Chapter 20: Return
2015-01-21
Author: Floating Tower
What is this thing?!
The data in front of Soren pulsed three times in succession, instantly granting him 3 points of divinity value. With each pulse, the glow on the golden bone dimmed, until it finally looked no different from an ordinary gold piece. Soren had no idea what this object was; he had never even seen it before. However, it was undoubtedly something related to deities since it conferred divinity value. To provide him with 3 points of divinity value at once was almost equivalent to a Demon Son of Fear; this item’s origins were definitely significant!
“Could it be the body of a deity from the Astral Realm?”
Soren reached out to touch it and murmured, “It seems that even the body of a deity from the Astral Realm isn’t like this! A toe bone can provide 3 points of divinity value! How much divinity value would a complete humanoid skeletal remain have?”
Greed.
A feeling of inexplicable greed surfaced in Soren’s heart.
Although the divinity power on it had already been absorbed by him, he could still sense another force lingering on the golden bone, a power he could neither comprehend nor absorb. However, Soren was certain that this power was very strong, closely tied to the realm of rules, a terrifying force that could only belong to a deity.
Soren attempted to store it in his dimensional bag.
But to his surprise, the golden bone simply could not be contained!
The dimensional bag could not accommodate such material.
This situation was extremely rare since dimensional space could generally hold most things. Objects that dimensional space could not contain were usually very special existences. The golden bone before him was evidently one of those special materials. Soren tried three times in a row; neither the dimensional bag nor the Battle Master gloves could hold this golden bone. It was as if the dimensional space had been isolated by this golden bone, making it impossible to incorporate it into another dimension.
Gulugulu!
A faint sound echoed around him, followed by the cold face of the Naga Priestess appearing nearby.
She gripped her war spear and scepter tightly, fixing Soren with a cold gaze as she said, “Human! Hand it over to me! This is a sacrifice to the Ocean Goddess!…”
Her demeanor was very stern, seemingly prepared to attack if Soren refused to comply.
A hint of hesitation crossed Soren’s expression.
Slowly, he withdrew his finger and took a small step back, saying, “I was just about to hand it over to Your Excellency the Priestess.”
Hearing this, the Naga Priestess revealed a hint of a satisfied smile, then swiftly approached the golden bone. She couldn’t help but reach out and touch it, but her face turned ashen as she solemnly declared, “Those damned Storm Cultists! They have stolen a portion of its power! But thankfully, the sacrifice that the Ocean Goddess requires is still intact! These damned fellows must pay the price!…”
The other party was very powerful.
As a high-ranking priestess of the Ocean Goddess, she certainly possessed the ability to sense divinity.
There were many priests who also possessed divinity. Most of them were concentrated among the Elect and Saints, and some preparatory elect and favored ones might receive one or two points of divinity granted by deities. The Naga Priestess before him likely also had a bit, which allowed her to summon the great whirlpool. Once she touched it, she discovered that the divinity power had vanished, leaving behind merely another special power. The Naga Priestess did not realize that it had been absorbed by Soren; thus, she believed it was taken by the followers of the Lord of Storms.
It seemed someone was being scapegoated!
Soren inexplicably felt relieved. It was likely that no one expected him to absorb divinity so quickly.
The Naga Priestess seemed intent on placing the golden bone into dimensional space, but soon realized it was impossible. So, she could only hold onto the golden bone and ascend, and the two quickly returned to the ghost ship. The great whirlpool on the ocean had already disappeared; in fact, it hadn’t lasted long. Nearby, many pirates lay dead or unconscious, and even the powerful professionists had only temporarily survived the maritime disaster. Soren felt no pity and directly activated the ropes to start harvesting heads and corpses.
On the bodies, not only was there Gind, but he also found one or two extraordinary items!
The rarity of extraordinary gear was undoubtedly significant, and Soren had very few such items himself. However, from these pirate corpses, he astonishingly found three to five pieces of extraordinary gear, most of which had come from enemies above the Third Tier. Pirates below profession level 10 seemed to have little of value. Unfortunately, the levels of these extraordinary items weren’t high; they were all First Tier extraordinary weapons, including stiletto blades, curved blades, and exotic daggers.
The best extraordinary item was an accelerated ring.
“Item Type: Accelerated Ring
Item Level: [Third Tier Extraordinary Item]
Item Description: This is an extraordinary ring enhanced with alchemy, enchanted with special materials. It contains a power of wind elements. When the power of this ring is activated, the user gains the effect of a three-ring spell [Acceleration]. It enhances movement speed and action speed, lasting for 10 minutes.
