Chapter 137: Divine Creatures, Surrender and Rivals

Kasham, rather than being a city-state, was more akin to a towering, pockmarked stone pillar.

This towering stone pillar, nearly 300 meters tall, was riddled with numerous holes, resembling a giant anthill with a labyrinthine network of passages inside.

Apart from the insects that could communicate through pheromones, any other creature entering would easily get lost in the maze-like insect nest.

Overall, it was an ideal battleground for insectoid creatures.

Thanks to the home-field advantage, Kasham had managed to remain undefeated for many years.

"Ugo chose a good place," Sunan remarked as he examined the stone pillar before him.

Unfortunately, this place was only suitable for insects, and its current state made it difficult to repurpose. Once captured, it would likely be left abandoned.

Unless he decided, like Ugo, to cultivate a swarm of insects.

Collecting his thoughts, Sunan flew forward, entering the stone pillar.

After Ugo's death, the remaining insect swarm, freed from control, returned to Kasham by instinct. Upon seeing an intruder, they screeched and charged at him.

The narrow tunnels were unsuitable for golem combat, so Sunan released nearly a hundred Twin-Blade Spiders, dispersing them through the tunnels to clear out the remaining insects.

Meanwhile, he searched for Ugo's laboratory.

Such an important place would undoubtedly be deep within Kasham.

It didn't take Sunan long to find his target.

At the stone pillar's core, a large cavern had been transformed into a complex comprising a laboratory, meditation room, spell training room, and more.

Sunan meticulously searched every area, finding some wizard tomes in the study but little else of value elsewhere.

Finally, he turned to the laboratory.

Of all the areas, the laboratory was the largest.

At its center were several large workbenches, one of which still bore remnants of shattered carapaces and dried mucus.

In the corner lay a mound of insect eggs.

The fluorescent light from the ceiling illuminated the translucent eggshells, revealing some creature trembling within.

Sunan glanced at the eggs before striding to the workbench, where he found an experiment notebook.

He immediately opened it, reading carefully.

As expected, the notebook mainly detailed the breeding and modification of various insect beasts.

Sunan skimmed through these sections until he reached the part about the Death Knell Striker, where he slowed down to read thoroughly.

As time passed, a look of surprise gradually appeared on Sunan's face.

According to the notebook, the ancient bloodline within the Death Knell Striker originated from not just a powerful ancient beast but a rare divine creature.

Divine creatures typically came into being through three methods.

The first was a deity personally imbuing a creature with a trace of divinity, transforming it into a divine creature.

Many sacred beasts of religious sects originated this way.

The second method involved totem worship.

In some planes, primitive tribes would worship totems, trees, or rocks as spiritual symbols, praying to them for centuries. Over millennia, these objects could develop a trace of divine energy, awakening as divine creatures with self-awareness.

In fact, many deities began as such divine creatures.

The third method was the rarest, involving naturally born divine creatures, who possessed a trace of divinity from birth.

Moreover, this divinity could be inherited through their bloodline, awakening in descendants once the bloodline concentration reached a certain level.

However, such divine creatures were extremely rare, and due to the lack of faith to bolster their divinity, their divine strength remained largely unchanged throughout their lives.

Even so, these divine creatures were among the most formidable of ancient beasts.

The Death Knell Striker's bloodline source was a divine creature of the third type.

"This guy got lucky, finding a descendant of such a rare ancient bloodline," Sunan mused.

But now, this treasure belonged to him.

After reading the notebook, Sunan finally understood why Ugo had controlled the insect swarm to hunt.

It was related to the Death Knell Striker's bloodline.

After fusing with the Death Knell Striker's bloodline, Ugo's lifespan increased significantly, estimated at over 300 years.

The sole issue was the need to consume the Death Knell Striker's flesh essence regularly.

However, with only one Death Knell Striker, it couldn't meet his dietary needs.

Thus, Ugo devised a method to substitute quantity for quality, extracting the Death Knell Striker's bloodline and infusing it into other insects. After multiple genetic modifications and selections, the Deathbell Beetle species emerged.

Originating from the Death Knell Striker, the Deathbell Beetles' flesh essence had certain similarities. Once refined and concentrated, it could replace the Death Knell Striker's essence.

This method had sustained Ugo until now.

Naturally, cultivating large numbers of Deathbell Beetles required substantial food, leading Ugo to periodically dispatch the swarm to hunt until sufficient food was gathered.

"Increasing lifespan through bloodline fusion always comes with various drawbacks," Sunan reflected, recalling Aiwagni, who had perished from fusing with the Blood Soul Worm bloodline.

While the Death Knell Striker's bloodline had relatively minor drawbacks, it offered only a modest lifespan extension.

Generally, the more effective a bloodline was at extending life, the more severe its drawbacks.

Of course, there were exceptions.

But such bloodlines were exceedingly rare.

Sunan had no interest in fusing with the Death Knell Striker's bloodline, skimming over that section.

If he were to fuse bloodlines, it would be after becoming a formal wizard and finding a suitable one.

Before that, fusing bloodlines recklessly would only narrow his future path.

After finishing the experiment notebook, Sunan exhaled deeply.

The golem army had suffered significant losses in this war, with a high-grade stone golem and an elite Twin-Blade Spider completely destroyed, and nearly a third of the army lost.

The estimated financial loss approached 180,000 gold coins.

This year's mining profits were almost entirely wiped out.

