Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 574 The Pale Spirit
Looking from the transfer station, there seemed to be a light resembling candlelight in the darkness in the distance.

With Li Xia and the three little ones' current eyesight, they would indeed be greatly limited in a completely dark environment, but as long as there is light, even a faint light, it is enough for them to see clearly.

Like the white tower perched on the cliff, even now, in its complete collapse and slumber, it still radiates a torch-like brilliance.

"The Tower of Bliss!"

According to the guide in the food map, after arriving at the transfer station by railcar, you will need to transfer to the Big Horned Bug car.

But Li Xia didn't want to go through any more trouble. The reason he chose to take the railcar was because he didn't know where the Tower of Bliss was, and walking along the tracks in the dark was not as comfortable as taking the car.

With the Tower of Bliss already in sight, there's no need for the Beetle vehicle anymore.

He crouched down, and a wave of energy rippled out from his feet, instantly shooting into the sky. The three little ones beside him immediately followed. When Black Charcoal passed by the little knight, he didn't forget to pull him up, and they all rode on Howling Sky's back.

The puppy happily stuck out its tongue, stomped its four paws, and bloomed with bewitching black flames under its feet as it chased after its boss.

The whistling wind rushed past my ears, and the Tower of Bliss drew closer, its details becoming clearer.

When he landed in the open space in front of the tower, even though he had seen many unique buildings and exquisite crafts from all over the world, Li Xia was still amazed by the towering structure in front of him.

The entire tower looks like a single, unified structure, not like a building, but rather as if it were erected from the shell of some kind of giant insect.

It looks a bit like a demon maggot?

Li Xia silently compared it in his mind, and found that if the demon maggots were dyed pure white, it would actually match.

However, the tower, which is nearly 200 meters tall, has been decorated with many ornaments, such as shiny gems or carvings. But no matter what, the main body is indeed the shell of the demon maggot.

The demon maggot's body is extremely strong, much stronger than ordinary steel, yet it is very light, making it an excellent material for building shells.

Sensing that the three little ones and the little knight had caught up with them, Li Xia walked forward and pushed open the long-sealed door.

Amidst a teeth-grinding scraping sound, the heavy doors swung open to reveal a brightly lit hall inside.

The three children couldn't help but gasp in amazement. Even as outsiders, they could tell from the decorations of the hall that the construction of this Tower of Bliss must have cost a fortune.

Just as the hall is bright as day, the enduring light comes from the green crystals embedded in the ceiling.

The green crystal that Old Os once treasured was now just like bricks here; a rough count revealed no fewer than twenty of them.

Moreover, the Tower of Bliss uses green crystals for lighting, which is the least efficient and wasteful of the twenty-six uses of green crystals, without exception.

It's quiet here. There are no sleeping insects, no destruction. Everything is as it was before, just quiet.

After thinking for a while, Li Xia headed straight for the side staircase and made a clean and decisive move towards the second floor.

The second floor was still luxuriously decorated, with tables and chairs arranged in a neat and orderly fashion, and even the plates were spotless, as if they had just been washed.

This should be the 'first layer of rotten soil steaming room' mentioned in the food manual. There is a huge stove in the center of the room, with stacks of steamer-like vessels piled on it.

But still, there were no insects, no monsters, and nothing unusual.

Li Xia silently looked around for a moment, then continued looking upwards.

No abnormalities found.

the third floor.

No abnormalities found.

Seventh floor, no abnormalities!
At this moment, Aowu and Heitan's hearts were in their throats, their previously relaxed nerves tightening with each step of the climb.

If every floor is filled with bugs, and there's an occasional elite among them, they'll only become more and more relaxed.

The easier the beginning, the bigger the surprise that lies ahead, essentially concentrating all the difficulty of the tower at the very end.

Based on the difficulty rating, this is very likely already at the S level, which is already a level of despair for most apostles, if they haven't encountered anything challenging until the final 'surprise'.

Then the final surprise will be something to look forward to.

Li Xia had obviously thought of this as well. Was S-rank really that difficult? It was challenging, and there was a small chance of failure, but that was about it.

He didn't stay on that floor, but continued upwards until he saw a tightly closed door.

'Closed area, no entry without permission, unauthorized trespassers will be put to death.'

