Chapter 454 - 213: Mechanism: The Power of Life and Death
Chapter 454: Chapter 213: Mechanism: The Power of Life and Death
Meanwhile, the situation for the Curse Bone Race member took a sharp turn for the worse.
POP! POP! POP!
A series of muffled pops echoed from all directions without warning.
Lin Ye saw bizarre creatures begin to fall like rain from the dense fog overhead.
They crashed onto the surrounding stone bridges, their bodies bursting into foul-smelling pools of blood.
Then, from the endless abyss below the bridges, came an even denser series of pops, like firecrackers going off.
It was as if tens of thousands of living things were being crushed by an invisible force all at once.
Lin Ye hadn’t noticed this during the heat of the preceding battle.
But now, in the eerie silence, it all became incredibly clear.
Just then, a thought mixed with anxiety, despair, and extreme heartache was transmitted into Lin Ye’s mind through [Soul-Catching and Dream-Planting].
[No... no! My kin... my life’s savings...!]
Lin Ye’s eyes lit up.
’So that’s how it is!’
In that instant, all the mysteries in his mind were suddenly resolved!
He finally understood all the activation conditions for the Curse Bone Race member’s Damage Transfer ability!
First, its main body couldn’t move while the ability was active!
Second, and most importantly, activating this ability required sacrificing its "kin" as the price!
Every instance of Damage Transfer sacrificed a portion of its kin!
And now, in this endless cycle of damage, the kin it had spent countless years accumulating were being rapidly consumed!
Lin Ye could even see the ghostly green fire in the Curse Bone Race member’s eye sockets dimming at a visible rate.
Its very soul essence was being consumed along with them!
"No! Why aren’t you dead yet?! How can you still be alive?!"
The Curse Bone Race member let out a curse filled with utter venom, its voice laced with incomprehensible madness.
Watching as Lin Ye’s aura not only refused to weaken but actually grew stronger, it finally broke down completely.
"I was wrong! Let me go! I’m willing to submit to you! Spare me, I’ll be your slave, I... I’ll give you everything I have! I’ll tell you everything I know, whatever you want to ask!!"
"Please... just stop!"
It began to beg for mercy frantically, promising all sorts of benefits.
But Lin Ye just stared at it coldly, as if looking at a dead man.
Finally, dozens of seconds later.
Lin Ye could no longer hear the series of pops.
Its ability had completely failed!
The reflected damage he had been dealing finally extinguished the ghostly fire in its skeletal eye sockets.
The body, made of stark white bones, broke apart inch by inch, turning into a cloud of bone dust that scattered into the air.
[Ding! You have killed one LV.51 Curse Bone Race (Elite)!]
[Killing a higher-level enemy has triggered a bonus experience reward. Experience gain increased by 100%!]
[You have gained 68,800 experience points!]
[Taotie mechanism triggered!]
[You have gained 80.5 Strength, 94.1 Agility, 51.7 Stamina, and 185.4 Spirit!]
Lin Ye let out a long, heavy breath.
He hadn’t obtained any new skills or traits.
Lin Ye wasn’t surprised by this. The Taotie ability was inherently unpredictable; it couldn’t provide an extra surprise every single time.
The alien races that appeared in the true Celestial Abyss Rift all had bizarre abilities and could not be underestimated.
Lin Ye was also beginning to understand why the system had placed the P4 stage mission here.
He had only just entered the second level.
He hadn’t even reached the true core, let alone knew where the so-called Sigma Ruins were.
Yet he had already been through two vicious battles.
And both were the kind where one wrong move could have gotten him killed!
In his mind, Lin Ye raised his reverence for the entire Painful Labyrinth to the highest level.
’I must be careful, and then even more careful!’
After confirming that the Curse Bone Race member had completely dissipated, Lin Ye didn’t linger.
His figure quickly vanished.
Lin Ye’s nostrils flared.
He moved like a ghost, weaving through the chaotic and treacherous labyrinth of stone bridges, searching for areas rich in Source Crystals.
The Gravity Field enveloped him, allowing him to ignore the chaotic gravity and walk on the stone bridges at any angle as if on level ground.
He swept through one stone bridge after another, leaving not a single crystal behind in his wake.
He tossed one Source Crystal after another into his mouth without hesitation.
A torrent of pungent, searing energy washed over his entire body again and again.
He could feel this pure source energy strengthening Soul Melting Bone Erosion and Soul-Catching and Dream-Planting, like streams flowing into the ocean.
After swallowing the last small piece of Source Crystal from the eleventh stone bridge, Lin Ye finally felt a sense of satiation.
It wasn’t a physical fullness, but a peculiar moment of inspiration.
It felt like feedback coming from those two skills.
They... were full.
Lin Ye immediately opened his system panel to check the descriptions of the two skills.
[Soul Melting Bone Erosion: Your bodily fluids now contain a potent toxin capable of corroding both matter and soul.]
[Soul-Catching and Dream-Planting: You can keenly perceive the emotions and thoughts of intelligent beings. After a target’s death, you can read its residual memory fragments. You can construct dreams based on its memories and thoughts.]
The descriptions had barely changed at all.
Just like with Crystalization before.
Even now, the skill description for Crystalization only mentioned generating purple crystals for defense.
But Lin Ye had developed countless other uses for Crystalization.
Therefore, Lin Ye was certain that these two new skills must have also undergone some kind of fundamental transformation.