Dawn: A GameLit Series (Death God System - Book #2)

by M. Q. Kajack

  Soul: Spirit Soul Realm (Damaged) (49%) Human Soul Realm (0/300,000).

  EXP (11,000)

  Stones: 995

  For now, I decided to save the EXP until I got enough to upgrade some skill. Thanks to the souls in my Purgatory, not only did I fix a little of the damage on my soul but I also got some news from their memories. There was a nearby city and it would take one week at most to reach it on foot. And this place? It was indeed the Grieving Zone.

  It didn’t take much time to reach the city. I didn’t know if this was good or bad, but this wasn’t just a small city. It was the freaking Imperial City of the West Country. Well, I wasn’t afraid of trouble, that was for sure, but I doubted no one recognized me. Someone must have posted a wanted order on me, right?

  In any case, I disfigured my face. Now, it looked ugly with full of scars. Coupled with an apparently weak body, no one would suspect my identity.

  Finally, after entering the Imperial City, I reached what I wanted more than anything, the Executioner Grounds. I just needed to be a little bit closer and I would be able to devour the massive death aura. Who knew how many people had died there? At the very least, I was sure I could break through another layer.

  Ding!

  Found death aura. Wish to absorb it?

  Of course!

  Death aura was slowly pouring into me. From past experiences, absorbing aura normally didn’t take long, but eventually, the aura started to rush to me as if it was alive.

  BOOM!

  The massive amount of aura sent me flying and crashing into a house. I didn’t have time to check if there was someone inside the house or not.

  What the hell happened in this place? How could there be so many executed people?

  Ding!

  Death Points +437,287.

  My jaw dropped to the floor. Are you fucking kidding me? Nuts! Almost half a million people... My body trembled with excitement. Lady luck was finally with me! I couldn’t control myself. I started laughing alone like a mad man.

  “AH!” a young woman who popped out of nowhere suddenly yelled.

  Not good! I wouldn’t give a good impression with my ugly looks, and her house was almost destroyed.

  “Guards! An assassin! Kill him!”

  “How dare you try to assassinate our precious and mighty princess?” a guard yelled, jumping with his sword towards me.

  A peak Core Foundation? Are you shitting me? So much for lady luck… this is devil’s luck! Who in his right mind will put the Imperial Palace next to the Execution Grounds? Damn it, I need to fly or I won’t be able to escape.

  The peak Core Foundation cultivator was too fast. If I was in the air, I could have a chance but unfortunately, it was not the case. I managed to avoid him but my arm was gone.

  “Your Highness, it’s a misunderstanding. I have been framed by someone here.” I was trying to buy some time. I saw a slight trace of doubt on her face. I revealed my cultivation.

  “Look, Your Highness, how can a trash like me try to assassinate our country’s most beautiful lady with this weak cultivation?” I decided to yield. It was not wise to expose Hai Yi or Hai Er—at least not yet. Since she showed doubts, something was definitely behind all this.

  “Halt!” she commanded.

  “Many thanks, Your Highness! I’m willing to serve and pledge loyalty.” I did a slight bow as a sign of respect. I was amazed at my performance. It seemed I was starting to develop and get some insights on how to behave. Before I would just kill them right away. Indeed, my temper was getting better, but I would still annihilate the guard that chopped my arm, perhaps even all the guards. I was sure that would give me more EXP and DP.

  “Speak! This princess is magnanimous.”

  I proceeded to create a fake story on how someone poisoned me and threw me inside, making it look like I’d explode and poison the princess if I were to be killed. Of course, such high-level poison was placed by a highly skilled assassin.

  “I see, it was thanks to my insight that I commanded the guard to just chop your arm off.”

  The rest of the guards were speechless. As for me, I remained there with an awkward smile on my face. The princess wasn’t that dumb, was she? Well, who the fuck cared about that? I managed to save my life and that was all that mattered.

