Early in the morning, a scream from within the inn shattered the peaceful silence.
The innkeeper, whose waist was as thick as two barrels, stared in shock at the big boy lying on the bed with vacant eyes. The child who had made her heart flutter with envy just yesterday had now lost every trace of life.
"No external wounds, no visible signs of magic, and the identity documents are all forged..."
The constable who had hurried to the scene immediately felt a splitting headache after examining it. Years of experience told him that he had stumbled into a massive problem.
"It could have been a sudden illness!"
There was a characteristic arrogance in the constable's voice, masking his nervousness.
"Fetch a priest to say a prayer, then just dump the body in the mass grave and be done with it..."
Since the constable himself had no desire to make a fuss about the matter, the plump innkeeper eagerly agreed without hesitation.
With everyone involved harboring the desire to sweep things under the rug, the person they ended up summoning wasn't even an official priest — just an apprentice who did odd jobs at the temple.
Given the boy's poor eyesight and his cultivation level, which wasn't even enough to cast a first-tier divine spell, he naturally couldn't spot any flaws in
"Tsk tsk... What a smooth-skinned young fellow. What a shame — the coin purse and everything else were already rifled through by the constable..."
The person tasked with handling the body of the famously renowned Legendary powerhouse — the corpse collector Soros — was nothing more than a filthy, skinny middle-aged white man with a drinking problem. His blackened teeth reeked with a nauseating stench. After hauling the body outside the city walls, he had been rummaging over Soros's remains nonstop, hoping to find some small items that the greedy curs before him had missed.
Soros's clothes were stripped off without a moment's hesitation. The shoes weren't spared either — not a single spot on the body where a gold coin might be hidden could escape the hands of a professional corpse collector.
What a pity. As a Legendary powerhouse, the most valuable things on Soros's body — the spatial ring, the dimensional bag, the magic items and the like — had all been casually taken by Raylin. The remaining bit of coin had gone straight into the constable's pocket, leaving very little for the poor corpse collector.
Still, even a set of reasonably clean clothes and shoes was enough to make the corpse collector grin from ear to ear.
"Hehe... I didn't expect this kid to actually have a bit of value. These things are worth a good thirty copper coins — enough to visit Mary once or drink all night at the bar..."
The corpse collector looked down at the scattered items and the strippingly bare corpse of Soros, nodding with great satisfaction.
"Seeing as you contributed this much, I'll dig you a slightly bigger grave!"
"So this is how the famously renowned corpse collector Soros met his end? What a tragic sight indeed!"
A cold and mocking voice rang out across the empty field, startling the corpse collector. "Who? Who's there?"
Splat! A flash of cold light cut through the air. The corpse collector, nothing more than an ordinary man, crumpled to the ground as blood slowly pooled beneath him.
"So even a Legendary powerhouse—one of the organization's top ten—cannot escape the fate of death?"
The shadows in the void twisted and warped, and the figure of a high-level thief materialized from thin air.
He examined Soros's corpse with practiced efficiency, but his expression grew increasingly grave.
"No... that's not right! As a Legendary powerhouse, why is his body's strength after death no different from an ordinary person's..."
The high-level thief blurted, "If I hadn't received confidential intelligence from His Holiness the Pontiff, I probably would have dismissed him as just another commoner..."
"And... most importantly, all traces of his soul have vanished as well... This kind of method..."
The high-level thief's pupils contracted sharply, as though a terrifying enemy lurked nearby at that very moment. Not daring to linger a moment longer, he took Soros's corpse and vanished.
He was merely a high-level thief in the organization, not even at the Legendary rank. If Soros himself had died here, then whoever orchestrated this could eliminate him without the slightest effort.
Having realized this, how could the thief dare to stay a moment longer?
……
Inside the temple of Shadow Gorge.
The Pontiff of the God of Murder had also received the news.
"I have already communed with our deity. Soros's soul did not arrive in the divine realm—it has inexplicably vanished..."
"Could it be that his soul was bound by some kind of spell?" the high-level thief on the other end speculated.
"No! It wasn't bound! It simply ceased to exist! Even the mark that our deity had imprinted upon his soul has completely dissipated..."
The Pontiff's expression was utterly solemn.
Legendary powerhouses were the very foundation of the church. For one to die so silently and without a trace was a devastating blow to the God of Murder's forces.
Moreover, the terrifying ability to kill a Legendary powerhouse without anyone noticing would undoubtedly make every other powerful being deeply wary.
"Get me a full investigation! Find out everything about this!"
The Pontiff closed his eyes. After a moment of contemplation, his voice carried a piercing chill.
"At once!" the high-ranking thief answered respectfully, then immediately cut off the communication.
