What Is the Essence of Humanity?

"The heart of Fish Tripe Junior!"

"There's a demonic aura!"

Jiang Yuanchi looked solemn.

Xu Nan felt a headache coming on. What the hell was this "demonic aura"? This forest looked eerie; if it didn't dissipate, there would definitely be plenty of Undead Creatures. The Fairy Dragon stopped here, naturally surrounded by the three melee brothers.

"Actually, I've always had a bold guess."

Looking at the misty forest, Xu Nan slowly said, "Over the course of this night, apart from encountering a few scattered earth demons and a group of dissolute Shadow Beast, we have hardly encountered any decent monsters."

"This is completely inconsistent with what Wei Xian told us."

"The only explanation is that we moved slower and more discreetly, while their melee trio was probably more conspicuous, and they lured away the monsters that were supposed to attack us."

Jiang Yuanchi nodded. "That makes sense."

Then, without looking back, he prepared to leave.

"Let them keep carrying it, we'll continue exploring."

"Wait!" Xu Nan grabbed her arm.

He certainly couldn't just abandon his lazy brothers like that. Jiang Yuanchi was unaware of the situation, but his score was still climbing!

These three probably encountered a problem they couldn't solve, so they could only sit and wait for their fate, and by the way, they drew a circle to curse themselves and Senior Jiang. The latter didn't have a system, so of course she couldn't receive the other party's resentment.

Actually Xu Nan found it a bit strange. Logically, Activity Points should only be generated when you cause mental or physical harm to the other party. Now that you are so far away, how can you still send points to yourself?

Have the Salted Fish Three Brothers reached such a high level of moral character? They can contribute points without even needing to finish off enemies themselves? What kind of spirit is this!

Unable to figure it out or stop thinking about it, Xu Nan decided to take action instead of guessing.

"I'll go check it out. Senior, you wait for me outside."

Xu Nan expressed her determination to leave, and Jiang Yuanchi could only pout.

Originally, in such a ghostly place, the White-Clad Wraith Elder Sister would have been the most suitable person to scout ahead. Unfortunately, the trip to the Demon God Monastery made Xu Nan lose trust in her and completely banish her to the cold palace.

It's better to go in person!

Bloodline Ability - Undead Avatar Body!

Xu Nan floated in as light as a ghost.

Deep in the woods, the souls of the dead lie scattered.

Xu Nan's face was ashen, but he successfully fooled the system and flew around aimlessly with a group of undead brothers.

He saw a strange altar in an open space.

At the altar, there was a busy figure. The man was emaciated and clearly not a good person. He was dressed somewhat like the Undead Magician Xu Nan had seen before, but Xu Nan instinctively felt that he wasn't him.

"These undead were all attracted by the altar. Although they didn't attack the altar, they don't seem to be under its control."

"In the Pro World, altars serve a few basic functions: sacrifice, blessing, summoning, and protection. This person doesn't look like an Earthling; could he be a native of the Pro World who has wandered in?"

"The symbols on this altar look familiar."

Xu Nan flew around the altar for a while and found the Salted Fish Three Brothers.

The three of them were bound hand and foot and lay firmly at the bottom of the altar, presumably where the six-pointed star offering was located.

All three of them had an eerie gray light flickering around them.

Taking advantage of the man's inattention, Xu Nan cast an Appraisal Technique and discovered that all three of them were troubled by a divine spell called "Sinking".

This divine magic doesn't cause any direct harm, but it can greatly weaken a person's willpower and mental strength; a person controlled by the spell of corruption will repeatedly immerse themselves in a nightmare from which they cannot extricate themselves.

"Damn it, it was clearly this old man who arrested you, so why are you having nightmares about me?" Xu Nan realized now that the Salted Fish Three Brothers' nightmares were probably about their own exam papers, which is why they all had a score of 1998.

However, in a sense, their nightmares seemed to offer them a glimmer of hope.

Xu Nan did not rush to make a move. He did not know anything about the altar or the enemy.

The fact that he could easily defeat the Salted Fish Three Brothers proves that this old man is no ordinary person.

Xu Nan searched through the system's bloodline knowledge and confirmed that the altar's emblem belonged to Tiamat, a notorious evil god in the Pro World. He initially thought the old man was a priest of the evil god, but later discovered he was merely a quasi-fanatic who had received some divine favor. (Note 1.)

Even so, Xu Nan felt it was better not to take the risk and to go back and discuss it with her senior first.

