Chapter 53: Su Han: Did I Awaken Some Strange Attribute?

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Su Han: Did I Awaken Some Strange Attribute?

Even though she had taken numerous Super Grade Spirit Pills—Nourishing Spirit Pills, Soul Nourishing Pills, and Qi Nourishing Pills—that last strike had completely drained her Essence, Qi, and Spirit. The Princess Consort was still weak, despite having recovered a little after taking the Elixirs.

Prince Jing, his heart aching for his Princess Consort, shot Su Han a reproachful glare before carrying her back to her room to rest.

This spared Su Han the awkwardness of having to face his mother’s questions and come up with an excuse for burning the tree.

As he watched his father carry the Princess Consort away, Su Han turned to look at the large tree, the top half of its trunk visible over the courtyard wall.

No one was around, so there was no reason to hesitate. With a flick of his right hand, a Rain of Fire descended and instantly engulfed the tree.

Skill Tree (Activated)!

Gazing at the Skill Tree shimmering with golden light within the flames, Su Han opened the Skill List. As expected, there was only one available skill.

Available Skill 1: Secret Magic: Nirvana.

He selected the skill and acquired it.

The skill transformed into a wisp of Dao Rhyme and flooded Su Han’s Sea of Consciousness, allowing him to master it instantly. Along with the skill came his mother’s many insights into this Secret Magic, Nirvana.

After absorbing the experience and insights, Su Han gained a much deeper understanding of the Secret Magic: Nirvana skill.

Secret Magic: Nirvana:

All that moves is impermanent. All that lives must end. What is never born can never die. This cessation is the ultimate bliss.

Condense all your Essence, Qi, and Spirit to enter the state of Nirvana and unleash a Sky-Breaking Strike.

While empowered by this Secret Magic, you can ignore all spatial lockdowns and are unaffected by any form of imprisonment or interference.

The Sky-Breaking Strike is infused with the Dao of causality, ignores all defenses, and cannot miss.

In short, this Secret Magic of Nirvana was both an explosive finishing move and a form of pseudo-invincibility.

When the Secret Magic is cast, it ignores space and is immune to restraints. The moment one’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit merge into one, the user steps into the legendary state of Nirvana—what is never born cannot be destroyed.

Aside from the side effect of falling into a weakened state after a single strike, with no strength left to fight, this Nirvana Secret Magic could practically be called a Divine Technique.

However, as Su Han read to the very end of the skill’s description, his expression couldn’t help but turn peculiar.

In the half-month since discovering his ability to activate Skill Trees, Su Han had lit up no fewer than thirty of them and obtained over thirty skills.

And yet... this was the first time Su Han had ever encountered something like this.

A Companion Technique!

Following Secret Magic: Nirvana, there was actually another entry called "Companion Technique."

Secret Magic: Nirvana. Companion Technique: Li’s... Xiaosu’s Mother’s Flying Knife.

Skill Description: Kill to protect life; slay karma, not men.

Xiaosu’s Mother’s Flying Knife, a companion skill to Secret Magic: Nirvana, is a strike imbued with maternal love.

The blade is not for taking life, but for protecting it.

This strike contains the boundless motherly love that Xiaosu’s mother has for him, a love that transcends the seven emotions and rises above the six desires.

Once the blade is thrown, it seals the seven emotions, imprisons the six desires, and strips away all sensation, perception, and consciousness, forcing the enemy to permanently enter the great realm of Nirvana—a state of no-thought and no-self.

Note: This is a strike of protection. When you face a life-threatening crisis, there is a 50% chance of triggering this Companion Technique.

Companion Technique Cooldown: Thirty days.

Su Han: "..."

’A Companion Technique?’

’Li’s... Xiaosu’s Mother’s Flying Knife?’

’You were about to say "Li’s F*cking Flying Knife," weren’t you? You totally were, right?’

’It’s just that my surname isn’t Li, so I didn’t fit the pun, and you had to change it at the last second. Right?’

’So... Skill Tree, oh, Skill Tree, were you also personally planted by the ancestor back in the day?’

’I’m about to burn you to a crisp, and you decide to get cheeky right before you die? Are you happy now?’

’But still... Xiaosu’s Mother’s Flying Knife.’

’The effect of this skill... is seriously OP.’

’Whenever I’m in a life-or-death crisis, there’s a 50% chance this skill will trigger.’

’When the skill activates, a single strike seals the enemy’s seven emotions, imprisons their six desires, strips away all their senses and consciousness, and forces them into the permanent great realm of Nirvana—a state of no-thought and no-self.’

’What does that mean?’

’Well... to put it bluntly, it means they’re dead.’

’The strike doesn’t extinguish the enemy’s life force, but without emotions, desires, or senses, they’re essentially not a living being anymore.’

’Another Killing Technique. And it’s a badass one, too. But that name...’

’Xiaosu’s Mother’s Flying Knife.’ Hearing the name, a memory inexplicably surfaced in Su Han’s mind.

"And so, Li’s Flying Knife defeated Shangguan Jinhong’s Dragon and Phoenix Ring, reclaiming its spot as number two on the weapon chart."

"Then what’s ranked number one on the weapon chart?"

"Number one is Li’s Flying Knife’s mom."

"Li’s Flying Knife’s mom?"

"That’s right. It’s Li’s mom’s... flying knife."

Su Han: "..."

’Seriously, what is wrong with everyone?’

’Su Xiaoyan was a perfectly normal Imperial Princess, but after hanging out with me for a few years as a kid, she grew up to be so mischievous it gives me a headache.’

’I triggered the ancestor’s spiritual imprint, only to find that he’d written a whole, serious-sounding, pretentious autobiography, and then at the end, he suddenly got so cheeky I couldn’t help but want to punch him.’

