Chapter 68: Gains
[Teleportation complete. You have returned to Reincarnation Paradise.]
Su Xiao lay on the carpet of his exclusive room. The familiar furnishings, the faint scent of grass and wood from Beini's habit of using excessive conditioner during baths, and the soft ticking of the antique clock favored by Amu—the combination of all these things brought a sense of relaxation.
During this trip to Arcane Eternal Star, aside from the moment he captured the Goddess of Fortune, Su Xiao had not made a single move. Instead, he engaged in a different kind of game of wits with the Spellcasters.
Although it seemed relatively safe on the surface, if Su Xiao had shown any weakness, the situation he faced would have been extremely dangerous. After all, it was the enemy's home base.
After lying on the carpet for a moment, Su Xiao opened his eyes and immediately saw a dog's face enlarged by being too close. Then, the dog face pressed down.
"Woof?!"
Bubu Wang bumped into him with a start. It had woken up from a deep sleep, seen Su Xiao, thought it was dreaming, and decided to go back to sleep. That led to the current scene.
"Boss, everything go smoothly?"
Baha flew out from the alchemy laboratory. Before leaving, Su Xiao had instructed him to watch over the changes of the Devourer, Crystal Ji. Although Baha was usually carefree, he was always diligent with tasks Su Xiao assigned.
"Too bad. If I could have gone this time, I definitely would have greeted Sefeiliya a few words."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. This was exactly why he didn't bring Baha. Baha's competence, execution, and bravery were impeccable, but his sharp tongue was a flaw.
In fact, it wasn't just Baha. The other members of Su Xiao's team also had their own shortcomings. For example, Bubu Wang was extremely timid around ghosts and spirits, and whenever he saw something valuable, he always wanted to bite it to test the texture.
Amu loved to eat. His joy was eating, eating, and more eating. But that wasn't really a flaw.
Beini had a strong sense of competitiveness and pride. Sometimes, when her pride was hurt, she would turn her back and ignore everyone. But there was no need to coax her; Beini didn't hold grudges. After a while, she would lift her head, as if to say, "This cat is magnanimous. I'll forgive you this once."
"Moo?"
Amu pushed the door open and came back. Seeing this, Su Xiao told him to order food from Xia's restaurant. Amu immediately turned around and left, especially enthusiastic about this.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the carpet and began to summarize the gains and losses of this trip. First, the enemy's losses. Arcane Eternal Star had lost one and a half resource stars this time. The reason for saying "one and a half" was because, before being teleported away, Su Xiao saw that the second Sun Holy Sword failed to completely pierce through [Mining Star 19]. It seemed to have shattered only a small part.
Even so, the destruction of [Mining Star 19] was only a matter of time. So, it was indeed a reduction of two resource stars for the enemy.
In terms of kills. After the attack on [Flourishing Star], the mid- and low-level Spellcasters prepared to swarm into [Flourishing Star], but the high-level Spellcasters stopped them. Only less than one-tenth of the Spellcasters were sent, with most dispatched being Magic Energy Guards.
The result was that this one-tenth of the Spellcasters was nearly wiped out. On [Flourishing Star], pierced by the Sun Holy Sword, few Spellcasters could survive such a situation except for the Gale Wind King and his few trusted subordinates.
The reason Su Xiao chose [Flourishing Star] as the target was that when the Spellcasters learned that the Law Destroyers might attack, their first thought would definitely be to protect the Black Maple Tree.
Which was easier to protect: a Black Maple Tree or a resource star? The answer was definitely the former. The Black Maple Tree could be protected by layers of barriers. Conversely, covering a resource star with a sufficiently strong barrier would require an unimaginable investment.
Undoubtedly, the losses of Arcane Eternal Star this time were severe. The annual output of resources from the two resource stars was worth hundreds of millions of Soul Coins, and this was only moderate harvesting for sustainable development.
Besides the resource losses, there were also casualties among the Spellcasters. This aspect was relatively manageable, with zero casualties among the high-level combatants of the Spellcasters.
However, after this incident, Arcane Eternal Star's unassailable dominance as a hegemon became shaky. Compared to the losses in resources and personnel, this was the most painful point.
