Chapter 61: Activation??
Su Xiao walked into the Divine Emperor Adventure Group headquarters and found it quite magnificent. It was clear that the Divine Emperor Adventure Group had developed well, gaining significant fame among the eighth rank, with rumors they were aiming to become a ninth-rank adventure group.
Within Apocalypse Paradise, there were many ninth-rank adventure groups, even at the Absolute Strength rank and Supreme rank. However, in Reincarnation Paradise, the number of adventure groups sharply decreased after the eighth rank. At the ninth rank, only a few well-known groups remained, and as for Absolute Strength, there were currently no large-scale adventure groups.
The reason for this was that large adventure groups generally disliked entering mission worlds not certified by their own paradise. This held true for both large adventure groups in Reincarnation Paradise and those in Apocalypse Paradise.
In their respective native worlds, Apocalypse Paradise was clearly safer. There, lone wolves feared large adventure groups, as the latter had strength in numbers.
In contrast, large adventure groups in Reincarnation Paradise became extremely cautious when encountering their own lone wolves. You could never be sure what kind of monster this humanoid figure truly was. If you ran into a partner of a ruthless brother, like the healing-type Hiler, you were in for trouble.
On the surface, she appeared to be a socially anxious, quiet, bespectacled sweet girl. But when she revealed her true nature, bursting people apart with healing energy or growing them into a screaming, fleshy mass, you'd know what kind of demon lurked within.
Just as Su Xiao stepped into the Divine Emperor Adventure Group headquarters, he saw an old man with a goatee walking toward him. Upon seeing Su Xiao, the old man froze, as if in disbelief, his eyes widening noticeably.
"Mr. White Night?"
The old goat's tone still carried disbelief.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, only puzzled by the old goat's attitude. They were acquaintances, yet today's meeting felt strange. Baha, perched on his shoulder, asked:
"What's going on, old goat? Seeing my boss, you look like you've seen a ghost."
Baha's words only deepened the old goat's astonishment. He habitually stroked his goatee and said, "Our leader is upstairs in the meeting room. Let's talk there."
A few minutes later, Su Xiao sat opposite Divine Emperor across a tea table. Divine Emperor placed a cup of tea before Su Xiao and said:
"Mr. White Night, you're quite famous now."
"Oh?"
Su Xiao grew even more confused. He hadn't done anything particularly noteworthy.
"You won the Paradise Battle, giving Reincarnation Paradise a 'Potential Transcendence Device.' According to the announcement, it's one of the highest-tier facilities that can break through the 800-point body attribute limit, reaching the 900-point cap. Although the usage authority is absurdly high, at least there's something to aim for."
Hearing this, Su Xiao understood what was going on. As for the announcement, he naturally wouldn't receive such a notice. Not to mention he had already used the 'Potential Transcendence Device,' he was one of the parties involved. The relevant prompt was the first he received.
"Because of this victory in the Paradise Battle, Reincarnation Paradise gave all contractors a reward. By going to the Attribute Enhancement Hall and registering their mark, they can get 3 free attribute points. It's said to apply from the first rank to the ninth rank..."
Through Divine Emperor's account, Su Xiao grasped the general situation. The relevant announcement didn't mention Hunter Bai Ye or anything similar. Instead, it announced that 'Contractor 13013' had won this Paradise Battle. As for who 'Contractor 13013' was, most low- and mid-rank contractors didn't know, but high-rank contractors generally did.
"Mr. White Night, what brings you here?"
Divine Emperor pinched a small teacup and took a light sip of green tea.
"..."
Su Xiao took out a 'Team Authority Card.' Seeing this, Divine Emperor's eyes lit up.
Divine Emperor naturally knew about the existence of 'Team Authority Cards' and how they were converted from team skill points after an adventure group's skills were maxed out.
However, adventure groups had different ranks, from E to SSS. The 'Team Authority Card' converted from an E-rank adventure group was vastly different from one converted from an SSS-rank group. Simply put, there were four grades of 'Team Authority Cards': common ones were white, better ones were purple, and top-tier ones were gold.
The card Su Xiao now held was gold, but the gold was so intense it had become dark gold.
Divine Emperor picked up the 'Team Authority Card' from the table. As an adventure group leader, he could use it. He tried applying it to a common skill of the Divine Emperor Adventure Group and received a prompt that one 'Team Authority Card' could raise a common adventure group skill by 3 levels.
The Divine Emperor Adventure Group had grown to its current level, so it naturally had a 'Rare Team Passive Skill.' He tried using this 'Team Authority Card.' Normally, their group needed 5 team skill points to raise one level of the 'Rare Team Passive.' As a result, even now, the rare passive had only reached Lv.42.
