Chapter 178: The Transformation Ring and Casting Resurrection Magic
With this magic item in hand, all four Great Treasures of the Lizardman Race had fallen into Tang Zheng's possession.
He withdrew his gaze from the magic crucible.
"What's the deal with this magic ring?"
Tang Zheng flipped his palm, and a magic ring appeared in its center. It was the very same one he had obtained from the Cave Lizardman, a magic item capable of changing one's appearance.
He had appraised it long ago. The ability of this magic ring was limited to simple changes in appearance.
"This is a magic item he taught us to use. It can only make simple changes to one's own appearance."
The Green Leaf Witch quickly and respectfully replied, pulling out an identical magic ring from her clothes.
"Every so often, you need to infuse the transformation ring with magic power before it can be used again."
Hearing that the ring was given to the Twin Witches by the Gray-robed Mage, Tang Zheng's eyes flickered, and a smile touched the corners of his mouth.
"Can you use this ring to become human?" Tang Zheng looked at the Green Leaf Witch.
"Yes, Master."
The Green Leaf Witch nodded, slipping the transformation ring onto her finger. Her body then trembled slightly, and the tree leaves covering her entire body fell away.
Immediately after!
The Green Leaf Witch's body was enveloped in a pale white light, twisting and transforming.
In the blink of an eye, a young girl who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, with somewhat pale skin and white hair, appeared before Tang Zheng.
"Wrap the tree leaves around yourself."
Tang Zheng turned his head slightly to the side, his tone unchanging.
The Green Leaf Witch was a little confused, but she immediately did as she was told, wrapping the leaves she had just shaken off back around her body.
Only then did Tang Zheng scan the Green Leaf Witch again. From her appearance, it was impossible to tell that she was a demi-human.
The transformation ring's ability could only make simple changes to one's form. Fortunately, apart from their facial features and overly skinny frames, the Twin Witches were very similar to humans.
"You, get inside," Tang Zheng said, looking at the White Mist Witch beside her.
The White Mist Witch understood. Her form shifted, turning into a cloud of white mist that merged with the Green Leaf Witch's body.
"Very good."
Tang Zheng nodded in satisfaction at this scene, a smile on his face. However, his next words made the Twin Witches' bodies tremble.
"So you do have some other use after all. I was originally considering whether I should dispose of you two."
The Twin Witches were filled with terror.
*Whoosh!*
Tang Zheng tossed the ring in his hand toward the Twin Witches.
The Green Leaf Witch hurriedly reached out and caught it.
"Throw this transformation ring into the Lizardman territory. After you've done that, leave the Great Wetland," Tang Zheng said coolly.
"Leave?" The Green Leaf Witch was stunned and a little confused.
Tang Zheng's eyelids drooped as he looked at her indifferently.
The Green Leaf Witch shut her mouth and lowered her head in fear.
"Go south. With the power of you two, crossing the Touv Great Forest shouldn't be a problem. There are many human villages on the outskirts of the Touv Great Forest. Find a way to blend in."
"First, learn how to blend in with humans."
Tang Zheng reached for the magic leather belt at his waist, pulled out a coin pouch containing fifty gold coins, and tossed it over.
*Clink~ Clink~*
The coin pouch flew through the air and landed in the Green Leaf Witch's hands, the gold coins inside colliding with a crisp sound.
He gazed in the direction the Twin Witches had left.
"I really have too few people I can use," Tang Zheng muttered to himself.
He had originally planned to have the Twin Witches go to the Touv Great Forest to assist Demon Snake Naga, but after some consideration, he gave up on the idea.
This was because the Twin Witches' situation was different from that of Demon Snake Naga.
The Twin Witches submitted to him purely out of fear of his power. Furthermore, they knew that Tang Zheng had placed a magical mark on both of them, so they couldn't escape even if they ran.
That was the only reason they obediently followed Tang Zheng's orders.
As for Demon Snake Naga, that matter concerned the acquisition of future Experience, and unless absolutely necessary, Tang Zheng didn't want any problems to arise.
And the reason for making the Twin Witches leave the Great Wetland?
