Volume 1 Chapter 16: Life-Taking Relic

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. The twelve human Probationary Apostles remained very quiet during these two weeks.

They had basically completed the courses at Academy Eiflit Bogg about Apostles surviving in the Other World. Actually, there wasn’t too much content on this topic. Academy Eiflit Bogg was mainly a Magic and Martial Arts school. It allowed Apostles to learn Magic and Martial Arts of the Elven Race on credit.

This was also the Floating City’s investment in the Probationary Apostles. As long as a few Apostles from the whole Academy survived, all the costs would be worthwhile.

However, due to differences in Constitution, only a few among the hundred-plus Probationary Apostles in the Academy could learn Magic. The others could only learn a bit of Martial Arts and archery. These hundred-plus Probationary Apostles came from all kinds of races. Many weren’t even humanoid creatures. Qin Lun once saw an elemental life form that was a spherical ball of light.

Some of these Probationary Apostles had already passed one to three Otherworld Missions, but none had formed a Soul Mark. It was unclear whether they failed to complete the Otherworld Missions, or the mission rewards didn’t include World Law crystals.

Not forming a Soul Mark meant their Souls never received replenishment from Soul Power Crystals. Especially those Probationary Apostles who had already passed three Otherworld Missions. If they failed the fourth time, they would probably die in the Other World.

The Probationary Apostles did not exchange information about their Otherworld Missions with each other. Qin Lun guessed this might be due to some restrictions placed on them. Most Probationary Apostles would be sent to the Other World by the Shattered Starry Sky within half a month to half a year. The time interval varied greatly depending on race and Constitution.

In the final days of the second week, Qin Lun often felt a thick, sticky resistance around his body. It was as if his whole body was underwater. This feeling was slowly getting stronger, and the time intervals between occurrences were getting shorter. Actually, this feeling only affected his Soul and didn’t cause any inconvenience in his actual life.

Qin Lun had a premonition. If he gave up resisting this feeling, his first journey to the Other World would probably start immediately. But if he kept resisting until the end, when this resistance feeling no longer had any time intervals, he would still be forcibly sent out by the Shattered Starry Sky.

On this day, Qin Lun did not go to the Academy. He quietly lay on his wooden bed, concentrating his attention, his mind in an ethereal state. Gradually, the tablet-like “Death Notice” appeared again in the depths of his consciousness.

A few days earlier, after Qin Lun absorbed 120 Soul Power Crystals, the “Death Notice” finally grew to a usable state. However, when he summoned the “Death Notice,” he still needed to maintain high concentration. If he was disturbed from the outside, the “Death Notice” would immediately shrink back.

Qin Lun felt this might be related to the Shattered Starry Sky’s suppression of Apostles through World Law. However, he discovered that with continuous practice, this summoning could become more skilled. He believed that soon, even with outside interference, he could make the “Death Notice” appear in his consciousness anytime, anywhere.

After the Death Notice grew, it formed a subtle connection with Qin Lun’s mind and spirit. It emitted a mysterious call, as if hoping Qin Lun would give it a formal name, or like a pet yearning to establish a formal Soul Contract with its master.

Qin Lun still named it “Death Notice.” After receiving its formal name, the Death Notice began to reveal its functions. It was also at this time that Qin Lun realized that while sensing the Soul Mark allowed him to summon the Death Notice, the Soul Mark itself was not equal to the Death Notice.

Qin Lun could vaguely sense that the Soul Mark might not be as simple as Mafa had described. It probably had some other functions too. Perhaps it was because his current strength was too low that he couldn’t truly activate the Soul Mark.

The Death Notice, on the other hand, was like a piece of equipment. It just incorporated the management function of the Soul Mark, helping Qin Lun monitor his own Law Body.

After merging with the World Law crystal, the Death Notice only had the appearance of a tablet, losing its function as a computer. Based on his own understanding, Qin Lun made some new settings for the Death Notice.

In Qin Lun’s sea of consciousness, a 3D image of himself appeared on the Death Notice’s light screen. When he focused his consciousness on the miniature image, parts of the information he had entered himself would appear, along with the statistical results of the Law Body, derived from the World Law possessed by the Death Notice itself.

Next to the image were three colored bars: red, blue, and yellow. When he focused his consciousness on these colored bars, the Death Notice informed him that these were unique to the Law Body: Soul Lifespan, Health Points, and Mana Points.

Soul Lifespan represented the lifespan of his Soul. It could only be replenished using Soul Power Crystals of various grades. Under normal circumstances, the total Soul Lifespan did not change. Unless Qin Lun obtained some special bloodlines or power laws, he could only replenish what was lost.

Health Points represented vitality. Sickness, bleeding, and injuries would reduce them. However, the Law Body would naturally recover over time. The recovery speed was influenced by Constitution and medicines. Once Health Points reached zero, the Apostle would naturally die.

