Chapter 26: Growth

Leaving the ice cream shop, Su Xiao walked thoughtfully through the streets of the Cycle Paradise.

According to the information provided by Xi Luoluo, his first priority was to go to the center of the Cycle Paradise and learn about the dozen or so important buildings.

First, familiarize himself with the Cycle Paradise, then enhance his attributes, and after that, spend the Paradise Coins he had acquired.

He currently had 8,400 Paradise Coins in total; it had been more, but he had spent over 3,000 Paradise Coins to recover from his injuries and paid Xi Luoluo 50 Paradise Coins, leaving him with only this amount.

After preliminary exploration, Su Xiao had already understood the value of Paradise Coins.

Ordinary contract holders typically receive 1,000 to 2,000 Paradise Coins after completing their first derivative world, enough only to buy a single weapon.

His derivative world had been extremely dangerous, so he received a larger amount—over ten thousand Paradise Coins.

Walking through the streets of the Cycle Paradise and observing the various contract holders, Su Xiao suddenly found himself liking this place.

The Cycle Paradise was like a primeval forest, where its cruelty stripped away everyone’s false masks and revealed their true selves.

Though cruel, it was also simpler.

If someone bore a grudge, they could simply settle it with life or death—the arena within the Cycle Paradise was made for such people.

After walking for about an hour, Su Xiao reached the central zone.

Because he had not concealed his appearance, many people cast glances his way along the way, but no foolish passersby dared to provoke him.

Not concealing one’s face could mean several things: perhaps a newcomer, or perhaps an extremely powerful monster who found it beneath him to hide his face.

Su Xiao did not know that he embodied both: he was both a newcomer and an ultra-powerful monster.

The inheritance of the Shadow of Annihilation had granted him a total of 14 attribute points.

Gaining attribute points was not easy; ordinary contract holders needed to complete four to six worlds to barely accumulate 14 points, and even then only with good luck.

Arriving at the central zone of the Cycle Paradise, a dozen magnificent buildings came into view.

Unlike the shops of the staff, these dozen buildings were far taller, standing out like cranes among chickens.

【Attribute Enhancement Hall】, 【Equipment Enhancement Hall】, 【Trial Grounds】, 【Arena】…

Su Xiao could only make out these four buildings; the others were shrouded in mist, likely because he had not yet unlocked their permissions.

Su Xiao walked directly into the 【Attribute Enhancement Hall】. As soon as he stepped through the door, his vision blurred; when he regained his senses, he stood inside a steel cubicle of just a few square meters.

“Click. Click~.”

Mechanical sounds echoed around him, and a screen appeared before Su Xiao.

【Welcome to the Attribute Enhancement Chamber. Please pay the activation fee: 100 Paradise Coins.】

He had already known this: everyone entering the Attribute Enhancement Hall was randomly teleported into an enhancement chamber and then required to pay to use it.

After paying 100 Paradise Coins, a prompt appeared on the screen.

Strength: 12 - 1 (equipment bonuses temporarily inactive)

Agility: 10

Stamina: 6

Intelligence: 12

Charm: 3

【Hunter may allocate attribute points freely. Current available points: 4】

【Ding. Detected Hunter’s affinity attributes: Strength, Agility, Intelligence. Hunter is advised to prioritize enhancing these three attributes.】

The Cycle Paradise’s suggestion did not surprise Su Xiao.

After inheriting the Shadow of Annihilation, he had received a prompt stating that when his three affinity attributes each reached twenty points, additional changes would occur.

Every contract holder chose affinity attributes, usually by personal preference: melee-focused ones picked Strength or Agility, mages chose Intelligence, and so on.

Su Xiao’s case was unusual: after inheriting the Shadow of Annihilation, his affinity attributes had already been fixed.

And frustratingly, his affinity attributes had a restriction: the difference between any two could not exceed three points, or the higher attribute would become unenhanceable in the Attribute Enhancement Hall.

This clearly limited Su Xiao’s rapid growth; if he focused on only one attribute, it would quickly reach twenty points.

But there was a benefit: while developing multiple attributes simultaneously, as long as he kept pace with peers of the same tier, he would undoubtedly be among the top-tier in power.

Su Xiao had four attribute points. After some thought, he allocated one point to Strength and the remaining three to Agility, achieving balanced stats.

【Enhancement begins. Due to extreme pain during enhancement, use anesthesia function? This function is free.】

“No.”

Su Xiao answered decisively; Xi Luoluo had casually mentioned that it was best not to use the anesthesia function during attribute enhancement, as it could impair the enhancement effect.

Still, most contract holders chose anesthesia, because the sensation of enhancement was unbearable.

To become stronger than others, one must endure what others cannot.

The enhancement chamber began operating, and a pain deeper than bone pierced through him.

“No wonder others choose anesthesia.”

Su Xiao’s skin gradually reddened, cold sweat beaded on his forehead; the sensation of attribute enhancement was undeniably intense.

…

Ten minutes later, drenched in sweat, Su Xiao stepped out of the Attribute Enhancement Hall.

Though the pain during enhancement was excruciating, once he endured the initial agony, the gradual feeling of growing stronger was quite satisfying.

He didn’t know how others felt, but he loved this sensation.

Only strength earned through hardship was truly reliable; he would never choose the anesthesia function—not today, not ever.

In truth, Xi Luoluo had only mentioned it in passing; aside from a tiny fraction of “freaks,” most contract holders chose anesthesia.

After enhancement, Su Xiao’s base stats became: Strength 12, Agility 13, Intelligence 12.

Including the bonus from 【Wife’s Pendant】, his Strength also reached 13, matching his Agility.

Though Su Xiao was now much stronger, he was not satisfied.

The sudden surge in all his attributes left him unable to adapt—he even walked awkwardly.

His mind had not yet adjusted to his powerful body; this required extensive training, with no shortcuts.

But that was not a problem; the Cycle Paradise’s 【Trial Grounds】 were his best option right now.

He glanced at the 【Trial Grounds】 ahead and shook his head.

Since leaving the derivative world, he had not rested at all; in the derivative world, he had to constantly guard against dangers, making peaceful rest impossible.

Activating the brand on his arm, Su Xiao vanished from the spot and reappeared in his personal room—the perk provided by the Cycle Paradise: whenever he was within the Cycle Paradise, he could return to his personal room at any time.

The comfortable temperature of his personal room made Su Xiao drowsy; lying on the slightly soft floor, he fell into deep sleep within five minutes.

The prolonged mental strain from the derivative world had finally overwhelmed him.