Chapter 87: A Unique Understanding of the Blade
Inside the exclusive room.
One by one, large soul crystals appeared in Su Xiao's hands, eight in total.
These eight large soul crystals were obtained through countless hardships. From fighting Lan Jue, participating in a super-large war, to defending the Twilight Palace, he had faced life-and-death situations countless times.
Fortunately, it was all worth it. With the large soul crystals, he could accelerate the process of improving his blade techniques. In the brutal Reincarnation Paradise, relying solely on self-training clearly couldn't keep up with the pace of battle. Thus, he had to use a faster and more stable method: using soul crystals to upgrade skills.
With 902,480 Paradise Coins and eight large soul crystals, these resources were enough for Su Xiao to upgrade his Blade Grandmaster skill by eight levels.
[Upgrade Blade Grandmaster Lv.31 (Passive) requires consuming 100,000 Paradise Coins + Large Soul Crystal ×1. Do you wish to upgrade?]
"Upgrade eight consecutive levels."
As Su Xiao's voice fell, the eight large soul crystals in his hand burst apart, scattering into large, crystalline fragments.
Paradise Coins were rapidly consumed until 800,000 had been deducted. The 900,000 Paradise Coins he had just obtained were now reduced to just over 100,000.
The soul crystal fragments formed a brilliant silver chain of light that shot straight into Su Xiao's mind.
A roar echoed in his head, and his vision went black. This wasn't the first time he had experienced this. When upgrading his blade technique by several levels at once, this phenomenon occurred.
Darkness, endless darkness.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in the darkness.
Clang!
A blade aura flashed. Seeing this blade aura, Su Xiao's consciousness became dazed. What kind of slash was that? It seemed capable of cutting through space, time, and darkness.
The darkness lasted for an unknown duration. Finally, Su Xiao felt his own existence again. Around him floated large, brilliant silver chains of light—these were fragments of the large soul crystals.
The soul crystal fragments swirled around him for a while before drifting into the darkness ahead.
The fragments' glow illuminated part of the darkness, and through their faint light, Su Xiao vaguely saw an ancient tree.
This ancient tree was somewhat withered. Its trunk, thick enough for several people to wrap their arms around, was covered in slash marks. Su Xiao tried hard to see the marks clearly, but no matter how he focused, they remained hazy and indistinct.
The soul crystal fragments floated to the ancient tree, gradually forming eight human figures.
The eight figures stood beneath the tree, blades forming in their hands. They began practicing their blade techniques under the tree.
Su Xiao's spirit had unknowingly connected with those eight figures. These figures were framed by the soul crystals, with Paradise Coins serving as the shaping cost.
As the eight figures practiced under the tree, Su Xiao's body and mind rapidly absorbed blade technique knowledge. It felt as if those eight figures were him—like his clones, no, they were entities several dimensions above mere clones.
Su Xiao couldn't help but think that if he could permanently possess these eight clones, his blade technique improvement would be incredibly fast.
However, that was impossible. These eight "clones" would only exist for a very short time. As the price, he had paid eight large soul crystals and 800,000 Paradise Coins.
Moreover, the ancient tree in the darkness was also key to the rapid improvement, and the surrounding environment contributed to the enhancement. All these elements were indispensable.
Before long, one of the figures under the tree gradually dissipated, triggering a chain reaction. The remaining seven figures also began to fade quickly.
Su Xiao's eyes snapped open. The dark space vanished, and the slash-covered ancient tree disappeared. He was sitting cross-legged on the bed in his exclusive room. Bubu Wang had hidden in the corner; Su Xiao's previous few blade technique upgrades had left quite a shadow on the little guy.
Bubu Wang's eyes showed a hint of grievance, as if saying, "This baby is angry. I've already drafted 20 home-wrecking plans."
As his blade technique level gradually increased, the phenomena during upgrades grew stronger. From the initial drowsiness that allowed quick upgrades, he could now "see" various scenes—a qualitative change.
Su Xiao picked up the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his lap and drew it slightly from its sheath.
Clang.
A blade aura about five meters in diameter detached from the edge and flew forward at an imperceptible speed.
The light blue blade aura struck the wall, instantly cutting through it.
"Not good."
The blade aura flew into the room opposite, followed by the sound of heavy objects collapsing.
This wall of the exclusive room had been reinforced by Su Xiao for 500 Paradise Coins, used for his blade technique experiments. It could easily withstand a direct hit from a large missile, with strength comparable to or even exceeding the walls of the Twilight Palace.
Yet, after upgrading his blade technique by eight levels, a casual slash from Su Xiao cut through the wall. More importantly, he had produced the blade aura without fully drawing the Dragon-Slaying Flash—something he absolutely couldn't do before.
The benefits of continuously upgrading the blade technique by eight levels were immense, requiring gradual exploration. But before that, he needed to check the data changes of his Blade Grandmaster skill.
[Blade Grandmaster: LV.39 (Passive Skill)]
Skill Effect: Increases blade-type weapon attack power by 188% (increased by 48%), greatly enhances blade technique proficiency.
Lv.10 Additional Ability
Rhythm of All Things (Top-tier): This ability cannot be enhanced in Reincarnation Paradise; it can only be comprehended by the Hunter himself.
Lv.20 Additional Ability
Blade Aura: Enables mid-range attacks. Sharpness corresponds to blade technique level. No cooldown.
Note: Due to the increase in Blade Grandmaster level, Blade Aura has been enhanced. Enhancement direction: Sharpness, Penetration, Armor Piercing.
LV.30 Additional Ability
Heart Blade: Through years of blade technique cultivation, your heart is no longer swayed by external forces.
Effect: Immune to mental-type control effects.
...
The attack power boost for blade-type weapons from Blade Grandmaster had increased significantly. The higher the blade technique level, the more pronounced this boost became. The benefits of a grandmaster-level basic skill became more apparent at higher levels, with greater increases and higher caps.
Blade Aura had also been enhanced due to the Blade Grandmaster level increase. The enhancement direction was excellent: sharpness, penetration, and armor piercing—all attributes well-suited for blade auras.
The increase in Blade Aura's power also meant that several self-developed techniques had greatly improved.
Su Xiao closed his eyes to sense. After a long while, he opened them. Although the rapid improvement in Blade Grandmaster had significantly boosted his strength with many benefits, it wasn't without drawbacks.
The blade technique had improved too quickly, vaguely exceeding Su Xiao's "comprehension" range of the art.
As for what "comprehension" was, Su Xiao couldn't explain it clearly. He only knew that during each meditation, his understanding of the blade technique would increase.
This comprehension had always been balanced with the blade technique level, even slightly exceeding it. But after this substantial upgrade, that feeling disappeared. There were no direct disadvantages, but Su Xiao disliked this sensation.
Su Xiao made a decision: before that comprehension and blade technique level reached balance again, he absolutely would not make another significant upgrade, especially not the Lv.40 upgrade, which was a qualitative change. He vaguely guessed that if he could keep comprehension and technique level equal, the ability gained at Lv.40 would be greatly enhanced.
Although Reincarnation Paradise's enhancements had no side effects, Su Xiao had a habit: after each upgrade of his main combat abilities, he wouldn't upgrade them again until he had fully adapted to them.
Su Xiao walked into an empty room, drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his waist, and began practicing his blade techniques—slashing, chopping, thrusting. He practiced only basic moves. Don't underestimate these basics; most powerful techniques are derived from them. Only with a solid foundation can blade techniques improve steadily and quickly.