By the time Liu Zhenhan and Helen stepped onto another small island, half a month had already passed.
Upon returning that night, after much thought, Liu Zhenhan decided to wait until he was completely healed before venturing forth. His scout intuition told him that there was more to the island ahead than meets the eye.
Both Helen and he were somewhat on edge about it.
Helen hadn't initially thought about the Wind System Magic Wolf. It was only after being reminded by her beloved Richard that she remembered. The combat ability of the Wind System Magic Wolf is rather impressive for a magical beast in the Aegean Continent. The Lightning Magic Marten that Helen originally owned had a comparable level of power.
Once she considered the fact that they currently only had a Frost Snow Pika and an Acidic Fish Eagle, fear crawled into Helen's heart.
Although they knew that magical beasts strictly divided territories, and it was unlikely that an island this small would have a higher-level magical beast than a Magic Wolf, Helen couldn't help but worry. What if this was a Magic Wolf family? The presence of an adult magic wolf in the family was too grim a scenario to contemplate.
On the contrary, after hearing from Helen about the territorial habits of magical beasts, Liu Zhenhan felt a bit more reassured. If that was indeed the case, Liu felt confident to take a gamble.
Over the past two days, during their free time, Helen shared numerous Bimon tales and rituals with Liu Zhenhan.
Liu Zhenhan was stunned to learn that the muscular Orephin Elephant Clan warriors were around 2.5 meters tall, and the powerful Piegel bear warriors could even lift rocks weighing a thousand pounds. In contrast, Liu Zhenhan started to feel slightly inferior about his prideful basketball team physique in the battlefield.
However, there were also topics he enjoyed hearing about.
What Liu Zhenhan was most interested in was how the sacrificial priests among the Bimon Beastmen were physically weaker. They were primarily comprised of smaller, more intelligent races. This made Liu ecstatic. He felt that he could make a big impact among the sacrificial priests with his physique.
Deep down, he didn't highly regard his so-called "natural-born Soul Singer" title, constantly pondering over how he could put the skills he learned in the reconnaissance unit to use in Bimon's kingdom.
With this goal in mind, Liu Zhenhan's commitment to training increased over the half month. His wounds had been mostly healed, and the sutures on his arms had been removed. He spent his days diligently practicing on a coconut tree near his house that reverberated with every blow.
Guoguo, the little fellow, mimicked Liu Zhenhan, punching the thick coconut tree with his tiny paws while learning to put pressure on the tendons.
Liu Zhenhan derived immense joy from being around the little fellow.
Helen, who was indulging in her happiness, had advised her beloved Richard countless times that there was no need to practice combat skills because sacrificial priests did not need to possess great martial strength. The physical disparity between the Pigiel race and the other warring races was vast, making such training futile. An Orephin Clan Elephant warrior could fell a coconut tree with just a punch.
If someone became a sacrificial priest, even with just the title of a knight, they could have followers. Mighty Bimon warriors were always willing to follow a promising priest. Rather than wasting time honing close-quarter combat skills, it would be better to meditate and accumulate "Song Power".
Although Liu Zhenhan heard Helen frequently mention "Song Power," he never understood what it meant.
Helen explained to him that "Song Power" was like the "Magic Power" of human mages; no sacrificial priests could constantly chant war songs. After advancing to become a War Shaman and learning "Berserk War Song" and "Bloody War Song," priests need a strong "Song Power" to support these songs.
The higher the accumulation of "Song Power," the higher the frequency of chanting war songs. Like "Magic Power," accumulation of "Song Power" necessitated meditation.
Helen used a vivid example to explain to Richard: if a Pigiel race hedgehog spearman were to be affected by the "Glorious War Song," his attack range would increase by one-third, and an Orephin clan elephant warrior affected by the "Stone Skin War Song" would transform his already tough skin to stone-like hardness, reducing physical damage by half. However, the duration of a war song's effects was equivalent to the time it took for five ounces of sand to fall through an hourglass. After this time, the powers from the war song cease and the priest must chant the war song again.
The more "Song Power" a priest possesses, the more frequently they can use war songs on the battlefield, and thus offer more support to the nearby Bimon warriors.
Similarly, the purity of "Song Power" also affects the war song's range. An average War Shaman has an influence range of 30 meters. Beyond this range, warriors cannot hear the war song amid the chaos of the battlefield, and hence cannot receive the blessings of the war god. In contrast, a superlative War Shaman, with purer and more abundant song power, can extend the range of the war song.
In summary, "Song Power" is the sole determinant of a priest's strength.
Finally understanding the implication of the war songs, Liu Zhenhan likened the priests to pre-battle encouragers, motivating their troops with their songs before charging into battle.
Given Helen's mystical explanation, Liu Zhenhan took a day off to meditate.
