Withered Wood Renewal Technique Reached Beginner Level

"This really made you look good."

Zhou Changwang first glanced at the Ironclad Boar. Only after confirming that it was thoroughly dead did he reveal an expression somewhere between laughter and tears.

He truly had not expected the Little Spirit Hound to pounce out at that moment and block the Ironclad Boar's momentum-driven charge for him.

Though it had not been necessary, he was genuinely moved. He quickly took a Spring Renewal Seal from his Storage Bag and activated it over the Little Spirit Hound, but it only improved its condition slightly.

After all, the Spring Renewal Seal was merely a low-grade spirit talisman, and its effects were extremely limited.

In fact, nearly all spirit talismans had corresponding spells as their basis. For example, the Spring Renewal Seal corresponded to the Spring Renewal Technique, while the Blazing Fire Seal corresponded to the Blazing Fire Technique... Talisman makers merely used special talisman-making methods to seal spells into spirit talismans in another form.

For that very reason, the power of spirit talismans was actually far inferior to the spells themselves.

Their power was affected by all sorts of factors, such as their materials, the spell runes themselves, and the talisman maker's methods.

Thus, for low-grade spirit talismans like these to possess thirty percent of the spell's original power was already considered quite good.

At the lowest end, some possessed only ten percent.

Like the Wind Blade Seal, Black-Ice Talisman, and Flame Seal Zhou Changwang had used before, most had only ten or twenty percent of the original spells' power.

The greatest advantage of talismans, especially low-grade talismans, was that they allowed one to use spell techniques one had not mastered, and they could be activated instantly, catching enemies off guard in battle.

As for their power, that depended on who was looking.

Only mid-grade and high-grade talismans, or spirit talismans made by certain specific talisman makers, possessed formidable power and could truly be of use.

"This won't do."

Seeing that the Little Spirit Hound was still in poor condition, Zhou Changwang frowned.

After thinking it over, he hurriedly controlled the spiritual power within his body, condensing it into one rune structure after another.

What he was casting now was the healing-type mid-grade spell he had been studying these past days: the Withered Wood Renewal Technique.

After several days of pondering and repeated trial-and-error casting, he could already condense eleven rune structures. He had also gained some understanding and insight into the final rune structure. He was only one step away from truly casting it successfully.

But taking that one step was often far from easy.

Zhou Changwang could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive.

One, two, three...

As his spiritual power spread out, one rune structure after another condensed into being.

Soon, he reached the tenth, then the eleventh.

But just as the twelfth rune was about to take shape, Zhou Changwang's mind wavered, and his spiritual power scattered.

"Failed."

Zhou Changwang sighed softly. Looking at the Little Spirit Hound, which was still whimpering, he calmed his mind once more and began casting again.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

Under his precise and practiced control, one rune structure after another rapidly took shape.

Soon, he once again reached the stage of condensing the twelfth rune structure.

In my previous casting, I had actually succeeded in condensing the twelfth rune structure.

The key to the failure was the connection.

The beginning and end had to link together, the runes had to become one. Only then could the spell possibly succeed.

In other words, the final stroke of the twelfth rune structure had to echo the other rune structures and form a whole with them.

Only then could it align with heaven and earth and allow the spell to succeed.

As those thoughts flashed through Zhou Changwang's mind, the instant the twelfth rune structure condensed, the spiritual power within his body surged fiercely.

The fifteenth breath.

Buzz!

In an instant, the spell took shape.

It aligned with heaven and earth.

Specks of spiritual light gathered around him.

Withered Wood Renewal Technique +1

"It succeeded?"

Zhou Changwang's heart filled with joy. He hurriedly controlled the specks of spiritual light, gathering them into a radiant glow that poured directly over the Little Spirit Hound.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

At once, the Little Spirit Hound's injuries rapidly healed under Zhou Changwang's spell.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

"Awoo!"

The Little Spirit Hound let out an excited howl, shook its body, and actually stood right up. With a light leap, it jumped from Zhou Changwang's arms onto the ground, nimble and natural.

It had recovered.

Under Zhou Changwang's Withered Wood Renewal Technique, the Little Spirit Hound had fully recovered without the slightest trace of injury.

"As expected of a mid-grade spell. This Withered Wood Renewal Technique truly has extraordinary effects."

Seeing this, Zhou Changwang was delighted as well.

What excited him even more was that, after casting this spell, a new line had finally appeared on the Attribute Panel.

Withered Wood Renewal Technique (Beginner 1/100)

"This spell also needs only one hundred experience points to go from Beginner to Mastery?"

Zhou Changwang glanced at the Attribute Panel, feeling somewhat puzzled.

But when he sensed the spiritual power within his body, realization appeared on his face.

Though this spell was of a higher grade,

the spiritual power required to cast it was also correspondingly far greater.

With the amount of spiritual power he currently possessed, he could cast it at most five times.

After five times, his spiritual power would be exhausted.

Perhaps that was why, although this spell was of a higher grade, it required the same amount of experience as the other spells?

Zhou Changwang thought it over and found it perfectly normal.

Only then did he turn his gaze toward the Ironclad Boar.

By then, it had long since died.

A Geng Metal Finger and a Magical Flying Sword had pierced through its two eyes in succession, each shredding its brain. No matter how tenacious its life force was, it could not have survived.

As he approached, the Magical Flying Sword had just passed through the back of its head, leaving only its hilt hanging there. Zhou Changwang quickly picked it up.

The surface of the flying sword was smooth, without a trace of blood.

Zhou Changwang was not surprised by this.

Magical artifacts were extraordinary by nature. Under the effect of spiritual energy, they attracted no dust and bore no bloodstains.

Compared to that, the "bloodless single sword" of martial world legends was nothing at all.

Then he saw a thumb-sized hole on the other side of the Ironclad Boar's head—the mark left by his Geng Metal Finger piercing through it.

After thinking for a moment, he stirred his spiritual power and cast another Geng Metal Finger, aiming precisely at the side pierced by the flying sword.

For the time being, he did not want anyone to know that he possessed a Magical Flying Sword.

Naturally, he could only use spells to conceal its original traces.

After firing several more Geng Metal Fingers, no one would be able to discover any trace of the flying sword on the Ironclad Boar.

Then Zhou Changwang grabbed its hind legs. As spiritual power surged through his body, he directly hoisted it onto his back.

"So heavy.

"This Ironclad Boar weighs at least a thousand jin, if not eight hundred.

"Even after stripping away that layer of mud armor on its surface, it would still weigh no less than seven hundred jin."

Zhou Changwang gave a low shout and headed briskly back the way he had come.