Heroic Death System

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Although Tylor had told Kaiser in a very imposing manner that Shang Ke was going to stay at his mansion, Shang Ke still spiritedly left with Kaiser, completely ignoring Tylor"s sad and gloomy face.

On the way back home, Kaiser looked at the youth beside him. Handsome features, a pair of rippling eyes, and a head of long black hair that flowed down his back with a silky l.u.s.ter. His every action carried a very spiritual and harmonious manner. What was even more important was that he had a very pure nature and firm will. After thinking, it did not seem strange at all for Tylor to fall in love with him.

"What"s wrong?" Shang Ke asked as he turned his head toward him.

Pupu also turned to look at him with a questioning gaze.

"No-nothing." Kaiser immediately took his gaze back. That one look caused his heartbeat to speed up a bit. He had originally wanted to ask about his relationship with Tylor, but in the end he didn"t ask anything. However, so long as he thought about how Shang Ke would one day be together with Tylor, his heart would feel stuffy.

In fact, Tylor"s heart was just as stuffy as his. Watching as the man he liked left with another man, it was impossible for his mood to improve.

But the world would not wait for them to settle their feelings, and every country in the continent responded to the Holy Empire"s call, agreeing to partic.i.p.ate in the sealing of the Devil"s Tree.

With the mission decided, they began the journey to seal the tree.

The warriors all prepared themselves to leave for the marsh abyss.

No one knew just how dangerous the sealing operation would be. Although Shang Ke did not know exactly how many people there were, he remembered that almost everyone had been killed in the end. Their losses were disastrous after merely entering the fringe, and those who had managed to survive all had mental shadows. During the operation"s second attempt, two-thirds of the party were lost.

As such, Shang Ke did not have much a.s.surance in this operation. He could only concentrate on all of the final warriors who managed to last until the end, and make use of his ability to absorb devil qi to protect them until the interior of the abyss.

This time, Tylor joined Kaiser"s group and operated along with them. Shang Ke had also asked for two other people aside from Tylor, one being the Guard Captain Max that had provoked him before, and the other being the horticulture master, Simbi.

They could understand asking for a.s.sistance from Max, but what the heck was the horticulture master for? Tylor and Kaiser both couldn"t understand at all.

Shang Ke said, "One"s social status does not say anything about their power of faith. Plus, sealing the Devil"s Tree needs different kinds of faiths. So the more kinds of faith there are, the better."

Then he doesn"t necessarily have to choose a horticulture master! It"s not that they look down on that occupation, rather, the one before them was too strange! He wore a shirt and jacket on his upper body while his lower body wore a gra.s.s skirt, and he also wore gra.s.s boots! Was this kind of expressive madman really suitable for the mission?

With his partic.i.p.ation, the style of the entire group became wrong!

But under Shang Ke"s strong persuasion, everyone still agreed with much difficulty. The group altogether had twenty-three people, among them were Kaiser"s five companions Amy, Vadula, Fred, Youri and Duro. The remaining people were mostly Tylor"s men.

Everyone organized their baggage and set out at the arranged time.

On the way, they intentionally placed some distance between Simbi and themselves, only Shang Ke did not care about this. These people who only judged people by their appearances would never think that this horticulture master was a powerful man that had partic.i.p.ated in two sealing operations and was the first person to arrive at the center of the abyss. Also, he was one of the only five warriors that returned alive in the end.

His faith was in "nature". Although his actions and esthetics was a bit eccentric, his mental state was stronger than everyone here. Hm, the thickness of his face was stronger too.

"Shang Ke, this weave of yours is really nice, teach me." Simbi looked at the weave Shang Ke gave to Pupu, his eyes brightening.

"Sure," Shang Ke smiled and agreed.

Two people with completely different styles somehow interacted so harmoniously that it was a bit strange.

Tylor only watched Shang Ke in the daytime, and at night he would pull him and Pupu into his tent. Kaiser would make his tent somewhere near to obstruct them every time, so that he could take note of any suspicious activity within. As long as he noticed that something was wrong, he would immediately rush in.

But with Pupu around, no matter what Tylor had in mind, he couldn"t really do anything to Shang Ke.

The first few days of the mission were very peaceful and nothing unexpected happened. On the way, they had met many other groups, some were rather friendly, others alienated. Everyone maintained a not-too-close-or-too-far distance from each other and made for the same destination.

