[The pale, bloated Dragon suddenly lunges at you. Wherever it passes, the ground trembles and rocks fly everywhere…]

[The Dragon Knight roars loudly and presses a hand to the Exoskeleton Mask on his face. The mask instantly extends and expands, forming a carapace battle helm bristling with sharp horn-spikes.]

[The exoskeletal carapace encasing the Dragon Knight is extraordinarily thick, making the outline of his already massive body swell by yet another size. The many horn-spikes on the carapace are like huge, razor-sharp curved blades, reflecting cold light amidst the flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder.]

[The Dragon surges toward you with unmatched momentum. The tip of the dragon lance grows larger and larger before your eyes…]

[A shaft of resplendent sunlight tears through the darkness and pierces straight through the Dragon Knight’s head. The immense kinetic force of the arrow not only shoots through his skull but also knocks him from the Dragon’s back.]

[By now, the Dragon is unable to halt its charge. Its gaping circular maw is right in front of you, its rings of sharp fangs clearly visible, and you can even smell the foul stench from its mouthparts!]

[You form a sword seal with your fingers, and true essence surges and roars throughout your body!]

[In the night sky, the seven stars known as the Northern Dipper shine brilliantly. Starlight pierces through layers of dark clouds and falls, gathering upon the Star-Shifting Celestial Sword in your hand!]

[Weapon Trait – One Sword Chills Fourteen Prefectures activates!]

[The celestial sword abruptly transforms from a three-foot green blade into a sky-piercing greatsword. The width of the greatsword’s edge now exceeds the diameter of the Dragon’s maw!]

[You rouse your true essence and point with your sword seal. The sky-piercing greatsword, glittering with starlight, drives into the Dragon’s mouth…]

[Sword qi rages. The sky-piercing greatsword tears apart that ferocious maw, and its remaining force continues, skewering the entire front half of the Dragon’s body into left and right halves!]

[The massive inertia of the charge carries the Dragon forward still, but its gigantic body is ‘split’ before you, turning into two half-corpses that plow two deep trenches into the ground.]

“Looks so big, huh, turns out it is just a flashy but useless spearhead…”

The worm-like Dragon was tenacious in its vitality. Even with half of its body cut into two pieces, it could still struggle.

To avoid capsizing in the gutter, Lin Xun ordered the Nine-Tailed Fox to bombard it relentlessly. In no time, he achieved the rare feat of ‘electro-grilling a Dragon.’

Under his command, the Valkyrie continued shooting at the Dragon Knight, who had already fallen to the ground and was twitching.

[…]

[Your watcher Battle Angel – Valkyrie has defeated the Ascended Dragon Knight at the Divine Kingdom’s Border!]

[Your experience points have greatly increased!]

[You have obtained Faint Spirit Essence of Sanctity *1.]

[You have obtained Dragon Knight’s Warrant (Item).]

[You have obtained Spiked Exoskeleton Mask (Epic-grade Equipment).]

[…]

[Your shikigami Origin-Tracing Nine-Tailed Fox has defeated the Ascended Dragon at the Divine Kingdom’s Border!]

[Your experience points have greatly increased!]

[You have obtained Small Chunk Spirit Essence of Sanctity *1.]

[You have obtained Border Dragon Fang (Material).]

[You have obtained Vitalized Mucus Gland (Item).]

[You look at the Dragon Knight shell whose whole carapace is shattered, with a huge hole in its skull…]

[Ascended Dragon Knight at the Divine Kingdom’s Border: A knight who guards one of the many entrances to the divine kingdom. Within the dragon hatchery pool, he tamed a Dragon and became a mighty Dragon Knight. The Dragon Knight guards the border, granting a pass into the divine kingdom to every devout child of the Wet Nurse and blocking every heretic who seeks to profane the majesty of the divine kingdom. Compatibility: 73% (+55%)]

[Ascended Dragon at the Divine Kingdom’s Border: A standard species produced by the dragon hatchery pool. It belongs to the phylum Annelida and bears the false name of Dragon. Its peculiar life traits grant it powerful regenerative abilities. Even if its body is cut into many segments, it can still continue fighting. Unfortunately, its manner of death this time was somewhat special. Compatibility: 59% (+55%)]

The two monsters that looked so fierce were actually not very strong… Of course, that was only from Lin Xun’s perspective.

For other Apostles, that one-man-one-dragon combo might well be the gatekeeper that blocked progression, a door-blocking boss one needed to ‘skip class’ to get past.

The Dragon Knight shell’s compatibility was 73%, only 7% short of being possessable.

Lin Xun wanted this shell not because the Dragon Knight was particularly strong. In terms of combat power, the Dragon Knight was far inferior to the Greedy Wolf Star Lord. If one did not count that Dragon, the Valkyrie might well have been able to beat him down alone.

