Chapter 11: Awakening

Judging from the careful look on Daoist Master White Stone's face, it was clear that this black liquid was quite important to him. With a wave of his hand, he released a burst of black light that enveloped the liquid before falling upon the black block of ice.

As soon as the liquid came into contact with the ice block, it immediately seeped in, quickly turning the transparent block of ice murky black in color, to the extent that the figure of the young man inside became rather blurry and indistinguishable.

A pleased look appeared on Daoist Master White Stone's face, and he stowed the gourd away before sitting down again with his legs crossed.

This liquid was the Black Corpse Soul Corruption Bane that he had carefully refined using over 10 types of rare ingredients. It was an extremely vicious solution capable of infiltrating a cultivator's spiritual sense and harming their soul.

Daoist Master White Stone made a hand seal, and the specks of black light within the ice instantly began to move, with a part of it beginning to shift toward Liu Shi's head.

His plan was to only infuse a bit of the soul corruption bane at a time to gradually erase Liu Shi's soul. In doing so, he would be able to minimize the instinctive resistance that the subject would put up, thereby ensuring the highest probability of success.

Right as the first few specks of light made contact with Liu Shi's head, they immediately vanished into it.

Not only that, but all of the black specks of light in the entire block of ice erupted into a frenzy, surging rapidly into all parts of Liu Shi's body in an uncontrollable manner.

Daoist Master White Stone was extremely alarmed by this, and he frantically made hand seals in an attempt to regain control over the specks of black light, but it was already too late.

All of the Black Corpse Soul Corruption Bane vanished in the blink of an eye, but Liu Shi wasn't displaying any visible changes, and it was as if nothing had happened.

"What's going on? Where is my Black Corpse Soul Corruption Bane?" Daoist Master White Stone rose to his feet with a furious and alarmed expression while releasing his spiritual sense to examine Liu Shi's body over and over again.

However, no matter how much he searched, he wasn't able to find anything amiss.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

He stared intently at Liu Shi through the block of ice, then took a deep breath, and the enraged look on his face quickly faded as his brows furrowed tightly in contemplation.

"He's not giving off any magic power fluctuations, so he's definitely not a cultivator. Could it be that he's taken some type of spirit medicine or is carrying some type of protective treasure that just so happens to be able to counteract my Black Corpse Soul Corruption Bane?"

With that in mind, his gaze wandered over to Liu Shi's chest, where there was a slight bulge beneath his robes, and there was a faint glimmer of dark green light there.

In the end, Daoist Master White Stone still decided against undoing the ice seal to search Liu Shi's body. After all, once the array was activated, it couldn't be easily cut off.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he flipped a hand over to produce a green gourd, then released an incantation seal, and green light flashed from the opening of the gourd, following which around a dozen thin, dark green insects flew out from within.

These insects were around the same thickness as a strand of hair and around half a foot in length each. They flew through the air while screeching incessantly, and as soon as they emerged, they immediately transformed into streaks of green light that flew into the ice as if they had no substance, then immediately attempted to burrow their way into the top of Liu Shi's head.

Bursts of peculiar screeching rang out from within the ice, but no matter how hard the green insects tried, they were unable to burrow even a single millimeter into the skin on Liu Shi's head.

It was as if there were some type of invisible power in Liu Shi's head that was keeping the insects at bay.

Daoist Master White Stone's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he was finally becoming a little uneasy.

However, after a brief silence, the unease in his eyes was replaced by fury, and he harrumphed coldly, "There's no way an imbecile like you can oppose me!"

With a wave of his hand, he drew the green insects back into his gourd, then gritted his teeth before chanting an incantation.

A burst of gray light flew up from his body, hovering above his head. Within the gray light was a small gray flag, which swelled several times in size in the blink of an eye.

There were countless layers of runes inscribed onto the small flag, striking the beholder with a sense of disorientation, but all of these runes were completely dull and devoid of luster.

Daoist Master White Stone bit through the tip of his own tongue before releasing a mouthful of blood essence, which vanished into the flag. At the same time, he made a hand seal, releasing streaks of black light that also vanished into the gray flag. The flag immediately began to glow with dazzling light, and the runes inscribed upon them gradually began to brighten, following which a layer of gray mist rose up from the flag's surface.