This was also why the White Bull forces and the Ancient God faction dared to participate in the plan in this manner. They all knew that after this incident, what Arcane Eternal Star would do was definitely not retaliate with thunderous means.
Having just had a piece bitten off, if Arcane Eternal Star chose to go to war with the White Bull forces and the Ancient God faction now, the other major forces in the Void would certainly not stand idly by. They would inevitably take advantage of the tripartite war to bite off pieces of Arcane Eternal Star as well.
The representatives among them were the Demon Race, the Devil Race, and the Soul Race. The Demon Race needed no introduction; they had just been schemed against by Arcane Eternal Star and the Feather Race. If given the chance, they would definitely choose to reclaim the territory that had been taken from them.
The Devil Race also needed no introduction. They had always been at odds with Arcane Eternal Star. Coupled with the blame-shifting of the [Necronomicon] this time, the Devil Race was very willing to take the opportunity to stab Arcane Eternal Star in the back.
Finally, the Soul Race. They were the most eager to hammer Arcane Eternal Star. As one of the few major forces in the Void, the Soul Race was once very prosperous but was now very low-key. Why was that? Need it be asked? They had been beaten down by Arcane Eternal Star back in the day.
Under such circumstances, Arcane Eternal Star could only pretend that nothing had happened this time, pinning all the blame on the Law Destroyers. Everything was done by the Law Destroyers. All of it.
The reason Arcane Eternal Star did this was to calm the situation and recuperate. Once they recovered from this loss, they would deal with the White Bull forces, the Ancient God faction, the Demon Race, the Devil Race, and the Soul Race one by one.
As for these forces uniting now to destroy Arcane Eternal Star? Absolutely impossible. If these five major forces besieged Arcane Eternal Star now, even if Arcane Eternal Star lost, at least three to four of these five major forces would be destroyed.
Moreover, the White Bull forces and the Ancient God faction would not participate in this matter. Because even if Arcane Eternal Star recovered, they would not retaliate too harshly against them. The White Bull forces were equivalent to the underground world of the Void. Even if the Spellcasters were powerful, it would be difficult to retaliate against these desperadoes. Finding them was a major problem.
Besides, even if they killed them all, what then? In a place like the Void, where the strong prey on the weak, countless criminal incidents occurred every day. Those desperadoes branded as criminals by the major forces of the Void could only rely on White Bull. As long as they stopped wantonly committing crimes and became small-time thugs under White Bull, they could save their lives.
Therefore, retaliating against the White Bull forces was actually very difficult. As for assassinating White Bull himself, in terms of strength, White Bull was indeed inferior to the Supreme Being. However, many years ago, the Supreme Being, along with the Four Leaders—Sefeiliya, Soul Lord, Gale Wind King, and Dean Guya—failed to eliminate White Bull. Starting as a small-time gang leader in a single block, White Bull had fought and killed his way to become the Black Emperor of the underworld. Being hunted was his specialty.
The leader was too difficult to hunt. Killing his subordinates, no matter how many, was largely meaningless. They would be replenished soon enough. Therefore, Arcane Eternal Star's retaliation against White Bull would most likely involve killing a few of his major lieutenants to save face. Arcane Eternal Star really didn't want to fight White Bull; it was a waste of time and energy.
As for dealing with the Ancient God faction, how? Declare war on Doom Star? The key was, after suffering many casualties among the Spellcasters and consuming a lot of resources, what would they gain after winning? What was on Doom Star? It was only suitable for Ancient Gods and their followers. Normal people would find it difficult to survive there.
In other words, after paying a huge cost in materials and combat power, Arcane Eternal Star would at most defeat the Ancient God faction and then obtain a super-massive world that was completely useless and uninhabitable. Subsequently, they would face constant retaliation from the fanatical followers of those Ancient Gods.
Therefore, whenever Arcane Eternal Star thought about the White Bull forces and the Ancient God faction now, they felt disgusted. Fighting them meant a loss; not fighting them meant losing face as a hegemon. So, they would have to grit their teeth and fight later, just to regain their dignity. That would be enough.
On the other hand, they were very interested in beating up the Demon Race, the Devil Race, and the Soul Race. The basic situation was: 'So it's you three, eyeing me covetously after I was schemed against by the Law Destroyers?'
