Peak of Technique

"His Excellency Mercenary Tao, I came hoping to discuss Su Qingqiu’s ransom…"

The leader of Paradise of the Dead’s gathering was a woman. She was thin, slightly dark-skinned, and apparently did not want her Avatar to be designed too conspicuously, making her look quite unremarkable.

If one saw her in the Slum Area, no one would likely imagine that such a woman was actually the controller of the renowned high-tier gathering, Paradise of the Dead.

The woman codenamed Mu Yu adjusted her black-rimmed glasses. Her presence was not particularly imposing, and before Mercenary Tao, she instead seemed like an inferior.

Black Butler, Jin Yue’an, and Li Qingzi stood behind Bai Cangshu. Further back, Su Qingqiu had been carved into a human stump. If not for being in the space, he would probably have died at any moment.

Meanwhile, the Death Sword Thought Silk with dark purple hair had a chain hung around her neck. She stood behind Bai Cangshu, kneading his shoulders and neck.

Mu Yu did her best to steady herself. Though she had already received an answer from Great Sun of Finality, seeing this scene with her own eyes still made her gaze twitch slightly.

Standing beside Mu Yu was another woman. Her pink hair fell to her waist, while white gauze draped around her from both sides, leaving a rather ample amount of cleavage exposed.

Deathbird Enfei, Paradise of the Dead’s other iconic high-tier Title-level Reincarnator.

Paradise of the Dead’s reputation had been forged by Su Enfei and Su Qingqiu.

The two were speculated to be siblings or lovers. Most Information Brokers believed they were Koreans, though some believed they were East Xia People.

"Mercenary Tao, two S-rank Singularity-equivalent items should be enough to trade back that piece of trash, right~?"

Su Enfei’s relationship with Su Qingqiu was not as harmonious as outsiders claimed. Black Butler could tell that Su Enfei had spoken those words with considerable malice.

She was about to continue when Mu Yu took the initiative to interrupt her.

"Mr. Mercenary Tao, I heard that you have recently been seeking items like Bodhi Leaves. As it happens, I have some."

Bai Cangshu leaned his head back, resting it directly against A Single Thought of Silk’s body. Within the space, the two could make direct physical contact, which meant they had both signed contracts granting complete control.

Li Qingzi stood behind them, watching the scene with an indifferent gaze.

Jin Yue’an’s eyes, however, discreetly swept across Li Qingzi. She was increasingly able to grasp the dynamic between the two.

She adjusted her glasses, took out a tablet, and began negotiating.

"According to the current market price in the Slum Area, each Bodhi Leaf is valued at one A-rank Anomaly Point. That is already a good price."

Mu Yu shook her head. Her presence was weak, but her tone remained calm and measured, not overly pressured by the current situation.

"Though Bodhi Leaves are only purple-quality consumable items, they carry additional value for Martial Artists like His Excellency Mercenary Tao."

"I believe two Bodhi Leaves for one S-rank Singularity is a price both sides can accept."

Ever since word spread that Mercenary Tao had defeated Mahakala and the others in the real world, Black Butler had stopped pretending to be at odds with Mercenary Tao.

Now, he helped drive down the price without mercy.

"Ms. Mu Yu, it is true that we need Bodhi Leaves, but you should also know that since news of that battle spread, quite a few teams have been using items His Excellency Mercenary Tao likes to curry favor with us."

"The value of Bodhi Leaves is not as high as you imagine."

As the group exchanged verbal blows, Su Qingqiu, who had been carved into a human stump and forced to sign a slave contract, remained calm. When he had moved to kill Mercenary Tao, he had also prepared himself to be killed in return.

Those who kill will eventually be killed. It was only fair.

The only reason Bai Cangshu patiently listened to them negotiate was because he was currently in a severe shortage of resources.

The damage caused by peering into and connecting with The Root was even more serious than he had expected.

Just repairing his body after returning had cost him one A-rank Anomaly Point and tens of thousands of Dimensional Points, nearly draining the resources he had previously saved.

Then, after battling those people in Paradise, repeatedly activating that unknown magic to peer into the essence of others’ abilities, and forcibly seizing Mahakala’s Finality ability, his body had once again suffered erosion from The Root.

The price of these Mystic Eyes was far greater than that of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

Almost every use subjected his body to erosion from The Root.

