Chapter 48: Perceiving Danger
The "Life Core" was undoubtedly equivalent to a second life, a full-health resurrection with no side effects or cost. In battles against powerful enemies, this was the greatest guarantee.
However, Su Xiao had a doubt: if he possessed the "Life Core," could he still be killed by a "Causal Slash"? After consulting relevant information, he learned that the shattering of the "Life Core" largely also represented one's own death.
It was just that this was akin to a false death state. The "Life Core" effect would be triggered immediately, so true death would naturally not occur.
The answer was that a "Causal Slash" was effective to a certain extent. When an enemy still had a "Life Core" and their health fell below the 30% threshold that "Demon Blade" could execute, then after the Demon Blade's execution, the enemy's "Life Core" would shatter, and their current health would be damaged, dropping to around 20%.
In other words, the "Demon Blade" had completed one execution of the enemy. If the enemy didn't have a powerful resurrection ability, this method could be used. But if the enemy had a strong resurrection ability, then the "Life Core" had to be broken first, then the enemy had to be injured to less than 30% of their total health before a single slash could execute them.
As the reward for having no active "Supreme Ability," Su Xiao had obtained "Source of Strength," which, even as a "Supreme Ability," had an absurdly high growth potential for himself. He checked his current 62 [Reincarnation Badges].
He would keep 2, in case the next Honor Shop refresh had something good. Exchanging the remaining 60 for "Power Source Matter" would yield 2.6 million ounces of Space-Time Power. At the exchange rate of 1:400 for Soul Coins, that meant he could still buy 30 types of "Supreme Passives" and max them out.
The most common Supreme Passive scroll cost about 2.1 million Soul Coins. Maxing it out would cost around 32 million Soul Coins. Don't think this was expensive; before, upgrading an "Absolute Strong Passive" cost 5 to 8 million Soul Coins.
Because this type of passive wasn't meant to be upgraded this way. It was accumulated over time: upgrade 5 levels this time, save up for 8 levels next time. Being able to upgrade 10 levels in one go was already a huge gain, and 32 million Soul Coins was the cheapest "Supreme Passive" to max out.
Su Xiao felt his own state and decided to abandon this bold idea. "Source of Strength" could indeed continuously improve his body attributes without breaking the balance of his technique system, but the magnitude of this improvement was too great. He needed to 'digest' it.
After all, before advancing to Supreme Peak, he was a super-top-tier Supreme with all attributes just over 2600 points. Now, he had directly crossed over to:
Supreme Health: 100% (50 million points).
Life Core: 1/1.
Supreme Mana: 19.8 million points.
Supreme Strength: 218 points.
Supreme Agility: 218 points.
Supreme Stamina: 218 points.
Supreme Intelligence: 218 points.
True Charm: -36 points.
True Luck Attribute: 26 points (-2 points).
Abyss Resistance: 268 points.
Fortune: -13 million points.
...
Health, Mana, and main attributes had all explosively increased. Su Xiao's eyes showed satisfaction, but suddenly, amidst the good news, he spotted that -2 points. His True Luck Attribute had inexplicably dropped by 2 points. A feeling of impending doom rose in his heart. The last time this happened, it was called the Charm Attribute.
Looking at the -36 points of True Charm Attribute and the 26 points of True Luck Attribute, Su Xiao frowned. He had a very strong feeling that, with a Fortune of -13 million points, it was already quite resilient that his True Luck Attribute hadn't plummeted straight into negative luck.
Su Xiao wasn't afraid of a negative Luck Attribute, because the debuffs brought by a negative Luck Attribute were completely ineffective against him. His Fortune was what it was. The key question was, what would happen when he opened treasure chests later?
[Fate Dominator: Fortune Power (Core, Active): Consume one Soul Crystal (Complete). Fate Dominator can convert Soul Power into Fortune, temporarily increasing the holder's Luck Attribute by 50% and granting an "Absolute Fortune" bonus. Effect lasts 20 minutes.]
If the Luck Attribute really became negative, then this [Fate Dominator] clearly couldn't dominate anything. What would a -1 point Luck Attribute become after a 50% increase? A -0.5 Luck Attribute? And then the "Absolute Fortune" bonus would turn it into "Absolute Misfortune"?
This serious problem convinced Su Xiao that it was time for [Fate Dominator] to complete its leap from "Immortal Rank" to "Reincarnation Rank." Because [Fate Dominator] had absorbed a lot of Luck God Blood, it naturally carried more names of the strong.
