Chapter 90: Simplified Version
It was still the same ancient battlefield. As soon as Su Xiao arrived, the blood energy of the ancient battlefield surged toward him.
Su Xiao released his aura. Compared to last time, his aura was noticeably stronger now. However, the blood energy of the ancient battlefield was too powerful, and his aura was still insufficient to fully resist it.
If Su Xiao wanted to absorb this blood energy through the Devouring Core or the Demon Seal, he first needed the ability to withstand it.
At present, aside from constantly releasing his aura, he could do nothing else. A moment of distraction would allow the blood energy to erode him. Once fully eroded, the consequences would be severe.
The blood energy gradually seeped into Su Xiao's aura, affecting his mind and rationality.
Blood-red patterns slowly emerged on Su Xiao's cheeks, and a red glow appeared in his eyes. The blood energy was rapidly eroding his consciousness.
Su Xiao struggled to maintain his rationality, but he could feel his sanity slipping away. If not for the Mind Blade keeping him awake, he would have been swallowed by the blood energy long ago. This blood energy had already surpassed the scope of mental-type effects.
Just as Su Xiao was about to succumb to the blood energy's erosion, light flickered before his eyes, and he returned to the Skill Upgrade Pod. The blood energy within him dissipated instantly.
[Aura Release (Passive) has been upgraded to Lv.3.]
Su Xiao leaned back in the Skill Upgrade Pod, panting heavily, his face covered in cold sweat.
Absorbing that blood energy was harder than he had imagined. Forget absorption—even initial resistance was a struggle.
"Continue."
Su Xiao paid another 30,000 Paradise Coins and was teleported back to the ancient battlefield.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao's figure suddenly reappeared in the Skill Upgrade Pod. His face was covered in blood-red patterns, and his eyes flickered with a red glow, like a blood demon from the abyss. He had entered and exited the ancient battlefield several times by now.
Green light particles enveloped Su Xiao, and the blood energy within him dissipated.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Su Xiao let out a series of violent dry coughs, spitting out droplets of blood. On his sixth entry into the ancient battlefield, he had attempted to absorb the blood energy. As soon as it entered his body, it spiraled out of control. He couldn't remember what happened after that. When his consciousness returned, he was inside the Skill Enhancement Pod, and his body felt heavy, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.
[Aura Release (Passive) has been upgraded to Lv.7.]
[Warning: The Hunter has been eroded by the blood energy of the ancient battlefield. Do you wish to pay Paradise Coins to recover?]
"Pay."
As soon as Su Xiao spoke, his Paradise Coins plummeted at an alarming rate. In an instant, 13,500 Paradise Coins were consumed.
"What the hell..."
Su Xiao couldn't help but curse. He could accept the high cost of upgrading "Aura Release," but why was the recovery fee so exorbitant?
The discomfort in his body disappeared. After a moment's hesitation, Su Xiao chose to upgrade "Aura Release" again.
Back on the ancient battlefield, Su Xiao immediately sat cross-legged as soon as he arrived. Subconsciously releasing his aura, he used it to resist the blood energy. He didn't use any other abilities, even compressing the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy near his heart.
He was here to strengthen his own aura. If he used other abilities to resist the blood energy, the Paradise Coins spent would be meaningless.
Su Xiao had already realized that resisting the blood energy with his own aura gradually increased its intensity.
Su Xiao's aura formed a spherical shape, about five meters in diameter. Faint blue threads flickered within it, creating a mesmerizing sight.
As time passed, sweat beaded on Su Xiao's cheeks. His aura had been compressed by the blood energy into a sphere only two meters in size, and the blood energy was about to erode his body.
As the aura was compressed, it became more refined. Both its intensity and quantity increased due to the external pressure.
The surrounding blood energy wasn't specifically targeting Su Xiao; it was merely eroding unconsciously. Even so, as the blood energy corroded his aura, it formed countless blood-red spikes that pierced into it.
