’s goal was not to imitate it completely. If he had that kind of time, he might as well directly use the [Secret Technique: Heavenly Flow] scroll and spend the saved time fighting in the Tree Arena.
“Heavenly Flow… the rhythm of airflow, huh.”
Su Xiao frowned. He had understood the content written on it within a few minutes, but grasping that unique essence would take time.
[Secret Technique: Heavenly Flow] was not a blade technique executed through specific postures. Such blade techniques had been phased out by the fourth rank. What mattered more was the essence of the technique.
The flow of wind and the sharpness of the blade aura—these were the core contents of [Secret Technique: Heavenly Flow]. Simple as they seemed, they were extremely difficult to master. Finding that feeling required gradual exploration.
Standing up from the frozen rock, Su Xiao drew the long blade at his waist, closed his eyes, and sensed the surrounding wind and snow.
Clang.
A semicircular blade aura appeared, dissipating before traveling far. First, he needed to find that essence, then, based on his own feelings, develop a blade technique more suited to himself.
The arduous training began. Sometimes, Su Xiao would strike a blade every few minutes; other times, he would sit on the frozen rock for hours without moving, only his slow breathing proving he was still alive. Becoming strong required a price—sometimes danger, sometimes monotonous training.
After 54 hours, Su Xiao left the Land of All Beings, returning to the Real World half an hour early.
…
Real World, Second Floor of the Accessory Shop.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the floor, the Tang Hong long blade laid flat across his legs. His hand slowly rose.
Clang.
A semi-transparent blade aura appeared in the air before him, not immediately disappearing but hovering motionless.
“Still not working, huh.”
Su Xiao sheathed the Tang Hong. Developing a new technique was no easy task—he had anticipated this.
After going downstairs to open the shop, with nothing else to do, Su Xiao began tackling a puzzle game. He was waiting—waiting for the invitation from the Starry Sky Seat.
Two days passed. Su Xiao even temporarily postponed entering the new world. This was one of the benefits of advancing to a higher rank: he could delay, but he couldn’t avoid entering the new world entirely.
On the morning of the third day back in the Real World, a strange sensation came from his storage space. A black card was slowly rotating inside. The invitation to the Empty Seat Banquet had arrived.
With half an hour left before his stay in Reincarnation Paradise ended, Su Xiao chose to temporarily return to his exclusive room.
As the spatial fluctuations dissipated, Su Xiao appeared in his exclusive room. At that moment, the black card suddenly materialized before him. It rapidly rotated, forming a black vortex that quickly expanded into a pitch-black spatial passage. Inside, it was as dark as ink, even giving a viscous sensation.
[Prompt: Detected that the Hunter is about to arrive in the Void.]
[Hunter attempts to temporarily postpone entry into the new world. Due to the Hunter’s multiple hunts of high-risk Violators, this permission has been granted.]
[Detecting the area the Hunter is about to arrive in…]
[Detection complete. Will you permanently consume Lv.5 Hunter Authority to seal this area for a certain duration? Seal intensity: Seventh Rank. Upon successful sealing, units above the Seventh Rank will be unable to enter this area for 48 hours.]