Chapter 410

### Chapter 332: Imprisonment

In a clearing within the forest of the New World, the area that once belonged to the Wilderness Spirit’s altar has now turned into a fierce battlefield. The Wilderness Spirit, Wood Hoof, has transformed natural elements such as mud, stones, branches, and fallen leaves into a wild buffalo-like form, trampling upon the surrounding skeleton soldiers. Waves of black-clad skeletons are being crushed underfoot. Above the altar, the Essence defending Wood Hoof is entangled with the ghosts controlled by Extraordinary Beings, filling the area with eerie howls.

The skeleton soldiers attack Wood Hoof using firearms and explosives. While the firearms barely affect Wood Hoof, the booming explosives repeatedly blast its large natural form into damaged pieces. Although Wood Hoof quickly utilizes the surrounding environmental materials to repair the damage caused by the explosions, this act continuously consumes its Spirituality, and the hastily repaired structures remain unstable.

On the other hand, the skeleton soldiers continue to fight despite being severely damaged, some left with only their upper bodies or just heads… Even when dismembered, these bones can still move on their own, and they can even reassemble themselves if not too destroyed. Although Wood Hoof seems capable of quickly defeating the skeleton soldiers, completely halting their activity proves to be difficult. The skeletons fight tenaciously in their damaged state, and if this continues, Wood Hoof’s strength will only diminish further due to exhaustion, which is not a viable strategy.

Wood Hoof realizes its predicament. Faced with the relentless attacks from the skeleton soldiers, it devises a new plan. At that moment, a faint glow appears on the massive horns made of branches, and with a sudden swing, a vast number of skeletons are shattered, sending countless bone fragments flying. However, this time, the skeletons do not rise again, but instead lie still, becoming true corpses.

In this instance, Wood Hoof has infused its attack with Spirituality, using its own essence of “Silence” to target the fractured souls within the skeleton soldiers. Once the souls disperse, the skeleton soldiers become unable to move.

This action by Wood Hoof successfully incapacitates a large number of skeleton soldiers; however, it further accelerates the consumption of its Spirituality, which is precisely what the mastermind orchestrating this attack aims to see.

Not far from the altar, on a small hill, a figure cloaked in dark robes with a hood is watching the distant battlefield, observing the conflict between Wood Hoof and the skeleton soldiers. She speaks in a low, feminine voice.

“The Wilderness Spirit… A powerful spirit and a product amalgamated with its surrounding environment. Its spirit body strength is truly admirable… It’s much stronger than most evil spirits formed solely from grievances. Unfortunately… such spirits are far too rare on the Main Continent…

“Now that Wood Hoof is almost weakened… Next, we just need the medium…”

Muttering to herself, the hooded woman continues to gaze at the battlefield, her expression suggesting she is waiting for something. Shortly after, a figure appears among the trees nearby—Banu.

“Lady Larina, I have acquired what you requested.”

Using Spiritual Seal Language, Banu addresses the woman named Larina. Upon hearing Banu’s words, Larina pulls down her hood, revealing the face of a middle-aged woman with dark hair, slightly tanned skin, and some wrinkles. She gives Banu a serious glance and responds sternly in Spiritual Seal Language.

“Too slow. The speed you promised me was not like this.”

“I-I’m sorry, Lady Larina! I encountered some trouble while searching for Wood Hoof’s burial site, which caused a delay. I hope you can forgive me. However, I have obtained what you need—Wood Hoof’s burial soil and bone fragments.”

Saying this, Banu takes a small bag from his waist and hands it to Larina. After receiving it, Larina opens the bag to find a small quantity of soil and a small piece of bone inside.

After inspecting the contents of the bag, Larina nods and crouches down, gazing at the distant battle at the altar. She places the small bag in front of her and takes out a small jar from her cloak.

Then, Larina fixes her gaze on Wood Hoof in the distance, murmuring something under her breath. As she does so, the small jar she just took out opens by itself, and long, worm-like grasses wriggle out from inside. These grasses crawl into the bag, entwining the burial soil and bone fragments, gradually shaping themselves. Before long, the grasses wrap around the soil and bone, forming the shape of a wild buffalo. Upon seeing this, Larina picks it up and holds it in her palm.

“Bear my incantation… O spirit of the land.”

