59: Silver Armored Corpse

Grayish-white Mist continuously surged from the back door of the tavern.

Within the Mist, three figures slowly emerged.

They were all wearing grayish-white hooded robes. Beneath their hoods, there were no faces, only a dense mass of gray Mist.

As these three figures appeared, the gray Mist in the alley spread at an alarming speed.

It quickly filled the alley, blurring everything around.

In Li Ke's perception, the aura of the surrounding guard 隊 was rapidly fading.

Even his mental connection with the Spirit boy and girl became somewhat blurred.

This gray Mist seemed Li Ke a signal isolator, gradually isolating and sealing off connections between people.

Only his Lifebound connection with the Bronze Armor Corpse, Li Ke a pitch-black chain 贯穿虛實, remained clear and stable.

Li Ke's lips curved into an arc.

The Innate Guardian Corpse is a Lifebound object connected to the Cultivator's life, Li Ke a Lifebound Treasure. It is almost impossible to block this connection.

"Where the Mist shrouds, all things flow."

"Good day, Your Excellency Charles."

The leading gray Mist figure spoke.

His voice was neutral and ethereal, impossible to discern gender or age, as if it resonated from all directions at once, echoing in the viscous gray Mist.

"Is this the method of the Mist?"

Inside the carriage, Li Ke chuckled softly.

"Somewhat interesting."

"But when doing business on someone else's territory, one must always meet the owner, right?"

Before he finished speaking, the shadows on both sides of the alley began to churn and boil frantically.

A tall, slender figure, emanating a terrifying aura, suddenly stepped out from the boiling shadows.

At this moment, the Corpse's form had greatly changed.

The heavy bronze Corpse armor had receded, no longer appearing bulky and cumbersome.

Its figure became tall and slender, its body covered in a layer of fine, silvery-white scales, Li Ke a bizarre human body clad in fish scales.

Only its face still retained a hideous, twisted bronze facial plate, Li Ke an unhealed scar.

Black Corpse Qi rose from its body Li Ke smoke, even mixed with wisps of pale phosphorescence.

Silver Armor Corpse!

As soon as it appeared, the boiling, surging shadows around it, Li Ke a breached tide, expanded wildly in all directions, swiftly engulfing the entire alley!

Everyone in the alley was simultaneously dragged into a pitch-black realm constructed of shadows.

Even the dense gray Mist was absorbed into the shadows, quickly diluting and disappearing.

"Is this the world within the shadows?"

It was Li Ke's first time entering the shadows, and he looked around with interest.

This Shadow Realm was not pure darkness.

Instead, it was composed of countless black silhouettes, varying in depth and overlapping, Li Ke a painting haphazardly cut and pieced together, forming a bizarre, pitch-black jungle.

The sense of space here was extremely disorienting; it was difficult to distinguish up, down, left, and right.

However, the Silver Armor Corpse in the Shadow Realm was Li Ke a fish returning to water.

Its figure weaved and flickered between different shadow silhouettes, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, making its trajectory impossible to capture.

In the blink of an eye, it appeared silently before one of the gray Mist figures.

Its sharp claws, covered in fine silver scales, lifted, their tips bearing pale phosphorescence, and grabbed towards the other's hood!

"Wait! Wait!"

"Your Excellency Charles! We mean no harm!"

The gray Mist figure's voice was no longer ethereal; it became urgent as he hastily spoke.

Li Ke's thought moved.

The Silver Armor Corpse's sharp claws stopped just before him.

A terrifying pressure, as if substantial, bore down.

The three gray Mist figures froze in place, not daring to move.

Li Ke chuckled softly, stepped out of the carriage, and stood in this pitch-black Shadow Realm.

He dared to probe the depths of the Mist, naturally not without purpose.

Previously, the Bronze Armor Corpse had consecutively devoured three Clairvoyance.

The Corpse Qi Origin that fed back could push Li Ke to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The benefits it received itself would naturally not be less.

It was now officially transforming into a Silver Armor Corpse.

Moreover, because of its extremely high Aptitude and the absorption of some Living Corpse characteristics, its strength was far superior to that of an ordinary Silver Armor Corpse.

If it were to fight the Ironwood Old Family Head now, it wouldn't need any other assistance; it could kill him in a single encounter!

