Chapter 56: Birth
In the Void, on Arcane Eternal Star, in the Magic Grand Library, on the second underground floor.
The flame on the whale oil candle was nearly still. The Void was not a place of backward technology, but each major race had its unique living habits. For example, on Arcane Eternal Star, magic perfectly replaced technology.
The candlelight was not dim, brightly illuminating the surrounding dozen meters. This atmosphere was very suitable for peaceful reading.
The surrounding redwood bookshelves all had a sense of history. The air was filled with a faint scent of grass and wood, which could relieve mental fatigue.
A thin, robed spellcaster was sitting casually under a bookshelf. A cup of hot drink with orange mist swirling inside was placed on a low table beside him.
"Truly marvelous. So the elemental power I've been wielding all along has this characteristic. But... is devouring elemental power really alright?"
The casually seated spellcaster was engrossed in the thick book in his hands. He was Mage Energy Mentor Herros, who had once fought Su Xiao and suffered a crushing defeat. That battle had nearly shattered his beliefs. The strength he had always believed in was powerless against a Law Destroyer.
Because of this, Mage Energy Mentor Herros had been depressed for a long time, and his body had become thin. Yet, for some reason, this somewhat decadent aura attracted many young female spellcasters.
Honestly, Herros found it troublesome. In his view, they were all young people. They were more suited to male spellcasters of a similar age, not a failure like him, who was already middle-aged, about to head into old age, and had no great achievements.
While reading the ancient book, Herros's expression became even more decadent. He muttered softly:
"Maybe... devouring elemental power will eventually have consequences. Maybe... the balance of elements is really important? What... should I believe?"
Herros suddenly closed the book in his hands. He had decided on something, something concerning his life or death. Even if he were to die the next second, he decided to do it. His ideal was to explore the unknown. As for fighting, after being taught a lesson by some madman from a certain Paradise, he realized he wasn't cut out for it.
Herros's aura gradually weakened. Wood-attribute elemental power surged from all over his body. He was releasing the elemental power he had absorbed for years. This was nearly his source power, connected to his very life force.
Wrinkles quickly appeared on Herros's skin. He felt himself growing weaker, his life flame about to extinguish, and all the magic circuits within his body collapsing.
At that moment, Herros was astonished to find that all the wood-attribute elemental power around him surged back into his body.
The difference was that, because all his magic circuits had collapsed, he could no longer forcibly keep this source elemental power within him. This wood-attribute elemental power could leave his body at any time, and when it did, he would die.
"I once... bound you. Even so, you don't want to see me die?"
Herros raised his hand. A green vine emerged in his palm, grew rapidly, bloomed, and finally formed a wood-attribute elemental fruit. This was something Herros had always dreamed of, but now, he did it very casually.
If Herros wished, he could make all plants within dozens of kilometers grow wildly, including many supernatural plants. If he wanted, his wealth could become astonishingly vast in a short time.
"You're tired? Then come back and rest."
Herros raised his hand, and the surrounding wood-attribute elemental power slowly sank into his body. This place was no longer a cage. At this moment, Elemental Scholar Herros was born.
...
Inside Reincarnation Paradise, Gulu, wearing a Gothic dress, stood in front of the main entrance of the Attribute Enhancement Hall. Her smile was exceptionally sweet, the result of dozens of practices in front of a mirror.
Originally, with Gulu's personality, she couldn't have said what she just did or smiled so sweetly. This was all taught by the Witch. Initially, Gulu scoffed at it, but the Night Set was just too tempting.
Gulu had just successfully advanced to Seventh Rank, somewhat forcing her way up. She urgently needed to enhance her abilities or use equipment to get through this period of weakness.
Once this period passed, with resource help from Tuanzhang, Gulu's core abilities would successfully awaken over 60%. At that point, she could beat some top-tier Seventh Rank contractors down to the ground.
Gulu's talent and class template shared the same characteristic: challenging limits. Every success greatly increased her strength. Once she failed, she would die within one or two world progressions due to her own weakness.
Tuanzhang was willing to provide resources to Gulu partly because she was a member of the Travel Group, but not entirely. More so, Tuanzhang was somewhat surprised she had survived this long. This showed how extreme Gulu's talent and class template were, that even Tuanzhang was amazed she was still alive.
Amidst Gulu's smiling face, Su Xiao walked past her. Gulu's smile froze for an instant, then her expression began to darken. After a moment, it returned to normal, then darkened again, finally settling back into a smile.
"Calm down, I must stay calm. The Night Set is still in his hands, and I can't beat him. I can just pick up my dignity later. Yeah, that's it."
Gulu's expression returned to normal, then reverted to that look of wanting to stab anyone she saw. The 'show of force' with 'My Father' was complete. She could proceed to the next step according to the Witch's plan.
Gulu followed Su Xiao into the Attribute Enhancement Hall with a composed expression, looking around as she went.
"You didn't tell me to leave, so I still have a chance to buy the Night Walker Set. We were enemies before; selling me items is aiding the enemy."
"..."
Su Xiao stopped in front of an Attribute Enhancement Pod and looked sideways at Gulu.
"How about we aid each other's enemies? In principle, I'm aiding yours more heavily. If you get that thing..."
Gulu seemed to think of something and suddenly shuddered.
"If you get that thing, even if I break through my twelfth limit, I don't want to fight you. I'd die, I'd definitely die. You'd cut me down in a few slashes, and my Split Blade definitely couldn't block it."
