Source of the Plague

“Gurgle, gurgle...”

The mass of rotten meat before Chen Xu was a unique product created through the aberration function back when he had first acquired the Mad Alchemy Lab.

At the time, he had intended to create a super abomination, but the abomination had been underwhelming. It had been overcome by the germs within its own body, causing the power of aberration to act upon the bacterial colony instead, giving birth to this unique creature: the Source of the Plague.

In the myriad worlds, creatures of this type were also known as aberrations. For instance, the companion pet kept in the sachet hanging from the waist of the Lunar Star Lord Taiyin had originally been an aberration.

As unique existences, aberrations were manifestations of rule-based mutations, possessing incredible innate abilities.

Since its birth, the Source of the Plague had been in a deep slumber, relying solely on instinct to absorb the necrotic aura within the Undead Dao Court to continuously complete itself.

It wasn't until recently, shortly after Chen Xu created the ten embryos, that it finally woke up and developed sapience.

Chen Xu actually held great expectations for the Source of the Plague.

The developmental path he had set for himself, besides relying on the Authority of Creation to develop new races, included curse-type, bone-type, and poison-type spells.

When the time came, his martial arts avatar would charge ahead and engage in direct combat, while his main body hid in the rear, constantly inflicting poisons and curses on the enemy—a two-pronged approach.

The Source of the Plague was a vital piece of Chen Xu’s poison-spell arsenal, and it even had some connection to his curse-type spells.

In a transcendent world, a terrifying plague was essentially a terrifying curse; there were certain occult connections between the two.

Unfortunately, the Source of the Plague had only just developed sapience and could only manage simple communication with Chen Xu.

Therefore, Chen Xu prepared to give the Source of the Plague a little boost.

Chen Xu raised his right hand, intending to let it fall, but as he looked at the constantly writhing rotten meat and the rainbow-colored gases—green, red, yellow, and so on—that it occasionally spat out, he paused.

He decided to make gentle contact through his soul instead, applying the energy of his talent enhancement to the Source of the Plague.

【007 Talent triggered, obtained effect: *** (Your existence is a taboo; your name cannot be recorded on paper, your name cannot be spoken in words, and your form cannot be imagined by the mind. The world uses every terrifying term to describe you, for you are terror itself.), Source of the Plague obtained special enhancement: Forbidden Object.】

【Forbidden Object: Endows the Source of the Plague with Forbidden Power. The Forbidden Object gains the following effects.】

【1. I Am a Legend: A taboo becomes a taboo not just because of its own terrifying power, but because of the widespread notoriety of its horrific deeds. The more famous your reputation, the more terrifying your strength.

The more well-known your plagues, curses, and calamities are, the more powerful their negative effects become.

(People fear the unknown because they don't know the risks. At the same time, people fear the known because the risks are obvious—much like how no one would want to try 'authentic' street food made by a certain brother from South Asia. This isn't just ordinary carbs, protein, and fat; this is a lethal plague!)】

【2. Misfortunes Never Come Singly: Lady Luck is stingy; she does not overindulge her favorites. But the Goddess of Misfortune is generous; every unlucky person receives a double portion of her bounty!

Enemies infected by the negative effects of the Source of the Plague are more likely to gain additional negative effects and will also be favored by misfortune.

(Waking up early for work is miserable enough, and then you're hit with this terrible weather. God, I'm going to be late and get written up. Hey, hey, hey! Ma'am, can you watch where you're pointing that umbrella? My pants are soaked! Holy crap! Who brings fresh steamed buns and eggs onto the subway?! This is murder!)】

【3. Calamity Echo: Calamity does not disappear; it merely takes a temporary respite. Much like the final bosses in a game, just when you've exhausted everything to kill them, you realize the real game has only just begun.

When the negative effects of the Source of the Plague are erased by external forces, they will echo, applying themselves to the host once more.

The number of echoes is related to the Source of the Plague's own realm: Transcendent-tier 1 time, epic-tier 2 times, legendary-tier 3 times, mythic-tier 4 times, eternal-tier 5 times, and Unique-tier infinitely.

