The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 231 The Story of the Spirit (4k)

Legend has it that true bards always believed that music possessed power.

This allows people to use music to soothe their souls or uplift their spirits.

Thus, through their continuous exploration, outside the magic network, they perceived the "Sacred Word of Creation" originating from the beginning of the universe. By listening to and manipulating its echoes, they found the possibility of triggering the magic network and weaving spells.

Later, the poets realized that a legend from the past, a true story, or even a fictional tale could all have the potential to move people's hearts.

People can be moved to tears by words, and feel empathy and be inspired by the plot.

So they used a similar approach to explore the spiritual power woven into the 'story' itself.

They call this spiritual force the 'essence' of the story.

The spirit itself presents itself as a real historical figure, or perhaps a man-made prototype, or even an indescribable objective spiritual entity.

Therefore, "The Vampire Song," which originates from the spirit of the Dawn Forest, naturally also originates from its main body—

【The Vampire Song】
Consuming one incentive will awaken the spirit within the story.

In the instant you play the song, you will summon the spirit of 'Dark Lord Lilith,' who is the origin of the story.

The spirit is merely the 'story itself' represented by the ballad, carrying the thoughts and will of the story itself, rather than being the person in the actual sense.

The summoned spirits will bestow a 'dark gift' upon every creature visible within a 20-meter radius of your chosen location.

Lilith's Gift -

During the duration of the song, each target will be briefly transformed into a 'half-blood,' gaining all the positive and negative traits of a half-blood until the song ends.

Note: She is a prisoner, a prisoner without a sentence.

Tang Qi examined the lyrics recorded in the logbook; it was the very song he had composed from Van Frien's perspective.

All things considered, it shouldn't take more than three minutes.

So he began to think about whether he could lengthen the intervals between each phrase as much as possible, thereby extending the duration of the song itself.

As it turned out, that wasn't even enough to summon Lilith's spirit.

"It seems there's no way to exploit loopholes anymore."

Even if it only lasts three minutes, the benefits it brings are immeasurable—is it because the person represented by the spirit is at an extraordinary level?

The existence that can be chosen by the mist to become a dark lord cannot be judged by common sense.

Just like the real Lilith, a single drop of blood was enough to transform the descendants of the Night Raven into a race of "half-blooded" offspring.

The power represented by her spirit is only one-thousandth of that of her true form.

But Tang Qi knows how to be content.

Purebred [Half-bloods] possess not only exceptional athletic abilities but also remarkable traits such as not needing to breathe, having vision in the dark, walking vertically like a spider, and sucking blood and biting.

Unlike vampires, they are not unable to face sunlight and flowing water, or to enter houses that others forbid.

It will certainly have an impact, but it won't be fatal.

Even the most basic craving for flesh and blood can be satisfied by wild animals...

Within a 20-meter radius, he could immediately assemble a military force no less formidable than a night-marching army. In a battle of equal scale, Tang Qi had no fear of any army.

"Now I can confirm that the biggest gain this time is not [Ultimate Energy]."

Although that was really quite nice
"The reward for the spirit story is clearly an encouragement for me to create."

Besides "The Vampire Song," there may be other spirit songs that will provide me with benefits...

Indeed, I should keep myself busy.

After finally tallying up the rewards, Tang Qi stretched and used the [Witch's Eye] to check on Anbi's condition—

The little girl wasn't fully developed yet, so his perspective was a bit low. The dense and broad fern leaves blocked most of his view, giving him a taste of the dwarfs' limitations.

He could tell that Ambi was crawling in the woods.

Beside her was Sivana, who was also concealing her figure.

Half a month has passed since we left the village of beastmen.

Following the hunting spots marked by the beastmen, they were moving at a slow, snail's pace, their aim being to hunt as much meat as possible as possible for supplies before leaving the forest.

Therefore, he ordered the Sky Tortoise to temporarily remain at the hunting grounds and await today's harvest.

He was a prophet, and he ate the food offered respectfully by the people of the tribe.

If he does everything himself, won't he become a slave to the orcs?

We're not keeping Shyvana around just to let her freeload.

"Looks like we've run into a snake-chicken beast? With their skill level, dealing with it shouldn't be a problem."

