Chapter 981: The State of Third Tier

Sweat seeped from Su Xiao’s temples, his jaw muscles clenched, and red glimmers flashed in his pupils.

“Kill Stein.”

Su Xiao murmured the words, then froze—he wouldn’t mutter targets aloud even if he intended to kill them.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the smoke skull; it had grown to the size of a washbasin, as if grinning at him.

Su Xiao immediately shut down the Devouring Core, though he longed to continue absorbing the pure life energy.

The Devouring Core had no limit, but Su Xiao did; no ability, no matter how potent, could rise infinitely in a short time—especially a violent one like Qinggangying. Among all enemies he’d faced, only a handful had energy that Qinggangying failed to devour.

He stopped devouring and checked the Rebirth Dragon’s essence; it remained vibrant, though its vast energy couldn’t withstand Su Xiao’s relentless consumption.

Roughly estimating, Su Xiao had devoured about one-third of the essence’s energy, surprising him—he’d assumed he’d taken nearly half.

During the devouring, the Cycle Paradise issued numerous prompts; Su Xiao opened them.

【Qinggangying has leveled up to lv.34.】

【Due to massive influx of pure life energy into your body, your maximum HP has permanently increased by 50.】

【Qinggangying has leveled up to lv.35.】

【Qinggangying has leveled up to lv.36.】

【Due to massive influx of pure life energy into your body, your HP regeneration rate per minute has permanently increased by 5.】

【Qinggangying has leveled up to lv.37.】

【Qinggangying has leveled up to lv.38.】

【Qinggangying has leveled up to lv.39.】

【Due to massive influx of pure life energy into your body, your physical defense has permanently increased by 4, and your resistance to abnormal states has permanently increased by 3%.】

……

Qinggangying rose nine levels—from lv.30 to lv.39. Recall that after reaching lv.30, each subsequent level required progressively more high-tier biological energy; if lv.30 to lv.31 needed 2 energy points, lv.31 to lv.32 required at least 4.

Su Xiao seriously doubted whether devouring a Tailed Beast now would even grant him one level of Qinggangying.

The smoke skull dissipated; it would shrink over time. When it returned to fist size, Su Xiao could devour energy from the essence again.

As for letting Bubu Wang devour this energy—he’d tried before. Bubu Wang became visibly energized after consuming pure life energy, acting like he’d taken drugs, leaping and biting Ah Mu several times—then… nothing more. Bubu Wang needed high-tier biological flesh, not raw energy.

Skill 4: High-Tier Creature (Active Max): Bubu Tieni can evolve by consuming the flesh of high-tier creatures.

……

The skill description was clear; the attempt failed, but because Su Xiao created Ah Mu, Bubu Wang’s combat power surged dramatically.

Su Xiao opened Qinggangying’s skill description to see how much it had improved.

【Qinggangying: lv.39 (Active Skill)】

Activation Condition: After activating Qinggangying, the Hunter consumes 118 MP per minute; the skill auto-deactivates when MP drops below 1%.

Effect: After activating Qinggangying, each melee attack burns 205 MP from the target and deals true damage equal to 1.5x the burned MP (328 true damage). The target suffers intense pain from the MP burn.

lv.20 Bonus Ability

Ao Ge: A defensive form that generates energy shields of any shape to block attacks. Shield strength scales with MP consumed. Maximum single MP cost: 600 (up from 500).

lv.30 Bonus Ability

Soul Electrification: When Qinggangying burns an enemy’s MP, there’s a 16% chance to trigger one of three abnormal states: paralysis, immobilization, or dizziness (trigger chance increased by 4%). Duration: 0.2–3 seconds (determined by Hunter’s Intelligence).

Tip: This abnormal state activates without requiring a judgment.

Tip: This ability triggers passively with no cooldown.

Tip: Abnormal states cannot stack.

……

MP consumption has increased. Even with 3,526 MP now, if Su Xiao kept Qinggangying active continuously, his MP would deplete in roughly 30 minutes—but the cost was worth it. A 328-point true damage output was nothing short of terrifying.

Continuously activating Qinggangying was Su Xiao’s rookie habit. Now he only activated it just before striking—drastically reducing MP use. Each activation lasted 0.7 to 1.4 seconds, never exceeding 2 seconds.

Although Su Xiao gained no attribute points or Paradise coins from the Gubao world, his power underwent a radical transformation: four 80-point attribute boosts, the creation of Ah Mu, and Qinggangying’s massive upgrade—collectively, these ensured inevitable combat growth.

Su Xiao’s time in the Cycle Paradise was running short; he would soon return to the real world. After relaxing there, he would face his next derivative world.

Thinking of the next derivative world, Su Xiao grew curious. Though he had just ascended to the third tier, his power already surpassed many third-tier Contractees. What derivative world would the Cycle Paradise send him to?

How did Su Xiao know he surpassed most third-tier Contractees? He learned this from Pi Pan.

Su Xiao had previously fallen into a misconception: that all third-tier Contractees had broken the 80-point barrier. In truth, only a few had.

Su Xiao and Guo Zu and others were among those with explosive growth. Detectives like Xiao Luoli and the gold-rimmed glasses man had been third-tier for a long time. As for Pi Pan, he’d also been third-tier for years—yet he pursued simultaneous breakthroughs in multiple attributes, which delayed his entry into the Gubao game.

As Pi Pan put it: as long as Su Xiao avoided third-tier adventuring parties or the top-tier elite, most third-tier Contractees weren’t his match.

Breaking the 80-point barrier was something third-tier Contractees aimed for near the end of their tier, approaching fourth tier. Su Xiao broke it immediately upon ascending to third tier—and not just one, but four attributes, granting him four primary attributes.

Su Xiao wondered just how strong he was now. Verifying this wasn’t hard: the third-tier arena had refreshed, and since he hadn’t ranked in the top ten during second tier, his third-tier rank was reset to the very bottom—matching him only with third-tier newcomers.

For some reason, Su Xiao suddenly wondered: was he about to bully newbies? In his view, the gold-rimmed glasses man and Detective Xiao Luoli—who’d been in third tier for ages—were merely average. Especially Xiao Luoli; if she fought him, she’d be pinned down and humiliated in every possible way.

From Xiao Luoli’s fragmented remarks, Su Xiao deduced her strength was mid-tier in third tier.

Su Xiao found this puzzling. That little girl? Mid-tier?

Though Xiao Luoli was weak, the top-tier third-tier Contractees were not to be underestimated. Take Huang Fen—if Su Xiao faced him now, he’d likely die. Huang Fen wasn’t incapable of reaching fourth tier; he deliberately suppressed himself. Stein was fourth tier and managed his own fourth-tier subordinates when entering derivative worlds. Third-tier subordinates? They fell under Huang Fen’s command.

Rumor had it that if Stein and Huang Fen fought to the death, Stein wouldn’t win for sure. Huang Fen was a monster among third-tier Contractees—wearing a third-tier shell but possessing fourth-tier power.

Even such a powerful Huang Fen had rivals: men under the Divine Emperor, including a support-type Contractee named Kuang Hu—a support with staggering combat potential, specializing in healing.