Meditation was a dull process. Liu Zhenhan couldn't last five minutes before falling asleep mid-meditation, even drooling onto himself. When he woke up, he saw Helen staring at him with a cold expression, making Liu Zhenhan feel quite embarrassed.
He worked hard and thickened his face, eventually managing to make Helen laugh again.
Liu Zhenhan swore he wouldn't waste his time again on meditation and cultivating "Song Power". He figured his voice was loud enough - his brother used to say that his voice could shatter eardrums. Why would he bother to cultivate his voice anymore?
So, he went back to practicing his combat skills.
These days, he had been tirelessly practicing "Sebad," a technique from his past life. It was initially designed for reconnaissance soldiers and phased out over the years, but "Sebad," a move capable of overpowering an enemy with one hit, had persisted.
"Sebad" is a locking technique, specifically designed to twist the opponent's body. An adept user can use their legs to break the opponent's legs with "Sebad." Liu Zhenhan was particularly good at this move as well as the "Rotary Hand" maneuver.
Liu Zhenhan felt that his desperate encounter with the Magic Wolf last time was due to his physical debilitation. He was eager to confront the wolf again and show it who's boss.
The squash saplings planted by the house have started to grow vines with energy. A few of them have been devastated by strong winds, but some survived because they were against dirt hills. Liu Zhenhan covered them with more soil after giving the plants a pinch. He calculated that these squashes would probably bear fruits in just more than a month. Every time he thought about the tasty squashes, Liu Zhenhan cannot help but lick his lips.
These squash are great for hydration, and they will be good to have when they get adrift in the sea in the future.
At last, Liu Zhenhan, feeling that his nose has completely recovered, set foot on another island with Helen.
Liu Zhenhan was a bit cautious. He brought enough food for two days, warm wolf skin, bird feather garments, and also his bow and arrow and scimitar.
Helen also let her osprey fly freely. Because of her heartfelt induction with the bird, Helen could sense hidden dangers from its chirping.
The island they were on was filled with thorn bushes and other plants that were denser than the island they were previously on. The volcano mouth was half a mile away from where they were, and Liu Zhenhan walked even more cautiously.
Several careless small animals gave him a few false alarms, and each time when he was about to shoot an arrow, he would find out it was just some little creatures.
Upon reaching the mouth of the volcano, Liu Zhenhan felt stunned.
Around the mouth of the volcano was a lush green grassland. He could even see the first layer of rocks on the soil surface burned into the color of asphalt. Standing by the volcano, Liu Zhenhan could feel the cold breeze blowing his fingers.
Looking down into the volcano, it was a 25 meters deep trench-like landscape. The vertical climate inside the volcano created many rare meadows and flower fields in the islands. The steep cliffs, hidden by mosses, were dotted with waterfalls like scattered pearls. There were long bamboo forests with a length of about ten meters being the primary vegetation inside the volcano. The whole volcano seemed both desolate and mysterious.
Hey...
An undulating green mountain stretched for hundreds of miles...
It stands tall like a barrier...
A rolling mountain range broke through the sky...
The white clouds and dark sky together...
An undulating green mountain stretched for hundreds of miles...
A man is waiting on the rampart for his bride…
A rolling mountain range broke through the sky...
There stands a charming man...
I am standing on a high rampart, looking into the distance...
Such a vast and green sea...
Seeing this beautiful scene, Liu Zhenhan wanted to compose a poem, but after thinking hard, he couldn't make one, so he began to sing the well-known song "Standing on the High Rampart" by Long Piaopiao. He was particularly fond of Long Piaopiao's songs. This song was sung out without any thought.
Though slightly off-tune, it was generally considered a superb performance.
The majestic singing echoed over the volcano, overshadowing even the rustling sound of the bamboo forest due to the wind. The echo reverberated within the volcano repeatedly, as if there were several Liu Zhenhans singing in rounds.
After performing the song, he found that Helen was looking at him differently.
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Setting A: In this book, the Orc War Shamans, human Mages, as well as the Storm Splitter shamans of the Sea Clan are generally feeble, and they are also very rare.
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@King of the Sky@ bro, Liu Zhenhan will have several unique secret skills that you can't imagine~~ Please be patient and keep reading~~
Haha, because an experienced author from Qidian told me that when a book is on the New Bestsellers list, don't write too many words or it will leave the list too soon and wouldn't be worthwhile~~ I'm reducing the length of this chapter a bit, but there will be another chapter in the evening~~ Hope you understand!!
I will post several extra chapters at 12 o'clock on Sunday night. After passing 150,000 and exiting the New Bestsellers list, I will make up for the word counts~~Trust me~ I have plenty of manuscripts~~ But I also have to strategize~
Have I grasped the strategy now?
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