Chapter 3939: Lord Halo

The Lord's train stopped beside a lake. The boundless surface of the lake and the swirling water vapor washed away the bloody scent of the battle that had just ended. Su Xiao sat on the roof of the train, watching a large flock of water birds flying into the distance, and Xiang Bubu Wang, who had failed at fishing, was wearing a diving suit in a fit of pique, intending to go into the water to settle the score with the fish.

With one hour left until the departure to the Lord Continent, Su Xiao opened the "Title Reforging" list. His eyes were met with red prompts indicating failed reforging attempts. The 64 one-star meditation-type titles he had previously exchanged for had all been wiped out. He was not surprised by this.

However, just now, while fighting Hao Tao, he had successfully summoned world lightning to strike and kill two violators, obtaining 15 【Honor Medals】 and 152 Hunter Gold Coins, which showed that these two violators still had some strength.

"Woo-ooh-woof!"

"Woo-meow!"

Xiang Bubu Wang and Benny scrambled out of the water in a panic. They didn't even have time to take off their diving suits before jumping onto the roof of the train and hiding behind Su Xiao.

With a boom, water splashed everywhere. A super-giant aquatic creature, resembling both a fish and a beast, revealed most of its body in the water. It did not continue to move forward but instead warily sized up Su Xiao. It felt that this human was not to be trifled with. Su Xiao was also sizing up the opponent, the reason being that although this thing looked a bit ugly, its meat quality seemed decent.

Su Xiao picked up the communicator. A moment later, it connected. There was the sound of water on Fanny's end; it seemed she was taking a bath in the bedroom bathroom.

"What is it?"

"How is your cooking?"

"Hehe, haven't you heard of my other title? The Little Chef of Apocalypse."

"..."

Su Xiao hung up the communicator. Almost at the same time, the giant aquatic creature opposite turned around and prepared to flee.

20 minutes later, beside the campfire in front of the train, the purple sea beast meat was roasted until it sizzled with oil. After the oil mixed with various seasonings, a fragrance that made one involuntarily salivate wafted out.

"You're the captain, you try it first."

Fanny, whose hair was still a bit damp, was very expectant, as if showing off her culinary skills made her happier than giving Su Xiao powerful buffs during the previous battle.

"..."

Su Xiao picked up a large piece, looked at its appearance, took a big bite, chewed a few times, swallowed, and even nodded, seemingly indicating that the taste was quite good.

"Woof."

Xiang Bubu Wang tilted its head and ate the remaining large piece Su Xiao had picked up. It chewed it happily, then swallowed it with a gulp, the feeling as if it were still savoring the aftertaste.

Seeing this, Amu reached out directly and took a few big bites. Baha also started eating. Benny was much more elegant; she ate a small piece, and her eyes lit up.

"Haha, my cooking is great, right?"

Fanny was even happier. She cut off a large piece and used the grill to tilt her head and eat it. She chewed it happily a few times, the smile on her face gradually disappeared, and her gaze began to turn solemn. After brewing four or five times, she clenched her little fists and swallowed it.

"Is it delicious?"

Baha looked at Fanny with a lewd smile on its face.

"It's, it's delicious."

Fanny glanced at the giant sea beast tens of meters away. She firmly believed in her heart that there was something wrong with the meat quality of this sea beast.

"If it's good, then you eat it all."

Baha, full of bad intentions, made Fanny's little face bitter. She tried to quibble: "It must be the meat quality."

【Announcement (Tree of the Void): World Contention Battle, First Round has ended.】

【Current team ranking is:】

First place: Bai Ye Team (5 pieces of Broken Origin).

Second place: Magic Scythe Team, Witch Team, Kane Team, Zeli Team, Priest Team, Hao Tao Team, Gentleman Team (0 pieces of Broken Origin).

【World Contention Battle, Second Round is about to begin.】

【This round has a total of 5 pieces of Broken Origin, located within the four major cities ruled by the Lords.】

【Teleportation is about to begin, Location: Lord Continent.】

The light of teleportation appeared around him. After Su Xiao's vision went black, he felt a brief sense of weightlessness. When the feeling of teleportation disappeared, he was already in a piece of darkness, sitting on a chair emitting a faint light.

【Hint: Before the Hunter arrives at the Lord Continent, he needs to complete the characteristic selection of the "Lord Halo" and the corresponding "Lord Core".】

【You have been verified to have completed the first round of the contention battle in first place. You may obtain an additional 15 potential points on top of the base 15 Lord Potential points. You must choose the characteristics for your "Lord Halo." You may select the characteristics you wish to upgrade from the list below, thereby determining the capability tendency shape of your Lord Halo's "Six-Dimensional Ability Value Chart."】

1. Legion (Determines the combat power bonus of the Lord Halo to your subordinate legion).

2. Resources (Determines your resource acquisition, as well as the ability growth speed and ability bonus strength after recruiting relevant talents).

