Chapter 18
Chapter 18
In the alley, Qin Lan swung his crowbar with all his strength, smashing the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s head again and again.
[Stagger] [Silence] [Stun]
With all three control effects applied, the Slit-Mouthed Woman learned the true meaning of the Holy Sword of Physics.
The skill did limited damage, but its mechanics were formidable.
Its only flaw was the enormous stamina cost. In Qin Lan’s current condition, using it two or three times in succession would leave him completely unable to move.
But that was enough.
Qin Lan stopped attacking only after the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s body ceased twitching.
Her blood covered him, making him look particularly terrifying. For a moment, it was difficult to tell which of them was the anomaly.
“Heh-heh…”
Qin Lan smiled proudly.
“Your head burst like a watermelon. The killer was… me!”
This time, Qin Lan was the victor.
Who could have imagined that the boy once killed by a single bite could now slay an anomaly alone?
She was only a 1-Star physical anomaly, among the weakest of her kind, but his growth remained astonishing.
Qin Lan checked the instance’s clearance conditions. [Survive the Slit-Mouthed Woman] had been crossed out, meaning he could leave [Road to the Netherworld] whenever he wished.
But he did not plan to go yet.
“A 1-Star anomaly corpse… Hmm. Do I absorb the curse power directly from it?”
Crouching beside the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s body, Qin Lan compared it with the instructions in [Talent Deepening] and looked doubtful.
Normally, cultivating a Curse Codex required Curse Crystals extracted from anomaly corpses.
Using a corpse directly was also possible.
Without specialized equipment, however, much of the curse power would be wasted during absorption.
“Sense the curse, touch the curse, guide the curse, absorb the curse…”
These were the universal steps of every Curse Codex.
After absorption, different codices circulated the curse in different ways and transformed its power toward different ends.
“First, sensing…”
Qin Lan closed his eyes. Following the method described in [Talent Deepening], he visualized a peculiar pattern in his mind.
Thoughts intertwined into ideas. Those ideas condensed into lines that formed a simple seed.
A seed bearing a tender sprout.
“The greater a person’s mental aptitude, the faster they comprehend this stage… and I succeeded almost effortlessly.”
Qin Lan was highly satisfied.
His Spirit attribute of 2.2 gave him a significant advantage.
He pressed on while the feeling was fresh, continuing the visualization until the seed in his mind grew increasingly distinct.
This was the physical representation of his curse.
In the many years since the Cataclysm, generation after generation of scholars had studied curses and concluded that a curse was a special kind of energy, one born from thought and will.
So-called anomalies were merely derivatives of this energy.
A Curse Codex helped a person condense a “curse” of their own, then use external curse power to strengthen themselves.
“This is my Curse Seed.”
Qin Lan opened his eyes, but the seed in his mind did not fade.
Different codices condensed different curse forms. Some were seeds, some were written sigils, and some even took the shape of animals.
In Qin Lan’s sight, wisps of barely perceptible translucent energy continuously escaped the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s corpse.
“First sense it, then make contact.”
Qin Lan extended a hand and touched the curse power radiating from her body.
An indescribable sensation entered through his fingertips. The Curse Seed in his mind trembled constantly, as though craving nourishment.
“Then guide it.”
Qin Lan steadied his breathing. The Curse Seed within him quivered.
The curse power touching his fingertips seemed to find an outlet and immediately streamed into him.
A strange sensation spread through his entire body.
“Now I have to remain calm and guide the curse into the seed.”
Qin Lan did not dare grow careless. He followed the codex strictly, deliberately controlling the flow to prevent the rapid influx from running wild.
Fine strands of curse power trickled continuously into Qin Lan’s body like gentle streams and ultimately gathered inside the Curse Seed.
The seed devoured the nourishment ravenously, using it to feed its own growth.
“I can feel it… It’s… sprouting!”
Under Qin Lan’s guidance, the once-shriveled seed reached a critical point.
A tiny fissure opened, and a tender sprout pushed its way out.
“Absorb… then build!”
As the seed within him germinated, Qin Lan clearly sensed growth occurring somewhere he could not see.
The invisible change was taking place in his Talent.
Talents had appeared only after the Cataclysm and shared the same origin as anomalies and curses.
As the Curse Seed grew, Qin Lan’s Talent slowly changed as well, becoming stronger and more mature.
[Talent effect enhanced.]
[Effect 2: Whenever an anomaly kills you inside an instance, you will resurrect and reset to the save point from 1 minute and 2 seconds earlier, then receive a random, permanent increase to one attribute…]
[Reset to 1 minute and 5 seconds earlier…]
[1 minute and 9 seconds… 1 minute and 11 seconds…]
When the curse power in the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s corpse finally dissipated, Qin Lan’s Talent stabilized at [1 minute and 30 seconds].
“It really can grow!”
Qin Lan was ecstatic.
Moving the reset point back by only thirty seconds might appear insignificant, but its actual importance was immense.
An earlier reset meant more opportunities and more choices inside an instance.
“And this is only the beginning. As I absorb more curses, could the reset eventually reach several minutes, or even more than ten?”
The thought made Qin Lan’s breathing quicken.
It was astonishing.
“No wonder Lu Xingshan is so powerful… Over the past seven years, he must have killed countless anomalies and developed his Talent to an unimaginable degree.”
“And the higher a Talent’s rank, the more astonishing its growth rate…”
Qin Lan finally understood why the academies competed so fiercely for people with A-rank Talents like Su Xiaoyue and Xue Chuan.
“But my advantage is even greater than theirs.”
Qin Lan smiled, increasingly confident.
Random attribute gains allowed him to grow in every direction. He had almost no weakness in either physical power or mental strength.
The ability to copy skills from anomalies made his arsenal even more unpredictable.
“Hmm?”
Qin Lan clenched his fist, feeling as though he had overlooked something.
He opened his status panel and examined it carefully. Sure enough, something had changed.
[Curse Energy: 15]
This was an entirely new attribute that had never appeared before.
It had been added only after he condensed his Curse Seed.
“Curse energy…”
Qin Lan repeated the words, then suddenly recalled an inconspicuous line in the description of [Baton Secret Art: Three Strikes, Three Guards].
“By consuming additional energy, it can damage nonphysical anomalies?”
“Does that mean it consumes curse energy?”
Qin Lan understood.
He could now beat up ghosts in the most literal sense.
…
A small noodle shop remained lit beside the road at night.
Steam rose from the stove in the kitchen, carrying a strange aroma from whatever simmered in the broth.
A curtain concealed the owner’s face. Only the repeated thud of a cleaver and the wet tearing of flesh from bone could be heard.
After a long wait without customers, the shop welcomed its first guest of the night.
“Boss, one order of French foie gras, please. Hold the goose and the liver.”
Qin Lan casually took a seat near the entrance and called out his order.
The chopping in the kitchen stopped. A hoarse voice answered,
“This is a noodle shop. I don’t serve French foie gras.”
After hesitating, the owner asked,
“And what does French foie gras without goose or liver even mean?”
Qin Lan smiled and drew his crowbar.
“Simple. Without the goose and liver, only the French remains.”
“And I’m about to serve you French-style.”