Although Ash managed to obtain a Limited Item, his expression turned peculiar as he examined the effects of the new artifact.
“Soul Theft Handbook”
“Effect – Soul Theft Chart: Creates a Soul Theft Domain with a 50-ter radius, lasting 600 seconds. All life forms that perish within this domain will have their souls stolen; virtual realm creatures cannot return to the Virtual Realm, and sorcerers’ souls cannot return to reality. Activation requires the consumption of 1 Source Crystal.”
“Effect – Soul Refining Chart: The Soul Theft Handbook contains a page mimicking the World Secret Domain’s ‘Soul Refining Pool’ pattern, with a maximum capacity of 100,000 points. Current points: 0/100,000.”
“Effect – Strengthening Soul Chart: The Strengthening Soul Chart continuously enhances the sorcerer’s soul, with effects proportional to the points in the Soul Refining Chart. For every 100 points, the Strengthening Soul Chart can enhance the sorcerer’s soul by 0.01 of an adult’s soul volu daily.”
“Effect – Death Soul Chart: By knowing the target’s real na and appearance, one can consu 1,000 Soul Refining points to cast a Death Soul Curse, ignoring spatial distance. The curse will continuously strengthen by devouring souls and constantly affect the target’s ntal functions.”
“Effect – Soul Ignite Chart: Burns 1,000 Soul Refining points or consus 1 Source Crystal to significantly enhance the target’s soul for 72 hours.”
[‘Even if I die, I’ll crawl back from hell to seek revenge!’
‘Good, I also think dying just once is a waste.’]
Undoubtedly, the Soul Theft Handbook lives up to its status as a Limited Item-it is a growth artifact that combines cultivation, attack, and enhancent!
If Ash could fill the Soul Refining Chart, he could increase his soul volu by 10 adult souls daily without doing anything.
Through Specter’s Inheritance, Ash deeply understands the difficulty of enhancing one’s soul.
Generally, sorcerers strengthen their souls as they ascend the Virtual Realm. Using an adult human as a basic unit, a silver sorcerer has the soul volu of two people, a golden sorcerer five, and a sanctuary sorcerer ten.
Without specifically cultivating the Soul Sect, sorcerers’ automatic growth is limited to this level. Even with active enhancent through ‘Soul Refining,’ ‘Soul Grinding,’ or ‘Physical Soul,’ the path to soul enhancent is extrely arduous-painful and exhausting.
Any cultivation path that permanently enhances a sorcerer is accompanied by endless suffering; the Physical Sect is the best example. The Physical Sect can permanently strengthen the body, and physical sorcerers are powerful even without spirits, but if one can live comfortably, they would never choose this path.
Most sorcerers only dabble in the Physical Sect; the sword Princess once used the Sword Body Miracle to enhance her potential, leaving her exhausted both physically and ntally.
Similarly, the Soul Sect permanently enhances the soul, but it’s never easy or pleasant.
This highlights the power of the Soul Theft Handbook’s Soul Refining Chart and Strengthening Soul Chart-no extra arduous cultivation required, yet it can enhance the soul by 10 adult souls daily! Although the effect of these 10 souls will rapidly diminish as the soul strengthens, compared to traditional soul cultivation thods, it’s far more effortless.
As for the Death Soul Chart, it’s even more terrifying. This is the first ti Ash has seen an artifact capable of attacking beyond visual range just by knowing a na and appearance. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know rcury Trojan Horse’s real appearance, otherwise…
However, compared to the three charts, Ash was actually more intrigued by the activation thod of the Soul Theft Chart and the Soul Ignite Chart-consuming Source Crystals!
It was the first ti he realized that Source Crystals had uses beyond just the Search!
Was it that only Limited Items could unlock the use of Source Crystals, or did Source Crystals inherently have uses Ash was unaware of?
Ash flipped through the Sorcerer’s Handbook interface but found no further clues, so he shelved the thought for now. He returned his attention to the Soul Theft Handbook’s effect description, his mind filled with speculation.
