Chapter 46: Their Respective Bargaining Chips
Undoubtedly, the enhancement brought by the "Supreme Life Source" was astonishing, but its price was equally immense—it was death, and moreover, a "permanent death" that could not be exempted by death-avoidance items.
One question was: if this were certified by Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao would have no way around it. However, this "permanent death" was a characteristic of the rare treasure "Supreme Life Source" itself. This opened up considerable room for manipulation.
As for the permanent -3500 luck, Su Xiao's lowest luck point was -42,000. A mere 3,000 or so wouldn't even take effect. If this Supreme Life Source's luck dared to act on Su Xiao, it would immediately be slapped hard by both the "Law-Destruction Luck" and the "Original Sin Luck."
As for a permanent 50% deduction in one physical attribute, when it was seen that among the deduction options, Charm could be chosen, everything was already clear. With his already -30 Charm, even a permanent 50% deduction would probably not bring it to -40 points. After all, his negative Charm was unprecedented, to the point of earning him a unique title reward from the Void Tree.
Su Xiao pondered for a moment. He estimated that if he operated using Alchemical Biology + Sealcraft + the Book of Original Sin, the success rate would be high, but he still had to face risks.
Picking up the communicator beside him, Su Xiao dialed. After a moment, a hissing signal interference sound came from the other end.
"My dear friend, what's the matter?"
Kaisa's tone, tinged with a mix of sleaziness and cunning, came through the communicator. Su Xiao didn't speak; he simply sent the price 3 of the "Supreme Life Source."
"My dear friend, this is the price for absorbing the 'Supreme Source.' This is a tough nut to crack."
Hearing this, Su Xiao had an estimate. According to Kaisa's formula, tough to crack = doable = need to add money.
"20 ounces of Space-Time Power."
"My dear friend, you make Kaisa so sad. Such a thorny matter, how could 20 ounces possibly settle it? At least 500,000 ounces."
"30."
"350,000, can't go any lower..."
After some bargaining between Su Xiao and Kaisa, the deal was finally struck at 500 ounces of Space-Time Power.
Su Xiao shared the rest area's access permissions with Kaisa. While waiting for this guy to arrive, he took out a sealed box, opened the layers of sealing runes on it, retrieved a communicator, and chose to dial.
After a moment of silence, Shenfu's voice came from the communicator.
"Truly surprising, you contacting me at this time."
"..."
Su Xiao opened the communicator's text and image editing function and sent the "permanent death" price of the "Supreme Life Source."
Su Xiao wasn't entirely sure what "Primordial Death" was, but he estimated that the "Death Power" others feared might be a rare nourishment for Shenfu.
"It seems you've run into trouble, Bai Ye."
"..."
"I can indeed help you solve this trouble, but you'll have to pay an equivalent price..."
Before Shenfu could finish speaking, Su Xiao hung up the communication and continued meditating.
Time passed minute by minute. Half an hour later, the communicator rang. He answered, and Shenfu's voice came from the other end:
"Name your price."
"1,000 ounces of Space-Time Power."
This demand made Shenfu fall silent on the other end. For this old fox's profit-making methods, this wasn't an excessively high price; rather, the old fellow felt that something more unpleasant was waiting ahead.
"And."
The moment Su Xiao said "and," Shenfu on the other end sighed inwardly.
"A treasure you're unwilling to sell."
Su Xiao didn't specify any particular treasure. Taking himself as an example, he currently had two items he wouldn't easily part with: [Ultimate Sublimation (Soul Secret Technique Scroll)] and [Power Devourer (Absolute Strength Level · Passive Skill Scroll)].
If the former fell into the hands of his mortal enemy, Arcane Eternal Star's Soul Lord, the joke would be huge. If the latter was obtained by Haoji, who would gain the core ability of the Beast God, one could imagine how absurd it would be.
Su Xiao didn't know if Shenfu had similar abilities corresponding to his own, but his goal this time wasn't necessarily to complete the trade. It was more about testing the waters. For Shenfu, the Death Power contained in "permanent death" would benefit him no less than Haoji obtaining the "Power Devourer" scroll.
Both sides remained silent, engaging in a long-distance game of wits. However, the smile on Su Xiao's face gradually became more amiable, while Shenfu's expression grew increasingly blank.
