Lu Yu first checked The Herder Puzzle.
First, the puzzle's strength had significantly increased!
Moreover, a setting sun had been added, which could promote the growth of this Soul Pasture Grass, laying a good foundation for raising fatter and stronger livestock.
Second, the Farm Lord's contaminated hands were absorbed and transford into the Hand of the Final Producer ability, retaining the Render as Ingredients skill while also allowing Lu Yu to control all creatures in the Pasture.
Even if he didn't have a single head of livestock right now!
'It's fine, I'll have them in the future!'
Lu Yu comforted himself, then looked at the smaller ball of light.
To his surprise, this thing actually flew out from the Pasture Phantom.
Huh?
It's actually a physical object!
The Chaos Egg Gacha Machine is really not bad!
He just wasn't sure about the principle behind it.
Did the Chaos Egg fish it out from sowhere? Or was it a Void Creation?
"But it doesn't matter, as long as I profit from it. I wonder what kind of Law Seed the Chaos Egg will produce…"
Lu Yu gave it a thumbs-up, his heart filled with anticipation.
Since his current dragon form was rather large, he didn't have to worry about being seen, so he lowered his head to look at the item.
What appeared before his eyes was a staff, 1.
2 ters long and entirely black-gold in color. A golden crystal was embedded at its tip, and inside was a gray rune that resembled a curled-up infant, shaped like a mummy.
Although the entire staff looked clean and its craftsmanship was of high quality, it gave off an inexplicably decaying feeling!
Relevant information soon appeared in his Eye of Truth.
【Staff of the Dust-Treader】
【Description: A rule-type secret treasure born after The Herder Puzzle's first successful herding of the 'Dusk' concept, gestated by the Chaos Egg.
It contains the power of "Decay and Senescence".】
【Abilities】1.
Turn to Dust (Life forms killed by the Staff of the Dust-Treader will have all their vitality stripped away and turn to dust. The staff itself can absorb souls to grow and undergo tamorphosis.
Current Souls: 0/100,000)
2. Decayed Visage (The person holding the staff can consu one day of their lifespan to apply a special Decayed One's visage to themselves for six hours.
That is the visage of a long-lived species that has transcended ti but cannot achieve eternal life, whose soul is destined to decay—the Finality that awaits all mortals.
But The Decayed One carries the Wisdom of Ages!
Therefore, any creature that looks directly at you will be subject to a minor ntal Shock.
Those who fail the check will be stunned by the Decayed Visage, weakening their ntal power and developing fear.
With the Decayed Visage active, you can ignore the overwhelming pressure of those at Moonlight Rank and below, and you are immune to detection of the sa rank.
PS: Those who pursue beauty will eventually decay!)
3. Scales of Senescence (All things will et decay and decline; this is a supre rule set by the Mother River, which only The Immortals and Taboo Existences can resist.
But you can accelerate this process, and the price is… your own lifespan. You can forcefully erase ten years of an opponent's life by paying one hundred years of your own.
)
【Evaluation: On the day Finality arrives, you shall tread the dust and depart】
"Decay and senescence, this can totally be considered a branch of ti-type abilities!"
Lu Yu's dragon eyes widened in shock. He hadn't expected the Chaos Egg to yield such a massive reward.
A genuine rule-type secret treasure!
This was nothing like the fakes made from Spirit Food School Fragnts. Each one was incredibly powerful, a Miraculous Object nurtured by the Supre Mother River!
As long as you followed the rules, you could use it at will, ignoring the common sense of reality!
A rule-type secret treasure was, in itself, a product of contradiction and paradox—a Targeted Wishing Machine!
The Staff of the Dust-Treader before him was not only a rule-type secret treasure, but it was also a rare one with offensive capabilities that could absorb souls for infinite growth.
And on top of that, it belonged to a branch of the supre law of 【Ti】!
If news of this got out, forget about magnate-level Beast Tars, even True Kings would be overco with greed and descend upon the Borderlands directly!
The only drawback was that the conditions for use were too harsh!
Although this world had a transcendent system, the lifespan of an ordinary person was only about a hundred years. Ordinary Beast Tars lived a few decades longer.
After reaching the Morning Star Rank, there would be a qualitative change, granting a lifespan of three hundred years.
The lifespans of so dynasties in his previous life weren't even that long!
This was also the reason for the high status of a Morning Star Overlord.
As long as they didn't fall midway, they were the Sea-Calming Divine Needle of a faction!
How could such a faction fail to develop and thrive!
