Dark Element Fragment

At two in the morning, the streets of Wing City were somewhat deserted. In the taxi, Jiang Hou watched the skyscrapers slide backward outside the window, deep in thought.

He was tallying today's gains.

He had killed around a dozen First Order monsters, one Second Order monster, and one Third Order monster. The soul energy he absorbed and the condensed resentment had brought his Hell Demon Mark count to five.

The resulting change was a massive increase in the total amount of demonic energy within Jiang Hou's body, while his Divine Weapon path had entered the mid-stage of Second Order.

With a total of 193 points of demonic energy, and a basic expenditure of 10 points per slash, he could unleash nineteen Demon Sealing Instant Slash blade energies. His endurance had increased considerably.

If he chose to unleash all his demonic energy in a single instant—

Based on the earlier calculation that doubling the base output and instantly exhausting 80 points of demonic energy produced triple the power, a burst using 190 points of demonic energy should possess roughly seven times the power.

A sevenfold slash, combined with Jiang Hou's formidable physical strength, was something even ordinary Third Order beings could not withstand. It could serve as a trump card killing move.

Of course, only Jiang Hou could use it this way. It was not only because he possessed dual-path inheritances, but also because the more demonic energy erupted at once, the greater the demands on the body became.

If one's physique was not strong enough, the "meridians" inside the body simply could not endure the impact caused by such a massive instantaneous eruption of demonic energy.

Besides the changes in strength, today's mission rewards had also been substantial.

Killing a First Order monster during the mission earned 3 points, a Second Order monster earned 20, and a Third Order monster earned 50, totaling exactly 100. There were also additional points for the team mission. Added to his original 30 points, it should be enough to exchange for some good things. Anticipation appeared on Jiang Hou's face.

Since it was rather late today, Jiang Hou considered it and decided not to go to the ruins after returning home.

He had barely gotten a good night's sleep over the past week, so he would give himself half a night off.

The next morning, Jiang Hou woke up before Qin Siyu could knock on his door.

After changing clothes and washing up, he entered the living room and saw the little cat, Crimson Eyes, sitting upright on the sofa. When it saw Jiang Hou, its pink little mouth opened slightly, and it gave a soft meow.

Meanwhile, Qin Siyu stood before the television, watching the morning news intently.

"Siyu, what are you watching?"

"I'm watching the Transcendent Management Regulations that were just issued by the authorities." The ponytailed girl pointed at the television.

The Transcendent Management Regulations had been released?

Jiang Hou looked toward the television. Behind the host, rows of words slowly rotated across the Big Screen, while the host explained them to viewers one sentence at a time.

Among them, it was mentioned that the official department responsible for managing transcendents was called Heavenly Punishment, with branches in every city.

Next came laws and regulations that civilian transcendents had to obey. In addition to ordinary laws, they were forbidden from proactively using transcendent power to harm ordinary people.

However, if ordinary people took the initiative to provoke them, transcendents could also administer a certain degree of punishment.

But the scope of such attacks had to be controlled, and they could not violate laws or regulations. If the other party had broken the law, the law would deal with them.

It also stated that if members of the public discovered someone who was suspected to be a transcendent, they could report it to the Law Enforcement Department. Relevant personnel would come to register them and restrict their behavior.

At the same time, as long as ordinary people underwent awakening mutations, they were obligated to register with the Law Enforcement Department, and the authorities would provide a certain amount of assistance.

For example, they would explain matters requiring attention after awakening, how to better control one's strength, which inheritance path one belonged to, how to prevent losing control, and so on.

As these regulations were announced, Jiang Hou knew that the somewhat restless social atmosphere of the past two days should settle down considerably.

Because the authorities had implemented "control measures" for those who possessed transcendent powers.

After breakfast, Qin Siyu waved to Jiang Hou. "Jiang Hou, I'm heading to school first."

"Go on. Be careful on the way." Jiang Hou nodded.

But when Jiang Hou arrived at school and entered the classroom, he sensed many students whispering among themselves. Some of the girls were visibly flustered.

"Morning, Jiang Hou." Zong Zheng Nanmo, who had already arrived, greeted him.