Bai Cangshu had consulted the space. The reason he suffered this erosion was because his body had not been born from The Root and could not properly adapt to the Swirl of the Root.

In other words, he did not possess the essence of Root Shiki. Thus, using those eyes came at an enormous cost.

If Reincarnators did not possess the trait of being able to repair themselves endlessly in the space, Bai Cangshu would simply be unable to bear those eyes.

The result of being eroded by the Swirl of the Root was not death, but the erasure of one’s nature and the assimilation of one’s existence.

Neither Bai Cangshu’s immortality nor his Hyper Regeneration could exempt him from this erosion.

As Bai Cangshu enjoyed the massage of Blackwater’s renowned new-generation leader, he considered the direction of his next enhancements.

He opened his panel.

Specializations: Martial Arts Mastery Level 9+(9+2); Street Fighting Level 9, Fist and Foot Specialization Level 9, Footwork Specialization Level 9, Spirit Arts Specialization Level 9...

Abilities: Hamon Level 9; Magic Spear Level 9; Divine Finger Technique Level 7; Satsui no Hado Level 4; Shun Goku Satsu Level 4; Wind God Leg Level 9; Ice Heart Art Level 9; Kaio-ken Level 3…
“`

In terms of technique, he had gradually approached the limit of ordinary Reincarnators, reaching the so-called Peak of Technique.

After Bai Cangshu’s Martial Arts Mastery reached Level 9, it had entered a Level 9+ state with the bonus from Mercenary Tao’s Pink Robe.

He could feel that he had entered a bottleneck. His force generation, force dissipation, and control over power had all reached their pinnacle.

Ahead lay the sheer cliff faced by ordinary Martial Artists.

With the aid of items, he had gone a little farther than others, but he still could not break through that limit.

This was the limit for most body-technique and sword-technique Reincarnators. With a massive allocation of team resources, high-tier Reincarnators could use items such as Bodhi Leaves and the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to raise their specializations to Level 9.

At that point, even without relying on any abilities, Reincarnators could fully display the terrifying killing power contained within their attributes.

Like Bai Cangshu. With his current base strength of 50 points, under the control granted by Martial Arts Mastery of this level, he could already accomplish everything Mercenary Tao had demonstrated for him that day in the Dragon Ball World.

Killing with finger wind, plucking flowers and sending leaves flying, stomping the ground to transmit force dozens of meters and precisely shake a target to death, or even opening his mouth and killing with his breath.

None of it was difficult.

But Bai Cangshu knew very well that beyond the Peak of Technique, there was a higher realm.

Level 9+ was not the limit.

He wanted to enter a Transcendent Realm like Lv10 or Lv11.

After witnessing Sasaki Kojirō’s secret sword technique, Tsubame Gaeshi, in the Type-Moon World, Bai Cangshu had become certain that once technique broke through to a certain level, it too could touch unimaginable power.

Even Sasaki Kojirō himself could not understand how he had achieved it, but there was no doubt that strike had transcended the realm of technique and begun to approach the realm of laws.

On the other hand, Bai Cangshu needed to make up for his deficiencies in agility and spirit. Thinking of this, he glanced at Su Qingqiu with some regret.

If the other party had been an agility-focused or spirit-focused Reincarnator, he would probably have become Bai Cangshu’s nourishment by now.

Mu Yu saw the look Mercenary Tao gave Su Qingqiu. The greed in his eyes sent a chill through her entire body.

She did not want to keep entangling herself with such a monster. Moreover, she needed to completely sever the grudge between Su Qingqiu and him.

She suddenly rose to her feet, startling Su Enfei, Jin Yue’an, and the others.

Mu Yu walked up to Bai Cangshu and said calmly,

"I can offer one Bodhi. In addition, I have information on another Scarlet Great Sin. It is a… particularly agile Sin."

The next moment, she saw what seemed to be intense energy flickering in Mercenary Tao’s eyes, his scorching breath nearly striking her face.

"Good, very good!"

Bai Cangshu raised a hand. Su Qingqiu, his slave, was seized through the air without the slightest resistance. He tossed the human stump to Mu Yu.

"After I kill that Sin, I will release his slave contract."

Mu Yu handed Su Qingqiu to Su Enfei and continued,

"I know every Scarlet Great Sin is your best supplement, Mercenary Tao. I hope the grudge between you and Su Qingqiu ends here. In the future, Paradise of the Dead will not accept any missions related to you either."

"This is my promise."