Chapter 335: Serving Fire

“As expected… I guessed right.”

Seeing this, Li Miao couldn’t help but smile. He glanced at the Frost Riding Spear in his hand and the Heavy Armor on his body, his confidence soaring.

After clenching his fists, he took a breath and strode forward.

However, it wasn’t long before the confidence Li Miao had just built up was thoroughly humbled.

‘Because this road is just too long!’

There was only one straight path, yet it felt as if it stretched on forever.

Moreover, Li Miao wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination.

He felt that the Knight Armor on his body and the Lance in his hand were growing heavier and heavier, making every step a difficult struggle.

The farther he went, the stronger this feeling became.

But Li Miao also knew clearly that this was likely the trial of the Fire Worship Ceremony.

So he remained resolute. Even as his breathing grew heavier, he had no intention of stopping.

“HUFF… HUFF…”

“BZZZZZZ—”

It seemed the trials on this path were far from over. A swarm of tiny insects suddenly appeared from the darkness, purposefully burrowing into the gaps in his armor.

“Shit!”

Li Miao’s expression changed. The next moment, an intense itch spread across his entire body, causing his face to twist.

He subconsciously reached to scratch, but was met only with the grating sound of his fingernails scraping against armor.

“…” Li Miao was speechless.

‘Looks like the only way is to take off the armor.’

‘It’s so itchy!’

Just as Li Miao, unable to bear the itch, was about to remove his armor, he suddenly froze.

‘The Fire Worship Ceremony just taught me to trust my Weapon and equipment. If I turn around and take it off now, what does that say?’

‘This has to be a trap!’

At this thought, Li Miao’s heart tightened. He forcibly suppressed the impulse and continued walking forward.

And just as he began moving again, numerous pale souls appeared in the darkness ahead, screaming as they launched wave-like attacks at him.

Although this Attack didn’t reduce Li Miao’s Blood Volume, it forced his body to move.

A moment of carelessness, and he could be pushed by the pale souls into the Dark Boundary.

The farther he walked, the more numerous the pale souls became, and the more intense the itching from the insects grew.

After gritting his teeth and pressing on for another dozen steps, Li Miao suddenly froze. He saw that side paths had appeared on both sides of the road ahead.

These two side paths extended left and right for a short distance before turning perpendicularly into the darkness, but they clearly connected to the other two paths from the beginning.

‘What does this mean?’

Li Miao frowned. After a moment of thought, he stepped forward, tentatively tapping the side path with the tip of his foot. Confirming there was nothing unusual, he stepped onto it.

Amazingly, the moment he stood on the side path, the itching and the weight vanished, and the pale souls were nowhere to be seen.

When he stepped back onto the original road, the afflictions returned like a tide…

‘This…’

‘There are obstacles on the main road, but they disappear on the side path.’

‘Does this mean I took the wrong path?’

‘After all, there were four paths at the start…’

Li Miao’s brow furrowed. He looked at the main road, then at the side path beneath his feet, falling silent.

「A few minutes later.」

“That was refreshing. Time to keep going.”

After stretching his body, Li Miao stepped back onto the main road.

Those annoying things swarmed back like maggots clinging to bone, becoming more and more unbearable as he advanced.

But no matter what, Li Miao didn’t spare the side path another glance.

[Regarding the question of the correct path… everyone feels lost, but no matter what, you have made a firm choice.]

[Your Will has increased.]

[Will: Strong]

[Explanation: Your Will is now strong enough. You have gained a powerful Shield, and all your stats have increased by 50%.]

It seemed he had reached a critical point. The various uncomfortable negative effects began to slowly dissipate, including the pale souls…

…

Meanwhile, the player community was never short of some peculiar characters.

Take Niuniu, for example.

At this moment, he was hanging in the Dark Boundary, clinging to the edge of the road with both hands, inching his way forward while dodging.

CLINK! CLANG! CLINK!

Above him, the Assassin, holding a Dagger, was relentlessly trying to chop off Niuniu’s hands, striking the road with a clatter and sending sparks flying.

“Heh, dodged it!”

“Can’t hit me, can’t hit me, na-na-na-na-na~”

“Haha, you stupid AI, you think you can mess with Grandpa Niu?”

Niuniu cackled. As a long-time “class-skipper,” he was naturally a pro at this kind of cliff-hanging maneuver. It was the perfect counter to this Assassin.

Niuniu admitted that this move was a gamble, but he had gambled correctly.

After all, the Assassin was essentially a ball of black mist. The only thing with a physical collision effect seemed to be the Dagger in its hand, and it could seemingly only exist on the parallel road, unable to touch him in the Dark Boundary below…

So, the current scene had become rather strange.

Niuniu moved forward, clinging to the edge of the road like Tarzan, while the Assassin hacked furiously at his hands from behind. The air was filled with a cheerful atmosphere…

Until…

The Assassin seemed to vanish suddenly. After a moment of surprise, Niuniu prepared to switch his hand position and pull himself up.

SQUELCH.

It was as if he had grabbed something sticky. Niuniu’s expression froze. He pulled one hand back to look.

But in the next instant, a green stench spread from the road above, wafting down to the area below…

“What is…”

Niuniu was stunned.