Therefore, the subsequent development of the situation in the Void would be extremely peculiar. The White Bull forces and the Ancient God faction, who actually made a move, would at most get a severe beating and then be shouted at by Arcane Eternal Star: 'Get lost! Disappear from my sight!'
On the other hand, the Demon Race, the Devil Race, and the Soul Race, who were just watching the show, would be ridden and beaten by a recovered Arcane Eternal Star. While beating them, they would also rob things from their pockets to make up for previous losses and to let other races know that they not only dealt with those who dared to provoke them but also those who gloated on the sidelines. It was killing two birds with one stone.
However, among these three brothers who were beaten, the Devil Race would definitely be hit the lightest. If they hit them too hard, and they pulled out a "Wild Daddy," Arcane Eternal Star would also be in a tough spot.
[Your Travel Mission: The Law Destroyer Was Here (Completed).]
[Completion Rate: 60%.]
[You have obtained the right to randomly draw a Team Skill Card (draw range: lower limit to upper limit, Team Skill Card lv.30 ~ lv.80).]
...
For this travel mission, Su Xiao failed to visit two places: the [Clock Tower] and the [Elemental Wetlands]. However, the mission did not require visiting all locations. With a low completion rate, the obtained [Team Skill Card Random Draw Permission] was not very good.
[You have activated this Skill Card Random Draw Permission.]
[You have obtained Team Skill Card: Thriving Life (Passive, lv.60).]
[Thriving Life (Passive, lv.60): All team members' Health Points +3500.]
...
A decent Team Skill Card. After activating the [Dawn Team], Su Xiao inserted this skill card into the corresponding slot. Thus, the buffs of the [Dawn Team] became:
[Dawn Team]
Number of Members: 1/5.
Team Rank: SSS (Shares the Hunter's personal Adventure Team rank).
Team Skill Slots: 4/4 (Team skills can be obtained through team skill sharing or by inserting Team Skill Cards. Such skill cards are extremely rare and have fixed levels and fixed bonuses, and cannot be upgraded.)
Team Skill 1: Radiant Team (Passive, X): All team members' Health Points +9700, Mana Points +4200.
Team Skill 2: Thunder Breath Blessing (Passive, X): Improves physique with active lightning. Upon triggering this ability, permanently increases Health Points by 1 per minute (upgrade cap 5000 points), increases Mana Points by 1 every five minutes (maximum 1500 points), and increases Lightning Resistance by 1 per day (maximum 30 points).
Tip: When the buff effect of Thunder Breath Blessing reaches its maximum, this ability's personal bonus will adaptively change to provide a high amount of Lightning Resistance.
Team Skill 3: Thriving Life (Passive, lv.60): All team members' Health Points +3500.
Team Skill 4: Vitality Awakening (Rare · Team Passive lv.49): When a team member's Health Points drop below 10%, this ability activates, restoring 5300 Health Points + 51% of maximum Health Points over the next 3 seconds (Cooldown: 19 hours. Cooldown is calculated separately for each team member).
Team Luck: E ~ S+
...
Aside from the mediocre [Thriving Life] ability, the other three abilities were exceptionally powerful. However, [Thriving Life] was a skill card enhancement and could be removed at any time to be replaced with a better Team Skill Card.
The gains were decent. Su Xiao began to summarize his earnings from this trip to Arcane Eternal Star. His current Soul Coins had reached 352,327.
Just then, Su Xiao received an email from Kaisa, stating that the items bought at the auction with the Goblin checks had all been sold.
The accounts were detailed in the email. First, the proceeds from the auction items bought with 500,000 Goblin checks. However, due to the need for a quick sale and the auction proceeds, the price inevitably suffered a discount. As a result, the 500,000 Goblin checks were ultimately converted into 469,503 Soul Coins.
Su Xiao's share was 30%, which was 140,851 Soul Coins. The Soul Coins attached at the end of the email totaled 140,851.
Thus, Su Xiao's available assets reached 493,178 Soul Coins. Although this trip to Arcane Eternal Star caused Su Xiao to miss a world progression, the amount of Soul Coins obtained, along with the over 100 Soul Crystals, meant that missing this world progression was not a loss but a huge profit.
