Chapter 616: Chapter 384: Delivered to the Door (Part 2)
[Soul-storage Paperman]: A Witchcraft and Gu Technique. A legendary magical tool commonly used by the Wizards of Wuxian Country, said to possess various incredible functions.
[Curse]: Collect the target’s bodily tissues to cast a Curse. The more Spiritual Power invested, the stronger the Curse’s effect.
[Fake Body]: Dripping blood onto it can transform it into a fake body with a similar appearance. The fake body lacks intelligence and only possesses some basic instincts.
[Nourishing Spirit]: Absorbs the surrounding stray Yin Qi, allowing the Spirit Body hidden within to maintain its intelligence.
[Modification Materials Required]: War General Level Yin Qi Crystal, Wraith Flower, at least 50 square centimeters of skin from a Charm Spirit that has been alive or dead for no more than 3 days, 100g of Charm Spirit rib bones...
’The panel is finally back.’
He had no use for the paperman’s functions for the time being. He couldn’t wait to call up the current stats for his three Soul Beasts.
[
Race: Albino Corn Snake
Gender: Male
Talent: F
Level: None
...
]
[This Soul Beast has met the criteria for its first evolution. The Albino Corn Snake has multiple evolution paths. You must choose a path.]
[Cold Mist Snake: Spiritual Energy as Primary Attribute, agility as Support Attribute, Water Type, D+ Talent, required evolution materials: ...]
[Iron Whip Snake: Power and agility as Primary Attributes, Spiritual Energy as Support Attribute, Gold Type, D Talent, required evolution materials: ...]
[
Race: Cangrong Dog
Gender: Female
Talent: D
Level: Entry Level
Soul Techniques: Ghost Fire I (57/300)
...
]
[
Race: Woodland Owl
Gender: Male
Talent: F
Level: None
...
]
[This Soul Beast has met the criteria for its first evolution. The Woodland Owl has multiple evolution paths. You must choose a path.]
[Dark Owl: Spiritual Energy as Primary Attribute, agility as Support Attribute, Dark, D+ Talent, required evolution materials: ...]
[Round-eyed Owl: agility and Physical Strength as Primary Attributes, Spiritual Energy as Support Attribute, Wind, D Talent, required evolution materials: ...]
BING~
The elevator doors opened.
Han Ning slipped inside.
He was just about to close the doors.
A disheveled figure hurried over, about to duck into the elevator.
’It’s him.’
Han Ning frowned but didn’t push the man away, instead making room.
This was the man who had been selling the python skull just a moment ago.
The man entered the elevator and pressed a button. The doors closed, and the elevator began to ascend rapidly.
"I saw you in a prophecy."
CREAK... SQUEAK...
Accompanied by the sound of old machinery turning, the man with his back to Han Ning slowly spoke.
Han Ning remained silent, convinced the man was insane.
He was discovering that the Extraordinary Beings of this world were all more or less a little unhinged.
If it weren’t for his own Spiritual Power, which made him immune to the bloodlust brought on by the Extraordinary rituals, he figured he would be just like these lunatics by now, losing his mind at the drop of a hat.
"You’re a Culinary Scientist, right?"
The man turned around, staring at Han Ning with bloodshot eyes.
Han Ning still didn’t say anything.
Just then, with a CLANK, the elevator doors opened.
Han Ning paid him no mind and walked straight out.
The man followed him out, his tone urgent:
"Help me, help me!"
"My friend went missing in the ruins. Before he was trapped, he made a prophecy."
"Tonight at 12:24 AM, a monster shrouded in black mist will appear before me."
"That will be our savior."
The two of them stood in the dim, quiet corridor.
This time, Han Ning stopped and glanced at the security camera overhead.
Black mist billowed out, enveloping the two of them.
"Continue."
"My name is Li Changxi. I’m a Tier Eight Divination Child."
"Five days ago, my friends and I accidentally discovered a small ruin in the deep mountains outside Ludao City, in the suburbs of Tonghe County."
"It was a Netherworld Species ruin, filled with evil departed souls and inhabited by powerful Evil Spirits."
"At the same time, it was also full of precious treasures."
"After discovering the ruins, we immediately organized a group of five people, all between Tier Eight and Tier Seven, to enter the ruins and search for treasure."
"However, the danger in the ruins was beyond our imagination."
"Five went in, and only I returned."
