Chapter 548: The Ladder of Spirit and Flesh (3k)

"I am very sorry, but His Excellency Tao Baibai does not seem to intend to accept your negotiation for the time being."

Jin Ruohai shook his head at the group of people before him; this group consisted of high-level Reincarnators from "Black Water," the most famous gathering of mercenary Reincarnators in the East District.

They had already confirmed that after that battle, the new leader, Sijian Yinianqingsi, had gone missing, which likely aligned with the rumors.

Daheitian, Yinianqingsi, and Su Qingqiu had all been defeated by Tao Baibai, and it was only out of respect for His Excellency the End Sun that they were not killed.

Instead, they had all become Tao Baibai's captives.

Someone confirmed that the leader of "Death Paradise," Muyu, had contacted Tao Baibai through "Black Butler," most likely wanting to ransom "theheaven·Su Qingqiu."

No matter how high the price, a living top-tier Reincarnator was always worth it.

Especially for an elite-type gathering like "Death Paradise," losing a figurehead powerhouse would likely soon lead to them becoming a target for other gatherings to attack.

The same went for "Black Water"; for a gathering like theirs that specialized in accepting various mercenary missions for extra profit, a strong and powerful leader was a necessity.

The few of them frowned, doubting whether seeking out Jin Ruohai had been a mistake.

Although Tao Baibai had indeed had contact with Jin Ruohai, it now appeared that Jin Ruohai's level of familiarity with Tao Baibai was clearly not as great as Black Butler's.

Just as the group was about to leave, they suddenly received a notification, their expressions turning to shock.

The next moment, the group, having returned to the team Assembly Space, saw Yinianqingsi appear in the team plaza, completely unharmed.

Black Water's team space was set up as a massive plaza with a gloomy sky; a sun seemed to be undergoing a total eclipse, the light neither bright nor dark, looking quite magnificent.

"Boss, you..."

Facing their puzzled gazes, Yinianqingsi spread her hands and shrugged her shoulders.

"No choice, in order to survive, I sold out 'Black Water'."

"Sold it out?!"

The group's eyelids twitched, and their voices instantly rose in pitch.

Yinianqingsi, however, leaned lazily against the stone pillar in the center of the plaza and said as a matter of course,

"Yeah, otherwise did you think that guy would let me go?"

The group's expressions grew even more sinister; they exchanged glances and said coldly,

"Death Sword, did you not tell Tao Baibai that our 'Black Water' has always been nothing more than a loose gathering? Even if you are the current leader, you have no right to decide the comings and goings of others."

Yinianqingsi raised her eyelids and saw that the speaker was Yingwu·Muergai, an assassin-type Reincarnator with dark skin, wrapped entirely in a gray-white cloak.

Her lips twitched, and that laziness faded bit by bit as an intangible intent to kill grew increasingly intense. In the team space, as the gathering's controller, she could slightly alter some of the rules here; although they still could not kill each other, it was not difficult to let her own killing intent radiate outward.

Muergai also sensed this in an instant, and before they could speak, they heard the woman's cold, gloomy voice ring out.

"That was the 'Black Water' of the past. From now on, 'Black Water' will change its management style. Under my... well, under the dominion of His Excellency Tao Baibai, I will issue a kill order for anyone who does not obey orders."

Yinianqingsi used her hand to tuck back the long dark purple hair at her ear, her lips curling into a cruel killing intent.

"Executed by me personally."

Yinianqingsi could still recall the chilling, deathly silence of Tao Baibai's fingers sliding across her skin; he was absolutely a man a thousand times more cruel than she was.

She did not want to die; she wanted to live. For this goal, she could abandon everything.

Be it her freedom or her dignity.

The mere principles of the "Black Water" gathering and the lives of these other members—how could they be more important than her own survival!

She used these things as bargaining chips to keep herself from temporarily becoming a Scarlet Drop Card placed on that stall.

Coincidentally, Tao Baibai seemed to be in need of manpower at the moment; his "Paradise" needed to be rebuilt, and for the sake of more convenient hunting in the future, he needed many people to spread the reputation of "Paradise"...

