Growth of the Black Soul Stone

The White Stone Town at this time was quite different from its initial state of ruin. Rows of wooden houses were scattered about, and wisps of smoke could be seen rising from their chimneys.

Several villagers escorted Bai Xiaowen and his group to the scene of the most recent tragedy.

More than a day had passed since the incident, and the villagers had no awareness of protecting the scene. All that remained in front of Bai Xiaowen were two incomplete skeletons.

Both skeletons died in gruesome ways. One had a large hole in its abdomen, and the dark red blood had already congealed. The other's neck had been twisted a full 180 degrees, and its tongue was sticking out long.

In addition to these two fatal wounds, the deceased's body was covered in blood, with not a single patch of skin intact.

Li Shuyi suppressed her stomach discomfort and frowned, saying, "What kind of monster was it? When you saw it, didn't you find even a single clue?"

Anton shook his head. "We suspect it's a flying monster... because there are no monster footprints at the scene."

Bai Xiaowen crouched down and began to identify the skeletal remains.

"It shouldn't have been done by a monster," Bai Xiaowen said. "Look, the wounds on the victim's thighs, calves, and arms all show signs of being cut with a sharp blade, so it must have been done by someone... In that case, it's easy to understand why there are no footprints. The killer was cautious and wiped them off."

Bai Xiaowen stood up and continued, "From the victims' deaths, we can reconstruct parts of the scene at the time of the crime. For example, the second victim had severe bruising on his head and left shoulder, and the fatal injury was a broken neck. Among the murderers, there must have been a very tall guy who grabbed the victim's shoulder with one hand and his head with the other, and just like that, twisted his neck..."

Bai Xiaowen demonstrated a gesture that sent a chill down the spines of everyone present, especially the residents of White Stone Town.

Li Shuyi quickly adopted Conan's perspective. "In that case, the murderer would have to be 40 or 50 centimeters taller than the victim, at least two meters tall... Are there any people that tall in White Stone Town?"

Anton shook his head repeatedly. "Those burly and strong men have long since left White Stone Town with their families. Now, there are hardly any residents in White Stone Town taller than me, let alone anyone this tall."

Anton, being a miner, was quite tall and strong, standing at 1.8 meters. His statement undoubtedly indicated that the murderer was not from White Stone Town.

"Did you notice something? The deceased's body is covered in wounds, and in many places, the skin and flesh have been cut away," Bai Xiaowen said.

Several people nodded in unison.

"Generally speaking, unless someone is a psychopath, a killer won't make any unnecessary movements. One of these victims had his neck broken, and the other had a large, clear hole in his abdomen—these were already fatal wounds that would have killed him instantly. Why would the killer then cut off their flesh?"

Bai Xiaowen muttered to himself, "There's a 10% chance the killer is a psychopath. There's a 20% chance the killer was motivated by revenge, torturing the victim before death. But the most likely possibility... is that the killer needed the flesh as... food!"

Everyone in the room paled.

"Xiao... Brother, it shouldn't be that bad, right?" Li Shuyi's face was a little pale. She had only heard about the story of "exchanging children to eat each other" in history books. She had never thought about such a terrible thing as people eating each other.

"There's no need to make such a fuss. If the last hypothesis is correct, the perpetrator should be Remnants of the Sinlands. Only those demi-human races among the Remnants would see us Human Race as mobile food. Moreover, many demi-human races are quite tall, so it's not unusual to see strongmen over two meters tall."

Bai Xiaowen stated his judgment and then summoned the Rageclaw.

"If it's just a simple monster eating people incident, I won't go to great lengths; I can simply relocate all the residents of White Stone Town. But if it's the Remnants of the Sinlands Sinlands, then it's necessary to investigate, at least to find out Remnants approximate strength," Bai Xiaowen said.

The Rageclaw sniffed at the two corpses, then rubbed its large head against Bai Xiaowen's waist, turned its head to the north, and began to paw at the ground.

"We're going to hunt down the murderer. Anton, go and relay my orders: have the villagers pack their belongings, gather together, and wait in the open space in front of the lord's mansion. After I return, I'll lead you to relocate to Redleaf City. There are strong city walls there; even if the Remnants launch a large-scale attack on the Northern Frontier, we can defend against it."

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi mounted Rageclaw and rode northwards.

Along the way, Rageclaw would occasionally stop, scratch the ground, sniff it, and then continue running.

