I Might As Well Quit This Lousy Wizard Profession

Chapter 160 - 160 152 The Pine Tree Carries the Big Grey Wolf

?Chapter 160: 152 The Pine Tree Carries the Big Grey Wolf (Request for Monthly Tickets) Chapter 160: 152 The Pine Tree Carries the Big Grey Wolf (Request for Monthly Tickets) About the so-called “Soul Balancer” that Lin An spoke of, Chen Xinmi had too many questions she wanted to ask, but the battle not far from them was becoming more intense, making the two stop their conversation about it.

“Witch Ghoul!”

There was a sense of sadness in Chen Xinmi’s eyes, a kind of sorrow for her kin, as she silently watched the enormous pine tree.

The attacks from the Antler Witch-Hunting Knight Order were extremely effective. Targeting this rare plant-type Witch Ghoul, they unanimously struck at the base of its roots.

With every attack, the grotesque face formed from the tree’s knots would let out a piercing wail.

But it seemed to be enduring a heavy infusion of Spirit World Aura, and with each portion chopped off, even more branches and trunks grew back.

“It’s undergoing a transformation.”

Chen Xinmi squinted her eyes to observe carefully, “Do you see the aerial roots growing on its branches? Those are the kind of roots that only banyan trees have, not pines.”

“It indicates that the wizard’s soul energy is not pure. The more muddled the soul, the more anomalies it will display under the influence of the spiritual energy.”

Before long, the black cat appeared again.

It seemed to have adjusted its attitude, squatting next to Lin An, flicking its tail, and with a smirk that wasn’t quite a smile, glanced at Chen Xinmi.

“Meow~”
—She felt that fainting earlier was quite embarrassing, and realizing it wasn’t your fault this time but rather it was caused by her own fragmented soul, she wants to teach you something to repay the life-saving favor.

—However, she’s too proud to have you think she’s actually teaching you.

Lin An just smiled and said nothing.

Chen Xinmi’s words involuntarily brought to Lin An’s mind the spiritual hallucinations he typically saw. Some people’s spirituality, though bizarre in appearance, seemed fairly consistent, while others truly appeared as if they were shattered fragments pieced together.

“It should have originally had a muddled soul and wanted too many things.” Smoking a long cigarette, Chen Xinmi turned to look at Lin An with a meaningful gaze.

The disdain in her eyes seemed to say—Yes, I’m talking about the likes of you.

Lin An just shrugged his shoulders.

Chen Xinmi let out a scoff, “The path of a wizard’s cultivation has always involved sorting through emotions. Some restrain their desires, some attempt to change their thoughts to dissolve their fixations, and some brutally choose methods of forgetting to strip away memories that give rise to desires and cravings.”

“There are far too many methods,” she continued.

“To reach the stage of becoming a Witch Ghoul while managing to maintain one’s spirituality as purely that of a pine, indicates that this wizard didn’t have many desires in life. This suggests a loner who practised his craft in solitude, no wonder we hadn’t heard of such an individual in Shenhou City.”

“These Witch Hunter Knights are truly committing sins. The large-scale hunt this time clearly affected this wizard, pushing him from a mundane life towards becoming a Witch Ghoul.”

Her eyes were full of hatred.

The expression on Lin An’s face became increasingly bizarre.

No, you’re wrong.

Mr. Liu wasn’t the contented sort, and the reason why he appeared to be as pure as a single pine was that I devoured his spirituality.

It couldn’t possibly be purer than this.

And this pine wasn’t originally Mr. Liu’s; it was a part of the ‘Original Liu’ Kapok’s spirituality that had been transferred over.

The Mr. Liu I met, though stemming from the same origin as Original Liu’s Kapok, would not be fully represented by the pine’s spirituality due to differences in memories, experiences, emotions, etc.

“So, it’s because of the influence of this part of the pine’s soul that the Spirit Realm Aura is seeping into the wizard’s body? And this aura is now unearthing the deep-seated soul power within this wizard?” Lin An turned to Chen Xinmi, who confirmed his assumption with a nod.

Then his eyes lit up, brimming with too many conjectures, “Then it’s likely that these aerial roots growing on the pine don’t represent the entirety of the wizard. His soul power shouldn’t be represented by this pine alone, but rather by an animal.”

Chen Xinmi looked at Lin An with a scoff, “You, a wizard who has just begun your apprenticeship, dare to make bold claims on such a high-level topic?”

From just completing the ‘Emotional Fluctuation Period’ of an apprentice to becoming a formal wizard, and then to the state of transitioning into a Witch Ghoul, there lies a path too long and distant.

Some wizards can’t even make it through in full.

Lin An just smiled and didn’t say anything.

But soon, the scene in front of him confirmed his guess.

The aerial roots that were hanging from the branches and reaching to penetrate the ground were chopped and harvested by the Witch Hunter Knights, and countless gray-blue hairs grew from the tree’s trunks and branches.

One of the Antler Witch Hunter Knights chopped off a pine branch, only to see blood vessels on the cross-section, and blood spurted out.

This kind of damage caused the face on the pine’s trunk to wail and the entire tree to shake violently. The wooden trunk became as flexible as an animal’s limb, as if it were an animal-shaped tree.