But on the sixth day, at a distance not even thirty meters from the edge of the abyss,a dead body was found. The several days of peace had finally ended.

There were about fifty corpses, and the way they died was very tragic, the blood hadn"t even dried yet.

"It should have been done by a group of devil apostles, the strength of the other party was very strong and ruthless." The imperial guard investigated and reported back.

Tylor wrinkled his brows and did not say much, only reminding everyone to be careful.

The group advanced a couple more meters and finally stopped to make their camp before nightfall.

That night, there was not a sound to be heard besides the shrill sc.r.a.ping of the wind.

At this moment, the originally sleeping Tylor suddenly opened his eyes and quietly made his way out of his tent. The other people that came out along with him were Kaiser and Max.

They were just about to sound a warning when the camp was attacked.

Shang Ke was awakened by the clamor. He quickly walked to the entrance of the tent and raised a corner to take a look outside. What he saw was Tylor and the others fighting the sneak attacking opponents fiercely.

He was just about to be exit the tent when out of nowhere, a small head popped over and almost went out the tent. Shang Ke promptly pulled Pupu into his arms, quietly warning her, "Stay here obediently, don"t run out okay?"

Pupu saw Shang Ke"s grave expression and copied a grave expression, nodding her head repeatedly as she stayed motionless in his arms.

While Shang Ke held Pupu in the tent, he was also nervously mindful of the activity outside.

He was now a weak person who would gasp for breath just every few steps, it was best that he just inconspicuously stayed in a corner and not go out to cause trouble. He believed that it wouldn"t be a problem for Kaiser, with the "main character" halo along with Tylor"s immense strength, to handle a dozen low ranking apostles.

"Quincy, over here." Tylor"s sudden shout transmitted to Shang Ke"s ear.

Quincy? Shang Ke"s expression changed. Wasn"t he the traitor that plotted against Tylor in the story?

So strange, he knew all the people in the group, but to his knowledge, there shouldn"t be a "Quincy" in them.

Shang Ke raised the tent cover and looked over.

So it was him, the imperial guard by Tylor"s side, Jacques (Zhangkunkesi). "Quincy(Kunxi)" should be his nickname.

He fortunately found out early! Otherwise, Shang Ke would have been very likely to miss the chance to save Tylor. In the original plotline, the truth of Tylor"s death remained a mystery. No one knew that the second prince of the empire, the once famous Tylor, had unexpectedly died in the hands of his most trusted friend.

Of the famous double stars of Light Ode College, one died an unnatural death while the other threw himself into the darkness. He had to say, this was a great tragedy.

But since Shang Ke came, he would not allow this tragedy to repeat itself.

Right at that moment, he suddenly hear a tearing sound. The tent was torn open by a sharp blade that wasn"t even ten centimeters from Shang Ke.

Shang Ke quickly grabbed Pupu and retreated a couple steps, and in those few seconds, several more gaps were torn into the tent.

Shang Ke frowned, the devil qi in his body fluctuated and his eyes flickered. The oppressing pressure of a King level apostle erupted from his body.

One of the attackers seemed to have noticed Shang Ke"s existence and was just about to attack the tent, but was almost struck down by the oppressing pressure.

Because Shang Ke had absorbed a large amount of devil qi during a short time period, the King level apostle"s pressing might did not disappear but rather grew even stronger.

That attacker"s heart was greatly startled and he retreated many steps, no longer daring to approach that tent.

Tylor and Kaiser both made their preparations to save Shang Ke when they saw one of the attackers approaching the tent. But G.o.d knows what kind of show that guy was giving, he threw himself forward then shot back out like he saw something terrifying.

Tylor and the others naturally would not show mercy and took the chance to send the person to h.e.l.l.

"Shang Ke, are you guys alright?" Tylor hurriedly ran to the tent and looked inside.

"We"re fine." Shang Ke asked, "How is the situation outside?"

Tylor took a look around then replied, "It"s already settled."

The attackers were all annihilated so everyone started to clean up the scene.

Only now did Shang Ke leave the tent while carrying Pupu.

Pupu did not show a frighten expression at the b.l.o.o.d.y scene. This bit, Shang Ke had discovered long ago. Although Pupu"s intelligence was a bit lower than a normal child, but maybe because of that, she did not fear death at all.

