Chapter 88: Awakening (Sixth Update)
Returning to his exclusive room, Su Xiao walked into the alchemy laboratory. He placed two Void Tree fruits on the table, with the corresponding formula set aside beside them.
The Void Tree fruit was not appearing for the first time. Although the corresponding formula was rare, it was not so rare that even the regimental commander couldn't obtain it.
Su Xiao did not immediately process the Void Tree fruits. Instead, he took out the Alchemy Codex. He intended to raise his alchemy level as much as possible before handling the Void Tree fruits. This item was not meant to be eaten directly, nor was it used to concoct potions.
The third page of the Alchemy Codex had already been fully deciphered by Su Xiao. He flipped to the fourth page. This metal page had even more engravings, a total of 527. Given Su Xiao's mental fortitude, he would need to decipher it at least twice.
A faint blue light glowed at the tip of Su Xiao's index finger as he pressed it onto the first engraving of the fourth page. His mental energy gradually filled this engraving and began spreading into the next one.
A vast starry river appeared before his eyes, with large alchemical arrays and alchemy-specific script emerging all around.
After nearly an hour of deciphering, Su Xiao lifted his finger. The deciphering progress for the fourth page was: 295/527.
[Alchemy Bomb-making has been raised to Lv.56 (Increased by Lv.3).]
[Alchemy Potioneering has been raised to Lv.56 (Increased by Lv.3).]
[Alchemy Biology has been raised to Lv.56 (Increased by Lv.3).]
[Herbal Blending has been raised to Lv.65 (Increased by Lv.1).]
...
The higher the level of alchemy, the harder it became to improve. Without the assistance of the Alchemy Codex, Su Xiao would not have reached his current level of alchemical proficiency.
An intense mental fatigue made Su Xiao feel lightheaded. All he wanted now was to sleep until he naturally woke up. Until then, he could not properly concoct potions, let alone process the Void Tree fruits. Handling this item was a nightmare difficulty, even for Su Xiao at his current state.
Enduring the fatigue, he took a shower, then lay down on the bed and fell asleep. After a while, he felt a furry thing burrow next to him. It was Beini. Ignoring her, he continued sleeping.
When Su Xiao woke up naturally, he grabbed Beini from his face. His gaze was blank for a moment before he placed Beini on the bed. He washed up, then returned to the bed, sitting cross-legged to meditate.
After more than ten minutes, Su Xiao's mental state reached its peak. It was time to process the Void Tree fruits.
Sitting in front of the workbench, Su Xiao began adjusting the environment in the alchemy laboratory. Temperature and humidity were stabilized, and the airflow rate was set to medium. After completing over a dozen adjustments, he rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands and forearms with a special solution.
Only after doing all this did Su Xiao bring the two Void Tree fruits in front of him. He glanced at the corresponding formula beside him. After reading it once, the contents were fully memorized. Even an alchemy apprentice could do this, let alone Su Xiao.
Spending 275 Soul Coins, Su Xiao exchanged for several dozen materials and began processing them.
After more than ten minutes, Su Xiao took a metal mold and poured a pure white potion into it.
Crack, crack, crack~
The potion froze inside the mold, forming the shape of a small knife. Su Xiao pressed a timer beside him, then took three more solutions, mixed them together, and kept a close eye on the timer.
When the critical point was reached, Su Xiao poured the mixed solution onto the two Void Tree fruits. Doing this required no accumulated experience, only precision.
Hiss~
A wisp of vapor drifted from the Void Tree fruits. Su Xiao picked up the transparent small knife and made a small cut on each of the two fruits.
A miraculous scene unfolded. Two sprouts grew from the Void Tree fruits, quickly developing into two half-meter-tall saplings. Two completely transparent fruits grew on these saplings.
As soon as these two fruits matured, the Void Tree fruits and the saplings withered and turned to ash, scattering into the air.
Su Xiao soaked the two fruits in a light green solution he had prepared earlier. Even at this stage, the fruits still could not be eaten directly; only the special energy inside was needed.
He installed an energy extraction device at the bottom of an arm-thick test tube and activated it. This step would take at least 10 hours. Only the purified energy extracted this way could be used for concoction.
Many powerful individuals, upon obtaining Void Tree fruits and failing to find an alchemist, would take a desperate gamble. In the end, they all died, turning into plants.
