Chapter 48: Return
Mushroom Village, 2:00 PM.
Today, this place was exceptionally lively. Although there were fewer than a hundred participants left in this world, due to the Mushroom Prophet's discount announcement on the world communication channel, many participants who had gone to explore Bay City returned, waiting for the "discount promotion" that would start tonight.
A discount promotion with Kaiser involved inevitably gave people a sense of unease. The old Mushroom Prophet agreed to participate in this plan just to make a final profit and then flee overnight.
After some investigation, Su Xiao paid for a lunch and successfully extracted information about the Anonymous from Aido'er.
This Anonymous was quite famous among the Eighth Rank in Apocalypse Paradise, known for his cheap and flamboyant style. His most notable feature was wearing a hunter's antler helmet and a beast-hide cloak with slightly long fur.
This feature was easy to recognize. When Bubu Wang, Baha, and Kaiser staked out until 3:00 PM, the target appeared.
Hiss~
A static noise came from the wireless earpiece in Su Xiao's ear, followed by Baha's voice: "Target has entered the village. Actor No. 1, get ready."
Actor No. 1 (Aido'er): "Okay, okay."
Baha: "Actor No. 1, have you eaten today?"
Aido'er: "No."
Baha: "If you haven't, then take my fist. Why are you so nervous? Weren't you a Violator before?"
Aido'er: "Who... who's nervous?"
Baha: "You get a lisp when you're nervous."
...
At this moment, Anonymous had no idea that the moment he stepped into Mushroom Village, he had fallen into a trap.
Anonymous's real name was Luge. On the muddy path of Mushroom Village, both sides were lined with waist-high wildflowers of various kinds, bringing a sense of peace.
Luge wore a multi-branched elk antler bone helmet and a gray-white long-haired beast hide. He looked like a hunter returning from the wilderness. His return this time was mainly for the discount promotion by the Mushroom Prophet. He wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.
Luge took a deep breath of fresh air. He liked the scenery of Mushroom Village, of course, excluding the fact that someone had made a large explosive device here before.
Embarrassingly, during that incident, Luge was relieving himself on the flowers and grass at the village edge. Who knew such a thing would happen? He couldn't stop urinating. When he finally pulled up his pants, he ran off. As for wet pants, compared to his life, it didn't matter.
Thinking of this, Luge silently cursed the immoral person who made the explosive device in Mushroom Village.
Just then, Luge saw a small old man walking toward him, smiling. Normally, one wouldn't hit a smiling face, but the old man's smile made Luge's heart skip a beat. He politely smiled back.
"Ah!"
A scream came. Luge felt something trip him. He turned to see the old man lying on the ground. This made him exclaim inwardly, "Damn!"
"Young man, it's nothing, nothing. I tripped you. Look at these old bones of mine, not as agile as before. Help me up."
Hearing this, Luge relaxed, thinking he had misjudged this shifty-eyed old thing... ah, no, misjudged this old man.
"Old man, are you alright..."
Just as Luge grabbed Kaiser's arm, Kaiser, lying on the ground, kicked his legs, straightened his body, rolled his eyes, and went into shock, foaming at the mouth.
Luge's eyes widened, stunned. He never expected to encounter a scammer in the famous Treeborn World.
"Young man, I'm fine. It's an old problem of mine."
Kaiser pinched his own philtrum and slowly came to. Seeing this, Luge wiped the hot sweat from his forehead. The situation was too complicated, with constant twists.
Soon, the still somewhat weak Kaiser walked away, leaving a shaken Luge. As he was about to leave, he noticed something on the ground—a walnut. This walnut looked unusual, so he picked it up.
One hour later, Luge successfully received the side mission "Old Friend" and began tracking Kaiser's trail.
Two hours and four minutes later, Luge successfully found Kaiser in an abandoned sacrificial hall.
Two hours and fifteen minutes later, inside the abandoned sacrificial hall, Luge, with dark circles under his eyes, sat on a stone step. On his left and right sat Su Xiao and Solomon.
The situation was very simple. Luge came to deliver wine to Kaiser. Su Xiao, Solomon, and Baha happened to pass by the abandoned sacrificial hall. When passing the entrance, Baha asked Luge, "What are you looking at?"
