Attribute Surge

The truck soon stopped at the corpse collection building at 117 East City Road.

Captain Dong Jiu and the other two veteran members went straight back to their rooms to sleep. Moving the bodies to the morgue was the job for the two newcomers, Ji Xun and Gibb.

They were used to it.

The two brought a trolley, loaded eight body bags onto it, and then took the elevator down to the third basement level.

Normally, apart from transporting bodies, no one would come to this unlucky place.

The bodies were placed in lead-iron boxes, and Gibb left.

Ji Xun stayed behind, using an excuse.

Listening to the old elevator creak as it went upstairs, he glanced at the empty corridor again before pulling out one of the iron boxes.

He opened the body bag and, with no change in his expression, found the [Causal Medium] in the corpse's abdomen.

Knowing that delay would lead to trouble, Ji Xun didn't waste any time. He immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and began to devour it using the Feast Secret Method.

He had only made a shallow attempt in the tailor street cellar before, but now Ji Xun was like a whale, unreservedly devouring the dark Extraordinary Trait from the material in huge gulps.

This was his first time consuming such pure Extraordinary Trait. As soon as he started, his flesh, bones, and internal organs all faintly emitted a thermal energy.

Ji Xun was already familiar with this feeling; it was a sign of muscle growth!

But this time, the feeling was stronger than ever before.

Before, devouring Extraordinary Trait from corpses was like squeezing water droplets from wet sand by the river, a painstaking process to get a little; but now it was like drinking directly from the river, gulping it down with a gurgling sound.

His body gradually went from feeling hot to scorching, causing unbearable pain.

But this was not a time to rest.

Ji Xun constantly monitored the data on his panel. As long as it wasn't fatal, he didn't stop, continuing to devour it in large gulps.

He knew very well that this thing absolutely couldn't be kept.

The longer he waited, the more problems could arise, so he had to digest it as quickly as possible.

As time passed, the amber spirit medium gradually became smaller.

Perhaps it was luck, but since returning from Tailor Street, their small team of five hadn't been assigned any more missions.

This also gave Ji Xun ample time to devour that [Causal Medium].

From afternoon until the next morning, he stayed in the morgue for over ten hours.

The long night felt like a fleeting moment. Ji Xun, in his meditation, slowly opened his eyes.

He glanced at his pocket watch; it was a quarter past seven in the morning.

Ji Xun looked at the spirit medium that had completely disappeared in his hand and let out a long sigh of relief, "Finally finished devouring it."

With the evidence eliminated, the biggest hidden danger was gone.

And looking again, his own attributes had changed drastically.

「Ji Xun」

Strength: 3.15

Constitution: 3.55

Agility: 2.78

Toughness: 2.56

Spirit: 5.97

Curse Power: 114/115

As Ji Xun had predicted, after devouring the spirit medium, his physical attributes had basically broken through 3.

He looked at his forearm, clenched his fist, and exerted force. The bulging muscles under his skin rippled.

This feeling of power filling his limbs and veins was wonderful!

"So strong."

On a whim, Ji Xun got down on the ground and did over ten push-ups in one go, as easily as breathing.

The strength in his arms allowed him to easily support his body, and his muscles were as firm and powerful as springs. His body had bulged slightly, but there was no clumsiness; instead, he felt lighter.

He tried again, using the absolute strength of his arms to maintain balance, doing a few push-ups while inverted.

He still felt very relaxed.

He switched his hands to one hand, then to five fingers, and finally to three fingers for the inverted push-ups, remaining perfectly stable!

The threefold increase in strength allowed him to easily perform strength training movements that were previously impossible.

He tested his lower body strength again. He jumped vertically, and because he wasn't used to this surging elasticity, he hit his head on the ceiling.

There was a dull thud.

Ji Xun's head buzzed, but his face was radiant.

By estimation, his vertical jump had easily exceeded 1.5 meters, a height that even professional basketball players in his previous life couldn't reach.

"Now this is a Transcendent!"

Ji Xun reveled in the feeling of overflowing power, finally having grasped physical abilities that broke through the limits of ordinary humans.

Before, consuming corpses had only led to gradual growth. Experiencing such a massive leap felt incredibly wondrous.

It wasn't just his strength that had increased.

The [Causal Medium] was an evil material, and the dark factors it contained were also extraordinary.

His Dark Affinity had jumped directly from "12" yesterday to "27."

This meant he could now use the [Shadow Dive] skill anytime, even without wearing a mask.

His mental power had also increased by more than a point. This was the first time he'd consumed a transcendent trait using Demon Feast and experienced an increase in mental power.

As for his Curse Power, it had reached 115.

According to the descriptions in the Breathing Method Codex, breaking 100 in Curse Power meant he was in Curse Power Stage One.

In other words, he was now a "Card Master Apprentice."

Although still in the most basic stage, he had only been studying breathing methods for four days!

With normal cultivation, this would have taken months.

Ji Xun looked at the significant changes in his body and thought with anticipation, "If I had a few more [Causal Medium]s, how much stronger would I become?"

If he had to absorb transcendent traits from corpses, it would take months or even years to reach his current level.

But that was just a fleeting thought.

He knew instinctively that this thing must involve great secrets of the dark side. Obtaining even one was already a huge risk.

Even if he had another chance at a mission like yesterday's, Ji Xun wouldn't dare to take a second one lightly.

One instance could be explained away by various circumstances, but a second would be outright suicidal.

