I Became the Progenitor Vampire-Chapter 307 - 309 Transcendent Land of Bone-Burying
Chapter 307 -309: Transcendent, Land of Bone-Burying (Extra for Jiu Yue, a 20,000-word mythological mega chapter, please subscribe~)
Chapter 307 -309: Transcendent, Land of Bone-Burying (Extra for Jiu Yue, a 20,000-word mythological mega chapter, please subscribe~)
“Ding~ Would you like to set Thorns Dawn as the holy object of the Dawn Sect?”
“Yes….”
After Lide confirmed the setting of the Heart of Thorns as the holy object of the Dawn Sect, several system prompts immediately brought a look of surprise to his eyes.
He hadn’t expected the act of designating a holy object to have such a significant impact.
“Ding~ You have successfully set the holy object of the Dawn Sect, and your Divine Position development has increased to 2%”
“Ding~ You have successfully set the holy object of the Dawn Sect, and you can now use the Power of Faith to research exclusive magic for the Dawn Sect.”
“Ding~ The Dawn Sect now possesses the holy object—the Heart of Thorns.
Please provide an interpretation for the holy object.”
Interpretation of the holy object? That’s like an explanation of the doctrine.
Lide pondered deep in thought.
The holy object, Thorns…
A moment later, a realization dawned upon him.
“When you cut through the thorns, the day of dawn shall arrive, and then, I shall crown the world with thorns as a diadem—Dawn is with you.”
Thorns symbolize hardship, and dawn signifies hope; the day when one breaks through obstacles is when hope arrives.
Although it was a bit of a tongue twister, it was profoundly meaningful.
“Ding~ Interpretation of the holy object: When you cut through the thorns, the day of dawn shall arrive, and then, I shall crown the world with thorns as a diadem—Dawn is with you.
Interpretation successfully confirmed.”
“Ding~ Having set the holy object, the construction of the Church Emblem will commence.
1%…2%…100%, the Dawn Emblem of the Dawn Sect with the Heart of Thorns at its core, blending the spirit of dawn, has now been completed.
Believers holding the Church Emblem and holy object while reciting doctrines or oracles shall gain Divine attention.”
“Ding~ With the possession of a holy object and the Church Emblem, the likelihood of lay followers converting to believers will greatly increase, and the Dawn Sect’s attraction to the common people has risen by 30%, with a 20% increase in trustworthiness.”
After the system prompts ended, a rich smile slowly spread across Lide’s face.
A huge gain, an absolute huge gain.
First was the Divine Position which had been inactive before, now it had risen to 2%. Although still pitifully small, it was an unexpected joy; little by little, one day he would truly control both Divine Positions.
The second was the ability to set exclusive magic for the Dawn Sect.
Sect magic has always been a unique and iconic part of the magic system in Glory.
Unlike ordinary mages who can learn magic from various schools, the source of Sect magic is Divine.
Since Divinities have different Divine Positions, sects’ magic is distinct from one another.
For example, magic related to healing is predominant in the sect of the Life Goddess, with effects several times stronger than those of standard mages.
The God of Power and Justice’s sect mainly enhances physical attributes, boosting the combat power of the self, while Evil God believers mostly use malign black magic.
Apart from deities with similar Divine Positions, most sects’ magic is different.
Thus, the magic of the Main Plane of Glory flourished greatly, and the status of Spellcasters remained at the top of the hierarchy.
Previously, the magic used by priests of the Dawn was all common magic, nothing remarkable—the only exception was that Lide granted Lady Nilo a certain authority to use the Power of Faith, and this Divine Priest then distributed this authority to each priest.
Thus, Dawn priests can now harness a set amount of Power of Faith every day. While not much, it suffices to treat or heal the residents.
This feature, like the ability to research exclusive magic for the Bloodline, is a foundational element with great potential.
The only requirement might be the investment of significant time and effort.
However, what brought a touch of joy to Lide was that this ability to research sect magic could be shared with his own Divine Priests, and he could even establish a spiritual kingdom for his priests to study together.
After confirming the accuracy of the information conveyed by the system, Lide couldn’t help but feel elated.
Nilo’s research abilities were unquestionable. After all, she could cultivate Extraordinary magic plants, and it was she who first discovered that the Power of Faith could enhance the quality of equipment.
Once might be a coincidence, but repeated success points to certainty. At the very least, Nilo was willing to think and ponder; that was enough.
The last point was interesting indeed.
The Thorns Heart had become a sacred artifact of the Dawn Sect, and it came with several amazing attributes.
It could speed up the conversion of general believers into devout followers, and its attraction to commoners had greatly increased; these two characteristics were simply divine for proselytizing, priceless and irreplaceable.
Moreover, because of the sacred artifact’s emergence, the system had designed an emblem for the Dawn Sect.
Lide reviewed the system-designed emblem in his mind several more times.
On one side of a black flag was a brilliant radiance piercing through the night, and within that brilliance, a crown made of thorns carried a touch of heart-stirring sanctity and splendor.
The thorns formed the crown, crowning the people of this world.
At this moment, the flag perfectly conveyed his interpretation.
It was also perfect in expressing the meaning of dawn and highlighted the role of the thorns.
Lide was in a great mood.
The appearance of the Thorns Heart had indeed given him a big surprise.
His Divine Priest seemed to have never disappointed him.
With the setting of a holy object, it directly made up for the original deficiencies of the Dawn Sect, making the sect more complete.
After several battles, the status of the Dawn Sect had become increasingly prominent; it was now his top priority for development.
At this time, the strengthening of the Dawn Sect undoubtedly brought him immense satisfaction.
“Lord Kachar, are you alright?”
Seeing Lide standing motionless under the Thorns Heart for a long time, Nicole, who was standing outside the courtyard, couldn’t contain herself any longer.
Lide hadn’t praised her yet.
The little girl’s eyes, dark and wide, twirled around, her face full of curiosity as she watched the pale red blossoms blooming all around the courtyard, radiating charm.
After hearing the call, Lide snapped back to reality, turned his head to see the few people standing outside the yard without entering, and offered a slight smile, extending his hand in a gesture.
Upon receiving Lide’s instruction, Nicole immediately struggled to contain her excitement, hopping and skipping into the small courtyard.
Inside the courtyard, the ivy was covered in thumb-sized, lush green leaves among which red blossoms punctuated, dazzling and beautiful, a dreamlike scene perfectly suiting a little girl’s aesthetic.
Lady Nilo and the ever-silent Harrison, who seemed to blend into the background like an invisible man, also stepped into the yard.
In Lady Nilo’s pale golden eyes showed a hint of enjoyment; the stunning scenery was comforting and it was her first time seeing the Thorns Heart in bloom.
“Lord Kachar, ever since this guy gained wisdom, it hasn’t allowed us into the courtyard~
And even though we feed it so many magic crystals every day, it only gave us one fruit, which is really infuriating!”
Nicole, bouncing along the ivy path, arrived beside Lide and suddenly, as if remembering something, began to accuse the Thorns Heart of its misdemeanors.
With her hands on her hips, the little girl looked indignantly at the triple-bladed ivy in front of her, her delicate and exquisite face filled with dissatisfaction.
In fact, they had only used a magic fruit borne by the Thorns Heart once for experimentation, and aside from the fruit’s rarity, the Thorns Heart’s protective nature played a part.
This Extraordinary Plant that had just birthed a will wasn’t stupid; it could sense where its most precious attributes lay.
Giving Nicole a fruit was already due to the daily offerings of shiny and tasty things.
Or else it wouldn’t have allowed it.
This Extraordinary Plant, with the wisdom similar to a 4 or 5-year-old child, also acted much like a child.
Lide, seeing Nicole’s cute demeanor, couldn’t help but smile lightly, reaching out to pinch the little girl’s cheek.
Then, he made a gesture towards the red fruits hidden among the entangled vines.
“Little Thorn, pick one for me.”
“Of course, my lord~”
A moment later, a cheerful voice echoed in Lide’s mind.
And then, under the gaze of everyone, this Extraordinary Plant, which normally paid little attention to them, actually obeyed.
