Let the Dead... Come Back to Life?

Chapter 6: Let the Dead... Come Back to Life?

Before Chen Lin could carefully feel the changes in his body, a series of prompts rang out once more in a cold, mechanical voice.

"Inheritance initiated. The Main God Coffin is unlocking a mission. Mission started."

"Beginner Trial: Hunt beasts in the Houtian Realm and absorb enough Death Energy. Current progress: 0/100."

"Mission rewards: 1. One vial of low-grade Gene Optimization Serum. 2. Randomly draw one innate divine ability."

A glint flashed in Chen Lin's eyes. His gaze seemed somewhat deep, and a pinprick of red light flickered in the depths of his pupils, strangely altering his bearing. He was like an ancient well, still and undisturbed.

Though he had questions about the trial mission, he warily glanced around. Nearly an hour had passed since the heavenly tribulation. The lingering force of the tribulation lightning was slowly fading, and the beasts had begun to recover their ferocious nature and emerge to forage. The jungle was gradually growing dangerous again.

After confirming there was no danger nearby, Chen Lin quickly but cautiously headed toward his den.

On the way, he killed a beast that seemed intent on picking a fight with him. A prompt appeared in his mind.

"Gained 1 point of Death Energy. Current mission progress: 1/100."

He returned to his den without incident and carefully covered the entrance to the tree hollow. Once the den was completely dark, Chen Lin finally relaxed a little. Then, with a thought, he checked his status panel. The voice had told him about this function on the way back: all he had to do was silently think the command, and his information and status would appear.

"Contractor status: Good."

"Race: Demon Race."

"Bloodline level: Mortal Tier (mutated, evolvable)."

"Innate divine ability: Blood Absorption Healing."

"Growth stage: Mid-Houtian."

"Cultivation technique: Dao Heaven (fragment). Evaluation: A mysterious ancient scripture. Though incomplete, it is one of the most perfect Sea Opening techniques in the world. Note: This technique is unique. Only one person in the world may cultivate it at a time. It will reappear in the world only after its cultivator dies."

Before the Main God Coffin, Chen Lin had no secrets to hide. This made him feel all the more that the coffin was unfathomably mysterious.

"Um... are you a person or an intelligent system? Is your name Main God?" After some thought, Chen Lin still didn't know what to call the mysterious coffin in his mind.

"My soul is incomplete, and I have no consciousness. I can only carry out a series of commands according to the rules left behind before my death. You may call me Guide."

"Guide..."

Chen Lin rolled the word around in his mind, then asked, "Then who does this mysterious coffin belong to?"

"The Main God."

"Who is the Main God? Is it hidden inside the coffin?"

"Insufficient authority. Unable to answer."

"What is authority?"

"When you complete the trial mission, the Main God Coffin will unlock the authority system."

"Fine. Then what is the Death Energy in the trial mission? Why do you want me to absorb it?" Chen Lin thought for a moment before asking the question that had been troubling him for a long time. He had always wondered what the Death Energy he'd absorbed into his body was. After all, letting something unknown enter your body was bound to make you uneasy.

"Death Energy is the foundation that sustains the Main God Coffin's operation. It is also consumed to power the coffin's many functions. The Main God Coffin consumes 1 point of Death Energy per day. If Death Energy falls below zero, the Main God Coffin will carry out an extermination command on its host. Remaining Death Energy: 32 points."

"Extermination?"

Chen Lin was startled. Death Energy only existed after a living thing died. Didn't that mean he was being pushed to keep killing?

At this thought, Chen Lin asked helplessly, "Guide, then tell me, what can you do for me?"

Though Chen Lin had spoken out of frustration, the question had hit the nail on the head. Yet the mechanical voice didn't hesitate at all. It answered coldly, "Evolve. Grow stronger."

Grow stronger...? There wasn't a trace of joy on Chen Lin's face.

"Then... can you..." After a long while, as if mustering all his courage, Chen Lin drew a deep breath and asked, word by word, "Bring the dead... back to life?"

After asking, even Chen Lin felt the question was absurd and laughable. Still, he'd chosen to ask, even if the answer might disappoint him.

But when Chen Lin heard the cold voice slowly utter the two words, "Yes," he suddenly wanted to laugh. In the two months since he had inexplicably been reborn in this damned jungle, he had felt excitement for the first time.

Chen Lin felt his numb heart tremble. Those two simple words were like a spark that caught fire and blazed across the land in an instant. Suddenly, the Guide's cold, lifeless voice seemed so lovable and dear. An unprecedented light shone in his eyes, so complex it held excitement, hope, vitality, and resolve...

"Heart Piercer..."

Chen Lin took a deep breath.

"How can I bring the dead back to life?"

"Insufficient authority. Unable to answer."

For a moment, Chen Lin felt like smashing the Main God Coffin to pieces. But he held back. As long as there was hope of bringing Heart Piercer back to life, that was enough for him.

After that, Chen Lin asked a few ordinary questions, and the Main God Coffin answered them one by one.

Several days later, in a jungle.

"Pfft!"

Chen Lin coldly drove the blade of his scythe through the hideous head of a Scythe-Armored Beetle. He let it twitch and struggle as the blade embedded in it suddenly gathered and twisted into a vortex. The beetle's viscous blood surged, converging at the vortex on Chen Lin's blade before being swallowed up as if by a river flowing into the sea!

Strange. Cruel.

Innate divine ability: Blood Absorption!

"Thud!"

Chen Lin soon flung the Scythe-Armored Beetle's now-empty carcass aside, watching as his blade absorbed the last drop of blood into his body.

He had thought the mission would be extremely difficult, but as he carried it out, Chen Lin found it surprisingly easy. The changes to his bloodline brought by Source Blood had far exceeded his expectations. And the changes brought by his innate divine ability had turned him into an unkillable cockroach.

Whenever he was injured in battle, all he had to do was keep driving his scythe into his opponent's body, and he would continuously absorb their blood. No matter how severe his injuries, he would recover quickly. With one side rising as the other fell, he could fight by sustaining himself on battle. Perhaps because of his mutation, his blood was no longer green, but had strangely turned a dark red.

"Ding!"

"Beginner Trial completed. Absorb enough Death Energy. Current progress: 100/100."

After hunting nearly forty beasts around the clock for eight days straight, the completion prompt finally arrived. It seemed the amount of Death Energy gained was closely linked to a beast's strength.

"System reward issued. Would you like to receive it now? Yes/No."

"Yes."

Chen Lin chose yes without hesitation.

A flash of light appeared before Chen Lin. A glass vial containing a blue liquid appeared there out of nowhere, emanating a profound aura.

Before he could take a closer look at the item, the Guide's cold voice sounded once more.

"Contractor has completed the first trial mission. The system is issuing a special reward. The contractor may randomly draw one innate divine ability. Would you like to begin the draw now? Yes/No."

A glint flashed in Chen Lin's eyes, and he chose the draw without hesitation once again.

"Yes."

There was a category for innate divine abilities on his personal status panel. Chen Lin had asked the Guide about it and learned that some powerful beasts and birds of prey were born with innate divine abilities, while others could awaken them later. Each beast's innate divine ability was different, and each had its own remarkable uses.