Chapter 35: The Rise of the Sun (The Sole Remnant of the First Era: Sun Civilization)
Type: Ancient Text.
Value: 275 Library Silver Coins.
...
The more Su Xiao flipped through, the more he felt that Library Silver Coins were valuable items. Based on the location marked on the list, he arrived before a row of bookshelves and picked up a metal box from above.
Carrying this metal box, Su Xiao came to the exit. The little elf, Popoli, behind the nearby table quickly put away a small booklet and said in a serious tone:
"Guest, have you chosen your ancient text? Oh, it's 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition.' You need to pay me 307 Library Silver Coins. By the way, guest, you must take good care of the ancient texts and recipe books inside. If they are damaged, when you sell them back, the silver coins will be deducted. Of course, if it's just minor wear and tear, there won't be any deduction fee."
As the little elf Popoli spoke, he picked up a metal stamp and slammed it down with a bang onto the metal box, signifying that everything inside now belonged to Su Xiao.
The Library Silver Coins instantly dwindled to 8 remaining. Su Xiao's purpose in exchanging for 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition' was not entirely to improve his alchemy skills, but also to see the level of knowledge within the Soul Library priced at 300 Library Silver Coins.
Following the spiral staircase back to the first floor of the library, Su Xiao sat down at a small wooden table. As soon as he sat down, the little elf who had guided him earlier raised a cup of hot cocoa, babbling to indicate that it was from a cocoa tree it had planted itself.
"Thank you."
Su Xiao took a small sip. The taste was rich and excellent. Although he rarely drank this kind of thing, he could tell it was top-tier quality. Truly worthy of a little elf skilled in cultivation.
But not long after, the little elf brought one cup of milk drink after another, or light tea. At first, Bubu Wang and Beini drank happily, but after running to the bathroom three or four times and getting completely full, they couldn't drink anymore. Yet they didn't want to disappoint the little elf's kindness. However, this little elf still brought a new drink every so often, stuffing Bubu Wang and Beini until they lay flat on their backs, motionless.
It was fortunate that the Soul Library provided protection; otherwise, the little elf race would likely be bullied by other races. The nature of this race is that if you show them kindness, they will repay it tenfold, even a hundredfold. Just like this little elf now, its little forehead covered in sweat from exhaustion, yet it still made trip after trip bringing drinks.
After a while, the little elf was indeed too tired and fell asleep on a book titled 'Compendium of Plant Materials' lying on the desk.
Su Xiao sat on a wooden chair, leisurely crossing his legs, holding an ancient text in one hand and a cup of light tea in the other. He had originally only intended to exchange for 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition' to see the value of these ancient texts. But once he opened 'Advanced Edition: Volume 1,' he couldn't stop.
This work was compiled and summarized over 600 years ago by a neutral entity bearing the Void Tree imprint. Moreover, this entity was the strongest alchemist of that era, or rather, no one has surpassed them to this day.
Comparing alchemy with 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition' is somewhat inappropriate. There is no distinction between high and low, because alchemy is a broad category with numerous branches, each capable of achieving significant accomplishments.
As for 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition,' it was compiled by that strongest alchemist, gathering alchemy knowledge from various eras, including alchemical pharmacy. In terms of knowledge volume, alchemy far exceeds 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition.' However, if comparing only the upper limit of the single discipline of pharmacy, 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition' is nearly the ceiling of this field.
To be precise, 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition' was not independently created by that strongest alchemist. This work had been summarized by alchemists long before, but the workload was too immense, and times were constantly progressing. It passed through nearly a hundred generations of alchemists until that strongest alchemist finally completed the full compilation of 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition.'
Or rather, it was precisely because of 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition' that this alchemist achieved the pinnacle in this field.
After equipping the Seven-Star Title: Ancient Scholar and reading 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition,' Su Xiao couldn't stop. When he felt slightly fatigued and the timer on the table beside him rang, he picked it up and saw that over 70 hours had passed. It was time to go back.
As he put away 'Alchemy Master: Advanced Edition,' he picked up a thick recipe book. Flipping through it, he found that at least one-fifth of the recipes were ones he couldn't prepare. His alchemy level was still insufficient.
When Su Xiao used the [Library Badge] to return to Reincarnation Paradise, the spatial fluctuations ended, and he found himself in an open area south of the Trade Square, not directly returning to his Exclusive Room. It seemed the [Library Badge] didn't have the authority to connect to his Exclusive Room.
Taking a detour to the Trade Square, the noisy sounds of people reached his ears. Contractors were returning one after another, indicating that Su Xiao had three days left of his stay in Reincarnation Paradise.
Actually, Su Xiao had wanted to go to the Land of All Beings earlier, but he had been staying within Reincarnation Paradise, not during the reward-based stay after returning, so he couldn't enter the Land of All Beings.
Also, this round of world progress was mostly over. The world conquest battle over in Gloomy Continent still hadn't ended, and he didn't know the final outcome.
Just as Su Xiao was about to head towards his Exclusive Room, an email appeared. It was from the Shadow Merchant Guild. Su Xiao had Beini handle this matter.
When Su Xiao returned to his Exclusive Room, Beini had already completed the transaction. A total of six full-score Immortal Rank longswords appeared in the team storage space. Apart from the previously paid deposit, Beini had paid another 51,000 Soul Coins.
