An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 53 Qi Concealment Technique

As the behemoth fell, a large number of notifications appeared before Chu Xiu's eyes!
This made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Before he could fully digest it, a surge of power rushed into his body!
With the 100% experience boost, this elite warrior leveled up instantly!
[Name] Chu Xiu

[Rank] Mortal Rank 8 (714/1600)

[Constitution] 20.27
[Mental State] 10.24
[Energy Level] 31.74
[Other] Omitted
All his attributes have been boosted again, and he also has a large amount of experience overflow! He's only a little over halfway to the next level!
Meanwhile, new traditions continue to be unlocked.

[Qi Concealment Technique]

Rank: Mortal

[Quality: Superior]

[Description: Mobilizes internal magical power to hinder others' investigation and reduces one's own presence.]

[Evaluation: Once completed, it can operate automatically according to the user's wishes.]

When used actively, both interference detection capabilities and stealth capabilities are greatly enhanced.

As a cunning and treacherous demonic cultivator, how could he not know how to steal, assassinate, or play the fool to take advantage of others?

"Did they give you a secret technique to hide the door?"

Chu Xiu touched his chin thoughtfully.

This secret technique is extremely important.

His stealth ability significantly increases his safety during subsequent explorations and greatly enhances the leeway for decision-making.

Operations such as infiltrating monster camps to scout and gather intelligence, or suddenly appearing to reap the rewards after others have nearly killed the monsters, are now possible.

In some ways, the ability to conceal one's strength is even more important than the former.

His talent and career are both too amazing. Once exposed, he will be like Tang Sanzang who accidentally entered a monster's cave and will be devoured alive sooner or later!

In this world, there are no sufficiently strong legal constraints, especially for those high-level awakened beings.

That makes sense, after all, the cost of maintaining social order far exceeds the cost of committing crimes!

Taking the country where Chu Xiu lived in his previous life as an example, the country had more than two million police officers, yet there were still about 30,000 criminal cases every year.

And this is despite the police having an overwhelming advantage in equipment; such a huge gap has created a relatively safe living environment for the people.

If we focus on a neighboring major country where police suppression isn't as extreme, we'll find that, despite having nearly a million police officers, 4.2 people died from gun violence in 2023 alone! Since 2014, the number of people killed by gun violence each year has exceeded 3.9!
High-level Awakened Ones are like individuals possessing the most advanced tanks and fighter jets. Just imagine how much it would cost to capture an Awakened One who can move at the speed of sound!

And if the arrest leads to a violent fight in a densely populated area, what a terrible disaster that would be!

In this situation, if the government does not allow any gray areas or buffer zones, the entire social order will collapse!
The abyss is such a gray area.

The abyss is not bound by law, and it is also the place where all grudges, disputes, and interests are resolved.

"The abyss contains all sorts of strange and wonderful items. It's no exaggeration to call it a miracle wishing well. There's nothing it can't do if you can imagine it."

"Among them are many items that can plunder talents and professions!"

"Although the profession and talent will be stripped away and the level will drop by 2 to 3, even a perfect A-level refinement is enough for countless high-level awakened individuals to fight tooth and nail for!"

"My profession and talents must never be revealed!"

Although professions with detection skills are very rare, they will easily attract the attention of detectives after returning to Earth.

So without any hesitation, Chu Xiu directly added a large number of causal points to the Qi Concealing Technique!

[Consuming 47 Karma Points, Qi Concealment Technique proficiency increased to beginner level!]

[Consuming 132 Karma Points, the Qi Concealment Technique proficiency has been increased to Proficiency!]

[501 Karma Points consumed; Qi Concealment Technique proficiency increased to Minor Mastery!]

The Concealing Qi Technique consumes more energy than the Lost Steps, costing nearly 700 Karma Points to upgrade it to the Lesser Mastery level.

This consumed most of the large amount of causal points he had just acquired, leaving him with only 420 causal points.

However, all these efforts were worthwhile.

With a thought, Chu Xiu felt as if he had turned into a stone. The sounds of his breathing, heartbeat, and blood flow were all greatly reduced, as if blocked by a mysterious force. Visually, he seemed to blend into the environment and was difficult to notice without careful observation.

