Master of Kaidan

Chapter 3: Chapter 3 Elements

For the tags on the corpse, Feng Xue was not surprised; in fact, it was not his first time using the identification function of the Golden Finger to examine a corpse, but having the opportunity to put the corpse into the Refining window was a first for him.

Indeed, in the display of the Golden Finger, the corpse was indeed refinable, and the cost, like the roadside stones, was 5 towers.

To be precise, the Refining range of the Golden Finger was very broad—so far, the only items the Golden Finger explicitly could not refine were living people and Wheat Bran Bricks. Previously, he had thought it was an "Ownership" issue, but after listening to Old Li's explanation today, he realized this Golden Finger could probably only refine "Pseudo Artifacts"—specifically unowned "Pseudo Artifacts."

As for why a dead creature could be refined, perhaps after death the corpse was also considered a "Pseudo Artifact"?

However, regardless, based on past refining experience, if the Refining failed, the item would crumble and disappear. So, if he used the Refining ability of the Golden Finger, could he manage this corpse?

Sensing his own "long" three-day life countdown, Feng Xue felt somewhat reassured; if he could indeed use it to destroy the corpse, his danger in corpse collection would be far lower than other Corpse Collectors, meaning he had gained a job sufficient to make ends meet.

Although this industry, dependent on the availability of corpses, couldn't be considered stable, considering the corpses he had seen in the short span of three days since transmigration already numbered over fifty, Feng Xue believed that death was not a rare occurrence in this world.

However, after a brief contemplation, Feng Xue still chose not to refine on the spot. Even though his Golden Finger's activation didn't emit any light effects, Feng Xue was unsure what the outcome would be if the Refining succeeded. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

What if the elements in the corpse settled after refining and turned into an omen of doom? Wouldn't that be courting death?

Even if there was a possibility that the doom forged by refining could automatically recognize its owner, faced with a Golden Finger that had no instructions whatsoever, Feng Xue decided it was best to play it safe.

...

Dragging the handcart, following the direction Old Li had pointed out, the city wall, towering as if not built by human hands, finally entered Feng Xue's view clearly. Looking at this wall, taller than any manga's ridiculous conclusion from his previous life, he deeply suspected if there might be some ultra-ancient Light Giants or something inside.

However, this nonsensical thought didn't last long. As Feng Xue approached the wall, his expression subtly shifted, because this wall was not as he had imagined, merely tall—

The industrial-styled metallic joints and the sensors that lit up as he approached seemed to declare the technological content of this wall.

"I thought it was magic punk, but it turned out to be 'Apocalyptic Age'?"

At this moment, a sense of disillusionment suddenly emerged in Feng Xue's mind. After all, since his transmigration, the most advanced piece of technology he had seen was an old bulky television found in the garbage mountain, exchanged for five bricks, while the weapons in the hands of the gangs controlling the garbage mountain were mostly swords and sabers, nowhere near capable of producing this level of sophistication.

Shaking his head to dismiss this question that seemed quite distant from him, Feng Xue started looking for the so-called door. However, after only two steps, a wall suddenly emitted a sound akin to a deflating balloon, and then, the metallic wall slowly slid open to one side, revealing a passage just wide enough for two people to walk through side by side.

"Is this the door?" Feng Xue dragged the handcart into the passage, yet what met his eyes was complete darkness. Despite the walls outside being brightly lit, this tunnel had not even a single light.

"Is it to avoid attracting so-called omens?" This thought sprang up in Feng Xue's mind, increasing his vigilance.

But the corpse behind him, which could turn into a zombie at any moment, urged him to quickly walk towards that dark tunnel.

The twenty-meter-long tunnel was not particularly long, and after just about a dozen seconds, the so-called wilderness also came into Feng Xue's sight.

Unlike the landscape of widespread corpses he had imagined, the other side of the wall appeared exceedingly normal with wild weeds thriving arbitrarily, forests thickening in the distance, a round moon casting a gentle moonlight overhead, and air so fresh it made one want to burst into song—all forming a blissfully natural scene.

However, Feng Xue soon sensed something was amiss because, in such an environment, there were absolutely no sounds of insects or birds chirping.

Being a voracious reader, Feng Xue instantly thought of the common ambush scenarios in novels and became nervous. He glanced back at the still-open portal and immediately abandoned the plan to dispose of corpses in the forest, opting to perform "Refining" on one of the corpses instead.

In an instant, seventy-two minutes of lifespan drained away, and the corpse targeted by the refining crosshairs turned into a clump of flying ash. Shortly after, a line of text appeared on the panel—

"Refining successful, element 'Suffocation' obtained, 37 'Identity' towers gained."

"???" Feng Xue's eyes widened in disbelief at the results of the refining, reminiscent of someone who had just passed the imperial examinations, though he was unsure whether it was good luck or bad. However, his potential insanity was staved off by a crushing sense of loss when he continued to check, because focusing on the number that represented "Identity" brought up a brief note—

"An 'Identity' with a biological imprint, can be refined, can be recast, cannot be absorbed."

It was akin to finding a Top-Grade Item in a game, only to discover it was bind on pickup...

"Tsck." Uttering a light click with his tongue, Feng Xue did not ponder the potential implications and aimed the refining crosshairs at the remaining two corpses.

"Refining failure."

"Refining successful, 47 'Identity' towers obtained."

...

"One failure, just 'Identity' with no element?" Feng Xue watched as the two corpses quickly disintegrated and did not linger. He dragged the cart into the passage and walked back home along the route he had come.

In truth, Feng Xue's entire worldly possessions were on his person, and the only reason he returned was that it was the only place he knew.

Although the walk home at night was somewhat frightening, Feng Xue made it back to his free "skylight apartment" without any unforeseen incidents—not even his cart was reclaimed.

However, he was completely uninterested in those issues at the moment, instead fixating on his Golden Finger panel, observing the lone 'Suffocation' element now appearing in the 'Recast' menu.

Different from what he had anticipated, this element came with no descriptions. No matter how much he concentrated or tried tapping it with his hand, only a prompt appeared asking whether he wanted to select the element, as though the words "Suffocation" explained everything on their own.

"What to do? Should I give it a try?"

Watching the confirm button in the lower right corner switch to an active state after electing the element, along with the crosshairs in the center of the panel for targeting, Feng Xue finally bit the bullet—

"If I don't try, I'll never understand!"