Chapter 29: A Strange Standoff
Tick-tock, tick-tock~
The antique clock emitted mechanical sounds, the white noise formed by the rotation of gear structures making one feel drowsy. A hand pressed down on top of the antique clock, temporarily silencing its mechanical noise.
Su Xiao rose from the recliner and checked the time. He had rested for half an hour. Originally, his plan was to study Sealcraft continuously for 50 hours, then rest for an hour, and then continue mastering Sealcraft. However, after actually putting this into practice, he found that after just 24 hours, his brain felt numb. He had to rest for 20 to 30 minutes to recover his state.
This was only possible because his True Intelligence attribute, as high as 800 points, granted him powerful mental strength. Otherwise, studying "Master-level Sealcraft" continuously for 24 hours at this intensity would inevitably cause mental damage.
Under the empowerment of "Abyss Contract" + "Original Sin Scholar Title," Su Xiao's learning efficiency increased by 2640 times. That meant one day of study equaled 7.23 years. Note that this was under the premise that he had a Knowledge Mastery characteristic of 320 points.
An issue that couldn't be ignored was that from the First Rank to the Ninth Rank, Su Xiao had raised Alchemy to Lv.95. His basic learning ability had undoubtedly increased by more than a hundredfold. His learning ability in Alchemy was in the upper echelon even in the Second Era, an era teeming with geniuses.
Based on this judgment, the learning ability of a high-level Sealcraft Master was at most 50 to 80 points. Taking 80 points as the standard, Su Xiao's basic learning ability was equivalent to four times that of a Sealcraft Master of the same rank. Calculating on this basis, the situation was absurd. Su Xiao's one day of study now equaled 28.92 years of arduous training for a Sealcraft Master of the same rank.
This was 28.92 years of non-stop, sleepless, eat-less training. If one only trained 8 to 9 hours a day, it would be equivalent to over 80 years.
This was also why so many people fell into the Abyss. One day equaled over 80 years of arduous training. If Su Xiao hadn't set up a large number of "Restrictions" and "Costs," and had used the "Abyss Contract" entirely in the way of falling into the Dark Abyss, this magnitude would have increased by more than a hundredfold.
With such a clear and intuitive gap, and considering that those who fell into the Abyss could no longer make any progress in their respective fields of pride, suddenly facing such a change, they would inevitably go from "I'm just borrowing the power of the Abyss a little" to gradually thinking, "Borrowing a little more is fine, borrowing a little more again will definitely be fine, my willpower can withstand it," and ultimately, sink into the darkness with no redemption.
In fact, it wasn't that one couldn't appropriately gain power and knowledge through Abyss Energy. But one must always remember one point: ensure that the set "Restrictions" and the "Costs" paid were sufficient to match the power/knowledge gained.
Not just anyone was qualified to fall into the Abyss. Take Su Xiao's friend Sha, for example. The effort and sweat Sha put into the path of becoming stronger were actually no less than Su Xiao's. Her problem was that in her weak period, she was too eager to become strong, which led to her draining her physical potential to the limit.
Because of this, after Sha fell into the Abyss, she became stronger so quickly and without a sense of forced power. The efforts she had made were worthy of her current strength.
The reason Su Xiao dared to use the "Abyss Contract" this time was that, theoretically speaking, the maximum cost he bore for using the "Abyss Contract" was "Original Sin Descent · Super Large Magnitude." The "Book of Original Sin" exempted him from this cost. That is to say, rather than him using the "Abyss Contract," on the level of causal fate, it was the "Book of Original Sin" using the "Abyss Contract."
Although Su Xiao was the beneficiary, he was also the restrictor of the "Book of Original Sin." More obviously, this thing, the "Book of Original Sin," didn't have the concept of falling into the Abyss. To a certain extent, it was the ultimate Original Sin and Abyss. The relationship between the Abyss and Original Sin had yet to be clarified by anyone. Those who figured it out probably became like the Ancient Ones.
Since the "Book of Original Sin" had no concept of falling into the Abyss, and Su Xiao used the "Book of Original Sin" to separate himself from the "Abyss Contract," the consequences of falling into the Abyss caused by using the "Abyss Contract" this time definitely couldn't be transmitted over.
During his break, Su Xiao opened the prompt that had just appeared:
[Prompt: You have successfully challenged the Special Area · Soul Hall.]
[Combat evaluation is about to be conducted (Rating: E- ~ S+).]
Enemy Kills: S+ (All enemies in the Soul Hall have been killed, including all neutral units).
Time Limit Evaluation: S+ (Total time taken: 5 hours 21 minutes to kill the Soul Hall · Lord Unit · Soul Ascender).
Death Count: S+ (Cleared with 0 deaths).
Mission Evaluation: E- (No mission triggering or strategic maneuvering of any form was performed).
Overall Rating: A+ (Lacking in strategic slaughter, but it is still a way to deal with the Soul Hall's conspiracy).
[You can obtain the following settlement rewards:]