Chapter 2: World Keys ×3 (Used to open World-Class Treasure Chests).
Tip: You have selected World-Class Treasure Chest ×1.
Tip: True Power: Plunder has been activated. You will gain 1 to 3 Golden Skill Points.
Tip: You have gained 3 Golden Skill Points (determined by comprehensive evaluation).
Comprehensive Evaluation: S+. Hunter's current brand level is Lv.80. Brand Level +5 (based on Primordial World rank × number of completed tasks + comprehensive evaluation - task completion time).
Tip: This is a promotion world, and the Hunter's brand has not yet been promoted to Ninth Rank. Therefore, no brand level increase will occur. Current brand level is Lv.80.
Settlement complete. Rewards have been deposited into the Hunter's brand.
...
[You have completed the promotion assessment.]
[You have been promoted to Ninth Rank.]
[Corresponding Hunter permissions have been activated.]
[Your Follower Slot +1.]
[The public trading area, the Great Gathering Place, will be opened for you. You can trade with Contractors, Battle Angels, Death Rangers, Executioners, Guardians, and Pioneers from Apocalypse Paradise, Holy Light Paradise, Death Paradise, Sanctuary Paradise, and Watchful Paradise within the Great Gathering Place (the currency used is Soul Coins).]
[Tip: Although the Great Gathering Place is a public trading area, some faction-specific supplies are non-tradable.]
...
Having gained a Follower Slot, Su Xiao changed Beini from a permanent summon mark to a Follower brand. Thus, Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini were all Followers.
[Tip: The SSS-Rank Adventure Group shared ability has been triggered. Each world settlement will grant corresponding team skill points based on the group leader's comprehensive evaluation.]
[This comprehensive evaluation is S+. You have gained 30 Team Skill Points.]
[Team Skill, Hunt Group (Passive Lv.4): During world settlement, can increase one of your own physical attributes by 1 point (randomly increased among the six attributes: Agility, Intelligence, Stamina, Charm, Luck, and Willpower).]
[This skill benefits: The Hunter himself, Bubuteni, Amu, Baha, Beini.]
...
With this prompt, Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini all gathered around. It was time for the happy luck competition again. Every time this happened, Bubu Wang and Beini were especially enthusiastic, as they had the best luck.
[Tip: Your Luck attribute +1 point.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao, who was originally about to open all the treasure chests, decided to wait a while until his luck stabilized before opening them. He had quite a few chests this time and wanted to maximize the gains.
With a total of 31 Team Skill Points, Su Xiao first raised Hunt Group to Lv.5. This ability was good in every way, except that it could only be increased by 1 level per world progress, which was regrettable.
Just after raising the Hunt Group ability, Su Xiao discovered that it could still be upgraded. He tried to raise it another 2 levels, bringing it to Lv.7, after which the ability became unselectable. He guessed this was an effect of being promoted to Ninth Rank, which also raised the Adventure Group's rank.
Hunt Group (Passive Lv.7): During world settlement, can increase 1 to 3 of your own physical attributes (randomly increased among the six attributes: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Stamina, Charm, Luck, and Willpower).
With the remaining 28 Team Skill Points, Su Xiao upgraded the team skill Vitality Awakening to Lv.49.
Leaving his Exclusive Room, Su Xiao headed straight for Lide's forge. Half an hour later, he arrived in front of the forge.
As soon as Su Xiao arrived, the forge door seemed about to close, but Su Xiao's hand was faster.
Bang!
Su Xiao grabbed the edge of the nearly 10-centimeter-thick black metal door with one hand and looked through the crack. Through the gap, he saw Lide's eye twitch twice.
Kacha, kacha, kacha~
Su Xiao used his strength to pull the door open a bit wider, then tossed the wooden box containing the Wild Hunt Night long leather coat inside. Finally, he let go. The metal door slammed shut with a clang. A few seconds later, a vigorous "Wo|cao" came from inside.
When Lide kicked the door open from the inside, Su Xiao was already gone from outside the door. This made Wude, holding the strip-like long leather coat, let out a few refined and casual curses. But in the end, he still went to the workbench, placed the long leather coat on it, and began to think. Whether he was thinking about how to repair it or about life, if it was the latter, it must be: Who am I? Where is this? Am I not a blacksmith?
...
Inside the Attribute Enhancement Hall.
The door behind Su Xiao closed, and he activated the Attribute Enhancement Pod.
[Welcome to Attribute Enhancement Pod No. 1319.]
[Available True Attribute Points: 49.]
He had gained many True Attribute Points this time, but before enhancing, Su Xiao had two things to do. He pressed one hand on the identification device in front of him, activating the attribute promotion authority.
[Your Willpower attribute will be promoted to True Willpower attribute. During this process, you will enter an unconscious state.]
As soon as this prompt appeared, Su Xiao's vision gradually darkened. It felt like a few seconds passed, or perhaps a long time. His eyes suddenly snapped open. After a few seconds, he carefully perceived the changes in himself.
[True Willpower attribute has reached 20 points (naked). You may choose one of the following rewards.]
