Chapter 222: Soul Orb, the Terrifying Witch in the Forest! (6000)

Seeing the system prompt, a thoughtful look appeared in Cao Xing's eyes again.

"This is the deepest part of the forest, and according to the system, this is that witch's ancient castle."

"Could it be that the witch can be found inside here?"

Clearly, Cao Xing had touched upon the long-buried truth of this forest.

The plants and animals eroded by the dark aura, and why the Church of Light wanted to deal with that black snake.

And the legendary witch…

All of this was about to be revealed before him.

As long as Cao Xing entered this ancient castle, he would be able to explore it all.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing took a deep breath.

"Let's go, let's go over and take a look."

They soon arrived at a place a dozen meters away from the castle wall.

This ancient castle appeared very desolate; not to mention guards, there wasn't even a shadow of a person.

Clearly, relying on this four or five-meter-high wall, there was no way to stop them.

Just as Cao Xing was preparing to approach.

About five meters away from the wall, Dabai suddenly bumped into something.

"Puff!"

A dull thud of flesh sounded, and Dabai shook its head after being bumped.

And right at this moment.

Cao Xing saw a blue energy shield appear out of thin air in front of him.

"Good heavens, what is this thing?"

"A protective barrier?"

And right then, a system prompt appeared.

[The Witch's Ancient Castle is the private forbidden ground of the Forest Witch. She has set up a powerful sealing barrier around it, prohibiting all outside creatures from entering or leaving.]

(Hint: Perhaps you can look for clues around the ancient castle.)

…

Seeing the system prompt, a look of surprise appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"This isn't a shield, but a kind of barrier?"

"No wonder it didn't show any durability; this way, it's impossible to enter by brute force."

"However, the system hinted that I could look for clues around the ancient castle."

Thus, Cao Xing ordered: "Let's go, let's explore the vicinity."

After saying this, he led the group to start searching around the ancient castle.

This ancient castle was truly huge, with a diameter of at least four or five kilometers.

You have to know, Cao Xing's entire territory only barely reached a diameter of one kilometer.

"This ancient castle is really nice; the area is large, and the location is excellent."

"If only this were my territory; that way, I could save countless resources."

Cao Xing couldn't help but fantasize.

Of course, he was only thinking about it.

A Survivor's territory cannot be moved; after all, the [Bonfire] is the core of the territory.

Unless, like before, one conquers someone else's territory.

Then occupy it and start developing again.

But clearly, this ancient castle did not possess the conditions to become a territory.

"However, although there's no way to turn this ancient castle into a territory, my territory's location is also quite good."

"The surroundings are very open; as long as you stand on the watchtower, you can see at a glance whether there are enemies."

And Cao Xing believed that before long, his own territory would be able to develop to the same scale as this ancient castle.

…

While thinking, they had already traveled more than halfway around this ancient castle.

And through this observation, Cao Xing had roughly figured out the terrain inside the ancient castle.

There were many tall towers located inside, along with some buildings that looked like two-story houses.

These buildings had a uniform style.

They were all built with stone, full of a medieval style.

The ancient castle was overgrown with weeds and some unknown plants, covering the paths; it looked like no one had been active inside for a long time.

And in the central area, there stood a tower a hundred meters high.

It seemed this tower was the most important building in the entire castle.

And right at this moment—

Sarah flickered and appeared directly from the shadows, watching the front vigilantly at the same time.

Cao Xing realized Sarah might have discovered something, and followed her gaze.

On the ground ahead, there was actually a figure lying there.

What surprised Cao Xing the most was that this figure was actually inside the barrier.

In other words, this person had entered the ancient castle!

This instantly piqued Cao Xing's interest.

"Get ready, let's go over and take a look."

Upon receiving Cao Xing's order, Assam immediately raised his weapon and walked in front of him.

And when they approached, that figure seemed to hear the heavy footsteps of Dabai.

He slowly stood up from the ground, lowered his head, and stared at Cao Xing and the others.

A beast-like low growl issued from his mouth.

"Roar… roar…"

And as they got closer, Cao Xing saw this person's appearance and was instantly shocked!

This was a male wearing soldier's armor, yet his appearance was completely different from a normal person.

His left hand held a long sword, while his right hand was a sharp claw covered in gray fur.

His face was also covered in gray fur, with a pair of fangs exposed, full of a vicious aura.

"Werewolf? Or something else?"

A look of confusion appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

Seeing this strange scene, everyone also stopped in their tracks.

However, although the other party looked terrifying, it didn't seem to be a very powerful creature.

"Assam, Sarah, go check what's going on with him."

Assam, upon hearing this, immediately rode his Frost Wolf and rushed up quickly.

Sarah, in the shadows, also arrived silently at the side.

And right at this moment.

