Chapter 73

"Power of Fate!"

With the utterance of the Ancient Hermes, Lu Mian immediately felt the light within the altar dim significantly. The orange candlelight swayed violently in the invisible wind, compressed to the size of a single peppercorn.

At the same time, his chest began to heat up, his head felt a bit dizzy, and a buzzing sound rang in his ears, as if he were about to hear that terrifying voice from the infinite distance that was also right beside him again.

Lu Mian steadied himself and suddenly thought of something:

The corruption within his body was sealed by the owner of the blue-black symbol. Even if he delved deep into meditation or faced the sacrificial dance, he could only make the thorn symbol stand out and leak a little aura, unable to mobilize the corresponding power.

Could this ritual bypass the seal and draw the "gift" now?

Unless the owner of the blue-black symbol, that great existence, had already tacitly consented!

Thinking of the mysterious lady's resolute attitude, Lu Mian felt a bit more confident, even suspecting that the ritual itself contained a part that requested permission from the great existence.

As for which part, his mystical knowledge was insufficient, and he had no way to guess.

Being in the middle of the ritual, Lu Mian didn't dare delay. With his thoughts turning like that, he began to chant the subsequent incantations in Ancient Hermes:

"You are the past, the present, and the future;

"You are the cause, the result, and the process."

Each word echoed within the enclosed altar. Whether it was the floor or the objects, they all showed obvious writhing, as if countless strange things were about to drill out and enter this ruin of a dream.

*Whoosh! *

A black wind appeared out of thin air, circling around Lu Mian. The candle flame, which had been compressed to the size of a peppercorn, suddenly expanded, stained with a silver-white and black color.

Lu Mian heard that voice again, the one that always brought him to the brink of death and near loss of control, but a faint gray mist had emerged within the altar at some point, all gathering by his side.

This made his experience fall between deep meditation and seeing the "Noodle Man" dance—not quite near death, but not pleasant either. It was like suffering from severe tinnitus, dizziness, nausea, and irritability to a certain degree, and his mind also experienced significant chaos.

Barely controlling himself, Lu Mian continued the ritual:

"I pray to you,

"Praying for you to grant a gift,

"Praying for you to grant me the power of a 'Dancer.'

"Tulip, herb belonging to Fate, please pass the power to my incantation!

"Gray ambergris, herb belonging to Fate, please pass the power to my incantation!"

As the ritual progressed, Lu Mian's tinnitus and dizziness became increasingly severe, and it felt as if countless worms were moving under his skin.

Finally, he finished chanting the incantation.

Almost simultaneously, the silver-white and black candlelight instantly condensed, turning into a pillar of light that shone toward his left chest.

Silver-black illusory liquid flowed out from there, rapidly wrapping Lu Mian inside, making him look both evil and terrifying.

He felt as if every inch of his skin was being pricked by needles, his muscles and ligaments being completely torn apart, and that mysterious voice became extremely clear, as if it were ringing directly in his mind.

Lu Mian was instantly swallowed by intense pain, his consciousness nearly blurring.

All his blood vessels became scorching hot, as if burning from the inside out.

This situation was even more severe than the near-death state brought about by his previous deep meditation.

He could only grit his teeth and persist, trying his best to control his chaotic mind so as not to completely lose his sanity. As for everything else, he couldn't care about it anymore.

Amidst the assault like a storm and giant waves, he became dazed, unable to know how much time had passed.

Finally, the terrifying pain vanished. Lu Mian felt as if he had instantly shed a burden weighing over a thousand jin, or had surfaced from the bottom of the water, suddenly becoming relaxed.

He quickly regained his thoughts and looked forward.

The candle flame had returned to its original state, though it still showed the silver-white and black color.

As soon as Lu Mian regained his clarity, he immediately took two steps forward and reached out to extinguish the candle representing himself, to avoid any accidents.

After that, he extinguished the one symbolizing the deity.

Following the procedure to end the ritual step by step, in the process of dispelling the Wall of Spirituality, he only felt mentally exhausted and physically sore, as if he had fought a great battle with some monster.

Not long after, the dining table was cleaned up. Lu Mian began to examine his own state and discovered that a lot of knowledge had appeared in his mind out of thin air.

This mainly consisted of three parts:

One part was how to utilize dance movements, rhythm, and the combination of his own spirituality to mobilize the surrounding natural forces and pray to unspecified existences. This was the core knowledge of a "Dancer." With it, Lu Mian could not only pray to that Fate but also design brand-new sacrificial dances on his own according to different situations and different gains in the future, in order to "please" other existences.

The second and third parts were examples of the first part.

The former was what Lu Mian wanted most at the moment, which was the mysterious dance performed by the "Noodle Man." This was directly instilled into his mind, allowing him to learn it on the spot, though he wasn't very proficient yet.

With this mysterious sacrificial dance, Lu Mian could trigger the black thorn symbol on his chest on his own while exploring the dream ruins, suppressing or weakening the powerful monsters there.

