Chapter 63: Accumulated Strength Unleashed
Bang!
A single shot, the bullet flew past the ear of Yulu as he streaked through the air at high speed. The target was a headshot, but Yulu's flight speed was simply too fast.
While dodging this shot, several alchemical ravens caught up to Yulu. White feathers shot out, piercing through those alchemical ravens, causing them to fall toward the ground.
Bang!
The second shot. Su Xiao's shooting rhythm was improving.
Swoosh~
The bullet flew almost grazing Yulu's torso. The powerful shockwave from its passage skewed his flight trajectory, and a large swarm of alchemical ravens surged in.
"Yulu, surrender!!"
Some female spectators could no longer bear to watch. Their idol was being ruthlessly sniped down.
Bang!
The third shot. The bullet left the chamber.
With a crackling sound, a cloud of blood mist exploded in the sky. One of Yulu's wings was shattered, and he spiraled downward like a bird with a broken wing.
Bang, bang, bang.
Three precise consecutive shots. Three clouds of blood mist burst at different heights.
With a thud, half a mangled corpse hit the ground.
Su Xiao pulled the bolt, gunpowder smoke drifting. A bullet casing flew out of the chamber. He caught the ejected casing, turned, and walked toward the contestant viewing area.
"What? Just 1 minute and 20 seconds into the match, and the seeded contestant Yulu is dead?!"
Hack exaggeratedly shouted. In the audience, every male spectator with a female companion felt a secret satisfaction seeing Yulu's gruesome death.
Su Xiao returned to the contestant viewing area without a pause, heading straight for the rest area.
Inside the rest area, Lilim, who had been waiting for some time, immediately activated the teleportation array. She too knew Su Xiao was pressed for time.
As the teleportation array activated, a female mage wearing a hood in the audience curled her lips.
"He actually created an opportunity for me."
The female mage vanished into thin air.
...
Inside the Mistfire Forest.
"Ugh~"
Lilim looked utterly defeated, leaning against a tree trunk and retching.
"If you can't master alchemical creature manufacturing soon, I'll fight you to the death."
Lilim gasped heavily. Right now, she wished she could stuff Su Xiao into the teleportation array and overload it.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, only signaling Lilim to hurry.
"I'm fine now..."
Suddenly, Lilim's expression changed. Her gaze shifted to the right.
A magic array appeared out of thin air. It was enormous, with dense spatial energy surging.
Soon, the array stopped spinning. A slender arm reached out, and Mage Sage Seraphilia stepped out. She had tracked the spatial fluctuations to arrive here.
"Flame."
Mage Sage Seraphilia wasted no words. A fiery red glow flickered in her hand, as if she knew this place wasn't safe to linger.
At that moment, every hair on Su Xiao's body stood on end. He didn't need to be told—this was an enemy of the Shadow of Law Annihilation, likely one of those ancient immortals who had lived for a thousand years.
"Seraphilia, trespassing into another's territory is very rude behavior."
An aged voice came. One by one, tree people fixed their gazes on Mage Sage Seraphilia.
"Tree Sage."
The light in Seraphilia's hand faded. Her gaze fell on Su Xiao. Within the Tree Sage's alchemical defense barrier, even she dared not act recklessly. It was like how others wouldn't dare cause trouble inside her magic tower. In the Mistfire Forest, the Tree Sage's strength was at least several dozen times greater than usual.
If they fought elsewhere, Seraphilia and the Tree Sage were evenly matched. In a life-or-death battle, Seraphilia had the higher chance of victory—she was a combat mage, while the Tree Sage was an alchemist.
However, on the Tree Sage's territory, she would be lucky to escape with her life.
"Perhaps this is fate. Fate dictates that you won't die here today. Law Destroyer, I am Seraphilia, a fire mage whose home was destroyed by the Shadow of Law Annihilation, with nowhere to return. There is no personal grudge between us. But the moment you became a Law Destroyer, you became my inevitable target. Kill me, or be killed by me."
Mage Sage Seraphilia's face was as cold as ice, yet in her eyes, there was nothing but loneliness and sorrow.
The array flickered with light. Seraphilia stepped into it. She indeed had a death feud with the Shadow of Law Annihilation, but she wouldn't bury herself here just to kill Su Xiao. There was still another Law Destroyer alive in the void, one far too powerful for her to handle.
Madwoman. That's what they called Seraphilia in the void. She had ambushed the Blade Demon twice—once nearly dying, once being skinned alive and thrown into the Black Abyss.