"..."
Su Xiao frowned. He felt Gulu was praising her own goods. Clearly, she had prepared items to exchange for the Night Walker Set and was heavily promoting them.
"I haven't enhanced my attributes yet either. See you later."
Gulu opened the Attribute Enhancement Pod next door and walked in. She seemed very confident in the items she had prepared, after all, Tuanzhang had given them to her, complete with a long-term loan arrangement.
Gulu's plan was that she would be very poor for a while, so she intended to drag Su Xiao down with her. She didn't believe that, after getting that thing, he wouldn't invest a large amount of resources. It was his core ability; every investment would bring returns.
Ignoring Gulu for now, Su Xiao walked into the Attribute Enhancement Pod.
[Welcome to High-Grade Enhancement Pod No. 107. Detected as a Seventh Rank Hunter, you may use the High-Grade Enhancement Pod for free.]
[Available True Attribute Points for Hunter: 26.]
The pod door closed, and Su Xiao began allocating True Attribute Points. His allocation method was: Strength +6, Agility +6, Stamina +7, Intelligence +7. While balanced development of the four attributes was slow, it left no obvious weaknesses.
The Attribute Enhancement Pod started running. Su Xiao felt the changes in his body. As his body gradually improved, he could sense he was not far from a certain critical point—the barrier of reaching 200 points in base attributes.
It was said this attribute barrier was very special. Some said it was easy to break through, while others were firmly stuck there. No one revealed the specifics. Even intelligence merchants dared not sell information on this matter.
An hour later, the Attribute Enhancement Pod stopped. Su Xiao, his body steaming with white vapor, opened his eyes and checked his own information.
Name: Su Xiao (Hunter)
Brand Level: LV.69 (Seventh Rank)
Health: 100%
Mana: 28920 Points
Strength: 187
Agility: 187
Stamina: 187
Intelligence: 187
Charm: 0.1
Luck: 29
Soul Strength: 350
Base Nerve Reaction Speed: 217 Points
Base Dynamic Vision: 214 Points
Killing Talent: Soul Devourer (SSS Rank)
Growth Talent: Blood Beast (SSS Rank)
...
Mana would soon break through 30,000 points. Other physical attributes were also accumulated to a high level. Luck was only 1 point away from reaching 30.
Su Xiao wasn't in a hurry about this. Increasing Luck would only grant attribute rewards at base levels of 20, 50, 80, and 150 points. As for whether there was one at 200 points, Su Xiao guessed there probably was.
After enhancing himself, Su Xiao began organizing the items in his storage space. He had many things to sell.
Not to mention the Soul Coins needed to enhance himself, Su Xiao planned to use this rest period to buy a few Holy Spirit Rank equipment pieces at a slightly higher price.
Among the equipment he currently wore, several were still Epic Rank: [Wild Hunt Night (Epic Rank)], [Killing Instinct (Epic Rank · Belt)], [Scarlet Angel +13 (Epic Rank · Boots)], [Gem Oath (Epic Rank · Scabbard)]. Although these pieces were still strong and could be used for another world or two, they needed to be replaced as soon as possible.
Not just these. The Apostle's Eye's detection had been increasingly weak lately. When fighting the Blood God, it only detected 31.7% of the opponent's information.
In fact, Su Xiao could have long bought a Holy Spirit Rank +12 detection equipment with a Detection Rank +1 gem embedded. But he didn't.
Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. The Apostle's Eye performed an Intelligence check against the enemy. Su Xiao's Intelligence attribute was compared to the enemy's, and the final difference determined the detection strength.
That Holy Spirit Rank +12 detection equipment, however, performed a Charm check. It would compare Su Xiao's Charm attribute to the enemy's. If he encountered a Charm-type powerhouse with a Charm of 190 points, the result would be an embarrassing scene where the enemy was 1900 times higher than him, and he couldn't detect any information at all.
Besides detection equipment, Su Xiao had long had Beini acquire other equipment that needed replacing. Unfortunately, he hadn't found anything very suitable. Even when suitable items were found, the price was over 60% higher than the market rate, ridiculously expensive.
This time, Su Xiao's gains were significant. He decided to look for equipment suitable for himself at around 30% above market price, gradually replacing several Epic Rank pieces with Holy Spirit Rank ones.
Apart from the Attribute Enhancement Pod, Gulu was already leaning against the door of a nearby pod, arms crossed, looking around, seemingly holding something in her mouth.
"Oh, you're out."
Gulu's cheek bulged on one side, and her speech became clear immediately. "For the Night Walker, I've been saddled with a loan."
"Hm?"
"I'm offering 5 Soul Crystal Cores, plus this thing, in exchange for the Night Walker."
A scroll appeared in Gulu's hand. The scroll was entirely black, covered with blue patterns. It gave off a sharp feeling the moment it was taken out.
"I don't need Soul Crystal Cores for now."
Su Xiao wasn't sure what [Soul Crystal Core] was used for, though he had some vague guesses.
"When your Grandmaster Technique ability reaches level 60 or above, you'll need them. Tuanzhang told me. They sell for 1000 Soul Coins each on Trade Street and are gone as soon as they're listed. I'm sincere enough, right?"
Gulu tossed the scroll in her hand over. Su Xiao caught it with one hand. After checking the scroll's information, he had already decided to make the trade. This deal was very profitable.