Chapter 51 Phantom Doppelganger Willow and Trumpet Vine
"Two years ago, I went with a team to the Death Desert to find fire-attribute soul beasts, and we stumbled upon a patch of mind-reading sea buckthorn!"
"That thing looks just like a normal dead sea buckthorn bush, lying on the scorching sand dune with a withered yellow color. You can't tell the difference unless you look closely."
"This is bizarre!"
"At that time, I wanted to use my first soul skill to blast it, but dozens of sharp sea buckthorn thorns shot out from the sand under my feet and went straight for the soles of my feet."
"I jumped back hastily, thinking I should run as fast as I could, but more sea buckthorn thorns shot out from all directions, densely packed like a rain of arrows, blocking all my escape routes. If the captain hadn't reacted quickly and pulled me back, I would have been riddled with holes!"
"you do not say!"
Another mercenary chimed in, "When fighting against the Mind-Reading Sea Buckthorn, you can't think of anything, otherwise you can't fight at all!"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
"Brother, you know your stuff!"
The portly mercenary, as if he'd found a kindred spirit, nodded repeatedly: "Fighting against the mind-reading sea buckthorn is absolutely impossible to defend against!"
Tang San silently noted down the following: [Mind-reading sea buckthorn, death desert, mind-reading only, no communication allowed, dangerous], and then drew an X on it.
His ability to read minds among sea buckthorns contradicts his goal of building a stable information network, so it's not very useful.
At that moment, a middle-aged mercenary leaning against the counter, with a beast's head tattooed on his arm, took a sip of his drink and suddenly spoke up: "If we're talking about something bizarre and troublesome, it has to be the Phantom Clone Willow!"
"oh?"
"Tell me more!"
Tang San showed great interest and handed over a glass of iced tea as well.
Seeing that he had attracted attention, the mercenary with the beast-head tattoo took a sip of wine with a hint of pride: "Two years ago, when I went hunting for souls in Sunset Forest with a team, we came across a willow grove."
"It looks normal from the outside, but once you go inside, you'll realize something's wrong!"
"Attack one of them, and all the willow trees around it will come to life, their branches whipping you like lashes!"
"What's even stranger is!"
"You can't tell which one is the real body and which one is the illusion. Fighting back and forth is like fighting a shadow. You're exhausted and your soul power is depleted, but you can't even hurt a single branch."
"Our small squad went in, and we were almost completely wiped out!"
He rolled up his jacket, revealing several faint scars on his back.
Look!
"This is what that damned willow tree whipped up back then!"
"At that time, it felt like the sky was filled with enemies. Our entire team lost four people in there, and even the Soul King captain lost an arm..."
"Old Zheng, how did you, a Grand Soul Master, manage to escape?"
People who knew him well questioned him, thinking he was bragging.
"Set it on fire!"
"You know my martial spirit, right? Once I activate my second spirit skill, wherever I point, it ignites. There's no plant-type spirit beast that isn't afraid of fire!"
As he spoke, Old Zheng revealed his Martial Soul Flame Gauntlets, and two pale yellow Soul Rings lit up beneath him. Surprisingly, they were the optimal Soul Ring combination, which is quite rare among mercenaries.
Most mercenaries' first spirit ring is a ten-year-old white ring.
"really!"
Someone nearby chimed in, "Plant-type spirit beasts are all afraid of fire, Old Zheng, you're just lucky!"
"Liu Ting, the phantom clone of Sunset Forest, is notorious for being extremely troublesome, and most Soul Master teams are unwilling to provoke him."
"but..."
"I heard that if you can absorb its spirit ring, you'll likely gain the ability to create clones. That's a great spirit skill for survival or combat!"
Tang San quickly wrote down the following: [Phantom Clone Willow, Sunset Forest, creates phantom clones, group attack, troublesome, high probability of producing clone-type abilities], and then crossed it out.
He muttered to himself.
