[You took out three sticks of Offering Purple-Red Incense, bowed to the solemn Dragon God statue, and offered your incense power.]
[The smoke curled upward, drifting toward so great existence in the void…]
[In the unseen depths, you heard a dragon’s roar that resounded through the cosmos. The sound alone made your powerful soul tremble uncontrollably.]
[In the endless void, you ‘saw’ a massive coiling shadow, its form vast as a star, like so ageless, undying existence… yet black mist curled around its body, and a sense of dying decay rose unbidden in your heart…]
[A resonant dragon cry transford into a whisper at your ear: Do not offer incense again!]
[Your vision went black as your eyes burst apart in searing agony.]
[You clutched your face, collapsing to the ground…]
[Wreaths of black smoke poured out from the void, coiling tightly around you. Inside the smoke stirred countless boundless malevolent thoughts, which seized control of your shell so you could no longer move of your own will.]
[The black smoke gripped you, seemingly intent on dragging you into the void…]
Because this infiltration had to be carried out in secret, Lin Xun hadn’t summoned the Valkyrie companion in advance.
Now that his shell was out of control, he couldn’t summon or wake her on his own.
[You are under the gaze of an unknown existence. Your connection with the Extre Delusion Fruit has deepened!]
[You are under the gaze of an unknown existence. Your connection with the Extre…]
[Far away in the dark, a dragon’s roar resounded again, this ti frail and exhausted…]
[An unknown force interceded, severing the gaze. The black smoke coiled around you slowly dispersed.]
[You have obtained the shell skill Dragon God’s Blessing (Special Skill)!]
[All at once, the crushing pressure vanished. You felt light again, free of any strange sensations, as though the black smoke had never appeared.]
[You groped your way out of the main hall in a panic, stumbling through the moonlit courtyard until you found your way back to the guest residence.]
[…]
[You reached out to the Resting Page. All your fatigue and injuries were restored.]
[Your eyes recovered completely. Vision returned, and the tidy furnishings of the guest room appeared before you once more.]
Lin Xun exhaled a long breath.
Without realizing it, he had brushed up against life and death again. The feeling was… definitely a bit too stimulating.
He looked back over the ga text.
The first part of his plan had gone smoothly, using the top-grade incense to make the little dragonkin’s offering and successfully seeing a divine sign.
But despite clearly offering incense to the Chaotic Origin Dragon, he had attracted the gaze of the Extre Delusion Fruit.
This deity called the Extre Delusion Fruit seed even stronger than any he’d encountered before.
In previous ga sessions, no matter how powerful the main deities were, none had ever manifested such force during gaplay.
That black smoke from the void had almost certainly been the Extre Delusion Fruit’s way of interfering with the mortal world.
Thinking of the black mist shrouding the Chaotic Origin Dragon’s body, Lin Xun guessed that the Dragon God’s situation was likely extrely dire.
“Damn, can I still switch factions right now?”
Lin Xun opened the shell panel to inspect the skill he’d just obtained.
[Dragon God’s Blessing (Special Skill): The natural order of Heaven and Earth, dispersing corruption, the samadhi ever still, all evil repelled. A bloodline blessing from a great being, capable of dispelling all malignant thoughts that encroach upon you.]
[Using this skill will dispel evil thoughts entangling you, based on the strength of your own dragon bloodline. The stronger your dragon bloodline, the higher the chance of success.]
“Dispelling evil thoughts? So the black mist earlier was evil thoughts…”
It wasn’t surprising, Ancient Heavenly Enma and the Extre Delusion Fruit were both enemy factions. The enemy of an enemy is a friend, so the two might already be allied.
With two great foes set against his Oath faction, if not for the lure of bloodline items, Lin Xun would have long since packed up and run.
Lin Xun saw that the night was already deep, and the in-ga story wouldn’t advance until the next day.
He simply logged out of the ga, washed up, and was just about to go to bed.
Suddenly, a familiar line of text appeared in his vision.