"This python head is a treasure I brought out from the ruins."
"If you agree to enter the ruins with me and rescue my friends..."
"I’ll give you the skull for free."
Li Changxi spoke with a thick local accent.
It took Han Ning asking three questions for every sentence he heard to finally get the gist of the story.
"Why me?" he asked, a look of confusion on his face.
"The prophecy. My friend is a Tier Seven Prophet. His initial Tier was Culinary Scholar," Li Changxi replied.
"One skull isn’t valuable enough. For certain reasons, my power has dropped drastically. I need more things rich in Spiritual Energy."
’A place that could trap even a Tier Seven being is clearly incredibly dangerous.’
He was just a Tier Nine small fry right now. Even though his Spiritual Power far surpassed that level, he knew he had to recover some strength before delving deep into those ruins.
"I’ll figure something out! Give me two days—no, one day! As long as you agree, agree to help us, we can make a blood oath, so neither of us can betray the other!"
"Forget the blood oath. I couldn’t care less. I won’t sign any contract with a man who’s about to die."
Han Ning glanced at him. Even without using Spiritual Power, an ordinary person could tell that the man’s mental state was already abnormal and that his body exuded a decaying aura.
"I’ve been Cursed. Only a treasure from within the ruins can break it."
Li Changxi held out the skull, presenting it to Han Ning.
"Taking this means you agree."
Han Ning didn’t take it. His expression was calm.
"Go and gather these materials. I’ll give you one day. Meet me at the entrance to Biantang City Village at this time tomorrow."
He then detailed the materials needed to evolve Egg Pancake into a Cold Mist Snake and Little Fatty Silkworm into a Dark Owl.
"Get as much as you can. I’ll decide whether or not to go based on how much you manage to gather."
"If I’m not there within ten minutes of the agreed time, it means I’ve refused."
Li Changxi looked stunned as he listened to the long list of materials, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and nodded.
"I understand..."
...
Having made the simple arrangement, Han Ning didn’t linger. He quickly walked out of the Blue Bay Bar, hailed a taxi, and returned home.
He took out the Spiritual Energy Liquid and Spiritual Liquid gifted by Zhang Nengfa from his bag and absorbed them all.
The Energy he had before entering the Abyss Prison was now completely gone.
After deducting the Energy needed to activate the panel, he had 1 point remaining.
He converted 0.5 into Spiritual Points and added them to Egg Pancake’s panel.
A faint white light flashed.
Egg Pancake’s body grew a tiny bit larger.
"HISS!"
Egg Pancake moved its serpentine body, feeling a little stronger.
’Before, I couldn’t even break a child’s skin, but now I can!’
’I have to admit, it’s a small step forward.’
The pitiful Egg Pancake could only comfort itself with these excuses.
’It’s too little. Far too little Energy. I need more Energy.’
As the saying goes, it’s easy to go from frugal to lavish, but hard to go from lavish to frugal.
After experiencing power boosts in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of Energy, Han Ning was finding it extremely difficult to adapt to this "startup phase" of being strapped for Energy.
’I have to get Egg Pancake and Little Fatty Silkworm to complete their first evolution. Then I’ll use Energy Points to push their strength to Above Awakening Level. Only then can I even consider entering those ruins.’
Han Ning estimated that the level of Extraordinary power displayed in this world so far couldn’t compare to the Purple Crystal World.
The Spiritual Energy fluctuations of a Tier Nine Extraordinary Being were about the same as an Entry Level Soul Beast.
Tier Eight and Tier Seven were most likely somewhere between the Awakened and Extraordinary Levels.
His Spiritual Power was now approaching Tier Three and possessed the quality of a Profound Moon. If he relied on spiritual amplification, it would be enough to raise his Soul Beasts’ strength to the Extraordinary Level.
Three Extraordinary Level Soul Beasts, plus his borrowed Soul Techniques, should be enough to sweep through those low-level Extraordinary Beings.
After thinking for a moment, he took out his phone and sent a message to Xie Mingke: "You up?"
Then, without even caring if she was asleep or not, he immediately made a voice call.
「Lu University Faculty Housing.」
Xie Mingke, who was wearing a face mask and sitting in front of her laptop editing an Excel spreadsheet, subconsciously frowned when she saw the message pop up in the bottom right corner of her screen. She couldn’t help but mutter a curse:
"This menace again."