[You finish browsing the Monastery Abbot’s Jottings and are just about to leave the bedroom when you run headfirst into a plump figure.]

[Its body is so fat that it props the cloak up like an inflated leather ball. From the wide sleeves protrudes a thick limb crammed full of folds and rolls.]

[The Ascended Monastery Abbot wears a gray-white carapace mask on its face. The small mask cannot cover its entire face, and great swathes of greasy fat bulge out from the edges of the mask.]

[The Abbot hooks a hand in the belt at its waist and strolls casually into the room, only to unexpectedly run straight into you…]

[It clearly freezes for a moment. A questioning voice comes from beneath the mask…]

[Your Sacred Ritual failed. Instead of going to the confessional to confess to the Wet Nurse, what are you doing here!]

In order to conveniently obtain information and memories, Lin Xun used the initial gifted Monk shell for exploration at all times, only switching to the Greedy Wolf Star Lord shell when fighting.

To run into a scene like this likely meant he had triggered a related event, so he was in no hurry to switch back to the Greedy Wolf Star Lord to harvest experience points.

[You lower your head, remaining silent.]

[It pats your shoulder and speaks in a consoling tone. On the road of Ascension, there are many thousands upon thousands of devout pilgrims, and you and it are both among their number.]

[Every instance of Ascension is a trial the Wet Nurse gives her children. If a heart of devotion wavers even in the slightest, the Ascension will fail, and one will be tainted by the power of demons.]

[No one can resist the corruption of demonic power. For you as you are now, death is the only way of release…]

[Rest early. That way, even after death, you will be able to return to the Wet Nurse’s embrace… It is far better than degenerating into a demon, being driven into the Sea of Corruption, and in the end sinking into the ocean to dance with the darkness.]

[It looks toward the bedroom wall behind you, its gaze as if piercing through the wall to reach far into the distance.]

[Do you want to leave the Abbot’s Bedroom?]

Lin Xun thought for a moment, then pressed ‘No.’

[Seeing that you still have not gone to the confessional after so long and are still lingering in the bedroom, the Abbot finally becomes angry.]

[It loudly berates your stubborn refusal to come to your senses and declares that the Wet Nurse will not accept a child who willingly degenerates into a demon!]

[The Ascended Monastery Abbot presses down on the pale mask on its face. The mask, made of carapace, instantly extends and expands, wrapping around its fat body to form a set of exoskeletal hard-shell armor.]

[It suddenly pounces forward, its movements incomparably swift, utterly at odds with its plump build…]

[You possess the shell of Desire-Bearing Greedy Wolf Star Lord!]

[You form a sword seal with your fingers. The celestial sword turns into a streak of flowing light and pierces through the Abbot’s hard carapace, passing straight through its chest…]

[You know full well that the vitality of Ascended monsters is extraordinarily tenacious. A chest-piercing wound is not enough to inflict a fatal blow, so you do not halt your sword control and continue directing the flying sword to attack…]

[The sword qi is biting cold. The celestial sword weaves back and forth, and in no time at all it pierces the Abbot’s fat body into something like a sieve…]

[The Abbot collapses in spasms. From beneath the pale mask comes a murmur of disbelief: You are not a child of the Wet Nurse. Just who are you really…]

[You have defeated the Ascended Monastery Abbot. Experience points increase slightly.]

[You have obtained Fading Chunk Spirit Essence of Insight *1.]

[You have obtained Exoskeleton Mask (Fine-grade Equipment)!]

[You look toward the fat shell that has fallen to the ground…]

[Ascended Monastery Abbot: The Monastery Abbot who has undergone multiple Ascensions. Because its current Ascended form is relatively weak at this stage, its combat ability is extremely poor. Compatibility: 86% (+55)]

[Do you want to possess this shell?]

Lin Xun raised an eyebrow.

He wondered whether it was because the Star Lord’s Crowned Diadem had increased the drop rate that the Abbot directly dropped equipment.

He actually did not hope for monsters to drop equipment, but rather to drop items and Spirit Essence.

That was because the former could be obtained by using his talent to possess and plunder the monster’s equipment, thereby achieving the effect of a ‘drop,’ while the latter depended purely on luck. Spirit Essence and items could not be obtained through possession.

[You possess the shell of the Ascended Monastery Abbot!]

Lin Xun waited for a while, but there was no indication that the Abbot’s memories were reviving.

Opening the panel to check, he saw that the Abbot’s stats were extremely trashy, only a tiny bit higher than an ordinary cleric’s.

All of his attention shifted to the mask equipment he had just obtained.

[Exoskeleton Mask (Fine-grade Equipment): After certain special Ascended beings die, their flesh rots away, but their sturdy exoskeletons can remain completely intact. These parts of exoskeleton are turned into armor by later generations, then shaped through multiple techniques into the form of a mask, continuing to serve the Wet Nurse.]

[When you equip this item, the mask will automatically extend to wrap around your shell when you enter a combat state, becoming a solid exoskeletal suit of armor.]

