Chapter 61: Second Round
Ten hours later, inside the Treehouse Alchemy Laboratory.
Su Xiao sat at a workbench, light flickering in his hands as mana was consumed while several materials floating between his palms underwent catalysis. He casually picked up a fiery red wooden block, and the rough form of an alchemical raven began to take shape. About a dozen seconds later, one alchemical raven was completed.
This level of efficiency would leave most alchemists utterly astounded. Su Xiao excelled in close combat, a field most alchemists were not adept in. Melee combat required strong reaction speed and on-the-spot adaptability, both of which provided a considerable boost to alchemy.
Having manufactured a large number of alchemical ravens, Su Xiao had become quite adept at creating this type of alchemical creature. Starting from an initial 10 minutes per raven, then 5 minutes, after producing several dozen, his speed reached an astonishing 2 minutes per raven.
Two minutes per alchemical raven was not the limit. After making over a hundred, his speed reached 1 minute per raven.
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. After crafting several hundred alchemical ravens, Su Xiao's speed reached 46 seconds per raven.
This still wasn't the limit. By now, Su Xiao could make alchemical ravens even with his eyes closed.
After producing roughly a thousand alchemical ravens, his speed reached 32 seconds per raven.
Catalyzing materials, constructing the alchemical creature's core, building the core formation diagram, final shaping, refinement, and so on.
The steps seemed numerous, but it was a process of honing skills through repetition. The accumulation of knowledge worked just like this.
At that moment, Tree Sage was observing Su Xiao's alchemical creature creation through the transparent stone slab. The old man was clearly astonished.
This elderly alchemist couldn't understand how Su Xiao could create an alchemical creature in such a short time. What surprised him even more was that despite shortening the creation time, the alchemical creatures produced were becoming increasingly refined.
"This might be considered some kind of talent, but it's not particularly useful."
Tree Sage lost interest. Speed didn't equate to quality. The utility of one high-level alchemical creature far exceeded tens of thousands of low-level ones.
Just as Su Xiao was immersing himself in alchemy, unable to tear himself away, Bubu Wang sent a message. Due to the long distance, communication between Bubu Wang and Su Xiao wasn't very convenient and required spending Paradise Coins.
'The second round draw starts in 30 minutes. The second round matches begin in one hour.'
Su Xiao had roughly thirty minutes left. The time needed to teleport back was about ten minutes.
After continuing to make a few more alchemical ravens, Su Xiao picked up several materials he had never used before and began crafting an alchemical item resembling a 'signal receiver.'
Soon, a simple 'formation coordinate receiver' was completed. This item was about the size of a thumbnail, gray in color, soft in texture, and had strong adhesion when activated.
"That should do it."
Su Xiao stored the 'formation coordinate receiver' in his storage space and stood up to leave the treehouse.
Pushing open the door, Lilim was playing with a small treant, while Tree Sage was reading a book.
"Tree Sage, can I take the things I made with me?"
Su Xiao had a good plan in mind.
"Of course. As I said before, I provide the materials. Anything made from those materials belongs to you personally."
"Thank you."
Su Xiao turned back into the room and stored all the alchemical ravens inside into his storage space. The number of alchemical ravens totaled 896. If all were activated, they would form a pitch-black swarm. Unfortunately, Su Xiao hadn't mastered any basic summoning abilities, so he could only provide a boost to one summoned creature and control only one at a time.
"Your alchemy improved? That fast?"
Lilim stretched, her figure curving gracefully.
"Not that fast. That teleportation formation should be usable multiple times, right?"
"At most five times."
"That's enough."
Su Xiao and Lilim walked out of the treehouse, retracing their steps to the teleportation formation. About ten minutes later, the two returned to the restroom of the Void Arena.
"Go quickly and come back quickly. The formation won't last much longer."
Lilim was repairing the teleportation formation to prevent any accidents during teleportation. Su Xiao walked out of the restroom and headed toward the notary office.
Upon arriving at the notary office, Su Xiao caught a faint smell of blood. At this moment, there were many contestants inside, but far fewer than before.
There were originally 260 contestants. The first round was a 1v1 elimination match. In theory, 130 contestants should have advanced to the second round.
In reality, that wasn't the case. After the first round ended, only 76 contestants remained. Deaths and injuries were inevitable in battle, and mutual destruction wasn't uncommon. Moreover, some contestants were severely wounded after completing their first-round matches, making them unable to participate in the second round even if they qualified.
If this pace continued and the battles were brutal enough, by the end of the second round, the remaining contestants might number fewer than 20.
Su Xiao needed to complete the fifth round of the game, which meant finishing in the top 20. Once the remaining contestants dropped below 20, he would directly pass the fifth round of the Demon Castle trial.
Once he completed the Demon Castle trial, Su Xiao would have multiple options: continue pushing for the top three, or forfeit and return to Reincarnation Paradise.
The atmosphere in the notary office was somewhat oppressive, a result of the arena's brutal rules. Among the remaining 76 contestants, most were injured.
"The second round draw is complete. The arena will reopen in 30 minutes."
The snake-haired woman gestured for the contestants to check their respective number plates. Su Xiao took out his plate, and on one side was written 17/106, indicating that his opponent was contestant number 17.
Su Xiao contacted Bubu Wang. About a few minutes later, Bubu Wang arrived. The dog looked like it had been to some 'coal mine,' its white fur stained black.
"Did you go to Africa to do business?"
Bubu Wang looked a bit embarrassed, its eyes seeming to say, "It's a long story. A dog's life is full of hardships. The clients were a bunch of idiots."
Setting aside what kind of 'clients' Bubu Wang had faced, Su Xiao was more curious about who contestant number 17 was.
After learning Su Xiao's opponent's number, Bubu Wang took out a tablet and played a recording of a battle. Since Su Xiao wasn't in the arena, Bubu Wang was responsible for gathering information on the other contestants.
"Is this... an angel?"
Su Xiao's opponent had a rather unique appearance. It was a man with pure white wings, paired with a head of golden, flowing hair. At first glance, he looked very much like an angel.
Bubu Wang raised its dog paw and quickly typed with its fleshy paw pads.
'Yu Lu, Holy Wing Clan. Born with wings on his back, excels at flying, extremely fast in flight. Weapon: feathers + some kind of energy. That energy is similar in nature to Nen, suspected to be purified life force. Lacks the versatility of Nen, but enhances the penetration and sharpness of the feathers. After being eroded by that life energy, speed noticeably decreases, bleeding doesn't stop, and it suppresses regeneration abilities or recovery energy...'
Bubu Wang's description of the information was very comprehensive. After all, it had fought alongside Su Xiao for a long time. Though it never participated in direct combat, it had a good eye.
After understanding his opponent's intel, Su Xiao quickly walked toward the arena. Bubu Wang, meanwhile, went off to find its 'clients' to discuss 'big business.' Su Xiao seriously suspected that Bubu Wang was negotiating a coal deal with them.