Chapter 88: Death News
In simple terms, the Withered Heart Technique is a way to fake death.
Withered Heart Technique
[Type]: Deception Martial Spell
[Description]: A desperate gambit—by stilling the heart, halting the breath, and freezing the blood, the user becomes indistinguishable from a corpse. For a quarter of an hour, even the keenest spiritual sense will pass over them as carrion. But beware: this art does not protect, only deceives. Indistinguishable from a true cadaver, this technique is a masterful ploy to evade pursuit or ambush foes, yet it offers no shield against a fatal strike. Usable only once per hour, its overuse brings dire consequences: sluggish blood and stiff joints in milder cases, recoverable with rest, but rampant abuse risks partial bodily necrosis. Left unchecked, this decay festers, transforming the practitioner into a half-dead husk—a shambling mockery of life, neither living nor truly gone.
[Reminder]:
Many think this art a perfect escape. But the dead do not wake. And neither, in time, will you.
[Price]: 800 D$t
"Which one should I pick?"
Lordi Payne counted his spirit stones, his gaze lingering on the Blood Boiling Technique before dismissing it outright. 6,800 D$t was far beyond his means—no matter how tempting the technique seemed.
"Maybe later," he thought. "When I've gathered enough stones, I'll return to the Pavilion of Myriad Arts."
Next, he considered the Life Seize Art, but a cold shiver ran down his spine. The cost wasn't in spirit stones—it was in lives. Knowing the AllFullOS System's brain dead erratic nature, it might decide his surroundings lacked sufficient vitality and "Generously" walk him to a forbidden zone for FREE—some death-ridden wasteland where he'd perish before he could blink.