C1143 Corpse Transformation
In the far reaches of the Star River, amidst the Shattered Star, Mo Yan wielded the Devil Blade, standing atop the colossal forehead of Galuo's lifeless form. The blade's edge had pierced the brow of the Demon Armor, lodging itself in a chiseled cavity.
Mo Yan's Solar Spirit Body channeled the dark arts, resonating with the soul of the Devil Blade, as he endeavored to draw forth the essence from within Galuo's demonform.
Nearby, the King of Wraiths from the Devil Palace stood watch, flanked by numerous dark adepts loyal to Zhu Zhenlin. They all recognized that despite Mo Yan's modest talents, his father, Zhu Zhenlin, having finally ascended to the Solar Spirit realm and ventured into the extraterrestrial, harbored aspirations for his son to carve out a legacy beyond the stars.
Elsewhere, led by the Golden Elephant God, a cadre of archdemons from Shadow's Keep watched intently. Some had taken human form, while others unabashedly displayed their massive, true forms. Their focus was on Yu Zhu's every move.
Yu Zhu, esteemed as the Moonfang Tiger by Shadow's Keep, was poised to vie for the title of Dark Deity. The Keep had purposefully sent her to the Star River to breach the ninth level of her lineage, with the Golden Elephant God providing guidance and Sidla, the ninth level Demon God, serving as her crucible. Yu Zhu was destined to rise as a luminary within Shadow's Keep.
The elder archdemons showed due respect to Yu Zhu, a rising star among the new generation.
Whoosh! The air was filled with the sounds of demon energy and demonic Qi cascading from Sidla's severed heads, scattering across the ground.
Amidst the thick miasma, countless jade-green spiders emerged, each with eight legs, seemingly satiated from a recent feast. They converged contentedly towards Yu Zhu, shrouded in the toxic smog.
With every jade-green spider that merged with Yu Zhu, the demon energy emanating from the miasma intensified.
"It's close," murmured the Golden Elephant God, anticipation flickering in his golden gaze.
As time hastened on, Galuo, the bearer of the Devil Blade, let out a piercing shriek.
Cultivators from the Devil Palace and the nearby archdemons all turned their gaze toward him.
"The vitality is off!"
Mo Yan, gripping the Devil Blade tightly, looked as though he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. He wanted to break free from Galuo's Shadow Husk and flee at once.
At that moment, the pitch-black demonform's hollow chest burst forth with intertwining strands of bloody red light.
The scarlet beams seemed to possess their own consciousness as they began to cackle eerily.
The laughter was deep and raspy, unmistakably that of a mature man with an authoritative presence.
The scarlet light rapidly coalesced, forming a fist-sized, writhing lump of flesh in mere moments.
As soon as the lump formed, an extraordinary suction force came into being.
The Shattered Star suddenly split apart, revealing a river of blood surging from deep within the earth, previously unseen by all.
A Golden Rock Beast with an eighth-level bloodline managed only a single howl before being dragged into the bloody torrent.
Following it, a vast green-winged Roc, its wings spanning dozens of meters, was ensnared by streaks of blood-colored lightning and violently pulled toward the pulsating scarlet mass.
In a flash, the massive eighth-level Roc was devoured by the lump of flesh.
With a hiss, Mo Yan's Solar Spirit Body, along with the Shadowblade he clutched, was sucked into the hole in the Shadow Husk's forehead, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
"Mo Yan!"
The King of Wraiths's face turned ashen.
The Golden Elephant God was taken aback, swiftly manifesting its colossal form and charging into the Star River to gain a vantage point over the Shattered Star below.
From above, the Shattered Star was crisscrossed with streams of vivid red.
These streams formed an eerie symbol, reminiscent of an ancient glyph belonging to the Star-Spawned Terror.
Through the Golden Elephant God's demon soul perception, the glyph held the power to siphon the blood of living beings, fortifying itself to accomplish the miraculous reconstruction of flesh and blood.
"Galuo, Galuo's Shadow Husk contains the blood and essence of numerous Otherkin and dire beasts!"