Undoubtedly, the correct use of this Soul Theft Handbook was to slaughter beings, rapidly fill the Soul Refining Pool, and if pursued, retaliate with the Death Soul Chart, then continue killing to replenish soul points.
The creator of this artifact was undoubtedly an Evil Sorcerer who thrived on slaughter.
Thus, Ash found himself rather uninterested. The only useful aspect of this artifact for him was the Soul Ignite Chart, which could temporarily enhance the soul. Although it required consuming a Source Crystal, they were still exploring the Specter’s Inheritance, and strengthening the soul was very beneficial for exploration.
It felt like a loss…
Ash looked at the newly drawn outfits-Swimsuit, Doomsday Afternoon, Killing Demon Soul. He realized he had more outfits than the female operators.
“Killing Demon Soul: Observer: Increases the effect of soul sect attacks initiated by the wearer by 10% (limited to the Virtual Realm, but if worn in reality, the sa outfit can also provide enhancent).”
The portrait of this outfit was quite appealing. In it, the Observer wore a black trench coat and hat, with silver-scaled gloves on his hands and a chain at his waist. As he walked, there seed to be a special effect of howling specters. Behind him was an endless sea of lost souls, as if he had just completed a massacre.
But a 10% increase in soul sect attack effect…
Ash’s role in the Specter’s Inheritance was that of a Guardian!
He didn’t think a 10% increase in attack effect would make him comparable to the Sword Princess and the others, who had been imrsed in the Inheritance for days!
Better to honestly wear the “Doomsday Afternoon” outfit…
Ash thought this was a major loss; the two golden lights he drew were either unusable or only partially functional. It would have been better not to draw them at all.
However, among the purple artifacts, there was one that caught his eye.
“Soul Sigil: Increases the soul enhancent effect received by the bearer by 15%.”
This artifact was perfect for Ash!
Yesterday, after painstakingly clearing the 50th level, three Inheritance rewards appeared, and it was decided that Ash would choose a Specter’s Appendix-“Soul rge”!
The Soul rge Miracle included three Soul Spirits, and once Ash obtained them, he could directly use these three spirits the next ti he entered the Specter’s Inheritance. This was the advantage of the Specter’s Appendix. Besides the Appendix, there were the Canon and the Codex, and every Inheritance was one less once taken, with the Codex being the reward for completing the Specter’s Inheritance.
The effect of the Soul rge Miracle was straightforward-temporary soul fusion with the target!
Frankly, this Miracle wasn’t highly practical, but Ash and his team chose this Appendix entirely for strategic purposes in the Inheritance. As a Guardian, Ash having the Soul rge Miracle ant that in special stages, he could rge souls with everyone, helping them resist soul-targeting negative effects.
If they had the Soul rge Miracle earlier, not only could they have easily overco ‘Soul’s Obsession’, but even during ‘Rejuvenating Return’, Ash could have helped others retain their mories!
Now, with the soul sigil enhancing their powers, combined with the Soul rge Miracle, Ash could effectively act as a shield and healer for all souls!
Additionally, there are two bottles of lightless sanctuary potion. Although they all possess a Sanctuary, the potion further enhances their understanding of it.
In truth, a Sanctuary can be further developed and strengthened, even evolving into various unique abilities. For instance, Qenna’s soul sanctuary can suppress souls, and Chikara’s fla sanctuary can incinerate objects within its domain. However, such enhancents require a long period of cultivation, clearly beyond the reach of Ash and his novice companions.
“Ash, it’s ti for dinner.”
“Coming.”
Ash stepped out, only to see the dark-skinned girl and the blonde beauty, and curiously asked, “Where are the others?”
“I sent them ahead,” Igor replied, pulling out two bags of gold coins from a Spatial Card. “Here, take these.”
“Huh?” Ash asked, “Is it your birthday today? But shouldn’t I be the one giving you money?”
“Stop babbling, take it and make sure they don’t find out. At least on the surface, we’re all in this together,” Igor said.
Ash quickly grasped the situation: “We’re feeding our spirits normally, just cutting their gold coin supply?”
