Lord of Prayer - Chapter 247 179: Evil Artifacts (Part 2)
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“The Crimson Sect agrees to cooperate with you.”
In the antique shop’s warehouse, the call connected, and Mandala’s cold voice came from the other end. “Wait for me at the antique shop at eight tomorrow night. Don’t even think about trying anything clever.”
“Relax. I’m a man who honors his agreements,” Zhou Chen chuckled, then got straight to the point. “What have you decided on for my payment?”
“The Spine Evil Sword, Blood Boiling Eyes, Foolish Necklace, Unclean Ring, Deadly Love… You can choose any two of these five Tainted Objects and Cursed Objects. I’ll send you the detailed information on the items in a moment.”
Mandala continued, “You can give us some important intelligence to get one of the artifacts in advance. We’ll give you the other one after the matter is concluded.”
Zhou Chen thought for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. Send the artifact information over first.”
Two minutes later, Mandala sent the artifact information.
[Spine Evil Sword: Tainted Object. A sword made from the spine and skull of a Tier Three Ascender. It contains the Ascender’s ultimate fear and pain from the moment of death and constantly emits a vicious curse. Though not sharp, it is incredibly tough.]
[Blood Boiling Eyes: Abyssal Cursed Object. A carnelian eyeball the size of a normal human eye. When infused with Essence, it releases a fan-shaped red light. The blood of any creature illuminated by this light will begin to boil, eventually cooking the creature from the inside out.]
[Foolish Necklace: Abyssal Cursed Object. A silver necklace that can activate a “Dumbing Aura” on any creature within a fifty-meter radius. The target’s mind will fall into a state of chaos, and their intelligence will plummet.]
[Unclean Ring: Abyssal Cursed Object. A simple, jet-black ring that can inflict “Filth” on any creature within a thirty-meter radius, corroding their body and spirit. Prolonged exposure to the “Filth” effect will ultimately turn them into a rotting corpse.]
[Deadly Love: Abyssal Cursed Object. A pair of golden rings that must be used by two people. While wearing the rings, both individuals’ Life Force, Spiritual Power, Essence, and Extraordinary Abilities will be stacked and shared.
If the rings are not removed within five minutes, both wearers will become uncontrollably infatuated with each other. Even if the rings are discarded, the love will not disappear; instead, it will gradually become pathological until one brutally kills and consumes the other, merging into a single being.
If one of the cursed individuals dies by any means, the other ring-wearer, whether they were cursed or not, will fall madly in love with the deceased within three days and ultimately commit suicide to join them.]
After reading the information on the five artifacts, Zhou Chen couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow under his steel mask. ‘As expected of Tainted Objects and Cursed Objects. Every single one is so twisted.’
The Crimson Sect was certainly insidious. They had only described the effects of the artifacts, without a single word about their negative side effects. Who knew how horrifying the side effects of these artifacts were? They were probably trying to use this chance to screw him over completely.
But the Crimson Sect was bound to be disappointed this time. For Zhou Chen, it didn’t matter how strange the side effects were. He could just wish for an exemption or use the Hammer of Forging to reforge them, grinding away their inherent evil and madness.
“These are all excellent artifacts. However, Steward Mandala, did you perhaps forget to include their side effects?” Zhou Chen reminded her in a low voice, careful not to seem unconcerned.
‘You have to commit to the act.’ If the Crimson Sect sensed his indifference to the side effects, they might deduce that he had a way to negate or weaken them. They might even go back on their word and take back the artifacts.
After all, the Crimson Sect was a group of fanatical cultists who worshipped the Abyss, not some big, happy family. They naturally couldn’t stand to see others do well.
“My apologies. We are also unaware of these artifacts’ side effects,” Mandala replied.
“Unaware, or unwilling to say?” Zhou Chen sneered, as if seeing right through her little trick.
“We truly are unaware. We’ve barely used these artifacts and only know their basic abilities.” It was impossible to tell if Mandala was telling the truth.
Zhou Chen fell silent, giving her the impression that he was caught in a difficult decision. After a long moment, he spoke in a low voice, “I’ll take the [Deadly Love] first.”
