# Chapter 2: Azure Shadow King Derived Trait · Shadow Hunt · Passive: The intensity of Azure Steel Shadow Energy is increased, and the True Damage dealt is increased by 30%.
[The above two bonuses have been completely devoured by the Azure Steel Shadow ability and will not be displayed in the branch skill list.]
[Azure Steel Shadow: Lv.185 (Active/Passive Skill · Fully Awakened State)]
Usage Condition: After activating the Azure Steel Shadow ability, consume 51,000 Mana Points per minute.
Active Effect: Each melee attack burns 24% of the enemy's maximum Mana Points (or other supreme body energy) and deals True Damage equal to 1.25 times the burned Mana Points, which is 30% of maximum Health Points as True Damage. The enemy will suffer "Intense Pain" from the Mana burn.
Defense Form: Proud Song (Passive), can generate crystals of any form to defend against enemy attacks. Crystal strength is proportional to the Mana Points consumed, with a single-use Mana Point consumption cap of 300,000 points. Crystal layer defense rank +85.
...
When fighting the Ancestral God, the True Damage dealt by Azure Steel Shadow Energy seemed to be nearly 100,000 points per slash, but for Su Xiao and the Ancestral God, who had tens of millions of Health Points, this was not a significant loss. Therefore, Su Xiao had begun using Azure Steel Shadow's True Damage as the highest-grade armor penetration. Under True Damage, all kinds of body defense abilities would be pierced.
Now he finally understood why Azure Steel Shadow Energy gradually became insufficient in power during the mid-to-late Absolute Strength stage. It turned out that it wasn't that the Azure Steel Shadow ability was lacking, but that he hadn't reached the Supreme Peak and couldn't withstand the fully awakened Azure Steel Shadow ability.
Previously, the usage ratio of the three Soul Cores of "Soul Severing Shadow" — "Soul Sever · Soul Core" and "Devour Darkness · Soul Core" — was almost 50% each, while "Azure Steel · Soul Core" was rarely used. The future was destined to be different.
"Soul Sever · Soul Core (Passive): Grants the 'Soul Sever' trait to blade attacks (current Soul Sever intensity: 50)."
"Devour Darkness · Soul Core (Passive): Negates 30% of all damage."
"Azure Steel · Soul Core (Passive): Increases the overall intensity of the Azure Steel Shadow ability by 40% (this boost can exceed the maximum limit of the Azure Steel Shadow ability)."
In the past, when the Azure Steel Shadow ability wasn't so powerful, the "Azure Steel · Soul Core" naturally wasn't very strong. But now it was different. A single slash imbued with Azure Steel Shadow Energy burned 24% of the enemy's maximum Mana Points, which after the boost became 33.6% of maximum Mana Points. Correspondingly, the derived True Damage reached 42% of maximum Health Points as True Damage.
The so-called "overall intensity increase" didn't mean boosting both the Mana burned and the True Damage dealt together. This involved the working principle of Azure Steel Shadow Energy. First, the Azure Steel Shadow Energy attached to the blade didn't have a True Damage judgment. It corresponded to burning the enemy's body energy, which was State 1 of the Azure Steel Shadow ability.
When the blade wounded the enemy and began to devour the enemy's Mana Points, that was State 2.
And dealing True Damage was State 3.
"Azure Steel · Soul Core" couldn't boost something that hadn't happened yet and was in an uncertain future State 3. Therefore, its boost to Azure Steel Shadow Energy was only in terms of the intensity of burning the enemy's Mana Points and enhancing the strength of Proud Song crystals.
Azure Steel Shadow Energy surged in Su Xiao's hand, like light blue electric arcs darting back and forth. Seeing this, Mawen Hua'erzi smiled and said:
"Alright, since you've advanced to Supreme Peak, our relationship as guides ends here. This is the habit of all Law Destroyers. Once you reach Supreme Peak, everything from then on depends on yourself. The Endless Trait Azure Steel Shadow is worthy of us three old fellows collecting materials for you for so long and preparing this ritual. I knew that one day in the future, you would definitely reach Supreme Peak."
Mawen Hua'erzi's smile became mischievous. Hearing this, the Black Mage exposed:
"Isn't this the last two complete sets of materials left in your Law Destruction Faction's legacy?"
"You're talking nonsense! Didn't I open the treasure vault door myself?"
