The sound of footsteps was drawing closer!
Fortunately, Liu Xuan had never let down his guard. The moment he heard movement behind him, he immediately sidestepped.
—Though, strictly speaking, he didn’t have to dodge. For one thing, he really wanted to know what was going on and didn’t want to kill the monster without understanding the situation.
For another, whenever he encountered a new monster, it was better to kill it with heavenly thunder at least once.
After evading the sneak attack from behind, Liu Xuan got a clear look at the figure in front of him.
It was a monster over three meters tall, with long, stick-thin limbs and the head of a deer.
Joanna was nowhere to be seen.
As for who the monster before him was, the answer was obvious.
Yet judging by Joanna’s behavior earlier, she clearly knew about certain people and events. For example, she had known that Lambert had come looking for her.
Could it be that after eating a person, a Wendigo could not only take on that person’s appearance but also acquire their memories?
Or was it the other way around? Perhaps the Wendigo hadn’t transformed into Joanna at all. Perhaps the Wendigo had originally been Joanna herself?!
No, that didn’t make sense either.
The legends of the Wendigo in Orenburg had existed for a very long time. How old could Joanna possibly be, as the city lord’s daughter?
While Liu Xuan was thinking, the Wendigo lunged at him again. But with Liu Xuan’s current agility, even a hasty reaction was enough to let him evade the attack with ease.
What Liu Xuan was hesitating over now was whether to kill the monster immediately.
The mystery surrounding it had not yet been completely unraveled. In particular, he still hadn’t learned anything about Lambert. If he killed it now, the clues might be cut off entirely.
What Liu Xuan hadn’t expected was that after several consecutive failed attacks, the Wendigo suddenly turned around and darted into the woods.
It ran away?
“Did it sense that the heavenly thunder was about to trigger?”
Joanna had followed him for such a long time that it would have been easy for her to figure out the pattern of [Thunder Aura].
But did that mean the monster still possessed its own consciousness?
Liu Xuan glanced in the direction the Wendigo had fled, then went over to the corpse of the [Rotting Spirit].
He didn’t even look at the two pieces of equipment it had dropped, simply stuffing them into his bag. He carefully picked the white spirit herb as well.
[Immortality Grass (Legendary Material): Consume directly to immediately restore all HP. It can also be made into Immortality Spirit Water. After consumption, it grants a permanent effect: restores 10% of HP every second.]
When Liu Xuan saw the first line, he felt that the item was somewhat unworthy of its name. Did this really deserve to be called [Immortality Grass]?
It couldn’t even cure every illness, as the legends claimed.
But the second sentence completely captured Liu Xuan’s attention.
Restoring 10% of his HP every second—what did that even mean?
Liu Xuan had [Troll’s Blood], which restored 5% of his HP every five seconds during battle. This was ten times as powerful.
He currently had more than five hundred thousand HP, meaning that after drinking this potion, he could recover over fifty thousand HP every second!
Although that still fell short of true immortality, once Liu Xuan’s HP continued to increase, it would come pretty close.
However, this potion was probably difficult to make. Even a high-level alchemist might not be able to manage it.
After all, this was a Legendary material.
Having stored away the [Immortality Grass], Liu Xuan was just about to pursue the Wendigo when he suddenly noticed the same kind of arrow mark on a nearby tree.
The arrow pointed in exactly the same direction as the Wendigo had fled. Liu Xuan followed it and found other marks along the way.
“If Joanna wasn’t lying, then these marks were left by them back then. In other words, they actually went even deeper into the forest...”
After walking for a while, Liu Xuan discovered a strange mark.
Although it still looked like an arrow, it was much larger. The previous arrows had only been about the size of a hand, while this one was twenty or thirty centimeters across.
Its height was also wrong.
The arrow had been carved at least two meters above the ground. For an ordinary person to leave a mark that high, they would have had to raise their hand to do it. It was completely unnecessary.
Finally, there was one more difference. The previous arrows had basically been carved with two strokes: one horizontal line and one angled line.
But this arrow had clearly been made with three strokes. The two diagonal lines above and below were not connected to the one in the middle.
Rather than an arrow, it looked more like a claw mark.
Moreover, judging by its condition, the claw mark had also been left many years ago.
The farther Liu Xuan followed the Wendigo’s trail, the more he found that all the marks were claw marks of this kind.
This left Liu Xuan unable to help but wonder: Could it be that after Joanna and her guards entered the forest, they had initially left ordinary marks, but then Joanna had suddenly transformed into a monster, killed all the others, and continued running toward the depths of the forest, leaving these claw marks behind?
“Huh? What’s that?”
Following the claw marks, Liu Xuan suddenly spotted a small mound of earth not far ahead that was clearly not naturally formed.
A heavily rusted sword had been planted atop the mound.
It was exactly the same kind of sword used by [Master Swordsman Heg]. In other words, it was the standard-issue sword of the Orenburg security force.
And of the security force members who had entered this place back then, only Lambert had come.
“Is this Lambert’s grave? But who buried him?”
According to Liu Xuan’s earlier guess, the others should all have been killed by the Wendigo by this point.
Could Joanna have buried him?
Liu Xuan looked around. The monster that had transformed from Joanna was nowhere to be seen. He slowly walked over to the mound and crouched beside it.
The mound had clearly not been made recently. A layer of moss already covered its surface, and the sword planted in it had rusted badly after years of exposure to wind and rain.
Liu Xuan thought for a moment. If he intended to return to Heg and complete the quest, bringing this sword with him would probably be the best choice.
He then said to the mound, “Brother, you should be Lambert, right? I’m going to take this sword to your father. Sorry about this!”
With that, he pulled the sword free, only to discover that it was broken.
Only half of it remained.
Judging by the fracture, it had been broken many years ago, and the blade had been snapped cleanly by brute force.
The moment he grasped the sword, a notification suddenly appeared before Liu Xuan’s eyes.
[Because you have obtained a special item and still have a skill that has not yet been drawn, you may now choose to draw the skill immediately or acquire it after completing the subsequent quest.]
This notification!
Liu Xuan had encountered something similar on Eagle Spirit Mountain.
That mountain was where priests changed class to become Eagle Spirit Shamans. Liu Xuan had happened to level up there, and a notification had appeared:
He could give up the opportunity to draw a passive skill and instead learn a passive skill belonging to the Eagle Spirit Shaman class.
In the end, Liu Xuan had acquired the skill [Eagle Spirit’s Protection].
Now, a similar notification had appeared again. Could it be that this quest line was also a class-change quest, and that by continuing, he could obtain a passive skill from another class?
Thinking of Heg’s title, [Master Swordsman], Liu Xuan felt that this was highly likely.
Just as he was about to put away the broken sword, Liu Xuan suddenly saw several hazy phantoms appear before him.
A noblewoman dressed in ordinary clothes was making her way through the forest under the protection of several guards, occasionally carving marks into the trees.
Suddenly, they seemed to have spotted something. One by one, they ran toward it with excited expressions, but before long, their faces changed to ones of terror.
The Wendigo appeared.
Unlike the legends, which claimed it only attacked those who were alone, it launched an assault on everyone.
The guards fell one after another. The noblewoman fled for her life, but in her carelessness, she never expected to fall into the Soul-Reaping Whitewood’s trap. Its roots ensnared her, leaving her unable to escape.
Liu Xuan was somewhat surprised by this. If the scene was real, did that mean Joanna wasn’t the Wendigo?
Had the monster Liu Xuan saw really been what the Wendigo transformed into after eating Joanna?
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