The gray flag then expanded even further, swelling to around 10 feet in size, and the light on its surface flashed as a series of indistinct skull projections flew out from within. There were a total of around seven to eight of these projections, and every single one of them was wailing in a ghastly manner as they pounced toward Liu Shi.

Their collective voices instantly began to echo throughout the secret chamber.

Daoist Master White Stone's eyes were wide and bloodshot as he stared intently at the skull projections.

Right at this moment, an unexpected turn of events arose.

Right as the skull projections were about to plunge into the giant block of ice, the faint shadow of Liu Shi that was cast onto the ground suddenly rippled like water, following which a black object flew out from within before transforming into a sinister ghostly head with a pair of horns on its head.

The ghostly head was around the size of a washbasin, and it was cackling incessantly. The green flames in its eyes flickered as it cast its gaze toward the skull projections, and it opened its mouth up wide to release a vast expanse of silver light.

It was as if this silver light were the bane of the skull projections' existence, and they were completely powerless to evade as they were swept up by the golden light before being devoured by the ghostly head.

After that, the sinister ghostly head smacked its hideous lips, seemingly still not satisfied by the meal. Immediately thereafter, the golden flames in its eyes flashed, and it turned around before releasing a large burst of green qi out of its mouth, then vanished on the spot in the blink of an eye.

The azure qi struck Liu Shi in the face before vanishing into his body without a sound.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, concluding before Daoist Master White Stone even had a chance to react.

As a Core Formation cultivator, Daoist Master White Stone considered himself to be quite experienced and knowledgeable in the field of cultivation, but he had never seen anything so strange before, and he was completely rooted to the spot, at a loss for what to do.

Right at this moment, a crisp crack rang out, and a series of white cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of the block of black ice, following which Liu Shi slowly opened his eyes.

His eyes were far clearer than before and were no longer looking lost and vacant.

He inspected his surroundings, then furrowed his brows and shrugged his shoulders slightly.

A resounding boom rang out as the cone of fire struck the light barrier, and having already been struggling to hold itself together, the light barrier instantly shattered upon impact.

A loud thump rang out as the entire block of ice exploded outward from the inside, sending shattered chunks of black ice flying in all directions before clattering onto the ground.

Liu Shi raised his head to take a glance at Daoist Master White Stone, and it seemed like he was about to say something, but in the next instant, a disoriented look suddenly appeared on his face, and he threw his hands over his own head as he began to howl in agony.

The joints in his body cracked and popped while his arms and legs expanded like an inflating balloon, and in the blink of an eye, his body had swelled to around twice its original size. At the same time, countless golden scales around the size of copper coins had appeared over the surface of his skin, including his face and his neck.

These scales looked as if they were forged from pure gold and were shimmering with a cold light, giving off a completely indestructible appearance.

Daoist Master White Stone was flabbergasted to see this, and he knew that at this point, things had already completely spiraled out of his control.

Upon returning to his senses, a fierce look appeared on his face, and he gritted his teeth before opening his mouth to release a ball of blood essence, which vanished into the gray flag in a flash.

The gray flag began to glow brightly again, and the runes on its surface began to squirm as if they had sprung to life. A burst of cracking rang out, and the flag abruptly transformed into a gray centipede that was 50 to 60 feet in length.

Daoist Master White Bone then patted the storage bag hanging from his waist, and seven or eight fist-sized black balls came flying out. Black qi was swirling around the balls, and they were giving off an incredibly pungent stench.

In spite of the terrible stench, the gray centipede let loose a joyful cry as it opened its mouth and eagerly devoured the black balls. Large black sections immediately appeared on the surface of its exoskeleton, and those areas rapidly expanded, turning its entire body pitch black in the blink of an eye. At the same time, its exoskeleton had taken on a metallic sheen, as if it were constructed from impregnable black steel.

The centipede screeched in excitement as faint red light began to glow in its tiny eyes. It roamed through the secret chamber, and as its sickle-like legs scratched across the hard stone walls, they were able to inflict a series of deep marks onto the walls like hot knives cutting through butter.

At the same time, the surrounding stone walls were stained an inky black color and began to give off a foul stench, clearly indicating that the centipede's legs were tipped with some type of extremely potent poison.

"Kill him!" Daoist Master White Stone roared as he pointed at Liu Shi.