Chapter 51: The Team
Staring at the title prompt before him, Su Xiao remained silent for a long time. He felt that something about this prompt was off, but upon careful consideration, everything seemed perfectly normal. This didn't ease his mood; instead, it made his heart feel even more overcast.
"How is it? Did it succeed?"
Molei beside him spoke with a hint of anticipation.
"It failed."
"Oh, that's a shame. Don't take it too seriously though. Everyone fails at synthesizing titles sometimes. Last time I synthesized a title, the success rate was below 20%, and I got carried away and tried it. It failed too. Hey? Why aren't you talking? By the way, what was your success rate when you tried?"
"9.9%."
"Hahaha, serves you right for failing. It wasn't even over 10%. Don't worry about it too much. It's just one title. The next moment will always be brighter. I just woke up and I'm starving. I'm going to get some food."
Molei hummed a tune as she left. It could be said that Molei was strong in a certain sense—strong in her inner resilience and optimism, even if she was a bit silly at times.
Su Xiao opened the title interface. Two newly acquired titles appeared before him. One was a commemorative title, and the other was the [Violator] title.
[Perseverance Through Adversity]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Category: Title
Title Effect: While wearing this title, your brand number or the alias you designate will be displayed above your head, accompanied by a brilliant luster.
Tip: When displaying your brand number or designated alias, you can freely switch between the two.
Introduction: You will be the most eye-catching person in the entire venue.
Sale Price: Can be sold, transferred, refined, etc.
...
Seeing this, Su Xiao's mood shifted from cloudy to sunny because he felt this thing could be sold. Perhaps it could even fetch a decent price.
The target audience for this item was only one type: the merchants setting up stalls in the Great Gathering Place. Imagine strolling through the many stalls in the Great Gathering Place when suddenly someone's name appears above their head like an NPC...
Thinking of this, Su Xiao suddenly changed his mind. He decided not to sell this title to outsiders but to Kaisa instead. Who knows, that guy might pull off some mind-blowing trick, like pretending to be a neutral unit?
Imagine a few Ninth Rank contractors trembling as they explored a highly dangerous Abyss erosion zone. Suddenly, a thin figure wearing the Abyssal Jar emerges from the ultra-high-intensity Abyss mist ahead. The mist is so dangerous that even someone with over 30 points of Abyss resistance would be instantly corroded.
Even more absurdly, this guy's head displays a name: "Nicholas Kaisa." Even more absurdly, this name display comes with a brilliant luster. Seeing this, who wouldn't be stunned? Forget Kaisa claiming to be a neutral NPC—if he said he was a hidden NPC, many would believe him.
If someone trusted Kaisa in an Abyss erosion zone, being able to leave with just their underwear on would make them a standout among men. However, one thing was certain: truly trusting Kaisa would make your wallet wail, but your chances of leaving alive would skyrocket several times or even dozens of times.
For example, Kaisa brewed a type of recovery potion. Because it contained trace amounts of corrupted World Force, drinking it had a high probability of causing severe diarrhea. However, under the effect of this mutated World Force, there would be a brief secondary invincibility effect during the diarrhea.
Kaisa's alchemy had reached a level that even Su Xiao, a master alchemist, found baffling. He had, of course, studied the composition of Kaisa's potions, only to analyze over a dozen unknown components. In the end, he felt it was pointless to continue studying because Kaisa himself couldn't brew a second identical potion.
Su Xiao sent the title's attributes to Kaisa through the team channel. Kaisa didn't quote a price but said they would discuss it after returning to Reincarnation Paradise. Roughly, he meant to trade something equally interesting with Su Xiao.
Su Xiao checked the [Violator] title but received a prompt that he needed to remove the "Resin Seal" first before activating it.
The surface of the [Violator] title was sealed with a layer of golden resin. This was because Su Xiao's identity as a Hunter highly matched this title, granting him this enhancement upon obtaining it.
[Yes/No to remove the golden resin seal. Upon removal, the golden resin will be absorbed by this title, enhancing its strength.]
[Title activation completed.]
[You have obtained a special, unranked title: Violator.]
[Violator]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Category: Special Title
Title Effect 1: Disguise (Passive) — While wearing this title, you will gain a disguise as an Apocalypse Paradise Violator and activate a corresponding temporary brand.
Tip: As you are a Hunter, this disguise has no time limit and requires no cost or fee to maintain.
Title Effect 2: Resilient Attire (Passive) — Even if you fight at full strength, this disguise will not be dispelled. Even if the disguise is torn due to excessively intense combat, it can quickly heal.
Title Effect 3: Kill and Switch (Passive) — After killing a Violator while in disguise, you can replace the disguise and impersonate this person.
