Chapter 6: Instinct
A question lay before Xilin: should she endure the contract penalty and forcibly leave this place? This thought lasted less than two seconds before she abandoned it. With over 200,000 contract bindings, enduring them would likely leave her half-dead, and the various consequences would be no different from dying several times over.
The teleportation light around Xilin dimmed, and the next moment, a notification appeared.
[Reincarnation Paradise·Hunter·Kukulin Bai Ye invites you to join the Dawn Team. Do you accept this invitation?]
Seeing this notification, Xilin frowned slightly. But looking at the hunter's gradually 'friendly' smile ahead, she could only steel herself and choose to accept.
[You have joined the Dawn Team. You will enjoy the following team skill bonuses.]
Team Skill 1: Leader's Power (Passive, X): Team members' True Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence attributes receive a bonus equal to the difference between their highest main attribute and the team leader's main attribute × 25% (maximum increase of 85 points).
Current Bonus: True Strength +85 points, True Agility +85 points, True Stamina +85 points, True Intelligence +52 points.
Team Skill 2: Thunder Breath Blessing (Passive, X): Improves physique with active lightning. Upon triggering this ability, permanently increases 1 point of Health per minute (cap of 5000 points), increases 1 point of Mana every five minutes (cap of 1500 points), and increases 1 point of Lightning Resistance per day (cap of 30 points).
Team Skill 3: Willpower Rune (Passive, X): Permanently increases 1 point of Willpower attribute per natural day, up to a maximum of 20 points.
Team Skill 4: Vitality Awakening (Rare·Team Passive, X): When a team member's Health drops below 10%, this ability activates, restoring 13,550 Health + 85% of maximum Health over the next 3 seconds (cooldown of 15 hours, cooldown calculated separately for each member).
Team Luck: E- ~ S+
...
Seeing these team skills, Xilin was both surprised and slightly less angry about being forcibly taken.
"First, you should answer one of my questions."
Xilin spoke, her voice carrying a slightly husky rasp. It could only be said that a powerhouse with over 800 points in Charm attribute could make people feel favorably disposed toward her just by speaking.
"What world is this?"
Hearing this, the most skilled negotiator present, Baha, spoke: "Ancient Dragon Kingdom·Eberath."
Hearing this, Xilin's heart turned cold. She naturally knew this world was open, but the problem was that even at the Supreme level, this was an extremely dangerous world. Without top-tier Supreme strength, coming here was no different from seeking death.
"You all don't seem to have reached top-tier Supreme, that is, the third stage of Supreme."
The third stage of Supreme that Xilin mentioned was the detailed classification of the Supreme level by contractors. Each stage had clear divisions for all attributes and various ability levels. Su Xiao had never paid much attention to this aspect because, from the moment one advanced to Supreme, no Supreme could be underestimated.
This wasn't a game world with levels; this was the bloody reality of the Star Realm. If ability counters were involved, a newly advanced Supreme could still have a chance to kill a super-top-tier Supreme. However, once reaching the 'Supreme Peak,' this no longer applied, because to advance to 'Supreme Peak,' there was a hard requirement: having no weaknesses whatsoever, which also meant no possibility of being countered.
The reason contractors divided the Supreme level so clearly was both because Supreme was the highest tier and because they needed to clearly classify worlds at the Supreme level.
'Ancient Dragon Kingdom·Eberath' was a Supreme·Third Tier world, corresponding to Supreme·Third Tier·Top-Tier Supreme.
After hearing this explanation, Su Xiao and Kaisa locked eyes, confirming that neither had heard of this before.
"Oh, I forgot. You monster-level guys at the same rank generally lack common knowledge in this area."
Xilin sat on a large wooden crate, her smoky eye makeup making her look even more melancholic now.
"So, you agree to join the team?"
Baha asked. Hearing this, Xilin gave a cold laugh, glanced at Su Xiao, and said, "What choice do I have?"
Xilin spoke with seeming magnanimity, but if her teeth weren't grinding audibly, one might believe she meant it.
