Chapter 42: Awakening
Su Xiao arrived at the room housing the Awakening Stele. Placing a single hand on it, the skill list of the Law Destruction system appeared on the stele's surface, as it had been fully authenticated. At the top of the list was an ability named 「Eternal Constitution」. Previously, he hadn't understood the meaning of this skill's name, but now he did.
If this were before the awakening of his 「Hunting Shadow」 talent, Su Xiao would have been extremely cautious about mastering this ability. Now, he only needed sufficient prudence. Downing a bottle of exclusive recovery potion, he pressed his hand onto the 「Awakening Stele」.
Su Xiao's Azure Steel Shadow energy spread out, beginning to outline the core of the 「Eternal Constitution」 ability. Almost simultaneously, within his body, the Azure Steel Shadow energy constructed an identical ability core. The moment the core was complete, he saw light.
The reason he saw light was that he had fallen into slumber and collapsed, just happening to look up at the white light on the ceiling. He sat up, checked his skill list, and in the Law Destruction ability column, saw the newly appeared ability.
【Eternal Constitution, X (Passive).】
Skill Effect: This skill cannot provide any benefit to the 1000-point Supreme attributes of the Extreme Realm. This skill is currently ineffective for you, but it can undergo a super-evolution upgrade, transforming into 「Supreme Constitution」.
Prerequisite 1: All Supreme main attributes reach 1000 points.
Prerequisite 2: Consume 120 「Soul Energy Crystals」.
Prerequisite 3: Possess a sufficiently vast causal volume.
Prerequisite 4: Strong Mind (Achieved).
Important Note: If you successfully master this 「Supreme Constitution」 ability before successfully advancing to the Supreme Realm, and complete the advancement to the Supreme Realm with the highest promotion specifications, you will have a certain probability of obtaining 「Supreme Power: Awakening」.
...
If the super-evolution of the 「Law Destruction Talent: Hunting Shadow」 showed Su Xiao a path of strengthening that held hope of stepping towards the Supreme Being, then 「Supreme Power: Awakening」 undoubtedly further increased this possibility.
The prompt for 【Eternal Constitution】 made Su Xiao consider another possibility: that this ability wasn't meant to replace the 「Star Realm Primordial Force」 to enhance one's physique. The reason it had this characteristic was that the user's Supreme attributes hadn't reached 1000 points, resulting in an 「ability degradation derivative」.
The correct way to master 【Eternal Constitution】 was actually to do so after reaching 1000 Supreme attributes. Its function was to obtain the 「Supreme Constitution」 before advancing to the 「Supreme」 realm.
Then, by advancing to the Supreme Realm with the highest specifications, one could massively accumulate the power that would have been used to nurture the 「Supreme Constitution」.
Amplifying this power tenfold, or even a hundredfold, quantity would lead to a qualitative change. Furthermore, this qualitatively changed power would enhance the already mastered 「Supreme Constitution」 characteristics, allowing the 「Supreme Constitution」 to successfully advance to 「Supreme Power: Awakening」.
Su Xiao weighed his options and felt he could complete this sublimation of 【Eternal Constitution】 in the near future. Moreover, instead of temporarily enhancing his physique, he would focus all his efforts on the 「Heavenly Edge Shadow Slash」 ability, preparing for a battle in the near-abyss region.
He could even venture into the Abyss alone. The Abyss was vast and boundless, so he wasn't worried about suddenly encountering the Lord of the Abyss. As for being pursued by the Lord of the Abyss, as long as he was currently staying in Reincarnation Paradise, he could return at any time with sufficient additional permissions. However, returning from a deep Abyss battle required a large amount of additional permissions.
Su Xiao had a way to deal with this. Although he wouldn't be entering a mission world for now and wouldn't have world settlement, he could take on tasks that granted large amounts of additional permissions. Such tasks were not uncommon on the mission boards in the Guild Hall.
The next goal was particularly simple: obtain a large amount of Space-Time Power.
Opening the 「Peak Contact Platform」, he still couldn't see any posts. Checking the communication list of the 「Peak Contact Platform」, Su Xiao found it was all blurry; he could only see the Tuanzhang's avatar. It wasn't that the relevant permissions weren't enabled, but that he couldn't probe the situation of other peak powerhouses. This aligned with the Void Tree's authentication rules to prevent peak powerhouses from having conflicts, which could lead to offline duels.
