Chapter 667: Section 454: The Shadow Under the Sea
The moment he received the inheritance of the Desecration Priest, Cang Xu was filled with immense gratitude toward the ship ghost.
The ship ghost, a disciple of the founder You Can, showed the responsibility of the Undead Orthodoxy at a critical moment. He took the risk of spreading high-level Soul Vein inheritance, violating principles just to improve the survival odds of the Undead Mages.
Apart from gratitude, it was intense surprise.
Cang Xu had never imagined that he would obtain the inheritance of the Desecration Priest under such circumstances!
According to his earlier estimate, the method of producing the Soul Crystal was in the middle-level Soul Vein inheritance, while the contents of the Desecration Priest’s inheritance belonged to the high-level Soul Vein inheritance.
Based on the principles previously demonstrated by the ship ghost, to receive the middle-level Soul Vein inheritance, Cang Xu would first need to display sufficient talent. Then he must complete certain tasks to prove his loyalty. Only then could he be accepted by the Undead Orthodoxy. Of course, this would inevitably involve undergoing extensive secret investigation.
Cang Xu couldn’t even meet the first condition.
Even if he did, it would definitely be a long-term grand plan. It would cost Cang Xu enormous manpower, resources, and time.
Beyond that, there were risks.
Because Cang Xu couldn’t possibly join the Undead Orthodoxy using his real identity. The secrets and interests of Mysterious Monster Island were far more significant than the middle and high-level Soul Vein inheritances.
And more urgent, urgent enough to involve Cang Xu’s own life.
Under these circumstances, Cang Xu unexpectedly obtained part of the Desecration Priest’s inheritance, which was enough to make him thrilled.
After imparting the inheritance knowledge to everyone, the ship ghost dissolved the gathering.
Cang Xu returned to his dwelling.
This was a temporary shelter, hastily made from corals, similar to the ship ghost’s dwelling.
Cang Xu sighed repeatedly.
“Fate really is unpredictable. I didn’t get my hands on the middle-level Soul Vein inheritance, but I did preemptively obtain a part of the high-level inheritance knowledge. It’s just…”
Cang Xu’s face slightly darkened.
The earlier gratitude and surprise had largely faded.
The pressure of survival confronted him head-on.
Today, Cang Xu witnessed a unique Blood Sacrifice. He also confirmed some information at the small gathering of Undead Mages, learning part of the truth about the nest ocean.
Cang Xu lacked confidence in changing his faith.
“Currently, it seems the greatest hope for survival lies in fabricating memories, making myself into a Desecration Priest and deceiving Mei Lan and Zhou Zhang among others.”
“But now the key question is—what are the ship ghost’s true intentions?”
Having served as a noble housekeeper for many years, Cang Xu had seen too many conspiracies and schemes; he usually pondered questions by instinctively assuming the worst of people.
The previous battle at the Nether River had also left a deep impression on Cang Xu.
In that battle, the ship ghost used Cang Xu, generously lending out the Spellbook Supplement. Then, using the Spellbook Supplement, he forged his own life breath. Without Cang Xu’s knowledge, Cang Xu was disguised as him, leading to the Gold Level assassin Wei Ying mistaking him. Wei Ying attacked Cang Xu, and had the Dragon-man youth not given Cang Xu a Death Replacement Puppet in advance, Cang Xu would have died.
Not only Cang Xu but the Little Prince was also used by the ship ghost as bait during the subsequent battles, luring out Wei Ying once again.
However, this time, the ship ghost was much more covert, and the Little Prince did not realize it afterward.
But Cang Xu deeply engraved this experience and lesson in his heart.
Cang Xu pondered, growing more doubtful.
“I previously asked the ship ghost for a middle-level inheritance, and he adhered to his principles, showing a strong determination to defend them. Why has he suddenly abandoned those principles and even voluntarily taught high-level inheritance to outsiders?”
“In the face of a survival crisis, the ship ghost would do everything possible to preserve himself, using the people around him as pawns and sacrifices.”
“Now, under these circumstances, his voluntary teaching of the Desecration Priest’s rites is highly suspicious!”
The ship ghost’s behavior was quite unreasonable.
Any believer would detest the Desecration Priest, evident from the public conversation between Zhou Zhang and the ship ghost on the day they were escorted to the Golden Altar.
This loathing and hatred were deep-seated.
Now that the ship ghost was actively teaching the rites of the Desecration Priest, if Zhou Zhang and others discovered this, his fate would be miserable—possibly even executed on the spot!
“Is he really willing to take such a risk just to increase other people’s chances of survival?” Cang Xu shook his head inwardly.
This was clearly impossible!
Cang Xu harbored grave doubts about the security of this part of the inheritance in his mind.
With these doubts, he sat cross-legged on the sandy ground, eyes slightly closed, and began to study silently.
Shortly afterward, he slowly opened his eyes. His doubts were not clarified, yet he could not conceal his joy.
It was the joy of learning the truth.
“It turns out that the core of the Desecration Priest still revolves around the transformation of the soul.”
The Desecration Priest could conceal their actions from gods because of a breakthrough in a key technology—memory transformation.
The Undead Mages crafted themselves as devout believers by forging their own memories.
They thoroughly convinced themselves, thereby deceiving the gods into mistaking the Undead Mages as their most devout or fanatical believers, often bestowing Divine Blessings generously.
The essence of memory transformation was actually about soul transformation technology.
“The basic inheritance of the undead’s Soul Vein includes the Soul Summoning Technique, which can transform the spirits of the recently deceased on the spot into ghosts.”
“In the low-level inheritance of the Soul Vein, there are techniques to transform these ghosts into various forms. In addition, there are techniques like the Reduction Technique and the Reduction Technique! These two spells are the core of the low-level inheritance and target the soul of the Undead Mage themselves.”
“In the middle-level inheritance of the Soul Vein, there are included methods to manufacture soul crystals. This unique artificial resource is clearly a major achievement gleaned from in-depth soul research. Soul Crystals are the pure essence of memoryless souls, indicating that You Can had already mastered ways to completely erase memories at that time.”
“And at the high-level inheritance, Undead Mages’ capability to transform their own souls became much more profound. Mages could perform exquisitely delicate operations on their own souls. They could directly forge memories and implant them onto themselves. This laid the technical foundation for deceiving the gods.”
“Thus, the gods’ method of discerning believers is based on the soul. They should be able to peer into the believers’ memories to use them as proof. By forging memories, the Undead Mages essentially tamper with their souls, altering the proof and thus fooling the gods. No wonder… the Undead Mages are targeted by almost all forces, becoming outcasts!”
Basic Soul Summoning Technique, Low-level Ghost Transformation Skill, Reduction Technique, and the Middle-level Soul Crystal Technology, High-level Memory Forge Technology…
By now, Cang Xu had completely grasped the main lineage of the Soul Vein inheritance!
“This must have been the steps and development context researched by Ancestor You Can in the field of souls.”
“What an earth-shattering talent this is.”
Cang Xu caught a glimpse through a narrow slit, and at that moment, he deeply felt the marvelous talent of Ancestor You Can. It made him feel as small as an ant gazing up at a giant.
Cang Xu tried using his spiritual power to secretly transform his own soul.
“Just as the ship ghost previously said, it is indeed possible to transform secretly. In this aspect, the Undead, as a new faction, still hold an advantage.”
Cang Xu’s brow furrowed slightly because he also felt restrictions and confinement.
Clearly, while the method of disguising memories was not completely blocked, it was still heavily affected by external restrictions.
“But, directly transforming one’s own soul… even if one acquires forged memories, there is a significant downside.”
The ship ghost had explained this downside quite clearly.
That would be memory confusion.
If the forged memories are overly realistic, it can easily lead to the Undead Mage misjudging their own identity, which can even lead the Undead Mage to fail to recognize themselves or fully believe in the false memories, denying their true selves.
To solve this issue, Ancestor You Can developed the Memory Switching Technique.
The Memory Switching Technique was also one of the most crucial components within the high-level inheritance knowledge that Cang Xu had acquired.
When using the Memory Switching Technique, the mage can block or activate the forged memories.
When the forged memories are activated, the Undead Mage truly believes they are the person fabricated, thus ensuring the purity of their faith and increasing the success rate of deceiving the gods.
When turning off the forged memories, the Undead Mage immediately recalls their true identity, greatly ensuring correct self-awareness.
What disappointed Cang Xu was that the part of the inheritance given by the ship ghost did not involve the Memory Crystal Manufacturing Device.
Cang Xu pondered to himself, “Transforming memories can be applied directly to oneself and can also affect other targets. The Memory Crystal Manufacturing Device is the related tool; if used, the memory transformation would be more convenient, faster, and more accurate.”
“It’s just like initially when you eat with your hands. After inventing cutlery, handling foods like steak becomes much more convenient and efficient.”
“Then, there’s still that critical issue!”
“What exactly is the hidden danger in this inheritance content? What trick did the ship ghost play?”
Cang Xu could be certain that the ship ghost definitely had its own motives.
The situation was very serious.
Zhou Zhang’s intention was apparently clear, and Cang Xu did not believe he could successfully convert his faith.
Even though he had received the high-level inheritance, Cang Xu dared not blindly transform his own memories. Before discovering what trick the ship ghost had played, the training he actively pursued did not increase his chances of survival but rather the ship ghost’s.
“Once again, we come to a life-and-death moment…”
Cang Xu sighed.
The experiences on Mysterious Monster Island had enabled him to withstand such enormous survival pressures and still maintain inner calm.
Yet, this calm could not change the current situation, nor could it help him break through this desperate predicament.
“What other methods are there that might give me a chance to be rescued?”
“Wait for the Twelve Saints such as the ‘Shattered Corpse Surgeon’ to rescue?”
“Ba Qi and the Sea Snake Lady are members of Firebeard’s pirate group; perhaps they have reinforcements?”
“No, these are not reliable…”
Cang Xu thought hard but only came up with one idea.
That was the secret of Mysterious Monster Island!
It involves a Divine Artifact, especially the ‘Mermaid’s Fairy Tale,’ which is the main Divine Artifact of the Mei Lan God. Just revealing this secret would surely entice Zhou Zhang, thereby temporarily preserving Cang Xu’s life.
“Additionally, there is… the Blood Core!”
The secret of the Blood Core would captivate the whole world should it be exposed. About this, Cang Xu was absolutely certain.
“I, I could use these secrets in exchange for my life…”
The thought had barely formed when Cang Xu immediately quashed it.
Magic flames flourished underwater, blending with the light from the Gold altar and streaming through the makeshift shelter, casting light on Cang Xu’s back.
His shadow wavered on the ocean floor sand with the fluctuations of the magic flames.
As his shadow swayed, the thought that Cang Xu had just quashed resurfaced.
“Use these secrets to exchange for a chance at life?”
He quashed the thought again.
But soon, the same idea, like the shadow cast by his own figure on the sandy floor, rekindled once more.
Quashing and re-emerging, quashing and re-emerging…
This cycle repeated several times, each time the idea grew stronger and soon filled his mind, occupying all his thoughts!
At the same time, the image of the Dragon-man youth also appeared in his mind.
In an instant, the previous thought vanished without a trace.
But in the next moment, the thought reemerged and began to grow quickly.
It was no longer suppressible.