novelraw Chapter 199-3: Bennett’s Parting Gift, Source of the Apocalypse, Omniscient True Knowledge (3)
Chapter 199-3: Bennett’s Parting Gift, Source of the Apocalypse, Omniscient True Knowledge (3)
He carefully considered whether there were any unfinished parts of the map progression.
After thinking for a long time, he realized only the few illusion books in his inventory remained incomplete.
Before settling the clearance rating, he decided to browse through them one by one, to avoid the illusion books being counted in the evaluation.
With the help of the Primordial Hermit shell, he managed to push the Starvault Tower challenge a bit further, reaching the seventy-fifth floor before he could no longer advance.
The remaining illusion books did not yield any major rewards; the memories gained from browsing them only slightly increased his Knowledge stat.
At present, his Knowledge had reached 21,600/37,800, and there were no other places in this chapter to increase it further.
He turned his gaze to one of the items in his inventory.
[Memory of the Skeletal Demon (Item): A hazy mass of swirling light, within which flashes terrifying fragments of imagery seemingly from the abyssal depths. Using this item will allow you to comprehend one of the Subterranean Skeletal Demon’s skills based on your current Knowledge stat. The higher your Knowledge cap, the higher the skill quality you will learn.]
Previously, he had just left this item to gather dust because his Knowledge hadn’t yet reached its upper limit.
Now, he could finally use the Memory of the Skeletal Demon without reservation.What Lin Xun remembered most vividly about the Skeletal Demon was the defensive power of its exoskeleton. He guessed the skill he would learn was probably related to that.
He opened the Shell panel to look for a suitable shell to learn the skill.
The first one he saw was the Earth Giant, but… this guy already had plenty of skills.
Besides, once the Earth Giant turned into a near-dead berserker, defensive skills weren’t its priority anymore.
Skills that required paying a personal price were its first choice, like those self-harming martial arts that injured the enemy by a thousand while hurting oneself by eight hundred, such as the Self-Wounding Fist of Seven Agonies.
As for the other shells…
The Mage was a ranged damage dealer; with a magic shield, he didn’t need a warrior’s tough-skin technique.
The Primordial Hermit, however, only had two active offensive skills, one transformation and one dragon breath, so it might be suitable for learning this defensive skill.
After weighing it a moment, Lin Xun decided to use the Memory on the Primordial Hermit.
Just as he was about to press ‘Use’, he suddenly paused.
The Mythic+-grade skill Hermit Bloodline surfaced in his mind…
[Hermit Bloodline (Mythic+): …When you activate this skill, you may devour the bloodline power of any dragon species to upgrade the Shell’s quality and skill ranks.]
“Devour bloodline power… upgrade Shell and Skill quality… So if I learn an extra skill now, will it dilute the bloodline power and reduce the improvement spread across each skill?”
Lin Xun thought it over and felt there was indeed a possibility.
Better not to rush. He’d wait until he fully understood the Primordial Hermit’s skill mechanics, or until he found a more suitable shell to learn it.
Once everything was sorted out, he clicked the Resting Page’s Interpretation Rating option.
[Calculating Interpretation Rating…]
[In this chapter, you defeated Knowledge-Seeking Four-Eyed Student Lir. Interpretation Rating increased…]
[In this chapter, you defeated War Machine – Giant Doll. Interpretation Rating increased…]
[In this chapter, you defeated Knowledge-Seeking Smelting Plant Owner. Interpretation Rating increased…]
[…]
[In this chapter, you discovered the hidden map: Hidden Canyon. Interpretation Rating increased…]
[In this chapter, you completed the hidden quest: Legacy of the Dark Dragon Knight. Interpretation Rating increased…]
[…]
Dense notifications of [Interpretation Rating increased…] filled the screen.
[In this chapter, you defeated the Star Bone Sacred Beast. Interpretation Rating increased…]
[Chapter settlement complete…]
[Congratulations, mighty Apostle!]
[You have obtained SS-grade Interpretation Rating!]
[This rating is the second highest for this chapter! You will receive settlement rewards!]
[You have obtained Type-IV Ultimate Source of the Apocalypse – Omniscient True Knowledge!]
[Settlement complete. You will now be transported to the Library…]
Lin Xun’s eyes widened. Why was it an SS rating and not SSS?
Had he missed something?
After carefully recalling for a while, he finally found a clue.
The Direct Vision Association had been destroyed by the Veiled Aberration Overlord before he could explore it, reducing it to rubble.
There must have been many hidden locations inside the Direct Vision Association still waiting to be discovered…
Furthermore, the Multivision Association had the subordinate Dis Academy, so the Direct Vision Association probably also had an affiliated academy somewhere in the city.
Due to the destruction of the Direct Vision Association, he hadn’t been able to acquire a route map to explore that academy.
“Forget it, an SS rating is still excellent.”
“It’s just that the Hell-difficulty chapters are too insanely hard. I pushed the map at full speed, and I still couldn’t get to the Direct Vision Association to explore before the behemoth Overlord showed up.”
[…]
[Transfer complete!]
[An ordinary wandering soul awakens in the Library…]
Lin Xun clicked the Book of Salvation, preparing to solidify a relic.
[You stepped forward to touch the Book of Salvation. Your ordinary wandering soul resonated with the book.]
[Detected: Apostle Swordsmith possesses a Source of the Apocalypse. You can use the special function to solidify a relic!]
[Please select the Source of the Apocalypse you wish to consume.]
He opened the inventory, about to click on the newly obtained Source of the Apocalypse.
Suddenly, Lin Xun stopped.
The Source of the Apocalypse in his inventory was unmistakably the Ultimate Source of the Apocalypse, something awarded only for achieving SSS-grade Interpretation.
He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.
“What the… did this hellish game bug out?”
Scrolling back through the logs, he found the notification of the reward he had just received.
Sure enough, the game clearly displayed:
[You have obtained Type-IV Ultimate Source of the Apocalypse, Omniscient True Knowledge!]
Since the game had shown SS rating, he’d assumed the reward would be the next tier down. But instead, he’d gotten the highest-tier reward.
“Damn! I’ve become one of those disgustingly lucky bastards.”
No matter how he racked his brains, he couldn’t make sense of it. He had no other Apostles’ examples to compare to.
“If this isn’t a system bug, then it must be because of the Hell-level chapter difficulty.”
“That means… in Hell difficulty, just getting SS is enough to receive the ultimate relic. Then if you actually achieved SSS… what kind of reward would you get?”
He frowned. This hellish game was becoming more and more unfathomable.