Chapter 1 Aren't You Afraid of Death?

"Woo... woo..."

The steam train's whistle sounded with a "woo... woo...".

Accompanied by the sound of "clang... clang...".

The train gradually came to a stop.

As the train from the south pulled into Sog Ruins City Station.

A large number of men and women, some carrying backpacks, some holding suitcases, some shouldering large bags, poured out of the train station exit into Sog Ruins City.

Although last winter on the Night of Winter's End, an evil god incident occurred in Sog Ruins City, killing many people.

But in the end, the evil god's plot failed, and a large number of aliens and heretics were slain.

The great victory proclaimed by the Extraordinary Daily further invigorated everyone's spirits.

Far from diminishing people's interest and longing for Sog Ruins City, the evil god incident actually increased it.

In early spring, with snow yet to melt, ordinary people and some超凡者 who yearned for Sog Ruins City, the gold rush city, had already set foot on this land with忐忑 hearts.

Some arrived, and naturally some left.

"Woo... woo..."

A train heading south to "Beylan City" had already sounded its pre-departure whistle.

"Clang... clang..."

Accompanied by the collision of wheels and tracks.

This train, mostly freight with a small passenger section, had already slowly departed from Sog Ruins City.

As the train steadily accelerated.

The woods grew denser, gradually obscuring more and more of Sog Ruins City from view.

Finally, after passing through a stretch of hills, the entire Sog Ruins City completely disappeared from Gune's sight.

On the seat by the window.

Watching the vanished Sog Ruins City.

Gune's mood was also tinged with a bit of reluctance and unease at leaving, as well as anticipation and hope for the new world ahead.

There was no direct train from Sog Ruins City to Harutov Seaport.

Gune needed to first reach Beylan City, then transfer to Harutov Seaport.

The entire journey, if smooth, would take about four to five days.

As the train moved forward, after more than ten minutes, the repetitive hilly scenery outside the window made Gune withdraw his gaze.

Touching his suitcase, Gune's eyes swept across this private compartment, then he leaned back against the not-too-stiff soft chair backrest and closed his eyes for a nap.

In early spring, far fewer people were leaving Sog Ruins City than arriving.

As a result, in this private compartment where Gune sat, he was the only passenger.

Closing his eyes to rest, Gune opened his system.

First AFK slot: Lesser Thunderflame Incantation (Level 4)

Second AFK slot: Mystic Rune·Bona Source Pool (Level 3)

Third AFK slot: Soul Seal Codex (Level 6)

Fourth AFK slot: Greater Thunderflame Incantation (Level 3)

Fifth AFK slot: Blood Pool Codex (Level 6)

Sixth AFK slot: Netherblood Ritual Incantation (Level 2)

Seventh AFK slot: 16%.

Gune's sixth AFK slot had already been unlocked, and the seventh had begun its unlocking process.

After more than two months of AFK cultivation.

Gune's own extraordinary realm, without him paying attention, had naturally broken through thanks to the Soul Seal Codex AFK training.

Now, Gune was already a third-tier extraordinary Blood Curse Master, having stepped into the mid-tier extraordinary level.

Upon advancing to third tier, Gune's abilities as a Curse Master had all undergone tier-based transformation and enhancement, with his basic strength greatly increased.

At the same time, the various incantations in Gune's hands had progressed rapidly thanks to the extra 50% AFK experience gained after advancing to elite.

The removed Soul-Fixing Divine Ring Curse, Demonic Blade Trick Curse, Puppet Secret Thread, Blood Escape Technique, and Blood Shield.

Using the ample AFK slots, Gune had raised them all to level five.

And the newly placed Greater and Lesser Thunderflame Incantations had also made considerable progress during this time.

The "Netherblood Ritual Incantation" recently placed in the AFK slot was specifically used by Gune to track Meisha, but its level was not high due to insufficient AFK time.

The transformation from tier advancement and the leveling up of various powerful incantations had given Gune's strength a substantial boost.

Previously, Gune had a high chance of victory against third-tier extraordinary beings.

Under a sneak attack, he could easily take down fourth-tier extraordinary beings.

But against seasoned fourth-tier extraordinary beings with high star ratings, Gune's probability of winning was not very high.

Now, with this tier advancement and over two months of steady AFK training raising the levels of many incantations.

Gune now possessed formidable strength that could firmly hold its own at the fourth tier.

Even against those powerful six-star, seven-star top-tier fourth-tier experts.

Gune could still make them experience the despair of being bombarded by powerful incantations.

Apart from hard power, Gune had also maxed out his soft power and equipment during these two months of incubation.

Witch Nether Staff, perfectly incubated.

Purple Scale Chainmail, perfectly incubated.

Mithril Ankle Boots on his feet, perfectly incubated.

The powerful magic-gold-level equipment "Dragon Pattern Necklace" that Gune had newly purchased to replace the magic-copper-level Magic Shield Necklace, perfectly incubated.

Also magic-gold-level powerful extraordinary equipment "Photon Shield Arm Guard", perfectly incubated.

The fourth-tier peak elite "Spirit Helmet" given by Veya, also perfectly incubated.

As for Gune's extraordinary physical body's robust physique, needless to say, the entire Death God Beast carcass had been digested by Gune, and now he was digesting the wriggling flesh.

His powerful physique made Gune feel he could easily kill an extraordinary wild ox with one punch.

In fact, before leaving Sog Ruins City, Gune even thought of finding George and going into the hunting layer to kill the other Death God Beast for digestion.

But after thinking it over, Gune dismissed the idea.

The hunt for the first Death God Beast had already attracted the mysterious organization that herded Death God Beasts to strike against the Human-Faced Flower Church.

If he went a second time, the other side might have an ambush.

Adhering to the principle of concealing his identity, Gune gave up the pre-departure hunt.

At the same time, Gune's source pool, during these two months of AFK training, thanks to the combined efforts of the source pool expansion treasure he purchased and the "Mystic Rune·Bona Source Pool",

had soared from its original capacity of less than 1,000 units to over 7,500 units.

The tens of thousands of gold pounds poured into the source pool had quite a remarkable effect.

Now Gune was fully equipped, with abundant source power and formidable combat strength.

"Woo~~"

Just as Gune was pondering his plan for condensing runes while resting with eyes closed.

A certain subtle, seemingly light chirping or dreamlike murmuring, a wondrous and melodious sound, suddenly rang through the entire carriage.

The sound contained an extremely powerful hypnotic effect.

Gune immediately became alert.

This sound, let alone ordinary people, even first- and second-tier extraordinary beings with insufficiently strong souls might fall prey to it.

But before Gune, the sound had no effect on him at all.

He gently rose, quietly stepped to the corridor side, and then poked his head out to look down the corridor.

The corridor, which had been somewhat noisy, had now fallen completely silent under the powerful hypnotic effect.

Only the "clang... clang..." sound echoed through the carriage.

While Gune was observing the carriage corridor, a figure silently drifted past the glass window behind him.

Returning to his seat, Gune quietly activated his source vision.

Once activated, he was startled.

A strange shadow had somehow already fallen upon him.

Then, Gune slowly turned to look out the window.

There, on the outside of the train's glass window as it sped forward.

a bizarre creature with four eyeballs, a seemingly stitched mouth, and black mist-like ribbons floating all over its body was staring at him through the window.

Looking at this strange monster that had appeared from who knows where, Gune really wanted to ask one question.

"Sticking so close to me, aren't you afraid of death?"