24: Chapter 24 Qian Zhong

"I can't... suppress it anymore."

Just as this thought emerged from the depths of his consciousness, his brow felt as if it were pierced by a red-hot iron rod.

Wang Shouren's entire body suddenly arched, his hands pressing tightly against his forehead.

The pain had started at the Spiritual Rice Shop, and he had never expected such a situation.

"Ugh—"

A muffled groan was squeezed out from his throat.

He fell to his knees on the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold bluestone slab, his back heaving violently.

Cold sweat poured from every pore, soaking his clothes in just a few breaths, dripping onto the stone slab with a dull pattering sound.

"It feels like my Divine Soul is going to explode!!"

His entire body collapsed to one side, his forehead slamming against the stone slab with a thud. A massive wave of dizziness washed over him, which slightly eased the pain.

Once, twice, each strike harder than the last, kicking up dust from the stone slab that mixed with the beads of blood oozing from his forehead, smearing his entire face.

Another wave of intense pain exploded from the depths of his Sea of Consciousness. Wang Shouren let out an inhuman shriek, his body bouncing off the ground before crashing back down heavily.

"The pain is killing me—"

Outside the secret chamber, Shopkeeper Qian paced back and forth anxiously.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

The Isolation Formation blocked the sounds inside, but the banging vibrations could not be blocked.

He had guarded the shop in Wanshan County for seven or eight years. The Young Master had always been calm and composed; when had he ever been in such an urgent state?

"Young Master, do you need this servant to send a message to the Family?"

Before his voice could fade, a thin crack suddenly split open in the barrier of the Isolation Formation.

An extremely suppressed voice squeezed out from the crack, every word sounding as if it were ground out from between his teeth.

"N-No need."

Shopkeeper Qian's heart trembled; that voice was so raspy it was almost unrecognizable.

He wanted to say more, but a roar suddenly exploded from within the formation, shaking the light barrier several times.

"Young Master!" Shopkeeper Qian could no longer care about the rules, breaking open the door and rushing inside.

Then, he froze in place.

Wang Shouren was curled up in the corner, his clothes soaked with cold sweat and torn in several places.

His forehead, the back of his head, and his shoulders were covered in wounds from the impact, and blood smeared half of his face.

But none of this was what shocked him the most. A faint black Qi was radiating from the Young Master's body, trickling out in wisps from between his brows and wrapping around him like a living creature slowly writhing.

Shopkeeper Qian swallowed hard.

He had done business in Wanshan County for seven or eight years, and had seen Loose Cultivators possessed by demonic creatures, as well as desperate outlaws suffering from Qi Deviation. That kind of black Qi was exactly the same as what was before him.

Two suppressed gasps came from behind him.

Unbeknownst to him, two servants had heard the commotion and, driven by curiosity, had come to the backyard. They were now huddled at the door, peering inside.

One was pale with fright, while the other, younger one, stared with wide eyes, his mouth opening and closing as if trying to say something but unable to make a sound.

"Who allowed you into the backyard!"

Qian Zhong barked coldly. On normal days, he would have let it go and at most docked a few days of their wages, but their curiosity should absolutely not have gotten the better of them at a time like this.

"What did you see?"

Shopkeeper Qian's voice was terrifyingly calm.

His gaze fell upon the faces of the two.

The younger servant was the first to react, falling to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling.

"This lowly one saw nothing! Nothing at all!"

The other was still dazed, pointing a finger at Wang Shouren curled on the ground, his lips trembling: "He... he... black..."

"Hmm?"

Killing intent flared in Shopkeeper Qian's eyes, immediately followed by two flashes of cold light.

A line of blood split open across the throats of both servants at the same time. Their bodies slumped to the ground, their eyes filled with bewilderment even in death.

They could never have imagined why Shopkeeper Qian, who was usually very kind to them, would take their lives today.

"Blame yourselves for being too curious."

Shopkeeper Qian retracted his short blade, wiped the blood on the lapels of the corpses, and then quickly incinerated the two bodies to ashes using the Fireball Technique.

Then he walked to the door, slowly closed the stone door of the secret chamber, took out a new Formation Flag, and set up the Isolation Formation once again.

Only after completing all this did he turn around, look at the curled-up figure in the corner, and take out a Message Talisman from his robe.

As the spiritual light flickered slightly, he hesitated.

The Young Master had struggled with his last shred of consciousness just to say "no," so there must be a reason why it could not be told.

Gritting his teeth, he put the Message Talisman back into his Storage Pouch, slid down against the stone door to sit on the ground, and muttered to himself.

"Young Master, no matter what has happened to you, the Wang Family has been kind to me. Even if you have entered the Demonic Path, I, Qian Zhong, will keep this secret for you."

Meanwhile, the unconscious Wang Shouren found himself in a strange space.

Lightning.

There was lightning everywhere, boundless and infinite.

Wang Shouren opened his eyes, the purple electricity weaving across the sky reflected in his pupils.

Above him was a sky churning with thunderclouds, and below him was an endlessly surging sea of lightning plasma.

There was no up or down, no near or far in this world, only bolts of lightning piercing through the Void Realm, striking down from all directions and disappearing into the deeper darkness.

Thunder rumbled, shaking his Divine Soul.

"Where is this?"

He looked down at his hands—transparent palms, an illusory body. His entire self was like a patch of thin mist that could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

He was still inside his Sea of Consciousness, but his Sea of Consciousness should not look like this.

Where was the black lotus?

A bolt of lightning struck down from above his head. He instinctively wanted to dodge, but it was far too late.

The lightning pierced through his illusory body and struck into the sea of lightning plasma below, kicking up waves of lightning thousands of feet high.

He dazed for a moment; it didn't hurt.

When those lightning bolts passed through him, there was only a numbing sensation, like the static electricity generated when touching fur in winter.

"Why... does this feel somewhat familiar?"

He looked around, his brow furrowed.

This sea of lightning, this sky full of thunderbolts... His heart suddenly clenched.

He raised his head.

The boundless lightning suddenly seemed to be drawn by some force, gathering frantically toward the center.

Millions of lightning bolts intertwined and coiled, condensing into a pillar of lightning as thick as a mountain. Within the pillar, a majestic figure slowly materialized.

The figure was over a hundred Zhang tall, sitting upright in the center of the sea of lightning, with countless Lightning Serpents coiling around his body.

The figure's face was blurry, as if veiled by a layer of woven lightning. Only those eyes were clear. What kind of eyes were they? Within the pupils, the sun and moon seemed to undergo Reincarnation, constantly rising and falling.

It was precisely the figure that Tian Zhen had seen in the Iron Scroll.

Wang Shouren's entire body froze.

In the final image sent back by Tian Zhen, this figure had merely opened his eyes and cast a casual glance, yet it had blasted the Lotus Seed into pieces.

Now, he was standing right in front of him.

"You are not a Heavenly Demon, so why do you know the Demonic Seed Technique?"