This was unavoidable. With a supreme treasure right before their eyes but unable to use it, and finding no other opportunity to grow stronger, the mindset of risking everything was not worth learning, but there was no need to mock it either.
Leaving the alchemy laboratory, Su Xiao took an earring from his storage space. This item was called [New Moon Sprout], a Holy Spirit rank +13 piece of equipment. It was left behind after Yueshitu's defeat and had not yet been authenticated.
[Yes/No to authenticate New Moon Sprout +13. This item was obtained through special means. The authentication granted by Apocalypse Paradise must be erased before this item can be traded. If used personally, free authentication is available.]
...
[New Moon Sprout +13] was female-exclusive equipment. Su Xiao naturally would not keep it. After paying 105 Soul Coins, the authentication began.
[Authentication completed.]
[New Moon Sprout +13]
Origin: Apocalypse Paradise
Quality: Holy Spirit Rank
Category: Earring (Accessory)
Durability: 42/45
Equipment Requirements: True Intelligence 160 points or more, True Charm Attribute 182 points, Female/Feminine.
Equipment Penalty: Wearing this equipment significantly reduces neural reflex speed.
Equipment Effect 1: Heart of Mercy (Passive) – For each point of the wearer's True Charm, summoned creatures gain an additional 36 points of Health (Enhanced +13 has increased the Health bonus by 12 points).
Tip: Maximum Health increase for summoned creatures is 6500 points (originally 5000 points).
Tip: If the number of summoned creatures exceeds 100, the maximum Health increase is 3200 points.
Tip: If the number of summoned creatures exceeds 10,000, the maximum Health increase is 2600 points.
Equipment Effect 2: Moonlight Soothing Heart (Passive) – Under the cover of moonlight, summoned creatures have a certain chance during battle to gain a permanent boost to their overall attributes (Enhanced +13 increases the trigger probability by 2.8% and the intensity of the attribute boost).
Tip: This ability can only be triggered once per individual summoned creature.
Tip: If a summoned creature has already received this effect's boost, its Health/Mana recovery speed will increase when bathed in moonlight (recovery amount depends on the creature's strength).
Enhanced Effects:
+5 Additional Effect: Summoned creature's physical defense +3 points.
+8 Additional Effect: Summoning slot count +1.
+10 Additional Effect: True Charm Attribute +1 point.
+12 Additional Effect: Summoned creature's Health +420 points.
+13 Additional Effect: Holy Spirit Rank gem socket +1 (this bonus has priority).
Socket Effects: 2/2 gems
Moonlight Maiden (Holy Spirit Rank gem): Initial loyalty of moon-type summoned creatures +12 points.
Moist Rain (Holy Spirit Rank gem): True Charm Attribute +2 points.
Rating: 1000+
Description: Moonlight is the source of power, but not every moment has moonlight.
Price: Cannot be sold.
...
No wonder Yueshitu looked like she was about to cry when she was forced to return. [New Moon Sprout +13] was absurdly strong for summoning types.
The minimum selling price for [New Moon Sprout +13] was 3000 Soul Coins. Just as Su Xiao was about to hand it over to Beini to sell, his hand paused. The [New Moon Sprout] earring slipped from his fingers and fell onto the carpet.
Su Xiao looked toward an empty room. A red light flickered in his pupils.
"At most 5 seconds. Charge in."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Beini swatted Bubu Wang awake with her cat paw. Baha, beside them, grabbed the sleeping Amu and flew toward the empty room.
Bubu Wang was a bit dazed. After fighting alongside Su Xiao for so long, a moment's reaction later, he also charged into the empty room.
After Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini rushed into the empty room, they immediately closed the door.
With Su Xiao at the center, a burst of blood energy exploded outward with a bang. Dark blue smoke surged on his body surface, like flames rising upward.
The walls inside the room cracked and split with a crackling sound. At the center of the blood energy, Su Xiao's mind remained clear. Having controlled blood energy for so long, his own blood energy would not affect his sanity. This was just a temporary loss of control over the blood energy, which was why he had Bubu Wang and the others retreat.
Su Xiao's blood energy was gradually awakening. This was only the beginning. He opened his personal information to check his Charm Attribute and found it had changed to:
Charm: -1 point.
Six updates completed. The mosquito will go lie down for a while.