This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!

Chapter 69: Chapter 069: Life Engine

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This tunnel was clearly secretly carved out, with mud walls on both sides and obstructed by cabinets, could it be that the head chef of this place had, for some reason, wanted to escape? Chen Ke peered into the passage and discerned that it gradually ascended.

Chen Ke lit the Fire-igniting Broadsword and slowly bent over to enter the breach, wondering where it might lead. It really did pique one’s curiosity.

The Fire-igniting Broadsword, when used as a torch, did not burn indefinitely; without viable kindling, it would extinguish after some time, but then it could be relit.

With the help of the firelight, Chen Ke walked in this tunnel for about 10 minutes, estimating a distance of about 1 kilometer, leaving the entrance far behind.

The tunnel steadily ascended and took a distinct right turn, seemingly directed with certainty where to dig, indicating the digger had conducted extensive terrain measurements and exploration.

As he rounded a corner, Chen Ke suddenly heard the sound of flowing water and even felt a hint of mist in the cool breeze. Looking up, he found himself at the exit of the tunnel.

The cave mouth was pitch-black, but the echo suggested that there should be a considerably large space outside. Chen Ke rushed to the mouth of the cave in three strides and saw a subterranean river gently flowing within a small cavern about ten meters square.

A round beam of light shone down through a break in the center of the cave ceiling; it was the only source of light in the cavern. Chen Ke stepped out of the cave, holding the Fire-igniting Broadsword aloft, scanning his surroundings to ensure there was no danger before he began to explore the area.

This subterranean river most likely originated from the perennial snow on the mountaintop, seeping into the rock layers to form this modest water source. He knelt on one knee at the riverside, tentatively touched the water with his hand—the river water was chilling, but Chen Ke did not dare to drink it.

Within the range of the firelight, the hand of a living corpse appeared in Chen Ke’s sight, and he abruptly stood up, assuming a combat stance.

But soon he realized that this living corpse, like the skeletons in the library, was dead and motionless; and astonishingly, this corpse was also clad in the same broad blue hooded robes as those in the library.

The one who dug this tunnel was likely him… As a compiler in the library, why had he come here? It seemed that some very complex events had taken place in this kingdom.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ƝοѵǤο.с0

Chen Ke carefully examined the corpse, which appeared to be clutching something in its withered palm.

“What’s this?” Chen Ke curiously inspected the item. Under the light of the fire, he saw that the corpse’s hand was holding an irregularly shaped oval stone slab.

The stone slab was approximately the size of his Nokia E63 in length, width, and thickness, with a grey-brown color and covered in dense inscriptions.

Chen Ke pried the stone slab from the living corpse’s hand and examined it closely; the slab itself was very old and worn, but the strange carvings on it seemed quite fresh, emitting a faint blue glow.

He brushed his thumb over the inscriptions, the regular feel told him that such regular and refined patterns could not be carved by human hands.

At that moment, an inexplicable impulse surged from the mark on his chest, and then in Chen Ke’s field of vision, a pop-up window emerged next to the stone slab:

[Skill Tome: Spiritual Energy Eruption]

[Inheritance: Black Ring Sect of Fan Hede]

[Type: Magic]

[Requirement: Intelligence (satisfied)]

[Effect: Concentrates Spiritual Energy at the fingertips and releases it instantly, producing a slight thrust.]

[A basic defensive magic used by priests of the Black Ring Sect, able to produce only a slight thrust. Beneath its harmless appearance lies the potential to cause fatal harm. The danger of the magic depends not on the magic itself but on the will of the user.]

This was… This was a skill! Chen Ke’s eyes widened; he could hardly believe he had acquired his first skill here! He held the stone slab in his hand, scrutinizing it to figure out how to learn from it.

The mark on his chest began to spin, the slab in his hand faintly glowed, then suddenly something happened—the slab became scorching hot! He let go, and the stone slab fell to the muddy ground, its surface bubbling and disintegrating like cotton candy, the inscriptions on the stone slab also flashing with a dazzling light.

