Source Fire Protection
Xuanwei Monastery was a populated place where the mist had been dispelled and light still shone, yet it was like an overcast day. The situation was even worse in the Yin Locust Forest: though it was broad daylight, it seemed like dusk. Dim light filtered through gaps in the locust leaves, casting dancing patterns of light and shadow.
Following the route he had taken the night before, he passed through the gloomy woods and arrived at the place where he had released the five Yin soldiers.
With a thought, he released the Yin soldier squad leader. "Summon them."
The squad leader responded at once. With a howl inaudible to human ears, five illusory shadows rose like smoke from the leaf-covered ground.
Looking at the Yin soldiers the squad leader had subdued, Lin Xu took out the Soul-Nourishing Pagoda and stored them inside one by one. Finally, he put the squad leader in the pagoda as well and breathed a sigh of relief.
He had only just reached level 2 and knew hardly any combat spells. He really had no confidence in going into battle like this.
But with this squad of Yin soldiers under his command, his fighting strength would rise considerably, giving him much more room to maneuver in the face of danger.
After leaving the Yin Locust Forest, Lin Xu followed the path straight toward Peach Tree Village.
Now and then, outer disciples hurried past along the way. They had clearly also accepted the Demon Subduing Hall's mission and were heading to Peach Tree Village.
Five villages were scattered in an orderly pattern around Xuanwei Monastery, nestled around the Daoist monastery in different directions. Peach Tree Village lay quietly due east, about five li from the monastery.
In fact, the Spirit Realm had no fixed directions. Which direction counted as what depended entirely on the local host's mood.
Lin Xu stepped onto the dirt road, his expression turning slightly grave.
A li outside Xuanwei Monastery, a thin mist, light as a gauze curtain, blanketed the hills and wilderness. He could see no farther than twenty or thirty meters.
At some point, a faint glow of flame, like the light of a newly kindled fire, had quietly appeared and wrapped itself tightly around him. From a distance, Lin Xu looked as though he were clad in flames, a human torch that drove away all the mist around him.
"So this is Source Fire Protection..." He looked at the barely visible flames around him, his expression turning a little ugly.
The Spirit Realm Forum was the only way for Spirit Realm adventurers at the bottom of the ladder, and even ordinary members of society, to learn about the Spirit Realm.
Posts on some basic facts about the Spirit Realm received official recognition and were thereby widely circulated.
For example, the Spirit Realm's mist was also known as the Soul-Devouring Mist. Once someone became lost in it without special protection, their soul would soon be eroded by the mist, turning them into a walking corpse.
The most widespread and effective means of resisting the Soul-Devouring Mist was Source Fire Protection.
According to scientists' research, Source Fire was actually the embodiment of humanity as a collective concept. In more mystical terms, it was the fortune of the human race, a concept broader than a nation's fortune.
Everyone from the present world who entered the Spirit Realm received Source Fire Protection, preventing them from coming into direct contact with the mist at the outset.
But this protection could only dispel the Soul-Devouring Mist; it could not affect Spirit Realm monsters. Moreover, the Source Fire Protection ordinary people received was limited. As time passed, their Source Fire would gradually dim, and unless they returned to the present world to recover it, it would go out after a month at most.
That was also why the Spirit Realm Trial was limited to one month.
"Huh? There's a sound up ahead..." Lin Xu stopped and frowned as he looked ahead.
He activated the Spirit Eye Technique, and the irritating mist receded a little. Forty or fifty meters away, he saw an outer disciple of Xuanwei Monastery being besieged by a group of ragged bandits.
The mist not only obscured vision but also muffled sound. He had only noticed a fight this noisy when he was so close.
He glanced at the bandits and frowned slightly. "Looks like this road isn't peaceful either."
With that, he turned without hesitation and lifted his foot to leave.
These outer disciples were all NPCs, and even their brains were just for show. Appealing to their feelings or cultivating connections with them was completely useless, so why waste mana?
But in the next instant, his body shuddered violently. His mystic eyes, flickering with a faint spiritual light, locked onto a spot at the edge of the bandit group like a hawk's.
It was a bandit dressed in the same rags. His grandmaster-level Spirit Eye Technique let him clearly see the bandit's wooden expression, which was evidently no different from those of the other NPC bandits around him.
But what shocked Lin Xu was that the bandit's battered, torn shoes still bore a familiar label.
"Fortune and Prosperity sneakers..." He took a deep breath. The hair on his body stood on end, and a chill prickled his skin into goosebumps.
With a heavy heart, Lin Xu walked slowly forward. Soon, the mist cleared, and the battlefield appeared before him.
An outer disciple in a bright green Daoist robe was casting spells to fend off the bandits' fierce attacks.
One invisible Spirit-Bewildering Technique after another affected the bandits' perceptions, causing them to fall into infighting against their will.
Lin Xu had already noticed that Xuanwei Monastery's low-level Daoist arts consisted mainly of illusions, with few spells for direct combat.
In his judgment, this was because soul-refining cultivators had very limited direct combat strength at low levels, while the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art provided a considerable boost to mind-bewildering Daoist arts in practice.
So by the time Lin Xu reached the battlefield, the bandits had already fallen into chaos. Groups of them could often be seen fighting one another with sabers and clubs, and three or four were already lying on the ground.
He glanced at the outer disciple:
Name: Wang Xiaowu Race: Human Identity: Outer disciple of Xuanwei Monastery Class: Daoist Level: 1 Strength: 9 Agility: 10 Constitution: 8 Spirit: 14 Intelligence: 12 Charisma: 9 Health: 112/112 Skill: Basic Meditation Method · white (expert) Mana: 3/13 Skills: Lampwick Spirit-Refining Method (Basic Section) · blue (intermediate), Basic Talisman Drawing · cyan (beginner) Equipment: Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp, talisman pouch Evaluation: An idiot who can cast spells
"These attributes..." Lin Xu shook his head inwardly. This NPC outer disciple was practically a blank slate. Apart from his spirit lamp, he did not have a single other magic tool on him.
Most importantly, the cultivation art he practiced was only blue-grade, and he had only reached the intermediate level.
I remember this Lampwick Spirit-Refining Technique was on the bookshelf by the entrance to the scripture pavilion. At the thought, he was at a loss for words.
Although the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art was gold-grade and had relatively high cultivation requirements, there were purple-grade cultivation methods in the scripture pavilion too, weren't there?
With these NPCs' intelligence, perhaps they simply practiced whatever skill book they got their hands on.
His panel showed twelve Intelligence, but his actual performance was worse than an ordinary person's. Clearly, Intelligence and IQ were not the same thing after all.
Lin Xu looked at the target of his trip, the suspected adventurer from the real world:
Name: Liu Jiayao Race: Human Class: Bandit Level: 1 Strength: 14 Agility: 12 Constitution: 13 Spirit: 11 Intelligence: 10 Charisma: 12 Health: 136/136 Skills: Basic Meditation Method · white (beginner), Basic Fitness Technique · white (intermediate), Basic Saber Technique · white (intermediate), Looting · white (beginner) Looting · white (beginner): Grants a small amount of additional spoils after battle. Loot +2% Equipment: Steel saber Evaluation: A talentless fool who dreams of ascending to heaven in a single step