Chapter 116

Looking at the mysterious scale that had turned from pure black to grayish-white, Tang Zheng knew that the curse power stored inside had been completely devoured by him.

The dense aura of the curse in the entire narrow stone wall also dissipated at this moment.

"In one go, the job level increased by two levels. What kind of creature did this scale belong to?"

Tang Zheng raised his palm, easily picking up the huge mysterious scale from the ground, a solemn expression appearing on his face.

The texture was very light!

Picking up the scale and shaking it a few times, the palm-thick scale cut through the air without making a sound.

Tang Zheng took out an iron sword with his left hand and slashed hard at the scale.

Ding!

A crisp clashing sound rang out.

Not a single scratch appeared on the mysterious scale; instead, a dent appeared where the iron sword collided with it.

So hard!

Tang Zheng's eyes brightened slightly; being able to store such a massive amount of curse power showed that the quality of the scale itself was extraordinary.

At the same time, it could also withstand the erosion of the curse power.

What if it were made into a weapon?

This thought flashed through Tang Zheng's mind; it might be a good material. But the problem was, there might not be anyone in the Other World capable of forging such a scale into a weapon.

Additionally.

The source of the curse power came from this mysterious scale.

Then.

"Does the birth of the 'Cursed Knight' job also stem from this scale, or rather, from the creature behind this scale?"

Tang Zheng speculated with a solemn expression.

As far as he knew, the only people in this world who possessed the "Cursed Knight" job, besides Reynas, could be traced back to one of the Thirteen Heroes from two hundred years ago.

Tang Zheng looked at the human skeleton leaning against the wall.

Was the other party one of the "Thirteen Heroes" from the legends of the various human kingdoms?

Glancing around at the narrow gap in the stone wall, there was nothing else besides the mysterious scale and the skeleton.

Naturally, it was impossible to prove whose human skeleton this was.

He put the mysterious scale into his item box.

"I'll take this item; whoever you are, thank you for this gift."

Tang Zheng said softly to the skeleton.

The general course of events was more or less clear now.

The time the curse power had been leaking from the mysterious scale was impossible to calculate; perhaps it started when the Forest Gnome tribe began clearing out the poisonous monsters that crawled up into the valley from time to time.

Because it had always existed in a crevice within the stone wall, the speed at which the curse power dissipated was very slow.

As a result, a few years ago, a monster like a Petrified Lizard dug open this partition, and the curse power finally dissipated completely.

It was a pity.

If that large portion hadn't dissipated, Tang Zheng felt that the "Cursed Knight" job might have been leveled up to the max in one go.

Swoosh!

The Flame Archangel flapped its wings, carrying Tang Zheng back to the cave and leaving the narrow crevice hidden in the mountain wall.

Outside the stone wall.

Duogan had already awakened from his coma, but because he was too close to the center of the mysterious scale, the skin all over his body had completely rotted away.

Waves of pain continued to wash over him, but the madness in Duogan's eyes had completely faded, and he had regained his clarity.

He struggled to climb up from the ground.

"Cough, cough, has the power of the curse been resolved?"

Duogan leaned against a rock, his voice weak as he muttered to himself powerlessly.

Ever since he was affected by the curse, he felt his mental state had never been as good as it was now; the power in the air that made his mind restless had completely disappeared.

In the dark environment, a glimmer of light appeared from above.

The figure of the Flame Archangel appeared in Duogan's field of vision, his eyes becoming somewhat blurry.

"Are you alright? Duogan."

After Tang Zheng landed from the air, he walked quickly to Duogan's side and frowned when he saw the other party's weak state.

The other party's corrosion by the curse power was already quite severe, just like the monsters with completely rotted bodies he had killed before.

"What exactly caused this, my lord?" Duogan revealed his clear green eyes and spoke in a weak tone.

He wanted to know the answer too much; what exactly caused the destruction of their entire tribe.

This was also his only purpose for coming here!

"It was a cursed undead creature."

"Sealed in the deepest part of the rock wall, it should have been that the Petrified Lizard living here accidentally dug through the wall, causing the leakage of the curse energy." Tang Zheng paused briefly and spoke slowly.

He felt that this answer was easier for the Forest Gnome before him to accept.

If he said that all of this was caused by just a scale from some unknown creature, the Duogan before him would probably truly despair.

"Undead creature..."

"S-so it really was... such an existence that the living loathe."

In Duogan's weak voice, there was a sense of anger and relief, "We Forest Gnomes exist to protect the jungle and the creatures living here."

Speaking of this.

Duogan's eyes became somewhat dazed.

"In the end, were we still cursed by the power of the Petrified Lizard?"

The weak and dazed voice continued to echo in the cave.