Equipment Requirements: None.
Equipment Effect: Acceleration (once a day).”
…
This equipment wasn’t incredibly powerful.
However, it had one advantage: it didn’t require recharging and would automatically restore its spell effect once per day. If it weren’t limited to a single spell and had a longer duration, this item could potentially reach legendary level. There should still be many more items underwater, but recovering them was extremely difficult; the initial massive waves had likely washed away countless bodies. The truly top professionists had basically managed to escape; most of the casualties were weaker individuals.
“Set sail.”
After returning to the ghost ship, the Naga Priestess immediately said solemnly, “Return to the Ocean Temple!”
Soren was taken aback by this order.
Over there, the deep-sea Hydra still seemed to be battling the Son of Dagon; both giant deep-sea beasts had astonishing regenerative abilities, potentially fighting for a day and night.
But leaving now seemed somewhat out of place, didn’t it?
Did she value the importance of this golden bone over hundreds of thousands of Gind? She clearly hadn’t spoken the truth to him at the beginning; what drew her to compete for it wasn’t solely this wealth!
Seemingly noticing Soren’s expression, the Naga Priestess glanced at him and slowly said, “The Son of Dagon won’t be repelled so soon! The sacrifice to the Ocean Goddess must not encounter any accidents! Human, you performed well today. The Ocean Goddess will reward you as you merit. Right now, our most important task is to escort the sacrifice back!”
After speaking, she used a certain spell and directly took control of the ghost ship.
Then, the Naga Priestess sent out some kind of summoning, and nearby, the sharkmen began to escort the ghost ship as they moved toward the location of the Ocean Temple.
The battle in the distance continued.
The contaminated seawater poisoned a large number of marine creatures, and even the seaweed gradually withered; the deep-sea Hydra was a disastrous presence in the ocean.
Soren fell silent.
He didn’t ask too many questions; after all, his purpose was to repay the high-tier restoration techniques of the Ocean Temple.
Not continuing to battle was also a good thing.
But he faintly felt that he seemed to be embroiled in certain matters; it seemed that the Ocean Goddess was planning something. Given the scale of today’s conflict, it was impossible for there to be no divine support behind it. Even high-ranking Ocean Priestesses wouldn’t be able to easily mobilize the deep-sea Hydra; only a deity, the Ocean Goddess, could enslave such terrifying beasts of the deep sea.
Soren began to tally the killing experience he had received.
Along the way, he had gathered quite a few heads, totaling over thirty thousand points of killing experience. This was still without him engaging directly on the front lines; if he could k*ll professionists close to legendary level, he would earn even more killing experience, though the chances of dying would also increase. At the very least, when returning, it seemed the Naga Guards had been nearly decimated, and the sharkmen had also lost a significant number, with nearly 80% of those above the high tier having perished. Only the later arriving sharkmen had survived in large numbers.
The ghost ship gradually distanced itself from the battlefield.
The Naga Priestess seemed to be a bit wary of Soren and spoke to the nearby sharkmen in the language of the ocean, after which some sharkmen returned while others headed toward the Naga’s realm.
It appeared they did not intend to give up those treasures!
Soren’s expression remained calm as he casually fished out a bit of gold and gems, not expecting to be able to swallow such a vast treasure.
For only those with strength are qualified to claim these things.
A day quickly passed!
When Soren stood up upon spotting an island ahead, he glanced at the Naga Priestess beside him and slightly bowed, saying, “Can we stop here for a moment? I need to pick someone up.”
The Naga Priestess frowned at this and said solemnly, “Who are you picking up?”
Soren hesitated for a moment and replied, “I’m picking up a woman, my spoils of war.”
The expression on the other party’s face instantly looked somewhat amused; she sized Soren up before glancing at his lower body. After pondering for a moment, she finally said, “Fine. Hurry back. I won’t wait too long for you here.”
Nodding at her words, Soren left.
Only after Soren’s figure departed did a strange smile creep across the Naga Priestess’s lips as she murmured, “A woman, huh? Indeed, human males are the most eager for mating! Perhaps I can try to win him over from another angle!…”
“A wanderer close to legendary status has many uses.”
…
Soren’s figure gradually drew closer to the shore.
He glanced at the empty beach, a hint of disappointment appearing on his face; the pirate woman was not waiting for him here.
But just as he was about to leave, sudden noises came from ahead.
Then, a woman with long red hair, Adele, appeared before Soren, her face showing a stubborn expression as she took a step closer to him.
Soren finally revealed a smile! (To be continued ~^~)
