CHAPTER 423: CHAPTER 38 DEATH LAW

The Promotion to Lv.9 had ended uneventfully.

With the soothing spirituality of the "Angel’s Song" and Nora, the full-time caretaker who looked after everything from the Life Body to the Spiritual Body and the Mind Body, the process of taking the Magic Potion, which was quite dangerous for Transcendents, had become very safe and secure.

Giant III further enhanced Sigrdrifa’s strength and life force, pushing her physique to an almost inhuman standard. Ordinary firearms could not even break her defense, let alone cause fatal damage when she activated her bloodline.

The ability of Weakness IV was even more bizarre. When Mia hit the enemy’s weak point, it created even more weak points. It was called "infinite combos" on the forums, and the enemy could easily be continuously attacked until death.

Of course, how much they could achieve would be truly tested in the upcoming battle in Verona.

Then, the first to promote to Lv. 10 was Peggy. She sat cross-legged on the ground for a moment, making sure her body and mind were in optimal condition, and then she unhesitatingly took the "Poison II" Magic Potion.

Her petite body suddenly began to writhe, as if a snake shedding its skin, layer by layer, countless layers of keratinized skin peeled away. Her blood vessels became extremely thick and shiny; tendons and sinews burst from the surface of her skin, taut as guitar strings, making one fear they might snap at any moment.

A large amount of sweat emerged from her body, soaking her clothes, making her skin glisten, but the fluid soon turned a strange dark green. Black spots spread from her armpits, neck, and legs, endlessly layering, flesh bursting open from the black spots, sprouting dense arrays of teeth like those of a gnawing rodent or the pointed teeth a bat uses to suck blood.

"Physical loss of control! Quick!" With Aske’s warning, Nora immediately activated her Life Ability and discovered severe inflammation in Peggy’s internal organs.

With effective regulation and reinforcement of the cellular tissues by the Life Ability, Peggy’s physical loss of control gradually subsided. About twenty minutes later, she slowly stood up, feeling utterly refreshed, as if her body was filled with inexhaustible strength.

If Agrippina was here, she would have certainly recognized this as a symptom of "Lord of Filth Bloodline Completion." But her cheap master had long since fled.

"Aske!" Peggy exclaimed joyfully, "My bloodline is complete! I’m now Lv.10."

"Good, what does it feel like?" Aske asked with a smile.

"I can freely change my appearance!" Peggy said, and her flesh writhed, quickly growing taller, transforming into Aske’s appearance.

The girls gathered around curiously, marveling at this "Aske."

"It’s so accurate! Flawless!" Sigrdrifa looked back and forth between Peggy and Aske, continually exclaiming in surprise.

"Eh, there’s still a bit of a difference," Nora also said in surprise. "The Aske that Peggy transformed into, how should I put it? More handsome and androgynous."

"It feels a bit effeminate," Eleanor also commented.

"No way, I’ve changed to look exactly like the Squad Leader." Peggy absolutely refused to accept the girls’ judgment.

Yet, this slightly petulant girl’s tone, coming from Aske’s face and voice, still made the girls feel somewhat uneasy.

"Stop, it’s giving me goosebumps!" Mia covered her ears and exclaimed.

"Okay, change back," Aske stepped forward, holding the head of this Li Gui, whose body then began to writhe again, reverting back to the fair and pretty high school girl’s appearance, her cheeks and neck slightly flushed.

"Did you sense any laws?" The following question was the crucial one.

"Laws?" Peggy was puzzled.

"It seems not," Aske replied without a look of disappointment.

Of course, reaching Lv.10 didn’t mean one could start studying the Laws immediately. First, one needed a certain understanding of them, then there was a chance to sense the condensing ritual.

By following the ritual to deepen the understanding of Laws, one could finally condense true Laws. Since there’s a large amount of subjective understanding and personal epiphany involved, even the same Law could have different effects when condensed by different people.

Because there are no completely identical Laws in the world. Thus, the efficiency of different people’s perception and condensation of Laws also varied; there was no reference. It can only be said that generally, the purer and more obsessive the character, the faster the speed of sensing and condensing Laws.

