"Is it considered a strange object?"

Lin Qianxuan's palm emitted a crimson glow, quickly decomposing the monster named Shici beneath him into vapor.

Shortly thereafter, it vanished completely, leaving Lin Qianxuan with only two balls of light.

Those were the two attributes inscribed as words.

One was "Exotic Devouring."

One was "Casualty Resistance (damaged)."

Lin Qianxuan could choose to attach the attributes to certain items.

The item would then gain the effect of the attribute.

After storing away the two attributes, carrying Peiya along, Lin Qianxuan leaped several times to escape the deep pit.

.....

The scene shifts back to when Lin Qianxuan and others were battling Shici.

"Anthony, take the Bow of Death Killing with a few people and go check the situation. If we can help, try to assist them and bring them back. The Kingdom needs such strength now," Vera ordered.

"Yes, Count."

A team complied, then charged towards where Lin Qianxuan was.

However, before they formally reached the battlefield, Lin Qianxuan and the others had already slain Shici completely.

Thus, they witnessed the following scene.

The gigantic beast, now dead, dissipating into nothingness beneath Lin Qianxuan's hands, beneath the dim yellow sky, as Lin Qianxuan stepped out of the pit, carrying a pink-haired girl towards the crowd.

Lin Qianxuan and the others might not be clear, but they had heard of the girl's identity.

A strange object girl.

The expressions on people's faces were somewhat complex.

Leading the team, Anthony dismounted first, kneeling on one knee with a ceremonial bow, saying, "Your Excellency, for removing such disaster from the Kingdom, we are incredibly grateful!"

"It was mainly her doing; I just provided some assistance."

Lin Qianxuan looked at the girl behind him, who was now asleep.

Despite armor being able to restore her stamina, her mental exhaustion was undeniably real.

Anthony and the others looked at Peiya, their expressions shifting unpredictably.

No one expected that she would stand up at the critical moment to save the Kingdom.

"Count Vera sent us to support you. Now that the disaster has passed, with your abilities, you will surely be utilized in the Kingdom. Please come with us."

Anthony offered a knight's horse for Lin Qianxuan to ride, and they returned to where Vera was located.

Lin Qianxuan did not refuse the invitation; he wished to obtain a few more strange objects, perhaps even all of them, from the other party.

Soon, Lin Qianxuan met Vera.

With Shici gone, the speed of the entire convoy had subsided from what it was before.

Anthony galloped to Vera's side, explained the situation with a few words, and then Lin Qianxuan's horse was invited to the front.

Vera promptly dismounted and bowed, saying, "I represent the Kingdom's citizens, thanking you both for your contribution to the Kingdom...."

After expressing gratitude, they resorted to familiar recruitment methods.

Lin Qianxuan did not give a definitive answer for the time being, stating he needed some time to consider.

Vera did not rush, soon proceeding to rendezvous at the prearranged location.

This event ended up as merely a scare.

Overall, the actual losses were not too significant, at least compared to disasters they faced previously, which were far more serious.

People living in the Abyss Ruins were resilient enough to recover quickly.

In a newly found location for the Kingdom's settlement, the caravan and crowd were slowly migrating back, and compared to their urgency when departing, the return was much eased.

Lin Qianxuan also brought Peiya back to the small house.

Originally, he had considered renting a bigger house once he earned money, but she liked the small house, hence they never changed.

Lin Qianxuan realized it was largely because Peiya lacked a sense of security, fearing being too far apart from him.

Even in sleep, Peiya always clutched Lin Qianxuan's hand. Lin Qianxuan was uncertain where her anxiety stemmed from, only able to tightly hold her back.

Meanwhile, two glowing words appeared in his left hand.

In the form of balls of light, they materialized in reality, yet remained embodiments of a concept.

The attribute "Exotic Devouring" could directly devour strange objects, doubling an item's attributes and shape, at the cost of increasing hunger.

"Casualty Resistance" could render the target invulnerable, at the cost of eternally preserving the pain of attacks.

Currently, the latter attribute was damaged and needed repair.

However, the former was still available for use.

Lin Qianxuan pondered its application scenarios.

The attribute was evidently viable not just for use on inanimate objects.

It could be assigned directly to living beings.

The monster named Shici was the best proof.

After all, in a certain sense, creatures themselves are the ultimate artifacts.

Yet the cost, when born by living beings, seemed quite challenging to endure.

The more strange objects devoured, the hungrier one became.

The hungrier one became, the more one desired devouring.

Ultimately consciousness might be entirely controlled by this cost.

But if used on inanimate objects?

For instance, a sword.

Would it feel hunger?

If it felt hunger, without consciousness or soul, what effect might it output?

Would it devour more energy during use?

Relying on his ability to decompose strange objects, Lin Qianxuan casually took out a small iron bead for experimentation, enchanting it with "Exotic Devouring."

After the attribute was applied, the small iron bead trembled momentarily but showed no further changes.

Lin Qianxuan only added one more entry to the information he retrieved.

He took out another Iron Bead imbued with the Dao Fruit of the Artifact and had it undergo devouring.

As a result, the Exotic Devouring was unable to devour the Iron Bead endowed with the Dao Fruit of the Artifact.

Can't eat it?

