Volume 1 Chapter 12: Soul Power Crystal

Qin Lun’s eyes gleamed as he stared at the crystal shards, each no bigger than a grain of rice, on the table. He really hadn’t expected the old Goblin to give in so easily. But did the old fellow have so much confidence in these crystal fragments, not worrying at all that he would keep pestering?

Filled with curiosity, Qin Lun reached out to pick up a crystal shard. But as soon as his finger touched the fragment, the dormant skull pattern in the palm of his right hand suddenly reacted again.

After digesting the cool energy last night, the rhythmic pulsation of the skull pattern had gradually weakened and eventually disappeared. No matter how Qin Lun tried to probe, that strange primitive computer no longer appeared in the depths of his consciousness.

Now, as Qin Lun pinched the crystal shard, two points of eerie crimson light flickered once more in the eye sockets of the skull pattern. It began to pulse slowly again. With this imperceptible pulsation, a suction force emerged from the skull pattern, like a baby latching onto a pacifier, automatically sucking on that orange-yellow crystal fragment.

A faint, cool energy flowed along Qin Lun’s finger into the small skull on his palm. The crystal shard visibly shrank before disappearing right before the eyes of the old Goblin and Qin Lun.

“Is this… magical candy?” Qin Lun blinked repeatedly, not feeling the slightest bit ashamed of his greedy behavior. Instead, he reached out again to pick up another orange-yellow crystal, watching it slowly vanish between his fingers.

“You, you, that pattern… a Formal Apostle?!” The old Goblin ignored Qin Lun’s playful remark. For the first time, he lost his composure, speaking incoherently with bulging eyes fixed on the corner of the skull pattern revealed in Qin Lun’s palm.

Only when the third crystal shard disappeared from Qin Lun’s fingertips did the old Goblin snap out of it. He angrily swept his hand over the table, covering the remaining crystal fragments.

“What magical candy! This is Soul Power Crystal!”

The Goblin Elder looked at Qin Lun with a complex expression. “That pattern on your hand isn’t a tattoo, right? It appeared after you entered the Shattered Starry Sky? Do you want to know what it is?”

“What is it?” Qin Lun slowly stopped smiling and sat up straight in his chair. Though he wasn’t worldly, he knew he needed to be humble and respectful when seeking advice from others.

“This isn’t any secret. Once you reach the Floating City, someone will tell you!” The old Goblin sighed, a trace of confusion appearing on his face as if lost in distant memories.

All Apostles, upon first entering the Shattered Starry Sky, would come into contact with fragmented Law Crystals in the space-time tunnel. A few extremely lucky Apostles might directly obtain a relatively complete Law Crystal or an item fused with a complete Law Crystal.

The probability was generally only one in a thousand. One reason was that complete Law Crystals were very rare in the space-time tunnel. Another reason was that Apostles initially didn’t know the value of these Law Crystals and wouldn’t specifically search for items fused with complete Law Crystals. The Law Crystals within those items could only last for about two or three minutes before dissipating completely. By the time Apostles understood all this, the treasures had already turned to waste.

The pattern on Qin Lun’s hand was called a Soul Mark. It formed from a Law Crystal integrated into the Law Body or from an item containing a Law Crystal.

The Soul Mark was the dividing line between Probationary Apostles and Formal Apostles. Usually, only after a Probationary Apostle survived their first journey to the Other World and completed the necessary Otherworld Mission could they obtain a complete Law Crystal and integrate it into their body.

For an Apostle, the role of the Soul Mark was irreplaceable. Through the Soul Mark, Apostles could monitor the condition of their Law Body at any time, store numerous pieces of Spiritual Equipment, and acquire various combat skills and bloodline abilities.

It could be said that the Soul Mark was an Apostle’s second soul and life-bound treasure, hence the name Soul Mark. An Apostle could only possess one Soul Mark. Any other Law Crystals obtained later could only be used to enhance the original Soul Mark. The Soul Mark was the true manifestation of an Apostle’s will. No matter what kind of Law Crystal was integrated, its form of expression remained only one.

“The Soul Mark is very weak at the beginning, just like a newborn baby. It can only mature gradually and come under the Apostle’s control by slowly feeding it Soul Power Crystals.” The Goblin Elder shot a glance at Qin Lun and said grumpily, “Now you understand how precious Soul Power Crystals are! Still calling them magical candy… Hmph!”

“Heh heh!” Qin Lun smiled and rubbed his nose, not looking embarrassed at all. “So, without Soul Power Crystals, the Soul Mark has no use at all?”

“No, without Soul Power Crystals, the Soul Mark will still grow, but it will directly absorb the Apostle’s life force. And even after maturing, the Soul Mark will still consume a small amount of the Apostle’s life force.” The old Goblin grinned widely.

“However, no Apostle cares about this little consumption. As long as they safely pass the Otherworld Mission, they will obtain a large number of crystals. If they die during the mission, then what does that little consumption from the Soul Mark even matter?”