[The Lower-Tier Seat Pass for the Disciple Sanctum in your possession is issuing a summons…]
[Please teleport to the Disciple Sanctum as soon as possible!]
“Eh…this late at night? What does Amos want with ?”
Lin Xun frowned. Ever since Amos had told him to focus on clearing the ga, he hadn’t contacted him again.
For him to suddenly call at this hour, he couldn’t tell if it was good news or bad.
“Don’t tell there’s another special operation to blow up the Ard Division?”
He grew wary, logged back in, and teleported to the Disciple Sanctum.
He made his way to the familiar eting hall inside the old fortress.
[You arrive at Council Chamber No. 11 and step inside…]
[Behind the podium stands a figure in a black robe…]
[Amos: You’re here?]
[Blood King: I’m here.]
[Amos: I really hadn’t realized, your thods are so formidable.]
!!!
Lin Xun’s heart jumped.
What did Amos know? What did he an by ‘your thods are so formidable?’
Had Amos discovered his official identity and planned to silence him?
He didn’t dare lower his guard in the slightest and prepared himself fully.
[Blood King: My lord, I don’t understand what you’re referring to.]
[Amos: Still pretending? I already know everything.]
“Shit, is this guy bluffing or has he really seen through my identity?”
The path from the Resting Page to inside the fortress couldn’t be used to possess a shell.
Only after entering the fortress itself could he take over a shell.
As soon as Lin Xun stepped into the fortress, he possessed the Earth Giant shell.
With the strength of this shell, even if Amos turned hostile, he was confident he could escape alive.
But he feared that if his identity really had been exposed, it wouldn’t be as simple as a one-on-one fight.
[Amos: Enough, drop the act. If I hadn’t investigated, I wouldn’t have known, but once I did, I learned all about the things you’ve been up to.]
[Blood King: …]
[Amos: You think just because you have backing from above, you don’t have to take seriously? Very good, Blood King!]
???
“What…?” Lin Xun was baffled. He had no idea what Amos was going on about.
[Amos: And here I was, self-satisfied, appointing you to vie for the seat of the Twelfth Disciple. Heh. So soone was already secretly helping you compete for it.]
[Amos: The Relic Bookmark…learning other candidates’ soul imprints in secret. Quite the clever tactic, quite clever indeed!]
[Amos: I can’t figure out who would dare take the risk of defying the Master to help you like this. Was it Lord Vishnu? Or so bigwig in the Elders’ Council? Or soone else… Care to enlighten ?]
Lin Xun gradually began to understand.
He rembered that he had used the Relic Bookmark before and had trounced so hapless fool. That soul imprint seed to have been called… FateNotOrigin?
Looked like that guy had been a candidate for the Twelfth Disciple. A complete fluke, like a blind cat stumbling onto a dead mouse.
Since the situation wasn’t entirely clear, he could only play along and hedge his words.
[Blood King: My lord…you must understand, I am only a small figure. I dare not say too much.]
[Amos: …]
[Amos: Very good. Knowing when to keep your mouth shut is important.]
[Amos: Lord Vishnu has instructed to give you my full support. Tell , what do you need?]
He replied cautiously.
[Blood King: My lord, actually I don’t lack much…just a bit short on spirit essence and divine items.]
[You have received 1,000,000 spirit essence!]
[Amos: With the difficulty you’re at now, that should be plenty to spend. As for divine items, they’re not so easy to obtain. Wait for to inform you.]
[Blood King: Many thanks, my lord!]
[Amos: You may go.]
[Blood King: Yes, my lord!]
Lin Xun left the Disciple Sanctum every bit as confused as when he had entered.
Looking at the million spirit essence that had appeared in his inventory, he felt like he must be dreaming.
He carefully reread the chat log from earlier and had mostly pieced things together in his mind.
“Looks like this is destined to be a sleepless night.”
He opened his contacts and dialed the number for the black stocking lady…
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