In the final decisive battle, every peak powerhouse was important. Therefore, only those who actively spoke in the channel could see their affiliated Paradise camp and their own code name.
However, Su Xiao felt that the total number of peak powerhouses across the six Paradise camps must be considerable. He didn't believe that only the Star Realm had 「Peak Powerhouse Seats」. The Star Realm, the Abyss, and the Elemental Realm all had 「Peak Powerhouse Seats」. In this era, the Elemental camp hadn't been heard of. So many vacant 「Peak Powerhouse Seats」 wouldn't remain empty forever.
Su Xiao seemed to have already figured out one of the long-term tasks of the Paradise camps, and one with exceptionally high rewards. Yes, it was to go to the Elemental region and, through some method, help the affiliated Paradise camp obtain a long-vacant 「Peak Powerhouse Seat」.
Although he didn't know the exact number, he guessed that the number of peak powerhouses in the 「Peak Contact Platform」 wouldn't be too small. Also, one point couldn't be ignored: the decisive battle between Tuanzhang and the previous Lord of the Abyss. Correspondingly, that was also an ultra-large-scale campaign. Perhaps ninety percent of that generation's Paradise camp peak powerhouses had died, and the rest were missing. After all, that battle was neither a win nor a loss, and such situations were often the most brutal.
The Paradise camps' assistance in improving strength was reasonable and logical, not to mention the subsequent Paradise War.
Furthermore, the peak powerhouses of the Paradise camps generally weren't cowards. They had accumulated step by step, and some had even fought their way through. It would be strange if they were cowards. On the other hand, the peak powerhouses of the Star Realm, who had been lying low since the First Era, were the norm.
If a Star Realm peak powerhouse, who had slowly improved and successfully sealed their position, then generally lay low for half an era or even a full era, how could they be a match for Abyss system peak powerhouses?
For example, wasn't the Goblin Elder, Mazza Bia Dolt, too cautious and conservative during the Doom Star incident? That was because he was the weakest among the peak powerhouses in that conflict.
But a Goblin Elder of this strength was still quite formidable among the Star Realm's peak powerhouses, as he had the confidence to join the competition for the 「Abyssal Heart」.
Once the Abyss's invasion descended and the Abyss Gate officially opened, the peak battles that erupted would be far more brutal than those at Doom Star.
For instance, take the Scaleless Sea King, Nezmo. Although Su Xiao had beaten him until he doubted his fishy existence, during the last peak battle when the Abyss was about to erupt, the Scaleless Sea King, Nezmo, was a fierce powerhouse who slaughtered on all sides. It was just that the intensity of the Third Era was abnormally high.
If Su Xiao wasn't mistaken, the final battle corresponding to the Abyss Calamity was probably the main reason the Paradise camps trained contractors to become stronger, especially to have a peak lineup capable of confronting the calamity in the calamity battle.
As for the Paradise camps directly interfering with the Abyss Calamity, that was definitely not allowed. One of the 「Basic Regulations」 of the major Paradise camps was: no direct intervention, execution, alteration, etc. This wasn't just a 「Basic Regulation」; once intervention occurred, the Paradise camps would experience self-limiting rule conflicts.
Therefore, the Paradise camps avoided having two peak powerhouses from the same camp fight each other. Of course, this was only a warning, not mandatory. The cruelty of the Paradise camps was undeniable, but aside from main missions and war missions, they didn't seem to force their contractors to do anything. Even main missions had risks proportional to rewards.
Just like the initial choice: whether to enter the Paradise camp. If one chose no, they could decline, but what awaited them was the death that was already destined to come.
Feeling his own condition, Su Xiao originally thought that after mastering 【Eternal Constitution】, he would be weak for a period. Now, it seemed otherwise. In that case, he would upgrade the 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 ability. He took out two 【Star Glimmer Stones】.
