System Task: Self-Defense Counterattack | Husky Spirit Possessor

"Earth Domain spirit skill, Gravity Quagmire!"

As Lin Jing's voice fell, the ground underwent a world-shaking transformation.

The originally hard-packed earth turned soft and viscous at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, the entire clearing transformed into a black swamp.

"Glug, glug."

Black mud bubbles surged continuously from the bottom of the swamp, emitting a pungent, earthy stench.

The massive body of the Thousand-Legged Withered Centipede sank in instantly.

Its countless legs paddled frantically, trying to break free from the mire.

It was useless.

The pulling force of the Gravity Quagmire was far more terrifying than it had imagined.

Its speed was slashed by more than half.

It wasn't just its body.

Even its consciousness became sluggish at this moment.

Although its combat instincts remained and it knew danger was approaching, its brain felt as if it had been filled with lead, its reactions lagging by several beats.

The Thousand-Legged Withered Centipede watched helplessly as the dagger in Lin Jing's hand grew larger in its field of vision.

It wanted to dodge; it wanted to block.

But its body simply refused to obey.

Just like that... helplessly.

"Puchi!"

The dagger pierced fiercely into the center of the Thousand-Legged Withered Centipede's head.

The sharp blade penetrated the layer of new, unhardened shell without resistance, stabbing into its brain matter.

"Chii—"

Black blood with strong corrosive properties sprayed from the wound like a fountain.

The Thousand-Legged Withered Centipede's body twitched violently, its countless legs kicking frantically and splashing large amounts of mud.

However, this was merely a death throe.

Within a few seconds, its movements stopped completely.

Its head tilted to the side, and it went entirely still.

Faint purple light spots floated slowly from the corpse of the Thousand-Legged Withered Centipede.

The light spots gathered and condensed in the air, eventually forming a completely purple spirit ring.

A Thousand-Year Spirit Ring!

Lin Jing landed slowly on the ground and retracted the Earth Domain.

The surrounding swamp quickly returned to its original state, turning back into solid ground.

He looked down at the purple spirit ring, a flash of satisfaction in his eyes.

However, Lin Jing did not rush to begin absorption.

With a thought, he deployed the Blue Silver Devouring Domain once more.

He shrouded the area within a hundred-meter radius and sensed carefully.

The result was the same as before.

There was still not a single spirit beast.

It seemed the territorial consciousness of this Thousand-Legged Withered Centipede was unusually strong.

Yet, Lin Jing did not let his guard down because of this.

The Thousand-Legged Withered Centipede was dead.

Its aura would dissipate completely very soon.

When that happened, there was no guarantee that some fearless spirit beast wouldn't smell the scent and come to investigate.

Fortunately, the blood of the Thousand-Legged Withered Centipede did not have a bloody odor.

It only had a nauseating, rotten stench.

This smell shouldn't attract any spirit beasts.

But just to be safe...

Lin Jing reached into his robes and pulled out a paper packet wrapped in white paper.

He opened the packet to reveal some grayish-brown powder that smelled faintly spicy.

Holding the packet, he carefully sprinkled a circle along the edge of the clearing.

The powder landed on the ground, almost blending in with the soil.

After finishing, Lin Jing clapped his hands and sat cross-legged beside the Thousand-Year Spirit Ring.

This powder was called Beast Repellent Powder.

He had bought it casually at the market outside the Soul Hunting Forest.

According to the stall owner, this stuff emitted a scent that spirit beasts found extremely repulsive, thereby achieving the effect of driving them away.

Lin Jing didn't know if it actually worked.

But it was better than nothing.

An extra layer of protection was always good.

Lin Jing took a deep breath, circulated his Spirit Power, and began the absorption of the spirit ring.

Quick and decisive.

He aimed to absorb this Thousand-Year Spirit Ring in the shortest time possible.

As his Spirit Power circulated, the purple spirit ring suspended in the air seemed to be pulled by some force; it drifted over slowly and finally settled onto his body.

A vast and violent energy surged into his body instantly.

Lin Jing's body trembled slightly as he began to refine this energy with all his might.

Just as he was fully focused on absorbing the spirit ring, an anomaly occurred deep within his mind.

A system panel, visible only to him, suddenly popped up with a new task notification.

[Ding!]

[System task triggered: Self-Defense Counterattack.]

[Task details: Kill the three men—Zhang San, Zhang Chang, and Zhang Gong—who are planning to kill and loot.]

[Task reward: 10 Task Points, one chance at the Fragment Roulette.]

The crisp notification sound rang in his mind.

However, Lin Jing was currently at a critical stage of absorbing the spirit ring.

All his attention was focused on resisting that violent energy.

He remained oblivious to the system notification in his mind.

Soul Hunting Forest, entrance.

"Big Brother, we only sold one portion of Beast Repellent Powder today."

The speaker was a chubby man with a round face; the flesh on his cheeks bunched up, and his eyes squinted into slits when he smiled.

"It was bought by a kid. That kid was quite wealthy; he pulled out a Gold Soul Coin without even haggling."

"Old Third and I have been guarding the exit, but we haven't seen that kid come out yet."

As the fat man spoke, he rubbed his chubby hands, his sinister grin undisguised.

"Big Brother, hurry up and sniff around to find that kid's location."

"We're definitely going to make a fortune today!"

This fat man was one of the stall owners who had sold the Beast Repellent Powder to Lin Jing earlier that day.

Standing next to him was a man as thin as a bamboo pole, who looked like nothing but trouble.

This was the "Old Third" he had mentioned.

As for the one they called Big Brother...

He was a middle-aged man, roughly forty years old, with a sturdy build and a scar running from his left eyebrow to his right cheek, making him look particularly ferocious.

Most striking of all were the pair of floppy dog ears on his head.

His entire body was covered in a layer of black and white long fur.

At first glance, he looked just like a Husky that had gained sentience.

"Slap!"

The middle-aged man raised his hand and slapped the back of the fat man's head.

He didn't hold back his strength at all.

The blow sent the fat man stumbling.

"Sniff, sniff, sniff—sniff your mother's leg!"

The middle-aged man cursed.

"I'm your Big Brother, not the dog you keep at home!"

The fat man clutched the back of his head, looking aggrieved, and muttered under his breath.

"But you are..."

The voice was soft, but the middle-aged man heard it clearly.

He glared and raised his hand to strike again.

"Hey, hey, hey, Big Brother, Big Brother, calm down, calm down!"

Old Third, who looked like a sentient bamboo pole, quickly stopped him.

"Let's get to business first, business is what matters!"

The middle-aged man snorted and lowered his hand.

He took a deep breath.

The next moment, two white spirit rings rose slowly from beneath his feet.

A phantom image appeared behind him.

It was a black and white dog with a... somewhat silly expression.

Its tongue hung out long, and its tail wagged like a propeller.

It was his very own spirit.

"First spirit skill, Sniff!"

The middle-aged man gave a low shout.

Then, under the accustomed gazes of the fat man and Old Third, he dropped to the ground.

On all fours, nose pressed to the dirt, he began to sniff intensely like a dog.

No.

In a sense, he was a dog right now.

"How is it, Boss? Did you catch the scent of the Beast Repellent Powder?"

Old Third leaned in, asking eagerly.

The middle-aged man didn't speak.

His nose twitched incessantly, his head swaying left and right as if identifying the direction.

A few seconds later, his movements stopped abruptly.

Immediately after, he crawled toward the depths of the forest on all fours with practiced ease.