Volume 2 Chapter 53: Return and Gains

“The return request of Apostle 70053 has been received! Starting detection of apostle’s physical condition and surrounding environment… Detection complete. Apostle is not in combat state. No hidden observers in the environment. Shattering Boundary Law initiated. Space-time teleportation beginning…”

Qin Lun, with his hands crossed over his chest, had a small glowing figure resembling Qin Lun appear on his forehead. The small glowing figure expanded and contracted before disappearing. The sudden burst of light illuminated the small space where the young man was.

Wellington Stan’s body became still and stopped breathing. Beyond the coffin lid and soil above the young man, a tombstone stood in front of the grave originally dug by Frank. The tombstone was inscribed with “Wellington Stan (1712.2-1734.2)”.

To the left and right of this tombstone, there were two other tombstones. They were inscribed with “Beloved Wife (Katharine Stan 1698.2-1734.2)” and “Beloved Brother (Frank Stan 1702.2-1734.2)” respectively.

“The Apostle Soul Mark has returned to the Boundary Dimension. Before entering the Shattered Starry Sky, starting the settlement of rewards for this Otherworld Mission and assigning the mission evaluation…”

“Since this is the apostle’s first time entering an otherworld, the plot identity alteration is free. No related fees required. Only the body repair cost of 200 Shattered Crystals is charged!”

“Apostle 70053 completed the first Otherworld Guidance Mission ‘Investigation’. Mission Completion Rate 100%. Basic rewards have been distributed. The Law of Shattering Fusion Crystal has merged with the Maiar Crystal Ball. Remaining Shattered Crystals: 1800.”

“Hint: The Maiar Crystal Ball is a special item. The otherworld law for storing soul entities is ineffective in the Shattered Starry Sky. After extracting the soul entities inside the crystal ball, the Maiar Crystal Ball will lose its effect of storing soul entities and can only exist as a fine equipment material.”

“Hint: The apostle’s ‘Investigation’ mission received a plot quality upgrade. It is now a Stellar-level plot. The apostle witnessed two great Dark Progenitors, affecting the historical changes of the otherworld, and helped the Shattered Starry Sky plunder 51 points of World Origin. Later, personally participated in the battle that heavily injured the two great Dark Progenitors, causing most Werewolf and Vampire descendants to fall, additionally plundering 7 points of World Origin. Total plundered World Origin: 58 points…”

“Based on the plundered World Origin, and deducting the portion involving plot characters, Apostle 70053 directly obtained a World Exploration Degree of 0.2%, and indirectly influenced close to 11% of the Dark Era historical facts. Received a Gold-level mission evaluation!”

“Hint: The additional rewards for World Exploration Degree and the special rewards for the Gold-level mission evaluation are summarized as follows. Among them, three Gold-level evaluation rewards can only choose one. Please make your selection within three minutes. If overdue, random distribution will occur.”

1. 35 Contribution Points;

2. 12000 Shattered Crystals, one 500-point Exchange Voucher;

3. Based on the apostle’s main profession and body attributes, randomly distribute one intermediate or lower profession scroll or low-grade Bloodline Item;

4. Perform a comprehensive upgrade on the apostle’s Law Body attributes (can specify percentage increase or fixed amount increase);

5. Randomly distribute one piece of apostle equipment. Can specify for attack or defense. If not specified, there is a certain chance to draw special equipment (equipment quality limited to below Dark Gold);

6. Soul Lifespan Limit increased by 20 points (unique to Gold-level mission evaluation);

7. One Low Magic World Gold Evaluation Card (unique to Gold-level mission evaluation);

8. One Exemption Token transferable to other apostles. Using this token, apostles below intermediate profession can exempt one execution punishment or promotion failure punishment (unique to Gold-level mission evaluation);

Looking at the eight rewards in the Death Notice, Qin Lun only thought for a moment before making his choice. The first five items were straightforward. The key was the final three-choose-one Gold-level extra rewards.

As the mission progressed, Qin Lun now understood information about Soul Lifespan. Before even entering the otherworld, he had calculated that one point of Soul Lifespan was equivalent to one natural year. This meant the Shattered Starry Sky gave each apostle a base lifespan of 100 years.

Considering he received an Otherworld Mission every half month, the Soul Lifespan consumed in the Shattered Starry Sky was truly insignificant. Moreover, it could be replenished through Soul Power Crystals. Basically, 10 Soul Power Crystals could replenish one point of Soul Lifespan, but it couldn’t exceed the 100-point limit.

Judging from the exchange rates between Soul Power Crystals and Shattered Crystals, Soul Lifespan seemed very cheap. From this, Qin Lun inferred that the 30 points of Soul Lifespan deducted for failing the first Otherworld Mission probably meant deducting 30 points from the Soul Lifespan Limit, not simply 30 points of Soul Lifespan.

Additionally, he had another speculation. If the punishment for failing a simple Otherworld Guidance Mission was 30 points of Soul Lifespan Limit, would other high-level Otherworld Missions issued later have huge penalties exceeding 100 points of Soul Lifespan? Or perhaps if the Soul Lifespan Limit didn’t increase, he couldn’t accept certain high-level Otherworld Missions?