3. Leader (Determines your leadership over subordinate officials, craftsmen, merchants, civilians, etc., as well as the degree of leadership charisma).

4. Production (Determines the production bonus within your territory, as well as building construction, city wall construction, city area expansion, etc.).

5. Food (You will obtain food production means; it is recommended to improve it by at least 1 point).

【Lord Core (Building-type unit): Created by the Great Lords of the First Era, Transcendence Realm, Eternal Light World, it can produce "Demi-human" combat units based on biology/gene technology. Due to the technical gap of the Lord Core, the current "Lord Core" can no longer directly absorb "Energy Crystals" but has been downgraded to obtain energy through "eating", thereby producing "Demi-human" combat units.】

【The Lord Core has different ability strength manifestations at different levels, from E to SSS rank.】

【After the Lord Core is successfully activated, you may choose between two modes to consume food: 1. Produce "Demi-Beast" combat units; 2. Upgrade the branch attributes of the Lord Core. The Lord Core possesses a vast skill tree distribution; you must possess sufficient "food" to unlock the ability characteristics distributed across the skill tree.】

【Food: Food on the Lord Continent is divided into two types. One is normal food used by town residents, with the default statistical name "Living Resources". "Food Units" that can be notarized must contain high-concentration biological characteristic energy (biological energy density per cubic meter is higher than 32,865,000Π). Lords have their own methods of manufacturing food. "Food" and "Concentrated Soul" are the absolute hard currency of the Lord Continent.】

【Concentrated Soul: Can be used to nourish the level of the "Lord Halo". The notarization rules for the "Lord Halo" are the same as the "Lord Core", from E to SSS rank.】

The situation is different from what was expected. Looking at it this way, every team entering the Lord Continent will have its captain obtain a "Lord Halo" and a "Lord Core". Both are used to develop legions; one concerns legion combat power, resources, etc., and the other is a means of spawning troops.

Regarding the six characteristics of the "Lord Halo", normally speaking, "Legion", "Resources", and "Food" must be improved. The 15 potential points obtained through conventional channels can be distributed by improving each of the above three characteristics by 4 points, and the remaining 3 points can be distributed to "Leader" and "Production".

The so-called use of potential points to improve the "Lord Halo" means that the subsequent improvement range will be greater each time the "Lord Halo" is upgraded.

Su Xiao felt that he could not seek stability this time. Violators like the Priest and Hao Tao seemed to have guessed long ago that one part of this contention battle was to enter the Lord Continent, and they must have made extensive preparations for this.

Since that was the case, he would take advantage of having 30 potential points this time to push his unconventional style to the extreme. Su Xiao tried to improve the "Legion" of the Lord Halo with potential points. After improving it to 5 points, the hexagonal ability value chart representing the Lord Halo's capabilities showed the Legion characteristic as full. Looking at it this way, he could become a hexagonal warrior.

Su Xiao had no interest in being a hexagonal warrior. He tried to continue improving the "Legion" characteristic, but he received a relevant prompt from Apocalypse Paradise. It was not a prompt that it could not be improved, but rather advising Su Xiao to maintain the balance of his Lord abilities so as to have greater competitiveness in the future.

Ignoring this prompt, he continued to improve the "Legion" characteristic until all 30 potential points were used up. This also caused his hexagonal ability value chart to form a strange shape. The "Legion" characteristic had already topped the outside of the hexagonal chart and even extended particularly long from the top, making the entire hexagonal chart look like a pocket watch with a straight watch chain.

【This world has a total of one "Supreme Lord", three "Great Lords", fifteen "Senior Lords", and hundreds of "Minor Lords".】

【One must have ruled towns, cities, or major cities to be a Lord. Therefore, even Minor Lords with weak strength still have their own towns. If you defeat the Lord of that town, you will successfully occupy this place. Without killing town members such as civilians or craftsmen, and without destroying the production order, this town will become your territory.】

【Hint: The five "Broken Origins" of this world have been embedded into the "City Hubs" of the four major cities and have been notarized by the Tree of the Void. You cannot strip these "Broken Origins" from the "City Hubs" by any method before the end of this round of contention battle. When this round ends and enters the settlement stage, the "Broken Origins" within the major cities you occupy will be stripped out by the Tree of the Void, and you will obtain holding rights.】

It seems that short-term occupation is not the point; one must develop a legion of sufficient scale to be qualified to become the final winner. In this regard, Su Xiao prepared two alternative plans to proceed simultaneously.

【You need to complete the selection of your initial territory before entering the Lord Continent. As the first place in the first round of the contention battle, you can choose one from the following territories.】

1. Water God City.

City Scale: ★★★☆

Population: ★★★

Resource Stock: ★★★

Unique Characteristic: Lord Core · Aquatic Gene.