Moreover, after Su Xiao engraved the "Ancestor" character of the Ancestral God, some of the former strong names on [Fate Dominator] began to dissolve and evaporate, becoming:
Black (Black King)
Moon (Ancient God, Moon God)
Iron (Sera Guardian, Iron Feather King)
Anomaly (Anomaly King)
Source (Source Keeper, Edri Dewin)
Blood (Dark Prison World, Blood God, Gehpus)
Shi (Demon Spirit Star, Immortal, Rogesh)
Feather (Dark Star, Feather God, Hegra)
Doom (Demon Sea, Doom Number Third Captain, Nameless Captain)
Silver (Law Destruction Ally, Silver Moon Wolf)
Knight (World of Paintings, Old Knight)
You (Abyss First Daughter, Youro)
Gray (Violator, Gray Gentleman)
Emperor (Nether Great Emperor)
Wolf (Wolf Knight Captain)
God (Immortal God)
Shadow (Abyssal Shadow)
Beast (Old Beast King)
Monarch (Scarlet Monarch, Eiyushir)
Ancient (Ancient King)
Witch (Initial Witch)
Sun (First Sun King)
Yin (Dukain Ancestor)
Ancestor (Ancestral God, Yashmis)
...
Regarding how to upgrade [Fate Dominator], Su Xiao planned to consult a professional. He went to the planting area, and in front of the Black Maple Tree, Ao Ge crystals formed a summoning array.
Golden light bloomed within the summoning array, forming a pair of wings outlined in golden radiance. As the folded golden wings spread, a figure appeared, wearing a thin gauze dress, barefoot, with her skirt ribbons naturally fluttering. She floated two meters above the ground, sitting sideways on a silver moon, with faint golden patterns flowing on it.
"Bai Ye, you called me to..."
Before the Goddess of Fortune could finish her sentence, her gaze was drawn to the strange tree diagonally opposite. She looked puzzled, observed it carefully, and then asked:
"Do you really... have a Black Maple Tree? I originally thought Arcane Eternal Star was plotting against you by spreading that rumor."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, just looked at the Goddess of Fortune with a smile, which made her expression stiffen.
She understood this too well. A calm Bai Ye had a decent chance of meaning good news. If he was expressionless, it meant there was risk ahead and he was considering which strong figures to eliminate. But if he met her with a somewhat friendly smile, if possible, she should immediately flee. If she couldn't escape, she should pretend nothing was happening.
"Please, sit."
Su Xiao went to the tea pavilion in the planting area, near the flowing Eternal Spring stream. Some small animals raised by Amu were looking around nearby, making the place very pleasant.
The Goddess of Fortune swallowed nervously. As soon as she sat down, a cup of hot tea was pushed toward her. She held it with both hands, took a small sip, and asked:
"Bai Ye, what do you want this time? Didn't we settle our grievances after you raided my room that night at Arcane Eternal Star? We've been trading Luck God Blood for so long; you can't plot against me. Are you scheming against me? If you are, I swear I'll go back and hide for a few hundred years and never come out. After all, we friendly gods who are weaker than our rank have long lives."
The Goddess of Fortune's words basically meant: if you dare scheme against me, I won't show my face for centuries. After all, in this special area, she couldn't be harmed.
"You govern fortune, right?"
"Yes, but your fortune has nothing to do with me. Who could govern a guy with such low fortune that I can't even see the lower limit?"
"You've always wanted to get this, haven't you?"
Su Xiao took out [Fate Dominator] and placed it on the stone table.
"Yeah, I guess."
The Goddess of Fortune glanced at [Fate Dominator], and then couldn't look away.
"I have an old friend with a close bond. He's a priest. He often tells me to help others achieve their wishes. I probably won't need this for my future fortune, so I want to give it to you."
Su Xiao finished speaking, smiled warmly, and pushed [Fate Dominator] across the table until it slid in front of the Goddess of Fortune.
"Bai Ye, don't mess with me! I really don't know anything! The Law Destruction fortune... it might just be like this."
"Hmm? You just said, what happens when Law Destruction fortune is combined with Original Sin karma?"
"I didn't say that! I said..."
The Goddess of Fortune was getting anxious. She knew that although this Law Destroyer wouldn't kill her or put her in a desperate situation, given how cunning he was, he could definitely scheme until she doubted her own existence.
"Oh~, you know, but you didn't say."
"What? I don't know anything!"
