Chapter 238-3: Darkborn Inherited Soul, Daddy Healer Begins (3) |
Tong Xin’s movements slowed slightly, but he still gripped the rune staff tightly.
He stared coldly at the monster before him, confirming whether it had lost the ability to resist.
The monster’s chest heaved violently, each breath seeming to expend its last strength. It clearly had no combat power left.
After careful observation, still feeling uneasy, Tong Xin turned his gaze to the nearby brambles and then simply made a thorn rope to bind the monster’s four limbs.
After finishing all this, a smile appeared on his face.
With a snap of his fingers, fifty ‘beasts’ headed by Anshui were summoned amid cries.
As soon as they landed, the Darkborn infants were drawn by the vitality and crawled toward the fallen monster and the creature half eaten by it.
This was also why Tong Xin had chosen not to kill the monster.
If killed by a player it would become a Challenger Notification along with sacrificial power and life evolution points.
Under his watch, the Darkborn infants lay on the monster and sucked at the wound from a distance.
At once the monster’s body shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Meanwhile, the Darkborn infants grew at a speed visible to the naked eye. Their originally wrinkled bodies, like little old men, gradually became plump and rounded.
Their gray-black skin took on a sheen. When they stretched their limbs, their bones made clacking crossing sounds as their bodies opened up.
Their once curled fingers and toes gradually lengthened, and the chubby cheeks took on defined contours.
A glimmer of vitality gradually appeared in the once blank, confused pupils of these Darkborn infants. They looked around curiously as if adapting to the sights of this world.
Their hair grew from sparse fuzz to thick locks.
Their bodies seemed to be accelerated by time, quickly growing from infant state, and in the blink of an eye they took on the look of one to two-year-old children.
When all the vitality on the monster was sucked dry, the Darkborn infants turned their heads to Tong Xin one after another. Their eyes were full of dependence, and they crawled toward him in a swarm.
Before long, Tong Xin was covered with Darkborn infants.
Gnawing fingers, grabbing hair, fighting with trouser legs. All kinds of sounds exploded in his ears, giving Tong Xin a pounding headache.
“No more fussing. Line up in front, all of you.”
Hearing Tong Xin’s order, the Darkborn infants fell silent for a moment, then continued to make noise.
Realizing the Darkborn infants did not yet possess the ability to think, he had to send them back into the Darkborn space one by one.
There had been cases before of Darkborn warriors dying and reviving, but Anshui had been in charge of caring for and training them.
Now Anshui was also an infant, so only he could take over.
Fortunately, according to what Anshui said at the time, after reviving Darkborn warriors could unlock their memory brand at about three years old. Victory was in sight.
After sending all the Darkborn infants back to the Darkborn space, Tong Xin decisively headed for the foggy area on the map.
Carrying a huge debt, with five hundred Darkborn infants in his space crying to be fed, he had no choice but to work hard.
—
Three days later.
Boundless Forest Domain, western region.
This was a plain full of dreamlike hues.
Plants along the way glowed with a faint silver-blue radiance, and when they swayed in the wind it was as if the whole land was flowing.
Countless glowing spores drifted in the air like stardust sprinkled from the sky, scattering with the wind and shrouding the entire plain in a hazy luminous mist.
Tong Xin strolled along the winding path, breathing the fragrance of grass and wood. Natural energy seeped into every pore like a trickling stream, making him feel refreshed all over.
Behind him, five hundred Darkborn warriors crawled close to the ground on all fours, following tightly.
Their movements were neat and swift. Their small bodies hugged the ground, moving forward with both hands and feet like a pack of agile young beasts.
After reaching the age of three, the Darkborn warriors’ memory brand was activated.
Despite their numbers, they moved with remarkable quiet. Their eyes never left Tong Xin’s back, filled with an almost obsessive focus.
Each time Tong Xin took a step forward, the five hundred Darkborn warriors quickly followed, afraid of being left behind yet keeping just the right distance, like a well-trained tiny army.
Tong Xin stopped at this moment and turned to look at the Darkborn warriors.
The Darkborn infants immediately stopped as well, lifting their heads in unison. There was a hint of attachment in their gazes at Tong Xin.
Although they no longer wailed, this group of Darkborn warriors was not easy to feed.
