Chapter 230 - 162: Aura Manifestation: Tasolomo
But after a few rounds, the unexpected happened.
WHUUUM—
As if stimulated by something, the strange sound in the center of the pit suddenly grew louder.
The power carried within the eerie sound nearly extinguished Li Miao’s Warfire in an instant.
Even Shore, with his higher Spiritual Power, involuntarily clutched his head, forced to devote more of his energy to countering the sound’s effects.
THWACK!
Wreathed in Soul Power, a tentacle of the Soul-Host Incarnation whipped out with a screech and slammed into Li Miao. He was sent flying into the rock wall, severely injured.
"Damn it!"
Li Miao cursed, shaking his head as he took out a Recovery Wax Block and tossed it into his mouth.
The Soul-Host Incarnation didn’t remain idle. With a screech, it swelled its abdomen and unleashed a shockwave—a maelstrom of flesh and Soul Power—that blasted toward Shore.
BOOM!
Fortunately, Shore had deployed an Arcane Shield before the battle, which completely blocked the shockwave.
Otherwise, Shore, who was focusing most of his energy on resisting the bizarre sound, would have been severely wounded.
The eerie sound came in waves.
Fortunately, the two quickly adapted. They unleashed everything they had during the lulls in the sound and swiftly killed the Soul-Host Incarnation.
[You have slain the Soul-Host Incarnation]
[Acquired: Wax Oil x51]
[...]
The two had no time to check the drops from the Soul-Host Incarnation.
For in the fog at the bottom of the pit, Hosted Incarnations were emerging one after another.
There were Ordinary Hosted Incarnations, others with the appearance of Crystal Ore, and some were nothing more than tangled clumps of souls.
They swarmed forward, wave after wave, assailing the duo with frenzied attacks.
"Huh? So fucking many monsters?" Shore was stunned. "Should we call for backup?"
They naturally had Candle Charcoal on them, but honestly, the Power of any summoned players would be weakened. Unless they were some of the absolute top-tier players, they probably wouldn’t be much help.
Faced with this scene, an ordinary player would have panicked. But Li Miao remained calm. After a moment’s thought, inspiration struck, and he had an idea.
"Wait a second!"
The next moment, he pulled an ugly doll from his inventory, activated it with his Warfire, and hurled it into a high crevice between two rocks, where it lodged perfectly.
"WAAH WAAH—"
The ugly doll began to emit a loud, grating wail, instantly drawing the attention of the numerous monsters.
Next, he took out an eyeball-shaped object. After scanning a piece of dim ore with it, he crushed the eyeball.
His Candlefire flickered. Li Miao’s body vanished, replaced by an identical piece of dim ore.
Seeing this, Shore slapped his forehead. He followed suit, quickly transforming into a piece of ore and concealing most of his aura.
When the Hosted Incarnations saw their enemies suddenly disappear, they immediately shifted their attention to the doll in the crevice. They launched a frenzied assault on the wall beneath it, making the ground tremble violently.
"Hey, you’re a goddamn genius."
The two rocks shuffled close together, and Shore made a series of winks and nudges at Li Miao.
"Less talk, more walking. We need to find the source of that sound, otherwise this will have been a huge waste," Li Miao said irritably.
He had just used two items he’d prepared before coming, and they had come in handy.
One was the [Giant Sound Doll], and the other was the [Imitator’s Gaze]. Both were from the Candlekeeper’s shop and were essentially an enhanced version of the Disguised Leaves. Naturally, they weren’t cheap.
If it weren’t for the sheer number of monsters and the interference from the strange sound, Li Miao would have been far too reluctant to use them.
"Hehe, let’s go."
Shore chuckled.
Two stubby little legs sprouted from the undersides of their disguised bodies, and they quickly and quietly slipped away.
The swarm of Hosted Incarnations, meanwhile, was still bombarding the area below the Giant Sound Doll.
And so, the two dim ore rocks stealthily made their way to the bottom of the pit.
"So many eggs..."
If there was one thing special about the bottom of the pit, it was the eggs of the Hosted Primordial Bodies. They could barely walk two steps without running into one. No wonder so many monsters had appeared earlier.
However, it seemed some of these eggs were already dead or had already hatched.
"You dumbass, use the chat channel! Don’t make a sound," Li Miao cursed in a low voice.
WHUUUM—
The rhythmic sound grew stronger, which confirmed they were heading in the right direction.
The fog here was at its thickest; you could hardly see your hand in front of your face.
The path was pitted and uneven, dotted with protruding rocks and Crystal Ore, making it extremely difficult to navigate.
The two could only rely on the sound to feel their way forward.
Arriving at a relatively open lowland area with no Hosted Primordial Body eggs around, a Milestone Spirit Candle finally appeared, and the two breathed a sigh of relief.
After a brief rest, they set out again.
’Miaozi, there are more and more bodies.’
’Bro, I’m not blind. Be careful not to make any noise. If we get attacked, our disguises will fail.’
’Fuck, why is the ground warm? It’s so disgusting!’
’There’s blood in the soil...’
’The outer area was clearly all crystals and ore. Why are these things that look like blood vessels appearing the closer we get to the center?’
’These veins have a pulse! Don’t step on them!’
’...’
The closer the two got to the center, the more frightened they became.
There were many bodies lying haphazardly here, almost all of them semi-decomposed and dismembered. Most were entangled by vein-like, filamentous roots that seemed to be absorbing them.
The deeper they went, the thicker the fog became.
They even had to move closer to each other, otherwise they were likely to lose sight of one another completely.
"Don’t move!"
Li Miao suddenly hissed, stopping Shore.
Shore stopped, naturally, and looked at him in surprise.
But the next moment, he knew why Li Miao had stopped him.
A vein-like root was coming straight for him, seemingly wanting to crawl over his head to extend further.
This root clearly originated from the source of the eerie sound up ahead.
Since both his left and right were covered in such roots, Shore had no room to move.
Thus, he could only remain perfectly still, watching as the root slithered over his stone body from front to back.
The slick, slimy sensation sent shivers down his spine and made his skin crawl with disgust.
Seeing this, Li Miao quickly sprouted a small, stubby hand from his stone body and tossed a Pathfinding Stone to the side.
The Pathfinding Stone burst with a soft pop.
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE!
In an instant, countless roots on the ground recoiled violently. Several thick roots shot out from the fog like sharp arrows.
THUD!
Clay splattered as several terrifying, enormous holes were punched into the ground.
The massive roots writhed and searched the ground for a long moment before finally retracting.
It was as if the roots possessed a terrifying, horrifying intelligence.
’Go, go, go!’
Li Miao urged in the channel.
The two continued to press forward.
「A moment later.」
The two stared at the terrifying, fog-spewing entity before them and couldn’t help but gasp.
[Aura Manifestation: Tasolomo]
[Tier: Scorching Charcoal]
[Level: 41 (Ascending)]
[Warfire: ? (Unignitable)]
[Talent: Assimilation Host]
[Skill: ?]
[Explanation: Merely a wisp of aura clinging to a meteorite, its manifestation is nonetheless horrifying. It acts on pure instinct, yet greed has guided it down a path of bloodshed.]
Aura Manifestation: Tasolomo!
𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
It was less a giant meteorite and more a colossal, fleshy tumor. Crushed bone and flesh were piled upon it, thick roots coiled around it, and it pulsed with shattered Soul Power.
Li Miao could even clearly see half of a skeletal cheekbone.
But, perhaps because its ascension was not complete, some significant meteorite features could still be seen on this sphere.
Moreover, what was even more striking was the short phrase mixed in with the eerie sound.
"Disaster... has arrived..."