Li Xia glanced at it briefly before raising his foot and slamming it hard against the door. With a huge explosion, the thick door flew out and slammed into the wall, causing even the tower built from the demon maggot shell to tremble slightly.

After clearing away the dust, Li Xia stepped inside. Compared to the restaurant downstairs, this place was divided into individual private rooms. Apart from being more exquisitely decorated and accommodating fewer guests, there was no difference.

Xiao Long stuck his head out and looked for a while, then looked somewhat disappointed:
"That's it? It's still a restaurant, isn't it? Why are you making it so mysterious? I thought there was some secret."

After looking around for a while and finding nothing particularly special, Li Xia resumed his search for an upward exit.

There was still a door blocking the stairwell, but this time it was labeled 'Preparation Room'.

The door was ajar, and white light shone through from inside.

When Li Xia pushed open the door, the three little ones stood frozen in the doorway at just one glance.

The huge hall was filled with tables and chairs, and ropes hung from the ceiling, from which hung bits and pieces of 'food ingredients'.

In one corner of the room, there were cages with iron bars, some with their doors wide open, and others with their doors tightly closed. Inside the closed cages lay plump white worms, the purpose of which was self-evident.

"They...they're cannibalizing their own kind??"

Aowu felt a chill. He wasn't unfamiliar with cruel races, nor with monsters that ate people or their own kind.

But this was the first time Aowu had ever seen a creature that, without any mutation, treated its own kind as livestock, raising them to be slaughtered and cooked.

The cat's eyes gleamed with a cold light. In a world like Monster Hunter where unity is essential for the survival of a race, the Palico considered protecting its kind and hunting monsters the most honorable thing in its life.

How could anyone bear to see the powerful and wealthy in the insect hive kingdom eating the lower-level insects to satisfy their perverse desires?

"This kind of kingdom... it's better it's destroyed, it's gone mad!"

Aowu grumbled softly. Li Xia didn't speak, but he agreed with Aowu and Heitan's opinion. This kind of kingdom was disgusting. Perhaps it had once been glorious and noble.

But at this moment, it resembles a monster covered in pustules and emitting a foul stench, making it repulsive.

"It should be up there."

Li Xia raised his head and looked at the ceiling through the hanging 'insect corpse', where he could vaguely sense a powerful aura.

However, he searched the entire hall but could not find the staircase leading to the top floor; there was only a barely perceptible gap in the central ceiling.

He simply gripped the longsword behind him, and with a clear, resonant sword cry, several fine slash marks appeared on the ceiling before it collapsed under its own weight.

Li Xia slowly took flight and stood on the empty top floor.

It was indeed empty; the place seemed to have been expanded, like a mushroom head, extending outwards. In this area of ​​several thousand square meters, only a bed and a recliner were placed by the window.

A tall figure stood by the window, with his back to me.

Fine cracks appeared between Li Xia's brows, followed by a flash of light in his eyes.

[Comparing the intelligence and mental attributes of both parties]

Your detection has yielded 70% of the data.

Pale Spirit - Gluttony

[Category: Insects/Higher Organisms (Level 4)]

Physical Strength: 12

【HP: 100%】

[Light Energy: 9000/9000]

【Strength: 58】

Dexterity: 55

【Intelligence: 62】

【Spirit: 63】

【Physique: 45】

[Skills: Creatures of Light, Hard Shell, Gluttony, Radiant Bloom (Ultimate Ability), ???]

1. [Bright Biotechnology]

Those who are influenced and integrated with light and transformed into beings of light have a significantly increased resistance to light energy.
Increased maximum health, significantly enhanced self-healing ability, can consume souls to restore energy, Intelligence, and Spirit +3.
Soul Absorption: When killing a living being, the soul of the target can be extracted, converted into soul photons, and absorbed.
Soul Repair: Soul Photons can be used as a medium for casting spells, or a certain number of Soul Photons can be consumed to repair oneself. Each repair restores 20% of maximum mana and consumes 33.3% of maximum Soul Photons.

2. [Hard shell]

The Pale Spirit is a mutation that occurs when an insect receives the light of heaven. The intense light scorches the insect's body surface, and the resulting scars and blisters, mixed with the power of the light, harden to form a highly defensive shell.