A. Tenacious Will: Willpower +2 points.
B. Endure Pain: Pain sensation reduced by 10%, pain tolerance slightly increased.
C. Stand Firm: When HP is above 8.5%, you will not enter a dying state.
...
Among the three rewards, Su Xiao chose option A without hesitation, mainly because the other two were useless. He was already accustomed to battle and had sufficient tolerance for pain.
Although the Black King Bracer had not yet completed its promotion, he could already feel the familiar sensation of being able to avoid dying states returning. Therefore, lowering the dying threshold was a weakening for him.
[True Willpower attribute has reached 50 points (naked). You may choose one of the following rewards.]
A. Will: Willpower +3 points.
B. Fight Harder: After enduring pain multiple times, a large amount of variant adrenaline will be secreted, allowing you to ignore physical pain and enter a highly excited state.
C. Raging Blood: Burn (Rare Reward): When your HP drops below 35%, you can enter this state. While judgment is greatly reduced, you will continuously gain incremental movement speed, attack speed, and overall attack intensity through the power of angry will.
...
Su Xiao frowned. What kind of attribute rewards were these? He decisively chose reward A. It wasn't that he was stacking Willpower, but the remaining two rewards were truly garbage. Or rather, it wasn't that the bonuses were garbage, but that they were too suitable for him.
This made Su Xiao wonder how the attribute rewards were determined. Was it random? Or was it randomly drawn from a large category like Melee Combat?
Su Xiao suspected it was the latter. Although these bonuses were garbage for him, they were godly skills for some melee types. Especially Raging Blood: Burn (Rare Reward), which perfectly matched the Berserker class. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was like gaining an extra talent ability.
[True Willpower attribute has reached 99 points (naked). You may choose one of the following rewards.]
A. Will Amplification: Willpower +5 points.
B. Battle Instinct: Perception capture speed increased by 20%, with a probability of predicting incoming attacks.
C. Leader: Your unwavering willpower can influence the intelligent beings under your command, making them more convinced of you, reducing desertion rate by 10%, and increasing morale by 10%.
...
All three rewards were good this time. Su Xiao chose reward B because, although reward C was good, its bonus wasn't high enough.
[True Willpower attribute has reached 150 points (naked). You may choose one of the following rewards.]
A. Strengthened Will: Willpower +10 points.
B. Death Resistance: Delays the time you enter a dying state (delays 15 to 30 seconds, depending on Stamina attribute).
C. Commander (Exclusive Reward): Due to Charm attribute -15 points, you possess a chilling aura. When you command chaotic or evil-aligned units, their rebellion probability is reduced by 25%, temporary loyalty increased by 50%, persuasiveness increased by 80%, and morale increased by 30%.
...
This time, it was hard to choose. After thinking for a moment, Su Xiao decided to choose reward C, Commander. Having an exclusive reward was a stroke of luck in itself. Additionally, he did often command evil-aligned people.
The concept of temporary loyalty was interesting. In layman's terms, it meant scaring them into immediate allegiance, with loyalty gradually decreasing over time. For Su Xiao, this wasn't a problem. Once on the pirate ship, did they think they could leave? Within the factions he commanded, such a thing had never happened.
[True Willpower attribute has reached 200 points (naked). You may choose one of the following rewards.]
A. Iron Will: Willpower +15 points.
B. Resistance: Duration of effects such as Charm, Mental Induction, and Consciousness Seduction you receive is reduced by 35%.
C. Fearless Shadow (Special Reward): Completely negates Will Invasion caused by Original Sin Objects and Abyss Spawn.
...
Reward B was useless for Su Xiao. Blade Grandmaster completely immunized him against such controls, so it was eliminated first. Left with a choice between two, Su Xiao considered and decided to choose reward C.
Although he didn't know what Will Invasion was, he felt that his Willpower attribute still had many opportunities to increase in the future. The chance to completely negate the Will Invasion effect was likely only this one.
No more attribute rewards appeared, meaning Su Xiao's Willpower attribute hadn't reached 300 points. He took out a Dark Stone. This item could increase all main attributes, meaning it would increase his Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Stamina attributes.
After using the Dark Stone, Su Xiao immediately activated the Attribute Enhancement Pod. This was an experience gained over time: when using such permanent enhancement items (rather than enhancement potions), activating the Attribute Enhancement Pod during the process allowed these permanent enhancement items to achieve better results.
With 49 True Attribute Points, Su Xiao allocated them as: Strength +12, Agility +12, Stamina +12, Intelligence +13.
Hmm~
The Attribute Enhancement Pod began to operate. Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the floor. When the pod stopped, he checked his own information.
True Strength: 276 points
True Agility: 276 points
True Stamina: 276 points
True Intelligence: 276 points
Charm: -15 points
Luck: 56 points
Soul Strength: 650 points
True Willpower: 210 points
...
Su Xiao's physical attributes had now reached a very high level. The Dark Stone's effect on him wasn't exceptional, but it was still a considerable improvement, increasing his physical attributes by a total of 3 points.
