Chapter Eight: The Golden Elixir

Shen Lie, having crawled into the great hall, paid no heed to anything else; he frantically began searching for the mechanism to activate the teleportation array. In his mind, if this Xiewen Path was also a teleportation array, the method to activate it should be the same as in the cave before. He traced the dense patterns over and over, leaving no inch unchecked. Gradually, the hope in his eyes turned to anxiety, then dulled into despair.

Nothing.

There was not a single switch on the entire floor, and he even discovered that some of the patterns were damaged. Even if he found a switch, it likely wouldn’t work. Blow after blow finally broke Shen Lie’s spirit; he collapsed onto the ground, utterly hopeless.

“What’s that smell?”

Just as Shen Lie closed his eyes, resigned to death, a faint fragrance reached his nose. Instantly, the starving cells in his body stirred awake, and he opened his eyes, searching for its source.

Following the scent, Shen Lie soon discovered a golden cylinder he had overlooked in his frantic search for a switch. The cylinder was about a foot in diameter, covered by a golden lid, with the fragrance wafting from the cracks.

At this point, Shen Lie cared nothing for danger. Without hesitation, he wrenched off the lid and peered inside.

“Is this... wine?”

Inside was a half-filled cylinder of liquid, golden in color. Whether the liquid itself was this hue or merely reflected by the container, Shen Lie couldn’t be bothered to discern. He tried to lift the cylinder but failed, so he simply plunged his head in and drank deeply.

Whether the liquid was wine or poison didn’t matter to him now; if he didn’t get something into his stomach soon, he’d be reporting to the underworld before long. Even if the container held mercury or the water of oblivion, he’d have downed a few mouthfuls all the same.

The moment the liquid touched his lips, a delicate aroma filled his senses. Entranced by the scent, Shen Lie’s hunger surged, and he drank with abandon. In the end, he upended the cylinder and drained every last drop.

“Hot!”

“So hot!”

“Unbearably hot!”

No sooner had Shen Lie emptied the vessel than a searing heat erupted from his organs, as if a barrel of gasoline had been ignited in his belly. He collapsed, howling and writhing on the ground, his skin flushed as red as a shrimp, panting out waves of scorching air.

Shen Lie had no doubt he’d be reduced to ashes any moment, but he felt no regret. Even without drinking the liquid, death was inevitable. With his current strength, he doubted he could even crawl back to the main hall above, let alone survive the dangers lurking on the surface.

He was unaware that the giant insect had already left; even if he knew, he wouldn’t have cared. His body was completely spent—leaving this place would only make him another snack for the spider monsters above.

The burning sensation rampaged through his body, giving him a taste of being set alight from within. The agony came swiftly and left just as fast; in the next moment, he felt nothing at all—for he had lost consciousness.

Unconscious at last, Shen Lie was freed from endless suffering, and he didn’t see the strange patterns covering the dome of the great hall fade away. At the instant the last pattern vanished, the black cylinder embedded in the golden skull atop the crimson chair suddenly released a radiant light and began to vibrate with a deep hum.

Though the black cylinder was little more than a foot long, its vibrations were thunderous. The golden skull nearly shook apart, and even the crimson chair, the golden dais, and the entire hall trembled lightly.

Had this continued, the underground chamber might have collapsed in short order. Just then, the nearly vanished patterns on the dome suddenly burst into brilliance. All the markings gathered together, coalescing into a droplet shape, which suddenly fell from above, landing precisely atop the vibrating black cylinder.

The moment the “droplet” struck it, the black metal cylinder quieted as if a fire were smothered by water, returning to stillness. The strange patterns reappeared on the dome, as if nothing at all had happened.

...

Shen Lie remained unconscious for a long time, during which his body underwent bizarre transformations. His exposed skin gradually turned a pale gold, and, even more astonishingly, a hard protrusion began growing from the crown of his head.

But that was not all. His hands, feet, and facial features also began to change—some parts swelling, others shrinking. His very structure was being reshaped. Had Shen Lie been conscious and possessed a mirror, he would have been terrified to see he now resembled a monstrous bull!

This transformation lasted for over an hour before finally subsiding. In the end, Shen Lie did not become a complete beast, retaining some human traits, but the effect was all the more terrifying—he looked every bit the demon bull from myth.

At the very moment his new form stabilized, the golden skull atop the crimson chair flared with dazzling light. The strange patterns on the dome flickered once more, and this time, even the patterns on the floor glowed, suffusing the entire hall with a sea of golden light.

As the radiance from the golden skull intensified, the glowing patterns seemed to heed a silent summons, swiftly converging into a dark golden sphere the size of a human head. The orb hovered for a moment before drifting down to the black metal cylinder embedded in the golden skull, shrouding it in a mantle of dark golden light.

Wrapped in this light, the metal cylinder emitted a resonant hum, the glow around it flickering. Yet the light could not overcome it.

Meanwhile, the light within the golden skull blazed to its utmost, then, as if overwhelmed, it shattered with a bang. The golden bones cracked and scattered across the dais.

Strangely, even after the skull had shattered, the black metal cylinder remained floating in midair. It did not fall, and now, with the skull gone, its full form was revealed. The part previously buried in the skull was sharply pointed, and at its tip, a golden object the size of a thumb’s pad quivered as if it were a droplet of liquid.

“Moo!”

After swaying for a moment, the droplet emitted a deep, muffled bellow, then erupted in a dazzling light. As if it had exhausted all its strength, it broke free from the black metal tip and, trailing a wave of joyous energy, shot straight toward the unconscious Shen Lie on the ground.

Deep in his stupor, Shen Lie sensed a surge of mortal danger approaching—so intense it made his hair stand on end. If he did not act, his fate would be worse than death. Terror shocked his mind awake, and he snapped his eyes open.

The first thing he saw was the golden droplet flying straight at him. Instinctively, he tried to roll aside—even without knowing its effect, he wanted no part of such an uncanny phenomenon.

But horror struck him: his body would not obey his mind’s commands. He could not move even a finger; powerless, he could only watch as the golden droplet drew near.

The feeling was dreadful—like a condemned man awaiting execution—but his torment did not last long. The droplet crossed the short distance in a blink.

This time, Shen Lie did not close his eyes. He forced himself to watch, hoping the liquid was perhaps not as deadly as he feared—maybe it was just something unusual.

Yet he would never know the power of that droplet. For just as it was about to touch his brow, the black cylindrical metal, which had been floating above, suddenly erupted in a burst of black light and a shrill scream. In the next instant, a droplet of black liquid shot out from the black glow, striking the golden droplet at the very moment it reached Shen Lie!