novelonline Chapter 4157 The Secret Technique of the Fire Source
Chapter 4157 The Secret Technique of the Fire Source
Chapter 4157 The Secret Technique of the Fire Source
Although Shad didn't button the top button of his coat, the collar was still quite cramped, even though it accommodated both Shad's neck and Mia's body.
The cat's purpose was also clear: as soon as it peeked out, it let out a threatening "Ha~ Meow~" sound towards the doll on Shad's right shoulder.
It's not that it dislikes Miss Ferriananna; this cat does this to any small creature that dares to land on Shad's shoulder. Its last huff was on Flora in her owl form.
"Oh, what a beautiful cat! I remember its name is Mia. Hello!"
The doll, in a good mood, swung her legs and greeted Xiaomia. Then, without Shad asking, she waved her hand and cast a spell on Xiaomia. A faint red light then adhered to the cat's fur and quickly disappeared. The protective spell was powerful enough to keep Xiaomia unaffected by the surrounding environment as long as she didn't stray far from Shad.
"Meow?"
The cat was curious about the red light that appeared and disappeared on its fur, but its attention was not affected. It continued to hiss at Miss Ferriananna, but the petite doll just smiled. Of course, she wouldn't be angry at the cute cat.
Shad's hand quickly landed on Mia's head. Although the cat was unhappy, since Shad had rubbed its little head, it had no choice but to temporarily accept the doll occupying Shad's shoulder. It nimbly climbed onto Shad's left shoulder and squatted down in that position, but every now and then it would peek its little head over Shad's neck to see what the doll "next door" was doing.
"Oh, what are you doing with that appearance?"
Busy Miss Bradley couldn't help but laugh when she saw Shad with a doll on one shoulder and a cat on the other. Gina and the Old Witch also looked over and smiled when they saw Shad's appearance.
The tense atmosphere vanished instantly. Xiaomia truly seemed to be a little sun; wherever she was, there was never any gloom or unease.
After the metal tent was set up, the four of them crawled inside together, and then the tent entrance closed completely with a metallic sound.
This time, instead of putting the flame in a bottle to keep everyone warm, Miss Bredvy took the "Fire Source" from Shad and used the life-giving fire within it to cast a divine spell of the Church of the Halflings, directly building a campfire on the ground in the center of the tent.
When that small campfire illuminated everyone, the surge of vitality felt as comforting as lying in a hot bath after a tiring day; even Mia let out a blissful cry.
Because Miss Feliana sat directly on Shad's shoulders, the witches did not verify Shad's identity this time.
Now that he was seated, Shad finally had time to observe the three witches' condition. They were still wearing the cloaks given to them by the skeleton tailor, which could resist flesh mutation. It was clear that they had gone through a very difficult battle, and none of them were in particularly good condition.
This time, however, the witches showed very few signs of flesh mutation. Shad remembered the last time he helped Gina heal by holding her large tail, but this time, the pink dragon girl's tail had almost no trace of red tumors.
"This spark has been a great help."
Xiaomia was still watching Miss Feliananna, seemingly plotting something, while the old witch, Madame Gustav, explained the current situation to Shad:
“After you left last time, while we were gathering materials to ignite the third Furnace of Life, Miss Feliana studied the source of the spark and found a way to use it.”
The old witch sighed deeply:
“Without the Fire Source and Miss Feliananna, you might not be able to see the three of us talking to you so normally this time. Although we cannot manipulate the life fire as freely as you, under Miss Feliananna’s guidance, we can all guide a portion of the life fire from the Fire Source, temporarily store it in the heart, and fuse the fire into it when casting spells.”
When Gina and Madam Gustav escaped the room above the trapdoor, the magic and divine arts they used at the end did indeed incorporate the power of the Fire Seed. Shad remembered that when he last came here, the old witch said that manipulating and using the Fire Seed was a sacrilege, but now she seemed completely unconcerned about doing so.
To what extent are you capable of doing this?
Shad asked curiously, and Gina answered the question. Although the tent was much larger than before, she still sat on her tail to save space:
“The three of us have different talents. The divine magic of the [Creation Church], my bubble spell, and the halfling's arcane arts all have different compatibility with the life spark. It’s hard to describe in detail to what extent we can do, but at least we have all learned to protect ourselves with the normal life spark.”
The petite doll, wiggling her short legs, explained the principle to Shad under the cat's watchful eye:
"The power of flesh distortion erodes life in a process that goes from the outside in. Once the life source stored in their hearts is guided out and covers their skin, it is equivalent to forming a 'false skin' outside their own flesh and blood body."
In this way, the power of the flesh-and-blood mutation first affects the skin manifested by the high-density life essence. However, this illusory skin is not a physical entity; as long as the caster's mental strength can sustain it, the flesh-and-blood mutation will not cause any changes to the illusory skin. This maximizes the protection against the erosion of external flesh-and-blood mutations. I have named this technique 'Illusory Life Skin,' although its application is narrow, it is extremely useful here, at least.”
Shad wondered if this secret technique could be used to resist the erosion of the "distorted life spark," and then he concluded that of course not, because the world's calamities did not invade from the outside in, so a mere layer of skin could not possibly stop them.
However, if the girls around Shad learn this magic, at least when he uses "Rotten Moon Flower," he won't have to worry about this indiscriminate, wide-area destructive magic harming them.
Besides the "false life skin," Miss Doll has also specifically researched many other uses for the life spark. However, the most basic condition for using those arcane arts and rituals remains the existence of this normal source of life spark.
After all, apart from Shad, no one could conjure life force into a spark out of thin air. Even drawing out the life spark from the source of the spark required a high-level witch with powerful mental strength.
The protective spell placed on Mia by Miss Feliananna also used some of the power of the Fire Seed, which allowed the cat to move around safely in the outside world. As for the newly created secret arts and rituals based on the "Fire Seed of Life," Miss Feliananna had Gina compile and record them in her notebook, naming them the "Fire Seed Source Secret Arts."
Xia De touched the notebook and recorded all the contents into his library, intending to study them slowly when he got back.
Even if he couldn't find a normal source of fire in the Sixth Era, he could still use the fire he extracted using the [Life Fire Return] technique to unleash these powers. He could even store the fire in the hearts of the girls, allowing them to use these "Life Fire Secret Techniques" a limited number of times.
These studies were conducted by Miss Ferriananna during the adventures of the three witches, whose adventures in the factory had, in fact, reached their final stage.
The third life furnace had already been ignited, and Miss Bredvy successfully mixed the [active metal] that simulated the power of the Magic Eye into the flesh and blood materials and sent it into the furnace.
After the third furnace was ignited, the changes at the Bloodstained Factory far exceeded the witches' expectations. The effects of the flesh mutation became more intense, rooms requiring high-intensity combat appeared more frequently, while the number of "safe rooms" where one could take a short rest decreased significantly.
New and more formidable enemies are emerging, doors are becoming more peculiarly located and harder to reach, and even the psychological impact of hearing the baby's cries in dreams is growing.
The one who can hear the crying now is Gina; the pink dragon girl looks even more haggard than the old witch and the halfling girl. Although there are fewer safe rooms, the duration of the crying that can be heard after entering a dream has also increased, so she has endured this sound for a long time.
Fortunately, once she arrived at this safe room, it was the others' turn to enter the dream, and she only needed to pass through three more rooms to get rid of the sound.
"However, because the battles have become more frequent, we have collected a lot of flesh and blood materials, and we have even prepared the [Blood Essence of All Things] as fuel for the fourth furnace."
Miss Bradley was still carrying the small bucket full of materials, and she showed Shad their harvest:
"The materials in the small bucket are now almost enough to assemble a complete human body. Once we find the fourth furnace, we will likely be able to start it immediately."
Miss Felicity then shared her guess:
“Now that Shad has arrived, based on previous patterns, I think the fourth Life Furnace room should not be far from here. This rest is probably the last chance before we find the fourth furnace, so everyone should adjust their condition before setting off again.”
They could actually rest in the furnace room, but no one knew if the last furnace would undergo any changes, and after a long battle, they were indeed nearing their limit.
A brief conversation gave Xia De a general understanding of the current situation. He nodded; time was of the essence, and after this rest, he would head straight for the last furnace, which aligned with his plan.
"You all rest first, I'll deal with that withering crystal. After leaving this time, I found a way to suppress its power."