Returning to Azure Cloud Resort.
At the passage leading to the guest rooms, Yu Na hesitated awkwardly, her cheeks flushed red as she thanked Han Ning once more before darting away like a startled rabbit.
"That girl's a bit tsundere..."
Han Ning chuckled and headed to Xu Ming's room to deliver the materials obtained from hunting the Vortex Shell Crab earlier.
"Boss!"
While carefully storing the snow-white crab meat, Xu Ming reported,
"Boss Lin's exploration team has been out for over two hours now."
"Oh? It's already been two hours?"
Han Ning nodded in acknowledgment but didn't pay it much mind.
After resting awhile and eating some food, when most of his Spiritual Power had recovered,
Han Ning set out again with Snowflake.
This time he didn't venture deep into the Mist Zone, instead choosing the relatively safer waters on the resort's periphery.
In the murky currents, Snowflake locked onto a solitary adult Crocodile Lizard.
With the fluctuating water levels, the average size of the Crocodile Lizards prowling nearby had grown to about 2 meters.
Moments later.
"Awooo..." The Crocodile Lizard let out a pained screech before losing its life to the constricting Vines.
[Vine Manipulation (Advanced) proficiency +1, current 83/500]
A small pale blue Energy orb quietly floated up from the lizard's corpse and merged into Han Ning's body.
[Druid Growth Progress +25]
Corresponding information immediately appeared on his panel.
[Novice Druid Lv4 → Lv5! Current progress (1/2000)]
"That's it?"
After waiting a couple seconds without sensing anything unusual, Han Ning was puzzled.
He had expected a significant power boost upon reaching Lv5.
But the anticipated surge of warmth and sudden increase in strength never came.
Just as confusion crossed Han Ning's face—
Whoosh!
Three distinctly different sigils, radiating an ancient aura, materialized before his eyes on the panel.
Their forms represented earth, stars, and a hazy green mist respectively.
Simultaneously, streams of information about the three sigils flooded Han Ning's mind.
The influx came and went swiftly.
"This is... the Druid Circles!"
Han Ning stood frozen, his gaze unfocused.
Circles represented different "groups" Druids could join—also understood as "factions" or "schools"—to gain specialized paths.
Broadly speaking, Druids could affiliate with three Circles: Earth, Stars, and Spores.
The three sigils hovered before him like shimmering orbs.
1.
Earth Circle: Unearth the power hidden deep within forests and earth. Through your hands, all things flourish. Every creature walking the land sings praises to this ode of earth.
Earth Druids gain deeper understanding and can accelerate plant growth cycles, guiding plants toward beneficial directional evolution. All earth-related skills receive enhancements.
Additionally, they strengthen Shapeshifting into land-based creature forms, granting greater adaptability, tougher defenses, and enhanced endurance during such transformations.
At its core, it lies in taking root in the earth, drawing strength, and becoming the steadfast guardian and shaper of nature on land.
2.
Star Circle: Storms as your wings, dragon scales as your armor, harnessing thunder, soaring through the nine heavens.
Druids swear oaths to the stars, attuning to the power of the heavens and constellations, receiving their blessings to gain more versatile abilities.
When transforming into avian forms, dragons, or even legendary wyverns, they attain unparalleled speed, explosive strength, formidable scaly defenses, and an affinity for wind and lightning elements.
It pursues the pinnacle of individual power and dominion over the skies, becoming the sovereign of the heavens.
Spore Circle: The flower of life blooming in decay, where demise is not an end but the cradle of rebirth. To master this cycle is to command life and death.
Spore Druids resemble necromancers, viewing death, necrosis, fungal growth, and spore formation as mere facets of life. They can freely manipulate these spores to enhance themselves while harming enemies.
They walk the line between life and death, wielding the powers of decay and regeneration.
[Choose one Circle at Lv5. Upon reaching corresponding levels in the future, the remaining two Circles may be selected.]
The Three Great Circles!