Every day, they had to collect their quota of gold and silver from Igor to feed their spirits, only giving them a half-full al. Now, Igor was secretly giving them extra, clearly keeping up appearances while doing sothing different behind the scenes.
Igor didn’t really need to go through all this trouble, since Gwen was rely a follower and Chikara a slave. Ignoring their feelings wouldn’t cause any issues.
But Ash understood why Igor was going the extra mile-he didn’t want Chikara and Gwen to beco dissatisfied, nor did he want Ash and the others to weaken their own strength.
Wanting everything naturally leads to deception.
Rather than being stingy, the Con Artist simply didn’t trust Gwen and Chikara, so he aid to weaken and deceive them.
“I thought you’d only give it to Ash,” Harvey said, stowing the gold bag in his Spatial Card.
“I actually didn’t want to give it to any of you,” Igor said coldly. “But you’ve probably already assud I’d secretly align with you. If I didn’t give it, you’d resent , so I’m considering this as paying to avoid trouble.”
Ash suddenly had a thought: “By the way, when are your birthdays? Should we throw a birthday party?”
Harvey and Igor glanced at him, their eyes filled with the confusion typical of Blood Moon people-Blood Moon folks don’t have birthdays!
However, they lost the desire to argue. As they walked, Igor said, “The Four Pillars Cult has suddenly withdrawn its defenses and abandoned several resource points over the past few days. There’s no detailed intelligence, but Gwen suspects there’s a major issue within the cult.”
“Is the rcury Trojan Horse dead?”
“The death of the rcury Trojan Horse wouldn’t cause them to abandon territory,” Igor replied. “But your thinking is correct-at least many people have died, leaving them without enough troops to defend so much territory, forcing them to pull back.”
Ash asked, “But haven’t they been in a standoff recently? How could there suddenly be so many deaths?”
Igor: “There could be many possibilities. Perhaps a teorite fell and punished the Four Pillars Cult? But Gwen ntioned a small incident from the past. She once gathered all the cult mbers aged 25 to 28 from a small town and reported them to the rcury Trojan Horse. The next morning, none of them woke up.”
Ash frowned slightly. “Did the rcury Trojan Horse kill them? Why?”
“At least it wasn’t a spur-of-the-mont decision. It was for so kind of gain, and she has the ability to carry out such large-scale slaughter of cult mbers,” Igor shrugged. “Maybe she used them as expendable resources.”
Ash noticed sothing odd. “If that’s the case, why choose young people aged 25 to 28? If she needed expendable resources, why not choose older individuals?”
“Because there are no older people in the wasteland,” Harvey said leisurely as he walked out of the inn.
“What?” Ash was a bit surprised, but Igor seed to have expected it.
“When we passed by several graveyards and burial sites, I noticed,” Harvey said. “Most of the bones were from individuals under 28 years old. Occasionally, there were bones older than 28, but they were mostly sorcerers.”
“Is it because wars are too frequent, and most people die young?”
“That’s the main reason, but there’s another secondary cause.”
Harvey continued, “I’ve studied the bones of ordinary people and found sothing interesting. Starting at age 25, the bones begin to show gray-white decay. The closer they get to 28, the more widespread the decay becos. Even without war, ordinary people can’t live past 28.”
Ash was taken aback.
“Gene Collapse,” Igor said calmly. “Senlo people start experiencing Gene Collapse at 25, leading to full-body failure and death by 28. It’s not a secret, as all ordinary people don’t live past 28, and the Senlo people have long discovered the cause.”
“Why…?”
“The side effect of the Infant Incubator,” Igor explained. “I don’t know if the Gray Fox sorcerers couldn’t invent a perfect Infant Incubator or if they did it intentionally. But every child born from an Infant Incubator faces the threat of Gene Collapse. Curing Gene Collapse is very simple-beco a sorcerer.”
“The strengthening of the soul will nourish the body. A sorcerer’s soul, trained in the Sea of Knowledge, will automatically heal the Gene Collapse within. Therefore, ordinary people can’t live past 28, but sorcerers don’t have this obstacle.”
