Chapter 850: Brainstorming

Five minutes after Solomon left.

In the restaurant, Su Xiao traded 21,600 Paradise Coins to Xiang Yanchen; this was Xiang Yanchen's intermediary fee.

Xiang Yanchen left behind a "remember to pay the bill" and ran off. This guy had earned 21,600 Paradise Coins just by spending some breath, so he was naturally in a good mood.

Su Xiao sat alone in the restaurant, recalling Solomon's aura in his mind. If the two were to go to war, even if they were at the same level, his win rate wouldn't be high—at most, it would be a fifty-fifty split.

"An Academic Mage. Truly worthy of the title Magic Master."

Su Xiao stood up and walked toward the door. Just as he pushed it open, a petite figure walked toward him—a little girl wearing a red dress, sucking on a lollipop. The little girl was carrying a travel bag, and a heavy smell of blood wafted from it.

Enemies often cross paths. This little girl in the red dress was Gulu, a member of the Brigade who loved killing and eating candy.

Their eyes met, and Gulu crunched down on the lollipop in her mouth.

"It's you, you 'Spider-Man' bitch!! The one who can shoot silk."

Gulu gritted her teeth in hatred, crunching on the hard candy in her mouth.

"..."

Su Xiao remained silent and just walked out of the restaurant.

"Hey, how does it feel to be hunted by those guys from the Blood Gate?"

Hearing Gulu's words, Su Xiao's footsteps paused.

"Oh? Did you commission them to hunt me down?"

"Of course... not. How could I do such a low-class thing? But it's surprising you weren't burned to death by Huang Fen."

Gulu's expression changed, and she smiled broadly: "Stan must be furious. If that's the case, why don't we make a deal?"

Gulu's personality could be described as fickle. A moment ago, she wanted to swallow Su Xiao alive, and now she wanted to make a deal with him.

"A deal?"

"Yes, a deal. Return the Hunter Ring to me, and I can provide you with an important piece of intelligence. It concerns your life. Aren't you curious why Stan sent people to hunt you down? You didn't die, so as long as the Blood Gate isn't wiped out, they will continue to hunt you down until you die."

It seemed Gulu was still obsessed with the Hunter Set. Su Xiao was only one piece away from completing the Hunter Set, which would activate the set attribute. How could he possibly give it up?

"Not interested."

Su Xiao turned and left, leaving Gulu alone.

"Bitch, bitch, bitch. Sigh, my beloved Hunter Ring. This guy is indeed hard to fool. But... why did those people from the Blood Gate hunt him down?"

Gulu scratched her head. In fact, she didn't know why the people from the Blood Gate were hunting Su Xiao. She had only learned through special channels while investigating Su Xiao that the Blood Gate's vice-leader, Huang Fen, had gone to the Second Tier world to hunt Su Xiao, but the reason was unknown.

Not only was Gulu curious about why the people from the Blood Gate were hunting Su Xiao, but Su Xiao himself was even more curious. His grudge with the Blood Gate shouldn't have reached the level where Stan would specifically send someone to the Second Tier world to hunt him down.

However, there were too few clues, so Su Xiao could only wait and see.

After wandering around the trading market a few times and finding no equipment or items suitable for him, Su Xiao headed straight to the Skill Upgrade Hall.

The war world had just ended, and the Skill Upgrade Hall was packed with people. The bunny girls and cat girls inside were all busy, responsible for receiving Qiyuezhe.

"Sir Qiyuezhe, may I ask what..."

A bunny girl with a smile and a slightly tired expression bowed to Su Xiao.

Su Xiao waved his hand, signaling that he didn't need assistance. The bunny girl breathed a sigh of relief, thanked him, and went to receive other Qiyuezhe.

Su Xiao walked toward the depths of the Skill Upgrade Hall. The skill upgrade pods were all showing as in use. Fortunately, there were many skill upgrade pods. After walking for a distance, he found one that was not in use.

Walking into the skill upgrade pod, the pod door locked automatically. Su Xiao took out the 【Aura Release】 scroll and hesitated for a moment before choosing to use it.

【You have used the 'Aura Release' skill scroll. Aura is condensing...】

Su Xiao stood still in the skill upgrade pod. His aura was fully released, but fortunately, the skill upgrade pod was completely sealed.

In the past, even if Su Xiao accidentally released his aura, it was colorless. The aura would only appear with color and form in the eyes of others after causing them to be intimidated.

However, this time was different. Su Xiao's aura began to compress and condense, changing from invisible to visible.