One of the vines, like a tendril, shot up from the ground, reaching out to a red fruit hidden among the dense leaves.
Swish swish~ the vine wrapped around the fruit like rope, and once it was tightly coiled, the fruit popped off automatically and was bound tightly by the vine during its descent.
Then the vine slowly bent, delivering the bright red fruit directly to Lide.
“My Lord… give… tasty~”
The voice, tinged with a hint of drowsiness, was especially endearing.
However, it was a voice that directly sounded in Lide’s mind, inaudible to others.
“You’re such a good little one.”
Lide praised the little creature and reached out to take it.
The cool touch, like that of an apple, along with the dense magic fluctuations, made Lide feel as if he was holding a top-grade Demon Crystal Stone.
Driven by curiosity, he examined the attributes of the Magic Fruit.
Thorns Holy Fruit
Quality: Extraordinary
Trait: Consuming it can purify the Bloodline
Explanation: Cultivated with the most pure Holy Light Power and abundant Magic Power, it has incredible effects and is a Rare treasure.
Indeed, the Thorns Holy Fruit, which the system had rated as a peerless treasure, reached the Extraordinary Level.
Does this mean he could now produce Extraordinary Fruits in bulk?
But the cost was a little exaggerated.
Thinking of this, Lide frowned deeply.
2 million Gold Pucks had only produced a few Thorns Holy Fruits, which was quite costly.
Just one bite would mean tens of thousands of Gold Pucks gone; not even ten gold mines at home would be enough to satisfy this.
“My Lord… try it, it’s sweet and delicious.”
The Heart of Thorns seemed to be showing off to its parent, its tone carrying a bit of pride.
Lide shook his head amusedly.
He suddenly realized he seemed to have many young people around him; Isa and Nicole, these two young girls were only 17. Isa’s body and mind were about 12 or 13 years old, and although Nicole had a Talent for management, he felt that her inner age was also only around 14 or 15 years old.
Even Vina and Lady Nilo were only in their twenties; the slightly older Betty was just 28 years old. Now he had another little one with the mentality of a child a few years old. Indeed, it was interesting.
Of course, Withered Bone, an old ghost who had lived for who knows how long, was automatically excluded by him. Besides that, there were Cap, Groot, Stanley, and so on, for no other reason than their ugly appearances.
Holding the red Thorns Holy Fruit, Lide did not dawdle and popped it straight into his mouth, crunching down with a bite.
A sweet juice instantly filled his mouth, and the rich Magic Power dispersed everywhere.
Lide’s eyes narrowed slightly. Not to mention anything else, the flavor indeed lived up to the 200 thousand Gold Puck cost.
It was delicious.
Under Nicole’s eager gaze, Lide swiftly devoured the coreless Extraordinary Fruit.
As the fruit pulp entered his stomach, it turned into pure energy in just a few breaths.
At once, he felt a warm current flow toward the limbs of his body.
Lide had a sudden shiver and sensed a bad premonition.
He remembered the agonizing pain when he was under the system’s control during upgrades.
Just when Lide was frowning, preparing to once again enjoy the pleasure of ascension, unexpectedly, the warm current entered the body and all rushed to the heart area, not causing him any pain.
With the energy infusion, the heart pounded faster, and the thick blood pumped as if by a pump, each beat lifting a tremendous amount of energy.
His previously depleted Bloodline was now replenished, bringing an indescribable feeling of comfort.
Every cell in his body basked in satisfaction.
Feeling the strength increasing in his body, Lide slightly closed his eyes and sat cross-legged under the Heart of Thorns.
His spiritual power turned inward, intently observing the changes within his body.
The energy transformed from the Thorns Holy Fruit was now compensating for the Bloodline deficit caused by the synthesis Skill. The abundant and unique power within this Extraordinary Fruit caused a transformation in some aspects of his Bloodline.
It seemed to have evolved into something even stronger.
Five minutes… ten minutes… half a Sunshine Hour later, feeling refreshed as if he had just completed a major quest, Lide stretched languidly, satisfaction flickering in his eyes.
“Ignoring everything else, the degree of comfort alone made those 200,000 Gold Pucks worth the death.”
Opening the attribute panel, indeed, the Bloodline status column had changed.
Bloodline: Ancestor Bloodline (Evolution Level: 15%)
A single Extraordinary Level Thorns Holy Fruit had taken his Bloodline Evolution from 10% to 15%, and while a 5% increase didn’t seem like much, Lide could feel that it must be a significant improvement.
Because his Bloodline had awakened and undergone transformation.
How strong is the Ancestor Bloodline? The dense cluster of skills and specialties plastered over his attribute panel said it all.
A weak Bloodline that consumes an Extraordinary Fruit might see its strength increase by 100%, but a 1% improvement for him could trounce another Bloodline that improved by 500%. That’s the gap.
Moreover, the most important point was that the Thorns Holy Fruit could be used repeatedly and mass-produced—as long as he had enough Magic Crystal Stones.
So this was just the beginning, he could continue to spend more Gold Pucks in the future.
The strength gained was his own; money and everything else were external.
After standing up, he looked at the vibrant Thorns Heart in front of him with some emotion.
This thing was a pure pay-to-win machine.
Indeed, the poor mutate, while the rich invest in technology; even if a pauper had this thing, they couldn’t afford to use it.
Just like with the previous Beastmen or Centaurs, if you threw the Thorns Heart into their tribes, they wouldn’t be able to sustain it. The cost of tens or even hundreds of thousands of Gold Pucks was enough to make them weak at the knees and confess their unworthiness; this wasn’t something the average person could afford.
“Little Thorns, use your vines to store five Thorns Holy Fruits for me.
Your fruit is excellent; I want to take a few with me.”
Upon receiving Lide’s praise, the red flowers on the surrounding vines bloomed more brightly, and the vines in front of him began to sway happily.
“Mmm mmm…”
Following that, the Thorns Holy Fruits, which even Lady Nilo and the others had desperately sought but could not obtain, were easily packed and taken away by Lide.
Now, only three remained on the tree.
The Thorns Holy Fruits were tightly wrapped by the vines, like they were in a fruit basket.
And the Thorns Heart even thoughtfully created a handle for carrying.
Nicole’s eyes sparkled upon seeing this scene.
The little girl had long coveted this fruit.
Lide glanced at Nicole and smiled, “This is prepared for the combat troops; I will give you one after the next batch is cultivated.”
Nicole’s eyes instantly narrowed into crescents, and her two small fangs shone as she giggled, “Okay, it’s a deal, is it very sweet?”
Such a precious thing must taste good.
The little girl, seeing the playful look in Lide’s eyes, suddenly paused and then instinctively wiped the corner of her mouth. Realizing there was nothing there, she pretended nothing happened and casually flipped her hair.
Lide, amused, handed the two Thorns Holy Fruits tightly wrapped in vines to Harry Harrison, the invisible man.
“Take these two Thorns Holy Fruits to Green City, one for Stanley and one for Grote.”
Then, after a moment’s thought, he handed over another one, “Give this one to Frey in the Dwarf Hill Country.”
The Thorns Holy Fruit was a rare commodity and needed to be distributed with priority to combat personnel on the front line, such as Harrison, who worked in the rear echelons, did not need it for the time being.
Although the Thorns Holy Fruit didn’t offer him much enhancement, it was because his Bloodline Power was already strong enough.
With a solid foundation, it became naturally difficult to improve, but the other members of the Bloodline were certainly not as gifted as he was, so the Thorns Holy Fruit could give them a boost in strength.
This was an Extraordinary Fruit worth 200,000 Gold Pucks; its effect was certainly not small.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Harrison responded immediately. He wasn’t the slightest bit envious; as the Chairman of the City Hall, his vision was naturally broad, and personal interests were also ranked behind the whole of Dawn City.
Although the cultivation cost of the Thorns Holy Fruit was high, Harrison believed that with the potential of Dawn City, it would not be common, but it would eventually no longer be rare.
By then, there would be as many as one wanted to eat.
“Nilo, from today on, declare the Thorns Heart a Holy Object of the Dawn Sect.
