Chapter 82: Monster
After Su Xiao took his seat, he didn't make a casual choice. In truth, he hadn't yet decided which one to pick. Contractors who could join a traveling group all had decent personal abilities; choosing any of these three would be acceptable.
"Mr. White Night, I have a suggestion."
Dark spoke up, a smile—or rather, a fake smile—permanently fixed on his face.
Su Xiao looked at Dark without saying a word. After being stared at by Su Xiao for a few moments, the fake smile on Dark's face froze. He lowered his head slightly, muttered an apology for his rudeness, and stopped pretending to smile.
"State your suggestion."
Su Xiao tossed a Soul Crystal (Small) into his mouth and chewed slowly. Dark, Dance Girl, and Youyou'an all stiffened. At their current level of strength, obtaining a Soul Crystal (Small) was extremely difficult, and even if they managed to get one, it would be used to enhance their own primary abilities.
"You've made your terms clear to us. The Wolf Spider bloodline is powerful, but it also depends on the user. How about this: the three of us fight, and whoever survives trades with you?"
Dark could propose such a suggestion, clearly not intimidated by the Second Rank Dance Girl.
"What era is this? Still dueling? Save your energy."
Baha spoke up. Such an interesting matter naturally meant both it and Bubu Wang were present. Beini had also wanted to come, but for some reason, she couldn't show herself yet.
"I have an idea... you guys draw lots."
The Witch suddenly spoke, her gaze meaningful and profound.
"Draw lots?"
Dark was momentarily stunned. Dance Girl was also completely confused, while Youyou'an was even more bewildered. She/He felt that the situation was becoming increasingly bizarre.
"Not a bad suggestion. Let me state upfront: anyone who tries to cheat in the drawing will be killed. Of course, all of you can withdraw. We have the right to choose, and you have the right to refuse."
Baha took out a piece of white paper, scribbled on it, then showed it to the three. A ф mark was drawn on the paper. It tore the paper into three pieces and folded them all up.
"Whoever draws the piece with the ф mark, we trade with them."
Baha placed the three paper lots on the table, fully unleashing its perception, and said, "You can try to see if you can fool my perception. It's only Eighth Rank perception, after all. Try hard, and maybe you can fool it."
Hearing this, not only Dark, Dance Girl, and Youyou'an, but even the Witch felt a bit speechless. 'Only Eighth Rank perception'—the phrasing was jarring.
Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao and Bubu Wang both released their perception. The room became so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard. The three people across the table felt immense pressure, fine beads of sweat appearing on their faces.
"Begin."
Baha's eagle claws blurred as it shuffled the order of the three paper lots and pushed them forward.
The three exchanged glances. Dance Girl chose first, then Dark, and finally Youyou'an.
Dance Girl opened her lot, let out a light snort, and placed the blank paper on the table. Dark took a deep breath beside her. This was a chance to change his fate. He opened his lot, remained expressionless for a moment, and finally let out a bitter laugh.
"I... I think I drew it."
Youyou'an timidly showed her lot, which had a ф mark on it.
"You're called Youyou'an, right? I hope we have a pleasant cooperation from now on."
"Mm."
Youyou'an's gaze darted away. Seeing this, Baha smiled even more 'kindly.'
Dark and Dance Girl both left. Youyou'an sat obediently across from Su Xiao, head down, playing with her fingers.
Was Youyou'an a timid, honest contractor? Of course not. All three paper lots Baha had prepared were blank. The reason for doing this was that obtaining low-rank specific resources sometimes required facing unimaginable risks. The key was whether one dared to bear that risk.
Despite Youyou'an's current appearance, she was actually sly and cunning—timid and submissive on the surface, but striking hard at critical moments.
After Su Xiao drafted a contract, Youyou'an across from him didn't hesitate and signed it directly. She knew very well that an Eighth Rank contractor had no need to trick her with such troublesome methods, especially since the penalties for tampering with contracts in Reincarnation Paradise were severe.
Su Xiao placed a scroll on the table. The scroll was covered in blood patterns, vaguely forming the shape of a wolf spider. It was the Wolf Spider bloodline.
"This... do you need it?"
Youyou'an also took out a scroll and placed it on the table, her gaze somewhat evasive.
[Tip: You have obtained Basic Passive: Spirit Thought.]
[Basic Passive: Spirit Thought, Lv.1.]
Type: Basic Passive Scroll
Prerequisite: 5 points in Intelligence Attribute.
Skill Effect 1: Mental Strength +1 point, Mental Toughness +1 point, Mental Flexibility +1 point.
Skill Effect 2: When using mental, magical, or similar abilities, consumption reduced by 1%.
Su Xiao put away the [Basic Passive: Spirit Thought]. The trader he had chosen this time was decent and worth developing long-term. Although he had already mastered the basic ability related to Intelligence, this scroll could be exchanged for other types of Basic Passive scrolls.
"Come with us."
As Baha spoke, Su Xiao and Bubu Wang were already heading out. The Witch didn't follow; she was still deep in thought, figuring out what price she would have to pay to obtain the 'Despair Set.'
Over ten minutes later, Su Xiao returned to Reid's blacksmith shop. Reid was already waiting.
"Reid, this is Youyou'an. She'll be having equipment forged here from now on."
"Mm."
Reid looked Youyou'an up and down, even muttering something about what garbage equipment she was using.
"Are you male or female?"
"Female. Male... cough, I'm a boy."
