Chapter 125: World-Class Mission Rewards
The rankings on the leaderboard stabilized. No one spoke in the castle's reception hall; everyone was waiting for the final ranking settlement.
The Crow Woman grew more and more irritated. She glared at Su Xiao and Zuiyasi. She couldn't get at either of them afterward, but Wood was a Devil Clan member, a Void race—she could fight him. More importantly, she could beat him. In fact, she had fought Wood before and had nearly smashed his skull in.
Thinking that she could take out her anger on Wood once she returned to the Void, the Crow Woman's mood shifted from stormy to partly cloudy. She looked at Wood and smiled.
Wood said nothing. A black clay jar appeared in his hand. Seeing this jar, the Crow Woman cursed her bad luck under her breath. Of course she knew what it was. Among the major races of the Void, few didn't recognize this object.
At the Arcane Eternal Star's "Midday Academy," even children learning about elements and magic runes had a mandatory lesson. That class didn't teach magical energy knowledge. Instead, the teacher would educate the children on what the Abyssal Jar was, along with a core principle: never, under any circumstances, bring this thing back to the Arcane Eternal Star. If you saw it, turning around and fleeing was the wisest and most effective choice. Don't try to do anything stupid.
The Crow Woman stopped paying attention to Wood and fixed her gaze on Su Xiao, staring intently.
She had heard rumors of a Law Destroyer appearing before, but she hadn't paid it much mind. Not until now, when he had practically carved the word "miserable" all over her thigh.
"Law Destroyer, we'll settle this another time. But you're a real bastard. My brain might not be the sharpest, but I can fight."
The Crow Woman released her aura, but given her current predicament, it was like she was saying, "See? I'm strong, right? Traded my IQ for it."
"If you want to know who hates you the most back home, it's Mage Sage Seraphilia. She'd love to chop you up, grind you into powder, and use you as fertilizer for her flowers. Hahaha."
The Crow Woman was surprisingly carefree. After fuming for a while over everything that had happened, she had already forgotten most of it. That kind of open-mindedness and broadness of heart meant she was bound to be a troublesome opponent.
"Want to know why she hates you so much? Let me tell you, a long time ago, back in the Law Destruction Era, Seraphilia and a certain..."
The Crow Woman suddenly remembered that the [Insight Eye] was still floating above Molei. Everything in the reception hall was being broadcast live to the Void Arena, where over a hundred thousand people were watching.
If the Crow Woman revealed in this way that Mage Sage Seraphilia had been toyed with and heartlessly abandoned by the female Law Destroyer Green Gillian, Seraphilia would be socially dead on the spot.
Tomorrow's headline from some unscrupulous Void tabloid would read: "Shock! Mage Sage Seraphilia Did This with a Law Destroyer (Attached: High-Quality Photo of Seraphilia)."
"That was close. You two little witches, stop pointing that mechanical eye at me."
Hearing the Crow Woman's words, Molei raised two slender, fair middle fingers at her.
Seeing this, the Crow Woman's cheek twitched, and she raised two middle fingers back at Molei.
Seeing this, Yueshitu, standing beside Molei, also raised two middle fingers at the Crow Woman. Together with Molei, that made four middle fingers, a frontal taunt aimed at the Crow Woman.
The Crow Woman wasn't a pushover. On either side of the long bench she sat on, two of her clones appeared. These two clones, shrouded in black mist, raised their middle fingers at Molei and Yueshitu.
Yueshitu snapped her fingers, and over a dozen moon-type summons appeared. Half-human, half-cow creatures, little deer-girls with horns, silver-armored warriors—all of them raised their middle fingers at the Crow Woman. Seeing this, Bubu Wang, Baha, and Beini were in hysterics.
The Crow Woman paused, then made as if to stand up.
"Hey... are you not playing fair?"
Yueshitu was a bit panicked. With the Crow Woman's strength, she could definitely beat her until she cried snot. Killing wasn't allowed in the castle, but beating someone up was fine.
Hearing this, the Crow Woman spat lightly and gave up on the idea of a real fight.
