"It’ll give you diarrhea."
Yara’s tone was calm. "A Resentful Spirit’s Spiritual Energy Fragnt naturally contains a great deal of malicious obsession. When you eat it, the crystal’s natural lting process will irritate your stomach. As for going mad, you’re probably overthinking it. With your constitution, you’d have to eat at least a few hundred before that even becos a concern."
"...So, would taking so Imodium work?"
After a mont of silence and a quick wisecrack, Su Zhou didn’t hesitate. He tossed the gray Spiritual Energy Fragnt into his mouth and crushed it with his teeth.
Instantly, a burst of Spiritual Qi, far denser than that of the surrounding environnt, erupted in his mouth. Then, carrying traces of obsessive malice, it sank into his stomach.
It didn’t feel like he had swallowed anything. Su Zhou only felt a spicy, burning sensation spread to his limbs before vanishing completely. His whole body ward up, as if he had drunk a glass of murky, strong liquor, but without the intoxication.
The most satisfying part was that he could feel the Extraordinary Power within him—what the Snake Spirit called "Spiritual Spiritual Power"—growing slightly. It wasn’t much, but considering the weakness and sheer number of Resentful Spirits, the return was already astonishing.
"Hmm... There is a bit of a ntal impact."
He closed his eyes and perceived the changes within him, from thought to flesh. Su Zhou found that the Plague Spirit did indeed have a remnant of obsession. Although his own mind had instinctively shattered it, an ordinary person would definitely be affected. They’d beco disheartened for a while, just like soone recovering from a serious illness.
’A dozen or so fragnts would be fine. But if there were too many, and from different types of spirits, it could easily lead to ntal disorders like depression, mania, and other psychiatric illnesses—in other words, madness.’
"The taste is so-so... Whatever, ti to keep hunting!"
Killing the Plague Spirit had been far too quick, leaving Su Zhou, who had been gearing up for a big fight, feeling unsatisfied. So, he continued to patrol the coastal woods, where there were no surveillance caras and few people.
In his search, he actually managed to find a few more Resentful Spirits.
"AIEEEEE~"
"WRYYYYY!!"
"WAAAAAAGH!"
The few Resentful Spirits consisted of another Plague Spirit, the lingering resentnt of what was probably a programr who’d died from overwork, and a Spirit Body of unknown origin that was simply malicious for no reason, much like an internet troll. Upon sensing Su Zhou’s approach, they all shrieked with Spirit Sound and rapidly closed in, apparently intending to possess him and drain his Spiritual Power.
And Su Zhou, cautiously restraining his power as much as possible... dispatched the three Resentful Spirits by stabbing one, bludgeoning another, and smacking the last one to death.
This wasn’t for fun, of course, but to collect data.
Because his equipnt was too good and his strength too great, Su Zhou couldn’t test the Resentful Spirits’ basic stats. For example, when using the Enchanted Gunstock, how much force did it take to shatter a Resentful Spirit? And did they have different resistances to stabs, strikes, and smacks? These were things he needed to get familiar with, as they could serve as a reference for hunting higher-level Spirit Bodies, such as Evil Spirits, in the future.
’Hmm, it seems straight thrusts aren’t very effective. Sweeps and strikes work better; they can easily shatter a Spirit Body’s structure.’
’If the Evil-breaking Array is active, even an ordinary person could easily kill a Resentful Spirit—provided they have the strength and precision to wield a Chou Wood Rod and accurately hit a target moving at least twenty to thirty ters per second.’
’But without an Evil-breaking Array, just striking it with mundane objects is useless. You’d have to use willow branches or other traditional ghost-exorcising items.’
Picking up the Spiritual Energy Fragnt dropped by the fourth Resentful Spirit he’d killed today, Su Zhou summarized his findings in his mind. He realized that Resentful Spirits were actually quite difficult to deal with.
First, they were fast. The lunge of the fastest one, the programr’s resentnt, reached a top speed of fifty ters per second. Moreover, it seed to be unaffected by inertia when turning or retreating, making it far more nimble than a human.
Without Extraordinary Level vision, it would be impossible to track the movents of such a Resentful Spirit.
Second, Resentful Spirits could also shrink and grow in an instant to dodge attacks they perceived as dangerous. If not for Su Zhou’s control being far superior to an ordinary person’s, and the fact he was using a gunstock over two ters long that could sweep a large area with a powerful gust of wind, he probably would have been overwheld.
Then there was the Spirit Sound, which was essentially a permanent debuff for any ordinary Transcendent other than a freak like him. The Plague Spirit’s made people unable to stop sneezing and coughing, even causing stomachaches and fevers. The programr’s resentnt made people drowsy and uncontrollably exhausted, making them want to just collapse on the spot. And the Spirit Sound from the last, unknown Resentful Spirit induced a powerless rage, leaving no ntal capacity to think about anything else.
In short, for a Resentful Spirit, just attaching itself to a person was a victory. It could then slowly possess them and drain their Spiritual Energy and Life Force. A person, however, could only breathe a sigh of relief after completely destroying it.
"As expected of ! An easy win."
