Chapter 156: Frenzy

Human greed never faded, not even in the direst circumstances. And for Sun Fei, this wasn’t truly a dire situation, was it?

Almost the next instant, the scavenging began.

The thought that these bones could rival divine weapons in power when used as arms made Sun Fei’s eyes shine. Without hesitation, he started a frantic search. Soon, over a hundred bone-like blades, spears, and swords were pulled from the Mountain of White Bones and neatly laid out on the ground. Now, the only problem Sun Fei faced was how to transport these treasures out. To the Mountain of White Bones, this amount was merely a drop in the bucket. But taken to Shampoo City, it could fully arm the kingdom’s entire army. With enough soldiers, the bones on this mountain could equip a million-strong Undead legion!

Of course, Sun Fei had also considered that since this Underground Grotto Labyrinth was the Divine-Demon Ruins marked on that mysterious map, these bones might belong to soldiers and officers of the Divine and Demon Races who died in battle long ago. Yet there remained a puzzling detail. This place was clearly only a small part of the grand Divine-Demon Ruins, yet held so many remains. From what Sun Fei recalled in the ancient texts about the Divine Demon War and the ruins, it didn’t quite fit. Because according to Royal records, even at their peak prehistoric times, the populations of the Divine and Demon Races were not large. They absolutely couldn’t have thrown tens of thousands into a single battle. In most documented Divine Demon Wars, these apex races often acted as leaders, driving various subordinate races to fight. Legends suggested these subordinate races weren’t primarily for combat.

That meant these bones were likely the remains of those subordinate races. This absolutely stunned Sun Fei. Could the average strength of the ‘non-combat-focused subordinate races’ mentioned in the texts really have reached the level of at least Six or Seven-Star Rank Warriors? And some powerful ones even far surpassed Star-Rank and Lunar Level Strength?

This was utterly unbelievable.

Such power, in today’s Azeroth Continent, could almost sweep across the great Empires.

And yet now, they were just piles of dry bones.

Having selected enough bones for weapons, Sun Fei finally felt a bit tired. At least twenty hours had passed since he stepped through the black iron gate. He thought, then dismissed the summoned giant white wolf and giant eagle. He chose a few small bones to store in his Belt Space, opened a sky-blue Portal, and entered the World of Diablo.

Dawn was just breaking in the World of Diablo.

Sun Fei got his bearings, and first found Sister Acarra in the southeast corner of the Rogue Encampment. As per the routine, he followed her to learn the magic principles of Alchemy, Herbalism, and Scroll making. Since his [Learning] Divine Skill had leveled up, studying these came effortlessly to him now. Aunt Acarra only needed to explain briefly, and Sun Fei grasped the tricks and key points instantly, as if he’d already learned it all before. If it weren’t for his careless nature and tendency to forget things, he might already be a qualified Alchemist and Scroll maker.

“Sister, I have some strange things here. Can you identify what they are?”

At the end of the study session, Sun Fei pulled one of the bones he’d brought from the Mountain of White Bones into the Diablo World out of his Belt Space and handed it to Sister Acarra. He held a sliver of hope that she might recognize something from it.

“This is…” The older nun took the bone nervously, holding it in her palm and rubbing it carefully. She focused, feeling it intently, then suddenly her expression changed drastically. “It’s Demon Bone! God protect us! Lord Sun Fei, how do you have this in your hands? Where did you find it? Is there more?”

“Demon Bone?” The evil-sounding name gave Sun Fei a bad feeling. He rarely saw Sister Acarra so shocked. “Sister, are these bones really that dangerous?”

Acarra shook her head, her face still full of emotion. “In life, their owners were indeed terrifyingly powerful, truly the kind of horrific evil that neither God nor the Light could tolerate. However, the bones they leave behind after death are incredibly valuable magical materials! This bone you gave me likely comes from a Demon whose power in life was extraordinarily immense. Its strength far, far exceeded anything you can imagine; even Andariel wasn’t one percent as strong! Bones left by a Demon of this rank are exceptionally precious magical materials. They can be used to forge mighty magical weapons, ground into powder for making Magic Scrolls and concocting potions…” Here, the older nun sighed slightly with regret. “What a pity there’s only this one small piece! If only there were more!”

Sun Fei grinned proudly and pulled out another, slightly larger bone fragment from his Belt Space.

“You… you have more?!” Sister Acarra’s eyes widened in utter disbelief.

Sun Fei proceeded to pull out an even larger piece.

“You have even more?!”

Then he pulled out another.

“How many? Give them all to me! Quick, quick!”

As the Rogue Encampment’s guiding spiritual leader for nearly a century, how could Acarra usually lose her composure like this? But the older nun’s calm had truly snapped under Sun Fei’s repeated teasing. Possessed by something akin to madness, her thin, bony hands gripped Sun Fei tightly, shaking him – all because ‘Demon Bone’ was so critically important. If they had enough Demon Bone, the forces of the Rogue Encampment could surge in power in the short term, freeing them from the constant fear of demonic monster hordes in the wild.

“None left, none left…” Sun Fei had only stored five or six bone pieces from the Mountain of White Bones in his Belt Space. He had taken them all out now. He just grinned and shrugged.

A shadow of disappointment flickered across the older nun’s face. Yet almost immediately, she was looking excitedly at the five or six pieces of ‘Demon Bone’ in front of her again. She thought she had become too greedy. God forgive her! Simply possessing five or six pieces of such precious Demon Bone was already immense fortune itself. How could she possibly hope for more?