  “Okay! Since you have pledged loyalty to me, I will give you the chance to be tested. Only by passing through the Dark Heaven Trial can one can be worthy of being my attendant. Guards! Throw him into the trial.” She waved for her slave, turned around and left just like that.

  I was speechless. Seriously? I was starting to think that this princess had a dual personality. While I was thinking about how to pass this lame trial, the guards around me started laughing.

  “Boy, you are dead meat.”

  “Worst luck ever.”

  “Yeah, too bad your luck is rotten.”

  They kept laughing and talking about how I would die and how my fate was worse than death.

  When we finally reached our destination, I was dumbfounded. Wasn’t this the Execution Grounds? I was confused.

  “Is the Dark Heaven Trial?” I asked.

  “Of course, the Dark Heaven Trial is inside the Execution Grounds. The Second Princess decided that you can choose to pass it or be killed by us. It won’t matter. The reason why the Second Princess’ influence in the country is not good... is because anyone that’s willing to serve her has to pass through this Dark Heaven Trial. So far, no one ever has come out alive,” the guard who chopped my arm off explained.

  Sure enough, there is something going on with the Second Princess, especially with all the killings around here.

  “The Imperial City… Has it always been located here?” I asked. For some reason, this bugged me.

  “Okay. Since you are about to die, I will answer your questions. The answer is no. When the Second Princess was born, the king decided to move the Imperial Capital here. No one knows the reason but it’s said that it was due to the Second Princess. Now stop with the questions and go away!”

  I was kicked away and forced to pass through a barrier. It clearly prevented anyone from leaving. No wonder no one came out. Based on my knowledge, this array’s complexity was out of my current capabilities.

  Fixing my body didn’t take long. Now that I had an arm again, it was time for me to upgrade.

  Ding!

  Body cultivation upgraded Muscle Tempering, 7th Rank (0/24,000).

  Body cultivation upgraded Muscle Tempering, 8th Rank (0/26,000).

  Body cultivation upgraded Muscle Tempering, 9th Rank (0/28,000).

  Body cultivation evolved.

  Body cultivation upgraded Bone Tempering, 1/206 (0/3,000,000).

  I finally broke through the next stage. I could feel the surge of strength within me.

  “System, how does this Bone Tempering stage work?” I had to ask as the way it was displayed was a little bit confusing.

  The Bone Tempering stage is focused on tempering all the bones in the body. The host will need 3,000,000 Death Points to temper the whole body and proceed to the next stage.

  “Does that mean that the 1/206 will change as long as I temper the bones?”

  The host is correct. Each bone will bring an increase of 1,500 jin due to the host’s constitution. A normal Bone Tempering Cultivator will only get 1,000 jin.

  Body cultivation upgraded Bone Tempering, 11/206 (337,787/3,000,000).

  I could feel the strength in my body. I was sure I could crush a strong 2nd level or a weak 3rd Core Foundation if I were to activate the Avatar of Death. Hell, I could even fight against a 4th level Core Foundation cultivator. Just thinking about it made me tremble with excitement.

  “System, give me an estimate my overall power.” I didn’t want any miscalculation. I wanted to be absolutely sure.

  Replying to the host

  Body Strength: 33,500 jin

  Qi Strength: 12,150 jin

  Avatar of Death providing a 50% bonus.

  Wi
elding the Scythe providing a 50% bonus.

  Host combat power 100,000 jin power.

  Weapon Throwing providing a 40% bonus.

  Host maximum output power 140,000 jin.

  Conclusion host undefeatable under Nascent Soul.

  I laughed so hard that I was rolling on the floor. This was too great! I was truly undefeatable. I must properly thank that old man from the Dark Wood Sect. After all, he helped make this happen.

  That one word kept resounding in my mind. Undefeatable. Power! That was what power was for: to be undefeated!

  No wonder no one could exit. Even if someone had the means to go through that barrier, it would be too difficult to escape. The more I walked, the more I couldn’t sense my direction. It was like I was being enveloped by true darkness. Luckily, my innate talent of darkness helped me or else I wouldn’t have been able to avoid some small traps.

