Chapter 73: LV.30 Is Not the End
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed, storing all his items into his storage space. These items would need to be sold at the Trade Market later.
One by one, Soul Crystals (Medium) appeared in Su Xiao's hands, totaling 72 pieces.
With 404,500 Paradise Coins and 72 Soul Crystals (Medium), it was time to upgrade his Blade Mastery.
[Upgrade Blade Mastery (Passive) requires 50,000 Paradise Coins + Soul Crystal (Medium) ×10. Yes/No to upgrade.]
"Upgrade 7 levels consecutively!"
As soon as Su Xiao spoke, almost all the Soul Crystals (Medium) in his hand shattered, leaving only two remaining.
Paradise Coins drained rapidly, stopping only after deducting 350,000. Su Xiao had 54,500 Paradise Coins left, his assets dropping from six digits back to five digits in an instant.
The fragments of the Soul Crystals formed a brilliant silver chain of light, shooting straight into Su Xiao's mind.
A roar echoed in his head, and darkness enveloped his vision. Yet a smile crept onto his lips. The higher the level of Blade Mastery he upgraded at once, the stronger the phenomenon. Once before, when he upgraded 5 levels of Blade Mastery consecutively, a similar situation had occurred.
In the darkness, the Soul Crystal fragments coalesced into seven humanoid figures, standing silently in the void.
With a crash, one of the figures formed from Soul Crystal fragments shattered, transforming into a long blade that shot straight toward Su Xiao.
If it were an ordinary person, seeing a blade flying toward them would instinctively step back or dodge. But Su Xiao did the opposite—he advanced, controlling his consciousness to meet it head-on.
Another roar echoed in his mind, and insights about the blade art appeared in his memory, instantly becoming part of his bodily instincts.
Just as Su Xiao's consciousness cleared, another long blade formed from Soul Crystal fragments thrust toward him.
This cycle repeated. After an unknown amount of time, Su Xiao's eyes grew brighter and brighter, the light within them sharper and sharper.
"Again."
Su Xiao looked ahead, only to find nothing before him. A sense of reluctance surged from within.
The darkness receded. When Su Xiao opened his eyes, he was already standing in his Exclusive Room. The Dragon-Slashing Flash was in his hand, though he didn't remember when he had drawn it.
With Su Xiao as the center, the area within a few meters was covered in small, thumbnail-sized "granules." These granules came in various colors, their cross-sections clean and even.
"Woof~"
Hearing Bubu Wang's trembling bark, Su Xiao turned his head to look.
At that moment, Bubu Wang wore a yellow safety helmet on his head, half a wooden tabletop clamped in his mouth, and was hiding in a corner, shivering behind the broken tabletop.
Just moments ago, Bubu Wang had been planning to sleep in. But as soon as he closed his eyes, he was kicked flying by someone. Then he witnessed a terrifying scene: his master, eyes closed, slowly drawing the long blade from its sheath. The friction of the blade against the scabbard produced a pleasant, crisp sound.
Bubu Wang swore he had never heard such a beautiful sound. But the next moment, he nearly peed himself in fear.
Slash after slash, dense and relentless. Everything within a few meters of Su Xiao was cut to pieces.
"What are you hiding over there for?"
Su Xiao twirled the Dragon-Slashing Flash in his hand, feeling even more familiar with his weapon. It felt like an extension of his arm. He could sense the subtle flow of air through the blade's edge—a sensation he had never experienced before.
Bubu Wang ran over to Su Xiao and barked a few times at the wreckage of the furniture nearby.
"That was an accident."
Su Xiao checked the notification log from Reincarnation Paradise. Sure enough, there was a long list of information about the Blade Mastery upgrade.
[Blade Mastery has been upgraded to LV.30. Additional ability unlocked.]
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao frowned. He had worried that LV.30 might be the limit for Blade Mastery. If that were true, it would be disastrous for him.
Setting aside the additional ability for now, Su Xiao tried to upgrade Blade Mastery further.
[Upgrade Blade Mastery to LV.31 requires: Soul Crystal (Large) ×1, Paradise Coins 100,000 points.]
Su Xiao breathed a sigh of relief but couldn't help feeling exasperated. He had only ever obtained one Soul Crystal (Large) from a Golden Chest, showing just how rare this item was. And now, every single level of Blade Mastery would require one.
Not only that, but the cost of 100,000 Paradise Coins per level was enough to bankrupt Su Xiao.
Still, the fact that Blade Mastery hadn't reached its limit was undoubtedly good news. Nothing was more troubling than a core ability hitting a dead end.
Each level of Blade Mastery was a minor improvement, while every ten levels brought a major boost. Su Xiao immediately checked the details of Blade Mastery at LV.30.
[Blade Mastery (Passive) LV.30]
Skill Effect: Increases blade-type weapon attack power by 134%, greatly enhances blade technique.
LV.10 Additional Ability:
Rhythm of All Things (Top-Tier): This ability cannot be enhanced within Reincarnation Paradise and can only be comprehended by the Hunter through personal insight. (Upgraded from Advanced to Top-Tier.)
LV.20 Additional Ability:
Blade Aura: Enables mid-range attacks. Sharpness corresponds to Blade Mastery level. No cooldown.
LV.30 Additional Ability:
Heart Blade: Through years of accumulated blade training, your heart can no longer be shaken by external forces.
Effect: Immune to mental control effects!
...
Although Su Xiao had anticipated that the LV.30 additional ability of Blade Mastery would be powerful, he hadn't expected it to be this strong.
Still, this aligned with his earlier deductions about the blade art. He had previously believed that blade mastery involved the improvement of body, mind, and technique.
"Body" (Rhythm of All Things·Top-Tier) and "Technique" (Blade Aura) had both been enhanced. Now, it was time to improve "Mind" (Heart Blade).
As for the so-called "immunity to mental control effects," this included illusions from the Naruto World, control spells from certain mental-type mages, and so on—all ineffective against him.
This made Su Xiao look forward to what ability might appear if he could raise Blade Mastery to LV.40. Undoubtedly, that ability would be extremely powerful, perhaps causing a qualitative change in his blade art. Severing space? Or something even stronger?
After upgrading Blade Mastery, Su Xiao turned to Bubu Wang and transferred 5,000 Paradise Coins as pocket money.
"Buy a new set of furniture," Su Xiao said, glancing at the oddly shaped sofa (dog bed) before adding, "Same style as before."
With 5,000 Paradise Coins in pocket money, Bubu Wang trotted off happily, his fluffy tail wagging vigorously.
Spending 1 Paradise Coin to clean up the broken furniture in the room, Su Xiao left his Exclusive Room and headed straight for the Trade Market. He needed to deal with all those pieces of equipment.
Over ten minutes later, inside the Trade Market.
"Green quality, 30-rating armor. No time-wasters, please."
"Your price is way too high. Are you trying to rip me off?"
"Buy it or get lost!"
The Trade Market was bustling with activity. Contractors of all appearances weaved between stalls, occasionally stopping to haggle with the vendors.
Su Xiao pushed through the crowd to the stall he frequently used. This time, the sheer volume of items he planned to sell was staggering, bound to attract a lot of attention from other contractors.
But Su Xiao welcomed the attention. Most of the items he was selling were of low quality.
However, "low quality" was only relative to Su Xiao. Green and Blue quality equipment were core gear for first-rank contractors, while Purple quality equipment was typically held by second-rank contractors. This was evident from the equipment information revealed by contractors in the Hunter World when they planned to cooperate in killing the Cyclops.
After paying the Paradise Coins to rent the stall, Su Xiao began organizing the massive pile of equipment.