Chapter 523 – Hunting Plan

Kane’s declaration sounded quite reasonable indeed. Regardless of what difficulties they faced, the pursuit of transcendence should never cease—this was the most fundamental spirit of Netheril.

Although according to the legendary “Divinity competition” mechanism of the River of Fate, various misfortunes could strike at any moment, the current situation seemed to be progressing rather smoothly—at least Smile’s process of fusing with her “sibling’s” bloodline hadn’t encountered any particularly tricky problems.

Naturally, Smile knew nothing about such secrets as the “River of Fate,” so she couldn’t intervene in the conversation between Punk and Kane. During this time, Smile had mainly been quietly studying the Soul Gem of the Second Godchild. After Kane and Punk finished their discussion, Smile—who had been unable to get a word in—finally achieved results.

“Haha, this concubine is truly brilliant! How troublesome it is to separately extract the bloodline from the soul. If I simply devour the entire soul, won’t the bloodline fusion be completed?”

Gazing at the Soul Gem in her hand, a greedy smile appeared on Smile’s beautiful face.

It was evident that the feeling of having another Crimson Sand God bloodline within reach yet being unable to fuse with it was truly agonizing. The instinctual urge for bloodline completion was urging Smile to fuse the bloodline, and her eager soul was growing impatient.

“…………”

Regarding the method proposed by Smile, Punk merely frowned without saying much. In truth, he didn’t know what the standard procedure for divine bloodline fusion should entail. During the Netheril era, Grand Arcanists researching divine bloodlines would directly extract bloodlines using the Legendary spell “Greater Bloodline Extraction.” Currently, Punk obviously couldn’t use Legendary spells to assist Smile.

Therefore… the method for bloodline fusion could only be discovered by Smile herself. As for whether this method was reliable… that would depend entirely on Smile’s own judgment as the person involved.

For ordinary professionals, completely devouring a creature’s soul was truly a perilous “adventure.” The soul devouring process would manifest as a clash of wills—if one’s willpower wasn’t strong enough, they might even be counter-killed by the ‘prey.'”Even after success, the influx of a large number of memories from the devoured soul could cause the devourer to lose their sense of self.”

But Smile was clearly not what one would call an “ordinary professional.” As a young woman determined to become powerful, Smile had complete confidence in her own willpower.

Meanwhile, Kane—who had just finished striking his pose—expressed some concern about Smile’s decision. When it came to matters involving significant interests, Kane always exercised caution to the point of timidity. Moreover, having just heard about the legend of the “hidden mechanism” from Punk, Kane couldn’t help but frown and remind Smile:

“Hey, are you really sure about this? Soul devouring isn’t child’s play.”

“This concubine is no weak mortal! If this devouring attempt fails, it would only prove that this concubine isn’t even qualified to become a powerful being!”After speaking, the girl with an utterly resolute expression pressed the Soul Gem directly against her forehead without further hesitation!

Not much time passed—just two or three seconds later… As a faint halo began to shimmer around the Soul Gem, a deep blue thread slowly extended from Smile’s forehead. Finally, the other end of the thread unhesitatingly burrowed into the Soul Gem, connecting with the floating light particles inside.

Soul Devouring… had begun!

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. This girl’s comprehension is actually quite impressive, isn’t it? At least after spouting all those bold words, she didn’t just stand there dumbfounded holding the gem.”

With a look of admiration at the motionless Smile, Kane casually sat down on a stump of a High-Pillar Tree. Since Smile’s Soul Devouring had to rely entirely on herself, neither Punk nor Kane could intervene. Feeling somewhat idle, Kane simply said to Punk:

“Hey, Cyan, how about making another pot of rabbit stew? I’ll go catch a plumper, more tender rabbit. Seriously, even the Royal Palace chefs under my command can’t compare to that delicious stew…”

“We don’t have time for that right now!”

Although Kane seemed genuinely eager for a second helping of rabbit stew, Punk had no intention of playing chef at the moment.

Unlike Kane, Punk always maintained a serious and focused attitude during adventures. Even the slightest waste of time displeased him. For instance, while Smile was occupied with Soul Devouring during this “downtime,” Punk had already begun preparing for the next phase of their plan.

Calmly adjusting his hat brim, Punk directly addressed Kane, who looked disappointed at missing out on the rabbit stew:

“Instead of thinking about mere culinary desires, you should focus on how we’re going to find the next Godchild. If ‘Foul Divination’ is to prophesize information at the Legendary level, it requires the corpse of a being of equivalent strength as a sacrifice. We must hurry and hunt down a Master-Level creature!”

Punk always found the peculiarities of the “Foul Divination” spell rather troublesome. Aside from its underhanded trick of leaving marks on the soul, the key issue was the extravagant “display” required when the Foul Bird manifested. Moreover, despite the Foul Bird’s seemingly erratic behavior, it was a genuinely intelligent being. Attempts to manipulate a Formal-Level mage into learning Foul Divination and then ordering this “subordinate” to gather information would never be tolerated by the Foul Bird. All attempts to cut corners were essentially futile in the face of a “God-Throne level” entity. To gain the Foul Bird’s assistance, one had to follow the proper steps and offer the required sacrifices diligently!

Seeing that Punk was already discussing serious matters, Kane had no choice but to set aside thoughts of rabbit stew and adopt a more serious demeanor. He too had learned about the limitations of “Foul Divination” from Punk, so the prospect of hunting a Master-Level creature for a sacrifice was equally daunting to him.Which Master-Level powerhouse is easy to deal with? Leaving aside their endless stream of dangerous hidden cards, even catching up when they desperately flee is a problem. So no matter how you look at it, this matter is extremely troublesome and dangerous.

After pondering for a long while, Kane could only helplessly propose an idea to minimize the risks:

“This is utterly troublesome. Hunting Master-Level powerhouses is too difficult. Targeting Kingdom Protectors of certain nations might even provoke those religious fanatics from the benevolent god factions. What we need to avoid most on our quest for divine treasure are those holy clerics who can communicate with deities… So… let’s consider whether we can find a Master-Level magical creature that harms the land instead!”

(End of Chapter)