A black and gold wolf-dog perched atop the Golden Elephant God spoke in human tongue, "Galuo's Shadow Husk has been consecrated by the masters of the Blood Fiend! Its flesh and organs are infused with the vital energy of different races! The power of the Shadowspawn, where Sidla resides, is certainly not capable of such a ritual to refine Galuo's Shadow Husk in this manner!"
"Blood Fiend!" King of Wraiths's complexion turned pale.
"It's the Great Demon God Grec."
Amidst the dense toxic smog, Yu Zhu, with her giant spider form, revealed her gaunt face.
In that moment, Yu Zhu's human face was as vast as several acres, her spider body emanating an immense demon energy from within the thick smoke.
Her razor-sharp legs pierced the ground as she drew closer to the Shadow Husk.
She gazed at the chest cavity of the Wightspawn, pausing thoughtfully before speaking with grave seriousness, "Sidla's devil soul has been dissolved by me. From his memories, I glimpsed a scene. This Wightspawn of Galuo was consecrated by Grec, turned into a blood bound slave, yet it was never truly utilized."
"What?"
"Could it really be the Great Demon God Grec?!"
"My God! Have we ventured into a trap? The Nine-headed Demon God Sidla, along with these Shadowspawn clansmen, could they all be just bait?"
A dark adept from the Devil Palace scanned his surroundings with a growing sense of unease.
Suddenly, he felt an agonizing twist in his chest. Upon introspecting his remnant soul, he was horrified to find inexplicable crimson bloodlines threading through his heart.
He began to scream in terror.
But as he watched, his heart was being devoured by the bloodlines, slithering like serpents.
Seconds later, his heart was consumed entirely, the engorged bloodlines then ravaging his other tissues and organs with relish.
Others like him, dark adepts and archdemons alike, had failed to prepare in time, not shielding themselves with energy from the external world, and were unwittingly infiltrated by the bloodlines of the Great Demon God Grec.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Before long, those who had been crying out in madness had beams of blood shooting from their bodies, merging into the pulsating mass of flesh within Galuo's chest cavity.
Those who had been ravaged by Grec were left as mere husks, their skin wrapping nothing but bone.
Their flesh, sinew, and organs had been completely devoured.
"Grec, isn't he ensnared within Ionodios?" King of Wraiths fretted, concerned that Mo Yan might perish within the Shadow Husk of Galuo. Once he returned to the Everlands, how could he face Zhu Zhenlin? "Yu Zhu, are you certain this is Grec's doing?"
"If it wasn't Grec, who else could possess such terrifying power?" the Golden Elephant God bellowed in rage.
For a moment, the mighty ones of the Devil Palace and Shadow's Keep were thrown into chaos, their cries of anguish filling the air.
...
Simultaneously.
Cao Yi, emanating an aura of unyielding righteousness, emerged with a smile, the blood crystal, large as a millstone, shrouded in a dense mist of spiritual energy.
Under the intense scrutiny of Chen Qinghuang, Yu Yiyi, and Tan Junshan, he maintained a respectful distance from Yu Yuan.
"Take it."
With a gentle nudge, Cao Yi sent the blood crystal, ensconced in white spiritual mist, floating towards Yu Yuan.
"This object requires the unleashing of the Altar of Rebirth within you to be dissolved and assimilated," Cao Yi said with a light chuckle. "Securing this item should fulfill the purpose of your journey to this forbidden area. Believe me, just one of these will significantly enhance the caliber of your Altar of Rebirth."
He shifted the conversation, adding, "Venturing to the other two forbidden areas to acquire similar items won't yield much improvement."
"Consider this: for a ninth-level Shura, the first of three drops of lifeblood you capture will confer the greatest benefit to the Altar of Rebirth. The second drop's effect will be considerably less, and by the third, the benefit will diminish even further. You should grasp my meaning, having had such experiences yourself."
As Cao Yi spoke, he retreated back towards the swollen heart, "The Lunarphite still harbors residual vital energy. This heart, originating from Galuo, can transport us to another forbidden area through the psionic power of the Dragon Slaying Stage. There, you'll find the demonform you saw earlier."
"Please, make haste."
