Chapter 163: Ascension Points

"Thank you, everyone..." Old Zhong faced the three and there was a relieved smile on his face.

Ricardo nodded his head and smiled in return while Heisenberg rubbed his nose and averted his gaze from Old Zhong.

Calvin also gave a smile and said, "It was long overdue. I'm glad you've had your vengeance. Now, we must continue. Old Zhong, I think that you should return now. I have a feeling that everything's going to be more dangerous the closer we get to the tunnels. You just had your revenge, there's no way that we'll let you endanger yourself any further without being able to celebrate the fruits of your vengeance."

Ricardo agreed, "That's right, Old Zhong. Just give us a map and we should be able to locate it by ourselves."

Heisenberg didn't say anything but the way he was staring at Old Zhong made it obvious that he was in agreement.

Old Zhong had to turn back.

Only when there were no mortals present could they possibly exert all of their power without any worries for possible collateral damage.

"I cannot turn back. I've already made a decision to lead the three of you into the tunnels. How can I possibly turn back when we're already halfway there?" Old Zhong frowned. He felt as if he was being treated as an outcast by the three.

"Heisenberg, do you still have another crystal orb? I'm sure you do, right? There's no way a Priest would come out of the Church without carrying any back-ups knowing that those tiny weeny orbs are so fragile they might as well be made out of glass." Calvin smirked.

Heisenberg coldly snorted, "Yeah, I do have back-ups. What's makes you think that I would be so careless?"

"Hahaha, come on, now... Don't be mad." Calvin smirked.

"Wait, those aren't made out of glass?" Ricardo was intrigued.

But Calvin and Heisenberg didn't reply to what he had said. The two of them just let out a couple of chuckles.

"Old Zhong, since you are that serious about keeping us company until we arrive at the tunnels. Then, fine. But you must never enter the tunnels with us. You'll go back and we will give you some protection so you can return to the village safely."

"Thank you..." Old Zhong felt warm in his heart.

"All right, let's save the drama for later! Let's continue!" Ricardo broke the strange atmosphere that was about to cover the entire group.

He took the same position that he took earlier while Calvin stayed on the rear.

Old Zhong, Ricardo, and Heisenberg picked up the pace while Calvin deliberately slowed down his step, so he could put some distance between them and him.

A smile crept up his lips.

When Calvin entered this valley, he noticed that the Sigbin was not the only danger that existed in the Valley. Almost every danger in this valley didn't exist in the material plane but in the spiritual plane. What's more, most of them were beings created from resentment. May they be a Specter or an Evil-Type Beasts, all of them had one thing in common.

They were all evil-attributed.

Calvin summoned the golden quill, but he placed it deep in his pockets.

He knew that something was lurking behind him, but he didn't look back.

He pretended as if he knew nothing and that nothing strange was happening.

Calvin continued to walk, he was only about ten meters away from the group and he could barely see their backs through his naked eye.

Then, suddenly...

The winds in the valley stilled, and the surroundings turned silent.

It was as if a barrier had been broken and Calvin entered a whole new world with just a single step.

The temperature around him dropped, and he felt a shiver down his spine as a cold draft assaulted his back.

Something was coming behind him...

Was it because he could still see the backs of his comrades that Calvin seemed to be walking with ease.

However, when the cold draft was only a few meters away from him. It stopped.

It seemed to be hesitating.

Calvin inwardly complained, 'What's wrong? Are you not going to attack me? Look! I'm out here alone with my comrades so far in front of me in the middle of this seemingly endless fog! What are you going to do? Are you just going to stand there and wait? Attack me! Now!' He really wanted to scream out loud in frustration, but he knew that he had to pretend to be ignorant.

'Maybe it's hesitating to attack me since I am so far away from the others?' Calvin thought. But ultimately, he decided to just keep his pace and wait a little longer. If he walked backwards, then that would definitely spook the monster from attacking since no ordinary human being would possibly walk into a lion's den.

It was impossible that the monsters saw that Calvin had some skills since they had deployed a domain that rendered them invisible apart from those that the domain condemned to be impure. In other words, the monsters in this valley must have no idea that Calvin wasn't so weak like they had expected.

In that case, why was this monster hesitating?

