Shackles of Humanity

The peak of Celestial Willow Mountain was a large plaza planted with all kinds of rare flowers and exotic herbs. This was where the Hundred Flowers Banquet was held. Various powers from across the Thousand Islands Sea selected hundreds of beautiful young women to compete for the title of Courtesan, all for the singular purpose of establishing a connection with the East Sea Xi Family.

The East Sea Xi Family was one of the Human Race’s most ancient and noble clans. The entire eastern coastal region could be considered their domain. The Xi Family held this event not only to select raw materials for their perfumes, but more importantly, to connect with local powers and display their own prestige. Any family that received an invitation and failed to attend would be targeted by them.

As the Body Master sent by the main family, Xi Jinghui should have attended personally, but he had no mind for it now. The body of a Complete Form Fierce Beast was simply too valuable, and critically, it might still be active. If he was lucky enough to refine a Top Level Genetic Potion from it, his Cultivation would surely advance to the next level.

No matter how powerful a Fierce Beast was in life, its bodily activity would gradually dissipate into the world after death. Once the Active Energy was completely gone, it could no longer be used to create a Genetic Potion and was only good for raw materials.

Tuoba Ye and Su Chengbo had no desire to attend the Hundred Flowers Banquet either. They brought Luo Kai to Celestial Willow Mountain early in the morning and, under the guidance of the young woman named Zhihui, set out to investigate Yinling Mountain Stream.

The so-called mountain stream was actually just a long, narrow mountain pass, filled with a thick Mist that obscured all sight.

The sun was bright and beautiful that day, but the area around the pass was overgrown with enormous vines that completely blocked the light. A sinister, cold draft wafted up from the pass, sending a chill to the bone.

”Miss Zhihui, I’m truly sorry about yesterday. How about this? Once we’re done here, I’ll treat you to a meal to make up for it.” Tuoba Ye sidled up to the young woman again, a look of profound regret on his face.

Zhihui ignored him and said to the others, ”There’s a strange Magnetic Field frequency inside Yinling Mountain Stream that will interfere with your Perception. Please be extremely careful once you go down, my lords.”

”Alright, thank you, Miss Zhihui. Let’s head down.”

The area around the pass was covered in slick vegetation, but climbing down wasn’t difficult. Tuoba Ye shot Zhihui a wounded look before nonchalantly leaping down first. He jammed an arm into the rock face mid-descent and began to climb down like an ape.

The three remaining at the pass exchanged a look and leaped down one after another.

Five or six minutes later, the air grew increasingly humid and the light grew ever dimmer. A heavy, sinister chill seeped into their bones.

At the bottom of the group, Tuoba Ye’s expression suddenly shifted. He looked around to see black shadows silently climbing the cliff walls, surrounding them. A foul stench hit his nose as he made out their forms—they were unidentifiable animals, rotted away until only skin and bones remained.

”We’ve got monsters!” Tuoba Ye shouted a warning. Gripping the rock face with one hand, he pulled a bizarre-looking weapon from his back. It was a Hexagonal Long Mace.

Luo Kai saw the monsters too. They were small, about the size of cats or dogs, but their flesh had rotted completely away, leaving nothing but skin and bones. Their ghastly white claws dug into the rock face as their blood-red eyes stared at the four of them, a sharp, low growl rumbling in their throats.

Luo Kai frowned slightly. ’We’re on a cliff, with no idea how far down it goes. This will be a problem if we fall,’ he thought. He quickened his heartbeat, jammed one hand into the cliff face, and drew the Severing Blade from his back.

Xi Jinghui and Su Chengbo also drew their weapons. Xi Jinghui wielded a Soft Sword that shimmered with a faint green light, while Su Chengbo held a Longsword that pulsed with a blinding white radiance. The weapons of Body Masters were, of course, no ordinary tools. They were Energy Weapons that resonated with the user’s cultivated Attribute, much like the Light Sabers in science fiction films.

Moreover, the clothes they wore had also changed. Tuoba Ye’s greasy-looking leather jacket began to shimmer with a dark light, seeming to emit a black mist.