Yinianqingsi licked the corner of her mouth, her eyes devoid of warmth.

Muergai felt a chill throughout his body; Sijian Yinianqingsi was able to quickly become the leader of Black Water precisely because she was very skilled at killing!

The others also understood this point, and their minds immediately tightened, falling into hesitation.

——

【Bodhi】

【Quality: World's Rare Treasure】

【Description: Legend says it is a fruit condensed from the Bodhi tree that grew where Bodhidharma attained nirvana; it possesses the effect of enlightening one to worldly truths and mastering techniques.】

【Effect 1: Keep it on your person; when training, the speed of improvement for Martial Artist-type specializations and abilities increases by 50%.】

【Effect 2: Consume the Bodhi to receive an infusion of wisdom from past lives; training abilities and specialization levels are forcibly increased by 1 level. There is a small probability of gaining an additional Tese, and an extremely small probability of gaining the inherited martial art: Tathagata Palm (S-rank).】

This was a bead emitting a faint, misty luster, covered in complex and fine patterns. This item was far more precious than the 【Bodhi Leaf】 that Red Dust had previously traded to Bai Cangshu.

Not only did it not require being held in the mouth to be consumed, but simply keeping it on one's person allowed for a constant training bonus, and Effect 2 was, for the current Bai Cangshu, incomparably applicable.

The description space for this 【forcibly increased by 1 level】 had been carefully marked in bright red text, as if to remind the Reincarnator of the extraordinary nature of this effect.

As a Martial Artist who had now reached the 【Peak of Technique】, Bai Cangshu naturally understood the true function of this effect.

Whether a specialization or ability was raised from Lv1 to Lv2 or from Lv6 to Lv7, it was only an increase of 1 level, but the effect and difficulty were worlds apart.

Furthermore, this description was clearly reminding the Reincarnator that for an item of 【World's Rare Treasure】 quality, its true value in touching upon a World's Rare Treasure lay in allowing an ability to break through the Lv9 limit, break through the 【Peak of Technique】, and enter a transcendent realm.

This was the reason Bai Cangshu had agreed without hesitation to let that Virtue Reincarnator go; otherwise, how could the greedy Bai Cangshu have easily loosened his grip on prey he had already caught.

Honestly, Bai Cangshu wanted to eat this Bodhi directly and use the wisdom of past lives to break through his Martial Arts specialization to Lv10 and enter the so-called transcendent realm.

In many worldviews of Dongxia, they liked to use "entering the Dao through technique" to describe this process, while in works like Fate, it was described as exquisite technique touching upon the realm of 【Magic】.

But Bai Cangshu ultimately suppressed this impulse. The most effective way to use the 【Bodhi】 item was naturally to wear it for high-speed training, and only consume it directly when needed in battle to step into the 【Lv10】 realm in an instant and reverse the battle.

Furthermore, Bai Cangshu had now vaguely touched upon the key to another powerful power system. In his battle with those three, he had felt the existence of the Earth's magnetic field; his 【Current Drive】 energy system already possessed the potential to enter 【Magnetic Field Rotation】!

Bai Cangshu put the 【Bodhi】 into his Backpack, thought for a moment, and crushed the few Scarlet Drop Cards in his hand one by one.

In order to have his Agility and Spirit attributes catch up sooner, he began to specifically use the Scarlet Cards of Reincarnators with these styles.

He remembered that the Reincarnators sent by the End Empire were mostly on the spellcasting side.

【You have opened a Scarlet Drop Card】

【...】

【You have chosen Attribute Extraction】

【Spirit attribute +6, current: 47】

【You have chosen Bloodline Extraction】

【Extraction failed】

【You have chosen Ability Extraction】

【You have obtained Ability Scroll: Nirvana Hermitage Technique lv4 (b+)】

【You have opened the Scarlet Drop Card】

【You have chosen Attribute Extraction】

【Agility attribute +6, current: 42】

【You have chosen Bloodline Extraction】

【Extraction failed】

【You have chosen Ability Extraction】

【You have obtained Ability Scroll: One-Sword Asura lv4 (a-)】

……

Bai Cangshu's haul from this extraction was incredibly bountiful, because most of those who came to hunt him were Elite-level Reincarnators or above; not only were their attributes relatively high, but the results of the Ability Extraction were also quite gratifying.

