Chapter 120: Target—An Elder of the Purifying World Society (10)

At this moment, Zi Tong, currently in a peculiar state, was hiding beneath the bed in the form of a purple gauze garment. Had she not consumed an excessive amount of human flesh and blood yesterday—leaving her still in the process of digestion—she surely would have engaged Wu Zui in combat long ago.

Wu Zui stood in the room, deep in thought. The room appeared entirely normal, yet he felt an inexplicable sense of unease, as if there were something he had overlooked.

"Got it! One last time!"

A flash of inspiration struck Wu Zui. He manipulated the Soul-Questioning Chain to retrieve the black skull he had seized from Zhang Meng. Beneath the large circular bed, a surge of spiritual resentment was drawn out by the black skull, manifesting as a thin black thread that flowed into its mouth.

The Soul-Questioning Chain swiftly encircled the circular bed, and the golden longsword in Wu Zui’s hand began to glow with the crimson light of Karmic Fire. Wu Zui looked toward the underside of the bed and spoke sternly, "Will you come out yourself, or must I drag you out once the spiritual resentment has been drained?"

From the narrow gap of less than five centimeters beneath the bed, a purple gauze garment slowly crawled out. Wu Zui’s expression tightened. In the memories he had absorbed from the latent shadow, this purple gauze represented the First Elder of the World-Purifying Society—the Soft-Bodied Gauze, Zi Tong.

Indeed! A woman soon manifested within the purple gauze.

Her willow-leaf brows were slightly furrowed, and her peach-blossom eyes shimmered with a delicate, captivating allure. Combined with her seemingly weak, languid posture on the floor and the faint, intoxicating fragrance emanating from the gauze, she possessed enough charm to make most men lower their guard.

"Little brother, I am merely a novice who has just fused with a ghost spirit; I am no big shot from the World-Purifying Society. Could you be kind and spare me?" Zi Tong blinked at Wu Zui, enduring the agony of her spiritual resentment being drained as she spoke in a frail, pathetic tone.

Wu Zui scanned her body before responding with a sneer, "For the First Elder of the World-Purifying Society to play the part of an ignorant young girl—is that not nauseating? Hand over the black skull of the Ancient Sacrificial Ritual!"

Zi Tong’s gaze sharpened, her eyes darting around frantically. It was clear that Wu Zui knew her true identity; deceiving him further would be extremely difficult. She had to find a way to escape!

*Which death-seeker let slip the secret of the Ancient Sacrificial Ritual? Aren't they afraid the Guild Master will hunt them down after emerging from seclusion?*

Zi Tong surveyed the space enclosed by the Soul-Questioning Chain, contemplating her escape. The side effect of her excessive consumption of flesh and blood was her inability to use the Spatial Singularity for the time being. If she relied solely on her purple gauze to fly away, the chance of Wu Zui intercepting her with his own Spatial Singularity was nearly one hundred percent. Furthermore, the black skull’s constant draining of her spiritual resentment acted as a powerful restraint. If she were to fight, death was almost certain. However, upon sensing the spiritual corruption within Wu Zui, Zi Tong realized her only opportunity had arrived.

If her plan were executed perfectly, she might even be able to consume Wu Zui himself. Reaching the six-star level would then be well within her grasp!

*Six-star... I’m taking this gamble! Han Bo, I thank you for the contingency you left behind! Otherwise, I might have truly been finished!*

Zi Tong steeled her resolve. While the black skull drained her spiritual resentment, she released a massive wave of fragrance from her gauze.

"Little brother, look at how weak I am—how could I possibly be a Great Elder of the World-Purifying Society? You must have been lied to. I am just a girl who sold herself for safety. Wuwu~ please, stop bullying me!"

While setting her trap, Zi Tong used her words to stall for time, hoping to delay Wu Zui from taking immediate action.

The fragrance permeating the air caused Wu Zui’s mind to grow hazy, and the black substance atop the blue silhouette in his consciousness began to stir. Combined with the spiritual corruption Zi Tong channeled through the small amount of spiritual resentment she still controlled, Wu Zui’s eyes instantly turned hollow. Within his mind, a flash of blue light clashed with the encroaching spiritual corruption in a deadlock.

"Little brother?"

"Little brother?"

After calling out twice and seeing Wu Zui’s vacant eyes and slumped arms, Zi Tong felt completely relieved. She channeled a fraction of her spiritual resentment to control the black skull Wu Zui had produced, using the two skulls to rapidly digest the vast amount of flesh and blood within her.

Immediately afterward, she excitedly transformed back into a purple gauze garment and lunged toward the catatonic Wu Zui.

*Six-star! Here I come!*

At that same moment, the Soul-Questioning Sword seemingly detected Wu Zui’s abnormality, and the chain instantly contracted. As the purple gauze enveloped Wu Zui, the chain bound it tightly against his body, glowing with the red light of Karmic Fire.

A wisp of black smoke rose from the purple gauze as it was scorched by the fire.

"You have guts! Let's see who dies first!"

