Chapter 41: The Marvelous Chest Opening
Su Xiao returned to his exclusive room. Instead of immediately going to enhance his Azure Steel Shadow ability, he went to the main room's large bed, collapsed, and fell asleep. After such a massive improvement in his physique, the best way to adapt wasn't through arduous training, but through sleep. The further one progressed, the more their self-physique improved, making "Sleep" a truly divine skill.
When Su Xiao woke up, it was already early the next morning. He sat up, dazed on the bed for over ten seconds before getting down.
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang, whose tail had been stepped on, jolted upright, bumping the bedside table and causing it to shake. Beini, who had fallen from her cat house on top of the table onto the bedside table due to restless sleeping, immediately woke up. At night, Beini wouldn't wake up even if she fell from over a meter high, but in the morning, feeling the vibration, she opened her eyes instantly.
Beini was confused. She had clearly been sleeping in her cat house, so how did she end up here? She looked at Bubu Wang, who shook his head, indicating it had nothing to do with him.
A moment later, Su Xiao walked past Bubu Wang and Beini, who were tangled up in a fight. He couldn't quite understand why they were brawling so early in the morning.
After washing up, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Beini gathered around the dining table for breakfast. Amu ate a few large meat buns and then stopped, clearly preoccupied with something.
"Not dead."
Su Xiao said this as he reached for a large meat bun. But before his hand could get there, the plate, over half a meter in diameter, was gone. Amu had picked it up, and with his other hand, he scooped up dozens of meat buns and stuffed them all into his mouth.
Leaving the exclusive room, Su Xiao arrived at the Food Street. When it comes to food, once it clusters together, it's hard to separate. Take the several food streets in Reincarnation Paradise, for example. It was said that initially, there were only a few very good restaurants here. Because of the large number of diners, many workers saw a business opportunity.
When an entire street was filled with top-tier restaurants, the adjacent street naturally became a beverage district, while the long street on the other side became a battlefield for pastries, baked goods, sweets, and other delicacies.
Why didn't Xia open a shop on Food Street back then? Because the competition on Food Street was too fierce, and Xia chickened out.
It was particularly absurd to think about. A bunch of chefs with Cooking Skills Lv.70 to Lv.85 were in a chaotic battle, and here you had someone with a Cooking Skill Lv.95+ chickening out. But thinking about it, Xia's culinary skills were indeed strong, but as a worker, she occasionally had to enter low-level derivative worlds. Other restaurant owners would say, "Just wait until you enter a derivative world," and that made Xia back down.
At that time, Xia was alone, with no friends, let alone a faction.
However, even if Xia had a powerful group of close friends and relatives, it probably wouldn't have helped. Her life in Reincarnation Paradise could be described as either researching cooking, developing new recipes, or going to the Trade Market to see if there were any unfamiliar ingredients.
When she opened her shop, she researched recipes during the day. After the restaurant closed, she would open it for a while during the evening dinner rush. If she wasn't losing money running her restaurant, who was?
So, when Su Xiao went to her restaurant ten times, eight times out of ten, Xia would be out or have closed the shop to research cooking. He usually had to use his own key to get in, then contact her through his friend list to make her come back immediately to cook. If she didn't come back, he couldn't guarantee that Amu wouldn't eat her utensils.
Whenever this happened, you could see Xia, who had been happily browsing the Trade Market for ingredients, suddenly looking like a bandit had broken into her home, gradually breaking into a trot.
Arriving at a café on Beverage Street, he pushed open the door.
Jingle~
The doorbell rang. As soon as he entered the café, Su Xiao saw the Puppeteer sitting behind the counter, wearing a white-based fox mask with red line accents. Her mask was half-lifted, revealing her red lips as she slowly sipped her coffee.
Su Xiao had seen the Puppeteer's face before. It wasn't particularly beautiful, but her temperament was unique, with a lazy, seductive charm.
"Welcome..."
Before she could finish saying "Welcome," the Puppeteer recognized Su Xiao and pointed her thumb towards the back.
"They've all arrived. Just waiting for you."
With that, she began grinding coffee beans, as if preparing several cups.
Going to the booth at the back, Su Xiao saw the Tuanzhang, wearing a metal mask and a loose gray-white robe. The Tuanzhang's clothing style was quite casual, mainly loose and comfortable. However, the Tuanzhang rarely wore dark-colored clothes, usually white, gray-white, and the like.
