The Divine Lords Intervene

Although he had drawn a limited item, once Yaxiu clearly saw the effects of this new item, his expression grew rather strange. [Soul Theft Manual] [Effect · Soul Theft Diagram: Creates a 50-meter-radius soul theft domain lasting 600 seconds. The souls of all living beings who die within the soul theft domain will be stolen. Void Realm creatures cannot return to the Void Realm, and sorcerers' souls cannot return to reality. Activating requires 1 source crystal.] [Effect · Soul Refining Diagram: A page of the Soul Theft Manual contains an illustration modeled after the world secret realm 'Soul Refining Pool', with a maximum capacity of 100,000 points. Current points: 0/100,000.] [Effect · Soul Strengthening Diagram: The Soul Strengthening Diagram constantly strengthens the sorcerer's soul, with an effect proportional to the points in the Soul Refining Diagram. For every 100 points in the Soul Refining Diagram, the Soul Strengthening Diagram increases the sorcerer's soul capacity by 0.01 adult human souls per day.] [Effect · Dead Soul Diagram: As long as the target's true name and true appearance are known, 1,000 soul refining points can be consumed to cast a dead soul curse, ignoring spatial distance. The dead soul curse continuously grows stronger by devouring souls and perpetually impairs the target's mental faculties.] [Effect · Soul Burning Diagram: Burn 1,000 soul refining points or consume 1 source crystal to drastically strengthen the target's soul for 72 hours.] ["Even if I die, I'll crawl back from Hell to take my revenge!" "Fine by me. I always thought it was such a waste that people can only die once."] Without a doubt, the Soul Theft Manual lived up to its status as a limited item—it was a growth-type item combining cultivation, offense, and buffs into one package! If Yaxiu could fill the Soul Refining Diagram, he would gain ten adult humans' worth of soul capacity every day without lifting a finger. Having experienced the Specter Inheritance, Yaxiu understood all too well how difficult it was to strengthen one's soul. Generally speaking, a sorcerer's soul grew stronger as they climbed through the Void Realm. Using an adult human as the base unit, a Silver Sorcerer possessed roughly two souls' worth, a Gold Sorcerer five, and a Sanctuary Sorcerer ten. That was just how it was: without deliberately cultivating the soul school, a sorcerer's passive growth only reached this level. Yet even if one actively enhanced it using sorcery spirits like 'Soul Refining', 'Soul Grinding', or 'Soul Agony', the path of the soul was still arduous beyond measure—for no other reason than that it was excruciatingly painful and utterly exhausting. Any cultivation path capable of permanently strengthening a sorcerer was invariably accompanied by endless agony; the ascetic school was the prime example. The ascetic school could permanently strengthen the physical body, making ascetic sorcerers formidable even without sorcery spirits, but as long as one's life was remotely tolerable, one would never choose such a path. Most sorcerers merely dabbled in the ascetic school. The Sword Princess, for instance, had once used the Sword Body miracle to enhance her potential, exhausting her body and mind. The soul school likewise permanently strengthened the soul; how could it possibly be breezy and pleasant? This showed just how formidable the Soul Theft Manual's Soul Refining Diagram and Soul Strengthening Diagram truly were—without any additional grueling cultivation, one could enhance their soul capacity by ten adult humans' worth every day! Although this ten-person amount would surely diminish in relative effectiveness as the soul grew stronger, compared to orthodox methods of soul cultivation, it was ridiculously easy. As for the Dead Soul Diagram, it was even more terrifying. This was the first time Yaxiu had ever seen an item capable of launching beyond-visual-range strikes with nothing more than a name and an appearance. Unfortunately, he did not know Mercury Trojan's true appearance, or else... Yet compared to these three diagrams, Yaxiu was actually more intrigued by the activation cost of the Soul Theft Diagram and Soul Burning Diagram—consuming source crystals! For the first time, he realized that source crystals could be used for something other than recruitment! Did limited items unlock ways to use source crystals, or had there always been uses for them that Yaxiu didn't know about? Yaxiu browsed through the Sorcerer Handbook's interface without finding any further clues, so he could only shelve the thought for now. Looking back over the Soul Theft Manual's description, several speculations crossed his mind. Without question, the intended use for this Soul