Fortunately, the gains were substantial, with the Death Knell Striker alone enough to offset the losses.

With the Death Knell Striker, research on bloodline imprints could commence.

Additionally, he could attempt to extract divine energy from the Death Knell Striker's bloodline.

If successful, he would have a stable source of divine energy, greatly accelerating his mental power growth.

Spending gold to speed up mental power growth was always worth it!

Stowing the experiment notebook, Sunan turned to the corner housing the Deathbell Beetle eggs, considering briefly before incinerating them with flames.

Ugo could control the Deathbell Beetles due to his fusion with the Death Knell Striker bloodline.

Sunan lacked this ability, so the eggs were useless to him and better off destroyed.

After all, the Deathbell Beetle data was already in the experiment notebook.

If needed, they could be recreated using the Death Knell Striker's bloodline.

Upon leaving the laboratory, the battle in Kasham had ended.

The remaining insects were cleared by the Twin-Blade Spiders.

Leaving a dozen Twin-Blade Spiders to guard Kasham against intruders, Sunan returned to Lake U City.

Since the battle occurred outside the city, Lake U City suffered minimal damage.

The city remained peaceful.

Returning to Base 2, Sunan headed straight for the golem factory.

The golems were damaged to varying degrees in the battle and needed repairs.

Normally, they could self-repair in the ley line nodes, but Sunan was eager to deal with Matu and Osen, so he personally took charge.

However, events took an unexpected turn.

On the third day after Kasham's fall, Karolaina knocked on the golem factory door, entering with a peculiar expression after receiving Sunan's permission.

"Master, the Red Widow seeks an audience outside the city."

"She brought the Black Duke's head."

Sunan paused, then smiled wryly.

"Bring her to the reception hall."

Karolaina withdrew to carry out the order.

When Sunan entered the reception hall, the Red Widow was already waiting.

Seeing Sunan, she immediately stood, wearing a fawning smile on her beautiful face.

"Master, congratulations on defeating Kasham."

Sunan glanced at her, leisurely taking a seat opposite, and said, "Defeating Kasham isn't good news for you."

"Master jests. Kasham's insect disasters have troubled us for years. Your resolution of this threat spares us further attacks—Matu is grateful."

The Red Widow smiled, but seeing Sunan's knowing expression, her smile froze. Sighing internally, she realized Sunan had deduced the situation and dropped the pretense, opening the wooden box to reveal the Black Duke's head.

The head's corona-like black flames and soul fire had vanished, but the aura confirmed it was indeed the Black Duke.

"Master, after Kasham's fall, the Black Duke still plotted against Lake U City, so I killed him by surprise. I've taken Osen too, and wish to present both to you, seeking the chance to serve under you."

As expected.

Sunan raised an eyebrow, unsurprised.

When he heard the Red Widow had brought the Black Duke's head, he guessed she intended to surrender.

Whether the Black Duke truly opposed Lake U City and was ambushed by the Red Widow was unclear.

Regardless of the truth, the Red Widow's decisiveness was evident.

She was a ruthless, decisive woman!

Sunan glanced at the skull, uninterested in taking it, and calmly asked, "What can you offer me?"

"Master is surely busy, with only Karolaina under your command. It's hard for her to manage three city-states alone. While I'm not particularly skilled, I have some experience managing city-states and can assist you."

Sunan squinted slightly.

He caught the Red Widow's implication.

With only Karolaina, there was no guarantee she wouldn't act independently. But with another follower, they could supervise each other, benefiting him greatly.

The Red Widow's words struck a chord.

Supervision aside, expanding his influence in the underground world required recruiting more locals to help manage city-states and resources.

He couldn't manage everything alone or let mundane tasks occupy too much time.

The Red Widow was a suitable candidate.

As for loyalty, a soul contract would suffice.

"You've convinced me."

Having decided, Sunan wasted no time, stating his terms.

"I'll allow you to become my followers, but as a condition, you and all legendary vampires in Matu must sign a soul contract."

"As you command, Master."

The Red Widow agreed without hesitation.

Signing a soul contract was expected; she had prepared mentally and persuaded her kin.

Though binding one's life to another's whim was hard to accept, it was preferable to death.

Moreover, the wizard before her was extraordinarily powerful.

The strongest being she had encountered in her long life.

Serving such a formidable figure wasn't unacceptable.

Sunan then produced a gemstone, signing a soul contract with the Red Widow on the spot.

"You have three days to settle affairs. I'll bring people to take over Matu and Osen, and sign soul contracts with the rest."

Sunan waved dismissively, recalling something.

"Do you have a silver mine?"

"Yes, Master," the Red Widow replied without hesitation.

Sunan decided, "I'll send golems to take over the mine. Have your people cooperate."

Natives mined too slowly; clay golems were needed.

Accelerating silver mining would expedite mithril collection for crafting simulacrums.

The Red Widow had no objections, nodding in agreement.

Sunan waved her away.

Leaving the reception hall, the Red Widow saw Karolaina standing nearby, expressionless.

The Red Widow smiled sweetly.

Karolaina snorted, turning away.

Seeing the Red Widow unharmed confirmed her suspicions that the Master had accepted her surrender.

It wasn't good news for Karolaina.

From now on, she had a rival.

A cunning rival at that.

"A seductive vixen!" Karolaina muttered angrily.

Meanwhile, as she watched Karolaina's retreating figure, the Red Widow's smile faded, her eyes flashing with disdain.

"A pretentious bitch!"

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