Yueshitu breathed a silent sigh of relief. With her small arms and legs, the Crow Woman could beat her like a child.
[Announcement (Void Tree): The current Scroll Fragment Battle is about to end.]
[The winning side of this battle will be determined based on the scroll fragments submitted to the Young Miss.]
[The winning side of this battle is: Reincarnation Paradise!]
[The leaderboard has been settled. Rewards will be given to participants based on ranking (only ranks 1-5 are eligible).]
[First Place: Kukulin Bai Ye, has obtained [Origin Stone: World (1/5)].]
[Second Place: Crow Woman, has obtained [Black Maple Tree Branch (9500 grams)].]
[Note: Due to contractual agreements, this reward will be distributed as follows.]
[Kukulin Bai Ye receives 4370 grams, Wood receives 1330 grams, Zuiyasi receives 3800 grams, Crow Woman receives 0 grams.]
[Third Place: Wood, has obtained [Inheritance Crystal (Ocean Saint)].]
[Fourth Place: Molei, Yueshitu, have obtained [God's Curse (Scroll)], each receiving a 50% share.]
[Fifth Place: Zuiyasi, has obtained [Soul Crystal Core x20].]
...
[Announcement (Void Tree): The Scroll Fragment Battle has ended. All participants will be transported out of this world in 10 seconds.]
Shortly after the announcement, Wood, Zuiyasi, and the others were teleported away one after another, leaving the reception hall feeling empty.
Only Su Xiao was not teleported. There were two reasons for this: first, because this was already a world under Reincarnation Paradise, and second, because he possessed the [Painter's Blood].
Inside Su Xiao's storage space, the Painter's Blood was emitting a faint glow. Notifications from Reincarnation Paradise appeared one after another.
[Notification: You have accepted the main mission: Dark Blood.]
[Main Mission: Dark Blood (This mission has only one phase).]
Difficulty Level: Lv.79～???
Mission Description: The battle has ended. The Young Miss has successfully obtained over 30% of the world's scroll fragments. If she becomes the Painter, the Young Miss will gain the Painter's authority, allowing her to gather all remaining scroll fragments to the castle and piece them together into a new world canvas.
Mission Information: Deliver the [Painter's Blood] and [Dark Blood] to the Young Miss. The higher the purity of the [Dark Blood], the higher the completion rate of this mission. If the madness within the [Dark Blood] is completely removed, the Hunter will receive a world-class reward.
Mission Time Limit: 1 natural day.
Mission Reward: 17 True Attribute Points.
World-Class Mission Reward: Share of production income from the World of Paintings (income share settled each world progress, paid in Soul Coins).
Note: Only one of the above two rewards can be obtained.
Mission Penalty: None.
Note: This mission will be activated when the Hunter enters the fourth inner painting world.
Note: The Hunter can rest in the main painting world castle for 2-3 natural days before entering the fourth inner painting world to execute this mission.
...
Su Xiao took a drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke. He was able to stay mainly because of the [Painter's Blood]. After handing over the blood of the first Painter, Rosa Nier, to the Young Miss, she could use it to become the new Painter.
At that point, the Young Miss could use the Painter's authority to attract all the scroll fragments scattered across the various inner painting worlds, forming a new canvas.
The current main painting world was already dilapidated, with only the castle remaining. The seven inner painting worlds that relied on the main painting were also riddled with madness. Only the Sand World and the Seabed World had human settlements.
No matter how you looked at it, the main painting world had no resources left to develop, and the inner painting worlds weren't much better. But what if a new Painter appeared and used a complete, blank world canvas, along with Dark Blood (ink), to paint a new World of Paintings?
The old world was dying, and the main painting world was its continuation. Now, the main painting world itself was on the verge of extinction. The only way to continue was a new world—to have the Painter paint a new world painting, creating a brand-new World of Paintings.
Why didn't the Royal Descendants and the Sun Church do this? The answer was simple: there was no second God King Oss Tobiah. When the World of Paintings was first created, God King Oss Tobiah and his knights gave everything—their lives, their souls, even their very existence.
