Nightmare Despair

Chapter 131: Planting weapons
The thick fog condensed and took shape right under Zhou Kai's nose, transforming into a brand new Diablo parasite.

Moreover, it's a living creature!

The squid-shaped parasite propped itself up, staggered a couple of steps, then stretched out its tentacles toward Zhou Kai and let out a stiff cry.

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

……

"What is this? A summoning?"

Zhou Kai allowed the resurrected Diablo parasite to roam freely around the nursery while he continued to focus on his research on the Yak ritual.

This ceremony was truly fascinating.

Its essence is not that the Ark Ritual is transforming the corpse into a crystal core, but rather that the undecipherable incantation is guiding some unknown force to take effect.

Offer your body as a sacrifice to Him, and He will reward you with crystal cores.

The methods of using these crystal nuclei are actually quite different and fall into two categories.

The first method is the same as before: directly crush the crystal core to revive the undead and have them assist in the battle.

Once released, the undead cannot return to its core state. Its survival time after being summoned depends on a variety of factors: its own energy level, the integrity of the corpse during the sacrifice, the energy consumed after summoning, and the extent of damage it suffers.

For example, the Diablo parasite at my feet, which is making a gurgling sound, can exist for about forty minutes without fighting or getting injured.

Forty minutes later, it will turn to ashes and disappear completely from this world.

Once it's deployed in battle, this duration will likely be very short, perhaps even less than a few seconds. And given its extremely weak strength, it will be practically useless.

However, Zhou Kai was more interested in the second way of using it that simultaneously came to mind.

"Continue the sacrifice... sacrifice one armored soldier!"

Zhou Kai licked his lips and dragged a chain-hammer armored soldier's corpse, still wearing armor, out of the pile of corpses.

He then performed the ceremony again.

The scene is similar to the previous one.

A moment later, a larger grayish-white crystal core appeared at Zhou Kai's fingertip.

Zhou Kai held the crystal core and tentatively pressed it into the blade of the Dragon Slayer Sword in his hand.

Under the influence of a strange force, the crystal core directly merged into the sword.

This is the second use of the crystal nuclei generated by the acrylic instrument.

【Reproductive Equipment】

After the crystal core was implanted, the Dragon Slayer Sword became much heavier, but the most significant change was that a life force emanated from the sword.

The Dragon Slayer Sword... has come back to life!
Zhou Kai raised the sword with one hand, feeling that weight he hadn't experienced in a long time. The mass that the Dragon Slayer Sword had lost due to the black mist had been replenished by the implantation of the crystal core, and it had become considerably heavier.

"Not only the weight, but the texture has also changed."

"What is this...!?"

Zhou Kai held the Dragon-Slaying Sword up to his eyes and was surprised to find that the rough, pitted surfaces on the sword had healed themselves as if flesh had grown back.

However, changes in texture and metal activation are only the most basic characteristics of biomechanics, and they are not even specifically recorded on the panel, let alone anything particularly amazing.

The most ingenious aspect of the implanted weapon is that the weapon, which is implanted with a crystal core and transformed into an implanted weapon, can be imbued with a portion of the special power of the corpse corresponding to that crystal core in its previous life.

For example, now that the crystal core of this chain hammer warrior has been implanted into the Dragon Slayer Sword, Zhou Kai will have a special effect called "blunt strike" added every time he swings it.

Admittedly, compared to Zhou Kai's own strength, the [blunt strike] effect of this mere chain hammer armor warrior is nothing... But the problem is, this is only after implanting a crystal core.

So what if Zhou Kai implanted ten, twenty, or even a hundred crystal cores into the sword?
With the blessing of a hundred layers of [Blunt Strike], this Dragon Slayer Sword will transform into a true divine weapon, and may even... truly possess the power to slay dragons.

Zhou Kai planted his longsword in the ground, then turned his gaze to the small mountain of corpses beside him, looking at them as if they were treasure troves.

Now, the monster corpses in the Nightmare World have found a new use, in addition to being used as fuel and fertilizer.

"Nightmare creatures are a treasure trove, and I can't wait to...hunt them down!"

