novellhall Chapter 116 The First Aspect of All Beings
Chapter 116 The First Aspect of All Beings
Chapter 116 All Beings in One Form
Inside a house in Yandong Village, in the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, several young people adorned in silks and satins, jade pendants and precious stones, exuded an air of nobility. However, at this moment, that air of nobility was wrapped up by dozens of layers of fabric, making them look like five spherical creatures surrounding the center of the house.
"Why hasn't this snow stopped yet? And don't you guys feel like this snow is a bit eerie?"
"It's just that you were attacked by those weirdos last time. Why are you so paranoid now, Wang Wei?"
""
"I'm serious, especially since this afternoon, I've been feeling unwell all over, and I feel weak and listless."
"Yan Yan, you're not a Demon-Slaying Fire Mage, so why are you so afraid of the cold?"
Jiang Yanyan snapped, annoyed, "—You're a Flame-level Shield Warrior, aren't you cold too?"
The people in the room were all from noble families of the Great Yu Kingdom, who had come from the capital to Yanzhou for training.
They had originally received a mission to hunt down the Void Beasts in Yandong Village, but they first encountered a mysterious organization that attacked them. However, due to the heavy snow and wind these past few days, it was inconvenient for them to go down the mountain, so they stayed in Yandong Village for a few days. As a result, they are now freezing to death in the village.
Given their status, strength, and talent, one would expect that their journey of training would be like a story from a popular novel, filled with adventure, chivalry, and vengeance.
Sui Cheng thought to herself, "It's only been a few days, and things have gotten so messy!"
Where are you going?
"Going to the toilet to pee, what, you want to come along?"
"vulgar!"
"Achoo!" Wang Wei sneezed as he stepped out into the courtyard, feeling a chill, but he still felt something was off about today.
Why is it so quiet?
By the way, the village is unusually quiet today. There are no roosters crowing, no dogs barking, and even the usual sound of wood chopping is gone.
He came out of the outhouse and shivered from the cold. As he walked back into the house, he pulled up his trousers, only to find a villager outside the yard. It was the old man who brought them goat milk every day, with very thick wrinkles on his face.
Wang Wei looked puzzled: "What's wrong, sir? Why aren't you inside in this freezing weather? Why are you here instead?"
The old man was hunched over, looking miserable. He scratched his face as he walked, "Oh dear, sir, my face has been so itchy since lunch today. No matter how much I scratch, it doesn't stop. I was thinking of seeing a doctor, but the heavy snow has blocked the mountain pass, so I can't go to town. I heard that you are better than that doctor, sir—"
Wang Wei, the sorcerer in the team, laughed upon hearing this: "Hey, you've come to the right person, old man. Let me see what's going on? Ouch, stop scratching, you've scratched yourself raw."
"It's so itchy, so itchy! I feel like I could scratch my skin off, it's just so itchy!"
"Stop scratching! Stop scratching! You're really going to hurt yourself!"
He tried to stop him, but the old man kept scratching, eventually pulling off all the thick layers of wrinkles.
His entire face actually cracked open!
A thin crack spread upwards, like the cracks in parched earth, and then the entire face sagged down, revealing the charred black color underneath.
Wang Wei stood frozen in place, utterly horrified: "B-Grandpa, you, you—"
The old man was oblivious. He grabbed his face with both hands and tore it in half. With a "rip," the skin split open in the middle and fell to the ground like an old garment that had been taken off.
"It doesn't itch anymore, it doesn't itch anymore."
This is bizarre, extremely bizarre!
Anyone with eyes can see this is fucking weird, it's incredibly weird!
Wang Wei swallowed hard, startled, and took a half-step back.
But being a native of Tianjin, he couldn't let anything slip by unnoticed, so he immediately chimed in, "Then it's not itchy anymore, that's good! Why don't you go back and rest, sir?"
The monster beneath the human skin grinned at him, its dark red eyes fixed on him: "Master, you're truly amazing. The itch is really gone now, but the old man is feeling a bit unwell again—"
"Where does it hurt? Shall I prescribe some medicine for you?"
"No need for medication, it's just that my stomach is a little uncomfortable."
Suddenly, more and more villagers gathered outside the courtyard. "I wonder, sir, could you—"
"Come inside my belly and take a look?"
The Longyou team from Yannan Village in Dongtianshan had just returned from outside the village when they were suddenly attacked by the villagers.
The village chief, who was leading the group, was talking about some kind of ritual when he suddenly started scratching his face, neck, and the back of his hands. Pieces of skin peeled off, revealing his equally charcoal-black body underneath.