Before he could react, a sinister yet smug chuckle echoed in his ear.

“Heh heh…”

SPLAT. A glob of some sticky, unknown substance landed squarely on Niuniu’s face.

The next moment, Firelight spread from a single point across the surface, expanding like lightning!

BOOM—

…

On another player’s path.

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD!

“ARGHHH!!!”

Even with his legs feeling incredibly heavy, his Combat Skills becoming extremely difficult to use, his Physical Strength nearly depleted, and pale souls interfering from all sides…

Brother Mangzi roared relentlessly, holding his Warhammer horizontally in front of him and charging forward at high speed like a heavy bulldozer.

This made his advance incredibly fast.

The side paths appeared, were reached, and then blurred past, completely unnoticed by Brother Mangzi.

Only after the obstacles had completely disappeared did a belated thought flash through Brother Mangzi’s mind.

‘Did something just flash by on the side?’

But he quickly tossed the thought aside.

‘Whatever, who cares!’

‘Forward, forward! FORWARD!!!’

“ARGHHH!!!”

…

After glancing at the side path ahead.

Faraway calmly averted his gaze and continued forward without the slightest pause, not even bothering to test it like Li Miao had.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

The pale souls’ attacks were relentless. The Casting speed of the Applicant’s Staff in his hand grew slower and slower, and his maximum Spirit was also gradually decreasing.

But these negative effects didn’t seem to be a problem for Faraway.

He pressed on, only using Magic like Execution Step to help his advance when necessary. He didn’t counterattack, simply enduring it all in silence.

Moreover… he already had a layer of an azure Shield on his body.

However, he clearly didn’t want the Shield to take damage and was deliberately conserving his strength.

And after he continued forward for some time, a notification soon appeared in the information panel, and the obstacles blocking his path vanished one after another…

[Your Will has reached its maximum!)

[Will: Extremely Strong]

[Explanation: Your Will is extremely powerful and unshakable. You have a suppressive force against Warfire Manifestation, and all your stats have increased by 75%!)

After seeing this message, Faraway also stopped.

It wasn’t that he didn’t intend to move on.

It was because the surrounding scenery had begun to transform, finally settling into an azure circular platform.

Upon this platform, a mass of Warfire burned fiercely.

The next moment, the Warfire suddenly pulsed, then converged and condensed into a human form. After a series of transformations, it settled into the appearance of Faraway.

Specifically, it was Faraway’s appearance after activating the [Iron-faced Warlock] Warfire form.

[Warfire Manifestation]

[Tier: ?]

[Explanation: The manifest form of the Warfire within your body.]

[Hint: You have found the Warfire Manifestation.]

[Through prolonged battle and slaughter, the Warfire has also developed a sliver of instinct. Although it is ultimately one with you, like two travelers with the same destination, it has its own intentions for the direction of the Power of Fire…]

[Unify your Will and the Warfire as one to successfully complete the Serving Fire!]

After reading the information, Faraway once again focused his gaze on the Warfire Manifestation before him.

It was walking slowly toward Faraway, its unhurried demeanor and utterly calm gaze identical to Faraway’s own when in battle.

However, facing the Warfire Manifestation, Faraway neither dodged nor retreated, but walked straight toward it.

The distance between Faraway and the Warfire grew shorter and shorter.

But neither of them showed any intention of raising their Weapon, as if whoever struck first was destined to lose.

Until…

A heavy, oppressive force suddenly descended upon the Warfire Manifestation’s body, causing its movements to falter.

Seizing this opportunity, Faraway unhesitatingly raised his Magic Staff, and an Executioner’s Hand Blade flashed across its neck.

Following that, he decisively unleashed a series of follow-up attacks to secure the kill, leaving his opponent no chance to recover.

With a THUD, the Warfire Manifestation fell to one knee, its body dissipating into a wisp of Warfire that slowly flowed into Faraway’s chest.

From beginning to end, the Warfire Manifestation hadn’t even managed to touch Faraway’s Shield, appearing utterly pathetic.

But Faraway understood that if he had been the one hit by that sudden suppression, he would have died just as quickly.

But there were no “what ifs.”

[You have defeated the Warfire]

[The Warfire has been tamed and is now Fusing with your Will…]

Azure light flashed as the surrounding scenery shifted continuously. Warfire began to burn uncontrollably on Faraway’s body.

The next moment, he lost control of his body.

But Faraway remained calm. This was clearly the start of a cutscene.

A moment later, the Warfire on his body subsided, and the surroundings solidified into the platform from before.

The only difference was that a massive, illusory Spirit Candle had appeared. It sent down a wisp of the Power of the Spirit Candle, which merged into his Candle Spirit Body.

Then, the Candle Spirit Body extended its hands and slowly drew out a tiny wisp of Warfire that was so condensed it was almost solid.

Then, the arms were raised slowly.

The Warfire… was raised high overhead.

FWOOSH—

In the next instant, Firelight erupted. The Warfire above his head once again formed an inseparable connection with his body.

[Your Will and the Warfire have become one! You have successfully completed the Fire Worship Ceremony!)

[Your Candle Spirit Body’s Ignition Point has been promoted to “Flame”!)

[Temperature increased to Level 41!)