Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 86 The Pale Tower

The cold wind of the desolate wasteland, carrying fine bone dust and decaying dust, swept across Kate's body covered in thorn armor, like the eternal sigh of the dead.

The pale gray symbiotic membrane on the body surface circulated slightly, isolating most of the corrosive death energy and coldness from the outside. The Seed of Origin, like a cold furnace, operated efficiently, suppressing the almost greedy throbbing of the Blood-Devouring Vine in the right arm caused by the dense death energy.

The Alliance Amulet and the Emerald Beacon in his arms emitted a warm yet resolute glow, together forming the first line of defense against this land of death.

Kate's gaze was as sharp as a hawk's, piercing through the pervasive gray fog and sweeping across the area ahead known as the "Valley of the Dead."

The extraordinary perception of the Seed of Origin, combined with the spatial anchoring provided by the Time-Space Nursery, has given him an unprecedented level of insight into the environment.

He could "hear" the low groans of deathly energy, "see" the invisible folds formed by turbulent energy flows, and "smell" the cold malice emanating from the powerful undead creatures hidden beneath the pile of bones.

The Pale Tower, a necromancer's ruins standing deep in the wasteland, is another ancient node mentioned in the sage's message that may have nurtured the hearts of the dead.

"roar--!"

A soul-piercing roar, filled with pain and violence, tore through the gray mist, accompanied by a dull tremor of the earth.

Deep within the rift valley, a colossal creature broke free from the skeletal chains that bound it, revealing its ferocious full form.

That's a skeletal dragon!

Its skeleton was forcibly pieced together from the bones of dozens of different creatures. Its wing bones were the ribs of some kind of giant flying creature, and its spine was twisted and snake-like, with skulls that shimmered with ghostly green fire.

The massive tail ends in a meteor hammer made from the entire vertebrae of a rock snake.

Its core is not its head, but a huge, dark purple soul core in its chest cavity, compressed and condensed from the wails of countless dead souls, constantly pulsating—this is the source of its power, and also the root of its suffering.

This is a level four peak skeletal creature, which should also have the combat power to threaten a formal wizard level.

Almost the instant it appeared, another cold, viscous energy wave, like a leech, rose from the shadows behind Kate.

A “Frankenstein’s monster” forcibly stitched together from rotting flesh, rusted metal and broken bones slowly crawled out of the ground.

It has no fixed shape, and dark green pus constantly flows from its surface, emitting a strong smell of decay and disease.

Dozens of twisted arms wriggled on its body, each with a drooling mouthpart split open in the palm, emitting nauseating sucking sounds.

Similarly, both are at the peak of level four, two undead creatures with similar combat power!

Two level-four peak undead behemoths, one in front and one behind, blocked Kate's path to the depths of the rift valley.

They were not allies; their soul fluctuations were filled with chaos and hostility. But at this moment, the presence of a living being that had entered their territory made them temporarily turn their attention to Kate.

"Perfect, I'll use you to test the practical combat limits of the Time-Space Nursery."

Kate's eyes showed no fear, only cold calculation and a hint of eager fighting spirit.

Faced with the skeletal dragon beast's first breath of dark purple soul energy, which poured down like a waterfall, this breath combined the burning of soul fire with the impact of the mind. For an ordinary fourth-level wizard apprentice, being hit by it would risk serious injury.

Kate didn't dodge, "Time-Space Nursery - Spatial Barrier!"

Within the spiritual sea, the core of the miniature "nursery" shone brightly, the anchor point of the Void Meditation Lotus stabilized the space, and the veins of the Void Vine instantly extended and intertwined.

hum!

A massive, arc-shaped barrier, rippled with pale silver space, instantly materialized in front of Kate.

On the surface of the barrier, faint dark golden thorn patterns and emerald green life halos are visible.

boom-!!!

The violent, dark purple breath slammed into the spatial barrier, an impact powerful enough to instantly annihilate the soul of an ordinary peak fourth-level apprentice, as if it had crashed into a wall of sighs.

The barrier fluctuated violently, and the silver and purple light clashed and annihilated each other wildly, producing a piercing tearing sound.

The dark gold thorn patterns on the surface of the barrier lit up, frantically absorbing the overflowing impact energy, while the emerald green halo continuously neutralized the corrosive death energy.

The barrier ultimately withstood the terrifying blow, though its light dimmed considerably.

Just as the barrier was subjected to the impact, the dozens of arms of the Abomination Stitched Monster, dripping with putrid pus, writhed like venomous snakes, grabbing at Kate from all directions with a terrifying suction force.

"Void Refraction!"

