The lost nation submerged in history, left only with fragmented mentions in the unofficial annals of various countries, with scarce related records in the official Wizard History.
Last time, his careless action attracted the attack of the Red-eye Crows and the Great-winged Crow-men; this time, however, Lin Suo’s misfortune turned into a blessing.
Extracting enough elemental traits from the body of a Crow-man, Lin Suo mixed in using the +1 Shape Shifting Technique.
While not seamless, as long as he doesn’t initiate combat or overly engage in verbal communication, the likelihood of exposure isn’t high.
The Demon Spirit Shark is symbiotic with him, sharing a linked aura.
The scent of the Curse could be considered a natural performance.
In the same area where crows died yesterday, a new batch appeared.
Thousands of Red-eye Crows with black feathers, quiet and still, watched Lin Suo eerily as he hovered motionless over the sea.
This made him extra cautious.
Caught just after boasting? Surely not.
Thus, he tried howling in the language of the Crow-men.
Lin Suo took the lead, and all the Red-eye Crows became agitated, flocking to his side in a swarm, as if they saw their sovereign.
Fortunately, he was not exposed.
It seemed to be some sort of identity verification method; he must have fooled them.
However, having witnessed the absolute control the Crow-men had over these crows yesterday, he wondered if he could use them for cultivation?
After all, each Red-eye Crow was a Soul-aspect Curse Demon Beast, considered quite rare outside, and although individually weak, their sheer volume was staggering!
The thought crossed his mind.
Lin Suo lost interest in exploring and decided to feed well.
With that thought, he began to call out.
"Gaga (Do not resist)."
The Red-eye Crows were very obedient, not resisting as they were told, and even lined up to be dunked into the pot under Lin Suo’s command, one by one.
Lin Suo let his belly hang out.
The shrunken head of the Demon Spirit Shark emerged from his stomach, opened its huge mouth, and voraciously accepted the food resources that actively made their way into its stomach.
It was mindless, otherwise it would have been reciting with joy: Blessed are the ignorant!
Lin Suo squinted his eyes, feeling the pure Soul Energy and Magic Power coming from the Demon Spirit Shark, and absorbed it like crazy.
When thousands of Red-eye Crows were swept clean, Lin Suo licked his lips, still wanting more.
His Rank progression rose another 50 points.
Eating more this time led to a smaller increase, suggesting the difficulty of Wizard Rank cultivation increases with each level.
The Demon Spirit Shark doesn’t understand the concept of being full, but its digestive capacity is limited; overfeeding it in one go would cause it to fall into a dormant state for a while.
After digesting its belly’s stores, it could resume its function.
He hadn’t reached the limit this time, so Lin Suo stood still and thought for a moment before deciding to delve deeper.
As an island nation, Crow Court.
The land area was not large.
Twisted and bizarre hollow-faced dead trees grew everywhere, as silent and frightening as the legendary Witch Forest.
Red-eye Crows were seen everywhere in large, terrifying numbers.
But these crows were all in a silent state, motionless even when perched on branches.
If it weren’t for the occasional twist of their heads, Lin Suo would have thought them to be mere objects.
This Concealing Breath ability was worth learning; he would collect a few for dissection later.
Lin Suo ventured further into the twisted forest.
On the ground, there were occasional clusters of special mushrooms resembling Purple Crystals. He had never seen them before, but the Curse Power within could not be faked; whether as Magic Potion ingredients or for the Demon Spirit Shark to Devour, they were invaluable treasures.
Collected one fifth of a Space Belt along the way.
Proceeding to the center of the jungle, a vast complex of architectural ruins caught his attention.
If his guess was correct, this should be Crow Court’s main city.
The architectural style was unrecognizable.
The vast majority were just handfuls of black dust on the ground, leaving only some corners of walls remaining, which would crumble upon touch.
The decay was extreme.
"Too much time has passed..."
"With such decay, it’s hard not to doubt whether anything has survived, or perhaps... the real relic isn’t here?"
"Where did this Crow-man come from?"
"Could there really be an alternate space?!"
Lin Suo raised an eyebrow, although he had made logical estimates before, he wasn’t that clever...
To guess it right from the start?
Just then, a unique fluctuation arrived.
It was like... an inquiry? No, a confirmation!
Lin Suo quickly followed the source, passing through an upright wall, and a square came into view.
In the central position stood a statue about six meters tall.
He hadn’t seen it before because it was precisely blocked by a wall that hadn’t fallen.
Lin Suo approached to observe.
The statue was six meters tall, with three pairs of pitch-black wings on its back, and without the furry features of a raven; its hands and feet were like those of a human being.
Wave-like long curly hair fell down, but the face was a piece of Starry Sky.
The reason why it could be seen as a starry sky was because it was dynamic, like the Milky Way, twinkling with light, gently rotating.
The fluctuation was coming from the statue.
The wave of confirmation swept over again, and after hesitating for a moment, Lin Suo agreed.
Lin Suo’s Shape Shifting Technique into a winged Crow-man disappeared, and the starry face of the Six-Winged statue dimmed down, losing its radiance completely.
The lights were always bright, the smoke lingered.
On both sides were densely packed winged raven stone sculptures, standing on shrine-like platforms embedded in the wall, like murals.
At the central upper-most position of the throne sat a Four-Winged Crow-man statue, four meters tall, with closed eyes and a leaning posture, as if in a deep sleep.
At this moment, cracks began to emerge from one of the Crow-man sculptures further back on both sides.
In astonishment, Lin Suo broke free from the hold of the sculpture.
Upon seeing the scene before him, he was utterly dumbfounded.
There were at least thousands of winged Crow-men in this palace; his placement was towards the end which, based on logical inference, meant his transformed identity was at the lower end of the hierarchy of winged Crow-men.
This power had already surpassed the Blood Clan that had dominated the Nightfall Sea Area for thousands of years.
Keep in mind that this was power left behind nearly a hundred thousand years ago, at that time, humanoids including Elves lived quite ordinarily.
Humans had it the worst, serving as enslaved blood food.
And the Crow-men, based on the transformation of Ashidler people, had such heritage in that era, definitely representing the pinnacle of humanoid forces.
Silently, they perished.
Lin Suo surveyed the area.
He quickly found a three-meter-long Black Scythe standing by the hand of the one on the throne.
The Curse Power on it was terrifyingly strong.
Not much in quantity, but extremely high in quality.
Moreover, it seemed to contain Divine Power?
However, it was too thin for Lin Suo to perceive in detail.
This Dark Palace, presumably, was the Crow-men’s sleeping place, aptly named the Deep Sleep Realm.
The source of power maintaining this place must be the Curse Scythe.
Unfortunately, it was about to exhaust its energy...