Chapter 241 Three Ancient Secrets
"Hum, Hum. Having obtained extensive knowledge and countless arts from the infernal souls, you will have to try hard to impress me."
Konrad stated, following a relatively loud throat clearing.
"I will give you three. Each, with four layers.
First, Seer's Vision. Only Origin Sight wielders can cultivate this ability. On top of Origin Sight's own skills, it allows you to see through all mirages, and grasp the memories, past and all possible futures of your target.
Everything they are and all they can do becomes evident to your eyes.
You can also use their past against them through lethal illusions and even trap their soul in a potential, fatal future to destroy them should they fail to overcome it. At the pinnacle, you can alter reality.
Of course, there are limitations. Your targets' cultivation base and your own soul power determine how far you can see and how much control you can have. The stronger they are, the harder the task.
Moreover, having Origin Sight is one thing, mastering this ability, another. Disposition matters a lot. Only those with a heart as calm and steady as a mountain can master this ability."
Konrad was startled. Although his incubus lineage granted him the ability to cast deadly illusions and nightmares, this ability was on a completely different level. Calling it the perfect complement to his Infernal Soul Devouring Art was no exaggeration.
Satisfied by Konrad's reaction, the complacent Selene carried on.
"Second, the Absolute War Sense. More suitable for battle madmen and madwomen, it allows its user to separate body and consciousness to fight solely on instinct. Said instinct is empowered by several folds. Ten times for the first layer, one-hundred times for the second one, one-thousand times for the third, and ten-thousand for the fourth.
Speed and strength skyrocket at the same pace.
Moreover, it allows the user to control a multitude of artifacts at the same time. The same ten, one-hundred, one-thousand, ten-thousand pace."
Konrad's eyes widened in disbelief. Usually, because it required splitting consciousness, without a formidable spiritual sense, one couldn't control more than one artifact at the same time.
The higher the artifact's rank, the more daunting the task.
This art was simply heaven-defying!
"Possessing a battle-will greatly lessens the burden of learning this art. However, it is not a requirement. Needless to say, Absolute War Sense and Seer's Vision contradict one another. I have never heard of anyone able to cultivate the two."
Selene explained, to avoid Konrad getting strange ideas.
However, he merely nodded, then motioned for her to carry on.
"Last but not least, the Blossoming Death Art. Just like the Infernal Soul Devouring Art, it allows its user to refine souls. However, you use those souls to condense Death Flowers. Each Death Flower Represents an additional soul.
As long as all Death Flowers are not destroyed, you cannot die, and will always be reborn. With each layer, two flowers can be condensed. A maximum of eight.
You can also cultivate Death Essence. Death Essence drastically enhances your resilience, regeneration abilities and allows you to turn corpses into Death Puppets. The mightier the corpse, the more Death Essence is required. Better yet, because they function with Death Essence, Death Puppets do not fear nullification talismans.
Death Essence can also feed souls to improve their grades and open the road to true necromancy. If you can cultivate it to the pinnacle, you can also open a gate to the reincarnation cycle to wrest or swallow souls. Meanwhile, with a massive quantity of death essence fueling your body, even if you got beheaded, you could still rebuild your body.
At the pinnacle, even if only one piece of you remains, you will not die.
Are those three arts enough for you to spare my father a bit of dignity?"
The complacent Selene asked while puffing out her flat chest and rubbing her little nose.
Those three arts were high-ranking Ancient Secrets and had been carefully selected by her to lay down the foundation of her rise once she led a host to success.
Any one of them was enough to become a hegemon and make countless deities shiver.
"Adequate, adequate."
Konrad replied while nodding in approval. The "adequate" assessment pulled a scoff from Selene's lips.
*Humph*
"Is it so hard to say -there are no words to express my astonishment?- Truly, incomparably shameless."
Ignoring the false display of outrage, Konrad motioned for Selene to deliver the goods.
"How do I know you will keep your end of the bargain?"
"You can only believe in my trustworthiness."
Those words failed to placate Selene who only grew more vigilant. However, with the initiative being in Konrad's hands, she could only abide.
Three sets of mnemonics flew from her soul to dive into Konrad's. The three arts then clearly appeared within his mind.
Each carried greater difficulty than the Infernal Soul Devouring Art and would take a substantial amount of time to master. However, Konrad didn't doubt that Marduk's body wasn't worth those three arts.
After receiving the mnemonics, he aimed his Divine Sword at Marduk's chest and punctured it.
Selene frowned and clenched her fists but ultimately said nothing. Once the sword reached Marduk's heart, Konrad retracted it but kept it aimed at the small gap.
Demonic energies erupted from the sword tip, diving through the gap to infiltrate the heart and lock on the Blood Origin within.
A thumb-sized black blood drop flew from Marduk's chest to hover before Konrad. Sealing it in a grey prism, Konrad mended the wound with a wave of his hand, then shifted his attention onto Selene.
Now devoid of its Blood Origin, Marduk's corpses' blood production immediately stopped.
"What do you plan to do with it?"
She asked after heaving a sigh of relief.
"A new blood sea, of course."
Konrad replied before turning toward the blood fountain below.
In a flash, all the blood in the fountain and roads below was pocketed. He then turned his attention onto the various inheritance steles.
Unlocking them took longer than with the previous graves. But after one day of hard work, all fell into Konrad's hands.
Alas, while many Divine Rank artifacts were present, Konrad couldn't see any God-Artifact.
Still, with his current net worth, be it in terms of crystals, pills, herbs, wondrous fruits, or artifacts, he dared claim himself wealthier than either the Celestial Church or the Infernal Cult.
Without a shred of doubt, he was now the Ancient Crystal World's wealthiest individual!
Full of emotion, he knelt toward Marduk's corpse.
"Thank you, great founders, for working so hard to ensure I could destroy your successors at the fastest pace possible! I swear not to disappoint your expectations and try my hardest to exterminate those two forces for the sake of the Ancient Crystal World!
Once only my Profane Prince Cult remains, you shall be posthumously honored as the most meritorious officials!"
A sobbing Konrad vowed and thrice kowtowed toward Marduk's corpse, then with a wave of his hand, brought him into his space treasure.
"Disgraceful."
Unable to shoulder this outrageous sight, Selene shook her head and vanished from Konrad's side.
"The system will need one month to finalize the upgrades. I won't be available during that time."
With that said, she disconnected herself from Konrad and fell into a system-induced torpor.
Konrad nodded, and while humming a jovial tune, left Marduk's coffin to go plunder the rest.
With his Extermination Formation having exhausted the holy crystals, he prepared a new batch and reactivated the formation to rob the graves undisturbed.
After another one-and-a-half day of plundering, Konrad emerged from the last coffin and shot toward the valley in the distance.
Considering it was the only one within the seventh floor, surely, it was there that his tribulations awaited.