Chapter 699 - 662: The Whole Family Participates in the Crusader Exam
The Sea Soul Staff was actually the Divine Level Fragment of the Sea God!
Now Da Fei finally understood why the Sea Soul Staff was so fierce and greedy. Not only did it indiscriminately absorb the souls of ordinary creatures, but it could also absorb the soul of a God-level creature like the Hydra. Moreover, the more it absorbed, the more it could grow and level up. Only a head-level god like the Sea God could possess such power! However, since it was at the Divine level, could its energy be so easily extracted?
Da Fei asked in surprise, "Can it work if it’s at the Divine Level?"
Sazer nodded seriously, "Under normal circumstances, it’s very difficult. The Divine Level is like a black hole with immense suction power, only taking in without letting out. However, in the current situation, the Divine Level has absorbed too much soul energy, far exceeding its transformation capabilities. The excessive energy with no outlet has caused evolutionary mutations in the Divine Level. It’s hard to say whether such mutations are good or bad. Still, these unstable factors make it feasible for us to extract the saturated energy in the Sea Soul Staff, although this will take some time, so we ask the warrior to wait here for a while."
As long as it could be extracted, it’s good. But did extracting energy mean cleansing the Sea Soul Staff thoroughly? While Da Fei didn’t care about the God-level Sea Soul of the Hydra, he had to consider Deirdre and those Elite Banshees.
Da Fei asked again, "But the Sea Soul Staff absorbed the soul of one of my defeated subordinate heroes and many of the Elite Banshee Army. Will extracting the energy affect them?"
Sazer shook his head, "The principle of the Sea Soul Staff lies in refining or merging powerful souls through the Divine Level, allowing the newly formed souls to serve the Sea God. The lower-level souls that cannot be refined will be transformed into mana. However, a hero’s soul is more noble and pure than any other life’s soul, so the likelihood of it being affected is not great. Rest assured on that, warrior! As for the other souls—"
At this point, Sazer said seriously, "We can’t guarantee the other souls. Our extraction process is akin to accelerating the Sea Soul Staff’s transformation or, in other words, making the Sea Soul Staff even more ruthless. Some souls that could be preserved through gradual transformation might be eliminated during acceleration. In short, only truly strong souls can survive to the end, so please consider this carefully."
Da Fei furrowed his brows. Although he was relieved that Deirdre was okay and had confidence in preserving the souls of powerful entities like the Hydra and Electric Eel, he wasn’t sure about his forty-four little darlings. But at this point, what was there to say? The Sea Soul Staff was already so bloated, so he couldn’t possibly wait a year or two for them to come out safely!
All in all, following Deirdre’s survival rules, he decided to gamble!
Da Fei continued to ask, "Does the Angel Leader have any way to resurrect this hero?"
Sazer smiled wryly, "If the Sea Soul Staff trapped an Angel Hero, I might think of a way, but this hero is clearly from the Demon Race, and I truly am powerless. Besides, under normal circumstances, a hero’s soul shouldn’t be trapped in such a place. This situation is beyond my understanding."
That’s because Deirdre’s soul wasn’t a complete Hero Soul. But Deirdre had already explained her last wishes, claiming that the Demon Contract was indestructible and thus demons wouldn’t die, so there shouldn’t be any problems. All in all, that’s settled.
Da Fei then nodded, "Alright, please extract the energy, Angel Leader!"
Sazer nodded in relief, "Warrior, I will take you to see a place. Please follow me!" As he spoke, a golden magic array appeared on the floor of the hall.
"Please!" Sazer’s figure disappeared.
Da Fei stepped into the array, and the scene changed. Before him was a golden hall filled with swirling specks of magical light. In the middle of the hall was a massive rotating array emitting a faint light, with a giant machine resembling a globe slowly spinning in the center.
While Da Fei was still astonished, Sazer began to speak, "Warrior, this is the inner core of Divine Punishment City. This machine supports the barrier of Divine Punishment City and is also the tool for energy extraction. We failed in the Divine Punishment War ten thousand years ago, so perhaps Divine Punishment City no longer holds strategic value, but this machine must not fall into the hands of demons. We’ve been defending it for ten thousand years, waiting for higher-ups to make arrangements. If Divine Punishment City falls, our first action is to detonate this machine, perishing with Divine Punishment City!"
So this was the energy conversion technology that Ror was so proud of in the Divine Race! Da Fei asked, "What is this machine called?"
Sazer said seriously, "Perpetual Machine!"
Da Fei spat in disbelief! Indeed, a God-level machine, for he remembered that in high school physics, while learning the law of conservation of energy, the textbook specifically denied the existence of a perpetual machine! In the end, mortals truly couldn’t comprehend divine technology.
Sazer continued, "Warrior, get ready. Please place the Sea Soul Staff in the center of the array."
There was nothing more to say, so they began.
—System Prompt: You accept the collection mission "Material Collection of Divine Punishment City" and temporarily transfer the Divine Artifact Sea Soul Staff. Mission rewards will be issued afterward.