When recruiting teammates, Su Xiao always forcibly abducted them first, then used physical persuasion. If a teammate was unwilling to listen to his words, that was fine too; he was also somewhat skilled in fists and feet and could 'get along' with his teammates.
After this stage, temporary teammates generally adopted an attitude of, 'I give up, do whatever you want, I'm just going to slack off and get through this world.' Faced with this situation, the next move was needed.
Su Xiao gave Baha a look, and Baha understood instantly. He cleared his throat and said, "Xilin, we're planning to go kill the Beast Lord of the Elf Kingdom."
"Never heard of it. Do you have any idea how I got here? How am I supposed to know the world introduction?"
"Alright, simple analogy: it's one of the three major bosses of this world."
Hearing Baha's straightforward explanation, Xilin's expression became extremely serious.
"?"
Xilin looked at Su Xiao, her expression clearly saying, 'Are you crazy?' At the Absolute Strength level, the common understanding was not to provoke boss-level units. This wasn't like from First to Ninth Rank, where you could still gang up on a big boss.
Once reaching the Absolute Strength level, those who could reach the big boss level were generally exceptionally absurd. And at the Supreme level, even small bosses required the utmost caution, because small bosses in Supreme-level worlds were already at the Supreme level.
Even a newly advanced Supreme-level small boss was extremely difficult to deal with. This was why Supremes generally weren't willing to fight another Supreme openly; they would scheme against each other, weaken the opponent to a certain extent, and only strike when they were sure of a kill.
Su Xiao was completely the opposite. From First to Ninth Rank, he would first scheme to weaken powerful enemies, then fight them head-on.
But at Absolute Strength and Supreme, he preferred to go directly to the enemy. This might be a characteristic of a Blade Grandmaster: a fearless heart. If the enemy's momentum weakened by even a fraction, their head would be severed in the next instant, no matter how powerful or invincible their abilities were.
This was also why, in the earlier three-on-one situation, Afia still believed that to kill Su Xiao, both she and the Dark Bishop would die in the battle, leaving only the Pain Archpriest·Zdenek alive, but suffering irreversible and severe damage.
However, this also raised a doubt for Su Xiao: with the Sanctuary City·Doan's apparent combat power, it might not even be able to stop a single Dukain Family councilor. So how had Sanctuary City survived until today?
Thinking of this, Su Xiao recalled the aura at the base of the 'Torch Tower.' It was a powerful yet mixed aura—no, it was an aura field, composed of many different auras.
Were many Sanctuary City powerhouses hidden beneath the 'Torch Tower'? Su Xiao felt this was impossible, too unreasonable.
After much thought, Su Xiao thought of the only possibility: the average lifespan of Sanctuary City Supremes was less than 70 years. This was exceptionally absurd anywhere. Even if they often died in battles against Abyss Descendants, it was still far too short for Supremes.
Thinking this way, there was only one possibility: when Sanctuary City Supremes began to show signs of power decline, they voluntarily passed their power to successors. Then, they would drag their withered bodies into the 'Torch Tower' and meet their end there.
Sanctuary City Supremes often entered Abyss Erosion Zones. Being able to maintain their peak until age 70 was already a testament to their strong willpower. A strong will must have a powerful soul, and a more powerful soul could ignite the 'Torch Tower' longer, meaning it could illuminate Sanctuary City longer.
This made Su Xiao understand why, upon approaching the 'Torch Tower,' he felt that powerful presence. It was the collective formed by generations of Sanctuary City powerhouses after death. They were Sanctuary City's final defense, and this was why, to this day, the Dukain Family hadn't razed 'Sanctuary City·Doan' to the ground.
"You all... really want to deal with the Beast Lord?"
Xilin sighed in resignation and continued, "Then what do I need to do?"
"You need to have a high enough Void Tree Reputation."
Baha's words made Xilin's expression shift from grim to a wry smile. She said, "Sorry, folks. If you need a teammate with high Void Tree Reputation, I'm really not it. I have less than 50 points of Void Tree Reputation. I should be the lowest among the three of us."
