Chapter 17

The prompt disappeared, and the room fell silent.

"Hah~ I don't believe I'll be trapped here to death."

Su Xiao sat down, starting to stand off against the Cycle Paradise.

He now understood one thing: the World Tree Ring stored in his storage space was a very precious item.

From the World Tree Ring's rating of ???, it was clear that Cycle Paradise was unwilling to reveal the value of this item.

[Please sell the World Tree Ring so that Cycle Paradise can absorb the world's power.]

The prompt reappeared. Su Xiao thought for a moment and asked:

"What is your purpose in teleporting me to the derivative world, and what exactly is this ring?"

Surprisingly, Cycle Paradise actually gave him an answer.

[The relationship between Cycle Paradise and the Hunter is 'symbiotic.' Hunters or other contractors enter the derivative plane to explore and obtain the world's source. Cycle Paradise needs the world's power to evolve and maintain normal operations.]

[The World Tree Ring contains a large amount of world's power. Please sell it immediately.]

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...

Although the prompts from Cycle Paradise were not many, Su Xiao understood the most critical thing.

The reason Cycle Paradise teleported him to the derivative world was to obtain the world's power through him.

This so-called world's power is likely extracted from the world's source, which is why Cycle Paradise rewards him based on the amount of the world's source he obtains.

Cycle Paradise seems to follow certain rules; otherwise, it would not ask him to sell the World Tree Ring but would forcibly take it.

His identity as a Hunter indicates that under normal circumstances, Cycle Paradise cannot directly execute contractors.

As long as he does not violate the rules of Cycle Paradise, it cannot punish him, not just him but any other contractors as well. This is why the role of the Hunter exists.

A Hunter is responsible for dealing with contractors in the derivative world who 'violate' the rules but do not break the regulations of Cycle Paradise.

For example, a contractor discovers a loophole in the rules of Cycle Paradise and uses it to gain benefits.

At such a time, it is Su Xiao's turn to step in.

Without a doubt, these 'violating' contractors would be very strong and cunning.

Su Xiao remained seated on the ground, casually playing with the [Dragon Slash].

He had a bold idea: to extort Cycle Paradise.

Although it seemed suicidal, given his identity as a Hunter, Cycle Paradise would not do anything to him.

Su Xiao was betting on the importance of his identity as a Hunter. If it were not important, wouldn't he have wasted his time in a nightmare-level world?

Time passed, and finally, after two hours, a prompt from Cycle Paradise appeared before him.

[Special Mission: Choice]

Difficulty Level: ???

Mission Overview: Hand over the World Tree Ring to Cycle Paradise.

Mission Information: None

Mission Deadline: Five minutes.

Mission Reward: A highly compatible inheritance with the Hunter's talent.

...

A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. It seemed his identity as a Hunter was more significant than he imagined, as Cycle Paradise had issued a mission.

After some consideration, Su Xiao chose to accept the mission.

He was unsure about the cold and ruthless Cycle Paradise, as he still needed to survive in it.

[Special Mission: Choice, completed. Preparing to distribute the reward. Please prepare, Hunter.]

Prepare? It seemed this reward was not simple.

After Cycle Paradise gave the prompt, a beam of light appeared in the room, enveloping Su Xiao.

Su Xiao remained motionless, staring straight ahead, his eyes losing focus, with occasional blue flashes.

At this moment, Su Xiao's consciousness had arrived in a vast hall.

The hall was extraordinarily wide, with no visible boundaries.

Su Xiao scanned his surroundings and noticed six stone statues, each over a hundred meters tall, depicting humans but magnified many times.

"Inheritor... come forward."

A solemn voice echoed, and Su Xiao's body tensed. The voice came from one of the stone statues in front of him.

"The original agreement has reached the time for fulfillment."

Another stone statue spoke, and Su Xiao's arrival seemed to trigger a chain reaction, with all six statues speaking in turn.

"You are the last inheritor. Our inheritance ends with you."

"Whether we should fade into the river of time or the spellcasters, you will be the one to verify."

"Spellcasters disrupt the balance of the world and matter. Their so-called magic consumes the power of the rules."

"Foolish spellcasters, even if our bodies are destroyed, our consciousness remains eternal."

Su Xiao stood still, his scalp tingling. The speaking stone statues were far more powerful than he could imagine.

Moreover, these statues were not living beings but the consciousness left behind by extremely powerful entities.

"Creation, birth, destruction, and revival all occur in this sanctuary of birth."

"Inheritor, remember our shared name. We are the Shadow of Lawbreakers, the nemesis of all spellcasters!"

The six stone statues opened their eyes and looked at Su Xiao. He felt a surge of violent energy entering his body, followed by a dizzying sensation and a ringing in his ears.

...

"Breath, breath, breath~."

Su Xiao woke up in the room, panting heavily.

He was still in his private room, and the previous scene seemed like an illusion.

[Reward completed. Private room activated.]

After the prompt from Cycle Paradise, a door appeared on one of the walls, indicating that he could finally leave.

But Su Xiao was no longer concerned with this. He felt a surge of energy within him, threatening to burst his body.

"What~ is happening."

Su Xiao could no longer speak normally. The energy was rapidly altering his body.

His blood flowed at high speed, and the unknown energy was not destroying his body but strengthening it, albeit in a brutal manner.

His cells were undergoing transformation, the most noticeable change being his hair, which began to turn slightly gray, though the change was minimal and hard to notice.

With a thud, he collapsed on the ground, feeling that he could not hold on much longer. If this continued, he would soon die.

[Detected abnormal life characteristics of the Hunter. Preparing to activate the recovery function. This function will consume the Hunter's Paradise Coins. Yes/No to activate]

The voice of Cycle Paradise no longer sounded cold to Su Xiao but like a heavenly melody.

"Activate~."

Pain filled his body, gradually consuming his consciousness.

As soon as Su Xiao spoke, a green light enveloped him, and his Paradise Coins began to rapidly decrease.

In less than five seconds, the recovery function consumed over a thousand Paradise Coins.

After about ten seconds, the energy in his body disappeared, fully absorbed by Su Xiao, and the recovery function shut down.

Su Xiao sat up and tried to move his body, immediately noticing something different.

"What is this?"

He looked at his hands in disbelief. After absorbing the energy, he seemed to have become stronger.

No, much stronger.

However, this increase in strength was not through the help of Cycle Paradise, so it did not give any prompts.

Opening his [Personal Information], Su Xiao was stunned.

The reward for the World Tree Ring was far more astonishing than he had imagined.