Chapter 295: Fifth-Tier Clairvoyance, Khajiit's Excitement
"Kill them!"
"Slaughter these bastards!"
"..."
Terrifying Spider Humanoids, their slender bodies covered in short, black-and-orange fur, leaped nimbly through the jungle.
Like a flurry of black shadows, they descended upon the Iron Ratmen and Ogres below, erupting into a chaotic melee in the blink of an eye.
Roars and battle cries echoed through the sky!
The brutal clash of races quickly filled the air with the thick scent of blood.
Behind the Iron Ratmen and Ogres, dozens of Demonkin magic casters provided support and launched magical attacks.
The Spider Humanoids were exceptionally difficult to deal with. Not only were their movements swift, but they were also wrapped in spider silk as hard as steel, which could block the majority of physical damage.
"Magic Arrow: Wind!"
Tang Zheng stood beneath a lush tree trunk, waving his hand and chanting.
Swoosh!
Ten streams of white light instantly condensed and flew into the midst of the Spider Humanoids, accurately piercing their unprotected heads.
[Gained 270 Experience]
[...]
[Gained 369 Experience]
Tang Zheng stood his ground, attacking relentlessly. He released Magic Arrows one after another, dense streams of white light flying out continuously, forcefully crushing a group of Spider Humanoids that were attacking from a distance.
The power of a first-tier spell was indeed not high, but that depended on whose hands it was in. Tang Zheng's magic attack stat was quite high, and these Spider Humanoids possessed no magic resistance-type abilities.
Just looking at the power of the Magic Arrows Tang Zheng released, it was indeed abnormally high. This, of course, was due to the bonuses from his jobs.
The Mad Mage's passive, Elemental Attribute Alteration, granted his magic the power to be enhanced with elemental attributes.
The Super Magic Master passive from Magic Transcender also enhanced the maximum value of variable quantities within his magic.
Then there was Elemental Blessing, which caused him to inflict stronger destruction and effects when using elemental-type magic.
Additionally.
Reduced Magic Consumption allowed Tang Zheng to cast spells of the fourth tier or lower while only consuming a single point of magic power.
This series of passive bonuses resulted in ordinary Magic Arrows in Tang Zheng's hands dealing the highest damage for the lowest cost.
The power of each magic arrow reached that of a second-tier spell.
One magic arrow was basically enough to take out a single Spider Humanoid.
If one couldn't, it was simply a matter of hitting it with another arrow!
"Under the influence of the drought, the situation in the hills has devolved into a crisis of water and food. It's starting to become completely chaotic."
Tang Zheng cast his spells, silently contemplating the relentlessly attacking Spider Humanoids. They were here to seize the water source.
The Demonkin tribe lived near the water source, but this spring had, of course, already been occupied by the demi-human tribes led by Tang Zheng.
Actually.
Even without occupying the water source, the demi-human tribes under Tang Zheng's control still wouldn't lack for water in the current dry, hot climate.
With the lizardman Crusch Lulu's ability, she herself could cast the fourth-tier Cloud Manipulation to create a small patch of dark clouds. Making it rain was no problem at all.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Hmm?
Tang Zheng's eyes flickered as he noticed dozens of Spider Humanoids spreading out, surrounding him from all sides. They had clearly sensed the threat he posed.
Black and orange figures leaped and dashed through the jungle and across the ground.
In an instant,
Dozens of Spider Humanoids leaped down from overhead, becoming masses of shadow that enveloped Tang Zheng. At the same time, more Spider Humanoids appeared in the woods, surrounding him from below.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Dense, hard spider silk spewed forth from the group of Spider Humanoids, forming massive spiderwebs in mid-air that blanketed the entire area.
Faced with this scene, Tang Zheng nodded and commented, "Not bad teamwork."
Dimensional Shift.
Tang Zheng's figure vanished into thin air, easily flying out from the encirclement to the perimeter.
Watching the panicked Spider Humanoids who had lost their target, Tang Zheng raised his palm and aimed at the group that had delivered themselves right to him, now clustered together.
"Fireball!"
Boom!
A basketball-sized fireball flew from Tang Zheng's palm, transforming into a crimson streak of light that ignited the group of Spider Humanoids ahead before exploding.
On his status panel, numerous experience notifications flashed continuously.
"Should I leave some of them alive?"
"Never mind. It's better to take advantage of the chaos to clean up a batch of this type of demi-human."
