Chapter 8: The Hunt
The final trial of the Soul Trial was bound to be fraught with difficulty. Fortunately, there was no need to worry about that for now—his soul strength hadn’t yet reached 1000 points, so he couldn’t participate in this trial anyway.
As for finding ways to undergo this trial, if this were a treasure vault, even if the requirement were 1000 soul strength, or even double that, Su Xiao would contact Kaisa, and the two of them would figure out how to open the door. But a trial was different; attempting it without meeting the prerequisites would only bring trouble upon oneself.
Only one golden gem remained on the [Trial Certificate]. After Su Xiao chose to terminate this trial, various notifications appeared one after another, followed by a sensation of teleportation—he was being sent back to the Witch Realm.
……
It had drizzled a bit last night, and the morning air was exceptionally fresh. Dewdrops dripped along the blades of wheatgrass. When the window was pushed open, the cool yet crisp air was refreshing, and the chirping of insects outside grew clearer, rising and falling in waves.
Su Xiao sat up from the bed. He had been teleported back in the middle of the night, slept until morning, and now felt his energy had fully recovered. The stabbing pain in his brain from yesterday’s Soul King greatsword strike had completely subsided.
One of the reasons the Soul System was feared was that, like the Perception System, it was practically the king of aftereffects. Even if you won a fight against a Soul System or Perception System user, the various permanent side effects that followed would cause immense suffering. Fortunately, Su Xiao had 890 points of soul strength. As for high-level Perception System users, he wasn’t afraid of that system’s powerhouses either.
Back in the low-to-mid ranks, Su Xiao had been somewhat puzzled about why the Perception System was considered a major system. Its ability users were indeed popular in teams during the early and mid stages, but by the mid-to-late stages, who didn’t have some Perception abilities? Moreover, focusing solely on Perception abilities meant you couldn’t kill enemies, couldn’t defend, and didn’t improve speed. In a one-on-one fight, what good was it to sense an enemy’s approach in advance?
In reality, at high ranks, the Perception System had several well-known ability system names: the Prophecy System, the Causality System, the Fate System, and the Curse System.
If someone mastered these four systems at the first rank, it would be a nightmare start. Take the Prophecy System, for example—the most basic Prophecy ability had only about a 0.5% success rate for divination. To be honest, that wasn’t even as accurate as guessing.
Thus, contractors who mastered such abilities were neither wanted nor combat-effective, naturally lacking access to resources. Without resources, they couldn’t grow stronger, creating a vicious cycle.
Conversely, in the early and mid stages, the Perception System was a hot commodity that every team wanted. Sometimes, while camping in the wild, a Perception user would suddenly wake up, stand, and shout, “Run!”—this could save lives, so it was only fair they got extra benefits.
At high ranks, the development direction of the Perception System wasn’t about range or sensitivity of perception, but rather depth of perception. So-called depth of perception meant deeply sensing the world, perceiving the future, causality, fate, and the elusive power of curses.
Later, based on one’s talent, they could choose one of four directions to develop. After mastering a high-level passive, their foundational ability [Perception Enhancement] would immediately transform into the core foundational passive of the new system: [World Perception].
Today, Su Xiao planned to head to the Ancient King City to continue investigating the clues related to the Dark Twins. He had always been convinced that this was the key to truly nailing the Dark God Cult. Eliminating some major Dark God Cult leaders was, for them, a minor inconvenience.
Su Xiao had been in this world for a while now. The Abyss Archbishop, Shenfu, and Platinum Apostle from the Dark God Cult should have made some moves by now. Yet, aside from setting up the Dark Star Witch Felice to die, deepening the conflict between Su Xiao and the Starry Sky Research Society, they had done nothing else.
If it were just Shenfu, this would be normal. Shenfu’s style was always to never take the initiative to attack. When he thought he had already won, this old bastard would quietly become the beneficiary. This was also what made Shenfu so hard to deal with—he always ended up as one of the winners.
Sometimes, when the enemy was too quiet, it wasn’t a good sign. It meant that the Abyss Archbishop, Shenfu, and Platinum Apostle were plotting something.
Never mind what exactly those three were plotting—just the fact that it required all three of them to set it up simultaneously was already unsettling.
Trying to stop them now was completely without leads, so Su Xiao decided to return to basics. Since those three super old schemers were in the middle of their scheme, he would just hammer the Dark God Cult relentlessly. Unless those three no longer needed the Dark God Cult in this world, which was impossible before their plan fully succeeded.
Thus, the Dark God Cult in this world would face the same fate as in other worlds when encountering Su Xiao: either getting beaten or recovering after being beaten. The Abyss Archbishop, Shenfu, and Platinum Apostle, who couldn’t stand by and watch the Dark God Cult die, would have to free up resources to rescue it. That would create an opportunity.
With the subsequent plan’s focus clear, Su Xiao opened the notification list. Last night, when he returned, his head was pounding, so he only glanced at the pop-up notifications. Now, he opened the list to check the bounty rewards.
[You have completed Bounty 3: Soul Trial.]
[Due to the multiple bounty + bounty correction of the "Hunt List: Blood Pact," you will receive a total bounty of 6000 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[You have obtained Space-Time Stone Fragments × 300 (This is an equivalent item; selling it to Reincarnation Paradise yields 3000 ounces of Space-Time Power).]
[You have obtained the Secret Treasure Box (This item is judged to be equivalent to 500 ounces of Space-Time Power in this assessment).]
[You have obtained Power Source Matter · One Standard Unit (This item is judged to be equivalent to 750 ounces of Space-Time Power in this assessment. This is a share of Power Source Matter from Reincarnation Paradise’s inventory, not belonging to this world’s Power Source Matter. All Power Source Matter belonging to this world has been absorbed at this stage).]
[You have obtained Strong Soul × 1 (A notarized characteristic item. Using this item on the "Awakening Stele" unlocks the "Universal Passive" ability of the "Awakening Stele." The Hunter can master various "Universal Passives" through the "Awakening Stele" by consuming Law-Destroying Skill Points. This item is judged to be equivalent to 1750 ounces of Space-Time Power in this assessment).]
……
The gains were quite good. Su Xiao took out the [Secret Treasure Box]. Every time he opened one of these, he felt a mix of emotions, because:
[Secret Treasure Box]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise.
Category: High-value treasure chest item.
Effect: Upon opening, you will obtain one of the following items (randomly drawn).