[Lord of Abundance] Chapter 41: Soul White Sand

 Chapter 41: Soul White Sand

“Nearly three hundred grams of Soul White Sand collected in one go… Looks like there were far more spirits hidden here than I expected.”

“Then again, it makes sense.”

“The Blood Terror Demon Wolves piled an entire mountain of bones above us. That essentially created a small undead convergence zone. It’s only natural that so many spirits would be born here.”

—

Grinning happily, Kun stored away the half-filled bottle of Soul White Sand.

Materials like this were notoriously troublesome to obtain.

Either one ventured onto ancient undead battlefields to hunt dangerous undead creatures, or slaughtered a massive number of living people in one go.

Neither option was pleasant.

Soul White Sand belonged to the category of rare materials that every Mage Association branch might stock in tiny amounts, yet was nearly impossible to purchase in large quantities.

—

“It’s fine now.”

“Untie the two of them.”

—

Earlier, Kun had deliberately directed the White Nightmare Flowers to focus their bites on the two possessed warriors.

The spirits inside them had already been devoured, though with their mouths stuffed full, neither man had been able to speak.

—

The moment Lucas was freed, he instinctively opened his mouth to explain himself.

But after Dawn shot him a cold glare, every excuse died in his throat.

—

Flies never gathered around seamless eggs.

Spirit possession worked the same way.

If evil thoughts had not already taken root in someone’s heart, how could a spirit so easily possess a trained warrior?

—

Today, he could develop murderous intent toward his comrades over treasure that hadn’t even appeared yet.

Tomorrow, he might very well sell out his lord for a good price.

People like that—

Old Tate would never allow them to remain within Kun’s guard unit.

—

Dawn understood this perfectly.

Lucas had been personally trained by him.

That only made Dawn feel even more ashamed, as though he had failed the trust his lord placed in him.

—

Kun lightly stepped on the vine ashes scattered across the ground.

After confirming that not even a fragment remained behind as a hidden danger, he finally nodded in satisfaction.

—

The White Nightmare Vine he had summoned wasn’t a naturally existing plant.

It was a new lifeform created through the Abundance Mark, fused from Web Vines and White Nightmare Flowers.

It inherited the former's rapid growth and the latter's soul-devouring ability.

—

As a responsible mage, how could he possibly allow a plant capable of severely disrupting natural ecosystems to spread unchecked into the wild?

—

…Though recalling the heavily sealed experimental samples hidden deep within his personal spatial realm made Kun feel slightly guilty.

—

Research, after all, did not bend to human will.

Any outcome was possible.

—

For example—

He had once attempted to create a magical plant capable of continuously enriching atmospheric mana for the benefit of all mages.

Instead, he accidentally produced a parasitic red algae that preferred infesting magical organisms and reproducing explosively inside them.

Worse still, the parasitic algae could control the host’s behavior.

And it was immune to nearly every known medical treatment on the continent—

Light-element dispel magic.

Common healing potions.

None of them worked.

—

If that thing ever escaped…

The entire magical civilization of Eternal Dawn Continent would probably collapse and need rebuilding from scratch.

—

Granted, the final result had differed from his original expectations by only a tiny bit.

But the process of pursuing truth itself had still been worthwhile.

Probably.

—

As for why he hadn’t destroyed those dangerous plant samples entirely—

The answer was simple.

He couldn’t bear to.

—

To Kun, these uniquely dangerous plants were like sharpened double-edged swords.

Used poorly, they would injure the wielder.

Used correctly, they became terrifying weapons.

More importantly, most possessed extremely rare properties.

To a researcher like Kun, they were undeveloped fertile fields waiting to be cultivated.

Priceless treasures.

Utterly irresistible.

—

In truth, the situation wasn’t quite so disastrous.

Most of those extremely dangerous plant specimens could barely survive outside laboratory conditions.

Each also possessed crippling flaws.

It was almost as though some unseen will was instinctively suppressing these aberrant lifeforms capable of overturning and destroying entire ecosystems.

—

That was when Kun first vaguely sensed the existence of Gaia’s Will.

—

She—

Or perhaps It—

Was instinctively rejecting these foreign anomalies that did not belong to nature.

—

Unfortunately, Kun’s research into Gaia’s Will had progressed no further than simply perceiving its existence.

The magical world of Eternal Dawn Continent had long been heavily influenced by religion.

The Six Gods were acknowledged as the only true deities.

Very few mages studied divinity itself.

—

As for Blue Star, things were different there too.

One side simply followed an entirely different path and rejected belief altogether.

