Chapter 1451: Becoming An Asura God
After I caught my footing, I immediately postured myself to dive back into the Abyss.
"No!"
However, a woman slammed into me before I could do anything and pinned me against the wall. It was Karinshan holding me down and rebuking me loudly, "Have you gone insane? No living person has ever entered the Abyss of Death and came out alive. Don’t you understand?"
My knees gave, and my sword clattered beside my feet. I murmured, "I… I must rescue Xinran from the Purgatory no matter what. Tell me… tell me how I can enter the Purgatory. What must I do to see her again?"
Karinshan stared blankly at me as she murmured back, "I don’t know either…"
Rustle rustle…
I heard a pair of boots walking up to me and the occasional splash of blood. It was Sophie pressing against the bleeding wound on her chest. She said, "If Xinran manages to survive Lin Na’s subordinates, you may just be able to see her again. A mere mortal won’t be able to enter the Purgatory plane, however."
I shot her a confused look. "What do you mean, a mortal won’t be able to get in?"
Sophie said, "A mortal simply cannot endure the winds of the Purgatory. The mere brush against it will burn them to ashes. That is why you must ascend and become a god before you enter the Purgatory and seek out Xinran. In other words, you must become a god before you are qualified to search for her. In your case, you will need to evolve into an Asura God…"
I nodded. "I understand…"
……
When I finally rose back to my feet, the vortex that led to the Abyss of Death had already disappeared. All it left behind was a bottomless hole and the remains of the dead.
I pointed my palm toward a pair of undead soul sparks. One of them belonged to Mingyu, and another to the Great Saint. They should be enough to make me an Asura God, right?
Buzz buzz…
The moment the siphoning began, what felt like an unimaginable amount of death energy immediately seeped into my body. For a second, I actually thought that I might just explode like a balloon. It was that immense.
It was worth it though. Before I knew it, my racial progress bar had skyrocketed from 72% all the way to 90%. Not only that, it was still ascending at an incredible rate. My heart nearly stopped. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind earlier, but now I couldn’t help but wonder if I was going to become an Asura God right here and now!
I was right. The moment the progress bar was completely filled, I immediately received a number of system notices—
Ding~!
System Notice: Congratulations, you have evolved to become an Asura God (Basic God) and obtained the skills: Divine Deterrence, Unusual Physique and Murderous Intent!
……
My eyes widened. I immediately opened my skill window to check them out. Three golden skill icons immediately entered my view, but they were dimmed for some reason. It meant that I hadn’t met a certain requirement and wouldn’t be able to use them—
Divine Deterrence: Afflict divine intimidation to all non-divine undead within 100 yards, lowering their stats by 40%. Skill Requirement: User must possess Divinity, 100 Luck, and be at Level 250.
Unusual Physique: Activates divine power to protect oneself. Greatly reduces damage received and negates weak attacks completely. Skill Requirement: User must possess Divinity, 100 Luck, and be at Level 250.
Murderous Intent: By injecting the power of the Asura God into your weapon, greatly increases its attack damage and gives it the ability "Undead Deterrence”. Skill Requirement: User must possess Divinity, 100 Luck, and be at Level 250.
……
For a time, I simply stared at my three new skills. All of them were incredibly useful and indispensable on my quest to search for Xinran. Divine Deterrence directly reduced the enemy’s power, Unusual Physique increased my survivability, and Murderous Intent greatly increased my killing power. Yes, I couldn’t go without a single one of them!
Its requirements were just as stringent, however. First, I must be at Level 250. Second, I must be at 100 Luck. I met both the stat requirements, but this Divinity thing didn’t make sense to me. I am an Asura God now, right? How can I be a god and not have a Divinity to speak of?
Noticing my hesitation, Sophie asked, "Have you become an Asura God?"
I nodded affirmatively. "Mn. However, I don’t seem to possess a Divinity. Why’s that?"
Sophie looked surprised. "That’s strange. When Xinran and I became Asura Gods, our bodies produced Divinity on their own. Perhaps your constitution is different from ours? Normally, this shouldn’t be happening. Regardless, this is still very good news. The Purgatory has existed for tens of thousands of years, but only 26 Asura Gods have ever been born during this time. You are the 27th."
I grimaced. "Does that mean that there are 27 Divine Rank guardians in the Purgatory?"[1]
Sophie shook her head smilingly. "Not anymore. Most of the Asura Gods had either been killed or exiled in their own wars. Even if you include Lin Na, there are less than 10 divine or lord guardians in the entire Purgatory. That is why there is yet a sliver of hope for you to find Xinran."
I hummed. "How the hell do I get a Divinity though?"
Even now, deep pain was wracking my heart. I sank onto the ice floor once more and glanced at the vanished entrance to Abyss of Death with deep regret. I regretted being so powerless that I couldn’t keep Xinran company until my dying end. I regretted not being able to be there for her and share at least some of her pain and terror.
Karinshan rose to her feet and put a hand on my shoulder. She said quietly, "I know you share a deep bond with Lady Wind Singer, but to be honest with you, her chances of surviving after plunging into the Purgatory with that devil, Lin Na, are… low to say the least. That is why I would rather you stayed in the human realms than enter the Purgatory after her. If you continue to hone your powers in the human realms, you will surely become a champion general of the empire at the very least. But if you enter the Purgatory…"
I looked up and shot Karinshan a smile. "Princess, I must enter the Purgatory no matter what. Otherwise, I will never be able to face myself, and I will be tormented by this pain for as long as I live. And I would rather die than suffer that fate."
Karinshan smiled a little. "I knew you would say that. Well, good luck. Don’t hesitate to ask for my help if you need anything. Lady Binglan and I will do everything in our power to help you!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Binglan!" I nodded at both women.
A short distance away, Binglan gave me a nod while clutching her injured arm. "Mn. Xinran is brave, and so are you. You are both the protectors and pride of humanity. I promise to do everything in my power to find a way to save her just like you!"
"Mn. Thank you!"
……
I rose to my feet once more and stepped toward He Yi, Lin Yixin, Li Chengfeng, Stranger of Three Lifetimes and everyone else. Most of them simply watched me in silence and companionship, not daring to say even a word. They knew what a huge blow it was to me to lose Xinran in the fashion it did. She might only be an NPC and a bunch of data, but it was undeniable that I had developed a deep love for her.
"Are you okay, Little Cheat?" Lin Yixin asked softly. It was as if she was afraid that I would be angry if she spoke too loudly.
I forced a smile onto my face and patted her delicate shoulder gently. "Of course I’m okay. Don’t worry, Yiyi. Xinran may have fallen into the Purgatory with Lin Na, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she is dead. Speaking of which, it looks like I’ll be grinding levels and equipment harder than ever before. The sooner I prepare myself, the earlier I’ll be able to enter the Purgatory and not get knocked out prematurely by all the obstacles and bosses that are sure to stand in my way…"
Beiming Xue held my arm and shot me a smile. "Thank goodness you can think this way, big bro. This is how you should be…"
I nodded but didn’t say anything.
Noticing that I was still feeling down, Gui Guzi offered, "How about Li and I follow you to the Purgatory as well, Boss Broken Halberd? We are brothers after all. We live and die together!"
I smiled. "While I wouldn’t mind dragging the two of you down with me, you all heard what Sophie said earlier. To enter the Purgatory plane, you must first possess the power of a god. I have already evolved to become an Asura God, but one of you is a dragon warrior, and the other, an undying knight… you would be air-dried by the winds of the Purgatory before you even got inside. If you want imagery, just imagine a grape turning into a raisin, but it’s your corpse…"
The corners of Li Chengfeng’s mouth twitched. "Yeah, I think we’ll grind on the continent while you have fun down there. We’ll wait for you and Xinran to come back!"
I nodded. "That’s more like it!"
……
He Yi was a careful woman. She held my hand smilingly and didn’t say a word about Xinran. She simply stared at the ruins around us and commented, "Now that I think about it, we took out nearly all of the bosses of this event, and Sainthelm Ruins itself have turned into rubble. The event should be over, and the rewards should have been announced already, right? But there’s still nothing…"
I replied, "Who knows? They might have set a delay…"
Speak of the devil, a system announcement hit us all right at that moment—
Ding!
System Announcement: Congratulations to all players for successfully completing the March of Chaos event! Moving on, the storyline will enter the phase where the Purgatory Legion attacks the human cities. Due to the power of the Purgatory Ruler increasing, all factions aligned with the Purgatory Legion have gained an incredible amount of power. The human main cities will fall one after another, and all players will eventually become unaffiliated. During that time, please seek out a supply spot on your own and wait for the system to announce the right time to retake the main cities. The event is now officially over, and all rewards will be distributed in five minutes!
……
"What the fuck? We’re going to lose our main city?" Gui Guzi’s eyes widened like saucers. "After everything we did to protect Sky City, we’re going to lose it because of some storyline? Come on!"
He Yi nodded. "Yeah. It looks like we’ll be working together with the NPC legions to retake the main cities. The undead defenders are going to be super powerful though. This is the system testing our power!"
I curled my lips. "Well, good luck and grind hard. I’ll probably have reached the Purgatory when that happens, so I won’t be participating in that event. I wonder which of the Twelve Divine Armaments the system is going to reward me in five minutes?"
Lin Xixin giggled. "I hope you get the Axe of Pangu!"
I shook my head. "It’s the weapon after my Chill of the Nine Provinces, you know. I highly doubt I’ll get it even with my contribution points. Also, who in the guild can even use it? Chengfeng uses swords and spears, and sister Yi is the same. The only one among us who’s good at axes is High Fighting Spirits, but I’m willing to bet money that Farewell Song will shadow him everyday if we give it to him…"
Murong Mingyue chuckled. "Yeah. Anyway, let’s wait here until the rewards are announced, shall we?"
"Mn!"
1. T/N: what is this stupid question? You’re counting Sophie and Xinran too? ☜
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