novelraw Chapter 323: Ascending to Legend — Hunter and Monster!
Chapter 323: Ascending to Legend — Hunter and Monster!
Good stuff! Chen Qi excitedly reached out and picked up the mirror.
It was a dressing mirror with a golden frame.
[Witch's Lying Dressing Mirror:
Affinity: Lamp
Description: A genius Sealed Artifact forged by the Lamp Witch using Lamp Witch relics to hunt the Ice Witch!
Effect: At the "cost of telling the truth and spiritual energy damage," gain one chance to divine someone's whereabouts.
Note: The higher the tier of the divination target, the higher the tier required by the person bearing the cost.
Note: Based on observation, using this item multiple times in succession will produce an uncontrollable curiosity, an unconscious curiosity about all unknown things.
Lamp Witch's Note: Curiosity, curiosity is the purpose of living! It is the true meaning of our lives!]
A Witch relic that even non-witches can use! Chen Qi was unusually excited.He never expected to find such a great item.
Fen also found it difficult to conceal her joy.
To stop the Blackfin Crew from destroying the Witch Sea, she needed to open the Witch's Coffin.
And to open the Witch's Coffin, she needed at least five Witch relics.
Based on the information she had previously gathered, Witch relics were all in the hands of major factions and extremely difficult to obtain!
And they actually managed to acquire a Lamp Witch relic on an exploration ship!
This could be considered a remarkably surprising windfall!
"Is this mirror from The Press?"
Chen Qi looked at the downcast Loren and asked.
The White Pigeon Press was the only organization in the Witch Sea, besides the Beiguo Meteorological Bureau, that possessed a large number of Lamp-affinity forbidden artifacts.
Loren didn't deny it and softly agreed.
"Just as I thought."
Chen Qi didn't waste words and continued searching for loot.
Apart from the heavy mecha that Dya couldn't take away, there was nothing particularly important on the entire ship.
Considering that this ship still needed to return to the Rift Sea, Chen Qi only took items that could be sold for money and gold coins.
The total value of these gold coins amounted to roughly thirty million Shell Coins.
That's enough... After finishing his inventory, Chen Qi said:
"Packing up!"
"Mm-hmm!"
Fen nodded, stuffed the items into a large burlap sack, and tossed it onto their small houseboat!
Plunder and run!
Bountiful harvest!
"Goodbye, everyone!"
The corners of Chen Qi's mouth turned up. Facing the sea breeze and carrying a full bag of loot, he jumped onto the boat.
"Everyone, goodbye! Be careful on your way home!"
Fen also stepped lightly, like a great thief returning fully loaded, waved to everyone, and boarded the houseboat.
Return voyage!
……
Everyone hung their heads low. The Black Hunter had been gone for five minutes, but they still hadn't looked up.
The Black Hunter had actually let them off so simply.
Until a woman wearing a full-body white suit, draped in an overcoat, with goggles on her head and long, wavy blonde hair, boarded the devastated ship.
This person was none other than Rose, the Disaster Messenger, leader of the Beiguo Meteorological Bureau in the Witch Sea!
The Disaster Messenger adjusted her hat and looked at the scene before her with disbelief.
The operation to capture the Black Hunter had failed.
However, the Meteorological Bureau's failure actually brought her great joy.
In the corner of the ship lay their long-missing investigator, Jiger.
Furthermore, the A-grade rift, Magic Net, was not out of control but had been effectively dealt with!
Looking at the survivors before her, Disaster Messenger Rose crossed her arms and said:
"You're really lucky, encountering the Magic Net and still being alive."
Everyone remained silent, saying nothing.
Although unwilling to admit it, they had to acknowledge that their 'luck' had been truly good.
If they had encountered pirates from the Sea God Pirates, they would all be dead.
"The root of the Magic Net..."
The Disaster Messenger looked down at the Beginner Mentor An at her feet, her most valued student.
"You lost, An, lost to the Black Hunter..."
A trace of mockery curled on Disaster Messenger Rose's lips.
An had once told her that the Black Hunter would surely be defeated by her!
And now, she lay collapsed here, unable to do anything.
Disaster Messenger Rose quietly anticipated An's rebuttal.
Her student, though not talkative, was exceptionally strong-willed.
It was precisely because of this strong will that she possessed such formidable power even at the third tier.
And the Disaster Messenger also believed that the student she favored would one day become one of the world's strongest, surpassing the Black Hunter.
However, this time, An did not respond with her usual defiant words as she always did.
Lying on the ground, An laboriously turned her head to look at the distant sea, her gaze lingering for a long time without shifting.
……
One day later, Lamp Moon Sea Island.
Chen Qi stood on the head of the Coastal Apex Predator, carefully steering into the central area of the Great Whirlpool.
Soon, he found a suitable spot, the center of a medium-sized, hundred-meter-wide whirlpool.
"This place will do..."
Chen Qi swallowed; a powerful thirst was continuously welling up from his body!
He had arrived here without informing Fen and Burry.
Chen Qi planned to keep his promotion a secret from Fen and surprise her.
Right now, Burry was still repairing the boat, and Fen was still brewing potions.
