Chapter 551: Stairway of Spirit and Flesh
"I'm sorry, Your Excellency Mercenary Tao seems temporarily not planning to accept your negotiation."
[Jin Ruohai] shook his head at the group of people in front of him. This group of people were exactly the High-tier Reincarnators in the East District's most famous mercenary Reincarnator assembly, [Black Water].
They had already confirmed that after that battle, the new president [Death Sword · Yi Nian Qingsi] went missing, highly likely consistent with the rumors.
Mahakala, Yi Nian Qingsi, and Su Qingqiu, all three were defeated by Mercenary Tao, and only under the face of His Eminence [End of the Great Sun] were they not killed.
Instead, all became Mercenary Tao's captives.
Someone confirmed that the president of [Death Toll Heaven], [Mu Yu], contacted Mercenary Tao through the [Black Butler], highly likely wanting to ransom [The Heaven · Su Qingqiu].
No matter how high the cost, a living top-tier Reincarnator is always worth it.
Especially for an elite assembly like [Death Toll Heaven], losing a figurehead powerhouse would probably quickly turn them into the target of other assemblies' attacks.
And [Black Water] was the same. For their kind of assembly specifically accepting various mercenary missions to gain extra benefits, a strong and powerful leader was necessary.
The few people all frowned, doubting whether looking for [Jin Ruohai] was a mistake.
Although Mercenary Tao indeed had contact with Jin Ruohai, looking at it now, the degree of familiarity between Jin Ruohai and Mercenary Tao was obviously less than the Black Butler.
The few were about to leave, but suddenly received a prompt, their faces surprised.
In the next moment, the few people who returned to the team assembly space all saw the completely unharmed Yi Nian Qingsi appear in the team square.
Black Water's team space was set as a huge square. The sky was gloomy, and a sun seemed to be experiencing a total solar eclipse. The sky was neither bright nor dark, looking quite magnificent.
"Boss, you..."
Facing the incomprehensible gazes of the few people, Yi Nian Qingsi spread her hands and shrugged her shoulders.
"No choice. To survive, I sold [Black Water]."
"Sold?!"
The eyelids of the few twitched, their voices rising sharply in an instant.
Yi Nian Qingsi lazily leaned against the stone pillar in the middle of the square and said as a matter of course:
"Yeah, otherwise do you think that guy would let me go?"
The expressions of the few became even gloomier. They exchanged glances and said coldly:
"Death Sword, didn't you tell Mercenary Tao that our [Black Water] has always just been a loose assembly. Even if you are the current president, you have no right to decide the stay or leave of others."
Yi Nian Qingsi raised her eyelids and saw that the person speaking was [Shadow Dance · Murgai], an assassin-type Reincarnator with dark skin, wrapped completely in a grayish-white cloak.
The corners of her mouth twitched. That laziness faded bit by bit, and the invisible death intent grew increasingly intense. In the team space, as the assembly controller, she could slightly change some of the rules here. Although they still couldn't kill each other, it wasn't difficult to let her killing intent radiate.
Murgai also instantly perceived this. Before they could speak, they heard the woman's cold voice ring out.
"That was the past [Black Water]. From now on, [Black Water] will change its management method. Under my... well, under the dominion of Your Excellency Mercenary Tao, I will issue hunt orders against all who do not obey orders."
Yi Nian Qingsi used her hand to tuck the dark purple long hair by her ear, the corners of her mouth hooking up with cruel killing intent.
"Executed personally by me."
Yi Nian Qingsi could still remember the chilling deathly stillness when Mercenary Tao's fingers slid between her flesh. That was absolutely a man countless times crueler than herself.
She didn't want to die, she wanted to survive. For this purpose, she could give up everything.
Whether it was her freedom or her dignity.
The principles of the mere [Black Water] assembly and the lives of these other members, how could they be as important as her own survival!
She used these things as a bargaining chip so that she temporarily didn't turn into a Scarlet Drop Card placed on that stall.
Coincidentally, Mercenary Tao seemed to currently need manpower. His [Paradise] needed to be rebuilt, and for more convenient hunting in the future, he needed a lot of manpower to spread the reputation of [Paradise]...
Yi Nian Qingsi licked the corners of her mouth, no temperature left in her eyes.
Murgai felt cold all over. The reason Death Sword · Yi Nian Qingsi could quickly become the leader of Black Water was because she was very good at killing people!
The others also understood this point, their minds instantly tensing up, falling into hesitation.
[Bodhi]
[Quality: Wonder of the World]
[Description: Legend has it that it is the condensed fruit of the Bodhi that grew in the place where Bodhidharma passed away in meditation. Possesses the effect of comprehending worldly principles and mastering techniques]
[Effect 1: Keep close to the body. When cultivating, the speed of improving martial arts-type specializations and abilities increases by 50%]
[Effect 2: Swallow the Bodhi. Will obtain the infusion of past lives' wisdom, forcefully increasing the level of cultivation abilities or specializations by 1 level. Small probability to obtain extra traits. Extremely small probability to obtain inherited martial arts · Incomplete Text of the Buddha's Palm (S)]
This was a bead radiating a faint luster, with complex and fine patterns on it. This thing was much more precious than the [Bodhi Leaf] that Red Dust traded to Kaito Shirogane previously.
Not only did it not need to be held in the mouth and consumed to use, but merely keeping it close to the body could continuously provide a cultivation bonus. Effect 2 was even more incomparably applicable to the current Kaito Shirogane.
This [Forcefully increasing 1 level] description, the Space very carefully marked it in bright red characters, as if reminding Reincarnators of the extraordinariness of this effect.
As a martial artist who had currently reached the [Peak of Technique], Kaito Shirogane naturally knew the true function of this effect.
A specialization or ability increasing from Lv1 to Lv2, and from Lv6 to Lv7, were both just increasing 1 level, but the effect and difficulty were worlds apart.
What's more, this description obviously reminded Reincarnators that the true value of this [Wonder of the World] quality item, the reason it could touch the value of a Wonder of the World, lay in letting abilities break through the limit of Lv9, break through the [Peak of Technique], and enter a transcendent realm.
This was exactly the reason why Kaito Shirogane agreed to let go of that Virtue Reincarnator without hesitation. Otherwise, how could the greedy Kaito Shirogane easily release the prey he caught.
Honestly speaking, Kaito Shirogane really wanted to swallow this Bodhi directly, utilizing the wisdom of past lives to directly break through his Martial Arts Specialization to Lv10, entering the so-called transcendent realm.
In the world view settings of many Dongxia works, they liked to use "entering the Dao through techniques" to describe this process, while in works like Fate, it was described as exquisite technique touching the domain of [True Magic].
But Kaito Shirogane ultimately restrained this impulse. The fullest way to use this item [Bodhi] was naturally to wear it normally for high-speed cultivation, and only swallow it directly when needed in battle, instantly stepping into the realm of [Lv10] to reverse the battle.
What's more, Kaito Shirogane had now faintly touched the key to another powerful power system.
In the battle with those three people, he felt the existence of the Earth's magnetic field. The energy system of [Electric Current Push] already possessed the potential to enter [Magnetic Field Rotation]!
Kaito Shirogane put the [Bodhi] into his backpack, thought for a moment, and crushed several Scarlet Drop Cards in his hands one by one.
To let his Agility and Spirit attributes catch up sooner, he began to targetedly use the Scarlet Cards of Reincarnators with these styles.
He remembered that most of the Reincarnators sent by the End Empire were from the Spellcasting side.
[You opened a Scarlet Drop Card]
[...]
[You chose Attribute Extraction]
[Spirit Attribute +6, Current: 47]
[You chose Bloodline Extraction]
[Extraction failed]
[You chose Ability Extraction]
[You obtained Ability Scroll · Temple of Nirvana Technique Lv4 (B+)]
[You opened a Scarlet Drop Card]
[You chose Attribute Extraction]
[Agility Attribute +6, Current: 42]
[You chose Bloodline Extraction]
[Extraction failed]
[You chose Ability Extraction]
[You obtained Ability Scroll · Ittou Shura Lv4 (A-)]
...