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

“This type of equipment is actually quite interesting…”

Based on the description of the Abbot’s shell and the text shown for this equipment, Lin Xun deduced that there were also many kinds of Ascended beings. Ascended ones like the Abbot were not adept at combat.

Only Ascended beings whose corpses could be turned into Exoskeleton Masks after death were likely to have been powerful monsters.

He controlled the Abbot’s shell to explore the remaining rooms.

[You leave the Abbot’s Bedroom and walk along the corridor…]

[There are still three bedrooms in the corridor that have not been explored. You arrive before the door of the nearest bedroom.]

[Strangely, the bedroom door is not tightly closed but slightly ajar, leaving a narrow gap.]

[Through the crack of the door you can see a nun with disheveled clothes lying on the bed inside. She seems to have just experienced a bout of pleasure, and there is still a blush that has yet to fade on her cheeks.]

[The commotion of you leaning against the door to peek is a little too loud, and you accidentally push the wooden door so that it gives a creaking sound.]

[The nun starts in fright and suddenly turns her head to look at you.]

[When she sees that it is you who has come back again, she pats her chest in relief and grumbles a few words in complaint, then spreads the two jointed limbs under her that are covered with coarse bristles and beckons to you…]

[Do you want to step forward and experience pleasure?]

???

Lin Xun only felt his eyes burn.

He unhesitatingly switched shells, and the flying sword pierced repeatedly, sending the nun straight to heaven on the spot.

After taking out the nun, he once more obtained a bit of Spirit Essence.

But this was not important. What was important was that although the nun shell had no skills, it did have memories…

[…]

[After experiencing the Sacred Ritual for the first time, the nun felt deep regret.]

[What she regretted was not undergoing Ascension, but choosing inferior ritual blood.]

[Ascended beings have all kinds of forms. Take the fat Monastery Abbot, for example. Although his appearance is ugly, his figure obese, and he does not possess powerful strength, this is only the initial stage of Ascension.]

[It is said that as long as the Abbot undergoes a few more Ascensions, he will be able to grow scaled wings and cross the strait to reach the divine kingdom.]

[The nun is very envious, but the path she chose, no matter how many times she undergoes Ascension, can never grant her the ability to fly. This also means… that in this lifetime, she will never be able to reach the divine kingdom.]

[Just when she falls into despair, the Abbot tells her that the path chosen in the first Ascension is indeed extremely crucial and determines one’s future fate, but it is not something that cannot be changed.]

[Because she has only undergone a few Ascensions at present, there is still the possibility of changing forms.]

[As long as she injects a large amount of ritual blood from another path, there is a chance to transform her Ascended form and achieve the goal of obtaining the ability to fly.]

[After learning this secret, the nun is overjoyed, but ritual blood that carries the ability to grow wings is quite rare, and she is completely unable to afford it.]

[Fortunately… the Abbot opens his purse generously and is willing to selflessly inject his own blood into her, fulfilling the nun’s lifelong wish…]

[…]

[Oh, so the Abbot’s barbed stinger is actually this thick…]

[…]

[The shattered memory ends there…]

Lin Xun furrowed his brows as he finished reading the memory.

Ascended beings truly did possess different forms. The first Ascension experienced during the Sacred Ritual was a choice of path for one’s form.

The ritual blood in his Inventory had an unknown origin, but just from its Ruined-grade quality, it was evident that it was trash and should not be the Abbot’s ritual blood.

If ordinary Apostles did not have any flying skills, they probably could only look to the Abbot for ritual blood and rack their brains to undergo several Ascensions before they could cross the strait to reach the divine kingdom.

He immediately discarded the nun shell and continued to explore the remaining rooms.

The other two bedrooms also housed clerics. Lin Xun cut them down like chopping vegetables, turning them all into experience points.

Besides obtaining a bit of Spirit Essence, there were no other gains.

By this point, the interior of the monastery had been fully explored.

He thought for a while, returned to the Resting Page to refresh, and prepared to grind monsters repeatedly.

All the other small monsters respawned, but the Abbot was judged by the cursed game to be an elite monster, and refreshing could not cause him to respawn.

Lin Xun bathed the monastery in blood from top to bottom twice before finally stopping.

Normally, the second round of monster grinding would only yield some junk items or nothing at all. But this time, grinding actually dropped a bit of Spirit Essence, which could be considered a pleasant surprise.

However, when he ground a third time, the drop rate returned to zero.

After clearing out the monastery and confirming there were no omissions, he began to explore the outside world…

[…]

[You walk down the spiral staircase and return to the first-floor central hall…]

[The central hall connects to a massive iron gate. Through the iron gate lies the garden courtyard, and from there you can leave the monastery.]

[Do you want to push open the gate?]

[You slowly push open the central hall gate…]

[It is late at night. The sky is densely packed with dark clouds, and there is no moonlight, yet it does not seem like the kind of pitch-black darkness where one cannot see their hand, but instead presents a hard-to-describe grayish brightness.]