"But that treasure vault, your master recalled the approximate location, I opened the door, you just pushed it open..."
"Slander, blatant slander. Kid, this is the most vivid lesson I've taught you. Spellcasters can't be trusted. Look at this old thing, dead for so many years, still full of malicious intentions, trying to sow discord within our Law Destruction Faction. His intentions deserve death."
Facing Mawen Hua'erzi's continuous output, the Black Mage remained silent. After all, in terms of "being in the right," Law Destroyers were almost invincible.
"This world is not bad. We three old immortals plan to stay here for a while. You don't have other matters, so go back."
"Alright."
Su Xiao activated the teleportation function. Space fluctuated around him, enveloping him, Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini. Just before being teleported away, he heard:
"Do you think he can win?"
Mawen Hua'erzi's words received no answer. The Old Law Destroyer and the Black Mage both chose silence.
After the surrounding space stabilized again, Su Xiao had returned to his Exclusive Room. He was long accustomed to Mawen Hua'erzi suddenly contacting him for important matters. Many crucial abilities like Azure Shadow King had been awakened or mastered this way.
Of course, this was also related to the bold and experimental style of the Ancestral Law Destroyers. Mawen Hua'erzi had personally witnessed back when he was still weak, his partner, not yet meeting the ability requirements, thought, "Since the difference isn't that big, let's try to initially master it first to lay the foundation for when we truly need to master it later."
The result was that Mawen Hua'erzi saw up close his friend's half of his body explode, blood and flesh splattering far and wide.
Su Xiao came to the planting area, sat cross-legged on the round straw mat under the Black Maple Tree, and meditated. Feeling the massive enhancement (jùdà tíshēng) after advancing to Supreme Peak, he opened his skill list and found the five "Supreme Passives" corresponding to his body attributes that he currently possessed.
Because his body attributes had advanced from True Attributes to Supreme Attributes, these five "Supreme Passives" had all entered a pending activation state. It seemed like just activating abilities, but Su Xiao had a feeling that these five abilities seemed to be holding back a big move, just waiting to be unleashed.
The Supreme Passives corresponding to body attributes had levels, ranging from ★ to ★★★. Their initial intensity had a 2 to 5 times difference. Now, the boost for Supreme Peak seemed... even more ruthless.
Su Xiao held his breath and concentrated, first activating the Supreme Passive corresponding to "Supreme Strength Attribute." This ability, sealed like a golden cocoon, burst out like breaking through a shell. A powerful sense of strength erupted within him.
Boom!
With Su Xiao at the center, layers of shockwaves spread outward. He stood up and walked out of the planting area. He had thought this would be a very ordinary ability awakening, but it turned out to be anything but ordinary. The top-tier Supreme Passive corresponding to body attributes began to reveal its ferocity.
Arriving in an empty room, Su Xiao no longer suppressed the awakening of "Supreme · Strength." The next second, dark red blood energy surged out from Su Xiao's body, so intense it took on a needle-like form. The surrounding walls showed cracks and wear marks, as if a layer had been plowed off, becoming rough and uneven.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao's aura stabilized. Looking around, the hundred-square-meter room looked like a bloody slaughterhouse. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all stained dark red by the blood energy.
[Supreme · Strength.X (Supreme Rank · Passive).]
Skill Effect: Your physical combat strength is your Supreme Strength Attribute × 2.5 times.
...
Simple yet ridiculously powerful enhancement. All the bonuses of one ability were concentrated on a single attribute, and the enhancement effect was often ridiculously powerful.
Su Xiao clenched his fist. Compared to the power of a single punch, the slashing force when he held his longsword could be said to have the power to destroy heaven and earth. It seemed this was no longer a metaphor but would actually come true.
With the experience of awakening "Supreme · Strength," Su Xiao awakened the "Supreme · Agility" passive ability. Something inside him seemed to be pierced. With a bang, his aura burst outward again.
Half an hour later, the room Su Xiao was in was like a bloody hell. The faint-hearted would suffer mental collapse or even permanent derangement just by coming here.
[Supreme · Agility.X (Supreme Rank · Passive).]
Skill Effect 1: Increases weapon attack power by 1500 points (lower/upper limit).
Skill Effect 2: Permanently increases body speed by 8.2 times.
Skill Effect 3: Supreme Instinct +60 points (every 1 point increase in Supreme Agility increases Supreme Instinct by 1 point).