The thing standing beneath the torn human skin was pitch black, with charcoal-like skin, two dark red eyes, and a mouth stretched to its ears.
They simultaneously raised their hands, scratching their faces, necks, and the backs of their hands—pieces of skin peeled off, revealing their equally charcoal-black bodies underneath—before suddenly launching an attack on them.
"What exactly happened? What's wrong with these villagers?"
"Have we been living with this monster for the past few days?"
Just as Shi Tieshan was about to strike the black charcoal monster that pounced on him like a demon, Long You, who was standing to the side, stopped him: "No, Tieshan, you can't hurt them! They are just ordinary people, they must have been controlled by evil spirits." Shield warrior Shi Tieshan was stunned, and at this critical moment, he was about to be ambushed by a figure from the side.
"boom"
The next second, amidst the wind and snow, a fierce beam of light struck the sneak attacking figure head-on, destroying several houses in the process.
The source of the powerful light cannon was a bronze mirror floating in the air, which was quietly floating above and to the right of a young girl.
Longyou quickly turned around and exclaimed, "White Deer!"
Bai Lu snorted coldly, "Look over there."
Everyone looked at the ruins, and then at the figures slowly getting up. Several figures stood up again in the wind and snow.
"You mean, this monster that survived a full-on barrage of my firepower is just an ordinary villager?"
Shi Tieshan said in a deep voice, "Longyou, these monsters are very strong, and there's something wrong with this snow. We're not strong enough, and if we drag this out, something bad will happen."
The busty mage holding the staff chimed in, "That's right, Ayou! They're not villagers anymore; they've become monsters! Show no mercy!"
"6
'
His companions were right, but just as Longyou made up his mind, these monsters who had shed their human skin actually spoke: "Monsters? We are not monsters—"
"Master Long, please save us! We don't know what happened, we suddenly became like this—"
"Help us, help us!"
"Yes, we're starving! Please help us!"
Inside the dilapidated temple in Yanbei Village, Dongtianshan, four or five professionals, all covered in wounds and their fates unknown, lay sprawled on the ground, their blood staining half of the floor red.
They were an adventurer team that had received a mission to subdue Yanbei Village. It was originally just a normal silver-level mission, but unexpectedly, they were attacked by a group of masked people.
Among the middle-aged men on the ground, their lower bodies had completely disappeared from their stomachs down. His injuries were the most severe, but presumably because of his profession, he was still clinging to life.
His eyes were slightly open, and through his blurry vision, he saw two people talking inside the dilapidated temple.
One of the men, wearing a completely silver-white triangular mask, paced back and forth anxiously. "What's going on? Why isn't it done yet? What are your men doing?"
The other person, wearing a rat-patterned mask, laughed when he heard the other person actually scold him first: "Why do you think I came here? To act tough with me now?"
Zishu's voice was chillingly cold as he said, "In the end, isn't it all because you yourselves failed in your duties? We've shown you more than enough sincerity in assisting you, and what did you do in return? You couldn't even manage to slaughter a few ordinary villages?"
The silver-masked figure remained silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Rat, I've had dealings with your Divine Mother Cult several times. The Divine Mother's blessing you received is a manifestation of all sentient beings, isn't it?"
She sneered and continued, "Those who are tainted by your poison will slowly be infected by your spirit, and eventually be completely assimilated by it."
"————" the rat asked coldly, "What are you trying to say?"
"I have investigated. My deceased comrades are scattered throughout the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, and none of them have any external injuries. They all committed suicide."
"They've all been affected by mind control? Impossible."
The man in the silver mask looked at him coldly and said, "There's no way there could be such a powerful psychopath in Yanzhou, capable of hypnotizing so many of my subordinates at the same time, let alone one of them being a 'soul-trap.' Right now, the only one on Dongtian Mountain who can do this is you."
The silver-masked man paused here, and the air in the room seemed to freeze.
His muscles tensed as he stared at the extremely dangerous man before him: "Zi Shu, did you kill my comrades?"
Upon hearing this, the rat fell silent, and after a long while, shook its head: "I didn't do it."
This weak and feeble explanation failed to satisfy the man in the silver mask: "Haha, you didn't do it—"
"You didn't do it!"
Just then, two villagers walked into the broken tile temple: an old woman and a child.
The old woman said, "Although I can upload my consciousness into the bodies of those I have infected, even I cannot occupy the bodies of so many professionals at the same time, let alone one of them who is at the same Star Cocoon Realm as me."
Another villager chimed in, saying, "Moreover, after being assimilated by my 'One Form of All Beings,' unless constantly suppressed by my master's consciousness, the body's structure will undergo irreversible changes, like this—"
As he said this, the villager suddenly began tearing at the skin on his face, until finally his skin and clothes were torn off, revealing the dark, monstrous appearance beneath the human skin.