It was, naturally, a precaution against the Slane Theocracy's future actions.
His earlier words were not meant to scare the Twin Witches. If they hadn't been able to transform into humans with the magic ring, Tang Zheng had indeed planned to get rid of them along with the Cave Lizardman.
Next—
He looked at the unconscious Gray-robed Mage beside him.
Tang Zheng's eyes narrowed. He intended to use this man as his first test subject—the first person he would kill outright.
"This is beyond right and wrong."
"I hope you can slumber for all eternity."
Tang Zheng stood up and stared at the Gray-robed Mage. With a flip of his hand, an iron sword appeared in his palm, and he swung it down.
Blood gushed from the man's throat!
The Gray-robed Mage awoke from his unconscious state, his bloodshot eyes flying wide open. After his body trembled a few times, all signs of life vanished completely.
Experience Gained: 16212
Experience Bar: 65977/120000
Information flashed on his status panel.
"Above Level 29... it actually provides nearly twenty thousand Experience." Tang Zheng was slightly surprised when he saw the amount of Experience gained.
Since he couldn't accurately determine the Gray-robed Mage's specific Level, Tang Zheng couldn't analyze how much Experience was given per level.
"Resurrect Dead: Modified!"
As the thought flashed through his mind, Tang Zheng immediately cast the resurrection magic, his eyes fixed on the space above the Gray-robed Mage's body.
Under the passive ability of his Shaman Master class, he could see the translucent Soul that emerged from the body after the Gray-robed Mage's death.
*Omm—*
A powerful wave of magic power emanated from Tang Zheng, forming a circular magic circle three meters in diameter at his feet.
The astonishing, formless magic power made the surrounding air feel heavy.
Because "Resurrect Dead: Modified" was a revival spell modified by the humans of this world for mana-based casters, it required double the magic power.
With such a high magic power cost, even with Tang Zheng's current reserves, he wouldn't be able to cast it many times.
Therefore, he activated the "Mad Meditation" skill from his Mad Mage class to cover the cost.
*Fwoosh—*
The light of the magic circle flashed.
The Soul, which had been hovering over the Gray-robed Mage's corpse and was gradually showing signs of dissipating, was forcefully pushed back into the body by the effect of the resurrection magic.
"Ahhh—"
The Gray-robed Mage's corpse instantly returned to life. He let out a subconscious, blood-curdling scream, as if waking from a nightmare, and sat up, his face covered in a cold sweat.
"Thank you, Alli—"
The Gray-robed Mage gasped for breath a few times. As his consciousness gradually returned, he subconsciously started to speak.
However!
When he saw Tang Zheng standing before him, the Gray-robed Mage's pupils contracted violently, his face a mask of shock, bewilderment, disbelief, and a mix of other emotions.
"Swarm of Insects—" The Gray-robed Mage tried to cast magic, but Tang Zheng, who had been on guard, acted a step ahead and knocked him unconscious again.
At such close range, the Gray-robed Mage stood no chance of resisting Tang Zheng's true close-combat abilities.
"Resurrection magic really is related to the Soul."
Tang Zheng looked at the unconscious Gray-robed Mage, thinking about the changes that had occurred during the process, and muttered, "His Aura has weakened considerably. According to the traits of low-grade resurrection magic, he should have dropped four Levels."
Tang Zheng had long known about this change, so he wasn't surprised.
In the anime and the light novel, Bone King and Demiurge had conducted numerous experiments on healing and resurrection magic and had already reached certain conclusions.
The reason Tang Zheng hadn't resurrected Forest Sage King Hamsuke after killing him was precisely because his life level would drop after resurrection.
The reduction in Experience was one thing.
The key was that the quality of materials from the target, such as its fur, would also decrease along with its Level after being resurrected from death.
As for skinning the target beforehand, that was useless too. Upon resurrection, any previously removed body parts would simply vanish.
This was also a conclusion reached by Demiurge, so there was no way to farm materials through resurrection magic. While there were some ways one could try to exploit a bug, the results were unknown.
(end of chapter)