Xilin still wore a wry smile and spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness.
"As long as it's a positive reputation, it's fine."
Su Xiao's words stunned Xilin. She subconsciously asked, "Your Void Tree Reputation is negative? What... unlucky bastards."
Hearing this, Baha laughed very slyly: "It's fine. In a few days, your Void Tree Reputation will be negative too."
Baha's words made Xilin's heart tighten. The thought of fighting to the death, which had subsided, gradually reignited. Her anger quietly rose from 50% to 80%.
"Your current Void Tree Reputation isn't much different from being negative."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing this, Xilin's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly she scoffed. However, the next second, her eyes nearly bulged, because Su Xiao and Kaisa casually displayed their respective Void Tree Reputations.
Bai Ye's Void Tree Reputation: -????
Kaisa's Void Tree Reputation: -???
Seeing this, Xilin's mind was almost filled with question marks. Her anger gradually subsided from 80% to 50%.
"We're going to loot all of the Beast Lord's treasuries. After it's done, you get a 20% share."
Su Xiao's words caused Xilin's anger to uncontrollably drop to less than 20%. It could only be said that this anger control was very professional.
"Don't give me empty promises. How much wealth are we actually talking about?"
Xilin was truly wavering now. After advancing to Supreme, she had fully experienced the strength gap within the Supreme level.
Advancing to Supreme under different specifications resulted in vastly different combat power ceilings. She had once been a top-tier big shot at the same rank, but when advancing to Supreme, barely scraping together the basic requirements for advancement had nearly cost her life. She could only advance to Supreme with the lowest specifications.
The result was that Xilin's combat power limit was that of a newly advanced Supreme. After her main attributes reached 800 points, she could no longer increase them. It wasn't that she couldn't use the Attribute Enhancement Pod to absorb power sources; it was that if she dared to continue improving, she would surely die.
For this situation, the only hope was rare treasures and a massive amount of resources to pile on. Even if this could at most raise her to the level of a seasoned Supreme, it was still a earth-shattering change in combat power. And reaching seasoned Supreme was truly her absolute limit.
"Enough for you to reach seasoned Supreme."
Kaisa spoke. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Having worked with Su Xiao to 'restock' from others' treasuries many times, with a little estimation, he could assess the approximate value of the Beast Lord's treasury.
"You all... really don't need to paint such a tempting picture for me."
Xilin said this, but her body was very honest; she was already tempted.
"Do we need to paint a picture for you?"
This time, it was Baha's turn to look at Xilin with a wry smile. Hearing this, Xilin thought about her situation and couldn't help but smile bitterly herself. Yes, she had hundreds of thousands of contract bindings on her. There was really no need to paint a picture for her.
"Alright, I understand. This time, it's maximum danger and maximum reward, right?"
Xilin stood on the wooden crate, her aura becoming mystical. Her pupils turned golden, her arms spread out as if embracing the sky above, and she exhaled a pale golden mist.
"I, Xilin, the favored one of the Goddess of Fortune, bestow upon you all good luck."
Golden light spread with Xilin as the center. Kaisa and Baha were both enveloped by this golden light. Their Luck attributes began to skyrocket, each stopping after increasing by 100 points, and the duration was the entire progress of this world.
This was quite a formidable gain. No wonder the Perception type, a major 'useless' class in the early stages, could later change class to the 'Causality type.'
"Phew~"
Xilin exhaled, a hint of a smile on her lips. She was about to say something modest when she suddenly noticed that among the three present, one hadn't received the luck blessing. This person's Luck attribute was 8 points.
Xilin let out a soft exclamation and raised her hand toward Su Xiao: "I, Xilin, the favored one of the Goddess of Fortune, the subordinate of the Goddess of Fate, bestow upon you, Kukulin Bai Ye, good luck."
This time, the golden light was even stronger. But when it reached Su Xiao, it seemed to be devoured, quietly disappearing.
