Secret Art Incantation

Secret arts are essentially a form of curse.

By combining Secret Art Incantations with mystic items, their inherent mystic energies are unleashed and applied to the target.

Because mystic items are incredibly varied and secret arts lack the structured principles of magic, they are an empirical discipline. Every mature and controllable Secret Art Incantation is the result of countless failures.

These failures can carry life-threatening risks.

Most secret art practitioners may never discover a single Secret Art Incantation in their entire lives.

To possess one or two of their own unique Secret Art Incantations is the highest dream for all secret art practitioners.

However, as players who "fear no death," they have far fewer reservations.

Professional secret art players can even compile collections of "ten thousand ways to die" from failed secret arts, uploading them online for public admiration.

As players continuously developed them, secret arts rapidly grew from an obscure system within the Era to a popular one. Furthermore, with the abundance of resources, more and more top-tier items became available for players to experiment with and consume, leading to the emergence of various outrageously powerful Secret Art Incantations.

In the later stages, secret arts, with their unbounded potential, became the most dominant force in the Era.

Look at Clear Sky's Wings of Time and Space, and you'll understand how overbearing late-game secret arts can be.

However, the current conditions did not allow Luke to perform overly flashy Secret Art Incantations.

He could only choose a secret art that would quickly grant him a certain degree of self-preservation ability from the materials he had.

An accidental discovery in the Whisperer's Mystic House confirmed the Secret Art Incantation Luke intended to perform this time.

Bloodline: Taotie

The name is awesome... because this was a secret art developed by players, and the name was also given by players.

It's not considered overly high-end, but it's very suitable for Luke at this moment.

Clear Sky took out the black wooden carving she bought from the Whisperer's Mystic House and placed it in Luke's hands.

Controlling two bodies simultaneously was a bit disorienting, but once accustomed to it, simple interactions were possible.

Luke held the wooden carving with both hands, positioning the snake's head towards himself.

Rhythmic drumbeats echoed in the secret chamber.

Then, illuminated by the candlelight, spectral figures of trolls wearing animal skull masks appeared. They surrounded Luke, beating waist drums and performing a sacrificial dance.

They chanted in unison with rhythmic calls.

In Luke's hands, the snake carved on the outside of the wood began to move.

It slithered upwards and then coiled like a pile of excrement atop the cylindrical wood. The snake's head remained fixed on Luke, its red tongue flicking.

Clear Sky approached and placed a small piece of meat in front of the little snake.

The snake swallowed the meat in one gulp.

It then writhed in agony.

A pair of dragon horns pierced through the snake's head skin and emerged, and four dragon claws grew from its belly.

The black snake skin flipped backward from head to tail, its fine scales transforming into large, crystal-like dragon scales, and its color shifted to red.

It raised its head and let out a faint dragon roar, spitting a dragon's breath like a lighter's flame from its mouth.

A pair of fleshy wings unfurled from its shoulders.

After eating the dragon meat Clear Sky fed it, the little snake transformed into something resembling an Eastern Yinglong. It spread its wings, circled Luke once, and then landed on his right hand.

Its tail wrapped around his wrist, and the dragon's body gradually imprinted itself.

On Luke's right hand and wrist, a red dragon-snake tattoo was left behind.

At this point, the surrounding trolls' dance shifted to a joyful rhythm.

They contorted their bodies, beat their waist drums rapidly, and danced their way towards Luke.

One by one, they merged with Luke.

The drumbeats and spectral figures gradually faded.

At this moment, Luke felt a surge of ferocity rise from the depths of his being, his muscles twitching uncontrollably, and his bones emitting cracking sounds.

The piercing pain rendered him unable to make a sound, his mouth agape.

Clear Sky handed him a bottle of Focus Potion, which Luke took and downed in one gulp.

Clear Sky then offered him a bottle of Stamina Potion, which Luke promptly drank.

The potions took effect quickly; the pain remained, but it became bearable.

The changes in his physical functions rapidly consumed his stamina and energy. When he felt he couldn't endure any longer, he would take another potion from Clear Sky.

At this point, Luke began to feel fortunate that he hadn't chosen a high-level Secret Art Incantation; if he had attempted it, he likely would have exploded instantly.

The pain and physical transformation continued.

It took two full hours before things gradually stabilized.

Luke's clothes were soaked with sweat, and more than ten empty potion bottles lay on the ground.

Simultaneously, Luke felt the changes brought about by the secret art.

His body and appearance hadn't changed significantly, but the sense of power and the enhancement of his five senses were things he could only experience with Clear Sky.

While he still felt inferior to Clear Sky at level 60, compared to his previous self, he had completely entered another realm.

He was probably stronger than a two-star hero, but slightly weaker than a three-star.

Once the physical burden from the surge of strength completely passed, Luke couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Then he raised his right hand and looked at the tattoo on the back of his hand.

Taotie: This is a Troll bloodline developed by players based on a race called Carnivorous Trolls from the Mandel Jungle.

Players with the "Taotie" bloodline possess the strength of Trolls and their powerful regenerative abilities.

The Carnivorous Troll race also has a special ability: they can temporarily gain the strength of their consumed meat source by eating meat.

This ability comes from the totem they worship... the Svenbornbarry Snake.

Players call it the "Greedy Snake."

Carnivorous Trolls seal aged and deceased Svenbornbarry Snakes within a special tree in the Mandel Jungle.

As the tree grows, the Svenbornbarry Snake merges with it, forming a Svenbornbarry Snake pattern on the outer layer of the trunk.

This pattern looks as if it were carved.

Carnivorous Trolls cut off this section of wood and, through a ritual, gain the ability to acquire the strength of whatever the Svenbornbarry Snake eats.

The meat must be a large quantity of raw meat.

This ritual itself is a secret art.

After a player obtained this secret art and improved it through experimentation, they created the "Taotie" Troll bloodline secret art.

Players who obtain the "Taotie" bloodline do not need to eat raw meat themselves; they only need to feed it to the totem snake, and they can also store the acquired strength for a certain period.

When the snake on his hand is in its dragon form, it signifies that a portion of Red Dragon Nilcolon's power is sealed within the Dragon Snake's body.

Luke released the sealed Red Dragon power.

The Dragon Snake flew out from the back of his hand.

It let out a roar, no longer the previous "whimpering" sound, but a true dragon's roar.

Its body instantly grew larger, and after circling Luke's body, it quickly transformed into a shower of sparks and drilled into him.

Luke's eyes at this moment became draconic vertical pupils, with golden light erupting outwards from within them.

His skin was covered in a layer of red dragon scales.

His face also showed slight draconic changes, and with every breath, sparks shot out from his nostrils.