Mechanical Alchemist

In the realm of Alchemy, everything can be exchanged through the principle of equivalent trade.

This is probably the principle behind why those four peculiar entities could infinitely resurrect.

But can souls be exchanged using a formation of equivalent alchemy trade?

Legend has it that during the age of gods, high-level Magicians could accomplish this...

But, that was just a "legend."

Now, it was simply impossible!

Although Su Lun did not know the level of the Formation set up in this restaurant, the so-called "Four-Entity Fallen Spirit Sacrificial Formation," it was definitely not the legendary "god-level."

With a part of each soul already devoured, it was impossible for the formation to resurrect an identical type of ghost!

As Su Lun had guessed, after he had devoured the gray mist, the "Hanged Corpse" floated out again.

This time, however, its spiritual radiance was significantly dimmer.

The appraisal displayed the word "weakened"!

....

"Just as I thought!" Su Lun exclaimed with a gleam of delight on his face.

The formation resurrected the ghoul, but it couldn't restore its soul completely.

If he could kill it a few more times, he even felt that he might completely devour this type of ghost...

Meanwhile, the commotion from the fight upstairs suddenly intensified as if the combatants had discovered something unusual, triggering another round of fierce battle.

Subsequently, the "Magic-transformed Drowning Female Corpse" also disintegrated for the second time.

This time, Su Lun saw clearly.

Right before the ghoul disintegrated, it seemed to suffer a fatal attack out of thin air, which caused its sudden death.

He didn't delay and skillfully rushed over to devour the gray mist.

"Gained 'Magic-transformed Drowning Female Corpse's Soul Shard*2'"

"You have comprehended 'Mental Illusion Art: Drowning Technique (Incomplete)...'"

"Spiritual Power +0.7"

Then,

The second reaping...

The third reaping...

The fourth reaping...

The four second-tier silver entities downstairs periodically exploded and continually resurrected, only to be harvested repeatedly.

So it went on and on.

Though Su Lun wasn't aware of exactly what was happening upstairs, it didn't stop him from joyfully harvesting soul shards.

The two ghost types were sheared by Su Lun over and over, and although the spiritual power and shards obtained were diminishing, each shearing caused the ghosts to weaken after resurrecting.

Even the two undead types, despite a very small probability, also burst into "gray mist" a couple of times because of repeated sudden deaths.

The already low intelligence of the undead types, stripped of their souls, was majorly affected!

Even if their bodies were completely healed, the essence of their being was completely gone...

....

Finally.

The style of the battle, because of Su Lun's "Reaper of Death" talent, gradually went awry.

The seemingly unbreakable bug of infinite resurrection within the "Four-Entity Fallen Spirit Sacrificial Formation" started to be slowly decoded by an unconventional method.

Su Lun guessed that the sudden deaths of these "four ghouls" must be directly related to the battle upstairs.

The weaker the monsters became, the better it was for Edward and the others.

With that, he was even less anxious to join the battle upstairs.

He just remained in the banquet hall, shearing the soul shards of the four second-tier ghouls again and again.

Endless resurrection, repetitive stripping...

And since the stripping targeted the same entities, each shard obtained was guaranteed to hold unique memories.

Unknowingly, Su Lun managed to strip and compile a complete set of "Illusion Techniques: Drowning Technique" and "Illusion Technique: Suffocation Technique" from the two ghost types, even achieving a "mastery" level of proficiency!

Moreover, he stripped some abilities related to the four elements of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire...

But no matter how resilient, frequent stripping was tough even on a tough body.

Su Lun was quite pleased to have mastered some new skills,

Although the four twisted monsters continued to resurrect, the style had totally changed.

When they initially appeared, their ferocity was overwhelming, feeling like one alone could annihilate everyone on the floor.

Four together, utterly unstoppable.

If Su Lun hadn't acquired the "Four-Piece Ghost Defensive Set" beforehand, dealing with just one would have been exasperating.

But now,

The two ghost types had turned into complete dimwits, with blank stares and not the slightest hint of ferocity...

The two undead types had become childlike fools, just mindlessly relying on their remaining instincts to attack...

The term "severely weakened," spotted in the diagnosis, was strikingly conspicuous.

Having stripped even the memory related to creating illusions, how could the two ghost types perform spirit illusions?

With their predatory instincts also stripped, their already low intelligence, couldn't even coordinate their limbs to move properly...

The current "four ghouls" probably couldn't even kill a common Scavenger anymore.

....

And the main culprit, Mr. Su, had not yet ceased his wool-shearing activities.

Where else could one find monsters that could be killed over and over again?

Strip a little each time, and after ten times, you could compile all the skill shards.

