Abundant Martial Arts Virtue
Chapter 184 - 55 Ghost Tree Man

Chapter 184: Chapter 55 Ghost Tree Man

"Will there be flying Demons entering our Undead Kingdom?"

"Ha, you’re overthinking it. Flying in the sky is so conspicuous, they would be shot down by long-range jobs together."

"Now that you mention it, I did indeed overthink."

Wu Xiaode promptly withdrew his gaze, avoiding the scrutiny of the face in the sky, and turned to look at the Book of the Dead instead.

Rows of ice crystal letters had already appeared:

"You have discovered a battlefield selector."

"This book does not advocate premature contact with such entities, yet you have obtained two Death Gems, allowing you to see through most invibility and promptly discover it."

"The current coping strategy is:"

"Play dumb."

"The survival principle of this book has been triggered."

"This book advises you to lower the standard of the Silent Demon Mist and a series of abilities, making them look less formidable, to avoid attracting the attention of the battlefield selector."

—How formidable would it be?

Chosen?

And then what?

It must not be anything good, otherwise, the Book of the Dead would not have triggered some survival principle.

—Then let’s prioritize survival.

Wu Xiaode thought for a few moments and then said, "Begin the reduction, adjust all skills, and don’t reveal the characteristics of my current skills."

"I don’t need any Saber Skills or Swordsmanship either."

"I’ll fight with my fists."

He moved his arms a bit.

The wound had finally healed.

Then he could use the knuckle dusters.

Wu Xiaode took out a pair of black knuckle dusters and put them on his hands.

The Book of the Dead displayed rows of ice crystal letters:

"Adjustment completed."

"Thousand Hands reverted to Hand of Death, adjusted to ’Spiritual Thought Hand’ according to the enhanced Level."

"Silent Demon Mist reverted to Death Fog, adjusted to ’Turn to Stone’ according to the enhanced Level."

"Unless you face absolute death, the skills will not reveal their true nature."

All ice crystal letters disappeared.

"’Spiritual Thought Hand,’ ’Turn to Stone’—what kind of skills are these?" Wu Xiaode wondered aloud.

A row of ice crystal letters appeared:

"Following the usual advanced process of ’Hand of Death’ and ’Death Fog,’ they should have advanced to these two skills. The former can act according to your thoughts, while the latter is turning into a stone for concealment."

That is truly weak.

If I do not receive enough soul admiration within the stipulated time, I won’t be able to awaken the ’Sighing Wall.’

The outcome would be to obtain such skills.

Well, use them for now.

In order to avoid further attention, I must use these two skills.

I just hope the Trial mission gets completed quickly.

The surrounding mist gradually dissipated.

A man and a skeleton, along with a boundary monument, all appeared in the woods.

"Your mist—"

"The time has come, it needs rest before it can be released."

"Oh, I see—well, it has hidden us for too long and has become very powerful," Rotten Bone realized.

"Don’t mention my mist anymore. I’m letting it undergo a transformation, so it’s temporarily unusable," Wu Xiaode cautioned.

"Alright," Rotten Bone replied.

Wu Xiaode tried swinging his fists, feeling each movement flow effortlessly.

The wounds on his arms had really healed.

The boundary monument was really useful!

"No need to prepare for combat, my good buddy," Rotten Bone saw his eager demeanor and said, "This place is very remote; it was a low probability event for enemies to come here once, let alone again."

"You mean, we just need to wait for the Trial to end?" asked Wu Xiaode.

"Exactly," Rotten Bone snapped his fingers.

It’s probably not that simple.

Wu Xiaode sat down by the boundary monument, looked up, and yawned—

The battlefield selector finally moved its gaze away.

It looked elsewhere.

Was I really let go?

Shuffle... shuffle...

A series of footsteps approached.

"Who’s there!"

Rotten Bone, gripping the newly obtained scimitar, asked warily.

A figure emerged from the bushes.

"Don’t panic, it’s one of us."

Wu Xiaode and Rotten Bone both looked.

It was a figure cloaked with ash-gray bark, carrying a large brown bag on its back.

He sported a white, bushy beard, looking like a common old man, but his entire body was like a piece of withered wood.

Rotten Bone put down the knife, laughing:

"So it’s the Ghost Tree Man! You’ve come at the right time!"

Ghost Tree Man?

Wu Xiaode glanced at him.

The man had already placed his bag on the ground, caught his breath, and then said, "Doing business on the battlefield isn’t easy. Gentlemen, are you looking to buy or sell?"

"I have a pair of scimitars; I would like to sell them," Rotten Bone replied.

"Oh, let’s see how much they’re worth," Ghost Tree Man said.

Rotten Bone handed his original pair of scimitars to the Ghost Tree Man.

Ghost Tree Man took the scimitars, examined them carefully for a moment, and then held up three fingers.

"Three gems?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, they’re of no use to me anymore."

"So, is it a deal?"

"Deal!"

Ghost Tree Man took out three pale, round stones and handed them to Rotten Bone.

Rotten Bone accepted the stones, and Ghost Tree Man immediately tucked the two scimitars behind him.

The transaction was completed.

Rotten Bone tossed a stone to Wu Xiaode, saying, "Buddy, changing weapons was thanks to your luck. Keep this one."

Wu Xiaode caught the stone, feeling its smoothness and roundness. It seemed to contain a force within.

Two rows of ice crystal letters subsequently appeared:

"Basic soul stone."

"A stone that stored a bit of Soul Power was typically used as currency, but it could also be used to absorb Soul Power during battle."

