Chapter 22 - Mark of the Devourer

"Freeze to death? Why does this system keep giving me bad news?" Malik cried out to himself as he could feel the extreme coldness in his body. He tried to move but stumbled forward, falling face-flat on the floor. His legs were completely covered with frost. He tried to move, but he couldn't.

"Is this what Gul was talking about? The hidden piece of the hard mode which seems unconquerable? But this is the God Mode, and the effects seem to triple."

"But this place is called the Flame Frost Abyss... With the amount of frost in this abyss, how did the Frost Phython manage to survive for 1000 years? Surely, there must be a cheat..."

"Shit... I have just 15 seconds remaining... How can I look for the cheat when I can't even get up?" Malik was complaining when he noticed that his legs and back had frozen up to his neck, but his chest was not freezing. He averted his gaze to his chest and saw he was lying on some red round items.

"Is this the cheat?" Malik didn't even wait for an answer when he picked up the red moss on the floor and swallowed all of it.

[You've consumed the red moss... your body temperature will increase by 5%]

"This is it... the cheat..." Malik's eyes lit up as he started picking up all the red moss on the floor and consuming everything. He kept swallowing until he heard the system notification.

[The red moss has integrated with the Frost Crystal]

[Every part of your bones and your inner structure is being refined]

[Congratulations, you've earned the Flame Frost Body]

[100% resistance to fire or frost elements]

[Your body condition is now at the very peak... Your stats have also increased significantly]

[Congratulations on breaking through to the sixth stage of Body Refinement Realm]

"Haha... The sixth stage... It's as if the Beginning Tower was actually designed for me." Malik laughed out loudly as he felt the surge of energy coursing through his body. He turned toward the direction where he had consumed the Spiritual Energy of the Frost Phython. He was still thinking about the female silhouette that had appeared to him when he saw a small door at the end of the lair.

"Another hidden piece?" Malik's interest piqued as he rushed down there instantly.

"Was the Frost Phython only a Guardian and it has been guarding this door...?"

"Then definitely, what lies behind this door isn't ordinary. If I can get my hands on it..." The greed on Malik's face intensified as he pushed the door open and forced his way through.

[You've discovered the Val'Kearz Lost Chamber]

"The Val'Kearz Lost Chamber..." Malik arched his brow as he continued moving forward in the dark. He was stepping on water, moving toward the only source of light in the chamber. There he saw a statue—a male statue that had been broken, with only half of its body left—and sticking out of the statue's teeth was a jawbone... a long jawbone curved like a dagger.

Malik activated the Eyes of Insight instantly as he appraised the jawbone.

[Description: One of the jawbones of the Demon Emperor Val'Kearz which was broken during the War of Apocalypse. The jawbone descended into the Lower Realm and has been here since ages.]

"The Jawbone of a Demon Emperor... This is a legendary treasure," Malik said as he came closer and pulled out the jawbone from the statue, which scattered instantly.

"Now that I've obtained it... I wonder what I'm going to do with a jawbone? Can it even be used as a weapon?" Malik asked himself as he placed his hand on the stone. He wanted to test his hypothesis on himself to see how many Health Points he'd lose.

He stabbed the jawbone into his right hand and screamed out loudly in pain as dark smoke emitted from the jawbone. It disintegrated into nothing but smoke and entered Malik's right hand, leaving behind a mark... a mark that looked like the head of a dragon.

"What in the world is this?" Malik cried out in shock as he activated the Eyes of Insight.

[Mark of the Devourer]

Description: Val'Kearz is a Demon Emperor that loves devouring his opponents—devouring their flesh and draining their lifeforce. It's only natural for his jawbone to be able to devour anything.

Effect: Drain lifeforce from monsters after being killed and increase the health and Spiritual Energy of the user.

Rank: Rare

Owner: It has been marked by Malik. Can't be traded. Can't drop on death.

"It's truly the jawbone of a Demon Emperor. To think I'd obtain such a rare item. I won't have to depend on the Infinite Chaos Scripture to break through again. I can increase my Spiritual Energy and Health Points too. I've truly lucked out this time." Malik's smile widened as he pulled up his stats page.

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[Stats]

Name — CrimsonFlame

Profession — Cultivator

Realm — Body Refinement

Stage — 6

Health Points — 40,000

Spiritual Energy — 50,000

Cultivation Points — 900,000 / 8,000,000

[Attributes]

Strength — 450

Agility — 300

Endurance — 600

Intelligence — 500

Physique — Primordial Chaos Physique

[+120 Free Stats]

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[Skills]

[Infinite Chaos Scripture — S Grade]

Absorb Qi from the surroundings in both combat and non-combat states. Amount depends on environmental chaos (10+/sec).

Passive → Gain cultivation points from each monster slain, scaling with grade, species, and age.

[Eyes of Insight — A Grade]

See through illusions, hidden phenomena, and disguised entities—unless they are in a realm beyond your own.

[Necro Slash — B Grade]

A technique of the ancient Knights of Lont.

Effect → Deals 300% attack damage to a single enemy and reduces their movement speed by 10% for 3 seconds.

Cooldown — 15 seconds

[King of Nurturers — Rare]

The Will of the Nurturer Queen seeks a king to reign supreme. The will has chosen you. Fail, and be cursed and hunted by every Nurturer in existence.

Effects →

Poison Resistance +50

Instills fear in all Nurturers

+40% All Stats for 5 minutes (Cooldown: 6 hours)

Passive → Spiritual Energy +200% when the Will is triggered

[Black Lightning Art — A Grade]

Raw energy refined from your Primordial Chaos Physique.

Effect 1 → Call down lightning in a 100x100 radius for 5 seconds. Enemies are suppressed for 2 seconds.

Cooldown — 20 minutes

Effect 2 → Consume 500 SE to stab with your finger.

50% chance to penetrate same-realm armor, 100% chance at lower-realm targets

Stuns for 3 seconds

Passive Chance → 50% chance to trigger on any attack

Additional Effects → Be the Master of your Creation.

[Mark of the Devourer — Rare]

Effect: Drain lifeforce from monsters after being killed, which in turn increases the Health and Spiritual Energy of the user.

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"I've six skills. Three improve my cultivation base and Spiritual Energy, two are attack types, while the last one increases my awareness."

"Hahaha... I'm now what can be tagged as OP... I'm truly OP... Goddess of Luck, I'll forever be in your debt."

[You've cleared the third stage of the Beginning Tower.]

"Now... It's time to see what the fourth stage has for me. Haha..."