Mixed Blessing System

By the time Lothur had brought Elke into his arms, the figure of the old soul fragment had glowed more and more intensely, emitting a reddish light.

As he did this, the pulses of energy became stronger and faster, causing the entire underground structure to tremble.

Not only that, Lothur and Elke could not see, but outside this place, beside the previous lake, the skies had suddenly filled with dark clouds.

Then lightning appeared on the horizon, while a reddish pillar of energy descended from the skies on top of the previous hatch, creating an incredible phenomenon at this moment.

With this, the effects of the previous phenomenon intensified, reaching even more places in Lewerenz.

Because of this, at this instant, thousands of people in this city were already looking in the direction of that lake, terrified by the sensation they felt.

...

"What's happening?" Some people on the streets of that city shouted the same question while trying to keep their bodies upright.

But many of them were just mortals, so, soon, several could be seen lying on the streets of that city, passed out because of the energy pulses.

Simultaneously, the strongest cultivators were holding on not to faint while looking with expressions of pain and annoyance toward the lake.

"I wonder what that is?"

"Maybe it's the end? Impossible!"

"Are any powerful cultivators sacrificing themselves nearby?" The stronger ones commented among themselves, trying to understand the situation.

Unfortunately, none of them could move at the moment, and all they could do was wait for this strange phenomenon to pass and then try to figure out what was happening.

...

While hundreds of cultivators in Lewerenz were trembling with the lingering effects of what was happening in that underground chamber, Lothur and Elke saw the end of that fellow in front of them.

"Lothur, the heavens are my witnesses to your promise. Do not fail, or you will face the ultimate punishment that not even a Sage can save you!"

"Good luck!" He looked at that young man hugging the redhead who did not have much time left.

"Well, I am ready to be reincarnated..." The old man looked up at the sky and smiled. "I hope I won't be a coward in my next life!"

After he said his last words full of emotion, the old soul fragment gradually pulverized, turning into minor golden points of light.

Along with this process, seven different objects appeared around his spirit, detaching themselves from it and traveling like rays downward.

The points of light rose into the sky, ignoring the walls of that chamber while following the path of the reddish pillar of light and then disappearing amidst the stormy clouds in that area.

When Lothur and Elke saw that being wholly disappeared from where they were, the previously white, cloud-filled, and very bright place lost all its brightness and clouds.

Darkness appeared in that area in the blink of an eye, causing Elke to hide her little face in Lothur's chest.

The silver-haired young man then quickly used a lighting formation to illuminate the area.

In doing so, they soon realized that the place that seemed infinite and noble a few moments ago was only a crypt of about 30 square meters.

A large rectangular grave was located in the central part of that area, where the seven rays of colored light penetrated just a few seconds ago.

"That..." Elke realized what this place was and could not help but open her mouth in surprise that this was the resting place of that expert.

Lothur also observed the surroundings with interest, noting that there were several formation inscriptions on the walls of this crypt and many objects that looked valuable.

"Let's see what's useful in this place..." He commented to the woman in his arms and began to search that area.

Unfortunately for Lothur, all the inscriptions and objects on the walls of this crypt had been damaged to the point that they would be of no use to him.

He sighed as he noticed the warnings from the system and then turned his attention to the grave of the owner of this place. "Well, I believe all his belongings are in that place..."

"Hmmm." Elke nodded in agreement, sensing that there was indeed something good in that rectangular piece of construction.

The silver-haired young man then wasted no time, and soon he managed to remove the metal lid on top of the grave in question.

In doing so, he and Elke finally saw inside that grave, where a skeleton about 2 meters high was lying on a red quilt.

The couple saw some objects around this skeleton, such as four rings, a necklace, torso armor, a sword, and, most importantly, seven colored bones.

Five of these bones were from parts of the arms and legs, the most common to find. But the skeleton also had a Soul Bone from a spine and another from a skull.

Seeing this, Lothur could not help but smile, pleased that he had won two of these bones and had the chance to choose the ones that would satisfy him the most.

'One of them will be for me and the other for Elke. Naturally, hers has to be the one with the best characteristics to protect her soul and body...' He pondered this as she thoughtfully looked at him.

"Lothur, I think you'd better choose the two Soul Bones with what is best for you. Don't worry about me. I think that elder exaggerated when he said I need it."

He frowned his eyebrows and seriously said. "Elke, you're going to absorb one of those bones. There is no debate here!"

"But... What if it's a waste to do this to me?" She asked in a concerned manner.

"It doesn't matter. You are more important to me than one of those bones." He squeezed her cheeks and said. "There are countless Soul Bones in this world. But you are unique to me."

Gulp!

She swallowed her saliva and felt her eyes watering. "OK, honey..."

"Mmmmmm~"

After lovingly kissing each other, the two parted their lips, and Lothur began to analyze each of those bones.

[Lord Fibula Soul Bone] [Rank: Bronze]

[Feature: once absorption begins, it will replace the fibula bone in the right leg. It will become one of the 10 Soul Bones, one with flight ability. It also increases all physical and mental characteristics of the one who absorbs it by 10%.]

...

[General Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

[Feature: once absorption begins, it will replace the skull bone. It will become one of 10 Soul Bones, strengthening mental attributes by 30% and physical attributes by 10%. Its user will gain the ability, All Seeing Eyes.]

...

[General Spine Soul Bone] [Rank: Bronze]

[Feature: once absorption begins, it will replace the spine bone. It will become one of the 10 Soul Bones, increasing the physical attributes by 20%. Its extraordinary power is Soul Shock, which can be used to restrict the soul power of those weaker than its user.]

...

When he finished analyzing each of these Soul Bones, Lothur realized that there were 1 Servant demon bone, 2 Lord bones, and 4 General bones. So, he eliminated those three and kept the remaining ones.

After analyzing the quality of each of those four, Lothur kept the one that was Silver-grade and another Bronze-grade that would give its user an innate soul-related ability.

"Elke, I will keep this Spine Soul Bone for you and keep this skull for me." He commented to her as he kept those two items in his spatial ring. "I feel that this bone will be more compatible with you."

"OK. I trust you, Lothur." She ignored that colorful bone and continued to look into his eyes.

"I will absorb mine when we get back to the inn. As for yours, I will do my best to help you advance to the 4th Transformation. When that happens, you will absorb it, OK?"

"Hmmm." She nodded to him.

After that, Lothur found a small letter with all the basic instructions in that grave.

'... If you see this, either my time has run out, or you are my last hope. If it is the second case, besides the two Soul Bones you have chosen, everything else is part of my family's inheritance.'

'Keep those items with you to hand over to them in case they still exist. For the rest, the two rings on my right hand have the maps and items necessary for you to trace and eventually identify my descendants.'

'Use them well, and good luck!'

After reading this, Lothur did as expected, put all that in his spatial ring, and then looked at that crypt once more, noting nothing was left.

When he realized everything had been cleaned up, he looked at Elke and smiled. "Shall we go back?"

"Hmmm." She nodded at him and began to think about a particular possibility, eager to get to the inn and find out if her ideas would be confirmed.

With that, Lothur departed, ignoring Elise's dead body in his path and quickly climbing the ladder to the exit of this place on the shore of the lake from which they had passed earlier.

Doing so without much difficulty, he soon began walking back to Lewerenz while noticing the presence of many cultivators in the vicinity of that lake.

"I wonder what happened?" Elke asked him.

...