The characters’ light suddenly came alive, flowing out, and darted into Chen Ke’s chest. Chen Ke felt something mark the depths of his soul, and then a series of messages popped up in the corner of his eye:

“Recovering Transcendent Skill…”

“Magic: 1 item”

“Creating Magic Directory”

“…”

“Transcendent Skill: 1”

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“Magic: Spiritual Energy Burst”

“Inheritance: Fan Hede’s Black Ring Sect”

“Related Information Inspection (Knowledge Source: Fan Hede Kingdom)”

“Minimum Consumption: 30 minutes”

“Effect enhancement based on life span investment”

The information font slowly faded away, and with a thought, Chen Ke brought up the magic catalog again. A large orange panel appeared on the left side of his vision, with a new subcategory page: Magic.

At the top of the magic subsection was the new skill he now possessed, Spiritual Energy Burst.

“If I manage to learn new skills in the future, they should automatically create subcategory pages according to type, and associate information based on the knowledge obtained… Damn, that’s awesome!”

The skill tome on the ground had already turned to ashes. Chen Ke stepped on it, grinding it to dust. This belongs to me now; nobody else who comes in here can get it.

Chen Ke was not sure if an Administration Bureau agent learning a skill would also destroy the skill tome, but he believed it probably wasn’t the case—after all, making it easy for his subordinates to learn wouldn’t work if it was a one-time thing.

Perhaps it was a unique case for him.

He couldn’t wait to test out his Transcendent skill; after all, this was a completely new experience for Chen Ke, and just the thought of it excited him.

According to the skill tome’s description, Spiritual Energy Burst was triggered from the fingertips. He prepared himself, planted the Van Hede straight sword in the ground, stretched out his right arm, and carefully snapped his fingers.

“Snap.”

The crisp snap was quickly drowned out by the sound of flowing water. That’s not right, no effect.

Chen Ke frowned. He didn’t have Spiritual Energy; could he use his life span as a substitute? Let’s try again!

“-30 minutes”

“Snap!!!!”

A small white screen of light appeared and vanished in an instant in front of Chen Ke. The blast kicked up a flurry of dust and sand and even tipped the Van Hede straight sword planted in the ground. The skeleton was propelled several meters forward by this force.

This power was enough to throw a fully armed man off balance for a while. This is the vulnerability I was looking for, Chen Ke nodded in satisfaction. But at the same time, he was curious what effect would it have if he invested more life span to use this skill?

“-1 hour”

“Boom!!”

The white light screen grew larger. The Van Hede straight sword planted in the ground flew out of the mud, landing six or seven meters ahead, and the skeleton was blown half a meter off the ground, flying two meters through the air before falling into the river.

This power was enough to send a person flying. Combined with the killing intent trigger, it could serve as part of a non-lethal combination of moves for Chen Ke. The only issue was that each increase in the skill required more life span, indicating the need to carefully pick the right moment for its use.

But… was there something even more powerful?

Looking at the life span countdown in the corner of his eye, Chen Ke felt that his life span was still fairly sufficient. Including the time wasted experimenting with the skill, there were still 8 hours and a bit more than 10 minutes; why not increase the stake to see what happens?

“-3 hours”

“BOOM!!!!”

In front of Chen Ke, a force like a gale burst forth, as if an invisible gigantic hand emerged from his fingertips and pushed forward fiercely.

Surrounding him was a whirlwind of flying sand and stones, and the waters of the subterranean river surged into white waves, creating a small tidal wave about one meter high. Not only had the pushing force increased, but the area affected had also expanded slightly. This force was enough, Chen Ke guessed, to overturn a sedan.

Chen Ke couldn’t help but engage in wild flights of fancy: if his life span reached a certain level that allowed him to spend more, could even the most ordinary skill unleash the power of a nuclear bomb…?

Let’s call this ability Life Engine!