But Lance's gamble paid off; the sacrifice immediately triggered the curse, and then it was swallowed with no resistance at all.

This kind of brute-force cracking left the two of them stunned.

Huh? That works too?

Only, why did Lance seem to hear some faint, distant wailing?

Forget it, whatever—he directly rummaged out some things from inside for the two of them to appraise.

There wasn't much; aside from quite a few dried human heads, there were some assorted corpses, which should be prefabricated Superordinary Items, carrying Supernatural Power just like that Head Bomb he had thrown out last time.

Lance's sensitivity to spiritual fluctuations made him first fish out from among those things a leather pouch of unusual material; the moment he opened it, a wave of bloody stench poured out.

He poured it out: a dozen or so blood-colored, murky crystals about the size of a fingertip. The color was a bit uneven, looking like scabs congealed together, for some reason giving people a very unsettling feeling.

"These look like the Spiritual Crystals he used to fuel the Wax Puppet," Lance pinched one between his fingers, recalling the state of the Wax Puppet's heart.

"Because of the extraction method there are too many impurities, but judging by this amount, he must have killed at least a few hundred people to get them." Alhazred seemed quite calm, because this kind of material was very common in the Supernormal Realm.

"It's a pity only Puppets can really use them. Anyone else would need to refine them again, which greatly lowers the value. But even so, one piece is worth three to five hundred Gold Coins; there are a few thousand Gold Coins' worth here at least." Amanda, familiar with this market, briefly explained the value of the goods. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Among all sorts of bizarre things they didn't recognize, a bone cup inlaid with gemstones caught the two's attention.

"Is this a Blood Chalice?"

"Looks like it's got some history."

Lance picked the thing up and couldn't help asking, "What does this thing do?"

"This is an artifact left behind by an ancient civilization that called itself the Blood Dynasty. They believed that drinking blood could grant them power and at the same time restore their youth.

This kind of bloody ritual did indeed bring them a brief period of glory, but in the end it drew down certain calamities, and they ended up pretty much the same as those who follow an evil cult—submerged in the long river of history.

However, this kind of Blood Chalice did survive, evolving into a ritual for extracting power from blood. Those Spiritual Crystals just now were very likely refined with this."

Only after Alhazred finished speaking did Amanda follow up with an added remark.

"If I remember correctly, there are still remnants of the Blood Dynasty who formed an evil cult based on this—the Blood Cult. Could this also be related to them?"

The moment she said that, the atmosphere in the room grew somewhat heavy.

They were about to move into action as it was; now they had provoked a high-ranking member of the Empire Nobility, and there was a powerful Spellcaster involved, plus an unknown evil cult. None of these were simple enemies.

Could Hamlet really bear all this…

But at this moment, Lance was still able to laugh.

"Nice! Liches and evil cults one after another—this Empire is getting livelier by the day."

Lance wasn't afraid of chaos; he was afraid of things not being chaotic enough.

Without chaos, every move he made would be locked under watch. Where would there be room to grow?

A real man is born for troubled times; to build merit and carve out a legacy, it has to be now!

At first, Amanda and Alhazred had been feeling the pressure of the situation, but seeing Lance like this, they actually felt much more at ease.

There was no hardship that could make him back down…