REINCARNATION PARADISE

The notification disappeared, leaving the room in complete silence.

"Heh, I don't believe I'll just be trapped here."

Su Xiao simply sat down, deciding to engage in a silent standoff with Reincarnation Paradise.

Now, he understood something important: the World Tree Ring in his storage space was an extremely valuable item. The fact that the World Tree Ring had a rating of "???" indicated that the Reincarnation Paradise ,the system controlling his fate, didn't want to reveal the item's true worth.

A new message appeared:

[Please sell the World Tree Ring to allow Reincarnation Paradise to absorb its World Power.]

Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then asked aloud:

[What's your purpose for sending me to the derived worlds? And what exactly is this ring?]

Surprisingly, Reincarnation Paradise responded.

[Reincarnation Paradise and hunters have a 'symbiotic' relationship. Hunters or other contractors explore derived worlds and obtain World Source. Reincarnation Paradise needs World Power to evolve and to maintain its operations.]

[The World Tree Ring contains a large amount of World Power. Please sell it immediately.]

[Further information is unavailable due to insufficient permissions.]

Though the answer was limited, Su Xiao understood the most important part: Reincarnation Paradise had sent him to these worlds to collect World Power.

World Power seemed to be extracted from the World Source he gained from completing missions and killing targets, which was why Reincarnation Paradise rewarded him based on the amount of World Source he gathered.

It also seemed that Reincarnation Paradise followed certain rules. If it could forcefully take the World Tree Ring, it would have, but instead, it was asking him to sell it.

His title as a Hunter indicated that Reincarnation Paradise could not simply kill contractors at will. As long as they didn't break the rules of Reincarnation Paradise, the system couldn't just dispose of them. This was likely why Hunters existed in the first place.

A Hunter's job was probably to eliminate those who violated the rules of Reincarnation Paradise but hadn't outright broken them.

For instance, if a contractor discovered a loophole in the system and used it to gain unfair advantages, that's when Su Xiao would be sent to deal with them.

These "rule-breakers" were likely to be extremely strong and very cunning.

Su Xiao continued to sit on the floor, casually playing with his sword Dragon Flash. He had a bold idea: he was going to blackmail Reincarnation Paradise.

It seemed like a reckless move, but as a Hunter, he doubted Reincarnation Paradise would punish him severely for it.

He was betting on his importance as a Hunter. If he wasn't valuable, then what was the point of surviving through all the dangerous trials he had faced?

Time passed, and after two hours of waiting, a notification finally appeared before him:

[Special Mission: Choice]

[Difficulty: ???]

[Mission Description: Hand over the World Tree Ring to Reincarnation Paradise.]

[Mission Information: None]

[Mission Time Limit: Five minutes]

[Mission Reward: A legacy that is highly compatible with the Hunter's talent.]

Su Xiao smiled. It seemed that his role as a Hunter was more significant than he had thought. Reincarnation Paradise had even issued him a mission for this.

After considering it for a moment, Su Xiao accepted the mission. Although Reincarnation Paradise was cold and ruthless, he had no other choice if he wanted to survive long-term in this strange and dangerous system.

[Special Mission: Choice, completed. Preparing to issue the reward. Please get ready, Hunter.]

"Get ready?" Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. It seemed this reward was not something ordinary.

As soon as the message appeared, a beam of light enveloped Su Xiao, and he found himself unable to move. He sat still, staring blankly ahead as his eyes lost focus, flashes of blue light occasionally flickering through them.

At this moment, Su Xiao's consciousness had been transported to an enormous hall.

The hall was vast, so large that it seemed endless. Su Xiao looked around and saw six towering statues, each over a hundred meters tall. The statues were of humans, but they had been magnified many times over.

"Successor... step forward."

A commanding voice echoed through the hall. Su Xiao's body tensed. The voice had come from one of the statues.

"The time has come to fulfill the promise we made long ago."

Another statue spoke. As if triggered by Su Xiao's arrival, all six statues began speaking in turn.

"You are the last successor. Our legacy ends with you."

"It is time for us to vanish from the river of time, or for the spellcasters to meet their end. It is up to you to prove which it will be."

"The spellcasters destroy the balance of the world and matter. Their so-called magic consumes the power of the rules."

"The foolish spellcasters, even if our bodies are destroyed, our consciousness will endure."

Su Xiao stood frozen, his scalp tingling. These statues were far beyond anything he could have imagined.

And they weren't even living beings; they were just fragments of consciousness left behind by incredibly powerful beings.

"Destruction, birth, annihilation, revival—all of it comes from this Sacred Hall of Origins."

"Successor, remember the name we share. We are the Shadow of Extinction, the natural enemy of all spellcasters!"

All six statues opened their eyes simultaneously, staring down at Su Xiao. He felt a surge of violent energy flood into his body, and then the world spun around him. A ringing filled his ears.

...

"Hu... hu... hu..."

Back in his private room, Su Xiao awoke, gasping for breath.

He was still in his private room in Reincarnation Paradise, and what had just happened felt like a dream.

"Reward process completed. Private room activated."

After the notification, a door appeared on one of the previously seamless walls, meaning Su Xiao could finally leave.

But he didn't care about that right now. He could feel a tremendous energy surging inside him, as if it were about to tear him apart.

"Wha... what's happening..." he stammered, barely able to speak.

The energy inside him wasn't destroying his body; it was transforming it, though in an extremely brutal way. His cells were undergoing some kind of metamorphosis, and the most noticeable change was his hair. The once jet-black strands were beginning to show streaks of white, though the change was subtle and difficult to notice.

With a heavy thud, Su Xiao collapsed to the ground. He felt like he couldn't hold on much longer. If this continued, he would die.

[Abnormal life signs detected. Preparing to activate recovery function. This will consume the Hunter's Reincarnation Paradise currency. Activate? Yes/No.]

At that moment, the cold, mechanical voice of Reincarnation Paradise sounded like music to his ears.

"Ac...tivate." Su Xiao barely managed to whisper.

The pain was overwhelming, devouring his consciousness.

As soon as he spoke, a green light enveloped him, and his Reincarnation Paradise currency began to deplete rapidly.

In just five seconds, he had spent over a thousand Reincarnation Paradise coins.

After about fifteen seconds, the energy inside him subsided, having been fully absorbed by his body. The recovery function deactivated, and Su Xiao sat up, testing his movements.

"Is this...?"

Staring at his hands in disbelief, Su Xiao realized just how much stronger he had become.

No, it wasn't just a little—he had become a lot stronger.

And this power wasn't from any assistance provided by Reincarnation Paradise, so there had been no notification.

Opening his Personal Information, Su Xiao was stunned.

The reward he had gotten from trading away the World Tree Ring was far more astonishing than he had anticipated.

(End of Chapter)