Chapter 45: The Qualification to Awaken
Su Xiao had just walked out of the side room when he heard Bubu Wang’s bark. He looked over and saw Bubu Wang at the entrance of the Alchemy Laboratory. A dark blue afterimage flew out from inside and landed on a perch—it was Baha, who had completed his enhancement.
"Boss, I succeeded."
Baha spoke. One of his left eyes had been replaced with a mechanical prosthetic made by Bubu Wang. It looked exactly like his right eye, even synchronizing pupil dilation and contraction.
Baha had lost his left eye on a causal level, and the visual causality of that eye was completely gone. This mechanical prosthetic, aside from being aesthetic, could also transmit spatial indices.
Now, Baha had a total of fifteen abilities, fourteen of which were defensive or self-preservation types. Don’t think Baha had switched to a tank class—these defensive and self-preservation abilities were to ensure he didn’t die after activating his core ability.
「Demon Hawk Domain: Heart-Devouring Demon (Supreme Skill, X): Baha begins burning his life force from this moment to maintain this 1000×1000 meter Demon Hawk Domain. Within this domain, Baha forcibly seizes one of the enemy’s abilities and uses it as his own.
Tip: After seizing an ability, Baha’s main attribute (Agility) will transform, but the new main attribute cannot exceed the current maximum value of his Agility attribute.
Tip: If the enemy is successfully killed, Baha will completely devour this ability, permanently enhancing himself.
……」
This ability of Baha’s was practically a divine skill when facing powerful enemies. Of course, he definitely couldn’t seize a "Supreme Peak Ability," but seizing a "Supreme Ability" was still crucial—especially one that was a small core ability within an ability system, which would inevitably make the enemy suffer greatly.
Compared to that, Baha’s rescue capabilities had greatly improved. His "Demon Hawk Domain" was closer to a tangible domain. He scattered steel eagle feathers, establishing hundreds of spatial coordinates within the surrounding 1000×1000 meter range.
This meant Baha could perform spatial dragging on all allied targets within the domain. For example, if Amu was critically injured and dying in the heat of battle, as long as Amu was within the Demon Hawk Domain, Baha could instantly drag him into an alternate space. Once Amu recovered, he could rejoin the fight.
Just as Su Xiao closed Baha’s data, an email popped up. He opened it and saw it was from Demon Scythe: Green Aina. This surprised him a bit. Upon checking, he found that Demon Scythe Aina’s affiliated faction was actually the Void Tree. That was quite unexpected.
Usually, neutral units were affiliated with the Void Tree. Demon Scythe Aina, no matter how you looked at her, didn’t seem like a neutral unit. Su Xiao guessed that it was likely due to her identity as a Supreme Demon Scythe, combined with some fortunate coincidence, that she had obtained relevant certification from the Void Tree, becoming a certified identity somewhere between a neutral unit and a contractor.
She stated bluntly that the [Demon Scythe Eye] was extremely important to her, hoping Su Xiao would consider that the Law Destroyers, Demon Scythes, and Wandering Hunters were all once the main forces against the spread of the Abyss, and give it to her for free.
Putting aside everything else, this shamelessness in just a few words was very much in line with the Green family’s historical style.
Su Xiao only replied with one word. To put it politely, he told her to roll herself into a ball and physically move. In common terms: get lost!
One by one, emails came in. Finding she couldn’t get an advantage from Su Xiao, Demon Scythe Aina changed tactics, starting to say things like she had fallen for Su Xiao at first sight.
Last time, this Demon Scythe had met the Battle Angel of Apocalypse Paradise, Selene. Selene’s beauty had made this one reveal her true colors on the spot.
It was fortunate that the Demon Scythe faction had declined, and the only active Supreme Demon Scythe was Aina. Otherwise, if other Supreme Demon Scythes were asked about Aina, they would definitely shake their heads repeatedly, saying they weren’t familiar, didn’t know her, and had no idea where she was.
Suddenly, Su Xiao felt a bit of what several Law Destroyers from the Second Era, like the Old Law Destroyer, Mawen Hua’erzi, and Ximan Aqide, must have experienced. When others mentioned Green Gillian in front of them, they would immediately become wary. If they found the other party showed no hostility, they would say they weren’t familiar with Green Gillian, really not familiar, just had met her a few times.
After a one-sided back-and-forth with Demon Scythe Aina, she naturally softened, starting to say that the price of two [Primordial Cores] was too high, and could it be zero?
Su Xiao really had never seen anyone haggle like this before. Just as he was about to block Demon Scythe Aina, she finally offered a price a normal human would give: a [Reincarnation Grade Chest].
This surprised Su Xiao, but upon second thought, he understood what was going on. This one was a Demon Scythe, with long-range killing methods. It was very likely she had encountered a super-top-tier Supreme powerhouse fighting some enemy, like a Supreme-tier Abyss Spawn of the same level.