The soul skill produced by this Phantom Clone Willow is clearly more inclined towards combat support and has little to do with information transmission. However, the clone soul skill itself is very valuable. Perhaps we can wait for my brother to come back and ask him if we should reserve a soul ring slot to obtain the Phantom Clone Willow's soul ring.
"None of what you're saying will work!"
An old, one-eyed mercenary took a swig of ale, spitting as he spoke: "This young man wants to know about soul beasts that can transmit information. Look at what you're all talking about!"
"Isn't this just plain fooling that young man?!"
"You old one-eyed bastard, you've got some nerve!"
"We're not as knowledgeable as you. If you're so capable, name two spirit beasts that can transmit information so we can see them!"
The dark-skinned mercenary pursed his lips, clearly quite familiar with the one-eyed old man.
"Hey!"
"I'll show you what's what, you little black brat!"
The one-eyed old mercenary was rebuffed by the dark-skinned mercenary. He huffed and puffed as he pulled a cloth bag from his pocket, opened it layer by layer, and inside lay a dried-up pale purple flower.
The petals were curled at the edges and their color was dull, but their shape remained intact.
"See that?"
"This is called a 'Sound-Transmitting Flower'!"
The one-eyed old mercenary slammed the dried flowers on the table, his voice rising several decibels: "I picked them from a thousand-year-old soul beast, the Trumpet Vine, in the northern part of the Soul Hunter Forest two years ago!"
Many eyes in the tavern were drawn to this unassuming dried flower.
"That's it?"
The dark-skinned mercenary leaned closer for a look, his face full of disbelief: "Looking so listless, what can you possibly do?"
"You don't know anything!"
The one-eyed old mercenary glared at him: "When this sound-transmitting flower is fresh, if you speak to it, the other flower can hear you no matter how far away it is."
"Say something to a flower."
"Back in the day, when I was hunting souls with my team, I relied on it to communicate with the brothers on the outskirts. Everything was crystal clear within a hundred miles!"
"Keep bragging!"
The dark-skinned mercenary curled his lip: "Ten miles?"
"I can't even hear this clearly with a flare, how can your thing be this effective?"
Why would I lie to you?!
The one-eyed mercenary grew anxious and grabbed some dried flowers, handing them to Tang San: "Young brother, look! The silver patterns on these petals are for sending messages!"
"That trumpet-shaped vine is at least a thousand years old, and the flowers must be picked in pairs. If the entire vine could be transplanted, it could spread for thousands of miles!"
"If you don't believe me, I'll take you to see for yourself another day when I have time!"
Tang San took the dried flowers, his fingertips tracing the silver patterns, sensing a faint fluctuation of soul power. He nodded and handed the dried flowers back.
"Thank you, Uncle. This sound-transmitting flower is indeed special."
He then handed over a cup of iced tea: "Uncle, could you tell me where that trumpet vine is?"
"Know!"
The one-eyed mercenary took a sip of iced tea, his tone tinged with a hint of boasting: "Young man, this trumpet vine isn't too rare."
"You can find it on the cliffs near the water source in the Soul Hunting Forest around Notting City."
"There are also younger ones; even vines that are a hundred years old can produce sound-transmitting flowers, but the transmission is only short, about ten miles."
"Furthermore, there are usually poisonous bee soul beast nests near the sound transmission vines, making them difficult to pick!"
"Back then, when I was picking these flowers, my arm was stung so badly it looked like a steamed bun. It hurt so much!"
Tang San looked at the withered sound transmission flower with eager eyes and quickly wrote it down in his notebook.
[Trunk Vine, found on a cliff near water in the Soul Hunter Forest, bears a sound-transmitting flower. Used in pairs, it can transmit sound up to a thousand miles. It can be used as an alternative.]
Just then, the old man with the goatee who had first mentioned the mirror-shaped bamboo suddenly remembered something.
Knock knock!
He raised his hand and tapped the table to attract everyone's attention.
Read 50+ Advanced Chapters at P@ Tre On
FictionTimeo
[end of the chapter]