Youyou'an wasn't deliberately lying. Her brain had suffered irreversible damage, often leading to cognitive/memory errors, such as having to manually confirm her own gender at times.
"Come back in half an hour. I'll forge a full set of Blue quality equipment for you. Pay off the forging cost within three worlds. Come find me again when you reach Second Rank."
Reid finished speaking and picked up an ancient book, reading it carefully. Note that he said not one piece, but a full set. Although Youyou'an was excited inside, she was trying hard to restrain herself.
After a while, a cat walked into the blacksmith shop, looked Youyou'an up and down, and then left.
"Youyou'an, buy potions from her in the future. Perfect timing, the Black Merchant is here too."
Before Baha finished speaking, a member of the Black Sail Merchant Guild wearing a black mask walked into the forge. It continued:
"Sell your items to the Black Merchant in the future. That's basically it. You can go now. When you get the items we need, deliver them to Reid."
After arranging everything for Youyou'an, Su Xiao left the forge. Barring any unexpected events, the chances of him seeing Youyou'an again were low. The reason he had Reid, Beini, and the Black Merchant provide her with a certain degree of convenience was mainly to facilitate 'free-range raising.' That's right, he planned to completely free-range this contractor named Youyou'an.
Unless necessary, he would never meet her again. Maintaining sufficient distance would prevent her from understanding him. The strongest emotion was fear, and the greatest fear came from the unknown. Maintaining this kind of relationship was best and could save a lot of trouble.
The tool person Youyou'an had been successfully free-ranged. Even if she died, the loss was not unacceptable. Consider it accumulated experience in free-range raising.
Returning to his exclusive room, Su Xiao felt completely relaxed. Most of the resources obtained this time had been converted into combat power. [Honor Crystal ×3] and [Starfall Furnace] were temporarily kept. The former was used to strengthen Dragon-Slaying Flash, but he had too few [Refined Immortal Stones] on hand, so there was no rush to strengthen it.
The mining pick obtained from opening the treasure chest had already been sold. Along with [Scorching Desire (Immortal Rank)], which was also sold just now, the sale price was 14,950 Soul Coins. After deducting the 10% auction fee, the Soul Coins in hand were 13,455.
The Soul Coins in Su Xiao's hand reached 28,676. He could try to set up the 'Eye Ritual' in a corner of the Alchemy Laboratory. The cost of setting up this ritual was very high, but the benefit was that as long as enough resources were invested, the ritual would remain effective permanently, allowing the cultivation of various types of 'eyes' through it.
First, he exchanged materials. Su Xiao spent nearly 16,000 Soul Coins before gathering the materials needed for the Eye Ritual. Among them, Ritual Blood, Evil Characteristic Marrow Fluid, and the Gestation Soul nurtured by the warm bed were all ridiculously expensive.
Fortunately, Su Xiao was an alchemist. He was confident he could complete the setup in one go.
Su Xiao opened a half-meter-thick sealed bottle and, using his mental strength, drew out the Ritual Blood inside. A large amount of Ritual Blood was needed; it served as the base of the ritual.
Five hours later, Su Xiao wiped the sweat from the tip of his nose. In the corner ahead of him was a large mass of tangled tentacles, all dark red in color, with a base underneath.
The Eye Ritual was set up. What followed was simple. He just needed to add the main material for cultivating the 'eye,' along with several specified characteristic auxiliary materials, to attempt the cultivation.
Su Xiao took out a metal bottle as thick as a finger. Inside was the Dark Substance. He wanted to cultivate a 'Dark Eye.'
First, he added several auxiliary materials. The dark red tentacles below became active. Su Xiao opened the small bottle containing the Dark Substance and poured out the highly compressed Dark Substance.
The dark red tentacles below immediately turned black and tangled together, leaving a circular hole in the center. The 'Dark Eye' would grow here.
While waiting for the Dark Eye to cultivate, Su Xiao began manufacturing a Devourer. Having made one before, this time it was a familiar process. He could only say, thank you, Sweet Orange. Her cells were really too useful. Even when they were almost used up, they could still be propagated.
After a long time, a new Devourer was cultivated. Its initial form was still a black-green semi-fluid. Su Xiao used inert gas to anesthetize the Devourer. This was the Devourer's weakness, and it was unlikely that outsiders knew about it.
After completing the anesthesia, Su Xiao came before the Eye Ritual. The Dark Eye had just finished cultivation. After checking its attributes, Su Xiao's eye twitched. He then went to the Devourer and began the Dark Eye transplant.
The transplant process was not smooth, but fortunately, there was no rejection. When the transplant was complete, Su Xiao was already very tired. He had been busy since returning to Reincarnation Paradise without rest. He placed the Devourer in the highest-strength glass column and left the Alchemy Laboratory, collapsing onto the bed and falling asleep.
In a daze, Su Xiao heard a shout beside his ear. He sat up, his gaze blank.
Boom!
A dull thud came from the Alchemy Laboratory. Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini were all gathered at the entrance of the Alchemy Laboratory, watching. Judging by their stance, they were all ready for battle.
Su Xiao's gaze sharpened. He walked to the door and looked into the Alchemy Laboratory. He saw the Devourer, which had grown a single eye but still lacked a fixed form. At this moment, the Devourer's aura was twisted and hungry, surrounded by nearly viscous darkness.
The effect of the 'Dark Eye' was far stronger than imagined. Su Xiao hadn't expected that he would create this monster before him.