Chapter 47: Tree Shadow
Chapter 47: Tree Shadow
“Starlight Slave?”
Hong He exclaimed, his voice distorted, trembling like a leaf in the wind!
Among many elemental beings, Star Element beings were the wildest, most domineering, and ferocious!
For the same basic summoning spell, “Star Domain Summoning” required an extra incantation—”Dark Brand”—to prevent it from backfiring and harming the caster. Therefore, it was no longer called a “servant” but a “slave.”
Magic Rules were fair. The Starlight Slave was powerful and formidable, but the summoning difficulty was also higher, generally requiring the cultivation of a High-Rank Spell Apprentice.
The youth before him was not even a Lower-Rank Spell Disciple. How could he summon such a fiend?
His shock was overwhelming, but the reality was right before his eyes, leaving no room for disbelief.
This Starlight Slave before him seemed to be a mutated form. Within its violent starlight shimmered a wretched green, losing some of its defiance but gaining venomous cunning. A sinister wind blew around it, making it even more terrifying and eerie.
“I must create distance! Getting close means certain death!”
Suppressing his fear, with flowing winds coiling around his body, Hong He took several evasive steps, retreating backward at extreme speed. This was the “Wind Stride Spell”!
The Starlight Slave’s body was chaotic, harboring a terrifying property akin to Chaos, ignoring magical resistance, ignoring armor defense. A single punch carried the power of the stars! If struck, Hong He knew with his stature, he would undoubtedly die.
The shadow of starlight did not give chase. In an instant, Hong He had put several meters between them, and his mind eased slightly.
He was still feeling lucky when a bizarre scene unfolded before his eyes.
The Starlight Slave hunched over and fell forward, its jaw stretching open at an unnatural angle. Deep in its throat, an eerie green light took the shape of a howling, vengeful spirit!
“Howl!”
A mournful howl transformed into soul-waves, and a green pillar of light shot straight into the sky!
“Spectral Wail Spell!”
This time, it wasn’t just his voice that twisted; his face, now illuminated a sickly green, contorted too.
He truly couldn’t imagine how a Starlight Slave could know a spell? And a necromantic spell at that!
He had no idea that what stood before him was not a Starlight Slave, but a Starlight Specter, an entity evolved through a secret method using a Twisted Wraith as its soul.
As the green light struck him, negative effects like “Terror,” “Frenzy,” and “Slow” surged from within his body. Even his thoughts seemed to grow sluggish. Seeing the giant, starlight-shimmering fist roaring toward him, he could only barely raise his longbow “Skyshackle” to block in front of him.
“Wait, don’t kill him, restrain him first!”
A sentence rang in his ears.
His heart swelled with joy, but the next moment, a violent impact struck him head-on, and his consciousness plunged into icy darkness.
The giant fist flashing with wild starlight, like a falling meteor, crashed down with devastating force. Sparks flew from “Skyshackle,” its magical runic arrays shattered one by one, and with a loud crack, it broke in two!
The fist’s momentum did not stop. It smashed hard into his forehead, smashed through his skull, smashed into the muddy ground, splattering brain matter!
One punch, another punch. Hong He was already long dead, but the relentless fist kept smashing down again and again, splattering countless splashes of crimson and murky white fluid.
With each punch falling, it seemed a wisp of resentful spirit rose, drawn into the Starlight Specter’s nostrils through its breath, making its ferocity even greater.
The commotion was too loud. A pack of blood hounds were drawn over, barking wildly as they approached, watching intently.
The Starlight Specter turned its head. With just one glance, it made the blood hounds known for their ferocity whimper once before turning tail and fleeing.
“Enough, stop. I said stop!”
Looking at Hong He’s form, now barely recognizable as human, Li Yi suppressed his discomfort and shouted the order loudly.
The Starlight Specter turned its head with a threatening roar, showing an intent to turn on its master!
“Foolishly bold!” Li Yi wasn’t afraid. The contract mark on his forehead appeared, emanating the authority of a command. He pointed his finger forward and shouted angrily, “Disperse!”
A reluctant howl of despair rang out. The stellar shadow-body shattered like glass, dispersing apart. The remaining form of the Twisted Wraith was pinched between Li Yi’s two fingers and stuffed into a bottle.
“This is a bit troublesome, a miscalculation… this Starlight Specter seems it can’t be used too often! Forget it, I only have two more vials of ‘Starlight Liquid’ left anyway. In the future, I’ll use ‘Earth-Rock Specters’ and ‘Flame Specters’ more!”
Star Domain Summoning was indeed different from Thunder Summoning. It contradicted the nature of specters, yet the flaw was precisely that they were too compatible!
The growth and advancement of specters wasn’t just about devouring souls; it also involved absorbing the spiritual essence of the sun and moon.
Summoning a Starlight Specter, imprisoning the specter within stellar power, was practically throwing a mouse into a rice granary.
