Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 692

Chapter 692: Chapter 234: Tan Ming Reveals Himself, Inheriting the Will!

Following the entry named “Tanming” in the illustrated guide, another “Tanming Rune” he triggered appeared on the panel.

Tanming, descending?

Cheng Ye looked up at the ceiling of the cave, where the red cloud representing Tan Ming was gradually gaining the upper hand, expanding continuously in the energy clash with the Ten Thousand Orders Land Conch.

With the frailty of a human, one doesn’t even have the ability to survive in the cracks during these battles between extraordinary monsters.

In other words, even if you want to pick a loophole, only a true Extraordinary has the qualifications.

After all, the Ten Thousand Orders Land Conch only needs a single spiritual contamination, and even with the protection of the Heart-Protecting Fire, he might not be able to resist.

But looking at it another way, if you choose to join one side of the camp and get involved in this struggle, not only can you receive proper protection, but you might also gain exaggerated rewards.

“The battle of the Extraordinaries is indeed much like a battle of beliefs.”

Cheng Ye muttered softly to himself as his thoughts gradually cleared, “Tan Ming represents the rules of Stone Province, which do not allow any uncontrolled vitality to exist, nor do they allow extraordinary plants to be born wantonly. Whereas the Ten Thousand Orders Land Conch represents the rules of the previous generation of Extraordinaries, aiming to transform this continent into a natural world where all beings compete and thrive.”

“With such opposing beliefs, unless one possesses extraordinary strength, there’s no such thing as a neutral stance. Either you accept it, or you oppose it; there’s no middle path…”

He stood in place, quietly pondering, until the blood-colored energy attached to Luokuke completely dissipated, returned to him, and once again gathered around him, forming new blood-red human figures, only then did he finally come back to his senses.

Relying on this Tanming Rune, his current state was somewhat like wearing the Ghost Shadow Mask from Jackie Chan Adventures.

Not only could he possess the blood-red human figures to “fight on his behalf” at any time, but he could also summon an army of human figures at will, and even bestow energy upon humans like Luokuke.

This was Tan Ming’s power, and through the rune, he temporarily controlled this power.

But the price was also evident; before he accumulated enough energy to summon Tan Ming’s descent, he couldn’t leave the cave using the Cotton Room.

As soon as he approached the light gate, the blood-red battle armor on his body would automatically turn him away, completely out of his control.

Cheng Ye could vaguely feel that if he voluntarily unloaded the “Tanming Envoy” state, he should be able to regain his freedom and leave. But doing so would significantly weaken the power Tan Ming left within the Cotton Room, perhaps making it no longer a match for the Ten Thousand Orders Land Conch.

“The opportunity to weaken the Conch is right in front of me; I can’t give up. If Tan Ming wants to take over my body after resurrecting, I’ll just cancel the skill then!”

Cheng Ye gritted his teeth; this was the downside of borrowing external power—there’s always a constraint.

But compared to the hard-to-control power of the Shrinking Earth Giant Louse, Tan Ming’s power was clearly stronger and more controllable.

He stopped hesitating, turned his head, and charged into the nearby forest area, followed closely by the army of blood-red human figures, beginning to sweep away the remaining Crab-men.

As he continuously devoured the vitality of the forest, the progress bar of the Tanming Rune rose at a steady pace.

And in the cave, with the Blood Shadow Corps’ siege under the command, the number of Crab-men began to drastically reduce.

The scales of victory leaned increasingly towards Tan Ming.

At noontime, when the light should have been brightest, the cave grew more and more dim, resembling the onset of the apocalypse, with only the blood-red light spots floating in the air barely illuminating the surroundings.

Over two-thirds of the forest area had completely lost its greenery, stepping into “late autumn.”

Large patches of grass and trees turned yellow and withered, the branches lost their toughness, breaking with the slightest breeze.

The withering aura permeated every inch of space, and even the white cloud formed by the Ten Thousand Orders Land Conch was fading in color, the edges blurring, as if it would completely dissipate in the next second.

Meanwhile, the number of Crab-men sharply decreased under the Blood Shadow Corps’ extermination, and the energy the Conch could mobilize dwindled, struggling to maintain the layer of dim blue halo over the lake, the halo’s range more than halved from before.

Cheng Ye stood on the high ground at the lake’s edge, looking up at the Conch in the center of the lake, his tense nerves finally slightly relaxing.

Compared with the volume of a small cabin when first seen the day before, the Conch was now reduced in size by dozens of times, roughly comparable to his off-road vehicle, with its shell losing much of its luster, and even those densely packed runes no longer shimmering.

Although it hadn’t shrunk to a containable standard yet, on the other side, Tan Ming had not descended either.

Both sides seemed to be gathering all their strength, preparing for a life-and-death showdown at a certain moment.

Taking out the pendant, Cheng Ye looked at the bottom right corner.

The previously full charge had been converted into four portions of the normal version of Living Water Essence, safely stored inside.

And in the illustrated guide panel, there was 200% of the Living Water Essence properties yet to be redeemed, which converted to two more portions, making a total of six portions.

This quantity was sufficient to completely satisfy the Shrinking Earth Giant Louse’s requirements, but when Cheng Ye immersed his vision into the Spiritual Body Space, he was still taken aback by the changes in the Shrinking Earth Giant Louse:

The previously faintly golden bug body had become bulkier, enveloped in a layer of warm golden light on the surface.

The initially dense and complex compound eyes began to draw together, no longer scattered in arrangement, faintly revealing subtle runes flowing within the depths of the pupils, adding a touch of spirituality.

Even the runes engraved on its carapace had significant changes; some merged, forming more complex patterns, while others enlarged independently, occupying a more conspicuous position on the shell.