At the Moonlight Rank, lifespans reached a thousand years. As for the even higher Undying Magnates, you could tell from their title that their lifespans were at least ten thousand years.
It was said that among the Alliance's current magnates, a large portion were old undying beings who had survived from ancient tis, their foundation terrifyingly deep!
As for True Kings, the pinnacle of the mortal world, Lu Yu didn't know how long they could live, but it was definitely a terrifying number.
As for the higher-ranking Immortals, they could ignore the ravages of ti, but they could still die and perish.
This could be seen from the nurous ruins of the Old Gods.
Only Taboo Existences were eternal and indestructible!
Even if they were buried, they could still return from the graveyard in the depths of ti.
A single thought could alter the world and radiate across endless dinsions!
Of course, this referred to the average lifespan, without using life-extending treasures, potions, or making deals with an Evil God.
Lu Yu had even heard a rumor:
Once, a magnate-level powerhouse, whose life was nearing its end, unwillingly went to a small world and used so kind of ritual to forcibly replace the small world's consciousness.
Although he lost his body, he gained a lifespan that was almost comparable to an Immortal's!
It sounded great, and he did live for a while longer, sparking a craze for finding small worlds at the ti, but…
As a Beast Tar, he had voluntarily abandoned his pet beasts, which inevitably caused his Spiritual Puzzle to lose its spiritual balance, triggering a terrifying aberration that contaminated the entire small world and caused an upheaval.
The final result was…
That magnate and the small world directly detached from the main world, becoming a Life Forbidden Zone wandering in the void!
Is it still undergoing further aberration now?
Or has it already been destroyed?
Because of this precedent, unless they were forced, top-tier powerhouses would rather research life-extending potions than risk aberration.
Just like accepting an Evil God's boon, after aberration, it was questionable whether one could retain their self-awareness. That kind of situation was no different from being dead.
And the price for the Staff of the Dust-Treader was exchanging ten tis your lifespan for your opponent's!
A Morning Star Rank would probably be drained after using it twice, turning directly into a doddering old man.
Even a Moonlight Rank wouldn't be willing to squander their lifespan like that.
It would be more convenient to just roll up their sleeves and fight.
As for The Immortals, they didn't fear this condition.
But for them, whose lifespans were nearly infinite, even if they spent a hundred thousand years to accelerate their opponent's aging by ten thousand years.
The enemy would only sigh and say:
"Oh, I'm another ten thousand years older."
In the end, it becos a contest of who's older, right?
However, just because it was ineffective against The Immortals didn't an the Staff of the Dust-Treader was useless.
On the contrary, it was incomparably precious, a top-tier treasure just below the gods.
A high price depended on how it was used!
Used at the right mont, it could yield returns hundreds or thousands of tis over!
For example, he could use it to get rid of so old undying beings with little lifespan left, who were barely surviving.
He could pay with his lifespan to kill them and reap their precious treasures. More importantly…
"I am the Master of the Gate!"
Lu Yu exclaid inwardly.
This talent, linked to the Gate of Truth, had given him abilities like the Taboo Rank and the ability to create taboo Secret Foods.
Among them was one called 【Side Effect Reduction】!
It could reduce supernatural side effects on himself to one percent of their original intensity!
The Gluttony Cauldron had already been disciplined by this talent to the point of coasting; every ti it saw him, it would proactively raise its… lid!
In other words, to take ten years of soone else's life, others needed a hundred years, but Lu Yu only needed one year!
This ability gave him the confidence to stand against the Moonlight Rank!
Worst case, he'd use a hundred years of his life to trade for the opponent's!
Lu Yu wouldn't want to do this unless it was necessary.
If the opponent had life-extending items, or had undergone extraordinary organ transplant surgery, chanical modification, or other thods to significantly extend their lifespan…
Then he would fail spectacularly!
And the lifespan of demonic beasts was generally longer than that of humans!
It had to be used with caution!
Besides that, the condition for upgrading the Staff of the Dust-Treader was souls, which ant it would be competing for resources with the Pasture and the Thousand-Faced Soul Tree, making Lu Yu's teeth ache slightly.
The number of gold-swallowing beasts in his family was really increasing!
'I wonder if insect souls count.
If so, I might be able to find a loophole…'
Lu Yu sched inhumanly in his heart. Although he had confidence in the abilities of the Master of the Gate, he had to play it safe and test if it could truly be offset.
The thod was to experint with the Visage of Decay ability. The cost was very low, only one day of lifespan!
Lu Yu turned his back to the crowd and extended his dragon claw, trying to inject spiritual energy!
