Chapter 4: Supreme Wise One's Strategy (Passive): If you choose this enhancement, you may select two of the three enhancements above.
...
As Su Xiao expected, the extreme realm passive with the "Supreme Wise One" prefix corresponded to the Supreme Intelligence attribute. However, this upgrade no longer corresponded to the "Strength, Agility" attributes, which determined the first two benefits.
Su Xiao chose "Supreme Wise One's Strategy." The next second, he felt his primordial life force begin to grow. The first change was that his maximum health points reached 80 million.
In simple terms, this extended the already maxed-out health bar a bit further. Previously, when Su Xiao fought other contractors, he could see each other's health bars, with tank-type characters naturally having the longest ones.
If any contractor dared to show their health bar in front of him now, they would only need to see its length to feel in their hearts: "Oh no, I'm definitely dead this time."
Previously, each life core corresponded to 50 million health points. Now, each life core soared to correspond to 80 million health points. This meant that even if an opponent had a life core piercing ability, Su Xiao's life cores could withstand more damage, colloquially known as being tankier.
Besides "Ultimate Primordial Life," Su Xiao also chose "Extreme Realm Heart: Supreme." This was both because his current elemental affinity was already high enough and because he always felt that this ability called "Extreme Realm Heart" was the strongest among all his extreme realm abilities.
The "Extreme Realm Heart" at the Supreme Peak, besides granting +1 to all main attributes, had the following characteristics:
"You have completely broken through all physical barriers until reaching your 'Absolute Limit.' Each Extreme Realm Grandmaster's 'Absolute Limit' differs."
Now, the "Extreme Realm Heart" corresponding to the Supreme attribute, besides increasing 1 point of all Supreme main attributes, Su Xiao could clearly feel that the limit of this ability was far from this. In fact, this was likely the initial form of this ability.
As an Extreme Realm Grandmaster, the main focus was "balance," so Su Xiao planned to increase 10 points of main attributes first, then immediately raise the "Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing" ability by 10 levels.
[To upgrade Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing, Lv.140, requires consuming 3 million ounces of Space-Time Power, 200 Primordial Cores, and ten portions of "Primordial Source Matter."]
The consumption of "Space-Time Power" and "Primordial Cores" skyrocketed, but fortunately, the demand for "Primordial Source Matter" didn't increase. Su Xiao chose to upgrade.
All the "Primordial Cores" and "Primordial Source Matter" shattered, mixing with "Space-Time Power" to form a special energy that was absorbed by Su Xiao's body, rapidly upgrading the "Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing" ability. This breakthrough beyond the limit didn't produce the usual phenomena, like seeing visions or sensing wonders.
This time, Su Xiao only felt himself. This was because the path he was now forging ahead on was a technique path never before trodden by anyone. He had gone from a diligent practitioner on the path of Technique Grandmaster to the end that his predecessors could reach. From now on, he was the one blazing this trail.
A few hours later, Su Xiao opened his eyes. The feeling was quite good, experiencing the improvement of technique abilities and the exploration of unknown realms throughout. It was like walking on a wilderness filled with thick fog; wherever he passed, the fog cleared.
If later practitioners could reach his current height, they might see the scene of him nearly slashing "Arcane Eternal Star" in half with one strike, or his future battle scenes, thereby comprehending how to continue on this path.
Activating the Attribute Enhancement Pod, Su Xiao was about to continue improving his physique when a prompt appeared.
[Due to your Supreme all main attributes reaching 30 points, each subsequent Supreme attribute point increase will consume more "Starry Realm Primordial Power." After comprehensive assessment, each subsequent 1 point of Supreme attribute increase requires 328,524 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[Due to you obtaining relevant authority, Reincarnation Paradise will bear a certain amount of resource consumption for you.]
[Final assessment complete. For each subsequent "Supreme Free Attribute Point" formed, you need to pay 200,000 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
...
Previously, when all attributes reached 20 points, the upgrade cost increased, but after the notarization mechanism's reduction, it returned to 120,000 ounces. Now at 30 points, although there was still a significant reduction, the upgrade cost reached 200,000 ounces per point.
Su Xiao naturally chose to continue. A total of 7.2 million ounces of Space-Time Power was poured in, and 36 Supreme Free Attribute Points were obtained. Since it was balanced development, Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence each increased by 9 points.
A few hours later, when the Attribute Enhancement Pod stopped operating, Su Xiao completed the upgrade.
