Chapter 890 - 432: Witch Sacrifice Village
The miasma and mist in front swiftly retreated, and as the area expanded, the originally murky swamp environment vanished, replaced by a wetland covered with glowing aquatic plants.
In the wetland, clusters of various plants grew in an irregular pattern, including twisted and gnarled large trees, giant flowers with petals sprawling on the ground, and formations of insect-catching plants. However, they all emitted a phosphorescent glow, as if they didn’t belong to this world; their uniqueness was apparent without needing to think.
The Spirit Deer’s steps slowed down, its bright hooves treading on the water, causing splashes that also carried a halo of light. The deer’s hooves did not get stained by any mud or algae from the water’s bottom, appearing even more pristine.
A fine but dense rustling sound continuously reverberated in his ears, and this sensation was familiar to Li Ang.
Last time when he came to the Sanctuary of All Spirits, he was always accompanied by this sound. Now that his Magic Power Tier had risen by two levels, he could confirm that this sound truly existed, rather than being an illusion caused by prolonged contact with the peculiarities of this place.
He extended his sensory ability, and with his current level, he could distinctly hear these sounds.
"An outsider Spiritual Forger?"
"Here again."
"Do you know him?"
"He’s been here before."
"Don’t remember."
"Unascended."
"..."
Alright, these seemed to be some whispers. Perhaps they came from the nearby flora, or maybe from deeper within the wetland, from something unseen but certainly existent.
Li Ang rubbed his temples; in this place, some of his common perceptions and senses would be challenged. This was just another update in his understanding, nothing too significant.
After all, everything has a Spirit, and enough Spirituality would birth wisdom. Nebis’s scholars simply haven’t delved deeply enough to truly understand the nature of Spirits.
Generally, these whispering "Spirits" harbored a sense of joy.
This reminded Li Ang of the time when he left, and the leader here—the Great Witch—had a sense of reluctance and regret, and perhaps a hint of frustration over inadequacy.
In hindsight, abandoning the quest for deeper Spiritual abilities for the transforming Soul Apex wasn’t worthwhile.
However, he wasn’t entirely here for that. He wondered if they would still perform those rituals—
Just as he was thinking, he saw that the hooves of the deer in the phosphorescent shallow water transformed into the slender feet of a young girl.
Unconsciously, he also stood on the ground without falling or tripping; everything changed naturally.
This was the Land of Ten Thousand Spirits, seemingly dreamlike and illusory, where the subjective perception dominated the operation of objective things rather than logic.
This young girl was a powerful Shapeshifter, an extremely rare cultivation path often seen in the Professions related to Ancient Witches, like the Witch Doctor, Mage, and Druid, which he had mentioned to the girls before.
The girl’s skin was dark but smooth as cream, with a deep and beautiful Western Asian styled facial profile visible from the side. Her short robe was embroidered with various colors and meaningful motifs.
When he first came here, Li Ang had learned some of these because they bore great similarity to Curse Runes. In fact, learning these ancient patterns was the prerequisite for learning Curse Runes.
Here, vortex patterns, leaf patterns, and cloud patterns were used to symbolize different cultivation paths, respectively pointing to the Mage, Druid, and Witch Doctor, with more detailed subdivisions.
On the girl’s robe were leaf patterns accompanied by antler motifs, indicating she was a Druid who could transform into a deer.
Hmm?
Upon closer inspection, Li Ang noticed she had more than just these patterns.
There were cloud patterns at her collar, feather patterns nearby, and vortex and fish scale patterns on the lower hem of the robe.
She had at least three Transformation Abilities?
This was enough to astonish anyone, as Li Ang had seen the cultivation methods of Shapeshifters—some mimicking the movements and living environments of beasts at a minimum, and others pursuing such extremes that just mentioning them would shock the outside world.
The reason for this extremity was that the Transformation Ability was challenging to achieve.
When Magic acts on matter, its form can be altered in the Transcendent Realm, and the twisting of flesh and blood is naturally possible, but this is often seen in Blood Magic, Necromancy, and similar Killing Techniques.
Transformation requires one’s entire being to convert into a beast form and then revert to oneself. It has always been a rare Secret Technique, an unbreakable Domain for the Mage scholars of Thousand Tower City. Among the thousands of common magic mishaps in the city, disasters from attempts to transform oneself into an animal are countless.
Mastering one is difficult enough, let alone three.
And on the delicate neck above the collar, as well as the slim wrists and ankles, visible were patterns painted with pigments.
These resembled the red patterns appearing in Zoe’s ice wolf stance, akin to certain primitive tribes or even war patterns of a Sub-human Tribe. But Li Ang understood that these were genuine Curse Runes.
However, although the inhabitants of the Land of Ten Thousand Spirits had the heritage that allowed them to glimpse ancient powers, most could only inherit and use them without easily manipulating Spirituality like Li Ang.
These Curse Runes were—
Under his gaze, the young girl’s slender shoulders slightly recoiled, and the clear, visible blush spread from her chocolate-colored ear tips.
"It’s been a long time, Great Witch Li Ang." she said shyly.
Uh, staring like this was indeed a bit impolite, especially at a first meeting... Hmm? Something’s not right.
"Do you know me?" This time, Li Ang genuinely scrutinized the girl’s appearance.
He didn’t recall encountering such a girl in the Land of Ten Thousand Spirits.