[Tip: Killing Instinct has been upgraded to Immortal Rank.]
Before leaving, Su Xiao used the Holy Spirit Miracle to upgrade [Killing Instinct]. This equipment had long been upgraded, but he hadn't brought it with him.
[Killing Instinct]
Durability: 120/120 (Increased by 21 points)
Equipment Requirement: True Agility 240 points or more, Willpower 135 points or more.
Equipment Effect: Instinct Activation (Special Skill). After wearing this equipment, a Willpower check will be performed. If successful, the [Instinct Activation (Passive)] effect will be activated. If failed, the [Instinct Killing (Active)] state will be entered, lasting 120 hours. After the [Instinct Killing (Active)] state ends, this equipment can never be worn again.
Instinct Activation (Passive): Greatly increases the growth rate of the wearer's Perception-type abilities.
Tip: Detected that [Instinct Activation (Passive)] has a 93.8% compatibility with the Instinct ability. The growth rate of the Instinct ability is increased by 5 to 70 times (70 times during combat, 42 times in dangerous environments, 5 times in safe environments).
Rating: 1492 points (Immortal Rank equipment rating is 700~1500 points).
...
Seeing that the core attributes of [Killing Instinct] hadn't changed, only strengthened, Su Xiao was relieved. His core Perception ability, Instinct, relied entirely on this equipment for rapid growth. Otherwise, he wouldn't have his current close-range perception.
Of course, the [Basic Passive · Awakening] in terms of perception also played an indispensable role in the growth of the Instinct ability.
After organizing his resources for a while, Su Xiao decided how to use the nearly 500,000 Soul Coins and over 100 Soul Crystals.
His Blade Grandmaster and Melee Grandmaster had both been raised to lv.70. After reaching lv.70, each level increase for these two abilities required 100 Soul Crystals and 6,300 Soul Coins.
Compared to raising Blade Grandmaster or Melee Grandmaster by one level, raising the lv.60 Blood Spear Grandmaster to lv.70 would provide a greater boost to his combat power. As for the lv.60 ultimate ability of Blood Spear Grandmaster, Blood Soul Resonance:
[Blood Soul Resonance (Passive): Blood Spear Grandmaster can devour an aura-type ability you have mastered (requires the aura ability to reach X or higher X). After devouring, the aura ability will be removed from the skill list, but it will not reduce your current Blood Qi intensity or total Blood Qi. After completing this devouring, it will bring a certain degree of enhancement to Blood Spear Grandmaster and further improve the quality of your Blood Qi.]
Su Xiao was not yet ready to use this characteristic to upgrade Blood Spear Grandmaster. Instead, he planned to first use Soul Crystals and [Technique Soul · Blood] to raise Blood Spear Grandmaster to lv.70, and then start using this characteristic to upgrade it further.
This way, the number of Soul Crystals needed to develop the Three Grandmasters would drop by one-third. He would only need to spend enough Soul Coins to purchase new aura abilities and use the Ancient Battlefield to max them out, thereby upgrading Blood Spear Grandmaster.
Another advantage was that continuously developing and devouring aura abilities would make Su Xiao's Blood Qi stronger and stronger. It was a process of stacking Blood Qi, while also upgrading Blood Spear Grandmaster, killing two birds with one stone.
Now, the Soul Crystals needed to upgrade Blood Spear Grandmaster were sufficient. As for [Technique Soul · Blood], Su Xiao took out an old-fashioned telephone. Picking up the receiver, the number dial on the phone rotated on its own. After a moment, a deep voice came from within:
"Panskap, wo pu..."
Ancient Demon language came through. Hearing this, Su Xiao cleared his throat and began to communicate with the other party in not-so-fluent Ancient Demon language. Bubu Wang, Baha, and Beini, gathered around him, listened with blank expressions.
After a while, Su Xiao ended the conversation. The entire conversation was simple. Su Xiao intended to purchase [Technique Soul · Blood] from the other side, with the price being Black Maple Tree yield.
