Lurt’s bones had been transformed into Inala’s Spirit Weapon through the Prana Domination Skill. This was how the Empyrean Zingers controlled him and kept him captive in the biome.
But Prana was necessary to control Lurt. Currently, Inala had no Prana to control the latter.
“Once I kill you, I’ll be free!” Lurt grinned and activated his Human Avatar, releasing a toxic mist with hallucinogenic properties. He created a toxic cloud and fanned it towards Inala, excited, “Die!”
Mystic Bone Art—Puppetry!
Inala stared at a Prana Bomb close to Lurt’s feet. With a thought from him, it transformed into a Prana Hand and latched onto Lurt’s leg, causing him to shriek in response.
Inala was immersed in a bath filled with the fluid of Prana Bombs. There was also a dense mixture of Lifeforce mixed into it. Therefore, recovering enough to control a Prana Hand was easy.
As the toxic cloud approached him, Inala exhaled with force and dispersed it. As Prana continued to funnel into his Spirit Container from Lurt, Inala was able to recover faster, transforming three more Prana Bombs into Prana Hands to latch onto the target. 𝒐𝗏𝓛xt.𝐂𝑂𝗆
“Wait! I give up! I was just joking!” Lurt shrieked in fluster, “If I wanted to actually kill you, I would have done so already. There were plenty of opportunities in the past four days.”
‘The last Empyrean Zinger died just now. It could easily control him.’ Inala thought, ‘So, he simply didn’t have an opportunity to deal with me before.’
“Sure, I believe you.” Inala smiled but didn’t retract his Prana Hands until Lurt was drained of all Prana. Seeing the latter sprawled on the floor, exhausted, Inala activated his Mystic Bone Art to regulate his body’s condition better.
He then got out of the tub and put a Life Hand inside, watching it absorb all the Lifeforce trapped in the fluid. After four days, not much remained, but it still allowed Inala to recover a decade’s worth of Lifespan.
Now, he was able to move around a bit better. He was still far from making a full recovery, but he was already on the right track. He could observe a couple of Slump Lizards moving far away.
He stared at the pile of material on the ground, ‘I’ll deal with it later.’
Using Mystic Bone Art, Inala refined a bunch of Prana Bombs into a coffin for Lurt, trapping the latter within. Only his face was left open, for him to breathe. His body was completely wedged into the coffin.
It was impossible for Lurt to break free with his strength. And since the coffin was made from Prana Bomb, even if Lurt uses any secret techniques to generate Prana, the coffin would absorb it all, preventing him from escaping.
“Stay here obediently.” Inala left behind the words and walked in the direction of the closest group of Slump Lizards.
He was aching all over. There were still plenty of injuries in his body. The power of Bone-Melting Artillery hadn’t been fully eradicated from him yet. It would be hard for him to strengthen his body using his Secondary Nature, for his bones were still soft.
Inala stopped behind a tree and inhaled laboured breaths, feeling strained just by the walking activity. He peered out and kept watch on the closest Slump Lizard, ‘It’s barely within my Spirit Weapon range.’
His Prana Hand landed on the ground and walked using its fingers, slowly marching forth while hidden amidst the grass.
It was slow, ensuring to not create any sounds. Slump Lizards were nocturnal creatures. As it was daytime, they were asleep. Of course, their sleeping environment was the Angan River.
But as it had been drained out, they wandered through the region and dug potholes to hole up within. As long as they dig deep enough, the soil will turn wet due to the groundwater. The damp environment was enough for them to sleep.
The hole would also block out the sun, with the shade giving them a passable sleeping environment. But as the sun moved from one end to the other, the angle of shadow cast within the hole varied.
In some cases, the sunlight shone directly into the holes, causing the sleeping Slump Lizards to move out to a shadier region and dig another hole.
The ones he spotted were in the midst of relocating their sleeping spots. Arriving before a pothole, the Prana Hand peered forward, stealthy in its actions. Its density gradually increased as Inala funnelled Prana into it after activating his Secondary Nature.
Like a frog, the Prana Hand leaped into the hole and latched onto the Slump Lizard’s face, accurately grabbing its mouth to prevent it from letting out any cries.
The Slump Lizard struggled to break free, but the Prana Hand was too heavy. And in its sleeping pose, it couldn’t exert its full strength, helpless as its Prana was absorbed.
A few seconds later, a Life Hand leaped onto its body, grabbing it by the neck to squeeze with force. The Slump Lizard spasmed and shrivelled up.
While this was happening, two more Prana Hands walked past the pothole and approached their neighbours. Without a knock, the Prana Hands barged into the homes of the Slump Lizards and subdued them.
After all their Prana was absorbed, rendering them weak, the Life Hand would target them.
A steady stream of Prana and Lifeforce surged into him as Inala activated his cultivation technique in full swing, recuperating from his injuries. He was slow in his hunt, pausing to recover after absorbing Prana and Lifeforce from a Slump Lizard.
He took his sweet time, left with no other choice. Only after an entire day had passed did he make a complete recovery, brimming with Prana at full capacity. His age recovered to seventeen years. All his injuries had been healed.
He then accumulated a few Life Bombs and fed them to the Sumatra Zingers. There were eight of them that were currently left intact. After being fed a Life Bomb each, the Sumatra Zingers recovered, becoming ready to be used.
Inala slung them to his hips. He also created hooks to the end of his Prana Hands and Life Hands, making it easier to hook them to the belt on his hip.
Once he returned to the pile of items ejected from his biome, Inala loaded the Prana Bombs on a large trolley and also threw the coffin with Lurt into it. He then carefully placed the skulls at the top and pushed the trolley forward, using his Secondary Nature to strengthen him enough to move it.
He fought against the Slump Lizards along the way and slowly increased his reserve of Life Bombs, for they were the most important for his recovery means. He stored them in their miniature forms, making more space in his trolley.
By afternoon the next day, he arrived at the hill situated on the outskirts of Ellora City. Entering the tunnel, he let out a shriek. An hour later, a train arrived. He loaded everything onto the train and grabbed the Two Storey Storage Lantern sent by the Empyrean Zinger King.
Inala had long since created the Skill that Blola had used to access and gain control of a Storage Lantern. And now, all three of Gudora’s Storage Lanterns came into his possession.
He stuffed all the small skulls into it. The train left, carrying the skulls of the Rockatrice and the two Centingers.
Inala exited the station and made his way to Ellora City, stopping at the location where the City Lord estate existed once. Approaching a certain location, he took out four Spirit Weapons in the shape of drills and began to carve out the entrance leading into the Parute Tree farm.