Chapter 249: Klaff, Tears Frozen in the Night

Time and space, at the moment that dazzling silver light erupted, seemed to fall into stagnation.

The scarlet blood water splashing on the surface of the plant leaves flowed down due to gravity, but was scattered by the raindrops falling straight from the sky; it turned into a solidified blood flower in the shattering;

Laosen, with his left hand broken and his right hand holding the thin sword tightly, had red eyes under the erosion of intense pain, and one could see the blue veins bulging on his neck due to exertion;

Opposite him was the heavy-armored knight Cornell, whose handsome face was covered with rainwater, but his gaze was not looking at the opponent in front of him, but cast toward the side of the wasteland—where the metal block fell.

The two stood opposite each other, along with the raindrops suspended in the air, as if frozen.

Xia Nan clearly knew in his heart that this situation was likely not that time had really stopped flowing.

It was just like the "bullet time" in his previous life, the thinking that was too active and flashed through millions of ideas in an instant, making the external world, including his own flesh, look slow.

As for the source of all these changes, naturally, it was the strange creation named 【Dream Weaving Corridor】 that he was holding in his hand, which was oval-shaped and emitting dazzling and gentle silver-white light.

In the center of his chest, the wound suppressed by "Lesser Healing" still sent bursts of stinging pain;

What echoed in his brain was a cold mechanical sound without any emotional fluctuations—initially unfamiliar, then as if it sensed his thoughts, it changed to the common language commonly used on the Star Fall Continent.

"Dynamic password inputting..."

"Password verification successful!"

"Starting 'Dream Weaving Corridor - Neural Roaming Terminal'..."

"Startup successful!"

"Dream Weaver, welcome to your arrival."

"Warning! Remaining energy is less than 5%. To avoid affecting normal use, please charge as soon as possible!"

"Checking memory archive repository..."

"Warning! Storage unit damaged, please contact the equipment manufacturer for maintenance and repair!"

"Connecting to online memory cloud..."

"Connection failed!"

"Attempting local connection..."

"Connection successful!"

"Retrieving neural source trajectory, subjective experience log generating..."

Accompanied by the cold mechanical sound echoing in his brain, was a long string of characters flashing on the surface of the Dream Weaving Corridor device.

After localization, it used the same common language as the voice.

This allowed Xia Nan to recognize the meaning represented by the characters.

But it was like a string of codes in the background of a computer in his previous life; he might recognize those letters, but when they were combined, and then matched with many unheard-of professional terms, he could only be confused.

Silver light flickered.

When Xia Nan's gaze had just swept over the words "Password verification successful" on the device, he felt lucky that the 【Fate Coin】 of the Goddess of Luck had really worked.

Even if he didn't know the password type, number of digits, or whether it needed to be re-entered, just typing blindly, as long as there was a possibility of success, the probability would definitely reach 100%.

He hadn't had time to continue reading, to analyze it word by word, when that long string of silver-white characters flickered and dissipated along with the words "Experience log generating."

Replacing it were four patterns that looked abstract, yet could accurately express what they symbolized.

A black wolf crouching in the depths of the shadows, with its mane swaying;

An ochre-red scattering light cluster that exploded like fireworks;

A longsword made of wood that left a perfect arc of afterimages when swung;

And a simple pattern composed of pure lines and dots, like the orbital movement of planets within a galaxy.

Even though the device itself did not explain in detail what these patterns represented, Xia Nan still keenly corresponded them one by one with the four combat techniques he had mastered through their quantity and their highly directional images.

Black wolf—Tooth Hunter, Ochre-red light cluster—Gravity Etching, Swinging longsword—Circle Slash, Planetary orbit—Gravity Control.

"But... what does this mean?"

Xia Nan was puzzled in his heart.

Through the description on the attribute panel, he knew that 【Dream Weaving Corridor】 should possess some kind of virtual reality function, experiencing life from the subjective perspective of a character, like an immersive movie.

But why could it connect his combat techniques with these?

While pondering, his intention subconsciously focused on the last pattern at the end of the device—the image symbolizing 【Gravity Control】.

"Warning! Insufficient energy, please charge before use."