The air suddenly became quiet. Xilin's slightly wheat-colored skin successfully hid her embarrassment at failing to show off. She simply stepped forward and placed her hand on Su Xiao.
"I, Xilin..."
This time, Xilin was even more explicit, almost reciting Su Xiao's contract number. After a moment, intense golden light erupted from Xilin's body.
"Ah!!"
Xilin went from a low shout to a loud cry, losing control of her expression. After a moment, her legs gave way, and she slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. Sweat on her face, she looked up at Su Xiao in shock and said:
"I've only heard that you counter the Causality type, but I didn't expect your luck to be problematic too. I... my Luck attribute dropped by 1 point just from giving you a boost! How, how unlucky are you!!"
Xilin's wail traveled far beyond the old warehouse. It was clear she really regretted losing that point of Luck attribute.
Everything was ready. It was time to set off.
At noon that day, the group gathered in front of a 'Teleportation Tower' in the southern district of Sanctuary City. Sanctuary City had no outward passages. Entry and exit could only be done through this Teleportation Tower. This both minimized the risk of invasion and made it convenient for members outside to return in times of danger.
The teleportation array beneath their feet gradually activated. Su Xiao, Kaisa, Xilin, and Pain Archpriest·Zdenek stood on the array. Baha was naturally on Su Xiao's shoulder. Besides them, there was one more person: an exploration team member named Bulgan.
This person was less than twenty years old but had already gone on nineteen exploration missions. During one mission, he had accidentally gotten separated from the main force. Relying on ninety percent luck and ten percent composure, he had successfully reached the vicinity of 'Elf Kingdom·Seton,' even infiltrated the city, and half a month later, used the cargo teleportation array there to return to a non-space-sealed area several dozen kilometers west of Sanctuary City, returning alive.
As the only person in Sanctuary City who had been to 'Elf Kingdom·Seton' and returned alive, Bulgan had undergone half a year of voluntary confinement and observation. After being confirmed to be safe, he regained his freedom. This time, he became the team's guide.
Bulgan had blonde hair, many freckles on both cheeks, a slightly red nose, and very lively eyes. But at this moment, those lively eyes were very nervous, along with an indescribable excitement. Just a day ago, his idol, the leader of the exploration team, Lady Afia, had found him and asked him to be a guide for an outgoing team.
Although Bulgan was young, he was a veteran of the exploration team. He was reluctant to be a guide, but since Lady Afia had spoken, he had no choice. However, upon hearing that one of the team members for this outing was Lord Zdenek, Bulgan's inner reluctance turned into nervousness and anticipation. This was another of his idols.
Amid Bulgan's surging emotions, the teleportation array activated.
As the teleportation began, Su Xiao's hand instinctively rested on the end of his knife handle. Unlike previous teleportations, the surrounding light quickly dimmed and didn't gradually recover but instead plunged into absolute darkness.
What was absolute darkness? The answer was a void. Close one eye and press a hand over it; what that eye sees is absolute darkness—nothingness, empty of everything.
Most areas of this world outside Sanctuary City were this kind of extreme darkness. Su Xiao extended his perception, which allowed him to start seeing the darkness instead of feeling a void before his eyes. He stepped forward, able to feel and perceive the stone teleportation platform beneath his feet.
"Boss, this is way too dark."
Baha crouched on Su Xiao's shoulder, craning his neck to look around.
"Bai Ye."
Pain Archpriest·Zdenek spoke. He handed over a black iron pendant: "This can somewhat slow down the 'Dark Corruption' of the Abyss Descendants."
"No need."
Su Xiao naturally didn't need this method. One of the two core bonuses of his 'Abyssal Shadow' title was:
[Title Effect 2: Wrathful Shadow (Core·Passive): Negates 'Dark Corruption' of all characteristics.]
Not just the 'Dark Corruption' characteristic of the Dukain Family, but the Reincarnation Paradise notification said 'all,' which meant it definitely included the 'Dark Corruption' of all Abyss Descendants. He was completely immune.
This was also why Su Xiao dared to come and deal with the Dukain Family in his first world after advancing to Supreme.
