On a mass grave northwest of Shadowmoon Valley, Jiang Yuan's body kept twisting and straightening, twisting and straightening again. When twisted, he looked like a twisted dough stick; when straightened, he resembled a beltfish!
"Ah!"
Jiang Yuan's head felt like it was splitting apart. At this critical moment, a wild idea surfaced in his mind!
"Soul Sacrifice!"
Jiang Yuan first used the "Soul Sacrifice" skill, casually sacrificing a Dragonbeard Tiger and gaining all its attributes. His health bar above his head instantly surged to 130,000!
"Chirp chirp!"
The Phantom Fiend lurking inside Jiang Yuan grew excited at the sudden spike in his health, letting out cheerful hums within his body!
Then, Jiang Yuan did something incredibly reckless—he cast a "Arcane Mark" on himself!
As everyone knew, the "Arcane Mark" skill was a buff. Anyone affected by it would attract the aggro of nearby summoned creatures, becoming the primary target!
That's right! This was Jiang Yuan's "drive the tiger to devour the wolf" plan—using "Arcane Mark" to make himself the Dragonbeard Tiger's target!
Sure enough, after seeing a skull mark slowly appear above Jiang Yuan's head, the remaining nine Dragonbeard Tigers, without a second thought, roared and raised their thick tiger paws, slamming them down heavily on Jiang Yuan!
"Crackle pop!"
A flurry of noise erupted, and Jiang Yuan's face instantly swelled into a pig's head!
Since the launch of "Myriad Realms," Jiang Yuan might be the first summoner to get beaten up by his own summoned beasts!
Ignoring the excruciating pain, Jiang Yuan, with his eyes swollen to mere slits, stared intently at the health bar above his head. He opened his backpack, quickly pulled out the one-time consumable "Blessing of the Divine" and a high-grade life potion, and clutched them tightly.
Twenty thousand, seventeen thousand, fifteen thousand, thirteen thousand!
The nine towering Dragonbeard Tigers surrounded Jiang Yuan, and in just a few seconds, they knocked his health below 10%, automatically triggering the Phantom Fiend's innate skill!
"Chirp chirp!"
In an instant, Jiang Yuan's body shuddered violently. A white light was forcibly squeezed out of him, appearing before him—it was the Phantom Fiend!
"Gulp gulp!"
At the exact moment the Phantom Fiend left his body, Jiang Yuan downed the "Blessing of the Divine" and the "High-Grade Life Potion" almost simultaneously.
In less than 0.01 seconds, Jiang Yuan's figure faded, turning into a barely perceptible shadow, but his health bar suddenly recovered by 30%.
"Chirp chirp!"
After Jiang Yuan vanished, the Phantom Fiend let out urgent cries, as if panicked by losing track of him.
"Dragonbeard Tigers, attack!"
Though invisible and unable to speak, Jiang Yuan silently commanded the tigers surrounding him in his mind!
"Roar!"
The nine Dragonbeard Tigers immediately turned their attention and began attacking the bewildered Phantom Fiend.
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Damage numbers kept popping up above the Phantom Fiend's head. The Phantom Fiend, just expelled from Jiang Yuan's body, had its health bar barely restored to 100,000, but within seconds, it was knocked below 10% again!
A faint white glow began to emanate from the Phantom Fiend's shadowy form—a sign that its innate skill was about to activate!
"Chirp? Chirp chirp chirp?"
But the Phantom Fiend looked around and couldn't find Jiang Yuan at all. Its already dim-witted mind short-circuited, and even its cries carried a hint of confusion!
The Dragonbeard Tigers Jiang Yuan summoned didn't care. With a few "smack smack smack" slaps, they killed the dazed Phantom Fiend outright!
"Ding! Congratulations on defeating the elite monster: Phantom Fiend. Gained experience points!"
"Ding! System detects a quest item that can be collected. Do you wish to collect?"
Hearing the second system prompt, Jiang Yuan quickly selected "Collect." He had worked so hard, even getting beaten into a pig's head by his own summons—all for this moment!
In a short while, Jiang Yuan emerged from invisibility and saw the Phantom Fiend's faint body rapidly shrink, condensing into a droplet-sized crystal that slowly rose from the ground and flew into his backpack.
"Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the quest item: Phantom Fiend's Soul Crystal!"
"Damn! Hoo! Hoo!"
With the prompt, Jiang Yuan sighed in relief, collapsing to the ground with a "thud," gasping for air.
"That was close!"
Jiang Yuan touched his swollen cheek, mumbling indistinctly, thinking that if not for that flash of inspiration at the critical moment, he'd probably be dead by now!
