Free Web NovelChapter 388: Chapter 380: Kill Settlement! The Sole Survivor
While Shi Ming was absorbing the Death Origin.
In the Great Salt Lake Old Domain within the America Sea Area, the Immortal Evil Eye had a terrible dream in its slumber.
It dreamed the world had become an empty void, leaving it the sole survivor. Heavenly pillars had collapsed, death and decay reigned, time and space had shattered, and destiny had changed masters. Its former enemies and old rivals fell one after another, their remains drifting in from across the sea...
It felt not a trace of excitement.
Instead, it was utterly terrified.
PSHHHH—
Its giant eye snapped open in terror, unleashing a beam of light capable of breaking down the very seawater into its fundamental energy: the Eternal Sanctuary.
It was awake.
Its dim, white pupil darted back and forth, vigilantly scanning the sea for any anomalies. Within a several-hundred-nautical-mile radius were a few scattered mechanical creations belonging to puny insects, along with countless fish and low-level sea beasts, all busily being born and dying—as fleeting as flickers of light, gone in the blink of an eye.
There were no anomalies.
’It was just a dream.’
The eye continuously expanded and contracted.
’Yes, all living things die. All except for my eternal self.’
’And the price of eternity is loneliness.’
Its emotions stabilized, and it closed its eye once more. But the creatures its gaze had swept over—along with steel, ships, bacteria, and flesh—all disintegrated and dissolved.
A mere glance from such a powerful being was a catastrophe.
...
...
...
「Mariana Trench.」
In the silence, Shi Ming absorbed the origin of the Seventy-two Column Kings.
The Death Origin was truly worthy of its rank as the #002 Holy Hall Origin. Even with help from the Right Arm Red Pattern, absorbing it took longer than any before, costing Shi Ming four days and twelve hours.
Huuu~
The last of the energy entered Shi Ming’s body. Atop the scattered ruins of bone, he opened his eyes as a new power began to circulate within him.
As always, a notification from the Eye of Destiny appeared before him.
[Only a being who has conquered "Death" is worthy of being called its master.]
[Congratulations, you have absorbed the "Death" Holy Hall Origin.]
[You have awakened the Holy Hall-tier skill: Skeleton Sanctuary!]
[Skeleton Sanctuary: Transports targets into the kingdom of death. Within this domain, any being with cellular activity will be unable to act normally. Their power will be reduced by 80%, an effect that diminishes to a minimum of 50% based on Defense Power and resistances. Their life force will drain rapidly unless they either escape the kingdom of death or become a member of the skeleton empire.]
[This is a powerful lethal and debuffing skill.]
[This skill ignores tiers. For any being whose combined Physical Strength, Endurance, and Defense Power is lower than yours, their Attack Power is immediately reduced by the maximum of 80% and their life force will drain rapidly. Beings whose combined stats are higher than yours will gain corresponding resistance, diminishing the debuff’s effect to a minimum of 50% impact.]
[...]
[Touch of Extreme Evil Strands Increased: 334 (Total: 1,856)]
[You have obtained a new "Form."]
[You can perfectly transform into the Seventy-two Column Kings. While in this form, you can use its other four skills: War of Kings, Death Sentence, Return of the Dead, and Lord of the Underworld.]
[Attack Power: 736](+134)
[Physical Strength: 690](+101)
[Endurance: 728](+117)
[Defense Power: 661](+98)
[Spiritual Power: Unknown]
[The master of death has only bones, no flesh. However, the shattered skeleton of the Column King is an exceptionally rare treasure. It can be used in place of flesh as an item upgrade material and holds a fatal attraction for sea beasts of the death attribute.]
[Only one Holy Hall-tier Sea Beast remains in the Endless Ocean.]
[It is time to press your advantage and eliminate it for good!]
Only after truly mastering Skeleton Sanctuary did Shi Ming realize how much more useful the skill was than he had imagined. Its debuff was unavoidable. Even for a Nirvana-tier being, as long as they were within the skill’s area of effect, their Attack Power would plummet!
This gave him much greater confidence in facing the future "Active Wormhole."
And just as the Eye of Destiny indicated, only one of the Seven Holy Halls was left: the Immortal Evil Eye in the Great Salt Lake. For Shi Ming, whose stats were now superior in every way, killing the Immortal Evil Eye would be child’s play.
But after that would come the final challenge—one even more grueling, and one he could not avoid.
The Mariana Trench remained pitch-black. Shi Ming piloted the Sunshooter away, leaving the place to become one of true, deathly silence.
...
...
...
With the Seventy-two Column Kings dead, the Phoenix no longer had any reason to exist.
After returning to Dayun, it was time to make good on his promise to his crew: to kill the Phoenix and allow Stone Pillar to become a true S-rank Awakened.
On the deck.
Shi Ming took out the ancient copper bottle he had retrieved from the sea and flicked his right hand. The seal, inscribed with an admonition, was easily broken.
King Solomon’s seal was destroyed.
A dense black gas billowed out from the copper bottle with immense power, like a mythical demon being unleashed upon the world. The crew quickly retreated. The black gas had just begun to coalesce into a Phoenix—a skeleton flecked with scraps of flesh—when the newly freed creature felt a colossal Kun invade its consciousness!
’It’s him!’
’The Ten Thousand Forms Kun!’
As a former member of the Seventy-two Column Kings, the Phoenix was intimately familiar with this aura. It had no time to react, no time to use its "Undead Overture" to absorb life force and recover its strength, not even enough time to glance at the sea and sky of the modern world before its life was extinguished.
The last pillar of the Seventy-two Column Kings had fallen.
Lin Hai, now an S-rank Awakened, focused all his attention, hoping to catch the instant his captain made a move.
But he still saw nothing.
However, the aura radiating from Shi Ming was enough for him to sense that the captain’s power had grown even more formidable. If, back when he was A-rank, facing the captain felt like a human facing a dragon—impossibly distant—then now, as an S-rank, facing him felt like a mayfly gazing upon the vast heavens. The gap seemed even more immense.
The higher one’s level, the more keenly one could sense the disparity between them.
The Phoenix’s corpse, formed from the black gas, was dozens of meters long. Its scant remaining blood contained the skill origin of "Rebirth in Blood," while its scraps of flesh held the skill origin of "Undead Overture."
The two were a perfect match.
"You’re in luck. Although it’s mostly bone, there are still small amounts of flesh and blood left. The opportunity to become an S-rank Awakened lies within these remains."
"And rest assured, if you inherit its power and use the skills with restraint, you won’t end up looking like this... this thing that’s neither human nor monster."
No one understood "Rebirth in Blood" and "Undead Overture" better than Shi Ming.
"Thank you, Captain."
Stone Pillar could hardly wait.
In this world, appearance sometimes meant nothing compared to power. As someone who had clawed his way up from the bottom, he understood this better than anyone.