The silvery glow from Su Chengbo’s Fine-Scale Short Shirt grew even more brilliant, and even Xi Jinghui’s plain-looking green robe now faintly glowed green.

Compared to them, Luo Kai looked much shabbier. He glanced down at the other three with a touch of envy. ’I have to find a chance to get myself a proper set of gear,’ he resolved.

The number of surrounding monsters continued to grow. With a sharp screech, they all launched their attack. The creatures looked half-dead, but they were incredibly fast and agile, leaping across the cliff face with ferocious aggression.

The Severing Blade in Luo Kai’s hand sang as it sliced through the air. A flash of brilliant white light swept out around him, and the first few monsters were instantly cleaved in two, their pieces plummeting into the abyss below.

The three men below also brandished their weapons, thrusting and slicing. The bodies of monsters rained down. Though the creatures were terrifying and had decent combat strength, it was nothing against a Body Master. The only problem was their sheer numbers.

Sharp, responding shrieks echoed from the surroundings as even more monsters began to converge on them. Gradually, humanoid creatures began to appear among them. They looked like Evil Ghosts crawled straight out of Hell, all their flesh corroded away, leaving only the piercing red glow that burned in their eye sockets.

A dense swarm of black shadows lunged at them. Not only were there all sorts of rotting animals, but now pitch-black plants were extending their branches, trying to ensnare the four men. Shrill, mournful cries echoed throughout the mountain stream.

More than ten minutes later, the monsters’ assault showed no signs of slowing. Tuoba Ye cursed, ”Damn it! There are too many of these things! We can’t kill them all!”

Su Chengbo said gravely, ”This is no solution. I’ll repel these Dark Creatures for now. Let’s get to the bottom, fast.”

With that, he took a deep breath, and the white light radiating from his body intensified. The light seemed to be the bane of the Dark Creatures; the few that lunged at him let out piercing shrieks as their entire bodies burst into flame, turning into plumes of foul-smelling green smoke.

In the pitch-black mountain stream, Su Chengbo was like a small sun. Not only did the charging Dark Creatures melt away, but even the sinister, cold energy filling the chasm receded significantly.

Luo Kai watched in shock. ’So this is the true Power of a Body Master!’ he thought.

The four seized the opportunity to leap rapidly downward. The air grew thin, and the bone-chillingly cold energy became even more concentrated. Gradually, their skin began to go numb and itch unbearably, as if doused in sulfuric acid, showing signs of melting.

A glimmer of light appeared on each of the three Body Masters’ bodies to resist the permeating energy. Tuoba Ye’s was a golden light, Xi Jinghui’s was green, and Su Chengbo’s was a faint white.

Su Chengbo looked up at Luo Kai. ”Xiaokai, can you handle it?”

Resisting the urge to scratch, Luo Kai replied, ”I can.”

This level of pain was nothing to him. He couldn’t manipulate the Energy inside him to form a protective Shield like a Body Master; he could only endure.

Seeing his pained expression, Su Chengbo asked in confusion, ”Xiaokai, as far as I know, Elemental Masters can use Elemental Essence to form a Shield. Why aren’t you using yours?”

Luo Kai gave a wry smile. ”Last time, I used up all my Essence of Water to escape from that Complete Form Fierce Beast.”

Tuoba Ye overheard them and shouted, ”That’s not going to work! The further down we go, the stronger the corrosive force of the Dark Energy becomes. It’s almost impossible to withstand it with just your Physical Body.”

Su Chengbo frowned. He unfastened the Fine-Scale Short Shirt he was wearing and tossed it up to Luo Kai. ”Put on my Orange Armor. It should help you resist the energy.”

Luo Kai quickly reached out and caught it. The fine-scale shirt was warm to the touch and seemed to repel the permeating Dark Energy. Then, a thought struck him, and he quickly said, ”No, it’s alright. I have something that should work.”

He returned the Orange Armor to Su Chengbo and took the Insect Mother’s Insect Pupa from his backpack. Unfurling it, he slipped it on. He immediately felt the sinister, cold energy recede. This Insect Pupa had the marvelous ability to warp the Space around it; neither Energy nor physical attacks could pass through it, as they were dependent on Space for transmission.