Chapter 294 - 290: Transforming into a Spirit

Chapter 294: Chapter 290: Transforming into a Spirit

After some thought, Zhang Yi felt that while he had many regrets, these were his two biggest concerns. Everything else was trivial in comparison.

He had no mortal enemies, nor did he owe anyone money. As for his dreams, he could only laugh bitterly at himself.

"Can I deliver the money myself?"

Qin Xiaoxia scanned him from head to toe and shook his head.

"I’m afraid there isn’t enough time. You can probably only make a phone call. As for your savings, we can deliver them for you."

’Wasn’t there even enough time for that?’ Zhang Yi’s mind flashed back to his fingernails in Shenzhen City Park.

He subconsciously glanced at his left hand, only to be horrified to see it covered in red patterns, which then faded away in the blink of an eye.

He focused his attention on his hand. As he concentrated, he felt a faint, splitting pain that immediately vanished.

"You see? The restorative power of the Flower of Life can’t hold out for much longer. If we were to use another one on you, your body would explode upon reaching its breaking point."

The red-haired "Goddess" had said something similar. Zhang Yi nodded to show he understood.

Nothing made him feel the fragility of his own life more acutely than this terrifying tug-of-war.

"Master Sage, what are the odds that I’ll still exist in some form after I die?"

Qin Xiaoxia didn’t want to lie to him, so he just shook his head.

"I don’t know for sure. Success is fifty percent up to me. The other fifty percent depends on your willpower and fate."

’At least it’s more than fifty percent...’

Zhang Yi laughed mockingly at himself and fumbled in his pocket, only to find it empty. He then remembered that his phone had been confiscated by the special government department.

"Use this one."

As if prepared in advance, a silver-white phone was placed in front of Zhang Yi.

"Thanks. Um, if I use your phone to call my dad, you won’t get tracked, will you?"

He still thought of himself as a fugitive and wondered if the government had dropped the case. He worried that using someone else’s phone would cause them trouble.

"Haha, don’t worry. Not in here."

Zhang Yi didn’t call home often—sometimes half a month, sometimes a full month would pass between calls. Today was the time in years he most desperately wanted to hear his family’s voices.

A faint fear and nervousness made his body tremble slightly.

It was an unfamiliar number. The phone rang seven or eight times before the call was answered.

"Dad, it’s me... Nothing’s wrong. I just... I just wanted to call and see how you’re doing..."

Zhang Yi spoke first to keep the other person from having to guess.

After that, all he did was listen, murmuring, "Yeah... uh-huh... okay... yeah..."

Everyone present could hear it was just family talk. Halfway through, Zhang Yi had his mom get on the phone. It was the same thing: she would nag, and he would agree.

Hearing his mother’s concern, hearing her complain about his dad, Zhang Yi found tears streaming down his face for reasons he couldn’t explain.

"Yeah, no, I’m fine. It’s getting cold, so don’t catch a cold. You have your health insurance cards, so go get some cold medicine from the village clinic just in case... Um, Mom... I might not be able to come home for the New Year again this year..."

The call wasn’t long, less than ten minutes in total. By the time he hung up, Zhang Yi still hadn’t managed to say a single word of farewell.

He then picked up the phone and started recording, putting down all the words he couldn’t bring himself to say.

By the time he finished, his eyes were red.

He thought about recording a message for Xiaomo’s family as well, but the moment he started, the mysterious figure informed him that the government had already ruled his ex-girlfriend’s case an "accidental death." He wouldn’t be allowed to confess the truth.

However, a non-existent accident insurance policy had been created, with the beneficiary listed as her parents. Zhang Yi’s savings would also be split in two and delivered to both families through appropriate channels, and the amount was now much larger.

About twenty minutes passed. It felt like he was witnessing his own affairs being settled before his death. Zhang Yi had gone from panting and tear-streaked to calm and composed.

None of the mysterious figures before him rushed him, which made him feel grateful.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes!"

Qin Xiaoxia nodded and raised the test tube in his hand, which everyone had noticed long ago.

"This is the latest High-Sequence Potion No. 4, the Demon Spirit Potion. This is also the first time it’s being used on a human. Or rather, you are the first human who meets the conditions for its use."

A tri-colored liquid swirled inside the test tube.

"I need to take a drop of your blood."

As he said this, before Zhang Yi even realized it, a drop of blood floated from the wound on his left hand and into the uncorked test tube.