Now that the "physical evidence" was gone, Ji Xun no longer needed to stay in the morgue.

He took out disinfectant from a corner and began cleaning.

The smell of disinfectant was highly pungent, capable of masking most olfactory senses. It was also a normal cleaning procedure for corpse handlers, done almost daily, so it wouldn't arouse suspicion.

The reason he hadn't wandered around last night and had stayed in the morgue was learned from his previous experience on the train.

The stench in the tailor street cellar was difficult to remove, including the scent of the medium. He feared that a Spell Card Master with olfactory abilities might track him down.

If Ji Xun had taken the medium anywhere else, it would have likely alerted people to the anomaly.

But by staying in the morgue, even if someone came sniffing around, the dozen or so corpses found in the cellar could have masked the medium's scent.

After finishing everything, Ji Xun got up and left the morgue.

Today was a rest day, and he had other things to do.

That was to attend the free courses for Card Makers at the Hunter's Guild.

Stepping out of the branch building, Ji Xun checked the time: 8:00 AM.

Vast factories in the city continuously spewed exhaust fumes day and night, leaving a lingering smell of coal ash in the air. Ji Xun walked through the streets wearing a gas mask.

The early morning in Sinless City was still a scene of bustling activity. Workers finishing their night shifts were also flooding the streets in large numbers.

Because it was an underground city, there was no sun.

The difference between night and day was that during the day, the lights on the city's towers were much brighter, and there were many more pedestrians.

Sinless City was vast, with an estimated urban area of at least a hundred square kilometers.

Fortunately, there were intricate rail networks and intercity steam trains.

Ji Xun took a train across half the city, traveling from the East District to Glow Street in the South District.

On this street stood a very conspicuous yellow painted building. It was the tallest structure in the vicinity, its soaring spire disappearing into the darkness, exuding an aura of solemnity and grandeur.

A large Bow Axe Emblem was mounted on the wall; this was the headquarters of the Hunter's Guild at Glow Street No. 1.

The Hunter's Guild was the central hub for hunters to post recruitment notices, obtain missions, buy and sell information, and conduct transactions.

Therefore, it was always crowded.

The streets were filled with hunters carrying firearms, blades, and steam-powered mechanical equipment.

Ji Xun walked towards the main building. After exiting the tram station, he stepped onto a skybridge and looked down. Below, mist swirled, and the drop was several tens of meters.

This was a characteristic of Sinless City's architecture.

The entire city was built along the mountainside, complex and multi-layered. He had just exited the tram on the first floor facing the street, but after crossing the skybridge, he realized he was already on the twentieth floor counting from the ground up.

Mist shrouded the scene, making it seem dreamlike and ethereal.

Under the lights, the buildings were lively, but the darkness concealed countless unsavory secrets.

Stalls lined both sides of the street, forming the hunter's market.

Like antique markets in his previous life, the stalls displayed all sorts of strange items.

"Come and see! Elemental type Demon Marks just produced from Watch Fortress, only 250,000."

"Mutated materials from the Demon Cross Ruins, usable for both Assassin and Healer types, available at a discount for bulk purchases."

"Hidden Soul Wood from the West Plague Forest, a prime undead material, come take a look!"

"Rare Mithril Ore from the Eagle Nest Mine, an excellent material for forging alloy machinery. Also selling finished Heiluo K-3 Mechanical Arms, standard issue for the Upper City army."

"."

The stalls mostly sold various cards and extraordinary materials that Hunters had found during their expeditions.

There were also stone carvings with ancient inscriptions, broken codices, scrolls, and the like.

The dazzling array of items frequently caught Ji Xun's eye.

These were all treasures produced by various ruins.

Whenever Hunters had free time after returning from expeditions, many would set up stalls here. This was because the prices were much higher than selling directly to unscrupulous middlemen.

Besides the street stalls, there were also shops lining the street.

Ji Xun had been here once before and bought the [Great Dark Breathing Method].

It was almost nine o'clock, so he didn't linger in the market any longer, heading directly into the Hunter's Guild hall.

As soon as he entered, he saw that the hall, spanning over a thousand square meters, was packed with people. In the most prominent position in the hall were several massive magic screens.

The screens displayed a large number of recruitment messages.

"'Great Cemetery Maze' recruiting teammates for a C-class difficulty exploration, seeking undead materials. Dark Priests and those skilled in puzzle-solving are preferred."

"'Twin Towers Fortress' opening, recruiting one Sharpshooter and one Heavy Armor Black Knight."

"'Plague Mine' for farming Mystic Type materials. Departing in three days, led by Old Gun Luo, seeking a few individuals with Healing Professions."

"."

Hunters would post bounty missions at the Guild, and at the same time, large and small Hunter teams could post recruitment notices to find suitable teams to depart with.

It was Ji Xun's first time inside, and he found it quite fascinating.

So, besides the [Anomaly 407 Containment Facility] he had encountered before, there were many other kinds of Alternate Dimensions in this world.

After a quick glance, he didn't look any further and walked towards the elevator on the side.

The elevator descended to the third floor, where a large tiered conference room was located.

The free courses explaining Spell Card knowledge were very popular, and by the time Ji Xun arrived, several hundred people were already seated there.

However, as it was introductory card knowledge, most of the attendees were young Hunters and teenagers, and the atmosphere was lively.

Ji Xun observed his surroundings and then sat down in an inconspicuous corner.