Chen Xinmi took a cold breath, choked on the medicinal smoke, and coughed twice before looking at Lin An incredulously, “How could you tell?”

Lin An blinked, silently exclaiming in shock.

Wow, I actually guessed right!

His face remained calm, and he beamed in response to Chen Xinmi’s dumbfounded stare, simply stating, “I’m an artist, adept at appreciating the intrinsic essence of things.”

Show off!

Just keep showing off!

Chen Xinmi rolled her eyes and let out a scoff, “Then tell me, what else have you observed?”

Lin An actually started to think seriously.

He gazed deeply at the towering pine tree in Purgatory World, his eyes lost in thought, “Sometimes we live not as ourselves; our thoughts, our actions, are influenced by so much. We always find ourselves doing things we don’t wish to do, yet we do them anyway.”

“We yearn to become our true selves, but we are powerless…”

“However, the Spirit World Aura bestows upon us the power of the spirit, allowing us to break free from our chains and realize our true selves.”

“But this spiritual energy is given in excess, turning our desires into twisted obsessions.”

Lin An turned back to look at Chen Xinmi, “I guess, even though the pine tree, this Witch Ghoul shape, attracted the Spirit World Aura to water this Wizard, the pine tree is not a true representation of his deepest spiritual desire.”

“That is to say, the Wizard’s spirit will be nourished by the aura, and soon it will replace the pine tree, devouring it.”

“The Antler Witch-Hunting Knight Order believes he is the pine tree, and so they attack its trunk and roots. This approach might be correct for the Pine-Gray Wolf Witch, but it is evidently a misunderstanding concerning the Wizard.”

“The Witch-Hunting Knights are actually aiding in the Wizard’s true spiritual awakening.”

“Turning the Wizard into his true self, a beast, rather than a calm, serene, and elegantly spirited pine tree.”

Heh~
Chen Xinmi sneered, getting excited upon guessing correctly and started to elaborate.

She just wanted to see, see what kind of change would occur.

To watch…

She stared blankly at the scene unfolding before her, her mouth slightly agape.

Holy crap!

Such an exclamation should not have come from an elegant mature woman like Chen Xinmi, so she held it back.

As a terrifying slash of light passed, the pine tree was cut down at the base and began to topple towards the ground. In her past understanding, the Witch Ghoul that the Wizard had transformed into was on the brink of death.

But the fallen pine tree seemed to come to life, wildly sprouting branches from the trunk, and the leaves on the branches were thin and long, densely packed like grayish-blue fur.

And then.

Bang!

It landed on all fours with a tremendous thud.

A Witch-Hunting Knight severed a whip-like tendril that had grown out, and from the severed end sprouted a wolf-like head.

“Roar~~~”
The massive grey wolf threw back its head and howled. Its back was still the pine tree, swaying as frost began to spread outwards from it.

Chen Xinmi turned her head dazedly to look at Lin An.

Lin An and Miao Miao, on the other hand, turned their heads toward the direction of Yunlu Mountain.

Both were adept at sensing spiritual energy and could feel the life force (Original Liu’s Kapok) from there being redirected into this ‘Pine-Gray Wolf Witch Ghoul’.

And the Spirit World Aura was, in turn, pouring from this ‘Pine-Gray Wolf Witch Ghoul’ back into that life force.

They had somehow formed a miraculous channel between them.

“Heart-to-Heart Skewer Fragrance Witchcraft!” Lin An and the black cat cried out in unison.

“What?” Chen Xinmi looked at Lin An, puzzled.

The black cat glanced at Chen Xinmi then urgently meowed at Lin An.

“Meow!~”
——You must find a way to let her know this information; I sense that the entity hiding in Yunlu Mountain harbors great malice towards me.

——I can’t directly tell Chen Xinmi; I can only convey it to her subconscious. Then, after this is all over, she’ll gradually realize, but by then, it’ll be too late! Sometimes she’ll even ignore the information I send because of her own judgment.

——There’s already an invisible barrier between the spirit and the body’s main consciousness.

Lin An frowned, hesitating.

The black cat came closer, looking pitiful as it bent down and nuzzled its head against Lin An’s face, giving him a gentle kiss while continuously meowing.

——Please, I can’t let this Wizard grow stronger; she’s already physically and spiritually damaged. She may seem strong, but she’s actually hollow and can’t withstand such a formidable enemy.

Lin An pursed his lips and gave a slight nod.

He turned to Chen Xinmi and after a moment of thought said, “I must tell you some information, about what I discovered while investigating the ‘Mad Warlock’s Hollow’ Organization.”

Chen Xinmi’s phoenix eyes narrowed as she stared coldly at Lin An, “Why didn’t you mention this before?”

“There was no need,” Lin An replied indifferently, “The information I came across has little to do with the two tasks you assigned. That place, teeming with lunatics, where any bit of information sounds explosive; we’re not close. There’s no need to consider you as a buddy for sharing all my little secrets.”

Although Chen Xinmi was displeased, she did not press the issue.

She just nodded, “Yes, we are both Wizards, emotional monsters. As the president of the Wizard Association, I am not overly strict with my investigators.”

Causing the investigators to be overly tense would not be a good thing.