(Whew, that robot was really tough, but I finally killed it. Wait, why did a guy with a tail jump out of the robot? Damn, he's such a strong martial artist, why was he piloting a Gundam? That was close, almost messed up. Huh? Is it night already? The moon is so big. What the hell, he's transforming too?! Can someone tell me why a meter-tall guy can turn into a giant ape dozens of meters tall? That's not scientific at all! Fortunately, I'm still better. Wait, why is his hair standing up? And it changed color?)】

The exclusive enhancements for the Source of the Plague were all focused on negative effects. It was a case of specialization, perfectly fitting its intended role.

However, the first effect, I Am a Legend, was quite interesting—the idea that negative effects could be boosted through fame.

It just so happened that Chen Xu had the Undead Network, which spanned the myriad worlds, and the Necrotic Archmage Tower, which was scattered across the myriad worlds. Both could serve as channels to build up the Source of the Plague's fame.

“Yan Ruyu, Huangjinwu.”

As Chen Xu spoke, the two artifact spirits of the mage towers suddenly appeared.

One took the form of a jade scepter, while the other was a small golden house.

“Master!” the two cried in unison.

“Create a special challenge event in the Necrotic Archmage Tower. The final boss will be the Source of the Plague. As for the completion rewards...”

Chen Xu rested his chin in his hand and pondered. What would low-to-mid-tier transcendents like?

Resources, equipment, skills, or something else?

Suddenly, Chen Xu keenly caught a cry—it was the sound of a bone nightmare.

“I’ve got it. The reward for completion will be a bone nightmare. We’ll also set up a leaderboard for one year. At the end, the player in first place will have their bone nightmare's wings promoted to legendary-tier. Second and third place will get epic-tier upgrades.”

Low-tier transcendents were obsessed with external boons: skills with cool special effects, flashy equipment, handsome pets, and majestic mounts—things of that nature.

By using the rare bone nightmare mount as bait, Chen Xu should be able to stir up plenty of enthusiasm among transcendents to challenge the tower, thereby spreading the word about the final boss, the Source of the Plague.

“As you command.”

The two artifact spirits immediately began circling the Source of the Plague, preparing to observe its characteristics and strength to design a custom environment for it.

After several laps, the two little spirits looked back at Chen Xu and spoke with slight hesitation.

“Master, although the Source of the Plague is not high in realm, it is an aberration with extremely strong traits. Furthermore, its plague toxins are inherently difficult to detect, and most challengers are low-tier transcendents.

I fear that only a handful of people will be able to clear the challenge.”

“It’s fine. The fewer people who can clear it, the better. That’s exactly the effect I want.”

“Understood!”

Having received their orders, the two little spirits prepared to move the Source of the Plague into the Necrotic Archmage Tower.

Before they left, Chen Xu reached out and tore a large chunk of flesh from the body of Karl, the Demon King of Destruction, and tossed it to the Source of the Plague.

The Source of the Plague's mass of rotten meat immediately writhed, engulfing the flesh and emitting constant “gurgle, gurgle” sounds toward Chen Xu.

“Don’t just be happy. You can absorb this flesh, but you must also evolve a plague specifically targeted at this kind of flesh for me. Do you understand?”

“Gurgle, gurgle!”

The Source of the Plague repeatedly contracted and expanded to respond to Chen Xu’s request.

Seeing this, Chen Xu was still a bit uneasy, so he used Off-Duty to mount the Exquisite Heart onto the Source of the Plague.

In the next moment, the rotten meat that had been writhing purely on instinct paused for a while. Then, it began to writhe at a specific, rhythmic frequency.

The demon king's flesh engulfed within its body began to digest rapidly, and many dark red liquids began to appear on the Source of the Plague’s body.

“Oh?”

The immediate results caught Chen Xu’s attention. He grabbed another large chunk of flesh and threw it to the Source of the Plague.

Then, he threw in the last remaining bit of the angel light wings.

Chen Xu wasn't just planning ahead for Heaven; he suddenly remembered that there were also angels in Hell—fallen angels were still angels. Perhaps there would be an unexpected harvest.

Having finished all this, Chen Xu waved his hand, letting the two artifact spirits take the Source of the Plague away. He returned to the vicinity of the high towers to wait for the birth of the ten children.

At the same time, he kept part of his focus on his avatar to monitor the movements of the Martial Arts Alliance.

If necessary, the undead army would charge directly into the battlefield.

Suddenly, Chen Xu received a soul message. The sender was actually Thor. After reading the message, his expression changed drastically, and he teleported to the side of the astral behemoth.

“Explain this to me. What do you mean by ‘Hell stole your ritual’?”