He couldn't help but be stunned in his heart.

His attention moved forward, coming to 【Circle Slash】 and 【Gravity Etching】 respectively, and they were also two warnings of insufficient energy.

And just when he was secretly worried about whether he would waste a precious 【Fate Coin】 usage opportunity like this.

Accompanied by Xia Nan's attention coming to the last remaining pattern on the surface of the device—the black wolf symbolizing 【Tooth Hunter】.

That wolf pattern crouching in the depths of the shadows suddenly moved, as if it had finally waited for the best hunting opportunity; the black wolf lunged forward, the sharp teeth at the edge of the wolf mouth were exposed, and its limbs stretched out in the air.

"Activate experience log?"

The mechanical sound echoed in his brain.

Things had reached this point; the 【Fate Coin】 had already been used, and there was no longer any room for regret.

Xia Nan concentrated his intention, and his gaze touched the wolf with pitch-black fur lightly.

"Activation successful!"

"Weaving dream..."

I, Geluomu Wind-Eater, the most valiant barbarian warrior of the Frost Howl tribe, the favored one of the ancestor spirits, and also the future leader of the tribe.

When I was young, every time I introduced myself like this in the ice house of the tribal priest, what I received was always a burst of kind laughter and a rough hand stroking my head.

I knew they didn't take these words seriously.

And they never thought that with my body, which wasn't even outstanding among my peers, I could become a great warrior inheriting the ancestor's will in the future.

They might be right.

After all, even for me now, thinking back on those bold words I said while patting my chest as a child, it's hard not to blush.

Whenever someone mentions it, I just wave my hand and talk about something else.

For the brothers and sisters in the tribe, a few sips of wine and a sentence or two about interesting things about monsters on the snowfield were enough to cover up any topic he didn't want to mention.

But "most valiant," "most powerful," "most favored," "leader"... living in the tribe since childhood, who hasn't thought about it?

It's just that I knew the gap between myself and those leaders, so I didn't dare to say it in front of others.

"Geluomu," my name is not common in the tribe, because it didn't come from that priest who never smiled and whose wrinkles on his face were more cracked than the ice surface.

But was taken by my human father, whom I had never seen since birth and was said to be some big shot.

Hoping that I could be like "Geluomu"—that is, the sound of thunder, letting my name echo in the wind and snow of the plateau.

Honestly speaking, this confused "strange father," after realizing that his son, that is, me, was a mixed-blood of barbarian and human, shouldn't have placed such expectations on me.

The human blood flowing in my blood vessels made my body naturally a head shorter than my peers in the tribe.

When children of the same age were fighting icefield gnolls in the wind and snow, I even needed to put on several layers of thick animal skin clothes to barely stand firm under the cold erosion in the air.

Even the fanatical rage that symbolized the degree of ancestor favor, I perceived much harder than others.

The human bloodline in my body made me more emotionally stable than other tribesmen, and I rarely got angry.

Obviously, this was not a good thing in a barbarian tribe.

But similarly, it was like the blizzard on the plateau, which made the returning traveler completely lost in the depths of the ice and snow, but also made the dangerous predator following behind him lose the scent and tracks.

The human blood flowing in my body made my body far less strong than other barbarians in the tribe, but it endowed me with talents that other tribesmen did not possess.

Combat techniques, these prerequisites for possessing powerful power and obtaining professional levels.

I understood them much faster than others.

When the leader among my peers, who once carried a gnoll head and mocked me for not even being able to beat a snow rabbit, was still worrying about getting started, I had already practiced the first combat technique to "Mastered."

Soon, with the improvement of professional level, the physical fitness bonus provided by "Mastered" level combat techniques made up for the physical gap between me and the tribesmen.

And even fulfilled my childhood dream, becoming a member of the tribe's hunting team.

The bold words of the past seemed to have a possibility of being touched.

No, this was far from enough.

The mixed bloodline required me to put in more effort to get the corresponding harvest.

Wanting to gain the respect of the tribesmen, inherit the ancestor's will, and sit in that glorious position.

Must pay more.

I found that opportunity.

This is my 63rd day on the Split Tooth Highlands.