The concept of Mana Points was a bit more complex. Actually, Qin Lun hadn’t truly unlocked the Mana bar yet. Only after he acquired his own Apostle Martial Arts would this Mana bar become usable. Apostles could use many types of Martial Arts, divided into several skill trees, including Technology, Magic, Supernatural Powers, and so on.

Name: Qin Lun

Gender: Male

Physiological Age: 20 years and 3 months

Race: Human

Soul Lifespan: Self-set 100; Health Points: Self-set 100; Mana Points: Not unlocked; Combat Profession: None; Skill Slots: None.

Besides the character image displaying the condition of the Law Body, the Death Notice surprisingly also had an attached subspace the size of a storage locker. After discovering this subspace, Qin Lun found it very interesting and continuously tried putting various items into it.

The results proved that apart from two things, no other items from the Shattered Starry Sky could be placed into the Storage Space. One of these two things was Soul Power Crystals. The other thing that surprised Qin Lun was his black dagger, which looked very much like half a pair of scissors. It could actually be stored in the Storage Space too.

This black dagger was originally created when Lin Feng replaced all the murder weapons Qin Lun had previously used from the Handan Police Department. He fused a piece of extraterrestrial meteorite iron, crafting it according to the style of the scissor blade Qin Lun used most often.

After the dagger was stored in the Storage Space, the Death Notice digitized the dagger’s information and allowed Qin Lun to name it.

Dagger of Sin (Short Dagger)

Faction Type: Life-Taking Relic (Chaotic Evil)

Remnant Souls Quality: 12 (Ten-Man Slaughter)

Weight: 215 grams

Length: 230 millimeters

Equipment Ability: None

On this dagger’s information, apart from the equipment name “Dagger of Sin,” all other details were automatically displayed by the Death Notice. When Qin Lun focused his consciousness on the information details, he learned that this was information obtained through automatic matching by the World Law possessed by the Death Notice.

Life-Taking Relic was a type of Spiritual Equipment, and one with great potential at that.

So-called Life-Taking Relics referred to weapons or equipment that, after killing intelligent life, imprisoned and fused part of the life form’s Soul power into the equipment. This situation rarely occurred. Only when an intelligent life was on the verge of death, suffering extreme physical and psychological pain simultaneously, causing the Soul to partially leave the body, was there a very small chance for it to happen.

When a weapon absorbed Soul power for the first time, it actually transformed from an inanimate object into a Life-Taking Relic. Once a weapon became a Life-Taking Relic, it would start absorbing the Soul power of other victims on its own. Sometimes, even if the victim didn’t suffer great pain, part of their Soul power would be extracted from their body by the Life-Taking Relic.

Actually, back then, the reason Chekhov had so much Soul power extracted wasn’t just because of the undigested Soul power within him. It was also a small probability phenomenon caused by the hungry Soul Mark combining with the Dagger of Sin.

There were many types of Life-Taking Relics, but under the World Law of the Shattered Starry Sky, they also had a distinction based on Faction.

If the initial owner of a Life-Taking Relic upheld concepts of justice and kindness in their heart, then this Life-Taking Relic would absorb the positive energy from the victims’ Souls, and its Faction would belong to Lawful Good. If the initial owner was a Serial Killer like Joey Foster, then the Life-Taking Relic would absorb the negative energy from the victims’ Souls, becoming a Chaotic Evil faction.

Besides these two factions, Life-Taking Relics could also have seven other faction types: Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil, Neutral Good, True Neutral, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Good, and Chaotic Neutral.

Apart from the initial owner, intelligent beings whose nature and beliefs completely opposed the Life-Taking Relic could not gain its recognition and thus could not use such Life-Taking Relics.

Among all Spiritual Equipment, Life-Taking Relics had great potential. In the most perfect ideal state, almost every one had the potential to become a Divine Artifact. Of course, this was just a hypothetical situation. In reality, they were still limited by the equipment’s own material and the quality of the Remnant Souls.

In the Dagger of Sin’s information, that “12” for Remnant Souls Quality represented the 12 portions of Soul power it had previously imprisoned and fused. Actually, Qin Lun’s number of killings far exceeded twelve. It’s just that this dagger was a fusion of multiple murder weapons, and part of the Soul power was lost during the forging process.

Qin Lun lay on the bed, the Dagger of Sin constantly appearing and disappearing in his hand. Suddenly, he quietly sat up, supporting his chin with one hand, slightly frowning. He had just felt another slight resistance.

Qin Lun sighed. He couldn’t delay any longer. He needed to leave the city immediately, following the example of those Formal Apostles, and find a quiet, desolate place to enter the Other World. Otherwise, if he was suddenly transported out of the Shattered Starry Sky in his sleep, that would be troublesome.

However, before leaving the city, it seemed he still needed to find one more person! A hint of a smile appeared in Qin Lun’s eyes. He went directly downstairs and called out to an Elf guard.