Ash imdiately understood why Igor said the Gray Fox sorcerers did it intentionally-how could sorcerers capable of creating so many fantasy creations fail to make a proper Infant Incubator? They deliberately created Gene Collapse to place a death sentence on every new life!
If you don’t beco a sorcerer, you die!
Ordinary people aren’t qualified to enjoy the divine era’s prosperity created by the great ones!
But undoubtedly, the Gray Fox Divine Era must have provided many conveniences for ordinary people to beco sorcerers. Their sorcerer rate probably reached 95% or higher, making the side effect of the Infant Incubator bearable. However, in the Senlo wasteland, without the Gray Fox educational system, most ordinary people can’t beco sorcerers!
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the high-intensity wars overshadowed this phenonon, and most people simply didn’t live past 28. Those unfortunate enough to reach that age found that not even Healing Sorcerers could save them; they could only watch as they approached death.
All the major cults were aware of the drawbacks of the Infant Incubator, yet none chose natural birth. It wasn’t just because they needed won for reproduction, but also because they didn’t need low-level laborers over 28.
“This is really…” Ash couldn’t help but scoff, “even worse than the Blood Moon.”
“I actually think the Blood Moon is more advanced,” Harvey shrugged. “Even the useless can be burned; people over 28 can still be squeezed for so value. Killing them all at once is such a waste.”
They arrived at the Foxlamp Ice Room, where Raven and his companions had already secured their spots. As usual, there was no food in front of Raven, and Ash only had half a portion. After finishing half, Ash would take Raven for a second round.
But tonight, after Ash finished his half, he just sat there, lost in thought.
Even the orc could tell that the leader was in a bad mood tonight. “Ash, just tell us who to cut down, and I’ll get it done!” Chikara’s shout made Ash feel like he had beco a mountain bandit leader.
“Is it because Silver Lantern took the Bronze Law Demi-God?” Gwen asked.
Igor shot her a look, and she imdiately lowered her head to sip her milk tea. Ash was a bit surprised, realizing he hadn’t heard about Silver Lantern in a while.
“It’s nothing really…” Ash said softly. “I just suddenly feel that, no matter the Kingdom or the ti, sorcerers are a pretty nasty bunch.”
This sweeping statent left only Raven unscathed in the entire Foxlamp Ice Room.
“It’s not necessarily malice. They must have started with good intentions. They have the ability and the will, so they have the right to graffiti the world. So graffiti remains beautifully radiant, while others beco bloody and ugly. Their only common flaw…”
“Is that the wall never had a choice.”
“But if you want the power to choose, you must beco strong enough to do the graffiti.”
Harvey wasn’t interested in Ash’s musings and continued devouring his cake.
Igor seed to have sothing to say but remained silent.
Chikara was deep in thought, Gwen was quiet, and Raven watched Ash silently.
Ash wasn’t suddenly overco with sentintality; the story of the Gray Fox sorcerers was just a trigger. He was already worried about his future. From the sword Princess’s description of the Stars, he knew that whether he entered the Stars or tried to take the sword Princess away, it wouldn’t be easy. Not to ntion whether the sword Princess would even want to leave the Stars.
The Blood Moon was out of the question, and the only slightly safer place was the Gospel. But the Gospel was still under the strong influence of the Omniscient Weaver. The thods of control were endless, and whether the Gospel was a stable place depended solely on the Omniscient Weaver’s whim.
He was genuinely afraid that by the ti he returned to the Gospel, Lise would have already beco Her Majesty Gosdeya.
Ash had always had a favorable impression of the now-lost Gray Fox Divine Era, naively believing it to be a beautiful ti. So tonight, he was also naively disillusioned.
From the Shattered Lake, it was clear to him that if one wished for stability in this world, they must be stronger than all others who sought the sa.
Because the stability they all longed for was not the sa illusion.
But just how powerful must one beco to grasp happiness in their hands? Is reaching the Sanctuary enough, or does one need to beco a legend?
Just like Yisuo’s Royal Palace on that rainy night, even he faced monts of helplessness.
