Chapter 1005: Extractions
Vale couldn't help but seriously consider this Spell Model.
Well, Celestial Arts are all expensive to upgrade. Although he had enough Energy Points to upgrade them from Level 1 to Level 10 or the Perfect Realm, it would consume a lot if he decided to upgrade four or more of them in the process.
He would have to choose carefully which Spell Models he'd upgrade to the max level…
Anyway, Vale wanted to fully understand the last spell…
This Soul Tethering Spell… The more he read, the more disturbing and fascinating it became.
This spell didn't merely bind a soul. It forced it into a new host, preserving its sentience while utterly stripping it of freedom.
It was a hundred times better than the Slave Mark Spell he had.
The grimoire spared no detail, describing the process step-by-step…
A soul must be harvested within thirty seconds of death. Then, the receiving corpse must not have active will or soul remnants.
Then, a special rune, the Binding Crescent, must be inscribed between the former heart and spine, bridging vital and spiritual channels.
Once tethered, the soul may show signs of unwillingness, but it would obey no matter what.
The experiments recorded within were quite disturbing, as the old Arcanthus seemed to have conducted several attempts as well.
It was no ordinary necromancy. It was soul transfer, command override, and adaptive mutation all bundled into one terrifying Spell Model.
Still, Vale knew that it would take time even for him to record the Spell Model since he couldn't extract this from anywhere.
He would have to do it himself, and it would not be easy.
Anyway, Vale sat back as he seriously considered the three Spells.
'Night Grasp is for control. Grave Mist is for the creation domain… While Soul Tethering is meant for corruption…'
He took a breath, reached into his Storage Ring, and finally summoned the prize he'd been waiting for.
A muffled thud echoed in the chamber as a long, black coffin reinforced by eight silver talismans slammed onto the floor.
Soon, the room was filled with a strong fluctuation of Divinity...
There was also a subtle stench of rot, but something older.
Soon, Vale slowly peeled back the containment layers.
The moment the talismans dissolved, black mist spilled from within, and the temperature in the room dropped sharply.
There it was: Immortal Corpse #7.
The item he bought for 345,000 Arcane Crystals and 3,050 Divine Crystals.
The reason it was so cheap was obvious. A large portion of the torso seemed to be in a terrible condition because of its rotting parts. The right arm was also broken and twisted. There was no divine core that could be sensed, and almost no valuable thing that could be found due to the cursed-like situation of the body.
Indeed, to most, it was a damaged failure.
To Vale, it was a mystery. And mysteries were worth dissecting… or to be exact, extracting.
He knelt beside the corpse, activating Extrasensory Perception and Dragon's True Sight in tandem, tracing the faded spiritual meridians and identifying fragmented runes scorched into the bones.
As expected, a hint of light deep within the hollowed ribcage was present.
It was weak. Almost undetectable.
But Divine Extraction didn't care how faint it was.
Vale reached out and placed his palm over the cracked chest.
A deep breath. A whispered invocation.
"Extract."
[ Celestial Corpse has been discovered. Would you like to extract it? ]
"Yes."
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +100, Vitality +0.5, Strength +0.5, Immortal Essence +100 ]
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +80, Vitality +0.5, Strength +0.5, Immortal Essence +100 ]
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +50, Vitality +0.5, Strength +0.5, Immortal Essence +100 ]
[ Extraction Failed. ]
Vale watched as the rot on the corpse pulsed slightly, then stilled.
"Is it because of the curse or something?" Vale mused…
In any case, even with the Failure, he didn't stop.
He placed his other hand over the skull, hoping that his Extraction process would actually go smoother.
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +40, Vitality +0.5, Memory Fragment x5 ]
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +30, Vitality +0.5, Memory Fragment x2 ]
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +25, Death God's Essence +1,300 ]
"Ahh… Death God's Essence? Wait… Is this the curse causing the rot?" Vale couldn't help but guess after seeing it.
The Death God's essence was not something casually found after all.
Furthermore, with the Essence, he could actually use it to transform or morph into a Death God, like what he did when he got the Imp Essence. This would be very useful to him!
Anyway, Vale could now guess what happened to this Immortal. It seemed that it had come into contact with the Death God and was cursed, leading to its death.
Vale didn't stop.
Soon, he obtained the Spell Models of the Corpse!
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +25, Complete Withering Starlight Spell Model ]
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +20, Curse Essence +50, Complete Soul Fade Curse Model ]
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +20, Death Thread Rune Formula Acquired ]
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +15, Darkness Essence +100 ]
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +5, Darkness Essence +100 ]
'Finally!'
[ Extraction Failed. ]
The corpse started crumbling now—first the hand, then the shoulder.
Still, Vale didn't stop the Extraction Process as his hand remained on its body.
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +5, Memory Fragment x5]
[ Extraction Successful. Divinity +5, Curse Essence +300 ]
[ Extraction Successful. Cursed Energy +700 ]
[ Extraction Successful. Cursed Essence +200 ]
…
[ Extraction Successful. Cursed Essence +200 ]
Soon, only dust remained…
"This…" Vale didn't expect that the corpse would completely turn to ash after extracting it.
It seemed that he had overdone it. Still, he managed to obtain 2 Immortal Spell Models, and he was very happy about it.
For now, he guessed that if he did some aggressive or manual extraction instead of just allowing the system to do it automatically, it could change the appearance of the target…
Indeed, Vale was controlling the extraction just now and focusing on finding Memory Fragments and Divinity Points.
"Well... It's a good thing I'm not doing Extractions publicly..." Vale muttered as he heaved a sigh of relief.
If he had done this when it was being displayed, it would surely have caused a problem for him.