Beside the Tuanzhang was a kid about ten years old, dressed in a rap-style outfit, looking a bit cocky. Seeing Su Xiao arrive, the kid went:
"Tch~"
Then he crossed his arms and crossed his legs.
This was Phantom Troupe Member No. 1, known as the Reincarnator. His ability system was that of an Entomologist. At first glance, it didn't seem very strong. But what if... he was an Abyss System Entomologist? That's right, this guy was a summoner who could summon Abyss System insects.
Across from them were Gulu and the Witch. Seeing Su Xiao arrive, the Witch raised her hand and wiggled her fingers alternately, indicating a greeting. It seemed that after being pinned down by Su Xiao and nearly beaten to tears, she had learned her lesson and no longer used that unique and frustrating tone when speaking to him.
The Witch squeezed Gulu to the side a bit. Gulu reluctantly scooted over, allowing the Witch to free up a seat and gesture for Su Xiao to sit down.
After Su Xiao sat down, the Tuanzhang put down the metal cube in his hand that exuded a world aura. He said in a calm tone:
"Bai Ye, this is Xierqi."
"Hmph~"
The Reincarnator, Xierqi, snorted coldly, clearly showing that besides the Tuanzhang, he didn't submit to anyone.
"Everyone, don't be so confrontational. Try my new creation."
The Puppeteer stopped with a tray and set down five cups of coffee. Seeing this, the Tuanzhang took one and said:
"Bai Ye, try the Puppeteer's craftsmanship."
With that, he placed the coffee in front of Xierqi. Xierqi picked it up and took a big gulp. His eyes lit up:
"Hmph~, it's passable, I suppose."
"Bai Ye, you should try it too. The Puppeteer is really good at this."
Gulu picked up a cup, took a small sip first, nodded, and then took a big gulp.
"Really? Unexpected, ah. Puppeteer, big shot, actually, has, this kind of, hobby."
The Witch finished speaking, picked up her cup, took a sip, and froze. She gulped it down, sniffled, and said:
"Bai Ye, you try it. Really, it's good."
"..."
Su Xiao quietly put down his coffee cup. Seeing that Xierqi, the Witch, and Gulu had been exposed, they all simultaneously lowered their heads, pressing one hand to their noses or foreheads. They needed a moment to recover. The super-strength wasabi-flavored coffee was really unbearable.
Seeing this, the Puppeteer took a sip herself and shook her head. Clearly, in her perception, these guys had no taste.
A chest emitting a faint green light was placed on the table. It was the [Eternal Chest: Deadly Poison], which had been fused from 115 into one, and then enhanced to +15. This was perhaps the strongest Eternal Chest, bar none.
"Bai Ye, your turn?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. The results of opening those high-tier chests he had obtained this time were still fresh in his mind.
"My turn."
Xierqi volunteered. The Tuanzhang turned his head and looked at him for a few seconds. Xierqi shrank his head back, clearly having ruined many of the Tuanzhang's top-tier chests by opening them.
"Then, let, me..."
"I'll do it!"
Before the Witch could finish her sentence, Gulu had already spoken and picked up the chest to open it. A faint green light radiated from within. Gulu made the opening results public.
[You have obtained: Invisible Despair.]
[Invisible Despair]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise/Apocalypse Paradise/Myriad Races Realm/Second Era: Alchemical Civilization.
Quality: Eternal.
Category: Gloves.
Durability: 150/150 points.
Equipment Requirements: Charm -30 points.
Equipment Effect 1: Invisible and Formless (Core, Passive). After equipping this item, it will enter an "Absolute Concealment" state, unable to be sensed or detected by any means.
Equipment Effect 2: Despairing Fate (Core, Active). When the wearer uses any poison-based methods (including poisoning/poison ability usage, etc., any means utilizing toxins), this equipment will determine the enhancement to the current poison method based on the wearer's Charm attribute.
Tip: Every -1 point of Charm attribute will provide a 1.12 times strong enhancement to the current poison method.
The enhancement range available to you is: 40.32 times.
Equipment Effect 3: Fate Settlement (Active). Can be activated at any time for any poison-based methods used (such as poisoning/chronic poison abilities, etc., poison abilities with delayed characteristics).
Rating: 14999 points (Eternal equipment rating is 3000~6000+9000 points).
Introduction: It's hard to imagine how many coincidences led to the successful creation of this equipment.
Price: 29560 Soul Coins.
...
Everyone present was stunned when they saw that this equipment required -30 points of Charm to use. Even the Tuanzhang, who had seen much, fell silent. Indeed, he had never seen anything like this before.
