Chapter 1599: Tomboy

The Apostle's Eye in Su Xiao's hand had changed drastically in appearance. While its size remained largely the same, overall, it was dozens of times more precise than before.

As Reid had said, the nature of the Apostle's Eye hadn't changed, but its detection rank had risen significantly, and it was now a zero-consumption piece of equipment.

If one were to use the light gold quality Apostle's Eye for surveillance, it would consume Su Xiao's mana. Now, however, it was different; the Apostle's Eye could automatically absorb energy to recharge itself.

What Su Xiao valued most was actually the increase in detection rank. A detection rank as high as Tier 6 was something even a Tier 6 contractor wouldn't refuse. If he used the Apostle's Eye to trade for an Epic-grade piece of equipment, those Tier 5 or Tier 6 contractors would trade without hesitation.

It might seem like the Apostle's Eye offered no improvement in combat power, but that was not the case. Knowing yourself and your enemy ensures victory in every battle; sometimes, knowing the enemy's information could determine the outcome of a fight.

The enemy's type, status, abilities, whether they had dangerous ultimate moves—this intelligence was decisive in battle. No contractor would ignore such information; those who didn't care about these things were basically already dead.

Excluding the usage rights of the equipment synthesis machine, Su Xiao had essentially traded the Ascension Set for a high-rating Epic-grade piece of equipment, plus 1.1 million Paradise Coins. No matter how you looked at it, this deal was worth it.

Most of the items Su Xiao had obtained in the Star Fall Continent had been converted into strength, leaving only a little over a million Paradise Coins and one medal.

Compared to Paradise Coins, Su Xiao decided to try out the function of this medal first.

Chaos Medal: Carrying this medal allows one to activate permissions in the Reincarnation Paradise Trial Grounds, choosing any basic ability mentor, provided the mentor's basic ability level is Master-level Lv. 45 or higher.

The Chaos Medal was definitely a good item, so Su Xiao headed straight for the Trial Grounds.

Half an hour later, in front of the main entrance of the Trial Grounds, the area was significantly quieter compared to the Attribute Enhancement Hall and the Equipment Enhancement Hall. This place was very friendly to newcomers, but at Su Xiao's current stage, he no longer needed mirrors as sparring partners.

Walking into the Trial Grounds, the place was somewhat empty and not very large, containing only a few dozen teleportation arrays.

Su Xiao took out the Chaos Medal, and a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.

【The Hunter has used the Chaos Medal. Please select the mentor type.】

【Prompt: Once this selection is made, the mentor type cannot be changed.】

If he were at Tier 3, Su Xiao would definitely have chosen the swordsmanship category, but with his current swordsmanship, a Master-level Lv. 45 mentor wouldn't be of much help.

Conversely, if he chose close-quarters combat or marksmanship, the gains would be quite significant. Su Xiao's close-quarters combat and marksmanship abilities were only at the Specialist level, not even reaching Master level. With the level of a Master-tier mentor, the improvement speed of these two abilities could be imagined.

However, Su Xiao fell into a dilemma. Both close-quarters combat and marksmanship were very important. Close-quarters combat ability could complement his swordsmanship, while marksmanship included mid-range shooting and long-range sniping.

After pondering for a moment, Su Xiao decided to choose a close-quarters combat mentor. After all, he was primarily a melee fighter, and side kicks were a type of close-quarters combat move.

As soon as Su Xiao made his choice, the sensation of teleportation struck. A flash of white light appeared in his eyes, and he found himself inside a dojo. The next moment, something soft pressed tightly against his back, and an arm wrapped around his neck.

Blue light flickered in Su Xiao's eyes, and Checking Zhan Long Shan unsheathed itself, the blade standing upright before his neck.

"Huh."

A sound of surprise came from behind Su Xiao. Before he could even grip the blade, two legs wrapped around his waist.

Su Xiao couldn't be sure of anything else, but the only thing he could be sure of was that the mentor he had chosen was a bit eccentric; as soon as he teleported in, the other party had actually ambushed him.

Bang!

Su Xiao was pressed onto the floor.

"Hahaha."

A "hearty" laugh came from behind Su Xiao. Hearing this laugh, Su Xiao immediately thought of a certain woman.

"To think I'd meet you here; what a strange fate."

The woman behind Su Xiao wrapped her legs around his waist, her elbow pressing against his spine. Given the current situation, Su Xiao couldn't get up.

"Sha?"

Su Xiao turned his head to look behind him. Sure enough, it was that half-elf tomboy. Back at the Demon Castle, Su Xiao had learned a certain ability from her—an ability... called Intuition!

"Good hearing. I felt you were strange back then; so you were a contractor of Reincarnation Paradise."

Sha didn't sit up, instead leaning her head closer to Su Xiao.

"Hey, how about a trade outside of the contract?"

Sha had cut her hair short by now, but her voice hadn't changed; it still had a hint of hoarseness.

"A trade outside of the contract?"

Qing Gang Ying energy surged on Su Xiao's body surface, and Sha immediately jumped up.

"Of course. According to the contract, I will teach you melee combat abilities, but only melee combat abilities—at least that's what's specified in the contract."

As Sha spoke, she pulled up her top. There was a scar on her side, pitch-black and looking ferocious and terrifying.

"Because of some things, I offended people from the Arcane Eternal Star in the Void. You can imagine the result. Judging by the situation recently, I probably won't live much longer; this thing is gradually corroding my life force."

Sha pointed to the scar on her side as she spoke.

"The content of the trade."

Su Xiao sheathed Checking Zhan Long Shan and looked Sha up and down. Sure enough, there was a mass of black energy on her side, gradually eroding her life force.

"Help me enter Reincarnation Paradise. As for the reward, it's naturally my combat knowledge."

"Impossible. If I'm not mistaken, you were only temporarily teleported here and will return to the Void afterward. I won't be going to the Void anytime soon."

"It doesn't matter. As long as you go to the Void once within half a year, that's fine, provided you have a way to bring me into Reincarnation Paradise."

"..."

Su Xiao pondered for a moment. He did indeed have a way to bring Sha into Reincarnation Paradise; Reid was a precedent. For a powerhouse like this, combined with his Hunter permissions, helping Sha enter Reincarnation Paradise wasn't impossible.

It was obvious that Sha must have offended an enemy in the Void that she couldn't resist, which was why she thought of taking refuge in Reincarnation Paradise.

"Of course... I can do it."

Su Xiao was considering the pros and cons. He had no friendship with Sha, at least not now, so he had to consider it from the perspective of benefits.

"Alright then. If you enter the Void, you can arrange a meeting place with me, and we'll meet there."

Sha waved her hand as she spoke, activating the one-way teleportation function.

"Wait."

"What is it?"

Sha looked at Su Xiao in confusion.

"Did you forget... something important?"

"Uh~ I suppose so."

Sha gave a light cough, deactivated the teleportation function, and lunged straight at Su Xiao...

Ten hours later, Su Xiao dragged his exhausted body out of the trial grounds, as if he had been drained by some succubus. During these ten hours, his Close-Quarters Combat Mastery had increased to Lv. 44, a full 4-level improvement.

More importantly, Sha was very skilled at side kicks; her exclusive ability, Mad Scorpion Tail Swing, belonged to the side-kick category. When she was sealed by Alice, the level of Mad Scorpion Tail Swing was already Lv. 69, and now, Sha's seal had been lifted.