fynovel Chapter 91 Departure
Chapter 91 Departure
Whether it was due to energy imbalance, excessive use of mental power, or the injuries sustained while being swept away by the river... his body was already close to its limit.
His right arm was numb and lost all feeling, the internal energy was running wild, and he was in excruciating pain. His skin was cracking open, as if it had been cut by countless tiny knives.
Even the fingertips were charred black, with a faint wisp of smoke rising from them.
Gu Chen's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, his vision blurring.
Inside the cave, only the stone tablet still emitted an uncertain, dark purple light, and the eerie soul fire in the eye sockets of more than twenty skeletons on the ground silently watched everything.
The gravedigger's voice did not sound again, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.
Gu Chen gasped for breath for a long time before he could barely suppress the churning blood and raging energy within his body.
He couldn't use the Grip of Life and Death for the time being. He needed some time to balance the three forces of death. He could only raise his still-functioning left hand with difficulty, wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, and look at the purple crystal.
This is... the core inside the Spider Queen?
But it's clearly different from ordinary cores. Logically speaking, these monster cores should be crystal clear, but this core has strange black flames inside, and it inexplicably makes you feel that it is very noble.
Could it be something mixed with the bloodline of the Lorian royal family and the magic of death?
The cave returned to silence, with only Gu Chen's heavy breathing echoing through the quiet cave.
Green light shone down from the crystals in the dome, illuminating the young man's tired face.
"It hurts so much, damn it..."
Gu Chen suddenly remembered that when he was a teacher, he had once built a Gundam model kit because he was so bored.
Now he collapsed onto the cold stone slab, feeling as if his body were a Gundam, only it had been disassembled and haphazardly reassembled...
His right arm was completely numb, and his shoulder to his fingertips was icy cold. The soul-corroding death energy, necromantic magic, and dark power inside were fiercely clashing and tearing at each other, as if they were about to burst his arm from the inside.
Well, after finally winning, my body is starting to rebel.
There are more troubles to come... There are also problems with the mental sea, and the star track is now barely running... I don't even dare to activate the star-gazing technique anymore.
"Uh, if there were such a record."
Gu Chen grumbled. Now that his formidable enemy was dead, he no longer needed to be so serious, so serious that he couldn't utter a single word.
But he still dared not relax.
The tomb guardians are now silent, and the Spider Queen has vanished, but that doesn't mean the sealed land is safe.
Although the light from the distant stone tablet was dimmer than before, it flickered like the breath of a sleeping behemoth, bringing an invisible pressure.
His gaze fell back to the purple crystal at his feet.
Swallow it?
A thought suddenly arose in his mind. His intuition told him that the power contained in this crystal was not low... If he could absorb it, he might gain considerable power. Moreover, it clearly contained death magic, which would be a good thing for the Grip of Life and Death...
It's important to know that this Spider Queen is incredibly powerful, possessing the strength of a high-level one-and-a-half-ring cultivator. The cores of such monsters often possess immense magical power, and because monsters typically lack complex consciousness, they tend to act on instinct...
Rumor has it that using the core inside a demon can even enhance mental power!
However, the risk is huge. This thing comes from an out-of-control modified monster and is clearly deeply entangled with the Lorian royal family and the magic of death. Who knows what will happen if we absorb it rashly?
I am in extremely poor condition right now. If the absorption process triggers some violent backlash, I may die on the spot. I could just be covered with a white sheet and no one would even come to the feast.
Should we not absorb it? Leave it here? Or take it with us?
Taking it away would be unwise, as the crystal's energy fluctuations are significant and it could very well become a tracking beacon. Leaving it to future generations would be even more unwise.
Take a gamble?
"But it's really nothing."
"After all, I've basically never had a peaceful life since I came here."
Gu Chen blinked, a smile spreading across his face, and muttered a sarcastic remark.
This choice might be difficult for others, but it's really not a big deal for him.