Especially since, as a Demon Scythe, Aina was even better than Su Xiao at tracking the traces of Abyss Spawn. Encountering such a situation was normal. What followed was something Su Xiao, with his luck, had never experienced: two tigers fighting, both injured, and Demon Scythe Aina reaping the benefits as the fisherman.
The problem was, Demon Scythe Aina hadn’t yet obtained the authority to activate the Reincarnation grade. So, in her perspective, it was a choice between [??? Chest] and [Demon Scythe Eye (Second Era: Supreme Demon Scythe: Relic)].
Su Xiao pondered for a few seconds and decisively refused. He was sure that with Demon Scythe Aina’s shamelessness, if he agreed immediately, she would instantly back out and mentally reassess the value of the [??? Chest].
Sure enough, after Su Xiao refused, Demon Scythe Aina started to wheedle and coax. In the end, "annoyed beyond measure," Su Xiao agreed to the trade.
Half an hour later, at the Great Gathering Place certified by the Void Tree, behind the stall belonging to Beini.
As soon as Su Xiao sat down, he noticed the nearby stall owners casting glances his way, sizing up the powerful being behind Miss Beini. After all, Miss Beini’s reputation in the Great Gathering Place was considerable. Every time she sold something, it was top-tier among top-tier. Such resources were usually internally consumed by major merchant guilds for familiar Supremes.
A figure with deep blue hair reaching past her ears, a diamond miniature battle scythe earring on her right ear, and a cool outfit walked over from a distance. She wore a tube top and a white shirt, the loose white shirt completely unbuttoned, paired with ultra-short shorts. Tossing an apple in her hand, she took a crisp bite as she approached.
The nearby stall owners showed varied expressions upon seeing her, clearly having been scammed or even extorted by her. Back in the day, the first stall owner extorted at the Great Gathering Place was utterly bewildered, his dazed gaze seemingly not understanding what he was going through.
"Coming early, huh, Bai Ye? What, interested in this chest of mine…"
Before Demon Scythe Aina could finish, Su Xiao had already closed the stall. This made Demon Scythe Aina immediately back down. She was certain that if this ended on a bad note, she would never see this [Demon Scythe Eye] again in her lifetime.
"Bai Ye, I was wrong. That was just a joke. Give me one chance, just one. I absolutely won’t be glib again. Actually, you don’t know, the first thing we Demon Scythes master isn’t even our core ability—it’s Abyss language. We provoke Abyssal creatures by taunting them, making them angry, constantly amplifying their emotions…"
Before Demon Scythe Aina could finish, Su Xiao interrupted, saying:
"I know Talide."
"Oh! Oh? Oh!!!? You know her? Where is she? I’ve been craving… I’ve been looking for this fellow Demon Scythe for a long time. We only met once, and she never agreed to see me again."
Demon Scythe Aina said this, then hung her head and sighed, her movements slightly exaggerated. Baha muttered, "Do you have any idea why she didn’t want to see you again?"
"I killed her."
"You! …Killed well. Her fall into the Abyss was inevitable. Sigh~"
In the end, Demon Scythe Aina sighed, no longer showing the earlier frivolity and exaggeration. However, as the buyer, she was now sitting cross-legged behind the stall, right beside Su Xiao. This was, frankly, a bit emotionally complicated.
[You have sold the 'Demon Scythe Eye (Second Era: Supreme Demon Scythe: Relic)'. Sale method: Barter.]
[You have obtained ??? Chest. Related certification in progress.]
[You have obtained Reincarnation Grade Chest.]
……
Su Xiao now understood why Demon Scythe Aina was selling this thing. Aina’s certified identity was very special, so this [??? Chest] had only been half-certified.
In the Void Tree’s system, there was no Paradise grade above Eternal grade—meaning Reincarnation grade or Apocalypse grade. It wasn’t that there was no certification capacity, but rather there was no need to expend the related certification costs.
Demon Scythe Aina, seeing the chest had reached Su Xiao’s hands, wasn’t in a hurry to go back and fuse the [Demon Scythe Eye]. Instead, she watched from the side.
Ignoring this Demon Scythe, Su Xiao took out Fate Dominator, applied Absolute Luck to himself, and opened this Reincarnation Grade Chest, which had no suffix and even an unknown origin.
[You have opened the Reincarnation Grade Chest.]
[You have obtained Primordial Core ×2.]
[You have obtained Angel Talisman (Reincarnation Grade Equipment).]
[Angel Talisman]
Origin: Nether Realm.
Quality: Reincarnation Grade.
Category: Talisman.
Durability: 815/815 points.
Equipment Requirements: True Charm 1200 points, True Intelligence 1800 points, core ability not of the Dark system.
Equipment Effect 1: Covenant: Four Angel Protection (Core, Active): You can summon the Angel of Power, Angel of Wind, Angel of Molten, and Angel of Holy. The existence time of the angels after their descent will be determined by your Intelligence and Charm attributes.