"Is this the T-level cataclysmic source?"
Ji Xun looked at the card in his hand. Previously, it was just two lines of text, but now it had transformed into an image of a clown wearing a triangular hat.
Although it was a two-dimensional image, the clown on the card seemed like a three-dimensional being reduced to two dimensions, incredibly lifelike. Its eyes were filled with mockery for the world and ridicule for death. It grinned widely, the mischievous smile on its face giving an eerie, terrifying feeling as if possessed by a demon.
Just looking at it, a strong sense of mystery and evil pervaded, causing an uneasy feeling in one's heart.
But Ji Xun felt no discomfort.
He felt... as if he were looking in a mirror.
He saw his own shadow in the card, familiar yet with a certain fated resonance.
The clown's appearance gradually morphed into his own.
As soon as the clown's image appeared on the black card, it seemed to activate some kind of ritual. The entire card began to melt, turning into black spots of light that swirled around Ji Xun, gradually merging into his body.
...
This was not a card whose true form could be seen by everyone.
At least, Chuju beside him did not see the clown image on the card.
But she only glanced at it and did not look closely.
She didn't recognize which source card it was, nor did she intend to find out.
Ji Xun didn't know the value of this card, but Chuju was all too clear.
A black iron quality demon mark from the black market in the dungeon was already considered a rare card for ordinary people.
Silver cards were rare treasures, hard to come by.
And golden cards were strategic resources almost monopolized by high-ranking individuals.
As for legendary cards, for ordinary people, they only existed in legends, treasures they might never see in their lifetime.
Above legendary cards, there were the "Fifty-two Epic Source Cards," which very few had truly seen.
These fifty-two epic source cards corresponded to fifty-two powerful demons in legend, granting curse card masters the purest demonic power. They were ancient relics from before the great cataclysm, and each card was said to be the work of ancient gods.
If any one of them surfaced, it would inevitably spark conflict.
But Chuju had no intention of reaching out to take it.
She knew that treasures choose their owners. Only those with a high enough compatibility could fully see the demonic power on these fifty-two demon source cards and merge with it.
Otherwise, the probability of mutation was very high.
Just like this anomalous space, [407 Anomalous Creature Containment], the archives indicated it was once a secret bunker for researching this source card. But without exception, all test subjects mutated without understanding what this card truly was.
This card had been preserved here for thousands of years.
Chuju glanced complexly at her teammate, who was merging with the card and awakening, but said nothing.
She looked at the twisted light gate before her, knowing she could leave now.
The fusion would take some time, so Chuju decided to go out and check the situation first. Without hesitation, she walked over.
But as she approached the twisted light gate, looking at the reward settlement, her face rarely showed joy, "Oh..."
The reward for clearing such a difficult anomalous space was equally unimaginable!
...
Ji Xun didn't know how long it had been when he finally came back to his senses from that wonderful feeling.
The black card [Gray Joker] was gone from his hand.
"Am I a transcendent now?"
Ji Xun understood what had happened.
This was a world of curse card masters.
From the information he had gathered, the "demon mark" was the key to unlocking the ultimate mysteries of the human body. After awakening, one could gain supernatural powers from the demon indicated by the card.
At this moment, a door to a new world opened.
He glanced at his attribute panel again but then muttered, "Ah... strength, constitution, agility, none of those increased at all."
Despite the card looking powerful, it hadn't visibly boosted his physical attributes.
His basic attributes remained unchanged; elements tolerance, and intelligence were hidden attributes.
But that "transcendent" feeling was very real.
Feeling reborn, he saw the world differently.
He could clearly sense tiny particles in the air—the basic elements of earth, wind, water, and fire.
"What a magical sensory world..."
Ji Xun savored the feeling of his senses being infinitely magnified, seeing the world with new clarity.
Deceiver, Cursed Gambler, Wild Card... and Demon Feast.
The abilities described by these four entries were all incredibly exaggerated.
He didn't know much about this world yet, nor could he fully grasp what the benefits of [Gray Joker] meant.
But most notably, the panel now had an active skill—[Demon Feast Lv0(1/500)].
He could extract supernatural traits from corpses?
He looked at the still-warm bodies of the old servant and the mercenary in the nearby iron cages.
"Why not give it a try?"
As soon as Ji Xun had the thought, he didn't hesitate and walked over.
At this moment, the corpse, with its blood still fresh, appeared completely different in his eyes.
Wisps of faint smoke were emanating from its surface.
This was the uncontrolled curse energy and supernatural traits.
The mysterious substances, which were invisible to the naked eye, were now manifesting visibly to Ji Xun. It was a very peculiar experience.
He tried using the Feast, and a layer of gray mist emerged from his body, connecting with the blue smoke.
It was like a giant whale opening its mouth to swallow a large amount of seawater.
"You used Feast to devour, constitution +"
"You used Feast to devour, strength +"
"You used Feast to devour, resilience +"
"You used Feast to devour, fire element affinity +"
"…"
The corpse had just died, and its supernatural traits were heavily leaking out. Even with large gulps, more and more continued to emerge.
His attributes were increasing!
Continuously increasing!
Not only attributes but even element affinities could be devoured.
Ji Xun looked at the constantly changing values on his panel, beaming with excitement: "Directly devouring to increase my attributes?"
Though the increases were slight, they were real.
Feast was turning the supernatural traits of the corpse into his own.
The door to a new world had truly opened!
...
"Although the absorption is a bit slow, this [Feast] is simply a god-tier skill for the late game..."
Ji Xun watched his continuously changing basic attributes, feeling a sense of awe.
The later in the game, the stronger it would become.
He wasn't sure how long it would take to fully devour the supernatural traits from two corpses, but he estimated that increasing his strength by 0.1 would take at least six hours?
This was obviously due to his unfamiliarity with the skill.
After leveling up from Lv0, the efficiency of devouring should improve significantly.
But clearly, now was not the time for devouring.
Although they had cleared the anomalous space, the potential dangers outside were no small matter.
He had obtained the final reward of this anomalous space, and not everyone would be as nonchalant about it as his teammate.
At least, the fourth young master of the Cao family would definitely not agree.
Moreover, the state of the outside world was still unknown.
Judging by the fact that dozens of people died in this anomalous space alone, this world seemed very harsh.
However, Ji Xun found himself liking it more and more.
He didn't delay any further and walked towards the twisted light gate to exit.
At this moment, a prompt appeared, and he let out a slight exclamation of surprise: "There's a reward settlement...?"
Not only was there a reward, but it was also very generous.