After all, ever since he came to this world, he has been gambling with his life. Taking Jim as a student was a gamble, the blood transfusion ritual was a gamble, facing the Shadowbeast was a gamble, accepting Ysera's treatment was a gamble, and his recent death battle with the Spider Queen was an even bigger gamble.
Every near-death experience was basically a result of calculation and ability.
My luck has always been bad. For example, I've been inexplicably dragged into political turmoil, inexplicably fallen from a riverbed into a mysterious cave, and inexplicably been chased by a spirit-binding beast...
He has never been one to seek stability, or rather, in this perilous world, seeking stability is no longer an option for him...
Seeking stability is no different from a slow death.
"The power is a bit chaotic," Gu Chen muttered to himself, then smiled.
"In other words, it means there are many types of energy."
"Furthermore... there should be some residual memories within its core. Based on my observations, this spider queen is related to the Lorian royal family..."
"So I don't need to choose at all."
He didn't continue speaking, his eyes gradually hardening, and without hesitation, he gripped the purple crystal with his left hand!
It felt icy cold to the touch, and then a chaotic torrent of energy surged upwards along the meridians of my arm!
"Well……"
Gu Chen snorted and began absorbing the core. His left hand was instantly covered by a layer of purplish-black ice crystals, which continued to spread upwards along his forearm.
Chaos, violence, and chilling thoughts assaulted his mind; countless shattered images and screams exploded in his mind: crimson palace curtains, cold metal operating tables, distorted human figures reflected in spider-like compound eyes, boiling pain in his blood, hatred for life...
"really……"
The core often retains the most unforgettable memories for the monster...
Judging from this, this spider queen was indeed forcibly modified...
However, these remaining fragments of memory often contain enormous amounts of mental pollution!
Especially the core of a monster, because their way of seeing the world is completely different from that of humans... that wildness often turns the mind of the wizard who absorbs the core into a complete mess.
Gu Chen gritted his teeth, forcibly operating the Star Gazing Technique in his depleted mental sea, like a lighthouse in a storm, guarding the last sliver of clarity.
The talent of "unyielding will" had long been activated, and a fierce determination to never admit defeat surged up from the bottom of his heart, resisting the external spiritual erosion.
At the same time, the Grip of Life and Death was placed on his left arm, actively extending an invitation to those forces.
"It's true what they say, like attracts like..."
The cold, chaotic death magic in his left hand seemed to have found its home, surging wildly towards his right arm before being completely devoured.
However, pain is inevitable during the process of the two death magic forces converging, colliding, and merging... Chen felt as if his right arm had been thrown into a meat grinder, with every inch of muscle, every bone, and every meridian being torn apart.
"Uh, it's actually not bad."
But one thing to say,
The pain had occurred so many times that Gu Chen had become devoid of emotion, to the point that he was practically expressionless.
Even the veins on his forehead didn't react; he was clearly in a lot of pain, but he didn't make a sound.
He just lay there on the ground, expressionless. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was just spacing out.
The purple crystal shrank at a visible speed, and its color gradually faded. The black flames inside struggled, seemingly trying to break free, but were firmly locked in by an even stronger suction force, and were eventually pulled into Gu Chen's right arm without leaving a trace.
When the last wisp of purplish-black energy was completely devoured, the purple crystal made a soft "snap" sound, turning into a pile of colorless and transparent fragments that slipped from Gu Chen's fingers.
The absorption was complete, and a surge of pure magic power flowed into his body. Gu Chen could even feel the spiritual power in the core entering his spiritual sea, and the star track constructed by the Star Gazing Method seemed to have discovered new stars, which were slowly lighting up.
However, his spirit simply couldn't hold on any longer...
My mental energy is truly severely depleted.
The excruciating pain receded like a tide, replaced by a deep-seated fatigue and soreness.
Gu Chen could no longer hold on; his body slumped, and he collapsed to the ground, not wanting to move a single finger...
We won...
No matter how many problems, difficulties, or crises we face...
In any case, he survived.
In his last moments before losing consciousness, his blurred vision swept over the still faintly glowing stone tablet and the silent skeletons around him.