Tang Zheng turned, and looking at the relentlessly charging Spider Humanoids, he raised his hand, unleashing ten streams of white light.
The Spider Humanoids' initially powerful assault quickly turned into a disadvantage as time went on, and they began to show signs of a steady retreat.
The scent of blood grew even stronger!
Excited roars from the Ogres, Iron Ratmen, and Demonkin rang out from time to time.
Hmm?
Tang Zheng's movements suddenly paused. He looked up towards the sky, obscured by the dense foliage. "They're here again."
[Discovered Fifth-Tier Magic "Clairvoyance." Requirement: Mental-Type Caster Level (29-35 Lv). Current conditions met...]
"Stargazer Far-Sight has been really busy lately." Tang Zheng merely glanced at the sky before looking away.
Ever since the Holy Kingdom cut off the grain trade, Stargazer Far-Sight of the Black Scripture began probing the hills. This meant that the Slane Theocracy had already noticed the abnormalities here.
"With this frequency of detection, the Slane Theocracy is taking this far more seriously than the Holy Kingdom. As expected of a nation that espouses 'Human Supremacy' and whose main purpose is to subjugate and eliminate demi-humans."
A thoughtful look flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes. He then raised an eyebrow and said nonchalantly, "Has the probing gaze left?"
Whether it was his warrior's intuition, a caster's keen perception of magical power, or the bonuses provided by his Ninja job, he could faintly feel the weak sensation of being watched that the detection spell gave off.
However.
Tang Zheng wasn't concerned. The Player trait allowed him to evade this type of scrying magic.
He had also mastered the second-tier spell Detection Interference, obtained from the Monk job, which he could use for anti-detection.
The magical effect of Clairvoyance was similar to a bird's-eye view from high in the sky. While it could observe large areas, it couldn't see specific locations clearly.
Only when paired with positioning magic could it be used for close-range observation.
What Stargazer Far-Sight had been observing during this period wasn't just the southern region under Tang Zheng's control, but the entire hill region. Naturally, the gaze wouldn't linger in one spot for too long.
Looking at his status panel.
[Experience Bar: 2012322/410000]
His experience points had accumulated to around two million during this period.
...
[Skill Points: 63→62]
...
Skill: Clairvoyance (Fifth Tier)
Cost: 25 MP ~ Continuous Drain
Description: A type of detection spell that can be used to observe distant scenes. It has the advantage of long range but lacks powerful detection ability and is easily blocked by anti-detection magic. It can be used in conjunction with positioning or marking magic.
...
Tang Zheng had learned this a while ago. He had coveted this spell ever since he dealt with Clementine.
Unfortunately, his stacked level in mental-type caster jobs wasn't high enough to learn it back then. Now, he certainly wouldn't pass up the opportunity.
Although the spell was called Clairvoyance, its actual range was nowhere near that far. Only when paired with positioning or marking magic, with a clear target for observation, could it achieve relatively long-distance detection.
But this also came with a limitation.
It could only see the area within a certain range of the designated target.
"In any case, I've finally mastered a decent detection spell."
Tang Zheng sighed inwardly.
Even with the passive bonus from Super Magic Master, he couldn't replicate the effect Stargazer Far-Sight produced when using this spell.
Stargazer Far-Sight's innate talent, Divination Eyes, could greatly enhance detection-type magic. Furthermore, he also possessed a magic item left behind by the Six Great Gods, which could enhance it even further.
This was information that Tang Zheng had slowly extracted from the three questions he was allowed to ask each time Clementine revived back when he was dealing with her.
Looking at the defeated Spider Humanoids.
After giving orders to clean up the battlefield, Tang Zheng's figure flickered and vanished.
His vision shifted, and he reappeared on a hill not far from the jungle battlefield.
A faint, strange stench of rot and corpses entered Tang Zheng's nostrils, causing him to frown imperceptibly.
The strange stench came from a tall, completely rotten Ogre undead. Next to the undead stood a withered figure.
"My old friend, this place you've chosen is simply fantastic."
As soon as Khajiit saw Tang Zheng appear, he immediately withdrew his gaze from the distance. His protruding eyeballs, set in sunken sockets, gleamed with feverish excitement.
"What a foul smell." Tang Zheng, his face hidden by a red hood and black mask, looked at the Ogre undead beside Khajiit.
"Fireball."