Zhou Kai was so excited that his hands trembled slightly.

Immediately, he swiftly dragged out all the corpses of the chain-hammer armored warriors and decaying swordsmen from the pile of corpses and offered them as sacrifices.

In the end, he obtained two gray-white crystal cores and three light gray crystal cores.

After implanting all these crystal cores into the Dragon Slayer Sword... the Dragon Slayer Sword's own panel suddenly became much more complex.

[Item: Dragon Slayer Sword]

[Effect: Blunt Strike +3, Penetration +3]

[Description: A cold monument, a repository for lost souls...]

Zhou Kai has no plans to implant any more crystal cores into the Dragon Slayer Sword for the time being. After the fusion of a total of six crystal cores, the weight of the Dragon Slayer Sword will approach four hundred kilograms.

This is not a weight that can be easily swung.

If the weight were to soar to half a ton... Zhou Kai, in his human form, would probably no longer be able to use this weapon.

Weapons that are too heavy and difficult to hold will actually hinder combat effectiveness.

……

Fully armed, Zhou Kai once again charged into the vast rain.

At this moment, his fighting spirit was soaring, it was astonishing.

"From now on, when using monster corpses, I'll have to categorize them further... which ones are suitable for burning, which ones are suitable for fertilizer, and which ones are more suitable for making crystal cores. I'll have to classify and process them accordingly."

The fireplace makes decent use of monster corpses, mainly generating flame burning time, general experience points, and a small amount of unique experience points.

The nursery is the least effective, as it can only use monster corpses to enhance plant power, making it the most inefficient way to utilize plants.

But now, everything is different.

An Ark ritual directly brought Zhou Kai's utilization rate of monster corpses to its peak!
Zhou Kai narrowed his eyes in thought, then suddenly leaped, his feet darting swiftly between the rooftops of the town's buildings.

After obtaining the Ark Ritual, Zhou Kai couldn't help but feel regretful when he thought about the monster corpses he had burned or buried in the nursery.

If only we had turned those special monsters like the blind spider, Elizabeth, and Adams into crystal cores and implanted their unique abilities into machines...

Zhou Kai simply couldn't imagine how much that would boost his combat power.

"Never mind, there's nothing to regret. The Ark Ceremony wasn't too late."

Zhou Kai shook his head, dismissing the insignificant regret, and looked into the misty manor.

He only missed three special monsters; it's nothing. He has many more monsters to hunt in the future.

Within the manor alone, there are two known types of monsters: heavily armored knights and hook-shield guards. Outside the town, in the black fog, there are also top-tier prey like the Mist Hand, whose entire body is a treasure trove.

"I will put you all... into my sword, my armor, my lamp..."

The longing in Zhou Kai's eyes grew even more intense.

His gaze was so intense that even the heavily armored knights behind the thick fog were aroused, and he hurled his lance over the manor.

This time, the lance covered the farthest distance ever, but its power was far less than before.

Zhou Kai could already sense that the heavily armored knight was losing his strength. He sneered, his muscles suddenly bulging, and with a slashing upwards with his sword, he fiercely parried the flying lance.

boom!
Zhou Kai remained unmoved, while the silver spear shadow flew back into the depths of the mist.

This new confrontation ended with Zhou Kai knocking away the lance with a single sword strike.

"The distance between us is getting closer and closer..."

Holding his sword, Zhou Kai jumped into the lake without hesitation.

After quickly sinking to the bottom, he swam towards the entrance of the water prison, following the route he remembered.

This time, he encountered a little trouble.

The Dragon Slayer Sword had become unusually heavy, making it somewhat difficult for him to move in the water.

It just takes a bit more effort; it's not so heavy that it would completely drag Zhou Kai down.

Two minutes later, Zhou Kai swam to the location of the dim band of light.

He saw a long hook stuck diagonally into the cave entrance, the very one the guards had thrown into the water when they were chasing him a few hours earlier.

Wow.

Zhou Kai lightly swung his longsword, easily sweeping away the long hooks, and once again slipped into the manor's water dungeon.

(End of this chapter)