Reading the descriptions of the three Circles, Han Ning fell into contemplation.
In this world, the skies are perpetually swept by gales. Gaining control over storms and the freedom to soar through the heavens with the Star Circle seemed appealing.
But currently weak and human, maintaining flight would surely drain his Energy. The earth remained his foundation.
The Spore Circle seemed esoteric and obscure, something he couldn't quite grasp.
After much deliberation, Han Ning concluded that the Earth Circle best suited his present circumstances.
Joining the Earth Circle would not only enhance his plant cultivation abilities but also improve his Shapeshifting.
A dual guarantee of logistics and combat prowess.
Though the earth might gradually be submerged by the Black Tide, it wouldn't vanish entirely—and even if it did, that was a concern for the distant future.
"I'll choose the Earth Circle. I can always select the others later."
His decision was made.
His consciousness touched the glowing orb of earth.
Whoosh—
The orb dissolved into flowing light, merging into his body.
A stream of knowledge about the Earth Circle flooded his mind.
He surveyed his surroundings.
This place was some distance from the resort, at the edge of a flood-submerged lowland. Beneath his feet lay damp, soft mud and exposed, rain-chilled bedrock.
Murky rainwater relentlessly pounded his body, eroding the land beneath him.
This was the essence of the earth—a mingled scent of soil, stone, and rain.
Han Ning strode to a relatively firm patch of land with shallow water.
Then he pressed his entire body against the earth, face down, kissing the ground.
His hands plunged deep into the moist soil beside him, fingers gripping tightly onto dirt and tiny gravel.
The icy rain instantly soaked through his clothes, the chill biting to the bone.
But he paid it no mind. Instead, he closed his eyes, pouring all his focus and will into connecting with the earth beneath him.
Guided by the knowledge in his mind, he began the invocation.
No complex incantations, no mysterious ritual dances—the Earth Circle's rite centered on the most primal, direct contact and resonance.
He transformed his Mental Power into invisible tendrils, attempting to reach downward, further and further, to touch the heavy, life-nurturing power of the earth's veins.
He imagined himself as a seed, yearning to break through the soil, to absorb the nourishment of the earth.
"Boom!"
A muffled thunderclap echoed across the sky at just the right moment, as if accompanying this ritual.
Han Ning's body trembled slightly—not from cold, but from an indescribable, immense force slowly surging into him from the depths of the earth through his hands buried in the soil and his pressed body.
"Hiss..."
Snowflake seemed to sense something.
Like a loyal servant, it imitated its master's posture, lying flat against the ground.
The power wasn't scorching but carried a steady coolness.
It washed over his limbs and bones, nourishing his flesh and sinew.
His flesh rapidly restructured, becoming tougher.
Energy continuously gathered and compressed.
His human body was quietly undergoing a transformation.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Han Ning's forehead grew slightly warm.
A yellowish-brown mark resembling rolling mountains faintly appeared, shimmering briefly before quickly vanishing beneath his skin, leaving only a peculiar sensation of connection with the earth beneath his feet.
[Earth Circle Ritual Complete]
[Unlocked Earth Circle Exclusive Skill Tree]
Han Ning raised his head and opened his eyes.
At this moment, his pupils burned with a yellowish-brown glow.
From his pores, wisps of emerald-green and earthy-yellow light particles seeped out from the damp soil, swirling around him like steam.
For this instant, the steady earth energy and vibrant natural energy converged, rendering Han Ning akin to a child of the earth, exuding an aura of mystery.
Soon, the glow faded, and he returned to his human form.
"This sense of power."
Han Ning clenched his strengthened fist as a series of new skills surfaced in his mind.
After completing the Earth Circle, he awakened three more skills:
[Beast Form], [Wild Blessing], [Frenzied Growth]
"Shapeshifting!"
The moment he sensed Beast Form, Han Ning couldn't help but reveal a hint of joy.
Shapeshifting—the core combat skill of a Druid!
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