"How are you feeling?
Did you learn any new sword techniques?"
Lin Tian asked, concerned, as he helped Alice.
Having just been possessed by a malevolent spirit, she still felt somewhat weak.
After all, these were powerful evil spirits from thousands of years ago, with deeply entrenched resentment.
Alice hurriedly activated her holy power, quickly dispelling the negative effects of being haunted by the spirits.
She began to sense the new sword techniques in her mind and said in disbelief, "They… they not only gave me sword techniques but also many combat skills, along with magic that complements a swordsman's fighting style."
"Oh?"
Lin Tian's eyes lit up.
Checking her attribute panel directly was quicker.
[Alicenia: Lv100
Race: Human
Profession: Sword Saintess
Titles: Church Saintess, The Fallen, Darkspawn Communicator, Elf Contractor, Strongest Swordsman…
Health: 3700
Strength: 1490
Defense: 980
Skills: Profound Swordsmanship · Swallow Reversal, Final Chapter Sword Song, World Destroyer's Blade Throne, Tenfold Attack Speed, Holy Judgment, Redeemer's Sword Soul…
Equipment: Ominous Blade, Blessed Light Armor
Overall: 16,999-21,000]
Seeing these skills, Lin Tian was stunned by the overall power!
Seventeen thousand — she already had nearly seventeen thousand combat power, equivalent to a high-tier Demon King.
If she mastered the new skills she had acquired, she could reach twenty one thousand!
It was the first time he'd seen combat power exceed twenty thousand!
He felt relieved she was an ally.
He was also surprised that she could use holy sword techniques again.
But first, he began to check the effects of those front-listed skills.
[Profound Swordsmanship · Swallow Reversal – World-class]: Created by a legendary swordsman of ancient times, this ultimate move allows the user to instantly attack any enemy within a 20-meter range, becoming invincible and untargetable during the process.
After completing the attack, the user swiftly returns to their original position.
[Final Chapter Sword Song – World-class]: A song of lamentation for the world, a dirge of swords, this skill summons a massive blade that falls and executes the enemy, consuming a great deal of magic.
[World Destroyer's Blade Throne – World-class]: Summons countless swords to form an iron throne, dispelling all forms of control and breaking through any suppression effects below the Divine level.
[Tenfold Attack Speed – World-class]: Temporarily increases attack speed tenfold for one second.
These skills far exceeded Lin Tian's expectations.
He had thought those defeated knights couldn't have been that strong, yet their skills were so powerful.
However, this also confirmed one thing — the so-called "Lords of Sin," like Gluttony, Pride, Lust, and the other Demon Kings, were incredibly strong.
They should never be underestimated.
At that moment, Alice had mostly recovered.
Lin Tian still felt the surroundings were strange, an eerie feeling creeping over him.
"Let's go; staying near this Uninhabited Zone is too dangerous."
"Mm, and this fog is odd too.
Even though those evil spirits are gone, it hasn't lifted."
Alice agreed.
Now wasn't the time to practice the newly gained skills.
They could take their time once they returned.
After all, there was no rush.
So, the two left the area and headed back toward the Zerg Empire.
They weren't sure how far they had walked, but the dense fog persisted, making it impossible to see anything.
They had to rely on their instincts to move forward.
"Lin Tian, do you think we took the wrong path?
This place feels off to me.
The magical aura here is complex and very strong," Alice said cautiously.
Lin Tian had no solution either.
Although goblins had night vision, they couldn't see through thick fog.
If it was too dense, nothing would be visible.
He couldn't tell how long they had been walking.
But he had sensed one thing: the magical aura here was indeed different from that of the Zerg Empire.
The Zerg Empire also had many magical creatures, including the Queen Ant and green insects, both powerful in their own right.
But there were only two.
Here, however, he could feel the presence of many powerful magical creatures.
Finally, through the heavy fog, they saw faint lights ahead.
They could also hear human voices.
Lin Tian sighed in relief, "We went the wrong way, but luckily, we stumbled upon a human town and didn't wander deeper into the Uninhabited Zone."
Alice didn't overthink it either.
On the town's street, cold winds howled, and a thick mist swept toward them.
Lin Tian, smelling the familiar scent of alcohol, quickly found a tavern, its noisy atmosphere offering a sense of comfort.
"It's a tavern.
Let's go in and have a drink, and we can stay here tonight and head back tomorrow."
Saying this, he reached for the door and pushed it open.
"Ring, ring, ring~"
The bell on the door rang.
Almost simultaneously, dozens of eyes inside the tavern turned to stare directly at Lin Tian!
Why did it have to be dozens of eyes?
The tavern was filled with an overwhelming stench, and the décor had a strange, dark tone, as if they were inside the belly of some enormous creature.
The ones sitting at the tables drinking weren't human.
They were all demi-human monsters!
A Blood Spider Demon King, with eight Scarlett eyes and eight long legs covered in bristly hair, took up nearly an entire table by itself.
A Skeleton Demon King, whose body was shriveled and rotten, had nothing but a layer of skin clinging to his skeleton.
His skin was so torn that the white bones were visible in many places.
The foul stench in the tavern was mostly coming from him.
There was also the Red Moon Queen, the Thorn Queen, Ogres, and many other powerful monsters.
These creatures ranged from eleventh and twelfth-tier monsters to Demon King-level beings!
Upon seeing Lin Tian, they gave him only a passing glance, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, and continued eating and drinking.
On one of the tables, a platter of steaming, bloody human limbs, still dressed in tattered clothes, was served by an insectoid maid without any kind of preparation.
The monsters at the table eagerly began devouring the pieces like appetizers.
They gnawed the bones down to nothing.
Next to them, the Blood Spider Demon King cracked open a skull and wildly sucked out the brain matter!
The young man in its grasp screamed in agony, convulsing violently, losing control of his bowels, spilling filth everywhere.
But the monsters were unfazed, not disgusted in the slightest.
The Skeleton Demon King was an even more "refined" eater.
The server brought out a young village girl, tightly bound and dressed in simple clothes.
Her eyes were filled with terror, and tears streamed down her face.
Unfortunately, her mouth was gagged, preventing her from speaking.
The Skeleton Demon King straightened his tattered suit and, with eerie elegance, slowly pulled out a rusty knife and fork.
With a refined motion, he carved a tender piece of flesh from the girl's body.
Blood gushed from the wound like a fountain!
As he chewed the flesh, he leaned down to drink the blood directly from the wound, not wasting a drop.
He sighed contentedly, looking utterly satisfied.
And it didn't stop there.
The behavior of the other demi-human monsters was just as horrific, each one more grotesque than the last.
Lin Tian stood there, dumbfounded.
Although he was also a monster, and in the eyes of humans, one of the most savage—a goblin—he couldn't believe the sheer brutality and extravagance of their feasting.
Compared to them, he thought, goblins were practically mild.
It was at this moment he realized that humans had never truly seen what real monstrous brutality looked like.
"Splat!"
Suddenly, the Skeleton Demon King sliced off a piece of bloody flesh and tossed it in front of Lin Tian.
"Eat, you pitiful little creature, always peeking in from the doorway, unable to live a real life.
Kekekeke~" the Demon King taunted.
What the…?
Lin Tian wasn't about to eat.
He didn't even have the appetite for it!
What kind of madness was this?
Had he wandered into a nest of monsters?
Why were there so many powerful creatures gathered here?!
He quickly closed the door and retreated, leaving the grotesque scene behind him.