Su Xiao took out a sealed bottle of liquid Apollo to illuminate. As expected, under the effect of the Sun characteristic, the orange-red light emitted by the liquid Apollo thinned the darkness within a few meters. The world, sealed by darkness for years in this area, gradually revealed its former appearance.
"Mr. Bai Ye! This will attract..."
Bulgan spoke urgently, but it was too late. A low roar came, and a black blur attacked from the side, charging into the illuminated area. It was a ferocious-looking dark beast composed of liquid dark tissue.
Seeing this, the Pain Archpriest raised his hand to grab his own throat. Just as he was about to grab his neck, a flash of slashing light passed.
Clang!
The crisp sound of a slash spread. Su Xiao hadn't even drawn his knife; he was holding the liquid Apollo container in one hand and resting the other on the end of his knife handle, yet he had successfully killed the attacking dark beast.
Just after advancing to Supreme, Su Xiao had felt that his 'Blade Domain' had changed. However, he had never developed domain-type abilities and wasn't sensitive to changes in this area. The 'Dark Domain' of the Dark Maiden earlier had deepened this feeling.
Now, in a purely dark environment, relying entirely on his perception sphere to detect the surroundings, he suddenly encountered an enemy attack. His instinct was to 'slash' out a strike. Although he had never used this ability, he was sure he could do it.
The size of his perception sphere was, by default, the range of his Blade Domain. Currently, the diameter of his perception sphere was 15 meters. As a Blade Grandmaster, his perception sharpness and capture speed were at the top tier. As for the perception range... ahem, let's change the subject.
In other words, as long as an enemy entered his 'Blade Domain,' he could, without drawing his knife, use his 'Blade Domain' to transmit his slash. The power of the slash was about 65% of his personal strike. There was room for improvement, but it required increasing the carrying capacity of the perception sphere and the mastery of the 'Blade Domain.'
Clang, clang, clang...
Pale blue slashes appeared out of thin air in the surroundings. Black blood scattered down. The dark beasts that charged in were all slain on the spot, black blood splattering everywhere.
Su Xiao felt this ability had great development potential. Using slashes this way naturally consumed Stamina, but with his current physique's Stamina recovery rate, the consumption was slower than the recovery. He checked his current 'Blade Domain' ability.
[Blade Domain (Active/Passive): In the passive phase, you gain 10% all damage reduction, and the damage rank of blade-type weapons is increased by +5. In the active phase, you can use slashes at any point within your perception sphere. The power of this slash is 65.8% of your normal slash power.
Note: When the active effect is activated, the passive bonus of the Blade Domain will temporarily become invalid.]
Each had their specialty. For ultra-wide-range continuous attacks, a Blade Grandmaster wasn't the best. But for sustained, precise, high-intensity attacks, a Blade Grandmaster was definitely top-notch. For example, the 'Blade Domain' developed after advancing to Supreme.
Bulgan watched the dark beasts within 15 meters all being killed with a single slash. He knew that when they encountered these dark beasts outside the city before, they needed a whole team to surround and attack them, and any carelessness would lead to immediate casualties. In contrast, the Law Destroyer, who was calmly walking forward with one hand on the end of his knife handle, made Bulgan couldn't help but sigh:
"Truly... an ability enviable in its power."
"Technique Grandmaster."
Xilin sighed enviously. When she had chosen her system at First Rank, she had also had the opportunity to choose the Technique system. However, she felt the Technique system wasn't extraordinary enough. Who would have thought that this ability, which wasn't extraordinary or flashy in the early stages, would become so powerful in the late game?
Su Xiao didn't notice Xilin's envy. He was completely immersed in every slash delivered by his 'Blade Domain.' The reason was that he had previously obtained an item produced in this world. This item was:
[Hunting Heart]
Origin: Ancient Dragon Kingdom·Extreme Dark Forest·Wild Hunt Workshop.
Quality: Eternal Rank.
Category: Hunting Belt.
Durability: 420/420 points.
Equipment Requirement: True Agility 800 points.
