[Ding! You took the treasures from the ancient general's tomb. Destiny protagonist Ye Chen lost an important opportunity! Ye Chen's Luck: -300]
[You have gained 3000 Luck Points!]
"Huh?!" Yang Qingxi exclaimed.
Su Mo eyed her with curiosity. "What's wrong?" he asked, catching the flash of surprise on her face.
"It's much more than we expected," Yang Qingxi murmured, turning toward him. Su Mo paused, then realised what she meant.
"Luck?" he asked tentatively. After seeing her nod, he became curious. "How much?"
"…300."
Su Mo chuckled, flashing a satisfied smile. "What a surprise!"
Previously, they had speculated that they might only harvest around 100 luck by taking this opportunity from Ye Chen. It turned out they had miscalculated. This treasure might be much more important to Ye Chen than they had guessed.
"Isn't it?!" Yang Qingxi laughed along happily.
Only Zhang Xulin was left standing there, confused.
What were these two talking about? Luck? What did they expect?
Seeing that they seem to have no intention of explaining it to her. She could only puff her cheeks in grievance and ask. "Since we got what we are here for, are we leaving?"
Yang Qingxi also looked at Su Mo, asking for his opinion. From his inner voice, she had already known that he also had a purpose here, but she couldn't expose herself. Now she could only pretend to be ignorant.
Su Mo shook his head. "Wait for a while... I still have something to do."
"Fine, we also need to recover our stamina," Yang Qingxi said, letting out a tired sigh.
Zhang Xulin was the same. Rather, she was even more tired than Yang Qingxi. After all, she was not yet at the peak of the body-refining stage. She needed to exert much more energy compared to Yang Qingxi.
---
Time passed slowly and at a rate visible to the naked eye. The Ghost Apple Twig absorbed the Yin Energy like a hungry beast and slowly grew into the form of an ominous-looking small apple plant.
Under Su Mo's excited gaze, it bore a Black Apple Fruit. With his insight, Su Mo could see the large amount of refined yin energy contained inside the black apple.
[I hope everything goes well.]
Yang Qingxi could sense a trace of nervousness in his inner voice.
What she did not realise, however, was just how crucial this experiment was for Su Mo. Everything he attempted now rested purely on conjecture. If his gamble succeeded, he could bypass the harsh and merciless requirements of the orthodox path to upgrading the Devil's Eyes.
As for relying on points, that option was simply out of reach. He had many things to buy at the system store. To pour all his savings into the Devil's Eyes alone was impossible.
After all, even advancing to the second stage required five thousand points, and the costs for subsequent stages would only rise exponentially. In his current state, Su Mo had no way to afford it.
[Everything would have been much easier if there were other ways to earn points besides the daily sign-in.]
[What a lousy system…]
Su Mo let out a silent sigh.
Across from him, Yang Qingxi's fists clenched at her sides, her expression unreadable. If not for the gap in their strength, she would have already pounded him into the ground.
'Damn it! Complaining about your system? If you hate it so much, then trade with me!'
But no matter how fiercely she screamed in her heart, it was pointless. She was the destined villainess; her fate could never compare to the treatment reserved for a protagonist.
While Yang Qingxi drowned in silent resentment, Su Mo had already stepped toward the strange, gnarled apple tree. Without hesitation, he plucked the black fruit, bit into it, and settled cross-legged on the ground.
---
"Miss, do you know what that ominous-looking black apple is? Su Mo's acting so mysterious."
Unable to hold back her curiosity any longer, Zhang Xulin finally spoke up. She realised that if she didn't take the initiative, her Miss and Su Mo would never bother explaining anything to her. From today onward, she decided to ask directly. If something was truly forbidden for her to know, then they simply wouldn't answer.
Yang Qingxi, unaware of her Bodyguard's thoughts, gave a calm explanation about the Black Apple Fruit and the Ghost Apple Twig.
"What?! The Netherworld? Then isn't it dangerous?!" Zhang Xulin exclaimed, her brows furrowed in worry.
"Not really. Su Mo should have a plan—he wouldn't act recklessly," Yang Qingxi replied, her voice steady with assurance.
Unfortunately, she was wrong. Su Mo was acting recklessly, gambling everything on the resilience of his primary immortal body and his healing techniques.
At that moment, Su Mo sat cross-legged, drenched in sweat. A flood of yin energy raged inside him like a violent storm. Only the steady beat of his pure yang energy kept it at bay, suppressing the chaos before it could devour him. Without it, the yin force might have corroded his body—or worse, caused him to explode from within.
Slowly, the rampaging energy began to calm under the relentless pressure of yang. Breathing out in relief, Su Mo guided the yin force toward his eyes, keeping the Devil's Eyes active.
The pain was excruciating, like needles stabbing deep into his pupils, but he endured. Minutes passed, and at last, the Devil's Eyes began drawing in the refined yin energy, absorbing it for evolution.
When the last of the energy was consumed, the transformation was complete. The Devil's Eyes had advanced to Stage Two.
"Hahaha—it worked!" Su Mo sprang to his feet, laughter echoing in satisfaction. Opening his eyes, he immediately sensed the difference. His dynamic vision had sharpened, his insight deepened, and along with the enhancement came two brand-new abilities: Repel and Corpse Puppet.
Repel was a passive defence that pushed back illusions, negative buffs, and spiritual attacks targeting him. Against weaker foes, it was absolute. Against stronger opponents, the resistance weakened proportionally, but even so, it was a lifesaving edge.
Corpse Puppet, however, was far darker. With it, he could manipulate the dead as puppets and even glimpse fragments of their memories.
Disgusting? Undeniably.
Immoral? Perhaps.
But useful? Beyond question.
In the end, its value would depend on how he chose to use it.