The meaning of the Thorns Heart shall be: When the thorns are cut, dawn will come, and at that time, I shall crown the thorns as a crown and coronate the people—dawn be with you.”
Having said this, Lide’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He connected to the spiritual imprint in Nilo’s mind and transferred the image of the Dawn Sect’s emblem he perceived to Nilo.
Lide only opened his eyes after confirming that Lady Nilo had received the message, “This is the emblem of the Dawn Sect.
With thorns as the crown, for the coronation of the world.
We can rush to produce a batch of flags to hang within the city and also make a batch of emblems to distribute to the believers.”
Lady Nilo’s golden eyes sparkled with excitement when she saw the brilliant emblem in her mind.
At this moment, complemented by her pure white flowing priest’s robe, she had an indescribable aura of sanctity.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The appearance of the Dawn Emblem filled the last gap for the Dawn Sect.
From then on, the truly complete Dawn Sect emerged.
Doctrines, emblems, holy objects are tools that sects have always used to propagate the greatness of the divine to their followers.
The doctrines elucidate the sect’s philosophy,
The emblem provides identity recognition,
And the holy objects serve as a spiritual reliance since the divine does not often appear, but the objects used by the divine or of special significance to the sect are easier for the followers to access and thus more meaningful to them.
Afterward, Lide gave Nilo some precautions to note. Nilo and Nicole, the two managers of the church, also took this rare opportunity to discuss the church’s various work during this period with Lide.
It wasn’t until two Sunshine Hours later that the discussion among the three ended.
Lide understood in detail the developments of the Dawn Sect during this period and gave full affirmation and praise to the two girls.
Nicole and Nilo made a perfect combination as sisters.
Nilo was in charge of proselytizing, Nicole was in charge of sect management. One faced outwards and the other handled internal affairs. With an unmatched trust and understanding between them, the great Dawn Sect thrived under their hands.
Lide checked for any oversights and, after giving a few guiding suggestions, refrained from further nagging. The management pair was sufficient, and nothing more needed to be said by him.
After arranging the affairs of the sect, Lide turned his head to look at the still cheerful Thorns Dawn, the Extraordinary Plant he had named.
“Little Thorns, from now on you need to listen to Nilo and Nicole obediently, no mischief, understand? I’ll have them bring you lots of delicious things.”
Upon hearing Lide’s admonition, Thorns Dawn, the Extraordinary Plant, responded with a grievance, “My Lord~ are you leaving?”
The weak voice was filled with pity-invoking helplessness.
The surrounding vines instantly wilted and even the red flowers dimmed.
Lide was somewhat amused; such a childlike mood that changes at the drop of a hat.
“Yes, you need to grow quickly. When your vines cover Dawn City, you’ll be able to see me every day.”
“Really? That’s great…” Little Thorns immediately cheered up, the wilted vines perked up, and the flowers regained their brightness.
Moreover, the vines of the Thorns Heart could extend indefinitely, requiring only ample energy; not just Dawn City, but the entire gourd-shaped valley could be enveloped if possible.
Of course, to reach such a state, how much energy would be needed is something only the divine would know.
The Thorns Heart has tremendous potential, and its growth endpoint is far beyond the Extraordinary, especially after it became the holy object of the Dawn Sect.
Lide had a feeling that this little one might give him substantial help in the future.
After soothing the little one a bit more, Lide led the group out of the courtyard.
“This courtyard shall henceforth be designated a restricted area to bar anyone’s entry.
In addition, the growth range of Thorns Heart’s vines is no longer limited; it can envelop the entire church area within them.”
Lide directly issued the command, “As the holy object of our sect and with its great future potential, do not be stingy with the current investments and nurturing.
Nilo, Nicole, you’ve done very well, and I am very satisfied.”
Nicole and Nilo exchanged glances upon hearing this and immediately showed radiant smiles. Lide’s affirmation was the greatest motivation for all the hard work and effort they had put in for such a long time.
“Continue building the Magic Plant Research Department, and I also permit you to expand the Dawn Priest’s scale to 100 people.
In the later stage, I will provide you with enough materials, and I hope you can give me more pleasant surprises.”
“As you wish, Your Grace,” Nilo replied with a beaming smile as she gazed at her ruler, completely content.
Helping Lide was her greatest happiness.
——
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——
——
After arranging matters with the Dawn Sect, Lide returned to the office in City Hall with Harrison.
Two Thorns Holy Fruits, tightly wrapped by vines, sat on the desk, their red color becoming even more tantalizing against the green of the vines.
Although the Thorns Holy Fruit can be consumed multiple times, there must be a gap between each consumption.
Only then could their effects be maximized.
This was because a small portion of energy remained in his body that hadn’t been fully absorbed.
Eating a second Thorns Holy Fruit at this time would result in some energy not being absorbed in time and dissipating, diminishing the effects.
“These few Thorns Holy Fruits should be sent out now. They can only be preserved for a month at most with the vines. After a month, the energy of the Thorns Holy Fruit will begin to dissipate, and after one and a half months, they will basically be useless.”
Harrison took a glance at the three Thorns Holy Fruits in his hand and immediately took his leave.
Once Harrison had left, Lide sat in his office chair behind the desk and sank into contemplation.
The Thorns Holy Fruit was purely an unexpected windfall.
His most important task upon returning this time was to resolve one thing.
The Land of Bone-Burying.
This newly acquired plane was definitely central to his future development.
Its potential was immense, something which could not be adequately described in mere words, and in the Land of Bone-Burying, there was a very key element— the Twelve-winged Blazing Angel.
Currently trapped in a state of slumber and undergoing conversion by the Power of Death, the length of this conversion could take millennia, enough to weary him to death.
That the conversion time was long wasn’t the issue. The biggest problem was that the Land of Bone-Burying no longer had the Power of Death.
Yet, the Power of Death was key to leveling up the Land of Bone-Burying and accelerating the conversion of the Twelve-winged Blazing Angel.
The ways to obtain the Power of Death were simple: corpses, skeletons, fresh blood, souls.
These four aspects were the sources of the Power of Death.
If only a small amount of the Power of Death was needed, Lide wouldn’t find it too difficult.
After all, starting a war could easily yield thousands of corpses, but the difficulty lay in how to continuously and abundantly obtain the Power of Death over a long term.
However, it wasn’t feasible to start wars every now and then.
Dawn City might have a good foundation now, but who could guarantee it wouldn’t encounter powerful enemies during continuous wars?
There is no army eternally invincible.
Forget war at your peril, thrive on war at your own risk; at this stage, the development of Dawn City remained the core focus, with war as a last resort.
Thus, relying on war to develop the Land of Bone-Burying was impossible, unless he was as strong as the God of Skeleton.
With this, Lide shook his head—it was indeed a thorny issue.
Moreover, due to the presence of the Twelve-winged Blazing Angel, the Land of Bone-Burying was bound to be in a long-term shortage of the Power of Death.
An overly thin presence of the Power of Death would lead to the awakening of the Twelve-winged Blazing Angel.
This created a vicious cycle: he had to be able to provide a continuous, uninterrupted supply of the Power of Death to the Land of Bone-Burying.
Even if he left the Land of Bone-Burying unused, it wouldn’t matter; once the Twelve-winged Blazing Angel awoke, with the current power of the Land of Bone-Burying, it was definitely impossible to suppress this ultimate combat power.
Corpses, skeletons, fresh blood, souls…
Lide muttered to himself, how could he acquire the Power of Death continuously, uninterruptedly, and safely over a long term?
Moments later, Lide suddenly seemed to think of something, his eyes lighting up.
If this operation was feasible, the Land of Bone-Burying would never have a deficit again.
And it would be safe, stable, and controllable.
Just then, Harrison happened to return, looking somewhat puzzled at the excited expression on Lide’s face.
“Your Majesty, what is this…”
Lide didn’t explain, but with a smile, he waved his hand, “Follow me.”
Having said that, he didn’t even bother with a door. *Swoosh* — he transformed into a swarm of little bats and flew straight out through the open window.
The massing numbers drew the residents below, who were there on business, to look up.
