Chapter 175: Ritual Ability: Sewing Three Garments

He crushed the Ritual Blessing Coupon. It shattered into motes of light that showered over the White Stone Cage and the eerie silk threads.

Yan Jing closed his eyes. Those bizarre, eerie whispers echoed in his ears once more.

"It's here... it's here, it's here... finally here..."

"Slurp, slurp... I told you... this guy has the good stuff..."

"Delicious... so delicious... just too slow... he should come once a month..."

Amid the darkness, Yan Jing felt the two items in front of him being purified bit by bit. Finally, they dissolved into a warm current that surged into his body the moment the voices vanished.

A fire ignited in his heart.

This time, the inferno felt several times more ferocious than before, threatening to burn right through his heart and lungs. Meanwhile, an icy chill seeped from the depths of his being, as if trying to freeze him from the inside out. Even the gentle energy of the Ritual Blessing Coupon couldn't fully offset these two forces. If anything, the clash only made Yan Jing's agony worse.

Yan Jing had his eyes firmly shut, yet clusters of bizarre flames materialized in his vision. They closed in relentlessly, pressuring him to accept the power as it was and give up any delusion of breaking through that barrier.

But Yan Jing clenched his jaw. Working to steady his breathing, he sank his consciousness into the clash of blistering heat and freezing cold. Eventually, he found it—that familiar white energy.

'Come back.'

Yan Jing's voice rang out in his mind.

The white energy had been roaming wild, seemingly throwing a tantrum while Yan Jing was too distracted to reel it in. Hearing his voice, it hesitated for a moment before peeling itself away from the chaotic torrent.

In an instant, it transformed into a massive net that enveloped the blistering heat and the freezing cold, meticulously unraveling and neutralizing them thread by thread.

For a fleeting moment, Yan Jing felt a long-lost sense of soothing warmth.

But quickly, the net forged from the Power of the White Stone began to tremble. Bolstered by the Ritual Blessing Coupon, the two opposing forces were steadily growing stronger.

With a shift of Yan Jing's intent, a pitch-black sapling materialized.

Its withered branches intertwined, appearing to form grotesque, eerie faces. The power of fear spread outward as miserable shrieks echoed in the air.

Before Yan Jing's eyes, the clusters of bizarre flames sensed the threat and slowly began to retreat.

But Yan Jing had no intention of letting them go now.

'Get in here.'

Countless branches unfurled within Yan Jing's body, instantly surrounding the flames.

The bizarre flames tried to break through the Fear Tree's encirclement. However, quickly discovering the tree's indomitable strength, they collapsed in defeat. Trembling, they dissipated bit by bit, converting into a stream of energy that flooded into Yan Jing's body.

The warring cold and heat gradually subsided.

Eventually, after who knew how long...

The beeping of a digital clock sounded by Yan Jing's ear.

"Beep—beep—beep—"

Yan Jing opened his eyes. He had exited that dark space and returned to reality.

Behind him, the branches of the Fear Tree stretched outward. Around him, dark silk threads swirled and shifted constantly, blooming with a gloomy light that gave him a much more eerie, uncanny presence.

Guided by his will, the silk threads moved with total smoothness and precision amid the shrill wails, finally surging into his eyes and vanishing.

[Calming Rite assimilated]

[Calming Rite: Lord of Execution's Silk Thread (Completed)]

[Quality: Black]

[Calming Rite Ability 1: Sewing Garments]

[The original owner of these silk threads loved nothing more than using them to sew exquisite garments.]

[You have automatically acquired incredibly masterful sewing techniques, categorized into three types: Corpse-Sewing Garment, Life-Sewing Garment, and Death-Sewing Garment.]

[Corpse-Sewing Garment: You can sew and splice corpses together, gaining control over these corpse garments. You may possess at most one corpse garment. The corpse garment's tier cannot exceed your own, and its appearance depends on your proficiency in sewing. If the quantity limit is exceeded or the corpse garment's tier is too high, it will go berserk and break free from your control.]

[Life-Sewing Garment: You can suture wounds. Even severed limbs can be reattached within a certain timeframe. However, apart from your own body, any body you suture will suffer a slight loss of control. Sewing a living garment consumes far more mental energy than the other two types. You can sew a maximum of one complete living garment every three days.]

[Death-Sewing Garment: Silk threads are not merely ornaments; if necessary, they can be used to craft inanimate objects. Exquisite death garments are also a form of art, are they not? You can manipulate the silk threads to vanquish your enemies. The threads' strength will increase in tandem with your tier.]

[Calming Rite Ability 2: Decorations for the Fear Tree]

[The Day Selection Ritual is the foundation of all subsequent rituals. The Fear Tree is very fond of these silk threads and has decided to drape them over itself. You can briefly enter a new Fear Stance, though doing so will cause you to suffer severe injuries.]

Yan Jing finished reviewing the abilities one by one and let out a soft exhale.

As expected of a ritual that had broken through the quality limits of the Calming Rite. These were highly comprehensive abilities that perfectly patched up his current shortcomings.

The black-purple quality Fear Tree had also played a massive role in this process.

If the Fear Tree had only been purple-quality and failed to restrain those flames, the silk threads' quality advancement would have very likely failed just now.

He stood up, sent Shen Youran a message, and then went to the kitchen to brew some tea.

