[Congrattions! You have gained 370,000 experience points. yer level has increased to 74!]
[Alchemist ss level has increased to 151!]
[Trickster ss level has increased to 81!]
[Lust ss level has increased to 45! New ss skill avable.]
[Transgression ss level has increased to 40! New ss skill avable.]
[Harbinger of Death ss skill level has increased to 15! New ss skill avable.]
[Congrattions! You have awakened a new ss—All-Devourer!]
[ss talent: Continuously devour monsters to absorb their abilities and enhance your attributes. The higher the level of the devoured target, the greater the attribute boost, with no upper limit.]
A series of notifications exploded in John''s mind. Aside from the ss level increases, what caught his attention the most was the new ss, All-Devourer.
Unlike Trickster or Transgression, which provided John with considerablebat power or versatile utility, All-Devourer''s abilities far exceeded John''s expectations!
John had long envied Qing''s talent, which allowed for unlimited attribute growth. Given enough time, Qing could widen the gap significantly with other yers. The advent of All-Devourer perfectly addressed this shoring for John!
In truth, with multiple ss awakenings, John''s strength could no longer be assessed by typical yer standards. While John''s abilities were well-rounded, they were also somewhat mediocre without any particr standout specialization.
In closebat, he was not as formidable as Qing. Inrge-scale damage, he couldn''tpare to Lily. His mobilitygged behind Exiled Immortal, and his ranged attacks were not as effective as Helena''s.
However, All-Devourer presented new possibilities for John. Given enough time, John could turn his attributes into monstrous levels, eliminating any weaknesses.
With this in mind, John felt a surge of joy and turned to Deception.
"What… What''s with that look, John? Calm down, what are you nning?"
"Deception, how does [Gluttony] rank in strength among the Seven Apostles? Is he one of the stronger ones?"
"Him? He wishes! That fat slob only hasbat strengthparable to Betrayal when he''s full, far inferior to me. Sure, his abilities are impressive, but his methods are limited. Even if he turns himself into a mountain of flesh, what''s the point? Of course, if you had his ability, that would be a different story."
John''s myriad of techniques and attribute enhancements meant every ability was a significant boost for him, putting him on an entirely different level.
"So, I just need to keep consuming, right?"
"That''s true, but are you sure you can stomach some of the things you''ll need to eat?"
"I can temporarily shut off my sense of taste. If I can''t taste it, it won''t be so hard to swallow. In any case, this journey has definitely been very fruitful."
Not only did John acquire Demigod-tier equipment, but he also awakened a new ss. Given time, his strength would reach a whole new level! By then, even the Divine Emissaries might not be unbeatable!
With this thought, John''s spirits lifted.
For now...
"We should head back and not let ria and Lily worry for too long."
...
Meanwhile, in Spartonia:
With the Priest''s healing, Qing and Exiled Immortal''s injuries had mostly healed. Aside from a few debuffs that couldn''t be removed quickly, which limited theirbat effectiveness to about seventy percent, their normal activities werergely unaffected.
"However, this encounter has proven that with our current strength, it''s too naive to think we can oppose the Divine Emissaries."
"Big sister, are you really nning to hand over the weapon to that Divine Emissary after a month? If she takes the weapon and then turns her arrows on us, we won''t stand a chance."
"In such a situation, I have no choice. I can''t let you two lose your lives over a weapon."
Hearing this, Qing''s face turned red with guilt.
"I''m sorry... If it weren''t for me insisting oning to Spartonia, this might not have happened."
"Don''t say that, Qing. No one could have predicted that two Divine Emissaries would appear in Spartonia. Even if there was only one, that battle would have been just as tough. And now, I''m even more worried about John''s situation. I saw on the forums that Antis is very dangerous, with many monsters lurking in those waters. I''m worried that John..."
"Big sister, John will be fine. You know his strength well. Just an hour ago, hisbat power increased by four thousand points, breaking through twenty thousand. That''s almost twice as much as Qing''s. With him around, even facing a Divine Emissary might not be hopeless."
"Let''s hope so... Anyway, Qing, you should stay and rest for the next few days. Dy your matches at the arena for now. Your injuries haven''t fully healed. Forcing yourself topete might cause a rpse of your old wounds."
Unusually, Qing did not argue with Helena this time, seemingly still mired in the disappointment of the loss against War. She tacitly epted Helena''s suggestion.
"As for you, Exiled Immortal, my idea is for you to leave Spartonia and head to Antis. Inform John of the situation here and check on how he''s doing. Since you''re traveling alone, you''ll be much faster."
Exiled Immortal hesitated, "If I leave and those two Divine Emissariese back, won''t that be dangerous?"
"I trust her to keep her promise. Listen, rest up today and leave early tomorrow. Get to Antis as soon as possible and find John to exin the situation."
"...I understand. No need to wait until tomorrow, I can leave shortly. Big sister, you and Qing be careful."
"Don''t worry about us, just be safe on the road."
In fact, if it weren''t for Qing needing to push the main quest forward, Helena would have considered letting Qing go along as well, leaving her alone to face the Divine Emissaries. Their goal was only to take the Godyer Bow, so there was no need for everyone to stay.
As nned, Exiled Immortal left Spartonia that afternoon, using a teleportation scroll to return to Talcavano. Following a yer-made map from the forums, he traveled southeast toward Antis.
However, since Exiled Immortal manipted wind fields as part of his talent, his energy was limited. He couldn''t travel nonstop day and night, so it took him five days of intermittent travel to reach the Silent Sea.
Near the ind sea, many yers had already gathered. Some hesitated, struggling to ovee their fear of the deep sea, torn between their curiosity about the lost kingdom beneath the waves and the dangers lurking in the ocean. Others set up tents on the nearby beach, selling Waterproof Pearls they had collected early on.
Exiled Immortal bought one, spending two million silver coins, which made him wince in pain.
After all, Exiled Immortal had been rapidly advancing the main storyline with John''s group, and apart from dungeon rewards, he had no other sources of silver coins. Moreover, Exiled Immortal was a money-guzzler, with his backpack filled with over a hundred swords that he couldn''t bear to part with.
In fact, if he were willing to put his Legendary-quality Sword of the Hero up for auction, he could easily get tens of millions, even up to a billion silver coins. Unfortunately, Exiled Immortal had a collector''s obsession, preferring to keep items he didn''t even use.
This left him with less than six million silver coins in savings, and purchasing the small Waterproof Pearl cost him nearly a third of his savings.
Exiled Immortal had considered simply robbing someone, but doing so would vite the unwritten rules among yers, so he had no choice but to buy the pearl.
With the Waterproof Pearl in his mouth, Exiled Immortal took a deep breath and slowly walked into the Silent Sea. Following the fastest route outlined in the guide, he dove deeper.
Fortunately, on his way to Antis, Exiled Immortal encountered no real danger. The only monsters he saw were a few non-aggressive sea turtles that passed by him indifferently. Thus, he safely reached the undersea gem, Antis.