Although the Monastery Abbot shell belonged to the Desire Wet Nurse’s oath faction, its status and position were too low. Even after entering the divine kingdom, it would probably be one of the lowest-level figures.

Under those circumstances, having a powerful shell from that faction would make both exploration and fighting much more convenient.

It was just that although the Dragon Knight was a humanoid monster, he looked far too abstract and was far too large in size, which resulted in his compatibility failing to meet the mark.

“Tsk, too bad I did not make that stinger dragon lance drop…”

Lin Xun opened his Inventory, preparing to check the loot.

[You have obtained the special attribute Hive Consciousness!]

[In the unseen void, you sense two supreme great existences standing at the very top of the web of consciousness, ruling over the minds and faith of hundreds of millions of living beings.]

[The grid is suffused with white and black hues that devour one another, seemingly without end…]

[Because your Hive Consciousness is too weak, you are unable to sense which great existence has the upper hand in the struggle within the web of consciousness.]

[Because you have not sworn the corresponding oath, you can only drift between the black and white grids, going with the flow…]

Lin Xun froze. “The special attribute of this chapter… Hive Consciousness.”

He still did not know the exact function of this special attribute.

But going by the rules of previous chapters, special attributes were unique attributes used to enhance related skills.

For example, the Knowledge stat: ordinary spell skills would only receive a bonus from spirit-related attributes, whereas skills from the World of Omniscience would, on top of that, receive an extra boost from the special attribute.

Under these dual blessings, skills empowered by a special attribute would be much stronger than ordinary skills.

However, special attributes also had a drawback. Once the corresponding shell was discarded, without the relevant skills, the special attribute had no way to display its effect.

If an ordinary Apostle could enter a Hell chapter, this minor drawback would not be a problem for them at all.

After all, an ordinary Apostle could use one shell for a very long time, unlike Lin Xun, who would pick up any good shell he saw and toss his old shells without hesitation.

Overall, as the world rules of each chapter differed, the pattern of special attributes enhancing related skills did not necessarily apply to all chapters.

Lin Xun continued checking his loot.

The two monsters had dropped a total of 250,000 Spirit Essence. To reap such gains at the start of a chapter, one had to admit that the rewards of a Hell chapter were worthy of its difficulty.

[Dragon Knight’s Warrant (Item): A pass issued by the Dragon Knight who guards the border of the divine kingdom. Only those of steadfast faith may enter the Wet Nurse’s divine kingdom.]

[By using this item, you can travel to the Desire Wet Nurse’s sphere of influence, Sacred Nest – Jormungand.]

“Hm? Was it not that crossing the Audience Ravine would be enough to reach the divine kingdom? Why is this thing still necessary?”

“Could it be…”

Lin Xun furrowed his brows and looked at the next piece of loot.

[Spiked Exoskeleton Mask (Epic-grade Equipment): The carapace left behind after a powerful Ascended being’s death has been fashioned into a mask-helm, the sturdy shell covered in ferocious horn-spikes.]

[When you equip this, the mask will automatically extend to encase your shell when you enter a combat state, becoming a solid exoskeletal suit of armor. When an enemy inflicts close-range physical damage on you, there is a certain chance that a small portion of the damage you receive will be transferred back onto the enemy.]

[This equipment is currently in a damaged state and must be repaired before it can be used.]

“A tank’s exclusive gear. Shame this carapace mask is broken and I have to spend money buying materials to repair it.”

Lin Xun shook his head. If the Three-Headed Lion could wear equipment, this mask would suit it quite well.

“Maybe I can put it on Nurarihyon. Nurarihyon’s Celestial Demon form is not a bad tank either.”

[You possess the special attribute Hive Consciousness!]

[The residual biological activity in this equipment will, under the influence of Hive Consciousness, revive and slowly repair the equipment until it is restored to its original state.]

[The repair speed of the equipment is related to your Hive Consciousness level.]

“Huh, the special attribute can repair equipment too…”

Not only the Dragon Knight’s Exoskeleton Mask, but the Abbot’s mask was also now in a repair state.

Lin Xun was stunned for a moment but did not dwell on it. This repair function was probably limited to certain special pieces of equipment within this chapter, and for someone who had the Imperial Swordsmith shell, it was better than nothing.

The worm-like Dragon had dropped one material and one item.

[Vitalized Mucus Gland (Item): A glandular organ from the Dragon’s body. It contains a certain kind of vitalized mucus with powerful life force.]

[By using this item, you can restore a certain amount of HP to a shell with the Ascended prefix and heal some of its limb injuries. Remaining uses: 1/2.]

Lin Xun curled his lip and put the item away.

With the top-tier healer shell of Saio Chisoku-hime, he had absolutely no need for this thing.

Having recalled his shikigami and summoned companions back into their ‘Pokeballs,’ he set out again.