Red flames shot from Tang Zheng's hand, smashing into the Ogre undead and instantly engulfing it in a blaze.
"Roar!"
The Ogre undead let out a hoarse, low roar, its body struggling and twisting, but it was quickly reduced to a pile of ash by the flames and dissipated.
[Gained 31 Experience]
Creating such a low-grade undead only yields this much experience, huh?
A glint flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes as he confirmed that even demi-humans turned into undead after death could provide experience.
If this had happened in the past, Khajiit would have been furious to see the Ogre undead he had just created get killed by Tang Zheng.
But at this moment, not only did Khajiit maintain a broad smile, but he also seemed completely unconcerned.
The Corpse Pit contained an enormous number of demi-human corpses, more than he could ever use. Arguing over such a small matter was simply not worth it.
"Next time, I'll use Scent Removal to get rid of the smell."
Khajiit forced a smile onto his pale cheeks and spoke with a slight bow, the corner of his eye glancing towards the recently concluded demi-human battle.
"I would like twenty iron ratman corpses. It doesn't matter if they're a bit damaged."
Tang Zheng glanced at Khajiit and nodded indifferently. "Fine."
Khajiit's eyes lit up. He rubbed his hands together, his hoarse voice continuing, "Could you also give me twenty spider humanoid corpses?"
As a specialized caster, Khajiit could control one hundred ordinary, low-tier undead.
Compared to undead made from human corpses, the strength of the low-tier undead created from these demi-human corpses was much higher.
Especially in the recent demi-human battle.
The immense power of the Ogres, the formidable defense of the Iron Ratmen, and the incredible agility and hard spider silk of the Spider Humanoids—all of it made Khajiit's eyes shine.
As for the Demonkin... turning them into ordinary low-tier undead would be a complete waste.
More importantly.
The power of the Demonkin Queen, Nasurini, was terrifying, making Khajiit wary of her.
Khajiit cautiously glanced at Tang Zheng, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and, even more so, disbelief.
He had been in the hills for some time now and had met all the kings of the demi-human tribes. None of them were weak; in fact, all of them were stronger than he was.
And yet, these demi-humans completely obeyed the mysterious figure before him. Khajiit simply couldn't imagine how he had managed it.
"Fine."
Tang Zheng replied in the same flat tone, then changed the subject. "How are the preparations for the 'Spiral of Death' ritual coming along?"
At the mention of his work, a fiery passion immediately lit up Khajiit's eyes.
"With the help of the Corpse Pit, I've already begun the arrangements. It will take quite a long time for the 'Spiral of Death' ritual to truly take effect."
Khajiit gripped his staff tightly, his face flushed with excitement. "It won't take too long! Just give me five years!"
"No, three years will be enough! The negative energy that can be channeled from the undead created from these dead demi-humans is far greater than that from humans."
Three years?
Hearing Khajiit's excited explanation, Tang Zheng sneered inwardly.
Forget three years; the man didn't even have six months. The chaos in the hills had already begun, which meant it was time for the various factions to take the stage.
Tang Zheng had known from the very beginning that Khajiit would not succeed, so he didn't really care about him.
For now, he just wanted to observe the "Spiral of Death" ritual up close.
After reaching an agreement with Khajiit, Tang Zheng had also indirectly obtained the entire process of how to set up the "Spiral of Death" ritual from him.
After gaining a deeper understanding of the "Spiral of Death" ritual, Tang Zheng suddenly discovered that the ritual bore similarities to the 'Wild Transformation Ritual'—or more precisely, in its method of absorbing energy.
The 'Spiral of Death' ritual utilizes the traits of undead generation.
When a large number of undead gather, the negative energy they generate spawns even more undead. During this process, there is a probability that even more powerful undead will be born.
The "Spiral of Death" ritual capitalizes on this fact, taking the negative energy accumulated from the generation of massive numbers of undead and channeling it into the caster's body.
Simply put.
The 'Spiral of Death' ritual could absorb vast amounts of negative energy.
The 'Wild Transformation Ritual,' on the other hand, allows a caster to transform into a wild beast or monster by absorbing their corpse.
The two magic rituals—one for absorbing energy, the other for absorbing physical material.
This made Tang Zheng see a certain possibility. He didn't know if it was due to the effect of the Magic Master passive from his Magic Transcender job.
As for such a complex ritual, Tang Zheng felt as if he could understand and internalize it with surprising ease.
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