Chapter 37 Mental Power

Chapter 37: Chapter 36: Mental Power

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Three dark green vines shot out. They instantly pierced the crawling woman’s festering head, bursting out from the back of her skull along with a spray of thick, dark red liquid.

[Vine Technique (High Level) Skill Level +1. Current: 3/500]

The entire process happened in a flash. The crawling woman couldn’t even let out a full scream before her rotting head exploded like a smashed watermelon hit by a heavy mallet. Her body twitched violently before slowly sinking to the bottom of the water, leaving only a rapidly spreading, murky ripple.

Through the Spiritual Link, Snow Cake’s violent emotions receded like the tide, leaving only bewilderment. It shook its head, its vertical yellow pupils refocusing as it let out a confused whine. "Awoo?"

It was as if it were asking: What just happened?

"Huh?"

Han Ning didn’t explain. He waited for a few seconds, but the expected Energy did not appear.

"Is it not completely dead?" he wondered.

He looked at the monster’s lifeless corpse and squeezed his right hand in the air.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

The vines broke through the surface of the water and plunged into the motionless corpse. Sharp Wooden Thorns churned frantically through the rotting flesh and bones, further shredding the body.

[Vine Technique (High Level) Skill Level +1. Current: 4/500]

SPLASH! SPLASH!

Murky bloody water mixed with crushed tissue continuously welled up.

"Still not dead?"

Han Ning repeatedly churned the minced meat, but the Energy still didn’t fly out. Just as he was feeling utterly perplexed...

SQUELCH!

A thumb-thick, pale, soft-bodied creature suddenly drilled out of the corpse’s abdomen. It had no eyes and no mouthparts. Its smooth body was covered in a layer of translucent mucus, resembling a roundworm magnified countless times. The moment it broke free from the host’s corpse, it writhed madly, using the thrust of the water current to shoot toward the depths of the Fog Area like an arrow.

"Trying to run?!" Han Ning scoffed.

The vines tore through the water current, arriving first despite being launched later!

SQUELCH!

"SQUEAK!" A bizarre, shrill shriek rang out.

The pale bug’s body was directly blown apart by the terrifying piercing force of the vines. Thick, milky-white fluid spread from where the worm died, blooming in the water to form a small, murky, fog-like patch.

WHOOSH!

A translucent white mote of light, only half the size of a grain of rice but exceptionally condensed, shot out from the exploded worm pulp. It was faster than the eye could track, ignoring the murky water current as it sank into the center of Han Ning’s brow.

[Druid Growth Progress +7]

[Swamp Crocodile Lizard Growth Progress +1]

[Mental Power +0.1]

[Mental Power Attribute Unlocked. Current: 0.7]

"This is..." Han Ning’s body shuddered.

A cold yet exceptionally clear and bizarre Energy Flow drilled into his brain. It wasn’t the usual warm flow of Energy, but rather an indescribable clarity. The world before his eyes seemed to have a veil lifted from it, becoming exceptionally clear. Suddenly, he could even hear the subtle differences of raindrops hitting the water from farther away, and he could see even the most minute specks of dirt in the murky water current.

The translucent class panel automatically unfolded before his eyes. Below [Spiritual Power: 12/25], a line of small text shimmering with a faint silver glow quietly emerged:

[Mental Power: 0.7]

"Mental Power... It really is related to the Spirit," Han Ning realized. "So... this is what was playing tricks!"

He let out a long breath, his tense expression relaxing slightly.

He deduced, "It isn’t a ghost; it’s still a monster with a physical body. It looks like a bug that can parasitize living creatures, release special Spiritual Fluctuations to create terrifying illusions, and trap its prey."

To be honest, what Han Ning feared most was encountering bizarre entities without physical forms.

***

A hundred meters away, behind a cracked window of the half-submerged hotel building.

A stocky man slowly lowered his military binoculars, revealing a faint smile. He turned his head to look at the grim-faced man in the jacket beside him, his tone carrying obvious teasing. "How about that? I was right, wasn’t I? Your three live chickens belong to me now."

He held up three fingers and waved them in front of the man’s eyes. "Actually, you were partly right. He indeed didn’t last ten minutes."

"Hmph." The jacket-wearing man scoffed coldly, his face full of displeasure.

He stared at Han Ning in the distance, his eyes filled with complex and hard-to-read emotions. There was reluctance, as well as a trace of poorly concealed astonishment.

"Damn it..." The jacket-wearing man spat fiercely. "Consider yourself lucky, pulling off that kind of blind luck!"

After his brief flash of anger, the irritable look in his eyes quickly faded. He rubbed his chin, re-evaluating Han Ning, and said with great interest, "Still... this kid’s strength is pretty good. He’s somewhat interesting.

"Not only could he independently break through the Mirage Insect’s troublesome mental illusions, but he was also able to accurately root out its main body and kill it in one blow in such a short amount of time... That’s not an ability that an average Awakened would have."

He paused, his tone becoming serious. "With this kind of skill, he’s qualified to join us.

"Come on, let’s go down and have a chat with him."

Before his voice even faded, the jacket-wearing man’s figure blurred. His body was like a phantom as he slipped out through the gap in the broken window and landed lightly on the wreckage of a floating billboard below, splashing up a small spray of water.

The stocky man shrugged, put away his binoculars, and followed closely behind. Like two shadows blending into the curtain of rain, they stepped across the floating debris, moving rapidly and silently toward Han Ning’s direction.

***

Han Ning recovered from the lingering afterglow of his increased Mental Power. This strange-looking bug creature was the second type of monster he had encountered in this world.

He swept his gaze over the surrounding Fog Area in the distance, thought for a moment, and decided it would be best to first return to a safe place and plan his next move. Having gone through such a bizarre battle, he wasn’t entirely sure if there were even more terrifying creatures lurking inside. If their Mental Power was even stronger, what would he do if even Natural Blessing proved ineffective?

"Huh?!"

But the moment Han Ning turned around, something seemed to twitch inside his brain without any warning. His gaze narrowed as he abruptly looked toward his front right.

A second later, two humanoid figures slowly emerged from the distant curtain of rain. They easily used the garbage floating on the water’s surface as footholds, fast approaching from afar like two black streaks.

In the blink of an eye, the two dark silhouettes had already crossed a distance of dozens of meters, leaping to the water just a short distance in front of Han Ning.

THUD!

One of them landed with precision on a street sign. He had a tall, straight posture, with his hands hanging casually by his sides. He wore a faded, washed-out work jacket, and his medium-length hair was simply tied back, with a few stray strands clinging to his cheeks. His eyes were as sharp as a falcon’s, casting a scrutinizing gaze down from his elevated position.

The other person crouched silently atop a rusted streetlight pole. He wore a dusty gray hooded windbreaker, with most of his face obscured by the brim of the hood, revealing only a slightly rounded chin.

Seeing that they were two normal humans, Han Ning didn’t let down his guard in the slightest. "Who are you?" he asked coldly.