Mission Rewards

Barn went to the mission hall of the Ice Prison Royal City alone.

The captain's name for Ice Blade 123 Squad had already been changed to his. The mission points from his previous completions had all been settled, and to his surprise, the points that originally belonged to Ice Blade 99 Squad had also been credited to the current Ice Blade 123 Squad.

Whether it was Annabelle or Timothy who had pulled some strings behind the scenes, the legion had accepted the merger of the two squads as a fait accompli.

Barn didn't dwell on the reasons. With plenty of points at his disposal, he exchanged them for a few items suited to his squad members' needs before turning back to the residence.

In the courtyard, Declan was resting beside a stone table, while the four Moonflower Deer stood nearby, their expressions docile yet unable to hide their unease.

Looking at this brand-new squad—one Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragon and four Moonflower Deer—Barn spoke slowly: "From now on, we are all members of Ice Blade 123 Squad. We will be together day and night, fighting side by side. We must look after one another and support each other."

He paused, remembering the godhead Adele had been longing for, and took the initiative to mention it: "Adele, due to some unexpected circumstances, your godhead was taken by Lady Fukaloss. I will find an opportunity later to ask for it back for you."

Upon hearing this, Adele's Moonflower Deer face wrinkled inadvertently. Her tone carried a hint of urgency and anxiety as she asked cautiously, "Lord Barn, is my brother Wesker's godhead still there?"

Barn was silent for a moment before saying slowly, "If there is a chance, it is better to prioritize refining your own godhead. I do not intend to take the squad out on missions for the next hundred years. You don't need to be too anxious; wait a while longer—perhaps Lady Fukaloss will remember one day and have someone send it over."

This was not a perfunctory remark. Because he had read the original work thoroughly, Barn's standards for god-level entities had become extremely high. He knew better than anyone that while refining another's godhead could quickly restore strength, it would shackle one's future cultivation. He did not want his team members to ruin their future path of advancement out of momentary impatience.

Adele's expression dimmed instantly, the hope in her eyes replaced by disappointment.

Yet she knew that as a mere Sanctuary, she had no right to argue before a god-level being. She could only suppress the loss in her heart and respond respectfully, "Understood, thank you, Lord Barn. I have an affinity for the Life Law; if I can break through to the god-level through my own strength during this time, that would also be a good thing."

Barn nodded slightly, then waved his hand, laying out all the mission rewards he had exchanged on the stone table. "The Ghost-faced Spider mission last time was something we all risked our lives to complete. Let's split these resources equally."

Neatly arranged on the stone table were various supplies: thirty crystalline Soul Gold Beads, several Sanctuary magic cores matching the attributes of Declan and the Moonflower Deer, and six bottles exuding a chilling aura—Soul Toxin, personally refined by a median god and extremely potent.

"Take these magic cores for your cultivation; they happen to match your attributes. As for the Soul Gold Beads, each of you take one, and I will keep the rest as future mission rewards." Barn pushed a portion of the supplies toward them and picked up the six bottles of Soul Toxin, distributing them one by one. "And these Soul Toxin bottles—take one each and keep them safe. They might prove very useful if we encounter strong enemies in the future, and they could even save your lives at a critical moment."

Declan lowered his claws, his gaze falling on the two long swords at the corner of the stone table, his tone tinged with surprise: "Are these the long swords gestated by the Abyss Sword Ghost? The grade doesn't look low."

"The points from this mission were substantial, so I used the remainder to exchange for these two swords." Barn said calmly, his gaze sweeping over them. "When any of you manage to break through to the god-level through your own strength, I will gift them to you as a reward for your breakthrough."

His taste had long been spoiled by the top-tier Divine Artifacts in the original work; those ordinary forging materials that couldn't even compare to Black Jade didn't catch his eye at all. These two Abyss Sword Ghost long swords were the weapons he had selected that best fit the squad's current needs.

The magical beasts looked at each other, having no objections and silently accepting Barn's arrangement.

Although resources in Gobada were extremely scarce, as magical beasts, neither Declan nor Adele's family had any use for overly precious forging materials at the moment—unless they could break through to the god-level and needed to gestate their own Divine Artifacts, these weapons would not truly realize their value.

Afterward, Barn took a set of light-attribute equipment and a small spatial ring from his own spatial ring, placing them gently in front of Adele: "These are Wesker's belongings. Aside from his godhead, everything else is here. I am returning them to you."

