The battle lasted only a minute. Rage stood amid the Ghoul corpses, raised his flaming greatsword toward the sky, and declared with both majesty and reverence:
"My lord Burial Venerable, those who submit shall live, and those who defy shall die!"
The bald man still had one breath left. He stared fixedly at Rage, his mouth slightly open as if he wanted to say something, but his windpipe had long since been crushed, and not a sound could escape.
Only at death's door did he realize that Li Kangming had betrayed the Ghoul God, found a mysterious being known as the Burial Venerable, and obtained the power of the undead from the forbidden place—the Netherworld...
"Is he... from the Necromancer Society...?"
"Perhaps..."
"Just who... is this Burial Venerable...?"
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. He recalled how Li Kangming had once recruited him. If only he had agreed back then, he might have gained the power of the undead and perhaps... had a chance to advance to Morning Star...
The bald man was filled with bitterness...
But there was no medicine for regret in this world. All that awaited him in the end was a massive foot.
Bang!
His skull shattered, and brain matter splattered everywhere.
Rage stomped down, grinding the crushed flesh beneath his sole twice. The black flames in his eye sockets gazed over the factory, which resembled hell itself.
Then, he immediately informed Su Ziyu of the matter.
Su Ziyu, who was drinking tea in the shabby little house, received Rage's report and nodded in satisfaction.
Now, every Ghoul Cult stronghold in River City had been destroyed.
Raising an army of the undead and unifying River City's dark forces was the initial plan Su Ziyu had for building his power.
Although Su Ziyu himself was not weak and had the system, who would ever complain about having a larger force and more helpers?
"As a mastermind behind the scenes, controlling the dark forces isn't a bad choice either."
The corners of Su Ziyu's lips curled upward slightly. He ordered Rage to guard the factory, recruit anyone who wanted to join the Ghoul Cult, and rest for a day or two.
"It's about time. Time to edit a new monster."
Su Ziyu slowly exhaled. With a thought, he arrived in the System Space.
Sensing its master's arrival, the chaotic currents seemed to come alive. They howled and shrieked soundlessly, dancing about like evil spirits and taking the forms of vicious ghosts. Su Ziyu lightly pressed down with one hand, and the System Space instantly fell silent. The currents swirled beneath his feet, slowly lifting him into the air.
Dark matter gathered around him, forming a long shadowy cape that cascaded down his body. He looked like a demonic god of creation.
Before him, the chaotic currents surged once more, spinning continuously into a vortex before transforming into an enormous furnace. Amid frenzied, earth-shaking noise, it emerged like a volcano. Countless currents were blasted apart as the Hundred-Eyed Furnace opened all its eyes and glared furiously in every direction.
With a casual gesture, Su Ziyu summoned several materials from the System Space.
The high-grade materials he currently possessed were [Eye That Must Not Be Looked At (Three-Star)], [Pollution Source (Four-Star)], [A Wisp of the Unifier of All Things' Phantom Aura (Five-Star)], and [A Small Amount of Twisted Spider God's Silk (Five-Star)].
Besides those, he also had many low-grade materials of two stars and below, including Ghoul teeth, Ghoul limbs, Ghoul spinal fluid, and more.
Su Ziyu planned to choose one five-star material as the core and pair it with several low-grade materials. Monster editing did not mean that using more high-star materials would necessarily produce a stronger monster. If two five-star materials were used as cores without a higher-grade material to suppress them, they would likely restrain each other and fail to display their true effects.
Having figured that out, Su Ziyu waved his hand and summoned [A Small Amount of Twisted Spider God's Silk (Five-Star)].
He would use this five-star material dropped by the Spider God as the core.
The Spider God's Silk was an unnatural pale white. It looked smooth, yet some of its cross-sections possessed a rough texture, while others reflected light like mirrors.
The material traced an arc through the air before dropping into the Hundred-Eyed Furnace.
With a hiss, flames shot into the sky and instantly swallowed the material. At the same time, the hundreds of eyes on all four sides of the furnace widened, as though it had tasted a delicacy and was showing blissful satisfaction.
A soundless howl echoed out. The silk seemed impossible to burn away. It actually began separating within the furnace, becoming more numerous and denser, even twisting the Creation Magma.
Su Ziyu glanced at it and clicked his tongue inwardly. As expected of a five-star material—even the Hundred-Eyed Furnace was reacting differently.
Once the reaction had nearly stabilized, Su Ziyu reached out again and summoned another orb of light.
[Eye That Must Not Be Looked At (Three-Star)]—this would serve as the eye installed on the newly born monster.
After all, how could a pet have no eyes?
This material had been extracted from Old Huang. Old Huang had once witnessed an evil god, and his eyes had long since mutated. Used as material, they possessed formidable visual capabilities and even some twisted powers of an evil god.
[Eye That Must Not Be Looked At (Three-Star)] flew into the furnace. A fierce blaze immediately rose and wrapped around the material, while the Spider God's Silk promptly coiled around the eye. The two intertwined, as if undergoing some kind of mutation.
Afterward, Su Ziyu waved his hand again and added Ghoul limbs and spinal fluid. He had plenty of such low-grade materials. As the reaction continued, the outline of some kind of creature could already be seen taking shape within the furnace.
Finally, Su Ziyu's gaze fell upon another material.
[Pollution Source (Four-Star)]—this had been extracted from humans or Beyonders whose Mental Bodies had been polluted. Using it to edit the monster that was about to take shape would be the finishing touch.
The Pollution Source dispersed, instantly transforming into a mass of ink-black substance that surged downward. The flames in the furnace were dyed black, bubbling away as the nearby firelight was devoured.
"As expected of material that doesn't belong to this planet. The reaction is this intense."
Although this material was only four-star for now, the phenomenon it produced still startled Su Ziyu.
Finally, a muffled boom rang out. Flames shot into the sky and scattered the chaotic currents. The Hundred-Eyed Furnace emitted a deep hum as its body trembled without pause.
With a bang, light spread outward, accompanied by the sound of something shattering.
A small flesh shell flew out and floated in the air.
Crack, crack. Countless spiderweb-like fractures spread across the flesh shell, and a mass of pitch-black matter crawled out.
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