Kaito Shirogane's extractions this time were incomparably rich, because those who came to assassinate him were mostly Reincarnators of Elite level or above. Not only were their attributes relatively high, but the results of ability extraction could also be considered gratifying.
It was just that somewhat disappointing Kaito Shirogane was that apart from that woman who used [Ittou Shura], there were no other Agility-specialized Reincarnators.
After a round of extraction, his Spirit attribute skyrocketed, and his Constitution also improved slightly. Instead, his Agility attribute still hadn't broken through the 50 mark.
[Attributes: Strength 51; Constitution 57; Agility 42; Spirit 59]
At the same time, he also obtained a batch of Lv4 ability scrolls, which could be sold.
Among these ability scrolls, the only one that made Kaito Shirogane look at it for a while longer was that [Ittou Shura].
[Ittou Shura (A-) - Forcefully concentrate all magical energy. At the cost of squeezing the soul and consuming lifespan, massively enhance physical abilities. A sword-drawing ultimate skill (Current maximum enhancement is 4 times), lasting for one minute]
This ability, in Kaito Shirogane's view, could probably be considered a bankrupt version of Kaioken. Both were abilities that temporarily obtained explosive enhancements, but it had weaknesses such as consuming the soul, short duration, and only being able to enhance physical abilities.
But for Physical Arts side, especially Swordsmanship side Reincarnators who used magical energy to build their strengthening system, it could still be called a powerful ultimate skill.
Kaito Shirogane tapped his arm a few times. From [Black Water]'s side, Yi Nian Qingsi hadn't sent back news yet. Probably gathering that group of people would also take a bit of effort. Kaito Shirogane actually didn't mind killing a few more, but his time was tight now.
Moreover, that [An Zhiyuan] and the boss of Azure Sky jointly issued him a requirement restricting him from using destructive power above the [Fierce] tier outside the borders of Myanmar.
This also affected Kaito Shirogane's hunting range.
Kaito Shirogane naturally wouldn't completely abide by this so-called requirement, but he also wouldn't run a thousand miles to hunt a prey like a "fly leg."
He prepared to manage [Paradise] into a truly free and chaotic paradise for Reincarnators, while he would pick the most perfect prey from it to enjoy regularly.
Kaito Shirogane stood up and turned the door handle. He hadn't yet waited for the ransom sent over by the [End of the Great Sun]. Currently, he prepared to first go see what exactly this so-called [Stairway of Spirit and Flesh] he newly unlocked meant.
[Special Reincarnator Ex051, detected that you have met the climbing conditions for · Stairway of Spirit and Flesh. Please proceed to the Tier Management Office for inquiry]
This was the special prompt he saw after returning from the [Swirl of the Root]. Because he perceived the action of the [Kill Mercenary Alliance], Kaito Shirogane returned to the real world to fight and hadn't had time to inquire.
"Ah!"
"It's... him."
"It's Your Excellency... Mercenary Tao..."
As the true "traffic star" of the East District of the Infinite Dimensional Space now, Mercenary Tao was in the limelight. At this moment, his reputation even overshadowed those [Supreme Beings] whom not many people had seen.
Becoming the symbol of a top-tier Reincarnator in the hearts of many low-level Reincarnators.
After all, defeating multiple Title-level and above top-tier Reincarnators alone, this kind of strength was already enough to be crowned with the honorable title of [Your Excellency].
With his hands behind his back, Kaito Shirogane's figure floated like he was skimming past the shantytown, directly entering the [Tier Management Office].
Knight Girl, who was wiping a sharp sword, perceived a new Reincarnator entering. She turned her head, just about to smile and greet, but in the next moment, she was stunned for a bit, and then revealed a brilliant and energetic smile.
"Amazing, you found yet another stairway..."
Kaito Shirogane also raised his right hand. Under his ring of purple trait casting rings, there faintly existed a dim meridian, seeming to flow through his whole body and enter straight into the interior of his body.
"Miss Knight, is it convenient to tell me now, what is the meaning of the stairway?"
(End of Chapter)
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