For three days he had hunted twenty-four hours a day without stopping, for the sole purpose of cultivating this group of Darkborn warriors and repaying the debt as soon as possible.
This time they had come to the Boundless Forest Domain because of a forum post he had read.
The poster, an exploration-party player, said he had discovered a village parasitized by soul beasts in the Boundless Forest Domain.
Inside were soul-beast lifeforms at hunt level thirty plus. Killing them would drop Soul Crystals, with good kill returns.
Awkwardly, the newbie players in the Boundless Forest Domain all built their star vein routes around the Extraction Inherited soul and had no killing power against flesh lifeforms transformed after being parasitized by soul beasts.
And at over level thirty, old players were not interested.
But Tong Xin was different.
He had already been troubled about where it would be suitable to hunt.
None of the five starter villages fit.
The strength of the Emperor’s Mound Mountain Range was too high. Taking the Darkborn legion to hunt there would be suicide and the entire force would be wiped out in minutes.
The cavern world was too random. Exploration was like opening blind boxes, with too many scene traps. One misstep could also mean total annihilation.
The Boundless Forest Domain was a scene ruled by green plants. It was not easy to find a flesh lifeform, and hunting efficiency was low.
The Rimewinter Snowfield was of moderate strength, but the warriors of the Purple Tide and the Ecstasy Swarm were lifeforms constructed from Ecstasy energy, making it hard to squeeze out vitality energy.
Only the Colorful Mist Coast was suitable.
But after many rounds of pioneering by old players, the number of monsters at Colorful Mist Coast had become increasingly scarce, and exploring the fog areas was too risky.
You might encounter an opportunity, or you might encounter an unchallengeable crisis.
Just when he was vexed over this, he saw this post and at once had the idea to come to the Boundless Forest Domain.
This time the target was the village parasitized by soul beasts.
Tong Xin was no stranger to soul beasts.
Back when he was a cloud player, he read forum guide posts at high intensity every day and had seen analysis posts related to soul beasts.
The post included video clips from the Grind Kings, describing the rule ability Soul Molding mastered by the Soul Return race, a force that opposed the Anti-Tide legion.
Soul beasts were mentioned therein.
They are a special lifeform derived from the soul molding rules, capable of devouring a target and seizing everything from the other party, including memory and abilities.
In the post there was a clip where the Grind Kings were ambushed by soul beasts on the way to the second phase training camp.
As a result, a trainee of the Four-Eyed race was devoured and possessed by a soul beast and called Ghost Eye ‘cousin.’
The comments were filled with curses. Everyone felt the soul beasts’ ability was utterly disgusting.
The player who added background info to the post also said that the Soul Return race’s trait is casting a wide net everywhere.
They scatter soul beast seeds all over Monster World. The vast majority of soul beasts are eliminated, but some rapidly grow by devouring and possessing, and eventually return to the Soul Return race to become one of them.
The region he was heading to was a racial village already occupied by soul beasts.
The map fog there had already been lifted. Players had explored and investigated the situation in detail, so he did not need to worry about encountering monsters he could not handle.
After walking a bit farther, an ancient village appeared at the end of the plain.
Charging straight in was clearly inappropriate. The Darkborn warriors behind him would certainly be wiped out.
He decided to use a mob pull hunting method to defeat them one by one.
Turning to the five hundred Darkborn warriors behind him, he said in a deep voice.
“Hold position. At ease.”
Hearing his order, the five hundred Darkborn warriors immediately went still.
“Wait for me to come back.”
The five hundred Darkborn warriors nodded in unison, expressions serious, like a strictly disciplined army.
Tong Xin summoned the Rock Shield and scouted alone toward the ruined village.
Soon, he encountered the first soul beast outside the village.
It looked like a werewolf, its whole body covered in jet-black fur. A bloodthirsty, emotionless glimmer shone in its pupils. Its claws were sharp as knives, and it stood like a post within the village.
Analysis swept out and the soul beast’s information surfaced in his mind:
[Soul Beast (Possession)]
Hunt Level: 35.
Target Introduction: A soul beast that has possessed a Tunwolf race warrior. It has mastered all the memories and abilities of the Tunwolf warrior. Due to being low in combat power, it has not been recalled by the Soul Return race.
—
“You will do.”
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