If this idea was true, then the reward of 20 points of Soul Lifespan Limit was indeed worthy of the precious Gold-level mission evaluation. This not only served as a threshold for high-level Otherworld Missions, but even if a mission failed, it left a slim chance for a comeback.

As for the Low Magic World Gold Evaluation Card, Qin Lun learned through inquiry that this was a consumable required for exchanging items. As long as he had enough Shattered Crystals, he could exchange for any items, skills, and bloodlines from all Low Magic Worlds in the exchange list, ignoring other restrictions of the exchange list.

However, after thinking about it, Qin Lun gave up on this Gold Evaluation Card.

The reason was simple. Although Low Magic Worlds had some decent magical bloodlines and skills. For example: Werewolf bloodline, Vampire bloodline, Black Magic of wizards, combat skills of Demon Hunters, etc. But high-level things generally required over two hundred thousand Shattered Crystals. Low-level things would waste this Gold Evaluation Card, which really wasn’t cost-effective.

Of course, Qin Lun could also accumulate Shattered Crystals until he had several hundred thousand before exchanging. But how many Otherworld Missions would he need to complete to achieve that? If his strength remained limited now, how many Otherworld Missions could he pass? Most importantly, Low Magic Worlds were still Low Magic Worlds. By the time he completed over ten Otherworld Missions, he might not need things from Low Magic Worlds anymore.

Finally, among the three special rewards for the Gold mission evaluation, Qin Lun chose the last option: the transferable Exemption Token!

This Exemption Token partially served the function of increasing the Soul Lifespan Limit, allowing an apostle to exempt one execution punishment or promotion failure punishment. Of course, it didn’t have the function of being a threshold for high-level Otherworld Missions.

However, Qin Lun felt he was still very weak now. Never mind whether he could even encounter high-level Otherworld Missions; even if he did, he probably couldn’t complete them. He couldn’t bet his life every time. Moreover, this Exemption Token was transferable. If he didn’t use it himself, he could exchange it for some good items with other apostles later.

Exempting execution punishment or promotion failure punishment – no matter how you thought about it, this couldn’t be an ordinary treasure, right?

As soon as Qin Lun made his choice, he felt a powerful force binding him. It was as if an invisible giant hand held him in its palm, immersing him in a cool aura.

Feeling the comfort penetrating his soul, Qin Lun immediately understood this should be the Law Body attribute upgrade he obtained. He didn’t choose percentage increase. When his strength was too weak, obviously fixed amount increase was more suitable for him.

At this moment, in the Boundary Dimension leading to the Shattered Starry Sky, specks of orange-yellow light swarmed into Qin Lun’s small glowing figure, rapidly transforming his Apostle Soul Mark. This was the foundation for constructing the Law Body.

In the Storage Space of the Death Notice, an ancient parchment scroll and a cluster of Dark Gold light suddenly appeared. As for the Contribution Points, Shattered Crystals, and 500-point Exchange Voucher, they appeared as virtual currency in the Death Notice list.

Regarding the Exchange Voucher, Qin Lun had also inquired. It was essentially a non-cumulative and non-splittable discount voucher for exchanged items. Somewhat similar to the Gold Evaluation Card, it exempted some exchange restrictions for lower-level items, including certain expensive equipment materials and recovery medicines.

In a way, it was much more practical than the Gold Evaluation Card; it’s just that 500 points was too little.

“Apostle 70053, you have passed through a Low Magic World of the Steam Era and completed the first Otherworld Mission assigned by the Shattered Starry Sky. Exchange items with technology lower than the first technological revolution and belonging to low-level magical worlds in the exchange list are all now available to you. You can check the item details in the Death Notice after returning to the Shattered Starry Sky!”

“Apostle 70053, you possess 35 Shattered Starry Sky Contribution Points, satisfying the 8th law of the Shattered Starry Sky. The Law Title system is now activated. The title systems currently available to you in the Shattered Starry Sky are divided into four tiers and twenty levels. You currently belong to the first tier, second level apostle. For details, please check in the Death Notice after returning!”

“Otherworld Mission settlement complete. Current apostle remaining apostle currency: 13800 Shattered Crystals, 500-point Exchange Voucher, 35 Contribution Points. Obtained one intermediate summoning skill. The profession advancement system has not been unlocked yet.

Storage Space remaining: 22 Soul Power Crystals, Dagger of Sin (Life-Taking Relic), Maiar Crystal Ball (special item), Wind Spirit Crossbow (Blue Spiritual Equipment), three Vine Seeds (Blue Quality consumables), Gargoyle Core, ten Moonlight Grass, one pair of Magic Eyes, one portion of Golden Silkworm Dust, Exemption Token, one unactivated Dark Gold equipment, and one intermediate profession scroll.”

Of the three items Mafa gave him before entering the world, only the World Tree Dew was ultimately used.

The battles Qin Lun participated in were very brief. Due to body attribute limitations and opponents’ rapid movement, he almost couldn’t use the Wind Spirit Crossbow which required aiming to attack. As for the Vine Seeds, they couldn’t be taken out of the Storage Space at all due to law restrictions.

“Hint: Apostle 70053, returning to Shattered Starry Sky in 10 seconds. Countdown beginning…”