Because of some concerns about the Ogres’ pursuit and retaliation, after Wu Ming and Karitan met up, they immediately led their squad to retreat a certain distance, hid themselves, and quietly waited for the Ogres’ army to disperse.
That imitation army was a coalition of many tribes, barely held together by the shaman’s prestige. Now that the shaman had fallen, there was no leader, and with the nearby food supply gradually decreasing, conflicts were bound to become increasingly prominent. It was only a matter of time before disputes arose and the army disbanded.
After all, the Ogres were not warm and fuzzy creatures. In their eyes, any creature that walked on two legs could be considered food!
…
“Karitan, take a look at these…”
By the campfire, Wu Ming handed over the loot he had taken from the shaman to Karitan.
“The shaman’s belongings?”
Karitan’s eyes lit up, and she eagerly began identifying them.
“This powder is made from the teeth and flesh of fierce beasts; it’s a kind of spellcasting material!”
First, she took out a black bottle, smelled it, and made her judgment.
Seeing this, Wu Ming was somewhat speechless. If it were poison, wouldn’t this woman be done for immediately?
But considering Karitan was an expert in this field, she probably had precautions already in place, so he just quietly watched.
As it turned out, most of the items on the shaman were spellcasting materials and herbs extracted from fierce beasts or plants.
There was also a vial of blood-red potion. According to Karitan’s assessment, witchcraft had been infused into it, which could enhance an Ogre’s recovery ability and speed. Of course, it should be equally applicable to humans, with effects comparable to the Holy Oil Anointment.
However, even the bravest of them, Awa, upon seeing the blood-red color, adamantly refused to try it.
“Master… Fortunately, you’ve already eliminated this shaman!”
Karitan said in a relaxed tone: “Otherwise, after mastering this technique, this Ogre shaman could certainly continuously produce Ogre warriors!”
Even Jack, imagining the scene of hordes of knight-level Ogres charging, couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingling.
“Master, you’ve saved the entire Fengying Plains!”
Beatrix gazed at Wu Ming with admiration.
“A pity there are no medals, no flowers or honors…”
Wu Ming smiled, taking the vial.
In this world, any potion with special effects inevitably had ties to the occult.
For example, the knight’s Holy Oil required blue blood, while this potion concocted by the Ogre shaman, although its ingredients were more common than the Holy Oil, required spells during its creation!
Just this requirement alone was enough to exclude ninety-nine percent of the apothecaries across the entire Seer continent.
“Wow!”
Then, Karitan opened the last jar, her eyes sparkling, and gasped in astonishment: “Black Leech Powder! So much in one jar?”
She looked at the black powder as if she were seeing heaps of gold.
“Is this powder that rare?”
Wu Ming asked.
“Lord… This powder must be obtained by baking a very rare kind of leech, processed through complicated procedures. Even my family back then could only get a small bottle, which was the result of ten years of hard work…”
Karitan’s expression was complex: “This large jar must be the accumulation of all the Ogre tribes over hundreds of years!”
“What’s it used for?”
“It can increase the success rate of many potions, and…”
Karitan bit her lip: “It’s also essential for performing certain Voodoo spells. There’s a secret ritual among witches that might help me break through my own limits…”
Karitan was merely an ordinary person with witch knowledge but without inherited witch powers. Breaking through her limits naturally meant obtaining witch powers and becoming a spellcaster.
“Very well, you haven’t lied to me!”
Wu Ming’s eyes gleamed with sharp light.
Karitan looked at the eager Beatrix and Awa around her and could only sigh inwardly.
She had long known that this lord had a unique ability to detect lies. Besides, she was now just a weak woman with no strength to resist.
Would she try poisoning him? Probably before she could even make a move, the lord’s sword would already have slashed her throat.
Moreover, through years of observation, she had come to realize that although this lord couldn’t be called a good man, he wasn’t a bad one either. Compared to other nobles, at least, he was quite committed to keeping his promises.
“Now, it’s my loot. To obtain it, what price are you willing to pay?”
Wu Ming looked at Karitan with interest.
“Everything!”
The witch descendant took a deep breath and replied in a solemn tone.
“Everything?”
Wu Ming seemed somewhat puzzled: “That’s too vague!”
“I am willing to swear the witch’s blood oath, to serve you and your family for a hundred years. You shall not only possess my body but also my soul, my master!”