The other issue was that Gaia’s Will in that world felt incredibly weak—

As though it had once suffered some catastrophic injury and fallen into slumber.

—

Without the foundation of predecessors’ research or a second world’s knowledge system to draw upon, Kun knew that uncovering the truth behind Gaia’s Will alone was impossible in a short time.

It might take decades.

Perhaps centuries.

—

The significance of such research was undoubtedly immense.

Unfortunately, Kun simply lacked the energy to pursue it now.

For the time being, he could only shelve this subject—which he instinctively felt was extremely important to him—until Fertile Land no longer required his constant supervision.

—

Passing through the ruined gates, the group cautiously entered the interior of the ancient elven ruins.

—

The place was enormous.

Like a palace built for giants.

—

The magical lamps that should have burned for millennia had long since gone dark.

Yet the ruins weren’t entirely black.

Clusters of glowing moss crawling across the walls emitted faint fluorescent light.

To humans, the dim glow made it difficult to see clearly.

But for magical beasts—

Especially ambush predators like Blood Terror Demon Wolves—

This kind of darkness was comfortable.

Natural.

—

The walls, like the entrance gate, were covered in relief carvings.

Most had been badly damaged.

The remaining fragments were overgrown with luminous moss, making the images nearly impossible to decipher.

—

“Look! There’s blood on the ground!”

—

A huge and obvious drag trail stretched across the floor, splattered with fresh blood.

Dawn crouched down, dipped a finger into it, rubbed it between his fingers, then lifted it beneath his nose.

—

“No irritation.”

“No corrosiveness either.”

“This isn’t demon wolf blood.”

“With this much blood loss…”

“It was probably the earth dragon from last night.”

“It headed in that direction.”

—

Kun reluctantly tore his gaze away from the murals.

“Follow the dragon first.”

“We can examine the wall carvings on the way back.”

—

It was unlikely the murals would directly reveal what had destroyed the once-glorious Ancient Elven Empire.

Still, judging from the fact that precious Ten-Thousand-Year Wood had been used to pave the sacred pathways—and that such a massive ruin existed underground—

Kun suspected this site had once possessed extremely high status.

These murals might contain critical information.

—

What worried him most, however, was the destroyed ruin gate.

The damage clearly hadn’t been caused by the earth dragon or the demon wolves.

The cuts were too smooth.

Too clean.

—

Someone had split the gate open with a single sword strike.

—

And absolutely no third-tier warrior could achieve that.

Kun could tell.

Which meant Dawn had likely realized it as well.

—

At some point in the past, this ruin had been visited by a Legendary Warrior of at least the fourth tier.

And that visitor had come with malicious intent.

—

Following the blood trail, the group discovered more and more demon wolf corpses.

Most were mangled beyond recognition.

Others had simply been smashed into pulp like crushed mosquitoes.

—

“There are already over a hundred demon wolf corpses underground.”

“The hidden pack was at least twice as large as what I originally discovered.”

—

Dawn’s expression turned grim.

So close to Fengrao Territory…

More than two hundred Blood Terror Demon Wolves had been gathered practically at their doorstep.

It was no different from living beside an active volcano.

—

If those wolves had truly attacked Fengrao Territory—

Aside from Kun, who might escape as a fourth-tier mage—

Everyone else would have died.

Including Dawn himself.

—

Kun merely smiled.

“That dragon really solved a massive problem for us.”

“What a wonderful dragon.”

“No… wonderful person.”

“Helping us clean up trouble while also delivering gifts and money right to our doorstep.”

“What a good soul.”

“I truly wouldn’t mind if a few more people like that appeared.”

—

Mm.

There was also the ransom payment.

No—

Compensation payment.

How exactly should he acquire it in a perfectly reasonable manner?

That remained a problem worth considering.

—

Just as Kun’s thoughts drifted far beyond Fengrao Territory toward some wealthy southern earldom of the kingdom, a startled shout from one of the guards interrupted his daydreaming.

—

“My lord! Look over here!”

“There’s a demon wolf corpse!”

—

A demon wolf corpse?

The entire journey here had basically become an exhibition titled One Hundred Ways Demon Wolves Can Die.

What was there to be surprised about?

—

But the moment Kun saw the gigantic wolf corpse suspended midair by a stone spike piercing through its chest—

He immediately understood.

—

“This is the Queen’s corpse.”

—

Unlike ordinary Blood Terror Demon Wolves, this one was entirely different.

Its luxurious crimson fur looked soaked in fresh blood.

Its body was more than three times larger than a normal wolf.

