Free Web NovelChapter 386: Chapter 378: From GOAT to Garbage: Shi Ming’s Rating of the Seven Holy Halls
Dusk had fallen. Shi Ming gazed at the last glimmers of golden light on the distant waves.
It was like the arrival of Death itself.
He now knew the names of all seven native Holy Hall Tier Fierce Beasts of the Endless Ocean and had recorded them on his own personal hit list.
He had also given them a mental rating, from stud to dud.
[Holy Hall 001: Creation Celestial Pillar]
As the number one Holy Hall Fierce Beast and the big boss controlling the Life Origin, the Creation Celestial Pillar attracted an external threat. It was corroded and devoured by an "Active Wormhole" from the stars. Its skill origin is now stored in the stomach of the Active Wormhole, awaiting Shi Ming’s "rescue."
You could say it completely sucked!
[Holy Hall 002: Seventy-Two Columns of Kings]
A lamb waiting for the slaughter.
[Holy Hall 003: Candle Mirage]
The Candle Mirage fought the Active Wormhole for three days and three nights before it was defeated and killed. Some of its corpse probably remains undigested, but only for another week or two. After that, it’ll be in the stomach of the Active Wormhole, meeting up with the Creation Celestial Pillar.
Assessment: NPC.
[Holy Hall 004: Immortal Evil Eye]
Located at the old site of the Great Salt Lake in the waters of America, also a lamb waiting for the slaughter. Shi Ming had once witnessed a miniaturized version of its skill with the "help" of a virus.
The Immortal Evil Eye commands the origin of "Eternity," but the right to interpret what "eternity" means is not in its hands.
[Holy Hall 005: Ten Thousand Forms Kun]
Kun Kun, who relied on fate, suffered a backlash from fate itself. Not only did the Ten Thousand Forms Sanctuary fail to save it, but it became the very thing that killed it in the end. Because its skill was a bit mystical and gave Shi Ming infinite possibilities, it’s been judged as a superior being.
[Holy Hall 006: Abyss Lord]
A total waste. The Extremely Evil Sanctuary was in its hands for tens of thousands of years, yet it only grew a paltry 1,069 evil tendrils. After changing owners, it’s only been a few days, and the number has already swelled to 1,522—an increase of nearly fifty percent!
[Holy Hall 007: Great Black Heaven Dragon]
The only Fierce Beast with a positive combat record! While in deep sleep, it brought frequent tsunamis and earthquakes to the Fujing Mountain Sea Region. Upon waking, a single glance scared to death the old-but-not-dead Renhuang who had abandoned his ship and fled. It then wiped out Vortex Country, perfectly fulfilling its historical mission before retiring with its work done.
Ranked last, but the true GOAT of the whole lot! Solid! Absolutely solid!
...
She Ri had remained in this patch of sea for six hours. By now, the night was deep, and the ocean was plunged into a dark, dead silence.
As far as the eye could see, there was no light, no color.
With a thought from Shi Ming, She Ri’s form began to vanish bit by bit into the waves, hiding itself. It was like an ink wash painting submerged in an ink pool, blending completely with its surroundings.
The moon was dark, the wind was high—
The time to hunt!
The Mariana Trench lay in the depths of the sea, one hundred fifty nautical miles ahead. Shi Ming’s plan this time was very simple, summed up in four words:
"Overwhelm with brute force!"
Although he had never met the "Seventy-Two Columns of Kings," Shi Ming, with a total Attack Power of over 600, feared no hardship. He could directly and forcefully tear apart its Holy Hall Origin, bringing death to this Fierce Beast that controlled death. No fancy tricks, just solving the problem at its source.
Shi Ming’s expression was calm.
She Ri concealed itself and entered the sea.
The bottle sealing the Phoenix and the Golden Mask from the Pharaoh’s ship were stored in his personal inventory. "Fenyuan," obtained from the Earth Core, was also ready to be unleashed.
The operation began.
The distance of one hundred fifty nautical miles was deliberately chosen.
Using the King-level traits "Ultimate Lightning" and "Ten Thousand Realms as the Sea," She Ri vanished in the blink of an eye. The next second, it appeared in the deep sea. This was a position Shi Ming had preset using the king-ship’s intelligence, using 0.1% of the speed of light to arrive at the destination instantly!