Calvin furrowed his eyebrows.

But his steps never lagged, nor any hesitation showed up on his expression and movements.

The road eventually narrowed and the incline became steeper. The path was slowly being swallowed by the thick branches and thickets to the extent that Ricardo and Heisenberg had to help on clearing these blockages since Old Zhong couldn't keep up anymore.

Calvin didn't even glance at what was following him from behind as he unhesitatingly moved faster, he was clearly planning on helping Old Zhong and the others.

But this was the cue that the monster needed to attack...

As soon as he picked up his speed, the monster seemed to have panicked and out of regret for not making its attack earlier.

It finally made a move.

The temperature dropped sharply and Calvin felt as if his neck was submerged in icy cold water. The hairs on his neck stiffened, and the coldness surrounded him, seemingly intent on swallowing him whole.

The chill congealed into something immaterial, but with weight as Calvin felt something heavy sit on his head.

Then, a strange yapping noise was heard.

"Hihihi... Meat... Delicious..."

"Smells... Good... Meat..."

The yapping noise sounded feminine, and it was devoid of any emotions apart from excitement.

Strangely enough, the voice was loud, yet only Calvin could hear it.

Old Zhong and the others were busy hacking away at the bushes around them as they tried their best to make a path. They didn't seem to notice nor hear any disturbances around them.

"Meat... Hihihi... I'm going to eat..."

"Meat..."

The coldness that congealed atop Calvin's head started to wrap around his neck. It had substance, it felt as if it was a pair of hands.

Then, there came a pulling force.

The force wanted to pull Calvin backwards, out of sight from the others. The monster that manifested on his head didn't want to create any trouble at all, it was obvious that it only wanted a quick meal out of one of the foolish invaders that dared to enter its territory.

But...

"Can you stop holding my neck like that, my friend? Your hands are really cold..." Calvin coldly spat.

He raised his head and found that beyond an unkempt hair was a pair of bloodshot eyes!

"A hag... Interesting..." Calvin smiled.

"REEEEEEEEEEE!" The hag let out a shriek and it raised its left hand and was about to slam a ball of dirt into Calvin's eyes.

It was planning on robbing away Calvin's eyesight, so it could then drag Calvin into the depths of the valley.

But little did the hag knew that all of these were planned by Calvin himself...

The moment it let out a shriek, Calvin groped his golden quill and a Specter wearing a hospital gown appeared right behind the hag.

The Mortician yanked the hag out of Calvin's back, and before it realized what had happened.

It was torn into pieces and consumed by the Mortician!

[Gained 30 Ascension Points for the Mortician]

[The Mortician's Ascension Points: 75/100]

[25 Ascension Points necessary for Ascension to Purveyor.]

A smile crept up on Calvin's lips.

That's right...

The Ascension System that Grace bestowed upon him in the form of the Emperor's Commandment also gave everything that he had in him a system...

Of course, that included the Mortician.

Monsters that belonged to the Bestiary have their own rankings, and they were as follows...

Purveyor

Emissary

and Ambassador...

There were monsters stronger than the Ambassador Tier, but Calvin had no idea what they were classified. Perhaps, in the future, when the Mortician reached the peak of the Ambassador, he would finally be able to see just what lies beyond the Ambassador Rank. For now, Calvin's goal was to ascend the Mortician into the Purveyor Rank, so it could gain a foothold in the spirit plane.

Calvin swept his gaze around him and he was shocked to discover that the monsters lurking in the area had disappeared.

'Damn... I didn't expect that they would be that quick to run... It's just a hag for fuck's sake...' Calvin bitterly smiled.

He planned on slaughtering the others and feeding them to the Mortician, but it was obvious that his plan wasn't going to work anymore.

The monsters had tucked their tails into their asses and ran away after seeing the gruesome and quick death of the hag.

Calvin let out a sigh.

He stared at the Mortician and noticed that it seemed to look more imposing than ever before.

After nodding in satisfaction at the progress of the Mortician, Calvin groped his golden quill and the Mortician vanished like smoke.

Only 25 Ascension Points left before the Mortician transformed into a Purveyor.

The Diary-Keeper Calvin that had no offensive skills whatsoever at this moment could finally have someone fight for him in the future.