Of course, Luge didn't reply, "What's it to you?" Instead, he immediately tried to escape. Unfortunately, he was hit by the "Yin Female Demon," which sucked a large amount of his "yang energy," turning him from someone who could pee three feet against the wind to someone who wets his shoes with the wind.
"Bro, is it really necessary? Am I that deserving of death?"
Luge's eyes showed some despair. He never dreamed that Su Xiao and Solomon would join forces against him. Seeing these two, he didn't even think about fighting but immediately fled. However, escaping from a Technique Grandmaster and a Necromancer Grandmaster was too difficult.
"Brother, this time we're not here to kill you."
Baha spoke. Hearing this, Luge smiled bitterly. Even if he wasn't killed this time, he felt his property would suffer a fatal blow, but he wouldn't give in.
"Buddy, do you want to be third on the ranking?"
Baha said with a smile.
"?"
Luge looked surprised. He almost blurted out, "You caught me just for this?" If it were true, he wouldn't need to be caught; he'd sign up voluntarily.
"Sure, the Storm Greatsword reward for third place looks awesome."
"The fourth reward is the Necromancy System: Dark Monarch. Aren't you tempted?"
"No interest at all."
Luge smiled lightly. His calm demeanor was mainly due to the famous Necromancer Grandmaster sitting beside him.
From start to finish, Luge acted cheerfully and agreed to all non-exploitative conditions, knowing how to read the situation.
Seeing this, Su Xiao took out a finger-length crystal vial and tossed it to Luge.
"What's this?"
Luge examined the crystal vial and asked tentatively.
"Chronic poison."
Su Xiao replied. They would return to Mushroom Village later, which was a safe zone. They couldn't do anything to Luge there, so they had to leave a precaution.
"Well..."
Luge hesitated, but under the gaze of Su Xiao and Solomon, he had no choice but to swallow the blue pill inside the crystal vial. During this, Su Xiao and Solomon's perception locked onto him, ensuring Luge couldn't pull any tricks.
Luge grinned and ate the poison pill, secretly activating one of his equipment pieces. But the next second, he felt a chill. His trump card, a super-rank equipment, couldn't resist this potent poison with its super-rank traits. His equipment was useless.
Goal achieved, Su Xiao and his group headed back to Mushroom Village. On the way, Solomon spoke in the team channel.
Solomon: "The cost of the chronic poison, we split fifty-fifty."
Bai Ye: "He ate vitamin B3."
Solomon: "..."
...
Solomon closed the team channel and looked at Luge beside him. It was clear that Luge, who had eaten a vitamin pill, pretended not to care but was actually full of worry, holding the "unknown potent poison" in awe.
Solomon's eyes showed contemplation. Useful knowledge had increased. Although he couldn't brew poison, he could now give people "chronic potent poison" in the future.
Suddenly, Solomon thought of another matter and opened the team channel to speak.
Solomon: "How do you detoxify?"
Bai Ye: "Give him calcium tablets."
Solomon didn't ask further and closed the team channel. Useful knowledge increased again.
The journey was uneventful. Even if someone outside Mushroom Village ambushed passing participants, they wouldn't be foolish enough to attack the combination of Su Xiao and Solomon.
Returning to Mushroom Village, Su Xiao came to the Mushroom Prophet's treehouse. The world shop had been moved here. Opening the door on the side wall led into an unseen room.
In the backyard flower field, Su Xiao sat cross-legged in meditation. He didn't use this free time to explore Bay City. After the battle with Gray Gentleman, even after recovering until now, his injuries hadn't fully healed, all due to the Dark Mark.
This ability was exceptionally annoying. Su Xiao estimated that under normal circumstances, his injuries wouldn't recover within half a month. Fortunately, he was about to return to Reincarnation Paradise.
Besides these injuries, there was the residual faith power: Sun in his organs and healing his left arm. Together, these would cost a considerable amount.
Time passed quickly in meditation. The next day, as the sun set, Mushroom Village was bathed in golden-red sunset light. In this peaceful scene, Su Xiao received a notification: the kill ranking would be settled in about 10 minutes, and in 15 minutes, a space ship would land within 100 meters of Mushroom Village.