After Seraphilia left, Su Xiao's expression wasn't pleasant. He had nearly died just now. This gave him a new understanding of the dangers of the void.
He had to leave the void as soon as possible. Until his strength reached a certain level, he wouldn't come back here unless necessary. It was too easy to get caught in the crossfire. It was far more reliable to improve his strength in derivative worlds.
"Let's go."
Su Xiao walked toward the treehouse room.
"You almost died here just now. Pretty calm about it."
Lilim let out a long sigh. She was no match for Seraphilia.
"The result is that I didn't die. That's the opportunity."
"Weird way of thinking."
The two walked into the treehouse. Inside, the Tree Sage was nowhere to be seen, likely negotiating with Seraphilia. There had been no enmity between them before.
Su Xiao didn't want to waste a single second. He plunged into the alchemy laboratory, mass-producing alchemical ravens.
He changed his plan on the spot. This was his last time here. He wouldn't advance alchemical creature manufacturing for now. Creating new alchemical creatures would slow down his production speed. What he needed to do now was to keep manufacturing alchemical ravens nonstop, accumulating proficiency in alchemical creature manufacturing. His current proficiency had reached: 901/10, enough to raise alchemical creature manufacturing to a very high level.
Half an hour later, the Tree Sage returned to the treehouse, apparently having finished negotiations with Seraphilia. The outcome was unknown.
Su Xiao worked without rest, manufacturing alchemical ravens. After a full nine hours, his alchemical creature manufacturing proficiency reached 1876/10.
Based on his experience with "Alchemy Bomb Manufacturing" and "Alchemy Potion Manufacturing," this proficiency was enough to raise alchemical creature manufacturing to Lv.20.
Earlier, he had hoped to break through the Lv.20 limit with the Tree Sage's guidance. But after Seraphilia's interference, that was nearly impossible. Now he had to leave here quickly. The Tree Sage's stance was unclear—who knew whose side he was on, or if he was simply a neutral who offended no one.
The Tree Sage's ambiguous attitude made the treehouse unsafe to stay in. While it would be ideal to max out alchemy here and create a high-level alchemical creature, ideals were plump, and reality hid deadly traps.
He could max out alchemy later. As for creating stronger alchemical creatures, he could do that in Reincarnation Paradise. At most, it would cost some Paradise Coins. There was no need to gamble with his life here.
Though he hadn't achieved the ideal result, the gains were still substantial. Greed was fine, but there had to be a limit.
What Su Xiao needed to do now was stay put in the Void Arena until the matches ended and he could return to Reincarnation Paradise. Once back there, Seraphilia could only stare helplessly.
A slightly fatigued Su Xiao walked out of the alchemy laboratory.
"I'm done here."
"Really?"
Lilim was overjoyed. She didn't want to do any more long-distance teleportation.
"Yeah."
Su Xiao's storage space was packed with a massive number of alchemical ravens. He wasn't sure if these could be brought into Reincarnation Paradise. They were unverified items, and in such quantity. If they could be taken in, he'd be rich—he could sell them in the trade market.
This time, when Su Xiao and Lilim left the treehouse, the Tree Sage personally "escorted" them—or rather, he was seeing off a certain plague god.
Standing on the teleportation array, Su Xiao looked at the Tree Sage.
"Tree Sage, thank you for your gift. Perhaps we'll meet again."
Su Xiao's words sounded friendly, but the Tree Sage felt something was off. For some reason, an image appeared in his mind: Su Xiao holding a blade, smiling broadly as he came to "seek guidance" in alchemy.
"If you grow strong enough, we won't meet again. Definitely not."
The Tree Sage waved his hand, and Su Xiao and Lilim were teleported away.
Su Xiao returned to the rest area of the Void Arena. The results of the second round were already out. There were 22 contestants remaining.
"Ugh~"
Lilim pushed open the door. The demon girl had tears streaming from retching. Right now, she only had one thought: go home and settle scores with her brother.
With the alchemy matter handled, Su Xiao was noticeably more relaxed. The Void Arena should end soon. The fewer contestants, the more dense the battles. The subsequent matches would test endurance. With 22 people, the champion could be decided within a day at most.
Thinking about returning to Reincarnation Paradise soon, Su Xiao smiled. If he successfully completed the fifth round of the Demon Castle game, he would obtain the Proof of a Strong One, allowing him to break through the 80-point attribute barrier. The rewards for 80 points in attributes—he had been looking forward to them for a very, very long time. That would be his chance to soar, a massive boost in strength. Developing all four attributes simultaneously was a method of accumulated strength unleashed. Soon, it would be time to reap the rewards.