Chapter 22: The Lineup
Inside the workshop at the rear of the city lord's mansion.
Around midnight tonight, Su Xiao accepted an invitation to come here. Unlike the Hunter organization with its inefficient intelligence, the city lord of Falling Star City was already well aware of the situation in District 10. He also understood clearly that if Su Xiao hadn't arrived at the Hive Theater, the entire District 10 would have been blown to pieces by the fanatics.
Because of this, the city lord of Falling Star City—a dignified old lady with a serious demeanor—arranged a meeting with Su Xiao. She stated that she owed him a great favor this time, and if he needed any help in the future, he could contact her.
Borrowing the workshop at the rear of the city lord's mansion was naturally no issue. Inside Workshop No. 2, Su Xiao sat on a metal chair made of interlocking supports. Beside him, Alanna wore a pair of round-rimmed glasses, with a mechanical arm installed under her right armpit.
"What a wonderful and powerful energy."
Alanna, temporarily acting as the bespectacled girl, pushed up her glasses and observed the trace amount of demon spirit energy sealed inside a container. She was attempting to adapt a sealing technique specifically targeting demon spirits.
For an ordinary sealing master, this would be sheer fantasy. But as a top-tier sealing master trained by the Witch Guild, Alanna could still manage this.
"Lord Bai Ye, the energy you provided, called demon spirit, is very powerful. Even if I adapt a sealing technique, this demon spirit energy will develop corresponding corrosiveness before long. At that point, the technique I adapt will definitely fail."
"How long."
"Hmm~, maybe it can last a month?"
"Enough."
"There's another problem, Lord Bai Ye. The sealing technique I adapt this time requires a carrier. The best choice for this carrier is metal. So you might need to wear the technique carrier for a while. I'll try to minimize its size as much as possible. Also, since this is a sealing technique, while it seals the demon spirit, it will suppress your usual combat power to some extent. When you face a powerful enemy, you must remove the technique carrier first. Finally, if you're going to wear the technique carrier, where would you like it to be placed?"
Hearing this, Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then said, "Left arm."
Su Xiao chose this because sealing the demon spirit would also affect his combat power. If he suddenly encountered a powerful enemy while under the seal and couldn't immediately fight at full strength, he could cut off his own left arm with one slash and then use his combat prosthetic ability to form a crystal left arm.
This way, he could lift the seal as quickly as possible while minimizing damage. As for preserving the left arm, the techniques he mastered were particularly professional.
Alanna picked up a measuring tape to measure Su Xiao's left arm. Seeing this, Su Xiao raised his hand to indicate it wasn't necessary. His left hand, wrapped in a metal guard, tapped on the workbench. With a cracking sound, crystals emerged, forming a combat prosthetic left arm—100% identical to his real left arm. Alanna could manufacture the sealing technique carrier according to these specifications.
"Such a cool ability. Lord Bai Ye, can you form this kind of prosthetic for others?"
"Yes."
"Then what's inside this crystal prosthetic... a semi-energy-based neural structure? Incredible~"
Alanna knew her stuff. As a master of multiple disciplines, she took off her technique gloves, raised her hand, and stroked the crystal arm, asking, "Lord Bai Ye, how long can this crystal prosthetic last?"
"If not used in combat, a lifetime."
"I have a friend whose right forearm was severed. Because she suffered a life curse in her early years, she can't accept limb regeneration techniques. Can I bring her here, and you..."
"Yes, but only after tomorrow."
With that, Su Xiao leaned back in the recliner and checked the series of prompts that had appeared earlier. This Golden Arena had two identities: Overlord Unit and Challenger.
The challenges these two identities faced were completely different. In the total of eight no-rule arena matches, if a challenger survived the first seven matches, they would receive a basic challenge reward. In contrast, the Overlord Unit had no such guarantee. They had to kill Golden Units themselves to obtain corresponding rewards. Simply put, the lower limit of the Overlord Unit's rewards could be as low as 0, while the upper limit was extremely high.
Another point was that the challenger's rewards increased progressively. For example, if the challenge reward at the end of the first match was 2, then after passing the second match, the challenge reward would increase to 3, and so on. By the third match, the challenge reward would reach 4.
