Chapter 24: Activation

When Neo met Rijef, he was carving a puppet with a dagger—or “scratching” would be a more accurate term. He lacked strength but was in good mental condition. Finding something to do helped him control his emotions, as waiting for hope always seemed too long.
“It must be tough waiting, right?” Though Neo’s voice arrived along with the cold wind, Rijef had already ignored the latter completely. “It feels like an entire lifetime has passed, especially after hearing that you knocked down nearly a hundred Black Claws this morning.”
“Hmm. If they dare to come again, you won’t be able to avoid fighting,” Neo said as he approached the bed.
The so-called bed was actually a snowboat made from an oak barrel, and clear traces of snow could still be seen on the ground inside the tent.
“Well, then it depends on what miracle cure you’ve brought.”
“It’s not a medicine—it’s power. Wait a moment…” Neo said as he pulled up a folding stool, sat down, and closed his eyes slightly, entering a light state of meditation.
Rijef didn’t understand Neo’s intention and turned to Ebute. Ebute shook his head, so the two looked at Neo together, waiting quietly for an answer.
Neo could keep delaying exploring his own secrets, but when it came to healing others, he felt it was necessary to examine himself, even though he felt unusually good right now.
But upon checking, he was stunned. If his body had been a meticulously built wooden house before, it was now a hall constructed from huge stones. The change was both quantitative and qualitative—the special energy flows representing physical vitality, which used to be rushing rivers, had now become babbling streams, yet they were glowing streams. Upon closer inspection, one could sense that the vitality contained within their gentle flow was far stronger than before!
The biggest change was that the “Life Veins” that used to surround his blood vessels were gone, but his blood vessels themselves had become significantly thicker, with a faint new green light network seemingly enveloping their surfaces.
“How can I still help others heal?” Although the changes were clearly positive, the disappearance of the Life Veins left Neo panicked. After calming himself down, he decided to investigate further to determine if it was still possible to reverse the use of “Life Absorption.”
Deep meditation—only a special world of thoughts. In the past, Neo would have found himself in the starry void, the imaginative realm created by Star Meditation. The higher the level, the more stars there were—more numerous, clearer, brighter, and more complex. At Neo’s current level, the dark void contained only a few stars, obscured by a hazy veil.
But this time, when he entered, he found that his imaginative realm had changed. It was a misty world, with nothing but indistinct emptiness beneath his feet and all around him. Only above his head was a deep blue sky, with a few stars scattered there, twinkling occasionally.
“I’ve been waiting for you here for some time.” A figure slowly emerged from the mist. His attire was very unique, filled with a primitive charm—branches, wooden planks, smooth, crystal-clear stones, and mostly brightly colored feathers. Neo could recognize only a few types; most were strange varieties that would be hard to imagine even in dreams.