With the insertion of the Sea Soul Staff, the previously dim array suddenly brightened, and the Perpetual Machine’s rotation speed began to increase gradually.
Sazer said seriously, "Warrior, for the foreseeable future, I need to fully oversee the operation of the machine, so the daily management of Divine Punishment City is entrusted to Ror. If you have any questions, just ask Ror."
Da Fei nodded, "Understood!"
With a flash of light, the scene changed, and Da Fei found himself back in the hall of Divine Punishment City.
Ror was waiting in the hall, and with a solemn expression, she said, "Warrior, the Angel Leader allowing you to witness the core Perpetual Machine of Divine Punishment City demonstrates immense trust and admiration for you. As long as you work steadfastly, the gates of Heaven’s ladder will open for you. But since the warrior isn’t level 50 yet, you still cannot accept merit tasks. This doesn’t prevent you from gaining reputation here. From now on, you will receive a 10% discount in all stores in Divine Punishment City."
—System Prompt: Your reputation in Divine Punishment City has become "Respectable"!
Wow, that’s respectable now? And the gates of Heaven’s ladder—they themselves were trapped here without seeing the light of day! Da Fei laughed in disbelief, "Miss Ror, I’ve brought many Deputy Officers this time. Could we continue destroying the Sealing Array below the city to allow the Deputy Officers to be promoted to Crusader?"
Ror was taken aback, "Do you have an examination certificate issued by the Holy Court?"
Oh my, knowing the game’s mechanics, who knows how many reputation-fetching tasks it would take to obtain the examination certificate? Da Fei shook his head helplessly, "No."
Ror sighed, "Warrior, the rules of Paradise require strict adherence to procedures. Although I admire you and believe you have the ability, without an examination certificate, we can’t act arbitrarily."
Da Fei anxiously said, "The examination certificate is just a formality, right? With our dire situation and need for strong reinforcements, we need to adapt. Didn’t we flexibly adapt when we took the initiative to rescue Remy last time? It’s not the first time!"
Ror hesitated, "Indeed, under normal circumstances, without an examination certificate issued by the Holy Court, a warrior wouldn’t even be able to use the Holy Court’s Teleportation Array to get here. The examination certificate is both a testament to loyalty and character and a pass for teleportation. But for you to bypass the Holy Court and arrive here, this is truly a first. . ."
Da Fei’s eyebrow jumped, there’s hope! So he hurriedly said, "Miss Ror, there’s no need to assess my loyalty and character, right? In the end, the examination certificate is just a pass, isn’t it? How about this: I take the exam first and then make the examination certificates. I know Archbishop John Paul of Saint Paul City. If I pass the exam, Miss Ror or the Angel Leader can give me a token to take down for a few examination certificates, won’t that be enough?"
This was the strategy of getting on the car before buying a ticket, which had been a God-level skill of Mayor Elorin! This meant the system’s game program supported this gameplay. If a weakly mortal mayor could do it, a beautiful angel definitely should.
At this point, Ror was even more hesitant, "This kind of matter needs to be reported to the Angel Leader... But the Angel Leader can’t be distracted... What should we do..."
When it came down to it, although prestigious, her position was too petty, too lacking in grandeur.
Da Fei sighed silently in his heart and continued, "How about this, doesn’t every examinee with a permit get one chance to activate the barrier? I don’t need the barrier to activate; I’ll just charge down there and fight head-on, is that okay? Actually, my Deputy Officers and I have no qualms and, for the sake of justice, can fight selflessly. But the key is—"
Da Fei pointed at Lady Tachiusu and Billbo, "The key is Lady Tachiusu here, and this little brother Billbo, they are not my Deputy Officers, and they are neither human nor Light believers. We can’t send them to meaningless battles, can we? If they were to ridicule us, and word reached their people, wouldn’t that make our Light God Sect seem too... you know?"
If this couldn’t persuade them, then all Da Fei could do was work selflessly to grind reputation.
Finally, Ror made up her mind, "Warrior, you’re right! Tactics on the battlefield are ever-changing, and we need to adapt as well. So, as you said, follow last time’s examination procedure: destroy one Sealing Array to gain one Crusader spot. But without an examination certificate, you won’t have a barrier, so I’ll serve as your examination guarantor to record your achievements!"
Oh yeah! Success! A true expert makes the impossible possible!
Da Fei joyfully said, "As expected of Miss Ror, I’ll go prepare!"
Now Da Fei approached the Cultural Consultant Arong, handing him the Nightmare Crystal, "We’re about to head into battle. Your task is to draw in the Nightmare Space, on that chessboard, while holding this Nightmare Crystal. It seems this crystal automatically replenishes Nightmare Power. Is there any problem?"
Arong solemnly accepted the crystal, his voice trembling with excitement, "Sir, my brushes have been longing for this!" (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian.com to cast recommendation and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)