Though he had no evidence, he knew deep down that this matter was undoubtedly connected to Soros's original target — the noble Mage on Faolan Island!
"Someone capable of killing a Legendary powerhouse! And they want me to investigate such a person... Isn't that sending me to my death?"
The high-ranking thief lamented inwardly.
"Thankfully, it's just an investigation. It seems even the Pontiff has no intention of confronting this person head-on before the facts are clear..."
"Raylin, the Mage from Faolan Island?"
The high-ranking thief had a premonition — this Mage was destined to become a figure of enormous influence throughout the entire
No! After revealing such power, he was already a dominant force capable of shaking the entire continent!
……
Raylin paid no heed whatsoever to the speculation and ominous clouds brewing in the outside world.
After quietly eliminating Soros, he returned peacefully to his Mage Tower without disturbing anyone.
The unknown was truly the most terrifying thing! By keeping his ability to kill a Legendary powerhouse hidden and unrevealed, he could inspire far more dread.
At the same time, the benefits gained from completely devouring a Legendary powerhouse would take time to fully digest.
"The Nightmare Energy-Draining Physique truly lives up to its reputation as one of the most terrifying ancient bloodlines! Even the bloodline abilities it produces are this sinister and powerful..."
Raylin mused with a sense of wonder.
He was a twentieth-level Mage, while Soros was a Legendary powerhouse. Converted to the
Yet it was precisely the dream-devouring ability born from his bloodline that allowed Raylin to dispatch his opponent with ease.
In the Witch World, this was equivalent to a third-level Wizard killing a fourth-level Morning Star through sorcery alone!!! Even in the ancient era, no such insane feat had ever occurred.
The barrier between an ordinary third-level Wizard and a fourth-level Morning Star was a qualitative leap in both Spiritual Power and soul strength — they simply weren't comparable. Even if you formed an army, they would only be slaughtered before a fourth-level Morning Star.
But now, Raylin had done it!
"Chip!"
Raylin commanded.
At this moment, the Chip was also organizing the previously collected data, converting the bloodline ability into quantifiable metrics.
[Nightmare Energy Devourer Bloodline Ability — Dream Consumption: Allows the host to infiltrate the target's dreamscape, create dream illusions, cause the target's true spirit to fall, and finally devour the target's dream, obtaining everything the target possesses. ⚠ Warning: If the enemy's true spirit power is too strong, or if they see through the dream, it may cause unforeseen damage to the host! ⚠ Due to the host's bloodline concentration limitation, this ability can only be used once every ten days!]
"This is essentially a contest of soul attainment and illusion mastery. However, given my main body's accumulation, I'm afraid aside from a true divine form, I would have no rivals..."
Raylin had a premonition that this bloodline ability would become one of his ultimate trump cards in the future.
"Furthermore, the devouring accomplished through [Dream Consumption] seems vastly different from before. I can obtain everything about the target, even walk their entire path all over again. The experience and benefits gained from this are simply incalculable..."
Raylin felt as though he had discovered the reason why the Nightmare King was so incredibly powerful.
That corpse collector Soros's Legendary physique, including everything from his role as the Glory Executioner, had all been easily obtained by him — all that remained was a decayed shell.
And now, having completely devoured a Legendary powerhouse's essence and even obtained all of his experiences, Raylin had also reached the threshold of [Legendary].
"Ascend to Legendary! The purification of energy is the first step, followed by tempering one's own spiritual will, constructing an internal circulation... I already possess all the necessary conditions..."
Raylin's eyes gleamed, the aura around his body growing increasingly fickle and unstable as he entered an even deeper level of meditation...
At this moment, a guest also arrived on the Faolan Islands.
"Lord Jefferis!" Zona, the Gold Coin Bishop of the Goddess of Wealth, bowed deeply, showing her respects to a middle-aged man before her.
"My Lord must be weary from the long journey. I have already prepared accommodations and everything else... Please, my Lord..."
There was humility in Zona's voice.
Because this was Jefferis! The Holy Lance!! A Legendary powerhouse belonging to the Temple of Wealth!!!
In terms of both fame and status, he stood above even her as a Gold Coin Bishop.
"We can skip those matters for now — after all, I didn't come here to enjoy myself. Arrange a meeting with that Wizard as soon as possible! Protecting someone under the Corpse Collector's nose is no easy task..."
Holy Lance Jefferis had silver-white hair, a high-bridged nose, and full lips that gave him a unique air of resolve and austerity. Yet those eyes, sharp as a hawk's, held an endless depth of weariness.
Though he had made no effort to release any aura, the ambient elemental energy still bowed ceaselessly toward him.
This was a Legend! The absolute pinnacle of power in the entire Primary Material World! And the ultimate aspiration and yearning of every cultivator!