【Yes/No to use Star Glimmer Stones x2 to upgrade the Extreme Realm: Star Realm ability. This upgrade will carry a risk of death. Mortality rate: 0% (determined by your total Supreme main attributes).】
Upgrading 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 required a powerful physique, which was expected. After using this ability multiple times, he understood it better. The Star Realm stasis of 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」, theoretically, absolutely froze everything in an area, putting it into a state where it could neither function nor be harmed.
So, how could Su Xiao harm enemies within this area? The answer was that he was the only one who could partially lift the stasis during the duration of 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」. This was also why he could move freely within the 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 area, not just due to game mechanics.
When he held his longsword, his causality naturally spread to his blade. The moment the Dragon-Slaying Flash's edge cut into an enemy's body, the stasis on that small part would temporarily disappear, entering a destructible phase. As the longsword cut through the enemy's body, the Star Realm stasis would return.
A more intuitive analogy: 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 'froze' everything within its range. Su Xiao was the source of absolute heat, neither frozen nor unable to move. The Dragon-Slaying Flash was a blazing red-hot blade. Cutting into an absolutely frozen enemy, it could perform a 'thermal cut'. After completing the 'thermal cut', the surrounding 'cold' would descend again. The enemy, lacking a 'heat source', would be immediately 'frozen' again.
This analogy wasn't perfect, but it was very easy to understand.
This was also why, sometimes, when Su Xiao injured an enemy within the frozen Star Realm area, blood would splash. However, this blood splash would last less than 0.5 seconds before freezing in a splashing state in mid-air.
As for how Su Xiao achieved Star Realm stasis, he used the power of a Technique Grandmaster to forcibly halt the operation laws of the Star Realm in the surrounding area. This sounded difficult, and in practice, it was indeed not simple.
Su Xiao opened his eyes. Upgrading 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 felt good; it could further deepen his understanding of the Star Realm.
【Extreme Realm: Star Realm: X++ (Transcendent Level · Active)】
Skill Effect: You fully release your Technique Grandmaster's might, affecting the Star Realm's operation within a 50,000-meter radius (increased by 30,000 meters), causing this area to enter a 「Star Realm Stasis」 state for 7 seconds. During this time, you can perform 「Limited Domination」 over this area, thereby permanently seizing one of the powerful enemy's abilities. If the seized ability is a 「Peak Ability」, it can be transformed through the Star Realm's conversion and purification of 「Star Realm System Power」 into your permanent 「Life Core」. 1 to ? cores can be formed, depending on the strength of the enemy's 「Peak Ability」. The enemy from whom the ability is permanently stripped will fall into a 2 to 3-second 「Absolute Weakness」.
Tip: If the target within the 「Star Realm Stasis」 is not a powerful enemy and their overall rank is lower than yours, all their abilities will be permanently seized. This action will result in a very high probability of their immediate death, or through the 「Limited Domination」 of the Star Realm area, you can perform 「Absolute Domination」 over such targets. Targets subjected to 「Absolute Domination」 will die within 48 to 72 hours.
Tip: Due to your further mastery of the 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 with its 「own characteristics」, you can now freely activate/deactivate 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」, and can even briefly activate it for a minimum of 1 second.
Tip: This ability can only be used once per natural day. This is the ultimate usage interval derived from this characteristic.
...
Su Xiao felt more confident about the upcoming battle in the Abyss. When surrounded by Abyssal creatures, he could instantly activate 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」, converting a large number of nearby Abyssal creatures into 「Domination Targets」. They would scatter over a wide area. Once any of them detected the presence of the Lord of the Abyss, Su Xiao would immediately know. However, the most critical question was whether he could use 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 for stasis within the Abyss.
As long as the stasis succeeded, then 「Limited Domination」 could be triggered. The now greatly enhanced 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 might indeed be effective in the Abyss.
As for what to do if the decisive battle against the Supreme Being wasn't within the Star Realm, as long as he ensured that his own 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 ability was comparable in strength to the Supreme Being's Star Realm stasis ability, then if Su Xiao couldn't use 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」, the opponent couldn't either. If both couldn't use it, it was as if nothing happened.
In a battle against the Supreme Being, the role of 「Extreme Realm: Star Realm」 was to cancel each other out, not to decide the outcome. Victory would still depend on overall hard power.
