Chapter 3: Power Fragment · Soul Will...
The maximum number of 「Power Fragments」 you can absorb: 2/6 pieces.
...
Activating the nurturing equipment [Power Lord], a massive amount of World Force surged from within [Power Lord], converging and compressing ahead. A faint golden light appeared, growing increasingly dazzling until it transformed into a brilliant golden hue, forming a radiant golden power fragment.
[You have obtained Power Fragment · Soul Will.]
[Power Fragment · Soul Will (World-Class Curio): After absorbing this power fragment, your Willpower attribute will be enhanced by your own Soul Strength.]
...
It could only be said that, as expected of a nurturing equipment standing at the pinnacle of Immortal Rank equipment, with Su Xiao's Soul Strength of 1130 points, this 「Power Fragment · Soul Will」 was unlikely to elevate his Willpower attribute to such an extent.
Currently, with a True Willpower attribute of 569 points, raising it to over 800 points would already be a massive improvement. Don't forget, after the Black King Bracer was upgraded once more, it no longer had the effect of nurturing Willpower. Moreover, the Attribute Enhancement Hall couldn't boost True Willpower either. Subsequent improvements to True Willpower could only rely on luck or purchasing an 「Immortal Rank · Nurturing Equipment」 with Willpower characteristics.
Few people were willing to sell such equipment; they usually kept it for themselves. No matter the ability system, no one would mind having a high Willpower attribute. Even if someone was willing to sell, the price would be exorbitant.
How much could it be improved this time? The subsequent True Willpower would remain at this level for a long time. Su Xiao grasped the 「Power Fragment · Soul Will」 with one hand, crushed it, and absorbed it. The next moment, his vision went black.
When Su Xiao opened his eyes, it was already early the next morning. As soon as he woke up, he felt a splitting headache. After drinking several bottles of alchemical elixirs that nourished the spirit, the splitting pain subsided. He checked his own data.
Strength: 732 points.
Agility: 732 points.
Stamina: 777 points.
Intelligence: 732 points.
Charm: -27 points.
Luck: 97 points.
Soul Strength: 1130 points.
Abyss Resistance: 93 points.
Lightning Resistance: 674 points.
Elemental Affinity: 1290 points.
True Willpower: 986 points.
...
Was this improvement ridiculous? Not exactly. The current situation was that Su Xiao had not only absorbed the 「Power Fragment · Soul Will」, but his nurturing equipment [Power Lord] and [Origin Stone · Slow Motion] had both disappeared.
Fundamentally, [Power Lord] was a Strength-type nurturing equipment, so its characteristics and certification attributes were inclined toward that aspect. The resulting 「Power Fragment · Soul Will」 was more like a standard enhancement for Strength-type ability users. In 99% of cases, Strength-type ability users had Soul Strength lower than their Willpower attribute.
In this scenario, for example, with 100 points of Soul Strength and 200 points of Willpower, it would be Soul Strength × 50% = 50 points, meaning a 50-point increase in Willpower.
The problem was that Su Xiao was not a pure Strength-type. More critically, [Power Lord] required 800 points of Strength to equip. Through 「Bloodthirsty Frenzy」, he had managed to equip this 「nurturing equipment」 when his True Strength attribute was only 634 points.
According to the bonus from 「Power Fragment · Soul Will」, it would be Soul Strength 1130 points × 50% = 565 points, then 565 points + the current 569 points of True Willpower = 1134 points, which was 4 points higher than his Soul Strength.
Such an outrageous improvement couldn't be achieved by 「Power Fragment · Soul Will」 alone. The problem was that as a top-tier 「nurturing equipment」, the improvement wasn't just an enhancement but also came with corresponding certification.
The certification's judgment was that this improvement had to be completed. Since 「Power Fragment · Soul Will」 had no way to achieve this, according to the certification, a supplement was needed. Therefore, under the secondary certification of Reincarnation Paradise, [Power Lord], the source of 「Power Fragment · Soul Will」, and [Origin Stone · Slow Motion], which was in an idle equipment slot, were extracted.
This formed a 「Super Power Fragment · Soul Will」. For this, Reincarnation Paradise consumed a total of 85,000 ounces of Space-Time Power to complete the enhancement.
What was even more perilous was absorbing this 「Super Power Fragment · Soul Will」. Saying it was a ten-to-one death sentence was an exaggeration, but it was certainly extremely dangerous. If Su Xiao hadn't mastered multiple Law Destruction abilities, he might have died from this. It could only be said that equipping the 「nurturing equipment」 early and enjoying an enhancement that should only be triggered at the Supreme Rank was truly exhilarating, but the risk was also exceptionally high.
