Ye Chui carefully held the beast hide, and the group fell silent as they read the words. The hide was fragile, yet after two centuries, it hadn’t turned to dust, likely preserved by Godo’s power. The text was written in segments, each separated by years, perhaps decades.
The words revealed the fat man’s struggles here. The final segment mentioned Linda’s death, and Guni had said Linda passed after her fifth-generation descendant was born, meaning Linda likely lived nearly a hundred years. Godo, before his death, was probably over a hundred too, guarding here for over seventy years!
In that time, to fight the demon, his power grew immensely, ultimately reaching the Sword Saint realm.
When Cass read the hide’s contents, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “I thought Sword Saint was just a legend, but it really exists… Godo actually stepped into the Sword Saint realm!”
Swordsman ranks are simply divided into beginner, intermediate, and senior swordsmen. For most, senior swordsman is the peak, but above that lies the swordmaster realm, which only a few can enter.
At the peak of swordmaster, the Castro Continent’s mercenary and magic guilds jointly grant a title, and those titled are called great swordmasters, standing at the continent’s pinnacle.
But Godo, in his final moments, not only reached this realm but surpassed it, becoming a Sword Saint.
No, he didn’t become a Sword Saint. He had the chance but gave it up.
“This ‘oath’ mentioned here…” Debbie murmured, as if realising something. “It’s like the ‘contract’ of spirits, a powerful binding force. Spirits can be summoned to the real world through contracts. Godo used an oath to turn his soul into something like a spirit, guarding here. He might be watching us now!”
At this, Debbie looked around nervously, clasping her hands, “Godo? Can you hear us? I didn’t mean to call you a fat bloke…”
No response.
“…”
Though Debbie’s actions seemed a bit silly, Ye Chui knew the fat man might indeed be watching from an unseen place. Though dead, his soul likely lingered. The demon hadn’t escaped the cave in over a century, meaning Godo was still guarding.
He probably couldn’t appear before them, though.
“You really knew our ancestor?” Guni asked, finally understanding, her voice tinged with excitement.
“Yes, Godo was an adventurer who came here with us,” Windsor said, wiping tears from her face, smiling at Guni. This was Linda’s seventeenth-generation descendant, a twist of fate. Her tone warmed as she continued, “Your ancestor, Linda, was my childhood friend…”
As Windsor shared stories of Linda with Guni, Ye Chui heard a “ding” notification. Overjoyed, he checked his iPad magic book.
Game prompt: Congratulations, you’ve completed the mission “Uncover the Secret of the Ancestor’s Remains” and cleared the game. Based on your performance, you scored 95 points, earning 2000 points as a reward and one D-tier random draw.
Would you like to use the random draw now?
“Random draw!”
Ye Chui, beaming, clicked confirm without hesitation, eager to see what the draw offered.
A wheel-like interface appeared on the screen, similar to most lotteries.
The wheel’s segments listed prizes: Thank You for Participating, 100 Points, 200 Points, 500 Points, 1000 Points, 10,000 Points, Try Again, Random [Insight], Chosen [Insight], Random Magic Attribute Unlock, Chosen Magic Attribute Unlock, Intermediate Magic Spell Pack, Intermediate Curse Emoji Pack…
A variety of rewards!
Ye Chui’s breathing quickened as he saw the prizes. Some were incredibly valuable, usable at his current stage and highly beneficial.
One prize, “Chosen Video File Unlock”, meant he could bypass point costs and unlock any movie or anime from the resource library, even those worth tens of thousands of points!
Of course, based on his past lottery experiences, such prizes were just for show. The odds of winning were like hitting the jackpot in a lottery, with “Thank You for Participating”, “100 Points”, or “200 Points” being the likely outcomes.
(Who’s ever won 500 coins in a check-in lottery…)
But lotteries have a way of sparking tension, no matter how slim the chances. Ye Chui’s heart raced as he clicked start, watching the spinning pointer. Bloody hell, if he hit “Chosen Video File Unlock”, he could unlock Saiyan, Superman, or Gundam, making him invincible in this world!
The pointer slowed, and slowed…
Ye Chui’s eyes widened. The pointer, moving ever so slowly, stopped at… Chosen Video File Unlock!?
No way, this lucky?
Ye Chui swallowed hard, forgetting to breathe. His first draw was this powerful!
He almost felt sorry for this world’s people!
Then…
Just as Ye Chui envisioned a glorious future, the pointer, though nearly stopped, kept crawling, inching past “Chosen Video File Unlock” to “Thank You for Participating”…
Ye Chui: “…Damn it!”
He felt the lottery’s malice!
But as his heart nearly stopped, it raced again. The pointer crept past “Thank You for Participating” to “100 Points”.
“100 points? At least I didn’t lose out…” Ye Chui consoled himself, calming his intense emotions.
Yet, this lottery system thrived on giving despair when hopeful and hope when despairing. Just as he clung to faint hope, it delivered a small surprise. The pointer stubbornly moved past 100 Points, landing in the 200 Points zone and stopping!
“Congratulations, you’ve won 200 points through the lottery.”
“…”
The lottery was an emotional rollercoaster, but as his first draw, Ye Chui figured he’d get used to it. He checked his remaining points.