Hum!
The crystal at the tip of the Staff of the Dust-Treader flashed with a golden stream of light.
A weird power of rules emanated from it, allowing Lu Yu to clearly feel the "concept" of his own lifespan.
He estimated it… he could probably live for another hundred and forty years or so.
Including his current age, it directly surpassed the human limit calculated in his previous life!
"Who said good people don't live long? Great Benefactor Lu can live to be a hundred!"
Lu Yu thought self-righteously, ignoring the Art of Life Provisions, looking forward to the surge in lifespan after advancing to Morning Star.
Crack! Crack!
Soon, he felt this rule of senescence fall upon him, then detach the concept of 【one day】 from his lifespan.
Hum!
Just as it was about to be absorbed by the Staff of the Dust-Treader, The Herder Spiritual Puzzle in Lu Yu's soul trembled slightly and directly tampered with the rule.
It forcibly changed one day of lifespan into one percent of a day's lifespan!
That converted to 14.
4 minutes!
"It worked!"
Lu Yu's expression was one of pleasant surprise. He then felt an invisible power of decay spread out and cover his dragon head.
Its appearance didn't change, but its temperant was completely different!
The most direct observers were Zhao Wen and the others. They suddenly saw the cruel and tyrannical Crimson Dragon's aura beco deep and ancient, containing a sense of the vicissitudes of ti that short-lived species couldn't comprehend.
It was as if it had descended here across endless eons, only to find…
Everything it once cherished had turned to nothingness!
And it had to continue shouldering the loneliness of eternal life, moving forward!
Like a,
Dragon Forgotten by the World!
"Why do I suddenly feel like crying…" Xin Qian's eyes suddenly felt a little sore, and she had the urge to rush over and comfort him.
But seeing Little Spider and the Imperial Black Crimson Dragon Ant next to Lu Yu, she cald down!
Approaching rashly could easily get her beaten up!
The others also felt the loneliness, subconsciously clutching their chests and breathing heavily to alleviate the discomfort.
"The Lord's Lady that Lu Yu fought this ti seed to command the Power of Dusk. Could it be related to the destruction of the Red Dragon Tribe back then? Did it trigger the revival of the Dragon King's resentnt within the dragon head's bloodline?"
"Lu Yu's pet beast really is a descendant of the Crimson Hundred-Eyed Dragon King!"
"It's a pity that the long years have still affected its potential.
Otherwise, with a pure-blood dragon, Lu Yu would be able to dominate his peers in the Borderlands!"
"…"
Even though Lu Yu didn't explain, the "clever" crowd quickly ca up with a reasonable explanation through overthinking.
After all, Lu Yu hadn't been alive for that long; how could he have such a temperant?
It was most likely the Dragon King's resentnt within the egg-shaped dragon beast's bloodline, which had been briefly revived after sensing the Power of Dusk!
On the other side, Lu Yu heard the crowd's conversation and put away the Staff of the Dust-Treader.
Such a treasure was not suitable for him to use openly; it would easily attract unnecessary trouble!
But it was very suitable for his alternate identity, for example…
The Disciple!
Lu Yu had previously felt that leaning on a civilization cane lacked a certain flair. Now, using a staff was just right!
"Next, it's ti to check the other ball of light!"
Lu Yu's heart pounded with excitent.
If the small one was such a precious secret treasure, what about the big one?
In this life, he just loved big things!
Lu Yu looked at the other golden ball of light floating in the Pasture. As his gaze fell upon it, the glow gradually dissipated!
Looking at the thing that was slowly being revealed, Lu Yu's pupils quivered, and he said in surprise:
"Is this…"
"A dog?"
What appeared before him was actually a puppy.
It was about thirty centiters long, with a wolf-like shape and snow-white fur. On its forehead, however, was a blood-colored incomplete sun ring mark, shining with a faint golden light.
From where its back and four limbs connected, ribbon-like dusk tentacles extended, constantly dancing. Its tail was strong and powerful, with a snake-head-like tip, adding a touch of weirdness.
The first sight of it left Lu Yu utterly stunned!
It was simply…
Too beautiful!
It seed to have inherited the supre beauty of that Great Existence, possessing an unparalleled charm!
Among purely beast-form pet beasts, the only one that could surpass it in appearance was probably Big Boss White Fox!
But it was just born and still had a lot of room to grow!
"Woof!"
Following the sound of a dog's bark, the white canine beast opened its eyes, revealing a pair of chaos-colored pupils, just like the Chaos Egg, exuding a noble and mysterious temperant.