Just then, Su Xiao felt a stirring in his storage space. He took out the object causing it: 【Origin Stone: World】.
「Equipment Effect 4: Peak (Passive), Reaching above Supreme can activate this effect.」
This characteristic had become clearer. The 'above Supreme' mentioned here was clearly not the Supreme Peak, but the Supreme Realm. Furthermore, some information on the current 【Origin Stone: World】 had changed:
【Origin Stone: World】
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise (determined by location at time of synthesis).
Type: Special Equipment.
Durability: 18000/18000 points.
Equipment Effect 1: Meditator (Passive), if the Hunter carries the Origin Stone, each meditation will increase the progress of the current meditation ability by 10% (can be triggered once per natural day), and can raise the 「Meditation」 ability cap to Lv.110.
Equipment Effect 2: Power (Passive): No change.
Equipment Effect 3: Seal (Passive): No change.
Equipment Effect 4: Peak (Passive), Reaching above Supreme can activate this effect.
Equipment Effect 5: World · Chosen (Passive), You become the 「Unique · Chosen」. Fortune cap +2,050,000 points.
Current Fortune Cap: 20,000,000 points.
Description: You are the 「Chosen」, and the only one.
Sale Price: Unsellable, non-transferable, non-tradable. Drops upon death. If the one who kills you is unworthy of possessing the Origin Stone: World, this Origin Stone will shatter into five pieces.
...
Good news: he had become the only Chosen of the current era. What benefits this brought was unclear. To say there were no benefits was untrue. His fortune had skyrocketed from an increase of 50,000 to 2,050,000, pushing Su Xiao's fortune into the -20,000,000 point range.
It seemed that the current 「Fortune Coin」 would be somewhat silent. It hadn't done anything, yet its holder had lowered his own fortune floor.
What truly left one speechless wasn't that the 「Fortune Coin」, a Big Daddy-level Original Sin Object, did nothing, but that it had quietly enhanced the sealing power of the 「Book of Original Sin」, doing the same thing as the 「Collector」. It seemed that it didn't want the current holder to die from the backlash of multiple Original Sin powers, at least for the time being.
Putting away the 「Origin Stone: World」, Su Xiao went to the Alchemy Laboratory and exchanged for 10 sets of materials for 「Extreme Body Shell Potion」. Tuanzhang had previously helped post the sale information for 「Extreme Body Shell Potion」 on the Peak Contact Platform.
The price wasn't set at 120,000 ounces. With the decisive battle against Arcane Eternal Star imminent, if he could quickly obtain a large batch of Space-Time Power, he couldn't afford to miss the opportunity. This wasn't the time for a steady, long-term stream.
He set the price at 100,000 ounces per bottle and left Beini's stall number on the Peak Contact Platform. Peak contractors who needed it would naturally go to the stall in the Great Gathering Place.
Additionally, he informed several major merchant guilds and the 「Gil Earl Family」. He gave them a free bottle as a return gift for the two extra legendary swords.
Equipping the 【Peak Masterpiece】 title, Su Xiao immersed himself in potion brewing. After finishing the second bottle, he confirmed that this potion couldn't be brewed in batches. Catalyzing more than one portion at a time drastically increased the difficulty and sharply reduced stability. Seeing this, he began brewing one by one, using the process to feel his Alchemy skill, which had been raised to X.
The more he brewed, the more proficient he became. After finishing all ten bottles, he opened the team channel, intending to let Beini sell them for a while. When they were sold out, he would continue brewing.
However, as soon as he opened the team channel, he saw a series of orders from Beini. It wasn't just peak contractors who needed this item; several major merchant guilds and major Void powers who had learned of this potion through merchant channels also showed demand. This showed how popular the 「Extreme Body Shell Potion」 was among the powerful.
After all, since the fall of the Second Era: Alchemical Civilization, it had been far too many years since such a permanent enhancement secret medicine had appeared. Moreover, the top-tier alchemists of the Second Era: Alchemical Civilization were alchemical pharmacists who couldn't brew the 「Extreme Body Shell Potion」. This formula corresponded to ancient pharmacists. It wasn't that they couldn't brew it, but the difficulty was higher, and the results were unsatisfactory.
