Chapter 66: A Strange Transformation—The Ghoul!

"This is, in a way, another line of thought..." After this joking idea popped into Wang Chen's mind, he suddenly froze.

"Something’s off with me. How could a life shaman have the urge to cut someone down with a blade?" Wang Chen pondered, quickly uncovering more clues.

His tactical style had always been cautious—typically, he would restrain the beast, then wear it down with damaging skills. For example, when fighting the Flame Python earlier, his usual method would have been to bind it, use Stone Hands to fix its body, then envelop its head in a pillar of water and gradually sever it.

Of course, he anticipated that the golden-grade Flame Python’s head would be hard to crush. He might need to gulp down a potion, seamlessly sustaining the water pillar until the job was done, perhaps injecting poison into the water at opportune moments.

No, perhaps he’d need even more potions, since this attrition strategy required extensive use of control skills. When his three controlling skills exhausted, he’d have to drink potions to bridge the gap between them seamlessly. It was costly, but reliable—the Flame Python would be worn down to death.

But he didn’t choose that path. Without much hesitation, Wang Chen opted for a surgical, precision kill against the Flame Python.

Looking back, not only was his tactic reckless, it was riddled with flaws. For instance, how could he be certain he’d find the Flame Python’s heart? What if something went wrong during the search?

Indeed, a mishap did occur, though it remained within manageable limits. And when he faced that unexpected turn, he decided to hurl the Flame Python into the air and finish it with a Wave Dragon Strike.

How could he be sure he’d hit? In his previous battle against the Dark Guardian, he also threw it skyward, but those tactics were supported by forgiving magic scrolls.

The Windwalking Spell was designed for rapid evasion, offering greater maneuverability than Stone Hands, which was meant for direct confrontation. The golden-grade fire scrolls used against the Dark Guardian were a saturation bombardment—guaranteed to hit and inflict substantial damage.

But the Wave Dragon Strike? Although it pierced and could critically hit joints, relying on it for a finishing blow was far riskier.

In other words, Wang Chen had been using his skills for tasks they weren’t meant to accomplish—and succeeded. Like cleaning one’s ears with a rolling pin, and doing it flawlessly.

"What is happening to me?"

Reviewing his thoughts, Wang Chen realized that during the recent battle, he had been—unprecedentedly—confident.

He was certain he would kill the Flame Python; the golden-grade beast posed no threat before him. And he would do it in precisely the manner he chose, without error—at most, the minor deviation of adding salt ten seconds late when cooking.

This was indeed the case. Even when the Flame Python retaliated, he was only mildly surprised, not panic-stricken, and continued to execute his plan methodically.

It was as if he believed the Wave Dragon Strike came with a head-seeking mechanism and would never miss.

"Come to think of it, I felt something odd when facing the Black Panther and the Spotted Cat, too," Wang Chen tried to piece together these clues.

"So it wasn’t that they were slow, but that my dynamic vision had improved. I could see their movements clearly, even feel they were sluggish. When the Flame Python fell through the air, I could pinpoint its fatal spot for a precise strike."

He furrowed his brow. "But why? How did these changes happen to me?"

"When did all this begin?" Wang Chen reflected and found it started in the virtual realm, when he first faced the Black Panther.

"Did something unusual happen then?" Wang Chen racked his brain. A faint answer hovered in his heart, shrouded in mist, impossible to grasp.

"No matter. I’m still in the secret realm, completing the task is the priority." Wang Chen could only shelve his doubts for now. "Whatever the case, this should be a good thing."

With that thought, he walked toward the Flame Python’s corpse.

He pried open its jaws, examining the inner structure. He wanted to unravel the secret of its fire-making ability.

In a short while, he found something interesting.

Wang Chen took out a packet of tissues from his storage space, wrapped one around his finger, and dabbed it on the Flame Python’s fangs.

After wiping, the tissue picked up some hard, metallic shards with a gleaming luster.

He rubbed them between his fingers and felt a faint heat.

"It seems these metallic fragments, lodged between its teeth, generate sparks when the python strikes its jaws together—like a firestarter."

"But whether these fragments are produced by the Flame Python itself or are natural mineral powders found in the forest, I cannot say."

Wang Chen stood up, wiped away the stench from his fingertips with several tissues.

His curiosity satisfied, he moved deeper into the secret realm.

...

"No, how did the tables turn, and now it’s my turn to hide atop the treetops?"

Wang Chen slunk stealthily onto a large tree, holding his breath as he watched the fierce figures below.

It all began ten minutes ago.

Wang Chen had been trekking through the forest, encountering only a few stray silver-grade beasts and nothing else.

Just as he was considering ways to lure out more monsters, a foul stench wafted up, growing stronger with every step.

Wang Chen covered his nose and looked around, finally spotting a burly figure behind some shrubs.

From behind, it resembled a human, but the skin was an eerie blue. Draped across its body, here and there, were animal pelts—deer, wolf, and others. On its shoulder was a particularly familiar piece.

Wang Chen paused, then suddenly realized it was human skin.

Even if he couldn’t be sure whether this creature was human, he knew with certainty it was no friend.

A violet glow flickered in his eyes, seeking information to decide whether to fight or flee.

[Ghoul, level 14]

Seeing the level, Wang Chen didn’t hesitate—he dispatched it with a blaze of sparks and lightning, gaining a modest boost in experience.

Scanning the ghoul's pelts, he thought they looked quite impressive and debated taking a wolf pelt for himself.

Just then, he heard the sound of footsteps rustling nearby.

Alert, Wang Chen scrambled up a tree, surveying his surroundings.

Soon, another huge figure appeared in his field of vision, swaying and yawning constantly.

That same strange bluish skin and attire—it was another ghoul, and not of high level.

Wang Chen figured he was being overly cautious and prepared to descend and deal with it.

Unexpectedly, this creature, upon finding the fallen ghoul, pushed and prodded it, confirmed its death, then tilted its head back and let out a hideous howl.

Wang Chen’s blood ran cold as a dense chorus of footsteps erupted all around him.