Even if there were words from the Merman Kingdom, Rhett couldn't recognize them.
Taking out the shell, Rhett threw it directly into the coffin. It shook violently, colliding against the yellowed walls of the coffin, making a loud banging sound.
At the same time, the entire merman body was also being absorbed by the shell at a frantic pace.
Watching the merman's body vanish so quickly, Rhett estimated it would take a few more minutes to finish. He planned to conduct a real simulation to observe any changes the shell might undergo.
[Do you want to start a real simulation? Each simulated day consumes 1 point of Fate Value.]
"Yes, simulate for one day!"
Buzz!
Ripples swirled in front of Rhett.
He calmed down and waited quietly.
The vibrations grew weaker and weaker. A few minutes later, everything returned to calm.
No purple smoke?
A flash of surprise crossed Rhett's eyes. It was the first time he had encountered such a situation. In the past, whether absorbing merman blood or the Pale Knight, the shell had never disappointed him!
But in the next instant, there was a soft popping sound, like small particles hitting the bottom of the coffin. Rhett snapped out of his thoughts and looked closely, only to widen his eyes.
At the bottom of the coffin lay a handful of purple crystal shards, uniform in shape, exuding a pure energy. Their color was more intense and sinister than the previous purple smoke.
Undoubtedly, this was a higher-grade substance than the purple smoke. Rhett narrowed his eyes and carefully collected each shard, placing them in his palm for examination.
"It seems this corpse truly has a remarkable origin..."
Rhett muttered to himself, and without hesitation, he tossed a handful of crystal shards into his mouth.
It was as if a loud boom echoed inside him. The solid purple crystals entered his body, melting rapidly like snow and triggering an earthquake within!
Rhett's skin cracked inch by inch, blood crazily seeping out, staining his robes completely!
"The pain... unbearable!"
Feeling the agony coursing through every nerve, Rhett's eyes turned blood-red in an instant, and he couldn't help but roar in fury.
Although he was a Saint-level powerhouse, he was not an emotionless deity. As a transcendent being, he could still die if the damage was too extreme...
Just like now, Rhett genuinely felt as though he was on the brink of death. The power of the purple crystal shards was several times stronger than the purple smoke. It was like using brutal force to twist a bolt, distorting the essence of life itself, giving him the sensation of transforming from a complete human into an unknown monster.
Time passed slowly, and Rhett felt each second drag on like an eternity, every moment an excruciating torment.
Finally, gasping for breath, his eyes bulging like two light bulbs, his skin turned a pale purple before shattering completely.
After a brief moment of darkness, light reappeared.
Rhett returned to reality.
[Real simulation ended. Please select one attribute to retain.]
[1. Constitution]
[2. Dou Qi]
[3. Mental Power]
"I actually died just now?"
Rhett's expression became slightly solemn. He hadn't expected that just a handful of purple crystal shards could cause his body to explode. This indicated that the energy within the purple crystals was not only extraordinarily repellent but also incredibly pure and dense...
It suggested that the origin of the merman's corpse was extraordinary. Not only was it of noble status, but its bloodline or strength must have been incredibly powerful as well.
Without any clues, Rhett couldn't guess which merman powerhouse it had once been. Why it was buried here also remained a mystery.
"Could it be the Merman King?"
A ridiculous thought crossed his mind, but Rhett quickly shook his head after glancing at the coffin.
He could only hope that, in the future, when simulating historical nodes, he could return here to uncover the truth.
Back to the matter at hand, although the purple crystal shards caused terrifying backlash, Rhett had gained significant benefits, primarily in terms of mental power and constitution.
In the Saint Realm, mental power still had its distinctions, but unlike the realms of Magister and Grand Magister, it was no longer as crucial. For Saints, the profundity of one's understanding was the primary measure of strength, with mental power being secondary.
In this true world of transcendence, there was no mechanical distinction between early, middle, and late stages. The terms "early stage," "middle stage," and "late stage" were merely for more detailed classification of strength.
In fact, if one wanted to be even more precise, they could add early-mid stage, late-mid stage, and so on...
However, Rhett found this unnecessary and instead pondered a question—wouldn't it be more fitting if there was a numerical panel?
Once the thought emerged, it spread uncontrollably through his mind!
