Talent level increased by one, a transcendent Star Wizard

"Don't worry, I'm strong enough to protect you."

Xia Jian smiled slightly, and after speaking, he kicked each of them, sending them both crashing down.

He's dawdling and wasting time; he's in a hurry to get going!

The two men, worthy of being novice knights, managed to land perfectly with a backflip despite being forced to go down, and then drew their swords and killed several villagers.

Looking at the dark passage in front of them, the two couldn't help but feel a little scared, and stood there nervously.

"Keep moving forward, we'll follow right behind you."

Seeing the two people in the deep pit, Xia Jian immediately urged them on, and then had Yves make two torches and throw them down.

Having no other choice, the two knights exchanged a glance, picked up their torches, and went inside.

For some reason, the further I went in, the more I felt a strange chill.

Unlike the weather getting colder, this is a change that goes deep into the soul, and my body involuntarily gets goosebumps all over.

The knight who had previously declined turned around and saw that Xia Jian and the others were still lingering at the cave entrance. He couldn't help but feel a little flustered: "Captain, could you come a little closer?"

"I'm calling you, hurry up."

Looking at Yves, who was standing motionless beside her, Natsume glared at him.

If you can't even take care of your own subordinates, who will dare to follow you in the future?

Seeing that Xia Jian was about to kick him, Yves quickly waved his hand and said, "I'm going, I'm going."

Although Yves was extremely unwilling, Natsumi's strength was simply too great, and if he resisted, he might be instantly killed.

After Yves descended into the pit, Natsumi did not allow anyone else to go down.

After all, he just wanted someone to scout the way; he wasn't some kind of murderous maniac, and he didn't want things to be too crowded down there, making it difficult to run.

They descended into the deep pit and, with the help of the torchlight, could barely see what was happening inside the passage.

Xia Jian had only taken a couple of steps when he suddenly stopped.

Looking at the cave walls, they were revealed to be constructed from whole stone blocks, with patterns carved on them, indicating their great antiquity.

Upon closer inspection of the patterns on the stone wall, it appears to be some kind of ancient sacrificial ritual, with the object of the sacrifice being a creature with the head of a lion, the body of a human, and the lower body of a deer with four hooves.

"superstitious!"

Xia Jian scoffed at this.

As a successor to communism, I am not particularly interested in things like sacrificial rites.

Walking along the passage, you enter a cone-shaped house structure. Besides some patterns carved with chisels on the stone walls, there are several skeletons dressed in black robes on the ground.

Judging from the extent of the black robe's decay, it must have been there for several decades.

As Xia Jian entered the house, she suddenly became wary and looked ahead.

Yves and his two companions stood motionless in the center of the room, each holding a torch.

"Hey!"

Xia Jian tentatively called out, but the three of them did not react at all, as if they were fixed in place by something.

Seeing this, Xia Jian gripped his long sword and left the house.

Looking through the gap between the three people, one could vaguely see a brass-colored statue about 20 or 30 centimeters tall.

Xia Jian glanced around but didn't see anything special. Could it be the statue's fault?

Just as Xia Jian was about to smash the statue, a strange cold wind blew out of the room, giving Xia Jian goosebumps.

As Xia Jian turned his head to look for the ventilation opening, he caught a glimpse of Yves and the other two turning around, staring intently at him.

Xia Jian felt a little uneasy under the gaze, and without thinking, he unleashed a black sword aura.

Yves and his two companions reacted quickly. Two novice knights stood in front of Yves, holding longswords to block Xia Jian's sword energy.

However, Xia Jian's sword energy was extremely sharp, shattering the longsword infused with battle energy in an instant, and then cutting the two of them in half at the waist.

Taking this opportunity, Yves leaped over the two men and stood in front of Natsuma, swinging his sword toward Natsuma's head.

However, besides his sword aura, Xia Jian's physical abilities far surpassed those of a mid-level knight.

Xia Jian slightly turned his head, then clenched his left fist and swung it out, striking Yves in the chest with a punch that sent Yves flying.

Yves' body slammed against the stone wall, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

Seeing the longsword in Xia Jian's hand tremble slightly, Yves quickly waved his hand and shouted, "No! It's me! It's me!"

Xia Jian raised an eyebrow slightly, seemingly considering whether Yves had any problems.

Just when Yves thought he was safe for the time being, a black sword aura came into view and then cleaved Yves' head in two.

For Xia Jian, uncertainties must be dealt with promptly.

Who cares what you have or don't have? He has no interest in playing spy charades with Yves.

After dealing with the three knights, Natsumi began to examine the house again, eventually fixing his gaze on the statue opposite him.

Like the paintings on the stone wall, it was a sacrificial statue with a lion's head, a human body, and a deer's body.

In front of the statue, there was a chopping board with three bloody children's heads on it, and the dripping blood flowed eerily toward the statue.

As Xia Jian stroked his chin, pondering what to do, a strange sense of anxiety welled up inside him.

When you look at the statue again now, it seems to come alive; the lion's open mouth is full of blood, and its blood-red eyes are filled with savagery.

As a result, Natsume's eyes gradually turned red.

*Smack!*

A crisp sound echoed in the small room.

After slapping himself, Xia Jian regained his senses and felt a deep sense of dread towards the statue. He never expected that this unassuming statue would possess such magical power.

Without much thought, Xia Jian raised his hand and unleashed two black sword energies.

However, the statue did not shatter as Xia Jian had anticipated. Instead, a gray mist mixed with wisps of blood emanated from the statue and formed a circular barrier that blocked Xia Jian's attack.

Hehehe~

At the same time, a strange laugh came from inside the room.

Xia Jian immediately became alert and quickly retreated, trying to leave this strange place.

But suddenly, Xia Jian stopped in his tracks, inexplicably thinking of the travelogue in the manor owner's iron box.

As mentioned above, there is a plant called Namo Illusion Flower. According to the travelogue, this plant has the effect of bewitching the mind and manipulating people's hearts, and it likes to grow by sucking blood.

Although this plant is very dangerous, it is also very precious and can be used to make some psychoactive potions.

If Xia Jian remembers correctly, the recipe at the back of the notebook requires this plant.

With this in mind, Xia Jian closed the curtain and amplified his mental power, beginning to discern the truth based on the methods described in the travelogue.

Immediately afterwards, I felt a strange coolness on my left side, just like the gentle breeze I had encountered at the beginning.

"Found it!"

Xia Jian opened his eyes and looked at the empty left side of the room. With a wave of his hand, a black sword aura appeared.

As the black sword energy pierced into the wall, the strange laughter around them abruptly stopped, and the space seemed to freeze at that moment.

…………