CH 168

Before returning to the base, Rode went to Gray Street No. 17 to find the Medicine Witch. She had finally returned and paid for the fifty puppet woods that were previously ordered as agreed.

Only the living spirituality was missing from the Wooden Puppets now.

This thing can only be found in the souls of living people, and Rode certainly couldn't kill innocent people indiscriminately. But since the incident with the Black Priest, most of the Doomsday Cultists had gone into hiding and were not easy to find.

Rode asked the Medicine Witch about it.

Surprisingly, she actually had it, and the price was not expensive, ten silver soxes per portion, and there were a large quantity available.

Rode resisted the urge to ask where they came from and bought a thousand portions in one go.

The Medicine Witch dragged out a box from under the dusty counter and opened it. Inside the box, filled with spiritual energy, were translucent wriggling entities, like a pile of unknown parasites.

The Medicine Witch carefully weighed out a thousand portions on a scale and handed them to Rode.

The spirituality extracted from the souls of hundreds of people was actually only a small cluster, not even enough to fill a fist.

Rode took the spirituality, turned around, and concealed it in his sleeve.

When he turned back, the living spirituality had already been sent into the dream realm.

"Give me another fifty puppet woods."

With one puppet wood and ten portions of living spirituality, one Wooden Puppet could be created. Rode decided to gather enough materials for a hundred of them.

The Medicine Witch's face, covered in wrinkles, showed no expression.

"Alright, come back in an hour."

"Why so fast this time?"

"I have all the materials."

An hour later, the Medicine Witch handed over the fifty puppet woods to Rode on time.

"Pleasant cooperation. I will come to you often in the future. Can you give a discount to a loyal customer like me?"

The Medicine Witch said expressionlessly, "No."

"Come on, don't be so heartless, be flexible in doing business. Don't you want to maintain a long-term relationship with a loyal customer like me?"

"I don't."

"Exactly, you don't want to lose a trustworthy and generous customer like me... cough cough, give me a 10% discount, let's settle it like this."

The Medicine Witch looked at him expressionlessly.

Although she didn't agree, she still accepted the discounted payment of twenty-five thousand and five hundred silver soxes.

"Haha, you are still quite honest... cough cough, by the way, do you know a hunter named Mephisto?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Ado said that the hunters who often come to her Hunter's Tavern have bought things from you."

The Medicine Witch coldly said, "Keeping clients' secrets is the principle of our profession."

"...Alright, I'll give you a thousand silver soxes, make an exception."

"No."

But the Medicine Witch still took the money.

"...Do you know where Mephisto lives?"

"I don't know."

"Do you have her contact information?"

"I don't."

"She likes to drink Golden Chrysanthemum Mephisto Wine and eat Lemon Jam, is that true?"

The Medicine Witch's murky eyes suddenly looked at him, asking cautiously, "What do you want to do?"

"I want her to be my partner. Granny, I don't know if you are a Firestarter or understand our combat system, but I can tell you clearly that we are a perfect match, created by heaven and earth. No one is more suitable to be teammates than us. The power we have together far exceeds one plus one, reaching the level of one multiplied by one..."

"Isn't that still one?" the Medicine Witch pointed out keenly.

"You don't understand math, don't interrupt. Anyway, I need her. It's like a wolf without a companion, a flower without its core. It's incomplete without her. Only when we are together can we complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, fill in the gaps..."

The Medicine Witch coldly said, "I'm sorry, I don't see how you two are suitable. Mephisto is also my loyal customer. She can complete many tasks on her own without needing your cooperation... If something happens to her and the Internal Affairs Adjudication Bureau traces it back to me, I don't want any trouble. You can leave."

Rode smiled, "Granny, you don't know Mephisto well enough. It seems that she also likes to distort facts and invent history to embellish herself, just like any vain woman. But that's normal. There is no woman who doesn't love vanity. Let me tell you the truth... a few days ago, we encountered a seven-headed Abyssal Monster during a mission. She was so scared that she turned pale and hid in my arms..."

Rode artistically embellished the experience of their last mission, emphasizing his bravery, fearlessness, domineering spirit, broad-mindedness, superb combat skills, and perfect response to enemies.

If it weren't for reasons one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven, he would have killed them all in one breath.Mephisto stayed in his arms the whole time, while they flirted and fought against powerful monsters. The twisted and fearful demons and the dangerous battles became the backdrop for their love story. They acted out various classic romantic scenes while dancing with the monsters, and then they had a life-or-death farewell kiss, unleashing a powerful force that killed the monsters.

