Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 882 Inviting the Underworld Again
That night, at the World Fortress, in the assembly area.

Ping!

The clinking of glasses echoed under the night sky. In the open-air gathering area where contractors from various Paradise factions gathered, they chatted and drank with each other, and some even took the initiative to stand on the public stage to perform.

"Wow...it's so lively."

Beneath the bustling assembly hall, Bell gazed at the gathering area, which was far more lively than when the third and fourth batches of contractors had arrived. His eyelids twitched involuntarily, as if he had some kind of psychological reaction to such a lively place.

"It's probably because it coincided with the time before the war, and it happened to be the time when people who had improved their abilities came out to relax, which resulted in a lot more people attending the banquet this time."

Xin Lailai, standing to the side, remained remarkably calm, even taking the initiative to look around with interest, observing the situation of the contractors present, her gaze shifting slightly.

"Hmm... I have a feeling that many people have gotten a lot stronger."

"Yes, indeed. In terms of the number of people in the top-tier team alone, this expedition has actually resulted in an increase rather than a decrease."

According to the casualty figures provided by the major, by the time the abnormal characteristic outbreak ended, there should have been more than thirty top-tier contractors killed in action at the fortress. However, the number of contractors at the top-tier level or above within the fortress has actually increased by about twenty more.

"One expedition, and suddenly there are over fifty new members in the top-tier echelon...?"

According to normal data, the first expedition of Tier 3 should usually be the two tiers where the top-tier and super-top-tier teams suffer the most casualties, and in many cases the casualty rate of the top-tier and super-top-tier teams can reach more than 50%.

This is why many people regard expeditions as the biggest screening for those who rise to the top tier. Just one expedition is enough to see who are just lucky mediocre talents and who are truly promising talents.

As for their miraculously low casualty rate on this expedition, it was certainly related to the precise command from the major's side, especially for these non-elite units, but more importantly—

"Is the overall quality of the contractors stronger than in previous years...?"

Xin Lailai murmured, glancing at the contractors on the field whose auras were much stronger than before, a strange light appearing in her eyes.

Although the large number of people made it difficult for him to make an accurate confirmation, he could clearly sense that many of the contractors present possessed the 'Basic Energy Cycle' template created by 83203.

"Brother Argo!!!"

Suddenly, an excited and melodious shout rang out, and a blonde little girl dressed in a formal dress suddenly rushed out from the crowd and pounced on Bell, who was standing next to Xin Lailai, startling Bell.

"Hey, Miss Sia, what are you doing here..."

"Tsk, enough with the formalities, just call her Sia! Alright, Argo, come here quickly, the food I made is getting cold!"

"Uh, but here on my end..."

"Let's just go straight there. After all, it was my turn to take up your time, Argo, so I won't bother you any further."

Faced with the blonde little girl's urging, the white-haired boy hesitated for a moment, while Xin Lailai, standing to the side, smiled and pushed him towards the blonde little girl, not forgetting to tease her:
"I'm really looking forward to your good news, Brother Argo. Don't let your big brother down!"

"Ah, Brother Black Sword, what are you saying..."

"Hey, come here quickly! Honestly, Brother Argo, you're not thinking of running away again, are you?!"

"Hey, Sia, wait...!!"

Before Bell could finish speaking, the blonde little girl, who looked impatient, grabbed the other's arm and hurriedly dragged him into the crowd, which made Xin Lailai smile knowingly.

"I have a feeling that Bell has become a sacrifice for you, Lai Lai, to satisfy your own pleasure..."

"Nonsense, I genuinely hope he can find some meaningful relationships in the park, it's just a matter of quantity."

Within the soul space, Ling Yuzi, who witnessed the white-haired boy's desperate expression as he was dragged away through shared senses, muttered something, while Xin Lailai denied it with a righteous and indignant expression. Then, she looked around and quietly unfolded the Star Luo Domain without disturbing others.

Found it, is it over here?

A few seconds later, Xin Lailai looked straight in a certain direction, her gaze shifting slightly. She walked through the crowd, stepping through the shadows, until she reached the top of an inconspicuous building, where she greeted the figure on the rooftop.

"Brother Mingyu, we meet again."

