Chapter 48: The Terrifying Undead Knight

"Such rebellion, I cannot let you live!"

The guardian of this bronze treasure vault wasn't particularly strong, roughly comparable to Granny Wolf in terms of power. In the past, it might have posed a threat to Rod, but now, handling such creatures didn't even require him to use his werewolf transformation.

Rod easily subdued the rebellious vault guardian and forced a sacrifice upon it. As the white-furred dog disappeared unwillingly, a rush of information surged into Rod's mind.

"Advanced Alchemical Golem Studies..."

Alchemical Golem Studies was a branch of alchemy. By mastering it, one could craft powerful alchemical puppets and golems. This was an incredibly complex field of alchemy, even more difficult to grasp than basic alchemy.

In addition to the knowledge of Alchemical Golem Studies, Rod also received something peculiar.

Slowly opening his hand, a fist-sized orb emitting a pure soul energy lay in his palm— a crystal of a powerful soul fragment.

Soul fragments were the core materials for crafting advanced alchemical golems. They could grant alchemical golems developed intelligence and thinking abilities, allowing them to live almost like sentient beings.

In theory, the stronger the soul fragment, the more complete the intelligence of the alchemical creature it would create.

This powerful soul fragment could even serve as the core for a top-tier alchemical creature. Of course, a soul fragment alone wasn't enough; other key materials were required to create a complete alchemical being.

Once created, the alchemical creature would be utterly loyal to Rod, a most faithful servant.

Rod stashed the soul fragment away. Though small, it held immense value. Acquiring a powerful soul fragment like this typically required using special alchemical arrays to trap and refine thousands of ordinary souls, and even then, the result might only be a low-quality soul crystal.

When merging thousands of different souls, the result was often unstable, prone to madness, and could go berserk at any moment. Creating an alchemical being with such a soul crystal was like crafting a ticking time bomb.

However, the soul fragment in Rod's hand, after being sacrificed, was incredibly pure, without any impurities. Its flawless quality made it equivalent to a crystal formed by refining over a hundred thousand ordinary souls.

After leaving the first treasure vault, Rod moved on to the second one.

Since there were three vaults, it was likely that each one held a different inheritance. Judging by the treasure found in the first vault, the items in the remaining two could only be more valuable.

As he pushed open the silver door, a blinding light made it hard to keep his eyes open.

Before him was a mountain of silver coins and silverware.

Raising his head, Rod noticed two massive mirrors, several meters high and as dazzling as a starry sky.

Suddenly, one of the mirrors flickered.

Rod then realized that the two enormous mirrors were actually eyes.

A colossal creature, about ten meters tall with eyes making up one-third of its body, was curiously staring at him.

The immense pressure made Rod's mouth twitch.

This thing?

Is it even a dog?

He felt that if he had to fight this creature head-on, lasting half an hour would already be a great achievement.

He immediately abandoned any thought of sacrificing it.

This beast was far beyond his current ability to sacrifice.

However, the silver mountain before him was still fair game for sacrifice.

Rod reached out and instantly sacrificed the entire mountain of silver.

Whoosh!

The mountain of silver coins vanished, and in its place appeared a silver-colored treasure basin.

Rod cast an identification spell.

As expected, the effect of this silver treasure basin was similar to the bronze one from before—it could endlessly produce silver coins and silverware. Additionally, every so often, it would generate a piece of holy silver infused with divine energy.

Holy silver was a form of pure silver imbued with holy power, naturally effective against dark magic creatures.

His own cross necklace was made of holy silver, a magical artifact. The stronger the divine energy within the holy silver, the more powerful it became against dark creatures.

"Good stuff!"

Rod stashed away the silver treasure basin and approached the end of the vault.

As expected, there was another dark passageway, leading who knows where.

Rod stepped inside and followed it to its end.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Suddenly, torches on all sides lit up, revealing a massive chamber.

In the center of the chamber, a set of pitch-black armor floated mid-air, constantly radiating an aura of immortality, like an undead god.

Before the armor knelt a figure, imposing and silent, gripping a greatsword with both hands.

Sensing Rod's intrusion, the kneeling figure slowly raised its head, its stiff body rising to stand.

The three-meter-tall figure was imposing, clad in a dark, full suit of armor, with a horned helmet resembling that of a demon.

A pair of scarlet eyes gleamed from within the sealed helmet.

"An undead?"

Rod raised an eyebrow as he felt the creature's deathly, decaying aura.

This being was no human—it was an undead entity.

Without a word, the undead knight swung its massive sword forward.

Slash!

The terrifying power of death gathered into a several-meter-long slash of destruction.

Boom!

With just one strike, Rod was sent flying.

Cough, cough!

Inside the vault, Rod struggled to his feet, feeling as though every bone in his body had been shattered.

His internal organs were ruptured, spine fractured, chest cavity filled with blood.

Injuries like this would have spelled certain death for any ordinary person.

Luckily, his werewolf regeneration allowed him to recover just enough to move within moments.

"Horrifying!"

Rod looked back at the dark chamber, still shaken.

The being inside was absurdly strong.

With his current strength, entering that chamber again would be suicide.

Though that armor looked incredible, it would have to wait.

After recovering, Rod moved on to the third treasure vault.

The familiar scene greeted him—except this time, instead of silver coins, it was a mountain of gold, guarded by yet another gigantic beast.

The creature towered several dozen meters high, with eyes alone as large as a three-story building.

Rod's expression remained neutral, clearly accustomed to this by now.

He immediately sacrificed the mountain of gold and received a golden treasure basin in return.

As with the other two basins, this one could endlessly produce gold coins and gold artifacts. It also generated a piece of adamantium periodically.

Adamantium was an extremely rare magical material, typically found only in magic-rich gold mines, in very limited quantities.

Infusing a weapon with a small amount of adamantium would turn it into a blade capable of cutting through iron like butter.

A magical item, such as a wand, infused with even a tiny bit of adamantium, would see its quality rise by at least one grade.

Moreover, adamantium could also be used in potions or alchemical golems, enhancing the effects of potions and the potential of golems.

In short, it was a highly versatile material, sought after by all alchemists.

It was the dream of every alchemist to acquire adamantium.