Chapter 896: Invitation

The soldiers and espers hunting Su Xiao retreated. Su Xiao walked on foot toward the very edge of Academy City, leaving two rows of bloody footprints along the way.

Su Xiao used his fingers to dig a bullet out of his shoulder. With his body's defensive power, the bullet hadn't penetrated very deep.

Su Xiao had just fought a fierce battle with Accelerator, and now he had encountered a siege by the Science Side's troops. Although the Repel Shield could easily block bullets, once the number of bullets reached a certain level, a qualitative change would occur. Moreover, the firearms developed by Academy City had astonishing power, far exceeding the cutting-edge levels of the outside world.

He tossed the blood-stained, somewhat distorted bullet head aside and walked straight toward the checkpoint at the edge of Academy City.

To Aleister, Su Xiao was now a plague god, and he wouldn't let him stay in Academy City for even a moment longer.

This gave Su Xiao a bit of a headache. Heaven knows if he would ever enter the Index world again. Although the probability wasn't high, it wasn't impossible.

If he came here next time and was burdened with a main quest, then he and Aleister would very likely have to fight to the death. The grudge from burning District 2 was almost irreconcilable.

With Su Xiao's current strength, it wasn't enough to challenge Aleister. He had been clear about this from beginning to end, so he wouldn't take the initiative to provoke the other party. But if the other party came knocking, Su Xiao wouldn't just sit and wait for death either.

His mana was down to only 153 points, his health was at 19%, and his recovery items were exhausted. In this state, it was better to leave the Index world quickly.

Killing his way out of Academy City, he had some unexpected gains. For example, he had killed many Hound Unit members who blocked his path, his Spirit Eater was fully gorged, and during this time, he had killed several Dark Side Level 3 espers, gaining a small amount of World Source.

Su Xiao and the limping Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang successfully passed through the layers of checkpoints on the outskirts of Academy City. Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang had been shot in the butt, which had infuriated the guy quite a bit.

The path was unobstructed. Before Aleister confirmed that there were no incendiary bombs in the Seventh School District, he wouldn't turn against Su Xiao again. Once confirmed, what awaited Su Xiao would be an overwhelming hunting force.

Leaving the scope of Academy City, Su Xiao arrived at a seaside town near Academy City. He immediately completed the promotion quest.

【Hint: The Hunter has completed the Third Tier promotion quest. Returning to Reincarnation Paradise soon.】

The sensation of teleportation appeared. Su Xiao felt a bit drowsy; this was caused by massive blood loss. Light and shadow flashed before his eyes, and Su Xiao was teleported out of the Index world.

【Teleportation complete. The Hunter has returned to the exclusive room.】

【The exclusive room is an absolutely safe point. No one can enter without the Hunter's permission.】

【The Hunter has returned to Reincarnation Paradise. Starting to settle Derived World rewards.】

Derived World: A Certain Magical Index

Difficulty: Lv. 15 ~??? (Third Tier Semi-Open World)

World Source obtained: 31.54

Number of quests completed: 2 (Promotion quest x1, Hunter quest x1)

Comprehensive evaluation: B+ (Note: The rating is from E- to S+. The comprehensive evaluation is calculated based on the total World Source obtained and the number of quests completed.)

Starting to collect World Source...

World Source collection complete. Starting to calculate rewards.

Rewards obtained: 11 attribute points, 16,000 Paradise Coins.

Settlement complete. Rewards have been automatically deposited into the Hunter's brand.

Seeing the B+ rating, Su Xiao wasn't surprised. Just as he was preparing to check the items he had obtained, a hint appeared again.

【Hint: The Hunter has completed the Third Tier promotion quest.】

【The Hunter has successfully promoted to Third Tier.】

【The difficulty of the Hunter's future Derived Worlds will be Third Tier.】

【The arena has been upgraded. From now on, the Hunter will compete with Third Tier contractors.】

【No Arena King title detected for the Hunter. Arena ranking cleared.】

Su Xiao checked his personal profile. Sure enough, there was a change in the tier column.

Level: Lv. 20 (Third Tier). Every 10 levels is one tier. Leveling up provides no attribute bonuses; it corresponds to the Hunter's authority, world difficulty, quest difficulty, etc., in Reincarnation Paradise.

Successfully promoted to Third Tier. Overall, the Third Tier promotion went quite smoothly.

Su Xiao's promotion speed was much faster than other contractors. This was something that couldn't be helped; his comprehensive evaluation each time was relatively high, which led to his faster promotion speed.

Of course, a high comprehensive evaluation also meant Su Xiao gained a lot of benefits, with the pros outweighing the cons.

Su Xiao's only thought now was to recover from his injuries and then get some sleep. Just as he was about to activate the recovery function, a small red dot appeared in his vision. Looking closely, it was a very small red envelope.

【Your name has been written on the game list of the Demon Castle.】

【Come on, complete this game between life and death, and you will be an undisputed powerhouse.】

【Despair, anger, suspicion... In the game of the Demon Castle, there is no one you can trust, except Alice.】

【However, Alice is the person most likely to kill you. She is the Queen of the Demon Castle, and there, her power is almost that of a god.】

【Do not try to please Alice. Only a fair game can make her reveal a smile. Remember, you must make Alice smile. If she is angry or sad, hehehehe...】

【Hint: The Hunter is expected to participate in the Demon Castle game in 56 hours and 28 minutes.】

【Hint: Successfully complete the game, and the Hunter will obtain the Proof of a Foreign Qiangzhe.】

【Hint: The Hunter's progress in breaking through the 80-attribute barrier is as follows.】

1. Reach Third Tier (Completed)

2. Complete one World Conquest (Completed)

3. Break through one's own limits (Completed)

4. Proof of a Foreign Qiangzhe (Not completed)

Seeing this series of hints, Su Xiao understood what was going on. Before entering the Index world, he had used 【Alice's Invitation】. As long as he completed the so-called Demon Castle game, he could obtain the 'Proof of a Foreign Qiangzhe'.

The function of the Proof of a Foreign Qiangzhe was actually very clear: it was to divide the difference between the strong and the weak. If you obtained it, you would soar; if you didn't, you could only use the 'O-type Energy Protein Injector', suffering the evil consequence of needing 9 attribute points to strengthen one attribute. That growth speed would be so slow it would make one doubt life.

Time was still ample. Su Xiao spent 1,700 Paradise Coins to recover from his injuries, then collapsed onto the bed, not even taking off his clothes, and started sleeping soundly.

Compared to other things, it was better to let his brain recover its clarity first.

He didn't know how long he slept. Su Xiao got up in a daze, went to the bathroom to relieve himself, returned to the bedside, took off his clothes, and collapsed to continue sleeping.

When Su Xiao woke up, his mind was much clearer. The muddled feeling caused by excessive blood loss had disappeared. After taking a cold shower, he felt even more refreshed.

He hadn't obtained many rewards in the Derived World this time. Su Xiao hesitated for a moment and took out a golden treasure chest.

Waiting for the cooldown of Fate's Redemption to recover wasn't wise. Before starting the Demon Castle game, Su Xiao needed to improve his strength as much as possible. That was an assessment of whether he was qualified to become a powerhouse; the difficulty must not be low. Rather than taking the golden treasure chest to the grave, he was more willing to give it a shot.

Moreover, before entering the Demon Castle, he had to find a way to relax his mind and adjust his state to the best.

Without the state of a lucky person, this was the first time Su Xiao was opening a golden treasure chest, and he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Seeing this scene, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang had already closed his eyes in despair. ===== CHAPTER 897 =====