Deliver the nuke directly into the target’s lair!
Catch it completely off guard!
WHOOSH!
In 0.001 seconds, the King-level Wandering Ship, She Ri, materialized in the depths of the ocean trench. Everything before Shi Ming’s eyes was water so dark it was thick, a lightless gloom as pure as the Dark Body from Descent of the Titan. Vision in the ordinary sense was completely useless here.
"Eye of Destiny, acquire intelligence!"
’No matter how powerful the bomb, I should still try to conserve its yield.’
’Know the enemy and know yourself. If "Little Boy" can solve the problem, there’s no need to send in "Miss Qiu"!’
[BEEP~ BEEP~]
[Compiling intelligence...]
[Searching. Confirming detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing intelligence... Intelligence generated:]
[Seventy-Two Columns of Kings]
[The monarch of the Nether Sea, the master of death, the final destination for all tangible life. Its main body is the skeleton of a dead beast from the ancient primordial sea, composed of 72 giant bones. Each bone is known as a "King’s Column." When separated, they can transform into avatars of different forms. When combined, they form the Holy Hall Fierce Beast, the "Seventy-Two Columns of Kings."]
[Over the long course of time, three of the Seventy-Two Columns of Kings’ bones have been lost.]
[...]
[Skill: Skeleton Sanctuary]
[The Skeleton King City descends. The Seventy-Two Columns of Kings activates the power of its Holy Hall Origin, forcibly transferring the target into the kingdom of death. Creatures with cellular activity cannot move normally within this domain field. Their strength will be reduced by 80%-50% (decreasing based on Defense Power and resistance, with a minimum reduction of 50%). Their life force will rapidly drain until they either escape the kingdom of death or become one of the skeletons within it.]
[Sub-skills:]
[War of the Kings, Death Sentence, Return of the Dead, Lord of the Underworld]
[Kill Method 1: Overwhelm with brute force.]
[Kill Method 2: Dismantle the 72 giant bones and suppress or seal them one by one. Each bone can only be destroyed after being sealed for 72 days. All 72 bones must be destroyed; not a single one can be missed. (The King’s Columns named Bu Ye’er and Bain have already been destroyed. The King’s Column named Phoenix developed its own consciousness during its sealing and became the S-rank sea beast, the Phoenix.)]
Death holds no affection for its own vassals.
’It’s a good thing I raised my Attack Power to 600. Otherwise, killing this thing would be a real pain. Not only would I have to break it apart and dismember it, but I’d also have to use 72 different methods to seal each piece, and only after 72 days could I destroy them one by one. I can’t miss a single one.’
Compared to the absurdly lengthy procedure for killing it, the requirements for obtaining the "Skeleton Sanctuary" skill were relatively simple.
Meeting either of two conditions would be enough.
One condition was to be recognized by the Death Origin, making one equivalent to a dead entity, no longer possessing the aura of the living.
The other condition was to have abundant qi, blood, and life force, enough to completely suppress the deathly aura of the Skeleton Sanctuary and the Death Origin, and thus wield it as a tool.
Shi Ming could satisfy both of these conditions.
As long as he wore the Golden Mask, he was equivalent to a dead person. The Golden Mask couldn’t be worn for long, but with the help of the Right Arm Red Pattern, absorbing the Death Origin wouldn’t take too much time. As for qi, blood, and life force... Shi Ming felt that across the entire Endless Ocean, there was probably no creature with more abundant qi and blood than himself. Even the dead Creation Celestial Pillar would likely fall a bit short in this regard.
As Shi Ming read the intelligence, his Spiritual Power simultaneously probed the utterly black ocean trench.
His eyes couldn’t see a thing.
But his Spiritual Power sensed that in the very first moment he arrived, countless skeletons buried in the mud at the trench’s deepest point began to stir. The thickest several dozen bones rose up, forming the frame of a "Skeleton Hall."
An indescribable aura spread out.
Shi Ming had felt this kind of aura before from Jia Fang, the S-rank Awakened who possessed the "Nether Snake Feather." But the presence he’d felt then was nowhere near as ferocious as what he was sensing today.
Sixty-nine bones gathered together.
They pieced together the shape of a Skeleton Giant Beast.