Naturally, he was not going to use the yield from his own Black Maple Tree to buy [Technique Soul · Blood] from the Demon Race. The Law Destroyers and the Demon Race were allies, but that was in the previous era. Each era had different patterns and situations. Therefore, Su Xiao did not plan to reveal that he had a Black Maple Tree to the Demon Race.
The Black Maple Tree yield he planned to pay this time was obtained from Sefeiliya. Since it was obtained for free, using it to exchange for [Technique Soul · Blood] from the Demon Race was a great deal for Su Xiao.
Because Su Xiao was offering so much, the Demon Race promised to deliver [Technique Soul · Blood] within 24 hours at most. After 24 hours, they would meet at the Great Gathering Place for the transaction.
With [Technique Soul · Blood] secured, Su Xiao began to consider another matter. Previously, he didn't have enough Soul Coins to upgrade Dragon-Slaying Flash to Origin Rank.
Now, with nearly 500,000 Soul Coins in hand, it was no problem to acquire some Immortal Rank longswords. Moreover, after raising the [Supreme Blade] ability to its maximum rank X, the range of weapons Dragon-Slaying Flash could devour had greatly increased.
However, Su Xiao still planned to acquire as many blade-type weapons as possible. Devouring weapons of the same type would give Dragon-Slaying Flash more Edge Value.
After devouring a Law-Destroying Blade earlier, Dragon-Slaying Flash's Edge Value cap had increased from 100% to 120%. Although it seemed to consume more, the initial attributes upon reaching Origin Rank would be stronger.
A conservative estimate was that to upgrade Dragon-Slaying Flash from Immortal Rank to Origin Rank, he would need at least ten weapons of the same rank. Currently, Su Xiao had two: [Shadow Twins (Immortal Rank Weapon · Dual Longswords)] and [Dark Silver Remnant (Immortal Rank Shortsword)].
Su Xiao only knew three parties that could simultaneously provide eight Immortal Rank blade-type weapons: the Black Sail Merchant Guild, the Shadow Merchant Guild, and the Goblin Merchant Guild.
Su Xiao first contacted the Black Sail Merchant Guild and inquired about the price of Immortal Rank blade-type weapons. Their quote was a minimum of 12,000 Soul Coins per weapon. The price of Immortal Rank weapons was similar to that of Immortal Rank max-rated equipment, which was acceptable.
Upon learning that Su Xiao needed a total of eight high-rated Immortal Rank longswords, they increased the price to 19,000 Soul Coins per weapon.
Su Xiao had considered buying them one by one, but given the shrewdness of the Black Merchants, after selling the third Immortal Rank longsword on the same day, they would definitely jack up the price wildly.
This was very much in line with the style of the Black Merchants. As for retaliation or something, the Black Merchants didn't care. Apart from admitting defeat to the Travel Group, or rather to Tuanzhang, they would appear to back down in front of others, but when it came to raising prices, they wouldn't reduce a single coin.
Su Xiao then contacted the Shadow Merchant Guild and the Goblin Merchant Guild. When the Shadow Merchant Guild heard that Su Xiao needed a total of eight Immortal Rank longswords, they were very enthusiastic. After all, he was a regular customer. Previously, when Dragon-Slaying Flash was upgraded from Holy Spirit Rank to Immortal Rank, the multiple Holy Spirit Rank longswords needed were acquired with the help of the Shadow Merchant Guild.
Shadow 6 of the Shadow Merchant Guild replied that they needed some time. After this World War was over, there would definitely be a period of high equipment output. If possible, they would help Su Xiao acquire eight max-rated Immortal Rank longswords at a price of 18,000 Soul Coins each.
The Shadow Merchant Guild was quite sincere. The Black Merchants had raised the price to 19,000 for slightly higher-rated Immortal Rank longswords, while the Shadow Merchant Guild offered 18,000 for max-rated ones.
However, Shadow 6 politely indicated that their strength was not as good as the Black Sail and Goblin Merchant Guilds. They might not be able to acquire eight. They could only guarantee to provide six at most. Any more would depend on luck.
Su Xiao naturally agreed to this order and immediately sent a deposit of 57,000 Soul Coins. This prompted Shadow 6 to repeatedly assure him that after this World War ended, within 24 hours at most, they would definitely give Su Xiao a satisfactory answer.