Now, there was a second chance to create a new World of Paintings. By obtaining a world canvas, Dark Blood (ink), and making a new Painter appear, and with the certification of Reincarnation Paradise, a new World of Paintings would emerge. For the inhabitants of the Sand World and the Seabed World, it would be a new beginning.
The quality of the new World of Paintings would be determined by the Dark Blood. If the Dark Blood still contained madness, the new world might be stable for a hundred years or a few hundred years before the madness spread again, eventually repeating today's scene.
If the madness within the Dark Blood was resolved, the new World of Paintings would be a primitive world capable of sustaining intelligent beings for ten thousand, a hundred thousand, or even longer.
Su Xiao currently held the [Painter's Blood]. After giving it to the Young Miss, she could become the Painter. Once the Painter appeared, the world canvas wouldn't be a problem either. The Young Miss would use her Painter's authority to handle that.
The key issue was the ink—the Dark Blood. The quality of the Dark Blood obtained would determine Su Xiao's mission reward.
There were two types of mission rewards. The first was straightforward: 17 True Attribute Points.
The second was: "Share of production income from the World of Paintings (income share settled each world progress, paid in Soul Coins)."
Simply put, if the new World of Paintings had no Beastification Disease and was a stable, long-lasting world, the resources mined from that world would be settled every world progress, giving Su Xiao a certain share. This share would be transferred to him in Soul Coins.
A newly emerged primitive world wouldn't have too many resources, meaning the initial share wouldn't be large. But as long as the world was stable enough, the subsequent income would grow more and more.
In the future, this income would reach an astonishing level. And the best part was that he wouldn't have to do anything. Every time a world progress ended, a large sum of Soul Coins would be deposited into his account. That feeling would surely be satisfying.
Su Xiao knew very well that the further he progressed, the more resources his technique-type abilities would consume. For example, his current [Skill Sublimation Lv.65] cost 6000 Soul Coins to upgrade by one level. The Soul Coins he had squeezed out of Molei and Yueshitu wouldn't last long after a few levels of this ability.
According to what Tuanzhang had said, if Su Xiao reached the later stages, there were several more technique-type abilities like Skill Sublimation that were mandatory. This clearly indicated one thing: even if you had a mine at home, a technique-type would still be poor. And Su Xiao didn't have a mine. He couldn't always run into little rich girls like Molei and Yueshitu.
Now, the establishment of the new World of Paintings and the main mission gave Su Xiao hope. If successful, the initial resources from this aspect wouldn't be much, but in the future, the combination of World of Paintings shares + Alchemy + income from fighting in worlds would be enough to support himself. Probably.
This wasn't an exaggeration. Just look at that ruthless guy who had drained the Ranger Guild dry to see how resource-hungry technique-types were in the later stages. What was a technique-type? Someone who pursued their own limits and, in the most unadorned way, beat their enemies until they doubted life itself.
Su Xiao looked at the Young Miss, who was sitting on a high stool, and decided not to take out the [Painter's Blood] for now. This couldn't be rushed. The [Painter's Blood] was worth a world-class treasure chest. If he handed it over and then couldn't get the Dark Blood, he would be at a huge loss.
The difficulty of this mission was fluctuating, marked as Lv.79～???. Having experienced countless dangers, Su Xiao treated this difficulty with the utmost caution, but he wasn't afraid.
What truly made him slightly uneasy was that this main mission had no penalty. In the past, seeing the forced execution penalty of a main mission, while stressful, gave him a sense of security. In most cases, under Reincarnation Paradise's judgment, mission difficulty was directly tied to the mission penalty.
The simpler the mission, the harsher the penalty. To put it another way: if you couldn't even do this, you were as good as dead.
If the mission was too difficult, the penalty would be lighter, because Reincarnation Paradise wasn't sending Contractors and Hunters to their deaths. It meant: act within your means.
This mission not only had no failure penalty but could also be abandoned at any time.
In most cases, if a main mission from Reincarnation Paradise had no penalty, it meant the mission was so dangerous that a penalty was unnecessary. Failure meant only one outcome: dying on the spot.