Chapter 89: Wild Imagination
Five minutes after Solomon left.
In the restaurant, Su Xiao transferred 21,600 Paradise Coins to Yan Chen, which was Yan Chen's intermediary fee.
Yan Chen left a remark to remember to pay the bill and then ran off. This guy earned 21,600 Paradise Coins just by using his mouth, so he was naturally in a good mood.
Su Xiao sat alone in the restaurant, recalling Solomon's aura in his mind. If the two sides were to fight, even at the same rank, his chances of winning were not high, at most fifty-fifty.
"An academic mage, truly worthy of the title Mage Lord."
Su Xiao stood up and walked toward the door. As soon as he pushed it open, a petite figure approached from the opposite direction. It was a little girl wearing a red dress with a lollipop in her mouth. She carried a travel bag in her hand, from which a strong smell of blood emanated.
Enemies always meet on a narrow path. This little girl in the red dress was Gulu, a member of the Traveling Group who loved killing and eating candy.
Their eyes met. Gulu crunched down and bit the lollipop in her mouth in half.
"It's you, you 'Spider-Man' bitch!! The one who can shoot webs."
Gulu gritted her teeth in hatred, crunching and chewing on the hard candy.
"..."
Su Xiao remained silent, simply walking out of the restaurant.
"Hey, how does it feel being hunted by those guys from the Blood Gate?"
Hearing Gulu's words, Su Xiao paused in his steps.
"Oh? Did you commission them to hunt me?"
"Of course... not. How could I do something so L-O-W? But it's surprising that you weren't burned to death by Huang Fen."
Gulu's expression changed, and she broke into a full smile: "Stan must be furious. If that's the case, how about we make a deal?"
Gulu's personality could be described as moody. Earlier, she wanted to devour Su Xiao alive, and now she wanted to make a deal with him.
"A deal?"
"Yes, a deal. Return the Demon Hunting Ring to me, and I can provide you with important information. It concerns your life and death. Aren't you curious why Stan sent people to hunt you down? You're not dead. As long as the Blood Gate isn't wiped out, they will continue to hunt you until you die."
It seemed Gulu was still fixated on the Demon Hunter Set. Su Xiao was only missing one piece to complete the set, and then he could activate the set bonus. How could he give up?
"Not interested."
Su Xiao turned and left, leaving Gulu alone.
"Bitch, bitch, bitch. Ah, my beloved Demon Hunting Ring. This guy really isn't easy to fool. But... why are those Blood Gate people hunting him?"
Gulu scratched her head. In fact, she didn't know why the Blood Gate people were hunting Su Xiao either. She had only learned through special channels while investigating Su Xiao that the Blood Gate Vice Commander, Huang Fen, had gone to the Second Rank world to hunt him down. The reason was unknown.
...
Not only was Gulu curious about why the Blood Gate was hunting Su Xiao, but Su Xiao himself was even more curious. His grudge with the Blood Gate shouldn't have reached the point where Stan would specifically send someone to the Second Rank world to hunt him.
However, there were too few clues, so Su Xiao could only wait and see.
After wandering around the Trade Market for a few rounds and finding no suitable equipment or items, Su Xiao headed straight for the Skill Upgrade Hall.
The War World had just ended, and the Skill Upgrade Hall was packed with people. The bunny girls and cat girls inside were all busy, responsible for guiding the contractors.
"Contractor sir, may I ask what..."
A bunny girl with a smile and a slightly tired expression bowed to Su Xiao.
Su Xiao waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need assistance. The bunny girl breathed a sigh of relief, thanked him, and went to attend to other contractors.
Su Xiao walked deeper into the Skill Upgrade Hall. All the Skill Upgrade Pods showed they were in use. Fortunately, there were many pods. After walking a certain distance, he found an unused one.
Entering the Skill Upgrade Pod, the door automatically locked. Su Xiao took out the [Aura Release] scroll, hesitated for a moment, and then chose to use it.
[You have used the 'Aura Release' skill scroll. Aura is condensing...]
Su Xiao stood still inside the Skill Upgrade Pod, his aura completely released. Fortunately, the pod was completely sealed.
In the past, even if Su Xiao intentionally released his aura, it was colorless. The aura would only cause intimidation to others, and only then would it appear colored and shaped in their eyes.
But this time was different. Su Xiao's aura began to compress and condense, becoming visible from invisible.
