Chapter Fifty-Four: Shadow of Slaughter

The royal city of Ailran after the war was a scene of utter devastation.

Though the Undead Legion had been annihilated and the bloodkin driven back, ruined buildings still stood everywhere, and the wounded filled the streets.

In this sudden war, countless lives had been snuffed out, not merely by the bloodkin’s fangs, but far more often by the aftermath of the great figures’ clashes, which had swept the innocent along with them.

Human life had been shown, at such a time, to be no more than grass beneath a blade.

After the fighting ended, Murong Xun and the other potion makers continued crafting elixirs for many more days before they finally produced barely enough to meet demand.

But the matter was not yet over.

The Blood Emperor had broken free, and the masterminds behind the Undead Legion still had to be dealt with.

Because the bloodkin had suffered grievous losses this time, after escaping the royal city they frantically created thralls and descendants everywhere, causing a tidal calamity of blood to spread across the kingdom.

For the Night Watchers, a bloodkin plague was nothing short of disaster.

Under these circumstances, the kingdom issued the order to purge the bloodkin. Bloodkin of every rank carried a fixed bounty, each worth a specific amount of merit, which could at any time be exchanged with the quartermaster for whatever supplies one needed.

At this moment in the royal city of Ailran, the quartermaster’s post was in fact the busiest place of all. Whenever the doors opened, people came and went in an endless stream.

When Murong Xun arrived, he was merely one more ordinary face among them.

“If you want something, look at the list yourself. If you don’t understand, don’t ask nonsense.”

The slightly plump quartermaster was a short, middle-aged man, and his pair of narrow mustaches gave him a somewhat amusing look.

Reclining in a chaise, he narrowed his small eyes to slits, holding a little teapot in his hand. As the chair swayed gently beneath him, he sipped from it now and then, every inch the image of a petty country squire.

Murong Xun said nothing. He merely studied the list of goods pasted to the wall. It was crowded with all manner of items, each plainly marked with a price.

Many of them were of no use to him, and finding what he needed among so many things was no easy task.

“If you want to search quickly for what you need, ten merit points and I can make it happen.”

The quartermaster spoke lazily.

Murong Xun raised a brow and looked back at him.

“Don’t think it’s expensive. It’ll save you a great deal of time,” the quartermaster said with a sly chuckle, taking a sip from the little pot in his hand.

“I want gear, around ten thousand in price. As for weapons, I want blades.”

Murong Xun spoke calmly.

“Very well. Your request is my motivation!”

As he said this, the quartermaster waved his hand, and the list indeed changed.

Soon the items on the wall shifted, leaving only equipment, even divided into categories so one could choose according to one’s needs.

Among them, at the very top, Murong Xun found something he had once used before: the Heart of the Divine Mage.

After he had finished crafting the potions, those two items had been reclaimed; he had not expected to see this equipment again.

But seeing the price of thirty-five thousand, he could only stop short.

Though it was an exceptional piece of gear for a mage, in truth the effect that mattered most to him was mana recovery. Naturally, he would not choose it, not to mention he could not afford it.

The equipment was neatly sorted into ornaments, weapons, garments, and more, but after filtering, the number was much smaller. Murong Xun could examine each item one by one, and soon his gaze was drawn to two things.

Shadow of Slaughter: Bloom in death, and sink into killing.

Quality: Rare, common.

Passive: Slaughter Evolution. Continually evolves through killing. Current evolution value: 0/100.

Passive: Breath Return. After inflicting a kill, Breath Return increases by one point. At one hundred points, the power of Breath Return may form a shield or restore the user’s condition.

Passive: Paralysis. Attacks have a chance to inflict paralysis.

Passive: Petrification. Attacks have a chance to inflict petrification.

Exchange price: 15,999.

When Murong Xun saw this short blade, he liked it very much, especially since it could continue to grow. Yet when he saw the price, he was once again discouraged. He was short by about half.

The other thing that caught his eye was a dangling earring.

Moreno’s Lie: Lies are more alluring than truth.

Quality: Rare.

Attribute: False Mirage. What one sees is not necessarily real; it can create an illusion identical to the original body, with no attack power.

Passive: Attack speed +10%.

Passive: Movement speed +10%.

Passive: Casting speed +10%.

Passive: Cooldown speed +10%.

Exchange price: 5,000.

Both were purple rare items, yet their prices were utterly different.

The wondrous thing about these two pieces of equipment was that neither had an active skill; all of their abilities were passive.

Ordinary gear was usually either one passive and one active, or two passives. Purple gear generally came with one passive and two actives, or two passives and one active. Equipment that was entirely passive was quite rare.

The problem now was that Murong Xun did not have enough merit.

“What, not enough?”

The quartermaster swayed idly in his chair.

“If your merit isn’t enough, that doesn’t mean there’s no way to solve it.”

“How so?”

Murong Xun turned to look at him.

“The method is simple enough: go earn merit. But as you know, with so many people here to exchange their points, who can say when the item you want might be taken by someone else? So it may be necessary to pay a small storage fee.”

When the quartermaster smiled, his eyes narrowed, making him look like a weasel.

“Storage fee?”

Murong Xun looked at him.

“It’s very simple. I’ll keep the item for you while you go earn merit. Come back in three days to make the trade. The merit you pay then will count as a deposit. If by then you still don’t have enough merit, then I’m sorry, but the storage fee won’t be refunded.”

The quartermaster opened his small eyes. Though they were only bean-sized, they looked extraordinarily lively.

Murong Xun bought Moreno’s Lie, then pointed to Shadow of Slaughter.

“Keep that one for me.”

“Forty thousand in total, and we have a deal. Three days from now, I’ll be waiting.”

The quartermaster handed over the earring, smiling with evident delight. Yet another fool had been taken in.

Where could he possibly find ten thousand merit within three days?

Watching the young man leave, he went on reclining in his chair, rocking back and forth as he hummed an unidentifiable little tune.

But Murong Xun already had his own plan, which was why he had agreed without hesitation to reserve Shadow of Slaughter.

He was not a fool; how could he possibly have no confidence and simply throw away his merit for nothing?