Su Xiao ended his meditation, entered the treehouse, opened the door to the unseen room, and saw Solomon there too.
[Notification: You have activated the World Shop.]
[Current Kill Merit: 378 points.]
[The following items can be exchanged with Kill Merit...]
Su Xiao had already decided what to exchange. He spent 230 Kill Merit points to exchange for an item called [Sacred Oak].
[Sacred Oak]
Origin: Ancient Land.
Quality: Special Equipment/Consumable.
Durability: 10/10 (Cannot be restored by any means).
Equipment Effect: Sacred Spiritual Rite (Active), sacrifice 5 points of your own body attributes to gain 1 Golden Skill Point (can choose to sacrifice 5 points of Strength, or Agility, Stamina, Intelligence, Charm attributes; if sacrificing Luck attribute, sacrifice 2 points each time).
Tip: Each use of this ability permanently consumes 1 point of this equipment's durability.
Tip: Sacred Spiritual Rite (Active) cooldown is 48 hours.
Introduction: A wondrous item.
...
Previously, Su Xiao exchanged [Greed Chapter] for 1000 Kill Merit points. If he cleared it, he could get about 55-60 Golden Skill Points, plus the representative items of ten Soul Spirit Manifestations.
This time, the 230-point exchange for [Sacred Oak] was also about obtaining Golden Skill Points. Compared to [Greed Chapter], [Sacred Oak] required sacrificing 50 body attributes or 20 Luck attributes to get 10 Golden Skill Points.
This thing was a trap, and generally, no one would exchange for it. But for Su Xiao, this cost was acceptable. He had killed many enemies in this world, but his Charm attribute was still -12 points. This showed that the threshold for reducing Charm attribute was getting higher.
Su Xiao's idea was: if he used "Sacred Spiritual Rite" to sacrifice 5 points of Charm attribute, could he get 1 Golden Skill Point? His current Charm attribute was already negative, making it difficult to reduce it by 5 points.
Not long after Su Xiao exchanged [Sacred Oak], a notice from Void Tree appeared.
[Notice: This Treeborn World: Kill Competition is about to end.]
[The Kill Ranking has been locked and will no longer change. The final rankings are as follows:
First Place: Enzo (Death Paradise), has obtained Primordial Source Mirror.
Second Place: Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise), has obtained Technique Soul.
Third Place: Anonymous (Apocalypse Paradise), has obtained Storm Greatsword.
Fourth Place: Solomon (Reincarnation Paradise), has obtained Dark Monarch: Inheritance Power.
Fifth Place: Gulu (Reincarnation Paradise), has obtained Soul Treasure Chest.
[The following rankings need participants to check themselves and will not be announced here.]
[Teleportation permission has been granted. All participants must board the space ship within 10 minutes. After arriving at the Star Transit Station, they will be teleported back to their respective Paradise factions.]
...
A skill scroll appeared in Su Xiao's hand. The scroll was entirely black and felt heavy to the touch.
[Yes/No to use Technique Soul: Skill Scroll.]
[It has been detected that the Hunter has a total of three technique abilities: Blade Art, Melee Combat, and Blood Qi System. If you use Technique Soul: Skill Scroll, you must choose one of the three technique abilities. Technique Soul will undergo adaptive matching and transform into a passive trait that enhances this ability.]
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao only felt that this ability would be expensive to upgrade. This was one of the characteristics of technique passive abilities.
Su Xiao wasn't in a hurry to master the "Technique Soul" ability. Exiting the treehouse, he saw the space ship parked nearby.
With the teleportation permission open, Amu and Beini had already teleported to the ship. Seeing Su Xiao approach, Beini's eyes welled up with tears. She ran over and leaped like a flying squirrel, aiming to pounce on Su Xiao's face.
For Beini, Treeborn World was a nightmare-level world. She had done nothing but swim across the world, which greatly improved her swimming skills. She could even backstroke while sleeping.
"Amu is a real man."
Baha landed on Amu's shoulder. As soon as he spoke, Amu let out a bull roar, his eyes rolling back. But when Baha and Bubu Wang promised to treat him to a big meal back home, Amu's mood stabilized.