"The Black Sword? How did you find it... Hmm, that makes sense. With your perception, this kind of concealment technique is indeed impossible to hide from you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the gloomy young man in the cloak on the rooftop turned around. He glanced at Xin Lailai with some surprise, then nodded slightly, accepting the fact that he had been found by her.

"So, you came all this way to see me because there's something you need?"

"Could it be that if there's nothing else, you can't come to catch up with Brother Mingyu? Or is Brother Mingyu actually quite afraid of people?"

"..."

"Haha, just kidding, just kidding. To be honest, besides wanting to make up for the congratulations I owed you, Brother Mingyu, there is something else I want to discuss with you."

Xin Lailai smiled and made a joke before calming herself down and looking at Mingyu with a slightly narrowed gaze. Mingyu, as if realizing something, lowered his eyes and waited.

"Brother Mingyu, come to the Lai Lai Cult."

“I could have taken your previous refusal as a sign that you were more accustomed to the Western school’s development style, but now you have embarked on the path of the extra-level echelon and have inherited the legacy of the Underworld Lord from the Death Bearers. Whether you admit it or not, the Church of Death can no longer meet your needs.”

Xin Lailai narrowed her eyes slightly and spoke, while Ming Yu fell silent after hearing this, and only spoke after a long while:

"How much did the person who took your body charge you?"

"...Uh, well, Brother Mingyu, isn't it a bit too much of a blow to our relationship to talk about money at this time?" Xin Lailai, her reason quickly exposed, coughed lightly and said somewhat awkwardly:

"And, to be honest, I personally recommend that you come to our cult. After all, if I'm not mistaken, Brother Mingyu, you're probably having a headache over how to acquire attribute points and resources, right?" Xin Lailai said, her eyes narrowing as she glanced at the tattooed giant and the blood-haired youth gathered below, drinking and making Mingyu fall silent again. Seeing this, Xin Lailai didn't rush to say anything more, but simply waited patiently.

In fact, while a significant portion of his reason for coming to persuade Mingyu was due to the 10 complete soul crystals obtained by the Death Keeper, an even more important reason was that he himself did not want the other party to continue wasting opportunities to become stronger in a place like the Church of Death.

"According to what the Death Bearer told me, Brother Mingyu, the Netherworld Mark you inherited can save you a considerable amount of general resources, but the number of attribute points required will be ridiculously high."

After waiting for a while, Xin Lailai looked at the clearly wavering Mingyu and said calmly.

According to the information given to him by the Death Keeper, the core ability of the Netherworld Mark that the other party inherited is to combine abyssal energy with enhancement points used for summoning creatures to form 'familiar skill points' that can only be used on one's own summoned creatures.

The most distinctive feature of these 'Family Skill Points' is that, just like Gold Skill Points, they can directly increase the ability level of one's own summoned creatures... including Grandmaster passives.

Yes, that's right. The other party's inheritance can directly use attribute points and abyssal energy to upgrade the Grandmaster passive skill, which would normally require a massive amount of general resources to upgrade.

This is the most abnormal aspect of the other party's inheritance. It can be said that when they heard about this effect, they were completely dumbfounded. They even asked the other party in a daze, "Are there still people needed on the Netherworld Mark side?" You can imagine how great the impact they were at that time.

Of course, although the effect is extremely powerful, the 'Family Skill Points' in the Netherworld Inheritance still have some limitations.

Firstly, although it can directly increase ability level like 'Golden Skill Points', it does not have the effect of breaking through the ability limit like 'Golden Skill Points'. In fact, the upper limit of its points is heavily linked to the rank of 'Family Skill Points'.

For example, with the same 1 'Fellowship Skill Point', the 'Fellowship Skill Point' converted from the attribute points generated by the Tier 3 Imprint can only raise the Grandmaster passive skill to LV.20 at most, while the 'Fellowship Skill Point' converted from the attribute points generated by the Tier 4 Imprint can raise it to the Grandmaster LV.40 level.

Secondly, in order to convert 'Family Skill Points', in addition to needing a large number of attribute points, you also need to hunt a huge number of abyssal creatures, and they must be killed and taken immediately, otherwise you will not be able to absorb the primordial abyssal energy released when they die.