However, at present, this Lifebound Zombie was still one step away from completing its transformation.

This step was somewhat Li Ke childbirth; it needed to be crossed quickly.

Under normal circumstances, a Disciple of the Corpse Driving Sect would feed the Zombie some extremely Yin Materials at the final stage of its promotion, and the Zombie would successfully cross over.

But perhaps because of the Zombie's excellent quality, or some mutation after devouring the Living Corpse Path, this final step had been delayed.

Thus, Li Ke thought of the special evolutionary effect of the Living Corpse Path's flesh and blood on Zombies.

And in this vicinity, the only organization that could provide the specific location of the Holy Meal Society was this mysterious Mist organization.

Li Ke remembered that when Baron Harman hired assassins before, he had employed a Clairvoyance from the Living Corpse Path through the Mist.

The Clairvoyance ended up falling into the Corpse-raising ground, becoming the Zombie's first 'infant supplement'...

But clearly, the Mist could provide leads on the Holy Meal Society.

Moreover, in the memories of Baron Harman and the Ironwood Old Family Head, nobles frequently traded with the Mist itself.

The Mist would dispatch dedicated personnel to handle business dealings.

However, Li Ke had entered the Mist multiple times and conducted many transactions, yet he had never seen the shadow of the Mist's organizers.

This struck him as somewhat strange.

Since normal transactions weren't working, he decided to try a more direct form of communication.

"Your Excellency Charles, we are aware of your intentions."

After a brief stalemate, the leading gray Mist envoy slowly spoke.

"Please believe that we bear no ill will towards you. On the contrary, we have many opportunities for cooperation."

"Is that so? But why do I feel that you are reluctant to see me?"

"Uh, there might be some misunderstanding."

The gray Mist envoy's voice held a hint of apology.

After some communication, Li Ke finally understood that his Mist Emblem was the lowest Rank, the Mist of Dust.

This Rank only allowed for anonymous, point-to-point transactions in the Mist Tavern.

He did not have the authority to directly trade with the Mist.

However, nobles Li Ke Harman, as local aristocrats, would receive an emblem directly from the Mist, with an initial Rank of Mist Walker.

But the one Li Ke held was inherited from that Living Corpse assassin, and its Rank had been reset to the lowest, which was why he had never received an official reception from the Mist.

"Therefore, it is not that we intentionally targeted Your Excellency, but rather that we are bound by our rules."

The gray Mist envoy's voice sounded very sincere.

"To show our apology, we will upgrade your Mist Emblem to Mist Walker."

"Furthermore, we are willing to offer a small gift."

"We believe this gift is exactly what Your Excellency needs."

Saying this, the leading gray Mist envoy extended his hand.

From the swirling gray Mist within his sleeve, an item slowly appeared.

It was a sharp, dark red tusk, about three inches long.

"This is a vampire count's tusk. Although it's quite old, it still contains extremely pure blood energy, which might be beneficial to Your Excellency."

A vampire count is equivalent to a Gold Rank in the human Clairvoyance system.

Such a vampire count's tusk was indeed valuable.

Li Ke reached out, and the blood-colored tusk flew into his hand.

It was chillingly cold to the touch, and a surging, icy energy emanated from it.

Its extreme Yin attribute could be used for both Zombie transformation and paper figurine upgrades.

It was indeed a rare and excellent Material.

"I'll accept the gift."

Li Ke pondered for a moment, put the tusk into his pouch, and said, "What is the relationship between your Mist and the Holy Meal Society?"

The gray Mist envoy paused, then replied, "Your Excellency Charles, you may not fully understand us. We only have pure transactional relationships with all factions."

"Beyond that, there will be no other relationship."

Li Ke's eyes flashed: "If I ask you to provide intelligence on the Holy Meal Society's strongholds near Xilin Town, can you provide it?"

"Of course."

A hint of a smile appeared in the gray Mist figure's voice.

"Intelligence trading is one of the Mist's most popular services."

"As long as the price is right, we can provide not only intelligence on the Holy Meal Society's strongholds but also intelligence on the Radiant Light Holy Court Pope's whereabouts."

"Moreover, you don't need to worry about transaction leakage."

"All members of the Mist have signed a Soul contract with the great Mist and are absolutely unable to disclose transaction information."