NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51 - 51 Symbiosis (1)
Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Symbiosis (1)
As Shao Zifeng stepped out of the elevator, his figure appeared in a small alley. The alley was narrow but not old, and there was a street light every ten or so meters on the walls.
Looking at the completely unfamiliar alley, Shao Zifeng couldn’t help but feel amazed at how the platform’s exits and entrances were everywhere.
“Excuse me.”
While Shao Zifeng was surveying the surroundings, a muffled voice sounded from behind him, seemingly a young man.
“Sorry,” Shao Zifeng moved aside, leaving space enough for one person, and turned with an apologetic smile.
In the dim light of the alley, the newcomer was tall and thin, draped in an oversized black coat, which seemed ill-fitting. His right hand gripped the collar, pulling it up to cover most of his face. A cap, pulled low, hid the upper half of his face.
He grunted softly, briskly passing by Shao Zifeng without raising his head, his steps hurried and his left arm swinging unnaturally. A faint smell of blood lingered at Shao Zifeng’s nose.
Shao Zifeng became vigilant, his body tensing, his fingers whitening around the grip of “Hidden Edge,” as he instinctively assumed a defense stance.
The slender figure paused briefly, glanced sideways at Shao Zifeng, and then swiftly disappeared into the depths of the alley.
Shao Zifeng watched the direction where the man had gone. His hair seemed to be silver?
He then chuckled self-deprecatingly. So many things had happened recently that he felt almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The world couldn’t be so bad that every stranger he met was a villain.
If that were true, it would be too outrageous.
Besides, in this world, it was common for people to have injuries.
Shoving the memory of the man to the back of his mind, all he wanted now was to return home and sleep well after the exhausting few days.
Checking the navigation on his phone, Shao Zifeng grimaced.
The place where he had exited the elevator was at the boundary between Nanping District and Beixin District, and it was very far from his home.
…
“Meow~”
As soon as he opened the door, a white figure darted over, affectionately rubbing against Shao Zifeng’s trouser legs.
Qiuqiu was prompted by the meow, closely watching the annoying little pest that was the white cat.
Shao Zifeng crouched and stroked the white cat twice; it narrowed its eyes and purred comfortably.
Taking the opportunity to check the white cat’s condition, which had returned to healthy, Shao Zifeng thought for a moment and decided to take the white cat back to its owner tonight.
Although he really liked its touch, it ultimately belonged to someone else’s family pet, and for most families, family pets were a member of the family, receiving a lot of emotional investment.
Putting himself in their shoes, if he had lost Qiuqiu.
Remembering the helplessness and aimlessness of the afternoon strengthened Shao Zifeng’s resolve to return the white cat.
He checked the White-headed Bulbul and the earth dog again. The bulbul’s injuries had improved slightly, but its eyes still appeared numb and it sat quietly on the perch, silent.
The earth dog, however, was much more lively, happily wagging its tail as though it wanted to come over and show affection.
At that moment, it felt like it was being watched by a malevolent gaze. The dog stiffened, lifted its head, and saw Qiuqiu’s almost smiling face.
It quickly tucked its tail and scurried back to its doghouse, curling up and shivering. The spot where it had just stood was left with a puddle of yellow liquid.
Shao Zifeng couldn’t help but know what had happened and smiled helplessly, placing Qiuqiu, who was holding the Elemental Egg, on his bed.
Shao Zifeng placed “Hidden Edge” and the so-called “Ancient Breath Soil” on his computer desk, wanting to verify his idea.
The closeness to the “Ancient Breath Soil” excited the Elemental Egg once more; the entire egg began to tremble and intermittently emitted a bright light.
“Shhh~”
The excited Elemental Egg instantly extinguished its fire and quietly nestled in Qiuqiu’s arms, serene and harmonious as a painting.
Shao Zifeng paid no heed to the two little ones, seizing the “Hidden Edge” in his hands, examining it closely.
The ancient, dark scabbard was about seventy centimeters long and five centimeters wide, wrapped in a layer of fish skin, evident from its multiple worn spots. The words “Hidden Edge” were engraved on it, and upon close inspection, one could find traces of gold inlay, sadly worn with age and barely discernible.
Gripping the long handle, he slowly drew the blade, emitting a faint friction sound. The gleaming blade flashed a cold light, unlike in the afternoon when it could not be drawn.
After understanding the purpose of “Hidden Edge,” Shao Zifeng had been pondering how, besides nurturing the blade for long-term use as a trump card, he could maximize the benefit of “Hidden Edge” after unleashing its blade light.
