Book 9: Chapter 65: Contribution Points

“Apostle 70053, a wood-affinity legendary Artifact Spirit has been detected within the Spiritual Equipment. It is possible to replace the pseudo-divine spark within the unfused equipment ‘Holy Crown of Thorns’ at a certain cost, and reselect equipment settings.”

“Can an Artifact Spirit already fused into Spiritual Equipment be removed again?” This prompt surprised Qin Lun, but he quickly understood.

There were many instances where equipment and Artifact Spirits were not very compatible. The essence of Apostle equipment was a type of Spiritual Equipment, where the equipment served merely as a host for the Artifact Spirit. Logically, all the law abilities and attributes possessed by Apostle equipment were granted by the Artifact Spirit.

However, for equipment below legendary quality, the Artifact Spirit was too weak and would dissipate upon removal, making replacement difficult. Only legendary-tier equipment, including Sub-Legendary, had dense enough Artifact Spirits to withstand such a process. Still, after replacement, the original equipment would lose its spirituality and become completely useless.

Qin Lun didn’t need to think hard to know the wood-affinity legendary Artifact Spirit mentioned in the prompt referred to the legendary dryad Ayala. Destroying a handy legendary item to assemble another legendary item with unknown effects was something Qin Lun wouldn’t foolishly do.

However, the Ayala Weapon Casket was special. It contained not one, but two Artifact Spirits. Apart from Ayala, there was also a weakened Sub-Legendary Ice Sprite. If Ayala could be removed without destroying the weapon casket entirely, it might be worth considering.

Thinking this, Qin Lun immersed his consciousness into the Death Notice again to inquire about several issues that concerned him. After about half an hour, he finally understood all aspects of the prompt and felt somewhat hesitant.

Through his inquiries, he gained more information. Firstly, this Artifact Spirit replacement service from the Star Void was not a regular offering and rarely occurred. Ordinary Apostles might not have even heard of it.

The Artifact Spirit replacement service required many special conditions, with the first one ruling out most Apostles. It required the Apostle to possess a third-tier title. Qin Lun’s current contribution points exceeded four hundred, earning him the title “Gongcheng” based on Qin dynasty military ranks—the fourth level of the second tier in the Shattered Starry Sky. This did not meet the service requirement.

If the title condition was not met, the Artifact Spirit replacement service would only appear for extremely special unfused equipment. Unfused equipment referred to items like the Holy Crown of Thorns cube, which required the Apostle to specifically designate the item’s abilities.

This unfused equipment was actually a special reward from the Star Void. Only when an Apostle made extraordinary contributions in a certain Quest World would the Shattered Starry Sky grant such an unfused equipment cube, deliberately providing the Apostle with high-quality gear highly suited to them.

Artifact Spirit replacement existed so that if an Apostle obtained high-quality equipment but disliked the abilities or attributes set by the Star Void, they could replace it with an Artifact Spirit they were familiar with.

Secondly, Qin Lun learned that after replacing the Artifact Spirit, because the Ayala Weapon Casket had two Artifact Spirits, it would not incorporate the “pseudo-divine spark” formed by the Holy Crown of Thorns. Instead, the divinity within the Holy Crown of Thorns would be split: one part fused with Ayala, the other with the Ice Sprite.

This served to harmonize the Ayala Artifact Spirit with the Holy Crown of Thorns on one hand, and on the other, to repair the weapon casket’s lost spirituality, preventing it from degrading from legendary quality to Dark Gold Equipment.

Thirdly, another piece of information Qin Lun obtained from the prompt seemed very interesting. Artifact Spirit replacement came at a cost—not Shattered Crystals or anything else, but Contribution Points.

Qin Lun had never known that Contribution Points, which originally only represented titles, could also be spent as Apostle currency. During his inquiry, he spent much time investigating this aspect.

It turned out that Contribution Points, which represented titles, were themselves a spendable Apostle currency, and a high-value one at that. However, using Contribution Points had many restrictions. Apart from certain special circumstances, only those with third-tier titles or higher could use them.

Apostles who truly reached the third tier, even if not High-Rank Apostles, were generally veteran powerhouses who had been in the Second Order for a long time. Such Apostles typically possessed one or two pieces of Legendary Equipment. One of the most important uses of Contribution Points was repairing equipment and recharging it.