It was quite rare to see so many bats inside City Hall, especially since this area was known for its vigilance.
Harrison quickly transformed and followed, sensing that Lide seemed to be on the verge of doing something extraordinary.
But moments later, Harrison’s expression turned curious.
Because Lide was headed directly for the breeding farm.
Pig boars? What did this new discovery have to do with pig boars?
Lide, leading the flight, was in high spirits and didn’t abide by any rules prohibiting flight over the breeding farm, exuding a powerful aura as he flew straight into the area from above.
The guards and Bloodline around sensed Lide’s presence and bowed in respect, none daring to make the suicidal move of intercepting him.
A joke, that was their Sovereign; blocking him? If you want to die, don’t drag us into it.
The breeding farm had expanded to six; each now teemed with tens of thousands of livestock, predominantly pig boars, followed by cattle and sheep.
Breeding pig boars in greater numbers was due to their rapid growth rate. In just three months, they could reach nearly 300 pounds and be ready for slaughter. Cattle and sheep grew much slower, making them less cost-effective, so they made up less than 10% of the livestock in the breeding farm.
The breeding farm was now able to slaughter twenty thousand pig boars each month, some of which were kept for stocking. Most of the slaughtered were fed to the Magic Language Bats and a portion provided to the residents of Dawn City.
Due to the breeding farm’s self-contained nature, this was one of the busiest areas of Dawn City. The sound of pigs being slaughtered rose daily, and countless Magic Language Bats flew to specially prepared feeding grounds to consume the pig boars.
The breeding farm now employed over two thousand workers, even including several domestic Mages as staff.
Working in the breeding farm was a position of prestige, especially after the formation of Dawn Wings, which elevated the farm’s status even more.
Securing a job here was a dream for many residents, as the benefits were simply too good, running on par with those of weapons factories and alchemy factories. Even domestic Mages aspired to work here.
The six breeding farms ran in a straight line at the foot of the mountains. The area in their midst served as the living quarters. The staff had swelled to over two thousand, forming a mini-city within City Hall where all basic living materials were readily available.
Lide’s arrival went unnoticed by the staff, and he showed no interest in inspecting the breeding farm.
Instead, he made his way directly to the office of the manager—Randy, the pig farming tycoon, in a three-story building that had only been raised this year.
As Lide was about to go upstairs, Randy emerged from the building below, looking straight up to see Lide’s handsome figure.
“Good day, Your Majesty, Randy warmly welcomes your visit.”
Upon seeing Lide, the pig farming magnate quickly stepped forward to bow respectfully, his face showing both excitement and apprehension.
Since Lide had taken an interest in him, this pig farming magnate had abandoned the dark and turned to light, joining the Dawn Sect as a faithful little believer under the God of Dawn.
Lide nodded slightly, issuing orders without any chit-chat.
“Have soldiers clear a space and keep all workers away.
Then prepare a thousand pig boars on that ground; this operation is only for the Bloodline to be involved in.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Please rest inside the house, and I will make the arrangements immediately.”
“No need, I’ll go with you.”
Hearing this, Randy, sensing Lide’s urgency, solemnly nodded.
Not much later, the security patrol and Bloodline received the news. They immediately began clearing the area.
Thanks to the location on Moonlight Plain, open ground was easy to find. To the right of the most remote building, guards asked workers to leave, and a large area was cleared.
The patrol maintained order on the periphery, while Bloodline managed the entire scene—everything conducted in an orderly fashion.
The whole process took less than twenty minutes.
Near the plant covered by the canopy of broad-leaf maple trees, which was a plot recently prepared for planting Bright Silver Grass, now sprawled a thousand dark-skinned, tusky pig boars freshly herded out from their pens.
Under the Bloodline’s suppression, the pig boars obediently lay on the ground, just grunting a little without any other movement.
When Lide arrived at this open area, a thousand pig boars came into view.
Unlike Earth’s fat pigs, the pig boars of Glory World had long tusks and a more robust physique, and were very aggressive.
Under the intimidating presence of over a dozen Bloodline nobles, these land pigs were now prostrating on the ground, unable to resist the pressure emanating from these superior beings.
“Your Highness, here are a thousand land pigs, all ready.”
Lide was very satisfied with the land pigs before him.
Though these were ordinary creatures, not Demon Beasts,
they had been fed on half-magical plants called Bright Silver Grass, making them exceptionally sturdy and their blood essence rich, with a vigorous spirit.
“Not bad,” Lide nodded, turning to glance at Randy beside him, and praised, “Very well done.”
Before Randy’s face could even reveal a hint of joy, Lide’s expression instantly turned stern, and the black stone the size of two fists in his hand violently slashed through the space ahead.
Crack~
Like shattering glass, the space before him burst open under everyone’s gaze.
Lide’s expression remained calm as he extended his hand once more and swirled the irregular spatial rift, which rapidly twisted and turned into a Gate of the Void, twenty blades long and three blades high, within moments.
Randy, witnessing this miraculous scene, was filled with awe and then deep veneration. His Highness truly was divine, the great god of the Dawn, so powerful!!
His faith surged significantly at that moment.
Regaining his composure, Randy’s curiosity was piqued by the wide space gate. He leaned slightly forward, following Lide’s gaze.
However, after just one glance, his soul felt shattered; an uncontrollable chill rose from his spine, rushing into his mind and soaking his back with cold sweat.
Skeletons—a vast expanse of bone-white skeletons covered the ground; the other side of the space gate resembled a silent abyss, the most nefarious Hell itself,
saturated with a death aura that could split one’s gallbladder.
And in the center of the white bone-ground, the twelve-tiered White Bone Altar that split it open was filled with a terrifying aura that seemed to bite at one’s soul.
Sweat instantly beaded on Randy’s forehead, his face turned pale, and his legs grew weak at this moment.
Lide glanced at Randy, who was overwhelmed by fear, and shook his head with a hint of amusement.
A sweep of his hand surrounded the pig tycoon with a pure light, freeing him from the grip of fear.
“There’s no need to worry, this Land of Bone-Burying was seized from a Divine, and now, it belongs to us.”
“Your Highness, I, I…”
Randy had just recovered from his terror and felt incredibly ashamed to hear this.
Lide waved his hand, “This world has neither absolute evil nor absolute goodness; our only choice is between evil and goodness.
Would this White Bone Plane harm others in the hands of someone with a conscience and a kind heart?
The power of evil is merely a tool in our hands; used correctly, anything is possible.
The attribute of energy, whether good or evil, is like a sharp knife. When the blade faces our friends, that knife becomes the demon that harms those around us.
But when the blade faces our enemies, it can be a lethal weapon, a means of protection.”
After speaking, Lide paused and turned to look at Randy, “So, do you understand?
Both evil and good are merely our choices. When we opt for good, then evil can also serve good; when we choose evil, then good, too, can be evil.”
Watching Lide’s serene demeanor, a profound admiration and pride arose in Randy’s heart.
Only a great and magnificent being like His Highness could possess such open-mindedness and profound knowledge. Truly an admirable, towering figure.
His heart, just recently shrouded by fear, suddenly firmed up with an overwhelmingly powerful notion.
His Highness would be the object of my lifelong devotion.
No matter what he does, I shall follow him eternally.
As this soul-penetrating thought arose in Randy,
Lide’s expression was taken aback, looking at him with a hint of surprise.
For he heard the system’s notification.
“Ding~ Randy’s faith in you has reached its peak, and he has become your fanatical believer, earning you a mission experience—5000 points.”
Lide hadn’t expected this pig farm manager to become his fanatical believer.
Could this be too much of a stretch?
The Dawn Sect had been raising followers for so long yet had not managed to nurture even a single fanatic; now, with just a few words, he had turned someone into a fanatic??
Indeed, it was like diligently plowing the field only to grow weeds, never tending to the full granary.
It was absurd.
Shaking his head, he had always been clueless about how fanatics were born. Oli was like this, and now Randy still remained a mystery.
Fanatics were the core force of a sect; even if their abilities were weak, as long as they were willing to cultivate, they could invariably become very powerful because fanatics could receive the descent of his power.
