NOVPUBChapter 352 -348: Reluctant Retreat
Lin Qingtian inspected the situation for a while and then shook his head, “My ability leans towards destruction, and there’s no way to remove that strange power without affecting him personally.”
Gu Le’s heart sank.
“Um, I might have a method, but…”
Gu Le looked up, “Whatever you want, as long as I can afford it, it’s yours.”
Chen Feng scratched his head awkwardly, “Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-tier pagoda, and normally I shouldn’t ask for compensation, but that item is a one-time use, and it cost me quite a few Source Crystals to acquire it, so…”
As he spoke, Chen Feng took out a scroll as thick as two fingers from his backpack.
“What’s this?”
“This is a Purification Scroll, produced by Green Shadow. As the name suggests, it’s used to remove negative statuses. That’s what the instruction manual says anyway.”
“How much?”
“Eight hundred Source Crystals.”
“Deal!”
Gu Le took the scroll, unfolded it, and saw it ingrained with complicated, hard-to-understand runes that made one dizzy at a glance.
“…How do I use it?” He held the scroll and hesitated for a good few seconds, then asked awkwardly.
“Tear the scroll directly, or infuse it with Source Power and guide the spell’s release with your spiritual power.”
Gu Le concentrated, channeled the Source Power within his body, and infused it into the ancient-looking scroll.
In an instant, the intricate runes on the scroll lit up, and Gu Le, not daring to delay, hurriedly guided the power of the scroll.
A faint white light shot out from the scroll, enveloping the fallen Awakener on the ground. After two or three seconds, the white light dissipated, and Gu Le quickly looked over to see the cyanotic discoloration on the unconscious Awakener’s face fade away visibly, even their breath, flickering like a candle in the wind, began to stabilize.
He promptly fetched another Healing Series Ability User from the Ancestor Dragon Army. Glancing back at the scroll in his hand… the scroll was still there, the intricate runes that had been engraved upon it had vanished, and the scroll had lost its mysterious aura, becoming utterly ordinary.
The treated, fallen Awakener soon woke up, though still appearing weak.
All this happened in less than a minute, and the onlookers were full of admiration.
“The Purification Scroll is really effective, if only… eight hundred Source Crystals each weren’t so exorbitantly expensive. I’d like to buy one to have on hand for emergencies; it could save a life at a critical moment.”
“Weapons and such are fine, but the price of this scroll is just too high. Can’t afford it – can’t afford it. Captain Chen really has the money.”
…
This mysterious forest harbors danger; it’s not wise to linger too long. Once the unconscious Awakener woke up and regained some combat power, the Exploration Team continued on their journey.
However, they hadn’t taken many steps when
a piercing sound came from the depths of the forest.
An invisible sonic wave, carrying a mental assault, swept across the Exploration Team. In an instant, many stumbled, and the Awakener who had just been unconscious turned even paler.
Clusters of Spiritual Bodies began to appear all around, more numerous than before. Among them were some that resembled balls of black smoke but were much larger than regular Spiritual Bodies and emitted a terrifying presence.
“This is not good; what was that sound just now?”
“Can that move be used again?”
Lin Qingtian shook his head, “The skill built into the weapon needs half an hour, even if I keep replenishing Source Power continuously. It’s too late. Don’t you guys from Jing City have any solutions?”
As the organizer and the group with the largest number in the Exploration Team, compared to Awakeners from sanctuaries like Lindong, their lack of a standout performance disappointed many from different regions.
The Eyebrow-Raising Commander frowned, his normally upright eyebrows now so furrowed they could no longer contort further.
“We brought three secret treasures with us this time, but their effectiveness against spirits is not strong enough.”
In the midst of speaking, Awakeners from the Ancestor Dragon Army had already arrived in front of the battle line, holding a hard grey wooden branch.
With a wave of his hand, countless tiny grey tendrils grew from the branch, instantly piercing through the nearby dozen or so spirits. Rings of water spread out across the spirits’ bodies until they burst.
However, compared to the endless sea of spirits within sight, the destruction caused by the grey wooden branch was merely a drop in the bucket. Even if Lin Qingtian had the strength to unleash another big move, it was impossible to annihilate the even greater number of spirits.
At that moment,
A terrifying aura wafted over from a distance.
In the faint blue glow of the forest, one could vaguely see, from afar, countless spirit-like monsters gathering together, merging to form a massive spirit monster, mountainous in size.
Screech—
The piercing sound rang out again. This time, even the Eyebrow-Raising Commander, Gu Le, and other top-tier Awakeners looked pale, and the weaker ones even fell unconscious once more.
Other adventurers registered with Green Shadow, who had taken the ‘Tranquility Potion’ to enhance their spiritual power, were significantly stronger than the average Awakener. Nonetheless, Zhou Jianhong, Chen Feng, and others were also turning pale.
It was merely a cry from a very far distance!
“Too terrifying, let’s retreat!”
“How do we retreat? We’ve been surrounded!”
The Eyebrow-Raising Commander looked towards the distance. Although they were not far from their destination, he decisively ordered, “Retreat! We have a secret treasure that can bring all of us back, but it needs time to prepare.”
As he spoke, he took out that secret treasure from his pocket, palm-sized, resembling a pocket watch.
Tick-tock, the sound spread, and a simple Teleportation Array appeared beneath everyone’s feet, slowly taking shape.
“Stop them from destroying the array.”
Once the Teleportation Array appeared, waves of energy spread around it. Instantly, the floating spirit monsters seemed provoked, growing even more frenzied and speeding towards them, as psychic assaults swept over.
The Teleportation Array still in the process of formation wavered, becoming ethereal.
“Quick!”
Awakeners still capable of fighting could not afford to hesitate.
The terrifying presence from the distance grew stronger, and the mountain-sized spirit monster could move at any moment.
“Attack!”
Lin Qingtian bellowed, and the silver Warhammer burst with lightning, taking down three spirit monsters in one strike.
Others stood on the edge of the Teleportation Array, unleashing their most potent moves. Some charged forward into battle, and by the time they fell back to the line, they were too exhausted and fainted.
The spirits pressed closer, and more Awakeners fell due to the psychic assaults.
The Teleportation Array kept rippling but was also quickly being formed. The Eyebrow-Raising Commander’s face turned red, and several ability users placed their hands on his shoulders.
Finally,
The last stroke was drawn, and the Teleportation Array burst into light.
The next instant, the world spun.
Many Awakeners couldn’t keep their footing and sat down hard on the ground, feeling dizzy and seeing double as if they had seen avatars.
After a while, several people overcame the aftereffects of teleportation, looking up once more.
Outside was the bright sun high in the sky, and not far away were the sturdy steel walls of the Transfer Station. A few spirit monsters had been brought along with them, their figures flickering and twisting as if they were also suffering from the aftereffects of teleportation.
A few of the quickest recovering Awakeners rushed forward, taking down the last few spirit monsters in a matter of moments, finally sighing in relief and sitting down again with a thump.