Just as the water reached a boil, a knock came at the door.

"Xiao Yanzi! How did it go?!"

Tension was clearly visible in Shen Youran's eyes, yet she still spoke up to offer preemptive comfort:

"Honestly, yellow-purple plus purple is already fantastic. You couldn't even find a handful of them in the entire Fifth Ring Domain."

"Trying to touch upon that during the Calming Rite—"

Her voice abruptly died in her throat as two colors of light suddenly bloomed around Yan Jing.

Two colors that Shen Youran had never even considered.

It wasn't yellow-purple plus purple.

It was...

Purple plus black-purple!!!

Her eyes widened. For several seconds, she couldn't even process what she was seeing.

Until Yan Jing walked over with the tea:

"Have some tea, Teacher Shen. Stop spacing out."

"Oh, um, right."

Shen Youran replied blankly, sinking back onto the sofa.

A long silence then settled over the living room.

It wasn't until Yan Jing had finished his cup of tea that Shen Youran's low voice finally broke the quiet.

"Actually, Xiao Yanzi, I think you could go somewhere bigger..."

"Hmm?"

Yan Jing peeled his gaze away from the news on his phone and looked at Shen Youran across from him.

Shen Youran raised her head. Wearing a smile, she said, "I don't mean Rainbow City, but somewhere even bigger. With your current strength, Xiao Yanzi, if you go to those places, you'll be able to get whatever resources you want."

Yan Jing blinked in surprise. Looking into Shen Youran's slightly misty, fox-like eyes, he could see the profound sorrow concealed beneath her smile.

"Sure, let's go then," he said.

Yan Jing smiled.

"Okay."

Shen Youran nodded emphatically.

"Where do you want to go? I'll help you look into it."

Her voice sounded thick and nasal, as if she had caught a cold.

At that moment, she couldn't articulate how she felt.

She and Yan Jing had struck a deal. As long as Yan Jing joined those major factions and grew rapidly, he would soon be able to help her get her revenge.

But she felt a little sad.

Maybe more than just a little.

Was she worried Yan Jing would break their contract? Or was it something else...

She had originally thought she had the mental fortitude for this. It wasn't the first time, after all, and she was much older now than she had been back then.

But... why did it feel so much worse than back then?

Back then, she could still laugh loudly and tell the other party to look out for her once they made it big. But now, she couldn't bring herself to laugh at all.

"Where do I want to go? Weren't we going to the Third Ring Domain?"

Yan Jing's voice chimed in. "Wasn't that what we agreed on?"

Shen Youran looked up at him in a daze.

"Once I reach the Sixth Tier or Seventh Rank, we'll make a trip."

Yan Jing smiled.

"Your forehead is a bit red, Teacher Shen. Did you bump into something?"

"This is..."

The words caught in Shen Youran's throat.

It was a mark left from when she had been kowtowing in the temple earlier.

She gazed at Yan Jing, as if trying to see right through the man in front of her via those eyes.

She wanted to know what he was thinking.

She knew he was absolutely not an indecisive person. Therefore, she had fully prepared herself for him to go somewhere else, rather than string her along with sweet nothings just to keep her happy.

Yet, she couldn't see through him.

His eyes were as profound as whirlpools; try as she might, she couldn't fathom the heart of the man sitting across from her.

Ultimately, her mouth curled into a pout, and she lowered her head, fighting back the tears welling up in her eyes.

Forget it. This guy was just a bully.

"If you don't drink it soon, the tea will get cold."

Yan Jing smiled and added, "If Teacher Shen wants to drink cold tea, that's fine too. But you might have to go back to your own place for that. I need to start preparing for Stage B on my end."

"Who wants Herbal Tea?"

Shen Youran lifted her head, her eyes red. "I prefer it hot."

With that, she picked up her teacup and downed it in one gulp.

"Hurry up and tell me about your Stage B mission!"

"Do you really think your Teacher Shen is useless?!"

"Alright."

Yan Jing chuckled.

"Then I'll have to trouble Teacher Shen to give me some advice."

...

...

The two of them discussed the matter right up until noon before finally settling on a plan.

Shen Youran brought up many critical points, giving Yan Jing plenty to work with.

They also finalized the faction he would join:

The Wei Faction.

"Wei Nantian is a brute, and a villain at that. But according to the evaluations of players who have gone to Zhennan County, when ranking the three faction leaders by who poses the lowest threat, Wei Nantian comes in first."

Shen Youran explained, "That's because he has a specific quirk: he favors people of value."

"The more valuable his subordinates are, the less likely he is to abandon them."

"Furthermore, he loves his son. He loves him to the very bone."

"His son went missing once. It just so happened that players were assigned to Zhennan County at the time. Rumor has it the rewards he offered were insanely generous, and he was practically entirely compliant with the player who had the highest chance of finding his son."

"Even though his attitude took a drastic turn once he confirmed his son was recovered, before that, he listened to whatever that person said. Because of that, the mortality rate for that dungeon was incredibly low."

It was these exact points that allowed Yan Jing to formulate a rough outline of his upcoming plan in his mind.

Wei Nantian's personality and methods were virtually a perfect match for his chosen Chaos Mode.

Didn't they want chaos?

Then he'd just let the storm raging through Bianliu County grow a little wilder.