"————" The silver-masked man looked at the villager who had turned into a grotesque monster and cursed inwardly. These cultists of the Goddess Cult are indeed a bunch of disgusting monsters.
He collaborated with the Divine Mother Cult, so he naturally conducted prior investigations. The "All Beings in One Form" ability is extremely disgusting, and as long as there are still people in the world infected by him, the main consciousness of the Rat can continuously possess and be reborn.
But every ability comes at a price. This incredible blessing comes at the cost that the Rat will never be able to break through the Frost Moon.
This is the weakest of the twelve bishops of the Mother Goddess Church in terms of raw power, but also the most difficult to kill.
After the old woman and the child left, the rat in front of them continued, "However, I have also seen the corpses of your comrades and subordinates. They do indeed have the same aura of my shared existence, but they are not me."
The man in the silver mask said, "You mean, it was someone else from your Divine Mother's sect who did this?"
"Impossible. The Divine Mother wouldn't bestow a blessing upon two believers. Since the blessing of 'All beings are one' is upon me, then there can't be a second person in the world who can use it."
"Then how are you going to explain this—"
However, at that moment, the rat suddenly stopped and then said, "Someone is coming."
"At this time? Who?"
"It's the Senho from Hoshino Mansion—"
"Hoshino Mansion, why are you here? What happened to the magic array you set up?"
"That only means they arrived earlier than we expected. I need to preside over the ceremony; you go out and hold them off—"
"Damn it, I knew I couldn't trust you guys. How much longer will it take on your end?"
After sensing the situation, Zishu slowly said, "Besides Yanbei Village, Yannan Village and Yandong Village have already started. We're almost at Yanxi Village now—"
From the air above Yanbei Village, the cold-faced youth on the fairy boat glanced at the scene and said, "Lord Mao, there are two experts in that temple. Their attributes are very high, but their professions are unknown."
"
"One is a Star Cocoon Realm cultivator, a mentalist, and the other should be a warrior, a Frost Moon Realm cultivator—" Gu slowly raised his hands, his eyes fixed on the ground below, and said, "There is also a Flame Realm warrior, but his aura is very weak, he should be dying soon, and he is probably not with those two Star Cocoon Realm cultivators."
The cold-faced youth glanced at Gu Manman, then sensed her again and indeed found a being with extremely weak life force.
"Oh, someone's coming out." The Pleiades star official looked down and saw someone wearing a silver-white mask.
Seeing this, Shen Zhaozhao frowned slightly: "Snow Throat? And a Throat of the Sect Leader level, this should be the Frost Moon level."
Pleiades pondered, "Snow Throat? I think I've heard of that organization. Isn't it the one that does evil in the Tian Shan area?"
Shen Zhaozhao frowned: "It's actually Frost Moon level. This is troublesome. Should you do it or should I?"
The Pleiades star official rolled up his sleeves, met the gaze of the silver-masked figure below, and said to his subordinates, "The celestial boat is a sitting duck in the air. Prepare to land. Zhao Zhao, hold the fort. I'll test his skills."
C
He flew out of the celestial boat, and with a wave of his hand, the wind and snow transformed into a huge ice spear in his palm. The ice spear was a hundred meters long, like a giant ship floating in the sky.
The Ye family of Beidu has a ancestral profession: Winter Walker, a magic-type profession. This is why he was sent to Dongtian Mountain to carry out the mission.
Although this white storm was strange, in this extremely low temperature environment, Pleiades was even able to fight against Frost Moon level experts.
He muttered to himself, "They came out on their own? And only one person came out, while another is hiding inside. Could there be something inside—that's gone!"
With a wave of his hand, Pleiades sent a giant ice spear, which transformed into a celestial soldier and swiftly fell toward the dilapidated temple.
"boom"
The next second, the ice spear shattered into thousands in mid-air, and the Frost Moon-class ship also floated into the air. It actually shattered the giant ice spear with just one punch!
The man in the silver mask snorted coldly, his voice echoing across the mountains and fields as he called out to the person in the sky, "What brings you from Xingye Prefecture to my Eastern Heavenly Mountain?"
However, Pleiades grinned at the other's reaction, as if he had found a fun toy.
You guessed right. This person told him not to damage the dilapidated temple, but I, the official, love to cause destruction.
The next instant, ice spears the size of giant ships appeared rapidly in the air, just like before. However, this time, more than three hundred ice spears were formed, filling the sky.
"I've come to treat you to an ice cream."