Chapter 49: Overlay
Behind the stall Su Xiao had rented in the Great Gathering Place.
After expressing her "willingness" to assist Su Xiao in combat as a healer for one world, Holy Maiden left with a complicated mood. This was understandable—anyone who signed 15 Reincarnation Paradise contracts would feel rather conflicted.
Crunch, crunch...
The sounds of chewing echoed back and forth. Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha each held a small bag of crispy broad beans, eating behind the stall. The beans were fragrant and crunchy, the more you chewed, the more flavorful they became. After selling goods for several hours, they were all genuinely hungry.
Three items remained on the stall: [???], [Technique Soul: Darkness], and [Origin Stone: Chaos Flame], which was for exchange only.
Over these few hours of vending, many had taken an interest in [Origin Stone: Chaos Flame]. If they could trade a blade or technique-type Origin Stone for this fire-type Origin Stone, it would be quite profitable. The former was certainly valuable, but its audience was far smaller than that of fire-type. Several potential buyers had already promised to quickly acquire the type of Origin Stone Su Xiao needed to complete the exchange.
Just as Su Xiao was considering how to allocate his current Soul Coins, a figure in a black robe walked past the stall and casually took [Technique Soul: Darkness].
[Technique Soul: Darkness has been sold.]
[You have obtained 85,000 Soul Coins.]
...
Seeing this, Su Xiao prepared to pack up and return to Reincarnation Paradise. Although he hadn't found any rare ingredients this time, he had brought back some specialty mushrooms from High Wall City, which Xia could cook later.
While Bubu Wang, Beini, and Baha argued over whether the mushrooms should be grilled or stewed, a man with a short ponytail and wearing a leather jacket stopped in front of the stall. He picked up the charcoal box on the counter and said:
"4,500. I want this."
The ponytailed man looked at the contents inside the charcoal box, seemingly quite interested.
"5,000. No bargaining."
Su Xiao's tone was calm but firm. It wasn't that he cared about the 500 Soul Coins difference. The reason he had placed the "Daddy Rank" artifact on the stall was the mutual disdain between parties. As the saying goes, part amicably and there will be no grudges when meeting again. But treating someone like a commodity to haggle over would indeed be too disrespectful.
"5,000..."
The ponytailed man clicked his tongue, then smiled and continued, "Fine, I'm in a good mood today. Deal."
With that, he paid 5,000 Soul Coins. Almost instantly, the charcoal box in his hand vanished, and a crown fell into his grasp.
The ponytailed man's expression darkened, his smile disappearing. He lowered his gaze and said, "Friend, that's not right."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't respond. He put away the charcoal box. He had been counting on this box to sell the "Daddy Rank" artifact. It was made by burning Black Maple Tree branches at a stable temperature to carbonize them while preserving their properties, then crushing the charcoal into this sealing container.
Whenever he encountered something sinister, Su Xiao used this sealing box, along with leather cloth imprinted with alchemical runes, to contain it.
Even if someone offered tens of thousands of Soul Coins, he wouldn't sell this charcoal box. It had taken a long time to accumulate enough Black Maple Tree branches to make it, and there had been several failures during the process—one could imagine the cost.
The ponytailed man knew quality when he saw it and had immediately recognized the value of the charcoal box.
"Heh."
The man laughed. The reason was that he had vaguely guessed the origin of the pitch-black crown. He bought it to give to a "friend"—one he deeply cherished and constantly wished would drop dead.
Not being able to snag the charcoal box at a bargain didn't disappoint him too much. The gloom on his face cleared, and he walked away thoughtfully.
Watching the ponytailed man's retreating figure, Su Xiao had a premonition for some reason that he might encounter that "Daddy Rank" artifact again—specifically, the artifact called the [Soul Crown].
Although it was called the "Soul Crown," calling it the "Dark Crown" was more fitting. Speaking of which, Su Xiao had some connection to this thing.
The [Dark Mask] he had dealt with before was a lower-level derivative of the "Dark Crown." It had been created by a tyrant corrupted by the Dark Crown, who had exhausted an entire world's resources to forge it. That tyrant always believed wearing only the Dark Crown wasn't perfect—he needed a mask as well.
The creation of the [Dark Mask] had gone awry, and it was eventually lost.
Compared to the [Abyssal Jar] and the [Necronomicon], the [Soul Crown] seemed less dangerous, but that wasn't the case.
For the powerful, the [Soul Crown] was extremely dangerous. The moment one touched it, the stronger the person, the more easily they were corrupted. Desire swelled like a balloon being inflated, until finally, with a bang, it burst. At that point, the wearer of the crown would become its slave, controlled by it.
This was the terror of the [Soul Crown], or rather, the "Dark Crown." Its lower-level [Dark Mask] only aroused a thirst for power in others, while the "Dark Crown" awakened all desires of its wearer.
It wasn't that no one had tried to destroy the "Dark Crown." Without exception, all who obtained it became its servants.
Su Xiao never considered himself chosen or special. Therefore, he never thought that while others were inevitably corrupted upon touching it, he could ignore or overcome it. Staying far away from this thing was the best strategy.
Looking at the 390,000 Soul Coins displayed in his imprint list, Su Xiao began to consider how to spend this wealth to maximize his strength improvement.
Su Xiao planned to construct the "Hunt List" with 800 ounces of Space-Time Power. The combat intensity of the next world was predictable.
With the current amount of Soul Coins, Su Xiao had three enhancement strategies: