Skill Extraction: Exploring Dungeons-Chapter 620 - 545 Authority of Life

In the village of the Soul Guard Army.

The newly formed Soul Guard Army was cleaning the battlefield with some soldiers from the Red King's territory. The bodies of the fallen soldiers needed to be buried, and some of the armor needed to be recovered for reuse.

Interestingly, the number of soldiers captured by the White King's army exceeded the number of soldiers under Kane's command at that moment.

It seems that during the battle between Kane and the White King, neither side's soldiers gave their all.

Kane's soldiers, having received orders from Kane, held back their strength. As for the soldiers of the White King, their reasons remain unknown.

At this time, Longbei handed Kane a white gem that he had just caught.

Kane took it, noticing that the white gem in his hand had a similar appearance to the Black Stone and Green Stone, differing only in color.

Of course, the power felt when holding it was vastly different.

Proceed to identify it to see its detailed information.

[Platinum Scepter - White Stone]

[Scepter]

[Color: Tricolor]

[Attribute: Unbreakable] (It will never be destroyed by external forces)

[Rule: Life]

[Skill: Ten Thousand Spirits Nurturing - Platinum Country] (Harness all life in the Platinum Country, repair abnormal environments and life destruction, spread seeds of evolution and hope.)

[Introduction: A fragment of the King of Platinum's scepter, representing the emerald of the soul, owned by his fourth daughter, Princess White King.

The King of Platinum's scepter is crafted from the authority of the world condensed by the Golden Bridge. It contains the most important authority of this world, possessing the scepter grants control over a part of the world.]

(This item is bound to this dungeon and cannot be taken out. Once outside the dungeon, it will turn into an ordinary item.)

(Secret Intelligence Department: You can comprehend and experience the rules attached to this equipment in this world, which will make your future path smooth.

By fulfilling the obligation of nurturing ten thousand spirits, you can quickly and deeply comprehend the Authority of Life as you perform more duties.)

As expected, after seeing the introduction of the White Stone, besides the Authority of Creation, each of the three fragments Kane and the others acquired afterward corresponds to a duty or responsibility.

The obligations required to wield these authorities are all closely related to the operation of the world.

The obligation of the Authority of Life seems not to conflict with the Golden Bridge, perhaps the White King has fulfilled such duties.

Merely holding the white gemstone, Kane already has a rough idea of how to fulfill the obligations, and as he suspected, there's a significant pitfall involved.

Repairing the natural environment means that the entire dungeon, or the continent where the Platinum Country lies, is irreversibly deteriorating.

The Golden Bridge, to maintain itself and retain control over the dungeon, continuously absorbs energy, making it impossible for people to even reach the gold rank at this stage of the world.

Not to mention, after the world is shattered, the remaining energy is still being absorbed, causing the environment to degenerate irreversibly.

The white gemstone itself uses the world's power to repair the damaged environment, akin to using energy from leaking areas to mend and restore the broken regions.

But the world itself is devoid of energy, with almost the entire world full of breaches, and no area having excess energy. Naturally, there's no capability to repair anything.

The only obligation that might be achievable is the spreading of evolutionary seeds, implying maintaining the upward passion of natural beings.

Regarding this obligation, Kane only vaguely understood it upon holding the white gemstone; it seems to belong to a deeper obligation, requiring some mastery over the Authority of Life.

However, he hasn't felt the white gemstone enhancing his skills and abilities, indicating that Kane currently possesses no power that matches the authority of the white gemstone.

To gain enhancement, one must delve deep into mastering the laws of life.

Subsequently, Kane handed the white gemstone to Kreya.

Kreya felt it for a while and then shook her head. She equally felt nothing, indicating she too had no abilities matching the Authority of Life.

Nonetheless, bearing the Authority of Life, the white gemstone offers some improvement to the body's constitution and recovery, though not significantly in the absence of possessing the Authority of Life.

It roughly equates to a silver top-grade magic accessory concerning physical constitution and injury recovery, a strengthening that doesn't match its tricolor level.

Then they found that holding two types of fragments resulted in some conflicts.

The Soul Gem previously held by Lirulu didn't provide any enhancement to either of them, so they hadn't experienced it before.

However, the Life Gem provides some enhancement to any living holder, which Kane and the others clearly felt.

The Authority of Creation and the Authority of Life are of the same level, with significant conflict between them, though the reason is unknown.

While receiving the bodily enhancement from the white gemstone, Kane could clearly feel the Authority of Creation's effect on his Origin Skills greatly diminished, reduced by about half.

It's somewhat similar to fighting for territory; Kane's body's area is limited, and both energies refuse to yield, causing conflict at the same level.

Kreya felt it even more intensely; death and life are directly opposing forces, and their enhancements can only be obtained one at a time.

Simply put, it's either one or the other.

Although such significant strengthening can only be used within this dungeon, it's still better not to hold two fragments simultaneously.

Kane also tried to piece together the fragments in his hand, but it was of no use; they didn't even fuse and instead repelled each other.

If not for knowing, you would have no way of telling that these pieces once belonged to the same object.

It seems that assembling all the fragments is necessary before considering how to fuse them, and perhaps the missing piece of the staff is the most critical element.

"Longbei, has the Life Gem strengthened you?" Kane thought for a moment and asked.

Longbei nodded and said, "I can just feel a unique enhancement to the expansion skills."

Upon hearing Longbei's words, Kane pondered, as body expansion indeed relates somewhat to the Authority of Life.

He then handed the White Gemstone to Longbei since, in the absence of all fragments, this gem was more suitable for Longbei to use.

At this moment, Kreya said, "Kane, we've already taken down four monarchs. Only the last one remains, and then we can collect all the fragments. What are your thoughts going forward?"

Hearing Kreya's words, Kane fell into contemplation.

Their first phase of the mission was to gather all five fragments and then restore the Platinum Scepter.

With the complete Platinum Scepter, they could unseal the Golden Bridge, enter the sealed core, and then unseal it.

Of course, the task above was the apparent mission given by the Golden Bridge Church. Kane's true mission was entirely the opposite.

Now they were almost done with this first phase, with only the fragment in Prince Qing's hand remaining.

Once Kane and his team secured all the fragments, it was conceivable that the Golden Bridge Church would immediately have Kane proceed with the unsealing.

But now, there was a very serious problem.

Their ultimate purpose was to destroy the Golden Bridge. Through their extensive knowledge, they learned that the Golden Bridge was presently the world's will for this dungeon, only sealed by this world's inhabitants.

Thus, unlike other world wills, it couldn't control the dungeon continuously, which was why the life within this dungeon continued to spawn and act freely, all as free spirits.

It had not been sealed like other dungeons, becoming sources the world will used for duplication.

This dungeon, before it was fractured, likely could have contained power at the gold level or higher, but after its breakage, all energy was absorbed by the Golden Bridge.

No matter how you look at it, the Golden Bridge is not an easy entity to deal with.

Currently, there are two scenarios: One is that the Golden Bridge is completely sealed and even if Kane attempts any harm or destruction, it cannot retaliate.

The other is that although sealed, the Golden Bridge can counterattack to a certain degree if Kane attempts any harm or destruction.

The first scenario is ideal, as Kane and his team just need to find something capable of destroying the Golden Bridge to complete their task.

Kane doesn't believe his offensive methods can cause any harm to the Golden Bridge.

If it's the second scenario, it would be a bit hard to accept, as the Golden Bridge's counterattack could easily reach or surpass the gold level.

No matter what, it would be too much for Kane and his team to bear.

Facing this situation, Kane and his team need to consider abandoning the dungeon entirely.

Even if all their efforts over this period would be rendered futile, it was a necessary measure, for valuing one's life was a virtue every Explorer had to possess.

The deaths of many mid-to-high-level Explorers often stemmed from greed and an unwillingness to abandon their sunk costs.

After contemplating for a while, Kane said, "We must not rush to gather all five fragments yet; there are still many things unfinished. Try to relay the news of the four monarchs to Prince Qing and have her flee or hide, giving us more time to prepare."

"With the Compass, she won't be able to escape."

Both nodded at Kane's words.

From the moment they decided to hunt the monarchs, everything progressed rapidly; within just a few days, they had already taken down four monarchs.

For now, they would put things on hold, as White Monarch's death brought more matters to handle.

"I'll first pass the message to Heideline to initiate her move."

Saying this, Kane pulled out the pager from his Space Equipment and relayed the victory and White Monarch's death to Heideline, who awaited outside White Monarch's domain.

After sending the message, Kane directed Longbei, "Longbei, follow the Steel Wings' troops and proceed to White King Territory to manage the remaining populace, while selecting a few important captives among the generals to accompany you."

"No problem, I'm on it."

With that, Longbei soon took off with the Steel Wings' troops, heading toward the boundary of White King Territory.

For those who have encountered the monarchs, the Platinum Scepter fragments were the best proof of slaying them, not to mention that with a bit of time, one could slightly utilize some gemstone powers.

Nothing could demonstrate identity better than this.

Additionally, with testimony from high-ranking captives, the credibility of Kane's team slaying the White Monarch would greatly enhance. With these surrendering captives' assistance, the likelihood of subjugating people within White King Territory would significantly increase.

Their swift and smooth acquisition of territories paid thanks to the monarchs who regarded people with such disregard.

The populace within the territory and the soldiers under them were all eager to rebel.

Now, Kane and his team controlled Red Monarch and White Monarch territories, surrounding Alien Race territories; soon, Black Monarch and then Gray Monarch with all adjacent alien races would also submit.

This way, almost half the continent or the majority of the Platinum Country would fall under Kane's and his team's control.