  I managed to avoid several traps along the way, but some people weren’t that lucky. From the looks of their uniform, they seemed to be from the army. Poor guys. Sadly, there was nothing valuable here.

  The System was a good way to keep track of the time. It also stopped me from going nuts. Few days had already passed and apart talking with Hai Yi and Hai Er about some trivial things, I couldn’t help but worry a little about Shu Yi and Shu Er. They had been meditating for a long time.

  I squinted my eyes. This time, I saw something different. A spark?

  I didn’t ponder too much about it and decided to follow the spark. At least, having a direction to take was better than nothing. It wasn’t long until I caught up to the source of the spark. My talent helped me with darkness, but that didn’t mean I could see everything clearly. Still, the spark appeared to be quite near.

  There was a tiny hole with a bright red light, and I realized it was the spark I saw. The hole was only big enough to peek through it with one eye. There was something behind the wall. I looked for a way to go behind the wall but I found none, so I tried to punch it with all my strength. The wall broke my hand. It was quite sturdy.

  Sure, it took time, but I finally found a kind of mechanism. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not but it was worth the shot.

  It happened so fast. The wall was gone, or rather part of the wall was gone as though it was teleported. A sudden wave of fire appeared in front of me.

  “Retreat!”

  I went back, avoiding the fire and the traps. Luckily, it didn’t take long for the fire to retreat. I followed it and what greeted me was a middle-aged man. He was sitting on the ground, meditating with a huge smile on his face! The yell that followed scared the shit out of me.

  “I finally broke through!” a man laughed. “This grandfather will kill you all!! I will refine you into pills and feed you to the dogs! Curse you!”

  He sounds crazy.

  A sudden thought popped up in my mind. Wasn’t this situation familiar?

  “Old Ji?”

  Wasn’t this middle-aged man an old acquaintance, Old Ji? He looked younger than before. Well, considering he probably took pills, his young appearance could be faked. I was a bit confused on how to act in front of him. It could be the said that we don’t owe each other since treasures are taken with in own capabilities.

  “Ye Bai?” Old Ji exclaimed. “God bless me!”

  “You look quite happy, Old Ji,” I said, greeting him.

  “This old man finally became a Spirit King!” The pressure he was emanating was enormous. Since it wasn’t directed at me, it could be guessed that he didn’t have bad intentions. “It was thanks to you this old man managed to break through and break free of this cell.”

  “The seed of the immortals?” I probed.

  “Indeed. You saved my life and I gave something in return. We don’t owe each other anymore, don’t you think?”

  “A bit stingy, aren’t you? You truly value your life,” I said, mocking him.

  “Nevermind that. Young man, you sure like to get yourself in trouble, though this old man always has good luck whenever you appear! Right, did you advance with Old Wang’s teaching? You are a monstrous talent and many years have passed.” His eyes shone with anticipation. “Do you have a way out?”

  I shook my head. “Unfortunately, I was also stranded in a forbidden zone for a few years and I couldn’t progress at all. The array here is way over my capabilities. Right, what is this place?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. When I took the seed, I returned to the Central Country. I wasn’t sure how it happened, but someone leaked information about the cave and the inheritance. After that, I ran for my life. At first, I wanted to hide in some forbidden zone, but then again Spirit Kings were following me so entering and exiting a forbidden zone’s outer area was a piece of cake for them. Then I remembered this cursed place—a place where no Spirit King dared to go inside since no one ever made it out alive. I bet my chance on this place. The moment I entered, I was sucked into this room and pressure that was enough to kill me was released every day. The moment you opened the room, the pressure I endured this month was gone and I broke through,” Old Ji slowly explained. “Regarding your question, I guess we are in some kind of ancient training facility or something.”

  Um...

  “Do you recognize these characters?” Old Ji asked, pointing to the ground.

