CH173 - CH174

CH173

As Helag walked, he felt something was off.

After pondering, he sensed his chest's bloodline mark, realizing the suppression here was weaker.

He recalled the Death Swamp Ruins' origin, once a planar rift, later repaired.

This meant the wizard plane's world will exerted less force on other planar powers here.

Helag felt reassured; if he could use the bloodline mark of the Thunder God Ancestor here, his power would increase significantly.

Elder Karen, leading the group, suddenly stopped.

Her halt made everyone tense.

Helag sensed something unusual.

Ahead, particles floated in the air.

These particles seemed to be seeds from a plant, blown towards them by the wind.

"Shield up, these are Blood Dodder seeds. They'll root in flesh. If they latch on, we can't help you here," Karen warned.

The group quickly shielded themselves and continued.

The Blood Dodder seeds soon surrounded them, tiny and numerous.

The seeds were drawn to their flesh, many attaching themselves.

Helag's Absolute Defense was soon covered in seeds.

He noticed the seeds had tiny tendrils trying to penetrate the shield.

But Absolute Defense kept them out.

Helag used fire energy to scorch the shield's surface, dropping charred seeds to the ground.

After passing through the city ruins, the seeds drifted away.

In the distance, a forest loomed, their destination.

The 1,000-meter stretch between the city and forest was black soil, soaked in blood.

The journey was uneventful, with no incidents.

They entered the Black Forest, and the light dimmed.

"Moonlight Grass!"

Helag spotted Moonlight Grass under a tree, its moon-white leaves distinctive.

Moonlight Grass is used in light spells.

Though rare, light spells are scarce too.

A single Moonlight Grass is worth fifty to sixty magic stones, quite valuable.

After Helag spoke, the others noticed the patch of Moonlight Grass.

There were fifty to sixty plants, worth thousands of magic stones.

But no one moved, waiting for Karen and Brack's orders.

They'd been instructed to follow commands.

No one could act independently, even for potion or spell materials.

These were hard-learned lessons.

Karen glanced over and said, "No problem, you can harvest."

With her permission, Helag and the others began harvesting.

Helag used a specialized spade, working quickly.

He was fast and careful, preserving the plants' integrity.

The others were slower, less skilled.

Helag's potion-making experience made him adept at handling materials.

He was more motivated, as the harvest was his.

The gaseous wizards had to surrender their finds, receiving only rewards.

They lacked Helag's expertise, slowing them down.

After twenty minutes, Helag had eighteen Moonlight Grass in his space ring.

He'd harvested nearly half the patch.

Karen moved ahead, calling, "Time to go."

She limited their harvesting time, requiring them to leave promptly.

Helag's speed allowed him to gather more than the others.

Brack summoned everyone, "Come here, wear this on your wrist."

He handed out wooden bracelets, their material unknown.

"These are Evil Spirit Bracelets. If spirits approach or attack, they'll burn. Stay alert," Brack explained, distributing them.

Brack continued, "Be cautious, and wary. Those around you might pose threats. Don't trust anyone blindly. The Black Forest isn't very dangerous, but it has its troubles."

Though Helag had a more powerful Evil Spirit Crystal, he wore the bracelet for extra safety.

"Pair up, never lose sight of each other," Karen instructed.

She paired Helag with Brack, the liquefied wizards together, and the gaseous wizards together.

"What about you, Lady Karen?" a gaseous wizard asked.

"Don't worry about me," Karen replied coolly.

The group continued through the Black Forest, finding high-grade potion and spell materials.

Helag's haul alone was worth seven to eight thousand magic stones.

The Black Forest was a treasure trove, with valuable finds everywhere.

Two hours in, they encountered no major issues, and the mood lightened.

The wizard couple chatted, as if on a forest outing.

Helag frowned, staying vigilant.

The place couldn't be this simple.

The calmer it seemed, the more cautious he became.

Whoosh!

A shadow flitted through the trees, rustling the leaves.

"What was that?" Helag, ever alert, sensed it with Karen and Brack.

The others approached, unaware of the disturbance.

"Something moved in the trees, very fast," Helag explained.