The Overlord Unit had a different mechanism. The first match's challenge reward was always 1—even lower than the challenger's. However, the second match's challenge reward would increase to 2, seemingly the same as an ordinary challenger. But by the third match, the challenge reward would differ: it would increase to 4. The next match would reach 8, then 16, followed by 32, and so on. If they won all eight matches and became champion, they would receive an astonishing reward.
After confirming this, Su Xiao immediately chose the Overlord Unit identity. This wasn't out of arrogance. The Golden Arena was certified by the Void Tree, and the upper limit of participating strength was the Absolute Strong rank. With his current strength, he was quite formidable among the Absolute Strong rank.
Blade Grandmaster Lv.87, Melee Grandmaster Lv.85, Blood Spear Grandmaster Lv.85, True Strength 539 points, True Agility 539 points, True Stamina 539 points, True Intelligence 534 points.
All seven basic passives were maxed out, and the resulting Overlord Power had also been raised to Lv. Additionally, the high-level passives corresponding to the three technique abilities were all mastered.
Among the various Law-Destruction abilities, aside from Azure Steel Shadow and Azure Shadow King, all others were at X or Lv. With three talent abilities in hand, various Eternal-grade equipment equipped, and finally, the numerous passive ability boosts that would make enemies wear a painful expression, plus the four ultimate moves—Azure Shadow King, Heaven's Wrath: Torrent Slash, Extreme Blade: World, and Straight Kick—held in reserve.
These were all the strengths Su Xiao had gradually accumulated. Therefore, his choice of the Overlord Unit identity was by no means blinded by greed or arrogance. Previously, the certification of Reincarnation Paradise had already acknowledged that he could serve as an Overlord Unit.
The Golden Arena would only open at 8 a.m. tomorrow. With nothing to do for now, Su Xiao decided to test whether he could still use the two demon spirit abilities: Substitution and Demon Blade.
Su Xiao drew Dragon-Slaying Flash from its sheath and released the Blade Demon Spirit inside. As soon as he released the demon spirit, he noticed it was slightly different from their last meeting. The ornate bone mask hadn't changed, but the short hair that previously hadn't reached the neck had now become flowing long hair, giving a feeling somewhere between hair strands and black mist.
That wasn't the main point. Su Xiao chose to swap positions with the demon spirit. A familiar feeling emerged, and the scene before him instantly changed. He and the demon spirit had swapped places. The demon spirit leaned back in the recliner while he stood a few meters away. The demon spirit showed no resistance to the position swap—and couldn't resist, as this was an ability dominated by Su Xiao.
Understanding this, Su Xiao felt relieved. The Substitution ability worked like this, and the Demon Blade ability went without saying.
The demon spirit leaned back in the recliner, seemingly finding this quite comfortable. It even imitated Serin's posture, putting its hands behind its head and crossing its legs.
Su Xiao extended one hand forward, palm facing the demon spirit, and tried to see if he could still control the demon spirit's actions as before. A sluggish feeling appeared. He could control it, but the efficiency was very low.
If controlling the demon spirit before was as simple as raising an arm or taking a step forward, now it was like holding a wooden stick and trying to pick up grains from the ground—both laborious and impossible.
Su Xiao had anticipated this. He was quite satisfied with being able to use Substitution and Demon Blade normally. Now that the demon spirit had its own consciousness, controlling it as before was impossible unless his soul strength was high enough to suppress the demon spirit again.
However, in return, the demon spirit now had a new ability: powerful control. If the demon spirit's control was 10 before, it was now at least 9000.
Just how strong the demon spirit's control was needed actual testing. He looked at Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha. Since they were all his followers, their demon spirit resistance was naturally high. His gaze turned to Alanna. After weighing the options, that wouldn't work either. The delicate Alanna—if something unexpected happened, it would be hard to explain to the Moon Witch.
As a top-tier Ninth Rank combatant, if Alanna knew she was being evaluated as "delicate," she would burst into tears on the spot.