[You look up at the heavens and try to find the light source, only to see that the gray-bright radiance spills onto the earth through gaps in the layers of dark clouds. By intuition, you judge… that is not the moon.]

[The garden courtyard is overgrown with weeds, as if it has not been tended for a very long time.]

[The air is filled with damp, salty fishy moisture. You tilt your head to listen and can faintly hear the sound of waves rising and falling, crashing against reefs.]

[In the surrounding wall at the end of the garden, there is a metal gate of bars. Looking through the bars, you see in the distance an expanse of open sea.]

[You hasten forward, pass through the barred gate, and arrive outside the monastery…]

[An endless sea lies several hundred meters below your feet. It turns out the monastery sits atop a seaside cliff.]

[On one side of the sheer cliff is a barren, desolate land. As far as the eye can see, there are no buildings, no signs of life.]

[On the other side of the cliff is the vast boundless ocean. What surprises you is that at night, the seawater is not a pitch-black expanse.]

[You widen your eyes, clearly seeing that the ocean presents a strange amber color.]

[You know that this is the Sea of Corruption that lies between the land and the divine kingdom!]

[As the Monastery Abbot, you know some hidden legends…]

[It is said that the amber liquid in the Sea of Corruption is not seawater, but the blood of sin flowing out from the bodies of heretical demons.]

[Whether mortal or Ascended, none may touch the sea!]

[When sailing through this sea, even the most solid ironclad ships will suffer corrosion, turn into a mass of scrap iron, and sink into the boundless waters.]

[Let alone those fools who try to rely on their fleshly bodies to swim across the Sea of Corruption.]

[Unless one gains wings, no one can cross the Sea of Corruption and reach the divine kingdom on the other side.]

[You lift your gaze to the distance, looking toward the direction where the divine kingdom lies in your memories…]

[Far to the north, at the junction of the sea’s horizon and the sky, there seems to be a faint line of unfamiliar land.]

[Do you want to cross the Sea of Corruption and head to the divine kingdom of the Desire Wet Nurse?]

Lin Xun squinted his eyes and decided to make an attempt.

[You possess the shell of Desire-Bearing Greedy Wolf Star Lord!]

[With a thought, you form a sword seal with your fingers. True essence surges and rumbles within you, and the Star-Shifting Celestial Sword floats in the air.]

[You stand with hands clasped behind your back and step onto the flying sword. Controlling the sword, you turn into a streak of flowing light and fly toward the land at the far end of the sea…]

[As soon as you fly out over the cliff and reach the boundary of the Sea of Corruption, you feel your body suddenly sink. An invisible pressure forces you to drop straight downward.]

[This mysterious immense force cannot be resisted. You plummet straight down until you are only a little over ten meters above the sea’s surface.]

[Only at this height do you feel that mysterious immense force completely disappear, and sword-flight becomes unhindered.]

[The rising and falling waves of the Sea of Corruption are just beneath your feet. The amber seawater is clearly visible before your eyes.]

[As you control the sword to fly, you look down over the sea. Gazing into the depths of the ocean, you see that the sea is just as devoid of life as the land outside. You cannot see even a single fish or shrimp.]

[Do you want to attempt to dive into the Sea of Corruption?]

The cursed game pops up an option filled with malice.

Lin Xun felt as if he could see a glaring red sign for ‘Danger.’

He had a premonition that if he pressed ‘Yes,’ there was a ninety-percent chance he would just die like a dog.

“Should I dive down and give it a try to see what exactly is going on?”

Right now his soul strength was overflowing and he had nowhere to spend the surplus. Using a bit of soul strength in exchange for information and clues about the world’s background did not seem like a loss.

Lin Xun slapped his forehead and suddenly came to his senses. “Why not just have a scapegoat shell dive down to test it?”

[You possess the shell of the Ascended Monastery Grand Monk!]

[Without the flying sword beneath your feet, you instantly fall into the vast ocean…]

[The amber seawater engulfs you. A sharp, intense pain comes from the skin over your entire body…]

[This intense pain goes from the surface of your skin deep into your bones, as if countless ants were gnawing on your body.]

[The Subspecies Sea Dragon Pearl you carry radiates light. You can breathe freely in the water and even battle there!]

[Your vision gradually blurs. You feel as if you were a frog tossed into boiling water.]

[In your final moments, you seem to see a huge shadow swimming past in the depths of the sea…]

[You open your eyes wide, wanting to see clearly, but your vision only grows more and more blurred until everything goes black before you!]

[…]

[You died!]

[…]

[The powerful wandering soul is reborn in the dark confessional…]

Lin Xun frowned.

Death was within expectations.

What was unexpected, however, was this. Was it not said that no living beings could survive in the Sea of Corruption?

Then that ‘huge shadow’ he had seen at the bottom of the sea right before death… just what in the world was it?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com