Yellow Sand and Death

Su Xiao gripped the longsword, extending his arm straight.

Though he hadn't yet reached the level where the weapon became an extension of his limb, his perception of the blade in his hand had already changed.

Reaching that level was by no means an overnight task.

Although spending 1,000 Paradise Coins in just one hour was steep, Su Xiao felt it was money well spent.

Koshiro hadn't taught him any techniques, but he had opened a new door for him.

"Summon Koshiro again."

Su Xiao was in good condition now, so he summoned Koshiro once more.

[Unable to summon specified projection.]

[Beep, Hunter authority activated. Please select summoning duration.]

A faint smile curled at the corner of Su Xiao's mouth. It seemed his identity as a Hunter had its uses.

"Three hours."

[Koshiro summoning in progress. Summoning complete.]

Koshiro appeared again. After emerging, he nodded at Su Xiao without introducing himself.

Su Xiao was a bit surprised. Koshiro seemed to recognize him.

"Then, let's continue the last session. You've already begun to sense the blade in your hand."

Koshiro's words made Su Xiao understand why Reincarnation Paradise didn't allow repeated summons of the same projection.

When the same projection appeared, it retained its memory from the previous summoning. For Su Xiao, this was undoubtedly a good thing.

"Now you're qualified to spar with me. Come."

Koshiro drew his weapon for the first time. Su Xiao recognized that blade—one of the Great Grade Swords, twenty-one works: Wado Ichimonji.

Su Xiao rose, charged at Koshiro with his sword, and seized every second to grow stronger.

The crisp clash of blades rang out. Sparring with an expert like Koshiro was invaluable experience. Without Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao would never have had such an opportunity.

During the duel, Su Xiao observed every move Koshiro made, absorbing sword techniques like a dry sponge.

After an hour of continuous sparring, sweat soaked through Su Xiao's clothes, and heat radiated from his body.

"Rest now. There are a few points you need to pay attention to..."

During the break, Koshiro began pointing out Su Xiao's shortcomings.

At this moment, as a projection, Koshiro taught Su Xiao without holding anything back.

Three hours passed quickly. Su Xiao still felt unsatisfied.

"Time's up. See you next time."

Koshiro gradually faded away. Su Xiao wanted to summon him again, but after seeing his remaining 4,027 Paradise Coins, he had to give up for now.

Su Xiao took a deep breath. The earlier feeling of being able to shatter everything disappeared—that was the aftereffect of rapidly increasing attributes.

He clenched his fist, and crisp cracking sounds came from his knuckles. He had grown much more accustomed to the sudden surge in attributes. Now, he only needed to complete the final step.

"Paradise, start combat mode."

[Combat mode consumes 10 Paradise Coins per minute. Yes/No to pay.]

"Pay."

[Combat mode activated. Mechanical Dolls will appear in thirty seconds. Please prepare in advance.]

The surrounding scenery began to shift, transforming from the sword dojo into a desert.

The sword dojo was a scene automatically generated when Koshiro appeared. The current scene was combat mode.

The combat mode would only end when Su Xiao was 'killed in battle.'

Of course, dying in the [Training Ground] wasn't real death.

A fierce wind whipped up yellow sand, and the surroundings were hazy and dim. A silver-white metal ball emerged from the sand.

That wasn't a ball at all—it was the head of a Mechanical Doll.

One by one, steel-made Mechanical Dolls crawled out of the sand. Dozens of red electronic eyes locked onto Su Xiao.

More and more Mechanical Dolls appeared, quickly numbering over a hundred, surrounding Su Xiao on all sides.

[Time's up. Combat practice begins.]

"Clank, clank, clank." The uniform sound of metal striking metal rang out as the Mechanical Dolls rapidly closed in on Su Xiao from all directions.

The dense sea of Mechanical Dolls made Su Xiao cautious. He quickly adjusted his breathing rhythm.

Countless weapons struck at him from all sides, enveloping him completely.

Several silver blade flashes streaked through the air, and large swaths of Mechanical Dolls shattered.

Su Xiao was no longer the same as before. Now, both his physical attributes and swordsmanship had greatly improved.

Metal shattered, yellow sand splattered, and a brutal slaughter began...

Ten minutes later, Su Xiao was teleported to the entrance of the [Training Ground].

As soon as he appeared, Su Xiao felt around his head to confirm it was intact. Under the siege of those Mechanical Dolls earlier, his head had been shattered.

"So lifelike."

Su Xiao left the [Training Ground] with a smile. Although he had spent over 4,000 Paradise Coins in total, he had already adapted to his current body.

And that wasn't the only gain—his Sword Mastery had also improved.

Skill Two.

Sword Mastery: LV.2. (Passive)

Skill Effect: Increases melee attack power by 12% and proficiency with blade-type weapons.

Sword Mastery had increased by one level. From what Su Xiao understood, improving Sword Mastery was extremely difficult, requiring one Soul Crystal (Small) and 1,000 Paradise Coins.

To upgrade the skills of his [Shadow of Law Destruction], aside from training on his own, he needed to use Soul Crystals plus Paradise Coins.

Now Su Xiao understood the value of Soul Crystals. He had barely managed to kill an elite creature and only obtained one Soul Crystal (Small).

He had searched for Soul Crystals in the trading market of Reincarnation Paradise, but no one was selling them.

Let alone selling—most Contractors didn't even know what Soul Crystals were.

So the Soul Crystal (Small) in his hands was all the more precious.

Returning to his Exclusive Room, Su Xiao spent 100 Paradise Coins to expand the space, adding a bedroom, bathroom, and other rooms, and arranged the furniture he had bought.

After some decoration, Su Xiao's Exclusive Room transformed—not only becoming spacious but also much more luxurious.

Sitting on the soft bed he had bought for 40 Paradise Coins, Su Xiao fell into thought.

He now had one Soul Crystal (Small) in hand, and two choices: upgrade an existing skill or unlock a new one.

Given the current situation, aside from the [Blue Steel Shadow] skill and [Sword Mastery], Su Xiao didn't have many combat skills.

But he already had a general goal: to make swordsmanship his main combat method, with other abilities as support.

This was a promising path. In many Derivative Planes, there were such powerhouses.

In the One Piece World, the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk, fought purely with swordsmanship.

Although it was called swordsmanship in the One Piece World, Hawkeye used a blade—and not just Hawkeye, but Red Hair and others as well.

This showed that specializing in one ability had great potential.

Su Xiao wasn't even proficient in using [Blue Steel Shadow], so he wasn't in a hurry to acquire a new skill.

That left him choosing between upgrading [Blue Steel Shadow] or [Sword Mastery].

After hesitating for a long time, Su Xiao finally chose to upgrade [Sword Mastery], as it would bring a more noticeable boost to his strength.

[Consume Soul Crystal (Small), 1,000 Paradise Coins, to upgrade Sword Mastery.]

Su Xiao was dazed for a few seconds, then felt new knowledge enter his mind—knowledge of swordsmanship.

He checked Sword Mastery again.

Skill Two.

Sword Mastery: LV.3. (Passive)

Skill Effect: Increases melee attack power by 14% and proficiency with blade-type weapons.

Using a Soul Crystal to upgrade a skill came without any difficulty—no need for adaptation, just direct mastery.

No wonder Soul Crystals were so rare. For Su Xiao to obtain such an incredible item from a green Treasure Chest was extremely lucky.

Actually, it wasn't just luck. In a nightmare-difficulty world, the rewards from killing enemies were greatly increased. Such good fortune would likely rarely appear again.

Thinking back, I got electrocuted yesterday—why didn't I transmigrate? What a shame~~.