’The only reliable thing seemed to be my Skill Tree ability. Apart from a few oddball skills, it had been working diligently and conscientiously this whole time.’

’So how, after just a few days, has my very own family’s Skill Tree started getting cheeky too?’

’Could it be... that I’ve unknowingly awakened some kind of special attribute?’

’For instance... does everyone and everything that stays around me for too long get progressively cheekier?’

Thinking of this possibility, he looked at the name of the Companion Technique—Xiaosu’s Mother’s Flying Knife.

Su Han facepalmed, feeling a wave of melancholy wash over him.

He looked up at the sky with a sigh.

SCRAPE... SCRAPE...

Footsteps approached, growing louder.

Tearing his gaze away from a dark cloud that kept changing shape from a tortoise to a turtle, Su Han saw his father walk out of the room.

Prince Jing glanced at Su Han, his eyes involuntarily drifting to the Skill Tree outside the courtyard, where the great fire was now dying down.

The corner of his mouth... twitched uncontrollably.

"Do you... have some sort of problem with the ancestor?"

Su Han: "...???"

Prince Jing pointed to the not-yet-completely-burnt Skill Tree and began counting on his fingers.

"One in your courtyard, one in my courtyard, and now another one outside the wall."

"The ancestor planted so many trees back then, but only four survived to this day. And in less than a month, you’ve already burned three of them."

Su Han: "..."

’Damn it!’

’Case closed!’

’Ladies and gentlemen! I’ve really cracked the case this time!’

’Like master, like tree, my friends! It’s not that my Skill Tree ability has gotten cheeky. The reason the skills from *this* Skill Tree are so cheeky is because this tree was personally planted by that ancestor of mine—the one who just had to be a troll even in death!’

’That’s right!’

’That has to be it!’

’It’s all the ancestor’s fault!’

’My Skill Tree ability is so adorable. It would never learn to be so cheeky!’

’And I, Su Han, am such a serious person. I would never awaken some attribute that makes everyone I meet progressively cheekier.’

While mentally pinning one pot of blame after another on the ancestor’s back, Su Han didn’t forget to respond to his father.

"Oh."

After that "Oh," Su Han saw his father extend a hand.

Su Han: "???"

Prince Jing said, "Hand ’em over."

"What?"

"The Elixirs."

Prince Jing had an expression that said it was only natural. "Don’t think I didn’t see. Those Elixirs of yours are all Super Grade. I don’t know where you got them, and I don’t want to ask how many secrets you have."

"But seeing you feed them to your mother by the bottle, it’s obvious you have plenty of them."

"Old rules. We split it fifty-fifty."

Su Han: "..."

’I was wrong!’

’I have sinned. I take back what I said before.’

’I shouldn’t have just jinxed myself like that.’

Though he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, Su Han still stuffed several hundred bottles of Elixirs into his father’s hands, pile after pile, making Prince Jing’s eyes nearly pop out of his head.

"Mm, not bad. Next time you come across something this good, don’t forget about your old man."

"After all, your mother and I raised you from the time you were in diapers."

With that, Prince Jing turned and walked back into the house. His Princess Consort was waiting for his Elixirs.

’Yep, the Elixirs in his hands were now *his* Elixirs.’

’This was a critical moment to score some brownie points.’

Su Han: "..."

’Can I ask for the Elixirs back?’

On the verge of tears and not knowing what came over him, Su Han suddenly called out to his father’s retreating back.

"Father?"

"Hm?"

Prince Jing stopped and looked back at Su Han, puzzled. He thought for a moment, then took out a dozen or so bottles of the Elixirs Su Han had given him from his Storage Ring—there were one-star, two-star, and three-star ones.

He looked them over and over, thought long and hard, then put all the two-star and three-star Elixirs back into his Storage Ring. Looking at the third-grade, one-star Elixirs in his hand, he picked one bottle and offered it to Su Han.

"I’ll give you one bottle back, at most."

Su Han: "..."

"Father, there’s a question I’ve been curious about for a long time. I’d like to ask you."

Prince Jing decisively put the Elixir away and looked at Su Han. "What question?"

"It’s just..."

Su Han thought for a moment, organizing his words. "For all these years, I’ve seen you excel at raising flowers, walking birds, and fighting crickets. I was just curious, besides all that, what are you *best* at?"

Prince Jing tilted his head and thought. "When I was seventeen, I successfully wooed your mother despite the covetous gazes of countless scions from the great families of the Imperial City, including your uncle, the Emperor. Does that count?"

Su Han: "..."

His expression stiff, Su Han nodded. A look of someone who didn’t know whether to laugh or cry appeared on his face. "It counts!"

’How could that not count? If his father didn’t have that skill, his own existence would be an open question.’

’But... that wasn’t what he was asking.’

"Then... what about besides that? I’m asking about things related to cultivation and combat."

"For example, what are your most proficient Magic and Martial Techniques?"

"My most proficient?"

Prince Jing glanced at Su Han, stroked his chin, and mused, "Does hitting people with a brick count?"

Su Han: "...Hitting... hitting people with a brick?"

’You’re the First Prince of Jing Country, and your most proficient combat style is hitting people with a brick?’

’Don’t you... have any regard for your reputation at all?’

"Yep."

Prince Jing, far from being ashamed, seemed proud. "Let me tell you, back when I was young, there was no one in the entire Imperial City who could dodge a brick from me."

Su Han: "..."

’Alright, you win!’

’Just go, please, just go!’

’I was hoping to fleece you for a couple of skills, but as it turns out...’

’Hitting people with a brick?’

’Yeah, forget about it.’

’Even if your brick-hitting talent could undergo Skillification, I wouldn’t have the face to learn it.’

’Hitting people with a brick? Sucker punching them with a Blunt Stick?’

’Hah. I, the Crown Prince, cannot afford such an embarrassment.’