Chapter 76: Mysterious Figure

Chapter 76: Mysterious Figure Xu Tao’s golden eyes glared at the short flicker in the air—like heat haze rising from the center of the pit, slowly shifting and backing away. "You think that’s enough to hide from me?" he scowled, before waving his fingers once again. The sword that was lying on the ground suddenly moved once more, shooting like a bullet toward the haze. It was so fast that the figure seemed to panic-block the attack—giving Xu Tao the opening he needed. CLANG! As the sword once again hit something that couldn’t be seen, releasing a loud, metallic clang, the figure of the other party flickered briefly. It was a split second, but in that short instant, Xu Tao had completely memorized the appearance of the enemy... and to his shock, it was a familiar face. One that he had seen before. "The blacksmith?" he frowned, raising a brow in confusion. The blacksmith—someone who had been pretending to be an NPC. Although Xu Tao had noticed her presence long before, he hadn’t really bothered thinking about it too deeply. After all, he didn’t feel any threat coming from her. He didn’t think for a moment that she’d actually try and injure his students and disciples. In that moment, Xu Tao also figured out what the mysterious figure was using to hide her traces. A spiritual veil—one that manipulated sight and perception, a common tool among higher-rank assassins back in Xu Tao’s world. He waved his other hand, forming a few gestures quickly. The next instant, a pillar of light fell right where the blurry figure was about to go—and destroyed the veil she was using. But to Xu Tao’s surprise, it wasn’t just the veil that was destroyed—but also the illusion the woman had cast on herself. In the next moment, her appearance underwent a rapid and drastic change. Her skin, once tanned from constantly working under extreme heat, turned ashen white—like a ghost. Her pair of gold eyes remained the same, but her sclera darkened, now closer to pitch black. Her black hair also reversed in color, becoming silvery white instead. "Tsk!" The figure clicked her tongue before turning around and running away. "That is...!" But Xu Tao was left speechless for a brief moment. After all, it was his first time seeing one in person—a Dual-Soul Wraith! This little detail actually brought a lot of complications. But at the same time, it also answered a few doubts Xu Tao had. Why he had encountered two people who had half-Evil Spirits mixed into their souls... or why the cultivation standard of this world was so low. Of course, it still wasn’t full proof yet. The presence of a true Evil Spirit inside some random game didn’t really explain much, after all. He would first need to capture her for interrogation. "Stop." Xu Tao loaded his words with Qi, creating a powerful Spirit Language (Yan Ling) that forced the listener to bend to his will. "Kuh...! Still... Too early... Dammit!" And as expected, the Dual-Soul Wraith came to a stop, mumbling words to herself as her body trembled ever so slightly, trying hard to resist the binding. "Don’t bother." Xu Tao was already beside her before she could even try. "My Yan Ling can’t be broken by someone with your strength." "...!" Despite the gap between their strengths, the Wraith didn’t give up. Her Qi began to rage, circulating rapidly around her body. This normally wouldn’t be much of a problem... but the issue was her constitution. "Hmm? Hey, stop that!" Xu Tao was a beat late in noticing and tried to stop her right then... but it was already too late. "RAAAAGH!" The Qi that the Dual-Soul Wraith forcefully "activated" began to rampage. Two types of Qi, forced to mix, repelled each other violently upon exiting her body—resulting in— BOOOM! —a powerful and violent explosion. "Ugh...!" Xu Tao was quick on his feet, moving far enough away not to get caught in the blast. Yes, he had to dodge. After all, he was inside the game right now—something close to an illusory world. Meaning, he was closer to a Spirit Body inside the game than anything else. And for a Spirit Body, getting hit by chaotic Qi would never end well. It was similar to what the Cerberus had tried to pull, but much greater in scale. If the danger of Cerberus’ one drop of True Qi was comparable to a single ant, then the blast caused by the Dual-Soul Wraith was comparable to a million of them biting at the same time. Although it might not have been fatal enough to kill him outright, it would definitely deal a great injury to his soul. After the blast cleared, Xu Tao returned to where the Wraith had been, but... "...What a slippery woman," he sighed. "She escaped completely outside of my senses." Not a single trace of her was left. Though one might think she had died in the explosion she caused herself, Xu Tao’s senses weren’t so easily fooled. He had noticed how the Wraith’s presence dissolved before the actual explosion happened. In short, the blast was nothing more than a smokescreen to hide herself—and a cleaning device to erase any traces she left behind. A perfect escape, if anything. "Guess I should be satisfied with learning the opponent’s identity, at least." After a while of looking around and failing to find traces, Xu Tao gave up. He walked away and started heading back to where the rest were. "But to think a Dual-Soul Wraith would be inside a game..." Xu Tao stared at the still-glitchy sky, with a large void laced in red, blue, and green sparks— "Looks like there’ll be a lot of things happening on my disciple’s birthday... I just hope I’ll be here when it happens." —and let out a deep, long sigh. ???????????? After returning to the Training Grounds, for some reason, the three veterans were cultivating together with the rest. Xu Tao wondered what they were doing, but quickly realized—they weren’t cultivating their in-game characters, but rather, their real bodies! The method of cultivating twice in one had been taught to them by Henrietta herself! In fact, the person herself was acting in Xu Tao’s place, watching over everyone as they cultivated and giving a few pointers based on what she had learned through her scrolls. "..." Xu Tao, seeing this, steeled his resolve. He still wasn’t sure if he’d be there for Henrietta during her birthday... but before then, he’d make sure to polish her enough not to lose to anything—or anyone—coming for her! "Within the next few days—even if it burns me out—I’ll push her to Golden Core, no matter what!" A decision that could be both a blessing and a curse... for Henrietta herself.