The strange energy emanating from the blood stone grew denser the longer it persisted, affecting Shi Feng even from five yards away. He could feel his blood surging and rage churning within him.
"What is this thing? It's just sitting there, and it already has such a powerful mental influence." Shi Feng stared at the blood stone, his mind reeling with shock.
The Four Gods' Tower was filled with Eternal Qi everywhere, allowing players to enter the ideal state of mental clarity.
Yet the strange energy radiating from this blood stone could actually contend with the Eternal Qi, producing an effect completely opposite to it. That alone spoke volumes about how terrifying this strange energy truly was.
Without hesitation, Shi Feng moved to pick up the blood stone for a closer look.
The instant he touched it, a tremor ran through his very soul. He felt as though he were standing amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. A horrifying aura of brutality flooded every inch of his being, even weakening the mental clarity that the Eternal Qi had granted him.
"A contaminated soul fragment?" Shi Feng examined it more closely and was instantly stunned. "How is this possible?"
The entire blood stone was actually a condensed fragment made up of countless souls.
The soul was ethereal and intangible. Even in the Divine Realm, it remained so. For it to take on a physical form was extraordinarily difficult — generally, only divine artifacts could condense it into something tangible.
The Soul Pearl shard, a treasure born of illusion, could absorb portions of a soul to produce Soul Water. The Ancient God's Scripture fragment similarly absorbed parts of a soul to create Soul Essence. But compared to this fist-sized blood stone, the difference was staggering.
Contaminated Soul Fragment, special item. A convergence of countless frenzied souls, possessing incomparably dense soul power. It could be merged into the soul of any living being, elevating the soul to a higher plane — though it also brought with it an intense berserk aura. (Can only exist within the Four Gods' Tower. Will dissipate upon leaving.)
"No wonder the founding emperor of the Beastman Empire was so powerful and bloodthirsty — so this is why." After reading the soul fragment's description, realization dawned on Shi Feng. "So this is the true opportunity within the Four Gods' Tower."
The Four Gods' Tower had already produced countless powerhouses in the Divine Realm, including no small number of founding emperors.
The reason these individuals had grown so strong and risen to become regional overlords owed much to the power of their souls. After all, the soul was the foundation of everything — players were no exception. If the soul dissipated completely, the player would have no choice but to start over.
But if a player's soul was sufficiently powerful, then whether casting powerful magic skills or executing powerful combat techniques, everything would come naturally. Their physique would also improve dramatically as a result.
Advancement through ranks in the Divine Realm was, in essence, a leap of the soul — its sublimation that bolstered everything else along with it.
Now, with soul fragments dropping inside the Four Gods' Tower, one could only imagine the scale of this opportunity. It was no wonder that even Tier Six, god-tier players desperately craved entry. A powerful soul didn't just enhance one's physique — it also improved the completion rate of Tier Six magic skills, translating to an enormous boost in combat strength.
"However, with such a berserk soul, if a player absorbed it, suppressing it would be no easy feat. Absorbing more than one would be virtually impossible." Shi Feng glanced at the soul fragment in his hand and silently lamented.
Just holding it was already having a noticeable effect on him. After absorption, the consequences would be even worse — and this was while surrounded by Eternal Qi. In the outside world, the influence would be far more severe.
By his estimation, absorbing two fragments would be the absolute limit. Any more and his judgment would be compromised once he left the tower.
Of course, this limit on soul absorption applied only to Tier Two players. At higher ranks, one could absorb more fragments. It was like adding salt to water — once the water became saturated, it could no longer dissolve any more salt. The berserk aura was the salt, the soul was the water, and any berserk energy that couldn't be absorbed would cloud the player's mind.
At this thought, an idea suddenly struck Shi Feng.