And then…
The coolness didn't last three seconds!
Because it lost the support of the ball of light, it struggled for a mont and, with a plop, fell into the half-ter-high grass.
To it, the half-ter-high pasture was like entering a prival forest. Its vision was obscured, and it started yelping anxiously, "Woof, woof, woof!"
"This dog… why does it seem so silly?"
Lu Yu felt an inexplicable worry.
He hoped it wouldn't be a demolition crew like a husky; that would be troubleso.
The God of Poverty would move in and never leave!
Kacha!
Before Lu Yu could help, he saw several flashes of cold light.
A large amount of tough Soul Pasture Grass was cut and tossed into the air.
Only then did Lu Yu discover that the tentacles on the little dog's body were glowing, like blades of light, its whole body radiating a strong battle intent!
Swish, swish, swish!
In the next mont, the falling pasture grass was bundled up by the puppy's dusk tentacles and stacked on the ground.
After clearing out an open space, the puppy jumped around happily, looked in the direction of Lu Yu's consciousness, and let out an affectionate cry:
"Woof, woof!"
Lu Yu tried to extend his soul consciousness as a hand. Sure enough, he touched the little fellow and gently patted its head, making it happily stick out its tongue, its tail wagging into an afterimage!
"Such a good boy!"
Lu Yu said with a smile, his eyes filled with high expectations for this little fellow.
He then checked its information.
【The Herder's Hound】
【Description: The 'Beast of the Pasture' gestated from a Superior Evil God Servitor Larva after the Master of the Gate completed the first herding of the 'Dusk' concept.
It is in symbiosis with the Pasture and is a good helper for The Herder.
It can help harvest pasture grass, watch over and guide the Pasture's livestock, and guard the Pasture's fence from being broken.
It will evolve along with the Pasture's evolution.】
【Skills】: Pasture Pursuit (As the guardian of the pasture's livestock, it possesses terrifying pursuit abilities.
It can quickly find lost livestock and beings of the sa origin, ignoring seals, to increase the number of livestock for The Herder and expand the Pasture. Initial range is one kiloter.
)
Undying Battle Intent (As the 'Beast' of the Pasture, as long as the Pasture is not destroyed, it will not die. Even if killed, it can be reborn.
Therefore, it has an inextinguishable battle intent. Aside from The Herder, not even the gods can make it feel fear!)
Pasture Mark (It is the most loyal servitor, the representative of The Herder.
Any life form devoured by the Pasture and successfully converted into livestock will be injected with a mark by the halo on its forehead, thereby gaining the ability to counter creatures of the sa race. Damage from abilities of the sa attribute will also be greatly reduced.
)
Roar of Order (As the leader of the pasture's livestock, its roar contains a terrifying deterrent force. Within the pasture, it can summon the Pasture's Order to suppress all who resist.
)
??? (Target is in its larval stage, abilities are yet to be developed)
【Current Marks and Origins Mastered】: Dusk
【Evaluation: A loyal puppy's only desire is your trust and love!】
"The livestock isn't even in place yet, but it's already arranged a sheepdog for !"
Lu Yu snarked, but he couldn't hide the joy on his face.
The Beast of the Pasture didn't have many skills, only four, but each one was a perfect fit for the Pasture's characteristics!
It was an expert in pursuit, guarding, and managent, with a natural suppressive power over the Pasture's creatures.
When it grew up, it would even proactively help The Herder find livestock and expand his enterprise.
Lu Yu could even borrow its power using the Hand of the Final Producer!
A truly perfect sheepdog!
His dream dog!
"But this livestock business is really tricky…"
Thinking of this, Lu Yu felt a bit of a headache.
From this successful herding, he had preliminarily figured out the pattern.
To succeed in herding, although the target didn't have to be as exaggerated as the gods, it had to have remnants of a Great Existence's power.
Or be an Evil God Servitor that could be called a 【Superior Being】!
To put it simply, he had to treat beings like angels as livestock, raising them in the Pasture.
If word got out, even magnate-level Beast Tars would roar "Arrogant!"
But Lu Yu felt helpless.
If he wanted to evolve his Spiritual Puzzle, he had to seek out these superior servitors and defeat them!
"But not every 【Superior Being】 Evil God Servitor will have a sheltered trait, willingly allowing its origin to be extracted, resulting in a congenital deficiency, only to be slaughtered at birth…"
Lu Yu was very calm. He knew very well that his success this ti was purely because of the Lord's Lady's greed for beauty, plus his use of the Rules of the Rotten Feast to counter and kill her!