No, that's not it; it's because they do not belong to the same system.

Lin Qianxuan confirmed this.

The strange objects are creations from another Dao Fruit.

They are different from the things made by the Dao Fruit on Peiya.

In other words, they come from the Enlightened who opposes Peiya.

Lin Qianxuan temporarily couldn't determine who was the righteous one between them; he only knew that his current stance was on Peiya's side.

Thus, these strange objects might have been made by the other side to cause trouble for Peiya.

The specific operation method, he still did not know, but the strange objects clearly made this world chaotic.

Such an environment certainly makes Peiya face additional tribulations and hardships in the time loop.

To erase an Enlightened who possesses the Dao Fruit is very difficult.

Especially when the "doors" each side could open are about the same size.

So the best method to erase them is to wear down the opponent's intellect.

In the endless loop of time and space, without giving any benefit, only endless torment, let the opponent's intellect be worn down, until it completely loses reasoning and personality.

Lin Qianxuan felt that even if his speculation was not completely correct, it would not be too far off.

Additionally, he also confirmed another matter.

That is, the other Enlightened cannot personally participate in this time loop.

He can only create those strange objects to disrupt this world.

And he is not sure of the specific circumstances of this loop in time and space, nor does he know what state Peiya is in.

Otherwise, he could more selectively manufacture each strange object.

They both jointly created this cyclical time and space, but did not enter reincarnation together.

One fell into the loop of time and space, repeatedly experiencing a painful life, while the other was excluded from the loop of time and space, unable to see through its unreality. His ability to interfere was also limited at the start of the time loop, and he could only repeatedly make chaotic moves, hoping to cause trouble for Peiya within this loop of time and space.

Without Lin Qianxuan's presence, the other party might have succeeded.

But unfortunately, Peiya found outside assistance.

Lin Qianxuan casually dismantled the Iron Bead that had undergone Exotic Devouring, the material carrier dissipated, leaving only the conceptual entry light cluster.

Then Lin Qianxuan endowed the Iron Bead with the new entry that had been given the Dao Fruit of the Artifact.

Success!

The powers of the two Dao Fruits were compatible.

It possessed both the entry granted by the Artifact and the entry of the strange object.

They both could take effect.

Lin Qianxuan turned to look at the entry of Casualty Resistance (damaged), pondering whether it could be repaired.

His mind stirred slightly, the power from the Artifact emerged, an invisible red brush appeared, beginning to repair the entry.

The repair process wasn't too fast, but neither was it too slow.

Lin Qianxuan's Energy was rapidly consumed during this process, but for him, it was a mere trifle.

In fact, this consumption shouldn't have existed.

Whose Dao Fruit requires Energy consumption to be utilized?

It was only because Peiya's understanding was not in place that the consumption for the Dao Fruit of the Artifact was said to exist.

It wasn't long before the entry had been repaired.

Lin Qianxuan casually threw it onto the Iron Bead that carried two entries.

From now on, this Iron Bead possessed one entry from the Dao Fruit of the Artifact and two entries from the strange objects.

[Iron Bead No. 2415: A common Iron Bead crafted by a master. [Solid][Exotic Devouring][Casualty Resistance] (Note: As a destined-to-be useless test item, each additional entry makes it feel one step closer to death.)]

Lin Qianxuan attempted to add a fourth entry.

Easily, it gained the entry [Heavy], and its weight suddenly increased by dozens of pounds.

It was confirmed that the entries of strange objects do not occupy "slots."

However, this significance isn't that great. After all, slightly modifying its shape can also add new entries.

What Lin Qianxuan wants to know now is the situation of side effects difficult for living creatures to accept on this object.

Applying slight force, horrifying strength erupted from Lin Qianxuan's fingertips.

This power was enough to crush an ordinary steel ball into powder, but the Iron Bead endowed with Casualty Resistance remained unharmed.

However, being unscathed meant enduring pain.

For a person, this pain might even cause mental collapse.

Yet in Lin Qianxuan's hand, the Iron Bead showed no change.

It didn't even have what one might call consciousness or soul, so how could it sense pain?

"So the so-called price can be exempted? Even when used well, if you look at it from another angle, the price can even become a positive blessing, indeed, everything is relative, how could there be an absolute negative existence...."

Lin Qianxuan seemed to have grasped some insight, gaining a new understanding of the price associated with [strange objects].

Rather than calling it a price, it might as well be called a kind of activation condition, a ritual means of activating the entry's function.

It itself does not inherently possess a nature of good and evil, positive or negative; it only depends on how you use it.

If you find the right method, the price can even be ignored.

For instance, the continuous pain of Casualty Resistance cannot be responded to by inanimate objects like the Iron Bead, and even if it endured the damage and pain of a universal explosion, there would be no change.

So it should be able to exempt similar negative perception costs, such as the hunger sensation from Exotic Devouring.

With this in mind, Lin Qianxuan couldn't help but become more interested in strange objects.

He had already arranged to meet with Peiya at the royal palace tomorrow with Vera to discuss cooperation details.

With proper management, he might be able to obtain some pretty good strange objects from her this time.

The cost of those strange objects might be a little high for Vera, but for Lin Qianxuan, perhaps they might not necessarily be insurmountable, perhaps even be turned to use.

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