While reducing flexibility to some extent, it gained extremely strong energy and physical resistance.

Energy resistance increased by 50%
Physical resistance increased by 50%.
Defense Rank +2
3. [Gluttony and Devouring]

The special mutation that occurs after being bathed in the light of heaven allows one to use the power of the light within the body to dissolve the devoured life forms into their original life essence and soul photons, thereby restoring a large amount of health and mana.

4. [Radiant Light (Ultimate Ability)]

It gathers the power of light and unleashes a strong, burning light that covers a 100x100 area. Within this area, the inhabitants will suffer radiation damage of 1000 points per second.

When this light shines upon a living being, will it activate a chain of ultimate skills?
5. [? ? ? (Ultimate Ability)]

[Comment: The insect, which should have lived in darkness its whole life, frantically chased the light, but when it got close to the light, it was also hurt by it.]

It seemed to have evolved, but the endless suffering had already warped the insect's mind.

The Gundam body, which had been facing away from itself, slowly turned around, revealing a face covered by a mask. A deep voice echoed rumbled through the room:

"Oh, so you're not a guest. Then stay and become ingredients!"

The three little ones immediately became alert, and with a whoosh, they scattered and lined up a few meters behind Li Xia.

The little knight pulled out his bone nail and was about to eagerly step forward when Awoo grabbed him:
"Don't rush, you might not be able to beat him. Let the boss test the waters first!"

Before he finished speaking, Li Xia's figure had already vanished from the spot. When he reappeared, he was holding a dark silver spear that emitted a chilling light.

"Buzz!"

A semi-transparent wave spread from Gluttony's body. Li Xia's pupils contracted, but he neither dodged nor avoided it. He also instantly released a shockwave mixed with dark red lightning from his body to counter it.

Similar to the Little Knight, the Soul Photon Shockwave, though small in range, is extremely powerful. Even with the added Divine Might, it could only hold its own in the rush and could not be defeated.

"boom"

In the violent explosion, Li Xia's body was thrown back a step or two by the strong impact, but then he shifted his footing and rushed forward again at an even faster speed.

But Gluttony pulled out a huge white bone hammer from somewhere and slammed it down from the side with a huge whoosh.

The giant hammer, which was more than two meters long, covered most of the area in front of him, and the power it carried was terrifying.

Facing the giant hammer hurtling towards his head, Li Xia showed no reaction whatsoever, as if it were a balloon rather than a bone hammer.

His body fell backward, but the spear in his hand was still extended forward, while the giant hammer whistled past his nose at just the right distance.

Li Xia, however, seemed to be springy, using his waist and abdomen to pull himself up from his backward position, and the spear, which was originally a little short, suddenly thrust forward.

Gluttony, who hadn't paid much attention and was trying to tough it out with his hard shell, suddenly felt like he'd been electrocuted and tried to dodge in a panic just as the spear was about to reach his body.

But it was too late. The extremely sharp silence of the night pierced through the thick carapace as easily as cutting paper.

The terrifying nature of the Godslayer Spear instantly caused Gluttony to scream, the self-proclaimed noble pale spirit letting out a near-terrifying scream.

Then, an incomparably brilliant light overflowed from its body, instantly filling the entire hall.

Faced with such intense light, even Li Xia couldn't help but squint. The burning damage from the Radiant Bloom could only cause a pitiful single-digit amount of damage in the Demigod Land and with its powerful abnormal resistance, and could even be recovered in a single breath.

Just as Li Xia was about to twist his spear and ignore the radiance to continue his attack, a sudden sense of alarm arose in his heart.

He shouted sharply and stomped his foot heavily, immediately creating several fine cracks in the thick ground.

But Ye Ji, following this force, suddenly pulled himself out of the pale spirit's body and swung it behind him.

"Clang!!!"

A terrifying shockwave rippled out from the point of impact, and a figure was knocked back several steps by the force before regaining his footing.

Li Xia's eyes widened suddenly, and then a serious expression gradually appeared on her face.

Before him stood a figure entirely covered in black.

He stood tall and straight, exuding an indescribable aura of fierce courage, and held a long spear in his hand.

This is a shadow, my own shadow.

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

(End of this chapter)