Into the Canyon

Soul Stone Kerrigan

Quality: Gold

Activations: 5

Gained Buffs: Heart of the Swarm (Permanent), Psionic Control (Permanent)

After examining this Soul Stone, Fang Zheng discovered in surprise that, unlike the Lich King, the Queen of Blades' Soul Stone was actually more useful.

The reason lay in the nature of the Soul Stones themselves. When Arthas' Soul Stone was socketed into the Dimensional Codex, it only provided the Undying King buff, which affected Undead creatures, unless Fang Zheng actively activated it. To unleash the Lich King's true power, he had to fully activate the Soul Stone.

But the Queen of Blades' Soul Stone was different. Although it had the same five activations as Arthas', Fang Zheng discovered after examining it that the Queen of Blades' true power was the exact opposite of the Lich King's. If the Lich King needed to consume Soul Stone activations to unleash his true might, then the Queen of Blades' Soul Stone could only exert its greatest power when it was not activated.

The reason was the Heart of the Swarm (Permanent) buff.

The description of this buff was only one sentence: Heart of the Swarm (Permanent): Can create and control a Zerg army.

That one sentence was enough for Fang Zheng to understand.

Put simply, with the Queen of Blades' Soul Stone socketed, he could directly build a Zerg base and play real-time strategy. After all, the Zerg's greatest strength was their endless Bug Tide. Their overwhelming Zerg army was their true power, while Kerrigan's personal combat ability was actually quite limited. In other words, if it were Arthas, he could still rely on his own strength to turn the tide after the Scourge was destroyed. But if it were Kerrigan, once the Zerg army was finished, she would have almost no choice but to run for her life.

So for Fang Zheng, this Soul Stone was actually more suitable for everyday use. But... Kerrigan, Kerrigan, why did it have to be Kerrigan?

The Lich King was already unpopular enough, and the Zerg were even worse. Fang Zheng was certain that if this thing appeared on the surface, it would definitely be treated as something like the vanguard of a demon invasion... Why couldn't it give him a Jim Raynor? Artanis would have been fine too. Why did it have to be Kerrigan?

Fang Zheng could already feel the system's deep malice toward him. He was its creator, after all. If this game were a child, then he would be its father. Was there really such a shamelessly father-screwing brat?

Then again, bratty kids existed to screw over their dads.

Though helpless, Fang Zheng still had no choice but to put away the Soul Stone. He definitely could not use it in the Main World, but perhaps he could use it in a Dungeon world. He wondered what world he would be sent to when the next mission transfer began.

At that thought, Fang Zheng glanced once more at the Dimensional Codex before him. Its cooldown had already entered its countdown.

Thirteen hours remained until the transfer reopened.

The night passed.

At first light the next day, the group set out again. Yet, to their surprise, unlike the previous day, they did not encounter a single Undead creature along the way. Malte and the others' expressions darkened to the extreme. They were not escaping Shadow Canyon now; they were retracing their steps. By all rights, the closer they got to the central area, the more enemies there should have been. Fang Zheng and Knight Conan had encountered several groups of Undead soldiers on their way to Blood Sandbar before. There was no reason the enemy would ignore them now that they had practically walked into a trap.

That left only one explanation: something more important had clearly drawn the Lich's attention.

And that more important matter was the Dark Ritual Malte had mentioned.

"Things really don't look good."

Standing atop the cliff and looking down, Malte's expression was as grim as ice. Below them lay what appeared to be an abandoned Quarry. It looked ancient, and no one knew when it had been built. But Malte had clearly not come here for archaeology.

"That Quarry is the Lich's lair. We were ambushed here back then, but now there isn't a single Undead creature in sight... Has the ritual already begun?"

Hearing Malte mutter to himself, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow. Due to the special effect of Arthas' Soul Stone, his senses were extremely sharp when it came to Undead creatures. Just as Malte had said, he could not sense any Undead presence around the Quarry. But that did not mean they were not there. In fact, Fang Zheng had noticed something deep underground. A large number of Undead creatures were gathering beneath the Quarry. There was no need to ask; they certainly were not down there throwing a party.