Sun Fei grinned and was just about to tell Acarra about the existence of the Mountain of White Bones when suddenly—

“Ahahahahaha!… I’ve found it! I understand! Ahahaha…” The familiar, hearty laugh of the white-bearded Elder Kane echoed across the entire Rogue Encampment. A figure rushed towards Sister Acarra’s tent – it was indeed Old Kane himself, seemingly in a state of ecstatic madness. He clutched a few thin booklets in his hand. Despite his age, his limbs propelled him forward astonishingly fast.

Reaching them, he paused briefly in surprise: “Huh? Lord Sun Fei, you’re here too? Haha! Wonderful! I’ve completely cracked the difference between the magic systems of the Rogue Continent and the World of Light! Hahahaha! My theory was spot on! Essentially, these two magic systems are the same thing! Ahahaha! Look! I’ve unlocked that Storage Ring! These are the items I found inside!”

Sun Fei took the booklets handed to him by Elder Kane. He scanned them; their covers were written in the language of the Azeroth Continent.

“Blazing City? Necromancy? Magma Burst? Wings of Flame? Binding Fire Tongue?”

Sun Fei quickly skimmed through the booklets. Surprisingly, most were magical skill manuals – primarily fire-element manuals, with a few low-level Necromancy manuals mixed in. That tormented wood-element Four-Star Level Mage Evans must indeed have kept quite a collection of valuables.

“There’s still more stuff inside the ring. See for yourself!” Elder Kane casually opened his palm, offering the treasure-filled ring to Sun Fei without a moment’s hesitation. His gaze then fell on the white bone fragments Sister Acarra held. He froze momentarily, recognition dawning on his face. He also seemed to have identified them as ‘Demon Bone,’ his expression one of complete shock. Snatching one fragment from her hand, he immediately started meticulously rubbing and examining it. Truly, this old man embodied the spirit of an Einstein-like scientific research fanatic!

Sun Fei took the Storage Ring. He noticed that after Elder Kane’s appraisal and modification, its exterior had completely transformed. It now resembled a gliding gecko, moving nimbly and settling comfortably on his finger. It didn’t impede flexibility at all and even offered protection to his fingers.

Channeling a tiny, almost imperceptible shred of his Magic energy, Sun Fei saw the vast interior space of the ring, which held at least a hundred cubic meters. It was like a stone room, packed full but reasonably organized. Inside were piles of various Magic Stones – perhaps four or five hundred pieces; several pieces of strangely-shaped Magical Equipment; some clothes; food; and the like. However, what truly captured Sun Fei’s attention was the sizable pile of books and Battle Qi/Magic skill manuals stacked like a small hill in one corner. The sheer volume of books here far surpassed the collection in the Royal Library of Shampoo City. Magicians on the Azeroth Continent were genuinely called ‘Moving Libraries’; it seemed rightly earned. Though Evans was only a Four-Star Level Mage, hailing from a super Empire and mentored by Ferdinand, a giant in magical arts, the books he carried were naturally highly valuable and incredibly rare.

“Hah! This truly is sent in the nick of time! What Shampoo City lacks most right now is precisely these varied Battle Qi and Magic manuals, along with basic fundamental theory books…” Sun Fei stroked the gecko-shaped ring, his heart filled with delight. “This Storage Ring’s capacity dwarfs my Belt Space by a hundred times! With it, large-scale exchanges of supplies between the World of Diablo and the real world become possible!”

Currently, the Rogue Encampment wasn’t densely populated. After his major upgrade through the trial completion reward for Three Divine Skills, Sun Fei had achieved fixed-point summoning.

By consuming one [Town Portal Scroll] to place a simple magic marker within the [Hero City], he could summon people from the Diablo world directly to Hero City, regardless of his location. He had already used this fixed-point summoning to send the mercenary leader Kashya, the blacksmith Charsi, and some Rogues to Hero City, where they were participating in the construction and defense of the Chambord Kingdom.

Thinking about the Mountain of White Bones within the Divine-Demon Ruins, and fully realizing its immense value, Sun Fei suppressed his exhilaration. Focusing his will, he exited the World of Diablo. He then activated his [Summoning] Divine Skill, directly transporting Sister Acarra and crafty Elder Kane to stand before the gargantuan, awe-inspiring Mountain of White Bones within the vast, mysterious space.

“This is…” The older nun, upon seeing the mountain towering before her, was utterly speechless, stricken dumb with shock.

“Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha!… How… how is this possible? Haha…” Crafty Elder Kane was also shocked into incoherent words by the spectacle before his eyes. All he could muster were bursts of laughter loaded with confused wonder.

Finally, both of them shrieked simultaneously. Exchanging a quick look of mutual understanding, it was as if dying men seeing a roasted suckling pig – they screamed madly and threw themselves onto the Mountain of White Bones. They looked as if they would have rolled on it in delight! Their vast knowledge and broad experience far surpassed Sun Fei’s, making them understand the sheer, incalculable value of such a mountain far more immediately.

Aunt Acarra’s hands quivered as she covetously rubbed every white bone fragment as if fondling the hand of God himself. Elder Kane, true to his nature, directly used his gapped teeth to bite experimentally on a large bone…

The two old people were now entirely overcome by frenzy.