The Goddess of Fortune became even more flustered. Her mind was racing, trying to make sure every sentence had no loopholes. Her CPU was practically smoking.
"Actually, I've already found a solution, but I need your help."
"Impossible! How could there be a solution for Law Destruction fortune combined with Original Sin karma?"
The Goddess of Fortune was somewhat dismissive. It wasn't arrogance; this was her most professional field. Even if the opponent was a Supreme-tier Law Destroyer, they couldn't challenge her in her own domain. Today, she was going to slap this Law Destroyer's face in her field and make him know who the true main deity of fortune was.
"Oh? No solution?"
"Hmph~, what else? You're a thousand, ten thousand times stronger than me, that's true. But Bai Ye, you shouldn't question a god in this field, even if that god has been dealt with by you several times before."
"You're right."
Su Xiao took a sip of Maple Tea.
"Hehe~, good to know."
The Goddess of Fortune felt utterly relieved. How long had it been? Since meeting this Law Destroyer, this was the first time she had come out on top in a negotiation.
"So..."
Su Xiao changed the subject, causing the smile that had just bloomed on the Goddess of Fortune's face to freeze.
"So you've known all along that Law Destruction fortune combined with Original Sin karma would cause problems. I helped you purify so much evil god blood, but you never mentioned this."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the Goddess of Fortune felt like she had been struck by lightning. Her only thought was that she was doomed. This cunning bastard had tricked her.
"Didn't you say you already knew the solution? I was just telling you that your method is definitely wrong."
"Oh? Then do you have the right method?"
"I...!"
The Goddess of Fortune wanted to slap herself twice with both hands.
"Of course not! I'm the Goddess of Fortune, not the Wish Goddess."
"Wish?"
"Just a metaphor! It's my catchphrase."
"The Abyss's 'Destiny Prepayment'?"
"What?"
The Goddess of Fortune looked confused, but inside, she was already in tears. She couldn't understand why she kept saying the wrong thing. She had tried so hard to avoid it, but today, her mouth just wouldn't keep secrets.
"!"
The Goddess of Fortune looked at the Maple Tea in her hand, her lips trembling as she said, "You, you, you gave me poison that makes me uncontrollably say what I'm thinking!"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. In his knowledge of alchemy, he had never heard of such a poison. He knew about interrogation-type potions, but that wasn't his specialty. He was better at various potent toxins, recovery potions, and permanent enhancement secret medicines.
"If such an alchemical poison exists, please let me know."
Su Xiao's words made the Goddess of Fortune clench her fist under the table. This meant she had been outsmarted, tricked into revealing information sentence by sentence. If the Goddess of Fortune leaned over and looked at the bottom of the stone table, she would be shocked to find a Contract Parchment attached there, with the contract quietly in effect.
Su Xiao indeed didn't have an alchemical poison that made people blurt out their thoughts. But he could draft a contract that made people speak their minds. As for the signing content, the Maple Tea in the Goddess of Fortune's hand was the contract medium. The first sip she took meant the contract was signed.
"Fine, I kept this hidden to protect myself. Doing this carries great risk. Who wants to bear such a huge risk? Right? Seeking benefit and avoiding harm is only natural for a god."
"Oh? So there really is a way."
"You!"
The Goddess of Fortune wanted to punch this Law Destroyer. This despicable guy didn't know anything. He had probably only noticed his Luck Attribute dropping and sensed something was slightly off. All the other information had been tricked out of her sentence by sentence.
"Don't think about it. As far as I know, from the ancient era to the Third Era, there have only been three 'Destiny Prepayments.' The first was in the ancient era—what is the ancient era? It's the history before the First Era. The second 'Destiny Prepayment' was a great sage of the First Era. As for the third, it's said to have appeared not long ago, a pair of sisters."
Saying this, the Goddess of Fortune took a sip of Maple Tea, her expression unusually serious as she continued:
"No matter which generation of 'Destiny Prepayment,' making a 'wish' to them requires paying a huge price. Let alone removing Original Sin karma and the unknown costs derived from it. Even if it is removed, at most, you won't have to bear unknown risks. Your Luck Attribute will still drop."
The Goddess of Fortune shrugged helplessly, indicating that at most, she could cooperate with the "Destiny Prepayment" for the unknown destiny's "removal." The main force wasn't her.
"So, as long as I find the 'Destiny Prepayment,' you have no problem with this."