「Team Skill 3: Copper Heart Iron Gall (Rare Team Passive, Lv.42): All members gain +1200 Health Points, +10 Body Defense, recover 1 Health Point per second, and slow physical injury recovery. When entering combat, recovery effect increases by 300%.」
A fairly good team skill. If the level were raised, the members' survivability would certainly improve. Displaying such a team skill was undoubtedly a killer move to attract promising newcomers. Imagine second- or third-rank contractors having this boost—they'd go from an ordinary nobody to the combat main force of a temporary team.
The only problem was that this team skill was incredibly hard to level up. The Divine Emperor Adventure Group had accumulated resources for so long and only reached Lv.42.
If Divine Emperor acquired these 40 'Team Authority Cards,' the team skill would instantly soar to Lv.82. The mere thought of that power made Divine Emperor and the old goat's hearts burn.
Normally, given the Divine Emperor Adventure Group's financial resources, they couldn't afford these 40 'Team Authority Cards.' The problem was that the Ram Merchant Guild was a subordinate force of the Divine Emperor Adventure Group.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao walked out of the Divine Emperor Adventure Group's main entrance. The wool hadn't been raised for nothing. In total, he obtained 260,000 Soul Coins and 35 low- to mid-rank authority-type items.
For Su Xiao, acquiring such items was difficult. The reason was that during his low- and mid-rank days, he had earned the 'Team Slayer' title, which prevented him from triggering such missions. Previously, he had commissioned the Divine Emperor Adventure Group to collect these items to sell them to Reincarnation Paradise, thereby obtaining 'Contribution Medals.'
「Contribution Medal: You can submit 5 'Contribution Medals' to activate permanent usage rights for special facilities within Reincarnation Paradise, including 'Meditation Secret Realm,' 'Death High Tower,' 'Trial Mind Mirror,' and other unique paradise special facilities.」
The 'Land of All Beings' had been very helpful to Su Xiao. Similar special facilities were naturally welcome in abundance. Unfortunately, he couldn't fulfill this wish this time. He discovered that submitting authority items through the 'Supreme Promotion Mission' had an exceptionally high cost-performance ratio, almost comparable to submitting Space-Time Power.
[You have completed this authority item submission.]
[You have gained 12 'Supreme Potential Points.']
...
The harvest was quite good. Even 1 'Supreme Potential Point' was precious. When Su Xiao returned to his exclusive room, he saw Bubu Wang sitting sulkily in front of the coffee table, its head pressed against the armrest of the sofa. Judging by its expression, it had been beaten by Beini again. Looking at Beini's hairstyle, it could only be said that every beating Bubu Wang received was well-deserved.
Entering the empty room where the 'Awakening Stele' was stored, Su Xiao checked his existing Law-Destroying Skill Points. He had 52 points left. Originally, he had 80, but in the previous world, within a few days, he had activated the Origin Container several times in succession, raising Azure Shadow King to max level. As a cost, this 'Origin Container,' already an antique from the previous era, began experiencing internal energy leakage. It seemed the energy sealing technique had malfunctioned, causing the stored 'Law-Destroying Skill Points' to dissipate. He needed to find a way to fix this and later ask Mawen Hua'erzi. But before that, he weighed whether to attempt mastering a 'Supreme Rank Law-Destroying Passive.' With his current vitality, it shouldn't cause him to drop dead.
Su Xiao pressed his hand onto the Awakening Stele. The next moment, a brilliant azure light erupted from the stele. Being in his own exclusive room, he naturally wasn't afraid of any unexpected events. He kept his hand on the stele, waiting for the change to end. He could sense that his core ability, 'Azure Steel Shadow,' seemed to be undergoing some transformation.
After a moment, the azure light on the Awakening Stele receded, revealing Void Script. Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao received a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise.
[Prompt: The Law-Destruction Faction's supreme treasure, the Awakening Stele, has sensed that you possess a small amount of Supreme Power and are in the stage of advancing to Supreme. Its internal techniques have been activated. You will face a major decision and must choose carefully.]
[Your core ability, Azure Steel Shadow, will be truly activated. You must choose its development path. Once chosen, it cannot be changed by any means!]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao was puzzled. Did this mean that the Azure Steel Shadow ability he had mastered before was merely a prototype? This core ability, which could burn an enemy's body energy and deal high damage, was already powerful enough.
But judging by this situation, the Azure Steel Shadow ability had been in a semi-sealed state before. The reason was that a Law Destroyer who hadn't stepped toward Supreme couldn't possibly master the complete form of this ability. No matter how extraordinary one's physique, before reaching the step of beginning the promotion to Supreme, daring to fully awaken Azure Steel Shadow meant certain death.
[You may choose one of the following options as the development path for your Azure Steel Shadow.]