Normally, Chen Qi should rest for a while, arrive here later, recuperate, and then complete his promotion.
However, he inexplicably felt the cells in his body becoming increasingly thirsty, increasingly craving energy.
At that moment, a prompt popped up.
[Your body is suffering from the side effect "Thirst" of the Witch's Medicine.]
[Thirst: Your body craves to satisfy its desires! Craves sublimation! Craves an intensely fierce battle!]
Witch's Medicine... Chen Qi gritted his teeth.
He had almost forgotten that all potions currently crafted by the Flower Witch had significant side effects.
Chen Qi rotated his neck.
But just in time, he could use this intense craving to complete his promotion to Legendary.
Chen Qi opened the bag and sprinkled the prepared Supernatural Bait into the whirlpool before him.
Boom! Boom!
Lured by the bait, more and more fierce and terrifying sea beasts began converging towards the whirlpool.
The center of the whirlpool, plus a large number of monsters!
The time had come!
Chen Qi excitedly took out the Deep Sea Hunter profession card, then fiercely cut his arm with his long knife.
A large amount of blood flowed from his arm, thoroughly soaking the card.
As the blood made contact with the card, the Deep Sea Hunter profession card erupted with unprecedented spiritual energy! Like a vast ocean!
Simultaneously, the hunter on the card's surface seemed to come alive and, under the influence of the spiritual energy, utilized the air to emit a rolling, fog-like murderous aura!
Crimson blood mist stained the sea! At the same time, under the influence of this blood mist, the eyes of all the sea beasts near the whirlpool turned bright red, falling into madness!
Next, the suspended Deep Sea Hunter card began to bloom with a terrifying power like a storm, unlike anything before!
"Digest!"
Chen Qi didn't hesitate. He opened his hand and directly grasped the card.
Under the powerful grip, the card was crushed by him, transforming into an even more immense power that seeped into his blood and struck directly at his soul!
Chen Qi's brain reverberated continuously; his entire body was suddenly filled with dull, thunderous roars as scorching hot spiritual energy struck his torso!
Boom! Boom!
Unlike previous changes, this promotion not only permeated his blood but also struck directly at his heart, impacting the soul deep within!
Chen Qi took off his clothes, revealing his upper body.
His muscles were only slightly bulging, but their color was like cast steel, emitting waves of heat!
Power surged forth, as if in the next instant, he could transform into a terrifying monster.
At this moment, he could feel that he was not just at the center of the whirlpool; he *was* the center of the whirlpool!
Boom!
In that instant, Chen Qi strongly sensed that his physical body had already stepped into a new realm.
With sufficient sustenance, his physique could grow wildly again, like a newborn baby!
His flesh had been sublimated.
After the flesh was tempered, next came the tempering of the soul.
"Roar..."
Chen Qi opened his mouth; his teeth became extremely sharp, seeping blood, becoming like those of a hungry beast.
An intense craving filled his mind! A desire to become a monster's mind!
Abandon human flesh and blood, transform into the Slime Mother Tree, infinitely reproducing, craving pleasure!
Abandon human flesh and blood, gain the deep sea tentacles that roam the seas and infinitely reproduce!
Abandon human flesh and blood, gain the shadowy, formless body of the Shadow Demon!
Abandon human flesh and blood, gain the indestructible body of the giant dragon that soars through the skies!
Every inch of his muscle, in that split second, seemed to develop its own will, craving to evolve and twist towards becoming a 'monster'!
It was as if countless terrifying, twisted monsters were luring him, tempting him to become a new kind of killing monster...
"Huff, huff..."
Chen Qi clenched his fists. Resisting this craving was several times more difficult than he had imagined.
He didn't know how long it had been when a prompt appeared before his eyes.
[You have obtained high-tier Blade Affinity comprehension.]
Bang!
Suddenly, before his eyes, a flame slowly ignited, dispelling the temptations of the countless monsters...
And this tiny flame, carrying countless spiritual energy, like a goddess's gentle, blessing hand, softly brushed over his body.
It was neither cold nor warm, but it soothed his anxious heart.
After a long time, Chen Qi regained clarity, reached out, grasped the tiny flame, and swallowed it.
Whoosh—
A tranquil sea breeze blew.
The infinitely expanding monster desire in Chen Qi's heart was temporarily suppressed by the light of this flame.
His body, his heart, gradually returned to calm, and simultaneously, his Spiritual Core reached a completely new realm.
[You have obtained high-tier Lamp Affinity comprehension.]
[Your Spiritual Core has been sublimated.]
Chen Qi regained his senses, took out his watch, and glanced at the time.
The brief moment in his mind had actually lasted a full three hours.
The spiritual energy whirlpool over the sea had also persisted for three hours.
And his entire body was enveloped by a spiritual energy field like a great mountain; at this moment, he was like a dragon, sacred and inviolable.
[You have been promoted to Legendary, becoming a terrifying hunter upon the sea.]
Chen Qi looked down at his once frail body; now, it was as strong as steel.
[Your Constitution has increased by 30 points, your Strength has increased by 30 points, your Inspiration has increased by 50 points, your Agility has increased by 20 points.]
A total of 130 points of bonus...
