Mildred Hampri washed the coffee cup like an ordinary old person, nodding along as she said, "Becoming a controller deepens the curse. Just like I now prefer to hunt using webs and have developed an appetite for insects, you despise those who harm spiders as much as you despise those who harm plants."

Pouring the powder ground from coffee beans and unknown fruits, Mildred Hampri returned to the fireplace sofa, waiting for the kettle to boil. The scalding hot water was poured into the coffee cup, a mist of mixed aromas from coffee beans and herbs rising up.

Cupping the coffee and curling up on the sofa, for an elderly person who has been through the abyss of despair and is on the brink of death, nothing is more delightful than peacefully drinking a cup of coffee by a warm fireplace with friends.

"The curse that has deepened for me is my presence..." Not yet close to old age, Silver Cross·Sloan also enjoyed this bliss, slowly narrating, "The [Hunter] controller grants me the power to be at my best moment, but the curse makes me easily detectable at all times, even the blind can sense my silent arrival."

The two controllers, who had mastered the release of power for over ten years, told Lu Li unknown details and taboos more detailed and specific than books.

"Be cautious about increasing your cursed title, especially cautious about releasing power... We know that with each cursed title released, the power intensifies along with the temptation... Before you, the one with the most cursed titles was Wolay Cobus who, after releasing his second title, fell into depravity, destroying everything within sight—anomalies, humans, nests, Spirit Town... Although you have the power to plunder humanity, the river will eventually dry up."

Silver Cross·Sloan and Mildred Hampri have both experienced that prolonged despair. Like a matchstick in a snowstorm, igniting a weak and fleeting glimmer of hope, only to vanish into the cold night in a blink.

When the balance tips, it only tumbles faster and faster—

Lu Li kept the reminders in mind.

Creak—

The half-opened door disturbed the conversation, Merchant Anthony returned with the anomaly.

"We can begin."

Silver Cross·Sloan put down his half-cup of coffee, took his old friend the silver crossbow, and went to the pen's edge.

Merchant Anthony sent the weakened anomalies, bound and wrapped in the Alchemy Blanket, into the pen, where they twisted and struggled as Lu Li approached—the scent of humanity perceived by them.

Silver Cross·Sloan raised the silver crossbow, and three arrows streamed through the air, brushing past the ropes outside the Alchemy Blanket.

Snap—

The ropes snapped, and the Alchemy Blanket unfurled, revealing the three figures within: a weakened anomaly, a plant anomaly, and a featherless chicken.

Lu Li at this moment released the cursed title of [Speaker of the Trees].

An illusory young tree shrouded in light emerged behind him, with an aura of vitality spreading like a forest around.

The pen transformed: the weakened anomaly, coveting vitality, rushed toward Lu Li, while feeling the threat beside it and the vitality ahead, flap-winged and lunging forward the featherless chicken.

As it approached the pen's edge, the plant anomaly's roots chased after the weakened anomaly like vines, tightly entwining, stabbing into the body, extracting nourishment.

The featherless chicken was blocked by the pen, anxiously flapping and clucking.

The weakened anomaly withered and dried, abandoned by the roots, the plant anomaly approached Lu Li like a slow and steadfast octopus.

Because of the [Speaker of the Trees] cursed title, it protected Lu Li with a guard. Because of its anomaly identity, it attacked the featherless chicken again and coveted Silver Cross·Sloan and Mildred Hampri.

A flash of white light, and webs stuck the plant anomaly tightly, saving the poor featherless chicken curled at the pen's bottom, Mildred Hampri looked towards Lu Li.

The soil beneath Lu Li's feet loosened, swelled, and a bud emerged, growing slowly visible to the naked eye.

Humanity gradually and constantly diminishing.

"Wait a moment." Silver Cross·Sloan, thinking, stopped Lu Li from retrieving his released power and used the silver crossbow to cut a wound on the back of his hand.

A thin line of blood appeared, starting to heal and close gradually before a bead of blood could flood out, healing completely after a few seconds.

Silver Cross·Sloan unhesitatingly cut three gradually deepening wounds on the back of his hand, observing their healing speed.

"It's an auxiliary type..." Mildred Hampri murmured. "As a Primordial Breed, its power isn't weak."

Unfortunately, it is not of the war or guardian type. That means Lu Li can walk to some extent outside human civilization. Like the old sewers, like the surface.

The release of the cursed title does not remain constant. Over time, the shadow behind will gradually grow until it becomes a Mature Breed.

"Mature Breed is the peak of a weakened cursed title and the end of our path... But it's not for you," Silver Cross·Sloan said.

A truly unreduced release of a cursed title is called a Perfect Breed.

For Lu Li, the greatest obstacle ahead is not humanity, but acquiring a secure breed itself—it requires walking on the edge of death and life.

In a matter of seconds, the first wound had completely healed, the second had scabbed over, and the deepest third was healing.

Silver Cross·Sloan signaled Lu Li to retract his power, but it wasn't until the wounds scabbed that the tree's shadow behind Lu Li dimmed and faded away.

The power sustained for tens of seconds had turned the soil around Lu Li into a lawn, brimming with vitality like midsummer, clashing completely with the desolate Swamp.

Lu Li summoned Merchant Anthony, contacting Instructor Kris to bring a mirror simultaneously.

Soon, with the mirror in hand, Lu Li and the two controllers returned to the wooden hut, and facing the mirror, Lu Li once again released the cursed title.

This time, he truly observed the silhouette of the young tree behind him: as if waking from winter, tiny saplings grew from its branches shrouded in light, the canopy slightly taller than Lu Li.

At the height of the chest on the trunk, Lu Li saw a scar—

And as he retracted his power, the first shoot grew into the silhouette of a leaf.

The mark Anna carved onto Annie in childhood led Lu Li to contact the Land of Hope, inquiring about Annie's current situation.

[Don't worry, she is still thriving.]

The twisted silhouette replied.

The apparition of the cursed title's shadow behind was merely the result of a spiritual materialization.

Having already accomplished the goal of joining the Giant Tree Academy, Lu Li would soon leave the academy.

Silver Cross·Sloan suggested, "If you wish to travel, Midnight City is a good place to go, the core of human civilization, where our power overlooks, and you can also participate in the March tournament in time."

"I don't intend to participate." Lu Li once again declined his invitation.

Silver Cross·Sloan lightly shook his head, "One of the tournament's rewards is a cursed title. Undoubtedly, that's the war-type cursed title you currently need."

In the end, Lu Li did not sever his ties with the Giant Tree Academy.

Not only due to the tournament a month later but also Silver Cross·Sloan's farewell.

"Remember to visit us at the Swamp, we have a constant stream of prey sent here, and there are other controllers in need of assistance."

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