And the additional pair of compound eyes on its forehead proved it had successfully evolved into a second-tier Demon Wolf Queen.

Though likely not long ago.

—

After all, Kun had yet to discover any other second-tier wolves in the nest.

Blood Terror Demon Wolves possessed an unusual evolutionary system among magical beasts.

They pursued collective evolution.

—

Ordinary wolves permanently lost the ability to evolve individually.

But once the Queen evolved, every wolf she birthed afterward would be born directly as second-tier wolves instead of first-tier ones.

—

Only then did Blood Terror Demon Wolves truly earn their reputation as one of the continent’s most savage low-tier magical beasts.

—

Had this wolf pack continued growing…

Perhaps one day the entire northern region of Dansu Kingdom would have been devoured by their endless hunger.

Unfortunately, that glorious future for the pack had been mercilessly interrupted.

Nature’s laws had always been cruel.

Live or die.

—

At the root of it all—

Everything had begun because one person heard a piece of information…

And became greedy.

—

Kun offered no judgment regarding Leon’s selfish actions.

—

To ordinary people, the earth dragon’s fierce maternal instinct…

The wolves’ fearless dedication to their pack…

Even the Ice Fang Mercenary Group’s willingness to die for loyalty—

All of it might seem admirable.

Worthy of sympathy.

Even respect.

—

But none of it truly moved Kun.

He saw it.

Understood it.

And that was all.

No emotional waves stirred within him.

—

Just as Li Tianyun understood—

Kun was a cold person.

—

Ever since childhood, he had felt less like a human being and more like a weed growing accidentally in the corner of some flourishing courtyard.

Never expecting sunlight or rain.

Only accompanied by the violet moon in the night sky.

—

“What a pity.”

“Looks like my earlier judgment was wrong.”

“So the wolves weren’t the victors…”

“The dragon was?”

—

Kun pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

“Not necessarily.”

“There may have been no winner at all.”

—

As a Abundance Mage, Kun possessed extraordinarily sharp life-force perception.

Yet throughout the ruins, he sensed no vibrant vitality whatsoever.

Especially not the overwhelming life force of a fourth-tier Ancient Dragon—something impossible to conceal.

—

One of the warriors brightened visibly.

“So that means only treasure remains inside?”

“And not much danger anymore?”

—

Kun shook his head immediately.

Clearly, he did not share such naïve optimism.

—

The dragon dying to the wolf pack had been the best possible outcome in Kun’s estimation.

A severely weakened wolf pack was merely a group of old dogs with broken teeth.

Easy to clean up.

—

The second possibility was the dragon surviving to the end.

A dying fourth-tier Ancient Dragon—

Its fury alone could easily kill half the elite guards Kun had brought.

—

But now…

Neither of those expected outcomes had occurred.

—

If the dragon had escaped through another passage, that was one thing.

But if it too had died within these ruins…

Then either it had bled to death—

Or something even more terrifying lurked deeper inside.

—

Dawn shared the same conclusion.

The danger hadn’t diminished.

It had increased.

Unexpected danger was always the deadliest kind.

—

“Everyone!”

“Stay sharp!”

“There may be dangers ahead we haven’t anticipated.”

“I don’t want anyone else getting toyed with by a few pathetic spirits and throwing away their lives through carelessness!”

—

“Yes, Captain!”

“Understood, Captain!”

—

Although Dawn no longer officially served as captain of the guard, the warriors he had personally selected and trained still habitually addressed him that way.

They rarely called him “Chief Constable.”

—

Meanwhile, Old Tate was always addressed formally as either “Registrar” or “Steward.”

They clearly still didn’t fully accept his authority.

—

Which was also one of the many reasons Old Tate constantly found fault with Dawn.

Of course—

When someone disliked another person, they could always find ten thousand reasons to justify it.

Perfectly normal.

—

As the group gradually approached the core region of the ruins, more and more vine-like tendrils began appearing across the ground.

Even the thinnest were as thick as a grown man’s arm.

—

The closer they drew toward the center, the thicker the tangled masses became.

From arm-thick…

To barrel-thick…

Until finally they exceeded even the massive trunks of frost cedar trees requiring two people to embrace.

—

The entire core of the ruins had been completely overtaken by these “vines.”

Without the tunnel forcibly carved through them by the earth dragon, advancing would have been impossible.

—

Only then did Kun realize—

Those things weren’t vines at all.

Nor tree trunks.

—

They were roots.

Tree roots.

Roots thicker than the hundred-year-old trees of Everdark Forest itself.

—

And seeing such monstrously oversized roots, Kun could only think of one possibility.