< Ding! You have killed a Monarch Stage Cultivator known as Teye Kilax >
As Karsha floated in the center of the bath, he watched life slowly drain from Teye, the man who had profoundly inspired him to embrace Rune Sorcery. The rapid sequence of events left Karsha feeling both overwheld and out of control.
The influx of system ssages flooded Karsha's mind, revealing the shocking truth: Teye, the man he had inadvertently killed, was a Monarch—a level far beyond what Karsha could have fathod. Monarchs are imnsely powerful, existing several realms above the Grandmaster stage.
Their strength is comparable to that of Tier 16 Monsters, whose single strike could devastate an entire planet within seconds. Realizing the magnitude of what he had done, Karsha understood that this was no small matter.
Before he could fully process the information, the environnt around him shifted dramatically. As Teye's body touched the ground, a formation was triggered. Threads of ethereal energy began to rise from the boiling bath, wrapping themselves around Karsha.
He had intended to delve into the system ssages and comprehend what had just transpired, but the imdiate threat demanded his attention. With no choice but to focus on the encroaching threads, Karsha steeled himself for whatever was to co.
In an instant, red threads cocooned Karsha completely and slowly lowered him into the boiling, blood-like dicinal bath. As he was subrged, three Papern erged from the Old Man's body, transforming into exact copies of him. One of these copies moved to the corner of the room and picked up three items and a bottle.
The copy approached the bath and tossed the three items into it. Had an experienced alchemist been present, they would have likely choked on their shock at the sight.
The first item was an Abyssal Lotus, a rare flower that only blooms in the darkest depths of Shadowfall. Known for its extraordinary regenerative properties, this flower blossoms just once every 100,000 years. Tossing such a precious flower casually into a blood bath for body tempering seed like a waste.
In fact, even Karsha would be astonished—after all, a single petal from this flower would be essential for creating the Constitution Awakening Pill for June, who had sacrificed half of her life force for him.
Though Karsha wouldn't know the true value of the flower, it was indeed a waste. Using it to craft regeneration pills would certainly be a more valuable use than just dropping it raw into a boiling bath.
The second item was a Shadowsteel Shard, fragnts of a mysterious tal imbued with the essence of the Abyss. This tal is said to be the hide of a powerful tortoise monster from the deepest part of the abyss and was renowned for strengthening the body and enhancing resilience.
They are rare because they're considered World Boss monsters that seldom go on raids. Occasionally, they'll surface and cause chaos. Breaking through their tal bodies is nearly impossible. So using a fragnt of such a formidable material to strengthen Karsha's body and bones is an extraordinary and generous gesture by the Seven Sorcerers.
The third item is the Essence of Malevolence, a distilled extract of darkness that has been condensed and refined for over 50,000 years. It's not an exaggeration to say that the Essence of Malevolence tossed into the bath has been refined for the past 100,000 years. The aura it emitted was incredibly potent.
However, the most shocking item was the pill inside the bottle. It was a Rank 9 Heaven Grade Soul Strengthening Pill, one of the top three soul-enhancing pills. It's designed to strengthen the soul and is usually reserved for those who have reached the Sage stage.
Since Karsha is only a Grandmaster with just a Mana core, using such a high-quality pill for body tempering is a monuntal waste. While it will make his soul imnsely stronger after the tempering, using it for this purpose is a colossal waste of precious resources. But at the mont, no one seed to care, mainly because there was no one around to notice or protest.
The Abyssal Lotus would enhance Karsha's regeneration and healing abilities. That's the nature of the lotus. The Shadowsteel Shard would improve the resilience of his bones and skin, boosting his strength and defense. The Essence of Malevolence, on the other hand, focused on ntal and spiritual enhancent.
However, the power of these items was overwhelming for Karsha to endure. To counter this, the man had made Karsha kill him so that he could absorb his energy and use it to process the essence of the four items.
