Chapter 59: Power of the Stars
Closing his personal information, Su Xiao steadied his breath and rose from the Attribute Enhancement Pod. After leaving the Attribute Enhancement Hall, he took a stroll through the Trade Market and noticed that consumables had surged in price recently, rising by at least 15% or so.
This level of price increase likely signaled an upcoming World War for Eighth to Ninth Rank worlds. Consumables and equipment had risen the most, while skill scrolls and other categories requiring long-term investment to boost combat power had seen their prices drop.
When Su Xiao returned to his Exclusive Room, Bubu Wang and Beini were in their daily standoff. The reason was that Bubu Wang had used Beini’s shampoo—the one she used for washing her fur—to bathe his entire body. Beini only ever used a pea-sized amount each time, but Bubu Wang had used half the bottle in one go. At first, Beini had wondered why the dumb dog had suddenly developed taste, switching to such a nice-smelling botanical shampoo. Then she sniffed it carefully, and her gaze grew serious.
Su Xiao held the bottle, now only a quarter full, glanced at Beini, then at Bubu Wang, and asked, “So, how much did this cost?”
“Meow~”
Beini extended one paw.
“Five Soul Coins?”
“Meow meow meow!”
Beini explained that this stuff was worth 500 Soul Coins, and that washing fur with it permanently enhanced one’s stealth in forest terrain. After hearing this, Su Xiao turned the bottle over in his hand, observed it for a few seconds, then set it down, deciding to stay out of this matter.
Su Xiao sat on a single sofa to rest, easing the faint muscle soreness from the sudden massive boost to his physique. Amu was in front of his antique clock cabinet, fiddling with a beloved clock, adjusting gears and springs with professional tools while pressing his ear to it to check the sound.
Baha was scrolling through his personal terminal, soon laughing heartily at the annual list of ridiculous events from Apocalypse Paradise. Occasionally, he’d pick up a large glass of orange juice, sip through a straw, his eyes never leaving the terminal.
Bubu Wang had already jumped onto the chandelier, clinging to the swaying fixture, staring down at Beini on the coffee table below. Beini flashed her claws and bared her fangs, her expression clearly saying, “Get down here.” Bubu Wang stubbornly indicated, “I won’t!”
In the end, Su Xiao had to send Beini to the Great Gathering Place to sell the spoils from this trip, saving Bubu Wang’s dog life. After Beini left, Su Xiao reached out, picked up the shampoo from the coffee table, and observed it again—this bottle worth 300 Soul Coins. Analyzing it with Alchemy, he found its production cost should be around 280–290 Soul Coins. Getting it for 300 meant Beini had definitely bought it from a friend.
Moreover, the formulation was quite skilled. It wasn’t alchemical catalysis but a synthetic formula. It could be cracked, but the time cost would be a net loss.
Su Xiao glanced at Beini’s grooming supplies cabinet and suddenly felt it was almost like a small treasury. Bubu Wang looked around nervously; having taken a bath worth over 200 Soul Coins, he was afraid Su Xiao would give him a beating.
[Prompt: You have obtained Will Gem (Eternal Rank Gem · Unique · Highly Rare).]
The prompt appeared suddenly. As expected, that destined person had been killed by the [Will Gem]. This meant Su Xiao now held the three legendary gems: [Will Gem], [Soul Devouring Gem], and [Divine Gem].
Su Xiao didn’t let Beini sell these gems; it might invite unknown risks. He would personally go to the Great Gathering Place later to offload them.
Arriving at the room housing the Awakening Stele, he took out [Revenge Soul] and three [Strong Soul] items, using them on the Awakening Stele. The stele entered an unsealed state, and the Law-Destroying skills that appeared this time were likely to be very powerful.
The Awakening Stele had two systems of ability unlocking. The first was Law-Destruction system abilities: Cyan Steel Shadow, Azure Shadow King, Devouring Core, etc., all fell under this category. These abilities inscribed on the stele were unlocked using [Revenge Soul].