This strange soldier seemed to be enraged by Assam's approach.

"Roar!!!"

He let out a strange cry, then instantly crossed the barrier in front of him and lunged fiercely towards Assam.

Seeing this, Cao Xing quickly warned, "Assam, be careful!"

Assam, possessing rich combat experience, reacted instantly.

The moment the opponent rushed over.

He swung his [King's War Blade] in a horizontal sweep.

"Bang!"

[-3124]

-1562

The soldier was instantly sent flying more than a dozen meters away.

The opponent quickly climbed up after landing, then got on all fours and lunged ferociously.

The movements at this moment were truly just like a beast.

Seeing this, the others were just about to go up to help.

Cao Xing stopped them, "Don't go over yet; they can handle it."

"Assam, Sarah, don't kill it; just beat it half to death."

He wanted to find clues on how to enter the ancient castle from this monster.

Hearing the order, everyone stood where they were.

And Cao Xing quickly scanned the monster's attributes.

[Experiment: Tamaira Soldier]

[Race: Human/Beast]

[Level: 31 (Tier 4 Normal Creature)]

[HP: 24623/28747]

[Attack: 1213~1246]

[Armor: 279~311]

[Skills: Intermediate Swordsmanship Mastery (When using sword-type weapons, Attack +20%, Attack Speed +10%), Violent Claw Strike (Wields the wolf claw on the left hand, dealing 124% tearing damage to the enemy and inflicting 3 stacks of Bleeding status), Triple Slash (Continuously slashes three times forward, dealing 97%, 75%, and 64% damage respectively), Enrage (After receiving 5 attacks, enters Enraged state, Attack +20%, Attack Speed +20%)]

[Talent: Fusion Body (HP +20%, Attack +10%)]

(A former soldier of the Tamaira Kingdom, now transformed into a product of experimentation; they become extremely violent during the day.)

…

Seeing the soldier's attributes, a thoughtful look appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

A fusion body, huh?

It seemed like wolf genes had been fused into this soldier's body.

This allowed him to display impressive combat power; even a normal creature could possess four skills.

And Cao Xing remembered the face-trees he had encountered before; it seemed like the same method.

And these soldiers could freely enter and leave the ancient castle.

Just as Cao Xing was thinking about these things, the battle over there had already reached its end.

Assam, as a Tier 3 Leader, found dealing with this Tier 4 normal monster to be effortless.

Coupled with Sarah on the side, within a few slashes, she had brought this soldier to a heavily injured state.

And because of Sarah's deliberate control, her Silent Blade slashed across the soldier's heel, causing him to lose the ability to move.

At this moment, he could only lie on the ground struggling, blood seeping from his mouth.

Seeing this, Cao Xing quickly led his people over.

He walked quickly to the soldier's side and asked directly, "Tell me the method to enter the ancient castle, and I'll let you go."

However, the other party seemed to not understand his words at all, still emitting beast-like roars from his mouth.

"Roar! Roar!"

Not only that, he kept waving the wolf claw on his left hand, trying to attack Cao Xing.

Seeing this, Cao Xing frowned.

He had Isabelle come over and use [Penitence] to try and forcibly control this soldier.

However, Isabelle tried for a bit, then shook her head, "It's no use, My Lord. This soldier's consciousness is extremely chaotic; Penitence has no effect on him."

Hearing this, Cao Xing frowned again.

"Roar! Roar!!"

This soldier continued to let out angry roars, and they were getting louder.

If this continued, it might disturb the creatures inside the ancient castle.

Thus, Cao Xing said directly, "Forget it, finish him off."

Upon receiving the order, Sarah appeared directly and slashed down with her blade.

Swish!

[-4672]

HP dropped to zero.

At the very last moment, a glimmer of clarity seemed to return to the soldier's eyes.

He looked at Cao Xing as if asking for help and spoke his final words.

"The King… deceived us…"

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance killed Fusion Soldier Lv31, Tier 4 Normal Creature, obtained EXP: 1240]

[Combatants obtained EXP: 620]

…

"The King deceived him?"

"Which King?"

Cao Xing was pondering the last sentence the soldier said.

However, because there were too few clues, there was no way to deduce anything.

He shook his head and cast these thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Forget it, let's pick up the items he dropped and take a look first."

After saying this, Cao Xing collected the several items on the ground into his backpack.

[Obtained: Chaotic Soldier Soul Orb (Green) * 1]

[Obtained: Tamaira Standard Iron Sword (Green) * 1]

[Obtained: Tamaira Soldier Insignia (Green)]

[Obtained: Intermediate Heart of Strength * 1]

[Obtained: Medium Chaos Book * 1]

…

The items this soldier dropped were quite good.

One [Intermediate Heart of Strength] was equivalent to 10,000 Ice Dragon Marks.

