071 Growing More and More Devious

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“Caw!” “Caw!” “Caw!”

In the cavern, a multitude of pale-eyed vultures began to shriek in excitement. The lead vulture’s call was quickly echoed by dozens more as they descended, clutching bones in their talons. Some even dropped their half-eaten food in their haste.

In an instant, the surface of the bloodstained altar was heaped with all manner of bones and remains, so densely piled that the runes beneath were completely obscured. The effect of the vultures’ actions was immediate—the flesh still clinging to the corpses withered rapidly, shriveling away.

The blood squeezed from the remains splattered across the stone altar, then began to swirl in a circle around a fixed point. Tadpole-shaped glyphs flickered to life, glowing with an eerie light.

A ripple of invisible force spread outward.

At the very center of the altar, a pillar slowly rose, its top inlaid with a pristine, snow-white finger bone.

A mysterious energy radiated from it, lifting the bones piled atop the altar into the air. They hovered briefly before being swept away.

The pillar then sank back down. The entire bloodstained altar was now spotless, not a trace of filth clinging to its surface.

“Caw!”

With a triumphant screech, countless pale-eyed vultures swooped down from the sky, wings beating frantically as they fought over the bones. It was as if something precious within those remains was drawing them irresistibly.

Xiunan suddenly recalled what he’d read about these vultures:

[Habitat: Prefers places abundant in bones, especially those infused with special power, such as remains touched by the force of holy relics.]

After all, the pale-eyed vulture was a supernatural creature, possessed of a certain intelligence. It had learned to offer blood and flesh at the altar in exchange for bones suffused with holy power.

No wonder this place had become their gathering ground.

Xiunan hid in the shadows of a passageway, his gaze fixed on the chaos in the cavern beyond. To the vultures, bones touched by holy relics were almost impossibly alluring, far surpassing mere taste.

Just the scent of them sent the flock into a frenzy of desire. Fights broke out everywhere—cries overlapped, feathers flew, blood spattered the rocks. Bird droppings even soared through the air, flung about in the confusion.

Xiunan quickly ducked his head back, narrowly avoiding a foul mass that almost struck his forehead.

After a few more glances, Xiunan retreated deeper into the passage, calculating his next move in the darkness.

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Stealing the holy bone under the watchful eyes of hundreds of vultures was no simple feat. Even in the midst of such chaos, Xiunan doubted he could open a meditative state and escape unscathed.

He hesitated for a moment, then decided to give up—for now. He hadn’t eaten in too long; his body was weak, his abilities dulled. It would be better to explore the third passage and assess the situation there before making any decisions.

Half an hour later, Xiunan floated in midair, his expression grim, as Bai Mu clutched his shoulder and flew onward. Below them, an abyssal black pit exhaled gusts of wind, carrying eerie, moaning sounds.

The third passage was nothing but traps—confirmed beyond doubt.

Returning to the main hall, Xiunan found himself in a difficult predicament. His only way forward was through the vulture-filled cavern. Even if he had no designs on the holy bone, the birds’ fierce territorial instinct would leave him no peace. If they unleashed their bone-hardening domains…

Hundreds of overlapping domains would pin him down! Then, a swarm of monstrous birds would descend upon him. The carnage would rival the horrors of time-stopping magic.

The more he brooded over this, the more frustrated he became.

Suddenly, a spark of inspiration lit his eyes. He gazed around the hall, bathed in a faint, moon-blue glow.

He slapped his forehead as a plan began to take shape.

The key was the moon-blue vapor! Its powerful sedative effect on supernatural forces, when mixed sufficiently with air, could induce sleep. Ancient rune masters had used it to stabilize energies while crafting runes.

But Xiunan intended to use it against the vultures.

Would it work? Yes, it would!

First, there was the question of quantity—but Xiunan had no worries there. The hall was filled with the moon-blue vapor, and its area was only a little smaller than the vulture’s cavern.

The lab must have a device continually producing the vapor to keep up with losses.

Next, the matter of air flow. Would the vapor simply dissipate as soon as it entered the cavern?

No need for concern. The moon-blue vapor was a dense, viscous, inert gas, heavier than air. Xiunan had tested it himself; even when Bai Mu stirred the air forcefully, the vapor barely moved.

That left only one problem: how to transport the moon-blue vapor from the lab to the vulture’s den?

Xiunan immediately thought of the various instruments in the lab—especially the distillation apparatus! Ancient rune masters liked to use the vital blood of ringbeasts to create rune models.

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It was said that igniting runes in this way made them even more powerful.

They would typically allow the blood to settle in a vessel, adding all sorts of catalysts. Then, a very long flexible tube would be attached to the vessel, filtering impurities from the blood. This tube would pass through a dozen or more regions, each inscribed with different circuits, imparting unknown effects to the blood.

In the end, only the rarest, purest essence would drip from the end of the tube—just what the ancient rune master needed.

The more circuits the blood passed through, the higher the quality of the final product. Which meant that the more advanced the laboratory, the longer the tube!

Returning to the lab, Xiunan’s suspicions were confirmed. He forcibly dismantled the distillation station and found the yellowish, coiled tube inside—hundreds of meters in length at least.

Without hesitation, he yanked it free, destroying the sophisticated device. Carrying the tube to the gas stabilizer, he found a protruding metal pipe constantly releasing blue vapor.

Clamping the tube onto the metal pipe, Xiunan replaced it with his own. He coiled the tube around his forearm and set off, unspooling it as he went.

Running and laying the tube as he went, Xiunan reached the edge of the bird cavern, with dozens of meters of tube still left.

He carefully extended the end, creeping along the ground, trying to get it as close to the center as possible.

That way, the sleep-inducing effect would take hold much faster.

At last, the tube ran out. Its open end lay quietly amid the bone pile, releasing a steady stream of pale blue vapor. A vulture strutted over, pecked at a skeleton—

—and instantly collapsed in a heap.

Watching from afar, Xiunan stroked his chin.

“Why do I feel like I’m getting more and more devious lately…”

“But if I can get the holy bone, anything is worth it…”

P.S. Wrote four chapters today—my throat is killing me. I’ll post two at midnight to go live, then work hard to write a few more during the day and release them together.