Fanatics were like having a cheat code at all times, and this cheat code was the Divine. If they ever found themselves in a losing battle, they could use the cheat code to request power and then crush their opponent.
Thinking of this, Lide shook his head. Randy was just the manager of a pig farm; becoming a fanatic was of limited help to him; this could only be considered an unexpected pleasure, not something that should cause him to cheer.
The critical issue at hand was to return to the main topic—experimenting with the Power of Death.
The hogs were already driven out, and he needed to test whether his ideas were feasible.
“Harrison, drive a hundred hogs into the Land of Bone-Burying.”
Harrison was also witnessing the Land of Bone-Burying for the first time. Although Stanley had mentioned it in the intelligence sent back before, he had never seen it with his own eyes.
As a Bloodline who had lived for over a hundred years, he naturally had seen much and understood what a Plane represented.
“Yes, Clan Leader,” Harrison said, with a tone of barely concealed excitement. This City Hall Speaker, this great figure who held the fates of countless people, now refused the help from other Bloodline and began to drive the hogs by himself.
To make a City Hall Speaker dressed in a luxurious Mage’s robe herd pigs, in this city, only Lide had that power.
And say what you will, although Harrison wasn’t proficient in offensive magic, he was very skilled with Mage’s Hand; in just a few minutes, he had driven more than a hundred hogs into the Land of Bone-Burying.
Oink oink~ oink oink~
The hogs grunted as they were forcibly driven through the Space Gate, although the Land of Bone-Burying was filled with an aura that instilled fear in these creatures, the terrifying entity behind them, radiating a cold presence, frightened them even more.
Nothing unexpected happened, and everything proceeded smoothly.
Once all the hogs had entered the Land of Bone-Burying, Lide did not take any action, standing there as if lost in a daze.
But at that moment, he had already connected with the Plane Stone, and his spiritual power was immersed in the Land of Bone-Burying, observing these hogs through the perspective of the Land of Bone-Burying.
The perspective of the Land of Bone-Burying was peculiar; he could clearly sense the physical and even the soul conditions of each hog.
As the hogs entered the bone-covered Land of Bone-Burying, the sound of crunching was incessant; the hogs left muddy footprints on the bone-littered ground as they trampled it.
The Death Power lurking around the area immediately noticed these vibrantly alive beings, completely out of place in the Plane.
And it surged forth.
The hogs on the bone-covered ground began to scream sharply, growing increasingly panicked, as if being targeted by some horrific creature.
Roar~ Roar~
The piercing screams, akin to pigs being slaughtered, were constant, and these hogs became extremely agitated, with many of them beginning to wildly run across the bone-strewn ground.
As if trying to flee from this place of deathly stillness.
But it was all in vain.
In Lide’s view, he could clearly sense the thin Death Power in the air slowly gathering before rapidly invading the hogs’ bodies, without any resistance, the hogs were eroded by the Death Power.
Their life forces were rapidly consumed by the Power of Death, which, after being nourished, began to grow denser.
Moments later, the hogs’ souls started to weaken.
Feeling the fatal danger, the hogs fell into an even more frenzied run, as if trying to unleash the terror within their hearts.
But ultimately, it was futile; the formless, colorless Death Power was simply not something these mundane creatures could resist.
Half a Sunshine Hour later, the first hog had its life force devoured, and with a thump, it toppled over from its frenzied run and hit the ground, creating a silent shudder.
It set off a domino effect.
Bang, bang, bang~
One after another, hogs running were consumed by the Power of Death and then slammed onto the ground.
Through the sight of the Land of Bone-Burying, Lide observed it all crystal clear; after the hogs died, their soul energy began to dissipate, which made the Death Power rejoice, rapidly consuming the soul energy to strengthen itself.
Three minutes after the first hog’s death, all hundred hogs had silently fallen.
Their life forces were devoured by the Power of Death, their souls served as nourishment, and what was more horrifying, after half a Sunshine Hour of the hogs’ deaths, their bodies began to shrink under the erosion of the Power of Death.
The body’s desiccation had begun, plunging into an irreversible process, and within a short Sunshine Hour, it had completely turned into a withered corpse.
Then, like mud falling off their skin, the dried flesh directly turned into powder, and only a white skeleton remained in place.
The scene was both horrifying and cruel, filled with an atmosphere that made one’s hair stand on end.
After watching, Lide fell into deep thought.
From the moment the pigs entered the Land of Bone-Burying, they would die after half a Sunshine Hour, and half a Sunshine Hour after death, the corpses would be devoured by the Power of Death and become desiccated.
Then, the entire devouring process would last for about a Sunshine Hour.
So, it seemed that it took approximately two Sunshine Hours for a pig to completely transform from a living creature to mere bones.
“There’s still a long way to go. In the heyday of the Land of Bone-Burying, even an Extraordinary Level Demon Beast couldn’t last three minutes, and at most, within five minutes, it would turn into a set of white bones.”
Lide shook his head and opened the attribute panel of the Land of Bone-Burying.
Land of Bone-Burying (Undead Plane)
Level: Common (next level Rare, upgrade requires 100,000 Power of Death)
Power of Death: 200
Traits: Can grow, Undead Transformation (can control the Power of Death within the plane to cultivate higher-level Undead)
Special Troops: Frost Giant Dragon (inactive)
Special Building: Skeleton Altar (damaged), can accelerate the transformation of Extraordinary Level and above Undead Life, plane level reaching Rare can be activated
Explanation: …
“The Power of Death started at 100, now it’s 200… does this mean each pig only provides one point of Power of Death??”
Lide frowned at this data.
Although he knew that upgrading the plane was not so simple, was it too much for such a big pig to only give 1 point of Power of Death??
Calculating it this way, to upgrade the Land of Bone-Burying from common quality to rare quality, it would require at least 100,000 pigs, which would consume nearly half of Dawn City’s output for almost half a year.
At this stage, it was impossible for him to allocate 100,000 pigs for the upgrading of the Land of Bone-Burying; the Magic Language Bats still needed to be maintained, the residents had to consume, and he still found the current Magic Language Bats insufficient and planned to continue expanding.
This would inevitably result in a shortage of pig supplies, and he couldn’t divert too many to the Land of Bone-Burying.
“Just built several new breeding farms, and now they’re not enough again.” Lide felt a headache coming on.
“Harrison, continue to herd a batch in.”
Shaking his head, too lazy to think about other things, he decided to finish the experiment first.
And so, Lide experimented with these thousand pigs until the early morning, and then he called for a batch of sheep and cattle for experimentation.
In the end, he confirmed several key pieces of information.
The first was that it was unknown about other creatures, but each pig provided 1 point of Power of Death, sheep provided about 0.8, and cattle quite a bit more, reaching 3 points.
The second was that no matter whether outsiders slaughtered them, or the Land of Bone-Burying devoured them using the Power of Death, as long as the pigs died within the Land of Bone-Burying, the Power of Death obtained by the plane was the same.
The third was that if livestock were killed within the Land of Bone-Burying, their meat could still be consumed if taken out within twenty minutes before being devoured by the Power of Death.
Bearing this in mind, Lide conducted several more experiments.
For instance, he only slaughtered pigs inside the Land of Bone-Burying, then took the pigs out.
In the end, it was discovered that this method could also yield Power of Death because the fresh blood and soul had dissipated inside, but the Power of Death obtained this way was only 0.2, 5 times less than that of a complete pig.
Then, Lide continued experimenting, having someone dismember the pig, taking out the meat and leaving behind the skeleton.
In the end, the Power of Death grew to 0.5.
This discovery satisfied Lide.
Continuing along this line of thought, he conducted another experiment, letting Magic Bats feed inside and leaving the skeletons there.
This experiment also yielded 0.2 Power of Death.
The success of this experiment slightly relieved Lide.
The fact that Magic Language Bats could obtain Power of Death while feeding in the Land of Bone-Burying could provide him with an additional major income.
After all, most of the pigs produced by the breeding farms each month were to be consumed by the Magic Language Bats.
“If we estimate 20,000 pigs coming out each month, and each can yield 0.2 Power of Death, then there will be 4,000 points of Power of Death accruing monthly.