...
The moment "Supreme · Agility" was awakened, Su Xiao felt that the surrounding world had become very slow. Dust particles and blood energy residue in the air drifted slowly as if in slow motion. The last time he had this feeling was when he was at a low rank and had greatly increased his "Nerve Reflex Speed."
Su Xiao activated his perception field. The surrounding world instantly became clearer. It felt like turning the world's brightness to maximum, with every detail extremely obvious. "Supreme Instinct" certainly represented more than just Su Xiao's own reaction speed; it also included perception capture speed, etc.
Previously, improving this aspect required improving each item individually. Now, he only needed to increase "Supreme Instinct," and more than a dozen related characteristics would grow.
After activating the perception field for over an hour, Su Xiao retracted it. The surrounding world returned to normal, no longer seeming slowed down.
Taking a deep breath, Su Xiao chose to awaken "Supreme · Stamina." This time, the blood energy passively released was a rich dark red. Half an hour later, the room was filled with blood mist, like a Shura hell.
[Supreme · Stamina.X (Supreme Rank · Passive).]
Skill Effect 1: 1 point of Supreme Stamina Attribute brings "Supreme Health Point Growth" of 500,000 points.
Skill Effect 2: Each point of "Supreme Stamina" increases "Damage Reduction" by 0.12%.
Tip: This is the basic trait "Damage Reduction."
Tip: "Damage Reduction" can reach a maximum of 95%.
...
Seeing the characteristics of "Supreme Stamina," Su Xiao knew that he no longer needed to maintain "Devour Darkness · Soul Core" all the time. If his "Supreme Stamina" could reach 170 points, he could increase "Damage Reduction" by 20%. Combined with "Overlord Power's" 75%, it would just reach the maximum value of 95%.
From then on, when facing enemies, it would be a choice between "Azure Steel · Soul Core" and "Soul Sever · Soul Core." If the enemy had strong defense, use "Azure Steel · Soul Core" to deal with them. If the enemy had invincible regeneration and self-healing, then "Soul Sever · Soul Core" would tell the enemy just how sharp his blade was.
Given the difficulty of increasing "Supreme Body Attributes," even powerful beings who had stepped into this tier for many years might not necessarily reach a high level. But Su Xiao had "Power Origin" which combined three "Peak Abilities" into one. For him, it was only a matter of time.
As for 1 point of Supreme Stamina = 500,000 points of Supreme Health Points, Su Xiao wasn't surprised. Previously, when the potential of True Attributes above 1000 points was fully stimulated, 1 point of True Stamina Attribute = 5000 points of Health Point growth. And according to the conversion of 100 points of True Stamina Attribute into 1 point of Supreme Stamina Attribute, this 1 to 500,000 growth ratio wasn't really an increase.
100 points of True Stamina Attribute could indeed be converted into 1 point of Supreme Stamina Attribute during advancement, but in actual combat, 1 point of Supreme Stamina Attribute corresponded to far more than 100 points of True Stamina Attribute.
Resting for a moment, Su Xiao began to awaken "Supreme · Intelligence." As the golden cocoon wrapping the ability broke, there was a buzzing sound in his head, and then he temporarily said goodbye to the material world. When he regained his five senses, his brain ached as if pierced by needles. After a while, this feeling disappeared, and his mind became clear.
[Supreme · Intelligence.X (Supreme Rank · Passive).]
Skill Effect 1: 1 point of Supreme Intelligence Attribute brings "Supreme Mana Point Growth" increased to 100,000 points.
Skill Effect 2: "Main Equipment Slots" total increased to 20.
Current: Main Weapon Slot, Secondary Weapon Slot, Pendant Slot, Ring Slot ×3, Arm Guard Slot ×2 (if ring slots are worn simultaneously, ring slot equipment will become invisible, manifesting without physical entity traits), Armor Slot ×4 (Head, Upper Body + Lower Body, Belt, Shoes), Ornament Slot, Badge Slot, Detection Equipment Slot, Adaptive Slot ×5 (if worn equipment occupies multiple main equipment slots, it will prioritize occupying the worn position and the remaining adaptive main equipment slots).
Skill Effect 3: Increases Technique ability development speed by 3500%.
Skill Effect 4: Every 1 point increase in Supreme Intelligence Attribute permanently increases Element Affinity by 30 points.