Theft Manual was slaughtering masses of living beings to rapidly fill the Soul Refining Pool. If pursued, one could retaliate with the Dead Soul Diagram, then keep killing to replenish soul refining points. The creator of this item was beyond doubt an evil sorcerer who slaughtered the world to nourish himself. Hence, Yaxiu found his enthusiasm waning. The only function truly useful to him was the 'Soul Burning Diagram', which temporarily strengthened the soul. Though it cost one source crystal, they were still exploring the Specter Inheritance, and empowering the soul would be tremendously helpful for their progress. Feels like I lost out... Yaxiu looked at his newly pulled costume—swimsuit, Doomsday Afternoon, Life-Taking Demonic Soul. He actually had more costumes than his female operators. [Life-Taking Demonic Soul · Watcher: The effects of soul school attacks launched by oneself +10% (Limited to the Void Realm, but if identical clothing is worn in reality, the buff applies there as well).] The splash art for this costume was quite striking. In the illustration, the Watcher wore a black trench coat and a hat, his hands clad in silver scaled gloves, chains around his waist, with what appeared to be the visual effect of wailing specters swirling as he walked. Behind him stretched an endless sea of dead souls, as though he had just concluded a massacre. But soul school attack effects +10%... Yaxiu's role in the Specter Inheritance was that of a guardian! He didn't think a ten percent increase in his attack power would let him compare to the Sword Princess and the other two, who had immersed themselves in the inheritance for days! Better just stick to the 'Doomsday Afternoon' costume... Yaxiu thought this pull was a massive loss. Of the two gold sparks, one was useless to him, and the other could only be utilized to a fifth of its potential. He would have been better off not pulling at all. However, among the purple-tier items, one caught his eye. [Soul Sigil: Soul buff effects received by the bearer +15%.] This item suited Yaxiu perfectly! When they fought tooth and nail to clear stage fifty yesterday, three inheritance rewards had appeared, and in the end, it was decided that Yaxiu would select an outer legacy of the specter—'Soul Blend'! The Soul Blend miracle comprised three soul sorcery spirits. Once Yaxiu obtained it, he could use these three sorcery spirits directly upon his next entry into the Specter Inheritance; that was the advantage of an outer legacy. Besides outer legacies, there were also orthodox legacies and the supreme legacy. Every legacy claim reduced the available pool by one, and the supreme legacy was the final reward for clearing the Specter Inheritance. The effect of the Soul Blend miracle was very straightforward: temporary soul fusion between oneself and the target! Truth be told, this miracle wasn't particularly practical. The reason Yaxiu and his companions had picked this outer legacy was entirely for clearing the inheritance. With Yaxiu the guardian possessing the Soul Blend miracle, whenever they encountered special stages, he could fuse souls with everyone to help them withstand negative effects targeting the soul. If they had possessed the Soul Blend miracle earlier, not only could they have breezed through 'Soul Tether Dreams', but even in 'Soul Return Youth', Yaxiu could have helped the others retain their memories! Now, with the Soul Sigil enhancing his received buffs paired with the Soul Blend miracle, Yaxiu could fully function as a tank and healer for everyone's souls! Additionally, there were two bottles of Lightless Sanctuary Potion. Although they already possessed sanctuaries, the Lightless Sanctuary Potions could further deepen their comprehension of the sanctuary. In fact, a sanctuary could be further cultivated and strengthened, even developed to possess various bizarre abilities. For instance, Qinna's soul sanctuary could suppress souls, and Qikala's flame sanctuary could incinerate anything within its bounds. However, such enhancement required a long accumulation of time, clearly not an advanced technique that novices like Yaxiu and his companions could master yet. "Yaxiu, time for dinner." "Coming." Yaxiu stepped out of his room, only to see the dark-skinned loli and the blonde beauty. Curious, he asked, "Where are the others?" "I had them head over first." Igola took out two bags of gold coins from a spatial card. "Catch." "Hmm?" Yaxiu said. "Is it your birthday today? But shouldn't I be the one giving you money?" "Cut the chatter. Stash them and don't let them find out. At least on the surface, we're sharing thick and thin," Igola said. Pondering for a moment, Yaxiu caught on. "Our sorcery spirits get fed normally, while