Before the Saint Realm, his home didn't have independent awareness and couldn't operate freely.
But now, his home had ample spiritual energy. Although not yet as humanlike as a normal person, after these days of experience, Rhett knew that any command he gave within the realm of his home's capabilities would be sensed and executed quickly...
Rhett's eyes brightened, and he decided to give it a try.
With a single thought, he commanded the home panel:
"Use my physical condition as an ordinary person as one unit. Quantify my current mental power, rounding to one decimal place."
Bound to the home, the home knew everything about his attributes. Upon receiving the command, a light screen quickly popped up.
[Mental Power: 83,617,120]
"Eighty-three million? That seems a bit too long..."
Rhett frowned slightly, feeling something was off. He adjusted the unit, reducing an ordinary person's unit to 0.1, essentially shrinking it by tenfold.
The new result appeared.
[Mental Power: 8,361,712]
"Hmm, eight million... Even though it's just one fewer digit, it looks much more pleasing. Although it still seems long, I am a Saint at the peak of the world, so it makes sense. If I reduce the unit further, it might not be accurate enough when evaluating others in the future..." Rhett muttered to himself, rubbing his chin.
He then gave a new command:
"Use my physical condition as an ordinary person with 0.1 as the unit. Quantify my current constitution, rounding to one decimal place."
[Constitution: 59,131]
With over fifty thousand in constitution, Rhett was not surprised. Previously, at the beginning of creation, his constitution had reached the peak level of a Tier 3 Knight. After absorbing the purple crystal shards, his constitution had seen a tremendous breakthrough, reaching the level of an Earth Knight, at the very least!
Satisfied, Rhett felt that the idea of a numerical panel was feasible. Not only was it more intuitive for himself, but it would also allow him to evaluate others' strength more clearly in the future.
He continued making adjustments, and soon, the character panel was finalized.
[Name: Rhett Green]
[Occupation: Magician]
[Rank: Saint Grand Magister]
[Mental Power: 83,617,120]
[Constitution: 59,131]
[Dou Qi: 0]
[Skills: Earth Spike, Earth Spear, Rockfall, Quicksand, Sand Wolf Howl, Earth Tremor, Earth Armor, Rain of Spikes...]
Looking at the light screen before him, Rhett nodded in satisfaction. The panel was simple and not overly complex, yet it included all the essential information. If anything needed to be added in the future, it could be done at any time!
"Well done, home. From now on, sync my character's attributes with the panel in real-time!"
Although the home couldn't respond like a system spirit, Rhett could sense that it had accepted the command and made the necessary adjustments.
Rhett then turned his gaze back to the shell at the bottom of the coffin, which was still absorbing energy.
With a single thought, he activated the real simulation again. The recent improvements seemed to have not yet reached their limit. He planned to extract every last bit of value from the merman's corpse...
After five simulations, only a brief moment had passed in reality.
Each time he absorbed the purple crystal shards in the simulations, the effects were dozens of times weaker than the previous simulation. By the final simulation, the improvement had dwindled to just a few points.
Rhett opened his eyes and glanced at the "Constitution" section. [Constitution: 68,218]. Satisfied, he stored the coffin in his space equipment.
After another round of searching the area, finding nothing else of note, Rhett left the underwater location.
As he surfaced, the cold wind brushed against his cheeks. Rhett scanned his surroundings and saw a flash of light in the distance.
Quickly, he leaped onto a broad and flat sheet of floating ice. Sensing the approach of a powerful aura, his expression changed. It seemed the timing was perfect—after searching for so long without finding the Ice Queen in person, now she was coming to him...
The light stopped before Rhett, taking the form of a young woman dressed in a blue gown. Her long blue hair cascaded like a waterfall, her skin was pale, and she stood proudly, exuding an aura of regal grace.
"Oh? A stranger in the Saint Realm..." The Ice Queen's eyes flashed with curiosity as she looked Rhett up and down, her voice soft. "How strange. I know all the Saint Realm powerhouses in the kingdoms. Why have I never seen you before? Could it be you're newly ascended?"
Rhett smiled and replied, "Yes, a new Saint from the Kingdom of Gilon, Rhett Green. I specifically came to seek the Ice Queen."