Karen said, "Likely a magical creature, not undead. Ignore it, keep moving. We're as much a threat to it as it is to us. Together, ordinary creatures won't bother us."

CH174

After this incident, the group became more cautious, the atmosphere tense.

The couple, previously chatting and laughing, realized they were in the Death Swamp Ruins and needed to be careful.

As Helag and the others continued, noises came from the forest ahead, causing them to stop again.

A bipedal monkey jumped from a tree, staring at them.

Elder Karen quickly covered her face with a cloth, saying, "It's a Human-Faced Monkey! Cover your faces."

Confused, everyone covered their faces with whatever they had.

But it was too late.

The Human-Faced Monkey stood about two meters tall, thin as a stick.

Its face was ordinary at first, but then it began to change.

Soon, the monkey's face became human-like.

Everyone thought the face looked familiar.

Helag realized it was his own face, identical.

Elder Karen shrieked, "It's over! Helag! Catch it! Don't let it escape!"

Brack explained to the confused group, "The Human-Faced Monkey is a rare creature in the Death Swamp Ruins. It copies attractive human faces. Any harm to the monkey transfers to the copied person."

"It copied Helag's face, meaning if someone decapitates the monkey, Helag dies too."

Helag felt a chill. This was unpredictable and indefensible.

He was slightly late, and the monkey copied his face.

Being the most attractive, Helag became the target.

"How do we undo this?" Helag asked.

It was tricky; harming the monkey would harm him.

They needed to catch it without injury to break the face copy.

Elder Karen said, "To undo it, find someone more attractive for the monkey to target. Or, the copied person must die."

Helag felt overwhelmed.

Finding someone more attractive?

That was tough.

Especially in the Death Swamp Ruins, where would he find such a person?

"It's escaping! Catch it!" Karen urged.

Helag saw the monkey screech and leap into the trees.

He couldn't let it get away.

Even without a solution, capturing it was the first step.

If it escaped, finding it in the vast, unknown ruins would be impossible.

Unresolved, he could suffer random injuries or even sudden death.

Helag moved swiftly, pursuing it.

Brack called, "Don't go too far, we'll wait here."

"Half an hour, we'll wait," Karen added.

They wouldn't follow; the ruins were dangerous.

Even crystallized wizards were vulnerable here, not risking their lives for Helag.

The monkey problem was Helag's to solve.

They'd wait half an hour, then leave.

Karen's decision was quick, prioritizing the group's safety.

***

Helag pursued the monkey, keeping it in sight.

The monkey was fast, preventing Helag from closing in.

Realizing he'd distanced from the group, Helag activated the Thunder God Ancestor's bloodline mark.

The mark activated, boosting Helag's strength and speed.

The bloodline power continued to surge.

Centered on his chest, blackness spread over his body.

Previously, the wizard plane's world will suppressed this power.

Now, the blackness spread slowly but wasn't fully suppressed.

Minutes later, Helag's body was covered in a metallic black sheen.

"Deep Blue, analyze the bloodline mark's enhancement," Helag instructed.

He felt a significant improvement, unlike before.

[Current bloodline mark enhancements:

Strength +25.3,

Agility +25.7,

Constitution +25.5

]

It was a huge upgrade, with over twenty points added to each attribute.

This wasn't the mark's full power; Helag sensed more untapped strength.

This wasn't the true Abyss Plane, so the mark was limited.

Helag's current state was the mark's initial form, not its full form.

"Malcolm, you'd better hope not to meet me."

Helag felt confident, ready to crush a crystallized wizard.

"Deep Blue, calculate my stats with all boosts, name this state Phase One."

Helag had only activated the bloodline mark, not other boosts.

With all boosts, his stats would be impressive.

[Phase One stats:

Strength 62.5,

Agility 58.6,

Constitution 63.3,

Spirit 52.6

]

Seeing the stats, Helag knew he could handle a crystallized wizard in Phase One.

Though powerful, this state had many limits.

Without the Death Swamp Ruins, Helag couldn't reach Phase One.

Most importantly, he couldn't let other wizards know about this state.

Helag exuded a strong Abyss Plane aura, a mark of abyssal creatures.

If other wizards, especially from the Land of Dawn, found out, he'd be executed as an abyssal creature infiltrator.