6: Chapter 6 Face Balloons

After hesitating for a moment, Nie Ning's thoughts wavered between eating it and not eating it.

Looking at the black, viscous liquid, Nie Ning ultimately couldn't bring himself to try it.

"Forget it, it's not like I'm guaranteed to gain a special ability."

Supernatural Adaptability was a random and stackable ability; sometimes, one had to eat many things of the same kind to gain an ability.

Besides, this human meat was truly revolting, and it smelled as foul as feces; if it had no effect, it would be truly disgusting.

Nie Ning found a wooden board to cover the pot, planning to find a place to throw it away at night.

Closing the woodshed door, Nie Ning lay back down on the straw mat.

As his eyes turned amber, a faint white vortex condensed above him, subsequently forming a Human-Faced Balloon.

Nie Ning tried to control the Human-Faced Balloon, and it floated and moved under his command.

But soon, Nie Ning frowned because he discovered that the Human-Faced Balloon was purely decorative and could not touch any physical objects at all.

"No wonder a Chang Ghost lures people to be eaten by tigers; it turns out they have no physical means of attack at all, or perhaps my way of using it is wrong?"

Thinking of this, Nie Ning sat up from the straw mat and controlled the Human-Faced Balloon to move toward a mouse hole in the corner.

Because it could not touch physical matter, the Human-Faced Balloon easily passed through the mouse hole and found the mouse hiding inside.

As the Human-Faced Balloon rushed toward the mouse, it immediately merged into the mouse's body like a drop of water.

At the same time, the mouse's body trembled violently, and its size began to swell. Its two eyeballs bulged as if inflated, similar to the Beggar Nie Ning had encountered before.

Nie Ning could feel the mouse's consciousness struggling, but it quickly calmed down under the influence of the Human-Faced Balloon, turning into a dull, dead-fish-eyed mouse.

Controlling the mouse to crawl out of the hole, Nie Ning finally sensed the eeriness of the Human-Faced Balloon.

Possession!

A super ability that could be called a BUG; even in novels, only powerful creatures possessed such a thing.

Nie Ning looked at the mouse and frowned slightly.

"Strange, what was it that possessed the Beggar? Or was it this spirit body balloon?"

Thinking back to last night's experience, it seemed he hadn't seen the Human-Faced Balloon's true form when he killed the Beggar.

Before, he had thought it was some kind of Parasitic Beast, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.

Normally, spirit bodies would naturally dissipate; Nie Ning had never heard of anything existing in the form of a spirit body.

And for some reason, after summoning the Human-Faced Balloon, Nie Ning's Malice Perception began to work again!

Even though he could control the Human-Faced Balloon himself, it could still trigger Malice Perception. This was truly incomprehensible to Nie Ning, and he couldn't figure out the cause.

Nie Ning studied it for a while longer. He didn't figure out the issue with Malice Perception, but he discovered that the mouse actually possessed the same abilities as the Beggar.

For example, transforming into a Flesh Spider, as well as extraordinary self-healing power.

However, there was a drawback: the Human-Faced Balloon's actions actually consumed his Battle Qi. Especially when using the Supernatural Self-Healing ability, the consumption rate of Battle Qi would double.

If it weren't for the 'Strength of an Ox' trait increasing his Battle Qi capacity, Nie Ning wouldn't have been able to sustain such intense consumption.

Nie Ning thought of the mist from last night; that should be the source of the Human-Faced Balloon's power, but he didn't know how the Human-Faced Balloon obtained the mist.

"This is tricky..."

Nie Ning lightly stroked his forehead and sighed softly.

As Nie Ning canceled the Human-Faced Balloon's Possession, the mouse turned into a puddle of decayed mush, but an extra mouse face appeared on the Human-Faced Balloon.

Nie Ning looked closely but didn't see any other changes; it seemed as if it had just gained an extra face.

...

Nie Ning's gaze returned to the decayed meat on the ground.

Eating humans was truly out of the question for Nie Ning, but eating mouse meat wasn't something he couldn't try.

Next, Nie Ning followed the previous steps to cook the mouse. Although it still smelled foul, at least it wasn't as revolting.

Looking at the black, viscous liquid in the pot, Nie Ning suppressed the urge to vomit and used a wooden spoon to scoop a mouthful into his mouth.

In an instant, an indescribable stench rushed to his head, making Nie Ning's head feel dizzy as if it had been struck by a heavy blow.

"Blegh—"

Nie Ning really couldn't stand it and spat out the black slime in his mouth.

He then hurriedly went to the water jar outside and frantically poured water into his mouth, trying to wash away the nauseating stench that pierced his very soul.

Ten minutes later, Nie Ning lay back on the straw mat with a look of utter despair.

Nie Ning had never imagined that anything could bring such an intense sense of nausea.

This time, he had experienced it firsthand; that kind of stench was simply not something a human could endure.

His gaze returned to the panel; it was still the same as before. Nie Ning knew he had no fate with the Supernatural Self-Healing ability.

...

Time flew by, and soon a month had passed.

At this moment, Nie Ning sat cross-legged on the ground. The Battle Qi inside his body surged violently and frantically, then rushed toward the white Battle Qi Core in his heart.

After continuing for half an hour, as the Battle Qi gradually calmed down, Nie Ning also stepped into the late stage of an Elementary Knight.

[Class: Elementary Knight (Late Stage)]

[Talent: Supernatural Adaptability]

[bloodline: ??? (Not Activated)]

[Derived Traits: Strange Beast Body, Beginner Self-Healing, Strength of an Ox, Elementary Poison Resistance, Elementary Cold Resistance, Malice Perception, Strong Physique, Elementary Wood Affinity]

[Derived Skill: Acting as the Tiger's Accomplice]

[Cultivation Methods: Basic Knight Method, Swift Fox Method]

[Skills: Hedal Combat Technique (Proficient), Swift Swordsmanship (Proficient), Concentrated Heavy Strike (Proficient), Single Stroke Slash (Beginner)]

As a transmigrator, reaching the late stage of an Elementary Knight in a year and a half was a cultivation speed that far exceeded most locals.

However, Nie Ning's cultivation speed hadn't always been like this.

At first, his cultivation speed was like a turtle's; his weak physique was simply not suited for the path of a knight.

But with the emergence of 'Strength of an Ox', 'Strong Physique', and 'Strange Beast Body', Nie Ning's physical condition had improved, allowing him to cultivate using his powerful physique and surging blood and qi.

In just a year and a half, Nie Ning had completed a journey that took ordinary knights years or even over a decade to finish.

Unfortunately, after so much time, Nie Ning still hadn't figured out what kind of bloodline he possessed.

It had clearly existed before the Strange Beast Body appeared, but it always showed as not activated.

Moreover, in Nie Ning's understanding, the Strange Beast Body should also belong to a bloodline, but the two seemed to be calculated separately.

Currently, the power of the Strange Beast Body mainly came from wild boars, oxen, and foxes, as well as the tiger power he had obtained recently.

This could enhance Nie Ning's physical fitness in all aspects. The Strange Beast Body was also the reason Nie Ning had been able to silently insta-kill the Knight Thief before.

Of course, the sneak attack was also a factor.

Just as Nie Ning was checking his panel, a furious Lilith suddenly burst into the woodshed.

...