Affinity: increases or grants spirit resource; improves ability to sense energy and see hidden traces of evil spirits; Grant skill: Basic Golden Light Spell.
Tao Te Ching was not an easy book to read, even though it had only around 5 thousand Mandarin words. It was full of imaginative imagery, metaphors and arcane theories about the world. Wu Xiaoming did not know whether it was the same from the Tao Te Ching in his previous world, but since the Analects he read in the previous world could help him unlock the Confucianist Tree, it couldn't be very different.
What he had now was one spare skill point, and just a small chunk of experience from level 7. If he was to gain another skill point tonight, he would need to carefully consider which tree he would spend the two points on.
From his own experience test-playing the game, the skills from the minor or "unorthodox" trees were also quite useful, they covered a wide range of rituals and crafts that could add more options to his own arsenal. But they were all greyed out by now, and needed some unknown conditions to unlock.
Maybe it was time to test his golden light skills, and maybe try it in a different location.
Wu Xiaoming went to the next door neighbor's house. Right now, the house on the opposite side of the road had gone back to what it was like before, with only a few long-tongued women lingering outside to remind Wu Xiaoming what had happened. The imps were no longer wandering around his father's house, so it was good to have a moment of tranquility.
After a quick look at the environment around the house, Wu Xiaoming headed to the man-bear's, a.k.a Tom Barracuda's place. Last time the man-bear "elite" creature almost ended him, but paid back by rewarding him handsomely both in currencies and equipment. It would be a safe and smart choice to clear out any lingering hostile creatures regularly, since there was a jump point on the top of the place.
With both morningstars in hands, Wu Xiaoming checked around the first floor just to see if there was any of that magical furniture he could carry back. Alas, there were not any. Even in the room where the bear suits were, the nails on which the suits were hung were bolted fully in the wall and showed nothing special when he tried to examine them. He proceeded to head up the second floor. Each step was slow and careful, just in case the man-bear came back to ambush him.
There were two bear suits walking around. Inside each was a humanoid figure completely made of black smoke. The "minions" from the last fight. But the "elite" was still nowhere to be seen, or felt, or heard.
The staircase was no place to hide, one of the bear suits discovered Wu Xiaoming, let out a low growl and rushed over.
Wu Xiaoming stuck up his index and middle fingers in his right hand. Golden light erupted from his fingertips. He thrust the two fingers at the bear suit, shooting a thin beam of golden light right into the bear suit's human face of smoke. The human-shaped smoke inside the suit let out a very brief scream before collapsing onto the ground, leaving only the pile of faux fur suit. The other bear suit charged at him again, and immediately faced the same fate.
He took a moment to check on his own status while still on alert for anything that might come at him. Nothing else tried to attack him, and judging from the amount of energy those two attacks cost, he could probably use the same attack spell three or four times, or more if he could get a chance to recover. Spirit as a resource, just like his "HP" was not shown in numbers, but simply manifesting as a kind of cost to his own energy - if he was tired, he would probably not be able to use the spell.
No other hostile creatures were present, so he simply climbed onto the roof of the building. As he reached his hand at the jump point, different sceneries popped before his eyes: the roof of the Woodside Hotel, another roof of a hotel building, a corner behind a studio and the roof of a small hill and the roof of an office building.
After a quick thought, Wu Xiaoming decided to head to the office building.
The moment he stepped out of the jump point, two foul bats with wingspans close to the length of his arm shot at him from the sky. Wu Xiaoming rolled on the ground and shot a beam of golden light behind him. It hit nothing but air, the two bat creatures were simply too fast.
Wu Xiaoming took a quick look around. The two bats circled around in the air and were about to strike again. On the other hand, the entrance to the roof was just a few steps away from him. Without delay, he rushed to the entrance and pulled the door open. The bats dived and charged at him once again, but were not able to catch him.
"Slash!" Almost out of instinct Wu Xiaoming turned back and barked the moment he made it into the dark staircase.
The stomach of one bat was ripped open as it reached the door frame, foul blood and guts spilled everywhere. The other bat lifted itself up to get out of the way, leaving the first bat growling and struggling on the ground.
Wu Xiaoming walked over, focused on the bat's head and uttered: "Slash." The energy blade completely cut off the creature's head, even though its jaws were still twitching and biting the air.
Current currencies: 10567 Spirit Fragments, 69 Vision Slivers. The bat netted one Vision Sliver, this was somewhat unexpected.
The other bat screamed and flew away, not even giving Wu Xiaoming a chance to help it reunite with its friend. Wu Xiaoming stepped out back on the roof just to take a look around.
The office building was not as tall as what he was led to believe by the vision of the jump point - it was only about four storeys high, with a parking lot nearby. But as he fixed his eyes on the other side of the street the office building was facing: it was a familiar shop. And around the shop, was a familiar figure.
A tall, bloody woman with a contorted body covered in ulcers, tumors and rash, a thick right arm with long sharp nails and a slender left arm holding a bone blade. Possibly the first "elite" creature he had encountered since he came to this world.
Wasting no time, he descended the stairs without exploring the rest of the buildings at all. A few humanoid spirits tried to ambush him, mumbling about "blood" and "flesh", but they were dispatched rather easily.
The creature was wandering in the street, waving her right arm and the bone blade in her left hand around, randomly and indiscriminately slashing the walls, fences and road. The gashes she left on the ground were deep - deep enough that Wu Xiaoming would have no doubt she could finish him in one blow, energy shield or not.
He lowered his body and went alongside the short wall along the edge of the parking lot. Then just as he was close enough, he pulled out the Rusted Grim Enchanted Sword. There was no telling how many Grim Slashes it could unleash before it would break, but right now this seemed like the right time to do it.
With the sword in hand, he moved over the wall and darted at the tall bloody woman. Moments before, her back was facing him. But just as he began his charge, she turned around, seemingly either out of boredom or hearing his footsteps.
"Blood!" The creature let out a gurgling scream as she charged at Wu Xiaoming.
Wu Xiaoming wasted no time unleashing a Grim Slash right at the woman's chest area. A tiny crack appeared on the body of the blade, but he simply had no time to worry about it now.
The energy blade struck the tall bloody woman's long, muscular and crooked right arm. Foul dark red blood shot everywhere, as the main part of her forearm flew off. This creature was pushed back by three steps, her chest and abdomen were opened up, revealing its giant, mutated beating hearts - yes, hearts, there seemed to be three of them, one on the left and two on the right.
Wu Xiaoming charged forward, sword in right hand, and golden light glowing in left hand. The creature screeched and tried to turn around, but a beam of golden light shot into the grievous hole on her chest area. Smoke poured from the hole, along with a foul stench of charred flesh and bone.
The tip of the Rusted Grim Enchanted Sword thrust at the creature's neck. But at the same time, the creature's left arm jabbed at Wu Xiaoming's chest with the bone blade.
Having been through enough close quarter fights, Wu Xiaoming was able to react to the creature's counter attack by lowering his body and moving his body to the left. The tip of his sword sunk into the woman's chest then proceeded to impale her two hearts on the right, while her bone blade cut into his right shoulder.
Wu Xiaoming kicked the woman in the bloody abdomen and pulled back. "Attack!" He roared, as he swung the sword at the slender left arm of the tall bloody woman.
The creature tried to retreat, but the blade was just slightly faster, as it cleaved through her wrist. Foul blood shot out, and she fell backward, almost completely collapsing
Another swing of the sword, the woman's head flew into the sky, spinning and spraying foul blood like a sprinkler in midair.