Kate's figure blurred and distorted in an instant, as if it had turned into several overlapping afterimages.

Chi Chi Chi!

The hateful arm passed through the afterimage and grasped at nothing.

The highly toxic pus dripped onto the ground, corroding it and producing wisps of blue smoke.

Kate's true form appeared above the Abomination side by shifting slightly in space due to refraction.

"The Seed of the Spiritual Pivot: Life Fades!"

A strange seed, shrouded in a dense, deathly gray aura yet containing a trace of emerald green life force pulsating in reverse, was precisely shot by Kate into the largest mouthpart on the surface of the Abomination's body.

This is a new skill created by Kate by combining the analysis of the Seed of Origin with the reverse simulation of death and decay using the life core of the Time-Space Nursery.

puff!

The seed exploded within the abomination's body, and a deathly gray aura of decay instantly spread, frantically eroding its forcibly stitched-together, already unstable, rotting flesh.

Even more deadly, the reverse fluctuation containing the laws of life was like cold water being poured into boiling oil, triggering a violent conflict and collapse of the chaotic life energy within the body of hatred.

"Awooo—!!!"

The abomination let out a agonizing roar, its massive body convulsing violently, the sutures on its skin bursting open, and pus spurting out like a fountain, its movements instantly becoming chaotic.

Without pausing, Kate turned her attention to the skeletal dragon beast that had just finished spewing its breath and whose soul core was pulsating slightly slower.

"Spatial Flicker - Chisel"

The figure vanished in an instant!

The next moment, it appeared directly in front of the skeletal dragon beast's massive soul core, less than five meters away.

"Bloodthirsty Poison Ivy - Soul-Devouring Piercing!"

The Bloodthirsty Vine pattern on his right arm erupted with an unprecedentedly fierce, dark golden light.

Several vines, solidified to the point of being, with their tips wreathed in highly compressed spatial energy and soul-devouring purple light, pierced towards the pulsating dark purple soul core like a spear of judgment from hell, ignoring the massive bone claws hastily swung by the skeletal dragon beast.

The skeletal dragon's eyes flickered with soul fire, sensing a deadly threat.

It desperately tried to muster its strength to defend itself, but Kate precisely seized the brief period of weakness it had just experienced after unleashing its full power.

puff!puff!

The tough bones were like rotten wood in the face of the highly concentrated spatial cutting force, and the Soul-Devouring Purple Light even directly penetrated the outer protection of the Soul Core.

"roar-!!!"

A heart-wrenching scream, reaching the very depths of the soul, echoed throughout the ravine.

The massive body of the skeletal dragon beast instantly stiffened, its dark purple soul core pierced by the vines, and a violent soul-devouring power and spatial annihilation energy erupted and raged wildly within its core.

The countless bones that made up its enormous body collapsed and disintegrated as if they had lost their adhesive.

The enormous soul core's light quickly dimmed and shattered, transforming into pure fragments of death essence that were greedily devoured by the Bloodthirsty Vine.

[Successfully defeated the Skeleton Dragon Beast (Level 4 Peak), earning 100 points.]

Solve one!

Without pausing, Kate turned her gaze to the Abomination Stitches, which was still struggling in pain but whose rotting flesh was beginning to regenerate wildly.

The cracks on its body surface healed rapidly under the dense death aura, and the chaotic life energy even showed a tendency to be forcibly calmed under the interference of the withering seeds.

"Regeneration? In the face of the Time-Space Nursery, the regeneration and restoration of the undead are ineffective."

Kate's eyes were calm and confident.

"Time-Space Nursery: Life Imprisoned!"

Within the spiritual sea, the Seed of Life (a fragment of the Root of Immortality) shone with a brilliant emerald light.

The immense power of life rules was channeled out, not to nourish, but to forcefully "lock" the chaotic, disordered, mutated, and polluted life energy within the Abomination Stitches with a powerful will of order.

hum!

A faint emerald green light instantly covered the abomination's enormous body.

Under the light membrane, the flow of pus on its body surface decreased sharply, and the regeneration and wriggling of the flesh became extremely slow and difficult, as if it were sinking into a sticky swamp.

Its wriggling arms seemed to be bound by invisible chains, making its movements incredibly sluggish.

"It's over." Kate's mind raced. "Thorn Shadow - Purification Bomb!"

The cores of several Thorn Shadows, which had been lurking in the shadows around the Abomination, lit up, and their tails shot out several metal spheres that were a mixture of highly concentrated holy spring water essence and pure light attribute particles, which accurately entered the largest cracks on the Abomination's body!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Internal explosion!