The liquid inside almost instantly began to boil.

"Any last words? The homological immune interference only lasts for ten minutes."

The Flower of Life Juice, Vermilion Fruit Juice, and an A-Type Catalyst mixed with extracted Demon Spirit Material, when combined with the subject’s blood, would create a Magic Potion effective for ten minutes.

Zhang Yi had nothing more to say and just shook his head.

"Then let’s begin. I’m going to restrain you to prevent you from moving uncontrollably and disrupting the acupuncture."

With that, without the aid of a syringe, the liquid from the test tube coated Zhang Yi’s arm and, guided by Magic Power, drilled directly through his pores and into his body.

Immediately after, the power of the Secret Realm locked Zhang Yi’s body in place.

"Use the needles. Release his qi and blood."

This was directed at Ding Yi and Uncle Qiao. The two of them immediately opened their needle pouches.

Their hands moved in unison, a blur of motion too fast to see. One targeted the main acupoints while the other covered the rest. Within seconds, they had turned Zhang Yi into a human pincushion.

Inside Zhang Yi’s body, the Magic Potion, now mixed with his blood, dispersed with frenzied speed, far exceeding normal circulation. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP...

It was the sound of his accelerating heartbeat.

The intense stimulation of the Magic Potion pushed his already struggling body to its limits, but strangely, Zhang Yi felt no significant pain. He didn’t know if it was because of the potion or the needles.

Aside from Zhang Yi himself, the others watched him with unease.

With every heartbeat, the blood vessels all over his body pulsed with light, as if dicing his body into a fragmented red network.

"Zhang Yi’s evolution was never actually completed. Or rather, this is the true beginning of his evolution."

Qin Xiaoxia explained, as if sensing the confusion of those around him.

As the light from his veins intensified, the surface of Zhang Yi’s skin also began to glow. But at the same time, his flesh began to flake off in chunks, starting from the tips of his limbs. The flesh on his fingers had already fallen away, exposing the bone.

This was a terrifying experience for the person involved. Even though he had made peace with his fate and felt no pain, he was still filled with panic.

"It’s not working! The potion isn’t fast enough! Doudou!"

It was unclear when Doudou had arrived; they had been so quiet that Ding Yi and Uncle Qiao hadn’t noticed them. But now, at their big cousin’s call, they appeared right on time.

Gold Coins and the Magic Language... a Wish for power accelerated the Magic Potion’s effects, spreading it throughout the body in an instant.

Since it was a Demon Spirit Potion, its true effect was naturally on the soul.

So, just as the physical collapse of his body reached his shoulders and knees, Zhang Yi’s body flashed with light, then instantly went dark.

"Aaargh..."

He could no longer hold back his screams. The maddening pain far surpassed what he’d felt in his little finger, startling even Doudou.

Light began to seep from the seven orifices of his face as his features contorted in agony. His original eyelids, mouth, and nose sloughed off piece by piece, as if another Zhang Yi was trying to struggle free from within.

The moment those halos of light touched the air, they seemed about to dissipate in the wind, only to be violently dragged back by a twisted, tri-colored force.

Qin Xiaoxia exchanged glances with the Red Demoness and Su Su.

’What could this be? A Demon Spirit? Or something else entirely?’

Amidst Zhang Yi’s agonizing screams, his Visual Sense was finally turned upside down as his flesh-and-blood eyeballs ruptured. The flow of information between his surroundings and himself reached an unprecedented level.

After a million moments of dazed confusion, in a fleeting glimpse, his agonized movements froze for a thousandth of a second, only to be overwhelmed by even more intense pain.

That glimpse was in the direction of "Master Sage."

A fiercely burning, chaotic purple energy surrounded him, covering the entire field of vision behind him. As it radiated outward, the color grew fainter, yet at the same time seemed to gradually blend and merge with nature itself.

Where the purple faded and merged with the natural world, a faint, fleeting boundary line formed.

Zhang Yi would never forget this moment. Even though all his human sensations were now fading away, his very soul was seared with the shock of this sight.

The boundary line formed a colossal, indescribable silhouette. It was a hazy figure. Two world-blotting wings of aura converged at its spine, creating a silent reverberation. The indistinctness of its whole body was like an invisible, burning flame. Its face could not be seen, yet its presence was utterly captivating.

’What is this!! What is it!!!’

There was a sense of familiarity, but also a deep terror lurking within, waiting to be unleashed...