Rode thought he had performed perfectly, but when he looked up, he saw all the wrinkles on the face of the medicine peddler squeezed together.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see where you two fit in. If you're not buying anything, then leave."

"Hey, can't you see? Teaming up with us can hunt monsters more efficiently and create a better living environment for the people of Thalorian..."

The medicine peddler's tone became annoyed.

"Aren't you just trying to get her? Aren't you just trying to turn her into your plaything in bed? You're buying so many puppet woods, who knows which ones you'll use to control her and satisfy your perverted desires. You men always have such filthy thoughts but still try to find a noble reason to cover it up. Leave now! Otherwise, I'll call the people from the Internal Affairs Adjudication Office to arrest you!"

"You're slandering..."

But the medicine peddler no longer listened to his explanation and forcefully kicked him out.

With a bang, the door closed in front of his nose.

Rode scratched his head, feeling that unless he showed her the Puppet Wood, this misunderstanding would be hard to clear up.

The Puppet Wood unexpectedly had properties like aphrodisiacs and hallucinogens, which was troublesome.

Even more troublesome was the medicine peddler. He didn't expect that a producer from a black workshop would have such a bottom line and dare to report him to the Internal Affairs Adjudication Office.

Isn't this the same as someone operating without a license and reporting smugglers to him to sell stolen goods?

Hurt the enemy by 800, but harm oneself by 1,000.

Forget it.

Let's think of another way.

Rode could only leave the medicine peddler's black workshop and return to the secret base.

Search "pawread dot com" for the original.

--

In the first two days at the secret base, it was the same as before, training, learning, and making up for missed lessons.

However, the overall improvement brought by Rode's greatly enhanced soul strength refreshed the senses of many people.

Teresa praised, "Your spiritual power has increased rapidly. I can feel it now."

Since he had taken off his disguise, Rode looked much younger. After all, he was only sixteen years old and not even six feet tall.

Teresa, on the other hand, was already in her twenties. Except for some special reasons, her strength was still in a high-speed growth stage. She had already graduated from the academy, but her current identity was a special student who stayed at the school.

The combination of these two identities representing the strong meant an infinitely talented and more powerful Flamebearer.

Coupled with the "Strong" emblem of the secret branch, her strength had already surpassed the sky.

Teresa was tall and had a mature temperament, fitting the identity of an older sister. Even the posture of pressing him down was like that.

"Get up quickly! Your armor is cold and hard, and it's pressing on me!"

"Oh, sorry, little Rode. I always forget that you're still a newcomer. Does it hurt?"

Rode pushed away her hand and coldly snorted, "Don't be so proud. I will surpass you soon."

Teresa smiled and said, "Really? That's great."

"Heh, don't forget our agreement. You have to call me big brother from now on."

"Of course, the Valkyrie won't forget her promise, little Rode."

Rode pursed his lips. He could hear the tone of an older sister coaxing a younger brother. Even if he didn't believe it now, he would make her call him that from morning till night in the future. Hmph.

"Okay, next, we will train three tactical moves: Vise Spin, Theodore's Heavy Smash, and four types of getting up."

In the training ground, Rode's screams echoed again.

Many old men who had completed their training were cheering for him on the side.

This was a rare leisure time in a day.

The group of beautiful older sisters also gathered around, whispering to each other while watching.

"Wow, look at Rode's waist. It's so muscular and masculine, with smooth lines and a charming aura."

"His abs are well-proportioned, with flexible and full muscles, containing internal strength. He's handsome and powerful, with strong sprinting power."

"Jessica, your drool is coming out..."

"Teresa, this woman is so lucky. I'm not weaker than her. Why can't I be the instructor?"

"Why don't you try unleashing your magic power? Teresa can make you unable to stand up with just one finger."

"Wow... Lissa, you're so flirtatious."

The group of beautiful older sisters sometimes played around and sometimes whispered, like blooming flowers, colorful and dazzling, attracting the attention of many people.Teresa also knew that Rode was working hard. In order to attract more attention from the older sisters, she slowly tore open Rode's clothes during training, revealing his well-proportioned and muscular body.

"Alright, that's enough! If you keep doing this, I can do push-ups without using my hands."

Teresa exclaimed in surprise, "Can you release your spiritual power now?"

Rode looked at her speechlessly, closed his mouth, and focused on his training.