The Gravekeeper... The Past of the Grey Tower... The Conspiracy of Lorian and Antinonia... Ysera's Request... Jim...
There are still too many mysteries and dangers waiting for him.
Darkness gently enveloped us.
---
"Buzzing—"
He didn't know how much time had passed, perhaps just a few minutes, or perhaps a few hours, when Gu Chen was awakened by a low, rhythmic sound.
He opened his eyes, his fatigue instantly vanishing as he abruptly turned to stare at the source of the sound.
The sound came from the stone tablet.
Gu Chen reached out to support himself, and he felt much better.
I haven't had a break in a long time.
The stone tablet was pulsating at a slow but steady frequency, emitting a dark purple light like a heartbeat.
The gravedigger seems to have recovered somewhat?
"You've recovered?"
Gu Chen spoke first.
"You...are awake."
The gravedigger's voice rang out again, still deep and sexy, but much more solid than before.
"That one...dissipated. You did...better than I expected. And...more riskier."
Although her voice still sounded very tired.
Gu Chen leaned back on a protruding rock, a faint smile on his face:
"I'm out of ideas."
He moved his right arm and felt a tingling, numb, and throbbing pain, but at least he regained sensation and could bend his fingers with difficulty.
It's better than it just sitting there unusable...
"I absorbed the core it left behind, and it felt pretty good."
"I sensed it." The gravedigger's voice carried a strange undertone.
"Your magic power was almost depleted, but with the help of your strange yet highly efficient star trails and the magic power contained in your core, it has been almost fully restored."
"I can sense from the traces of magic left in the cave... you used that strange mixed power in your arm, and their balance is still very unstable."
Gu Chen nodded. The other party's perception was very accurate, and he was basically used to the other party's ability to obtain information, so he simply spoke casually.
"It was dangerous, I had no choice at the time, but it worked quite well."
"Danger also means possibility."
The tomb keeper spoke slowly,
Gu Chen felt a slight stirring in his heart. Was the tomb keeper giving him some pointers?
"What should I do? In this state, I can barely even fight normally."
"Time... I lack time, and so do you," the gravedigger sighed.
"My power comes from the seal and the legacy of these pioneers. Every activity consumes it. The attack and death of that failed product both stimulated the seal and allowed me to awaken briefly, but it couldn't last."
"I would like to help you... but I am powerless to do so now."
"How can I help you?" Gu Chen asked directly.
The other party must have something in mind for revealing information. Although he can't offer anything right now, he doesn't mind waiting a little longer...
Gu Chen didn't work for nothing; after absorbing the core of the Spider Queen, he made rapid progress.
Putting everything else aside, just now, after he woke up from his nap, the star trails in his mental sea, thanks to their excellent structure, automatically lit up new stars, or mental points, by using the mental energy drawn from the core as fuel.
He glanced at the panel:
[Spirit Points: 150]
It increased by a full 150 points!
Even without any other gains, the 49 spirit points gained are enough to break even.
The gravedigger remained silent for a moment, seemingly making a final decision.
The stone tablet's light flickered slightly, eventually turning completely black, but as if it had made up its mind, it began to shine again.
"Leave here," the gravedigger finally said.
"Walk along the stone wall behind you, turn right and go through the third crack from the right, then walk forward for another twenty meters. There is a movable stone slab."
"Push it aside, and behind it lies an ancient secret passage leading to another edge of the Black Forest, closer to... the Black Rock Forest."
A secret passage? Gu Chen's spirits lifted. This was undoubtedly a way out.
"Before you leave, there are some things you must know." The gravedigger's tone became extremely serious.
"This concerns... the lives of many people."
Although Gu Chen still had a smile on his face, his attention was clearly focused.
He knew that the real secret was about to be revealed.
The gravedigger's voice echoed through the cave, deeper than before, just like at the beginning, each word sounding as if he had exhausted all his strength...
The light from the stone tablet flickered with his words, illuminating the silent skeletons on the ground.
The atmosphere was very heavy...