Chapter 80 - Evaluation Rewards Curse Seal Altar Night Watch Seeking Followers and Monthly Votes

“I’m currently settling your legendary achievements for you…”

“You were born talentless and useless until you finally awakened at seventeen and soared to the sky!

— You’ve achieved: Never Underestimate the Young and Poor.”

“You’re extremely cautious, especially protective of your sworn sisters, always stepping back to shield them from danger every time you encounter it—You’ve achieved: Wife-Protecting Maniac.”

“You’ve guarded for a century, finally living a second life, and even resurrected all your lovers, creating a legendary family by sheer force of will—You’ve achieved: Peerless Xiao Clan.”

“You’ve tamed all the Yuanjie Gods across the continent, lit the spark of fate with them, and didn’t even spare the male species!

— You’ve achieved: Full Bestiary.”

“You are a Heavenly Slaughter Star; anyone related by blood to you can’t survive to see the next day, even half-Emperor-level powerhouses can’t break this curse—You’ve achieved: Father’s Worry.”

“Your life’s a game; you and all your harem spent every day entwined, except for the one woman (?) who truly loved you.

Your passionate affair was hot but was interrupted at the very last moment—You’ve achieved: Missed Connection!”

“Your mom, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I’d have forgotten!”

Xu Shu sighed, realizing that Xuanshuang actually had those needs, but had stubbornly endured over two hundred years of widowhood.

He felt quite sorry for her.

Such pure love characters are rare in film.

Well, a legend is just a simulated game anyway.

He thought for a moment, forwent this unnecessary concern, and turned to look at the rewards from this legendary outcome.

“Evaluation: …It’s hard to evaluate you, a creature newly born.

“Your life should have been utterly mediocre, yet you burst forth with astonishing color in the most insignificant places.

“You clearly only have lewd thoughts on your mind, yet at the final moment, you strategically planned and won battles from miles away.

“Very good, an inscrutable master is the perfect owner for the Tai Chu Scroll.”

“You have obtained Altar·Doctor (Flawless).”

“In your legendary life, you’ve had several moments of Heavenly Defiance, but unfortunately, you were powerless against forbidden deities.

Your reward level has been upgraded one notch:

Altar·Doctor (Flawless)”Altar·Doctor (Epic)

“Altar·Doctor (Epic): A small altar, please set it up within any border to take effect.

By sacrificing enough lives to Lie Zhenzi through the altar, you can obtain a mark, which can be used to create a Curse Seal, and 100% combine into an Epic level Doctor’s Curse Seal.”

“Hint: The lives sacrificed must be human, but Lie Zhenzi doesn’t care whether the lives are good or evil, which greatly widens your options.”

“Ah?”

Seeing that the Tai Chu Scroll’s inventory indeed had a new small golden altar icon, Xu Shu was slightly stunned.

Ah??

Aren’t Curse Seals usually obtained by killing monsters outright, or crafted by officials using Erosion Crystals from inside the monsters?

Why are human sacrifices needed now?

When he killed Black Widow before and obtained the Epic Curse Seal, there was no need to sacrifice anyone.

Strange, wasn’t the Lie Zhenzi supposed to be a treasure left by the ancient sages?

How could it involve sacrifice, which sounds evil and is supposed to be exclusively practiced by Esoteric believers?

Or is it that the Altar I’ve obtained is special and requires sacrifice while the Astronomy Association creates Curse Seals without them?

No, perhaps, the Astronomy Association also acquires Curse Seals through sacrificing human lives, such as executing criminals?

So, that’s why they try everything to censor the information, afraid to disclose the path to becoming a Transcendent to the public, because if ordinary people knew, they wouldn’t care about good or evil, and then everyone would truly be at risk.

“Wait a minute, damn it, when I left, those human traffickers tried to capture me, could it be not just for some kidneys, but to sell me off entirely for sacrifice?”

“F**k, that’s very possible!

Although they say the path to transcendence is secret, there’s no wall without wind, and it’s only us law-abiding good citizens they manage to keep it from!”

“So, I need to be even more careful in the future, not just monsters.

When the human heart turns evil, it can be as terrible as a man-eating monster.”

Xu Shu pushed aside these thoughts.

The matter at hand was to strive to improve himself, to gain the strength to protect himself and his family.

He looked at his item bag.

Yesterday plus today, four ventures yielded four items total.

Two were of excellent quality: Water Flower Basket and Fugitive Mandarins.

One Well-Meaning Borrowing (Fine) and the most worthless Rotting Cattle Slaughter Knife (Common) from this morning.

“This stuff shouldn’t be common; I should have made the lowest quality ‘trash’, otherwise it wouldn’t adequately describe the lowliness of this item.”

Xu Shu looked at his several blue and green knives and felt slightly relieved.

Power is the foundation.