After all, she was a mage who had spent a year in Stephenson, so she should have more experience in dealing with Cultists.

Furthermore, Xu Nan realized that things might have gone beyond the scope of normal Training Camp practical lessons. The existence of dangerous Cultists was something novices shouldn't be dealing with. Something's wrong at Riverbend Bend!

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The old man, having set up a crystal on the altar, suddenly threw his head back and laughed triumphantly.

"My Lord, with divine might, grant me eternal life!"

"This is the first Divine Grace Altar in the New World. The divine grace accumulated after this successful sacrifice will surely allow me to become Divine Art Master."

"It's a real shame that I can't share such a wonderful experience with anyone; hey? You over there, you spirit, that's you. Stop looking around. I think you have some intelligence and are quite handsome. Come here and be my spirit attendant!"

But then he actually beckoned Xu Nan's undead body over with a wave of his hand.

Xu Nan thought for a moment and decided to devise a plan.

I never expected that my pretty face would be noticed by an old man.

Tiamat resides in the Nether Sea, between the World of the Dead and the Spirit Realm, spending his days among the dead. Therefore, it's quite normal that his altars attract spirits. However, these spirits are of very low rank and lack self-awareness.

Xu Nan entered the altar and obediently followed the old man. The old man became more and more satisfied with what he saw.

How much memory does the deceased retain? Did they have a name?

Xu Nan hesitated and said, "Just a little bit; not even cherry blossoms yet."

At least it looks like a ghost with some spiritual power.

The old man said with satisfaction, "You will follow me until the sacrifice is over. With the blessing of the gods, the power of our Lord will surely benefit you greatly."

With that, he walked up to the Salted Fish Three Brothers with a cold smile, and a green light flashed in his hand, revealing a jade dagger.

"The number of humans in the new world is far too great; our lord will surely be very pleased with this world."

"These people are destined to become my sacrifices."

"Heh, shameless and filthy humans, death is your only path to redemption."

He used the jade dagger to cut open his palm, and blood immediately gushed out.

"Undead, do you know the true nature of humanity?"

This old man probably has a problem with not being able to stand not showing off. He was drawing symbols on the foreheads of the three people with his own blood while trying to teach Xu Nan a lesson.

Who knew that Xu Nan would instinctively react by saying:

"... A language repeater?"

The old man pondered in surprise, "A language repeater? What's that?"

"Just some strange memories from their past lives... How about I demonstrate for you? You can wake them up without untying them." Xu Nan.

The old man thought for a moment. Since the ritual was already completed and the mental strength of these three professionals was extremely weak, it wouldn't matter if the divine spell was lifted. So he gladly lifted the divine spell on the three people.

A flash of gray light passed by, and as the 1998 points stopped increasing, Xu Nan knew in advance that they had woken up.

The three opened their eyes, and as soon as they saw Xu Nan's appearance clearly, they were shocked and wanted to do something.

Xu Nan had already dispelled his Undead Avatar Body!

To the old man's astonishment, a low chant suddenly arose, and a huge fireball slammed into his face, knocking him off the altar!

Although the three didn't know exactly what had happened, they knew that Xu Nan had come to rescue them.

Wang Dongdong was the first to jump up. "Big brother is awesome!"

Ning Le followed closely behind. "Big brother is awesome!"

Li Jingran cried tears of joy, "Big brother is awesome!"

Xu Nan looked at the old man outside the altar, who had been blasted into a dried-up corpse, and shrugged.

"Look, this is a language repeater."

Unfortunately, the deceased fanatics could no longer hear Xu Nan's boastful words, which made Xu Nan feel melancholy.

At this moment, the four-way communicator suddenly emitted a sharp sound:

"Urgent Notice! Urgent Notice! A large number of followers of an otherworldly evil god have appeared in the eastern area of Riverbend. All training members are requested to hide and await rescue!"

"Also, Three-Legged Rot Wolf, creatures from the Nether Sea, have appeared near the East Eighth District and East District Nine. All relevant members are urged to protect themselves and avoid encountering the carrion wolves. We will dispatch a special task force as soon as possible..."

Beep beep beep.

The alarm stopped abruptly.

The Salted Fish Three Brothers were still immersed in the joy of being rescued, looking relaxed and optimistic.

"Three-Legged Rot Wolf? What's that? It sounds really weak."

"With our big brother here, what are we afraid of!"

"Look, that dog over there is walking with a limp, it's really funny!"

Xu Nan stood on the altar, watching the red light emanating from the mist, and his lips twitched.

...!