Until one moment, his once strong body could no longer hold on, and he collapsed on top of countless Blood Corpse, becoming the peak of this underground mountain of corpses.
Because the order to gather had not been revoked, large numbers of Blood Corpse continued to pour in.
Soon, Hall's body had completely disappeared beneath the tree roots, and the entire mountain of corpses became nourishment for the Aberration plants.
When some of the Middle Tier marquises, sensing something amiss, awoke from their hallucinations, they were greeted by a scene that would be terrifying even to Blood Corpse:
Tens of thousands of Blood Corpse piled up in a vast underground cavern, forming a cone-shaped mountain of flesh and blood tens of meters high.
At the top of that cone was a giant tree with a reddish-brown bark and thick, lush branches, but not a single leaf had grown on it.
The roots of the giant tree connected all the Blood Corpse, whether alive or dead, together, and if you listened carefully, you could hear their painful Blood Corpse.
The giant tree itself, nourished by tens of thousands of Blood Corpse, broke through the top of the cave, pierced through the thick rock layer, and finally emerged from the ground.
The vampire marquises, having escaped the illusion, hurriedly went to the ground, only to find a small to medium-sized, Aberration plant, no more than two or three people tall, with no leaves and blood-red branches.
Seeing the stark contrast in size to the underground, a vampire marquis boldly stepped forward to probe, only to be instantly pierced through the body by a root, swallowed into the cracks between the tree bark, and dragged underground, becoming one of the wailing members of the "mountain of corpses."
Seeing this, the remaining vampire marquises were terrified. They gathered their few remaining Blood Corpse and left the place, beginning a aimless escape.
Clearly, the "Cordyceps sinensis" model that Ed learned from another world must have terrified the natives of this microbial-free world.
Even Ed himself felt that this was indeed a bit too terrifying.
Although the Demon Realm is Samuer's territory, his Territory Secret Pact have not yet extended to this remote area in the southeast.
Sensing the deaths of numerous Blood Corpse and a High Tier individual, Samuer's buried roots quickly followed the scent.
Because this place is far from the core area completely controlled by Samuer, Ed has plenty of time.
Sensing that someone was about to look over, Ed manipulated the Aberration plant to unleash a "Thunderous Suction," draining all the Blood Corpse that had fallen into the trap dry.
The next moment, the blood-red, Aberration plant itself began its death process.
All the vitality, all the power, all the Authority —whether it belonged to the Hall, Rosalind, or Wens —had been taken into Ed's possession.
Samuer's gaze fell upon the unassuming underground cave, where he saw only countless drained corpses and withered plants.
Having Drain some of the power of death, Samuer's roots returned to the underground.
Meanwhile, in the Demon Realm, thousands of miles away, Ed, reclining on a chair, let out a long, drawn-out sound:
"Belch--"
Ed opened his eyes contentedly and raised his left and right hands.
In his left hand was a drop of dark-colored blood, the sight of which would make one feel uneasy, as if suffering from a terminal illness.
In his right hand was a drop of blood, pale in color and with slightly blurred edges. Anyone who got close enough would feel a chill run down their spine, as if their life force were being drained away.
These are the two sources of True Blood that Ed has now fully mastered, one from the friendly sponsorship of the Grand Duke of Adelaide and the other from the indirect investment of the Grand Duke of Wens.
As for Rosalind and Hall's abilities, since they are not the complete version, although they can be used, they are not yet qualified to be in Ed's hands.
Although I don't need these Authority to advance to the Transcendent Tier, who wouldn't want something so valuable?
Ed looked at the two clumps of True Blood in his hands, with only one thought in his mind—
"Now it'll be much easier to write update announcements."
As soon as Ed had a thought, a virtual text box unfolded in front of him.
At his command, a new announcement was edited almost instantly:
[ World of Disorder Non-Stop Update Announcement:]
Thanks to the tireless efforts of all players, the first phase of the side quest [ Calamity ] [ First Battle in the Demon Realm ] officially ended on November 30th, 909 of the World of Disorder Calendar. Phase quest rating: SSS
Basic mission rewards will be distributed within two hours. Currency rewards will be directly deposited into the Soul Returner's account, while material rewards can be viewed in the mail and can be exchanged for physical forms at any self-service plant vendor within the Second Holy See's territory.
In addition, because the Soul Returner cooperated with important NPCs to successfully kill [Grand Duke Wens of Vitality and Drain ] and [Grand Duke Rosalind of Devouring and Fusion] in this mission, and assisted in the recovery of True Blood and Authority, the hidden reward for this mission has now been unlocked:
1. All players on the server receive a permanent buff [ Corpse Poison Immunity) ]: Blood Corpse of any lineage below the High Tier can no longer infect players.
2. All players on the server receive a permanent buff [ Blood Poison Adaptation) ]: After being attacked by an infected creature, if they choose to accept the infection, they can transform their current body into Blood Corpse state and gain certain special abilities.
3. All players on the server receive a permanent buff [ Rapid Absorption ]: The absorption speed of food and water is greatly increased, and the wound healing speed is greatly increased when holding and activating special items (such as [ Nutrient-Rich Resin ]).
4. All players on the server gain the ability [ Illusory Blood Pool ]: A non-existent Blood Pool is generated under the player's feet (the range can be viewed using Psionic Energy vision). When players simultaneously meet the following conditions: are in the same faction, activate the Blood Pool at the same time, and are located in the same Blood Pool, they will gain the following effects: 1. Blood Pool range is stacked, 2. Recovery speed is increased, 3. Damage taken by any member is shared evenly.
5. The special plant [ Tree of Resurrection and Teleportation ] has received a new appearance.
The strength of the above buffs will change with the player's level. When the player's level exceeds 60, they will automatically upgrade to [ Corpse Poison Immunity) ] and [ Blood Poison Adaptation) ], with a significant additional boost to the effect, and will definitely activate other special abilities.
All currently surviving players will automatically activate the above buffs and gain special abilities after teleporting or respawning. Players who create characters after this event will automatically receive the above buffs and abilities (grayed out), which will be automatically unlocked upon reaching a certain level.
Meanwhile, thanks to the tireless efforts of all the Soul Returner, the actual progress of the side quest [ Calamity ] deviated significantly from the intended outcome. After this update, the side quest [ Calamity ] will be upgraded to a large-scale long-term quest [ Calamity ]. Soul Returner who are interested in accepting the quest are requested to check the details and accept the quest in the quest list later.
Enjoy the game! Odin Game Company, the developers of * World of Disorder *, November 30, 2038, Current version: v0.9.3