Undead Evolution: From Trash To Divine-Chapter 36: Cycle of slaughter

One by one, under Lukas’s excited gaze, Tommy assimilated with all the skulls.

[Ding! Your skeleton Tommy has assimilated the skeleton of a Rank 2 Star Refiner.]

[... Your understanding of the sword has increased.]

[Your skeleton Tommy has assimilated with the skull of a Rank 3 Star Refiner.]

[You have learned the basics of potion‑making.]

Out of nowhere, information about all sorts of mysterious herbs, the process of slicing them, and their effects appeared in his head, as if he had been studying herbology for years.

One by one, the small mountain of skulls disappeared. The messages continued to flash in front of Lukas’s vision, each message causing his expression to harden.

There was no mention of the thing he was looking for.

He needed talent to test out Tommy newly acquired skills.

Lukas was starting to get impatient, but looking at the last remaining skeleton, he took a deep breath and thought:

Hmm, I should remain patient. There is still a chance.

With that thought in mind, he watched Tommy assimilate the second‑last skeleton.

[Ding! Your understanding of the sword has taken a qualitative leap.]

[Basic Sword Mastery has evolved into Intermediate Sword Mastery.]

Lukas’s expression fell. This wasn’t what he was hoping for.

Just as he was thinking, Tommy absorbed the last remaining skull, and finally the notification that he had been waiting for all this time rang in his ears.

[... You have learned the rare‑grade talent: Cycle of Slaughter.]

"Holy cow!" The dope‑sounding name caused Lukas’s eyes to light up.

Did he finally strike gold?

Just as he was thinking, a window explaining the talent’s effect popped up in front of him.

[Cycle of Slaughter]

Type: Passive Talent

Grade: Rare

Description:

A combat sustain talent that recycles expended energy through continuous killing. Each successful kill restores a portion of the star energy consumed during combat.

Effect:

– Restores 1% of total Star Energy per successful kill.

– Recovery is instant upon kill confirmation.

– Triggers only on enemies defeated directly by the user.

Reading the description caused Lukas’s eyes to light up. Although the talent did not directly make him overpowering, he smelled potential.

At rare grade, it might only recover one percent of the star energy consumed, but what about at higher grades?

The potential was undeniable.

After that, in his happiness, he ordered Tommy to move around and search for more skulls. After searching for another half an hour, both of them stopped searching.

Although they had been unable to find any more human skulls, they ended up assimilating quite a few Cometfang Wolves.

Lukas’s eyes were narrowed to slits as he watched Tommy assimilate the last remaining Cometfang skull.

...

Just like with the past few dozen skeletons, the bloodied skull disappeared and he received no notifications.

Watching this scene, Lukas let out a sigh, a slightly disappointed look on his face. It seemed he could learn talents only once.

After concluding that, Lukas didn’t simply leave, but started to dig twelve holes, large enough to bury a fully grown adult.

Even with his increased strength, digging twelve holes was a laborious task. It took another full hour before it was completely finished.

Lukas only paused for a brief moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

This was his way of repaying them.

Without commenting, he buried all twelve bodies with respect. Of course, Gordon didn’t receive any such treatment.

After doing all that, his eyes finally turned toward the settlement. Hmm, it’s time to see what this so‑called Battle Board is all about.

With that thought in mind, Lukas tightly clutched the four beast cores and started moving, his eyes flashing with anticipation.

Would he finally be able to upgrade the Night Dipper star‑energy absorption technique into something more useful?

While moving, Lukas dismissed Tommy and summoned the status window to take a look at his progress.

[Name: Lukas (99% Soul Merged)]

Talent: Skeleton Summoner (Grade: Epic)

Life‑Form Grade: Rank One Star Gazer

Potential: Two‑Star

Skeleton: Undead War Revenant

Acquired Talents:

Active talents: Sovereign Grasp (Rare), Poison Cloud (Rare)

Passive talents: Traceless Steps (Rare), Gravity Pressure (Rare), Meteor Momentum (Epic), Parasitic Overgrowth (Epic), Cycle of Slaughter (Rare)

Star‑energy absorption technique: Night Dipper Energy Absorption Method

Skills: Intermediate Sword Mastery, Basic Potion‑Making.]

A look of immense satisfaction appeared on his face as he went through the status window.

However, the next moment he shook his head.

No, in the end what matters is cultivation. If I don’t increase my cultivation fast, no talent will be able to help me when facing an opponent multiple levels above me.

After calming down, Lukas moved toward the location where the Battle Board had been set up with long and fast strides that were filled with newfound purpose.

Soon, outside the walls where he had first received the lecture from Mr. Azeroth, a representative of the Roaring Dragon Guild.

Compared to before, the local merchants were nowhere to be seen, their stalls either closed shut or gone completely.

Looking around, Lukas finally noticed a white board with multiple names written on it. On the top of the board were three words written in bold letters:

[Heroes of Humanity]

[Markus Longhorn – 20 points]

[Lucifer Asphalt – 19 points]

Lukas’s gaze moved downward, reading the names out loud one by one, finally stopping on the last name on the list.

[Jasmine – 9 points]

Hmm, that noble girl with five‑star potential... what is she doing here...?

This was the first noble that he had seen on the list. Except her, the others were mostly ordinary people.

He wasn’t surprised by the fact that he hadn’t seen her in action.

After all, the monsters had attacked the settlement from all directions.

Suppressing the surprise in his heart, he moved toward the counter where beast cores were exchanged for rewards.

As it was already quite some time since the battle, most of the awakeners had finished exchanging. Now they were either resting or chatting among themselves.

So Lukas didn’t have to stand in a long queue and directly made his way toward the counter.