Soon, a pale red aura appeared in the skill upgrade pod. Within this pale red aura, a large number of pale blue threads were distributed. If one didn't look closely, one wouldn't notice these pale blue threads at all.

About half an hour later, Su Xiao's eyes regained clarity.

"Is this Aura Release?"

Su Xiao examined the surrounding aura. The pale red represented that he had killed too many people, and those invisible blue threads were somewhat similar in nature to Qing Gang Ying energy.

Opening the skill list, a new skill appeared.

【Aura Release lv. 1 (Passive)】

Skill Effect: Can release aura. If the enemy's willpower is 3 points lower than your own, they will fall into a state of panic. The panic state can be removed using mind-purification skills.

Tip: If the enemy enters a state of panic, stamina consumption +12%, physical defense -6, and there is a 3% chance of skill release failure when casting skills.

Tip: As this skill is upgraded, it will increase aura intensity and slightly enhance willpower.

Seeing the attributes of Aura Release lv. 1, Su Xiao was stunned. He already knew about weakening enemies, but after mastering this skill, he was surprised to find that as this skill was upgraded, it could actually enhance aura intensity and improve willpower.

You know, opportunities to improve willpower are rare, and this golden-quality skill scroll actually had this ability.

Su Xiao immediately activated the function of the skill upgrade pod, and a prompt appeared.

【Welcome to the Skill Upgrade Pod. Please select the skill to be upgraded.】

After Su Xiao selected 【Aura Release lv. 1 (Passive)】, the prompt appeared again.

【Upgrading 'Aura Release lv. 1 (Passive)' requires 30,000 Paradise Coins. Pay/Not Pay?】

Su Xiao secretly thought it was expensive. Upgrading one level actually cost 30,000 Paradise Coins. You know, when upgrading Firearms Mastery before, each level only cost 2,000 Paradise Coins.

Although the price was a bit high, fortunately, it didn't require Soul Crystals. If another skill that required Soul Crystals to upgrade appeared, Su Xiao would go bankrupt.

Hesitating for a moment, Su Xiao chose to upgrade.

The surroundings suddenly darkened, and a sense of teleportation appeared. In turn, Su Xiao appeared in an ancient battlefield. Corpses were strewn everywhere, and a faint red mist rose on the battlefield.

A giant dragon had its head cut off, the corpses of many powerful beings were scattered around, and the corpses of demonic goats emitted a sulfurous smell. Any of the creatures among these corpses had the strength to crush Su Xiao.

The red mist drifting on the ancient battlefield permeated toward Su Xiao, and these red mists actually began to erode him.

Don't think of this as an enhancement. If Su Xiao were eroded by this kind of mist, even if he didn't die, he would become mentally deranged.

Su Xiao's own aura erupted, and the pale blue threads within the aura flashed with light.

The blood energy of the ancient battlefield began to compress Su Xiao's aura. He could only use his aura with all his might to protect himself, so as not to be eroded by the blood energy.

Su Xiao didn't expect that upgrading the skill would have such a risk, but now it couldn't be stopped, so he could only continue.

The blood energy of the ancient battlefield seemed to want to swallow Su Xiao. Su Xiao certainly wouldn't wait for death. He used his own aura to resist, but the blood energy of the ancient battlefield was too strong, and his aura couldn't block the erosion of this blood energy at all.

Gurgle...

Su Xiao's aura turned completely blood-red. At the same time, his eyes began to flash with red light.

Suddenly, the sense of teleportation reappeared. When Su Xiao came to his senses, he was already in the skill upgrade pod, and the blood energy that had eroded into his body had been cleared away.

【Aura Deterrence (Passive) has been upgraded to lv. 2.】

【Tip: Your willpower +1 point.】

Seeing these two prompts, Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. The feeling just now... seemed good. If his own aura were stronger, perhaps he could swallow the blood energy of the ancient battlefield? Use that blood energy to enhance his own aura? Perhaps he could create a unique skill then?

If it were anyone else, they certainly wouldn't dare to court death like this, but Su Xiao had the Devouring Core and the Demon Seal, both of which had devouring and filtering capabilities. If he could swallow those violent blood energies and filter them, filtering them into energy suitable for his own aura to swallow, his aura might be able to improve rapidly.

This approach was very dangerous, but Su Xiao felt it was feasible.

"Continue upgrading."

As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, 30,000 Paradise Coins were deducted, and the sense of teleportation reappeared. ===== CHAPTER 851 =====