Summoning a Dragonbeard Tiger, Jiang Yuan struggled to climb onto its back and lay down. His dangling right hand weakly patted the tiger's neck, and it immediately understood, not sprinting as usual but trotting gently.
"Hoo~~~"
As the tiger trotted lightly, Jiang Yuan, lying on its back, rose and fell with the gentle motion, soon letting out soft snores—he fell asleep in the game for the first time!
On the way back, Jiang Yuan had a dream. He dreamed that his Dragonbeard Tiger grew wings, and he rode the flying tiger through various civilizations across countless realms!
After who knows how long, Jiang Yuan slowly woke up, finding himself no longer on the tiger's back but lying on a soft couch.
"Young friend, you're awake?"
Beside the couch, the white-haired lord of Shadowmoon Manor, now in a dark blue robe, looked at Jiang Yuan kindly.
"Old sir, where am I?"
Jiang Yuan, still with a pig-like face, opened his eyes to slits. Since the swelling hadn't gone down, his speech was slurred, turning lateral sounds into nasals.
"Don't worry, you're at Shadowmoon Manor. Thanks to your pet finding you unconscious outside the manor, you could have been in danger!"
The manor lord chuckled, then pointed at Meow Meow, who was crouched on a rosewood high-backed chair.
"Meow Meow, thanks!"
Jiang Yuan turned his head and mumbled his thanks to Meow Meow, but to her ears, it sounded like "Daddy"!
"Meow!"
Meow Meow jumped off the chair, "swooshed" onto Jiang Yuan's bedside, and gently patted his head with a paw, as if saying, "Good boy! My big son!"
"Geez!"
Jiang Yuan felt a pang of frustration—he'd been taken advantage of by a cat! He decided that once he recovered, he'd have to teach this disrespectful feline some manners!
"Young friend, don't worry. Let me heal you."
Seeing Jiang Yuan's irritation, the manor lord smiled, said a word, and extended a withered hand. A soft white light appeared, enveloping his entire palm. Then Jiang Yuan saw him gently wipe his face, and the swelling vanished instantly!
"Huh?"
After the lord withdrew his hand, Jiang Yuan quickly touched his face and found it had returned to normal!
"Whoa!"
A feeling of being fully revived surged through Jiang Yuan, making him leap off the couch in joy.
"Oh, right! Manor lord, I haven't given you the Phantom Fiend's Soul Crystal yet!"
Suddenly remembering his unfinished quest, Jiang Yuan quickly took the droplet-shaped crystal from his backpack and handed it to the manor lord.
"Ding! Congratulations on completing the main quest 'Kill the Phantom Fiend.' Gained experience points!"
The moment Jiang Yuan handed over the crystal, the system notified him that he had completed the latest main quest in the "Shadowmoon Valley" series!
"Good! Good!"
The manor lord looked at the droplet-shaped crystal in his hand, a smile spreading across his wrinkled face. He said "good" twice, then continued, "With this, we can start refining the 'Demon-Slaying Needle.' Young friend, go to the pond on the back mountain and fetch me a bucket of water. We'll begin refining right away!"
"Ding! New main quest triggered: 'Fetch Water from the Pond.' Do you wish to accept?"
The system prompt sounded. Jiang Yuan nodded at the manor lord, accepted the quest, walked out of the room, found an empty bucket in a corner, and headed straight for the pond on the back mountain where he had first met the manor lord.
Jiang Yuan found a spot easy to stand on, placing his feet on two moss-covered stones. He bent down, tossed the bucket into the pond, and once it was full, he used his arm strength to lift it up.
When he turned around, he found the manor lord and the silver-white Persian cat had appeared behind him without him noticing.
"Young friend, put the water here and wait a moment!"
The manor lord said this, then walked to a stone table, placing the "Shadowmoon Demon Wolf" fur and the "Phantom Fiend's Soul Crystal" that Jiang Yuan had collected earlier on the table. Then, as if by magic, he produced a small, exquisite bronze tripod!
"Ding! Congratulations on completing the quest 'Fetch Water from the Pond.' Please wait quietly for the Shadowmoon Manor lord to refine the 'Demon-Slaying Needle'!"
Jiang Yuan placed the bucket at the designated spot, and the quest log automatically updated, instructing him to wait patiently.
The manor lord released his grip on the bronze tripod, and Jiang Yuan was amazed to see it defy physics, hovering in mid-air!
"Whoosh!"
The manor lord pointed his fingers like a sword at the tripod, and a flame suddenly shot up from inside. In no time, Jiang Yuan could see through the tripod's openwork that it was filled with flames!
The manor lord flicked his finger, and the two quest items on the stone table flew into the tripod. The tripod trembled violently once before quickly calming down.
Then began a lengthy refining process. To keep Jiang Yuan from getting bored, the manor lord chatted with him while working.