Chapter 2603: Flaying

“What happened here?” Youzheng was surprised to see the state of this corpse versus a regular body.

White Orchid being devoured in one night was already strange and shocking enough. But now, the appearance of these missing locals appearing so far away on top of their current state? Youzheng had no idea what was going on.

“Devourment. They’re only puppets now.” Li Qiye said without any surprise.

“Puppets?” Youzheng was startled at the start but after thinking about it, this made perfect sense.

Why did the corpses come back to kill people? Perhaps a terrible mastermind was behind all of this.

“Is this the work of darkness?” He asked.

Li Qiye didn’t answer. He flicked his finger and began dividing the flayed corpse.

The individual muscles, tendons, and veins of the corpse were perfectly taken out. Next came the internal organs; no damage happened during the removal process.

“Ugh…” Yixue became curious enough to take a look only to start being nauseous and needed to run out.

Li Qiye didn’t mind. His gaze was focused on the corpse, darting back and forth. Eventually, the pieces came back together in a flawless manner. 

The unraveling and reassembling process didn’t leave a single cut. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that not even a single strand of hair was missing, with the exception of one thing taken out by Li Qiye.

He took a careful look and Youzheng did the same. It was a tiny stone, only around the length of a pinky, flat and black with a faint luster. 

Why was this thing inside the corpse?

“Young Noble, what is it?” Youzheng asked.

“A seed.” Li Qiye responded.

“A seed?” Youzheng was momentarily stunned before speaking again: “For what?”

This was the first time he has seen or heard something this strange.

“A fruit-bearing seed.” Li Qiye said.

Youzheng had no response.

Li Qiye continued staring at the tiny stone as if it hid an amazing secret.

“Time to go to the source.” His eyes coldly pierced through the ages.

He raised both hands and a maelstrom appeared before them. It was only around the size of a washbasin.

Numerous dao laws circulated in the maelstrom with increasing speed, seemingly wanting to disassemble everything. All mysteries would slowly unravel while inside this dao maelstrom.

Youzheng became dizzy while looking at it. He felt himself being sucked in and that his very being was slowly disintegrating along with the dao he has cultivated.

For example, his chosen grand dao, merit laws, and various techniques. They were being separated entirely.

In other words, the moment he entered this maelstrom, he no longer had any secret to speak of. His whole cultivation experience appeared before Li Qiye.

The frightened man became afraid and instantly retreated to the side, averting his gaze.

Li Qiye threw the tiny stone into the maelstrom.

“Splash!” It carried a massive power and created a tsunami of dao. It seemed to notice the danger looming in the maelstrom so it tried to escape.

Youzheng was surprised again. This stone seemed to have its own consciousness and life.

“This thing is alive?” Youzheng asked in horror. Having something akin to a parasite planted in one’s body was quite terrifying.

Like Li Qiye had said, this was a seed purposely planted into the corpse.

That’s the reason why they came back to life and started ambushing other people. The seeds were the source of it all while the corpses were mere bags of skin - just puppets.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t escape from Li Qiye’s absolute suppression and the maelstrom and succumbed to being separated.

“Zzz.” It made a groan-like sound during the slow disintegration process.

It was being grinded down, inch by inch. Beneath the rock exterior were strands of black light. They also became prey to the maelstrom.

Darkness has revealed its true form. This tiny law was virtually imperceptible to the naked eye. Black in full and immensely profound on top of possessing an evil aura.

Not much was left of the stone now. The disintegrating specks of dust actually emitted a faint luster like grains of radiance on the verge of extinguishing.

They were weak and few in number, yet there was an indescribable sense of sacredness, almost like an immortal energy. 

“How strange.” Youzheng was surprised. A while ago, the removed parts were clearly evil but now, these light grains were actually sacred in nature.

“This is the power of the famed immortal stone that people are talking about.” Li Qiye said.

“The stone exists?” Youzheng wondered.

Li Qiye didn’t answer, still glaring at the maelstrom.

“Pop!” Another force attacked the maelstrom after the process was finished, causing waves through the rotation.

The black laws in the maelstrom came together to form a tiny, black monster. It was as big as a fist and looked similar to an octopus. However, its tentacles were full of barbs.

“What the hell is this now?” Youzheng felt an evil aura causing him to stagger backward out of fear.

“It’s only a weak consciousness.” Li Qiye said insipidly.

His eyes became divine lamps with all-penetrating rays locking on this monster.