Hint: Evaluation is from ★ to ★★★★★, ☆ is half a star.

2. Light City.

City Scale: ★★★

Population: ★★★

Resource Stock: ★★★

Unique Characteristic: Lord Core · Divine Gene.

3. Whale Bone City.

City Scale: ★★★

Population: ★★★☆

Resource Stock: ★★

Unique Characteristic: Lord Core · Undead Gene.

4. Eternal City

City Scale: ★★

Population: ★★

Resource Stock: ★★★★

Unique Characteristic: Sacred Object · Eternal War Flag.

5. Dark Heart City

City Scale: ★★★★★

Population: ★

Resource Stock: ★

Unique Characteristic: None.

6. Rain Bath City

City Scale: ★

Population: ★

Resource Stock: ★

Unique Characteristic 1: Secret Shelter / Secret Shelter Key.

Unique Characteristic 2: City Passive · Talents Abound (The conversion rate of territory residents to officials and craftsmen professions is relatively high, and it already has one Master-level craftsman).

Unique Characteristic 3: Fierce Folk Customs (Due to the "simple" folk customs of Rain Bath City residents, after successfully executing the thirty-fifth Lord who ruled this place, surrounding Minor Lords completely lost interest in this barren city. If you choose this place, you don't need to worry about attacks from other Lords in the surrounding areas for the first few natural days).

Among the six initial territories, there was no need to weigh the pros and cons at all. Rain Bath City was the best choice, especially since Su Xiao's Bounty 2 was "Secret: Find the Secret Shelter".

1300 ounces of Space-Time Power were invested in this. If "Rain Bath City" only had a "Secret Shelter", then it could be occupied after it was developed. The problem was the appearance of the "Secret Shelter Key". No matter how you looked at it, a place qualified to be notarized as a bounty was not something that could be opened by force.

When Su Xiao completed the selection, the darkness around him closed in, and he felt a sense of falling. When he opened his eyes, he was already lying on a large bed. The bed was luxurious but a bit old. The entire bedroom was in a mahogany style. The large photo on the wall was still the previous generation's Lord. Inside the collection cabinet were the collections of successive Lords. These collections seemed to be telling the new Lord how "simple the folk customs" of the residents here were.

The grandfather clock swung, and the heating pipes clinging to the wall transported steam. Coupled with the carriages in the courtyard of the Lord's mansion, these products of different eras blended perfectly here, indicating that the technology tree of this world was not just skewed, but the technology tree itself was a bit twisted.

The sound of drizzling rain came from outside the window. Rain Bath City was raining for more than one-third of the time. Through the rain curtain, one could see dim yellow lights inside building after building in a steel style. The slightly leaking steam pipes leaked white mist more obviously in the cold rain curtain. Coupled with the fact that it was mealtime, the cooking smoke from roof after roof gave the entire city, which was cold due to the rain, a sense of warmth.

【You have arrived at Rain Bath City.】

【Current Identity: Lord of Rain Bath City.】

Lord Halo: E rank (E~SSS rank).

Lord Core: E rank (E~SSS rank, currently in a dormant state, requires 300 units of food to activate).

Food: 5 units (Used to unlock/upgrade the Lord Core, and as biological energy for the Lord Core).

Concentrated Soul: 0.5 units (Used to upgrade the Lord Halo).

Energy: 2 units (City living energy).

Forging Resources: 3 units.

Building Resources: 1 unit.

Living Resources: 6 units (Including conventional food, alcohol, various seasonings, etc.).

Other Resources: 30 units (Including resident medical supplies, daily necessities, entertainment supplies, etc.).

Soldier-type units: 0 (Because the Lord Core has been in a dormant state for more than 560 natural days, the soldier-type units produced by this Lord Core have all lost their life fluctuations).

Civilians: 52,680.

Craftsmen: 980.

【Hint: Current Lord Core · Skill Tree is not unlocked.】

【The current Lord Core only has "Basic Gene · Demi-human Gene", so after the Lord Core is unlocked, you can only produce Demi-humans through the Lord Core.】

【The Lord Core is a top-tier biological creation with an extremely complex structure. If it is damaged, it can only be repaired at???.】

【Because you have not activated the Lord Core, this causes the Lord Core to be unable to resonate with your Lord Halo, and your Lord Halo cannot be activated for the time being.】

No matter how you looked at it, this was a start with full difficulty, but for Su Xiao, this was a dream start. What he needed most was a territory that could be developed in the early stage and would not be attacked by other Lords. Rain Bath City achieved this perfectly.

Looking at the black key in his hand, Su Xiao walked out of the bedroom through the fluctuation changes of this key, came to the first floor of the residence, and walked into a weapon collection room on the inner side of the first floor. He pressed one hand on the wall. As the secret door rose, a downward staircase passage appeared. After reaching the end, it was an elevator.

Walking into it and pulling the mechanism lever, the elevator descended slightly arduously, at least several hundred meters. The elevator trembled and stopped. In front was a corridor more than ten meters long, with a dark silver metal door blocking the end.

Su Xiao tried to open the door with the "Secret Shelter Key". The dark silver door leaf gradually dissolved, turning into a sphere the size of a soccer ball. A large eye opened on it, waited for a few seconds after looking at Su Xiao, then closed, turning back into a dark silver metal door.

He tried to reach out and touch it. The part of the metal door that was about to touch him turned into a fluid and even avoided it to the surroundings.

Walking into it, this was a shelter with an area of several tens of square meters. The furnishings were simple to the point of being empty, with only a wooden table and a chair. After sitting down, he picked up a piece of parchment on the table. The content recorded on it was actually left by a Samsara Paradise Hunter.

The general content was that this Hunter came here to find something. At that time, it was the peak period of the Dawn Paradise. There were a large number of violators in this world. Led by a violator leader named Xiketu, this Hunter was chased to the point of having no way to heaven and no door to earth. In the end, he could only leave a few things here and go out to fight to the death with the violators led by Xiketu in Rain Bath City.

Listening to the tone of this Hunter, he did not hold even half a hope of winning against Xiketu. Even dying at the hands of the violator Xiketu was not unacceptable to the Hunter. At least his face was saved.

Su Xiao picked up the few items on the table.

【You obtained Old Hunter Badge (Permission-type item · Highly rare).】

【You obtained Coordinate No. 3 (This is a notarized characteristic item; after acquisition, it can only be submitted to Apocalypse Paradise or Samsara Paradise).】

【You obtained Coordinate No. 16 (This is a notarized characteristic item; after acquisition, it can only be submitted to Apocalypse Paradise or Samsara Paradise).】

When this world was notarized by the Dawn Paradise, that Hunter trapped here certainly could not have submitted the two coordinates to any faction other than the Dawn Paradise. Now it was different; Su Xiao submitted the two coordinates to the Samsara Paradise.

【Submission completed. Subsequent gains will be settled at the end of this World Contention Battle.】

Compared to this gain, Su Xiao was more interested in the 【Old Hunter Badge】. This was a particularly rare good thing because this thing could directly improve the "Old Hunter" title by one grade.

In terms of gains, improving the "Old Hunter" title to "Ultimate Burning Refinement · 3 times" and then using the 【Old Hunter Badge】 was the maximization of benefits. The 【Old Hunter Badge】 could improve the "Old Hunter" title to "Ultimate Burning Refinement · 4 times" at most.

The problem was that "Old Hunter" was a hunting gain-type title. The earlier it was improved, the greater the gains it would bring. Weighing the pros and cons, improving it immediately now should bring greater subsequent gains.

【You have used the "Old Hunter Badge" on the Old Hunter title.】

【Title is improving...】

【Total time required is 1 hour and 28 minutes.】

Closing the prompt, Su Xiao began to observe the "Secret Shelter". A moment later, he determined that the defense level here was mysteriously high, which made him decide to transfer the "Skill Upgrade Chamber" from the Lord's train to here.

The "Skill Upgrade Chamber" was too heavy, reducing the speed of the Lord's train by nearly half. For a period of time in the future, he particularly needed the speed of the Lord's train, which concerned his life and death.

The space array was gradually drawn on the ground. After preparing everything, he activated the "Mie Fa Teleportation Array". With a muffled thud, the iron-black "Skill Upgrade Chamber" appeared before his eyes.

Confirming that the "Skill Upgrade Chamber" was fine, Su Xiao took out a blank contract. If Silver Queen saw this contract and recalled it carefully for a while, she would suddenly remember that this was a contract she signed in the Eternal Light World. Although there were no contract terms on this parchment, the name with a silver shimmer at the signature place could be used to find Lady Silver.

Not long after, the elevator outside the door went up on its own. When it came down again, Xiang Bubu Wang and Baha arrived. Amu, Fanny, and Benny were a bit far away.

A complex positioning technique was formed on the ground. Just when the positioning technique was nearly half drawn, a prompt appeared.

【Old Hunter title has completed improvement.】

【Old Hunter】

Ultimate Burning Refinement: Three times.

Title Effect 1: Weakness Perception (Passive), damage dealt to violators increased by 35%.

Title Effect 2: Old Hunter (Passive), killing violators or Abyss-type enemies can obtain 1~500 Hunter Gold Coins (determined according to the danger level of the violator or Abyss-type enemy).

Hint: This newly added prey type · Abyss-type is determined based on your Mie Fa Shadow identity.

Introduction: Go hunt those monsters in the darkness.

Selling Price: Cannot be sold.

... ===== CHAPTER 3940 =====