Killing the fallen beasts earned the team over 1000 points, plus the 2000-point mission reward and 200 from the draw, leaving Ye Chui with 3520 points, a sum he’d never had before. But considering the points needed to unlock intermediate magic attributes and spells, he didn’t feel rich.
Using [Insight] once cost 3000 points.
What magic attribute should he comprehend next?
Ye Chui opened the resource library, browsing movies and anime. In this dangerous relic world, the next attribute and spell should be lethal, maximising their combat strength!
“By the way, Guni, why did you pass out here? Did you meet anyone else?” Windsor asked, having explained their origins to Guni, earning some goodwill. Guni, learning they were her ancestors’ acquaintances, recalled the elders saying her ancestors waited for someone. Perhaps Ye Chui, Windsor, and the others were those people.
Guni, wary, said, “At first, I met three foreign adventurers. They attacked me immediately, but then a group of evil beasts surrounded us. I escaped, but the one-eyed guy didn’t, getting pounced by the beasts.”
Debbie nodded. They’d seen the one-eyed swordsman’s corpse by the Liangshui River. She asked, “What about the other two?”
“They seemed like brothers, one a mage, the other a swordsman,” Guni continued. Magic inheritance had long ceased in the Holy Light Forest, and mages were legendary to her. Meeting Ye Chui’s group helped her recognise a mage’s power, so she identified the attacker.
“Brothers?” Cass tilted his head. “I know, the Crete and Crian brothers.” They were the only sibling pair among the adventurers.
Guni glanced at Cass, continuing, “They kept chasing me, but couldn’t beat me. Then a whispering voice came from the Holy Mountain. My ancestor’s amulet (the pendant) glowed, blocking the sound, but the brothers weren’t so lucky. The evil demon can tempt people. Without holy light’s protection, they fall. The mage soon killed his own brother. The elders say this is an evil sacrifice, offering a kin’s flesh to gain great power.”
“Sacrificing kin’s flesh?” Ye Chui and the others shuddered.
“The swordsman’s flesh was absorbed by the mage, who turned into a terrifying monster. I couldn’t fight him, exhausted, but when I reached the Ancestor’s Remains, the monster fled.” Guni pointed to the misty Holy Mountain. “He climbed up there. He’s now the demon’s minion. I must kill him!”
From Guni’s words, without resistance to evil, one could be corrupted into the demon’s minion. Guni’s pendant protected her, and Ye Chui’s group had Jiji’s holy light, but the other adventurers chasing them with the curse mage Baka weren’t so fortunate.
Five adventurers came: Baka was dead, Jirga killed Baka’s guard swordsman, and of the three chasing Guni, the one-eyed swordsman’s corpse was found. The remaining swordsman, Crian, was sacrificed by his mage brother Crete, who became a demon’s minion.
“So, Crete’s still out there?” Cass grew alert, looking up at the Holy Mountain.
As if answering Cass, as he looked up, he spotted a terrifying figure lurking in the misty heights, perhaps silently waiting until Cass noticed.
In this evil-infused environment, human mages’ and swordsmen’s senses were dulled.
Cass’s eyes widened, his greatsword swinging.
Swoosh!
A gust of sword aura blasted out, striking the Holy Mountain, dislodging stones.
Cass’s action startled the others, who looked up and saw the terrifying figure.
“Blood… flesh… magic… Master needs you… needs your flesh to escape… this prison…” A broken, hoarse, terrifying voice drifted down. Clinging to the mountain’s rocks, it slowly descended.
A human face was faintly visible, with glowing red eyes, but black tentacles, oozing dark mist, extended from beneath a black mage robe, like a grotesque octopus.
The ground began to shake, and louder roars and screams echoed from the Holy Mountain’s cave, something charging outward.
“Everyone, be careful!” Cass shouted.
The group tensed.
After searching, Ye Chui found the resource for his [Insight]: the Terminator series.
He chose this series because he was intrigued by “time”. Their time distortion entering the relic world suggested time magic existed here, which could be powerful. Many films involved time: Terminator, Doctor Strange, Back to the Future, and anime like Madoka Magica…
But Ye Chui wasn’t sure time magic was easily attainable.
He needed to ensure his [Insight] wasn’t wasted. Even if he couldn’t grasp time magic, the magic should be lethal. From this perspective, Terminator was ideal.
Though sci-fi, Ye Chui knew sci-fi here was adapted into magic. The Fast and Furious series became horse-drawn carriages, so Terminator’s firepower might become powerful spells.
Without hesitation, he chose [Insight] for the Terminator series.
In the resource library, the Terminator series icon glowed and trembled. A prompt appeared.
“Congratulations, you’ve gained [Insight] into the advanced fire attribute, Destruction. You’ve comprehended the Destruction magic attribute. Unlockable intermediate spells: [Starfire Blast], [Full Firepower].”
“No easy time magic, huh? But I unlocked Destruction magic! Could gunfight movies translate to Destruction magic?”
Ye Chui wasn’t too disappointed and opened the app store.
The store displayed a Destruction category, showing [Starfire Blast] and [Full Firepower], each requiring 100 points to unlock.
“These spell names… Are they a shotgun and a Gatling gun?”