Leaving the Attribute Enhancement Hall, Su Xiao returned to his Exclusive Room. When he pushed the door open, he saw Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini all lined up against the wall doing handstands. Furthermore, based on their Strength attribute levels, they were using their feet, claws, and hind legs to support different weights of load.
"..."
Su Xiao stopped in his tracks, not understanding what Bubu, Amu, and the others were doing.
"Boss, we're... competing. It's about... those 100 Soul Coins."
Baha spoke. Hearing this, Su Xiao ignored the four of them. At the end of each world progress, Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini received a certain share of Soul Coins as pocket money.
This time, when he distributed the Soul Coins to them, there were an extra 100. Usually, they were split evenly, but this time Baha came up with a bad idea. Since they had nothing better to do, they'd have a handstand weight-holding competition. The winner took all.
Looking at Beini's trembling little hind legs, Baha, who came up with the bad idea, was probably in danger. Miss Beini was in charge of the money, including the food budget. If he severely hurt her pride, Baha might only be eating boiled slippers from now on.
Clang, clang, clang. Three sounds. Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha's weights all fell to the ground. Beini won.
Judging by Beini's stubbornly trembling little hind legs after releasing the weight, if Bubu and the others had been a few seconds slower, she would have barely won. In the end, the three of them each got 33 Soul Coins, leaving only 1 Soul Coin for Beini. She walked with a meow-step, slowly wagging her tail happily as she went to bathe. As soon as she entered the bathroom, Beini sat on the floor, tears in her eyes. Her hind legs were so sore.
Su Xiao watched Beini, who remained seated behind the frosted glass. He didn't need to think to know that the handstand hind-leg weight competition was definitely Baha's bad idea.
"Amu."
"Moo?"
Amu's response carried a hint of a tremble. When he saw Su Xiao heading towards the Alchemy Laboratory, Amu's legs gave way, and he sat down on the floor with a thud, then ran outside.
Three hours later, the major repair... cough, the deep treatment of the surgery was complete. Su Xiao handed a half-meter long, 20-centimeter high lunchbox to Amu.
Amu, still trembling, ate the grilled lamb chops ordered from the Summer Restaurant while questioning his bovine life. The deliciousness of the grilled lamb chops versus the pain of the major repair. The two feelings alternated, and finally, devouring the food resolved the heavy mood after the major repair.
Su Xiao came to the planting area. He inserted the over 30 World Cores (Fragments) he had traded for into the soil around the Black Maple Tree. Then, he took out four Origin Stones: World (Fragments) and used thin ropes to hang them in various places on the Black Maple Tree.
Previously, in Dead Silence City, he had discovered that the Divine Cult placed Origin Stones: World (Fragments) inside the Mother Black Maple Tree, and this behavior did not damage or diminish the Origin Stones: World (Fragments).
He guessed that the unique fluctuations emitted by the Origin Stones: World (Fragments) could assist the Black Maple Tree's growth or improve the quality of its yield. If it was the latter, it would be a huge profit.
Sitting under the Black Maple Tree, Su Xiao took out an item: the Basic Passive Skill Scroll Chest. This chest would definitely yield one type of highest-potential basic ability that he hadn't yet mastered.
There were a total of seven Basic Passives, corresponding to the Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence, Charm, Perception, and Soul attributes.
Su Xiao had already mastered four. This meant that this Basic Passive Skill Scroll Chest would only yield the highest-potential Strength, Agility, or Charm basic ability.
[You have opened the Basic Passive Skill Scroll Chest.]
[You have obtained Basic Passive: Secret Art.]
[Basic Passive: Secret Art, Lv.1.]
Type: Basic Passive Scroll.
Prerequisite: Charm attribute 5 points.
Skill Effect: Follower Slot +2, Permanent Summon Slot +5. The comprehensive bonus rate of the Charm attribute on summoned units under your command increases from a constant 1.0% to 1.25%. Each time this skill is upgraded, this characteristic will be improved (this characteristic can only be improved through the highest-potential Charm Basic Passive).
...
Seeing that he had drawn the highest-potential Basic Passive for the Charm attribute, Su Xiao was not disappointed. Instead, he was somewhat expectant, because of the Ancient Scroll he had obtained earlier.
[Ancient Scroll]
Origin: Gloomy Continent, Soul Library, Top Floor.
Quality: Consumable/Scroll.
Durability: 1/3 (cannot be restored by any means).
Usage Prerequisite: Soul Energy Rank (8).
Equipment Effect: Ancient Miracle (Active). Must first select a skill scroll as the carrier for this scroll. Activating this scroll will perform a reverse twist on the attached skill scroll.
Tip: During the reverse twist process, the user must provide a large amount of high-rank energy. The rank of this energy will determine the degree, characteristics, and upper limit of the reverse twist.
Introduction: The preciousness of this item depends on the user's vision and wisdom.
...
Su Xiao was curious: if he ensured sufficient high-rank energy, could using the Ancient Scroll on the Basic Passive: Secret Art scroll twist it into a unique Basic Passive ability that could only be mastered with a negative Charm attribute? In short, a Negative Charm Basic Passive.