"Bai Ye, I never mentioned this before because there was no 'Destiny Prepayment' in the past. But now that there is one, doing this will still get you killed. For this level of destiny removal, they will demand a terrifying price from you."
"I can handle it."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the Goddess of Fortune frowned in thought, put down her teacup, and asked:
"Do you know this generation's 'Destiny Prepayment'?"
"Entrusted by a friend. I am their elder brother."
"???"
The Goddess of Fortune's expression was so shocked it could become an emoji.
"Elder... brother? Isn't it said that this generation's 'Destiny Prepayment' is the daughter of the Warm Bed?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, because he realized that the seemingly laid-back Goddess of Fortune actually knew a lot.
"What's with that look? Didn't I mention that before becoming a god, I was a young and beautiful historian?"
Hearing this, Bubu Wang, Baha, and Beini all seemed to have question marks floating above their heads.
"Who are you looking down on? Ask me any historical question!"
"..."
Seeing Su Xiao remain silent, the Goddess of Fortune gritted her little fangs in anger and urged, "Ask! Historical questions! The harder, the better!"
"When did the Supreme Being achieve supremacy?"
Hearing this question, the Goddess of Fortune took a sip of Maple Tea and directly ignored the topic, saying:
"If the 'Destiny Prepayment' truly respects you and regards you as an elder brother, we might have a chance. But what about my reward?"
"..."
Su Xiao pointed to the Black Maple Tree, meaning simply some Black Maple Tree yield. Seeing this, the Goddess of Fortune's smile began to brighten.
"I called you here this time to upgrade this."
Su Xiao pointed to [Fate Dominator] in front of the Goddess of Fortune.
"Hmm~, the names of the strong on this are still a bit lacking. It's not a quantity issue. It needs one that is stronger than all of these. For example, this one is just a bit short of giving this treasure the qualification for a qualitative change."
The Goddess of Fortune's finger tapped on the engraved "Ancestor" character. Seeing this, Su Xiao thought that [Fate Dominator] needed a true "Supreme Peak" strong name. The Ancestral God couldn't be fully considered "Supreme Peak," otherwise, he wouldn't have had a chance to win.
"Then it's settled. About... a month from now, maybe later. I'll be ready. There are about a dozen rituals."
"So fast?"
"Hehe~, I've actually been thinking about whether I could accomplish this for a long time."
The Goddess of Fortune looked as if she had seen through everything and foreseen the future.
"The materials aren't precious? But they take time to find?"
"Cough~, more or less."
Caught out, the Goddess of Fortune felt her face heat up.
Su Xiao took out a communicator, then took out paper and pen, writing three communicator frequencies on it:
"This is the General Manager of the Goblin Merchant Guild, Jinguwu. He can help you with materials."
"Okay."
The Goddess of Fortune naturally knew the strength of the Goblin Merchant Guild, but she asked worriedly, "Will he overcharge me?"
"Tell him I referred you. He won't."
"Perfect."
"This is the Young Miss of the Gilurius Family of the Holy Maiden Seat. If you encounter non-violent trouble, find her."
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm."
The Goddess of Fortune nodded repeatedly. These were connections. She wasn't stupid. If she encountered trouble later, they could save her life.
"This is the contact information for White Bull of the Void. If you encounter danger, find him."
"The ruler of the Void Underground World? White Bull?"
"Yes."
"This~, even if I really encounter trouble, I wouldn't dare find him. Compared to violence-related trouble, I'm more afraid of this one. Are you friends?"
"Yes."
"How reliable of a friend?"
"Close friend."
What Su Xiao called a close friend was actually an understatement. The injuries that had plagued White Bull for years were cured by Su Xiao, and he had repeatedly refined the treatment method until it perfectly suited White Bull.
"Alright! I'll go prepare. With these connections, I estimate it will only take ten days to get ready."
Leaving these words, the Goddess of Fortune canceled her response to the summoning array and gradually faded away.
Zzzt~
The Spirit Shadow Thread tightened, and [Fate Dominator] returned to his hand. This time, he had originally only wanted to upgrade [Fate Dominator]. Setting up this contract was to extract the upgrade method for [Fate Dominator], but he had gained such a critical and unexpected harvest.
Indeed, sealing six "Daddy Rank Original Sin Objects" meant that even a slight misstep could lead to eternal damnation.
Su Xiao had used the "Book of Original Sin" to scare off many major forces, and had even had a few pleasant collaborations with the "Necronomicon" among the six "Daddy Rank Original Sin Objects." But he had never lost his reverence for the Original Sins.
In fact, the most terrifying aspect of Original Sin Objects was long-term possession, occasionally having the chance to use them, and getting completely used to it, thinking that possessing an Original Sin Object was nothing special. At that point, death would come in the next moment.
Arriving at the Alchemy Laboratory, he stopped in front of the "Eye Ritual" area and sat down on the crystal seat of the ritual area. Long-term ritual contamination had turned the crystal seat pitch black.
The dim lighting here was caused by the "Eye Ritual."
Su Xiao had used this "Eye Ritual" to create many things, such as the "Devourers" he had created using "Alchemical Biology."
With his mediocre "Alchemical Biology," he had not only developed generations of "Devourers" but had even achieved a qualitative change, giving them strong self-awareness. These were Black A, Boiling Red, Dark Sun, Sun Apostle, and Crystal Ji, a total of five generations of Devourers.
As the first-generation Devourer, Black A had the strongest potential. The reason was that when it was created, no limits or restrictions were set.
Therefore, this rebellious son, who should have had the most weaknesses as the first generation, was actually the strongest.
The second generation was Boiling Red. Initially, she didn't have Black A's rebelliousness; she could even be called a favored daughter. Although her potential was somewhat limited, her growth process was more stable. Moreover, compared to Black A's pure devouring, she had her own characteristic, which was her name "Boiling Red."
The third-generation Devourer incorporated "Faith Power: Sun." Ultimately, Dark Sun was born. In the previous clash among the five Devourers, Dark Sun had died, but for some reason, it had reignited and revived. A small sample of Dark Sun preserved in the Alchemy Laboratory was confirming this.
The fourth-generation Devourer was Sun Apostle, also incorporating "Faith Power: Sun." But compared to Dark Sun's brute force, Sun Apostle had mid-level combat power but was a complete priestly type, preferring to bluff rather than fight.
After following the Priest for a while, Sun Apostle's intelligence skyrocketed as if enlightened.
The fifth-generation Devourer had soul characteristics, known for its variability and slyness, Crystal Ji. Among the five Devourers, she was the last to betray Su Xiao.
Yes, all five Devourers had defected. Even more interestingly, they had all gone to "Doom Star."
In fact, Su Xiao had always wondered how, with his "Alchemical Biology" level at the time, he had managed to create five generations of Devourers one after another.
Now, with all five Devourers defecting to "Doom Star," he knew the root of everything. The source of the Devourers wasn't Alchemical Biology at all, but the "Eye Ritual" before him, one of the several major power systems from Doom Star.
Betrayal was inevitably the destiny of the Devourers, because the source of the power from which they were born was the "Eye Ritual," which represented betrayal. It was surprising that Crystal Ji had held out until recently to defect. The Eye of Betrayal within them was constantly calling them.
In the dim environment, Su Xiao tossed [Fate Dominator] into the air and caught it with a snap. In his eyes, which faintly glowed red, a particularly different light appeared. Seeing this, Baha knew someone was about to be in trouble.
Law Destruction fortune + Original Sin karma, gradually triggering unknown dangers, "Destiny Prepayment," Goddess of Fortune, the five betraying Devourers, and Doom Star. Su Xiao's thumb brushed over [Fate Dominator], engraved with the names of the strong. He had a very good plan.
It was time for these five to know how terrifying it was to betray their creator, and the old score with that strongest Ancient God was also due for settlement.
Taking the communicator handed by Baha, Su Xiao called two people at the same time. After a moment, the communicator connected, and he said, "Found those five?"
Hearing this, a voice with a smile that sounded somewhat punchable came from the communicator:
"Found them. All under the Underworld God Temple."
"Oh? Do they know about my cooperation with Night Mother?"
"How could they."
"Is Night Mother ready?"
"Long ready. Waiting for your news."
After a brief silence, the third person connected to the communicator spoke: "It seems it's time for us to cooperate again. Same rules as before: until the last enemy falls, we can't kill each other over profit disputes."
"Agreed."
The somewhat punchable voice spoke again, with a chuckle. If there was one thing this person was best at, it was provocation.
"Good."
With that, Su Xiao hung up the communicator. Clearly, the good teammate trio was about to reunite.
Target: Doom Star.
In addition, the changes in the Honor Shop were also worth looking forward to. After the Honor Shop reached Lv.30, its related prompts showed that upon entering a new world progress, the Honor Shop, having reached Lv.30, would successfully activate several new permissions.