To her, the world was very simple. She only had likes and dislike, there was no cognition of good and bad.

Not long after, a couple of people from two other camps came to find Tylor and exchanged their opinions on the attack. In the end, they decided to merge their groups into one. With the united management, it became more convenient to focus their power in response to the following crisis.

"Lord Tylor, this is?" A fit and beautiful female warrior looked in Shang Ke"s direction, her eyes full of interest.

"Osari." Tylor place his hand around his waist, a very common action, yet it looked like he was declaring his sovereignty.

The female warrior was a crude one, so she completely did not make out the deep meaning within and said to Shang Ke, "I saw that the food in your camp was all cooked by you these past few days and the smell is really tempting. I don"t know if you can offer some to us too from now on? We can pay for it if needed."

"That"s fine." Shang Ke agreed with a smile, "As long as you guys don"t mind sharing it."

"We don"t mind, we don"t mind it at all." They had already smelled his delicious food for several days alright?!

The captain of the other group was rather wary against Shang Ke, in his eyes was inquiry.

The next day, the group continued their journey and entered the abyss of the marsh by afternoon. The devil qi here was clearly richer than other places and everyone immediately felt incomparably oppressed, their expressions looking very resentful and bitter. Only Shang Ke, Pupu and the horticulture master were like usual.

In the abyss of the marsh, no one was able to sleep on the first night. Even if they forced themselves to fall asleep, they would be roused by nightmares.

The atmosphere in the group became very compressed, all sorts of negative mood came thick and fast, n.o.body could resist it.

Just at that moment, sporadic tones of notes sounded, soon after, it became a string of notes that altogether turned into melodious and sweet music.

The people in the tents took turns leaving, each heading for the source of the elegant music.

A man wearing a robe sat cross legged at the fire. In his hands was a harp, and he gently played it. His long l.u.s.trous black hair scattered onto the blanket placed on the ground, his expression gentle and the light of the fire glowed in his unclouded eyes. His fingers danced across the strings in the quiet night like magic, scattering the devil qi in the surroundings. Everyone"s stifled mood all eased, the heavy and sinister atmosphere unwittingly vanished like smoke.

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Shang Ke did not intend to play the harp, but from the corner of his eyes, he saw Youri fidgeting with a harp and went over to take a look. He had chosen the musical instrument skill from the System, so everytime, he would be able to choose a different instrument to learn. There were all kinds of instruments in the System, so many, in fact, that he wouldn"t be able to count them all. In theory, as long as he had enough energy for it, he could learn pretty much all the instruments.

At present time, he had previously chosen the piano, flute and violin (chosen after the second world). He still had not had contact with instruments from other worlds. The harp of this world was a bit different from the one in his memory; it was like a bent silver moon, inlaid with three elaborate magic crystals that were bright like stars and stringed with seven golden metallic strands.

To inlay such precious magic crystals in an instrument, probably only those n.o.bility born people like Youri could obtain them.

Shang Ke tried playing a couple tones, and the magic crystals formed a boundary and immediately fluctuated, seemingly giving the music an amplifying effect, pa.s.sing on the sound farther.

He was a bit interested now, aspects of music started to a.s.semble in his mind. His fingers moved and started to play by improvising.

Melodious and sweet music poured out like running water, gradually turning into the Milky Way, slowly flowing out into the night sky.

Shang Ke did not notice that with his playing, the devil qi that polluted everyone"s body all started to be pulled into his body bit by bit. This was also the reason why everyone had suddenly felt relaxed.

Everyone walked out one by one from the tents, quietly gazing at the man that was concentrated on playing. They carefully listened with all of their attention as their jittery mood gradually eased and what was left behind was only peace.

Shang Ke"s surrounding a.s.sembled a large amount of devil qi and converged into a great black whirlpool under the darkening sky. But the music also contained a large amount of faith which tangled with the devil qi. Shang Ke"s place turned into the darkest yet brightest place.

Only with light, can darkness condense.

Only with darkness, can light shine.

"Shang Ke!" Tylor was the first one to notice the abnormality.

He could only see that Shang Ke"s eyes were half closed and his face was completely pale. His lips were a captivating red shade colored like blood as the wispy strands of devil qi slowly twined around his fingertips like ribbons. The music condensed by the power of faith once again shone like stars in the darkness.