For example, in the Divine Comedy World, Qin Lun had used a Mithril Arrow to defeat Hawkeye Clint. Although the arrow was recovered afterward, its magical energy was depleted and needed recharging.

Qin Lun had known that the Shattered Starry Sky offered such recharging services, but he had never used them himself. He thought Shattered Crystals could be used for recharging, never realizing it required Contribution Points. Thus, before reaching the third-tier title, he would have to be cautious about how often he used the Mithril Arrow.

Besides recharging equipment, Contribution Points had many other uses. Qin Lun summarized them as services requiring the Shattered Starry Sky to perform law repairs. This made sense—Contribution Points represented an Apostle’s contribution to the Star Void, so using them to pay for the Star Void’s law services seemed reasonable.

Services like equipment repair were a form of law repair. Of course, requesting the Shattered Starry Sky to repair equipment was very expensive. With ordinary Apostles earning only ten to twenty Contribution Points per Quest World, they couldn’t afford equipment depreciation this way.

Therefore, Qin Lun guessed that those with third-tier titles rarely chose this service unless it was for Legendary Equipment or extremely core Dark Gold Equipment. As for blue, purple, or even ordinary Dark Gold Equipment, they probably sought out Blacksmiths in the Apostle City for manual repairs.

Though the quality might decrease slightly, these items weren’t valuable enough to warrant using Contribution Points. It might be better to spend a few tens of thousands of Shattered Crystals on a new one.

No wonder so many Apostles entered and exited Quest Worlds daily, yet equipment prices in the Devil’s Horn didn’t fluctuate much. Equipment wear and tear must be severe, not to mention that when an Apostle fell, most of their equipment was reclaimed by the Star Void.

Of course, although Contribution Points served as currency, the titles increased by them wouldn’t drop back down after spending Contribution Points—they only ever increased.

The final result Qin Lun found was that completing this Artifact Spirit replacement would cost him nearly 300 Contribution Points—almost three-quarters of his total.

This was indeed a huge cost. After all, these Contribution Points had been accumulated over more than ten Quest Worlds. For an ordinary Apostle, it might take over twenty Quest Worlds.

Though somewhat reluctant, after careful consideration, Qin Lun agreed to pay the Contribution Points and proceed with the Artifact Spirit replacement.

Upon receiving Qin Lun’s consent, the Holy Crown of Thorns cube slowly opened, and a green crown of thorns emitting a soft green light floated out.

Simultaneously, the Ayala Weapon Casket detached from the Storage Space and floated in the air. Both items appeared somewhat transparent and illusory, as if not fully present in the current space, pulled into another temporal dimension by the Star Void.

Soon, a small cluster of milky-white light separated from the Holy Crown of Thorns. This white light appeared pure and holy, giving off a sacred feeling even through the temporal membrane—likely the trace of divinity the Holy Crown of Thorns possessed.

At the same time, the Ayala Weapon Casket also separated a ball of green light. But compared to the Holy Crown of Thorns, this green light was only the size of a broad bean, with a faintly visible tiny sapling inside, seeming very inconspicuous.

As the Ayala Artifact Spirit detached from the weapon casket, the sacred white light between the two items gradually split into two parts. The larger portion merged with the Ayala dryad Artifact Spirit and drew it into the Holy Crown of Thorns, while the smaller part fused into the original Ayala Weapon Casket.

However, as the sacred white light merged with the Ayala Artifact Spirit, another prompt appeared in Qin Lun’s mind.

“Apostle 70053, a dormant dryad consciousness has been detected within the Ayala Artifact Spirit. After fusing with divinity, there is a possibility the consciousness could awaken. Do you wish to erase the consciousness and revert it to a pure Artifact Spirit?”

“Erase it!” Qin Lun’s expression darkened as he gave the command without hesitation. Originally, he thought the Blood of Dissection had eliminated this legendary dryad’s consciousness after gaining control of the Ayala Weapon Casket; he hadn’t realized it was merely dormant.

Although the dryad was entirely under Qin Lun’s control now and couldn’t resist him even if it woke, Qin Lun still didn’t want such a variable.