only their gold allowance gets cut?" Right now, they had to take their daily ration of gold and silver from Igola to feed their sorcery spirits, keeping the spirits only half-full. Now Igola was giving them extra under the table, clearly saying one thing in public while doing another in private. Truth be told, Igola didn't need to go through all this trouble. Gwen was merely an attendant and Qikala was a slave; even if he disregarded their feelings entirely, nothing would happen. Yet Yaxiu understood why Igola went the extra mile—he didn't want Qikala and Gwen to harbor resentment, nor did he want Yaxiu and the others to handicap their own combat power. Wanting it both ways naturally resulted in an act of deceit. Rather than calling the deceiver petty, it was more accurate to say he distrusted Gwen and Qikala, and thus sought to weaken and hoodwink them. "I thought you'd only give some to Yaxiu," Harvey said as he stowed his bag of gold into a spatial card. "To be honest, I didn't want to give it to either of you," Igola said coldly. "But you've probably presumptuously assumed I'd conspire with you in secret. If I didn't give it, you'd end up resenting me instead. Consider this me spending money to ward off bad luck." A sudden thought struck Yaxiu. "Speaking of which, when are your birthdays? Should we throw a birthday party when the time comes?" Harvey and Igola glanced at him, their eyes filled with the confusion unique to Blood Moon folk—Since when do we Blood Moon people celebrate birthdays? However, neither felt like arguing. As he walked, Igola said, "Over the past two days, the Four Pillar Cult has suddenly contracted its defensive lines and abandoned multiple resource points. We don't have detailed intelligence, but Gwen assesses that a major issue has arisen within the Four Pillar Cult." "Did Mercury Trojan die?" "Mercury Trojan dying wouldn't make them abandon territory," Igola said. "Still, your train of thought isn't wrong—at the very least, a massive number of people have died, to the point that they lack the manpower to garrison so much territory and were forced to pull back." "Haven't they been in a stalemate lately?" Yaxiu asked. "How could people suddenly be dying en masse?" Igola replied, "There are plenty of possibilities. Who knows, maybe a meteorite came crashing down as divine punishment against the Four Pillar Cult? But Gwen mentioned a small incident from the past: she once singled out and cataloged all cultists in a town aged twenty-five to twenty-eight, reporting the list to Mercury Trojan. The following morning, none of them ever woke up." Yaxiu frowned slightly. "Mercury Trojan killed them? Why?" "At the very least, it wasn't on a whim, but for some benefit, and she possesses the ability to slaughter cultists on such a grand scale." Igola shrugged. "Perhaps she treats cultists as consumables." Yaxiu caught onto a strange detail. "If that's the case, why choose youths between twenty-five and twenty-eight? If consumables were needed, why not pick older people?" "Because the wasteland has no older people," Harvey said leisurely as he stepped out of the inn. "Huh?" Yaxiu was surprised, but Igola had clearly anticipated this. "I noticed it when we passed by several graveyards and mass burial grounds," Harvey said. "The vast majority of the skeletons are under twenty-eight. The occasional bones over twenty-eight belonged almost entirely to sorcerers." "Is it because war is too frequent, so most people die in their youth?" "That's the primary reason, but there's a secondary one." Harvey explained, "I examined the bones of ordinary people and discovered something very intriguing—starting at age twenty-five, gray necrotic matter begins to appear in the bones, and the closer they get to twenty-eight, the wider the necrotic contamination spreads. Even without war, ordinary people could never live past twenty-eight." Yaxiu froze. "Gene collapse disease," Igola said calmly. "Senluo people begin undergoing gene collapse at age twenty-five, succumbing to systemic organ failure and death by twenty-eight. It's no secret. After all, when every ordinary person fails to live past twenty-eight, the people of Senluo uncovered the cause long ago." "Why...?" "A side effect of the infant incubators," Igola explained. "I don't know whether the Grey Fox sorcerers were incapable of inventing a flawless incubator or if they did it deliberately. But any infant born from an incubator carries the threat of gene collapse. Curing gene collapse is remarkably simple—become a sorcerer. "A powerful soul nourishes the body in return. A sorcerer's soul, tempered by the Sea of Knowledge, automatically heals the gene collapse disease within their flesh. Thus, ordinary people cannot