Wu Xiaode shook his head and tossed the stone back.

"This is yours, no need to give it to me—I’m not yet so desperate as to take a stone," he said.

"Alright." Rotten Bone shrugged and pocketed the soul stone.

The Ghost Tree Man looked at Wu Xiaode and spoke thoughtfully,

"Dead one, do you have anything to trade?"

"Nothing," Wu Xiaode said succinctly.

No sooner had the battlefield selector looked away than this Ghost Tree Man appeared.

If there were no issue here, that would be strange.

Perhaps he came to probe the bottom?

After all, the Book of the Dead had reminded him to keep a low profile.

The Ghost Tree Man looked towards the boundary marker and said with a smile, "I see you’ve just completed a battlefield task; you must have gained quite a bounty... Your companion got a curved saber; you must have got some good things too."

"Really, I have nothing to trade," Wu Xiaode said.

"What did you get?" the Ghost Tree Man asked.

"Old man, why are you asking so much? Snooping around is not a good habit," Rotten Bone said warily.

Having no choice, the Ghost Tree Man ceased his questioning and laughed, "Sorry, just curious."

Wu Xiaode also laughed, "No worries, but I truly have nothing to trade."

—The other party didn’t know what he had got.

But a glance at the boundary marker had told him that Rotten Bone had got the curved saber.

Did the fairies do something when they took that gemstone, so no one knew what he had got?

—Like putting a fake gemstone in the treasury and giving the real one to himself.

This would inevitably catch the other party’s attention.

Yet this Ghost Tree Man...

What made him think he could ascertain his details?

Wu Xiaode stood still.

A pair of pitch-black hands emerged from behind him, gently floating on either side of his shoulders.

—Dirty magic hands.

But now they had disguised themselves as black.

"Your Hand of Death is of a high level," the Ghost Tree Man remarked, squinting.

"Yes, this is my ability," Wu Xiaode said with a smile.

"No problem then. I see you’re wearing a pair of gauntlets, how about selling me one—gauntlets are selling well in the market lately, I’d pay a high price," the Ghost Tree Man said.

"These are my bread and butter, how would I fight if I sold them? Not selling," Wu Xiaode waved his hand.

—The red thread on the gauntlets was made from the tendons of demons from a parallel world; giving it up could leak his origin.

The Ghost Tree Man’s gaze darkened, then he suddenly laughed again, "No worries, commerce needs willing partners, let’s just chat casually."

"You two are really impressive, managing to complete the side quest of killing the traitor. You know, that’s quite a difficult task."

Wu Xiaode, indifferent, replied casually,

"It’s nothing; we’re quite good at it."

Having an excuse for not selling is one thing, but not even speaking would only make the other party more suspicious.

With this thought, he patted Rotten Bone’s shoulder and said, "Right, our great commander?"

"Oh? Is the commander very brave?" the Ghost Tree Man asked with interest.

Wu Xiaode said, "Of course, our commander leads from the front, never flinches, and fights ten at a time, driving the enemies into a complete rout. That’s the real reason we won."

"Hahaha," Rotten Bone burst into laughter, "My good brother, I’m not as formidable as you say. It was you who ventured alone into the enemy’s ranks and effortlessly took the traitor’s head. Truly brave indeed!"

"Not at all, you are the most valiant and skilled!" Wu Xiaode said.

"I dare not, it’s you who are the strongest and most cunning!" Rotten Bone said.

The Ghost Tree Man watched the two praise each other back and forth, then glanced at the boundary marker, pondering silently.

—The task wouldn’t lie.

These two had indeed completed the task of killing the traitor.

Maybe they really were that formidable?

That was excellent.

At that moment, Rotten Bone turned to look at the boundary marker and wondered aloud, "That’s odd, it’s been so long, why hasn’t the task completed?"

"Who knows, let’s wait a bit longer," Wu Xiaode said.

Suddenly.

A rustling came from deep within the forest.

Wu Xiaode and Rotten Bone immediately became alert.

"Friends, it seems we have enemies approaching, get ready!" the Ghost Tree Man also shouted.

—It’s time to see these two in action!

But Rotten Bone ignored him, moving close to Wu Xiaode and whispered,

"How do we fight?"

"Do I even need to say it? Same as usual!" Wu Xiaode said.

"Then I’m on!" Rotten Bone said.

"You first, me after!" Wu Xiaode said.

"I’ll cover you!" the Ghost Tree Man also jumped in.

He was ignored.

Rotten Bone charged forward into a clearing, disassembled himself and threw his skull deep into the bushes.

At the same time.

Wu Xiaode activated his "Turn to Stone" ability.

He turned into a small stone and fell among the scattered rocks on the ground, wobbled a bit, then stilled.

Only the Ghost Tree Man was left standing there.

He was somewhat unresponsive.

—Weren’t you brave and skilled, taking on ten at a time?

Is this it?

What if real enemies arrived?

The Ghost Tree Man was still thinking when suddenly a "swoosh" split open the forest.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The ground trembled.

A Demon, covered in Fiery Flames, walked through the forest step by step.

It immediately spotted the Ghost Tree Man.

"A lone guy." The Demon sneered.

"Wait a minute!" the Ghost Tree Man hurried to say.

He looked towards the skeleton, which had already scattered as if blown apart in battle long ago, clearly dead for a while.

He then looked at the stones on the ground.

—Unable to distinguish which was the Dead One from before.

Damn it, if you all hide, what am I supposed to do?

"To die!"

The Demon laughed savagely and lunged forward.