“Wasteland opportunities are too scarce; check the route again tomorrow morning, then I’m heading back to the city!”

Xu Shu made up his mind and suddenly asked, “Hey, Gu Pan, is that thing you called an ‘entry proof’ really able to cleanse the Ascension Drive inside me and turn me into an officially recognized Transcendent?”

Considering the road ahead, where many paths couldn’t avoid official channels, Xu Shu still cared a lot about this.

He certainly didn’t want to enter the city only to be dragged away by the Judgement Department’s people.

“Ah?

Yeah, that’s right!” Gu Pan was still looking at the gradually disappearing open-air toilet in the rearview mirror.

Startled by the question, she nodded and added:

“Of course, there’s no mistake.

But it’s not something just anyone can manage easily.

The Astronomy Association has qualification requirements for students too, mainly to avoid overlooking those who actually have the abilities, albeit poor, hovering around the passing line.”

As Gu Pan spoke, she glanced at Xu Shu in the back seat through the rearview mirror and answered with increasing calmness: “According to the rules, you still need to go through another test after you return.

The Astronomy Association will decide based on your qualifications whether to leave the Ascension Drive with you or recover it after you reach level 12.”

“Another test?” Xu Shu touched his chin.

He already knew that for Transcendents with the lowest talents, like Patrol Captains and Garrison Captains, their Ascension Drives were recovered after use.

“However, I have a way to let you skip this step.

I know you don’t want people to know your secret; I’ll help you out.”

Gu Pan let out a light laugh, thinking to herself that even if you wanted to show off your abilities, I wouldn’t agree—it’s too dangerous.

“Oh, that’s good then.”

“So it’s settled?

After we return to the city, I’ll get the entry proof ready for your signature, and you’ll have to call me ‘teacher,’ okay?

I’m a year older than you, and all your knowledge about Transcendents is taught by me.

It’s not too much to ask for you to call me ‘teacher,’ is it?” Gu Pan said casually.

“Heh, okay, we’ll see.”

Xu Shu squinted his eyes, agreeing verbally but inwardly harboring suspicions:

“What is this woman trying to pull?

Something feels odd, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“Setting a trap for me to fall into?

That shouldn’t be it.

The Tai Chu Scroll simulation said earlier that her fondness for me has greatly increased, and she didn’t take advantage of me when I pretended to faint.

“But her shifty eyes, practically screaming ‘I have a scheme’ — she doesn’t think she’s camouflaged herself well, does she?

“Anyway, I can’t trust her just yet!

A woman’s heart is a deep ocean of secrets, especially one who disguises herself as a man.

It feels like some changes have taken place since she left the Black Widow Prison.

“Heh, women, looks like she’s changed her heart!

“I need to test her again tomorrow; this matter is of major importance.

I must be careful and cautious, not to leave any risks for myself.”

Xu Shu touched his chin, already making calculations.

Looking at the back of Gu Pan’s head, Xu Shu chuckled to himself inwardly.

Trying to play mind games with me?

Do you think I’m an eighteen-year-old kid?

You don’t know I can predict the future?

As night fell and the sun completely set, Xu Shu arrived back at the refuge shelter that had once warmly welcomed him and where he had stayed a night.

Their nighttime defenses were very well done, with many barricades arranged at the entrance like cavalry fences.

After parking the car on the open land outside, Xu Shu and Gu Pan got out and walked towards the refuge shelter, which had originally been Ning Yao XX Middle School.

Nearing the security guard post at the entrance, reinforced with metal plates and connected to the main hall, they found the light was on, but no one was inside.

“Strange.”

Xu Shu didn’t stand on ceremony, directly moving the iron gate himself, and he and Gu Pan walked towards the front hall.

There, where there would normally be many people, it was very quiet.

The lights were on, but there was no one around.

Instead, from a corner in the hallway, there came uneven heavy breaths.

“Ay~” “Neh~” “Woah~”

“Ptui!”

Xu Shu and Gu Pan exchanged looks, the latter’s face a slight red, turning her head away.

It wasn’t just Xu Shu who regularly played 18+ games; even the inexperienced Gu Pan realize immediately what the people inside were doing.

“Heh,” Gu Pan spat, not because she thought there was anything wrong with it.

After all, the most promoted official post-apocalyptic message was to have more children for the future of humanity.

She thought it was more important to keep guard.

Those people had abandoned their posts to sneak here for an affair.

This behavior wouldn’t be of any use as an alarm if monsters really came; it could be harmful to themselves and others.

That was something Wasteland Wanderers might do, but in the garrison or Patrol Army at home, doing so would get you court-martialed for desertion.

And what Xu Shu was thinking was:

These guys are quite unimpressive, quieting down after just a few minutes, no match for me at all.

I last at least half an hour from the start.

After the noise inside subsided, Xu Shu approached and coughed, asking knowingly, “Cough cough, is anyone there?”