Of course, Aske had not expected that Peggy, having just completed her bloodline, would immediately sense the Law condensing ritual, just as a primary school student cannot be expected to take the final exam immediately after graduating to middle school; that would be too unrealistic.

"Aske, do you have any advice on the Law I should condense next?" Peggy asked, full of hope.

"Hmm, the Lord of Filth’s bloodline itself contains many sequences, so there are many laws that can be condensed," Aske replied. "I’ll mention a few that are highly recommended."

"From ’Flesh,’ you can condense ’Filth,’ ’Devouring,’ and ’Deformation.’ From ’Life Stealing,’ you can condense ’Stealing’ and ’Hidden.’ From ’Rat’ and ’Night Bat,’ you can condense ’Pasture,’ and from ’Toxin’ and ’Plague,’ you can condense the corresponding same-name laws."

"Among these laws, the ’Plague’ law is the most powerful, and it is also one of the Apocalypse Four Upper Ranks."

"Due to the existence of the same-name sequence, the Plague Law is the easiest to understand among the four laws and has the lowest difficulty in condensing for you. Of course, this makes it the weakest in terms of power in the four primary laws."

"Besides these, there are of course countless other laws that can vaguely be linked to the sequence of the Lord of Filth. However, due to the instability in the logical chain, they are more challenging to understand, and their power cannot be guaranteed."

"If we really want to suggest something worth trying, you could attempt the strongest of the four laws: the ’Death’ law. You can delve from the concept of ’Undying’ in ’Flesh’ into the concept of ’Death.’"

"However, ’Death’ itself is the most mysterious concept, so it is also extremely difficult to understand. Just sensing the condensation ritual already eliminates 99% of the participants. And not to mention the contents of the ritual itself are usually extremely obscure and difficult to complete."

In fact, even in the original game world, by the time Aske arrived in this world, no player or NPC had successfully condensed the Death Law.

Had it not been for a player sensing the Death Law’s ritual, everyone would have doubted whether the game company had designed this law at all.

"So, Aske, what do you hope for?" Peggy asked cautiously.

"I suggest you master the Plague Law," Aske said. "From a cost-benefit perspective, the Plague Law is most suitable for you to condense, and it would significantly enhance your existing combat system."

"Of course, you can also try sensing other laws. From Lv.10 to Lv.19, Transcendents can sense and even condense multiple laws, but after Lv.20, you can only choose one law to weave into your domain, and any extra laws will slow down your leveling during this period. So, I suggest you can sense multiple laws but only complete the ritual for one."

"Okay, then I’ll focus on the Plague Law," Peggy obediently nodded and said. She always followed Aske’s suggestions wholeheartedly.

Next was Miel’s time for bloodline condensation, and everyone started nervously gathering around again.

Peggy then returned to the alchemy workshop, in her laboratory studying pathogens, staring blankly at the microscope funded by Nora.

Plague, is it just being sick?

She spaced out, letting her thoughts wander aimlessly.

She recalled the quarantine area in Innsbruck City, those suffering, gasping patients, remembered the plague bacteria swarming within their flesh.

Then, she thought of the row of bodies covered with linen lying on both sides of the streets, inexplicably thinking of the doctor’s crow mask, graveyards and crosses...

She thought of her parents.

That was in the midst of the Night Watchman’s undead mutant outbreak, at the junction of the Netherworld and the Main Plane, where she, separated from the others, saw the illusions of her deceased parents.

She missed her deceased parents immensely, yet was also extremely fearful of the "parents" in front of her. Her emotions urged her to hurry forward, while her rationality forced her to stop and loudly call for help.

If Aske hadn’t come back to find her...

Would she have kept shouting? Or eventually given up calling for help, choosing to go forward with her parents’ undead spirits?

But then, what exactly is the existence of the deceased?

A strange feeling emerged from the depths of her soul. Peggy once again found herself in a familiar, deep sorrow, as if she saw the illusions of her parents before her eyes.

They silently watched her, their faces pale, expressions stiff, lips slowly opening and closing, as if they were trying to tell Peggy something, and that voice seemed to be...

Death Law - Ritual:

Comprehend the true essence of death.

From the deepest despair, condense your own unique Death Law.