Under their gazes, Su Xiao picked up [Invisible Despair] and put it on his right hand. The next second, [Invisible Despair] vanished, indicating that he met the equipment's wearing requirements.
"Cough~!"
The Puppeteer choked on her coffee, coughing repeatedly.
The Tuanzhang chuckled softly. It was rare for him to have his knowledge expanded today.
Xierqi, the Witch, and Gulu all stared at Su Xiao in shock.
This item clearly couldn't be split fifty-fifty with the Tuanzhang. However, the Tuanzhang made a request: Su Xiao would prepare five top-tier potions for him for free this time, and they would call it even. Su Xiao had no objection to this.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao returned to his exclusive room. He went to the room where the [Awakening Stele] was placed. He stopped in front of the [Awakening Stele] and placed one hand on it. All 150 existing Law-Destroying Skill Points were converted into Soul Energy, absorbed by the [Awakening Stele] for "Refinement."
The refinement of the [Awakening Stele] fused 5 Law-Destroying Skill Points into 1, but the effect was equivalent to the enhancement amount of 10 points before fusion. After the refinement was complete, he placed his hand on the [Awakening Stele]. The spot his palm touched turned translucent blue. A total of 30 "Law-Destroying Skill Points" appeared in his skill list.
He poured all 30 Law-Destroying Skill Points into Azure Steel Shadow Energy at once. With a bang, Su Xiao felt as if he had arrived at the endless Star Sea of the Star Realm. He felt himself at the highest point of the Star Realm, slowly descending. Before long, the descent speed increased, and then came the fall.
Boom~
It felt like plunging into a dark, deep pool. The next second, he opened his eyes. He was still sitting cross-legged in front of the [Awakening Stele], except that, at some point, his left hand had been raised and was pressing against the [Awakening Stele].
[Azure Steel Shadow: Lv.185 (Active/Passive Skill)]
Usage Condition: After activating the Azure Steel Shadow ability, consumes 20560 Mana Points per minute (increased by 3600 points).
Active Effect: Each melee attack will burn 32860 Mana Points from the enemy, and deal True Damage equal to 2 times the burned Mana Points (Base 65720 points + 400 True Damage + Azure Shadow King 30% increase + Shadow Speed 40% increase = 112124 points True Damage). The enemy will suffer intense pain from the Mana burn.
Defensive Form: Proud Song (Passive). Can generate crystals of any form to defend against enemy attacks. Crystal strength is proportional to the Mana Points consumed. The single-use Mana Point consumption cap is 43900 points (increased by 12000 points). Crystal Layer Defense Rank +74 (increased by 6).
Combat Form: Violent Boiling (Active). Causes Azure Steel Shadow Energy to "boil," changing the consumption from per minute to per second, and increasing Mana Point consumption by 1000%. The final True Damage dealt by Azure Steel Shadow is multiplied by 3.5 times.
...
Su Xiao still couldn't sense what the maximum level of the Azure Steel Shadow ability was. It seemed to be more than level 200. He could only say that choosing the "Infinite Characteristic" back then was the right decision.
Checking the success rate for advancing to "Supreme Peak," it had increased from the previous 95.75% to 98.62%. It seemed that the higher the success rate, the harder it was to improve.
For this situation, Su Xiao still had a trump card to play: the six [Soul Energy Crystals] he had.
Even abilities of the Law-Destroying system that had reached X could still be further enhanced using [Soul Energy Crystals]. Moreover, after he took out the [Soul Energy Crystals], the [Awakening Stele] in front of him resonated faintly.
Not only that, Su Xiao's "Law-Destroying Talent: Shadow Hunt" also showed a resonance reaction. Speaking of which, the "Talent Awakening Quest" corresponding to this talent had only completed two rings so far. Of this three-ring quest, he had completed the first ring in the Eternal Light World:
"Talent Awakening Quest: Shadow of Law Destruction (Phase 1): Eliminate three of the Four Giants of the Lightless Temple."
The second ring was triggered in the Witch Realm:
"Talent Awakening Quest: Shadow of Law Destruction (Phase 2): Slay the Initial Malignant Transformation."
As for the third ring, it hadn't been activated yet. This was also why the level of "Law-Destroying Talent: Shadow Hunt" had always been S-rank.
For now, ignoring this talent quest with no clues whatsoever, based on Su Xiao's current number of [Soul Energy Crystals], he could enhance the following abilities: