Chapter 284: Martyr Of Hope
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(Anna’s POV)
The only thing left to consume for me were the [Golden Heaven Pearl (S++ Rank)] and I’ll be finally done with all consumables, I guess? Although maybe the scrolls could be considered consumables too.
Well, whatever the case, let’s use these.
“I’ll swallow them like I do with the other pearls… It’s easier and quicker.”
Thanks to the Traits I inherited from eating half of Uroboros Cosmic Soul, I am now able to easily eat and digest most things that would otherwise be toxic and digest them very quickly.
This means I can eat these pearls instead of just waiting for them to slowly be absorbed and refined by my body while holding it as I meditate.
Nah, that’s way too slow; it’s better to just eat my problems away!
…
I think that Uroboros might have inherited a few of his damned personality traits into my own personality. I ate his stupid soul and saw his Story as if I had lived it after all.
“Gulp…”
I ate all three of the pearls before any more intrusive thoughts were to fill my mind, their power immediately coursing through my entire body, resembling golden clouds.
I sat cross-legged and meditated, slowly absorbing these golden clouds into my body as they turned into pure golden essence, dividing into many beautiful and glistening rivers of light.
FLAAASH!
The golden aura expanded across my body and then entered my Spiritual Body, boosting my progress and growth once more.
Though it stopped before I could make any real progress, instead moving towards my Heart of Hope.
Yeah, just as I thought, Master gave me specific rewards all to boost this rapidly.
Ding!
[You have consumed the [Golden Heaven Pearl (S++ Rank)] x3!]
[You gained +3.000 Ki!]
[Your Heart of Hope has absorbed all of the Golden Heaven Ki, growing stronger and bigger.]
[Your Maximum Hope Essence Storage has increased from 9.000 to 12.000!]
[Your Comprehension over the [Heavenly Golden Flames of Hope Arts: Tier 2] has increased by 60%!]
An increase of sixty percent more?!
“T-This is…! Ah!”
I felt a sudden enlightenment, my mind drifting away, as I saw visions. Visions of countless people that my master had helped—all those she brought hope to, their lives, their struggles, and their relentless conviction to move forward.
To have hope.
And then visions of people from my own world, of New York, and of all those I’ve given some hope as well, of all those I’ve saved or helped. Their hearts resonated with mine, as small golden flames surged from them, flowing towards me.
No matter how far we were, the powers of Hope could reach anymore…
FLASH!
“I… I see…”
[Congratulations! Your Martial Arts: [Heavenly Golden Flames of Hope Arts: Tier 2] has Ranked Up to Tier 3!]
[You have further comprehended what it means to carry everyone’s hopes.]
[The [Heavenly Golden Flames of Hope Arts: Tier 3] has unlocked the Martial Arts: [Soul-Connecting Threads of Hope (Tier 3)]!]
[Your Hope Essence Storage has increased by +2.000!]
“Soul Connecting Threads of Hope, huh?”
With a mere thought, the power activated on its own. Hope Essence flowed out of my hands, as I saw several dozens of golden threads made out of my Hope Essence and my Soul combined together.
“I see what this is!”
This was an ability master had to share her powers with others and make them very strong. If I can connect these threads to my friends, I can empower them with Hope too, despite them not having a Heart of Hope.
The thing is, it has a short range of around fifty meters close to me, and above all, if I give them too much, their souls might end up exploding, so I must be careful.
Of course, this ability is not just a one-sided buff for everyone except me; it helps me connect with their souls, gaining Hope Essence directly and also a part of their Soul’s Power, temporarily though.
“Pretty good, really nice…”
After checking that, I moved to the other things, the Martial Art Scrolls!
They were the easiest to "consume." By just opening them, rune-like Chinese letters would appear, cover my entire face, and then enter my head, heart, or soul.
They imprinted knowledge and enlightenment about martial arts in this way, making learning them very quickly when you have scrolls.
[You have absorbed the knowledge of the [Martial Arts Enhancing Scroll: Heart of Hope (S+ Rank)] x10!]
[The Martial Arts: [Heavenly Golden Flames of Hope Arts: Tier 3] has gained +100% Growth.]
FLASH!
Yet another vision flashed through my head; this time, it was not related to my master at all, but I was seeing the suffering of countless people of Murim.
Their sadness, their sorrow, their anguish, and their hatred. All the suffering they had become a black, miasmic energy that filled the clouds and turned them black.
What the hell am I seeing now? Is this related to Hope at all… Oh.
The image changed again to reveal my master floating above the clouds; the darkness, sorrow, anguish, suffering, and hatred of people—it all was absorbed by her Heart of Hope.
And purified.
She turned the negative energy into good energy, reversing their effects; it became golden, sparkling with glistening light.
She went through all of these experiences and overcame them, absorbing the negative energy and then twisting it in reverse.
Her conviction and her mentality were on another level completely, capable of absorbing all of these negative emotions without even going mad!
Can I do it too?
[The Martial Arts: [Heavenly Golden Flames of Hope Arts: Tier 3] has Ranked Up to Tier 4!]
[You have further understood that the Heart of Hope doesn’t simply mean that you benefit from the Hope and goodwill of others, but that you also must accept all negative emotions energy into your Heart and purify it. You are the beacon of hope, and you must appease the people’s suffering.]
[The [Heavenly Golden Flames of Hope Arts: Tier 3] has unlocked the Martial Arts: [Martyr of Hope (Tier 4)]!]
[Your Hope Essence Storage has increased by +3.000!]
Martyr of Hope…
I guess the name fits well.
I don’t think I’ll become a Martyr though; that’s too much.
But if I can, I’ll gladly take that evil energy from others. If I can combine it with my Cursed Seals, wouldn’t it be possible to gain even more power?
I think not even the Heavenly Demon can absorb other people’s negative energy! So it would be completely unique of me to empower from it.
I never imagined both the Cursed Seals and the Heart of Hope could have this hidden synergy… It’s amazing.
[Your Heart of Hope has grown exponentially, your Cosmic Energy has risen in quantity, and your Story has expanded slightly.]
[Your [Cosmic Heart]: [Rank 1: Novice Star (Middle Stage)] has Ranked Up to Upper Stage!]
[You gained +3.000 Cosmic Energy.]
[Your {Radiance} resonates with this growth, granting you greater power.]
[All Stats have increased by +1.000.]
Well then, unexpected growth of stats and even my Cosmic Heart, not bad!
Now the other thing left is…
Ding!
[You have absorbed the empty knowledge of the [Martial Arts Enhancing Scroll: Blank (S+ Rank)] x10!]
[The Empty knowledge has absorbed your previously learned knowledge and enhanced it, giving you an artificial feeling of enlightenment.]
[Your Martial Arts: [Celestial Golden Dragon Divine Fist: Tier 3 (Core Martial Arts)], [Seven Demonic Cursed Seals Arts (5/7): Tier 3], and [Cloud Step: Tier 4] have Ranked Up to Tier 4 and 5 respectively!]
[You have unlocked a new Demonic Cursed Seal within you!]
[The Cursed Seal of the {Martyr} has been created.]
[The Martial Arts: [???] is developing rapidly! It might soon reveal its true form.]
[Continue absorbing Martial Arts knowledge and enlightenment to continue its growth and development.]
“Ugh… That hurt a bit.”
I felt a burning sensation in my left shoulder, noticing a new Cursed Seal appearing—a tattoo of gold color in the shape of a mask looking in anguish, crying.
This was the symbol of the Martyr, huh? I never thought it could become a Cursed Seal too! The Heavenly Demon would definitely lose his mind if he learned about this.
What does it do, though? It feels strangely unique compared to the rest…
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[Sixth Seal: Martyr (Tier 4)]: Become the sacrifice of others to save them, offer your life to rescue, and give a second chance to the even more unfortunate than you. Your body is encompassed by {Martyr’s Aura}, which feeds allies with your own Energies. In exchange, you gain half of their Martial Power and Ki as your own. Be careful, if you give too much, you might die before saving them.
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“Oh, makes sense…”
So I could activate this right after I absorb negative energy and thoughts, gaining more Demonic Power and Hope Essence, all while getting whatever Martial Power means and also the Ki of friends.
All while I constantly heal them using my own HP… And maybe even MP? I don’t know for sure, but I think that’s how it works.
Nonetheless, it’s useful, so I’ll happily take it!
“Phew! Finally done…”
[“It seems so; you sure got a bit of power from all of that… How do you feel?”]
“I’m quite fine; these were all the rewards master planned for me carefully after all~” I smiled. “We did a lot in the first trial, so she must have been very happy.”
“I think she spoils you too much; you’re going to grow up to be a very spoiled brat!” said Sepa.
“Well, just like how spoiled you are?” I sighed. "Also, you’re so shiny now, like full of bright holy light; you’re also brimming with Hope Essence; do you feel okay?”
“I’ve never felt so freaking better before!” Sepa laughed. “For a lesser, forgotten deity Story such as my own, this change I underwent really gave me a new powerup, and I feel refreshed too, despite still being imprisoned inside your damned heart.”
“Well, one step at a time, one day you’ll get out…” I said. “Um… I think.”
“You aren’t sure?!” Sepa cried. “I don’t want to die alongside you! You humans have such short lifespans; it’s not fair!”
“Calm down… I’ll find a way to expand my lifespan. Actually, wasn’t I given a peach for that? Yeah, this one!”
I took a pink-colored peach from my inventory, a gift from Sun Wukong himself!
“Nom… Hmm, so sweet and juicy!”
I took bite after bite as Sepa watched in silence.
“What?”
“Give me some; don’t be meeaaaann!”
She was just like a child sometimes…
“Fine…”
I shared a piece with her, and we finished our breakfast. Or well, part of it, I was still pigging out and eating more after this.
Ding!
[You have consumed the [Peach of Immortality Replica (SS Rank)]!]
[The Essence of Immortality courses through your body for a few seconds.]
[You gained +100 Years of life span.]
[Your HP and Vitality have increased by +1.000.]
“Oh nice, 100 years! This solves my problem for a little while…” I sighed in relief. “Though I might one day have to use the power Gaia gifted me again… This time I got more years to spare, thankfully.”
I can’t believe I just said that.
Is Life itself a currency to me now?
I’m really… not well in the head.
Knock, knock!
Before I could ruminate into the pile of things inside my inventory and see what else I could use now, someone gently knocked at my door.
I thought it was Fang Shuan, so I let them in without problems.
“Come in!”
The door opened, but the one that walked inside was Zero One.
“Oh, my fav android! Are you hungry?”
“Anna… There’s something I need to talk with you…”
She looked slightly depressed.
“W-What is it this early in the morning?”
“Um, can I sit by your side?”
“Okay…”
She sat by my side in the bed as she looked all down.
“Um, it’s about… Well, your master.”
“The Heavenly Empress? What about her?”
“You see… I had a conversation with her just before coming here and… I just can’t keep this hidden anymore. She didn’t tell me to not tell you either, so… Please, listen well.”
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