Chapter 186; The Headless Half Body Corpse

Chapter 186: Chapter 186; The Headless Half Body Corpse

"Why would you say something like that?"

"Did something happen while you were in seclusion?"

"Please don’t say that! The Shelby Family can’t afford to lose you!"

The family members crowded around him, their faces filled with alarm and disbelief. Some were already struggling to hold back their tears.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s villa had become much quieter.

After the day’s events, the group had returned to the residence and finally had a chance to rest. Xavier, Victoria, Mira, Maya, and Sarah had finished dinner and were preparing to retire for the night.

The relationship between Sarah and Maya had also taken a major turn.

The misunderstanding that had separated mother and daughter for so many years had finally been cleared up. They now had eighteen years of missed conversations to make up for, and neither seemed willing to let the other out of sight.

It was obvious that they would be spending the night together.

That left Xavier with little choice but to call Mira aside before heading to his own room.

"Honey, are you running short of cultivation resources? Here, take these."

He brought out several resources and offered them to her.

Mira stared at what he had handed over.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.

"S, do you know that I have more cultivation resources in my spatial ring than I know what to do with?

Xavier paid no attention to Mira’s objections.

"What? Are you being difficult again? There’s a kind of hunger only your husband can understand!"

He chuckled and ignored her protests. Then he took out three treasures from his spatial ring, along with several pills and a demon core, and placed everything in front of her.

The system notifications immediately began appearing in his mind.

Congratulations, Host! Your investment in a fifth-grade Creation Pill has triggered a 100-fold return! You have received one seventh-grade Enlightenment Pill and one Marrow Cleansing Pill!

Congratulations, Host! Your investment in a fifth-grade Saint Essence Pill has triggered a 1,000-fold return! You have received one eighth-grade Immortal Martial Pill!

...

Congratulations, Host! Your investment in a fourth-tier beginner demon core has triggered a 2-fold return! You have received two fourth-tier beginner demon cores!

Congratulations, Host! Your investment in the Dragon Blood Fruit has triggered a 1-fold return! You have received one Dragon Blood Fruit!

Unfortunately, your investment in the Heavenly-level martial skill, Shepherd God Puppet Technique (Fragment), has failed. No reward granted!

Unfortunately, your investment in the Martial Saint’s Body (Incomplete) has failed. No reward granted!

...

"What the hell? System, are you messing with me?"

Xavier’s expression darkened as he reviewed the notifications.

The first two returns had raised his expectations considerably. A hundredfold reward followed by a thousandfold one! He had almost convinced himself that he was about to enjoy another stroke of extraordinary luck.

But after those two, the remaining returns were painfully ordinary. Not a single one exceeded tenfold.

Even worse, the Dragon Blood Fruit, which he valued above everything else in this batch, had only produced a onefold return.

What kind of luck was that?

The Dragon Blood Fruit was arguably the most valuable item he had invested in this round. Its ability to accelerate the growth of a special constitution made it particularly important to Xavier.

After all, improving his Chaotic Body was currently one of the most effective ways for him to increase his cultivation, physical strength, and overall combat ability.

If his constitution developed far enough, he might even gain the opportunity to comprehend a powerful physical technique like the Chaos Divine Palm.

That was something he had been looking forward to.

He had also obtained a Regeneration Fruit in the Destiny Space. Although it could strengthen a person’s physique, consuming it directly came with a serious drawback.

According to the Encyclopedia of Rare Resources, eating the fruit without first processing it could cause severe inner demons.

Xavier had therefore kept it safely inside his spatial ring. He intended to give it to Mira or his apprentice, Maya, once he found a way to eliminate its dangerous side effects.

The Dragon Blood Fruit, on the other hand, had no such drawback. It was precisely the kind of treasure he needed.

Yet the system had rewarded him with only another copy of the same fruit.

Was that supposed to be a lucky return?

"Fine! Fine! At least the first two investments were decent. But what’s with those last two failures? System, you’re really something!"

Xavier was so frustrated that he couldn’t help laughing.

He could understand why the investment in the Shepherd God Puppet Technique had failed. It was an incomplete Heavenly-level martial art, and its name suggested that it was related to controlling puppets. Even Ancestor Wendell had spent years studying it without gaining more than a superficial understanding.

It wasn’t surprising that Mira couldn’t benefit from it.

But why had the investment in the Martial Saint’s severed finger failed?

According to Ancestor Wendell, the energy contained inside it was even purer than that of the finest spirit stones. It could save someone an entire month of cultivation with just one hour of absorption.

The only restriction was that the user needed to reach the peak of the Spirit Platform Realm before safely absorbing and refining its energy.

Mira had only recently entered the Spirit Platform Realm. She wasn’t ready to use it yet, but that didn’t mean she would never be able to.

So why had the system rejected the investment?

Xavier was still trying to figure it out when something unexpected happened.

"That smells wonderful! What is it?"

A translucent figure suddenly emerged from Mira’s body, peering eagerly at the severed finger in her hand.

It was Lydia!

Her eyes were practically glued to the treasure, and she looked as though she were about to drool.

"Mr. X... Please don’t tell anyone about this."

Mira froze.

She immediately turned toward Xavier with an anxious expression, lowering her voice as she pleaded with him.

Until now, only she and her husband, Xavier, had known about Lydia’s existence. Nobody else had ever discovered the strange presence living inside her.

Having someone suddenly emerge from her body was practically like witnessing a scene from a horror movie. There was no reasonable way to explain it.

Her previous excuse about having a split personality certainly wouldn’t work this time.

All she could do was hope Mr. X wouldn’t expose her secret.

"It’s fine. Xavier already told me about her. This is Lydia , isn’t it?"

Xavier had immediately understood what Mira was worried about. He couldn’t help suppressing a laugh as he reassured her.

"Huh? Who’s calling me?"

Lydia lifted her head.

She looked at Xavier for a moment, then her eyes widened.

"Husband? No, you don’t look like my husband. But you smell so good!"

Mira’s face turned red with embarrassment.

"Shut up! What nonsense are you talking about?"

She raised her hand and tried to smack Lydia, but her palm passed straight through the translucent figure.

Naturally, the attack had no effect.

"What did I say wrong?" Lydia protested. "He really does smell delicious!"

"That’s not the point! I’ve told you countless times not to call my husband that!"

Mira planted her hands on her hips and glared at her.

"He’s my husband, not yours!"

Her embarrassment only grew as she considered what Mr. X might think. Now that he knew about Lydia, would he misunderstand and assume that she and this strange spirit were sharing a husband?

"All right, all right. Don’t take it out on her."

Xavier finally stepped in before their argument could continue.

"She’s attracted to the chaotic energy on my body. Xavier already explained that to me."

He extended one finger and allowed a wisp of chaotic energy to gather at its tip. Then he offered it to Lydia.

"Here. Have some."

"Awoo!"

Lydia didn’t hesitate for even a second.

The moment the chaotic energy reached her, she eagerly swallowed it.

After absorbing the wisp, she licked her lips and looked at Xavier with even greater admiration.

"You’re such a good person! I want more!"

Mira stared at her in disbelief.

"You’re unbelievable! Could you at least show some restraint? Stop acting as though you’ve never eaten before!"

"All right."

Xavier waved his hand, still amused by the spectacle.

He then took out the severed finger and held it up.

"You said this smells good too, didn’t you? Do you want it?"

By now, he finally understood why the system had rejected his earlier investment.

Mira had only recently reached the Spirit Platform Realm. She was still a long way from the peak, so she couldn’t safely absorb the energy inside the finger.

Even with her Frost Phoenix Bloodline, which might allow her to withstand the energy at a lower cultivation level than ordinary martial artists, there was another problem.

Lydia wouldn’t be able to resist such an irresistible source of energy.

If Mira couldn’t retain the treasure for herself and would inevitably end up feeding it to Lydia, then the system’s refusal made sense.

Fortunately, Lydia was also one of his eligible investment targets.

"I knew it! You’re a wonderful person!"

Lydia’s eyes lit up.

Before Mira could react, she opened her mouth and swallowed the severed finger in one gulp.

"Ah... I’m so full!"

She rubbed her stomach contentedly and let out a satisfied burp.

"I’m going to sleep now. Goodbye, Mira! Goodbye, my wonderful husband!"

With that, her translucent figure shrank and disappeared back into Mira’s body.

At almost the same moment, a new notification finally rang in Xavier’s mind.

Congratulations, Host! Your investment in the Incomplete Body of a Martial Saint has succeeded! A 2,500-fold multiplier has been triggered! You have received the Incomplete Body of a Martial Saint!

Xavier’s eyes widened.

A 2,500-fold return!

The reward was still the remains of a Martial Saint, but the difference was enormous.

He had invested a single severed finger and received an incomplete body that consisted of half a corpse, missing its head.

This was the body of a Martial Saint!

Xavier examined the reward with growing excitement.

An idea soon occurred to him.

The Shepherd God Puppet Technique was specifically related to controlling puppets. If he could figure out how to master it, perhaps he could turn this Martial Saint’s remains into a powerful puppet.

If that worked, he might gain an extraordinarily powerful weapon to use in battle!

Ancestor Wendell had only suspected that the severed finger belonged to a Martial Saint. However, with the system’s identification function, Xavier had already confirmed that the remains were indeed those of a martial artist who had reached the Great Saint Realm.

Although the Martial Saint was long dead, the remains had lost all their original supernatural abilities, Laws, martial techniques, and other combat capabilities. Even so, that didn’t make the corpse ordinary.

A Martial Saint was still a Martial Saint. Even in death, the physical remains of such an existence were far beyond anything an ordinary martial artist could possess.

If Xavier could successfully turn the corpse into a puppet, he would gain an exceptionally powerful combat assistant. Its physical strength alone would be terrifying.

Of course, mastering the Shepherd God Puppet Technique wouldn’t necessarily prevent him from extracting the energy stored inside the remains. He could potentially use the body as a cultivation resource in the same way he would use a spirit stone.

Even a single severed finger contained energy far purer than that of a top-grade spirit stone.

So how much energy could be contained in an entire headless half-body?

Whether absorbing that energy would weaken the corpse or affect its usefulness as a puppet remained to be seen. Xavier would have to test it himself.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t begin experimenting that night.

His investment in the Shepherd God Puppet Technique had failed when he offered it to Mira. As for Maya, she was staying with her mother, and Xavier didn’t want to disturb them while they were finally enjoying some time together.

He decided to leave the matter until the following morning.

"Whatever happens to the corpse’s combat strength, I should absorb its energy first. If I’m lucky, it could give my cultivation a considerable boost."

Having settled on a plan, Xavier said goodbye to Mira and returned to the guest room the Shelby Family had prepared for him.

Before beginning, he took an extra precaution.

He didn’t want Ancestor Wendell accidentally discovering what he was doing through his Law of Perception. Therefore, Xavier circulated his chaotic energy and spread it throughout the room, effectively turning the entire space into a sealed chamber that concealed everything happening inside.

Only after making sure the room was secure did he claim his system reward and retrieve the Martial Saint’s remains from the system space.

A headless half-body appeared before him.