live past twenty-eight, but sorcerers face no such obstacle." Yaxiu immediately understood why Igola suggested the Grey Fox sorcerers might have done it deliberately—how could Grey Fox sorcerers, capable of creating so many phantasm creations, fail to build a proper incubator? They had intentionally created the gene collapse disease, hanging a death sentence around the neck of every newborn life! Become a sorcerer, or die! Ordinary people had no right to enjoy the golden age created by the great ones! Yet without a doubt, in the Grey Fox God Era, ordinary people must have been given many conveniences to become sorcerers; their sorcerer rate was likely over ninety-five percent, making the incubator's side effect bearable. But in the Senluo Wasteland, where ordinary people had lost the Grey Fox education system, the vast majority could never become sorcerers! Whether fortunate or unfortunate, high-intensity warfare masked this phenomenon, as most people never lived to twenty-eight in the first place. And for those poor souls who did make it to twenty-eight, not even healing sorcerers could save their lives; they could only watch helplessly as they drifted toward death. All the major cults knew the incubator's flaw, yet none chose natural reproduction. Not only did they require female productivity, but they also had no need for low-tier laborers older than twenty-eight. "This is truly..." Yaxiu couldn't help sneering, "...one step beyond the Blood Moon." "I actually think the Blood Moon is more advanced," Harvey said with a shrug. "Even dead wood can be burned. Middle-aged and elderly folks over twenty-eight can still be squeezed for some value; butchering them all in one fell swoop is far too wasteful." They arrived at the Fox Lantern Ice House, where Black Crow and the other two had already secured a booth. As usual, there was no food in front of Black Crow, while only half a portion sat before Yaxiu. Once Yaxiu finished his half, he would take Black Crow out for round two. Tonight, however, after finishing his half portion, Yaxiu simply sat there staring into space. Not to mention Igola, even the beastman noticed the big boss was in a foul mood tonight: "Brother Yaxiu, who do we need to chop up? Just say the word, and I'll get it done!" Qikala's bellow made Yaxiu feel as though he had taken to the hills to become an outlaw bandit. "Is it because the Silver Lantern snatched away the Bronze Law Grand Law?" Gwen asked. Igola glared at her, and she immediately ducked her head to sip her milk tea. Yaxiu was slightly surprised, only now realizing he hadn't heard news of the Silver Lantern in quite some time. "It's nothing, really..." Yaxiu said softly. "I just suddenly felt that no matter the nation, no matter the era, sorcerers are a wretched breed of creatures." The area-of-effect blast was so broad that in the entire Fox Lantern Ice House, only Black Crow emerged unscathed. "You can't really call it malice, either. Back then, they must have harbored good intentions. They had the ability and the will, so they earned the right to graffiti the world. Some graffiti remains dazzling and beautiful, while other graffiti has turned bloody and hideous. Their only shared wretchedness... "...is that the wall never had a choice. "Yet if one wants the right to choose, one must become a powerhouse capable of doing the graffiti." Harvey had no interest in paying heed to Yaxiu, burying his head to wolf down waterfall cake. Igola seemed to have something to say, but held his tongue. Qikala fell into thought, Gwen remained silent, and Black Crow quietly watched Yaxiu. Yaxiu's melancholy hadn't come out of nowhere; the story of the Grey Fox sorcerers was merely the trigger. He had already been fraught with anxiety about his future. From the Sword Princess's description of Starry, it was clear that neither entering Starry nor taking her away would be easy, not to mention it remained uncertain whether the Sword Princess would even be willing to leave. The Blood Moon went without saying. The only relatively safe place was the Gospel, but Gospel remained under the heavy intervention of the Omniscient Weaver. Governing from above, the methods were limitless; whether Gospel remained a safe haven hinged entirely on a fleeting whim of the Omniscient Weaver. He truly dreaded that by the time he returned to Gospel, Lisi might have already become Her Majesty Diyin. Yaxiu had originally felt great fondness for the bygone Grey Fox God Era, wistfully believing it had been a wonderful age, and so tonight his romanticized illusion had crumbled just as wistfully. Ever since Shattered Lake, he had known that if one wished to plead for peace and stability in this world, one had to be stronger than everyone else