Chapter 174: Studying the 【Rune Soul Veil Shadow】

When that gleam of golden light appeared, blocking the swordsman's blade, and a clang of metal collision sounded.

The arcane witch already felt something was off.

Isn't that witch's shield already broken?

The swordsman's startled exclamation came, "Dragon Scale!"

In the arcane witch Feibi's mind, a 'buzz' sound involuntarily rang out.

Even the casting motion slowed by half a beat.

Dragon scale material, also with rune fluctuations, but previously there was no detection; this is definitely a ring-pattern rune equipment, top-tier supernatural gear that fits the body.

Such powerful supernatural equipment is worth not much less than a four-star arcane rune.

Knowing that the witch before them had many means and abundant wealth, the arcane witch immediately rallied twelve points of spirit.

"Bang!"

Accompanied by a dull impact sound.

The supernatural swordsman's body swiftly retreated backward.

On him, the fourth-rank earth-yellow earth rune supernatural battle armor also appeared.

Otherwise, that earlier heavy slash wind blade could have cut off his head.

While retreating, the supernatural swordsman's hand-held fourth-rank supernatural long sword, containing a bit of rune power, struck repeatedly in the air, slicing the incoming wind blades one by one.

At this moment, a rune-infused gust of wind, as tall as a person, appeared before Ta Ke.

Accompanying the tornado's rotation, wind blades continuously howled and swept in.

The way of linking the Micro Hurricane Technique and the Rune Hurricane Hold, two witchcrafts, was also gradually found by Ta Ke as a new method of activation.

The two overlapped in the same hurricane form.

Ta Ke poured source energy into the Micro Hurricane Technique, carrying out a witchcraft attack.

The skill could receive the empowerment of the rune profundity power from the Rune Hurricane Hold.

And by pouring source energy into the Micro Hurricane Technique, it could cause the Rune Hurricane Hold to form quickly.

As of now, this stationary output method works exceptionally well.

Seeing that the swordsman had a very fine rune sword and rune armor, Ta Ke couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly.

"This bunch of supernatural beings daring to blackmail each other actually has something."

"So, after taking them down, the loot will also be not bad, we can get a wave of blood."

Ta Ke, with his eyes slightly narrowed, continuously poured source energy, making the wind blades ever more fierce.

"Quickly think of a way."

The swordsman blocking the endless onslaught of wind blades growled softly.

As the swordsman's words fell, the arcane witch flung her hands wide, and a vast sheet of source energy surged like a tide in response.

"Buzz!"

The entire underground cavern instantly came alive.

The rock walls on both sides, like the arcane witch's hands, quickly opened and then slammed together toward Ta Ke's position.

With a "boom."

The stone cavern trembled, the entire area shaking violently.

Together with Ta Ke, carrying his Rune Hurricane Hold.

Both were slapped beneath the twin palms of the giant stone passage.

When the passage was slowly pried open.

Ta Ke's newly born Rune Hurricane Hold ultimately could not withstand that fierce witchcraft's attack, and it shattered on the spot.

"What about that witch?"

Looking into the passage, there were no remains or bloodstains.

The supernatural swordsman's sword not only wasn't loosened, but was gripped even tighter.

"Naturally, I retreated two steps to avoid your attacks."

The sound came from the corner behind.

Ta Ke stepped, and the voice appeared accordingly.

The swordsman merely regretted not having killed the opponent.

Meanwhile, the arcane witch's breathing grew heavier, the arm gripping the ring staff trembled slightly, and her eyes fixed on Ta Ke, flickering uncertainly.

That just now was a top-tier two-star witchcraft, further supported by his earth rune ring staff.

In this underground world, it not only possesses strong destructive power but also has a sealing property.

That witch, who appears not high-ranking, should have been slapped to death on the spot.

But, the opponent not only dodged.

And seemed quite relaxed.

He has faced many witches, but one who looks as nonchalant and leisurely as this one before him is truly the first.

"I originally wanted to capture you alive for a blood sacrifice, to test my new witchcraft."

"You have rune armor, and also means to resist transformation."

"The arcane witch behind also has immunity to sheep transformation."

"Persuading you to surrender would surely not be agreed upon."

"Hmm… alive won't work, it seems we can only capture you dead; after all… that four-star witchcraft, even if freshly dead, is still passable."

"Otherwise, your teammate is about to break free from my sheep transformation."

Ta Ke simply shook his head.

This group of people is indeed quite strong.

Ta Ke wanted to capture them alive, but that's a bit troublesome.

If I can't capture them alive, I can use their corpses.

"Attack!"

The swordsman on guard felt he had seized an opportunity and suddenly hissed a sharp command.

But no magical fluctuation came from behind.

Only a 'thud' sound came.

That sound was like a skull shattering.

The swordsman never turned back, holding his sword straight, the blade pointing fiercely forward.

At this moment, he vaguely understood the truth of finding life in death.

Even faintly, the sword's tip seemed to reveal the profundities of the sword canon.

"Bang!"

Accompanied by a gunshot.

The swordsman's body staggered slightly; after rolling several times on the ground, trailing blood, it rolled to Ta Ke's feet.

His charge was swift, but his death was just as swift.