Moreover, a portion of these 20,000 pigs will be consumed by residents and can leave behind skeletons, which can be counted as 0.5.
So, all in all, the current breeding farm can roughly provide the Land of Bone-Burying with about 5,000 points of Power of Death each month. Though there might be some deviation, it shouldn’t be too far off.”
Thinking of this, Lide shook his head; 5,000 points of Power of Faith was indeed too little.
At this rate, it would take nearly two years to level up, and as for reaching Level 3 and summoning a Frost Giant Dragon, it was uncertain when that could happen.
Moreover, there was a Twelve-winged Blazing Angel waiting to be transformed, which could only accelerate its transformation through Power of Death, adding a hefty debt to his already not-so-rich situation.
Relying solely on the current breeding farm would definitely not fulfill his needs.
Therefore, a new round of expansion was necessary.
Lide was never one to hesitate and he issued orders directly.
“Randy, go back and get ready; the breeding farm needs to expand again.”
Randy, who had been accompanying Lide in experiments all night and was now somewhat sleepy, immediately perked up upon hearing this.
The breeding farm was his domain, and the larger the domain, the higher his status would naturally be. Intelligent life has always had a strong desire for control over power, especially humans.
Of course, now having become a fervent believer of Lide, his interests are entirely aligned with Lide’s, but this did not affect his desire to climb higher.
After pondering for a moment, Randy expressed some difficulties.
“Your Majesty, the breeding farm is nearing its peak capacity. We estimate that we can only build three or four more before running out of land.
If we were to expand on a large scale, we would only be able to requisition land from the farmers or encroach upon the new urban areas.”
Lide was taken aback momentarily, having become used to extravagant construction; it was the first time he heard there might not be enough land.
He thought about it and felt somewhat amused.
Although the Moonlight Plain was vast, part of it had been allocated for the construction of the new urban districts, while another considerable portion was given to the farmers.
What remained, a smaller portion, was allocated for supporting industries like weapon factories and breeding farms.
The weapon factories were not much of an issue, being a labor-intensive industry where one factory could accommodate a large number of blacksmiths.
However, breeding farms were different. Even if managed intensively, they still required space, and to prevent epidemics, the buildings were also constructed spaced widely apart.
This is what caused the current issue of running out of planned land for the breeding farms.
“No matter, I will re-plan this matter. Make your preparations; I will first instruct the construction department to fill up this area.”
Lide waved his hand dismissively, not elaborating further.
Regardless of any difficulties, this was something that had to be done, with no room for negotiation.
The future hinged on the Land of Bone-Burying.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Randy naturally couldn’t object to Lide, he was merely giving him a heads-up.
Lide, after contemplating under the bright moonlight for a moment, turned to Harrison.
“Harrison, send a message to Kapu, I need him to dispatch a group of Beastmen skilled in husbandry or herding to Dawn City.
Let’s set the number at roughly three thousand.”
When one place doesn’t shine, another does – he didn’t just have the Moonlight Plain under his control, as the Dawn Plain was still unexploited.
Since there was a lack of land here, building another breeding farm on the Dawn Plain was the solution.
That farm would be dedicated to nurturing the Land of Bone-Burying.
Thinking of this, a trace of excitement appeared in Lide’s eyes. Raising pigs to cultivate Power of Death seemed quite an interesting endeavor.
With the formidable strength now in his hands, he could easily build another breeding farm.
He was the ruler of Dawn, the one who held sway over several powers.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Harrison immediately responded with respect.
“The Beastmen who are quite adept at this would be the Rabbit Clan and Fox Clan; both races are rather docile and also have lower combat strength.
The Beastmen have always seen these two races as vassals, tending to the pastures or engaging in logistics for the main fighting Beastman Tribe.”
“Moreover, these two races are also easier to manage and tend to be more obedient.”
“Alright, this task is yours to handle. Coordinate with the construction department in advance; building the factory will certainly require some time.”
Lide nodded and directly delegated the task to Harrison.
As the overlord of Dawn, such trivial matters naturally did not require his personal attention. Once orders were given, he only needed to supervise the progress and wait for his subordinates to complete the tasks.
He was the decision-maker; he issued orders, and the people below carried them out. It was that simple.
That’s the advantage of having power; most of the work was done by subordinates.
“The location selected for the Dawn Plain must be an area with a broad terrain and with suitable water sources and land.
In the future, we may simultaneously breed a million Zhuanglang pigs, so ample space must be reserved.”
The Dawn Plain was vast enough, so finding a place suitable for pig breeding wouldn’t be too difficult.
Once this plan was set in motion, it would be a long-term investment, so it was necessary to think far ahead.
Moreover, no matter how great the investment, it was worth it given the potential of the Land of Bone-Burying.
For the time being, Lide did not intend to employ humans to operate this breeding ground meant for nurturing the Death Plane; there were many Beastmen in Dwarf Valley, and he could draw some from there to do this work instead, as Beastmen were more resilient to hardship.
After arranging all this, Lide glanced at the attribute panel of the Land of Bone-Burying. The Power of Death had already reached 1540 points.
At the same time, around the neatly constructed White Bone Altar, a thousand more skeletal corpses had appeared.
Lide could clearly feel that the light within the Land of Bone-Burying had dimmed slightly, and the previously scant Power of Death had become slightly denser.
However, compared to what it had been before, it was still not much to look at.
Overall, the experiment could indeed be deemed perfect.
Using pig farming to generate the Power of Death was something the God of Skeletons who created the Land of Bone-Burying wouldn’t have imagined.
Of course, the deity would disdain such a method.
For Lide, cultivating the Land of Bone-Burying through a breeding ground was definitely the most efficient and sustainable approach because, aside from obtaining corpses through warfare, it was incredibly imaginative to obtain a large number of skeletons in such a low-cost way.
Once the breeding ground was established, it would become a stable and sustainable source of income, and it’s not that Zhuanglang pigs would always be the livestock of choice for the breeding ground.
Thinking this, Lide continued to issue orders to Harrison.
“Harrison, after you return, have Dylan set up a small hunting team to go out and capture some Demon Beasts for domestication.
Although breeding Demon Beasts is costly, the benefits they bring to us will be better.”
Lide’s eyes held a trace of contemplation.
“For now, we can start preparations, capturing more Demon Beasts. We’ll look for those that are easier to breed on a large scale and have lower breeding costs.
When we have determined which, we can directly switch to breeding Demon Beasts in the farms.”
The density of Power of Death obtained by the Land of Bone-Burying was related to the creature itself; the stronger the life that died there, the more Power of Death it would provide.
So if pig farming was acceptable, why not try domesticating Demon Beasts?
Those Demon Beasts with strong life force could definitely provide more Power of Death, at least more than Zhuanglang pigs.
Of course, all of this was predicated on finding a Demon Beast suitable for farm breeding.
Zhuanglang pigs became the mainstream choice for farms because they were easy to breed and grew quickly, but it couldn’t be said the same for Demon Beasts.
However, effort is the key to success. Once the command was given, he was confident they’d find a suitable breeding subject, and it wasn’t too late to replace the Zhuanglang pigs after that.
At present, even the breed farm hadn’t been established yet, so overthinking was futile.
Lide shook his head, dismissing his scattered thoughts.
“Randy, I will leave a permanent Space Gate at the breeding ground, so all Zhuanglang pigs for Dawn City must be slaughtered within the Land of Bone-Burying.
The meat supplied to Dawn City must be cleaned and taken away inside the Land of Bone-Burying, leaving behind the bones and blood.”
“Yes, Your Excellency …” Randy replied, then hesitated, “Your Excellency, can our workers enter there?”
He hadn’t forgotten the scene of Zhuanglang pigs being consumed by the Power of Death.
Lide nodded, “No problem, I will protect you with a strong force, and you will not encounter any danger.”
It would be simple to confine the Power of Death to one corner; as the controller of the Land of Bone-Burying, this was not a difficult task and could be done effortlessly.
Afterward, Lide communicated further with Randy and Harrison regarding the construction of the next phase of the breeding ground, then returned to the City Hall office.