"Not bad, saved money again."

Cao Xing thought happily, then began to check the attributes of the other materials.

There was no need to check that standard iron sword; it was just Green-quality equipment anyway.

Cao Xing first looked at the attributes of that seal.

【Tamaira Soldier Seal (Green)】

【Equipment Slot: Accessory】

【Quality: Fine】

【Attributes: Strength +3, Agility +3】

(Note: A soldier's mark from a fallen kingdom, possessing a certain commemorative value.)

…

"Oh? Has this Tamaira Kingdom already fallen?"

"Then, is the king mentioned by this soldier the King of Tamaira?"

A thoughtful look appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

He didn't dwell on it too much and directly began examining the other item.

【Chaotic Soldier Soul Bead (Green): Special Item】

【Description: Fuses the souls of two different races together, containing an extremely chaotic consciousness within.】

【Item Effect: Upon use, you will suffer a powerful mental shock. There is an 80% chance to fall into a confused state and permanently lose 10 points of Spirit attribute, and a 20% chance to gain 10 points of Spirit or 10 points of Agility.】

【Remaining Uses: 10/10】

…

"Good heavens! A Soul Bead that can be used to increase attributes, and by 10 points at once!"

"This is twice as powerful as the improvement from a Large Attribute Book!"

Most importantly, this thing is different from those Attribute Books.

This can be used by Survivor lords!

In other words, Cao Xing and Liu Muxue could both use this item to improve themselves.

The 【Soul Bead】 has 10 uses.

If luck is on their side, it might even increase Spirit by several dozen points, a massive boost.

However, this 【Soul Bead】 has one major drawback: the failure rate is too high.

A full 80% failure rate!

At this moment, Cao Xing suddenly noticed the prompt above: 【Upon use, you will suffer a powerful mental shock, causing you to fall into a confused state】

"In other words, is it because of the mental shock that the failure occurs?"

"Then, what if I resist this wave of mental attack?"

After all, they currently both possess a status skill called 【Faith's Thought】.

This skill just happens to be able to immune one mental attack.

Could it be used to immune the 【Soul Bead】's attack?

After thinking for a moment, Cao Xing decided to give it a try.

Although the side effects of this thing failing were a bit terrifying, he could still handle it.

Thus, Cao Xing took the gray bead out of his backpack and examined it in his palm.

The bead was the size of a thumb, and there seemed to be two wisps of energy entwined within it.

The method of use was also very simple; just crush it.

Without hesitation, he crushed it on the spot.

"Crack!"

The next moment.

Two cold wisps of energy suddenly drilled into Cao Xing's mind.

He seemed to see a terrifying scene: a soldier laid out on an experimental table, covered in knife wounds, with a figure standing beside him.

Then, various animal organs were being transplanted into his body…

At the same time, a system notification appeared.

【Ding! Faith's Thought has been triggered. You have immunized against this mental attack…】

…

The scene before his eyes instantly vanished.

【Successfully used Chaotic Soldier Soul Bead (Green), Spirit attribute +10, remaining uses: 9】

Seeing the system prompt, Cao Xing was overjoyed!

"Haha, it really works!"

"Great! In that case, for me, this thing has a 100% success rate!"

Thinking of this, a look of wild joy appeared in Cao Xing's eyes!

He even wanted to get a few hundred more and use them on all the mages or assassins present.

After all, an increase of several dozen points in Spirit or Agility is a massive boost.

To Cao Xing, this thing was equivalent to one or two hundred points of magic attack power.

But unfortunately.

There was only one of these for now.

Shaking his head, Cao Xing put these thoughts aside.

He ordered, "Continue forward."

Then, they began to explore all around the ancient castle.

A few minutes later.

They had advanced another mile or so.

Just then, Sarah appeared silently once again.

"There is a situation ahead; I discovered a small wooden cabin in the forest."

"A small wooden cabin?"

Cao Xing was stunned.

Sarah nodded and pointed toward the woods not far away.

Obviously, for a small wooden cabin to suddenly appear in such a forest was, by any measure, an unusual thing.

Thus, Cao Xing said directly, "Take me there to take a look."

"As you command!"

Then, Sarah led everyone toward the area she had discovered.

Not long after, at the base of several large trees ahead, they discovered a wooden cabin entwined with vines.

This cabin looked truly small, with only one story.

The wood on the surface had turned black and damp; the humid environment of the forest had caused some fungi to grow on the surface of the cabin.

Most importantly.

A light was still shining inside, as if someone were living there.

Cao Xing pondered for a moment and stopped in front of the cabin door.

He walked up and knocked on the door.

"Thump! Thump-thump!"

There was no response the first time, so Cao Xing knocked again.

A moment later, a voice came from inside.

"Who is it…"

The voice sounded like an elderly person of eighty or ninety years old.

