Think life is boring? Try enhancement

"Have you thought it through?"

Lin Xiao asked for confirmation again.

"This is clearly a sure profit with no chance of a loss. What is there to think about? Or are you the one having second thoughts?

Don't worry, I'm not insatiably greedy. Once I've opened a full set of Soul Bones, I'll stop. I won't make you lose too much."

Xie Yue smiled. He thought Lin Xiao was afraid of losing money.

Little did he know.

Lin Xiao was blooming with joy inside.

Heh, you might make a killing, but I won't lose out either!

Deep down, Lin Xiao wished they would open dozens of jars.

After all, only by selling a jar would Lin Xiao receive a bonus jar with ten times the drop rate.

The more he sold, the more he could open.

In fact, Lin Xiao would have been delighted if every jar Xie Yue opened contained a Soul Bone. Only then would people keep coming back to open more.

"I won't bother choosing this time. Let's start with the first one in the first row."

Xie Yue made his selection.

Lin Xiao collected the remaining four hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, then neatly arranged four jars on the counter.

Crack, crack, crack.

Growing ever more practiced, Xie Yue picked up the Lucky Magic Hammer and smashed the jars one after another in a single burst.

White light, white light, white light...

Three consecutive flashes of white light made Xie Yue's eyelid twitch wildly.

That was perfectly normal.

Although he had said he had already broken even and could accept whatever else came out.

Who wouldn't want more good loot?

Crack!

At last, the final jar shattered, and a beam of purple light shone with extraordinary brilliance!

Purple light!

Purple light again!

Did that mean... another Soul Bone?

Xie Yue's blood pressure instantly soared. His eyes reddened, and his breathing quickened.

Hu Liena looked puzzled. "What's so special about purple light? Why is my brother reacting like that?"

"It's here! It's here! That was the same light when Xie Yue got his Soul Bone last time!"

Yan's sudden exclamation from beside her made Hu Liena jump.

A Soul Bone?

Could another Soul Bone really come out?

Was Lin Xiao really not using Soul Bones as bait to swindle people?

Hu Liena was stunned.

Instinctively, she looked at the item in Xie Yue's hand.

Just then.

The deep purple glow faded away.

It revealed a palm-sized, pale blue disk dotted with eight black spots. At its very center, a black vortex swirled.

"An Enhancer!"

Lin Xiao frowned. He recognized it without even checking its information.

Want to add a little fun to your humdrum life?

Kai's Enhancer. You deserve one!

The joy of forty straight failures will strip you of every last hope in life!

Item: [Enhancer]

Grade: [Rare]

Type: [Untradeable]

Description: [Equipment-level enhancement has been converted into Soul Ring enhancement.]

Effect: [Allows you to select any Soul Ring for enhancement. Upon successful enhancement, its maximum age increases according to its base age. The higher the enhancement level, the greater the multiplier. (Note: success rates decrease as enhancement levels rise. After +3, failures cause enhancement levels to drop. After +10, there is a risk of the Soul Ring shattering!)]

Reading the Enhancer's description, Lin Xiao felt utterly unmoved and even a little tempted to laugh.

You bastard. Same old flavor.

Soul Rings shattering-what a lovely touch!

An image had already formed in Lin Xiao's mind.

Someone painstakingly getting a Soul Ring to +10, then getting carried away and failing at +11, only for the Soul Ring to explode into pieces...

Just imagining it was thrilling.

He wondered whether someone might get even more carried away, shatter every Soul Ring they had, and then quit...

"Boss, could you explain what this thing does?"

Xie Yue had studied it for ages, turning it over and over, but still couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Something to eat?

Didn't look like it.

Something to use?

How was he supposed to use it...?

Instead, the longer he looked, the more baffled he became.

Xie Yue's question also voiced what Hu Liena and Yan were thinking.

Hu Liena, in particular, had thought she would witness the miracle of a Soul Bone emerging from a jar.

Instead, this thing had come out.

Granted, it looked beautiful and mysterious.

But were beauty and mystery worth a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins?

"Ahem."

Lin Xiao cleared his throat. Without keeping them in suspense, he explained, "This is an Enhancer. You can select any Soul Ring you currently have to enhance. A successful enhancement increases your Soul Ring's age by a set amount."

"Enhance a Soul Ring... what does that mean?"

Hu Liena and the other two didn't quite understand this new term.

Lin Xiao thought for a moment, then said, "For example, suppose your first Soul Ring Age is a hundred years. After you use this Enhancer and successfully enhance it, your Soul Ring Age would rise to around a hundred and ten years."

"Of course, I'd recommend enhancing an older Soul Ring first, since the increase would be greater. For example, if you have a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, a successful enhancement would add a thousand years to its Soul Ring Age! An increase of a thousand years is substantial. Your Soul Skill would become more powerful, and your basic strength, speed, and even Soul Power would all see noticeable improvements."

That was also Lin Xiao's conservative estimate. Based on his gaming experience, +1 enhancement would grant an increase of roughly one-tenth of the base value.

They sucked in sharp breaths...

When Lin Xiao finished speaking, all three were breathing faster.

They had all realized the Enhancer's value.

"Amazing. Absolutely amazing! It can increase a Soul Ring's age! This is a treasure every bit as good as a Soul Bone!"

Yan couldn't help exclaiming in admiration.

Even the way he looked at Xie Yue had turned sour with envy.

Joy shone in Hu Liena's eyes as well. "Exactly! Being able to select any Soul Ring is simply heaven-defying! If I had a Soul Ring over ninety-one thousand years old and increased its age by ten percent, wouldn't I have a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?"

"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"

After hearing Hu Liena's fanciful idea, Xie Yue's eyes lit up.

After all, a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring was an object of reverence for every Soul Master.

But hundred-thousand-year-old Soul Beasts were far too rare.

Yet today, they had discovered a shortcut to obtaining a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!

After hearing Hu Liena's words, Lin Xiao couldn't help chuckling. "Your reasoning makes sense. But there's one thing I need to tell you: a Soul Ring can be enhanced not just once, but countless times, and the increase from each enhancement is far greater than the increase from the previous one."

Lin Xiao's words landed on their hearts like a heavy hammer.

"They can stack? Doesn't that mean that with endless enhancement, even a hundred-year Soul Ring could become a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?"

Hu Liena's quick little mind turned, instantly connecting all sorts of possibilities.

A hundred-thousand-year first Soul Ring?

Heh, you really dare to dream!

Lin Xiao felt like laughing.

Clearly, enhancement had never taught them a harsh lesson, or they wouldn't have dared make such grand declarations.

Lin Xiao's next words poured over them like cold water. "I need to remind you that enhancing a Soul Ring isn't without risk. After +3, enhancement can fail and cause its level to drop. If it fails after +10, your Soul Ring might even shatter! So enhancement is dangerous. Proceed with caution."

"Boss, if it shatters... what happens?"

Once Yan recovered, he couldn't help asking.

Lin Xiao looked at Yan with a half-smile and answered, "What else could happen? Once it shatters, it's gone. That means you'll lose that Soul Ring forever."