"What do we do next?"

Fang Zheng did not tell Malte what he had sensed. Truthfully, he had no desire to risk his life for some Dark Ritual whose details he did not understand. For all he knew, they might be trying to summon back a lost lover from the underworld. To be honest, after spending time with these Holy Knights, Fang Zheng had found that they truly lived up to the title of Knight. They were just and kind, willing to sacrifice themselves, fought for righteousness, harbored no filthy thoughts, and were mostly easygoing. Fang Zheng genuinely respected them, but he did not have any particular feelings about it himself. It was like watching a Hollywood blockbuster. It was moving to see soldiers willing to die for their country to stop some monster or Demon Beast, but going up to die himself was another matter entirely—why should he sacrifice his life for another country?

Besides, Fang Zheng had been in this world for less than a month and had no attachment to it at all. Strictly speaking, he only knew Stone and Miss M. Asking him to risk his life for this world was naturally impossible. So Fang Zheng decided to let Malte take the lead while he simply played support. If things went south, it would not be too late to retreat.

In any case, his transfer cooldown was almost over. If necessary, he could find a chance to use Invincible Hearthstone and teleport away. It would not be difficult.

"Let's go down and check things out first."

At last, Malte made his decision.

"Something must have happened here. I don't believe they would be this careless. Even if they really were holding a ritual, they wouldn't leave not even a single scout outside."

Since Malte had given the order, Fang Zheng naturally had no intention of objecting. Together with the others, he carefully descended the cliff, watching their surroundings as they headed toward the Quarry.

The enormous Quarry was empty. Only whirling winds howled as they slipped through the cracks. Fang Zheng gripped the Skycleaver Sword tightly and cautiously swept his gaze around— the Lich King's senses only worked on the undead and had no effect on living things. The absence of Undead creatures did not mean he could just charge in and get himself killed.

"Hm?"

Before long, however, Fang Zheng noticed that something was off. Among several ruins near the Quarry, he found bone fragments scattered across the ground. Judging by their appearance, they should have been the remains of destroyed Undead creatures. At first, Fang Zheng thought they were traces left behind from Malte's previous battle, but he soon spotted a circle of footprints nearby. The prints were fresh. They did not look as if they had been left long ago, but rather as if they had appeared recently... and before they arrived here.

"..."

Fang Zheng frowned, tightened his grip on his sword, and slowly followed the footprints toward the ruins. Judging by its appearance, the place seemed to have once been a foreman's dwelling, but more than half of it had long since collapsed, leaving only a few walls standing. Fang Zheng stared at the wall before him, thought for a moment, then raised his sword.

Whoosh!

But before Fang Zheng could bring down his sword, a black shadow suddenly leaped over from the other side of the wall and lunged straight at him. Startled by the shadow that had suddenly sprung out, Fang Zheng hurriedly raised his sword and swept it forward, colliding with it. A dull thud rang out as the shadow flipped backward and landed steadily on the ground. Only then did Fang Zheng finally see its true form.

"What the hell is that?"

Fang Zheng stared at the black shadow in stunned disbelief. What had appeared before him was not the Undead creature he had imagined, but a jet-black panther. Yet unlike an ordinary panther, its body seemed to be a deep blue like the starry cosmos, and its entire form was semi-transparent. What was more, Fang Zheng could see straight silver-white lines within its body connecting its limbs and head. If the Black Panther stood still, it looked more like a constellation in the night sky.

What the hell was this thing?

Just as Fang Zheng was wavering in uncertainty and preparing to call Malte and the others for help, an excited voice suddenly rang out beside him.

"Mr. Fang Zheng! It's great that you're all right!"

Hearing that voice, Fang Zheng froze. Then he saw a cloaked girl run out from the ruins behind the Black Panther, panting as she happily waved at him. Fang Zheng was not very familiar with her, but neither was she a stranger.

"...Miss M?"