Jiang Hou sat down at his desk and casually asked, "Did something happen?"

"It's nothing major. Another student died, behind the school." Zong Zheng Nanmo's tone was casual as he spoke.

After all, he was also a transcendent expert who had cleared out monsters. What was there to fear about a dead person?

"Another student died?" Jiang Hou was stunned. What was going on? Was there an out-of-control mutant or a Pollution Monster around their school?

At that moment, Zong Zheng Nanmo leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Jiang Hou, did you notice that Jiang Zhong and Li Mengwu didn't come to class today?"

"I heard that last night, a student saw Jiang Zhong go looking for Li Mengwu outside some upscale residential complex. It seemed the two of them had another argument, and it was pretty intense."

...Jiang Hou was speechless. This guy was still paying attention to that gossip.

Compared to such trivial matters, he cared more about the two students who had been killed in succession. Was it the same murderer? Were the targets all high school students? The latter was especially important, because Qin Siyu's high school was not far from here.

Zong Zheng Nanmo lowered his voice. "Fine, let's change the subject. The mission rewards from last night have been issued. How many points do you have now?"

"They've been issued? I haven't checked yet." As he spoke, Jiang Hou opened the personal information page on his Smart Watch.

His account's original 30 points had become 155, an increase of 125. Excluding the 100 points earned from killing monsters, he had received an additional 25 points.

"That's a lot. I only have 50 points." Zong Zheng Nanmo looked at Jiang Hou's personal points with some envy.

"That's not bad. You didn't kill a single monster last night, after all."

Zong Zheng Nanmo's fifty points had clearly come from the reward for locating the Space Node, as a contribution to the team.

Because the two spoke very quietly, so quietly that even the students in the front row did not know they were talking, there was no need to worry about the information they discussed being exposed.

Even the history teacher at the podium, who had begun the lesson, did not notice them.

Just then, Jiang Hou's phone vibrated slightly. Jiang Ruochan had sent a message in the group chat and tagged both of them.

"I heard that another student died at school today, and the wounds were gruesome, unlike anything a human could inflict. I have something to do these next few days and can't go to school, so I'll leave this matter to you two."

"As the Special Incident Research Society, we have an obligation to investigate and handle matters like this."

"As for the reward for successfully solving the case... let me think." Jiang Ruochan paused there, and then several lines of text that made both of them widen their eyes appeared.

"For Zong Zheng Nanmo, I'll give you a Wind Element Epic Inheritance Crystal. Once you reach Third Order Peak, you'll be able to break through to Fourth Order directly."

"For Jiang Hou, a friend from the provincial department up north posted this morning, showing off how the expedition team she belongs to found several Divine Weapon Fragments deep within the ruins. One of them belongs to the Dark Element."

"I'll ask her about it in a moment and see whether that Dark Element fragment is another fragment of the Abyssal Demonblade. Even if it isn't an Abyssal Demonblade fragment, its Dark Element origin can still force an increase in star rating."

"The only cost is that no new Divine Weapon power can awaken from this increase in star rating."

"Holy shit!" A curse instantly burst from Zong Zheng Nanmo, and his voice was a little loud from sheer shock.

"Student Zong Zheng Nanmo, do you have any objections to the history I just discussed?" At the podium, the history teacher frowned slightly and looked over.

Zong Zheng Nanmo hurriedly gave an ingratiating smile. "No, teacher. You explained it very well. I was just too excited listening."

A Dark Element Divine Weapon Fragment! Jiang Hou was tempted as well.

Whether that fragment was part of the Abyssal Demonblade was not important. So long as it could break through the carrying limit of his Hell Demon Marks, that was enough for him.

Of course, it would naturally be even better if that Dark Element Divine Weapon Fragment was a fragment of the Abyssal Demonblade.

At that moment, Jiang Ruochan added another sentence.

"This mission can only confirm that the culprit is a mutant. Its level and abilities are unknown. It could be an ordinary First Order, or it could be Third Order Peak."

"You'll have to assess the situation yourselves when the time comes. If you ultimately feel it's dangerous, you can give up and request assistance."

Second update