Chapter 958
Chapter 958 - 944 Bankruptcy Liquidation
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7 min read
Stretching across the horizon was a landscape of ruins.
The ground bore the scars of scorching and explosions, yet not a drop of blood.
Clusters of large earthen mounds lay scattered, temporary graves dug for the desiccated corpses buried beneath, presumably the work of their comrades collecting the dead afterwards.
The battle had been exceptionally brutal, and it had ended just as quickly.
Lu Ping’an stood there calmly, attempting to sense the once surging life force here... and, unsurprisingly, he sensed nothing.
"Tch, still no good, huh? Well then, time to change my approach..."
Lu Ping’an extended his right hand, palm up.
On that outstretched hand, it was as if a chalice of void was slowly taking shape.
"...I really didn’t expect it to come to this."
As the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes, Lu Ping’an could only make fewer "arrangements," letting more people feel the threat from Zhao Yan and setting up probes.
But he hadn’t anticipated that this "causality" would still align with the ability requirements of a Soldier Profession Black Holy Grail Holder.
[Black Holy Grail (Brass upper-rank professional ability): The resentment and blood of those who died because of you on the battlefield will flow into this black chalice...]
Lu Ping’an closed his eyes; he seemed to feel the wailing souls on the battlefield.
"I should have come earlier..."
He vaguely sensed that, had he arrived sooner, maybe he could have harvested more "life" from these dried corpses.
"...I will avenge you," vowed Lu Ping’an, intending to turn this promise of revenge into stored energy for retribution.
But just as he was about to draw upon the remnants here, making use of the waste, a mutation suddenly occurred.
[Detection of "debtor’s" remains, proceed with bankruptcy liquidation...]
Although Lu Ping’an had anticipated that "bankruptcy liquidation" would be part of his ability system, its actual appearance still gave him an odd feeling.
"Liquidate."
But that was not a reason for hesitation or refusal.
[Unknown module activation... This module currently lacks components, only the ’bankruptcy repurchase’ function can be activated, proceed?]
What, it’s missing a plugin, and it still manages to give me an error message?
After pondering for a moment, Lu Ping’an knew that this so-called module was probably the corresponding profession for the fourth-tier.
He even knew which Path was missing...
"...Death as the antithesis of life, the Soldier Path, huh... Continue then, let’s see how far it can go at present."
When Lu Ping’an first joined the school club, he had encountered a club specializing in the death system, which informed him that the Soldier Path could be involved in that domain.
At the time, he didn’t quite understand; in his influence, "Soldier" was merely one kind of battle-profession, and not a particularly well-enhanced one at that.
But now, having reached nearly Decree-level in this domain, he had a profound realization.
"’Soldier’ isn’t specifically a ’combat profession’; it isn’t skilled at enhancing ’combat’ itself, but rather a ’profession’ that creates ’conflict, battlefield, war’ and is a profession that creates death and extracts benefits from death..."
The Black Holy Grail he extended was instinctively drawing life force from the surroundings.
Creating war, bringing death, and then harvesting the "benefits" that death brings—this is the essence of the Soldier Path... and the profession of "Black Holy Grail Holder" takes these characteristics to their extreme.
The so-called "Black Knight" Path is the "dark side" of the Soldier, displaying more direct aggression and life-harvesting traits, a radical approach.
It unabashedly treats even its own soldiers as a currency of life, as a resource... Death in battle is not the end; on the contrary, it is only the beginning of activating its exclusive resource pool.
"...The ’Black Holy Grail Holder’ that Big Cat introduced me to really complements my ability to ’harvest life’ exceptionally well. Heh, no, that’s not accurate; everything I have comes from her. It should be said that my path, aligns with hers."
Having cast another cursory whip at Big Cat, Lu Ping’an more or less understood the current situation.
Now he could undergo "bankruptcy liquidation" because, among the third-tier Black Holy Grail Holders, there indeed existed the concept of "life reclamation." However, this profession (module) wasn’t sufficient to support higher-grade abilities.
"Can’t directly awaken as a fourth-tier Soldier, huh... Heh, that figures. There are too many components (Abnormal Abilities, professional skills, knowledge) that I’m lacking. This isn’t the Scholar Path, famous for requiring nothing external, so I still need to catch up on lessons..."
"Well then... I’ll harvest as much as I can. Let’s see what the current limit is."
[Bankruptcy Liquidation Commencing.]
[Black-iron level client, Amxi, with a debt of 467 points, beginning to liquidate remaining assets...]
[Incomplete ’Rage’ Decree, core ability, valued at 120 points, can serve as a component for the Berserker series...]
[Amxi’s fragmented combat experience, valued at 67 points, recommended for warriors of the Sickle and the Fist and Foot system to learn and use...]
[Amxi’s experiences with the opposite sex, valued at 6 points, recommended for virgins to learn...]
A whole bunch of miscellaneous and offensive stuff flashed across the screen. Lu Ping’an glanced at it and saw that this Decree-level warrior from the Exotic Races had been stripped down to a "residual value" of 1671 points.
This was the final remnant of a "life," and the "Soldier" was the harvester.
[Please make a selection quickly to pay off debts.]
"...Can I choose anything? I want it all!"
[Please make a selection within the limit of your debt.]
Alright, you can only take a share equal to how much you borrowed.
But here lies a problem.
"What if it’s all stuff I don’t want? I can’t fully absorb it, right? This thing is about compatibility."
Lu Ping’an assessed the situation and found that he couldn’t make use of most things.
[You may directly sell to Life Bank, the bank will acquire them and include them in the resource management for daily operations.]
Meaning, whatever Lu Ping’an couldn’t use, he could sell to Life Bank as a public transaction to be included as merchandise or nutrition in rule buildings such as Libraries and Gyms.
"Then, aside from combat experience, sell everything else."
[Acquisition price 200 points, do you wish to proceed?]
Lu Ping’an was taken aback. Didn’t 467 minus 67 equal 400?
"...Proceed. As I thought, it really is my ability."
Lu Ping’an couldn’t help but reveal a bitter smile. The acquisition price was cut in half outright. That was seriously dark, but it seemed he had no other choice.
And as he made his selections, Lu Ping’an fell into confusion.
In that brief moment, he seemed to experience the life of that unlucky member of the Fate Lion Clan, the endless battles and slaughters.
[General skill, Fighting, gained a significant amount of experience.]
[Life Weapon Specialization (Polearms), gained a small amount of experience.]
Lu Ping’an stretched out his hand again, grasping at the void a couple of times before he regained his senses after a long while.
He was not that claw and spear-wielding Fate Lion Berserker, but "Mortal" Lu Ping’an.
"...This ability is a double-edged sword. It cannot be used casually."
Even though it was the stripped combat experience of others, consuming so much at once was still a bit of an overload... And that experience was still the incomplete version.
However, among these combat experiences, Lu Ping’an also found that part which he was looking for...
"...Heh, interesting, so this is Zhao Yan’s fighting style?" Lu Ping’an closed his eyes, still haunted by the image of that mad man and his Blood-pool.
Just as expected, the moment of death was the most vivid memory of the deceased! The fighting stance of the crazed Blood-God child.
The ever-cautious Lu Ping’an might be able to silence all living witnesses, but he could never do anything about the dead.
— End of Chapter 958 —