Title Effect 4: Absolute Terror (Active) — While in this disguise state, when facing a single Violator, you can engage in a Willpower judgment with this enemy. If the enemy fails this judgment, they will enter a "Terror of Will" state, losing the ability to speak and sealing all means of communication for the next 10 minutes (this control ability has priority). You will deal an additional 20% defense-ignoring damage to enemies affected by "Terror of Will."
Tip: This ability has a cooldown of 2 natural days.
Tip: If you successfully kill an enemy affected by "Terror of Will," this ability will immediately refresh its cooldown and become activatable.
Tip: This effect has priority, but it is a bidirectional priority, meaning this ability can only be used when facing a single Violator. If there are other Violators within three meters of you and the target, or if other Violators can detect you and the selected target through sight, perception, etc., this ability cannot be used.
Introduction: Hidden among the wolves' ball, a hunter in wolf's clothing. Even hungry wolves should not stray from the pack, because the hunter in wolf's clothing is already smiling at you.
Sale Price: Cannot be sold.
...
This title was quite interesting. Not only could it disguise you as a Violator, but it also allowed you to become a hunter among wolves. Especially when a Violator faced Su Xiao alone, as long as the opponent's teammates were more than three meters away and couldn't see them, Su Xiao could achieve an instant kill + switch, disguising himself as the target he killed and continuing to hide within the Violator team.
When the Violators realized something was wrong, it would basically turn into a Werewolf game mode. But unlike Werewolf, Su Xiao didn't have to wait for "Night falls, please close your eyes." As long as a Violator in the team was isolated, he could act immediately.
Normally, there was a problem: when he disguised himself as a Violator he had killed, the victim's friends might ask questions only the dead Violator knew, making it hard for Su Xiao to answer.
Su Xiao had a solution for this. His Soul Devourer talent could extract soul memories. With his current soul strength, when extracting soul memories, if he discarded valuable soul memories related to transcendent knowledge and various abilities, he could extract about 90% of an enemy's soul memories.
Extracting soul memories was different from absorbing memories. Absorbing memories had many risks, and you might end up not knowing who you were. Viewing soul memories, on the other hand, was more like flipping through a book or watching a movie. Su Xiao's own consciousness and will would not be affected by these soul memories. Sometimes, after viewing them, he would forget 20-30% in a few days. After half a year, unless it was very important information, he would have long forgotten it.
With the means to extract soul memories, Su Xiao was not afraid of being interrogated by wolf teammates. The wolf teammates would find that the Violator teammates around them were decreasing, and more terrifyingly, decreasing without any enemies present.
Moreover, Su Xiao would only act after using "Terror of Will" on an enemy. A Violator affected by "Terror of Will" couldn't even send a message using their brand.
This would lead to a situation where the team would collapse. Even if they barely held together due to accepting a mission, they would be suspicious and wary of each other. The original Ninth Rank mission difficulty would skyrocket to nightmare level.
Su Xiao put away the [Violator] title. If he encountered a group of Violators in the future, this item would come in handy. For now, it was more important to prepare for killing the Absolute Strong Spellcaster.
The Voodoo Warlock Baze had already sent word that he would arrive by tomorrow morning at the latest. He was willing to take the risk of dealing with an Absolute Strong, not out of old friendship, but for a price.
The Soul Shepherd Tribe, the old rival of the Holy Serpent Tribe, had all its priests and witch doctors die mysteriously overnight. This was done by the White Dragon Lord of the neighboring fiefdom. Because of this, the two sides had gone from enemies to friendly neighbors.
As for why the White Dragon Lord did this a few days ago, it wasn't for any novel reason. Previously, Su Xiao had planned to recall all 12 legions from his fiefdom to "visit" the neighboring White Dragon Lord. Upon learning this, the White Dragon Lord personally went to deal with the Soul Shepherd Tribe.
Thus, the old grudges between Su Xiao and the White Dragon Lord were completely settled. Sometimes, as a fiefdom lord, one had to act this way. Being overly vengeful would create many unnecessary enemies. Su Xiao wasn't afraid of having many enemies, but he had many things to do, and time was precious. There was no need to waste time on such matters.
The Voodoo Warlock would definitely be there, and Shenfu hadn't missed it either. When Su Xiao contacted this old guy, it was as if all the scheming and mutual backstabbing between them had never happened. Initially, Shenfu refused, but after Su Xiao revealed a few trump cards, Shenfu gladly agreed.
In addition, Su Xiao had previously ordered Ergine to select 1,000 of the most elite Centaur heavy cavalry, with a preference for archery skills.
