Chapter 3976: Hybrid
A coin-sized, dark gold title appeared in Su Xiao's hand. The title felt heavy and thick; the front featured a six-horned fierce beast, while the back was covered in dense, mysterious inscriptions.
The more Su Xiao looked at the six-horned beast, the more familiar it felt. He then realized, isn't this the Fierce Beast·Fei?
【Guardian Soul】
Origin: Tree of the Void
Quality: ★★★★★★★★★
Limit Burning: Once.
Title Potential: 72.8%.
Category: Rare·Title
Title Effect: Divine Protection (Passive). When damage taken within 0.1–3 seconds exceeds 30% of your maximum health, this bonus is immediately activated. The next attack from an enemy will deal no more than 10% of your health (i. e., no more than 10% of maximum health). It also calculates the health lost during this period and increases your subsequent 10 seconds of body speed by 0.152% of the lost health.
Hint: This is a diminishing body speed bonus, starting at 100% for the first 5 seconds, then decaying by 10% every second thereafter.
Introduction: This is a shield of shelter, and also a blade of slaughter.
Price: Cannot be sold.
……
There aren't many scenarios where this title fits, but it is a life-saving artifact. Su Xiao didn't even plan to deeply forge this title because its current level was sufficient. When exploring extremely dangerous unknown areas, this was equivalent to having an extra life.
Never think that having 7.61 million health points makes you invincible. That might be true at the Absolute Rank, but at the Supreme Rank—especially since Su Xiao often enters ultra-high-intensity Abyss Spreading Zones—it is not uncommon to encounter Abyss Spawns that have extreme attack power but are themselves fragile.
If he needs to go to an "Ultra-High-Intensity Abyss Spreading Zone" in the future, wearing 【Guardian Soul】 combined with "Blood Gun Master·Ultimate Ability·Blood Controller" provides a dual life-saving measure.
If he encounters the alien Abyss Spawn "Marrow Leech" in an "Ultra-High-Intensity Abyss Spreading Zone," he might have a chance to capture it alive. This thing's attack power and speed are perverted to the extreme. 99.9% of people who encounter it are instantly drilled into the brain, left half-dead on the ground, and as time passes, they turn into plants, becoming nutrients for the "Marrow Leech" to shed its shell.
But if he captures this thing alive, he only needs a certain degree of biological and mechanical modification to obtain the best biological characteristic stripping device. Even if deeply eroded by Abyss power, as long as it hasn't reached the lignified "Abyss Metamorphosis," it can still be removed using this.
If Abyss erosion can be removed, other types of erosion are like taking something out of a pocket.
This good thing was once owned by Ma Wen·Waltz; he captured a "Marrow Leech" alive and entrusted alchemists to help make it. Later, he lost it in a bet to Gelin·Jillian. Jillian didn't use it for many years before it was swindled away by Ximan·Achide, and it eventually went missing.
With 9,800 Hunter Coins remaining, Su Xiao prepared to upgrade the "Old Hunter" title, which was the source of his Hunter Coins.
First, he had to find a way to raise the "Old Hunter" title potential to 100%. This required a combination of 【Title Treasure Chest★】 and "Title Reforging" to first create a 100% potential reverse-devouring title. He had created one last time, but the devouring upgrade stage failed.
He exchanged for 800 【Title Treasure Chests★】. After opening them all, he opened the Title Burning Disc. Compared to before, the burning disc had changed; its diameter reached about 1.5 meters, and it was overall a thick, dark metallic color, covered in dark red fire patterns, like flowing magma.
He activated "Title Reforging." Fragments of the same material as the burning disc appeared. These fragments were covered in magma patterns and gathered together to form a large forging hammer. He placed the one-star title he had just opened.
Bang!
Very good, the title on the disc shattered into gray-white crystalline residue. After he set the one-star title as the blank material, the automatic reforging began.
In the past, Su Xiao had a lottery-like feeling about "Title Reforging" and didn't count on success, but after upgrading "Title Reforging" once, it started to have a guarantee.