This led to the 「Extreme Body Shell Potion」 appearing for the first time in this great era, from the First to the Third Era. If it were a top-tier secret medicine corresponding to alchemical pharmacists, sales wouldn't be nearly as good.
When the pre-order quantity reached 25 bottles, Su Xiao knew he would have to postpone strengthening the Dragon-Slaying Flash until the afternoon.
Su Xiao threw himself back into brewing. When he finished, he had brewed a total of 40 bottles of 「Extreme Body Shell Potion」. He estimated that this would be the total sales volume before the Arcane Eternal Star campaign began. The major merchant guilds that bought them would certainly resell them, intercepting potential customers for the 「Extreme Body Shell Potion」.
Su Xiao didn't mind this. Obtaining a large sum of Space-Time Power as quickly as possible was his top priority.
Furthermore, the sales of 【Perfect Talisman】 were also good. After Beini placed this item on the stall, contractors who could see Reincarnation-level items surrounded the stall several layers deep. Those contractors who only saw ??? were completely baffled by the scene.
【Perfect Talisman】 didn't even need haggling. Beini couldn't haggle anyway; her throat was almost meowed hoarse from trying to explain, but she was still confused. So, she gritted her teeth and activated the fair auction mode. Generally, this mode wasn't used in the Great Gathering Place. At this rank, even if people didn't know each other, they were familiar by sight.
But this time, Beini had no other choice. No one present objected either. For a Reincarnation-level top-three item like 【Perfect Talisman】, holding a grand auction for it wouldn't be an exaggeration at all.
After that, the powerhouses began to pawn everything they had. The demand for 【Perfect Talisman】 was enormous. In fact, 99.9% of contractors with access to Reincarnation-level items needed it. This item only required 10 points of Luck attribute. Was there a difference between that and no equipment requirement?
Moreover, it boosted all equipped items by 35%. Except for extremely special systems, which high-rank contractor didn't have a full set of powerful equipment?
The 「Harmonious Resonance」 effect went without saying. 【Perfect Talisman】 had already been renamed by contractors as the 「Resurrection Talisman」. Nothing was more important than life. If this item was ranked third, just how absurd were the top two Reincarnation-level items?
In the end, 【Perfect Talisman】 was sold for 7,550,000 to a Hunter from Reincarnation Paradise. That fellow was clad in a black robe, revealing withered, cracked hands.
Including the subsequent income from 【Extreme Body Shell (Peak)】, Su Xiao now had tens of millions of Space-Time Power on hand. He suddenly had the thought of whether he should upgrade the 「Heavenly Edge Shadow Slash」 ability to Lv.145. However, considering maximizing resource-to-combat-power conversion, raising 「Heavenly Edge Shadow Slash」 to Lv.130-135 was the best choice.
This time, he not only sold 【Perfect Talisman】 but also successfully traded the 【Immortal Will (Passive, X)】 scroll. It was a barter trade, exchanging for:
「Supreme Enhancement Stone (Permission Item): Can be used at an Equipment Enhancement Machine when enhancing equipment, ensuring the current equipment enhancement level will succeed +1.」
Taking out the 【Supreme Enhancement Stone】 from the team storage space, Su Xiao, along with Bubu Wang and Baha, headed out towards the Equipment Enhancement Hall.
Half an hour later, in front of the Equipment Enhancement Hall, various enhancement tragedies were inscribed on stone slabs. The feeling of having equipment shattered during enhancement was imaginable. Conversely, once an item, especially a weapon, was enhanced to a high level, it could truly turn a contractor's fortunes around.
Entering the Enhancement Hall, it was busier than ever. Su Xiao walked up to an Equipment Enhancement Machine and activated it.
【Welcome to Equipment Enhancement Machine No. 16666.】
The machine's tray extended. Su Xiao placed the Dragon-Slaying Flash on it. The metal tray retracted, and a prompt appeared.
【Equipment verification complete. To enhance Dragon-Slaying Flash (Reincarnation Level) +1, requires consuming 1 Primordial Core.】
【Detected this is a Reincarnation-level weapon enhancement. You must be aware of the following enhancement regulations.】