Upon receiving Qin Lun’s command, the small sapling inside the Ayala Artifact Spirit gradually faded and disappeared, eventually turning into a pure ball of green light that merged into the Holy Crown of Thorns. This time, however, Qin Lun didn’t receive any equipment setting options. Since he chose the already defined Ayala Artifact Spirit, the future attributes of the Holy Crown of Thorns were fixed and couldn’t be reset.

After the two pieces of equipment fused with their respective Artifact Spirits and divinity, they slowly left their illusory transparent states and fell into Qin Lun’s hands, while the Holy Crown of Thorns cube vanished into the air.

Having lost the Ayala Artifact Spirit, the Ayala Weapon Casket’s appearance changed. The dryad face on the front of the weapon casket disappeared completely. The non-metallic, non-wooden casing now seemed covered with a layer of pure white frost, exuding a cold aura as if just taken from a freezer.

The Holy Crown of Thorns, now fused with the Ayala Artifact Spirit, showed little change. However, the originally somewhat dried-out vine crown now seemed rejuvenated, with a fresh layer of green, displaying vibrant vitality.

Upon touching the physical items, Qin Lun eagerly checked the descriptions of the two items in the Death Notice.

Weapon Case “Frostwind Chaser” (Composite Equipment)

Quality: Legendary Rank First Stage

Materials: Starfall Iron, World Tree branch, Frost Gem, Elemental Burst Bead, etc.

Weight: 2600 grams

Perception: +8; Spirit: +7;

Artifact Spirit: Greater Frost Sprite

Main Equipment: Frostwind Chaser; Attached Combined Equipment: World Tree Ice Bow, Frost Ghost Claw

Equipment Slot 1: Vacant; Equipment Slot 2: Vacant

Item Laws: Arid Glacier, Ice Arrow

Arid Glacier: This equipment can absorb water molecules in the surrounding area in an extremely short time, causing the ground to dry and crack, then freeze and release all stored frost elements at once, completely icing over the area.

Ice Arrow: The World Tree Ice Bow consumes the user’s mana or uses stored ice elements from the weapon case to autonomously form ice arrows. Besides physical damage, ice arrows carry freezing damage. Upon breaking, they create frost splashes at the target location.

Equipment Note 1: The two equipment slots of the Ayala Weapon Casket are built-in equipment slots, capable of holding any two items with a volume of five units. The slot shapes are not fixed and can change according to the equipment’s form.

Equipment Note 2: Arid Glacier is an active skill requiring the weapon case to be placed on the ground. After a one-time release of frost elements, the equipment requires three natural days to replenish ice elements. Using Arid Glacier requires the Apostle to have Earth Element Affinity and gain recognition from the Frostwind Chaser’s Ice Sprite.

The main equipment of the weapon case, “Frostwind Chaser,” was no different from before. Its attached skills remained the same as Frostwind Chaser: Moonlit Runes, Freezing Cold, Frostwind Chaser.

However, the equipment quality had been restored from purple-gold to Legendary Rank, and the Ice Sprite had grown into a Greater Frost Sprite. Moreover, it was no longer Sub-Legendary but directly Legendary Rank First Stage. It seemed the fused small cluster of divinity had qualitatively transformed the Frostwind Chaser.

But because the weapon case lacked the Ayala Artifact Spirit, the original Green Gift ability was gone. The boosts to Perception and Spirit decreased, while Strength and Agility attributes no longer reduced. It no longer provided continuous recovery bonuses to Health and Stamina.

The original attached equipment Ayala Longbow had become the World Tree Ice Bow, gaining an additional Ice Arrow ability, seemingly with increased power.

Seeing that the weapon case’s most important skill, “Arid Glacier,” was still present, Qin Lun breathed a sigh of relief. He had worried that losing one Artifact Spirit would affect this skill. Now it seemed having two legendary Artifact Spirits concentrated in one piece of equipment was indeed somewhat wasteful.

After briefly checking the weapon case, Qin Lun’s attention was completely captured by the other item—the Holy Crown of Thorns.

Holy Crown of Thorns (Unique World Treasure)

Quality: Legendary Rank Third Stage

Material: Holy Thorn

Weight: 120 grams

Artifact Spirit: Sacred Dryad

All attributes increased by 5 points

Item Laws: Green Gift, Thorn Clone, Sacred Pool

Green Gift: The Green Gift law allows the Apostle to receive nature’s feedback, absorbing life energy from surrounding plants to accelerate the recovery of Energy Points and Health Points, increased to 400% of the original rate.