Aged and exceptionally grating.

Just listening to it gave one a creepy feeling.

Behind him, Tong Chuchu and Elisa couldn't help but grasp each other's hands tightly.

Cao Xing, however, didn't think much of it; after all, their strength was there to rely on.

Straightening his expression, he continued, "Hello, we are passing adventurers and would like to ask you about some things."

Upon hearing this, there was a moment of silence inside, followed by the sound of footsteps.

A moment later, the wooden door of the cabin opened a crack.

A skinny, mummy-like right hand reached out from inside and gripped the wooden door.

"Creak!"

The door opened.

An old woman with a hunched figure, wearing a filthy black robe and a black scarf tied around her head, appeared before them.

When she raised her head, everyone present felt a slight shiver in their hearts!

It even startled Cao Xing enough to make him take half a step back.

This old woman's face truly frightened everyone present!

Because she looked too much like the witches in those fairy tales.

The wrinkles covering her face were piled together, like the creases on crocodile skin, to the point where her eyes were barely visible.

The most iconic feature was her broad nose, which was almost hanging down to her chin!

For such a terrifying old woman to appear in a forest like this, it was by no means normal.

Cao Xing also checked her attributes in an instant.

【Witch of the Woods】

【Race: Unknown】

【Level: Level 12 (Tier 2 Common Creature)】

【Health Points: 1340/1340】

【Attack Power: 95~102】

【Skills: None】

【Talent: None】

(An Old Witch of unknown origin, she seems to have existed in the Witch Forest for a long time…)

…

Seeing her panel attributes, a thoughtful look appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

She was only a Level 12 Common Creature and appeared to have no threat.

However, Cao Xing did not underestimate her.

You must know that in this world, many beings can use methods of disguise.

His 【True Sight Eye】 could only see through Tier 5 disguises.

Therefore, Cao Xing maintained full vigilance, ready to flee or fight at any moment.

This Old Witch examined Cao Xing and the others for a moment, her eyelids gradually opening.

Within the pile of creases on her face, Cao Xing discovered a pair of cat-like eyes.

Her gaze swept over Cao Xing and the others.

Everyone she stared at felt a creepy sensation in their hearts!

"Heh heh…"

The old woman's throat emitted a sound like a bellows, as if she had a mouthful of thick phlegm; it was extremely unpleasant…

"Young adventurers… what do you want to ask me about?"

Cao Xing steadied himself, suppressing the discomfort in his heart, and then asked, "Old lady, I would like to know, how can one enter that ancient castle?"

He pointed to the ancient castle behind him.

The system prompt said to look for clues in the vicinity.

And in this vicinity, Cao Xing had only found this cabin in the woods.

So he got straight to the point.

Upon hearing this question, the Old Witch's cat-like eyeballs rolled a few times.

"Young adventurers… why do you want to enter that ancient castle…"

"That ancient castle… it is too dangerous… there are many man-eating monsters inside…"

Man-eating monsters?

Cao Xing's gaze flickered slightly, "Old lady, could you elaborate?"

The Old Witch pondered for a moment, seemingly recalling something.

"Inside… there is an evil big bad wolf…"

"An Ogre who loves to eat humans and drinks a cup of freshly squeezed corpse juice every day…"

"And there is also… a long-haired princess who takes pleasure in torturing the souls of others…"

Upon hearing this, a thoughtful look flashed in Cao Xing's eyes once again.

A big bad wolf, an Ogre who drinks corpse juice, a long-haired princess…

These must be the monsters inside the ancient castle.

But what was strange was that Cao Xing had just walked around the outside of the ancient castle.

Aside from that soldier, he had not discovered any signs of biological activity inside.

Thus, Cao Xing directly asked his question, "But when we just came over, we didn't discover any monsters inside the ancient castle?"

Upon hearing this question, a curve appeared on the Old Witch's shriveled mouth.

It looked like a smile, but it was uglier than crying.

"Heh heh heh…"

Her throat once again emitted a bellows-like laugh.

"That is because… this ancient castle only reveals its true form… at night…"

"Young adventurers… haven't you noticed that there are very few beasts in this forest?"

Upon hearing this question, a thoughtful look appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

Because he had indeed noticed this problem.

Aside from the group of wild boars they encountered when they came in last time.

Coming in this time, they hadn't encountered a single wave of beasts.

What they encountered were all strange monsters like man-eating flowers and human-faced trees.

He nodded.

"Heh heh… that is because the beasts in the forest were all captured by the witch of this ancient castle…"

"That evil witch… every night sends out her soldiers to capture all the beasts in the forest and bring them into the ancient castle to conduct evil experiments…"

"Until recent years… as the beasts in the forest became fewer and fewer, the ancient castle finally quieted down…"

…