This type of ability required two [Revenge Soul] items to fully unlock. As for what [Strong Soul] unlocked, it was the Law-Destruction system’s general abilities on the stele—a way to stack passives, allowing Su Xiao’s basic attacks to feel like ultimate moves, further causing a qualitative change.
Su Xiao approached his Exclusive Skill Upgrade Pod. Previously, he’d needed to register his imprint at the Skill Upgrade Hall, but now that wasn’t necessary. Once within a certain range of this Exclusive Skill Upgrade Pod, he could mentally command it to open or start.
Entering the Exclusive Skill Upgrade Pod, the carpet on the floor made sitting cross-legged more comfortable. After sitting down, he checked his current Soul Coins: a total of 2,526,080. Additionally, he had 141 Soul Crystals.
It seemed like a lot, but with three techniques developed to their current stage, he wasn’t just consuming resources—he was devouring them like a whale.
[To upgrade Melee Grandmaster Lv.91, requires consuming Soul Crystal × 30 + 285,000 Soul Coins.]
[To upgrade Blood Spear Grandmaster Lv.91, requires consuming Soul Crystal × 30 + 285,000 Soul Coins.]
[To upgrade Blade Grandmaster Lv.95, requires consuming Soul Crystal × 100 + 750,000 Soul Coins, and one [Primordial Core].]
…
What was worse was that previously, when Blade Grandmaster advanced from Lv.94 to Lv.95, besides Soul Crystals and Soul Coins, it also required one [Extreme Blade Source Matter], obtained from Moon Witch Seris. Melee Grandmaster and Blood Spear Grandmaster corresponded to [Body Source Matter] and [Blood Source Matter].
Su Xiao already had a way to obtain the former. As for [Blood Source Matter], there was only one way to get it: slaying the [Fierce Beast · Fei].
The good news was that one [Fierce Beast · Fei] was still alive. The bad news was that this [Fierce Beast · Fei] was located deep in the Ancient Battlefield and had Supreme-level combat power.
Additionally, [Blood Source Matter] had a special property: only the one who personally killed the [Fierce Beast · Fei] was qualified to devour this source matter. Otherwise, it wasn’t source matter but violent blood-type energy. Compared to other systems, the blood system placed more emphasis on qualification and strength, being a typical survival-of-the-fittest power system.
Thus, going deep into the Ancient Battlefield to defeat the [Fierce Beast · Fei] would yield far more than just [Blood Source Matter].
There was another matter: Su Xiao needed to go deep into the Ancient Battlefield. Previously, from the Hand of Fate · Ashvis, he learned that the Law Destruction faction had a [Law Destroyer Exclusive Secret Art] for advancing to Supreme. Although the advancement conditions were even harsher than the current limit, and the risk of dying during advancement was not low, once successful, the subsequent benefits would be endless.
Given the current situation, Su Xiao certainly wouldn’t go deep into the Ancient Battlefield himself—he’d surely die in the mouth of the [Fierce Beast · Fei]. So he planned to find a Supreme-level powerhouse to go there and find the [Law Destroyer Exclusive Secret Art] for him. The candidate was already decided: the strongest assassin, Xiao.
Whether in terms of ability system or strength tier, Xiao was the best choice. There had been past grudges with Xiao, and it was possible that after finding the [Law Destroyer Exclusive Secret Art], she might use it as leverage. But don’t forget, Su Xiao had just provided Xiao with the finished secret medicine to cure her daughter.
Su Xiao wouldn’t assume a Supreme assassin would be grateful to tears. That’s why, from the moment he met Xiao, he had been probing how much she truly valued and loved her daughter—or whether curing her daughter was just a spiritual anchor for a powerful, aimless wraith, an anchor that held no real meaning.
Through probing, Xiao was not a numb-minded wraith. This wasn’t a dig at Xiao; it was one of the drawbacks of assassination-type powerhouses. Hiding in shadows for long periods, immersed in darkness, one’s existence and soul could be dissolved and assimilated by darkness and shadow, eventually becoming a powerful but purposeless wandering spirit.
Xiao’s care for her daughter was a genuine affection for family, mixed with a puzzling faint sense of wariness—which was particularly strange.