The third part was another strange dance. It didn't look like a sacrifice; it was closer to a mix of sacrifice and summoning.

By utilizing it, Lu Mian could attract certain things in the vicinity, and then, at the cost of blood, let one of them attach to his body, thereby utilizing one of its abilities or traits.

Of course, the prerequisite was that Lu Mian had to be able to withstand this possession, and some things would bring significant negative effects after attaching to a human body, while others wouldn't want to leave, which would be a huge trouble.

Therefore, Lu Mian felt that before he had sufficient understanding of the things "summoned" and knew what problems would arise, he should try to avoid attempting it—it was too dangerous.

The importance of mystical knowledge was reflected at such times. Lu Mian urgently needed things like *Illustrated Guide to Mysterious Creatures* and *Illustrated Guide to Spirit World Creatures*, but unfortunately, even a "Wizard," known for comprehensive knowledge, couldn't possibly know that much.

Immediately after, Lu Mian moved his body and discovered that his flexibility had indeed been greatly improved.

Although he couldn't reach the level of the "Noodle Man," a mutated monster with organ rearrangement, he was better than almost all normal humans and could dance that mysterious sacrificial dance.

*Snap*, Lu Mian kicked his leg backward and easily touched the back of his head.

He nodded with great satisfaction and muttered silently:

"Not bad. Many movements I couldn't do before can be done now, and the 'Hunter's' combat ability has also become much stronger because of this."

Lu Mian tried dancing that mysterious dance to adapt to his current body and become proficient in the corresponding movements, hoping to shorten the time it took to finish one dance as much as possible.

At times he was forceful and resonant, as if in battle; at other times he was gentle and slow, as if expressing something, but all were very rhythmic.

As he danced, Lu Mian's spirituality began to spread outward, combining with certain natural forces in the surroundings.

Gradually, his thoughts became focused, his mind became tranquil, and he entered a certain ethereal and wonderful state.

This allowed him to sense various subtle things in the surroundings, as if he had opened his Spirit Vision.

At the same time, he also seemed to have connected with the invisible power within his own body.

His chest heated up again, and that terrifying voice came faintly, though not clearly enough.

*Whoosh*... Lu Mian stopped dancing, unbuttoned his clothes, and looked at his chest.

The black thorn symbol had indeed emerged again, and the blue-black one also stood out a little bit in response.

Lu Mian's mind instantly became a bit chaotic, but it wasn't severe. This perfectly achieved the effect he wanted.

Next, he began to calculate the specific time from the appearance to the disappearance of the black thorn symbol.

It was about a minute.

Buttoning up his clothes, Lu Mian tested the other strange dance.

This dance was at times manic, as if a madman were performing there, and at other times twisted, difficult to describe in words.

During the dance, Lu Mian's spirituality spread out once more, combining with certain natural forces in the surroundings, "spreading" toward further places.

By the last third of this dance, he suddenly sensed certain strange things approaching.

Three figures appeared on the glass of the first-floor window.

They were the skinless monster, the hunting rifle monster, and the mouth-part monster with the black mark, but their figures were all extremely blurry and incomparably transparent, clearly leaving only some spirituality and obsession.

"Is this a victim complaint meeting?" After discovering what had been "summoned," Lu Mian muttered to himself in amusement.

At this moment, he only needed to take out the ritual silver dagger during the dance, cut a wound on his body, and release a bit of blood to let one of the three figures attach to his body, thereby borrowing one of their abilities or traits.

Although Lu Mian was very greedy for the mouth-part monster's "invisibility," he didn't know what problems would arise if a monster he had killed attached to him, so he could only forcibly suppress the impulse and insist on finishing the strange dance.

As he danced the last few movements, he inexplicably heard faint and tiny sounds.

It was as if many people were communicating somewhere, heard by him through a wall—not real, not clear.

And as Lu Mian carefully distinguished them, he discovered that these sounds seemed to come from within his own body, from the sealed corruption!

The last movement ended. Lu Mian stood there, confused and muttering to himself:

"What was that I heard?"

He was currently a semi-illiterate in the field of mysticism and couldn't think of the source at all, so he could only choose to give up. Anyway, it wouldn't be more terrifying than the corruption itself.

After those tiny sounds completely subsided, Lu Mian, having finished practicing the two mysterious dances, confirmed that the "Dancer" had also brought an enhancement to his spirituality.

Although he was likely still not a match for those Sequence 9s known for their spirituality, he had shaken off the shackles of the "Hunter."

He felt he should be at an upper-middle level now.

"The shortcoming has been compensated for." Lu Mian was very happy about this.

He didn't think about what kind of mutations his body would gradually undergo after bearing the power of the "Dancer" and encountering the corresponding corruption; after all, he couldn't stop it, so he might as well not think about it.

Rubbing his exhausted head, Lu Mian decided to rest tonight and return to the real world to stake out that owl!

PS: Seeking monthly votes~

(End of chapter)