pleading for peace. Because the stability you each prayed for was not the same fantasy. Yet just how strong did one need to be to hold happiness in one's hands? Was a sanctuary not enough? Would a legendary rank suffice? Just like that rainy night in the Yisu Imperial Palace, there were times when he, too, was utterly powerless. Still, Yaxiu knew very well that the primary reason his emotions were churning tonight was that another path had appeared before him. "What if—I'm just saying what if," Yaxiu said. "If I turn into an evil sorcerer who grows stronger through slaughter in the future, what will you do?" "Does that even need asking?" Harvey answered instantly. "Stop you, of course." "Yeah," Igola said calmly. "I've actually already prepared several contingency plans to deal with you." Yaxiu was somewhat surprised. "I thought you'd come help me." "I'd actually love to join your ranks, but didn't you say before that if you turned bad, we should stop you?" Harvey said. "For you to become an evil sorcerer, you'd either have to become a feeler of the Four Pillar Gods, or be controlled by someone's contract again." "If you're not you, I will definitely stop you," the deceiver said. "If you are still you, you would definitely beg me to stop you." "Makes sense." Yaxiu nodded, looking toward Black Crow and answering for him: "I get it, you'd kill me, right?" "No." Black Crow shook his head. "If I find that it isn't your own will, I will stop you." "Then... what if it is my will?" Yaxiu blinked, swallowing a mouthful of saliva. "I will help you." Not only Yaxiu and the others, but even Gwen, who had remained silent all along, couldn't help looking over. "If you want to grow stronger through slaughter, I can help you," Black Crow said. "There are so many bad people in this world; cut down one batch, and another crops up. I am Crow Cull's best killing tool. I can help you track them down. They all deserve to die anyway, so they might as well become your stepping stones." Igola couldn't resist arguing, "What if there aren't that many bad people?" "If even he can only choose the path of slaughter," Black Crow said, "I don't think we need to worry about that problem." "Still, Yaxiu, why the sudden hypothetical?" Harvey asked between bites of french fries. "Are you getting ready to go on a killing spree?" "Actually, hearing you guys take it so seriously makes me embarrassed to admit I was just stuffed and had nothing better to do," Yaxiu confessed. "Though I also realized that thinking like that is far too naive." "While I heartily agree with your assessment," Igola said, "I suspect you have something even more naive you want to say." Yaxiu spread his hands and chuckled. "Instead of finding ways to make myself stronger only when trouble hits, it's better to trouble you guys and push you to grow stronger so you can help me. After all... "...I'm used to troubling you." Without a word, Igola hurled a piece of medium-well ribeye at him. Yaxiu snapped his teeth around it, chewing as he stood up. "Tamashi, let's go. Round two begins!" "Didn't you say you were stuffed?" "Stuffed from dinner, but now it's snack time." Yaxiu suddenly recalled something. "Right, Tamashi, don't say you're Crow Cull's best killing tool next time. Don't you have a far more resounding title of honor?" Black Crow paused. "Crow Cull's best chef!" Yaxiu turned to Igola. "Did you know? Tamashi told me that nothing the Fox Lantern Ice House makes is as delicious as his cooking! We've already agreed that whenever there's a chance, he'll show us his pinnacle Crow Cull culinary arts..." Black Crow hastily dragged Yaxiu out before he could expose any more embarrassing details. Watching the two disappear through the doorway, Igola remained silent for a moment before suddenly asking Harvey, "You can deduce various physical details about a target from their daily movements, right?" "A necromancer's fundamental skill," Harvey replied. "Then—" "Hard to say." "I haven't even asked yet." *** The Void Realm, Distant Sky Realm. Yaxiu and the other three opened their eyes inside the initial bubble. After distributing their starting relics, they flew out of the bubble to search for the colossal bubble housing the Specter Inheritance. Yet the moment they flew out of the bubble, what first leaped into view was not the Specter Inheritance, but blood-red lightning. A bolt of blood-red lightning, as thick as a mountain ridge, had violently pierced into the golden bubble of the Specter Inheritance, relentlessly unleashing soul-shivering destructive might and battering the golden bubble! Every Sanctuary Sorcerer witnessing this scene was struck by the exact same thought— A divine miracle! The Divine Lords are finally stepping in to intervene!