That is, every time a title is reforged, it accumulates 10% of the characteristic "Exclusive Luck." When "Exclusive Luck" reaches 100%, it takes effect on the next title reforging, thereby increasing the success rate of that reforging.
Does that mean one success every ten tries? Of course not. Su Xiao's success rate in title reforging was negative. He observed for a moment, and on the eleventh reforging:
Bang!
The hammered title wasn't smashed; instead, it emitted a scorching red shimmer. The reforging was successful. As the other end of the extremely unlucky Extermination Law luck, the result after success was extreme quality. In other words, his reforging either never succeeded, or if it did, it was a 100% potential reverse-devouring title.
【This title reforging was successful.】
【You obtained the devouring-type title·Spreading Hotbed.】
【Spreading Hotbed】
Origin: Tree of the Void
Quality: ★
Title Potential: 100%.
Category: Title
Title Effect: Potential Nurturing (Active). Devour a main title to nurture it. This nurturing process has a 55.55% probability of nurturing the limit potential of that title to the devouring main title.
Price: Cannot be traded.
……
It was the same as the reverse-devouring title Su Xiao obtained last time, but the nurturing success rate of the last "Spreading Hotbed" was 33.33%, while this time it was 55.55%. This was quite interesting, making one wonder if there were "Spreading Hotbeds" with 66.66% or even 99.99% success rates.
After reforging more than twenty more times, he succeeded once more. The result was still 【Spreading Hotbed】. With Su Xiao's luck, the possibility of obtaining the same title twice in a row was very low.
It seemed his guess was correct: there was only one type of reverse-devouring title, but the nurturing success rate varied. It was possible that the title potential would also be different.
【Spreading Hotbed】
Title Potential: 100%.
Title Effect: Potential Nurturing (Active). Devour a main title to nurture it. This nurturing process has an 11.11% probability of nurturing the limit potential of that title to the devouring main title.
……
Sure enough, the quality of this thing mainly depended on the nurturing success rate. Su Xiao used the newly obtained "Spreading Hotbed" on "Old Hunter." The "Spreading Hotbed" turned into a dark red fluid, wrapping around the "Old Hunter" title, but after only ten seconds, the dark red fluid turned into water, representing a nurturing failure.
Su Xiao wasn't surprised by this. He used "Spreading Hotbed" on "Old Hunter" again. He was waiting for a "Spreading Hotbed" with a 99.99% success rate; otherwise, it wasn't stable enough.
After spending all the Hunter Coins on hand, Su Xiao reforged a total of 426 "Spreading Hotbed" titles. It took about 20 reforges to succeed once, which was a very high success rate.
Unfortunately, among these 426 "Spreading Hotbeds," only one had a nurturing success rate of 99.99%. However, there was one even more special one:
【Spreading Hotbed】
Title Potential: 0.1%.
Title Effect: Potential Nurturing (Active). Devour a main title to nurture it. This nurturing process has an 11.11% probability of nurturing the limit potential of that title to the devouring main title.
……
This should be the title with the lowest potential Su Xiao had ever seen. He kept it. Normally, this thing wouldn't have any use, but Su Xiao knew a friend named Nicholas Caesar.
Su Xiao tried using the 99.99% success rate "Spreading Hotbed" on "Old Hunter." Unlike the previous few times, this time the "Spreading Hotbed" tightly wrapped around "Old Hunter" and began nurturing and upgrading. This basically meant that this hotbed nurturing was successful; all that remained was to wait.
Pop~
A particularly strange fluctuation emerged. Su Xiao frowned slightly. This fluctuation came from the 【Origin Stone·World】 in his storage space. He didn't know why the title potential upgrade would trigger this supreme treasure. Checking its attributes, from the displayed attributes, there was no change.
Just as he started upgrading "Old Hunter," Su Xiao discovered one thing: among all his titles, the "Limit Burning·5 Times·Abyss Shadow" title, which was already at the peak, could actually have "Spreading Hotbed" used on it. One had to know that the title potential of "Abyss Shadow" was 100%, and previously, "Spreading Hotbed" was clearly ineffective on "Abyss Shadow."
