CHAPTER 66: INFINITE HARVESTING GLITCH

Sera hid behind Rhys’s leg, peeking at the kneeling Ashen soldiers.

"Papa, they are ugly."

Rhys’s lips twitched. And here he had thought she was scared by these monsters.

[...]

’I know she is not a simple child, yet...’

He gently rubbed her head.

"Don’t worry, Sera. I will summon more beautiful soldiers from now on."

[...]

The Ashen soldiers: "..."

He mentally probed the details of his first summons.

Type: Soldier

Race: Ashen Sentinel

Trait: [Void-Infused Crystal Body] - Possesses enhanced durability.

Cultivation: Stage 1 (Peak)

Evolutions: 1

Next Possible Evolution: Vanguard

’Huh, what’s with their traits?’

[These monsters are summoned by your lifespan. So, their traits will be tainted with your constitution.]

’Okay.’ He then stared at the evolutions.

[There are a total of seven evolution stages for your summons in this mortal world. They are Soldier, Vanguard, Knight, Commander, Marshal, General, and Sovereign. The number of evolutions a monster can reach depends on its bloodline quality.]

’So for ordinary monsters, they can evolve one time. Not bad at all.’

Albeit he couldn’t directly upgrade their bloodline, he could evolve them within their bloodlines.

[Ashen Soldiers - 100]

[Do you want to burn one million years of lifespan to evolve Ashen Soldiers into Ashen Vanguards?]

[Warning! This process is irreversible.]

’Of course, yes.’

The moment he confirmed, a wave of pure, golden energy flowed from Rhys. It was a warm and powerful light that enveloped all one hundred of his kneeling Ashen Soldiers.

The soldiers began to tremble, their simple, grey ash bodies glowing from within. The ash swirled and compressed.

Their forms grew larger and more robust. Intricate, armour-like patterns of a deep, blood-red crystal formed over their chests and shoulders.

Their simple, thin limbs thickened into powerful legs and arms. In one hand, they now held a long spear made of solidified shadow.

On the other arm, a small, circular shield of dark energy materialised. They were no longer just simple soldiers; they were Vanguards.

The transformation was complete. The golden light faded. The one hundred Ashen Vanguards stood silently, their silver eyes burning with a new, more intelligent light.

They looked far more intimidating and, in a strange way, more beautiful. Sera peeked out from behind Rhys’s leg again.

Her eyes widened, and a small gasp escaped her lips.

"Papa... they are pretty now," she whispered, her previous dislike completely gone.

Rhys smiled, feeling a sense of pride. He looked at his new army. They were no longer just cannon fodder. T

hey were a true fighting force. A new screen appeared in his mind, confirming the change.

[Evolution Complete]

Type: Vanguard

Race: Ashen Vindicator

Trait: [Void infused Shadow Lance & Barrier] - Can fire bolts of void energy and project a temporary defensive shield.

Cultivation: Stage 1 (Peak)

Sera cautiously stepped from behind him, circling the Vanguards with a curious expression. He could feel the Vanguards showing no hostility, and from the mental connection he had with them, he understood the reason.

Since he and Sera were bonded by soul, she was technically also a part of him. So, they considered her as his as well.

He waited a few minutes until Sera became bored after studying the Vanguards, then he took her hand as they started walking.

’Thud.’ ’Thud.’

Just after walking for a few steps, he stopped.

"Can’t you all walk without making a sound?"

The Ashen Vanguards: "..."

"Papa, are they annoying? Do you want me to eat them?"

[...]

"..."

’System, is there any way to solve this problem?’

He didn’t want all his summons marching with him everywhere he went.

He had thought since they were his summons, he could just make them disappear into his body or something, like every necromancer protagonist.

But it seems the reality was truly different.

He had nothing in his body which could summon them back.

[Just make them Ashes and absorb them into your Ash Veil profession core.]

’Then do I need to burn my lifespan every time I summon them back?’

[...]

’That’s a waste of lifespan...’

[...]

’Oh well, I forgot I have an infinite amount of it. Still, we have to find a way to solve this problem.’

Rhys and Sera walked down the long and wide avenue. The ruins of the celestial city were all around them.

More guardians appeared as they walked around the city, but all of them became his Ashen Vanguards.

The amount of lifespan crystals he had collected was immense; Rhys could imagine the chaos it would create if one of them were to appear outside.

’Wait. What if I could create lifespan crystals?’

The owner of this labyrinth created the slain monsters with his lifespan, so when one of them died, they dropped lifespan crystals, which were the energy source of their memory—literally the lifespan the owner used to create these monsters.

’Doesn’t that mean...’ An excited glint appeared in his eyes as he summoned two of his Ashen Vanguards.

"Kill yourselves."

[...]

"..."

"Wow, Papa, what they did wrong? Do you want me to eat them?"

’Sling.’

Both the Ashen Vanguards hadn’t waited, as both of them moved their spears simultaneously, decapitating their own heads.

[Your summons have been killed.]

And they dropped two glowing crystals.

’It’s a success.’

Then Rhys burned his lifespan to summon them again and once again ordered them to kill themselves.

Again, he got two more lifespan crystals.

’Hehe...’ Rhys rubbed his palms, already dreaming about the future he would have by simply selling these lifespan crystals.

Hell, he could even create a new currency on his own and monopolise resources as he wanted.

Well, it would also attract unwanted attention if any of his enemies found out his summons could drop lifespan crystals if they were killed.

’I have to think of a way.’

Rhys led Sera to one of the huge buildings, summoned all of his Vanguards, and asked them to kill themselves. He fell into contemplation while his Vanguards harvested lifespan crystals tirelessly.

At some point, Sera slipped past him, joining in the harvesting process in the name of helping Papa. But she seemed to enjoy killing more than harvesting.

Because the monsters here didn’t actually have real blood, she couldn’t devour them and shapeshift while copying their traits.

She had tried to do it secretly when Papa wasn’t looking.

After half an hour, Rhys finally created a whole structure for a skill he thought would solve his problem.

He named it ’Lifespan Transmission Pipeline.’

[...]

The skill was High-grade Heaven upon its creation, showing its immense quality.

The price of activating this skill was also huge; no one in the world except him could use it, even if he sold it at an auction.

The skill required him to form a node which would instantly absorb the residual life energy of any monster it was placed on and send this lifespan back to the one who planted the node.

In that way, even if his summons were to be killed, they wouldn’t drop lifespan crystals.

The skill did not require Qi to activate, but rather used the planter’s lifespan.

However, for that node to sustain itself, it needed a continuous supply of lifespan from the planter.

In this world, who if not him could continuously supply lifespan?

But doing this would also destroy his plan of infinite lifespan crystal harvesting. That’s why he added another condition in the skill.

That is, if the being killed had the same aura signature as him, the node would never send the lifespan back.

[Burning lifespan to create a skill.]

[Skill [Lifespan Transmission Pipeline] has been successfully created.]

[What a poetic name.]

’I know.’

[...]