Basil Inn

Rayne hurried away, only letting out a breath once the church was out of sight.

He rolled up his sleeve and looked. There had been a bruise on his arm from the beating; it had still been obvious when he looked in the mirror at the apartment, but now it had faded to the point of almost disappearing.

At that moment, every injured part of his body felt a warm current. His muscles were a little sore and swollen, and it felt as though countless ants were crawling inside him—tingly and itchy, yet strangely comfortable.

The same was true of the spot at the back of his head where he had been struck by Heavy Strike. Even when he pressed it with his hand, he could no longer feel any pain.

Rayne finally understood why, after being brutally beaten by Ramsey, suffering grave injuries all over, and then being sunk into the river, he had still recovered so quickly.

It was all because the cellphone absorbed souls.

What it had absorbed in the square just now was Luis's soul. And when he had crossed over last night, it had absorbed the soul of the previous owner of this body—the last "Rayne"!

Without his predecessor's contribution, Rayne could never have come back from the dead.

Thinking of this, Rayne's feelings became complicated.

Not only had he taken someone else's body, but he had not even spared that person's soul, turning it into nourishment for his own recovery.

"I will personally avenge you," Rayne murmured.

Besides the surge in battery power and his nearly healed injuries, two or three more icons had been activated on the cellphone interface. However, there were too many people on the street, so Rayne did not immediately check what they did and continued looking for a place to stay.

As he walked along the street, Rayne discreetly turned on the camera and observed the people entering his field of vision.

Through those strange eyes, everyone's soul was laid bare.

Rayne discovered that the vast majority of souls were similar. At least in terms of strength, there was little difference between ordinary people.

After secretly observing several hundred people along the way, he gradually figured out some patterns.

The color of a soul represented a person's emotions.

When people were relaxed and calm, with little emotional fluctuation, their souls appeared pale white. If they were agitated—angry or enraged, for example—their souls shifted from white to red. The redder the color, the more intense their emotional turmoil and the deeper their anger.

When people were depressed, such as when they were sad or grief-stricken, their souls turned blue.

Green represented happiness and pleasure, while yellow represented concern or affection.

Pain and fear were black, disgust and dissatisfaction were pink, and numbness and dullness were gray.

However, the color of a soul was not always pure or singular. People's emotions changed constantly, so their souls were usually mixed with two or even more colors, like paint blended together.

If someone was far away, Rayne found it difficult to immediately discern their emotional fluctuations just by watching their soul colors change.

Only when he was within ten paces and focused his mind on a single target could he directly sense the soul's fluctuations, as if he felt what they felt, allowing him to perceive that person's mood with the greatest accuracy.

All the way here, Rayne had found that the souls of people in Lien District were mainly gray, mixed with some blue or pink. Very few had green or white in their souls.

Rayne sighed inwardly. It was obvious.

How could people living in a slum possibly be in a good mood? Few would be satisfied with life here.

Color was merely the external manifestation of a soul. Its true essence lay within.

Rayne noticed that something bizarre lurked deep within every person's soul.

It resembled a symbol and was incredibly tiny, easy to overlook without close inspection. It was made up of red and black, twisted into a writhing mass with clawing shapes, swimming through everyone's soul like a living thing and radiating a foul aura.

Rayne was very familiar with that aura. It was extremely similar to the aura on Luis just now; the two clearly came from the same source.

"Blood Soul Curse!"

Rayne recognized it immediately.

What else could the evil thing in everyone's soul be, if not the Blood Soul Curse?

"Is the Blood Soul Curse in my soul the same as everyone else's?" Rayne could not be certain, because he could not see the state of his own soul.

Although he had heard the Whispers of the Lord of Darkness in his nightmare last night and could confirm that he had the curse, his soul was formed from the fusion of two people, and he also had the Mutated Cellphone. He did not know whether there would be any differences.

Aside from the Blood Soul Curse, the soul structures of most people were very simple. Rayne could see through them inside and out at a glance, which showed that they were ordinary people.

Only a very small number of people possessed souls that were both powerful and unusual.

These people's souls resembled that of Demps the Holy Swordsman. Their souls were more solid and layered, and deep within their cores, there was not only the Blood Soul Curse but other foreign objects as well.

Some of these objects were abstract symbols, while others resembled certain creatures. They varied from person to person.

Rayne knew these things were Soul Elements!

Every element within a soul represented an ability, and those who possessed elements were all Transcendents.

For example, Rayne spotted an exceptionally brawny man. He stood a head taller than ordinary people, wore light armor over his upper body and tall combat boots on his feet, and carried a round iron shield on his back. A sword was wedged between the shield and his back, with only its hilt exposed, but the thick hilt alone showed that the sword could not be light.

As he walked down the street, his heavy footsteps thudded dully, yet he was not slow. Pedestrians ahead of him quickly moved aside, afraid of being hit by him.

Anyone could tell that he was a Transcendent.

Rayne observed this Transcendent's soul. It was several times stronger than an ordinary person's, divided into three layers from outer to inner, with two elements at its deepest point.

Curious, he quietly quickened his pace to follow the man and focused his mind on staring directly at his soul.

The details of the two elements enlarged before his eyes. One was a white triangular symbol, while the other resembled a Gray Stone Talisman.

Rayne did not know what these two elements were called, but the instinctive impressions they conveyed allowed him to understand their functions.

