Chapter 28: The Lotus of Karma

Zhou Yan strode step by step toward the Ice-Armored Fiend.

On the fiend’s face, a human-like fear appeared.

Without hesitation, it clutched its right arm and turned to flee.

But how could Zhou Yan possibly let it escape so easily?

He powered his ankles and calves, unleashing astonishing speed in an instant with the “Sparrow Step” technique. In the blink of an eye, he seemed to shrink the distance itself and appeared behind the fiend.

He raised his metal bat high and brought it crashing down!

Boom!

A sharp crack like shattering ice resounded as the fiend was sent flying two meters away, crashing into the second hall’s doors.

Zhou Yan immediately pursued.

He saw the fiend struggling to its feet, still intent on forcing its way toward the rear of the second hall.

“Such a clear objective—there’s definitely something wrong,” Zhou Yan thought rapidly.

He would never allow himself to be caught off guard and let the enemy reverse the situation through some unforeseen means.

Ignoring the strain on his ankles, he used Sparrow Step once more!

With swift, ghostly movements he closed in on the fiend again.

Super Home Run!

A violent red glow burst from the metal bat, which he swung at the fiend as it desperately raised its arms in defense.

A thunderous crash rang out, mingled with the fiend’s agonized howl.

The fiend’s left arm, attempting to block the blow, bent grotesquely at an unnatural angle. The momentum didn’t stop; the bat carried through, smashing savagely into its ribs.

The fiend was hurled sideways, colliding with the wall of the second hall and then sliding down limply, landing in a pitiful heap.

Its right fist was now a mangled mess of blood and flesh, the left arm broken, and the ice armor at its side shattered, revealing a deep, caved-in wound.

Its breath came in ragged, broken gasps like a damaged bellows. With difficulty, it raised its head, eyes streaming with bloody tears as it stared at Zhou Yan, terror etched deep in its expression.

“So even the Chaos Fiends know fear…” Zhou Yan dragged his bat behind him, a cold sneer on his lips as he walked slowly and inexorably toward the helpless Ice-Armored Fiend.

The bat scraped against the stone floor, sending up a continuous screech of metal on stone.

Panicking, the fiend tried to flip itself over, but only collapsed further, then, like a worm, it frantically kicked its legs, twisted its upper body, and howled as it crawled toward the rear door of the second hall.

“Lotus…”

“Holy Lotus…”

“Save me…”

As it wailed, there seemed to be a response from beyond the rear door. A faint, ethereal white light began to shine through.

Bathed in the white glow, the fiend’s hideous, monstrous face contorted into a rapture that was almost human.

But then, it suddenly felt a crushing weight on its back.

A heavy boot had pinned it down.

“You’re celebrating a bit too soon,” Zhou Yan’s indifferent voice sounded.

Enveloped in a bloody aura, the metal bat came crashing down.

A wet splatter.

The ice encasing the fiend’s head shattered instantly.

Its head exploded on the spot like a watermelon.

[You have slain “Frost-Armored Fiend,” gaining 157 Spirit.]

[You have obtained “Rune Factor: Physique.”]

[You have obtained “Rune Circuit Core: Shattered (1).”]

Zhou Yan stowed his bat away, ignoring the thoroughly dead fiend, and immediately turned his attention to the white glow streaming from the rear courtyard of the second hall.

That white light seemed to sense Zhou Yan’s savagery. After he slew the fiend, it began to withdraw, shrinking back.

Whatever that thing was, it had lost its nerve!

Zhou Yan felt a surge of satisfaction. Instead of rushing forward, he chose to convert his spoils into strength on the spot.

He immediately equipped the newly acquired rune factor and circuit core, checking the circuit’s effects as he did.

[Rune Circuit Core: Shattered (1)]

[Rating: 0-Star, Tier 2]

[Effect: When slotted into a Fate Equipment, grants +2 Physique, +1 Acuity, and activates “Shattered Circuit (1).”]

[Shattered Circuit (1): When “Physique,” “Curse,” and “Destruction” rune factors co-exist in the same Fate Equipment, additionally grants “Physique +5,” “+10% Endurance Reduction to Enemy on Attack,” and “+10% Defense Break to Enemy on Attack.”]

[Note: A force that nothing can withstand!]

[Hint: Only one Rune Circuit can be equipped per rune slot.]

A fine acquisition—even if that tempting “circuit” couldn’t be activated for now, the attribute boost alone was worthwhile.

Zhou Yan’s face showed his satisfaction.

He clamped the bat under his left arm, grabbed the Frost-Armored Fiend’s corpse with his right, and checked its information.

[Frost-Armored Fiend]

[Type: Demonfolk]

[Description: A mutant demon empowered directly by the calamity sown by the Karma Lotus, originally human, now possessing immense strength and agility, able to condense moisture in the air into armor. In colder environments, its strength and speed increase dramatically.]

[Rating: 0-Star, Tier 2]

[Attributes: Physique 25, Acuity 20, Spirit 15]

[Note: “Raging snow, grant me dominion!”]

[Detection: A viable Chaos specimen has been found. Would you like to record it as material for the talent “Ultra Fusion”?]

Zhou Yan glanced over the fiend’s attributes, making a quick comparison. They matched well with his perception during the battle.

After his recent advancement, his fusion form’s “Physique”—the attribute most related to strength—had reached thirty-five.

But his opponent’s armor gave it a huge defensive advantage, and its attacks were formidable—enough to wound Zhou Yan despite the attribute gap.

Having armor against an unarmored opponent was a massive edge, much more than a few points of Physique.

However, once Zhou Yan began using his enhanced technique, “Super Home Run,” he immediately turned the tables and crushed his foe.

Zhou Yan nodded in approval.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this fiend would replace the “Dangerous Bat” as his new fusion material.

“But before that, I’d like to see what exactly this thing was so desperate to reach in the back courtyard—what it thought would save its miserable life.”

He muttered quietly, rested a moment to recover his Fate Equipment’s endurance, then hefted the fiend’s corpse and exited through the rear of the second hall.

In ancient magistrates’ offices, the county magistrate or city lord would have a “Main Hall” for trials, a “Second Hall” behind it, and then, further back, the “Inner Hall” where officials and their families resided.

Zhou Yan came to the small courtyard between the second and inner halls but found nothing amiss.

However, he could see that the white light was actually shining from within the inner hall.

Cautiously dragging the fiend’s body, he kicked open the inner hall’s door.

At first glance, he saw, right at the very center of the innermost chamber, a massive, illusory, ethereal black lotus blooming in midair.

Incredibly, though the lotus was black, it radiated white light.

Yet the strangeness didn’t end there.

At the heart of the layered, phantom black lotus, on the ground, was a complex, circular black array.

And at the very center of the array, thrust into the floor, was a peculiar long blade with a hilt shaped like a black lotus.

The surging aura of chaos emanating from the blade instantly drew Zhou Yan’s attention. Without hesitation, he tossed aside the fiend’s corpse and strode forward.

The illusory black lotus, sensing his approach, blazed with even more intense white light—but it couldn’t harm Zhou Yan in the slightest.

A Calamity Walker fears no curse.

Instead, the Frost-Armored Fiend’s body, which Zhou Yan had thrown to the ground, began to convulse madly under the influence of the white light.

Zhou Yan heard the commotion, but merely shot it a cold glance and quickened his pace.

In a few seconds, he had crossed the glow, entered the shadow of the black lotus, and reached out to grasp the strange blade.

[Karma Lotus Calamity Blade]

A stream of information unfolded before Zhou Yan’s eyes.

…