Fortunately, the hot-tempered little spirit, Diagu, didn’t disappoint Su Xiao. This rebellious third prince of the Elf clan, who loved smoking, drinking, and street racing, was no slouch in intelligence gathering. He successfully uncovered a hidden story.
Xiao had never married or fallen in love with anyone. In fact, she couldn’t love any man—or woman, for that matter. Xiao came from a top-tier assassin organization called the [Justice Church]. By day, it was an ordinary church; by night, the church’s assassins were active.
The [Justice Church] rose during the Second Era. Its founder, Iron Heart Father, was a terminally ill noble on the verge of death. In the first half of his life, he was addicted to wine, lust, power, and wealth. As death approached, he truly opened his eyes to see the world.
He coldly observed the merchants who exploited the poor, the gang members who bullied commoners, the ruling families colluding with underworld leaders, the nobles who trampled the law, and the slum dwellers who bullied those poorer than themselves.
Intelligent races would always have seven emotions and six desires. No civilization built by intelligent races could ever achieve absolute fairness—that was an inevitable result. But there should be justice, which was what Iron Heart Father, opening his eyes to the world before death, believed to be right.
Iron Heart Father scattered his wealth and established the [Justice Church]. When justice was about to be devoured by darkness, then justice was also a blade in the darkness, hidden in the shadows, punishing those who dared trample on justice.
The [Justice Church]’s original intention was to uphold justice for the weak, and it did so. The problem was that the dark blades punishing those who trampled justice were destined to suffer greatly. Without strict, even cruel and brutal training, it was impossible to cultivate powerful assassins. Once enough powerful assassins were lost, the [Justice Church] would exist in name only.
Xiao’s childhood was spent in the fifteenth basement level of the [Justice Church]. Her nun mentor was a deeply twisted and perverse individual, yet willing to teach all her skills to her disciples. Under this nun mentor’s torment and training, the adult Xiao didn’t just have a phobia of the opposite sex—she had a phobia of all humans who approached her.
Xiao’s daughter was certainly not her biological child. The previous intelligence about her daughter was deliberately leaked by Xiao. The truth was that Xiao actually had a human she wasn’t phobic about: her childhood playmate and mission partner, whose assassin code name was [Silver Feather Crow].
The two were both close friends and rivals. The rest of the story was somewhat cliché. Silver Feather Crow fell in love with a mission target and later told Xiao during a confrontation that the [Justice Church] had long strayed from its original purpose. If it were the [Justice Church] of centuries past, it indeed killed to uphold justice. But the current [Justice Church] was merely a tool of the powerful.
Xiao put on her mask and killed her best friend and her husband. As her semi-transparent, paper-thin blade was about to pierce the infant daughter in her friend’s swaddling, it stopped 0.5 centimeters from the baby’s brow.
‘This is the bloodline of Silver Feather Crow and the Void’s strongest healing soul master. Let the organization raise her first; she can definitely be trained into a powerful assassin in the future.’
After this thought appeared, Xiao got past her own hurdle, sheathed her blade, and picked up the baby. But before returning to the organization, she suddenly felt that after a mission, especially a cleanup mission, bringing back a baby like this would inevitably invite unnecessary suspicion. Hmm, first stash this human cub at her residence, and after some time, send it back to the organization.
In the following days, Xiao’s inner feelings were:
‘Human cubs are so annoying, crying is so noisy. Send it to the organization, this afternoon.’
‘Too weak. Human cubs are too weak after birth, can’t even control their own waste. When I was weak, I definitely wasn’t like this.’
‘Finally fell asleep quietly. Have a mission this afternoon. Send it tomorrow.’
‘Send it today.’
‘Face is so chubby.’
‘The organization has been unstable lately. Send it to the organization next week.’
‘Running out of milk powder. After the assassination target this afternoon, I’ll buy some on the way.’
‘Can walk now.’
‘So naughty. Even the Mouro dog I adopted for disguise is getting annoyed with this little troublemaker.’
‘Damn it, stop calling me mom. Your mother died by my hand.’
