Chapter Eight: The Golden Elixir

After crawling into the great hall, Shen Lie completely ignored everything else and immediately began frantically searching for the button to activate the teleportation array. In his mind, if this Xie Wenlu was also a teleportation array, then the activation method should be the same as the one he had encountered in the underground tunnel before.

He traced the dense network of lines over and over again, not missing a single detail. Gradually, hope in Shen Lie’s eyes gave way to anxiety, then dulled into despair.

Nothing!

Not only was there no part of the floor that could be pressed as a switch, but he discovered that some of the lines were actually damaged. Even if he did find a switch, it likely wouldn’t work.

Blow after blow finally broke Shen Lie’s spirit. He collapsed helplessly to the ground, utterly desolate.

“What’s that smell?”

Just as Shen Lie closed his eyes and resigned himself to death, he suddenly caught a faint, delicate fragrance. His hungry senses instantly sprang to life, and he opened his eyes to search for the source.

Following the aroma, Shen Lie quickly discovered a cylindrical golden container that he had overlooked in his earlier desperation to find a switch. The cylinder was about a foot in diameter and covered with a golden lid, from the seams of which the fragrance was wafting.

At this point, Shen Lie no longer cared about danger; without hesitation, he wrenched off the lid and looked inside.

“Is this… wine?”

Inside, he saw the container was more than half full of a golden-yellow liquid. He couldn’t tell whether the color was from the liquid itself or just the reflection from the golden cylinder, but he was in no mood for investigation. He tried to lift the container but failed, so he simply plunged his head in and drank greedily.

Whether the liquid was actually wine, or whether it was poisoned, was of no concern to him. He knew that if he didn’t get something into his stomach soon, he would be reporting to the underworld. Even if it were mercury or the waters of forgetfulness, he would have risked a few gulps.

The liquid tasted faintly sweet and fragrant. This subtle aroma only sharpened Shen Lie’s hunger, and he couldn’t stop drinking. In the end, he just tilted the container and gulped down every last drop.

“Hot!”

“Very hot!”

“Incredibly hot!”

As soon as he finished the last drop, Shen Lie had no time to put the stone basin down before a searing heat erupted through his internal organs, as if a barrel of gasoline had been ignited in his belly. He fell to the ground, writhing and howling, his whole body turning as red as a cooked shrimp, each breath exhaling waves of scorching air.

Shen Lie had no doubt that in another moment, he would be reduced to ashes. Yet he felt no regret. Even if he hadn’t drunk the liquid, death was inevitable; with his current strength, he would hardly be able to crawl back to the hall above, let alone face the dangers that awaited on the surface.

Unbeknownst to Shen Lie, the monstrous insect had already left. Even if he had known, it would have made no difference; his body was utterly spent. Even if he managed to escape, he would only have become another snack for the spider monsters.

The fierce burning sensation rampaged through his body, giving him an agonizing taste of hellfire, but the pain came and went quickly—so quickly, in fact, that he lost all sensation as he passed out completely.

In that unconsciousness, Shen Lie was finally freed from agony, and he failed to witness the ceiling of the great hall, covered with strange patterns, as they slowly faded away. At the very moment when all the lines vanished, the black cylindrical object embedded in the golden skull atop the crimson chair suddenly began to glow and vibrate with a loud hum!

The black cylinder, barely more than a foot long, created an uproar with its vibrations—not only did it threaten to shake the golden skull apart, but even the red chair, the golden dais, and the entire hall trembled ever so slightly.

Had this continued, the underground chamber might have soon collapsed. But just as the last of the ceiling patterns was about to disappear, they suddenly burst forth with brilliant light and began to converge. All of the patterns gathered together, forming the shape of a teardrop, which then fell from above, landing squarely on the buzzing black metal cylinder!

As soon as the “teardrop” touched it, the black cylinder quieted, like a fire quenched by water, until it was completely still again. The strange lines reappeared on the ceiling, as if nothing had ever happened.

...

Shen Lie remained unconscious for a very long time, and as time passed, his body began to undergo remarkable changes. His exposed skin gradually took on a pale golden hue, and, even more bizarrely, a hard lump began to protrude from the top of his head.

That wasn’t all. His hands, feet, facial features, and the very structure of his body began to change: some parts swelled, others shrank, his whole physique transforming dramatically. If Shen Lie had been conscious and had a mirror, he would have been horrified to see himself turning into a monstrous, bull-like creature.

This mutation lasted more than an hour before it finally ceased. In the end, Shen Lie was not completely transformed into a bull—he retained some human features—but this made him all the more terrifying, resembling the bull-demons of myth and legend.

The moment his body finished its transformation, the golden skull atop the crimson chair suddenly erupted with dazzling light. Once again, the strange patterns on the ceiling flickered, and this time even the lines on the floor began to glow, turning the entire hall into a sea of gold.

As the light from the golden skull grew ever brighter, the glowing lines seemed to receive some silent summons; they rapidly converged, finally condensing into a dark golden orb the size of a human head. After a brief pause, the orb drifted down and settled onto the black metal cylinder embedded in the skull, wrapping it in a shroud of dark golden light.

Encased in this radiant cocoon, the metal cylinder began to vibrate, sending waves through the light, but the golden glow held fast. At the same time, the light inside the golden skull blazed to its peak, then, as if unable to endure the strain, exploded with a crash—golden bones splintered and scattered across the golden dais.

Strangely, even after the skull shattered, the black metal cylinder remained suspended in midair, not falling to the floor despite having lost its support. Without the skull to obscure it, its true form was now revealed: the end that had been inside the skull was sharply pointed, and on its tip, a golden bead the size of a thumbnail quivered as if it were a drop of liquid.

“Mooo!”

The golden droplet trembled on the metal tip for a moment, then emitted a deep, muffled sound before bursting into a brilliant light. As if finally breaking free, it shot off the tip and, brimming with joy, sped straight toward the unconscious Shen Lie.

Even in his faint, Shen Lie sensed the approach of a deadly peril, enough to make his hair stand on end. If he did nothing, the outcome would be worse than death. With a jolt of terror, he snapped his eyes open.

The first thing he saw was the golden droplet racing toward him. Instinctively sensing disaster, Shen Lie tried to roll aside. He didn’t know what would happen if the liquid touched him, but he had no desire to find out.

To his horror, Shen Lie discovered that his body refused to heed his mind. He couldn’t move, not even a finger. No matter how unwilling he was, he could only stare helplessly as the golden droplet drew ever closer.

It was an agonizing feeling—like a condemned prisoner waiting for the executioner. Yet the wait was not long; even at a slow pace, the short distance was covered in a blink.

This time, Shen Lie kept his eyes open, determined to witness his own fate. In truth, he still harbored a sliver of hope that the droplet might not be as dangerous as he thought.

In the end, Shen Lie never learned the true power of the golden droplet. Just as it was about to touch his brow, the floating black cylinder suddenly burst forth with a jet of black light and a piercing screech. From within the black radiance, another droplet—this one pitch-black—shot out at lightning speed and collided with the golden droplet just as it reached his forehead.