Thinking about it this way, the improvement wasn't unreasonable. Remember, this was applying an enhancement meant for the Supreme Rank to an Absolute Strength Rank individual. Coupled with the high-risk equipping method and the triggered chain reaction of certification.
If possible, Su Xiao really wouldn't have chosen to improve his True Willpower attribute this way. The subsequent powerful enemies he had to face in this world wouldn't be critically affected by 986 points of True Willpower. Instead, the 3 「Power Fragments」 he could absorb later would undoubtedly greatly enhance his combat power. If he were to die in this world, even if his True Willpower reached an astonishing 986 points, it would be meaningless.
But from a long-term perspective, even 10 「Power Fragments」 wouldn't compare to 986 points of True Willpower.
Su Xiao felt that such a high Willpower attribute qualified him to face the future powerful enemy, the Underworld God, but it was only qualification.
Closing his personal data, Su Xiao discovered another issue: he already owed Reincarnation Paradise 85,000 ounces of Space-Time Power, and he had to repay it within three world progressions. This was only because his reputation with Reincarnation Paradise was high. If not for his 75,920-point reputation, he truly wouldn't have triggered the pre-loan certification judgment of Reincarnation Paradise.
The current problem was that if he couldn't repay this huge debt of 85,000 ounces of Space-Time Power within three world progressions, an 8.5% late repayment fee would be added for each subsequent world progression.
Closing the relevant prompts, Su Xiao checked his skill list. The 「Rare Soul Energy」 obtained from devouring the Soul Sacred Tree was converted by the Devouring Core into attribute-less nurturing energy. After being absorbed by the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, it raised his Cyan Steel Shadow ability from Lv.94 to Lv.95. At this level, the difficulty of improving Cyan Steel Shadow skyrocketed.
It seemed that after reaching Lv.95, a bottleneck was broken. Coupled with Su Xiao absorbing a large amount of energy from the 「First Generation Finger Bones」, the upper limit potential of Cyan Steel Shadow was maxed out. Now, absorbing 「First Generation Finger Bones」 could no longer increase the upper limit of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy; it could only permanently increase his Mana Points upper limit.
[Cyan Steel Shadow: Lv.95 (Active/Passive Skill)]
Usage Condition: After activating the Cyan Steel Shadow ability, consumes 4600 Mana Points per minute (increased by 500 points).
Active Effect: Each melee attack burns 6260 Mana Points from the enemy (increased by 1000 points, this increase has received the bonus from 「Limit Breaker · Passive」) and deals True Damage equal to 1.8 times the burned Mana Points (base 11268 points + 400 True Damage + Dragon-Slaying Flash's 50% increase + Azure Shadow King's 30% increase + Swift Shadow's 40% increase = 24503 True Damage). The enemy will suffer intense pain from the Mana burn.
Defense Form: Proud Song (Active), can generate crystals in any form to defend against enemy attacks. Crystal strength is proportional to the Mana Points consumed, with a single-use Mana consumption cap of 15000 points. Crystal layer defense rank +11.
Combat Form: Limit Breaker (Passive), Cyan Steel Shadow ability Mana consumption increased by 5 times, burned Mana Points increased by 2 times.
...
「Combat Form · Limit Breaker」 was a branch ability of Cyan Steel Shadow that Su Xiao had mastered through the Awakening Stele. It could only be said that, as expected of a branch ability worthy of being recorded on the Awakening Stele, this ability doubled the subsequent growth of the Cyan Steel Shadow skill.
Starting from Lv.95, the improvement brought by each level of Cyan Steel Shadow might even be incremental, because this was the most core and final stage of improvement for the Law Destruction system. Having this degree of improvement wasn't exaggerated; it would be abnormal if it didn't. If the ability system wasn't strong enough, how could the Shadow of Law Destruction represent an era of the Void?
Glancing at the time, he couldn't keep the Hand of Fate · Ashves waiting too long. Therefore, Su Xiao had to complete the last thing during this period. He took out the [Lucky Item Chest] obtained from the Ancient Wyvern quest and opened it.
For the top-tier lucky item, Su Xiao was quite looking forward to it. He hoped this top-tier lucky item wouldn't be like the Holy Serpent in [Holy Serpent Guardian], which looked like it was about to explode and die every time it was taken out to absorb misfortune, and within seconds of being taken out, the Holy Serpent would transform from a small snake into a pufferfish that had already inflated.
[You have opened the Lucky Item Chest.]
[You have obtained Sacred · Ancient Elf (Lucky Item/Highly Rare Special Equipment).]
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