‘My daughter is starting school today. She was actively recruited by the Soul Cultivation Academy, far exceeding the threshold. Truly the bloodline of the strongest healing soul master. No, bloodline is just a carrier for reproduction, unrelated to talent. It must be the excellent upbringing that made her so talented.’
‘After half a year of traveling for treatment, visiting most of the Void and three Transcendent Primordial Worlds, I finally learned from an eye ritual scholar of the Yargu School in the Transcendent Primordial World · Doom Star that my daughter suffers from [Nikaye Spore Plant Pregnancy Genetic Syndrome]. It must have been when Silver Feather Crow and I went to the Fungal Underground City for an assassination mission. Silver Feather Crow was infected. Calculating the time, she was just pregnant then.’
‘Never, give up.’
…
This was essentially Xiao’s experience with her daughter. Speaking of which, the Crow Woman of Arcane Eternal Star was Xiao’s disciple. Besides Crow Woman, Xiao actually had two other disciples: the deceased Silver Eye and the still-living Black Feather.
Silver Eye, Black Feather, and Crow Woman—these three assassin code names Xiao gave, taking one key character or word from each, formed [Silver Feather Crow].
[Nikaye Spore Plant Pregnancy Genetic Syndrome] could be cured only by a miracle-level secret medicine. The recovery period after curing naturally required some auxiliary secret medicines. So Su Xiao wasn’t worried that Xiao would use the [Law Destroyer Exclusive Secret Art] as leverage after obtaining it. Both sides had chips in hand.
Inside the Exclusive Skill Upgrade Pod, Su Xiao chose to upgrade Melee Grandmaster. The next second, the 90 Soul Crystals before him shattered, turning into pure soul energy that merged into his body. Simultaneously, his Soul Coins were rapidly consumed.
Nearly an hour later, Su Xiao steadied his breath. His direction for developing Melee Grandmaster was simple and brutal—just one straight kick. Therefore, the upgrade mainly enhanced the derivative [Protective Energy] of technique-type abilities and the power of the straight kick, rather than entering an enlightenment scene like when upgrading Blade Grandmaster.
[Melee Grandmaster has been upgraded to Lv.94.]
[To upgrade Melee Grandmaster Lv.94, requires consuming Soul Crystal × 50 + 500,000 Soul Coins, and one [Body Source Matter].]
…
Su Xiao took out the [Designated Source Matter Chest], obtained from completing the [World Mission · God Hunter].
[You have opened the Designated Source Matter Chest.]
[You may select one type of source matter from the source matter inventory.]
[You have obtained Body Source Matter.]
…
With 50 Soul Crystals, 500,000 Soul Coins, and one [Body Source Matter] all prepared, he chose to upgrade. The next second, his vision turned pitch black. Unlike Blade Grandmaster, which entered an enlightenment scene, this time he fell into a dream.
When Su Xiao woke up, he rubbed his forehead for several minutes to recover. Perhaps because the development method of Melee Grandmaster was too pure and extreme, breaking through to Lv.95 nearly sent him off.
[Melee Grandmaster: Lv.95 (Technique · Passive)]
Skill Effect: Kick damage rank +80 (increase of 33), Physical toughness +69% (increase of 11%).
Power Penetration · Kick Enhancement: Total nine times (1. Attack forced paralysis, 2. Defense severe reduction, 3. Strong armor/shield break, 4. True penetration, 5. Destruction heavy cannon, 6. Destruction level, 7. Ascension level, 8. Annihilation level, 9. Star level).
Lv.95 Ultimate Ability · Power Penetration · Kick Nine-Time Enhancement (Supreme Rank · Passive): Kick attack judgment upgraded to [Star Level]. Each time a kick is used, there is a chance to gain the blessing of [Primordial · Power of the Stars], causing the next attack to deal 5 times overall damage.
Warning: Due to the excessive stacking of passive traits enhancing kick [Straight Kick] power, when your straight kick triggers the [Primordial · Power of the Stars] blessing, causing 5 times damage, the foot and leg used for the kick will endure extreme overload, likely causing self-injury or severe crushing damage to the foot and leg.
