Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 540: Attunement

There were also over a dozen peak quality talismans that were a mix of defensive and offensive among the most valuable treasures, but Zac immediately realized that their craftsmanship paled compared to the ones he had looted from the mentalist. They would still work as back-ups to his somewhat depleted reserves, and he could give out a few more to his core fighters.But he wasn't personally very interested in talismans of that tier any longer, feeling that his recent attribute gain had made him outgrow these items to a certain degree. After all, a peak E-Grade talisman contained roughly the power of an average peak E-Grade warrior, and he was nearing that point as is.

There were a few items he was extremely keen on keeping for himself though.

The first of them was a consumable talisman as well, called [Zephyr’s Charge]. It was a peak-grade speed imbuement treasure if he understood the explanation correctly, and it would essentially give him wings and increase his speed for a few minutes. It would be perfect in case he needed to flee or run down a fleeing enemy, especially in his Draugr form that lacked dependable mobility options.

The second was a handful of [Spatial Displacement Talismans], a treasure that would instantaneously move him to a random spot within a kilometer. It was an amazing treasure to escape certain doom scenarios, provided that space wasn't locked down. For example, if he had a treasure like this when the Hayner Clan Patriarch tried to drop a meteor on his head, then he wouldn’t have to leave the floor so early. He could just have teleported out of the hole and hunted down that treasure.

Finally, there was something called a [Blood Nucleus], a rare treasure related to bloodline awakenings. It was the most valuable item of them all, and Calrin had priced it at 20 Billion Nexus Coins. That might not seem like a terrifying amount after having possessed something like the [Divine Investiture Array], but it was still something that Zac would never have been able to afford if he tried to purchase it during an auction.

He figured that the [Blood Nucleus] would go perfect together with the marrow he got for himself from the previous quest. The only reason he didn't cram both of them down his throat right now was that he needed some sort of understanding of his supposed bloodline before trying to wake it up.

There were many items that Zac didn’t recognize either, but judging by the value that Calrin had assigned they were rare treasures that warriors most likely had brought to the Base Town to sell. These kinds of treasures weren’t immediately valuable to Zac, but that didn’t mean that they would sell them for Nexus Coins.

Almost all forces in the multiverse were constantly operating under a lack of resources, and there were always thousands of plans or undertakings on hold due to missing certain ingredients. Top forces like the Dravorak Dynasty might not struggle like this due to their power and vast connections, but Zac had already encountered the problem of lacking materials from the Creator quest.

There were a million ways he could gain more Nexus Coins, so selling precious resources instead of holding onto them for a rainy day was just stupid. This was unfortunately how most forces reasoned, which only worsened the availability of rare items.

Calrin also provided his recommendations of what to keep, what to save for the Auction, what to put in the merit exchange, and so on. Zac mostly went with the Sky Gnome’s arrangements, apart from making some minor adjustments.

It wasn’t that the Sky Gnome suddenly had turned a new leaf and become a decent and honest merchant, but he had kept his greed under check since Zac returned from the Tower of Eternity. Part of it was probably because of Zac’s amazing performance, while part of it was that he knew he was on thin ice after the trouble the ring he gifted Zac caused.

Zac felt like he had just won the lottery as he left the Thayer Consortia, even though there was only one "supreme" treasure like the [Blood Nucleus]. Calrin’s estimate was around 100 billion, but that was going by Zecia sector prices. They believed they could make even more as long as they were smart about what items to put on the auction for the native forces.

The elites of Earth were flush with cash at the moment, and they needed to exploit that.

Every force was hunting the hundreds of millions of Zombies for everything they were worth at the moment, wanting to capitalize on this one-time opportunity. The undead were like headless chickens with the Lich King dying, and they had essentially turned into walking bags of wealth to the cultivators of Earth, just like how it was during the beginning of the integration.

Not only did people gain clean-up quests by the System, but the zombies gave a good amount of both Cosmic Energy and Nexus Coins. Add to that the Miasma Cores that formed in the elite zombies’ heads, and it was so lucrative that people were still forgoing sleep even two weeks later. Even the Underworld Council only undertook a cursory

The density of energy was pretty much the same as before, still slowly climbing as the world continued its gradual integration. No new Nexus Veins or treasures were sprouting up from the ground either, and no attuned energies could be found. Most had simply assumed that it would take more time for the world to adapt to the reward, but it looked like the clues were finally starting to appear.

“Well, that’s the thing. I also sensed weak hints of Miasma close to the vein,” Triv said with hesitation. "Though I don't believe the vein is turning death attuned."

“What? Did you do something?” Zac said with a frown.

“I swear on the Empire, I didn’t do anything! It could be an effect of the realignment array being shut off at the last minute. Either that, or…” the ghost said, drifting off at the end.

“Or what?” Zac asked.

“Or the planet has gained a multi-attunement,” Triv said.

“You mean the planet might both have life and death attunements?” Zac said, his eyes lighting up.

Wouldn’t that mean that the planet was turning into a cultivation haven for himself?

“I wouldn’t be so quick to celebrate if that was the case,” Triv sighed. “It might not be a good thing.”

Zac couldn't stop himself from audibly groaning when he saw the scrunched-up visage of the ghost. What now?