But after joining Su Xiao's team, Alanna increasingly felt like a salted fish regarding her own strength. At first, as a top-tier Ninth Rank, she was secretly holding back a surge of determination, thinking she must seize this opportunity to showcase herself as much as possible.
Unfortunately, on the very day she joined the team, the Law-Destroying Teleportation Array made her suddenly homesick. However, Alanna quickly toughened up, declaring that her resolve had never wavered—until she witnessed Su Xiao's team's first battle in this world: Su Xiao vs. the Light and Dark Lord.
After witnessing that battle, Alanna suddenly felt it was better not to showcase herself for now. After leaving Moon Ring City, the outside world's malice toward top-tier Ninth Rank strength was just too great.
But not long after, Alanna rallied again. She was ordered by Lady Moon Witch to assist the Law-Destroying Shadow, Lord Bai Ye. Under these circumstances, how could she, Morgana Alanna—the last face of the Morgana family—possibly be a salted fish? She absolutely had to step up!
Determined to step up, Alanna followed Su Xiao's orders to Falling Star City. Then the spirited Alanna encountered the Dark God Cult forces led by Black Hole Azler as their leader. Due to her outstanding performance, she successfully caught Black Hole Azler's attention. What happened next was simple. Under the scheming of the super old yinbi Black Hole Azler, Alanna nearly bid farewell to this beautiful world. Fortunately, Serin saved her at the critical moment.
Actually, in this incident, Serin was holding back bad intentions. She had arrived early and, seeing that Alanna wasn't in immediate mortal danger, waited in the shadows. As one of the candidates for the next Moon Witch, she had long had her eye on Alanna as a top-tier tool. Although this wasn't her preferred type, as a future backbone for her subordinates and a high-ranking member of the Witch Guild, it was still excellent.
Using Alanna to test the demon spirit ability wouldn't work, but Serin, who was at the early Absolute Strong rank, could. Moreover, as an admirer of Green Gillian, Serin's survival abilities were certainly not weak—this was inevitable. If she were weak in this area, with all the trouble she caused, she would have been killed long ago.
Su Xiao's gaze turned to Serin. Beside him, Serin was leaning back in a recliner, holding a terminal, chatting with someone, her smile growing increasingly unrestrained. She suddenly shivered, looked up, and found Su Xiao a few meters away looking at her with a slight smile. This made Serin think inwardly: 'It's over.'
"Serin..."
Just as Su Xiao spoke, Serin interrupted: "Lord Bai Ye, wait a moment. I need to go to the bathroom. Urgent."
"..."
Su Xiao took out a bottle of the most top-tier witch potion, which emitted a luxurious purple glow, and placed it on the small table beside him. Serin, who was about to rush to the bathroom and was thinking of climbing out the small window to run away and not come back tonight, chose to step backward and return. She sincerely said to Su Xiao:
"I'll go through fire and water for you, Lord Bai Ye."
As she spoke, Serin had already grabbed the witch potion with both hands. She had the guts to run away before receiving Su Xiao's orders, but she absolutely did not have the nerve to slip away after taking the reward.
"I've just mastered an ability and want to test it..."
"Lord Bai Ye, this potion is too precious. I can't accept it."
Serin decisively put down the witch potion. Although this potion was rare, her life was more important.
"Don't worry, it's not an attack-type ability."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Then..." Serin's eyes showed hesitation. After a moment of deliberation, she grabbed the witch potion with one hand and continued, "Bring it on!"
Su Xiao sent a mental command to the demon spirit. The demon spirit instantly shot toward Serin. It wasn't that the demon spirit was willing to obey Su Xiao's words, but rather that the demon spirit itself wanted to test its own ability.
The demon spirit merged into Serin's body, causing her to take a deep breath. The depths of her eyes turned dark blue, and the veins under her skin also began to turn dark blue, spreading from her neck to her face. A few seconds later, Serin took a step forward—or more accurately, was coerced by the demon spirit to take a step forward with her soul.
The demon spirit peeled away from Serin's body. Regardless, Serin was at the Absolute Strong rank. The demon spirit controlling her to take one step was already an astonishing characteristic. Consider this: if Su Xiao had wanted to kill Serin just now, he would only have needed one slash. Serin was in a state of being controlled by the demon spirit, which was far superior to ordinary control skills—longer control time and more thorough control.