Prompt: Due to the characteristics of [Primordial · Power of the Stars], each time you receive its blessing, it will nourish your physique simultaneously. This attack trait will gain permanent enhancement. If a kick triggers the [Primordial · Power of the Stars] blessing, your kick power will increase by 0.25 times until this enhancement reaches 5 times. After that, you will no longer trigger the [Primordial · Power of the Stars] blessing.
…
It seemed like a probabilistic damage boost, but it was actually a permanent growth enhancement, requiring combat training. And the boost was an absurd 5 times damage.
For a normal Melee Grandmaster in the kick branch, a 5 times kick damage boost was the worst [Supreme Rank · Passive] among technique-type kick branches, bar none. 99% of kick grandmasters fought with agile, high-speed kick attacks. Even a light attack boosted 5 times wasn’t that impressive.
This [Supreme Rank · Passive], which other Melee Grandmasters disliked most, was the most suitable for Su Xiao. Suppose a high-speed light kick’s power was 100; boosted 5 times, it was only 500, at best a heavy attack. But if this straight kick was an extreme heavy attack with a power around 9,000, then boosted 5 times, the power reached an absurd 45,000.
Getting hit by a 9,000-power kick, you’d fly back as a beam of light, land, and vomit a mouthful of blood. But getting hit by a 45,000-power kick? You wouldn’t fly back as a beam of light—you’d become light on the spot, i.e., die instantly.
The improvement in Melee Grandmaster was astonishing. As a cost, Su Xiao was left with only 1 Soul Crystal. He had a strong feeling that for a long time to come, he would be desperately short of this item.
Currently known: the three technique abilities, which originally became X at Lv.95, had their level caps raised to Lv.105 by the powerful boost of [Origin Stone · World].
The corresponding cost was that after these three technique abilities reached Lv.95, each level’s upgrade cost was 100 Soul Crystals + 750,000 Soul Coins + one [Primordial Core].
In other words, to max out all these abilities, Su Xiao would need at least 3,000 Soul Crystals, 22.5 million Soul Coins, and thirty [Primordial Cores]. Recalling that looting the Soul Academy on Blazing Sun Star—making the logistics department there cry snot—only yielded 125 Soul Crystals.
By this standard, Su Xiao would need to raid at least 24 treasure vaults of this scale. But did the highest-tier worlds in the Star Realm really have that many vaults? After all, Blazing Sun Star was a former Transcendent Primordial World, and being in a state of half-invasion by the Abyss meant it was dangerous but resource-rich.
[Prompt: The Honor Shop is about to finish refreshing.]
[Your current Reincarnation Paradise Reputation: 75,920 points.]
[Because your Reincarnation Paradise Reputation exceeds 70,000 points, your Honor Shop level is increased by +1.]
[Honor Shop maximum level is 15. Current level: breakthrough limit of 16.]
[Honor Shop refresh complete.]
[You have obtained new permission: Equipment Slot · Honor Secret Medicine.]
[Prompt: This equipment slot can only equip potions obtained from the Honor Shop. During combat, you can use the [Potion] in the Honor Secret Medicine Equipment Slot with just an instant mental command. This use cannot be interrupted or interfered with. Even if you are under continuous attack, you can still successfully complete this potion use with the assistance of the Honor Secret Medicine Equipment Slot.]
[Prompt: The maximum potion equipment quantity for the Honor Secret Medicine Equipment Slot is 1, which cannot be increased by any means (this is the highest priority certification).]
[You have obtained new permission: Honor Reservation.]
[When previewing the Honor Shop, you can select one item in the Honor Shop for [Honor Reservation]. This item will persist in the Honor Shop for at least five world progressions. Even if the Honor Shop refreshes subsequently, this item will be retained until the [Honor Reservation] duration expires.]
…
[Potion Supply Quota: 10/10 (This quota refreshes for free each world progression. Excess quota receives no compensation).]
[Hunters may make the following exchanges.]
Prompt: The following potions all have extremely high enhancement ranks, with 100% effect described for Absolute Strong and Supreme-level beings.