“Alright then, I’m satisfied with the compensation of Soul Power Crystals. Just give me about a hundred pieces!” Qin Lun finally felt relieved and showed a bright smile.

“A hundred pieces?” The Goblin Elder widened his turbid eyes, shaking his head like a rattle drum. “Impossible! You already absorbed three just now. At most, I can give you seven more!”

“No room for negotiation?”

“No negotiation!”

Qin Lun slowly narrowed his eyes, a red glint flashing briefly within them. This time, the old Goblin did not back down, staring expressionlessly at the Serial Killer.

“There are over a thousand Zombies in the base. Asking for only a hundred Soul Power Crystals isn’t too much!” Qin Lun suddenly grinned. “If others found out the value of these Soul Power Crystals, I think they would definitely come looking for you again. By then, a hundred pieces wouldn’t be enough to send them away!”

The old Goblin’s face finally changed dramatically. He abruptly opened his eyes wide and, for the first time, shakily stood up from his seat. The fat on his face twisted into a knot as he leaned close to Qin Lun, growling in a low voice, “How did you know?”

Qin Lun smiled without answering, but he felt a slight pang inwardly. The old Goblin’s reaction completely confirmed his guess.

The Zombies in the base had no intelligence and weren’t infected with any virus; all the prisoners knew this. Otherwise, they would have died long ago. But what supported the Zombies’ biological instincts after they lost their Souls? This question had remained unanswered.

Actually, when the prisoners first encountered Ged’s gang of bikers, the reaction of the Lu-Lu Tribe members upon seeing the Zombies had made Qin Lun suspicious. But since Ged quickly led them away from the scene, he could only bury his doubts in his heart.

Just now, when Qin Lun picked up the Soul Power Crystal, he discovered that the cool energy generated from the crystal was exactly the same as the cool energy he obtained when he killed Chekhov. This made Qin Lun suspect that the so-called Soul Power Crystals were the product of Law Crystal fragments combining with the human body.

In other words, when he killed Chekhov, the Law Crystal fused within the Russian man’s body only turned into cool energy and hadn’t been fully absorbed by him yet. Consequently, it was forcibly sucked out of Chekhov’s body by the Soul Mark fused with Qin Lun.

With so many coincidences, if Qin Lun still couldn’t connect the Soul Power Crystals with the Zombies, then he really didn’t deserve his sharp mind. However, there was no need to confess these things to the old Goblin.

Since the Soul Power Crystals were indeed very useful, he had to give up the good opportunity to enjoy the old fellow’s performance for now and strive to get more crystals.

The old Goblin’s expression shifted unpredictably, but he still waved his hand to dismiss the two Goblin guards who wanted to attack Qin Lun. After a long while, the Goblin Elder’s face gradually calmed. He leaned back on his seat and casually tossed the small bag containing the Soul Power Crystals onto the table.

“Soul Power Crystals are the crystallization of Law Crystals and various intelligent life forms. If an intelligent life form loses its Soul during space-time transmission, then with the support of these crystals, they become temporary Zombies until the crystals inside their bodies are completely consumed.”

As the old Goblin spoke again, his expression grew softer and softer. In the end, his eyes actually shone as he smiled and looked at Qin Lun.

“There are many types of Soul Power Crystals, and they are consumed quickly within the human body. The thousand or so Zombies can probably produce about six hundred Soul Power Crystals. Including the three you absorbed earlier, this bag contains a total of one hundred and fifty-six Soul Power Crystals. This is all that Ged and the Lu-Lu Tribe have collected so far. I can give them all to you, as long as you agree to one condition.”

Qin Lun slightly frowned but didn’t reach for the small bag of Soul Power Crystals. He looked up and asked cautiously, “Tell me the condition first!”

“Ah, young people these days, no respect for the elderly or care for the young. This old man won’t make you suffer a loss!” The Goblin Elder slowly waved to the two Goblin guards behind him. “Go, bring Didi here!”

Soon, the Goblin guards brought a young Goblin into the tent. He was a thin and slender Goblin boy with long, pointed ears still bearing some fuzz. Goblins naturally had large eyes, but this young Goblin’s eyes were exceptionally huge, blinking like brilliant emeralds.

“Didi is Ged’s youngest child, and also my grandson. He is six years old. By human standards, he is a big youth about to become an adult. Since childhood, he loved listening to my adventure stories and aspired to leave the Crimson Gobi to see the world!” The old Goblin lovingly patted Didi’s small head. “I entrust him to you…”

“Wait, I don’t know how to take care of kids!” Qin Lun interrupted the old Goblin expressionlessly.

“It’s fine. Didi can take care of himself.”

“I’m very dangerous. It’s not safe for him to be around me.”

“Life and death are preordained! Once he leaves this tent, Didi is your servant. Even if you kill him immediately, the Lu-Lu Tribe will have no complaints!” The old Goblin smiled and pushed both the bag and Didi toward Qin Lun.

“Now, they all belong to you!”