The only thing that disappointed Bai Cangshu slightly was that, aside from the woman who used 【One-Sword Asura】, there were no other Reincarnators specialized in agility.

After a round of extractions, his Spirit attribute surged, and his Constitution also improved slightly, but his Agility attribute still failed to break the 50-point mark.

【Attributes: Strength 51; Constitution 57; Agility 42; Spirit 59】

At the same time, he also obtained a batch of lv4-level Ability Scrolls that could be sold.

Among these Ability Scrolls, the only one that made Bai Cangshu linger for a moment was 【One-Sword Asura】.

【One-Sword Asura (a-) — A Blazer technique that forcibly concentrates all Magic Power, at the cost of squeezing the Soul and consuming lifespan, to significantly increase physical capabilities (currently a maximum increase of 4 times), lasting for one minute.】

In Bai Cangshu's view, this ability could roughly be considered a bankrupt version of Kaioken; it was similarly an ability that provided a temporary explosive boost, but it had weaknesses such as consuming the Soul, having a short duration, and only being able to increase physical capabilities.

However, for Reincarnators on the physical arts side, especially those who used Magic Power to construct reinforcement systems, or those on the swordsmanship side, it could still be called a powerful ultimate technique.

Bai Cangshu tapped his arm a few times. Over at 【Black Water】, Yinian Qingsi had not yet sent back any news; it would probably take some effort to round up that group. Bai Cangshu actually wouldn't mind killing a few more, but his time was tight right now.

Furthermore, that 【An Zhiyuan】 and the boss of Clear Sky had jointly issued a requirement for him to limit the use of destructive power above the 【Xiong】 rank outside the borders of Myanmar.

This also affected Bai Cangshu's hunting range.

Bai Cangshu naturally would not fully comply with this so-called requirement, but he also wouldn't go on a thousand-mile raid for a piece of prey as small as a "fly's leg."

He prepared to manage 【Paradise】 into a paradise of true freedom and chaos for Reincarnators, while he would regularly select the most perfect prey from within it to enjoy.

Bai Cangshu stood up and turned the doorknob. He had not yet waited for the ransom sent by 【End of Days】, so for now, he prepared to go and see what the meaning of this so-called 【Ladder of Soul and Flesh】 he had newly unlocked actually was.

【Special Reincarnator ex051, it has been detected that you have met the conditions for climbing the ·Ladder of Soul and Flesh·, please proceed to the Ladder Management Office for inquiry.】

This was a special prompt he had seen after returning from the 【Root of Vortex】. Because he had sensed the actions of the 【Kill White Alliance】, Bai Cangshu had returned to reality to fight and had not yet had time to go and inquire.

"Ah!"

"It's... him."

"It's Lord Tao Baibai..."

As the true "traffic star" of the East District of the Infinite Dimensional Space today, Tao Baibai was at the height of his popularity. At this moment, his fame even overshadowed those 【Strongest】 whom few people had ever seen.

He had become a symbol of a top-tier Reincarnator in the hearts of many low-level Reincarnators.

After all, defeating multiple top-tier Reincarnators of Title-level or above single-handedly—this kind of strength was enough to be crowned with the honorific 【Lord】.

With his hands behind his back, Bai Cangshu drifted like a ghost through the Shanty Town and entered the 【Jiewei Guanlichu】 directly.

Knight Girl, who was wiping a sharp sword, sensed a new Reincarnator entering. She turned her head, just about to smile and greet him, but the next moment, she froze for a second, then revealed a bright, energetic smile.

"Amazing, you have found another Ladder..."

Bai Cangshu also raised his right hand. Beneath his ring of purple Tese casting, there faintly existed a dim meridian, as if it were circulating throughout his entire body and entering deep into his physical form.

"Miss Knight, is it convenient to tell me now what the meaning of the Ladder is?"

(End of chapter)