Withered Wood Renewal Technique Initiation

"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 caught between laughter and tears.

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

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

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

In truth, nearly all spirit talismans had corresponding spells as their basis. For instance, the Spring Renewal Seal corresponded to the Spring Renewal Technique, while the Blazing Fire Seal corresponded to the Blazing Fire Technique... Talisman crafters merely used special Talisman Crafting 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: the material, the spell runes themselves, the talisman crafter's methods, and more.

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

The weakest ones had only ten percent.

Like the Wind Blade Seals, Black-Ice Talismans, Flame Seals, and the like that Zhou Changwang had used before, most possessed only ten or twenty percent of the spells' original power.

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

As for their power, that was a matter of different opinions for different people.

Only mid-grade and high-grade talismans, or spirit talismans crafted by certain specific talisman crafters, possessed great power and could truly prove useful.

"This won't do."

Seeing that the Little Spirit Hound was still not in good 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 using now was the healing-type mid-grade spell he had been studying all this time: 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 casting it successfully.

But that one step was often not easy to take.

Zhou Changwang was merely treating a dead horse as if it were alive.

One, two, three...

Rune structures formed one after another as his spiritual power spread outward.

Soon, he reached the tenth, then the eleventh.

But at the instant the twelfth rune was about to form successfully, Zhou Changwang's focus wavered, and his spiritual power scattered.

"Failed."

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

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

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

Soon, he had once again condensed the twelfth rune structure.

In that previous casting, I had actually condensed the twelfth rune structure successfully.

The key to the failure was the connection.

The beginning and end must connect, the runes must become one—only then can the spell succeed.

In other words, with the final stroke of the twelfth rune structure, I must make it echo with the other rune structures and form a whole.

Only then can it align with heaven and earth, allowing the spell to succeed.

The thought flashed through Zhou Changwang's mind. At the instant the twelfth rune structure formed, 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 as well.

Withered Wood Renewal Technique +1

"Success?"

Delighted, Zhou Changwang hurriedly controlled the specks of spiritual light, gathering them together before turning them into a streak of rosy radiance that poured directly over the Little Spirit Hound.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

At once, the Little Spirit Hound's injuries rapidly recovered 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 up at once. With a light leap, it jumped from Zhou Changwang's arms to the ground, nimble and natural.

It had recovered.

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

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

Seeing this, Zhou Changwang was also filled with delight.

What excited him even more was that, after successfully casting this spell, another entry had finally appeared on the Attribute Panel.

Withered Wood Renewal Technique (Initiation 1/100).

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

Zhou Changwang glanced at the Attribute Panel, somewhat puzzled.

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

This spell was indeed of a higher grade.

But the spiritual power needed to cast it was correspondingly much greater as well.

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, the experience points it required were actually the same as those of other spells?

Thinking this, Zhou Changwang found it quite normal.

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

By now, it had long since died.

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

When he stepped closer, the Magical Flying Sword had just pierced through the back of its head, leaving only the hilt hanging outside. Zhou Changwang hurriedly picked it up.

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

Zhou Changwang was not surprised by this.

A Dharma Artifact was inherently extraordinary. Under the effect of spiritual energy, it neither gathered dust nor stained itself with blood.

Compared to this, the legend of the martial world's "a sword without blood" 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, spiritual power surged within him, and he cast another Geng Metal Finger, aiming directly at the side that the flying sword had pierced.

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 the traces it had originally left behind.

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

Then Zhou Changwang grabbed its two legs. As spiritual power surged within him, he directly hoisted it onto his back.

"So heavy.

"This Ironclad Boar weighed at least eight hundred pounds, if not a thousand.

"Even after washing away that layer of mud armor on its exterior, it would still weigh at least seven hundred pounds."

Zhou Changwang gave a low shout and headed briskly in the direction from which he had come.