The white smoke exhaled from my mouth was almost instantly torn apart by the biting cold in the air; the thick cave bear fur wrapped around my body made me look like those jagged black rocks seen everywhere on the plateau, merging with the earth.

The wind and snow remained, but my heart was getting hotter and hotter.

How to gain the recognition of the tribesmen, and even be pushed to the highest position.

In the human kingdoms on the continent, this might require a complex, cumbersome, and incomparably difficult process.

But for the barbarians on the plateau, only two points are needed:

1. Loyalty;

2. Make enough contributions to the tribe.

Regarding the former, the alien bloodline in my body made me naturally lag behind others.

This also meant that I needed to make contributions far exceeding other candidates, and huge enough, to turn my childhood dream into reality.

For barbarians, from which aspect, and what kind of contribution, could be called huge?

A heroic victory worthy of being recorded in the tribal history?

The Frost Howl tribe did not have an enemy of such specifications right now, and my strength was not enough to become the core of such a war.

Food resources sufficient for the entire tribe to spend the winter, so that no one would starve or freeze to death?

Although I was indeed a member of the hunting team, I was still far behind even the captain, and my experience was far inferior to those seniors.

If such an opportunity really appeared, it would definitely not be my turn.

In the end of everything, I chose to start from my own advantages, which were also the root cause of my falling into such a situation.

Hoping to develop an excellent combat technique applicable to all tribesmen by relying on the excellent comprehension brought by human bloodline.

As a huge contribution to repay the tribe, and at the same time support me to climb upward.

Following the tribal epics told by that great priest who had lived for who knows how long, on countless cold nights.

I came to the depths of the plateau alone, hoping that the blizzards and monsters here would bring me inspiration.

After a long period of searching and waiting with extreme patience, I found my goal:

——A large Winter Wolf colony.

"Awoo!"

The long wolf howl echoed over the wind and snow-swept icefield.

The silver-white wolf pack roamed in the snow, like flowing cold iron, surrounding and inserting, dividing the deer herd into parts that could be handled.

Cubs and weak individuals were bitten and dragged out, becoming the wolf pack's dinner.

For dangerous monsters like Winter Wolves that are common on snowfield highlands and travel in packs, barbarians of course would not feel unfamiliar.

And the experience passed down by countless predecessors also told me that these incarnations of the will of winter, those blood-stained sharp teeth and claws, would provide considerable help in the process of me tempering a brand-new combat technique.

For this reason, with the help of special props brought from the tribe and special abilities endowed by the profession, I just lurked around the wolf pack for a whole month.

Following them to hunt, following them to roam on the snowfield.

I felt that I had observed carefully enough, but after so many days, the harvest was only frozen flesh and blood and increasingly exhausted spirit.

Fortunately, my patience was enough, and I should still be able to hold on for many days.

It might be my stupid behavior that didn't pay off, and even the ancestors above the ice dome couldn't stand it.

On the 103rd day of my arrival at the Split Tooth Highlands, things took a turn.

It was a small, fluffy, pitch-black mass that was incomparably conspicuous on the snow-white icefield.

——A young heterochromatic Winter Wolf!

This was the first time I truly saw the existence of such a creature that only appeared in legends with my own eyes.

I believe that even if this range were expanded to the entire Frost Howl tribe, it would at most add that aged priest whose lifespan was as long as frozen stone.

"Tears of the Night Mother..."

I recited its name from the ancient tribal ballads silently.

In legend, the Night Mother—the great goddess who presided over darkness and night, encountered the betrayal of her twin sister, and her tears fell onto this land, turning into the same mysterious and pitch-black evil beast.

I even felt a touch of horror.

After all, creatures like black Winter Wolves are often a symbol of inauspiciousness in barbarian tribes.

Those who see their existence will die miserably against the backdrop of night and blood.

But soon, inner desire and the longing for a bright and glorious future suppressed the fluctuations in my heart.

Realizing that this might be a turning point in my life, I began to observe carefully.

This heterochromatic Winter Wolf, which was pitch-black all over, did not have a smooth life when it was young. ===== CHAPTER 250 =====