He took out the [Miracle Secret Medicine] and drank the second portion. This potion could be drunk a second time at 40 Supreme attributes. After drinking, it felt quite good, with a faint warmth throughout his body. The level cap of "Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing" began to increase. After meditating and waiting for the potion's effects to fully manifest, he took out two types of resources.
[To upgrade Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing, Lv.150, requires consuming 5 million ounces of Space-Time Power, 200 Primordial Cores, and ten portions of "Primordial Source Matter."]
Bad news: upgrading Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing was getting more expensive.
Good news: while the upgrade cost increased, the improvement brought by each level skyrocketed.
He checked the Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing ability after this upgrade:
[Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing, Lv.150 (Extreme Realm Technique Passive)]
Basic Effect: All technique ability comprehensive intensity increased by 1470% (increased by 720%).
Skill Effect: Extreme Blade (Exclusive Passive)...
Current Extreme Blade Foundation Strength: 506 points.
Extreme Realm Effect 1: Heavenly Edge Shadow Severing (Extreme Realm Exclusive Passive)...
Extreme Realm Effect 2: Selfless Realm (Extreme Realm Exclusive Passive), Enter the "Selfless Realm," temporarily forget all past blade techniques, only retain the one blade technique currently used, and elevate it to the extreme.
Current Selfless Realm Enhancement Limit: 31.6 times technique power.
...
Regarding Su Xiao's battle with the Mad King, why did the Mad King continuously and desperately unleash his potential throughout the entire fight? The reason was that there was no other way to fight. If you switched the battle perspective, it was actually quite interesting.
From the Mad King's battle perspective, what he faced was an enemy who seemed to only have a long blade in hand, without any other majestic abilities. However, the actual experience was far from that.
What he faced was someone covered in scarlet blood energy, with the power of the long blade in hand so vast it was unstoppable. Magical attacks blasted against him were like fireworks exploding—besides being dazzling, they had no effect. Oh, wait, they did have some effect: they could make the opponent frown with annoyance and impatience. This was a direct downgrade from magical attacks to mental attacks!
By the end of the fight, in the Mad King's eyes, everything ahead was scarlet. Arcane Eternal Star was stained by blood energy, causing blood rain to fall. The figure holding the long blade, as a human appearing to be 1.8 meters tall, could make even an 81-meter giant tremble in fear and kneel before him.
From the perspective of the high-ranking spellcasters, this was a world-destroying Asura amidst scarlet blood rain, with mountains of corpses and seas of blood behind him. Even those sin-laden evil gods and malignant spirits, facing this scene and the Law Destroyer holding the long blade emitting rising dark blue smoke, would be terrified, their legs trembling, unable to move an inch.
Imagine facing an enemy with this kind of aura and spirit. The fact that Arcane Eternal Star dared to surround and resist with all their forces showed that the Spellcaster faction had its reasons for being the Void overlord all these years.
Therefore, Su Xiao's battle perspective and the perspective of enemies looking at him during battle were completely different. His development direction of "normal attacks being ultimate moves," which he was very satisfied with, caused an overwhelming sense of fear in the eyes of others during battle. No, it was a severe overflow.
Of course, as enjoyable as the battle was, the resource consumption during normal upgrades was equally astonishing. After checking his remaining Space-Time Power, Su Xiao chose to upgrade Abyss Studies. The Abyss campaign was approaching, and it was time to max out this ability.
[To upgrade Top-Tier Abyss Studies to Lv.100, a total of 440,000 ounces of Space-Time Power is required.]
Su Xiao chose to upgrade. A vast amount of Abyss Studies knowledge flooded into his mind. It must be said that without sufficiently high Intelligence attributes and Soul Strength, mastering this level of Abyss Studies was indeed very dangerous.
When the influx of Abyss knowledge subsided, Su Xiao checked his Abyss Studies and found that the ability had become X. This situation gave him an idea. He tried using Golden Skill Points to upgrade this ability, and it actually succeeded. Under normal circumstances, knowledge-type abilities automatically transform into X when maxed out, but Abyss Studies was clearly different.
He first tried investing 5 points. Many abilities had a limit of 5 Golden Skill Points. Finding that he could continue, he invested another 2 points. In the end, he used a total of 10 Golden Skill Points to max out Abyss Studies.