Adele carefully took the belongings, her fingertips brushing over the familiar light-attribute armor, and her Moonflower Deer face turned sorrowful once more. The other three Moonflower Deer also lowered their heads, their expressions filled with grief.

After settling the squad members and distributing the mission rewards, Barn returned to his room alone and closed the door.

He had never considered embezzling the squad's shared mission rewards; after all, for a squad to survive long-term, it required mutual trust and support. But he wouldn't give away his own personal spoils for nothing—they were earned through blood and battle, and each one was hard-won.

Looking back, in the hundred-plus years he had spent following Fukaloss, most of what he had gained in the early stages were merely Sanctuary-level spoils. The Sanctuary beings of Gobada were notoriously poor; even those backed by gods didn't have much wealth on them.

It was only in his final battle against Blackwood that he had seized some truly noteworthy spoils.

First were the belongings of Blackwood's dark-attribute clone: a dark-attribute lower godhead, a scimitar, and a piece of form-fitting black leather armor. Both were dark-attribute lower Divine Artifacts of decent quality.

Barn observed the scimitar; the material was very similar to the weapons gestated by the Sword Demon. He guessed this was a Blood Blade gestated by an Abyss Blade Demon, refined into a Divine Artifact.

Additionally, there were Gideon's belongings: a greatsword and an earth-attribute lower godhead. Gideon had been hit by a full-force strike from a median god, and his defensive Divine Artifact had already been destroyed.

Barn touched the greatsword left by Gideon. Because it had been infused with earth-attribute divine power for years, the originally blood-red greatsword had turned brownish-tan, but it was still far from being a Divine Artifact and had not yet developed a weapon spirit.

Beyond these, there was Wesker's light-attribute lower godhead, which he had not given to Adele.

Subsequently, Barn took out another ancient-looking spatial ring—the one seized from Blackwood's dark-attribute clone.

He probed it with his spiritual energy, searched it carefully, and nodded with satisfaction, whispering to himself: "This is more like the inventory one would expect from a god-level being who specializes in the Death Law."

Inside the ring were ten Soul Gold Beads and many special items needed for practicing necromancy, among which several transparent crystal balls were clearly used for collecting and storing souls.

The most practical items were the five bottles of Soul Toxin, exuding a chilling aura; they were likely personally refined by Blackwood's death clone.

"It's a pity there aren't more Divine Artifacts and godheads." Barn frowned slightly, his tone tinged with regret. "Judging by his strength, he doesn't seem like someone who hasn't killed other god-level beings. The more precious spoils must be with his death clone."

As his thoughts drifted, he couldn't help but think of Fukaloss.

He still held some affection for this former captain. Over a hundred years of fighting side by side, it was no longer a simple squadmate relationship. If he had the chance to see her, he would be quite happy to have a good chat with her, not to mention that he still needed to ask her for Adele's godhead.

As for how to see Fukaloss, who had been taken back to the Royal City by Annabelle, he had specifically asked Adele about it during this time.

Adele's family had lived in the Royal City for a period and knew something about it. She told Barn: among lower gods, as long as one could complete the "Hundred-Battle Winning Streak" challenge, one would be qualified to meet the Ice Prison King—and since Fukaloss was currently in the Royal City, if he could meet the King, he would naturally have a chance to see her.

Adele also explained the rules of the Hundred-Battle Winning Streak in detail. It was basically identical to what Barn had seen in the original work: the core was same-tier combat, requiring one to win one hundred consecutive battles against opponents of the same tier without failure or retreat.

In Gobada, the number of upper gods was extremely scarce; the total number of upper gods in the Five Royal Cities combined was less than two hundred. Completing a Hundred-Battle Winning Streak as an upper god was almost impossible.

Even for median gods, it was difficult to gather one hundred opponents of the same tier in a single Royal City at once.

Therefore, those who had historically completed the Hundred-Battle Winning Streak were mostly lower gods, with very few median gods.

"A Hundred-Battle Winning Streak, huh?" Barn sat at the table, his fingertips tapping lightly on the surface, a flash of contemplation in his eyes. "If I can comprehend the Fate Law to the lower god level as well, I might be able to give it a try."

He had already vaguely sensed a trace of the Fate Law.

Previously, he had relied on the original Barn's comprehension of the Fate Law to directly utilize related abilities; but this time, it was a Fate Law that truly belonged to him, one he had comprehended through his own personal experiences after transmigrating here and enduring countless battles and hardships.