234: Chapter 234 No longer pretending, revealing greed and murderous intent.

Jiang Changge gently tapped that wisp of Chaos power onto an inconspicuous rune on the edge of the stone trough; the rune's position was extremely hidden, concealed within the intersecting shadows of three main runes.

If not for his sufficiently profound attainments in Formation, it would have been impossible for him to discover that this was the true eye of the entire alert Restriction.

The moment the Chaos power seeped into the rune, that dark red pattern, like a snake gripped by its seven-inch mark, dimmed silently.

A moment later, it completely dissipated within the stone trough, triggering no anomalies and causing no fluctuations in spiritual energy.

Jiang Changge withdrew his finger and casually retrieved the void-breaking awl from the stone trough; the body of the cone felt extremely heavy in his hand, at least a hundred times heavier than an equal size of black iron.

Faint spatial fluctuations circulated at the tip of the cone, and just by holding it lightly in his hand, he could feel the surrounding space seem to become a little more fragile.

This was indeed a rare treasure, specialized in breaking spatial Restrictions; nothing could withstand it, and no barrier could stop it.

He stored the void-breaking awl into the System warehouse and turned to walk in another direction.

The position of the mountain-suppressing seal was even more hidden than the void-breaking awl, embedded beneath the giant claw of the skeleton's left forelimb.

The giant Seal was about the size of a human head and entirely jet black; the knob of the Seal was carved with a roaring Vicious Beast, and the face of the Seal was engraved with an extremely ancient character, the strokes powerful as if carved by a knife and axe, emitting a heavy and dense suppressing power.

Just standing several zhang away, one could feel an invisible pressure rushing toward them, as if an invisible mountain were suspended overhead, ready to fall at any moment.

The same alert Restriction was hidden on the edge of the stone trough beneath the mountain-suppressing seal. Jiang Changge followed the same method, using Chaos power to pierce the eye of the Formation and easily neutralizing it.

When the mountain-suppressing seal was stored into his System warehouse, the entire Seal Formation seemed to tremble slightly, but it quickly returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

Jiang Changge brushed the dust off his hands and turned to walk toward the Void Shadow.

Seeing him return unharmed, the suppressed excitement in the Void Shadow's eyes almost spilled over.

It spoke impatiently, its voice carrying an undisguisable urgency: "The young man is truly impressive! To have subdued those two treasures so easily; it seems the Restriction set by the master back then has indeed weakened to the extreme, making this the best time to break the Seal."

It took a deep breath, as if to calm its excitement, and then said in an extremely solemn and sincere tone: "Next, please use your Chaos power to reverse the operation of the Seal Formation; you only need to inject Chaos power into this main Formation eye beneath me, and the Seal will loosen on its own."

"Once I am free, that wisp of Chaos True Source and the third Magical Artifact will all be yours, along with the primordial secrets and ancient Cultivation Techniques I promised; I will tell you everything, without holding anything back."

Jiang Changge stood before the Void Shadow, silent for a moment, and then, he smiled.

That smile carried a hint of profound meaning, causing a trace of inexplicable unease to arise in the Void Shadow's heart.

"Senior, do not be anxious." Jiang Changge's tone was calm as he took out the xuanchen whisk from his sleeve and twirled it lightly in his hand.

"Before retrieving the treasure, this Junior has one more thing to do."

A trace of extremely subtle vigilance flashed in the Void Shadow's blurred eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.

Its voice remained hoarse and gentle, carrying a hint of confusion: "Oh? What else is there?"

Jiang Changge did not answer immediately; he held the xuanchen whisk and slowly paced half a circle around the Void Shadow, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the translucent figure and the dark gray ground beneath it, which was covered with runes, as if inspecting something interesting.

A moment later, he stopped, looked up at the Void Shadow, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing a smile that was not quite a smile.

"Senior just said that you were sealed here by the master and were an innocent victim, right?"

The Void Shadow's brows furrowed slightly, but its voice remained steady: "That is correct."

"That is strange." Jiang Changge tapped the xuanchen whisk lightly against his palm, his tone still as calm as if he were discussing a trivial matter.

"According to my understanding of Seals, regardless of the type, as long as the Seal is still operating, the one being sealed will have their power continuously drained until they completely dissipate."

"But Senior claims to have been sealed for so many years, with power continuously drained, yet you can still maintain such clear consciousness and converse with me; this is something I find difficult to understand."

The light in the Void Shadow's blurred eyes flickered slightly, and just as it was about to explain, Jiang Changge did not give it the chance.

"And another thing."

Jiang Changge raised the xuanchen whisk and pointed it vaguely at the dark gray ground beneath the Void Shadow, his smile deepening slightly.

"Senior just said that if I use Chaos power to reverse the operation of the Seal, it will help you break free, but is it really that simple? If I am not mistaken, the core hub of this Seal Formation is likely Senior yourself, right?"

The Void Shadow fell silent; the excitement and anticipation that had originally been suppressed in its blurred eyes gradually faded, replaced by an extremely cold, bone-chilling scrutiny.

It did not immediately refute, nor did it continue to feign that sincere expression; it just looked at Jiang Changge quietly, as if re-evaluating this young man it had thought it could easily fool.

"How did you figure it out?"

The Void Shadow's voice was no longer hoarse and gentle, but had become deep and cold, like a frigid wind from the depths of the earth.

Jiang Changge did not answer its question but continued on his own: "Your true goal is not to break free at all; having me retrieve the void-breaking awl and the mountain-suppressing seal was merely to weaken the Seal's suppression of you."

"These two Magical Artifacts are the core pillars of the Seal; once they are removed, the power of the Seal will significantly weaken, and you will have enough power to counter-attack the Seal and completely destroy it."

Jiang Changge stared directly into the Void Shadow's increasingly cold eyes and said, word by word: "As for what you said about 'using Chaos power to reverse the operation of the Seal', I'm afraid that isn't to help you break free, but to help you with Possession, right? Once I inject the Chaos power into the Formation eye, you will seize the opportunity to have your remnant soul follow the Chaos power to invade my body and take my Physical Body for yourself."

"After all, you only have a wisp of a remnant soul left; even if you could destroy the Seal and escape, you wouldn't live long. But if you could perform Possession on this Physical Body of mine, which possesses Chaos power, you would have a chance at Rebirth."

After he finished speaking, the bottom of the canyon fell into an extremely oppressive silence.

Thick fog churned slowly between the two, and the dim golden light around the Void Shadow flickered uncertainly, casting its blurred face in light and shadow.

Subsequently, the laughter of the Mirage echoed in the canyon, hoarse and grating, carrying an undisguised arrogance and sinister nature after being exposed.

It no longer disguised itself; the last trace of hypocritical light in those blurred eyes was completely extinguished, replaced by pure, naked greed and killing intent.