There were three main ways for a Curse Caster's Curse Power to grow.
The first was natural growth.
As long as a Curse Caster possessed Curse Power, it would slowly increase even if they did nothing.
The second was consuming Qi-Suppressing Stone powder and entering the Dream Realm.
Within the Dream Realm, a Curse Caster's Curse Power would grow much faster, but it carried unpredictable dangers, such as being ambushed by other Curse Casters or encountering unknown vicious spirits.
Therefore, low-rank Curse Casters generally would not lightly risk entering the Dream Realm.
The third method was killing other Curse Casters.
Once a Curse Caster was killed, the Curse Power they possessed would be released from their body. The closer a Curse Caster was to the corpse, the more Curse Power they could absorb.
Thus, killings between Curse Casters were often not merely for seizing the other party's Cursed Relics. Sometimes, they might also be for seizing Curse Power.
Hawkins let out a quiet breath. What he lacked least was patience.
Though there were three methods, the first required no deliberate effort and could be considered a passive ability.
As for the second and third methods, only the second was of any use to him.
Killing other Curse Casters to increase his Curse Power held little meaning for him. After all, he had over three hundred thousand points of Curse Power, while a First-Rank Curse Master like Mark only had a few hundred points. Even after killing one, he would have to account for the dispersed Curse Power, and might ultimately gain only a few dozen points.
Besides, the most important matter now was not advancing in rank, but whether his wish had truly come true.
He looked at the Eternal Sea Chart in his hand. This Sea Chart had been fused from the Magic Sea Chart, the Black Knife, and the false eye. Because he had consumed too little Qi-Suppressing Stone powder, he had been driven back into the real world before completing the trial. Now, he had to consider how to mature the Eternal Sea Chart.
After thinking for a moment, he tried injecting Curse Power into the Sea Chart.
When his immense Curse Power entered the Sea Chart, black mist rose from the sole tiny dot upon it. The mist formed an illusory humanoid figure before him.
"So that's how it is."
In an instant, Hawkins sensed a great deal of new information from the illusory figure.
This humanoid figure was the Eternal Sea Chart's Curse Spirit. It could also be regarded as a projection of his soul, a part of him.
Hawkins silently digested the information conveyed by the Curse Spirit and finally understood the Eternal Sea Chart's current condition.
Because it had absorbed insufficient power in the Dream Realm, most of the Eternal Sea Chart's functions could not be realized. At present, only three abilities could be used.
First: command the Curse Spirit to fight or defend.
Second: have the Curse Spirit devour other Cursed Relics to continue upgrading the Eternal Sea Chart.
Third: the Curse Spirit's eyes could overlap with his. In the overlapped state, he could see information about other Cursed Relics.
This ability likely came from that false eye.
After understanding the information provided by the Curse Spirit, Hawkins looked at the wooden box. He then covered his left hand with Curse Power and directly took out the Spider Ring.
He looked at the Curse Spirit and lightly tossed out the Spider Ring in his hand. The Curse Spirit immediately swallowed the Spider Ring in one bite.
Since the Curse Spirit was made of black mist, he could vaguely see that after the Spider Ring was swallowed, it swiftly turned into countless tiny black dots within its body before finally merging into the black mist.
"Heaven never seals off every road. In other words... I now need to gather as many Cursed Relics as possible?"
Hawkins lowered his head and looked at the Meteor Hammer in the wooden box, his heart filled with nothing but delight.
As long as there was a way, that was enough.
He did not fear a road rugged and hard to travel. He only feared that there would be no road ahead.
Alva wore thin silk sleepwear and carried a whale-oil lamp as she hurried through the long corridor.
Ever since Jabus had lost interest in her young body, putting shoes on Jabus in the morning had become her most important daily duty.
On Vitalia Island, Jabus was like a god.
He rarely spoke or smiled and was always full of majesty. Even when carrying out humanity's most important duty of reproduction, he had never indulged himself.
Alva knew very well just how cold and ruthless this respectable yet terrifying master was, so she did not dare delay in the slightest.
The sky outside the corridor was covered in dark clouds. Thunder occasionally rumbled in the distance, making the stone bricks within Flatwave Fortress tremble faintly.
Several women of status similar to Alva's converged from different corridors. Some dressed Jabus, some washed him, and one young girl was even specifically responsible for drinking Jabus's Returning Dragon Soup.
Jabus liked quiet, so no one dared make a sound at this time, even though Jabus might still be asleep.
A few minutes later, they arrived outside Jabus's bedroom.
The bedroom door was open!
Alva immediately stopped, staring at the door in surprise. The other girls did the same.
This was against the rules.
Flatwave Fortress had many rules.
Other than when entering or leaving, every door in Flatwave Fortress had to remain tightly shut. Whoever broke the rules would receive a whipping at best, or have both hands chopped off and be expelled from Flatwave Fortress at worst.
"Alva, go see whether Master is awake." The woman beside Alva gave the order in a low voice.