Leaning on his gunstock, which he had planted in the ground, Su Zhou put the third Spiritual Energy Fragnt into his pocket. He didn’t plan on eating this one himself. While the small boost to his Spiritual Energy was useful, it didn’t increase his power by much. It was better to collect more, dissolve them into a bucket of Spirit Water, and use it as fertilizer for the Wisdom Tree.
"If you collect a few more Spiritual Energy Fragnts, you can put them in the freezer, then pour so sweetened Holy Water over them. You can eat it like shaved ice."
Yara offered a rather bizarre, yet surprisingly feasible, suggestion. Su Zhou subconsciously retorted, "That’s true. Eating too much shaved ice gives you diarrhea. It fits perfectly."
But speaking of shaved ice made Su Zhou feel a little hungry. He swallowed and asked, feigning nonchalance, "Yara, about that Spiritual Food you ntioned before... is that just food with Spiritual Energy? Is it... tasty?"
"With your cooking skills, it would probably be passable."
Yara had seen Su Zhou make breakfast and could judge his skill level. But even so, it shook its head. "But it’s best not to cook them. While Spiritual Materials are delicious when made into food, if you want to maximize their effect, it’s better to refine them into Magic Potions or pills. If possible, you should also pair it with a specific ritual, otherwise it’s a waste."
Since they were ant to be made into Potions or pills and not sothing delicious, Su Zhou lost interest. He just grunted an "oh" and went back to hunting Resentful Spirits.
But this was a city, after all, and a densely populated state capital at that. Even if Hongzhou Hongcheng had a low profile, it was still a major city with several million people. The Order Array prevented the vast majority of Resentful Spirits and Evil Spirits from ever forming at their source. Only in places that were usually deserted could a lucky Resentful Spirit appear, having escaped the net.
In the five hours the Runes were active, Su Zhou only managed to slay a total of six Resentful Spirits. The last two were hidden extrely well, one under a bridge and the other in a concrete pipe by the road. Both locations had surveillance caras. If he hadn’t used his Spiritual Energy to lure the Resentful Spirits out toward him, he wouldn’t have been able to get to them at all. This left Su Zhou feeling rather pensive.
"Trying to be an unsung Hero in modern society, a Knight slaying Demon Fiends, is really tough."
If he couldn’t fly or travel underground, the only way Su Zhou could think of to avoid the dense network of surveillance caras was to climb buildings and travel across rooftops. It wasn’t like he could die from a fall, anyway. At worst, it would just be so parkour training. But even that wasn’t foolproof, as the top floors of so buildings were inhabited and had their own surveillance.
After thinking it over, the best thod was surprisingly to learn from the ancients: buy a set of black clothes and a black mask. He could disguise himself as the shadowy culprit from that one detective ani. That way, unless it was a Blu-ray HD cara, it would probably be impossible to spot him as he lted into the shadows.
"But that’s what a criminal would do!" Su Zhou couldn’t help but roast himself. "What kind of Knight dresses in all black and sneaks around?!"
While the young man, who considered himself a Knight, was lost in thought...
「An hour ago, late at night.」
Chigu Beach Central Hospital. Police cars filled the parking lot.
After a detailed examination of the bodies of the victims—the count now up to five, with a sixth discovered just this afternoon—Professor Zhang Fucheng of Zhengyi Academy wore a grave expression.
"It should be a Wood Attribute Demon Fiend."
He pondered for a mont before making his assertion. The Professor from Zhengyi turned to the others and analyzed, "Although the remains of the deceased are all severely mutilated and badly chewed, the only things that have completely vanished are the liver and gallbladder—the two Wood Attribute organs. As for the other flesh and organs, they were rely eaten as an afterthought. It likely doesn’t subsist on flesh and blood. The Wood Qi is so heavy, I even suspect it might be so kind of Demon Plant."
"There’s also corroborating evidence. After reviewing the case files, I noticed that while all the cri scenes are near the river, they are also all within the woods. And the trees in those woods show slight signs of activation."
At this point, Zhang Fucheng sighed with deep regret, then said indignantly, "To put it bluntly, all the victims had a certain degree of Wood Attribute Talent, also known as a Spirit Root. That must be the reason they were killed... This Demon Fiend must be slain! All those who died were the Seeds of our future!"
"The Five Elents Theory?" This system, completely different from modern dicine, was clearly outside the scope of the forensic examiner’s previous inspection. However, if they accepted this logic, many things could be explained. The various police captains present began to discuss it in low voices, looking thoughtful.
But Zhang Fucheng didn’t waste any ti.
Taking a sample of flesh from the edge of a wound on the corpse, the professor from Zhengyi Academy pulled a Talisman from his clothes. He closed his eyes, muttered an incantation, then summoned Thunder Light in his palm to ignite it, transforming it into a Spiritual Light.
The cyan Spiritual Light flickered, seeming to trace sothing in an unseen realm.
But after a mont, Zhang Fucheng opened his eyes, his brow tightly furrowed. He said with so hesitation, "Strange... This Demon Fiend’s origins are extraordinary. I can’t even trace its roots?"
This was rather difficult for Professor Zhang, a man with an orthodox and impeccable background, to comprehend.
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