Chapter 708: Transformation

Su Xiao looked at the corpse of the Resentful Monk on the ground. No matter how he looked at it, he felt that this thing was different from the 'art style' of the Holy Grail world.

Not only this Resentful Monk, but the gate of Rendong Temple in the distance also gave him a sense of incongruity. Could it be that the current Rendong Temple was occupied by a group of 'monks'?

Su Xiao felt that this possibility was not high. The main forces in the Holy Grail world were the Holy Church and the Mage's Association. Like 'monks,' such 'foreign forces' didn't have a very high possibility of occupying Rendong Temple.

Thinking of this, Su Xiao suddenly thought that his thinking might have entered a misunderstanding.

First, this Resentful Monk's fighting style was not that of a monk, but leaned toward a biological mutation style, such as the exoskeleton that broke through the body.

And when Su Xiao checked the data of that 'Resentful Monk,' he noticed a piece of information: Life Assimilation Degree 30%. This might be the point, not the monk identity of the Resentful Monk.

The information known now was too little. The situation inside Rendong Temple could only be determined after entering it.

Hiding the corpse of the Resentful Monk on the ground, Su Xiao headed up the mountain from the woods next to the mountain staircase.

Along the way, the surroundings were unusually quiet. Ten minutes later, Su Xiao arrived near the main gate of Rendong Temple.

Entering Rendong Temple from the main gate was not a wise choice, but after Su Xiao arrived near the main gate, he discovered that the two golden 'lanterns' he saw earlier were not lanterns at all. He had been misled by the temple scene, coupled with the dim light and the long distance.

In front of the Rendong Temple gate were two gate lamps. Because the lampshades were golden, the light emitted was also golden. As for the sense of holiness, that was entirely an illusion.

At this time, the Rendong Temple gate was tightly closed, and there were no guards in front of the gate. Even so, Su Xiao was not prepared to approach. He vaguely had a feeling that if he approached now, he would be immediately detected by the enemy. There were likely warning-type mechanisms or barriers near the temple gate.

Su Xiao's purpose was to complete the Talent Awakening Mission. Sneaking in secretly without alerting the enemy was best, but this possibility was not high. He was likely to have to fight his way in; otherwise, the mission difficulty wouldn't be this high.

And if it were a secret infiltration, no one was better at it than Bubu Wang. Unfortunately, a Lv. 21 difficulty mission was highly likely to involve combat with enemies.

Su Xiao bypassed the front gate and began to walk along the wall surrounding Rendong Temple. After walking a distance along the wall that was more than three meters high, he heard sounds coming from inside the wall.

"Kill... kill me, I beg you..."

This voice was extremely weak, as if it would breathe its last in the next second.

"Kill you? That won't do. You cannot die before entering the Pool of Eternal Life. Hehehe."

"Fresh flesh and blood, I really hope..."

"Take your claws away, this human is nourishment for the Pool of Eternal Life."

The sound of arguing came. Su Xiao stepped on the ground beneath his feet, and his whole body clung to the outside of the Ryudou Temple wall, with only half his head poking over the wall.

After seeing the scene before him clearly, Su Xiao's pupils constricted, and he subconsciously hid his head back behind the wall.

The scene behind the wall at this moment was somewhat horrifying. Su Xiao was not scared by the horrifying scene, but by the sheer number of enemies.

Behind the wall was an open courtyard. There were hundreds of people in the courtyard, all shirtless and busy in the open space.

Judging from their temperament and appearance, there were civilians, merchants, and perhaps other professions among these people. They had different looks and varying heights and builds, but they had one thing in common: their heads were full of red 'incense scars', the same as the 'incense scars' of the resentful monk from before.

If you look closely, you will find that they are not actually incense scars, but rather that the scalp is frequently pierced from the inside, naturally generating these red scars, similar to the principle of getting ear piercings.

It seems that the situation inside Ryudou Temple is different from what Su Xiao expected; it is not a large group of monks. The young monk encountered earlier should be an ascetic monk; this can be guessed from the severely worn clothing on the other's knees.

How could an ascetic monk who frequently performs the three-bows-and-nine-kowtows ritual and speaks gently turn into a so-called resentful monk?

After seeing the situation before him clearly, Su Xiao knew what was going on. Not only that ascetic monk, but the hundred or so enemies in the open space at this moment should also have been transformed from ordinary people.

Judging from the actions and gazes of these people, they have not lost their minds or been controlled, but have already accepted their current appearance.

These hundred or so shirtless people were busy in the open space. At the edge of the open space, several large iron cages were placed, and inside several iron cages were dozens of ordinary people with terrified expressions and slightly trembling bodies.

These ordinary people did not scream or make meaningless pleas for mercy. Among them, some women were tightly covering their mouths; they were crying silently. This is a reaction that only appears after seeing an extremely terrifying scene; they no longer even had the courage to cry out loud.

In the center of the courtyard was a magic circle. This magic circle was very special; it was not outlined with dye or fresh blood, but drawn with a kind of white powder.

There is a large amount of magic power beneath Ryudou Temple, and this white powder can draw out the magic power from underground and form a magic circle.

This magic circle was circular overall, with a diameter of about five meters. Because the magic power supply was extremely abundant, the magic circle appeared very three-dimensional.

Su Xiao used the Apostle's Eye to check the information of a shirtless middle-aged man; he wanted to verify his previous guess.

【Comparing intelligence attributes of both sides... Comparison complete. Our intelligence is 2 times that of the enemy, obtaining 100% of the enemy's information.】

Information is as follows:

Name: Resentful Servant (Life Assimilation Degree 25%)

Category: Humanoid Creature (Sentient Being)

Health: 100%

Mana: 300/300

Strength: 39

Agility: 43

Stamina: 53

Intelligence: 30

Charisma: 4

Skill 1: Evil Faith (Passive lv. 10): Health +200, Willpower +5.

Skill 2: Bone Projection (Passive lv. 10), can partially project bones, Defense +7.

Skill 3: Life Assimilation (Active lv. 18), can increase 'Life Assimilation Degree' and restore health by devouring biological flesh and blood. When 'Life Assimilation Degree' reaches 100%, the Resentful Monk will evolve.

Sure enough, it is roughly similar to what Su Xiao guessed. Ryudou Temple is not occupied by monks; 'Life Assimilation Degree' is the key to the transformation of these resentful creatures.

And now, Su Xiao is witnessing the process of this transformation.

Several Resentful Servants walked to the iron cage where the ordinary people were held. The longing in their eyes was undisguised; they were longing for the flesh and blood of these humans. For some reason, they restrained this longing.

Creak~

The iron cage door, full of rust and bloodstains, was opened. The ordinary people held inside the iron cage began to huddle toward the inside of the cage like frightened livestock.

A Resentful Servant walked into the iron cage, his gaze sweeping over these ordinary people hiding in the corner of the cage. Among them were workers from the working class and charming nightclub girls.

"This one, this one, and this one."

That Resentful Servant pointed out three ordinary people. The calves of those three began to tremble, and their lips turned blue; they were clearly scared out of their wits.

"Don't, don't choose me. My son is still waiting for me at home. He cannot be without me, he cannot."

A young white-collar worker with a face full of despair finally could not bear the fear in his heart and began to shout loudly, and his hands tightly gripped the iron bars in the corner of the cage.