When the Abyss knowledge baptism completely ended, Su Xiao's eyes had a hint of darkness. Fortunately, this darkness began to fade over time. The newly upgraded "Top-Tier Abyss Studies, X" returned to simplicity, gradually transforming into "Abyss Studies, X."
[Abyss Studies, X (Passive)]
Skill Effect: You have achieved a comprehensive understanding of the Abyss. You have a more intuitive judgment and clearer understanding of the dangers that Abyss power can trigger. You have learned the causal origins of many "Ancient Abyss Existences" and have the possibility of completely killing them.
...
Not to mention anything else, just the "learning the causal origins of many Ancient Abyss Existences" part was worth the 400,000-plus ounces of Space-Time Power. If Su Xiao successfully completely killed an "Ancient Abyss Existence" during the Abyss campaign, then in subsequent campaigns, wherever a powerful "Ancient Abyss Existence" appeared, he would likely be summoned there.
Su Xiao felt himself. The "Extreme Realm Passive" for all main attributes reaching 40 points was still in a state of continuous awakening. It seemed this was caused by having just mastered the "Extreme Realm Passive" for 30 main attributes not long ago.
He had 6.54 million ounces of Space-Time Power remaining. Su Xiao planned to invest it all into Supreme attributes. Subsequent Supreme attributes would be slowly accumulated. The stronger his physique, the greater his chances of dealing with the "Ancient Abyss Existences" later.
The cost for forming "Supreme Free Attribute Points" had indeed increased, from 200,000 ounces per point to 300,000 ounces. He chose Strength +5, Agility +5, Stamina +6, and Intelligence +5, totaling 21 points of Supreme attributes.
When the Attribute Enhancement Pod stopped operating, Su Xiao, having completed this upgrade, checked his current personal information:
Name: Su Xiao (Hunter).
Level: LV.105.
Life Cores: 186/186.
Azure Shadow King Energy: 78,420/78,420 points.
Supreme Strength: 45 points.
Supreme Agility: 45 points.
Supreme Stamina: 46 points.
Supreme Intelligence: 45 points.
True Charm: -130 points (-30 points).
True Luck Attribute: -10 points.
Fortune: -20 million points.
...
The improvement in physique made Su Xiao very satisfied. However, the Charm attribute had dropped significantly again, by a staggering -30 points in a single instance. Seeing this, he immediately took out the [Book of Original Sin] and further strengthened the seal on the [Fortune Gold Coin], increasing it from the original 100% sealing power to 120%. After doing this, his thoughts seemed to become a bit more open.
As for just annihilating Arcane Eternal Star, this was an act of justice on behalf of heaven. How could it result in negative Charm attribute? Nonsense.
However, this upgrade brought Su Xiao's life core count to a new height, but he suddenly felt it still wasn't enough. When the time came to clash with the Lord of the Abyss, having enough life cores might be crucial.
But one thing was certain: the Lord of the Abyss's life core count was definitely astonishingly high. In contrast, the "Demon Blade Execution" of Dragon-Slaying Flash became even more important.
Su Xiao glanced at the time. Upgrading himself made time pass quickly. He had originally planned to visit the Soul Library, but now it seemed too late. He could only entrust the little spirit, Popoli, to deliver that [Covenant Item]. The required Library Silver Coins would be deducted from the proceeds of this sale of the "Void Library."
Su Xiao arrived at the training ground. With such a huge upgrade this time, he naturally needed to adapt. Before long, he was inside the Land of All Beings, Layer 10, and his arduous training began.
After only staying there for a little over a day, Su Xiao returned to his Exclusive Room. He glanced at the remaining countdown and activated the human divine technique: sleep. Over seven hours later, he woke up to the sound of an announcement prompt. Whether it was Reincarnation Paradise or the Void Tree, prompts had always only been translucent text appearing before the eyes, without any sound. This time, however, there was a sound, and the announcement's font was blood red.
[Announcement (Void Tree): As the Abyss Gate is about to open in a few hours, the Abyss Campaign is expected to officially begin in 4 minutes and 59 seconds. All Contractors, Hunters, Battle Angels, Death Rangers, etc., will go to their respective stationed worlds.]
[Prompt (Void Tree): You will go to the main command room of the Void Allied Forces Base Camp in 4 minutes and 59 seconds to hold a tripartite meeting with the "Void Theater Commander-in-Chief" and the "Logistics Chief."]
[After completing this meeting, you will participate in the first round of defense in the Void Core Theater, and during this period, you will be ready to reinforce the following five main battlefields at any time.]