Saturday.
The memorial service was held at the military barracks outside Silver City.
Because nothing remained of the bodies of those slain in Deimos's attack, the service was conducted around cenotaphs.
The memorial was presided over by Vice Minister Xiao Cheng, who had hurried over from headquarters. Gong Qian wept bitterly upon hearing the names of former members of her squad. Qingniao kept trying to comfort her, but in the end, she too was swept up in the grief and began weeping softly.
When Yu Bo's name was read, Zhang Shou couldn't hold back his tears either.
He ended up crying louder and louder, his wails drowning out everyone else. Watching Zhang Shou bawling his eyes out, Gong Qian actually found herself unable to cry any further.
After the memorial service ended, Xiao Cheng took Yu Xian aside for a private meeting. Beyond asking questions related to the perfect creature, he also asked if Yu Xian had encountered any difficulties or needed any resources.
Headquarters was utterly at a loss.
They had barely begun figuring out how to reward Yu Xian for his earlier achievements, and in the blink of an eye, he had racked up another major merit.
Fortunately, there was no such thing as an official's achievements overshadowing the sovereign nowadays; otherwise, their only option would have been to grant Yu Xian an ironclad death-exemption medallion.
In ancient times, conferring an exemption medallion effectively meant a subject's deeds were so immense that even the emperor grew wary of them. With ranks and gold exhausted as meaningful rewards, only a death-exemption medallion could express imperial gratitude.
Of course, Yu Xian was still a hundred thousand li from reaching the point where he was beyond reward.
The reason headquarters had a headache was simply because they valued and cherished Yu Xian so dearly, wanting to grant him the most fitting reward possible.
At Xiao Cheng's inquiry, Yu Xian's eyes lit up, and he named a weapon he had his heart set on. That weapon happened to be kept inside Qilin Headquarters' Transcendent Containment Facility, cataloged as Item 033, codenamed: Grand Blaze Sky-Burning Saber.
It was a mysterious weapon from the Abyss. Once drawn from its scabbard, it would relentlessly burn the wielder's lifespan. However, the saber's power was terrifyingly immense. Burning even a sliver of lifespan unleashed temperatures so blazing that even a Dragon-rank could hardly endure them. If one burned their lifespan with suicidal abandon, it could unleash power surpassing the Dragon-rank.
"No, you can't use the Grand Blaze Sky-Burning Saber," Xiao Cheng said, vetoing the idea the moment Yu Xian finished speaking.
Yu Xian frowned. "Minister, that doesn't make sense. I'm a vampire with infinite lifespan. Why can't I use it?"
"Who told you vampires have infinite lifespan?" Xiao Cheng countered.
Yu Xian froze, then asked incredulously, "Don't tell me vampires can die of old age?"
"Vampires simply don't grow old and die, but that doesn't mean their lifespan is infinite. You might not realize it, but lifespan is actually an abstract concept.
"If you possessed abilities like the Eye of Data or the Eye of Truth, you would find that vampires possess a lifespan as well, and that lifespan is finite," Xiao Cheng explained with solemn patience.
Yu Xian frowned. "Then... Minister, what happens when a vampire's lifespan hits zero?"
"Generally speaking, when an immortal species' lifespan reaches zero, it means their fated death has arrived. They might die from an enemy attack, or perhaps a bolt of lightning happens to strike them dead on the spot," Xiao Cheng replied.
Put simply, an immortal could still be run over and killed by a car. Looking back from the future, they indeed had a lifespan limit—the span between their birth and the exact moment the car hit them.
They might live extraordinarily long, but that was not infinite lifespan.
For instance, the Blood Clan Progenitor was already over five hundred years old. If he were killed today, then his lifespan was simply five hundred-odd years, not infinite.
"Minister, does the Grand Blaze Sky-Burning Saber burn away that nebulous fate?" Yu Xian couldn't help asking after hearing Xiao Cheng's explanation.
Xiao Cheng nodded. "You could look at it that way. After all, it truly does bring you closer and closer to death."
"In that case, Minister, does headquarters have special blood that grants abilities like the Eye of Data or Eye of Truth?" Yu Xian immediately changed his target. Even if they gave him the Grand Blaze Sky-Burning Saber now, he wouldn't dare touch it.
However, he had taken a keen interest in the Eye of Data and the Eye of Truth. If he could see his own lifespan, he might be able to figure out a way to extend it.
He was, after all, terribly afraid of dying.
He had assumed becoming a vampire meant he would never die, yet it turned out vampires weren't truly immortal either.
What a punch in the gut.
"We don't have the Eye of Data or Eye of Truth, but we do have a Dragon-rank Universal Appraisal skill book. It lets you see lifespan all the same. If you want it, I can submit the application on your behalf," Xiao Cheng replied.
Yu Xian's eyes brightened, and he nodded. "Thank you, Minister. That skill book is exactly what I want."
"Alright. The skill book will be delivered from headquarters on Monday," Xiao Cheng said with a smile.
Yu Xian then inquired further about skill books, mainly curious about where they came from and whether there were others.
To his surprise, headquarters possessed quite a few skill books. These originated from Item 023, codenamed: Death Game Console. It was an ability born after a shut-in gamer ate a Forbidden Fruit.
He could create a permanent game console and acquire skill books, weapons, equipment, and even cash through playing it.
What he hadn't known was that the playable character inside the console had only a single life. Once the character died in the game, the player died along with it.
The inevitable result arrived without surprise: while fighting a boss, the shut-in gamer made a misplay and died.
Furthermore, the monsters within the game respawned infinitely. If no one played the console for an extended period and the monster population exceeded the console's capacity, the monsters would descend into the real world.
It was precisely because of the monsters' sudden appearance that the authorities eventually discovered the console.
In the beginning, several dozen death-row inmates died while testing the console's capabilities. Once its mechanisms were understood, the console was sealed away. Only when the monsters reached full capacity did they clear out the monsters that descended into reality.
These descending monsters also dropped various pieces of equipment and items, ranging from Insect-rank to Dragon-rank.
Currently, there were only nine Dragon-rank skill books. Every single one was priceless; only individuals awarded a First-Class Merit had the clearance to apply for an exchange. As luck would have it, Yu Xian met that exact criterion.
Through Xiao Cheng's overview, Yu Xian learned about the remaining eight skill books: Equipment Enhancement, Weapon Forging, Monster Immobilization, Spatial Teleportation, Domain Deceleration, Dragon-rank Creation, Dragon-rank Contract, and Dragon-rank Sealing.
Frankly speaking, aside from Spatial Teleportation—which overlapped with his Spatial Bubble and therefore didn't interest him much—he wanted every one of the other seven.
With Equipment Enhancement, he could craft peak-grade defensive gear himself and upgrade ordinary weapons into divine armaments.
With Weapon Forging, he could mass-produce transcendent weapons. By then, he would be able to declare with utter confidence: "I've never cared about money. I have no interest in wealth!"
As for the remaining abilities, while combat-oriented, each was terrifyingly potent.
In particular, Dragon-rank Sealing could genuinely seal away Dragon-rank monsters. Without external intervention to break the seal, that containment could last tens of thousands of years.
Such was the terrifying depth of their foundation.
Chapter 70