The white symbol represented pure strength, giving its owner tremendous power far beyond that of an ordinary person;

The Gray Stone Talisman could make one's skin tough and sturdy, strengthen the body, resist ordinary injuries, and improve the body's overall ability to withstand blows.

"This man is an Iron Guard. No wonder he's dressed in armor."

Rayne did not know much about Transcendent professions, but he knew that Iron Guard was one of the most common.

Iron Guards excelled at defense. Though their raw strength was inferior to that of Berserkers, they were balanced in offense and defense, had enduring stamina and tenacious wills, and could adapt to all kinds of combat environments. Many nobles and merchant guilds liked to hire Iron Guards as guards, or even train their own, making them highly sought after.

The weakness of Iron Guards was their slow speed, but that was only compared to other Transcendent professions.

In the eyes of ordinary people, this Iron Guard walked extremely fast. Each stride covered a great distance, and within a few steps, he had left everyone else behind.

Rayne had not intended to keep following him, but then saw him enter an inn by the roadside.

The inn was large and occupied one of the best locations on the street, almost right in the center of Lien District. It had three floors, with a large courtyard behind it.

Even from far away, Rayne could hear the clamor coming from the inn's hall.

"Basil Inn."

Rayne watched for a while. Guests frequently entered and exited the inn, and he found that quite a few of them were Transcendents. In just this short time, he had seen three.

This immediately piqued his interest.

It was still morning, not even time for lunch, yet this inn was so lively, with so many Transcendents coming and going. Clearly, it was no ordinary inn.

Rayne entered through the main doors, and a strong smell of alcohol hit him in the face.

Looking around, he saw more than a dozen tables in the spacious hall. Half of them were occupied by guests drinking freely and shouting loudly, with no one paying attention to his arrival.

The people gathered around the tables were not simply drinking. They were playing cards.

"My turn, haha! You're dead this round!"

"Fireball! Blow you up!"

"What kind of shit luck is that hand?"

"Damn it, I won't accept this! Another round!"

Voices rose and fell around the hall. Everyone clutched cards in their hands, their expressions focused and animated.

Those who drew good cards happily gulped down beer. Those who lost cursed loudly. Some scratched their heads in frustration over their bad luck. Onlookers joined in the jeering, while several attendants carried drink trays through the hall. The entire inn was noisy without pause.

Of course, not everyone was playing cards. Some simply sat at tables with friends, drinking and chatting, seemingly exchanging information.

Rayne could not help but stare in astonishment at the sight.

This was completely different from what he had expected. Then he remembered that they were playing a game called Myriad Spirits Card.

This game had been popular in the Empire for many years. At first, it had been a simulated battle between Transcendents of the Myriad Spirits Wizard profession. Later, the gameplay gradually spread and more and more people began playing. Seeing a business opportunity, the Alchemist Association refined the rules and officially released various cards. Enthusiasts spent money buying and collecting them, then battled friends across tabletops.

Myriad Spirits Card was popular not only among ordinary people; many nobles and Transcendents were also obsessed with it.

Some wealthy enthusiasts had even formed clubs and held regular tournaments. Competitions were ranked by scale, and the winners received not only prize money but also special titles that earned them admiration.

It had become so popular that there was even a profession dedicated to playing cards for a living: Card Players.

Rayne had never played Myriad Spirits Card. He had only watched his classmates play it.

Because cards were neither cheap nor easy to collect.

To play a match, each person needed at least a deck of sixty cards. Prices rose with the quality of the cards. The cheapest ordinary cards cost only a few Copper Liso, while the rarest Legendary Cards were said to be worth over ten thousand Gold Shield, an astonishing sum!

Rayne walked around the group of guests who had come to play cards so early in the morning and approached the inn's counter.

Before he could speak, a deep voice came from behind the counter. Even amid the din of the hall, it could be heard clearly.

"Young man, need a room? Or are you here to play cards?"

A welcoming face rose from behind the counter. It was impossible to tell the man's age; a thick red beard covered more than half his face, while his large nose was especially conspicuous. Deep-set brown eyes sat beneath thick, bushy brows, and the red hair on his head had been shaved into an eye-catching mohawk.

When Rayne saw that rooster-comb hairstyle, he nearly laughed, but he did not dare actually do so.

Because this was a Dwarf.

The counter was only half a person's height, allowing Rayne to see the Dwarf's body. Though the man only came up to Rayne's chest, he was broad rather than tall, with arms thicker than Rayne's thighs, a thick waist and broad shoulders, and solid muscles like a giant barrel of ale. He probably weighed twice as much as Rayne. If they fought, Rayne would only be beaten.

Dwarves were not human and had never been afflicted by the curse. They were born with immense brute strength.

Rayne secretly examined the other's soul. His soul differed from a human's, but it was even stronger than that of an ordinary Transcendent.

He was somewhat surprised to see a Dwarf in Lien District.

Dwarves were not rare in the Empire, especially in large cities near mountains or along the coast. Many Dwarves settled down and ran all kinds of businesses, with some becoming official citizens of the Empire.

There were Dwarves in Longshande as well, but they all lived in the relatively prosperous Honeydew District or Silver Star District, where the Supernatural Academy was located. They generally did not come out casually.

"Boss, how much is your cheapest room?" Rayne asked.