Through the gaps in the branches and leaves, Tang Qi could glimpse their patchwork-like forms—

It has a long beak like a bird, a comb like a rooster, and a few feathers scattered along its spine on its robust skin. Beneath its thin, fleshy wings, like a bat, are thick, lizard-like legs and a long, snake-like tail.

It's really hard to say whether it belongs to a lizard or a bird.

They were stretching their long, slender necks, thirstily drinking from a stream; there were roughly eight of them.

"Looks like we'll be able to have a good meal tonight."

What mutations might the snake-chicken beasts on the Forgotten Continent have undergone?

They are robust in stature, yet their meat has little gamey or fishy smell, and is so fatty that it is dripping with oil. Whether roasted or stewed, they are an excellent source of meat and are a staple in the recipes of various ethnic groups.

Tang Qi could simply pickle it and stockpile it, then say goodbye to a life of chewing wolf meat and swallowing rye.

As for the orcs?

Bold!

You traitors, it's already good enough that you can eat meat every day, so don't be picky!
Good things should be offered to the Prophet for his enjoyment, and then we can share the spoils with you!
With this in mind, Tang Qi watched with great interest as Anbi and his group hunted.

This is also a form of training for the little girl.

Since you've decided to master anger and follow the path of the barbarians, you can't neglect some basic survival skills.

Currently, it seems that Ambi is far superior to herself in this aspect.

"My father said that snake-chickens are used to running in flat open fields and low bushes."

They are broad-bodied and capable of flight; their large flocks in the forest would actually be an obstacle…

In other words, they should be found in the wilderness outside of the Dusk Forest.

Instead of woodlands shrouded in mist.

Ambiya is the daughter of a hunter whose father was infected with a curse and has since lived deep within the Dusk Forest, becoming a true expert on the forest.

When he was still alive, he would always talk about the characteristics of his prey, and from time to time he would dig up fern leaves, mix them with mushrooms, tree sap, and flower petals to make a mushroom sauce, and stuff it into her mouth with rye bread.

Shyvana, on the other hand, was just a barbarian from the vast desert.

She had seen diseased beasts, sometimes with tentacles sprouting from their rear ends, but she had never seen this stitched monster living in the jungle.

This makes her seem more like a student, while Ambly seems like a seasoned teacher.

The little girl wanted her brother Tang Qi to have a delicious dinner.

My brother will definitely praise me.

Therefore, no accidents can be tolerated on this hunt: "And be careful, they possess the ability to move people—"

"Wow ah ah ah!!!"

Hook, wielding his twin axes, roared as he charged out of the fern thicket.

"and many more!"

Anbi tried to grab Houk's clothes, but the little girl was no match for the mad orc. Watching him roar and charge into the horde, she couldn't help but complain.

"These guys won't actively harm other creatures, but if they sense even the slightest danger, they'll go berserk as if they've drunk their own blood!"

She originally planned to use the sleeping mushrooms she had collected beforehand to knock them unconscious without disturbing them, and then deal with them one by one when they were exhausted.

All of this is ruined because of those brainless orcs!

Now that things had come to this, all she could do was let out a long howl. Amidst her childish whimpers, her face suddenly flushed red, and snow-white fur sprouted from her two slender arms, transforming them into the sharp claws of a wolf—

【violent】.

All the power of the Barbarians stems from their perception of the primal emotion of anger.

Unlike Shyvana's Totem Warrior, Shyvana needs to imitate and learn the fury of the wild bear and merge with the essence of nature in order to fully embark on the path.

It took her five whole years from comprehending [Berserk] to embarking on the path of cultivation.

As for Anbi, all she needs to do is tap into her beastly instincts as a [beast].

Although I am not yet proficient, I have indeed stepped into the threshold of the 'path'.

It only took a month in total.

Of course, this is inseparable from the fact that she has been battling with a wild soul in her mind for more than a decade.

Her profound awareness of anger, coupled with Tang Qi's persuasion on the night of the double moon, led her to accept her own existence. These accumulated factors enabled her to achieve a qualitative leap in a short period of time.

Now, all that needs to be practiced is how to channel this anger while also releasing it in a reasonable way.

And it's all about how to go further down this path.

As Houk charged, his two hand axes were about to slice into the neck of the first snake-chicken—its long neck was outstretched, the most conspicuous spot, and with his strength, two axes could easily break it.

"Don't cut their necks! Watch out for their long beaks!"