...
The change in "Supreme · Intelligence" was actually not that big. The key was the last bonus, which actually increased "Element Affinity." Generally, this attribute increased automatically. Now, increasing the Supreme Intelligence Attribute brought 30 points of Element Affinity growth per point. This made Su Xiao, who had just stacked his "Lightning Attribute Resistance" high, suddenly feel that such high lightning resistance might not necessarily be enough to withstand the World Lightning that would be drawn down later.
The intensity of World Lightning was determined by Su Xiao's True Luck Attribute and Element Affinity. Using his True Luck Attribute of up to 28 points to draw World Lightning was no different from not drawing it at all. So he must use Element Affinity.
Su Xiao's current Element Affinity of 1522 points was already enough to make Spellcasters, seemingly expressionless, actually grind their teeth with hatred. One could imagine the value of this level of Element Affinity.
If Su Xiao increased his Supreme Intelligence Attribute by 10 points, his Element Affinity would skyrocket by 300 points. Currently, Su Xiao had a full 100 points of "Supreme Free Attribute Points."
Putting these aside for now, Su Xiao awakened the last Supreme Attribute passive. "Supreme · Charm" broke through the golden cocoon. The next second, faint blood-colored threads spread behind him, gradually forming a faintly visible massive blood beast. The blood beast crouched behind him, seemingly grinning, revealing white, sharp teeth.
[Supreme · Charm.X (Supreme Rank · Passive).]
Skill Effect 1: Permanently negates all debuffs brought by "Negative Charm Attribute."
Skill Effect 2: The suppression/invasion power of your released aura (blood energy) +3 (increased by 2).
...
The enhancement of "Supreme · Charm" was as simple and brutal as "Supreme · Strength." Interestingly, it was normal for "Supreme · Strength" to be like this. Nine out of ten "Supreme Peaks" had this ability with 1 or 2 attributes. But for "Supreme · Charm," it generally had 6 to 9 attribute bonuses.
And there was another point. Previously, "Supreme · Charm" had one line:
"Skill Effect 3: You have not advanced your True Charm Attribute to the final form 'Supreme Charm Attribute.' This effect cannot be activated."
Su Xiao obviously had no chance of obtaining "Supreme Charm Attribute." He couldn't even get his Charm Attribute back to positive numbers, which was wishful thinking.
But strangely, although this "Skill Effect 3" couldn't be triggered, Su Xiao's "Supreme · Charm" skill had indeed been enhanced, and the enhancement was not small.
With "Skill Effect 1: Permanently negates all debuffs brought by Negative Charm Attribute," he only needed to wait for this body attribute to change naturally.
This rest period's enhancement for Su Xiao was arguably the greatest ever. But it wasn't over yet. The real heavyweight couldn't appear for now. He needed to let his body rest. With nothing else to do, he took out [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask].
This was a "Abyss Rank" equipment. After Su Xiao obtained the Reincarnation Rank authority, the ratings of the other three systems, namely Abyss Rank, World Rank, and Overlord Rank, were no longer bound to 6000 points. Instead, they became:
Overlord Rank Rating: 1 to 30,000 points.
World Rank Rating: 10 to 30,000 points.
Abyss Rank Rating: 10 to 30,000 points.
But don't think that with the same full rating, equipment from these three systems could be on par with Reincarnation Rank. The traditional system was undoubtedly the absolute big brother among the five systems.
Second was Abyss Rank, third was World Rank. The Overlord system, which was the most ferocious in the mid-to-late stages, was actually ranked fourth. The fifth, Trait system, because it was too chaotic, was inevitably at the bottom.
In fact, from [Soul · King's Coronation], a full-rated Reincarnation Rank equipment, one could see how ridiculously powerful a full-rated traditional system equipment was. As equipment, it actually possessed a "Supreme Domain," which was an extremely ridiculous thing.
[Mad Laugh Ghost Mask]
Origin: Bottom of the Abyss.
Quality: Abyss Rank.
Category: Parasitic Mask...
...
Tip: Your compatibility with this equipment is extremely high.
Equipment Debuff: Invisible Deterrence (Passive), when conducting negotiations with other intelligent beings, your Charm judgment -200%.
Tip: Due to your Charm Attribute being too low, this debuff is ineffective against you.
Rating: 18,500 points.