He really didn’t want to face a malicious spirit, or even a Fierce Spirit, after a few summons.
However, looking at it from a positive angle, this spell became a method of “Nurturing a Little Ghost.” As long as he himself was strong enough, this method could nurture an even more powerful undead being.
He coughed a few times, his chest heaving, still feeling as uncomfortable as a broken bellows.
That arrow’s power was beyond imagination.
Besides wearing “Storm Fortress,” under his great robe, he had actually wrapped himself in a full three layers of air shields, just in case.
Who knew that even under such thorough protection, a single arrow striking him, with its terrifying impact exploding on his back, nearly knocked him out unconscious!
“Risky ventures like this… better do less in the future…” Li Yi drew experience and admonished himself.
After pausing for a while, his emotions calmed somewhat, but another shadow rose within him, lingering in his heart.
He killed someone!
It was not by his own hand, and the other party each time attacked with full force, aiming to kill, but regardless, he killed someone!
He was just an ordinary person. Unconsciously, he felt a sense of guilt and fear about killing.
Emotions churning, Li Yi involuntarily retched, though only clear water came up.
“If you don’t kill others, they will kill you. This sort of thing, there’s no right or wrong to it!”
Li Yi consoled himself. However, he understood the reasoning, but experiencing it personally felt completely different.
Find something to do!
Unable to handle this feeling right away, Li Yi simply forced himself to keep talking non-stop to distract his attention.
“Looking at the carvings, this bow is named ‘Skyshackle’? What a pity, such a powerful magical implement, destroyed… I don’t know the magic archery arts, but simple magic-assisted archery, I can still manage.”
“Tsk tsk, a full three Rune arrays! Rune arrays use Runes as hubs, similar in effect to magic arrays, but more intricate and delicate, able to be carved onto extremely small objects. Therefore, they are much more expensive and rare! The Rune arrays are destroyed, but many of the Runes on them are still intact. I’ll take them off. Regardless of their value, they’ll be greatly beneficial for my understanding of the path of Runes.”
“Wait, this cloak, there’s something off! If I’m not mistaken, is that ‘Tree Shadow Cloak’? This item holds the ability of ‘Tree Shade Protection,’ to transform into a tree, leaving no trace… It’s a fair bit inferior to ‘Skyshackle,’ but still quite valuable.”
Rambling on for a long while indeed proved effective. After a while, the distracting thoughts faded away, and he began to think seriously.
Seeing the Tree Shadow Cloak, the first thought that popped into his head was actually to go get the Beast-Blood Fruit!
However, he smiled lightly and immediately dismissed that ridiculous notion.
The Tree Shadow Cloak could indeed let someone move through the forest like a fish in water, coming and going without a trace, but to fool a magical beast above level 4 was almost impossible.
The Beast-Blood Fruit was indeed precious, but risking one’s life for it wasn’t worth it.
Besides, the main task was important. On the point ranking, he was already far behind.
This was the second day. Yu Qian’s points had already exceeded three hundred, while Li Yi was still stuck at eighty.
“How am I supposed to catch up?”
“Normal methods are no longer enough, unless I hunt higher-level magical beasts! A level 1 magical beast gives fifty points. A level 2 magical beast gives two hundred and fifty points!”
“Hunting a level 1 magical beast is already very difficult. Level 2? Isn’t that seeking death?”
His heart felt somewhat discouraged.
“Wait, there’s hope!” Inspiration struck. Li Yi’s eyes shone brightly. “If completely motionless, the Tree Shadow Cloak can even fool a level 3 magical beast! Using it to hide, combined with various methods, waiting for the prey to come to me…”
Holding his nose, he took off the Tree Shadow Cloak. Li Yi condensed a water ball, carefully scrubbed the cloak, and slowly pondered. The vague plan in his mind became clear and distinct.
“Not to mention that ‘Samsara Shroud,’ hurting my friend and nearly killing me, if I let you have things your way, then I won’t be having my way… But I can’t act recklessly. Safety must come first.”
After meditating for a while, his Mana gradually recovered. The Tree Shadow Cloak was almost dry. After muttering to himself for a bit, Li Yi walked into the yellow barrier area.
That was the gathering place for level 2 magical beasts!
The third day, early morning.
Under a pale yellow sky, an evil-shadow lion lazily dozed, its ears twitching occasionally, waiting for prey to come to it.
This magical beast was not only strong and swift, but could also cast a spell called “Evil Shadow Strike,” condensing shadowy evil power into a shockwave with extremely fearsome destructive force!
It was relaxed and at ease, not noticing that right under its nose, on a lush, giant tree, lurked an ambusher.
Li Yi leaned against the dense forest, his fingers plucking an invisible harp. He trembled them slightly, and the air outside his fingers twisted and vibrated. Silent thunder brewed at his fingertips.
Secret Art—Thunderclap Strike