This skill is not only very useful for ambushes and evasion, but it can also be helpful in direct combat! It can make Chu Xiu's actions even more ghostly and unpredictable!
Furthermore, the energy consumption is minimal, requiring only slightly more than 1 point per minute. The energy consumption during automatic operation is even closer to zero.
As for concealing his strength, his current Qi Concealment Technique is enough to block most of the detection skills of the same level, and when he uses it actively, even warrior-level awakened individuals cannot see through it!
With the Qi Concealment Technique operating automatically, Chu Xiu adjusted his aura to level 6.

"call!"

He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of security return.

"Once I have the power to crush everyone, I won't need to hide anymore. I should just level up faster."

Shaking his head, Chu Xiu stopped thinking about it and continued to examine the other finds.

Chu Xiu got two pieces of equipment. Although the armor was also of rare quality, it was far inferior to the +7 Heavy Energy Absorbing Armor. He decided to sell it.

The ring is quite good; wearing it increases energy regeneration by +1.0 per hour and energy reserves by +25.0.

Using this equipment doubled Chu Xiu's energy! It greatly increased his combat endurance, making it truly worthy of being a collector's item!
As for the final berserk hormone, it's just like the skill that the samurai-class ghoul used at the end. It can greatly enhance physical abilities for a short period of time, making you more like a berserker. However, the effect will gradually weaken over 10 seconds, after which you will fall into a weakened state. It can be used as a last-ditch effort.

What surprised Chu Xiu the most was...
"A special trait was discovered!"

A trait is essentially a weaker version of a talent, usually one to three levels lower than the same talent.

Even so, it's still incredibly valuable! After all, even a D-rank talent can be a huge asset! Just imagine Wang Long's power burst—he can unleash three times his normal power in a short period! That's even more powerful than that Warrior-class ghoul's berserk skill! And it has absolutely no side effects!
Of course, the absorption of traits is not without limitations.

Otherwise, absorbing hundreds of traits directly, even if each one is slightly inferior, would be astonishing enough when combined. It would be enough to make even a pig comparable to an SSS-level genius!

The biggest problem with traits is that they can lead to unavoidable alienation.

Alienation is highly random and uncertain. Although it is theoretically possible for beneficial alienation to occur, the vast majority of alienation is a negative buff, and some even die directly due to rejection!

In addition to rejection from the body, rejection can also occur between different traits.

In other words, the more traits that are integrated, the easier it is for a larger and more uncontrollable alienation to occur.

Therefore, the core factor determining the value of a trait, besides level, is the stability of its alienation.

Generally speaking, some common traits, such as power burst, life regeneration, and increased endurance, have the highest stability in mutation.

Next, consider whether they are from the same ethnic group, have the same profession, or have integrated big data, etc.

For example, the most common trait, [Strength Enhancement (E)], has an average deviation rate of only 0.0037%. Through big data analysis, we know that the deviation rate is around 5.7%, and most of them are minor, insignificant side effects, making it a very stable trait.

But if a human were to try to combine traits like multiple eyeballs or resurrected tentacles, the mutation rate would definitely explode.

Finally, there is an extremely rare case where you acquire a trait that can be upgraded.

These traits may have poor initial compatibility, but with each upgrade they become more adapted to the absorber's body, eventually becoming indistinguishable from innate talents.

However, such traits are extremely rare, and each one is incredibly expensive.

Chu Xiu looked down and examined the special item in his hand.

[Resilient Skin]

Grade: C

[Attributes: Skin protection +3.6, significantly enhanced heat insulation, acid resistance, and shock absorption]

[Dissimilarity deviation rate: 0.15%]

The effect was quite good, giving him 3.6 points of protection for free. What excited Chu Xiu the most was the various resistances, which would greatly enhance his ability to deal with different monsters.

His heavy bone armor offered high defense, but it lacked heat insulation and corrosion resistance. It could withstand bullets, but a single blast from a flamethrower would carbonize him.

but
Looking at the 0.15% alienation deviation rate below, Chu Xiu stroked his chin.

That's already quite high.

There is at least a 30% or higher probability that it will undergo mutation.

However, since this seems to be a universal trait, the side effects of alienation should not be too great.

Without much thought, Chu Xiu's mind stirred, and this trait began to merge.

As awakened beings, who hasn't undergone some form of alienation?

I am no longer human!
(End of this chapter)