Randy had gone back to sleep, leaving Harrison to continue bustling about with the preparations for the farm’s location and construction.
It was already nearing dawn.
But an ample supply of energy kept Lide spirited.
After returning to the office, he recalled the surge of Power of Death that had just reached 1540 points and kindled his interest.
“The Land of Bone-Burying can directly cultivate the Undead.
I wonder how many Undead can be cultivated with these over a thousand points of Power of Death?”
Looking at the visibly denser essence of Death, Lide’s thoughts stirred.
No sooner had he thought it than he leaned back comfortably in his chair and let his mind sink into the Land of Bone-Burying.
As long as he was connected to the Land of Bone-Burying, he felt as if the heavens and earth were under his control.
It was a subtle feeling—the Plane was like his arm at this very moment, moving however he willed it to.
At this time, the Angel Wings were still on the topmost level of the twelve-tiered White Bone Altar, the crack-filled wings no longer sparkling with sacred luminance, tightly ensnared by the Power of Death.
The Power of Death seemed intent on corrupting the Angel Wings, but because the amount was too meager, it hardly made an impact, with progress so slow it was almost at a standstill.
Lide’s face remained calm. It would take more than ten thousand years to transform this Twelve-winged Blazing Angel, and at this stage, he had no thoughts about it.
It would have to wait until he amassed a sufficient supply of Power of Death to even consider altering the Angel.
With his spiritual power in control of the whole Plane, after checking that there were no anomalies in the Land of Bone-Burying, his attention shifted to an intact Cow Bone Undead.
The Cow Bone Undead’s frame was a size larger than the surrounding skeletons. Lide remembered clearly; the creature bore a trace of Demon Beast Bloodline, contributing 5 points of Power of Death after its demise.
You’ll do.
After selecting his target, Lide began to manipulate the Power of Death that drifted aimlessly around the Land of Bone-Burying.
Moments later, the sparse Power of Death began to coalesce around the cow bones, even stirring up a small whirlwind.
The chilling breath carried by the Power of Death was penetrating, like that of a terrifying Hell.
Following the memory from the Plane, Lide directed all of the Power of Death into the skull of the cow bones.
Undead were a very unique life form in this world; born from Death, they were reborn through Death.
No one could clearly articulate how the Undead came to be. Some said it was a gift from the God of Death, that the souls of those with unwavering will would be favored by the Death God upon their demise, giving them a chance at a second life as Undead with endless longevity.
Yet, Lide was more inclined towards another theory—rules of the world’s origin. Once the Power of Death reached a certain threshold, it would ignite the Soul Fire, granting the Undead new life. This was a law of the world.
It was like how wood combusts when its temperature reaches the kindling point, transforming its state.
Of course, this process was beyond Lide’s current comprehension; all he needed to know was that using the Power of Death, he could consolidate an Undead. The deeper truths required a higher level of power for exploration.
100, 200, 500… Lide could feel the surrounding Power of Death rushing towards them, and past a certain threshold within the cow bone skull, it crackled like striking a match.
A tiny, insignificant spark emerged, and then the minute Soul Fire began to devour the surrounding Power of Death to grow stronger.
Within a few breaths, the Soul Fire went from the size of a spark to that of a match.
The flickering Soul Fire, seemingly on the verge of collapse, slowly stabilized.
When Lide’s attribute panel noted that 1000 points of Power of Death had been expended, the faint Soul Fire finally settled down completely and ceased to fluctuate.
“Ding~ You have created a Level 1 Undead.”
Lide paused momentarily at the system prompt, flipped through it several times to find nothing else, and his face instantly darkened.
That was it?? Not even a bit of experience was granted??
Isn’t that a bit too stingy?
Perhaps this Undead was so powerful that the system granted no experience?
With a mix of expectation, Lide directly examined the attributes of the Undead he had crafted.
Cow Bone Undead
Level: 1
Talent: Devour to Grow (Unique undead talent, capable of devouring Soul Fire and Power of Death to strengthen the soul)
Explanation: This is an Undead.
“These attributes are utterly empty, even cleaner than a blank slate.”
“The system’s introduction is too lazy to elaborate, casually dismissed.”
Lide’s mouth twitched slightly, “1000 points of ‘Power of Death’ cost the same as a thousand pigs, only to raise such a blank slate.”
What a loss.
At this moment, the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ had already begun to move.
Lide could feel that after the birth of the ‘Cow Bone Undead’s ‘Soul Fire,’ the cow bones on its body formed a bond under the weak power of the ‘Soul Fire,’ as if a thread had strung these bones together.
This is what allowed the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ to move freely without its bones scattering.
All of this was reliant on the energy provided by the ‘Soul Fire.’
“No wonder they say the ‘Soul Fire’ is the only core of the undead.
This form of life really is miraculous.”
It was Lide’s first time witnessing the birth of an undead right before his eyes. Although it was an utterly empty blank slate, he was still curiously observing it.
By now, the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ had unsteadily stood up, four bone hooves stomping the ground, with a pair of curved horns on its head, its hollow eyes looked around, and then it lowered its head as if searching for something.
After turning over a few skeletons, the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ found a pig’s skull, lowered its head to sniff it with its hollow nostrils, and suddenly, its ‘Soul Fire’ billowed vigorously.
As if it had discovered some treasure.
Then, under Lide’s quirky gaze, the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ moved forward a few steps and opened its mouth wide to gnaw on the pig’s skull.
What was more surprising to Lide was that the skull was crunched up and then the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ swallowed it. Yes, swallowed it.
Its ‘Soul Fire’ emitted a force, seemingly reconstructing internal organs, and the pile of bones slowly entered the body of the ‘Cow Bone Undead.’
Then it lay inside its stomach.
The ‘Cow Bone Undead’s’ mouth did not stop. Its teeth, originally meant for chewing grass, were now more effective than a steel knife, thoroughly chewing up the pig’s skull, swallowing all those bones into its stomach.
After finishing the pig’s skull, the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ appeared to be satiated and leisurely wagged its short, bony tail, before it began to lower its head and sniff for something again.
Lide’s attention was drawn to this peculiar scene.
This was too bizarre, an undead just born actually consuming the skulls of other undead, and it might make some sense if it originally was a wolf, but it was a cow.
It looked very strange no matter how you saw it.
But no matter how he investigated, even directly through the brand he had left on the ‘Cow Bone Undead’s’ soul at the time of its birth, he did not find anything unusual.
About ten or so minutes later, the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ exhibited new behavior, as the bones wrapped in the force of the ‘Soul Fire’ inside its stomach made a scraping sound and were directly excreted from behind.
Not much different from normal animal defecation.
However, what made Lide’s gaze turn grave was that the pile of bones excreted had obviously become duller, even covered in cracks, as if they had been stored for hundreds of years.
At this point, Lide keenly noticed that the ‘Soul Fire’ of the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ had slightly strengthened, and the bones of this ‘Cow Bone Undead’ appeared glossier.
After its stomach was emptied, the ‘Cow Bone Undead’ started its search again.
But ordinary skeletons did not catch its eye; after searching dozens of corpses, it found another skull, this time a cow’s.
But this peculiar ‘Cow Bone Undead’ didn’t care at all and started chewing.
The crunching sound echoed in the quiet ‘Land of Bone-Burying.’
It gave one a spine-chilling feeling.
At this time, Lide’s expression was very eloquent. Although not indicated by the system, anyone who saw this would know that the first undead born in this ‘Land of Bone-Burying’ was not that simple.
Being able to devour other bones to enhance its own power was unheard of by him.
Normal undead at most like the ‘Withered Bone,’ stay in places rich in ‘Power of Death’ to absorb the power of the undead directly.
But this ‘Cow Bone Undead’ was too extraordinary.
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Although it was an utterly empty blank slate after its birth, this peculiar behavior shrouded it in a layer of mystery.
However, the more extraordinary it was, the better, for he didn’t mind that the soul which had been imprinted by him and was under his control became special.
No matter how powerful, it would still be his subordinate.
