Online Game: Starting with an SSS-Level Plundering Talent

The golden-patterned hunters' brood mother perished, leaving behind a single golden Soul Essence. Before John could react, Kangus swiftly snatched it up.

Moreover, he suffered no backlash.

This golden-patterned hunters' brood mother was clearly not one with whom he'd shared a soul contract.

[You have slain a golden-patterned hunters' brood mother, gaining 2.6766 trillion experience points.]

[Plunder talent activated: Soul Technique +1000, Shadow Power +10, Shadow Laws +0.1%, Skill Points +10,000.]

The notification flashed, leaving John puzzled.

Shadow Laws? What exactly was that?

Noticing no immediate change in his power.

He dismissed the thought and focused on Kangus, coldly stating, "Old man, I'd like to see how many more of those hunters' brood mothers you can summon."

Whoosh!

Flames ignited as he unleashed the Golden Lotus Hellfire once again.

But this time, Kangus's form disappeared in a strange blur.

"Human, did you think you could try that move again?" Kangus's cold voice echoed as he reappeared behind John.

"Blood Domain!" His chilling voice reverberated as a vast blood-red mist surged forth, instantly enveloping John.

"What? Such a bizarre power!" John's brows furrowed as he noticed that this blood-colored mist was eerily similar to an Overseer's World-in-Hand, isolating him from other forces.

Fortunately, his insight into World-in-Hand had deepened, allowing the Power of Laws to gather around him, shielding him from the blood mist's effects.

"Blood Assault!" Kangus's cold voice rang out again as several blood-red beams sliced through the air, piercing John's massive form in an instant.

-104,444,000,000

…

Multiple terrifying damage numbers flashed across his vision, and John was instantly killed.

[You have been killed by Shadow Clan's Kangus. The Blessed Ring has been activated…]

A notification flashed, and John resurrected on the spot, his face pale and his mind reeling with dizziness.

This old man's attack had also inflicted soul damage.

"Flying Sword Strike!" John roared, sending a beam of sword light flying forward like a shooting star aimed directly at Kangus.

Whoosh!

With a strange ripple of energy, Kangus's form vanished again. The flying sword cut through the air, slicing through the blood mist and obliterating hundreds of Hunters, but failed to hit Kangus.

"Human, it's useless. Within my Blood Domain, no one short of a Lord God can threaten me." Kangus's cold voice echoed again as his form reappeared, coalescing from the blood mist.

"Oh, really?" John muttered, his brow furrowing. He focused intensely, channeling his soul skill, Intimidation.

He could sense the powerful soul presence of the hunters' brood mother backing Kangus, so he refrained from using Soul Impact recklessly.

Buzz!

For a brief moment, Kangus's face went blank, his concentration faltering.

Seizing the opportunity, John unleashed Nine Heavens Sword, sending a terrifying arc of sword energy slicing through the sky and crashing down on Kangus.

Boom!

With a deafening blast, Kangus's body was shattered by the attack.

Kangus couldn't withstand John's strike any more than John could withstand his.

"Ugh!" Kangus resurrected in place, coughing up blood. He glared at John with cold fury and said, "Godslayer, you're indeed powerful. That only means I cannot let you live!"

With that, his form dissipated once more, and his chilling voice rang out: "Blood Shadow Phantom!"

A swarm of blood-red shadows surged forward, completely enveloping John.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions shook the air as blood mist surrounded him, with terrifying damage values flashing across his vision.

John was killed once again.

[You have been killed by Shadow Clan's Kangus. Lifesaver talent activated...]

The notification flashed, and John's body was bathed in a golden glow, entering the invincible state granted by the Lifesaver talent.

Clang! Clang!

The relentless blood shadows crashed into the golden shield, each impact producing a sharp, ringing sound.

Taking advantage of his invincibility, John launched another assault.

"Return of Ten Thousand Swords!" From within him, his Immortal Sword flew out, and an endless surge of sword energy filled the air, transforming into thousands of sword beams that blanketed the blood mist.

Unable to pinpoint Kangus's location, he resorted to a wide-range attack.

"Human, give it up! In the Blood Domain, you cannot touch me!" Kangus's voice floated through the mist, his position untraceable. The countless sword beams fell, but the blood mist remained undisturbed.

With his invincibility nearing its end, John's expression grew tense as he carefully sensed the eerie blood mist around him, raising his longsword high above his head.

The Blood Domain seemed very similar to World-in-Hand; perhaps Creation and Destruction could also shatter it?

Feeling a surge of confidence, he raised his longsword, his aura reaching its peak. The wind whipped around him, and a suffocating pressure filled the air.

"What kind of skill is that?" Kangus's form started to solidify, his expression tense, a flicker of fear creeping into his gaze as he stared at John.

"Creation and Destruction!" John roared, bringing his longsword crashing down.

Whoosh...

The massive blade tore through the air, fracturing the space around it, and a chaotic surge of spatial energy rushed forth, making the entire Blood Domain tremble violently.

Boom!

The sword descended, the earth and sky roared, and the space shuddered as if on the verge of collapse.

The endless blood mist dissipated, and the Blood Domain shattered into pieces.

Kangus was instantly killed again. His form reappeared, kneeling on one knee, his blood-red eyes fixed on John. "Human, is this also an Immortals skill?"

He had never encountered such a strange and powerful technique before.

John didn't bother to respond, instead gathering the Golden Lotus Hellfire once more.

"Hmph, even if you broke my Blood Domain, you'll never kill me," Kangus scoffed, preparing to dodge.

Buzz!

At that moment, a strange fluctuation of law energy appeared—it was the Time Law.

The flow of time around Kangus slowed by 1.1 times, severely affecting his reaction speed.

His eyes widened as he watched, helpless, while the Golden Lotus Hellfire engulfed him, his face twisted in shock and disbelief.

He couldn't understand—it should have been easy for him to evade.

"Aaaah…!"

A shrill scream echoed as he was once again devoured by the Golden Lotus Hellfire.

John's Soul Technique had reached an astonishing 1.8 million points, doubling the Golden Lotus Hellfire's effect to 3.6 million soul damage.

He doubted the hunters' brood mother backing Kangus possessed such a high Soul Technique level.

Buzz!

With a fluctuation of spatial power, another golden-patterned hunters' brood mother was summoned by Kangus.

He intended for it to devour the Golden Lotus Hellfire as before.

"Hmph, trying the same trick again?" John sneered, charging at the golden-patterned hunters' brood mother.

"Intimidation!"

"Demon Slayer Slash!"

The air trembled as John's soul power surged, hitting both Kangus and the golden brood mother.

Immediately, he followed with Demon Slayer Slash, sending countless sword beams flashing through the air, fully engulfing the golden-patterned hunters' brood mother.

Blood splattered as terrifying damage numbers appeared—each of John's attacks inflicted billions of critical damage.

The hunters' brood mother stood frozen, glaring at John with hatred.

With its soul weakened by Intimidation and stunned by Demon Slayer Slash, it was utterly defenseless, forced to take the onslaught.

Slash!

With the final blow, the hunters' brood mother collapsed lifelessly to the ground, dropping several items.

[You have slain a golden-patterned hunters' brood mother, gaining 2.6766 trillion experience points.]

[Plunder talent activated: Soul Technique +1000, Shadow Power +10, Shadow Laws +0.1%, Strength +10,000, Mind +5,000.]

The notification flashed, and John plundered another 0.1% of the Shadow Power of Laws.

Immediately, he activated Mind Manipulation, retrieving the items dropped by the golden-patterned hunters' brood mother and examining them with interest.

[Golden Soul Essence: Refining this essence increases Soul Technique by 100,000 points. Requires special flame for refinement.]

A hundred-thousand-point boost to Soul Technique!

John was thrilled and quickly stored it in World-in-Hand.

As for the other items, they included a Talent Copy Stone, an Origin Stone, and several skill stones—none as valuable as the Soul Essence.

He casually stowed the items away, then turned to Kangus, who was writhing in agony under the burning Golden Lotus Hellfire. Coldly, he said, "Now, it's your turn."

"No… human, you can't kill me…" Kangus stammered, terror evident in his eyes. He had only managed to subjugate two golden-patterned hunters' brood mothers, and now both had been slain by John. He was completely out of options.

"Oh, really?" John sneered and unleashed Demon Slayer Slash again.

Whoosh!

Several sword beams descended, striking Kangus, who froze in place, his expression full of pain and despair.

Though he had means to resist stuns, the searing soul pain from the Golden Lotus Hellfire made him powerless to retaliate.

Even worse, John's Demon Slayer Slash also inflicted soul damage, relentlessly eroding his spirit, leaving him in unimaginable torment.

His soul was slowly being devoured, his mind blurring as death drew near.

"Human… Lord Shadow God will not forgive you. You will pay dearly for what you've done…" he snarled, barely clinging to consciousness as he gave his final threat.

"Too bad you'll never live to see that day." John had heard such threats countless times and dismissed them.

"Slash!" he shouted, simultaneously unleashing his Unrivaled Sword Dance and Sword Control, layered with Soul Impact.

"Ugh!" Kangus let out a final groan, blood seeping from his eyes and ears as his soul was completely shattered. His lifeless body collapsed to the ground.

[You have slain Shadow Clan elite Kangus, gaining 2.6766 trillion experience points.]

[Plunder talent activated: Shadow Power +10, Shadow Laws +1%, Physical Crit +10.]

This time, John directly plundered 1% of the Shadow Laws but still felt no noticeable change.

Deciding not to dwell on it, he examined Kangus's loot.

He found a massive pile of Spirit Stones—over a hundred thousand, including two faint purple Spirit Stones.

These were Spirit Crystals, containing far purer and denser spiritual power, each worth ten thousand times a regular Spirit Stone.

John scooped everything up.

In addition, he found a trove of skill stones, enhancement stones for equipment, and elemental gems.

But what excited him most was the golden Soul Essence.

"Hm, a Holy artifact!" he exclaimed, noticing the two blood-red scimitars Kangus had dropped—they were actually legendary Holy artifacts.

[Blood-red Scimitars: Tier 1 Holy Artifact]

[Requirements: None]

[Boosts all four base attributes by 100,000, with an additional 10% increase to the wielder's base stats (rare and unique attributes excluded)]

[Attacks deal an additional 1% Shadow damage]

"Incredible!" John was impressed. This Holy artifact boosted his base attributes by a total of 400,000 points, with an additional 10% stat boost—a rare and potent effect.

Unfortunately, he wasn't skilled with scimitars, especially this rare, curved design.

As powerful as it was, the weapon had limited use for him.