Mixed Blessing System



At the beginning of the next day...

The Secret Realm was already on its sixth day when Lothur and the insect he was with entered the previous labyrinth.

At this point, of the young people who had entered this space, 7 of them had died in these days, and only 8 were left alive.

Of those 8, all had achieved either soul or body cultivation advancements. At the same time, apart from Lothur, they all had obtained artifacts and resources that could raise their ranks after this event.

As such, the overall ranking of this event had changed somewhat since the first few days, with Elke finally losing her first-place position.

Lothur maintained his position at 8th place in the ranking, not having improved much, even with his earlier advance.

He didn't care about that anyway, and it would make little difference to his life what the people in Peters City were thinking of him now.

As he entered that dark area filled with powerful beasts, all that mattered to Lothur was to reach the end of the labyrinth and finally get what he was interested in.

The Fallen Scroll that the system wanted so badly!

So when he reached the last level of the labyrinth and came across the beasts from before, among them the level 18 toad, he immediately said.

"Here it is. This is the other leaf I told you about. It works as it should. You can ask your subordinate."

The giant toad narrowed its eyes and picked up that item Lothur had just thrown in its direction, seeing the similarities of it to what it had there.

Then the insect next to Lothur replied. "That's right, boss. Such an item works just like ours, even without what this human intends to absorb from ours."

"Oh? So you're really going to want to stick with the previous arrangement?" The giant toad liked that, interested in this deal as much as Lothur.

Unlike Lothur, what was inside was useless to it, who could not take things out of that leaf nor probe what was there.

So making this deal with Lothur would not take anything away from it. The opposite of that, it would give it things it didn't have and keep others under its control.

It was the perfect deal!

"Yes. I want to get on with it right away." Lothur smiled, walking toward that being.

"What do you need to absorb what's on that leaf?" The great toad asked as it looked at the leaf it was holding, feeling that it could use this not only to strengthen the seals of this space but to store spectres there.

If it could absorb spectres with this item, it could create a consciousness for the leaf and, through this, create a seal guardian!

This toad's will would control such a guardian, which could greatly facilitate the work its master had left for it.

If it succeeds and develops two guardians with these leaves, the next time the Secret Realm opens, it could finally leave this place to live its life!

That was its goal, to fulfill its master's mission but also to return to Concordia!

Lothur answered it. "All you have to do is remove the protection on this leaf. Then, I can absorb what's on it without even touching it."

"Very good!" It moved, making some strange movements to disarm the formation that only it could disarm.

After a few seconds, the protective barrier of that item disappeared, and not only Lothur but everyone on that level of the labyrinth felt the ominous aura about that place increase more than ten times.

The toad said. "That's what that leaf is sealing. That's Morning Star's aura!"

Morning Star's aura was so tenebrous that ordinary cultivators, like most of them, could not even perceive the auras of the other demons sealed in that area.

Lothur realized this and noted that even with his abilities, he probably couldn't erase the traces of this creature if it came back to life right now.

He asked. "Are you sure it won't get loose? I feel like I'm facing an angry dog that thinks it's caught on a rope but is actually loose."

The toad nodded its head and said. "Its remnant is stuck. Rest assured. But it's not good for you to take too long. That barrier I disarmed also serves to protect us."

Lothur clenched his fists and got close enough to that leaf for the system to notify him with the same message as when he hugged Viktoria months ago.

[Second Fallen Scroll of the Lost Tree successfully collected...]

'What ability will I gain this way?' He wondered as he closed his eyes momentarily.

[Does the host wish to absorb this second singularity this instant?]

As he opened his eyes and saw that, he immediately turned away from that sheet and gave the order to the system.

'Yes!'

[Beginning the absorption of the second part of the seven singularities...]

[Scroll successfully identified...]

[The baptism process will begin in 3... 2... 1...]

A buzzing sounded in Lothur's ears.

Simultaneously a red light that only he could see spread in his surroundings, little by little encasing him in what looked like a sphere of light.

Meanwhile, he felt as if he had suddenly become drunk, with his consciousness floating and part of his reason wavering.

The red light from before penetrated his skin, making Lothur look at himself, terrified.

This state did not last long. He soon began to feel an unparalleled pain in the middle of his back, where if he could see, he would see his spine glowing red, like lava.

This was exactly the same as what had happened to him the first time. But it would soon develop into something different, with the red glow on his spine changing into something more internal within Lothur's being.

If he could see what was happening to him now, he would see his incomplete soul on fire as it grew in size.

This was painful, so soon he was screaming in agony while the many beasts in his surroundings looked at him with strangeness in their eyes.

"What's happening to him?"

"I don't know... It must be because of what he set out to absorb..."

The beasts started talking among themselves while the giant toad looked intently at Lothur, forgetting the defenses of that empty leaf.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Lothur's situation would last hours.

After a long time in that state, he saw the message he had been waiting so long for from the system.

[Absorption of the second singularity completed!]

[The host's body and soul were considerably changed after merging with the second scroll...]

[Increased bone quality identified...]

[Increased muscle quality...]

...

[Increased host soul affinity with the Lost Tree...]

[Increased quality of the host's soul...]

[The host's soul has been restored to its full state!]

Lothur saw this message and opened his eyes, forgetting the pain he had felt until milliseconds ago.

'What? Is my soul complete? Now I can cultivate it?' He wondered in shock.

[The host's bloodline has been strengthened.]

[Spiritual baptism completed...]

...