Chapter 51: Research and Unlocking New Characters

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Research and Unlocking New Characters

There are always anomalies that rules cannot keep up with; Exotic Objects are one of them.

They defy all logic in this world, which makes them incredibly valuable for research.

Chen Shang picked up the dark red bead again and held it before his eyes. The dark red hue was exceptionally profound, resembling congealed blood or tears that would never dry.

"If this bead is also an Exotic Object, then things will be tricky," he muttered.

The Golden Crow looked up in sheer puzzlement. He glanced at the bead, then at Chen Shang. "What’s so tricky about it? According to what you said, isn’t this thing worth a lot of money?"

"That is exactly the problem. The bead is very valuable, but I don’t know how to research it."

Chen Shang stored the bead into his Space Book and shook his head. "If it gets triggered and teleports me to a world outside the sphere of Wizard Influence, what do I do? If I can’t come back... I’ll be hopelessly stranded, crying out to the heavens and the earth with no one to answer me!

"On the other hand, if I sell it, I could exchange it for a large sum of money, but I’m truly unwilling to do so."

The Golden Crow hopped onto his shoulder, his three claws gripping firmly. "Then wait until you are stronger. When that time comes, even if you are teleported away, you will have the means to deal with it."

"Exactly. So... I hope that Demon can bring me other surprises."

Chen Shang nodded. An Exotic Object wasn’t something that could be thoroughly researched in a short time, so he had to shift his focus to the Demon.

In the interrogation room, Marcus remained restrained within the Rune Array at the center of the laboratory. His body hovered in midair, limbs outstretched.

Chen Shang activated various Rune Arrays. Energy Manipulation, Extraordinary Five Senses, Soul Resonance... In short, he turned on every available method.

Countless invisible probes pierced through the Demon’s skin, passing through muscle, fascia, bones, and blood vessels... reaching all the way to the cracked Soul Core at the deepest depth.

Chen Shang began recording the detailed data.

Physical Strength: Tier Three Peak, approaching Tier Four. However, this was not his strength at his prime; he had suffered severe injuries.

Next came muscle density, bone hardness, regenerative ability, and poison resistance... Chen Shang carefully wrote down and annotated each statistic.

Power Nature: Negative Energy Attribute.

The rule system of the Power of Faith contained partial Authority over Plague and disease, but the Divine Fire had not been fully ignited.

Chen Shang sampled, separated, and purified it. He placed it into a specialized container, labeled it, and stored it away in his Space Book.

Energy Operation Route: A closed Energy Circuit that originated from the Soul Core, ran through the entire body, and returned to the Soul Core.

Chen Shang used various powers to stimulate the Demon’s body, forcing him to instinctively circulate Energy. Then, he mapped out the positions, sizes, and connection methods of all these nodes.

A few days later, he obtained a complete and precise Energy Circuit diagram. He named it the "Nether Realm Low-tier Demon Cultivation Route Map" and archived it.

Marcus wanted to weep but had no tears. "If you wanted my Cultivation method, you could have just asked me! Was it necessary to go to such lengths?"

"I was afraid you would lie." Chen Shang didn’t even lift his head as he proceeded to the next test.

Marcus fell silent. He screamed silently in his mind, "You could have at least tried asking!"

The next item was Soul Quality. Chen Shang tried several methods before obtaining the result: the Demon’s Soul was Tier Three High Grade, but it appeared to have been corrupted, laced with a Power that did not belong to him.

Chen Shang switched to a more precise instrument to analyze this Power. The moment he activated it, the High Tower’s Energy depleted at a rapid pace, making Chen Shang’s heart leap into his throat.

"Thankfully, the Plane High Tower is connected to the Vacuum Catastrophe, otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to afford this..."

However, the more it cost, the more Chen Shang looked forward to the results. A Power source capable of consuming so much Energy was of extremely high value.

Three days later, Chen Shang extracted a true name fragment from the vast ocean of complex Power.

"Who is Ozomok? Some Divine Spirit of your world?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Marcus looked at Chen Shang in utter disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost... even though he himself was a Demon.

Eventually, he resigned himself to his fate and confessed everything. "Ozomok... He is the legendary Lord of Ten Thousand Demons, the origin of all things, the pioneer of the world, and the source of Faith for all Demons. Our spellcasting terminology all contains His Power."

Chen Shang chuckled softly. "Origin of the world? Origin of all things?

"Judging from the power fragment I stripped away, He is absolutely not at the Creator Level... At most, He is an Innate Origin Divine Spirit from an ancient era.

"Furthermore, according to you, your spellcasting terminology contains His Power. That means there is a high probability He has fallen or entered a deep slumber, turning into an occult symbol or a spellcasting catalyst symbol.

"However, based on your Soul, He still possesses considerable vitality and can silently influence His believers. Of course, this influence goes both ways... Perhaps He still has a chance to resurrect."

Marcus’s worldview was completely shattered. How could this tiny creature before him, an ant whose strength was inferior to even an Elite Demon, possess so many bizarre methods and even casually discuss the origins of their Divine Spirit?

Chen Shang paid no mind to Marcus’s feelings and continued with the next test.

A few days later, Marcus’s entire body had become translucent.

The Energy from the Rune Array seeped into his body, illuminating his muscles, bones, blood vessels, and nerves layer by layer.

From the outside, he looked like a three-dimensional anatomical diagram.

The dark golden Soul Core hovered right in the center of his chest cavity, with dark red light flowing through its cracks.

"This is your most important core, isn’t it? Let me see what abilities it has!"

Chen Shang set down the Crystal Plate and opened the system interface. Originally, the extraction success rate for Tier Three Creatures wasn’t high, but it just so happened that the target was completely unable to resist and left fully exposed for observation.

Because of this, Chen Shang had collected a massive number of Traits over the past few days, and today was the most critical moment.

[Extractable Traits Detected: Devil’s Whisper (Green), Resentment Residue (Green), Soul-Devouring Touch (Green)]

Chen Shang silently commanded the extraction, and three streams of Green light flowed into his inventory simultaneously.

[Mythical Resonance Conditions Met!]

[Collected: Devil’s Whisper (Green) + Resentment Residue (Green) + Soul-Devouring Touch (Green) + Drunken Frenzy (White) + Ugly Face (White). Do you wish to fuse them into the Mythical Trait: Zhong Kui?]

[Zhong Kui (Blue) Core Abilities: Judge’s Eye, Ghost Eating Skill, Evil Ghost Skin, Karma Fire Ashes.]

Chen Shang’s finger paused. Zhong Kui? The legendary figure who caught ghosts, ate them, and banished evil!

Before he could click in to take a closer look, the interface flickered again.

[Mythical Resonance Conditions Met!]

[Collected: Devil’s Whisper (Green) + Resentment Residue (Green) + Soul-Devouring Touch (Green) + Blood of Corruption (White) + Plague Spores (White). Do you wish to fuse them into the Mythical Trait: Five Plagues Envoy?]

[Five Plagues Envoy (Blue) Core Abilities: Five Plagues Curse, Plague Body, Plague Domain, Celestial Flow.]