Through these training sessions, he truly felt the benefits. His actual combat abilities were rapidly increasing with each training session.

What made Rode even happier was that during the evening language tutoring, Professor Bince believed that his foundation was solid enough. He taught Rode the core language deciphering rules he had invented.

After mastering these rules, many language problems suddenly became clear to Rode, and his proficiency in ancient languages took a big leap forward.

In his dreams before going to sleep, he deciphered a long and crucial section of the Book of Knowledge, learning how to determine the size and abilities of a star in a state of ash.

More importantly, he could now find answers to a certain type of question from the Book of Knowledge.

"Which star is most suitable for me now?"

After paying one hundred red gems, the Book of Knowledge provided an answer.

【Divine Sensation】

【Requiem of the Spirits】

Rode quickly found these two clusters of ash in the Soul Wasteland. Through the methods he obtained from the Book of Knowledge, he learned the specific uses of these two stars.

【Divine Sensation】 greatly enhances spiritual perception, allowing him to continuously comprehend the essence and gain inspiration during the learning process.

【Requiem of the Spirits】 greatly enhances spiritual power. Its star effect is to increase spiritual power.

Indeed.

These were exactly what Rode lacked the most now - spiritual power intensity and combat skills.

Nothing could be more suitable for him than these two stars.

However, the conditions for igniting these two stars were very high.

To ignite the 【Divine Sensation】, he needed 【3 portions of Source Soul, 100,000 Soulless Souls, and 1,500 portions of Spirituality】.

To ignite the 【Requiem of the Spirits】, he needed 【3 portions of Source Soul, 150,000 Soulless Souls, and 1,000 portions of Spirituality】.

The 【Source Soul】 is a special soul that contains a source. Rode didn't even have one now, so where would he get three?

Moreover, they also required a large number of Soulless Souls, which Rode's current stock was far from enough.

Only his spirituality barely met the standard.

Rode then asked the Book of Knowledge about what special souls were and where to find them. But answering these questions would require tens of thousands of red gems.

Damn, it's really toxic.

I'll ask the teacher tomorrow.

Sure enough, the teachers in the "Top Class" did not disappoint Rode's expectations.

Guardian Lilyve told him that in the three-layer structure of the world, the source essence of the Source Sea would sometimes seep out with the rise and fall of the void. Souls that possessed these source essences were special monsters. They usually had many strange characteristics, such as powerful spiritual recovery and extremely high spiritual perception.

Eliminating these monsters would help restore balance to the Source Sea and slow down the spread of the black mist from its roots. However, these monsters were usually very powerful and far beyond what Rode could handle at the moment.

Really?

But I've already killed several of them.

Also, that black priest who loves to eat shit also has such a soul, and she is weak, right?

Of course, Rode didn't say these words out loud, he just asked where he could find such monsters.

Lilyve told him that these monsters were usually outside the defensive circle, beyond the Thalorian Kingdom. That was the true dark world, lurking with countless dangerous and terrifying unknown monsters. Many monsters had been dormant in the darkness for tens of thousands of years, and they had long become incomprehensible and indescribable beings to humans.

"Against the Gods"

In comparison, inside the defensive circle was paradise, and the safe zone was like a cradle for babies. And the royal city was like an incubator for embryos.

Rode's first reaction was disbelief. It sounded like adults trying to deceive children not to wander around. His second reaction was a trembling chill. Her words were not just a simple scare tactic.

Rode knew that even Dust-level monsters, if left unattended for a long time, would mutate in the black mist. They would either devour each other or create nests, gradually growing into deadly threats.

And outside Thalorian, in the dark depths where humans had never reached, who would clean up? After countless years, what would they become? Who could imagine?

Rode had also seen such terrifying beings before, although it was just a glimpse, it left an extremely deep impression on him.

After receiving the answer, Rode pondered for a long time and finally decided that he could only follow a strong person to have a chance to kill such monsters.However, the problem was, the Hunter Group seemed to have no missions outside of Thalorian. There might be, but he hadn't seen any.

And the secret base didn't allow him to go out and carry out missions.

If he wanted to travel with those powerful beings, he first had to become one of them.

But the problem was, how could he become powerful if he didn't hunt monsters?

Rode felt like he was stuck in a paradox, unable to break this logical loop.

What should he do?

Just as Rode was worrying, a turning point arrived.

In the evening of the second day, Instructor Soren finally returned from the front line.

At the same time, Dean Vila and the secret leader Caliel announced a piece of astonishing news.