This seemingly silent standoff yielded Su Xiao a lot of intelligence. First, Shenfu was more eager to enhance his power than expected, which didn't fit the old fox's style. This old fox always stayed in the background, seemingly losing out the whole time, but in the end, he was always among the beneficiaries.
Thinking this way, Shenfu's uncharacteristic behavior could only be due to greater interests. Considering that the next step was to enter the ruins of Dawn Paradise, for Shenfu, a violator, there might be something crucial to him in those ruins.
Su Xiao took out the [Dawn Pass], which he had obtained in the Wind Sea Continent by completing a world mission. Shenfu had also gone to the Wind Sea Continent that time, and his goal was precisely this [Dawn Pass]. This confirmed that, as early as three world progressions ago, Shenfu had been particularly eager to enter the Dawn Ruins.
Shenfu's willingness to participate in this battle as a combatant from Sanctuary Paradise already spoke volumes.
First, Haoji, Platinum Apostle, and Moon Witch all didn't want Shenfu to take advantage of this Paradise War to sneak into the Dawn Ruins. Otherwise, Shenfu would definitely have a spot on Haoji's team or the Gentleman's team, and he might even have been the captain of the Gentleman's team.
Second, after discovering Shenfu's entry, Platinum Apostle, while still appearing to be Shenfu's ally, quietly gave clues that allowed Su Xiao to obtain the [Defiled Fate Blood].
[Defiled Fate Blood]
Origin: Lord's Continent.
Quality: World-Class
Type: Defilement.
Effect: This defilement can permanently erode and pollute all sacred characteristics. When this Fate Blood is activated, it will automatically track and pollute a specific sacred being.
Rating: 5999 points (World-class item rating is 10-6000 points).
Introduction: Twisted, deformed fate.
It had been roughly confirmed before that this thing could pollute a specific sacred being, which had a huge restraining effect on Shenfu's Primordial Death, and was even its unique nemesis.
Platinum Apostle's move was too ruthless. Having anyone obtain the [Defiled Fate Blood] was better than Su Xiao getting it, which made things even more uncomfortable for Shenfu.
Suppose it was the blood of that sacred being that restrained Shenfu. If someone else obtained it, they would at most have a "Sacred Blood" to use as leverage against Shenfu.
But if these two scoundrels, Su Xiao and Kaisa, got it... cough~, if this hunter and arbiter got it, who knew what operations they would come up with to replicate more "Sacred Blood."
That wasn't the worst part. It was possible that the alchemist Kukulin Bai Ye would use part of the "Sacred Blood" to cultivate something resembling Black A or Boiling Red, upgrading the Sacred Blood through Fate Power. Just thinking about it was enough to give Shenfu a headache.
Continuing to speculate based on the current relationship between Platinum Apostle and Shenfu, the deadly situation with the Abyss Guard Captain in the previous round might not have been aimed at Su Xiao at all, but at Shenfu.
What Shenfu was scheming to obtain by entering the Dawn Ruins this time was likely no less important than Su Xiao's accumulation and preparations for advancing to the Supreme Rank. If so, unless Shenfu was willing to bleed, this deal couldn't be made.
As for why Shenfu ended up at such a disadvantage in this brief game of wits, Su Xiao estimated it was partly helpless and partly intentional. This old fox might already have a bargaining chip that would make Su Xiao willing to offer "permanent death."
In the end, it was Shenfu who broke the silence: "Let's talk in person."
"Alright."
Su Xiao also gave Shenfu access to the rest room. A few minutes later, the door was knocked on—Kaisa had arrived. Not long after, Shenfu also showed up.
"Give me a reason I can't refuse."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing this, Shenfu sighed, took out a semicircular metal object. It looked very much like a metal disc, perfectly split in half. Shenfu displayed the information of this item to Su Xiao.
[Above Grandmaster · Left]
Origin: Void Tree
Quality: ???
Type: Consumable/Key (1/2).
Effect: Requires collecting both "Above Grandmaster · Left" and "Above Grandmaster · Right" to complete the synthesis. With this item, you can teleport to the exclusive regional facility "Grandmaster Hall" of the affiliated World Tree. By paying 20,000 ounces of Space-Time Power, you can activate the Grandmaster Promotion Ceremony within the "Grandmaster Hall."
Tip: The Grandmaster Promotion Ceremony has a total of three tiers.