Thump!

Falling from a height of about ten meters, Tang Zheng's figure landed heavily on the ground, causing a vibrating sound to echo throughout the narrow space.

Dense curse power, invisible to the naked eye, surged within this narrow space.

Tang Zheng looked forward first.

It was a human skeleton, leaning against the rock wall. The surface of the bones appeared grayish-white, and the joints connecting the limbs had long since rotted away.

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There wasn't even a rotting smell in the air; it had clearly been dead for a long time.

Most eye-catching!

Was a huge scale placed in front of this human skeleton, about as tall as a person, and pitch black!

Visible black curse energy was slowly overflowing from this scale and dissipating into the air.

"What exactly is this?" Tang Zheng couldn't help but widen his eyes, looking at this huge scale.

He had guessed various possibilities, but he didn't expect that the source of the curse power would actually be a scale?

And who was the human skeleton before him?

According to the time calculation, the skeleton of an ordinary person couldn't possibly exist for so long, especially in a space filled with curse power.

He walked up quickly, and mana flashed on Tang Zheng's body: "Item Identification!"

Item: Mysterious Scale

Rank:?

Introduction:?

Tang Zheng was slightly stunned. This was the first time he had encountered a situation where he couldn't identify the data at all.

Looking at the size of this scale, it should be a scale from a giant creature.

The curse power within his body became abnormally restless.

Subconsciously.

Tang Zheng lifted a finger and gently touched this black scale with his fingertip.

Boom—

In an instant, the black curse energy slowly dissipating from the scale seemed to have found some kind of vent, surging into Tang Zheng's body.

The curse power that had already accumulated quite a bit reached some kind of bottleneck in a short period of time!

【Cursed Knight: 1lv → 2lv】

The information about the profession upgrade on the attribute panel appeared before his eyes, causing an astonished expression to appear on Tang Zheng's face.

And this process still hadn't ended!

The curse power within the mysterious scale continued to pour in, and along with it, the curse power gradually dissipating in the air also gathered together with the energy in the mysterious scale.

This process lasted for a longer time.

Therefore, Tang Zheng was instead able to more clearly sense the changes in the curse power within his body.

Hum—

The profession information on the attribute panel refreshed again.

【Cursed Knight: 2lv → 3lv】!

By this time, the curse power contained within the mysterious scale was completely exhausted, and grayish-white patterns began to appear on the surface of the originally pitch-black scale.

"Profession... upgraded?"

Tang Zheng looked at the experience bar, then looked at the 【Cursed Knight】 that had been upgraded to level 3, his expression both astonished and filled with disbelief.

It was as if he had discovered a new continent.

All along.

Regarding profession level upgrades, Tang Zheng thought there were only two ways: either do it like people in the other world, specifically training for that profession, but clearly that was too much of a waste of time.

The other was to upgrade the profession by consuming experience points. But before him, a third way to upgrade profession levels had appeared!

"Absorbing energy related to the profession can actually upgrade the profession level?"

Tang Zheng muttered to himself in surprise, and then thought of something, shaking his head.

This method didn't seem to have universality.

For example, the profession "Sword Saint" couldn't be upgraded in this way; it could only be done through training.

"What an incredible discovery!" A strange luster flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes.

(End of chapter)

High Rank/Special Job: Magic Swordsman 1lv, Cursed Knight 3lv

Skill Points: 40

Passive Skills: Item Box, Sword and Magic, Magic Infusion, Complete Curse Resistance, Dark Attribute Resistance (20%), Restless, Slash Boost (10%),

Active Skills:

Warrior: Instant Reflex, Four-Light Continuous Slash, Rapid Slash, Stealth, Tracking

Magic:

First Rank: Minor Wound Healing, Magic Arrow, Odorless, Camouflage

Second Rank: Identify Item, Magic Accumulation, Interpret Magic

Third Rank: Undead Spirit, Undead Control

Fourth Rank: Warming, Angel Summoning, Papermaking

Fifth Rank: Resurrection of the Dead (Modified)

Job Skills: Pharmacy, Alchemy, Scroll Making, Magic Slash, Dark Wave, Shrink (2/day), Wild Transformation

……

【Attribute Table】

Player: Tang Zheng

Justice Value: 51 【Neutral】

HP: 173 (13%) MP: 28 (2%)

Physical Attack: 173 (13%)

Physical Defense: 58 (4%)

Agility: 113 (8%)

Magic Attack: 58 (4%)

Magic Defense: 28 (2%)

Comprehensive Resistance: 150 (9%)

Speciality: 60 (5%)

Total: 60%

…………

The attribute table will only appear when there is a significant improvement; it will be minimized at other times.

(End of chapter)