One blood-red spike gradually touched the back of Su Xiao's hand. Instantly, blood-red patterns appeared on his hand and quickly spread across his body.
When the blood-red patterns reached his neck, his face began to twitch.
Whoosh~
Su Xiao vanished from the ancient battlefield and returned to the Skill Upgrade Pod.
The blood energy within him dissipated instantly. The blood-red patterns on his skin peeled away and quickly disappeared into the air.
[Aura Release (Passive) has been upgraded to Lv.8.]
Su Xiao opened his eyes. After several rounds of enhancement, he could now initially resist the blood energy for a period of time. At the start, he couldn't last more than 5 seconds before being teleported out. Now, he could hold out for 48 seconds.
"Just a little more."
Su Xiao hesitated for a moment before choosing to continue. Although that ancient battlefield was dangerous, risk and reward went hand in hand.
Ten minutes later, Su Xiao collapsed to the ground, his body covered in blood-red patterns. He had tried to absorb the blood energy again, but failed once more.
[Aura Release (Passive) has been upgraded to Lv.10.]
[Tip: Since "Aura Release (Passive)" has been upgraded to Lv.10, the Hunter may choose a Lv.10 branch reward.]
A. Iron Ambition: Willpower +3.
B. Asura Soul: Allows the user to simulate their aura as a Blood Asura, enhancing intimidation effects (this effect has no attack power).
C. Aura Amplification: Aura intensity +10%.
...
Three options. In the past, Su Xiao would have chosen option A without hesitation. But this time, he had greater ambitions.
After thinking it over for a long time, Su Xiao finally chose option C: Aura intensity +10%.
As soon as he made the selection, Su Xiao's aura suddenly burst forth.
Boom.
An extremely powerful aura spread throughout the Skill Upgrade Pod, its intensity rapidly increasing.
After a long while, Su Xiao let out a long breath.
"Now... maybe there's a chance."
Su Xiao took out a pack of gum, popped a piece into his mouth, and began chewing. Although his mana consumption wasn't high, he wanted to keep his mana at full capacity. The next time he entered the ancient battlefield, he planned to execute a strategy.
"Continue upgrading 'Aura Release.'"
[Upgrading "Aura Release Lv.10 (Passive)" requires 50,000 Paradise Coins. Do you wish to pay?]
Su Xiao's mouth twitched. The cost of enhancing Aura Release had increased even further.
"Pay."
Light flickered before his eyes, and Su Xiao appeared on the ancient battlefield. He was already somewhat familiar with this place.
As soon as he arrived, Su Xiao immediately sat cross-legged. With Aura Release now at Lv.10, resisting the surrounding blood energy was noticeably easier.
Closing his eyes to sense for a moment, Su Xiao estimated that under the erosion of the blood energy, he could last at most about 5 minutes. Time was tight; he needed to act quickly.
Su Xiao rapidly converted his mana into Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, gathering it in his hand and compressing it to a very high concentration.
His mana drained quickly. After converting all 1,200 points of mana into Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, a honeycomb-like sphere appeared in Su Xiao's hand.
The structure of this sphere was extremely intricate. Staring at it too long could even cause dizziness.
As Su Xiao continued to inject Cyan Steel Shadow Energy into the sphere, its volume gradually increased, from the size of a walnut to that of an apple.
However, that wasn't enough. The sphere Su Xiao created with Cyan Steel Shadow Energy had a structure very similar to the Devouring Core. He had simplified the Devouring Core, making this simplified version specialize in three abilities: absorption, purification, and refinement.
For this simplified Devouring Core, Su Xiao focused on the purification ability. The blood energy of the ancient battlefield was too impure, containing many types of energy that couldn't be absorbed into his own aura.
When his mana was down to only 300 points, a simplified Devouring Core the size of a basketball floated above Su Xiao's head. He had constructed a complete version of the Devouring Core once before, so building a simplified version now wasn't too difficult.