The Self He Once Was

Truth and falsehood intertwined; if one wanted to survive on the Wasteland, there was no way to blindly entrust one's sincerity to others.

Looking at the slender One-eyed Frog hanging from his waist, Li Ziran could not help but laugh.

Once he sold this Medusa, he would instantly reap returns dozens of times over.

He had taken full advantage of Barbaro's business, and on top of that, he had received explosive news.

A swamp crawling with Medusas.

There was nothing strange about a swamp appearing out of nowhere. Such suddenly emerging terrain was everywhere on the Wasteland.

The entire Red Soil Continent was ruled by the Elemental Tide. The Elemental Tide contained all manner of magical elements, and their uneven distribution created all kinds of wondrous magical landscapes, forming the Red Soil Continent's complex and ever-changing natural environment.

It was precisely because the elements within the Elemental Tide were unevenly distributed that, once too many elements gathered together and formed a particular elemental storm, they could potentially tear space apart.

Once space was torn open, spatial folding would occur, and an entire region could be transferred thousands, even tens of thousands, of kilometers away.

A swamp appearing without explanation was nothing unusual. Sometimes, the Elemental Tide could even bring forth icebergs thousands of meters tall. If one was unlucky enough to encounter a glacier, an entire nation might perish in an instant.

Clearly, Barbaro had made a fortune from this Elemental Tide incident.

Li Ziran slowly withdrew his thoughts. Overall, Barbaro had not suffered a loss this time.

He had indeed obtained a Medusa's Eye. With that eyeball, he was bound to become a figure riding high on the Wasteland in the future.

By making the acquaintance of such a person, whether in the northwest Wasteland or within the Wolf Tribe, his future business would gradually improve.

As for the Petrification Curse, he had not told Barbaro. In Li Ziran's view, a client only needed to pay the agreed compensation. Whether he made a profit or loss from the business was entirely his own burden to bear.

Though such a business philosophy often left Li Ziran making deals at a loss, it was also this very philosophy that had allowed him to meet one strange figure after another.

Living on this Wasteland followed no logic at all. Everyone had their own way of surviving. In his eyes, connections were often more important than making money.

Li Ziran sighed softly and looked up at the vast Wasteland stretching beyond sight, hazy and indistinct, appearing and vanishing like a phantom.

His brows gradually furrowed. Now was not a good time to set out alone.

The Wasteland had been ravaged year-round by the fire and wind elements within the Elemental Tide, making it extraordinarily barren. Apart from naked mountain ranges, there were only a few thorn trees.

Wasteland hurricanes carried dry Elemental Tide with them, purifying away the scant water elements.

Of course, the Elemental Tide was not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying were the bandits and Wasteland dwellers lurking everywhere.

On this Wasteland, where there was not the slightest rule, the natural law of survival of the fittest was displayed in all its naked glory.

To survive here, every living being would plunder resources as much as possible.

Back when Li Ziran had first appeared on the Wasteland, a family of cave dwellers had taken him in. Just when he had been moved to tears with gratitude, he had been sold to a slave caravan a month later.

Had he not truly possessed a shred of luck afterward and met his benefactor and teacher, Watt, he would probably have been the most miserable person since his rebirth.

Looking at his already completely stiffened arm, Li Ziran muttered, "If only I knew curse magic!"

Ever since leaving Gray Wolf Territory, he had been attacked by Wasteland Vipers seventeen times. By now, he suspected that his curse had most likely come from being attacked by snakes.

Witch Doctors originated from wizards. Though they were not as proficient in curses as wizards, curses were still an ability they relied upon for survival.

Witchcraft, curses, healing, Transformation Spells, and divination were the five great abilities of Witch Doctors. Each ability was further divided into different categories according to strength, domain, spellcraft, and school.

Healing alone included Healing Wave, Healing Curse, Healing Orb, and Healing Totem. As for curses and divination, their branches were simply too numerous to count.

Yet the most basic classification among Witch Doctors still followed the ancient traditions of the beastfolk.