  “Yes, they are familiar, but they are not from this world. Unfortunately, I cannot read them.”

  I did recognize the symbols as they were quite similar to Nordic Runes. I truly wondered why the Seeking Continent was so fucked up. It was clear there was a mixture of many elements from Earth.

  Did the AI Aroma shape this world just to play?

  Old Ji and I explored the place further. His newfound powers made the walk easier and we kept walking into poor fellows that didn’t know how they died.

  Over time, the shape of our surroundings started to change. Clearly, we were in another zone.

  “Wait!” I shouted, pointing to a part of the wall that was different. “Another room?”

  “Who knows? This place is too strange. Shall we try?” Old Ji asked with a frown on his face.

  It was hard to be not messed up with this new room. Even though the shape of the corridor and the traps were changing, it wasn’t too different from where I started, basically looking the same.

  “You said it was raw pressure? That room you were previously in?” I asked.

  “Yes, I couldn’t move a finger.”

  “How confident are you in facing that pressure now? This one is more focused and refined this time.”

  “I would barely survive if it was like what you said. Perhaps, you could help with some kind of array or something.”

  “Right! I forgot I’m also an Array master. I could try to lower the pressure. We should find some clue inside the room...”

  “Good!” He didn’t think twice. He pressed the same mechanism we found in the first room. The room opened just like the first one except nothing happened.

  “Is there something inside?” I asked after letting him in first. I was not supposed to go in until he probed a little bit.

  “Nothing much. It was the same as the first one, just weird runes and nothing else,” Old Ji said with a confused face.

  I went in and nothing happened. I examined the runes. They did seem similar to Nordic runes but perhaps I was mistaken.

  Compared to the first room, there was one more rune in this room, though. It was at that moment that Old Ji tried to get out of the room.

  “We are trapped!”

  “We are always getting fucked up.” I laughed. “Hope this time you don’t die, Old Ji”.

  “Pyscho!” Old Ji retorted. “Can you please focus on setting up an array before we meet our doom?”

  I started to place everything I could gather from the Old Ji’s space ring. A flag here, some special energy runes carved on some jades there, and pretty much just anything.

  “Done!”

  “Wastrel! What kind of shitty array is this?”
Old Ji yelled.

  “I did the best I could. I’m just a 2-Star Array master,” I said, trying to defend my work.

  “What the hell does a 2-Star Array master count for? You didn’t improve at all! I could have done it better!”

  Our bitching went on for a long time. This old man was hard to please but he wasn’t that bad at all. I put him on the list of people I wouldn’t kill...

  “Ye Bai! Find the damn exit, you unlucky kid.”

  A wave of pressure started to fill the room. Old Ji was supporting the 2-Star array I made with his energy, but since it was a crappy 2-Star array, he wasted more energy than necessary.

  That was easier said than done. There was nothing I could find to help us get out of this crap.

  Why the hell did we go inside this place? Oh forget it, I bet it would have been harder later.

  I launched an attack with my Scythe through the array, but it didn’t even leave a mark on the wall.

  Eh?

  I looked at Old Ji and I swore I saw a smile on his face.

  “What’s wrong? Can’t you see the tremendous pressure I’m facing? Hurry up. I won’t be able to endure it for long,” he said, sweat running down his face.

  I slowly approached the array’s boundary and slightly moved my hand out of it without Old Ji noticing.

  Ding!

  XP + 1

  “Shameless old man! So much for pressure, you were clearly taking advantage of the situation!” I yelled, cursing at Old Ji. He immediately started to laugh.

  “Don’t be so angry, it was just a little advantage, about one-fourth only,” he laughed.

  I exited the array completely.

  “You want to compete with me? Look, you old bastard, this is where the three-fourths go to!”

  System MAX speed absorption!

  Ding!

  XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1 XP+1

  In a blink of an eye, I had absorbed the three-fourths of the spirit energy that was available in the room. I was pretty satisfied with the EXP I earned.