Scanning the room, his eyes lit up when he found a suitable stone for testing the blade.
He moved the artificial mountain from Qiuqiu’s fish tank to the table, a model about twenty centimeters high, studded with raised small stones.
Shao Zifeng drew out the Tang sword, holding it with both hands, his gaze locked on the artificial mountain.
“Shhh”
A blaze enveloped his hands, the intense flame turning the blade quickly red, and the air around the reddened blade slightly distorted.
“Ha!”
With a soft shout, Shao Zifeng gripped the sword and fiercely chopped down at the artificial mountain.
“Crack”
Sparks flew, and a piece the size of a fingernail cap broke off the mountain, but the blade edge could not advance further, getting stuck.
Struggling to pull the sword out, the mountain bore a slightly blackened sword mark, and Shao Zifeng shook his head slightly, undiscouraged.
He then took “Hidden Edge’s” scabbard in hand and sheathed the Tang sword.
With his left hand pressing the scabbard and his right hand holding the handle, he activated the fire element.
A flash of red glinted on his hand and then vanished.
Shao Zifeng’s body trembled…
A tingling pleasure coursed through his body; he struggled not to make a sound, and after a moment, he recovered.
Shao Zifeng glanced at Qiuqiu; no wonder it was so obsessed with the scabbard.
Having infused nearly the same amount of fire element as before, Shao Zifeng took a deep breath.
Flexing his right hand, he drew the sword, feeling a slight assistive push; the blade swiftly popped out of the scabbard, and riding this momentum, Shao Zifeng slanted the sword downward, a barely visible red gleam flowing along the blade.
“Click”
A smooth cutting sound barely perceptible, a piece about three centimeters in size was effortlessly sliced off.
Shao Zifeng looked at the smooth cut and cheered inwardly; his idea was indeed feasible. With clever usage, it could greatly offset the shortcomings of the Tang sword in actual combat.
The Tang sword was born on the battlefield, gradually evolving into its present form over centuries of warfare, fundamentally distinct from the Fusang sword’s evolution driven by maximizing damage. It could be said the Fusang sword is a derivative of the Tang sword.
The Tang sword is a straight sword with a folded edge at the front, highly effective for chopping heavy armor but not for dragging and expanding cuts.
The Fusang sword, in contrast, uses a slightly curved blade with an arc-shaped sharp edge, which decisively gives it a huge advantage in enlarging wounds.
With the enhancement of “Hidden Edge,” the Tang sword in Shao Zifeng’s hand not only strengthened its armor-breaking capability but also made it easy to drag and expand the wound after a cut.
The only drawback was that after each strike, he needed to sheath the sword again for nurturing, which significantly slowed the pace of combat, often making it passive, but that was unavoidable.
Sheathing the Tang sword, Shao Zifeng decided to start from the next day, not only to continue running and fitness training but to add chopping practice with the Tang sword, readying himself for emergencies.
Throwing the knife to Qiuqiu, the armadillo lizard holding the Elemental Egg sneakily peeked and was immensely delighted.
One claw held the knife handle, and another claw held the Elemental Egg.
The familiar tingling sensation came from the handle…
“Slurp” and licked the Elemental Egg once more.
Qiuqiu felt that it must be the baldest, oops, the happiest armadillo lizard in the world.
Ignoring Qiuqiu, who was lost in pleasure, Shao Zifeng turned his attention back to the so-called ‘Ancient Breath Soil’ on the computer desk.
Poking the thing that looked oddly like jelly, the ‘Ancient Breath Soil’ wobbled a bit when poked.
He leaned closer and sniffed it.
Eh?
There wasn’t any strange smell, and there was even a hint of the fragrance of grass and trees.
Unwilling to believe that his trans-world Golden Finger was really so crappy, he stared at it for a while longer, still unable to believe it.
But reality delivered another harsh slap to his face, the few small blue dots in his peripheral vision still remained unmoved.
Huh, crappy Golden Finger.
…
Shao Zifeng felt somewhat at a loss. From the Elemental Egg’s reaction, this thing could very possibly be something valuable, but he was still unsure and dared not rashly use it on the Elemental Egg. After all, it was an Elemental Egg that might hatch a five-star quality pet, and if something went wrong, he’d have nowhere to cry.
After much deliberation, Shao Zifeng bit the bullet, took the Elemental Egg from Qiuqiu’s resentful embrace, and decided to take a chance, high stakes…
The Elemental Egg, looking totally disheartened, didn’t move at all, silently resigned to its fate and waited to be licked.
Huh?
It wasn’t licked?