Su Xiao looked north. The Devourer he had released was successfully retrieved. A strong person like Anderson hadn't been symbiotic with the Devourer but was attached to it. Now that the other party had Sun power in his body, there was no need to keep the Devourer.
Su Xiao led Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini onto the ship. As soon as he sat down, he saw Water Brother sitting nearby with a tense face.
Water Brother had finally broken free from the "eternal second-place curse" of Death Paradise, but this first place felt like a gift from others. He felt a bit stifled inside. After obtaining [Primordial Source Mirror], he found its value high but felt something was off.
Of course, it was off. Look at how far Wood was sitting; it showed he sensed the aura of a "Dad-level" artifact.
"I survived!!!"
Aido'er raised her hands and shouted, laughing from the heart. Seeing this, many participants in the cabin showed smiles.
The space ship started, heading straight for the Star Transit Station. Along the way, Su Xiao took a short nap. It didn't feel long before they arrived at the Star Transit Station, and the teleportation sensation of Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
...
[Teleportation complete. You have returned to Reincarnation Paradise.]
In his exclusive room, Su Xiao lay on the carpet, feeling utterly exhausted. He didn't want to move a finger. When Gray Gentleman had launched the "Dawn Paradise" plan in Treeborn World, Su Xiao felt at that moment that he wouldn't make it back and would die there.
Finding the clue "Dawn" seemed coincidental but was actually inevitable. Su Xiao had initially used the Luck Monkey to find the "Soul Severing Shadow Stone," and the monkey guided him to the Ghost Clan Queen.
From there, subsequent events were set. Even if Su Xiao hadn't obtained the portrait from Gulu, he would have done his utmost to discover the value of the few Dark Dwellers in the Dark Domain. This was his habit when exploring Primordial Worlds.
Another point was that Su Xiao never denied being inferior to Gray Gentleman in cunning. So before entering Treeborn World, he had pushed his combat power to the max. He wasn't as insidious as the other party, but he could fight better. That was enough.
As Su Xiao was thinking about this, an email appeared in his sight. This email was slightly larger than others, with a red pattern shaped like ф on the front. It was from Reincarnation Paradise. Su Xiao opened it.
[You have received 548 Soul Coins.]
It was the share from the World of Paintings. At the end of each world progress, Su Xiao received a share. That place was still developing and hadn't reached the stage of large-scale output.
After this email, two more identical emails appeared. Su Xiao claimed them.
[You have received 164,292 Soul Coins.]
[You have received 100,000 Soul Coins.]
Su Xiao directly sent an email to Kaiser, attaching 100,000 Soul Coins. Although there was no contract with Kaiser before, the agreed investment of 50,000 with principal + 100% return meant not a single coin could be missing.
For the first time, Su Xiao had a huge sum of 160,000 Soul Coins, which inexplicably made him feel refreshed. The immediate priority was to restore his left arm and injuries.
Baha took out the life support device containing the left arm. Opening it, the arm was still in the state it was when severed. This life support device had cost a fortune.
After Su Xiao activated the recovery function, he manipulated the crystal arm to shatter. His original left arm floated over. The bones recovered first, then the nerves. The nerve recovery felt a bit unpleasant, often with a cramping sensation.
Over half an hour later, Su Xiao's left arm was restored. The residual effects of the Dark Mark were cleansed, and the residual faith power: Sun in his organs was also removed. Su Xiao returned to his best state.
Bubu, Amu, and Beini had no injuries. Baha's injuries were successfully healed, avoiding a major repair crisis. He quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
[This recovery cost a total of 1,250 Soul Coins.]
The recovery cost was very high. Su Xiao moved his left arm. The original felt better. The Soul Coins were well spent.
[You have returned to Reincarnation Paradise. Starting world reward settlement.]
Experienced World: Treeborn World
World Difficulty: Lv.70~???
World Source: 0% (World Source cannot be obtained in this world)
Tip: Since World Source cannot be obtained in this world, settlement will be based on the participant's Kill Merit points, task completion quantity and quality, and exploration degree.