"So the Rageclaw can be used for catching criminals? Its nose is like a dog's," Li Shuyi whispered, hugging Bai Xiaowen's waist.

"Wolves and dogs are originally from the same family. Dogs have been domesticated by humans for a long time and lack experience in hunting in the wild. Biological evolution follows the law of use and disuse, so wolves' sense of smell is naturally superior to dogs'. Rageclaw is the Boss Tier a mutated wolf pack, so his sense of smell is naturally even more acute," Bai Xiaowen said.

North of White Stone Town, in front of a secluded valley, Rageclaw quietly stopped, its claws pawing the ground while it emitted low growls.

There are signs of human activity.

Bai Xiaowen squatted down, examining the messy footprints on the ground.

Judging from the direction of the footprints, it is indeed a bipedal humanoid creature. However, the shape of the footprints is very peculiar. At the very front of the long foot, there are only two toes, one big and one small, and there is a small protrusion on the heel, which seems to be a third toe.

Bai Xiaowen used the Black Soul Stone's bonus skill, Return of the Dead, and a group of Undead Species summoned creatures appeared around him.

As for Zombie Doctor, he possesses independent consciousness and personality, and with Bai Xiaowen's consent, he can refuse to respond to Bai Xiaowen's summons.

As usual, Bai Xiaowen ordered the Shadow Assassin to become invisible and sneak into the valley.

There were several animal-hide tents in the valley, and in the center was a campfire on which chunks of meat of unknown origin were roasting.

Around the campfire sat three humanoid creatures, each tall and slender with bluish skin and sharp fangs protruding from their mouths. Bai Xiaowen was very familiar with this appearance; before entering the Kane Plane, he had drawn a humanoid creature with this template— the Trolls.

As the Shadow Assassin approached, one of the trolls grunted, tilted its head slightly, and its pointed ears perked up a little.

This troll clearly had excellent perception. Bai Xiaowen controlled the Shadow Assassin to slowly retreat, avoiding entering the troll's detection range.

Then, Bai Xiaowen ended the vision sharing with the Shadow Assassin, opened his eyes and said, "There are three trolls in total. They seem to be Elite Tier creatures, not much of a threat to us. Let's go straight for them."

Li Shuyi nodded; she had been waiting for a long time to teach these cannibals a lesson.

While a group of summoned creatures rushed into the valley and blocked its entrance, the three trolls were still leisurely enjoying a human barbecue feast.

A string of incomprehensible words roared from the mouth of the troll in the middle, but Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi couldn't understand it. When they first Kane Plane, they only received Common Tongue (Old Latin) after spending 100 Psionic Points, but these trolls were clearly speaking a different language.

If there's a language barrier, there's no need for communication. Just as the trolls' attention was drawn to the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier advancing side by side, the Shadow Assassin struck first, unleashing Assassination skill that hit one of the trolls in the back.

Bai Xiaowen used the Insight skill on the troll.

[Soge Juechi (Elite Tier Level 5)]

[Race: Human Species / Trolls]

[Class: Troll Headhunter]

[Attributes: Strength 15, Agility 25, Constitution 24, Spirit 10]

[Skills: Berserk, Regeneration, Bloodburst Assassination]

Bai Xiaowen was somewhat surprised by the strength of this level 5 Elite Tier, mainly because all three of his skills were quite powerful.

[Berserk] is a skill that continuously stacks attack speed. It has a chance to trigger with normal attacks, and each trigger adds one stack, increasing attack speed by 10% per stack, up to a maximum of 50%!

[Regeneration] is a racial passive ability of the Trolls, which accelerates the recovery rate of Life Value and allows them to consume a certain amount of stamina during combat to recover from injuries (severed limbs).

The final [Bloodburst Assassination] is the ultimate skill, consuming half of the user's Life Value to cast an ancient spell of the trolls on the spear, dealing equal magic damage to enemies in a straight line!

Of course, in terms of sheer skill power, this level 5 Elite Tier Troll Headhunter might not be stronger than the apprentice knight Bonita.

However, it's important to understand that Bonita is Divine Grace Knight, with a high probability of evolving into Boss Tier at a high level, which explains her powerful skills! Others, not to mention imposters like Kitz, even most of the knights in the Holy See don't possess Bonita's potential.

If this Elite Tier troll's skill is an ability possessed by all Trolls headhunters, then the Remnants's combat power is truly terrifying. If several Elite Tier Troll Headhunter were to unleash their ultimate abilities without regard for casualties, they could probably kill Boss Tier of the same level.