Chen Qi casually waved his hand, unleashing power greater than before.
And this was merely temporary; as a Blade-affinity profession, with the great breakthrough in his 'upper limit', matching a dragon's physique was only a matter of time!
Chen Qi smiled, stretched his body, and then examined his new profession in detail.
[Deep Sea Monster
Affinity: Lamp, Blade
Description: Hunt those monsters! Use their blood to temper our flesh and blood, recast our souls!
Passive Talents:
Hunter's Comprehension: Your Blade Affinity comprehension is High. You can learn Legendary-tier Blade-affinity techniques. Simultaneously, when digesting skill cards related to 'Hunters', you will digest them faster.
Lamplighter's Fire: Obtain high-tier Lamp Affinity comprehension. You are blessed by the Lamp Affinity. There is always a flame in your heart. This flame can help you resist unimaginable mental attacks, divination tracking, and so on.
Monster's Desire: Your will is powerful, your flesh and blood have been recast. Under the illumination of the Lamplighter's Fire, any distortion caused by blood, spirit, weapons, soul, potions, etc., cannot twist your will! Simultaneously, these distortions will ultimately submit to you!
You are not immune to these distortions, but you transcend them!]
Chen Qi looked at these three passive skills.
Hunter's Comprehension provided Blade Affinity comprehension, Lamplighter's Fire provided Lamp Affinity comprehension and was a mental defense-type passive.
And Monster's Desire was even more powerful than he had imagined.
Simply put, this talent meant that, with proper control, he could possess the abilities of a Blood Demon without suffering the consequence of fearing sunlight.
To be precise, not only that, this talent could also immunize against the negative costs of most forbidden artifacts.
This is a god-tier talent for the monster path... Chen Qi thought to himself.
These three talents would form the core of his future system.
Chen Qi then checked the Deep Sea Hunter's profession quest.
[You have obtained the profession quest 'Monster Hunter':
Monster Hunter:
Quest Objective: Once every two weeks, you need to mark and then defeat a monster capable of destroying the Witch Sea or coastal cities!
Quest Reward: A large amount of Inspiration Points, Blade Inspiration, Lamp Inspiration.
Note: Blade Inspiration and Lamp Inspiration can accelerate skill card learning or possess self-strengthening Releases.
Note: The stronger the hunted enemy, the greater the reward.]
Chen Qi examined the quest objective.
This quest was quite special. Due to the Deep Sea Hunter's transformation, the card's quest was highly bound to the Witch Sea.
In essence, it was approximately a lower-tier version of a 'Profession Promotion Quest'.
The quest trigger frequency is once every two weeks... Chen Qi took a deep breath.
However, before he was fully developed, completing this quest would still be quite challenging.
After all, monsters capable of destroying Witch Sea cities were not very common.
At that moment, Chen Qi felt a wave of heat coming from his heart.
[Your Hunter Ember has strengthened your profession quest. Upon completing the quest, you will also obtain a special 'Inspiration': Hunter's Fire.
Hunter's Fire: Hunter's Fire. This Inspiration allows you to enter a dream, within the Sea of Spiritual Energy, to help you break through Blade-affinity or Lamp-affinity skills, or to comprehend/combine new skills.
Note: This Hunter's Fire can also be considered as 'Lamp Inspiration' or 'Blade Inspiration', used for strengthening skill cards.]
Hunter's Fire... Chen Qi's eyes lit up.
Hunter Ember's prompt this time was actually a quest enhancement.
It can fuse skills and break through skill limits... Chen Qi rubbed his chin.
Normally, fusing skills and breaking through skill limits required extensive practice and knowledge accumulation!
But Hunter's Fire could save a great deal of time in completing this process.
Without a doubt, compared to the original reward, this reward was much more powerful.
Good, good! Chen Qi calmed his excited emotions.
His body was now completely different from before!
Next was to construct his system abilities based on the core talent 'Monster's Desire'.
Wait! Chen Qi looked at his Monster's Desire talent.
Although it's called Monster's Desire, in reality, this talent should be called 'Human's Desire'.
Normal monster paths are prone to losing control and pursue the complete evolution of the body.
But this talent, unlike normal 'monster path' talents, essentially suppresses the effects of "distortion" on the body and spirit, forcibly maintaining the body within the 'human' range.
Compared to ordinary monster paths, it is more diverse.
And, in fact, Chen Qi currently did not lack ways to obtain these 'monster transformation' items.
Apart from various rift events, the simplest way to become a 'monster' was to consume special potions!
And his crew member, the Flower Witch, was a master potion maker!
With his current body, any potion - Shadow Demon potion, Succubus potion, Deep Sea Tentacle Monster potion, Tree potion, Mushroom potion, Mermaid potion...
He could now drink them all!
I wonder what dangerous potions the Flower Witch can make? Chen Qi, facing the sea breeze, piloted the Coastal Apex Predator towards Lamp Moon Sea Island.
Right now, neither the Flower Witch nor Burry knew about his secret promotion to Legendary.
He wondered what expression they would have when they saw he had been promoted to Legendary?
Give them a surprise... Chen Qi raised his head, extremely excited.