Lide observed for five ‘Sunshine Hours,’ not leaving the ‘Land of Bone-Burying’ until ten in the morning on the following day.
The peculiar Cow Bone Undead constantly repeated a single action: it searched for skeletons, chewed and ingested them, and finally excreted a pile of decayed bones.
Lide, after some observation, noticed something unusual. Most of the bones consumed by the Cow Bone Undead still retained some undissipated strength, and indeed, this Cow Bone Undead’s ability to swallow was impressive. It could digest any bones, more ferociously than a living cow.
But that was the extent of his observations. Although the soul of the Cow Bone Undead had grown somewhat stronger, he had not discerned any additional useful information.
Boom, boom, boom~
Just as Lide stood up, ready to leave, a knock at the door sounded.
“Come in.”
Creak~ The Bloodline guard opened the door, and the Dwarf Forging Master Valen, Goblin Chief Moer, and Grand Scholar Horn walked in together.
“Good day, Lord Kachar.”
“Good day, Your Grace.”
Seeing the excitement on their faces, Lide smiled slightly. “Is there some good news you wish to report?”
The three exchanged glances, having obviously agreed beforehand. Horn, with his long white beard and white robe, stepped forward to speak.
“Your Grace, we have produced the first generation of the Divine Gifted Holy Armors after research at the Magic Industry Research Institute.”
Oh??
Lide’s interest piqued. The Divine Gifted Holy Armor was first proposed by Stanley for the plan of Dawn Shadows; he requested Dawn City to manufacture equipment capable of resisting the power of Light to prevent the Light Attribute sects from detecting the Bloodline race.
Human Nobles have always been embraced by the Light Attribute Divine entities, and every major noble family is protected by the sects. If this issue was not resolved, even if Stanley managed to turn some humans into Bloodline members, they would quickly be detected by the sects.
After all, not all Bloodline members were like Lide, who could use the Holy Light Power to protect himself and be immune to detection. Other Bloodline members could not achieve this, thus they needed to rely on external help.
“Is it a success? How effective is it?”
“With the cooperation of the Dawn Priests sent by Lady Nilo, we have clarified the basic principles of the Divine Gifted Holy Armor.
The first piece of Divine Gifted Holy Armor can essentially immunize against the Holy Light Power, though there are quite a few flaws, and there is much room for improvement.”
After speaking, Horn turned towards the door, “Your Grace, I’ve had someone bring the first generation of the Divine Gifted Holy Armor. Would you like to review it?”
“Bring it in.”
“Yes.”
Shortly after, four guards brought in a set of armor.
Upon seeing the style of the armor, Lide’s expression became quite animated.
This is considered equipment???
This set of gear is three times thicker than ordinary equipment—wrist guards, leg guards, breastplates, and so on—all of which were noticeably chunkier.
This thing, even a Beastman could barely wear it, let alone a human; it could crush a person with its weight.
Unless someone was of Groth’s stature, wearing this kind of armor would be worse than going without. The likelihood of being exhausted to death was higher than being killed by an enemy.
“What you’ve developed has… some stuff in it.”
Lide’s mouth twitched, “For human nobility to wear this kind of armor… how is that different from directly telling people I have a problem?”
The face of Horn, the Grand Scholar, turned red. He knew perfectly well that this armor was somewhat embarrassing.
This hulking size was indeed killer, but the repeated emphasis from Lide had made him bring this unfinished prototype over nevertheless.
“Your Grace….”
“No need to explain,” Lide waved his hand, “Having developed it in such a short time is already quite impressive.
Although there is still room for improvement, your achievements deserve recognition.”
Indeed, as he said, it was an incredible feat that the Divine Gifted Holy Armor could be developed so quickly.
As for the defects, they can be refined over time. There is a difference in difficulty between creating from 0 to 1 and improving from 1 to 2. Now that the first generation armor is here, the second and third generations, and even the ones that are truly wearable, won’t be too far off.
“Your Grace, your breadth of mind is praiseworthy by the Creator God,” Horn was full of gratitude. After all, they had only partially completed their task this time, far from meeting Lide’s requirements.
Holy Light Armor
Quality: Rare
Skill: Absolute Defense (Defense increased by 300%)
Special Skill: Resist Holy Light (Infused with special magic materials, it can resist part of the Light Power’s assault and is immune to detection by skills below Master Level.)
Introduction: Equipment forged from precious materials like Mithril, Fine Gold, Deep Sea Cold Iron, and Star Iron; however, due to the integration of other magic materials during the process, the performance of these materials has been affected. As a result, this item, which should have been at an Extraordinary quality, is only a Rare quality.
Seeing the system’s evaluation, Lide shook his head.
Indeed, he had exerted a great deal of pressure on several people; otherwise, they wouldn’t have come with a semi-finished product.
“This equipment, you can continue to modify it and return. I need equipment that can be worn by normal human nobles, and in this regard, I believe, Horn, you have a better understanding of noble aesthetics.”
While their merits were commendable, it was no excuse for complacency.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Horn answered earnestly, but soon a hint of hesitation appeared on his face.
“Speak if you have something to say,” Lide gestured with his hand. “Don’t beat around the bush.”
“Your Majesty, the magic materials we used are Thorns Blood cultivated by Lady Nilo. Although it is very good, it is still far from what we need.”
Horn said cautiously as he watched Lide’s expression, “It’s said that Thorns Heart has reached the Extraordinary level, so…”
Lide looked at Horn with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, thinking it was some big issue.
“Just this?”
Horn, seeing that Lide was not angry, obviously breathed a sigh of relief.
“After your return, you designated Thorns Heart as a Holy Object of the Dawn Sect, and moreover, the Church Emblem is also based on the design of Thorns Heart…”
Lide then understood; Horn could request ordinary Thorns Blood, but the Thorns Blood of a Dawn Sect Holy Object was not something that ordinary people could touch, right?
That was a symbol of the Dawn Sect, emblematic of his dignity and glory. Horn had to be cautious; after all, it could easily incense him.
“Although Thorns Heart is a Holy Object, isn’t it precisely because it gives so much that it is qualified to be a Holy Object?”
“Do not worry, present your requirements to Nilo, and she will cooperate with you.”
Hearing this, Horn stood to attention, bowing deeply to Lide.
“Your Majesty, your magnanimity is wider than the sun, moon, and stars, and your might is more majestic than the fathomless ocean. Praise You!!”
After enjoying Horn’s flattery, Lide turned his gaze to Goblin Chief Moer and Dwarf Forging Master Valen, who had been silent up until now.
“Do you have anything else to report?”
The Goblin with sharp ears and green skin sculpted by Dragon Breath, Moer, quickly stepped forward with both excitement and pride in his voice.
“Your Majesty, the alchemy factory has now developed a stable Second Circle Alchemy Bomb!!
And we’ve already mass-produced 100 of them!!”
Oh?
Lide’s eyes lit up.
This was great news.
Since the goblins joined Dawn City before this past Frost Month, Lide had enjoined them to research the Second Circle Alchemy Bomb development.
One year had passed, and the Second Circle Alchemy Bomb was finally created.
This meant that Dawn City’s Air Force’s power would receive yet another boost.
But then, the smile at the corner of Lide’s mouth suddenly froze as he remembered the exorbitant cost of the Alchemy Bomb.
If a First Circle Alchemy Bomb cost 25 Gold Pucks, how much would a Second Circle Alchemy Bomb be?
Thinking about how Thorns Heart had already consumed his finances for several months, he suddenly felt a bit helpless; Dawn City was too expensive.
Although he was extremely adept at making money, Dawn City’s capacity to spend was absolutely top-notch.
“How much does the Second Circle Alchemy Bomb cost?”
After saying this, his eyes fixed firmly on Moer, hoping the Goblin Chief wouldn’t utter an astronomical figure.
“With improved manufacturing techniques, the cost of the Second Circle Alchemy Bomb has been reduced to 50 Gold Pucks.”
50 Gold Pucks, Lide’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He quietly breathed a sigh of relief inside; thankfully, it wasn’t too outrageous.
But, coming to his senses, he shook his head again; 50 Gold Pucks was still absurdly expensive.
