Chapter 91
"Such quick hands and feet..."
Xia Er frowned slightly as she stepped around several corpses at the entrance and made her way into the basement. As she passed the steel gate, polished to a shine, she caught a glimpse of herself in its reflection.
The hem of her black maid dress was torn in several places, and she stood barefoot among the scattered bodies, her white apron stained with splattered blood. It wasn't just her legs; even her hands and face were smeared with blood that didn’t belong to her.
What a mess...
Xia Er rubbed her face, trying to wipe off the blood, but when she realized it wouldn’t come off, she simply gave up.
She stopped worrying about her appearance and instead focused on arranging the bodies of the extraordinary beings neatly with the help of the shadows. Then she began searching for low-tier materials.
The extraordinary cultists who had raided the basement were quite skilled, having taken almost all the second-tier potions and valuable materials, which made Xia Er feel a twinge of regret.
However, she didn’t dwell on it too much; after all, she had come to the basement specifically to find some low-tier materials for experimentation.
Now that she had the low-tier materials, it was time to try out the **Lingxing Zhaohuan** (灵性召唤, "Spiritual Summoning").
Under Xia Er's control, the shadows began to gather the scattered materials. One of the shadows moved to the steel gate, dragging the bodies of ordinary people outside and piling them up before closing and locking the gate to prevent any interruptions during Xia Er's ritual.
Perhaps it was because the gate was closed, but in this enclosed environment, Xia Er felt the noise in her head diminish slightly. At least now she could clearly hear sounds within a five-meter radius.
However, as soon as someone approached, the noise would intensify, drowning out all other sounds.
Xia Er hoped that whatever she summoned with **Lingxing Zhaohuan** could help her with this issue.
Otherwise, whenever she used this save file in the future, she would have to avoid crowds and would be tormented by the whispers, which was far worse than any burn.
Soon, Xia Er selected a piece of spiritual material.
It was a finger bone, likely from a first-tier extraordinary being, carelessly discarded on the ground. She couldn’t sense much spiritual energy from it.
This was perfect for her first attempt.
The shadows cleared a circular area on the ground, cutting away the carpet to reveal the smooth marble floor beneath.
Xia Er stood in the cleared space, slowly closing her eyes, gripping the finger bone tightly in her hand.
Fortunately, unlike the knowledge that came with potions, the system's skills didn’t require Xia Er to understand them; she just needed to silently recite the incantation, and she would naturally grasp the method.
“Lingxing Zhaohuan.”
Xia Er silently recited the phrase.
She released her grip on the finger bone, which fell toward the ground under the pull of gravity.
“*.”
Xia Er's lips moved slightly, uttering a character she had never heard before.
As the syllable escaped her lips, the finger bone, which had been falling, suddenly halted, defying gravity and hovering beside Xia Er.
From the shadow behind her, another shadow split off, and the figure held a hand axe, slowly raising it next to Xia Er's shadowy fingers before gently slicing down.
A sudden gash opened in Xia Er's right hand, and drops of blood were pulled from her wound like beads on a string, forming delicate red threads in the air.
These blood threads began to coalesce above Xia Er's head, rapidly forming an irregular, eerie pattern. As the finger bone floated in front of her, the formation solidified and plummeted toward the ground.
Sizzle—
The finger bone ignited in blue spiritual flames, quickly being consumed and reduced to a pockmarked piece of blackened bone that fell to the ground, shattering into fragments.
The extraordinary qualities contained within the finger bone had been completely burned away, sacrificed to an unknown entity from the other realm.
At that moment, the blood formation around Xia Er began to bubble, and red mist rose, continuously gathering in front of her.
Xia Er opened her eyes, anxiously watching the scene unfold.
She had seen glimpses of the other realm before and had been affected by it, nearly losing her sanity. If it hadn’t been for "Bishop of Radiance" Xiu, she would have died during that simulation.
The blood mist swirled in front of her, gradually forming a small vortex with a radius of 15 centimeters.
Under Xia Er's gaze, a hand slowly emerged from the blood vortex. With a soft thud, it landed in front of her.
It was a small, child-sized, incomplete right hand, with only the palm and a short section of the arm. It had seven finger joints, and one of the bones looked somewhat familiar to Xia Er.
It seemed to be the one she had just sacrificed.
The hand propped itself up on its finger joints, crawling toward Xia Er like a creepy insect.
How disgusting...
Watching that spider-like hand approach her, Xia Er instinctively took a step back. But in the next moment, the hand seemed to sense something, abruptly flinging its finger joints and vanishing from her sight.
Before Xia Er could react, the hand-like spider quickly reappeared in front of her, stretching its body as if it had dropped something.
Then, enveloped in spiritual flames, the hand spider was burned to ashes, leaving behind a low-tier spiritual material it had brought.
Xia Er: "..."
Huh?
Is that it?
Its... purpose was just to help pick things up?
And it only grabbed one before running off?
She felt a strange term imprint itself in her mind, one she couldn’t read or understand, but Xia Er sensed that if she sacrificed another finger with extraordinary properties next time and used the system to recite this term, she could summon it again.
Xia Er began to grasp the pattern of **Lingxing Zhaohuan**.
Now, the most important thing was to understand the rules and find spiritual beings that could assist her.
Xia Er's gaze fell on the arranged corpses of the extraordinary beings.
This time, she decided to sacrifice a first-tier "Gambler" corpse to see what would happen.
The area where Xia Er stood had already been corroded by the blood formation and could no longer be used for drawing. She released the shadows to clear another space.
Fortunately, there was enough room here, and the walls could also be used to set up blood formations. Once she consumed these materials, she would likely have fully utilized this space.
As Xia Er prepared for the next **Lingxing Zhaohuan** ritual, she was unaware that the fleeing Yulisi had gathered an elite team of extraordinary beings, equipped with ample potions and rare sealing items, and was heading toward Deton Manor.
---
**Chapter 77: Is This Not an Ordinary Book? Who Changed It to an Epic?**
Drip, drip, drip—
In the rain-soaked city of Berun, as dawn approached, the rain curtain enveloped the area once more.
Gray-white clouds obscured the sunlight, casting a layer of gloom over the roads within the city.
A well-equipped riding team was traversing through the rain, heading toward Creek Mountain outside Berun, plunging into the woods.
"Whoa—"
As the leading figure, a man in black, suddenly pulled on the reins, the strong brown stallion came to a halt. He dismounted swiftly and walked briskly to the carriage in the middle of the convoy.
"High Priest, we have arrived."
The neighing of horses echoed, and some steeds, despite their riders pulling on the reins, continued to rear up, neighing in protest against the control of their riders.
Before long, a few powerful horses threw their riders off and bolted down the mountain.
It was as if the manor hidden behind the rain curtain held something that triggered their primal fear.
Creak—
The carriage door swung open, but the first to step out was not the High Priest, as the man in black had referred to, but a figure with long black hair.
"Is this the place?"
Aivina jumped down from the carriage, not caring that the mud splashed onto her expensive boots. She took a couple of steps forward, her gaze absorbing the information around her.
Many chaotic footprints... all leading away from the manor, suggesting that not long ago, many people had discovered something unusual and fled.
The two corpses ahead caught Aivina's attention. She approached them, kneeling beside the one that lay face down, turning it over.
A few steps behind her, Nia, clad in silver armor, followed Aivina closely, her right hand resting on the sword and shield strapped to her back, ready to draw at a moment's notice.
"Did you... find something, Miss Aivina?"
A slightly breathless voice came from behind Aivina. She turned to see the High Priest Yulisi standing behind her, along with a silver-haired figure peeking out from her shoulder.
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