Bringing these 1,000 Centaur heavy cavalry wasn't for besieging the Absolute Strong Spellcaster, but to use the Sun Lord title to enhance them, allowing them to shoot arrows imbued with the "Blazing Sun" effect.
"Blazing Sun Effect: Deals 320-470 points + 0.2%-15% of the enemy's maximum health as true burning damage...
Tip: The Blazing Sun mark can stack up to five layers (this is the maximum).
When the enemy is at full 'Blazing Sun Mark' status: All friendly 'ranged' elite units will deal an additional 320 points + 10% of the enemy's maximum health as true burning damage when attacking this enemy, with a severe healing suppression effect."
Even an Absolute Strong would find it hard to withstand a volley from over a thousand Centaur heavy cavalry.
Of course, if they could recruit the Knight Commander, a heavy-armored warrior, for this ambush, it would basically be a sure thing. Unfortunately, although the Knight Commander was on their side, he couldn't be recruited.
Since the Knight Commander couldn't be recruited, they could instead seek out the Diviner Peril. Although she wasn't an Absolute Strong, both her divination skills and soul poison were top-notch in this world.
The problem was that the Diviner Peril was unwilling to join the team. Finding teammates couldn't be forced, but they could cater to her interests.
Just then, the communicator on the table rang. Su Xiao picked it up, and a female voice came from the other end, saying, "Stop sending your subordinates to find me. I won't help you deal with an Absolute Strong."
"Ms. Peril, is my offer not enough?"
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Peril sighed on the other end and politely said, "Lord White Night, this isn't about money."
"One hundred thousand Sodo."
Su Xiao offered 100,000 gold coins. This was no small amount. A productive fiefdom had a total annual output of tens of millions of gold coins. Moreover, 100,000 beast tribe gold coins could buy a large amount of transcendent resources. If not for the fact that these resources hadn't been notarized and couldn't be taken out of this world, and that beast tribe gold coins had hundreds of notarization restrictions, Su Xiao wouldn't easily spend these beast tribe gold coins.
"Lord White Night, I'll say it one last time. I won't..."
"Ten million Sodo."
As soon as Su Xiao said this, the communicator went silent. After a few seconds, Peril sighed, her voice a bit soft, slightly hoarse, and helpless as she said, "Lord White Night, please don't joke with me."
"I rarely joke."
Su Xiao hung up the communicator, summoned the Spotted Fox Clan's Piro, and instructed him to gather 10 million beast tribe gold coins. Piro didn't ask why and quickly went to prepare. For the Fierce Winter fiefdom, which had already conquered most of the "Crystal Forest," 10 million gold coins could be easily produced.
That afternoon, in front of a villa in the Fifth District of Yonghuan City.
A figure dressed in formal attire and wearing a mask rang the doorbell. After a moment, a servant opened the door. The visitor thanked them and quickly walked inside, while the servant stood there puzzled, seemingly affected by some ability and not stopping them.
The aroma of black tea was soothing. The Diviner Peril, dressed in a black gauze gown that looked like black mist, was enjoying afternoon tea. Her stunning beauty made it hard to look away, but at the moment, this diviner was frowning.
After learning about the Law Destroyer from her father, Peril wanted to see what the fate and destiny of a Law Destroyer looked like. The result was that her divination failed, and she saw nothing.
Peril wasn't a naive girl who would approach someone out of curiosity. Her approach was to stay as far away from this Law Destroyer as possible. She would stay away from anyone whose fate she couldn't see. That was the safe way. Unfortunately, things didn't always go as planned.
Hearing the footsteps coming up the stairs, Peril frowned even deeper. She hadn't divined this visit, meaning it was someone sent by the Law Destroyer. This displeased her. Even if he was a lord, he shouldn't send a negotiator right after mocking her. It was too rude.
"Ms. Peril, this is your savings card from Yonghuan Bank. I sincerely apologize for the intrusion. I won't disturb your afternoon tea. Goodbye."
The visitor didn't wait for Peril's reply and turned to leave.
A moment later, Peril put down the savings card. For a split second, she actually thought there was 10 million Sodo in it. After having this thought, she couldn't help but laugh at herself for being absurd. As a top-tier diviner, she charged 5,000 Sodo per divination and could only do a few a month. Plus, there were more and more competitors lately.
Moreover, most people who needed divination didn't need a top-tier diviner. They usually wanted to find the whereabouts of a loved one or a lost valuable item. For such divinations, a diviner costing a few hundred gold coins was sufficient.
Peril was already thirty years old. Asking her father for money was hard to do. Plus, she liked peace and quiet and was even disgusted by the power struggles among the beast tribes. On top of that, if a diviner used divination to predict financial luck and amass wealth, the karma would eventually come back to bite them. Diviners who used divination for gambling, investments, and the like never had a good ending.
