Su Xiao surveyed the body of the vengeful monk on the ground. No matter how he looked at it, he felt that this thing's 'style' differed from that of the Holy Grail world.
Not just this vengeful monk, but even the gate of the Durdin Monastery in the distance gave him a sense of incongruity. Could it be that the Durdin Monastery had been taken over by a group of 'monks'?
Su Xiao felt that this possibility was unlikely. The main forces in the Holy Grail world were the Church and the Mage Association. The likelihood of 'foreign forces' like 'monks' taking over the Durdin Monastery wasn't very high.
Thinking about this, Su Xiao suddenly realised that his thinking might have entered a misconception.
Firstly, this vengeful monk's fighting style wasn't that of a monk but more akin to a biological mutation style, like an exoskeleton bursting out of the body.
Moreover, when Su Xiao examined the information about the 'vengeful monk,' he noticed a piece of information: Life Assimilation Level of 30%. That was the key, rather than the identity of the vengeful monk.
With too little information at hand, the situation inside the Durdin Monastery could only be confirmed by infiltrating it.
Concealing the body of the vengeful monk on the ground, Su Xiao advanced towards the mountain through the trees beside the mountain path.
The surroundings were tranquil along the way. Ten minutes later, Su Xiao arrived near the main gate of the Durdin Monastery.
Entering through the main gate wasn't a wise choice, but upon reaching the vicinity of the main entrance, he realised that the two golden 'lanterns' he had seen earlier were not lanterns at all. He had been misled by the scene of the monastery, compounded by the dim light and the distance.
There were two door lamps in front of the Durdin Monastery gate, emitting a golden light due to their golden lampshades. The sense of sanctity was entirely an illusion.
At this moment, the Durdin Monastery gate was tightly closed, with no guards in front of it. Even so, Su Xiao didn't plan to get closer. He had a vague feeling that if he got closer now, he would be detected by the enemy. There was likely to be some kind of alarm mechanism or barrier near the gate.
Su Xiao's goal was to complete the talent awakening task. It was best to secretly infiltrate without alerting the enemy, but the likelihood of that was slim. He might have to fight his way in. Otherwise, the task wouldn't be this difficult.
Moreover, if he were to infiltrate secretly, no one was better at it than Bubu Wang. Unfortunately, a Level 21 difficulty task would likely involve combat with the enemy.
Su Xiao bypassed the front gate and began moving along the Durdin Monastery's perimeter wall. After walking a distance along the wall, he heard voices coming from within.
"Kill... kill me, I beg you..."
The voice was feeble, as if it could vanish in the next second.
"Kill you? That's not going to happen. You can't die until you enter the Pool of Eternity. Kekeke."
"Tender flesh and blood, I really hope..."
"Get your claws off; this human is the nourishment for the Pool of Eternity."
Argumentative voices came through. Su Xiao pressed his foot against the ground and clung to the outer side of the monastery wall, with only half of his head peeking over the wall.
After seeing the scene clearly, Su Xiao's pupils contracted, and he instinctively pulled his head back behind the wall.
The scene behind the wall was somewhat terrifying at the moment, not because Su Xiao was frightened by it, but because there were too many enemies.
Behind the wall was an open courtyard, and over a hundred people were in the courtyard, all shirtless and busy on the open ground.
From their demeanour and appearance, there were commoners, merchants, and perhaps other professions among these people. They had different appearances and varied physiques, but they had one common feature: their heads were covered in red 'scar rings,' just like the 'scar rings' on the vengeful monk from earlier.
If you looked closely, you'd find those weren't scar rings. Their scalps were often pierced from the inside, naturally forming these red scars, similar to the principle of piercing ears.
The situation inside the Durdin Monastery differed from what Su Xiao had anticipated. It wasn't a large group of monks. As deduced from the heavily worn fabric on his knees, the young monk he had encountered earlier was probably an ascetic monk.
How could a regularly prostrating, polite ascetic monk become a so-called vengeful monk?
After seeing the current situation clearly, Su Xiao knew what was happening. Not just the ascetic monk but also the over a hundred enemies on the open ground were probably transformed from ordinary people.
From their actions and gazes, they weren't losing their sanity or being controlled; they had already accepted their current appearance.
These shirtless people were busy on the open ground. Several large iron cages were placed on the courtyard's edge, containing dozens of ordinary people who looked fearful and were trembling slightly.
These ordinary people didn't shout or beg in vain. Some women tightly covered their mouths, silently weeping. This reaction only emerged after witnessing an extremely terrifying scene. They had lost the courage even to cry out loud.
In the centre of the courtyard was a magic circle. This magic circle was quite unique, not drawn with dye or blood but outlined with a white powder.
The Durdin Monastery had a lot of magical energy underground; this white powder could draw out the underground magic energy and form a magic circle.
The magic circle was circular, with a diameter of about five meters. Due to the abundant supply of magic energy, the magic process appeared very three-dimensional.
Su Xiao used the Apostle's Eye to check the information of a middle-aged shirtless man to confirm his earlier conjecture.
[Comparing both parties' intelligence attributes... Comparison complete, our intelligence is twice that of the enemy, obtaining 100% of the enemy's information.]
The information was as follows:
Name: Resentful Attendant (Life Assimilation Level 25%)
Category: Humanoid Creature (Intelligent Being)
Health: 100%
Mana: 300/300
Strength: 39
Agility: 43
Endurance: 53
Intelligence: 30
Charisma: 4
Skill 1: Evil Belief (Passive LV.10): +200 health, +5 willpower.
Skill 2: Bone Emission (Passive LV.10): Can emit bones locally, +7 defence.
Skill 3: Life Assimilation (Active LV.18): Can increase 'Life Assimilation Level' and restore health by devouring flesh and blood. When the 'Life Assimilation Level' reaches 100%, the resentful attendant will evolve.
...
Indeed, it was similar to Su Xiao's speculation. Monks didn't occupy the Durdin Monastery. 'Life Assimilation Level' was the key to transforming these resentful creatures.
And now, Su Xiao was witnessing this transformation process.
Several resentful attendants walked to the iron cages where the ordinary people were being held, desire clear in their eyes. They desired the flesh and blood of these humans, and for some unknown reason, they restrained this desire.
Squeak~
The rusty and blood-stained iron cage doors were opened, and the ordinary people imprisoned inside the cages started moving toward the interior of the cages like frightened livestock.
A resentful attendant walked into an iron cage, surveying the corner where these ordinary people were hiding. Among them were blue-collar workers and charming nightclub women.
"This one, this one, and this one."
The resentful attendant pointed to three ordinary people. The calves of those three individuals started trembling, their lips turning blue. It was clear they were heavily frightened.
"Don't... don't pick me. My son is waiting for me at home. He can't be without me, and he can't."
A despair-filled young white-collar worker finally couldn't bear the fear in his heart, shouting loudly and tightly grabbing onto the iron bars in the corner of the cage.
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