Finally, Su Xiao contacted the Goblin Merchant Guild. Their reply was that max-rated Immortal Rank longswords were 22,000 Soul Coins each. Within 20, they had stock on the same day and could trade in 10 minutes. No matter how many he wanted, the price was the same, no increase or decrease.
The three guilds—Black Sail, Shadow, and Goblin—had completely different styles. The Goblin Merchant Guild liked to speculate on prices, but their overall prices were stable, with strong capital, strength, and credibility.
The Shadow Merchant Guild, although a large guild, was still developing and had a gap compared to the Black Sail and Goblin guilds. The Shadow Merchant Guild's philosophy was that small customers were friends, large customers were family, and super-large customers were their fathers, their biological fathers.
Among the three, the most interesting was the Black Sail. For ordinary purchases, don't go to them; they were too shady. However, if you needed some strange and unusual items, such as inheritance items for your profession or other hard-to-find things, as long as you paid enough Soul Coins, those Black Merchants would go to the ends of the earth to find them and then sell them to you at a high price.
There was a rumor that a guy inherited the Moonlight Bloodline but lacked a key professional advancement item. He contacted the Black Sail. These Black Merchants, using some unknown method, went to the Gloomy Continent, managed to sneak into the Root · Dead Silence City, and after losing many people, finally found the [Moonlight Stone] in the Grand Cathedral, brought it out, and sold it to that guy at a high price.
Apart from the Soul Coins reserved for purchasing Immortal Rank longswords, Su Xiao planned to use the rest to upgrade his [Basic Passive] abilities.
Su Xiao got up and went to the planting area, stopping in front of a large wooden wine barrel. This barrel was 3 meters thick and 3 meters high, covered with metal structures for reinforcement. This was the Elemental Brew he had brewed.
According to the brewing method recorded by the God King, the more natural elements gathered during the brewing process, the better the wine. Of course, these natural elements did not merge with the wine liquid. Their role was similar to fermentation enzymes. After fermentation was complete, these natural elements would drift away.
Even without using Elemental Vision, he could see the surrounding natural elements. They had gathered so densely that the large wine barrel was barely visible.
The degree of elemental fermentation had reached its optimum. Seeing this, Su Xiao took out eight [Time Crystallized Objects] from his storage space. Without touching them, he released them and let them fall to the ground.
Su Xiao went to the fruit and vegetable planting area and picked some wild berries. Just as he did this, the birds raised by Amu chirped noisily. One particularly dull-witted bird even seemed ready to challenge Su Xiao. He had no idea where Amu had found such a silly bird.
After picking the berries, Su Xiao placed one on a flake-shaped [Time Crystallized Object]. The next second, due to the ultra-high-speed passage of time, the berry began to shrivel and shrink, eventually turning into a hard, black ball.
Su Xiao looked at the large wine barrel beside him. After thinking for a moment, he took out a mechanical prosthetic arm, put it on, and used it to pick up the [Time Crystallized Object] from the ground.
After trying various methods, shuttling between the alchemy laboratory and the planting area, Su Xiao finally completed his plan after more than ten hours of hard work.
The eight [Time Crystallized Objects] were fixed to the outer wall of the large wine barrel. Since these things accelerated the time flow of objects they touched, why not try using them to speed up the brewing process?
The time Su Xiao spent in each mission world was roughly 20 to 30 days. Assuming the [Time Crystallized Objects] could accelerate the time flow of the objects they touched by a thousand times, using this characteristic to speed up the brewing of the Elemental Brew would mean that by the time Su Xiao returned from the next mission world, this Elemental Brew might be over eighty years old.
Considering the already excellent quality of the Elemental Brew itself, if this experiment succeeded, this large barrel of Elemental Brew would be very valuable.
Su Xiao looked at the natural elements floating around the large wine barrel. White Bull had mentioned earlier that the next Empty Seat Banquet would be held in about a month. By then, Su Xiao planned to bring some Elemental Brew to let the other members of the Empty Seat Banquet taste it and evaluate its quality.
Just as Su Xiao thought of this, a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Tip: The upgrade of Fate Dominator has been completed.]