"Looking for me? Why?" The Ice Queen's beautiful eyes held a hint of curiosity.
"Recently, I was ambushed by a mysterious powerhouse. The individual emitted an evil aura, seemingly a foreign entity who had been lurking in our world for a long time," Rhett began, speaking seriously. "The individual's power appeared highly resistant to our transcendent energy, possibly related to dark elements. Profound energy had little effect, so I wanted to test whether the light element's profundity could counter it!"
The Ice Queen's expression turned cold, her face hardening. "A foreign entity? Take me to it!"
Rhett was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected her to agree so readily, swallowing the words he had prepared to persuade her.
"Thank you!" Rhett quickly responded with a solemn expression.
The Ice Queen remained calm, her demeanor as cold as ever. She didn't offer any lofty speeches, but with the grace of an ice goddess, she simply said, "The rise of the mermen once nearly caused the collapse of my Ice Kingdom, bringing us to the brink of extinction. I won't let a similar tragedy unfold again!"
Rhett nodded heavily. "The Ice Queen's wisdom is unparalleled. I know where this individual is hiding. Please, follow me!"
Without wasting any more words, the two quickly came to an agreement and headed toward the Stormy Sea.
Half a day later.
Recalling the last simulation, where he encountered the Blood God Patriarch in the Stormy Sea, Rhett's focus sharpened. His vast mental power was ready to strike at any moment with a thunderous blow.
On the surface, however, he remained calm, passing through the stormy sky.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning tore through the sky.
A blood-red arrow shot out from a dark cloud, accompanied by the rolling roar of thunder, illuminating the heavens.
Rhett's expression changed drastically as he quickly gathered his mental power, conjuring a yellow earth spike to collide with the blood arrow.
In the air, the two lights flashed rapidly. The yellow earth spike collided with the blood-red arrow in mid-air.
There was no earth-shattering explosion. Instead, the blood-red energy swiftly devoured the yellow light, easily dissolving it before continuing its trajectory toward Rhett.
Rhett had deliberately not infused the earth spike with profundity to clearly demonstrate the eerie nature of the blood-red energy. Even so, the spike, condensed from Saint-level mental power, should have effortlessly crushed a Grand Magister, yet it was still annihilated by the blood energy.
Seeing this, the Ice Queen's expression grew grim. Initially, she had not fully believed Rhett's account and had approached with a more cautious, verification mindset.
Now, she was fully convinced of Rhett's words. Indeed, an entity from another world had invaded!
That bizarre blood-red arrow didn't belong to any known elemental force, leaving her deeply disturbed.
"Hahaha! Ice Queen, as expected, you're here. This remote place is perfect as your grave!"
A reckless laugh echoed through the sky, followed by another clap of thunder. A man dressed in blood-red robes descended from the heavens, his face obscured by a blood mist, making it impossible to discern his true appearance.
Rhett's expression flickered. The moment he heard that voice, he felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity.
He had recently experienced a simulation from a thousand years ago and had a deep impression of Jeanka's voice. Although the Blood God Patriarch before him had undergone changes after centuries, his tone, vocal cords, and timbre were still recognizable. Rhett could tell that the Blood God Patriarch bore an uncanny resemblance to Jeanka.
Even the figure's physique was reminiscent of Jeanka from his memories!
Seeing this with his own eyes, Rhett no longer had any doubts. The person before him was indeed Jeanka from a thousand years ago!
"Who are you?" The Ice Queen's icy gaze fell upon the Blood God Patriarch, her voice cold as frost. She drew the bow from her back, a blue arrow nocked and glowing with a radiant light.
"What a stunning beauty... It's a pity you're the only person in the world who has comprehended the Purification Profundity, so I must kill you..." The Blood God Patriarch sighed, as though genuinely regretting it.
"Such arrogance!" The Ice Queen snorted coldly, and an icy blue staff appeared in her hand.
At this moment, Rhett smiled and interrupted, "Ahem, did you forget there's someone else here? It seems a bit disrespectful to ignore your other opponent..."
"You're not even worth mentioning," the Blood God Patriarch sneered. "You'll be the first to die."
Rhett wasn't angered. Instead, he asked with a smile, "You look human, but where did you acquire these powers? And why would you turn your blade against your own kind?"