Neo had never seen anyone dressed like this, but deep down, he felt a stir—an instinctive awareness that this person was intricately connected to his beliefs. When Neo saw the face hidden beneath the eagle helmet, he was surprised and said, “Karonper?” “What? Do you think it’s normal for me to wait in a soul coffin to see the light of day again?” Karonper’s gaze held a hint of mockery. “I’m really a magic novice; I didn’t even notice you infiltrating my body,” Neo said with self-mockery before calming down. “What’s next? Possess me?” “Choose you?” Karonper raised his eyebrows and smirked. “If I wanted to do that, I’d rather fight the cunning Thelos. At least after defeating Thelos, all I’d have to face is the deity’s arbitration mechanism.” “The deity’s… arbitration mechanism? Just that?” Neo didn’t fully understand, but he grasped the general idea—Karonper was implying that his body was too dangerous, even for someone like him to touch. “Enough of these depressing topics. I have limited time; let’s get straight to the point.” Karonper waved his right hand in the air, and billions of light spots emerged from nothingness, gathering in his hand like sand, gradually forming a transparent crystal ball with purple lightning flickering inside. Glancing at Neo, who stood stunned by what had just happened, Karonper smiled and pointed at his own head. “A trick of consciousness. This is the world of thoughts.” “But you made me see it!” Neo’s implied message was: You successfully influenced my thoughts. “What if you insist these are all illusions?” Karonper countered. Then Neo realized it was his subconscious that first believed in such a possibility, allowing Karonper to exploit it. It was the same as how Solth City was successfully invaded by darkness—first because of its internal flaws and deteriorating situation. Karonper handed the crystal ball to Neo. “This is for you. Your faith is more devout than I thought. Of course, the trials have only just begun.” “So that’s it!” By now, Neo’s vague suspicions had become very clear—aancient profession title emerged in his mind: shaman! In Old Tungus, “shaman” meant “one who knows.” It didn’t refer to a specific religion or belief but was a general term for those with shamanic experience and practices. Shamans had no religious organizations or specific founders, no temples, nor unified, standardized religious rituals. But they had three core elements: belief in nature, animism, and totem worship. Shamans believed that nature was the source of life, giving birth to all things, possessing maternal qualities and intuition. However, it expressed its will not through language or physical communication but through natural phenomena—volcanic tsunamis to plagues and radiation, from fertile forests to deserts—all manifestations of nature’s will. Shamans believed that everything in the world had a spirit. Though beings like plants, stones, and streams had spirits that were hard to manifest or communicate with, they indeed existed and had their own characteristics, wills, and even emotions.

The shaman believes that totems are mediums of spirits, forces, transformation, concentration of magic, and embodiment of the heart. A shaman’s power, strength, temperament, character, and path are determined by the classification, quantity, and meaning of the totems they possess.

Shamans were once the spiritual leaders of many werewolf clans, but since over a thousand years ago, they have gradually faded from sight and declined. In the words of an old shaman: “It’s not a matter of inheritance; it’s the heart. If the heart is nothing but a desert, no matter how seeds are sown, a forest cannot grow.” To put it more plainly, it’s a matter of faith.

Nio stretched out his hands and tremulously took the crystal ball given to him by Karonper. At that moment, he shed tears. The last time he had cried was when his parents died at the hands of their enemies. Then he swore that from then on, he would only shed blood, never tears. But in the face of faith, he broke his oath. Nothing in the world can surpass faith, as one deity said: “If love for parents, wife, and children surpasses love for me, such faith is not sincere. No matter how great the sacrifices, it cannot be considered sacred.”

The crystal ball was merely an abstraction of consciousness. Once it came into Nio’s hands, it turned into a slab of stone—a golden-colored, heavy, and ancient slab, filled with the aura of years passed. On this slab were dense ancient characters. Nio didn’t know these characters, but he could understand them without any difficulty, for the key to interpreting them was faith—faith rooted in the core of shamanism: nature.

“Could this be one of the two chapters of the Sengoras Chapters that the dark forces have been searching for?” Nio asked in astonishment. He had always thought the Sengoras Chapters were a joke, but since Karonper could wait in the depths of his mind for this encounter, it wasn’t too bold to assume that this slab covered in ancient characters was indeed one of the Sengoras Chapters.

Karonper neither confirmed nor denied it. With a slight smile, he said, “Remember, secrets related to faith are eternal secrets.”

“What if this secret is revealed?”

“That’s someone else’s ability. What you must be responsible for is your own heart.”

Nio nodded solemnly. “You are now my master.”

Karonper shook his head. “There is no master. Only pioneers, guides. Faith determines destiny. Encounters and guidance all stem from faith.”

As he spoke, Karonper slowly turned and walked back the way he came. “I’m leaving. Remember my words: secrets related to faith are eternal secrets. Never mention this incident again, no matter who it is, no matter… who…”

Nio stood there, watching Karonper’s figure disappear into the mist, his mind repeatedly pondering Karonper’s warning. “Trapped in a soul coffin, yet not even mentioning it… only saying not to bring this secret up again, no matter who… Could it be…?”