The worst part was that as the beloved daughter of the Great Commander, when she chose her divination price, she chose financial luck. This meant that our Miss Peril had always had bad financial luck.
No one would believe it, but the top-tier Diviner Peril was currently renting her home. She originally had a winery given by her father, but as a "beacon" in the investment world, Miss Peril quickly "donated" that vineyard to the bank.
"Maybe it's enough to buy back the winery? No, Peril, you can't connect karma with a Law Destroyer for just a few tens of thousands of Sodo. It's not worth it. Yeah, not worth it."
Peril gradually felt relieved. She planned to have her old maid, who had always followed her, return the savings card.
Just then, the old maid walked into the tea room and said, "Miss, the president of Yonghuan Bank is here to see you. He's waiting outside."
"President? Don't we only owe them a few hundred Sodo? Why would the president come? Wait."
Peril suddenly thought of something and looked at the dark gold savings card on the table.
After Peril saw off the president of Yonghuan Bank and a few investment assistants, she put down the savings card. Money alone really wasn't enough to move this strongest diviner. The key was the divination deck that was sent afterward. It was crafted by the chief disciple of the Dwarf King, the Rune Master. It was a rare find. The key was the wooden box containing the divination deck, which had written on it:
"Gifted to the strongest diviner of this world, Peril."
In the corner were the marks of the Dwarf King, the Rune Master, and several master craftsmen.
Peril picked up the savings card and handed it to the old maid beside her, saying, "Ahem, go pay off the few thousand Sodo I owe to several banks, then buy back the winery. Keep a few thousand for yourself and your family, and give the rest to those who need it. Too much money brings unnecessary karma."
"But Miss, with this money, you won't have to worry about finances anymore..."
"Oh."
Peril responded indifferently. The old maid had no choice but to comply. Throughout, Peril didn't look at the savings card again. Her fair index finger rested on the wooden box of the divination deck. Finally, she picked up the communicator and chose to dial.
...
Su Xiao put down the communicator. The diviner, no, the soul poison master, had successfully joined the team.
Everything was ready. The reason the ambush was set for tomorrow was that Su Xiao was waiting for the Blade Demon Spirit to complete its devouring. This time, the demon spirit devoured more Abyss Spawn origin energy than the previous two times combined. After all, this was an Abyss Spawn with an undying trait that coexisted with the Wolf God.
This time, the Blade Demon Spirit's devouring was different from the previous two. It felt like, because the demon spirit's strength had exceeded a certain level, it seemed to have awakened a new ability.
Currently, the Blade Demon Spirit only had one ability: position swap. Everything else was Su Xiao's flexible use of the demon spirit, not its own ability.
The newly awakened ability reminded Su Xiao of when he fought Ximan Aqide. The opponent's slash had a dual attack effect, a single slash with a dual judgment. However, aside from "position swap," every Law Destroyer's demon spirit ability was different.
But one thing was the same: all demon spirits only had one active ability, "position swap." Beyond that, the awakened ability of the demon spirit would definitely be a passive one.
Aside from this, Su Xiao had previously commissioned the Dwarf King to forge a piece of attribute-less equipment for him. After asking about its use, the Dwarf King suggested that forging such equipment was fine, but it was best to use a piece of equipment Su Xiao had used for a long time as a core, strengthening and forging around it. This would prevent the attribute-less equipment from being influenced by the environment or other objects, leading to adaptive abilities.
Su Xiao ultimately decided to use the [Soul Lock Lantern], a special piece of equipment, as the core carrier. This equipment had previously complemented his talent ability, but as the Soul Devourer talent became more mature and stable, he no longer needed it.
In the end, with the [Soul Lock Lantern] as the core and the enhancement of many rare materials, an Origin-level equipment with a rating of 2000 points and no attributes was forged. Su Xiao had originally planned to prepare the materials himself, but the Dwarf King refused. However, after forging this equipment, if Su Xiao came to the Dwarf King for forging again, he wouldn't have to pay forging fees, but he would need to prepare the materials.
As for the use of this equipment, it involved [Fate Dominator].
[Fate Dominator Equipment Effect 4: Indestructible Fortune (Special, Passive) — As a Shadow of Law Destruction, due to your long-term possession of this equipment and the engraving of "Names of the Strong" on it, this equipment has formed an inseparable resonance with your Law Destruction fortune. If you are secretly attacked by fate-based or karma-based abilities, a fortune counter-effect will be triggered, enhancing the incoming ability by 5-10 times with your Law Destruction fortune and rebounding it onto the caster. The caster will face the following choices.