Muttering, Larina extends her hand and crushes the head of the grass buffalo. At the same time, without any warning, the head of Wood Hoof’s natural form explodes, sending rocks, dirt, and wood shards scattering to the ground.

In the aftermath of this scene, Wood Hoof’s spirit emits a wail before beginning to reassemble its head. At that moment, Larina crushes the entire grass buffalo in her hand, causing Wood Hoof’s entire natural form to explode, transforming into dust and fragments that scatter down.

Utilizing the vital medium provided by Banu, Larina, after exhausting a significant amount of Spirituality, completely obliterates Wood Hoof’s natural form, forcing its spirit to appear amid the dust. At this juncture, Larina tightly grips the bone fragment of Wood Hoof in her hand, continuing to expend Spirituality to cast a curse on its spirit. In an instant, powerful curse energy is inflicted upon Wood Hoof’s spirit, forcing it to slump down weakly.

Just then, several figures begin to emerge from the surrounding forest near the altar. They are not the previous black-clad skeleton soldiers, but rather men with white skin, dressed in various outfits and bearing the features of the Main Continent. Some hold firearms, vigilantly surveying the area.

Among them, three or four are observing Wood Hoof’s spirit, muttering something under their breath, seemingly also casting curses on Wood Hoof’s spirit. They are Extraordinary Beings under Larina, and the skeleton soldiers entangled with Wood Hoof earlier were primarily manipulated through sigils by them. Now, they are cursing Wood Hoof’s spirit alongside Larina.

Behind these Extraordinary Beings, more ordinary people, serving as laborers, arrive, carrying a large iron coffin. The men carrying the coffin quietly approach the bound Wood Hoof spirit, setting the iron coffin before it and opening it. The interior of the iron coffin is inscribed with dense runes, and the spirit of Wood Hoof, seeing the individuals before it, is filled with rage.

“I see its spirit has been subdued. You, take my people and place its burial soil and bones into the Soul Binding Coffin. Then we can forcibly imprison this Wilderness Spirit’s soul.” Seeing this scene, Larina speaks to Banu nearby, who immediately nods in response.

“Yes, Lady Larina.”

…

In the altar within the forest, the fierce battle has finally subsided. The remnants of the battlefield are now bustling with the activity of white-skinned individuals. A small portion of them are collecting firearms, burying skeletons, and clearing the traces of the battle, while the majority are capturing the Essences.

Without Wood Hoof, the remaining Essences in the altar possess virtually no ability to resist. These invading white Extraordinary Beings curse them, and they are controlled by the ghosts they command. The invading Extraordinary Beings transport small, coffin-like boxes inscribed with runes, filling them with dirt and sealing the captured Essences inside.

The largest Essence, namely Wood Hoof’s spirit, is imprisoned within a heavy iron coffin measuring two to three meters long, containing its burial soil and bones.

Using mediums and soul coffins, they seek to seal and dominate the ferocious and formidable spirit, which is the task these Extraordinary Beings undertake.

Amidst the busy clearing, Larina, cloaked in her robes, inspects the area, observing one Essence after another being sealed into the prepared small coffins. She approaches the iron coffin containing Wood Hoof’s spirit and inquires of the Extraordinary Being standing there.

“Kale, what is the current situation?”

“Esteemed lady, without that wild buffalo spirit, these Essences are much easier to handle. Almost all the Essences near the altar have been collected. We plan to advance into the forest for more captures.”

The Extraordinary Being named Kale responds respectfully when questioned by Larina. Listening to his words, Larina nods and continues to ask.

“Then, how many Essences do you expect to harvest specifically this time?”

“I believe over thirty should be no problem. Mainly because our skeletons have suffered significant losses, and we lack enough manpower to carry back too many Soul Binding Coffins. Otherwise, we could have captured more,” Kale replies, glancing at the piles of coffins before shifting his tone, adding.

“However, the Essences of the New World are much purer than the lonely ghosts and wild spirits of the Main Continent. The efficiency of refining them for Spirituality is significantly higher. Not to mention we also harvested such a large one today. If we bring it back to Dankdo, it will surely surprise many people! This is all thanks to you, lady, for guiding us to the exact altar and burial site of this creature.” Kale gestures toward the iron coffin lying on the ground, which holds Wood Hoof’s spirit—the greatest gain from this hunt.