The holy light of purification and the highly concentrated essence of life raged within the abomination.

The imprisoned chaotic life energy, under the impact of pure life energy, disintegrated instantly like an avalanche, as if it had encountered its natural enemy.

The rotting flesh melted away in patches, the pus evaporated, and the rusted metal skeleton was exposed, which then rapidly rusted and disintegrated in the purifying light.

The Abomination Stitches didn't even have time to let out a final wail. Its massive body, like a wax figure thrown into strong acid, rapidly dissolved and vaporized under the combined effects of the emerald green light-blocking membrane and the purifying light erupting from within.

In the end, only a mess of filthy debris and a few pieces of metal that had been corroded beyond recognition were left behind.

[Successfully killed the Abomination Stitches (Level 4 Paragon), earning 100 points.]

Two clean and decisive battles, and the fall of two peak level four undead behemoths, fully demonstrated Kate's powerful combat strength after merging with the Time-Space Nursery—precise spatial control, formidable defense, ingenious application of life rules, and highly efficient targeted strikes.

Kate breathed slightly, feeling the satisfaction from the Bloodthirsty Vine devouring the pure death energy of the two undead behemoths, and the subtle changes in the Time-Space Nursery as it became more solid and stable during the battle.

He walked to the largest metal fragment left after the abomination dissolved. After scanning it with the Seed of Origin, he confirmed that it contained a trace of rare "Undead Wraith Iron," an excellent material for crafting undead resistance equipment. He carefully put it away.

He gazed into the depths of the rift, where the gray fog was even thicker, but the perception of the Seed of Origin pierced through the fog, catching a faint yet exceptionally pure spatial fluctuation carrying the aura of ancient knowledge, and—a chilling sense of deathly silence.

Following her senses, Kate navigated through the intricate labyrinth of bones, avoiding several energy-disrupted trap zones, and finally stopped in front of a mountain wall half-hidden by a giant wing bone fossil.

On the mountainside, a colossal gate, ten meters high and carved from unknown, pale, jade-like bones, stands silently.

The door was tightly shut, its surface etched with countless intricate and mysterious runes. These runes were not static, but rather flowed and changed slowly as if they possessed life, emanating a cold, lifeless aura that also contained a kind of twisted wisdom.

Above the lintel hangs a emblem composed of a massive skull and spine—the very symbol of the "Pale Tower" recorded in the ancient texts of the fortress.

An invisible pressure, seemingly capable of freezing the soul, emanated from the door, causing the surrounding deathly aura to stagnate.

found it!

Kate took a deep breath, and the Seed of Origin was fully activated, analyzing the flow of runes on the door.

These runes form a powerful restriction, containing multiple effects such as spatial sealing, soul intimidation, and energy absorption.

A forced breakthrough would inevitably trigger a terrifying counterattack.

However, the spatial perception granted by the Time-Space Nursery allowed him to keenly capture an extremely brief, periodically occurring "rhythmic blank spot" in the flow of runes.

That's a window of less than half a second; the energy flowing through the runes will drop to its lowest point, and a tiny crack will appear in the spatial seal.

"Now!"

The moment that blank spot reappeared, Kate's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

"Space flickering".

His figure blurred instantly, as if merging into the space itself, following that barely perceptible gap, and pierced through the thick, pale bone gate.

The moment you pass through the bone gate, it feels like stepping from one world into another.

The low, mournful groans and deathly cold winds of the eternally desolate wilderness vanished instantly, replaced by a suffocating, absolute silence.

Kate appeared inside a vast, infinitely upward-extending circular space.

This is the interior of the Pale Tower.

Even with Kate's strong will, the sight before her made her gasp and feel a chill run down her spine.

The interior of the pale tower is far more magnificent than it appears from the outside.

The inner ring wall is not made of rock or brick, but rather of layers upon layers of densely packed, pale skeletons, tightly piled and fused together.

Human bones, animal bones, giant beast bones, and even the skeletons of some strangely shaped otherworldly creatures—they were forcibly shaped into the walls of the tower by some powerful force, their hollow eye sockets and twisted postures silently telling of endless pain and despair.

The entire inner wall of the tower is a huge and cruel relief made up of millions of bones.

The tower was filled with a thick, impenetrable gray-white mist, which was extremely heavy and cold, with a strong soul-freezing effect.

In the mist, countless tiny dust particles, shimmering with a faint phosphorescence, drifted slowly—they were highly concentrated fragments of the soul.

Even breathing felt like my mind was being scraped by countless cold, sharp shards.

The Seed of Origin immediately constructed a powerful mental filter, barely managing to resist this all-pervasive soul erosion.