Soon, a faint red aura appeared inside the Skill Upgrade Pod. Within this faint red aura, a large number of faint blue threads were distributed. If one didn't look carefully, they wouldn't notice these faint blue threads.
About half an hour later, clarity returned to Su Xiao's eyes.
"So this is Aura Release?"
Su Xiao examined the surrounding aura. The faint red color indicated he had killed too many people. Those invisible blue threads were somewhat similar in nature to Cyan Steel Shadow Energy.
Opening the skill list, a new skill appeared.
[Aura Release Lv.1 (Passive)]
Skill Effect: Can release aura. If the enemy's Willpower is 3 points lower than one's own, they will enter a state of panic. The panic state can be dispelled using mental purification-type skills.
Tip: If the enemy enters a panic state, Stamina consumption +12%, Physical Defense -6, and when releasing skills, there is a 3% chance of failure.
Tip: As this skill is upgraded, it will increase aura intensity and slightly enhance Willpower.
...
Seeing the attributes of Aura Release Lv.1, Su Xiao was stunned. He already knew it could weaken enemies. But after mastering this skill, he was surprised to find that as it was upgraded, it could actually increase aura intensity and enhance Willpower.
It was well known that opportunities to increase Willpower were extremely rare. Yet this Gold-quality skill scroll actually had such an ability.
Su Xiao immediately activated the Skill Upgrade Pod's function, and a prompt appeared.
[Welcome to the Skill Upgrade Pod. Please select the skill to upgrade.]
After Su Xiao selected [Aura Release Lv.1 (Passive)], another prompt appeared.
[Upgrading 'Aura Release Lv.1 (Passive)' requires 30,000 Paradise Coins. Pay/Not Pay?]
Su Xiao thought to himself how expensive it was. Upgrading one level cost 30,000 Paradise Coins. For comparison, when he had upgraded his Firearm Mastery earlier, each level only cost 2,000 Paradise Coins.
Although the price was a bit high, at least it didn't require Soul Crystals. If another skill requiring Soul Crystals for upgrades appeared, Su Xiao would go bankrupt.
After hesitating for a moment, Su Xiao chose to upgrade.
The surroundings suddenly darkened, and a sensation of teleportation appeared. Then, Su Xiao found himself in an ancient battlefield. Corpses littered the ground, and a faint red mist rose from the battlefield.
A dragon's head was severed, and the bodies of many powerful beings were scattered around. The corpses of Demon Goats emitted a smell of sulfur. Any one of these creatures on the battlefield had the strength to effortlessly defeat Su Xiao.
The red mist drifting over the ancient battlefield surged toward Su Xiao, beginning to erode him.
Don't think this was an enhancement. If Su Xiao was eroded by this mist, even if he didn't die, he would go insane.
Su Xiao's own aura erupted, and the faint blue threads within it flashed with light.
The blood energy of the ancient battlefield began to compress Su Xiao's aura. He could only use his aura with all his might to protect himself from being eroded by the blood energy.
Su Xiao hadn't expected that upgrading a skill would carry such a risk. But now it couldn't be stopped; he had to continue.
The blood energy of the ancient battlefield seemed intent on devouring Su Xiao. Su Xiao certainly wasn't going to wait for death. He resisted with his own aura, but the blood energy of the ancient battlefield was too strong. His aura couldn't stop its erosion at all.
Gurgle...
Su Xiao's aura completely turned blood red. At the same time, a red light began to flicker in his eyes.
Suddenly, the teleportation sensation reappeared. When Su Xiao came to his senses, he was already back inside the Skill Upgrade Pod. The blood energy that had eroded into his body had been completely cleansed.
[Aura Release (Passive) has been upgraded to Lv.2.]
[Tip: Your Willpower +1 point.]
...
Seeing these two prompts, Su Xiao squinted his eyes. That feeling just now... seemed not bad. If his own aura were a bit stronger, he might be able to devour the blood energy of the ancient battlefield? Use that blood energy to enhance his own aura? Maybe even create a unique skill?
If it were anyone else, they wouldn't dare to court death like this. But Su Xiao had the Devouring Core and the Demon Mark. Both had devouring and filtering abilities. If he could devour that violent blood energy and then filter it into energy suitable for his aura to absorb, his aura might be able to improve rapidly.
This approach was very dangerous, but Su Xiao felt it was feasible.
"Continue upgrading."
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, 30,000 Paradise Coins were deducted, and the teleportation sensation reappeared.