"Haah, haah~"
Serin gasped for breath, grabbed the water glass on the table, and drank it all in one gulp before her breathing calmed down.
"How did it feel?"
"Tsk~"
Serin was still a bit shaken. She organized her words and said, "This feeling is like... hmm~, suppose my physical body is a car, and my soul is in the driver's seat. Then the demon spirit's invasion is like it wrapping around my soul in the driver's seat, temporarily controlling my physical body."
After hearing this description, Su Xiao basically understood. He looked at Alanna. Since Serin had already confirmed that this ability had no direct danger, having Alanna, who was at the Ninth Rank, also test it was a good choice.
Su Xiao took out an ancient occult manuscript and looked at Alanna. Alanna was exceptionally straightforward, nodding repeatedly.
The demon spirit shot toward Alanna. This time, the change was even greater. The depths of Alanna's eyes turned dark blue, her pupils showed a crimson hue, smoke slowly drifted from her body, and her entire aura became completely different.
Alanna raised her own hands, looked at them for a moment, then suddenly dashed toward the window.
Zzzt!
One Spirit Shadow Thread after another tightened. Alanna stumbled forward a few steps, and the demon spirit was pulled out by the Spirit Shadow Threads before being sealed back into Dragon-Slaying Flash.
This time, Alanna took half a minute to recover somewhat. She hugged the ancient occult manuscript she had obtained as she wished and described, "Just as Lady Serin said, if the physical body is a car, then the soul is in the driver's seat. However, I wasn't wrapped around by the soul. It was more like... like being kicked out of the driver's seat, and then I didn't know anything anymore."
After hearing this description, Su Xiao basically understood this ability. Against enemies of the same level, it was just a strong control. Against enemies below his tier, it was a long-term control, controlling the opponent's actions, speech, and so on.
Arriving at the bedroom behind the workshop, Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed and meditated. Time passed quickly. When the first rays of the morning sun shone in, he opened his eyes.
After a simple breakfast, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha took the public train to District 16. As for Amu, it had to stay in the workshop at the city lord's mansion to prevent Black Hole Azler from sending people to deal with Alanna.
There were many pedestrians on the streets. Today wasn't just the opening day of the Golden Arena; it was also Falling Star City's Midsummer Festival. The central district would hold a Cold Drink Festival today, with almost all beverage shops participating. The top three would receive the Cold Drink Star plaque, and the temptation was simply too great.
Due to the large number of pedestrians, the public train moved somewhat slowly. However, Su Xiao had left at six o'clock and arrived at the central plaza of District 16 just past seven. As soon as he arrived, he noticed an invisible barrier covering the area.
Taking out the Golden Arena entry ticket, Su Xiao successfully walked into the barrier. A teleportation sensation hit him. Having experienced many mission worlds, this teleportation feeling told Su Xiao that he had temporarily left the Witch Realm. The Golden Arena was certified by the Void Tree, so this scene wasn't surprising.
A massive golden disc appeared ahead. This golden disc had many rings, each rotating in different directions with a clicking sound. The golden power drifting out from within rose into the air, gradually forming a golden greatsword that plunged into the golden disc below. With a click, it locked all the rings in place.
"When did people discover the power of gold? That can no longer be traced."
An aged but powerful voice came. After the sound of a match being struck, the old scroll ahead was ignited. The golden patterns on it, under the erosion of high heat, turned into golden liquid that dripped down, landing on an abyss-wooden hand. The cracks in this hand were filled with gold, and as it clenched into a fist, the crack-like golden patterns lit up with golden light.
"The supreme power of gold can reach the highest pinnacle beyond the limit. This is the supreme source power second only to the two supreme source matters: Element and Abyss."
The aged voice ended there. The golden greatsword ahead pulled out from the golden disc. The golden disc rotated again, gathering the golden power together.
Su Xiao's insight increased by another notch. Having used Golden Skill Points for so long, he finally understood their origin. This was also a type of source matter, and its rank was very high.
Based on his existing intelligence, Su Xiao ranked the source matters as follows: