Chapter 68
Chapter 68
“Soul Tower… Even the name sounds incredible.”
Qin Lan’s eyes gleamed. “It feels like one of those supreme techniques from a fantasy novel. The name is absurdly simple, but its origins are terrifying, and it eventually drags some unbelievably powerful figure into the story…”
“Like Flame Mantra or something…”
Lu Xingshan choked on his tea. “Cough, cough…”
“You should read fewer web novels. They’ll rot your brain.”
“There is no continent of battle aura or heavenly flame in this world. Naturally, there are no hundred-thousand-year soul rings or systems either…”
Qin Lan raised an eyebrow.
“Hm? Wait a minute.”
“Director, you sound awfully knowledgeable. You’ve read quite a few yourself, haven’t you?”
This was the first time Qin Lan had encountered a Curse Codex that could strengthen the soul.
He had read about soul strength before.
Of the four basic stats, Spirit was closely linked to the strength of the soul.
Based on Qin Lan’s practical testing over the past few days, the Spirit stat represented the strength of one’s consciousness.
Someone with high Spirit could fight for long periods without becoming exhausted, perceive subtle information with exceptional sensitivity, and think with increasing speed and clarity.
They could also train in a Curse Codex with half the effort and progress far faster than an ordinary person.
Generally speaking, the Spirit stat was extremely difficult to improve. Most Curse Codices could raise the three physical stats–Strength, Constitution, and Speed–but could do nothing for Spirit.
Qin Lan, however, possessed the Talent You’re Dead! But Not Quite… By dying repeatedly, he had raised his Spirit to more than twenty times that of an ordinary person.
He had already experienced the advantages of such a high Spirit stat. When using his class abilities, he could precisely lock on to targets affected by his curses and freely adjust the amount of curse energy applied.
Other people needed years of real combat experience to barely attain such fine control. Qin Lan could do it effortlessly.
Soul strength was an even higher-level attribute.
It was a stat that did not normally appear on his panel.
According to records from the Anomaly Hunter Bureau and the United Government, soul strength had a significant effect on one’s Spirit stat.
It was also exceptionally effective when confronting unusual anomalies that attacked the soul directly.
Almost every anomaly Qin Lan had encountered so far possessed a physical form, but that did not mean he would never encounter an incorporeal one.
In the future, he would venture deeper into the Fallen Zone and enter higher-level instances. Naturally, the anomalies there would be even more terrifying.
“Training requirements… Spirit far beyond that of an ordinary person? An incomparably firm and powerful will?”
Qin Lan studied the document for a long time, then revealed an extremely punchable smile.
“That’s me exactly.”
“But why doesn’t it say the practitioner also needs to be strikingly handsome and impossibly charming? I qualify for those too.”
A vein throbbed in Lu Xingshan’s temple.
“I agree that this Curse Codex suits you, but hearing you say that makes me want to punch you…”
“I suggest you get out of my office before I lose the ability to restrain myself.”
Qin Lan nodded immediately. “You got it!”
…
Replacing a Curse Codex was not difficult, but it was best done without interruptions.
For the first time, Qin Lan returned to his rebuilt home.
The Anomaly Hunter Bureau had always worked quickly.
His house had been finished long ago. Qin Lan had simply been too busy wandering around the Fallen Zone to return.
The bedroom looked almost exactly as he remembered it. Technically, he did not have a bedroom. The room served as his bedroom, study, and living room all at once.
The one thing worth celebrating was the absence of a toilet.
Despite the humble surroundings, Qin Lan felt exceptionally at ease.
He opened Soul Tower’s detailed document and began adjusting his cultivation step by step.
The process was not complicated. He only needed to alter some of the circuits within his Curse Seed, which took a little time.
Only while making those adjustments did Qin Lan realize how ingenious an advanced Curse Codex could be.
The circuit constructed through Soul Tower was simpler than the one from Talent Deepening, yet curse energy flowed through it far more efficiently.
If the old circuit had been a winding mountain road, the new one was a broad expressway.
It was an eight-lane expressway running in both directions.
An empty highway during off-peak hours, with nothing ahead and the accelerator pressed to the floor–that was what Qin Lan’s curse energy felt like now.
Even more remarkably, he could clearly feel his consciousness becoming denser and more substantial.
If the body was a vessel and consciousness the substance it contained, then Qin Lan’s consciousness had once resembled thin wisps of mist. Now, that mist was beginning to condense into liquid.
The magnitude of the improvement was terrifying.
“Has my soul strength increased? My Spirit feels different too…”
Qin Lan muttered to himself and instinctively opened his status panel.
——————–
Name: Qin Lan
Race: Human
Class: Backup Reaper (Unique Hidden)
Strength: 28
Constitution: 27
Speed: 23
Spirit: 22.5 [33.8] (50% boost)
Soul Strength: 1.5
Curse Energy: 99 (5/99)
Curse Amplification: 0
Curse Resistance: 22
——————–
To his astonishment, a bracketed number had appeared beside his Spirit stat.
“A fifty-percent boost?”
Qin Lan immediately understood. This was the additional increase to Spirit provided by soul strength.
The new line below, “Soul Strength: 1.5,” was the best proof.
“A Soul Strength of 1.5 raises my Spirit by an additional fifty percent… What would happen if it reached 2, or even surpassed 3?”
Qin Lan sucked in a sharp breath.
Now, even if he faced a Talent that specifically targeted the mind, he would have nothing to fear!
“This is ridiculously strong…”
Qin Lan sighed in amazement, then his expression suddenly changed. “No way. Could this feeling be…?”
A strange impulse surged through him.
The Curse Seed inside his body–or rather, the Curse Sprout–began to thrash violently, ravenous for an infusion of curse energy.
After his fierce battle with Dong Haoran and the replacement of his Curse Codex, Qin Lan had finally touched the threshold of Tier 3!
The bottleneck restricting his growth was on the verge of collapsing.
Qin Lan did not dare hesitate. He quickly took out the Curse Crystals he had prepared in advance.
These pure crystals, extracted from anomaly corpses, radiated dense curse fluctuations. Grayish white in color, they possessed the strange beauty of fine artwork.
Crack!
Qin Lan crushed the Curse Crystal in his hand. The curse within erupted, only to be immediately devoured by his body.
Following the newly constructed circuit, strands of curse energy rapidly flowed into Qin Lan’s Curse Core–the sprouted seed within him.
The tiny shoot grew with it, rapidly expanding in size.
“Not enough. It’s still not enough!”
Sweat poured down Qin Lan’s body. He had not expected his Curse Core to devour curse energy so quickly. Before he could react, the first crystal was already empty.
He drew out another crystal, crushed it, and drained every trace of its energy.
Then came the next.
Qin Lan’s curse energy swiftly returned to its maximum of 99, but the devouring continued.
[Curse Energy: 99 > 100]
At that moment, Qin Lan shattered the barrier at the peak of Tier 2 and stepped into Tier 3.
[Curse Energy: 100 > 110]
[Curse Energy: 110 > 115]
[Curse Energy: 115 > 125]
[Curse Energy: 125 > 130]
Only after every Curse Crystal he had prepared was consumed did the Curse Core inside him finally settle down.
The tiny sprout had taken shape and grown into a sapling, from which fresh branches had begun to emerge.
“My energy limit expanded to 130 the moment I broke through?”
Qin Lan wiped the sweat from his forehead, his heart surging with excitement.
He could clearly sense that no bottleneck would restrict him again anytime soon.
This was the advantage granted by Soul Tower, a truly top-tier Curse Codex.
[Talent effect has evolved.]
The sudden notification interrupted Qin Lan’s thoughts.
“Damn!”
“Two pieces of good news at once?!”
Qin Lan stared in disbelief.