However, Ash knew well that the main reason for his sudden emotional turmoil tonight was the appearance of another path before him.
“If, and I an if,” Ash said, “if I were to beco an Evil Sorcerer who grows stronger through killing in the future, what would you do?”
“Do you even need to ask?” Harvey replied imdiately. “Of course, we’d stop you.”
“Indeed,” Igor said calmly. “I’ve already prepared several contingency plans to deal with you.”
Ash was a bit surprised. “I thought you guys would help .”
“I’d like to join you, but didn’t you say before that if you turned bad, we should stop you?” Harvey said. “You’d beco an Evil Sorcerer either by becoming the Tactile Sense of the Four Pillars or being controlled by so Pact.”
“If you’re not yourself, I’d definitely stop you,” the Con Artist said. “If you are still you, you’d surely ask
to stop you.”
“That makes sense.” Ash nodded, then looked at Raven, preemptively answering, “I get it, you’d kill , right?”
“No,” Raven shook his head. “If I find it’s not your own will, I will stop you.”
“And… if it is my will?” Ash blinked, swallowing hard.
“I’d help you.”
Not only Ash and the others, but even Gwen, who had been silent, couldn’t help but look over.
“If you want to grow stronger through killing, I can help you,” Raven said. “There are so many bad people in this world; kill one batch, and another grows. I am the best killing tool of Raven Annihilation. I can help you find them. They all deserve to die anyway, so they might as well beco your stepping stones.”
Igor couldn’t help but counter, “What if there aren’t that many bad people?”
“If even he has to choose the path of killing,” Raven said, “I think we shouldn’t worry about that.”
“But, Ash, why did you suddenly bring up this hypothetical?” Harvey asked, munching on fries. “Are you planning a massacre?”
“Honestly, hearing you all talk so seriously, I’m embarrassed to say I was just bored after eating,” Ash admitted. “But I also realized that this kind of thinking is quite childish.”
“While I agree with your point,” Igor said, “I feel like you have even more childish thoughts you want to express.”
Ash spread his hands and smiled. “Compared to finding ways to make myself stronger when trouble arises, it’s better to cause trouble for you all, urging you to beco stronger to help . After all…”
“I’m used to giving you guys a hard ti.”
Without a word, Igor tossed a piece of dium-rare ribeye over, which Ash caught in his mouth, chewing as he stood up and said, “Tamashi, let’s go, round two!”
“Didn’t you say you were full?”
“The main course is done, now it’s ti for so snacks,” Ash suddenly rembered sothing. “By the way, Tamashi, next ti don’t say you’re Raven Annihilation’s best killing tool. You have an even more prestigious title, don’t you?”
Raven paused.
“The best chef of Raven Annihilation!” Ash turned to Igor and said, “You know, Tamashi once told
that the dishes from the Foxlamp Ice Room aren’t as delicious as his cooking! We’ve already made plans; when the opportunity arises, he’ll show us his culinary skills that have reached the pinnacle of Raven Annihilation…”
Raven quickly dragged Ash out to prevent him from revealing more secrets.
Igor watched the two disappear at the door, and after a mont of silence, suddenly asked Harvey, “You can deduce various physical information about a target from their everyday actions, right?”
“Basic ability of a necromancer,” Harvey replied.
“Then-“
“I can’t say.”
“I haven’t even asked yet.”
Virtual Realm, Distant Sky Domain.
Ash and the others opened their eyes in the initial Phantom, distributed the initial collection, and then flew away from the Phantom, searching for the giant Phantom where the Specter’s Inheritance was located.
But as they flew away from the Phantom, the first thing that caught their eyes wasn’t the Specter’s Inheritance, but a blood-red lightning.
A blood-red lightning as thick as a mountain range fiercely pierced into the golden Phantom of the Specter’s Inheritance, continuously unleashing a soul-shaking destructive power, relentlessly damaging the golden Phantom!
Witnessing this scene, the sanctuary sorcerers all had the sa thought-
Divine intervention!
The Divine Sovereigns were finally stepping in to interfere!
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