Alva glanced at Nai'er Nai beside her. She did not dare disobey Nai'er Nai's order and carefully stepped forward.
Where has Butler Cook gone?
As Alva walked forward, she muttered to herself.
Under normal circumstances, Cook, as Jabus's personal butler, would always wait outside the bedroom, ready at any time to answer Jabus's summons.
But Butler Cook was nowhere to be seen, and the bedroom door had actually been left open like this.
With her heart pounding in terror, Alva walked to the edge of the doorframe and cautiously peered into the bedroom. The next moment, her eyes flew wide open. She quickly covered her mouth with her left hand to stop herself from screaming.
The bedroom was dimly lit, its floor mottled with blood. A foul, fishy stench rushed into her nose.
Butler Cook's lower body lay beside the bookshelf, while his upper body had been torn into chunks of flesh. His head had been ripped into three pieces, his eyes bulging wide in death, unwilling to close.
There was also the maidservant who had recently won Jabus's favor. She no longer retained any complete shape at all; only fragments of female organs could vaguely be seen in the pool of blood.
Alva could not help wanting to vomit. She hurriedly staggered back several steps, but when she turned around, her face went deathly pale and her body began shaking uncontrollably.
The maidservants who had just been walking with her had all become chunks of flesh. Their beautiful white silk sleepwear had absorbed enough blood to turn deep red.
Rumble!
Jabus stood in the pool of blood, his body shrouded in shadow. The instant lightning scattered the darkness, his hideous, crazed, twisted face was revealed with perfect clarity.
His eyes shone with a bloodthirsty, vicious light.
"Ah!!!!"
Alva slowly raised her head. When she saw Jabus's eyes, she finally could no longer hold back and let out a scream of terror at its absolute peak.
"Ah!!!"
Jennie gave a terrified scream and abruptly sat up in bed.
She was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, her entire body trembling violently.
A moment later, an elderly woman entered carrying a whale-oil lamp and asked with concern, "Miss Jennie, did you have another nightmare?"
"Quick, quick, get Qiao Si in here. I want to leave this place. Uncle... Uncle has gone mad." Only after seeing the elderly woman did Jennie come back to herself. She hurriedly climbed out of bed.
The elderly woman knew Jennie's ability very well. Her eyes widened at once as she asked in a strange tone, "Master... You mean... Master he..."
"For some reason, Uncle killed Butler Cook and many others. He's gone mad. I want to leave this place. Hurry and get Qiao Si here." Jennie clutched the elderly woman's hand and said tremblingly.
The elderly woman gripped Jennie's hand tightly, her tone turning delighted. Looking at Jennie, she smiled. "Jabus has gone mad. Hahahaha, Jabus has his day too. Miss Jennie, you truly are a precious treasure, bringing me such wonderful news."
"Mary, what's wrong with you?" Jennie suddenly found the elderly woman before her terribly unfamiliar and could not help asking fearfully.
The elderly woman smiled. "Mary? No, I am Thomas's mother. My name is Dulisa."
"Wait, wasn't Thomas's mother already dead long ago?" Jennie asked in horror.
The elderly woman nodded. "Yes. Because of one of your dreams, my dear elder sister Mary died in my place, and my husband was sent to the gallows. How do you think I should repay you, my Miss Jennie?"
"That wasn't my fault. Thomas stole Uncle's treasure. He should have been punished in the first place. I merely identified the culprit." Jennie struggled to pull free of the elderly woman's hand, but the woman's grip was like iron pincers. The more she struggled, the more her hand hurt.
The elderly woman looked at Jennie, her face gradually twisting as she said coldly, "My child only wanted to cure my illness. He had intended to take it secretly, then secretly put it back, but you exposed him. No matter how you quibble, my poor child's death has everything to do with you."
She suddenly exerted force with both hands. Jennie immediately let out a scream as her fingers were actually broken.
But just as the elderly woman released Jennie's hand and grabbed the lamp to kill her, a dagger suddenly shot in from outside the door and instantly pierced through the elderly woman's neck.
A woman with a scar on her face rushed in. Jennie cried out in delighted sobs, "Qiao Si!"
"Miss, Master has gone mad. We must leave Flatwave Fortress at once!" Qiao Si quickly stepped forward, kicked aside the elderly woman's corpse, grabbed Jennie's arm, and rapidly explained.
Jennie hurriedly nodded. Enduring the pain in her fingers, she quickly followed Qiao Si out of the room.
Within Flatwave Fortress, the slaughter continued.
Jabus was like a wild beast prowling through the fortress. Whenever he encountered a living person, he killed them cleanly and decisively. Even the plants in the courtyard were torn to pieces by his hands.
After every living thing in Flatwave Fortress had been killed, he smashed through the fortress gates and plunged headfirst into the moat. Gradually, the moat water turned red and flowed through tributaries toward the village closest to Flatwave Fortress...