Lord Shenxiu
Chapter 543: System (2600 more)

Chapter 543: Chapter 543: System (2600 more)

Night.

The campsite was filled with the aroma of cooked fish.

Old Jack had shown off his cooking skills, frying the sliced fish in oil before sprinkling it with spices. One bite and the sweet juices flowed out, making one wish they could swallow their own tongue.

Zhong Shenxiu was holding his own share of the cooked fish when he saw the Demon Hunters who were also staying on the edge of the camp.

Some were resting, others were organizing their equipment, casting occasional envious glances his way.

After a moment of thought, Shenxiu stepped out of the camp and approached the Demon Hunters.

Amidst many scrutinizing or hostile eyes, he arrived at a small triangular tent.

The tent flap lifted slightly, revealing the wary gaze of the Demon Hunter inside.

"I’ve come to see the child," Shenxiu said, raising the cooked fish in his hand. "I think he might need this."

"Thank you..."

The Demon Hunter looked at him for a long while before uttering a single word.

Shenxiu smiled, glanced over at Little Robben, and asked, "How is he?"

There was a moment of silence before the Demon Hunter replied, "Your medicine is very effective, our leader paid the price for it..."

"Actually... I was once a wanderer, and I’m very interested in the affairs of Demon Hunters."

Shenxiu took the opportunity to sit down: "Since you’re not sleeping anyway, how about we talk..."

"What do you want to know?"

The Demon Hunter asked without letting down his guard.

"I’m just curious... don’t you have control over the rituals for lower-class servant creatures?" Shenxiu expressed his doubts.

"Different lower-class servant creature organs need different steps to be digested... Our copy of the ’Scripture’ is just a small fraction of the original, many parts having been lost in our various migrations. Now, the complete contents regarding lower-class servants, well, we only have the ritual for the Iron Wire Agate Worm, but there is none of that creature here, so we cannot find the corresponding organs..."

"So some of our settlement’s children can only rely on our accumulated experience to forcibly consume organs of other lower-class servants, paying the price of bodily mutation to accommodate and digest them... Others take a risk, directly using the organs of a Giant Eating Worm, which is a middle-class servant creature. We’ve mastered the complete ritual to digest it, which, even though very dangerous, offers a chance of success..."

"Is it possible to skip ranks?" Shenxiu was intrigued.

"As long as you do not fear death, the traits of a higher class can be immediately accommodated..." The Demon Hunter swept Shenxiu with an expressionless gaze. "But according to the ’Scripture,’ climbing up step by step from lower-class servant, middle-class servant, upper-class servant, to lower-class affiliate... is the most prudent approach. The side effects of forcibly skipping ranks are even greater..."

"I don’t even dare to directly subject Little Robben to a middle-class servant trial, because this is even more dangerous than forcibly accommodating the power of a lower-class servant!"

"So that’s how it is..."

Shenxiu thanked the Demon Hunter and finally learned his name, Koro.

’In the Demon Hunters’ understanding, the ’Scripture’s’ most important part is the latter half; complete it, and perhaps one can hunt the ultimate demon, ending it all... Heh, it’s just a legend. But could this be the origin of the name "Demon Hunter"?’

It wasn’t until he had left the Demon Hunters’ camp that Shenxiu still felt somewhat bewildered: "Demon hunting... Demon... I feel like I’ve forgotten something very important..."

"The power of Demon Hunters is actually decent, belonging to oneself, capable of step-by-step improvement... Hmm, if each step adheres strictly to the ’Scripture,’ perhaps the side effects and impact won’t be too severe, and obvious deformities won’t occur..."

"The Demon Hunters of today are too weak, simply because their ranks are too low..."

"So they are no match for well-equipped, trained ordinary people..."

"I’m even more interested in the power hierarchy of this world now..."

He vaguely felt that the path of digesting and accommodating monster powers was quite innovative and represented a certain possibility.

After all, these monsters, although merely lower-tiered servants, all carried a strong taint of the Spirit, possessing some characteristics of higher-tier beings!

Being able to digest their strengths through specific rituals and procedures meant...

"The power of the Evil God... can truly be digested!"

"This could be incredibly useful in dealing with the various remnants of Evil God’s power within me!"

"Perhaps... it is also where my breakthrough lies?"

"No... would the tail-eating snake still influence fate and guide me to this world if it knew this?"

Zhong Shenxiu felt the road ahead had become clouded with even more fog.

...

He returned to the scavenger camp and saw many scavengers thoroughly enjoying the local fish.

It was undoubtedly more delicious than the mysterious meat found in canned foods, and some people had even generously purchased a good amount of precious spirits.

Ze Wei’er, clearly having drunk too much, his cheeks flushed red, was gnawing on a piece of fish steak while boasting to his companions, "Demon Hunters are monsters, but if they’ve only undergone the initial rituals, the mutations aren’t so obvious, and they can still look passable, some could even be considered beautiful... Many of them have tried to seduce the scavengers to join us, haha..."

The crowd burst into laughter, with many men sharing knowing smiles.

"I’m so angry, a bunch of heartless scum."

Rachel huffily stood up and left, carrying a metal flask, clearly not wanting to mingle with these people.

Shenxiu also had no desire to continue listening to discussions about twisted beauty and such, and he walked to the other side of the fortress.

He saw a tall woman patrolling back and forth with a rifle in her hands.

"Captain Zola, on patrol?"

Shenxiu approached with a smile and greeted her.

"Everyone’s having fun, but someone has to keep watch at night, the wilderness is full of dangers..."

Zola replied indifferently, "Anyway, I don’t really like those kinds of gatherings."

"Oh..."

Shenxiu stared into the darkness, remaining silent, then suddenly asked, "What’s the difference between servant-level, associate-level, and God-level monsters?"

"Servant-level ones are commonplace and generally not very strong; you can deal with them by being a bit careful... Associate-level monsters are a bit more difficult, they often break through certain boundaries, and even possess the ability to summon loyal servants and become lords."

"That giant we encountered the other day was an exception, with not many servant-level followers... Of course, if we hadn’t relied on the fortress’s formidable firepower, it would have been difficult for us to take it down had we encountered it directly in the wilderness..."

"As for God-level..."

A trace of fear flickered in Zola’s eyes, "They are immensely powerful and bizarre... each one is a moving natural disaster. Sky City has faced two major crises in history, coming nearly to the brink of destruction, and both times God-level beings were to blame..."

"Fortunately, their numbers are extremely scarce, otherwise our situation as humans would be even more difficult..."