Equipment Effect: Perception Stimulation (Core·Passive): This equipment has a 96.5% compatibility with your Instinct ability, triggering a 100% bonus effect. Instinct ability improvement speed increases by 20 to 210 times (210 times in combat, 95 times in dangerous environments, 20 times in safe environments).
Note: When you fight in the 'specific environment' corresponding to this equipment, the equipment effect will receive a 'super·massive' increase, and there is a probability of immediately increasing the current perception ability by 1 level, until the perception ability reaches X, after which this bonus will no longer trigger.
Note: If you use this equipment to raise your 'Instinct' ability to X, then your 'Instinct' ability will receive a qualitative transformation upgrade. At the same time, this equipment will also receive a qualitative transformation upgrade and become your exclusive perception enhancement equipment.
Rating: 6000 points (Eternal Rank equipment rating is 3000~6000 points).
Introduction: Under the shroud of darkness, we are insignificant. In this barren sanctuary town...
Price: 11,800 Soul Coins.
...
From the introduction of this equipment, it could be seen that besides 'Sanctuary City,' there were some small forces in this world struggling to survive in the darkness. It wasn't that they could resist the Abyss Descendants, but that the Abyss Descendants couldn't be bothered with them.
Undoubtedly, to maximize the enhancement effect of [Hunting Heart], one had to come to this world and venture deep into the darkness. However, Su Xiao had previously used the obtained Overlord equipment [Devourer] to devour [Hunting Heart] and supremely enhance its effect.
[Devourer]
Origin: Ancient Calamity·All-Devouring Demon Dragon.
Quality: Overlord Rank.
Category: Hunting Belt.
Durability: 1000/1000 points (This item will self-recover durability during use).
Equipment Effect: Perception Stimulation (Core·Passive): Increases Instinct ability improvement speed by 100 to 1050 times...
Note: When you fight in the 'specific environment' corresponding to this equipment, the equipment effect will receive a 'super·massive' increase, and there is a probability of immediately increasing the current perception ability by 5 levels, until the perception ability reaches X, after which this bonus will no longer trigger.
Note: If you use this equipment to raise your 'Instinct' ability to X, then your 'Instinct' ability will receive a qualitative transformation upgrade.
...
Currently, his Instinct ability was at Lv.86. The improvement speed wasn't fast, because the channel for improving this ability was too special; it could only be done through experiencing dangers repeatedly.
What truly concerned Su Xiao was that his current Instinct ability was in a very special state. First, this ability was now the attack carrier of the 'Blade Domain.' Second, when in the 'specific environment' of [Hunting Heart], this ability was stimulated to its highest degree.
Under normal circumstances, a perception ability reaching Lv.90 max was considered a very high-tier perception ability. Su Xiao had learned this ability from Sha. For Sha, it was called 'Beast Instinct,' while for Su Xiao, it was called 'Instinct.'
Sha initially claimed to have developed this ability herself. But later, during a treatment of Su Xiao's old injuries, Sha 'enjoyed' it to the point of nearly losing control and let it slip that this was an ability taught by her master. As for where her master learned it, Sha didn't mention.
This perception ability, despite lacking a flashy origin, had unparalleled adaptability. The fact that it had become the carrier of the 'Blade Domain' further validated this.
As the owner of the Origin Stone, Su Xiao had the enhancement of 'all ability level caps increased by Lv.10,' which raised the level cap of Instinct to Lv.100.
But that wasn't all. After becoming the carrier of the 'Blade Domain,' the Instinct ability was forced to raise its cap again, conservatively estimated at Lv.105, with a small probability of reaching Lv.110.
Clang!
A bright slashing light flashed. A large dark rage beast had its head severed, the body and head falling separately to the other side. Su Xiao didn't pay attention to this. While controlling this slash in the darkness, he suddenly felt his perception sphere shrink to a few meters, then expand further, from the original limit of 15 meters to a limit of 16 meters.
[Notification: Your Instinct ability has been permanently increased by Lv.5, now reaching Lv.91.]
...