The devil qi gradually spread to Shang Ke"s eyes, and like ma.s.s of dark flames, it churned. A drop of black tear slid from the corner of his eyes, leaving trails of dark tears on his jade-white face which immediately turned into a ma.s.s of black fog and vanished into the starry sky.

He drew darkness into his own body while he left the light for others.

"Shang Ke, stop!" Kaiser shouted once more.

Shang Ke"s body was almost completely covered by the devil qi.

Only now did everyone notice the abnormality, they saw the devil qi around Shang Ke starting to bubble and they all subconsciously took a step back.

"Devil qi invasion!" A person murmured softly, disgust and fear in his eyes.

"Catch him and see if he can still be saved!" Someone else shouted eagerly.

A few quickly went for Shang Ke, but Tylor and Kaiser both stood guard in front of Shang Ke.

"No one can touch him!" Tylor coldly said.

"Your Highness Tylor, he"s already invaded by the devil qi, if we don"t treat him, then he will turn into a devil apostle!"

Kaiser raged, "Even if you all turn into devil apostles, he would not!"

This group of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, they don"t even have a clue  that they were the ones being invaded by the devil qi and now wanted to harm the one that saved them.

"Kaiser, we know he is your friend, but since he has been invaded by the devil qi, we can"t just ignore it." Someone else requested, "Can you guys please hurry and move aside? Perhaps he can still be saved."

"That"s right, you can"t neglect other people"s safety for your friend." Many people agreed with the person"s words, and echoed it.

"Neglect other people"s safety? Did you guys not notice that you guys were being invaded by the devil qi?" Kaiser couldn"t restrain his towering rage, "If it wasn"t for Shang Ke, the ones that needed treatment would be you guys!"

"What do you mean?" Everyone"s face was doubtful.

"Shang Ke used music to draw the devil qi out from your body into his own body."

"Ha, are you making a joke?" Most of the people showed that they did not believe it and only scoffed, "Who would help others to absorb the devil qi themselves? Isn"t that just courting death?"

"Kaiser, do you really have to make such an absurd lie to help your friend? Look at the concentration of devil qi on his body, it"s clearly because his willpower is too weak or his faith isn"t firm enough for him to end up like this."

"Willpower too weak? Faith not firm?" Kaiser laughed from anger, "Do you think someone who has a weak willpower and faith would be able to play such music filled with the power of faith?"

Everyone paused, the harp"s tune was still playing into their ears, melodious and pure, it was exactly like how Kaiser said, it contained a huge amount of faith.

What… was going on here?

Tylor did not pay attention to everyone else and crouched by Shang Ke"s side, quietly speaking, "Shang Ke, it"s enough. Stop."

He placed his hand on Shang Ke"s back and immediately felt a bone chilling coldness intruding into his body from his fingertips, causing almost entirely of his arm to go numb.

Only now did Tylor know precisely how much devil qi Shang Ke absorbed for everyone. He had just barely touched him and it turned into an terrifying essence that attacked him.

He was simply unable to imagine just how Shang Ke was able to bear such dense devil qi. Exactly what was the origin of his faith?

"Daddy." Just at this moment, a young and tender voice interrupted Tylor"s thoughts.

Tylor raised his head and saw Pupu reaching out to touch Shang Ke.

"Wait-" Tylor didn"t even get to finish speaking when Pupu had already grabbed Shang Ke"s sleeve. Soon after, he saw the devil qi in the area she touched suddenly dissipate and quickly retreat. In a very short time, the devil qi on Shang Ke"s body disappeared without a trace and the harp"s sound stopped.

Tylor looked at Pupu, flabbergasted. He knew that this little girl had a very pure power of faith, but he didn"t expect this power to be powerful enough to be able to fight against the humongous amount of devil qi on Shang Ke"s body. He once again looked back at Shang Ke, this pair of father and daughter really is… unbelievable.

With the harp"s melody stopping, the light from the power of faith gradually vanished and the devil qi began to disperse. The people who were endlessly arguing with Kaiser suddenly felt their body go cold, feeling the traces of devil qi that started to invade their body. In a moment, everyone felt as if they fell from a place full of warm sunshine into a cold glacier.

Such a huge difference in such a short time made everyone almost puke out blood.

This time when they looked at Shang Ke, they no longer held any disgust or contempt and their eyes were currently filled with shock and disbelief.