Thorn Clone: The Apostle can separate the Holy Crown of Thorns from within to create a Thorn Clone identical to themselves. The Thorn Clone has 70% of the original’s attributes and can use any of the original’s skills and equipment (subject to equipment requirements), except for bloodline abilities.

Sacred Pool: After wearing the Holy Crown of Thorns, it will hide within the Apostle’s body and construct a Life Sacred Pool. The Sacred Pool has a capacity equal to the Apostle’s current Health Points or Energy Points (choose one). After choosing one, switching to the other requires one hour of law transition time.

Equipment Note 1: Green Gift is a passive ability. The Ayala Weapon Casket will automatically absorb life energy from surrounding vegetation and feed it back to the owner.

Equipment Note 2: Only one Thorn Clone can exist at a time. Its duration depends on the Apostle’s Energy Points, with a cooldown of one natural day.

Equipment Tip: After creating a Thorn Clone, since the Holy Crown of Thorns has separated from the Apostle’s body, the Sacred Pool cannot be used.

Equipment Requirements: To use Green Gift and Thorn Clone, the Apostle must have Perception greater than 50 points and possess Wood Element Affinity. The Sacred Pool can only be used after obtaining an Advanced Magic Core or Advanced Virtual Magic Web.

After reading the Holy Crown of Thorns’ description, Qin Lun felt very satisfied. The dryad Artifact Spirit fused with most of the divinity, combined with the Holy Crown of Thorns’ entity, actually reached Legendary Rank Third Stage.

The Green Gift ability possessed by the Ayala Artifact Spirit hadn’t disappeared but was transferred to the Holy Crown of Thorns. However, the attribute boosts were no longer only Perception and Spirit but +5 to all attributes—worthy of Legendary Rank Third Stage quality.

Although it no longer had a substitute death ability, the newly appeared Sacred Pool clearly suited Qin Lun’s preferences better. His current Health Points were 1627, and Energy Points were 2273. Choosing Health Points meant an extra life. Choosing Energy Points provided stronger, more sustained skill output, already comparable to a Second Order Magician’s mana.

Curious, Qin Lun placed the green crown of thorns on his head, immediately feeling a slight pricking sensation on his scalp. After putting on the Holy Crown of Thorns, the thorns on its surface slowly pierced his scalp, and the entire crown began merging into his Law Body.

Simultaneously, the virtual magic core inside Qin Lun’s body underwent a strange change. A circular pool appeared at its bottom, filled about halfway with golden liquid. The original magic core floated above the pool like a fountain statue, slowly rotating and reflecting gorgeous colorful lights—a breathtaking sight.

After the Holy Crown of Thorns fully merged into Qin Lun’s body, a dark green thorn pattern appeared in the center of his forehead. This was the first magical rune to appear on his Law Body aside from the Apostle Soul Mark on his right hand.

By now, Qin Lun had opened all four cubes he obtained from the previous world. In total, he acquired one Legendary Rank Third Stage item, three pieces of Dark Gold Equipment, one Skill Scroll, and one consumable item.

Apart from the Holy Crown of Thorns, whose value was hard to gauge, the other items combined were worth over three hundred thousand Shattered Crystals. This was his most abundant harvest from cubes across all his Quest Worlds.

“It’s time to go out for a bit!” Qin Lun stretched, stood up, and pushed open the door.

“Master, you’re awake!” Entering the living room, Qin Lun found only Didi inside.

“Frank and that person went to the Training Ground!” Didi’s big eyes blinked, as if he had a natural mind-reading ability, answering before Qin Lun could ask. However, his relationship with Sif still didn’t seem improved—he didn’t even say her name now.

“Oh, Master, Lady Kelly left you a message earlier. She asked you to call her back after you woke up!” Seeing Qin Lun somewhat lethargic, Didi spoke seriously.

“Kelly? What does this woman want from me now?” Qin Lun resignedly took the Projector, feeling a twinge of regret. Ever since he became a member of Lost, Kelly seemed to have found free labor, treating him like a pack mule.