Not only that, Su Xiao also had Beini contact the Goblin Merchant Guild, asking them to bring a few full-score Immortal Rank longswords to the Great Gathering Place for discussion. He estimated that the eight Immortal Rank longswords he currently held might not be enough for Dragon-Slaying Flash to advance to Origin Rank.
Moreover, even if it was enough, Su Xiao had other transactions with the Goblin Merchant Guild. He had previously commissioned them to find an equipment or tool capable of withstanding extreme high-temperature environments, and now there was a lead. He planned to use this transaction as an excuse to have them bring a few Immortal Rank longswords to meet at the Great Gathering Place.
Inside the Exclusive Room, Su Xiao placed the eight Immortal Rank longswords, including [Shadow Twins] and [Dark Silver Annihilation], on the table, and finally placed Dragon-Slaying Flash on top.
Activating the Supreme Blade ability, a mass of black radiance appeared in his hand. This black radiance swirled like a vortex, expanding to envelop all eight Immortal Rank longswords.
Crack, crack, crack～
Friction sounds came from the eight Immortal Rank longswords wrapped in the black radiance. These weapons were being crushed. As this process continued, wisps of crystalline fragments drifted out from the black radiance, gradually merging into Dragon-Slaying Flash and being absorbed.
After Dragon-Slaying Flash absorbed these crystalline fragments, its originally 0% Blade Value began to steadily increase, reaching 105% before the rate of increase slowed. As Su Xiao had predicted, the number of Immortal Rank longswords was indeed insufficient.
Contacting Beini, soon, two more full-score Immortal Rank longswords appeared in the Exclusive Room. Su Xiao took them out, and the next second, the black radiance formed by the Supreme Blade ability enveloped them.
[Dragon-Slaying Flash's Blade Value has reached 120%. This weapon is being upgraded...]
After paying a large sum of Soul Coins, the upgrade of Dragon-Slaying Flash finally began. Additionally, Beini had purchased a high-tech tent from the Goblin Merchant Guild. The price of this item was comparable to an Immortal Rank equipment, but its performance was extremely formidable. Being inside it could withstand extreme high-temperature environments.
Su Xiao had the [Blazing Sun Disk] in hand. To activate this item, sufficient Solar Flame was needed. His idea was that relying solely on the Solar Flame from Apollo's explosions would take an unknown amount of time to activate it. Therefore, to activate the [Blazing Sun Disk], he needed to rely on natural areas with abundant Solar Flame. The temperatures in such areas would certainly be very high, so he had purchased high-temperature resistant equipment or tools from the Goblin Merchant Guild, just in case.
After such a round of purchases, Su Xiao had only 12,530 Soul Coins left. He planned not to use them for now.
Leaving his Exclusive Room, Su Xiao arrived at the Trial Grounds. He tried to enter the Land of All Beings and found that he could enter. This meant he had essentially gotten a free three-day reward-based stay limit in Reincarnation Paradise.
Entering the 'Icefield' on the eighth floor of the Land of All Beings, Su Xiao looked at the solid soul energy beneath his feet, resembling ice. Every time he came here, it was a test of willpower. Every time he came, he wanted to chisel off a large chunk of Soul Crystal and bring it back.
He couldn't waste the total of 70 hours of usage time on the eighth floor of the Land of All Beings. Su Xiao was right-handed, so he more often used his left index finger to fire 'Blood Smoke Cannon' at enemies. For these 70 hours, he planned to focus on improving one ability: 'Blood Smoke Cannon.'
The arduous training began. After 70 hours, Su Xiao, so exhausted that even raising his hand was difficult, sat on Beini's flying carpet. In two hours, he would return to the Real World, and after 3 to 6 days, he would face a new world progress. This meant the time difference for entering the world would be delayed to normal.
Returning to his Exclusive Room, Su Xiao took out his current 887.5 ounces of Space-Time Power. He intended to construct a 'Hunt List.'
[Prompt: Detected that the transaction party for obtaining the 'Awakening Stele' is an enemy of the Hunter. You can construct a 'Hunt List' to hunt this enemy. The next world you enter will definitely be the world where this enemy resides.]
[Hunt List: It bears the names of your enemies. For each one you hunt, use their blood to smear the corresponding name. You will receive corresponding rewards (After completing all hunts on the list, the total value of the reward items will be 1.5 to 5 times the cost of constructing the list).]
[You can choose from the following Hunt Lists.]
[Hunt List: Bone White (Construction cost: 100 ounces of Space-Time Power. After completing all hunts, the total value of reward items will be 1.5 times the construction cost).]
[Hunt List: Iron Gray (Construction cost: 300 ounces of Space-Time Power. After completing all hunts, the total value of reward items will be 2.5 times the construction cost).]
[Hunt List: Shadow (Construction cost: 500 ounces of Space-Time Power. After completing all hunts, the total value of reward items will be 3.5 times the construction cost).]
[Hunt List: Blood Pact (Construction cost: 800 ounces of Space-Time Power. After completing all hunts, the total value of reward items will be 5 times the construction cost).]
[Prompt: You have paid 800 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[You have constructed the Hunt List: Blood Pact!]
...
An ancient list, resembling animal skin or cloth, appeared before Su Xiao. This list bore bloodstains, had patterns along the edges, and its lower edge was tattered and uneven.
Since he had not yet entered the world corresponding to the 'Hunt List,' the writing on it had not fully emerged. Only a portion was visible now.