At the same time, once a certain ability is improved by using 'Family Skill Points', even if the permanent summoned creature has the mark of a servant from Paradise, it will no longer be able to improve these abilities using the upgrade pods in Paradise. Instead, it can only be improved by using 'Family Skill Points', which is equivalent to directly losing a part of the advantages of the Paradise faction.

Besides, 'Family Skill Points' have many hidden flaws, such as gradually shifting abilities towards Abyss traits, and being unable to improve abilities that are too elemental, etc. But even so, it cannot change its ridiculously overpowered effect.

Or rather, if we really have to point out any fatal flaw in it, there's probably only one—

"Brother Mingyu, do you really think that if we continue to stay in the Cult of Death, we might be able to accumulate enough skill points to upgrade the servants they use?"

"..."

After he finished speaking, Mingyu remained silent for a long time. Just as Xin Lailai was about to continue speaking, he suddenly said:
“Alright, I agree, but the breach of contract fee for betraying the Cult of Death must be paid by the Death Bearer.”

"So, you don't have to... uh, you just agreed?"

"Otherwise, what do you think I should do? Or do you think I would have any attachment to a place like the Cult of Death?"

Mingyu glanced at Xin Lailai and said indifferently, "So, is there anything else you want to say?"

"Ahem, that's all for now..."

"Hey! You surnamed Ming, stop acting like a sissy up there enjoying the evening breeze! We just found you a nice girl, come down and take a look!!"

Before Xin Lailai could finish speaking, an unusually rough voice suddenly boomed from below, causing Ming Yu's facial muscles to stiffen slightly. He looked expressionlessly at Gui Long and the others huddled around the table below and said:

"I'll go and take care of them. You can come over if you want."

"Uh, never mind, I'll go find someone else first..."

Xin Lailai looked at Mingyu, whose face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water, and glanced at Guilong and the others below who were happily embracing beautiful women. With a somewhat subtle expression, she refused.

His intuition told him that with the opponent's permanent summoning team, the Underworld would likely be in a state of high blood pressure for quite some time to come.

"Hmm... Why does the Underworld seem so unlucky?"

"Well, he's just joking about it. Don't be fooled by his cold expression; he's actually quite happy to have so many people with him."

As Xin Lailai spoke, she glanced at the necromancer and the tattooed burly man arguing below, as well as the melancholy young man and others who were either stirring up trouble or trying to persuade her, and smiled.

Blood pressure aside, as a friend, he could clearly sense that Mingyu himself didn't actually dislike the current situation, and even seemed to be enjoying it.

"Why does it feel like what you said, Lai Lai, makes them seem even more pitiful, like you're showing concern for elderly people living alone..."

"Uh... Zero, maybe you should stop complaining for now, or I'm afraid you'll ruin the atmosphere we've finally built up."

"Rui~! I won't listen, I won't listen! It's your fault for refusing to eat the food that I made so carefully before!"

"I think it would be easier for me to eat if I replaced the raw materials with something else..."

Xin Lailai answered expressionlessly, but involuntarily her mind flashed back to the several delicious and visually appealing dishes the other party had made, each made with incredibly delicate ingredients. Her expression twitched slightly.

Under normal circumstances, given their relationship, let alone a delicious and visually appealing dish, he would eat it without hesitation even if the other cooked a pot of something that could increase resistance with the Devouring Evil.

The problem was that the ingredients they used were just too bizarre. Even he found it hard to eat dishes like "Lai Lai Xin Jiao Rou" (a type of spicy pork dish) and "Zhao You Lai Zi" (deep-fried radish buds).

"Tsk, it's clearly you, Lai Lai, who doesn't know how to appreciate good taste. They made it really well..."

"Ahem, stop now, let's not talk about that anymore... We should go find Yamu and the others, we can't keep them waiting too long."

After observing the situation of the group from above for a while, Xin Lailai rubbed her forehead and promptly stopped Ling Yuzi's incessant mutterings that would make even the evil god's eyes widen. After confirming the direction for a moment, she took a step forward and disappeared from the spot.

……

(End of this chapter)