After Ta Ke shattered the all‑directional defense of the transcendent rune armor with its shield effect,

A single arcane shot pierced half his skull and easily took him out.

By infusing a bit of wind profundity into the arcane shot, the arcane bullet became faster and fiercer, its power rising linearly.

Now, Ta Ke can effortlessly combine various magics.

With the bolstering of various rune powers, any magic in Ta Ke's hands is not to be underestimated.

"Transcendents below the fourth rank are still easy to kill because they have physical weaknesses."

"But those above the fourth rank aren't so easy to kill."

He glanced at the transcendent swordsman whose head had been blown apart by a shot.

Then he looked at the arcane mage not far away, whose head had been crushed outright by his own rune‑Spirit Mobility Hand.

Ta Ke cast another Sheep Transformation on the berserker not far away who bore a magic‑immunity totem, then began clearing the battlefield.

The magic‑immunity totem also varies in strength.

It is judged according to the magic's level, quality, transcendent traits, source energy, and so on.

Ta Ke's level‑29 Sheep Transformation benefits from the augmentation of a fourth‑tier soul rune profundity.

It can still easily suppress that berserker with a magic‑immunity totem, turning him into a sheep.

But the opponent can also prevent Ta Ke's Sheep Transformation from forming a closed loop.

In other words, given enough time, the berserker can still break free of Ta Ke's Sheep Transformation.

Soon.

One sheep and two corpses' worth of resources were all gathered by Ta Ke.

"About twelve thousand to fifteen thousand demon gold."

"Quite wealthy, he recovered a bit of blood, not bad—worthy of a transcendent from Saint Laurent."

Ta Ke nodded.

Immediately, Ta Ke turned to the nearby corpse whose blood hadn't dried and sat down cross‑legged.

"During this time I've carefully sensed the ecological evolution after a level rise, and gained considerable insight."

"Raising my level to 29, then letting it settle for a month or two, advancing to level 30 will pose no problem."

"Those elite demon wolves of the shadow demon wolves should also be removed."

As Ta Ke operated,

Soon, Ta Ke's level and his source‑energy origin dark sea both rose to level 29.

The contracts of those elite demon wolves were all terminated by Ta Ke.

Having done all that,

Ta Ke took out the seed of the four‑star rune art, 【Rune Soul Veil】.

After holding it in his hand and sensing it for a moment,

Ta Ke's mouth curled into a slight smile.

"Hmm… it's definitely learnable."

"Moreover, if during leveling I continually repair that slight damage, this powerful four‑star magic will place even less strain on the ecological niche."

With a thought,

Spiritual touch communicated with the entirety of 【Rune Soul Veil】.

The power within the magic seed was swiftly activated, and a flood of magical traits surged into Ta Ke's steam‑mage ecology.

Four‑star rune magic, 【Rune Soul Veil】.

It can weave shadow and soul through a sacrificial ritual.

The higher the magic's level, the more soul veils are woven.

Each soul veil,

can help the mage withstand damage and attacks from the soul dimension.

It can graft lethal damage onto the soul layer.

The mage can freely walk and descend within each soul veil.

When dispersed, the soul veils are also a window through which the mage deeply perceives the world.

He carefully felt this powerful four-star-level rune sorcery 【Rune Soul Veil】.

Even Ta Ke couldn't help but sigh lightly.

Each Soul Veil.

This is Ta Ke's soul-level disguise.

And also Ta Ke's vessel.

Not only can it block soul-level damage, it can also serve as a stepping stone for Ta Ke's jumps.

This stepping-stone traversal is far more formidable than mere shadow passage.

It's powerful, no doubt.

But the negative effects are also quite obvious.

First, it weaves shadow power, which will cause Ta Ke to suffer a curse from the shadows.

The effect is the same as using a Shadow Ring Staff, and it might even be heavier.

For Ta Ke, perhaps this is not a "negative effect".

The deeper Ta Ke sinks into the shadow dimension, the more he can contact stronger shadow beings through ritual.

For example.

Powerful "Shadow Lord"-level beings?

Without a foundation of shadow immersion, one obviously isn't qualified to touch those powerful Shadow Lord-level beings in the shadow dimension.

Besides the negative effects of shadow.

Also, weaving the souls of the dead desecrates death.

Ta Ke will bear the curse of the undead born from death.

Ta Ke will have his perception of undead beings weakened.

He will to some extent bear the hostility of undead beings.

If he gets too close to powerful undead beings, Ta Ke may even be hunted.

But in the face of the power of 【Rune Soul Veil】, these costs are acceptable.

As the inheritance is completed.

Ta Ke began a gradual upgrade.

Each time he levels up, Ta Ke invests some source energy experience to repair the original minor cracks.

Plus Ta Ke's powerful soul rune ultimate and his not weak shadow rune ultimate.

Those minor cracks will be mostly repaired when Ta Ke upgrades 【Rune Soul Veil】 to level 10.

By level 20, Ta Ke's perception can no longer feel the cracks.

By level 29.

Round and full, an integrated feeling is perfectly manifested within 【Rune Soul Veil】.

As the upgrade is completed.

Ta Ke slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at the berserker struggling to break free from the Sheep Transformation Technique, as well as two corpses.

"Blood sacrifice... begins..."