Realizing its situation had changed with a different person beside it, the Elemental Egg immediately felt a surge of grievous emotions come over it, and Shao Zifeng, with a gentle smile on his face, prepared to comfort the little guy, bringing it fatherly warmth and care.
Just then, another wave of longing emotion came from the Elemental Egg…
“Money…money…”
Fatherly Shao Zifeng’s face darkened, expressionlessly he placed it directly on the jelly.
You’re on your own, you little money-grubber, I wonder who you learned that from…
That was what he thought, Shao Zifeng’s inner drama was always rich, but really placing it on the jelly, he was still very worried.
His eyes fixed intently on the Elemental Egg, ready to snatch it away at the first sign of trouble.
One second…
Two seconds…
…
One minute.
Just as Shao Zifeng grew impatient, the Elemental Egg suddenly emitted a dim green light, scattering tiny green light spots, twinkling faintly, like stars, surrounding the Elemental Egg, and then settling on the gelatinous substance below.
The green glow on the Elemental Egg grew brighter, and the semi-transparent gelatinous jelly below slowly turned into a light green color, appearing as if it had come to life, stretching out mysterious tentacles to wrap around the Elemental Egg.
At that moment, the little blue dots in Shao Zifeng’s eyes finally started to spin.
The gel encapsulating the Elemental Egg emitted an increasingly bright green light, masking the light from the fluorescent lamp and blanketing the entire room in a greenish hue.
Qiuqiu felt the air brimming with the wood element and comfortably stretched, covering its head with its tail and curling up into a ball before sinking into a deep sleep.
The white cat’s eyes reflected the green luminescence, emitting slight meowing sounds, and it collapsed on the ground as if it had inhaled catnip.
Rare emotional fluctuations appeared in the eyes of the White-headed Bulbul, its numb and dim eyes flashed differently, its rigid body slightly relaxed, and it tucked its head under its wings, closing its dry eyes.
The earth dog had long been lying on its back, mouth open and tongue out, making muffled sounds as it dreamt of who knows what.
Even Shao Zifeng felt his body loosen considerably, and the bruises from several days of combat slowly healed, the blue specks in his eyes spinning faster and faster.
At that moment…
A night breeze blew. Observing the changes attentively, Shao Zifeng shrank his neck and turned his head only to realize the window was open. He quickly turned around to close the window and draw the curtains; the commotion was a bit too loud.
With his cautious nature, he would never allow anything that might cause him trouble to occur.
After completing all this, Shao Zifeng was somewhat speechless. The blue specks in his peripheral vision now hung still like dead fish, completely motionless.
???
What use are you to me?
Is a 360° scan without any dead angles really that difficult? Must I be directly facing you for it to work!
Really, this Golden Finger is so annoying.
When Shao Zifeng’s gaze returned to the gel, the blue specks came to life again and started spinning wildly.
“Buzz~”
A burst of intense green light erupted, and Shao Zifeng quickly closed his eyes, plunging into complete darkness.
“Thump-thump~”
He faintly heard the rhythm of life around him; in his dark vision, numerous green specks danced in the darkness, seemingly outlining some figure.
Time passed unknowingly, and the figures outlined by the specks unfolded like a magnificent scroll, revealing a wonderful world before him.
A noble deer, sculpted by lines, majestic and slender with a sense of power, its enormous antlers like a great tree, walked through the mountains also outlined by lines, as if a spirit of the wilderness.
Shao Zifeng’s eyes, captivated, followed its tracks. As the deer passed a towering ancient tree, it suddenly disappeared, never to be seen again.
Shao Zifeng felt a sense of loss in his heart, wanting to follow and see, but he was as if frozen, unable to move an inch.
“Tee-hee~”
At that moment, a silvery, childlike, melodious laugh came from behind the ancient tree, ethereal and lingering.
Before Shao Zifeng could listen attentively, a figure outlined in a faint glow lunged towards him, shifting forms as it approached, seeming like a giant deer rushing towards him.
“Boom~”
At the moment the sharp point of the deer’s antler pierced his forehead, the darkness before him shattered like glass, and the rivers and mountains outlined by lines also vanished altogether.
Shao Zifeng’s face was a picture of shock and confusion, recalling everything he had just seen, at times blurry, at times clear; the majestic image of the deer, in particular, seemed etched into his mind, impossible to erase.
But the girl who emitted that ethereal laughter was like a fog, indistinct.
Suddenly, a strong sense of déjà vu overwhelmed him, the deer… the girl…
Could it be… that was “Yao,” known as the Trickster?