[…]

[You rise on your sword and soar, passing over the two gigantic corpses as you head deeper into the Audience Ravine…]

[The two sheer cliffs on either side tower into the clouds, their tops out of sight. From the bottom of the ravine, when you look up at the sky, you can see only a thin strip of heaven filled with dark clouds.]

[…]

[After flying for a long time, the thin strip of sky at the edge of your vision grows wider and wider. You know you are about to cross the Gadalina Mountain Range, traverse the ravine, and reach within the borders of the divine kingdom…]

[At last, you emerge from the ravine.]

[Looking into the distance, the scenery of the land is just as you saw at the monastery, desolate and bleak. No living creatures are visible in your field of view.]

[Grayish light falls through layers of dark clouds, and it seems as if this is the only color left in the entire world.]

[You try to find the divine kingdom recorded in the mythic texts, but when you look as far as you can see, there is only barren land. Where is the Wet Nurse’s realm…]

[Do you want to turn back the way you came?]

Lin Xun frowned, opened his Inventory, and used an item.

[You raise the Dragon Knight’s Warrant, stand at the exit of the ravine, and assume the posture of an audience seeker in pilgrimage…]

[…]

[The ground faintly begins to shake, and the tremors grow more and more intense…]

[Suddenly the earth sinks into a large pit, and from it emerges a pale monster shaped like a mole cricket!]

[Its body is about the size of a house, and both sides of its egg-shaped enormous abdomen are covered in a layer of translucent flesh membrane.]

[The Ascended Courier Mole Cricket does not attack you but instead fixes its two massive compound eyes on the Dragon Knight’s Warrant in your hand.]

[The monster does not move and you do not move either, and so you remain locked in a stand-off…]

[Suddenly you come to your senses and toss the Dragon Knight’s Warrant toward the monster.]

[While the Dragon Knight’s Warrant is still in mid-air, it is swallowed in a single gulp by the Courier Mole Cricket. It lets out a joyful chirp, then turns around and points its tail at you.]

[The translucent flesh membrane on its abdomen suddenly opens, revealing a hollow abdominal cavity.]

[Inside are metal seats embedded into the flesh. Those rows of metal seats are mottled with rust, with armrests on either side engraved with decorative patterns…]

[Seeing that you still have not moved, the Courier Mole Cricket lets out a chirp that sounds like a reminder to hurry up.]

[You hesitantly climb into its abdominal cavity and sit down on a metal seat…]

[The Courier Mole Cricket chirps again. The two flesh membranes at your sides close up once more, and you can only faintly sense the grayish light from outside through the translucent membranes.]

[There is a strange smell inside the monster’s abdominal cavity, but it is not pungent. Compared to the stench sprayed from the Dragon at the Divine Kingdom’s Border, it could even be called fragrant.]

[The flesh in which the metal seats are embedded is not dead tissue. It feels slightly cold to the touch and wriggles faintly.]

[As the constant tremors and the loud scraping of jointed limbs digging through the ground continue, the entire abdominal cavity is plunged into darkness…]

[You grip the armrests tightly to steady yourself. You know you are heading into the depths of the earth, bound for the Sacred Nest – Jormungand that lies deep underground…]

[…]

Lin Xun had once previously ridden the free transportation Ancient Broad-Winged Horseshoe Crab. This experience was much better than the last.

At the very least, the cursed game would occasionally pop up a line or two of text during the ride.

The ‘carriage’ was not pitch-black. Inside the Courier Mole Cricket’s abdominal cavity, there were luminescent tissues that allowed him to see the conditions within the ‘carriage.’

However, he could not see what was outside, unless he violently tore open the flesh membranes…

After waiting for about half an hour, he finally arrived at the terminal stop.

[…]

[Faint light filters in from beyond the flesh membranes, and the tremor frequency inside the abdominal cavity gradually weakens…]

[At last, you no longer feel any vibrations. Everything inside the abdominal cavity becomes still.]

[The Courier Mole Cricket lets out a joyful chirp, and the flesh membranes on both sides open…]

[Familiar grayish light pours in. Above your head is no longer a sky densely covered with dark clouds but an uneven stone wall.]

[On the stone wall are large swathes of unknown fungi that emit grayish light. They are the only source of illumination in this underground space.]

[You are at the edge of a small town, the entire town pressed down beneath the depths of the underground space.]

[Next to your Courier Mole Cricket, several other monsters of the same kind but of different sizes are silently waiting. Their open abdominal cavities show no sign of passengers, only the mottled, rusted seats.]

[You look at that eerie little town. It is dead silent within, filled with the air of death.]

[You notice a massive stone stele standing in front of several Courier Mole Crickets. Strange twisted characters are inscribed upon it: Divine Kingdom Border – Tentacle City.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep