Chapter 5: Primordial Core
Price: 1 Peak Destiny (non-equivalent exchange, requires careful consideration).
Tip: After completing this exchange, any remaining "Peak Destiny" points will be immediately cleared.
...
Seeing the first exchange option, Su Xiao had already known what to choose, but upon seeing "Rare Treasure: Abyss Magic Crystal," it seemed he had hit the jackpot this time.
[You have paid 100 Peak Destiny points.]
[You have obtained Rare Treasure: Abyss Magic Crystal.]
Su Xiao checked the earlier prompts, frowning slightly as a Law-Destroying Teleportation Array formed beneath his feet.
Thump~
As the surrounding space healed, Su Xiao found himself on the first floor of Sanctuary City's Grand Cathedral. He went up to the third floor, sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked out at the increasingly prosperous Sanctuary City, feeling a hint of confusion.
"Boss, just had a fight with someone? Went smoothly?"
Baha flew over and landed on an antique root carving ahead.
"Smoothly."
Su Xiao pointed forward. Baha followed his gaze through the window, then smiled knowingly, saying, "Boss, this has a direct connection to you."
"Oh?"
"It's like this..."
Baha began explaining the situation in Sanctuary City. In short, with Su Xiao, a peak powerhouse, providing protection, the city had virtually no external threats. Moreover, Su Xiao had no interest in taking anything from Sanctuary City's residents.
The previous city lord had bled the city dry, yet the city's taxes were surprisingly low—those funds were used to maintain Sanctuary City rather than lining the former lord's pockets. Now, residents only needed to pay very low city taxes to enjoy the safest environment in this world, which had spurred rapid development.
Su Xiao had no intention of interfering; he had too much to do. He checked his current physical data:
Peak Health: 100% (50 million points).
Life Core: 15/15 (increased by 4 from newly mastered Extreme Passive).
Peak Mana: 30 million points.
Peak Strength: 916 points.
Peak Agility: 916 points.
Peak Stamina: 916 points.
Peak Intelligence: 916 points.
Soul Strength: 5800 points (this attribute has reached maximum).
Elemental Affinity: 22,462 points.
True Charm: -45 points (-6 points).
True Luck Attribute: 0 points (-24 points).
Fortune: -15 million points (today's permanent -2 million points).
...
Upon reviewing his personal data, the 916 points across all Peak Attributes seemed absurd for an Extreme System, but he quickly noticed the entries below were even more weighty.
Not to mention the unprecedented -6 points in Charm Attribute—what was going on with the True Luck Attribute? It had dropped from 24 points to 0 points? Could it be that Luck Attribute was also heading into negative territory?
And it seemed this was trying to catch up to Charm Attribute, as the saying goes, "the latecomer surpasses the early bird"?
Also, how had Fortune reached -15 million points? He hadn't done much recently—just killed three peak powerhouses. That shouldn't result in negative Fortune.
Suddenly, Su Xiao thought of a possibility: the newly sealed "Daddy Rank Original Sin Object," the "Fortune Coin." This Original Sin Object had realized Su Xiao showed no sign of using it at all, so it had begun subtly exerting its influence. It seemed that this seemingly least dangerous "Daddy Rank Original Sin Object" was actually the hardest to fully seal.
Su Xiao had no regrets about this. Without those 1.6 million ounces of Space-Time Power, he wouldn't have his current strength.
Closing his personal data, Su Xiao reviewed the three "Extreme Passives" he had mastered when his Peak Attributes reached 900 points:
"Overlord Power: Dominance (Passive): You can use your physical strength to directly intervene in or even destroy other systems. The degree of intervention or destruction depends on your current 'Peak Strength Attribute.'"
"Absolute Speed: Permanence (Passive): Your overall physical speed +3000 (after comprehensive assessment, your original physical speed totaled 682, now 3682)."
"Life Force: Eternity (Passive): Life Core +4. Your 'Basic Physical Defense Rank +7' has advanced to 'Extreme Physical Defense Rank +7,' with an additional +3 increase (related bonuses from the Abyssal Shadow title and Azure Shadow King have been upgraded)."
Tip: Current "Extreme Physical Defense Rank +10."
...
The former "Basic Physical Defense Rank" could only be improved when advancing from Absolute Strength to Peak, theoretically speaking. However, both Azure Shadow King and the "Abyssal Shadow" title had broken this norm, but only for these two.
Now that this physical characteristic had advanced to "Extreme Physical Defense Rank," Su Xiao, as an Extreme System, should be able to further improve it later. Simply put, this was "super body defense." Each point increase reduced the damage taken. Reaching 10 points now was certainly not the limit.
Closing the skill list, Su Xiao took out his communicator and called someone. The reason was that even after killing the Scale-Less Sea King, he still hadn't gained any World Reputation.
When he first entered this world and killed his first enemy, Death Archbishop Erqi, he had received 1,652 points of World Reputation. Since then, he hadn't gained a single point of World Reputation, and this item was the constant standard for this world's settlement.
Su Xiao wasn't worried; he had already guessed what was going on.
Who was behind this? There was no need to analyze it. The Paradise faction members in this world were originally three, now five. Aina wasn't considered part of the Paradise faction.
Gulu and Ranger Ross had only been in this world for a few days, and neither was good at causing trouble.
That left three people: Su Xiao, Kaisa, and Shenfu. The others either didn't dare come or, upon discovering the peak-level chaos in this world, immediately withdrew to avoid triggering a main mission and being unable to leave.
Thus, using the process of elimination, it definitely wasn't Kaisa—otherwise, he would have dragged Su Xiao into it. That left Shenfu. Shenfu had been unusually quiet since entering this world. Now it seemed he had been brewing a super move.
After a moment, the call connected. Both sides remained silent. Half a minute later, Shenfu broke the silence, saying, "Congratulations on killing the Scale-Less Sea King Nezmo."
Su Xiao didn't speak, only sent a text message:
"Scarlet Badge (Kill Item): Can be used on a Paradise faction target to mark them for 24 hours. Upon successfully killing the marked target, you will 100% obtain a 'Thick Scarlet Chest' (this Scarlet Badge cannot be used on Reincarnation Paradise's Hunters, Contractors, or Workers)."
Don't misunderstand—this wasn't a threat. He was just sharing a rare item with an old friend he'd been through life and death with.
Seeing this item's information, Shenfu was silent for a moment before saying, "I'll give you twenty percent. You did nothing, so you only get twenty percent."
"I killed three peak powerhouses and didn't get a single point of World Reputation."
"This..."
Shenfu was indeed at a loss. After a moment of silence, he said, "Fine, we'll split it fifty-fifty."
After saying this, Shenfu sighed. There really was no room for negotiation this time. In this world, there were only three of them from the Paradise faction who were good at operations. One was a material manager in the Eternal City of the Underworld Temple, one was running around killing peak powerhouses, and the remaining one—him—had been completely silent the whole time. If not him, then who?
PS: (Tomorrow is Sunday, a day off. Please forgive me, dear readers.)