Witch Doctor Apprentice, Witch Doctor, Grand Witch Doctor, Staff Witch Doctor, Titled Witch Doctor, and Witch Priest.

For a Witch Doctor Apprentice, the simplest requirement was to learn one of these techniques. Li Ziran's Frog Transformation counted as the ability of a Witch Doctor Apprentice.

But to become a true Witch Doctor, one had to at least master the wizard-exclusive Devouring Curse.

This was witchcraft that touched upon the level of the soul, yet it was also the foundation that allowed Witch Doctors to possess vast spiritual power.

Wizards could not temper their spirits through Elemental Tides. They could only strengthen their spiritual power by devouring existing spiritual entities.

Li Ziran's spiritual power had come from his teacher, who had grafted a portion of his own spirit into Li Ziran's body.

But the Devouring Curse was the unique inheritance of every wizard school. Though Li Ziran possessed a special ability such as organ transplantation, his weak spiritual power meant that he could only be called an apprentice among Witch Doctors.

Even though his teacher Watt possessed Frog Transformation and the miraculous Healing Wave, because he lacked the inheritance of the Devouring Curse, his spiritual cultivation had never improved throughout his life. He remained an apprentice.

There was no helping it.

The Devouring Curse originated among wizards and flourished in the Dark Abyss and the Undead Continent. In a region like the Wasteland, where only scattered independent wizards existed, it was basically difficult to find even a trace of it.

To put it bluntly, Witch Doctors on the Wasteland basically did not know this type of spell.

There were only two ways to obtain the Devouring Curse. One was to join a wizard sect through a fortunate opportunity; the other was to purchase it from a merchant caravan at a steep price.

But it was very expensive.

The newest copy of the Evil Spirit Devouring Curse had sold at auction for 3.7 gold coins, an astronomical price Li Ziran did not even dare imagine.

Without the tremendous spiritual power brought by the Devouring Curse, Wasteland Witch Doctors could only take the sword through a narrow gate. Yet they had developed Transformation Spells to a remarkably brilliant degree in terms of speed and precision.

For example, ordinary Frog Transformation had once required three Witch Doctors to cast together, but now Li Ziran could do it alone. Moreover, given his current proficiency, as long as he kept training for a while longer, Frog Transformation would no longer need the assistance of a magic array.

"How am I supposed to learn this Healing Wave?"

Li Ziran leaned against a bare slab of rock and sighed. He was waiting here for a passing merchant caravan. Traveling with one would help him avoid the danger of being hunted by bandit groups, while also giving him time to think about his former days.

In his previous life, he had been a surgical doctor and an outstanding science and engineering university student. That was why he could effortlessly construct the magic array for Frog Transformation and understand the peculiar Light of Transformation formed after energy traveled through the array.

Though he still did not understand why energy became Light of Transformation after passing through the array, just as he could not make sense of the microscopic changes that produced chlorine gas when potassium permanganate reacted with hydrochloric acid, he knew that mixing the two could extract chlorine gas.

Likewise, by using spiritual power together with a specially formulated frog-blood solution and drawing a magic array according to Tadpole Script, one could extract Light of Transformation.

Thus, he had mastered the extremely difficult Frog Transformation within three days, yet he had made no progress whatsoever in the simplest Healing Wave even now.

"Close your eyes. Sense that tiny trace of warmth within the unseen, then seize it!"

Those had been Watt's original words, yet they were Li Ziran's nightmare.

The two words "sense it" were like a book without words. He would rather his teacher gave him an advanced mathematics formula than use such vague and muddled nonsense.

With not the slightest talent for comprehending spells, Watt had no choice but to throw him out the door and have him seek inspiration on the Wasteland.

Li Ziran looked into the distance. There was still no sign of a merchant caravan on the reddish-brown road. Apparently, they too believed crossing the Wasteland at dawn was no wise move.

Li Ziran took out his scalpel, drew out a fine silk cloth to wipe away the bloodstains upon it, then carefully placed it back into his surgical case.