In her rage, Ambly struggled to form coherent words, but fortunately, she was agile enough to leap forward and pounce on Hook's shoulders and neck, pinning his entire body down.

The axe blade that struck its neck cut into its spine, going over halfway down its spine, but what sprayed out along with the scarlet blood was the venom hidden inside its neck!
The venom gland suddenly burst, and a thick, dark purple liquid splattered onto Houk's calf.

Anbi tried to drag Houk away from the pack of beasts, but the sharp beaks of the three snake-chickens emitted shrill howls, like spikes trying to nail her to the floor.

She had nowhere to run—

"Roar!!!"

Hook grabbed her leg and threw her out of the herd.

Three long beaks suddenly opened their huge mouths, revealing two circles of sharp, withered yellow teeth, and it seemed as if some pus was churning in their throats.

"Squeak-"

They bit into Houk's arm at the same time.

Hook tried to struggle, but he soon discovered that his left leg could not support his balance, making it difficult to exert any strength.

He didn't know what had happened, only that after the pain in his arm subsided, his hands also began to stiffen—he couldn't even feel his arms, let alone his muscles and nerves.

In his astonishment, he looked at his limbs and found that they looked as if they had been coated with a smooth layer of lime paint, or that the paint was fading from the center outwards until finally, only his head remained as a bare green.

"Roar!?"

He turned into a stone.

"Roar!"

Shyvana never expected that the monsters within the Great Wall would be so bizarre, one after another. Not only were there wolf-headed, human-bodied beastmen, but now there were also giant birds that could turn people into stone.

They flapped their wings, trying to muster all their strength to poke a hole in the petrified Hound with their sharp beaks.

Shyvana regretted that her legs weren't as swift as Ambhi's. Forgetting everything else, she hurled her giant axe, which transformed into a silver disc in mid-air, striking the nearest axe squarely in the abdomen.

"boom!"

The giant axe not only sank into the beast's belly, but also dragged its kin to the side.

She had never had her head smashed before, and knew she couldn't sever their venom glands.

Finally reaching Houke's side, she was about to lift the stone statue weighing over a hundred kilograms when the crowing of a rooster rang out again. This time, it was a wild beast that wasn't seriously staggering, trying to swing its enormous long tail.

The spirit of the savage bear suddenly appeared behind Shyvana.

Her fists gained power; one kick struck the snake-chicken's tail, and the other fist shattered the beast's neck, which Hook hadn't even seen before.

Crimson blood was first splattered on her face.

"Oops!"

An angry attack is always crude and reckless. Even if the force is heavier, it is difficult to accurately control the landing point and strength. As a result, she did not pay much attention to whether she was blowing up a head or a poison gland.

The moment she realized what was happening, the venom, carrying a sour, earthy smell, splashed onto her arms, neck, and cheeks.

She seemed to lose her color, frozen in place, becoming a stone statue.

That way, no one will stop them from smashing the two statues.

"Ouch!"

A streak of snow-white lightning flashed across the back of the snake-chicken beast, and amidst the tearing sound like flesh being ripped apart, the lightning seemed to faintly reveal a scarlet hue.

Anbi wanted to tear their throats apart, but in her high-speed run and rage, she couldn't accurately predict which part of their skin each fingernail would rip.

But she is a seasoned hunter.

At least he knows his stuff better than those two disobedient orcs.

This allows them to quickly choose a way out of the predicament during a brief moment of thought.

In fact, from a certain perspective, their actions are quite easy to predict.

'It will become ferocious as if it has drunk its own blood at the slightest sign of danger.'

In other words, it means that 'if they perceive a threat, they will turn their attention to you.'

Therefore, once the two clumsy orcs have petrified, simply attracting the attention of the snake-chicken beast is enough to ensure the safety of the statue.

Even if it puts him in danger, facing an attack from eight snake-chicken beasts alone...

Ambi took a deep breath.

The intense exercise, combined with suppressed anger, made her feel as if her heart was pounding like a drum before a battle, trembling so hard it felt like it was about to burst from her throat...

Brute force or cunning traps?
During the standoff, the snake-chicken beasts let out a "waaaaa" and spread their bat-like fleshy wings, rushing towards her!

Ambi took off running!

Head towards the Sky Turtle!
She wants to be a calm hunter.

Always choose the most correct solution from among the options.

"Sister Chenxi! Help me!"

(End of this chapter)