Chapter 60: Blood-Fear Revolver

Xia Shou walked into the room and finally found the Gate of Bones in the living room.

Following the instructions in the notebook, he placed his hand upon the Gate of Bones, whereupon a massive influx of information surged into his mind.

He clearly and explicitly learned what Idrisu yearned for: the cure for a rare and incurable disease.

That terminal illness was not the kind where late-stage cancer has metastasized—conditions to which modern medicine has dealt a death sentence, yet still retain a tiny fraction of individual cases that get cured—but rather something far rarer, a disease whose pathogenesis and progression ordinary doctors could not even predict.

One only needed to find such a case and let Idrisu perform "surgery" on the patient, and Idrisu would respond to Xia Shou's request.

The ritual to seal Idrisu was also recorded in great detail within the door, though it was not as clear-cut as the object of desire. Many of the ritual ingredients had names Xia Shou had never even heard of.

For instance, the eyes of the residents of the Flame-Eyed Empire, the shadow of the flightless bird of Iceland, and so on.

There was definitely no way to acquire such things on short notice. Rather than searching for items like those, using the Blood Fiend residue to weaken Idrisu was much more pragmatic.

Xia Shou used his mind to control his shadow, and the stench of blood welled up from the black swamp at his feet.

Then, that fresh liquid, resembling blood that had just spilled, was slowly "spit out" by the shadow. As if drawn by the Gate of Bones before it, it slid smoothly into the cracks of the door.

"Clatter! Clattering! Clattering-clatter-clatter!!!"

As the blood seeped into the crevices, the Gate of Bones began to vibrate and shake violently, emitting an unstable sound as though the monster sealed within might break through the door at any moment!

Xia Shou frowned, alertly taking three steps back to maintain a safe distance and watch how the situation developed.

After a few minutes, the violent tremors gradually subsided and finally returned to peace.

Those same bloodstains seeped out from the door cracks once again, spreading across the floor.

Compared to before entering, however, the color of the blood had dimmed considerably, and that extremely fresh, emotionally agitation-inducing stench of blood had also grown exceptionally faint.

"Looks like it was successfully weakened."

Xia Shou drove the black shadow forward. The blood began to sink slowly into the shadow, and within his field of vision, the devouring progress emerged once more.

[Devouring progress: 0.121%...]

[Devouring progress: 0.122%...]

Xia Shou found himself immobilized once again. Much like reaching the pinnacle of devouring in a desolate place, consuming these "foods" placed tremendous pressure on his shadow.

Just as a python can easily swallow a rat, yet requires a quiet and stable environment when digesting an antelope,

it cannot move flexibly while consuming massive creatures.

Time ticked away second by second, and the rate at which the devouring progress increased was agonizingly slow.

The shadow was devouring, while Xia Shou let his mind wander.

He noticed that this time, the devouring progress actually extended to three decimal places. Did a greater number of decimal places mean higher devouring difficulty?

Xia Shou pondered that the next time the writing in the notebook became clear, he would have to ask if there was any way to increase the shadow's devouring speed.

Facing strong enemies and having the consumption take this long every single time was truly dangerous and highly inconvenient.

How much time had passed? Perhaps two hours, or maybe three.

Following a long, dull period of waiting that was far more despairing than standing at attention during military posture training, the devouring of this residue finally drew to a close.

[Devouring progress: 99.897%...]

[Devouring progress: 99.999%...]

[Devouring progress: 100%...]

It's done!

The drowsy exhaustion in Xia Shou's eyes vanished instantly, lifting his spirits as well.

What kind of skill would he obtain from the Blood Fiend residue that he previously couldn't devour?

It was bound to be an immensely powerful ability!

[Devouring complete. You have acquired the over-limit skill—[Blood-Terror Revolver]]

[Blood-Terror Revolver]

[Description: An elephant can be restrained by a thin iron wire tied to its foot in its youth; a single silver bullet can also become a lifelong trauma for a monster.

The image of this revolver is deeply engraved in the Blood Fiend's mind, and it will never forget the agony of having its bodily fluids baked dry.]

[Category: Armed Skill]

[Over-limit Level: Level 2]

[Effect: Constructs a weapon, the Blood-Terror Revolver, using a small amount of blood. The revolver's bullets require your blood to construct and fill.

The fired bullets will crystallize upon contact with blood, bursting forth in sharp spikes. The bullet's range is thirty meters; within thirty meters, the flight speed is 100M/S without attenuation, while beyond thirty meters, the bullet loses its form and dissipates.

This weapon can be handed over to others for use, with the authority to cancel or maintain it remaining entirely in your control.]

[Cost: As time passes, the arm of the person holding the gun will gradually lose all sensation. Only after the armed skill is dismissed will the lost sensation slowly recover, with the recovery time being double the duration the Blood-Terror Revolver was held.]

[Note 1: When constructing bullets, consuming a certain amount of silver can enhance their power. If corresponding fear can be injected, the power will be fully unleashed.]

[Note 2: You have obtained a memory of the strong. Through prolonged meditation, you can read this memory.]

"Another over-limit skill, and it exceeds the limit by two levels!"

For a Level 1 transcender using a Level 2 over-limit skill, the priority of the supernatural ability's effect could reach Level 3.

If used by a Level 2 transcender, the priority of the effect could reach Level 4.

Although Xia Shou did not know what kind of standing a Level 2 over-limit ability held among transmuters, his intuition told him this should be an extremely powerful and rare capability.

With this thing, even though he was only a Level 1 transcender, he would still be able to trade blows with Level 3 transcenders.

At the very least, if a fight broke out, he would still have a supernatural ability at his disposal.

Xia Shou glanced at the Deep Sea Scale inside his left eye.

After devouring the Blood Fiend's residue, not only did his rate of sinking fail to slow down at all, but Xia Shou even felt it had increased slightly.

"I must fuse the skills quickly; there are simply too many lead weights on my body," Xia Shou muttered with a frown.

"Lord Xia Shou, it is already late in the night. Shouldn't you rest? You have to go to work tomorrow," Alice reminded him from behind.

Xia Shou nodded. "Mm, it is indeed time to rest."

Although he was eager to resolve the issue of having too many skills immediately, the handwriting in the Death Records notebook was still blurred, and impatience wouldn't help.

Better to rest early so as not to affect work tomorrow.

Working under Shangguan Yan, wanting to slack off was out of the question; any slacking behavior would ultimately translate into even heavier exploitation.

Xia Shou walked around the House of Merlin.

He had originally wanted to touch those doors, thinking perhaps those portals might convey some information to him just like the Gate of Bones did.

In the end, however, he dismissed the thought.

Last time at the sanatorium, being whispered to by Idrisu had nearly caused him to lose his mental fortress. What if the "things" inside these doors were just as absurd as Idrisu, brainwashing him and tempting him to open the door?

"Better to just go back to sleep. Curiosity killed the cat," Xia Shou muttered to himself.

Xia Shou returned to the doorway, silently reciting the Control Bureau's restroom in his mind while visualizing the appearance of his dormitory.

Alice opened the door for him, and on the other side of the door was his dorm room.

Before sleeping, Xia Shou had originally wanted to take a shower, but whereas Alice was usually in a dormant state when he showered, this time she was awake.

He simply couldn't bring himself to bathe completely naked in front of his maid, so he ultimately abandoned the pre-sleep shower and climbed onto the upper bunk.

"Lord Xia Shou, good night," Alice whispered gently by his ear.

Xia Shou: "Alice, good night."