Given the incomplete information, the most valuable artifact was undoubtedly “Deadly Love.”
Two Ascenders sharing their stacked Life Force, Spiritual Power, Essence, and Extraordinary Abilities… This was without a doubt a true Divine Artifact!
‘As for that very “yandere” side effect, he would just have to find a way to erase it later.’
‘I absolutely cannot miss out on this artifact’s ability.’
“Good. I’ll have someone deliver it to the antique shop. A clean exchange,” Mandala said before hanging up.
Half an hour later, Xia Bo received a message, rolled up the shutter door, and greeted the guest outside with a broad smile, creating the illusion for any onlookers that he was welcoming a regular customer.
In reality, this guest was a cultist from the Crimson Sect.
Upon reaching the warehouse, the man, who wore a black mask, took a jewelry box from his pocket and respectfully handed it to Zhou Chen.
Zhou Chen opened the ring box. Inside were two golden rings engraved with intricate patterns. The patterns were blood-red, like an ardent love that would never run dry. They radiated a powerful, unseen attraction, as if whispering seductively in his ear: “Wear me,” “Wear me…”
SNAP. Zhou Chen snapped the box shut and looked at his phone, which was still on the call, to deliver the intelligence. “The Blood Race sent over a hundred members to attack the Li Family, but they ran into a tough nut to crack and lost forty to fifty of them. Second, there’s a Blood Race Saint Child named Pansi and a Blood Knight named Molei. They claim to be from the ‘Ring of Authority’ clan. Those two are very strong and need to be watched closely.”
“The ‘Ring of Authority’ clan, and a Blood Race Saint Child…” Mandala clearly knew of this family within the Blood Race and that they were not to be trifled with.
As for Blood Race Saint Children, they were rare Purebloods, the highest echelon of the High Level Blood Race. They could forcibly command other members of the Blood Race through their bloodline, thus holding extremely high status. They were considered major figures among their kind.
“Wait, you said forty to fifty of the Blood Race were killed?” she suddenly realized, latching onto a key piece of intelligence.
The Blood Race were notoriously hard to kill.
“It was an Ascender visiting the Li Family. He’s a good fighter and did us a favor by taking out quite a few of the Blood Race.” Zhou Chen didn’t elaborate further, instead moving to his summary. “About seventy to eighty of the Blood Race escaped. Only three of them were Tier Two; I sensed that clearly. The Blood Knight, Molei, is likely Tier Three, but he stayed behind to cover the retreat and was pursued by Ascenders from the Star Association. I don’t know if he’s dead or not. If he is, that’s good news for us.”
“However, there are definitely other experts in the Blood Race stronghold. I want to know how confident you are.”
Mandala said coolly, “The Grand Steward will take action.”
‘The Grand Steward…’ Zhou Chen’s heart skipped a beat. An Abyssal Cultist who could become a Grand Steward was either exceptionally intelligent or exceptionally powerful. Clearly, the one the Crimson Sect was dispatching was the latter…
“How strong is he?”
“Tier Three. With enough preparation, he can hunt a Tier Four.” Mandala dropped this bombshell to intimidate Zhou Chen, a warning that anyone with any sense wouldn’t try to be clever.
‘He can hunt a Tier Four…’ Beneath his mask, the corner of Zhou Chen’s eye twitched. ‘This guy is a real shark!’
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After leaving the black market, Zhou Chen found a secluded spot to remove his disguise. He didn’t return to Li Xiye’s villa, guessing that the Star Association was definitely looking for him.
His plan was currently in motion; he couldn’t let the Star Association disrupt his scheme to kill with a borrowed knife and divert the disaster elsewhere.
With nowhere to go, Zhou Chen ended up at a park, where he found a bench to lie down and rest.
‘The international auction is tomorrow morning. The bosses from the black market will be buying Forbidden Object C-011: Emotional Outburst for me…’
The thought of getting his hands on another Forbidden Object tomorrow made Zhou Chen excited. The ability of this particular Forbidden Object was extremely powerful.