Favorable ti, place, and people—not one could be missing!
A true superior servitor was a creature that even magnate-level powerhouses had to be wary of.
Every appearance represented the descent of a disaster!
But fortunately, with great effort cos great reward!
According to the feedback from The Herder Puzzle, once there were enough livestock, it seed he could fatten them up like a human ranch and regularly harvest sothing from them!
Although he didn't know what it was exactly, it was definitely a top-tier treasure!
"But the hound's most useful ability for isn't its combat skills, but…"
Lu Yu pondered, his gaze falling on the hound's first skill.
Pasture Pursuit!
After condensing the Dusk Mark, it could hunt anything of the sa origin as Dusk.
Could it be used to find…
The severed limbs of the Incarnation of the Mother of Dusk!
A material from a Deity's Incarnation!
Most importantly, it was of the Dusk attribute, which could be used as the core material for Eggy's evolution Secret Food!
Although it had stabilized with the strengthening of the puzzle, what Lu Yu wanted was for it to beco a dragon beast comparable to an ancient dragon, or even an ultimate weapon of deicide!
"After I go back and rest for a bit, it's about ti I start exploring the Abandoned Urban Area!"
Lu Yu's thoughts flowed. After comforting the clingy newborn puppy for a while, his consciousness returned to the mortal world.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Lu Yu looked up at this mystic realm, which was on the verge of shattering from the battle shockwaves. The blood-colored dragon armor on his body cracked and dissolved into a sky full of blood threads, and he quickly reverted to his giant egg form.
In fact, Eggy could maintain its single-attribute dragon beast form through the power of The Herder, but it didn't like the feeling of its balance being broken, as it would intensify its hunger.
Therefore, it preferred to stay in its egg form!
However, after eating a large amount of food at the Rotten Feast, Eggy wasn't that hungry after the battle.
Its eyes darted around, curiously looking at its surroundings, revealing a clear stupidity.
Yet, no one present dared to underestimate it.
After all, this thing had just torn apart a powerful Evil God Servitor and nearly shattered the mystic realm with a single dragon breath!
A true monster!
'Just like Lu Yu…'
Everyone thought silently!
Xin Qian finally dared to approach and asked proactively:
"Lu Yu, do you know which deity the Great Existence the Lord's Lady spoke of is?"
Zhao Wen and the others also perked up their ears, quite curious.
However, Lu Yu just shook his head and said helplessly with a shrug:
"I don't know either. That thing wouldn't say even at death's door. But based on twilight corresponding to dusk, and the abilities the Lord's Lady used, it's most likely the Mother of Dusk."
"That makes sense!"
Everyone nodded in agreent, feeling that this was the only possibility.
In their view, what the Lord's Lady had unearthed was most likely the Great Power accidentally left behind during the Red Dragon Tribe War a thousand years ago.
Lu Yu didn't join their discussion, saying he was going to search for any treasures that might have been missed in the mystic realm.
The others had been coasting the whole ti, relying entirely on Lu Yu to carry them, so they had no objections!
However, the mont he turned around, Lu Yu's gaze beca profound.
In reality, besides Dusk, he had also discovered the powers of Thorns and Fertility.
Especially this Evil God Servitor—it wasn't a case of parasitism, but was truly nurtured in a mother's body, taking shape bit by bit until birth!
The difference between the two was like heaven and earth!
The latter involved the authority of fertility!
One could be a coincidence, but for two powers to appear at the sa ti, it was hard for him not to connect it to the deity worshiped by the Thorn Monastery, the 【Dominator of the Forest Thorns】, also known as the 【Lady of Proliferation】!
But one was an Evil God that everyone wanted to destroy, while the other was a Righteous God recognized by the Alliance, with terrifying influence throughout the entire Human Race.
How could there be a connection between the two?
Lu Yu didn't voice his suspicions.
With his current status, even if he said it, he couldn't change anything and would only risk being targeted.
'Looks like I'll have to find so intelligence on the Thorn Monastery in the future.
Coincidentally, that Saintess Candidate Jiang Ji told her church is quite large and I should visit whenever I have ti. Maybe I can find so useful clues from her…'
Lu Yu pondered.
After confirming there were no remaining treasures, he could lead everyone out of this crumbling mystic realm.
The others also had complicated expressions.
They could already imagine that once these events got out, it would definitely scare the examiners, and even…
shake the entire Alliance!
A large 6,600-word chapter, asking for monthly tickets! And I'm also recomnding a book from a great author.
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