Chapter 71 – Impasse (2/2)
The bloodmist stuck onto Song Gui’s back and kept growing until eventually it covered his whole body. The bloodmist was sticky and it quickly sunk into his body through the pores on his skin. People stopped attacking the effigies when they saw the engulfing mist appearing from the remains. Once again they didn’t do more than defend themselves as they were afraid to break any more effigies until they found out what effect the mist had on Song Gui.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” He mumbled.
When all of the bloodmist was absorbed into Song Gui’s body, he completely lost his consciousness and was overcome by bloodlust. His eyes became bloodshot and the veins all over his body bulged. He looked more like a wild beast than a person.
With their primal feather wings, Hong Xun, Lu Chao, and Xue Yao launched themselves into the air and observed Song Gui’s transformation from what they thought to be a safe distance.
“What do you two think?” Hong Xun’s thick black eyebrows furrowed as he witnessed the gruesome transformation of the kind-hearted Warrior. “From what I can tell, the scarlet crystal that made him a monster might be the mythical Blood Devourer crystal…”
“What is that?” Xue Yao asked. Neither her nor Lu Chao could remember that name.
“Blood Devourers are a type of primal stone. The Qi stored within them is purer and thicker than normal primal stones, and its quenching property is superior to most of the pills available nowadays.”
“But there is a drawback. The primal energy from these stones is too strong. It will make the user aggressive and the weak-minded will be consumed by the bloodlust… That’s where the crystal’s name came from.”
The way Song Gui was screaming and twitching sent shivers down Xue Yao’s spine. “Can we help him?”
“I don’t know if there is a way to help him, it’s all up to his will now if he can survive this. But that’s not the point I’m trying to make! Effigies and Blood Devourer crystals don’t they ring any bells? You guys never heard the stories when you were kids?”
It suddenly all came together for Lu Chao and Xue Yao, “Do you mean this labyrinth is related to the Glacial Emperor?!” Lu Chao widened his eyes and exclaimed.
“Are these effigies the ‘Immortal Puppets’?!” Xue Yao started to recall the details of the legend. She realized these were the stone guardians made by the Glacial Emperor to guard his tomb.
“That’s what the duo from Ning City are here for? To explore the Glacial Emperor’s tomb?”
“If the legends are true, the brown ones are not what we should be worried about.” Hong Xun continued, “The silver puppets are far more dangerous, but we should be able to handle them if we all work together. They should be as strong as five-star Warriors, but the gold ones… I don’t know how we can deal with them if they come.”
When they figured out what this labyrinth was, they temporarily put their differences aside so they could travel deeper into the labyrinth. The Glacial Emperor’s treasure was unmeasurable.
“Get away from him!”
“He’s on his own now, we can’t do anything about it!” Hong Xun warned the crowd from above as some of Song Gui’s friends were trying to get close and calm him down.
Not sure how they should deal with the stone puppets, everyone went back to dodging and defending themselves. It was not hard for anyone to dodge at the start, but as more and more of the brown puppets became active, weaker cultivators found themselves surrounded by more than one puppet as fatigue overtook them.
Ye Wei was now surrounded by three brown puppets. It was getting more and more dangerous and keeping a safe distance from them was starting to become a struggle.
He heard a rumbling sound behind him and two more puppets behind him activated as he quickly ran through the gap between them. He now found himself standing in front of Song Gui. He was in dire straights now as he was blocked from all directions with nowhere to escape, and on top of that he was completely alone.