Just now, was this person really helping them absorb the devil qi invading them?

"Shang Ke, how are you?" Tylor supported Shang Ke, his eyes fixed on the weakened man.

"I"m fine." Shang Ke gave Tylor a rather tired smile and then looked at Pupu and rubbed her head, gently expressing, "Thank you Pupu."

Pupu completely did not know what he was thanking her for, but being praised, she was very happy. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

In fact, Shang Ke did not plan to help everyone absorb the devil qi. But when the music started, he could feel the large amounts of devil qi move toward him and blend into his body. The only thing that could ease the devil qi invasion was the harp"s music. So he could only continue to play, because if he stopped, there was a large chance that he would be thoroughly swallowed by the invading devil qi.

Fortunately Pupu helped sever the devil qi from him just in time, giving him a breather to escape quickly.

So his devil qi absorbing const.i.tution could draw support from another object and become an area skill! He has to say, this pitfall world had danger everywhere. He just wanted to play some music but in the process, almost played himself to death. Shang Ke had enough!

Shang Ke looked at the harp in his hand and decided that he would not touch another instrument before he left this world.

He returned the harp back to Youri, who was using an awed and worshipping gaze to stare at him, "Shang Ke, no, Senior Osari, you must accept my knee (kneel)."

Shang Ke: "……"

Shang Ke took a look around him and discovered that everyone"s gazes were pretty much the same as Youri"s.

Just as everyone was about to come over to ask, he turned to Tylor and said, "Tylor, lend me your shoulder for a moment."

Less than a second after the moment he said that, he fainted into Tylor"s wide embrace.

Tylor gently held the frail Shang Ke, his gaze gentle but also pained.

"How is he?" Kaiser hurriedly moved closer and asked in concern.

"He"s likely going to be weak again for a long time." Tylor"s expression dimmed.

Kaiser"s nose felt sour and he scolded in a soft voice, "Idiot!"

"I will take him back to rest and leave the rest to you." Tylor carried Shang Ke and Pupu together, heading to their tent.

Kaiser watched the man"s leaving figure with a complicated glance.

Through Shang Ke"s music baptism, although everyone still felt a bit unwell, it was not the stifling feeling from before that could choke people.

They also gradually became aware just what kind of burden Shang Ke had dealt with, absorbing the huge amount of devil qi. An average person would feel incomparable suffering with only a bit of devil qi invading their body, but he alone bore with several people"s devil qi. This kind of perseverance and courage really made people admire him.

And they were criticizing him before for having weak willpower and small  faith. But now that they properly thought about it, the ones that were truly weak were them. They feared the devil qi and did everything in their abilities to hide their weak point. Meanwhile, Shang Ke let them see a whole new way to fight—using their own body as a battlefield and to use their own willpower as a weapon to courageously advance and fight the devil qi.

They only knew how to strictly protect their heart, they had never thought about fighting directly head on before.

However, just how many people in this world could rely only on their willpower and win against the demons in their heart? Perhaps only those with a generous heart and firm faith could accomplish this.

Everyone looked towards the tent Shang Ke was resting in; they were overwhelmed by emotions for a moment, and could hardly hold themselves together.

After experiencing this event, Shang Ke pretty much became the most important and prized one to protect in the group. Because of him, the journey into the abyss of the marsh became much more relaxed, at least no one needed to worry about being invaded by the devil qi and going crazy from it.

But as they got closer and closer to the interior, the devil qi also became stronger. Everyone saw large numbers of dead bodies, and not long after, they had also met the misfortune of getting lost.

After they wandered around in the depths for four to five days, they finally met another group.

But the situation of this group was not very good. They had around thirty people and their expressions were all dispirited. They were also all injured. When they saw Shang Ke"s group, they were on the edge of directly going for the kill.

Compared to this group, Tylor"s group of people were completely different in their mental state. Although they were also a bit tired, they were not in much dread or nervous wrecks.

Shang Ke looked at them one by one, most of the people in the group were already invaded by the devil qi. There were a couple among them that had already turned into low level apostles.

Just while he was observing this group of people, he suddenly heard someone shout in alarm, "It"s a King level apostle! There"s a King level apostle in their group!"

Shang Ke followed the voice and noticed that the speaker"s finger was pointing at him.

Uh, he"s been found out?

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