It seemed that this title potential upgrade had unlocked some hidden permissions.
Could it be that the potential limit of the "Abyss Shadow" title wasn't 100%? With Su Xiao's understanding of his own luck, how could he encounter such a one-in-a-million, or even one-in-ten-million, strange encounter?
Su Xiao had asked the leader about secrets regarding title potential, and the leader had specifically mentioned such broken-potential titles. It wasn't because of anything else; the leader himself had one and just took it out to make Su Xiao envious.
Su Xiao began to recall his experience of obtaining "Abyss Shadow." This title was originally called "Deep Blue Shadow." As for how he obtained it, he had obtained this title while not placing a main title and performing a random title burning. He tried to check the original hint.
【To complete this title burning, you need to consume 300 Soul Coins. The ★★★★★ title obtained from this burning will have random characteristics.】
Just like that, he obtained the "Deep Blue Shadow" title. Afterward, he upgraded it all the way to "Nine-Star Limit Burning·Twice." When he burned it for the third time, it transformed into "Abyss Shadow."
It seemed like a series of coincidences, but if viewed from another angle, this title was actually an "Exclusive Title" that perfectly matched Su Xiao's characteristics from the moment he obtained it. And "Exclusive Titles" weren't rare; most contractors would inadvertently obtain their own "Exclusive Titles."
Some were even outrageous, consuming their own "Exclusive Title" that hadn't grown up yet as a secondary title. And "Exclusive Titles" weren't necessarily good; it was said that this thing was related to one's own luck. It wasn't that the luckier you were, the stronger the "Exclusive Title," but that only if your luck was powerful would the "Exclusive Title" be powerful.
Obviously, the Extermination Law luck Su Xiao inherited allowed his "Exclusive Title" to show powerful effects matching the Extermination Law luck when it reached "Limit Burning·Three Times," as well as the unavoidable fate entanglement between Extermination Law practitioners and the Abyss.
The real question was, what exactly caused this "Exclusive Title," which was already at full potential, to break through its potential limit?
Su Xiao had always been self-aware and never thought of himself as a child of destiny. Even though the introduction of 【Origin Stone·World】 even said he was already heaven-chosen, he still didn't think he was that unique or special. He was just a traveler walking step by step toward the strongest, not knowing if he would fall halfway.
But even if he fell halfway, he wouldn't regret it. The scenery along this path was beautiful.
Su Xiao thought of one thing: his most special experience was undoubtedly gathering the 【Origin Stone·World】 fragments and synthesizing and activating this supreme secret treasure. Looking at it this way, "Abyss Shadow," as Su Xiao's "Exclusive Title," was 99% likely to have received some hidden gain from 【Origin Stone·World】 to have its current potential.
Previously, Su Xiao had felt regretful that the "Abyss Shadow" title, which he had painstakingly upgraded to the peak of title quality, "Limit Burning·Five Times," was a three-attribute title. Its core characteristic, "Abyss Walking," could only share 50% of the title potential, while the remaining two characteristics, "Angry Shadow" and "Dark Shadow," each only shared 25% of the title potential.
Now it seemed that if the potential limit of "Abyss Shadow" was 200%, then "Abyss Walking" could share 100% of the title potential, putting it on the same tier as a super-top-tier single-attribute 100% potential title. The remaining two secondary attributes would each share 50% of the potential. Calculated this way, it completely crushed a single-attribute 100% potential super-top-tier title.
If the title potential was 300%, then "Abyss Shadow" might become the strongest title in history. The powerful title the leader had that made people envious had a title potential of 285%.
With plenty of "Spreading Hotbeds" remaining, Su Xiao used them on the "Abyss Shadow" title one after another.
Three hours later, Su Xiao looked at the last "Spreading Hotbed" title that had turned into white powder and put "Abyss Shadow" back into his title slot.
"Abyss Shadow" had unimaginable potential, but this had a prerequisite: a sufficient quantity of "Spreading Hotbed" titles with a 99.99% nurturing success rate. In other words, he needed a massive amount of Hunter Coins. The good news was that just now, he had already forged the "Old Hunter" title, the source of Hunter Coins.
This time, a full dozen hours passed. The "Spreading Hotbed" that had withered into gray-white fell off the surface of "Old Hunter," and the nurturing was complete.
【Old Hunter】
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Limit Burning: Three times.
Title Potential: 100%.
Category: Rare·Title
Title Effect: Old Hunter (Passive). When killing violators or Abyss-type enemies, you can obtain 1–10,000 Hunter Coins (depending on the enemy's comprehensive strength).
Hint: Due to the special nature of this title, you only need to hold this title, no need to wear it, to activate the "Old Hunter" effect.
Introduction: You are already an experienced old hunter, so... enjoy the joy of hunting.
Price: Cannot be sold.
……
The originally dual-attribute "Old Hunter" leaped to become a single-attribute one. This made Su Xiao feel that he didn't know enough about the title system, but then he realized why.
The title system actually belongs to the powerful system of the Charm attribute. Since a long time ago, contractors discovered that the Charm attribute's improvement to their own combat power was far less intuitive than the Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence attributes.
Because the Charm attribute was never a combat attribute, but an attribute that required long-term accumulation and forging. This is also the core of the title system: accumulation and forging.
Su Xiao was able to develop the title system so strongly entirely because he relied on the legion flow in the early stage and relied on strength to hard-carry in the later stage.
Recalling carefully, the several times he obtained a large number of titles in the early stage, more than 80% were achieved through the legion flow, and the legion flow allowed Su Xiao to gradually cultivate the Demon Zerg.
Speaking of which, the Demon Zerg was clearly also a particularly powerful Charm summoning system that could create a system. It's just that Su Xiao used the Zerg Sovereign·Jila to perfectly replace the summoning subject. No, it wasn't as simple as replacing; it was a complete crushing.
This upgrade of "Old Hunter" was a qualitative change. Although its combat system bonus was gone, it could take effect without being worn, which was equivalent to giving up a title slot, allowing Su Xiao to wear the combat title "Abyss Shadow."
There were still 352 nine-star title blanks left, kept for upgrading "Old Hunter" to "Limit Burning·Four Times" in the future.
Su Xiao felt himself; this upgrade ended here. All that remained was to wait for the next round of confrontation to begin. Just at this moment:
Dong dong dong~
The sound of knocking on the train door came. He controlled the train to open the door. The person who came was none other than Sacred Destiny·Rosa.
When this Paradise Contest began, Sacred Destiny·Rosa was one of the members of Su Xiao's team. Su Xiao thought she had died in the previous world. When he returned, he didn't see her at the teleportation array either. Now she was actually alive and back at the resting point, and hadn't lost her qualification to participate.
"Hello, let's get to know each other. I am the captain of the Destiny Team from Apocalypse Paradise this time, Rosa."
Rosa had a gentle temperament and was wearing a gold-white clerical robe with a hood. In her hand, she held a twisted magic wand that was a full 1.6 meters long. This wand was straight overall, and it looked very suitable for holding the thin end at the bottom with both hands and swinging it over one's head to hit people.
Rosa's eyes were clear and gentle, matching her beautiful face with a kind smile. She seemed to be radiating holy light on her own.
Never be deceived by Rosa's appearance and think she is a redeemer type. Having been on the "Apocalypse Paradise Annual Silly Ranking" for three consecutive terms, how could she be an ordinary person? And in these three times, she was top of the list twice and had already reserved second place for this year.
What really puzzled Su Xiao was that his previous interactions with Sacred Destiny·Rosa didn't seem pleasant at all. But looking at Rosa now, it was as if nothing had happened before. Eyes are the windows to the soul, and at this moment, Rosa's windows were revealing a clear but foolish gaze.
"Hello."
Su Xiao wasn't a rude person, so he greeted her accordingly.
"Mr. Bai Ye, I've already asked around. Our side's victories in the previous rounds were all thanks to you. Next, as the captain of the second team of the Apocalypse Paradise camp, I will definitely become your reliable partner."
After saying this, Rosa smiled, showing her little tiger teeth, and gave a thumbs up.
"……"
Su Xiao didn't speak. He always felt that Rosa didn't seem to be acting. Then there was a high probability that in the previous world, Rosa had actually died, and the one in front of him was a new Rosa.
And the previous Rosa and this Rosa had different personalities. It was possible that every Rosa had a different personality. The previous Rosa was relatively withdrawn and cold, while this one was full of vitality and self-familiar. She hadn't been here for a few minutes before she went to get a cold drink herself, then squatted in front of Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, smiling and biting the straw to drink the cold drink.
Click~
The sound of Rosa taking a selfie came. This girl had already put on headphones and was taking a photo with Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang with a grinning smile.
Su Xiao looked at the squad channel. The first team was still the Bai Ye team, but the members had been automatically replenished:
Captain: Bai Ye.
Members: Fanny (Support/Healing type), Artillery·Harlow (Ranged/Perception type), Giant Mountain (Tank type), Tyrant (Undead type).
Seeing the name Tyrant, Su Xiao knew the situation in the next round wouldn't be simple. Although this guy with negative intelligence had a lack of IQ, his survivability was unquestionable. He had walked through the Eternal Light World without dying, and he was also in the Big Smart Trio.
"Oh oh? What are you looking at? Let me see too."
Rosa looked curiously while speaking.
"……"
"Oh, I know, you're looking at what new members have come to the squad, right? I'm familiar with the Battle Angels of Apocalypse Paradise!"
"……"
Su Xiao still didn't speak. Bahar flew over, landed on his shoulder, and said: "Three new people have come to our team this time: Artillery·Harlow, Tank·Giant Mountain, and Tyrant."
"Harlow? Never heard of him, probably a small fry. I'm familiar with Giant Mountain; we teamed up to fight a world contest last time. As for Tyrant, this fool hasn't died yet? Really tenacious."
Rosa opened the chatterbox and started chatting with Bahar. Before long, Bahar mentioned how Rosa escaped from the previous world.
"How did I leave? I didn't leave, I died there. Otherwise, how could there be me? Hehe, I am Rosa No. 1500. I have a premonition that I will be the last Rosa, the immortal Rosa!"
Rosa probably felt that this boast was too much, so she coughed lightly: "Anyway, that's it. We two must cooperate sincerely in the next round. Bye~"
Rosa did not take the train steps down, but instead jumped down in one step. Baha saw that outside the train were Rosa's four teammates; however, these four all had worried expressions. They had heard about how many teammates Rosa had. It wasn't that Rosa had malicious intent toward her teammates, but rather that she cherished them dearly. The problem was, the more she cared about someone, the more miserably they died.
Time passed in a flash, and soon the time limit for resting arrived.
【World Contest·Fifth Round is about to begin.】
【There are a total of 8 Broken Origins in this round.】
【Teleportation is about to begin. Location: Dawn Outskirts (Ruins Outskirts).】
……
After a hazy teleportation feeling, the surrounding light gradually dimmed. When the spatial fluctuation dissipated, Su Xiao was already on an old but magnificent teleportation platform.
Looking around, a total of more than thirty participants were all located here, but each team was separated by a golden light film.
【Hint (Tree of the Void): This stage is a free exploration stage.】
【The basic status of the captains of the eight squads has begun to be collected. The eight captains are: Bai Ye, Priest, Hao Tao, Platinum Apostle, Talide, Cain, Dilin, Rosa.】
Just as the hint appeared, dense green light particles emerged around Su Xiao and then disappeared.