Su Lun had nearly killed all the other deformed monsters in the banquet hall. He was guarding a few sand scorpion groups' survivors, using them as bait to lure four monsters over.

Then, he simply waited for these four nearly incapacitated monsters to burst open again before reaping them once more.

He even took the initiative to start killing.

In this way, the style of battle turned from fierce combat to leisurely fishing.

The evil ritual formations in those four rooms were still running normally, but the four "main ingredients" had been irreversibly damaged...

Su Lun, hearing that there was still noise from the fighting upstairs, thought about reaping a few more waves and gathering a few complete elemental skills, then it should be about time to go up.

However, at that moment.

Suddenly a figure shot down from the second floor, appearing in the hall in a few quick movements.

It turned out to be Barbara.

....

Barbara was covered in wounds, looking as though she had been through a fierce battle.

She had intended to come down to check on the situation, prepared for another fierce battle against countless monsters.

But, seeing what was before her, the ancient Magician was stunned on the spot.

At this moment, the banquet hall was a field of corpses, a river of blood, piles of monstrous bodies like mountains, limbs and organs scattered everywhere...

There were hardly any living humans left, but the monsters were gone too.

In the hall, those "four resentful corpses" were wandering aimlessly like fools.

Seeing her come down, they showed no signs of attack.

Glancing at Su Lun, who was guarding the four monsters, Barbara showed a confused expression.

In her limited understanding, such a scene was hard to comprehend.

Seeing Barbara suddenly come downstairs, Su Lun thought something had gone wrong with the battle above and curiously asked, "Huh, Miss Barbara, why have you come down?"

"..."

Unable to make sense of what had happened, Barbara could only ask, "This... Officer Johnny, what exactly happened? Did you kill all these deformed monsters?"

Su Lun glanced at her and saw that she hadn't been completely "contaminated," and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He shrugged and said, "I saw them suddenly die for no reason, then I used a little technique, and this happened. By the way, what exactly happened upstairs, why did these 'four eerie corpses' suddenly explode?"

Barbara then explained, "Elizabeth the nun has been enchanted. She used an evil rite to transfer her injuries onto these 'four resentful corpses'..."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun suddenly understood.

So, every time one of these four monsters died, it meant Howard and his team had killed that old nun again upstairs?

But since the damage was transferred to these four corpses, the old nun essentially gained "immortality," plunging Howard and the others into a fierce battle.

This was supposed to be a no-win situation.

The four specially crafted corpses, due to the [Four Eerie Spirits Fallen Sacrifice Formation] being active, would resurrect through the formation if they died.

Plus, the "Seal Artifact" provided an unending energy supply.

They would have resurrected indefinitely.

Without killing the caster, the four corpses couldn't die.

However, the caster, Elizabeth the nun, cunningly transferred her own injuries back to the four corpses.

This created a vicious cycle.

At least within this hotel, no one could kill her!

But...

This cycle had been disrupted by Su Lun, who used an unexpected method to break the deadlock.

The cycle of the formation continued, but some key materials in the cycle had already been depleted.

The four eerie corpses became weaker and weaker, naturally affecting the battle situation upstairs.

The monsters could endure less and less transferred damage, and the old nun's injuries became more and more severe.

This was ideally good news for Edward and his team,

but they could never expect, and also wondered if it was a deceptive tactic by the old nun...

That's why Barbara came down to check on the situation.

....

Now, seeing the situation,

Barbara also breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at Su Lun, she spoke with a bizarre tone, "I never thought Officer Johnny would be such a powerful Spirit Magician..."

Su Lun didn't elaborate much and asked about the situation upstairs.

Hearing it was a pyrrhic victory, he immediately stated, "If you can kill that old nun a few more times, I might be able to completely resolve this sacrificial formation."

Barbara, relieved by what she saw, replied, but the battle wasn't over yet, she didn't linger, "Okay! Officer Johnny, I'll leave the downstairs to you!"

Su Lun nodded, noticing that her aura of dark energy was very dense, and reminded, "Miss Barbara, your condition doesn't seem too good."

Barbara's face showed determination, "Yeah, I know."

Without looking back, she rushed back upstairs.

....

Knowing about the situation upstairs, Su Lun was in no hurry to go up.

According to earlier intelligence, if the "Ghost Fog" occurred at midnight, the Scavengers wouldn't have heard any battle noises from upstairs.

It also meant that Edward and his team would unconsciously become "contaminated" and enchanted.

Now that they knew about their condition, it seemed they would not let themselves be enchanted, even if it meant destruction for both sides.

Perhaps, by the time Su Lun went up, he might not need to make a move himself and could just collect materials.

The best outcome would be... if they could kill the old nun first.

From start to finish, that old nun was the ultimate boss.