The man's body floated before the bath. Similar to Karsha, threads erged and wrapped around him, channeling his energy into the bath. Inside, the cocoon began to turn golden as the energy seeped in.
Karsha, peacefully asleep within the cocoon, started transforming. His body first turned transparent as the golden energy from the man entered him. The energy wrapped around his bones, tempering them. This process continued for a while before his body returned to its normal state.
Then, his physical appearance began to change once again. His hair, which remained red, grew slightly longer and beca more attractive. His facial features stayed the sa, but just as he had gained the crown-like tattoo on his forehead before, another tattoo began to appear.
A tattoo of a bone mask, similar to the Mask of Malevolence, appeared on his forehead. On his back, a tattoo of black wings took shape. His muscles also underwent a remarkable transformation, giving him a physique reminiscent of Captain Arica—defined six-pack abs and biceps as impressive as a Viking's. He looked stunning, even for a man.
The golden aura enveloped him, tempering his body to withstand the intense process. He continued to receive ssages in his mind, but he was in no state to check them.
After so ti, red threads of energy began to flow into his body. It took a few hours for the red energy to fully integrate, and when it did, the cocoon shook violently and then exploded, shattering the bath. Blood sprayed everywhere, making the already red room even redder.
As the mist cleared, Karsha was revealed, hovering completely naked in the air. After about five minutes, he slowly opened his eyes, which now displayed an even more intense, murderous, and bloodthirsty gaze. Although his golden-red eyes retained their charm, the fierceness within them was overpowering.
He looked at the mask hovering before him. Without uttering a word, the mask moved and settled onto his face. As soon as the mask touched him, the blood in the room began to flow into it. Karsha remained still, showing no sign of panic.
He stood there as more and more blood filled the mask. After about thirty minutes, the room was left clean.
< Does the host wish to sign a soul contract with Mask of Malevolence>
Karsha answered "yes" in his mind, and imdiately, the mask exuded a dark aura and a humming sound. Outside the room, a dark pillar of light shot up, casting a shadow over the world for a few minutes before the red hue of the room returned to its usual state. The mask disappeared from Karsha's face as he received the system ssage confirming a successful contract.
Boom! A dense, bloodthirsty aura erupted from his body, shaking the entire room. If his aura on Snake Island had been powerful enough to incapacitate a Semi-Saint, this new burst could easily suppress a Saint and even make a Sage break a sweat. The aura was thick, oppressive, and brimming with murderous intent, filling the entire room. At its center stood Karsha, who appeared to be in a daze.
After several minutes of emitting this overwhelming aura, Karsha was lowered down, and his armless armor wrapped around him. His X-shaped sword sheath, with his two swords, appeared on his back, and his glaive floated right behind him.
Karsha approached a small door and opened it. He climbed the stairs and soon erged in the room where he and the man had been talking. He settled into a lotus posture and, almost instantly, a darker and denser aura began radiating from his body.
Karsha spread his hands, and the aura flowed into them. He then brought them together and began condensing the energy using his alchemy fla. After a few hours, the aura stopped emanating from his body. Another hour passed, and the aura in his hands had transford into a slightly larger pill.
After about fifteen hours, the pill started exuding a powerful energy. Karsha smiled and swallowed it. His eyes darkened montarily before returning to their normal hue.
He channeled the energy from the pill to all the essential points in his body, then exhaled and collapsed into a deep sleep that lasted a couple of hours.
Condensing an aura isn't easy, but Karsha's expertise in Alchemy allowed him to extract and compress his aura into a more potent form. This ancient technique enhances the effectiveness and control of the aura. Letting your aura run wild diminishes its impact while condensing it grants greater control.
After his rest, Karsha woke up refreshed, feeling his strength elevated to new levels. His abilities were noticeably stronger, and he could sense a change within his body.
Although he didn't yet know what the change was, he was confident he would find out soon. He rose from the floor, sat in a chair, and turned to the system. The first ssage he saw nearly made him topple off his chair.
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