In his mind, many heroic figures began to flash. Although Mo Chuan knew he could probably only fuse with the old six from the Ruined Legion, a stronger one would be great!
"King of Jesters is fine, Dragon Girl is fine, if not, then a Centaur..." Mo Chuan closed his eyes tightly, clasped his hands together, and prayed mumblingly.
"My pilgrimage has begun."
A deep voice, calm yet magnetic, sounded in Mo Chuan's mind.
"Holy crap..." Mo Chuan's eyes widened. "The Karthus?!"
"Congratulations to the host for fusing with the hero: Karthus, the Deathsinger. Skills have undergone system modification, and the passive skill: Death Pact (Modified) has been obtained.
Death Pact: Karthus can sign a death pact with the living. The living gain a 10% boost to your base attributes. For every person who dies under your pact, you will permanently gain 50% of their base attributes."
"Uh... why do I feel like I'm becoming more and more like a villain..." Mo Chuan recalled the scene and frowned. "When I activated [Curse of the Tomb], my thoughts and habits also started to shift towards Thresh. Cruel thoughts that I didn't have before have now filled my mind... No, I need to be careful about how long I activate this skill in the future."
Mo Chuan examined his current skills: Curse of the Tomb, Corpse Flower, Death Pact, Death Sentence, Dark Passage, Flay, and The Box.
"Hmm... First, upgrade Curse of the Tomb. I've painstakingly stacked over two hundred and sixty levels, so the benefits should be considerable. System, enhance [Curse of the Tomb]."
"Ding! Enhancement successful!
Curse of the Tomb (+1): Thresh can harvest the souls of enemies who die near him, providing him with 1.5 armor and 1.5 magic power. It also increases the shield strength of [Dark Passage] and the minimum amount of [Flay] (passive) by 2.
All targets will drop 1 soul. Spectral creatures and other soul-type targets have a 66% chance to drop 3 souls. Your damage to soul-type targets increases by 15%.
Curse of the Tomb (+1) (Active): Gain partial characteristics of Thresh (clothing, eyes, ethereal aura) and the full value of abilities when activated (normally, the passive bonus of Curse of the Tomb is only 25%). Reduce incoming physical damage by 20%."
"Huh? This enhancement just doubled it for me?!" Mo Chuan was stunned. "Check panel."
"Host: Mo Chuan
Age: 18
Awakened Object: Ruined Gate ([Warden] / [Priest])
Attack Power: 63
Armor: 428.5 (31+397.5)
Magic Power: 414.5 (17+397.5)
Magic Resistance: 41 (26+15)
Status: Good
Curse of the Tomb: 265 stacks
Corpse Flower: 5 stacks
Level: 4 (19%)
Gold: 50
Equipment: Tear of the Goddess, Corrupting Potion, Null-Magic Mantle
Skills: Curse of the Tomb (+1), Corpse Flower, Death Pact, Death Sentence, Dark Passage, Flay, The Box."
"Damn... Even without activating Curse of the Tomb now, my armor is over 100..."
Before Mo Chuan had the active skill for [Curse of the Tomb], he only had sixty to seventy points of armor in normal times. Even so, he could withstand Teacher Su's physical techniques with his body. Now, even ordinary firearms and explosives might have trouble harming Mo Chuan.
"Okay, I'm rich this time. I need to go back quickly and see if Mo Fei has woken up."
Regarding the five deceased individuals from Linfen, Mo Chuan expressed no regret or discomfort. Firstly, all five of them were trying to kill Mo Chuan. Should he show mercy just because they failed? Judging by the appearances of Xu Ziru and Ye Shaolong, Mo Chuan believed this was unlikely.
Furthermore, their greatest offense was touching Mo Chuan's taboo, Mo Fei. In Mo Chuan's opinion, if he had the means, he could be even more terrifying than Thresh.
...
The first day of the assessment quickly passed.
Night
Mo Chuan and the other four were staying in simple tents made of plant fibers, dry grass, vines, and branches, which effectively insulated them from moisture. Adding a small amount of oily and moist leaves to the faint bonfire could effectively repel mosquitoes and insects.
The five of them faced the bonfire, silently eating grilled fish, all refraining from mentioning what happened at noon.
He Lanxin was relatively calm because she often sparred with Mo Chuan in physical training and was very aware of his monstrous defense and strange offensive methods. Although she didn't object to Mo Chuan killing, she was still somewhat puzzled: Where did Mo Chuan, who had probably only killed chickens before, get such killing intent and psychological resilience? Killing people is not like killing chickens!
Tang Jingjing was a bit surprised. She felt that although Mo Chuan had good combat power, he had always been measured by support standards. However, judging by today's events, Mo Chuan's combat power seemed to be on par with hers, even catching up to Lan Xin Jie. She herself would have a hard time dealing with two of those five people, let alone killing them one by one.
Zhang Hanshan didn't feel much. He usually sparred with Mo Chuan the most and understood his strength the best. Even though he witnessed the entire process of Mo Chuan falling into a trap and counter-killing, he felt more guilt than surprise, as he hadn't been of much help, and Mo Fei's injury was also his responsibility.
Mo Fei had recovered from her injuries but still used them as an excuse to lie in Mo Chuan's arms, taking small bites of the grilled fish meat that Mo Chuan fed her.
Mo Chuan looked helplessly at Mo Fei clinging to him, but there was nothing he could do – she was his sister, if he didn't dote on her, who would?
After a long while, He Lanxin was the first to break the silence: "We have already killed two demonic beasts. Although this incident happened today, while we are fortunate, we should also sound the alarm. We need to guard not only against demonic beasts here but also against humans. The former are open attacks, easy to dodge; the latter are hidden arrows, difficult to guard against."
He Lanxin extinguished the bonfire and said slowly, "Tomorrow, we must kill at least four more demonic beasts. Everyone should get some good rest. I'll take the first watch tonight, and Mo Chuan will take the second half. Any questions?"
Seeing that everyone had no objections, He Lanxin stood up, stretched her long legs, and a few steps later ascended a branch, silently scanning the surroundings in the darkness of the treetop.
...
Night fell to the third watch.
After everyone had gone to rest, Mo Fei opened her eyes. Under the faint moonlight, she quietly moved closer to Mo Chuan's direction. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she moved even closer.
"Tonight is a good opportunity! Success or failure hinges on this! Take down Brother Wood, Mo Fei, go!"
After quietly cheering herself on, Mo Fei quietly poked Mo Chuan's face with her hand. Seeing no reaction, she chuckled and burrowed into Mo Chuan's embrace.
"Familiar scent~ Familiar warmth~... I'm suddenly so sleepy~ I seem to have forgotten something..." In the familiar embrace of his chest, Mo Fei quickly fell asleep.
Mo Chuan gently opened his eyes, looked at Mo Fei in his arms, and shook his head. He had no choice but to shroud the surroundings with his crow swarm and also closed his eyes.
The moon was as cool as water. The night passed without incident. Kuai Shu Ge.
(PS: I'll briefly explain the general concept of armor values in this world, for fear that you might find it a bit confusing:
Normal person 25, Martial artist 35, Armored soldier 50
Steel bones 60-90, Invulnerable 100-200
Demonic beasts are hard to injure 200-250, ignore weapons below Tier 4 250-270
Ignore all conventional damage below Tier 6 400)