Introduction: Hahahahaha!!!
Selling Price: Cannot be sold after use.
...
One attribute of this equipment was different from before. Before Su Xiao advanced to Supreme Peak, this mask had a warning:
"Warning: Your compatibility with this equipment is extremely high. Please do not deeply awaken this equipment!"
Now, this warning had become:
"Tip: Your compatibility with this equipment is extremely high."
The unawakened [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] was already an Abyss system equipment with an 18,500-point rating. If it were awakened...
According to Su Xiao's speculation, this was very likely the remains of an ancient era Star Realm Existence after its fall. Its head fell into the Bottom of the Abyss, and after several epochs of uncontrolled Abyss power enhancement, it was finally concentrated (nóngsuō) to just this gray-white face skin.
The good news was that this was no longer related to that ancient era Star Realm Existence. And the branch attributes of this equipment also clearly stated that although it had "Wisdom Traits," it was not an ancient era Star Realm Existence.
As the sealer of six Big Daddy-level Original Sin Objects, Su Xiao chose to be cautious. He stood up from the ground, took out a section of tree root, and with a crack, crushed the crystal sealing the tree root, directly touching the tree root with his right hand.
More than ten minutes later.
Crack, crack, crack~
The sound of tree roots spreading came. Large sections of tree roots spread from the front wall and ceiling, occupying half of the room. Su Xiao put away the section of tree root in his hand and handed over [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask].
[Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] was rolled away for a moment. A few tree roots spread over. Su Xiao raised his hand and touched these tree roots. In the past, this was equivalent to seeking death. Even if Morsheng's Frenzy had no direct malicious intent, it was still seeking death. But now, Su Xiao was qualified.
The frenzied and vast will and information were transmitted. Su Xiao learned the origin of [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask]. It was similar to his guess. [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] was indeed the remains of a Star Realm Existence, but that Star Realm Existence died from the invasion of elements.
This made Su Xiao think of the Elemental Cataclysm that ended the ancient era.
Su Xiao took out the only remaining [Soul Energy Crystal], meaning clearly that this was the content of this transaction. He needed this item. Morsheng's Frenzy didn't transmit any will, indicating it didn't have this item.
Taking out [Book of Doors], he opened it and tore off half a page of "Treeborn Page." Su Xiao handed it to Morsheng's Frenzy. This was the reward for explaining the origin of [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask].
After taking away the half page of "Treeborn Page," the tree roots in front gradually retracted. [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] fell to the ground. When the room returned to normal, Su Xiao raised his hand, and [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] was pulled back into his hand by Spirit Shadow Threads.
He stared at the mask in his hand. Just not laughing for five seconds while looking at it, he had a certain confidence. He gazed at [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask].
1 second, 2 seconds.
Su Xiao suddenly turned his head, the corner of his eye twitching almost imperceptibly. This thing seemed not easy to control.
Gazing again.
1 second, 2 seconds.
Su Xiao clearly felt his face starting to go numb. If he didn't look away, then in the next second, his numb face would begin to show the intention of forming a smile, and then he might laugh wildly.
Taking out the "Book of Original Sin," he opened the eighth page. Sealing power surged from the page. Dark golden tentacles, like petroleum material, spread out from inside, pulling [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] into it.
1 minute, 2 minutes.
Su Xiao saw that [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] inside the eighth page, from its original mad laughing expression, gradually became unable to laugh, and began to show some panic. It could be said that lasting this long was already very rare. The Eternal Dark Empress back then went in and successfully put on the Pain Mask in just a few seconds.
When [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask]'s expression began to change, Su Xiao took it out, held it in one hand, and gazed at this mask.
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds.
Very good. Su Xiao had successfully obtained the qualification to use this equipment. Obviously, the intelligent [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask] knew that if it dared to make this Law Destroyer laugh wildly, this Law Destroyer would immediately make it go from a Mad Laugh Mask to a Pain Mask, and it would become more painful and vivid, with nowhere to escape.
Facing this Supreme Peak Law Destroyer who sealed six Big Daddy-level Original Sin Objects and had a fortune of -13,000,000, [Mad Laugh Ghost Mask], which had successfully killed 35 holders, seemed to make a certain decision at this moment. It decided to temporarily yield (qūfú). It was just a mere human. After a few epochs, when this human died of old age, the ultimate victor would inevitably be it!