A roar came from within the gauze. Zi Tong assumed Wu Zui had used himself as bait to trap her, unaware that her plan had indeed succeeded. Within Wu Zui’s mind, the black substance had fully revolted, and Wu Zui had mobilized all his magnetic energy, converting it into Magneto-Karmic Fire. He was completely unaware of what was happening outside; had it not been for the help of the Soul-Questioning Sword, he would have been drained dry by Zi Tong by now.

Outside, Zi Tong finally used the massive reserves of spiritual resentment and the black skulls to resist the erosion of the Karmic Fire. Wounds began to appear on Wu Zui’s body beneath the shroud of gauze. However, the Karmic Fire within Wu Zui’s blood also flowed out through the wounds, and the two types of fire began to assault Zi Tong from both inside and out.

The spiritual resentment within Zi Tong could not withstand such consumption. Coupled with the constriction of the Soul-Questioning Chain, she could not even transform into the gauze to flee. Her only fate was to be burned to ashes by the fire, or...

*Riiip— Riiip—*

The purple gauze collapsed and tore apart of its own accord, releasing a massive amount of spiritual resentment. The severely wounded Zi Tong no longer had the strength to control the two black skulls, letting them fall to the ground. Sensing the abundance of spiritual resentment, the eyes of the two skulls glowed black, and they began to inhale the energy voraciously.

Despite the rapid absorption rate of the black skulls, the gauze was too close to Wu Zui’s skin, causing more than half of the spiritual resentment to surge directly into his body.

Zi Tong’s thought was simple: *Since you won't let me live, then we shall die together!*

As the gauze disintegrated completely, Zi Tong perished, her remaining power reinforcing the spiritual corruption within Wu Zui. Once the Soul-Questioning Chain was freed, it immediately pulled the two black skulls into its internal space. All the chains then retracted into Wu Zui’s heart. Boundless Karmic Fire erupted from within his mind, surrounding and incinerating the black substance.

***

Having absorbed a large amount of spiritual resentment, the black substance now occupied every part of the blue silhouette except for its head. Upon the blue silhouette, the Magneto-Karmic Fire and the blue light struggled to resist the erosion of the black substance. The Karmic Fire from the Soul-Questioning Sword joined the fray, burning the black substance from its base, which also scorched the blue silhouette. The excruciating pain jolted Wu Zui out of the control of the spiritual corruption, and his sanity briefly returned.

Receiving the synchronized information from the Soul-Questioning Sword, he knew that Zi Tong had been dealt with and that the black skulls had been stored away. However, the situation within his mind had become even more dire.

*This thing isn't even afraid of the Karmic Fire now!*

While feeling a sense of internal dread, Wu Zui communicated with the Soul-Questioning Sword, preparing to use the full force of its internal fire to completely purge the black substance. However, the sword’s response left him with a difficult choice.

After Wu Zui’s cultivation, the blue silhouette had become the foundation of his power. If the Soul-Questioning Sword’s fire were unleashed at full capacity, the black substance would be destroyed, but his foundation would vanish along with it!

If he did not unleash full power, the continuous burning might allow the uncontrolled Karmic Fire within his body to seize the opportunity to turn the tables. In that scenario, it would not just be his foundation destroyed; his physical body and soul would be reduced to ash by his own Karmic Fire body—a state of annihilation from which even reincarnation would be impossible.

The suggestion from the Soul-Questioning Sword was to strengthen his own magnetic energy as quickly as possible. The sword would allocate a portion of its power to suppress the black substance while ensuring that the Karmic Fire body did not backlash, but Wu Zui must not allow the black substance to absorb any more spiritual resentment. Otherwise, if both the black substance and the Karmic Fire body went out of control, nothing could protect him.

Wu Zui tentatively accepted this suggestion, controlling the majority of his magnetic energy to manifest as Magneto-Karmic Fire, working in tandem with the Soul-Questioning Sword to suppress the black substance.

When Wu Zui regained consciousness, it was still pitch black outside. The curtains were drawn open, allowing moonlight to spill in. Wu Zui noticed faintly that his eyes had turned completely black—one of the external manifestations of deep spiritual corruption.

Finding a pair of sunglasses in Zi Tong’s room, he put them on to hide his eyes and quickly departed. Just as he was preparing to head to the airport to leave Meidadu, he received a message from Xiao Ke’ai.

*Master, Meidadu has issued a wanted warrant for you! Do not appear under any surveillance cameras; wait for me to find a way to disable their surveillance system and find you a safe evacuation route.*

Wu Zui stopped in his tracks. The phone was a specialized model developed by the Huaguo Research Institute; the chances of it being hacked were extremely low.

"A wanted warrant? What is the reason?"

Wu Zui looked up, ducking into a blind spot of the surveillance system before replying.

"Maliciously harming spirit investigators, resulting in five deaths and one critical injury," Xiao Ke’ai replied quickly. Attached to her message was a video link to an emergency news report from Meidadu.

In the news footage, the five investigators who had been pierced through the right hand by the Soul-Questioning Chain and flung away were all confirmed dead. The critically injured one was the team leader, Yiqiaosi. According to his testimony, the group had been attacked by Wu Zui while in the process of pursuing him.