Karitan knelt on one knee and said in an odd tone.
“A hundred years?”
Wu Ming glanced at Karitan with amusement. Just as she was feeling anxious, he smiled and said casually: “Alright! You may swear your oath!”
After receiving his permission, Karitan seemed to let out a long sigh of relief. She then took out a golden dagger, cut her wrist, and used her blood to draw an odd and complex mark on her forehead.
“With my blood, I swear. I shall be loyal to my master, serving him with my knowledge and strength, never violating any reasonable demands until the time limit arrives!”
She murmured, then handed the dagger to Wu Ming: “Please leave a mark on your servant to complete the ritual!”
From the beginning of the ritual, Beatrix and the others felt a chill.
Even though a roaring fire was burning beside them, for them, it suddenly felt as if they were stripped naked and thrown into a frozen wasteland. The soul-deep tremors and coldness made each of them almost hold their breath, silently watching the two people in the center.
“Karitan, is that your true name?”
Wu Ming suddenly asked with a smile, gripping the golden dagger.
Although this woman had held something back in the contract, for him, it was already sufficient.
Moreover, with his soul’s essence, even if the witch had reserved some tricks, in the end, it was hard to say who would benefit.
“This is my true name. If I break my oath, my soul will fall into the nine layers of hell and be eternally roasted by flames.”
Karitan spoke solemnly.
“In the name of William Wallace, I accept you as my servant. You pledge loyalty to me, and I shall protect you, granting you the means to advance!”
Wu Ming said softly, using the dagger to touch the center of the mark on Karitan’s forehead.
Crack!
In the next moment, Karitan trembled all over, somewhat dazed.
Through the channel of the oath, she felt her soul instantly connect with an indescribable, radiant existence.
Its power was so overwhelming that she couldn’t even begin to resist. The inequality of essence rendered all the loopholes and tricks she had left in the contract instantly seized by the other party, completely shifting the balance toward that great existence.
If the other party were a devil, he could probably harvest her soul through this contract right now!
“My master!”
Karitan’s voice trembled. All illusions vanished, and she looked at her young master with the most solemn bow.
“This jar of Black Leech Powder is all yours!”
Wu Ming waved his hand, always generous to his thoroughly subdued servant: “How long will you need to ascend?”
Karitan hugged the jar and thought for a moment: “About a hundred days!”
“That’s too long. We’ll wait until we return to the territory before you perform the ritual!”
Wu Ming frowned slightly and made the decision.
“Starting tomorrow, we’ll fully explore the Eagle’s Nest Mountains!”
…
At the foot of the Eagle’s Nest Mountains.
The Ogre fortress they had seen last time had been completely abandoned, with many wooden stakes and walls collapsed, bearing traces of battles and fire.
Wu Ming and his companions arrived here, all wearing expressions of amazement.
“An Ogre camp?”
Awa exclaimed: “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought I was dreaming!”
“Ogres are Ogres! Once they lose the leadership of the shaman, they are no different from a group of beasts, no! They are even worse than beasts!”
Beatrix looked at a pile of ashes and discarded bones nearby, her face showing a look of disgust.
“It seems they indeed had many internal conflicts, and the defeated were unfortunately eaten by the victors… After destroying everything they could see, they scattered into the wilderness together…”
Jack saw this scene and let out a long sigh of relief.
He knew that although the nomads of the wilderness and innocent travelers would still suffer from the Ogres’ harm, the terrifying future of a massive attack on a city had been thoroughly prevented.
“Now, even if there are still scattered Ogres wandering in the Eagle’s Nest Mountains, they won’t be our match anymore…”
Wu Ming looked at the towering mountains, his eyes shining with intense light: “Start searching for the ruins’ location with full force!”
Legends spoke of the ancient kings’ gifts, the treasure to resist the serpent, the power of the people.
He had waited far too long to obtain this supernatural seed.
In today’s Fengying Plains, on the brink of chaos, gaining powerful support had become even more crucial.
The entire world had been fragmented for too long, and it had been chaotic for too long.
Once it could be unified, how much fortune and primal energy would benefit the original self?
And the serpent that created the Seer world, an unimaginable cosmic core, and was prophesied to soon destroy the world.
What kind of position and power would such a cosmic core possess?
It was precisely because of this infinite universe, infinite possibilities, and infinite wonders that he was constantly driven to pursue, transcend, and ultimately achieve eternity!
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