Nio was well aware of the dangers in the world. The series of strange events these days had made him increasingly believe in the theory that “nothing is impossible—only the unimaginable doesn’t exist.” Influenced by this, Karonper’s subtle hints led him to assume that perhaps Karonper had multiple personalities…

Of course, just for the sake of repaying kindness, Neo also needed to free Karonper from the secret place in Sol’s City. His planned time for this was after the Dark Invasion subsided; as of now, the earliest possible time seemed to be next spring when the weather warmed up… This matter could be put on hold. What Neo was most eager to do now was inherit the shamanic skills—perhaps the methods to save people lay within them! As Neo focused on the words on the golden-colored stone slab, an indescribable sense of connection arose from deep within him. The content on the slab felt like poetry he had recited and analyzed for over a decade, understood deeply without any doubt. While amazed, Neo could only attribute it to his heartfelt devotion to nature. “Father, Mother, thank you for guiding me throughout my life. May you enjoy eternal peace after returning to the source of the world,” Neo prayed sincerely. He believed he could still uphold the core principles of a true werewolf because of repeatedly recalling his parents’ teachings from his childhood. There are a thousand shamans, each with their own differences—different ways of understanding, different methods of advancement, different perceptions of spirits and related forces, and different manifestations of magical power. It all comes down to one’s heart and understanding. After standing in silence for a while, when Neo opened his eyes again, the world around him was bustling with activity. The mist had dissipated, and the earth emerged beneath his feet—fertile soil, vast lands stretching as far as the eye could see. In the distance, the outlines of continuous mountains were visible. The sky was high and expansive, just as he had imagined his homeland to be. Yet this place was still desolate—no rivers, no clouds, no sun, and no life. It was a world that needed to be perfected. In the blink of an eye, Neo had moved hundreds of thousands of meters. Beneath his feet stood a steeply sided mountain. On its flat summit of a thousand square meters, four beams of light floated. There were spinning silver light orbs, circulating blue light orbs, blazing red light orbs, and a steady golden light orb. Among them, only the golden orb was not just light—it also contained a stone monolith the size of a small mountain. On the monolith was a single symbol representing “acceptance,” one of the true meanings of the earth element. The symbol emitted a mysterious glow, and the monolith radiated immense power that spread like ripples, shaping this towering mountain and the earth of this world. The unlocking of the earth element was the first characteristic power Neo mastered. “Why is it the earth element?” Neo frowned, muttering to himself. His bloodline and his combat techniques should logically belong to the wind element, yet it turned out to be the earth element, which is opposite to wind. “I can answer your question,” a gentle female voice sounded in Neo’s ears, as melodious as heavenly music. Just the sound alone brought an unprecedented sense of peace to Neo’s mind. Then, a woman appeared before Neo. In her, he could find the feeling his mother gave him, the feeling Melian gave him, as well as a flawless beauty that neither of them possessed. To him, this woman was the epitome of perfection. “It’s beautiful like this. Thank you,” the woman said.

Then Neo understood—that woman’s appearance was created by his subconscious, instinctively matching that heavenly voice to depict a being perfectly flawless in his eyes.
“Who are you?”
“Do you remember your special discovery in the tunnel?”
Neo suddenly realized, “You’re related to that ancient relic?”
The woman smiled slightly and nodded. With fingers as tender as green onions, she pointed at the four balls of light. “They represent the four elemental crystals. Not long ago, you absorbed 1000 standard units of earth element energy. That’s why the power of earth element awakened first.”
“Who are you?”
“Don’t worry. I exist only because of your needs.”
“I’m still worried. I know nothing about you!”
“Would you give a sharp dagger to a child as a toy?”
“No. Are you saying I’m…”
“You need to be patient. As for how long it will take, it depends on your circumstances and efforts.”
“Grow up quickly, huh?”
The woman smiled again without saying more, implying agreement.
“Then at least tell me exactly what to do.”
“The feelings of hunger and thirst will remind you,” she said as she stretched out her hand. A ball of life-filled light formed in her palm. “This is what you can control at this stage.”
The moment Neo took the light, he was surprised to find it was exactly what he needed most right now!