【The information of the eight captains has been successfully collected. Dark Hybrids are about to be simulated. Quantity: Eight.】
【The combat power, abilities, characteristics, etc., of the eight Dark Hybrids will be determined according to the corresponding captain.】
【Bai Ye Team·Dark Hybrid Danger Level: SSS+ (Highest Danger Level).】
【Bai Ye Team·Dark Hybrid Characteristics: Extreme Blade/Space Walking/Backlash.】
【Priest Team·Dark Hybrid Danger Level: SSS+ (Highest Danger Level).】
【Priest Team·Dark Hybrid Characteristics: Undead.】
【Hao Tao Team·Dark Hybrid Danger Level: SSS+ (Highest Danger Level).】
【Hao Tao Team·Dark Hybrid Characteristics: Strength Giant.】
【Platinum Team·Dark Hybrid Danger Level: SSS+ (Highest Danger Level).】
【Platinum Team·Dark Hybrid Characteristics: Causality·Non-existent Object.】
【Magic Sickle Team·Dark Hybrid Danger Level: SS.】
【Magic Sickle Team·Dark Hybrid Characteristics: Black Ash.】
【Cain Team·Dark Hybrid Danger Level: SS.】
【Cain Team·Dark Hybrid Characteristics: Steel Magic Heart.】
【Dilin Team·Dark Hybrid Danger Level: A.】
【Dilin Team·Dark Hybrid Characteristics: Charm Soul Devouring Heart.】
【Rosa Team·Dark Hybrid Danger Level: D-.】
【Rosa Team·Dark Hybrid Characteristics: Happiness.】
……
After seeing these hints, Su Xiao, Priest, Hao Tao, and Platinum Apostle all felt a sense of unease in their hearts. The subsequent hints immediately responded to this unease.
【Hint (Tree of the Void): Each Dark Hybrid has swallowed a "Source Fragment." You can only obtain the "Source Fragment" it swallowed by killing these Dark Hybrids.】
【Each captain needs to kill the Dark Hybrid corresponding to their own characteristics to obtain the entry key unique to you. After passing through the ruins outskirts, you can reach the "Dawn Gate" in the depths of the darkness, thereby entering the Dawn Ruins.】
【After successfully entering the Dawn Ruins, the final link of the contest will be opened by default.】
【Located within the Dawn Ruins, there are a total of 21 "Broken Origins" distributed. When any team obtains more than 26 "Broken Origins," the winner of this round of the contest will be immediately decided.】
……
The fifth and sixth rounds of the contest were seamlessly connected, which meant that whichever team first defeated the Dark Hybrid corresponding to their own team would be the first to enter the Dawn Ruins, thereby finding those "Broken Origins" that were easier to find. But the problem also lay here: the current situation was that the stronger the captain, the stronger the Dark Hybrid corresponding to the team.
Su Xiao's Dark Hybrid was outrageous, with three characteristics. Extreme Blade and Space Walking were easy to understand, but how was Backlash derived? This thing made Su Xiao feel a faint sense of heart-palpitating fear. Now he could only hope that this thing wasn't derived because he had sealed too many big-boss-level Original Sin items. If that were the case, he wouldn't be able to fight this Dark Hybrid.
Just as each team began to discuss subsequent strategies, a humanoid creature darted out from the darkness ahead.
The leg length ratio of this figure was exaggerated. It was entirely dark, like a solid figure compressed from black mist. Because its legs were too long, it looked a bit O-legged. If he wasn't mistaken, this was one of the eight Dark Hybrids.
The invincible light screen still existed. A group of participants could only watch this Dark Hybrid, and this Dark Hybrid was also tilting its head to look at everyone, even scratching its head in confusion.
The light screen gradually faded. The Dark Hybrid seemed to sense danger, and it ran past the front of the light screen in large strides.
"Ya hahahahaha!"
The Dark Hybrid laughed while running, matching its funny O-shaped long legs and the two thin, long arms swinging wantonly. It looked extremely happy.
After a brief silence on the teleportation platform, everyone's eyes turned to Rosa. The four teammates beside Rosa took a step back in unison, highlighting Rosa. She watched the Dark Hybrid running away, the corners of her mouth twitching uncontrollably twice.
Everyone could see that Rosa's Dark Hybrid was truly happy. However, Rosa didn't seem as happy as she was just now. ===== CHAPTER 3977 =====
End of Chapter