It was a bright iron alloy mixed with Mithril, allowing a portion of his spiritual power to seep into it.

As for what spiritual power actually was, Li Ziran still did not understand it. He could only sense that it existed.

Whenever he wanted to use it, he could always feel an invisible energy emerge from within his body, and that force gave him a kind of perception beyond sight.

It was very special, and very useful.

Having finished maintaining the scalpel, he took out the surgical scissors. He had to care for them carefully. This set of tools had cost him thirty-seven silver coins, though it was worth every penny.

It allowed him to use the knowledge he possessed to help the living beings here perform organ transplants.

This was a craft even more sought-after than the slave trade, and it demanded considerable skill. It could make up for the enormous expenses of his cultivation.

This world was stranger than he had imagined. Every living being could gain talent from the omnipresent Elemental Tide, continuously drawing various elements from it to increase their strength.

Comprehending the Elemental Tide and tempering one's spirit or flesh—this was the righteous path.

But there would always be those who took crooked paths. Organ Witch Doctors were one such utterly unconventional profession.

They unanimously believed that exhausting every effort to draw power from the Elemental Tide was far less useful than directly transplanting another's already cultivated organs into one's own body.

It was radical, but there was no lack of a market for it on the Red Soil Continent.

It had been over two years since he left his teacher. Li Ziran had survived by relying on this ability and had even accumulated a modest foundation.

He still remembered the first time. Crushed by overwhelming debt, he had been forced to enter the perilous Undead Nest. There, he had used his scalpel for the first time to help an aged Necromancer replace his heart with that of a griffin.

The other party had come through safely and had even gained the power to command lightning.

A heart transplant—this had once been a subject he did not dare even dream of, yet now it had become effortless.

The Necromancer became his friend and was willing to buy his corpses. In return, he taught Li Ziran quite a bit of knowledge about potions.

Sacred Potion, Paralysis Potion, the bloodline-stimulating Volcanic Potion, and Berserk Potion.

Potions were absolutely a discipline even more profound than Witch Doctor arts. Unfortunately, he only knew their names and did not understand their full production processes.

"Need a ride?"

An aged voice interrupted Li Ziran's recollections. The speaker had a long beard and hard curved horns.

Coiled-Horn Goatmen, the most hardworking and enduring race on the wasteland, traveled the wasteland in groups, searching for every job where they could earn money with their strength.

Likewise, gathering together made them easier for slave caravans to capture in the greatest numbers.

"Of course!" Li Ziran stood and smiled. Though Coiled-Horn Goatmen were the lowest class of laborers, they were hardly harmless, especially at such a late hour.

But the swamp region Barbaro had told him about made his heart itch unbearably. He had to hurry.

Swamps were pitifully scarce on the Wasteland, and they did not last long.

The abundant water elements within a swamp would soon be devoured and destroyed by the Wasteland's dry hurricanes, and this newborn swamp would quickly become part of the Wasteland's parched expanse.

By then, no matter how beautiful the Medusa were, they would not be able to remain.

Corpses could keep him fed and clothed, but if he caught two Medusa slaves, he could buy two copies of the Devouring Curse from the Necromancer.

One for himself, and one for his teacher Watt.

"Are you a wizard?" the Goatman leader asked, looking at Li Ziran's patterned robe.

Li Ziran nodded and handed over a bottle of low-grade healing potion. "Chief, are you heading to the swamp region in the northwest corner?"

The Goatman accepted the potion with a smile. This kind of healing potion was the most popular and scarce commodity. A tiny bottle like this could very likely save three to five lives.

"Lots of people are heading there. There's plenty of work, but the fighting is fierce. If you can give me another bottle, I can make a special trip to take you there!"

Li Ziran shook his head. He was not foolish enough to go that far. If he had another bottle, this group of Goatmen would probably start robbing him.

Spreading his hands, he smiled. "No more. I made this one with great difficulty. Give me a lift tonight, and I'll leave the group at daybreak!"