Letting the Dead... Revive?

Chapter 6: Can the dead... be resurrected?

Before Chen Lin could carefully sense the changes in his body, a series of prompts accompanied by a cold, mechanical voice rang out once again.

"Inheritance initiated. Main God Coffin unlocking mission started."

"Novice Trial Mission: Hunt and kill beasts of the Postnatal Realm, absorb sufficient Death Energy. Current progress: 0/100."

"Mission Rewards: 1. One bottle of low-grade genetic optimization serum. 2. Random selection of one innate divine ability."

Chen Lin's gaze flickered. His eyes appeared somewhat profound, with a needle-point-sized red glow flickering deep within his pupils, causing his temperament to undergo an eerie transformation, like an ancient well, calm and without a ripple.

Although he had doubts about this trial mission, he still vigilantly scanned his surroundings. Nearly an hour had passed since the heavenly tribulation; the lingering power of the tribulation lightning was slowly dissipating, and beasts had begun to recover their ferocious nature and emerge to forage. The jungle was slowly becoming dangerous once again.

After confirming there was no immediate danger, Chen Lin moved quickly and cautiously toward his lair.

On the way, he slaughtered a beast that seemed intent on opposing him, and the following information prompt appeared in his mind.

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

Returning to his lair without incident, Chen Lin carefully concealed the tree hole. Once the lair was plunged into darkness, he finally relaxed. Following this, he moved his consciousness to check his status panel. This was a function the voice had told him about on his way back; as long as he focused his thoughts, he could display all his information and status.

"Contractor Status: Good."

"Race: Demon Race."

"Bloodline Grade: Mortal (Mutated, can evolve)."

"Innate Divine Ability: Blood Absorption Healing."

"Growth Stage: Postnatal Mid-Stage."

"Cultivation Technique: Dao Heaven (Fragment). Evaluation: A mysterious ancient scripture. Although it is a fragment, it is one of the most perfect sea-opening techniques in the world. Note: This technique is unique; only one person in the world is permitted to cultivate it. It will only reappear in the world after the practitioner dies."

In front of the Main God Coffin, Chen Lin had no secrets to hide, which made him feel that the Main God Coffin was even more mysterious and unfathomable.

"That... are you a human or an intelligent system? Is your name Main God?" After deliberating for a moment, Chen Lin truly did not know how to address the mysterious coffin in his mind.

"My soul is incomplete and I possess no consciousness. I can only execute a series of instructions according to the rules left behind before death. You may call me Guide."

"Guide..."

Chen Lin chewed on these three words in his heart, then immediately asked: "Then to whom does this mysterious coffin belong?"

"The Main God."

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

"Insufficient authority. Unable to answer."

"What is authority?"

"Once 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 this thing?" Chen Lin thought for a moment and asked a question that had been on his mind for a long time. He had always been suspicious of the Death Energy he had absorbed into his body; after all, having an unknown substance enter his body always made him feel uneasy.

"Death Energy is the foundation that supports the operation of the Main God Coffin, and it is also a consumable for the coffin's many functions. The Main God Coffin consumes 1 point of Death Energy daily. If the Death Energy reaches a negative value, the Main God Coffin will execute a deletion command on the host. Current remaining Death Energy: 32 points."

"Deletion?"

Chen Lin was startled. Death Energy only existed after a creature died; didn't this mean, in disguise, that he had to keep killing?

Thinking of this, Chen Lin asked speechlessly: "Guide, then let me ask you, what can you bring me?"

Although Chen Lin's question was born of frustration, it hit the nail on the head. However, the mechanical voice did not pause at all, stating coldly: "Evolution. Becoming stronger."

Becoming stronger, huh... There was not a hint of joy on Chen Lin's face.

"Then... is it possible to..." After a long while, as if gathering great courage, Chen Lin took a deep breath and asked word by word: "Let the dead... be resurrected?"

After asking, Chen Lin felt the question was absurd and ridiculous, but he still chose to ask, even if the result would disappoint him.

But when Chen Lin heard that cold voice slowly utter the two words "It is possible," he suddenly wanted to laugh. Since he had inexplicably been reborn into this damned jungle two months ago, this was the first time Chen Lin had felt a surge of excitement.

Chen Lin felt his numb heart tremble. Those two simple words were like a spark igniting, turning into a prairie fire in an instant. For a moment, he felt the Guide's cold, numb voice was so lovely and intimate. A light flickered in his eyes that had never been there before—a light so complex, containing excitement, hope, vitality, and motivation...

"Heart Piercer..."

Chen Lin took a deep, forceful breath.

"How can the dead be resurrected?"

"Insufficient authority. Unable to answer."

Chen Lin instantly had the urge to smash the Main God Coffin to pieces, but he held back. After all, as long as there was hope for Heart Piercer's resurrection, that was enough for him.

Next, Chen Lin asked some ordinary questions, and the Main God Coffin answered them one by one.

※※※※※

Several days later, in a patch of jungle.

"Puchi!"

Chen Lin coldly thrust the forward spike of his sickle through the hideous head of a Scythe-Armored Beetle. Ignoring its twitching and struggling, the spike embedded in the beetle suddenly condensed and twisted into a vortex. The viscous blood within the Scythe-Armored Beetle began to churn rapidly, gathering at the vortex of Chen Lin's spike, and was swallowed up by the vortex as if a mud ox had entered the sea!

Eerie. Cruel.

Innate divine ability, Blood Absorption!

"Bang!"

Soon, Chen Lin tossed aside the carcass of the Scythe-Armored Beetle, now nothing more than an empty husk, and watched as his fore-spikes drained the final drop of blood into his body.

He had expected this to be an incredibly arduous task, but as it progressed, Chen Lin found it to be remarkably simple; the changes to his bloodline brought about by the Source Blood far exceeded his imagination. The transformation granted by his innate supernatural ability had forged him into an existence as unkillable as a cockroach.

If he were injured in battle, he only needed to keep plunging his scythes into his opponent's body to continuously siphon their blood, allowing even the most grievous wounds to heal rapidly. With the enemy weakening as he grew stronger, he achieved a style of combat that sustained itself through the fighting. Perhaps due to the mutation, his blood was no longer green, but had eerily turned a dark crimson.

"Ding!"

"Novice trial mission complete. Sufficient Death Energy absorbed. Current progress: 100/100."

After eight consecutive days of hunting nearly forty ferocious beasts, day and night without rest, the notification of the mission's completion finally arrived. It seemed the amount of Death Energy was intrinsically linked to the strength of the beasts.

"System issuing rewards. Would you like to receive them now? Yes/No."

"Yes."

Chen Lin chose yes without a moment's hesitation.

Immediately, a flash of light flickered before Chen Lin's eyes, and a blue liquid contained within a glass vial appeared eerily before him, radiating a profound aura.

Before he could carefully examine or study the item that had appeared, the cold voice of the Guide rang out once more.

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

Chen Lin's eyes flashed, and he once again chose to draw without hesitation.

"Yes."

Within his personal panel was a section for innate supernatural abilities. Chen Lin had previously asked the Guide and learned that some powerful ferocious beasts and raptors were born with innate supernatural abilities, while others could awaken them later. These innate abilities varied, each possessing its own unique wonders.