Fortunately, the Shadow Assassin's attack was effective, successfully piercing the first troll's vest, causing high damage and inflicting a bleeding status.

Upon seeing Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi, the two humans, the three trolls quickly abandoned their attempt to communicate and charged at Bai Xiaowen with a roar. Their attack method was also unique; they used javelins from their backs to fire, although at relatively close range.

After a barrage of spear throws, the four Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier charged into the melee range of the three Troll Headhunter. However, the three Troll Headhunter drew their spears from their backs, gripped them with both hands, and engaged the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier- to-hand combat, showing no intention of retreating.

"Capable of both close and long-range combat, capable of both offense and defense, truly a formidable troop type."

Bai Xiaowen commanded the Rageclaw to pounce, biting down on the wounded troll's arm. With a snap, the crippling effect of [Bite] was triggered, and half of the troll's arm was bitten off.

The wounded troll roared, clutching its severed arm with its left hand and taking a step back. Two other trolls rushed to its aid, their passive Berserk effects stacking, and their two spears pierced the Rageclaw in succession, then withdrew before striking again!

The first troll roared, pounding its chest with its remaining left hand, veins bulging on its forehead, as if enduring immense pain. Meanwhile, a pale blue arm suddenly sprouted from the severed part of its right arm, its color lighter than the rest of its skin.

This is the Trolls's racial ability [Regeneration], and it's indeed very powerful. However, the first troll seemed to have exhausted its stamina, taking a couple of deep breaths before temporarily halting its attack.

On this side, Bai Xiaowen, controlling the Rageclaw, withstood two rounds of four attacks, his Life Value dropping to 60%. With the buff of the Lv4 skill effect [Blood Frenzy], the Rageclaw's eyes quickly turned red, and it gained an additional 40% critical Critical Hit rate!

With a hiss, the [Rend] skill was unleashed, triggering Critical Hit. The second troll was nearly disemboweled, immediately inflicting Severe Bleeding! Rageclaw leaped into the air and bit down on the opponent's throat.

Critical Hit, another Critical Hit!

The second troll's neck was bitten off, and blood gushed out. Such a terrible injury was irreversible, no matter how strong its Regeneration abilities were; it was an instant kill!

The third troll roared, bit its middle finger, smeared its blood on its spear, chanted incantations, and thrust the spear fiercely at the Rageclaw. This spear, carrying a terrifying crimson light, whipped up a powerful gust of wind, creating a blinding sensation.

"... There are too many unnecessary movements."

Bai Xiaowen had been waiting for this moment, and he immediately activated [Intimidation]!

Enemies with Divine Might of 11 or lower (including 11) will be Stunned Status! Even those with a mental strength higher than 11 will enter Fear Status after the Intimidation skill's judgment is passed! This is the special effect of [Intimidation] after it is upgraded to Lv4, "Overwhelming Crush"!

The third troll was slightly more alert and fell into Fear Status, causing its ultimate move, [Bloodburst Assassination], to fail. The first troll, whose arm had just regenerated, fell into Stunned Status and was killed by Li Shuyi and her summoned creatures.

As for the third troll, it wasted half its Life Value for nothing. Bai Xiaowen's Desert Eagle was pressed against its forehead, and he shot Headshot, giving it no chance.

After the battle ended, a notification message from the Spirit Realm Rules appeared:

"You have wiped out the Sinlands Coalition troll scout squad."

Your reputation with the Human Allied Army has increased to Friendly.

"Your reputation with the Sinlands Coalition has decreased to: Hatred."

"You have gained 107 Human Allied Army Faction Merit Points. Please go to Basil Heber, the Quartermaster at Blackrock Fortress, to view and exchange them for military supplies."

Li Shuyi also received a notification about the Merit Points. The two discussed it and decided that killing a level 5 Elite Tier troll would reward a total of 50 merit points, which would be distributed according to the Kill Contribution.

"It seems the Remnants of the Sinlands Coalition have begun their pre-war infiltration. So, while we're developing the antidote, we'll have something to do. Finding and killing these scout teams will earn us a lot of merit points," Bai Xiaowen said.

Li Shuyi expressed her strong agreement.

However, what Bai Xiaowen cared about even more was that his exclusive equipment, the Black Soul Stone, had finally reached level 4 after absorbing the souls of three trolls!