Illusionist Talent

As he walked along a weed-choked road in the Wilderness Zone, tangled weeds and towering trees stood scattered about, giving the place a distinctly primeval feel.

Yin Congyang took a moment to get his bearings, then headed toward County 0316.

Since this was his first time venturing into the Wilderness Zone alone after arriving in this world, he decided to go somewhere familiar from his memories and get used to things first.

Before setting out, Yin Congyang had made time every night to look up survival tips and precautions for the Wilderness Zone online. Although his original self's memories contained some information, and the novel had described some things too, neither source was comprehensive.

He had seen countless posts online about hunting and surviving in the wilderness, but as the saying went, "What you learn from books is ultimately shallow; true understanding comes from practice." Theory had to be combined with experience before it could become his own knowledge.

Less than three kilometers from the base, he encountered quite a few Primary Beast Soldiers. Yin Congyang ignored them. For one thing, the materials from Primary Beast Soldiers weren't worth much. For another, he wanted to test his Spiritual Force's Illusion Technique talent. This spot was too close to the Supply Base, with plenty of other martial artists nearby, so it wasn't suitable.

He continued along the ruined highway toward County 0316, casually killing a few oblivious Primary Beast Soldiers along the way. His backpack had limited space, and he couldn't be bothered to collect the worthless monster materials. In less than two hours, he reached the outskirts of the county.

Yin Congyang deliberately chose a direction that his memories told him was less frequented by martial artists. As soon as he turned into a street, he came face-to-face with three Elephant Mastiffs.

Elephant Mastiffs were a canine variant, larger than ordinary dogs. All three were Advanced Beast Soldiers. Yin Congyang's eyes lit up. He decided to use them to test his skills.

The three Elephant Mastiffs snarled at him, then dug their paws into the ground and charged. Saliva dripped from their fanged mouths, splattering onto the ground as they ran.

When they were close, Yin Congyang moved forward instead of retreating. He shifted his footing and twisted his upper body, swinging the Heaven-Opening Axe from side to side. The back of the axe struck one Elephant Mastiff's head, caving in its skull. It fell to the side, its breathing gradually fading. The axe blade sliced into another behind the ear. It ran a few more steps before collapsing dead.

The last Elephant Mastiff saw its two companions fall in an instant. Terror filled its eyes, and it turned to flee. Yin Congyang caught up in a few strides and swung the Heaven-Opening Axe several times, severing the tendons in its limbs without causing it to bleed heavily. He didn't want the last one to die from blood loss.

Looking down at the Elephant Mastiff struggling on the ground, Yin Congyang summoned Spiritual Force from his Consciousness Sea and enveloped it. His Spiritual Force swept over its head, easily locating its soul.

The Elephant Mastiff's soul looked like a faint mist. Through his Spiritual Force, he sensed that it was radiating fear. With a thought, Yin Congyang wrapped its soul in his intangible Spiritual Force and sent it a feeling of joy. The Elephant Mastiff's fearful aura vanished at once, replaced by joy. The terror in its eyes disappeared in an instant, and its whole face broke into a happy expression.

Yin Congyang couldn't help staring in surprise. Was it really that easy? It seemed like my talent for Illusion Techniques might actually be pretty good. Let's try some more!

He then sent it anger, sorrow, worry, happiness, and calm, one after another. The Elephant Mastiff's soul and body responded perfectly, displaying each corresponding emotion and expression.

After guiding its emotions, Yin Congyang had an idea. He imagined his Spiritual Force transforming into an Iron-Toothed Tiger, hot on the Elephant Mastiff's heels. The Elephant Mastiff's fur instantly stood on end. It whimpered in terror, trembling all over and frozen in place...

After testing every idea he could think of on the Elephant Mastiff, Yin Congyang let out a quiet breath. His talent as a Mental Master Controller seemed somewhat underwhelming, but confirming that he had talent as an Illusionist made him even happier.

Besides, his talent as a Controller simply wasn't particularly strong. His ability to control objects was inferior to that of a proper Controller in terms of weight, speed, and precision, but he still had the most important ability: flight. And he had no cultivation manuals for any of these abilities yet. Once he got his hands on some and practiced diligently, perhaps he could greatly improve in every respect.

With that thought, Yin Congyang looked at the Elephant Mastiff he had nearly played to death and decided to make full use of it by conducting one final test.

His Spiritual Force transformed into an axe inside the Elephant Mastiff's Consciousness Sea and gently sliced a tiny piece from the edge of its soul.

"Awoo..."

The Elephant Mastiff let out a bloodcurdling scream and trembled uncontrollably. Through his mental perception, Yin Congyang felt its soul slowly dissipate from its Consciousness Sea, like wisps of smoke blown away by the wind...

Staring at the Elephant Mastiff's corpse, Yin Congyang was momentarily stunned. The ease with which he had destroyed its soul left him feeling as though it couldn't be real.

The Elephant Mastiff's body was powerful compared to a human's, but once a corner of its soul was gone, it dispersed like a wisp of smoke blown away in a single breath. The ease of it made Yin Congyang marvel at how fragile life was. If other monsters' souls are just as fragile, killing them will be a lot easier...

He gathered up the three Elephant Mastiffs' corpses, removed the most valuable parts, and put them in his backpack. Then, in high spirits, he continued into the county.

That Elephant Mastiff had already been crippled and was completely unable to resist, so he still needed to continue his tests. He first had to find some lower-level Primary or Intermediate Beast Soldiers to experiment on.

As he walked, Yin Congyang continued experimenting with ways to control his Spiritual Force, such as wrapping it around his body to see whether he could block his scent and the sounds of his footsteps.

Amid the occasional roars of beasts, Yin Congyang strolled calmly through the ruined city, constantly scanning his surroundings with Spiritual Force as he searched for a suitable target.

Suddenly, Yin Congyang stopped. He darted aside and rushed through the side entrance of a nearby supermarket. A huge black bird shot past overhead with a whoosh. Its eyes, turned back toward him, held a hint of disdain amid their ferocity. Then it gave a long, piercing cry and flew off.

"Seriously? I just got looked down on by a bird." Yin Congyang shook his head. "Judging by its size and the pressure it gave off, it's at least an Advanced Beast General. Yeah, I can't take it on right now..."

After being looked down on, Yin Congyang decided to find a room on the supermarket's second floor and rest for a while. His Spiritual Force swept through the place. It seemed that a group of monsters had claimed the supermarket, but they were probably out hunting at the moment.

After resting for a bit and having some water and food, Yin Congyang continued carefully studying the ways he could use his Spiritual Force.

Suddenly, his brow twitched. His Spiritual Force sensed a huge Iron-Horned Bull returning to the supermarket with more than a dozen slightly smaller Iron-Horned Bulls.

Yin Congyang used some of his Spiritual Force to wrap around himself and conceal his scent, keeping the herd from noticing him. Then he extended his Spiritual Force toward them.

When his Spiritual Force touched an Iron-Horned Bull lagging slightly behind, it suddenly let out a moo, shook its head, and looked around in confusion. It clearly felt uncomfortable.

Yin Congyang immediately withdrew his Spiritual Force and shook his head. "The way I'm making contact with my Spiritual Force is wrong. It's too direct. If the other party can't resist, it doesn't matter, but under normal circumstances, this kind of contact will make them uncomfortable and hinder the use of Illusion Techniques... Let's try again..."

Fortunately, the herd wasn't very strong. The leader was a Primary Beast General, while the rest were no stronger than Advanced Beast Soldiers. Yin Congyang tried different approaches on them one by one, slowly searching for the different responses and effects that Spiritual Force produced when it touched a soul in various ways.