14: Nandou Longevity Lantern Ceremony

Li Ke wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze sweeping across the messy secret chamber.

Sunlight streamed directly through the hole in the wall, casting warm beams of light into the secret chamber.

On the ground, the carved hexagram pattern had lost its luster, turning into a dull, dried-blood-Li Ke color.

The seven ancient-looking brass oil lamps were also covered in dust, Li Ke antique relics, showing no special features.

Li Ke walked to the scattered bookshelves in the secret chamber and began to search carefully.

Soon, a thick, leather-bound notebook and a stack of scattered documents recording what appeared to be experimental data were pulled out by him.

The paper of the notebook was yellowed and the edges curled, clearly indicating frequent use.

The first half was mostly Charles's daily estate records, trivial and uninteresting.

"The growth of the golden irises is not good; tell the gardener to apply more fertilizer."

"Harman's technique is truly excellent, leaving one lingering with pleasure."

Li Ke's face was expressionless, his fingers rapidly flipping through, skipping over these useless details.

The content of the notebook gradually changed.

The handwriting became increasingly messy, filled with anxiety and unease.

"My body is getting worse and worse… I feel Li Ke I don't have much time left…"

"Why? I've given so much, will I still turn to dust in the end?"

Between the lines, there was a pervasive fear of life slipping away and a strong resistance to Death.

This Charles, for some unknown reason, seemed to be very aware of his impending demise.

Li Ke's gaze lingered on one entry where the handwriting was slightly more normal.

"Today, I went to Mist and finally found something. Perhaps this thing can extend my life..."

"Oh, on the way back, I passed by Peace Manor. Harman's technique is truly excellent..."

Mist?

Li Ke's eyes flickered, silently noting down the name.

He closed the notebook and continued searching in the secret chamber.

Soon, in a collapsed hidden compartment in the wall, he felt a cold, hard metallic object.

It was a palm-sized, irregularly shaped bronze fragment, buried deep beneath the rubble, with only a corner exposed.

Li Ke dug it out and examined it carefully.

The surface of the fragment was covered in verdigris, but some extremely complex square characters could still be faintly discerned etched upon it.

The moment he saw these characters, Li Ke's pupils suddenly contracted!

This was… the ancient seal script of the Cultivation World!

He carefully deciphered it; the fragment seemed to record an ancient secret ritual method from the Cultivation World.

"...Southern Dipper… Bestowing Life… Extending Life… Everlasting Lamp Ritual…"

Combining this with the notebook's content, Li Ke roughly had a guess in his mind.

He put down the fragment and found several secret letters deep within the hidden compartment.

After quickly scanning them, he pieced together the truth of the matter.

When Charles was young, he traded half of his lifespan in a contract with a Devil from Hell for extraordinary power.

Thus, he successfully advanced to become a Bronze-rank Bloodline Knight, and then accumulated military merits until he was conferred the title of Baron.

This was a path that seemed infinitely glorious but was also destined for an early demise.

Initially, Charles was quite satisfied with this brief splendor.

However, once he achieved success and fame and his life settled down, the fear of life constantly slipping away and his lifespan nearing its end, Li Ke a maggot in the bone, gnawed at his Soul day and night.

He began frantically searching for a way to extend his life, until, in a place called "Mist," he obtained this bronze fragment recording the 【Southern Dipper Life Extension Everlasting Lamp Ritual】.

Li Ke picked up the bronze fragment, caressing the ancient seal script on it, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

This ancient secret ritual method, even in the Cultivation World, was considered an extremely obscure technique.

It was said to be able to communicate with certain unspeakable ancient existences, but both the risks and rewards were unknown, and few Cultivators would attempt it.

What's more, this ritual was incomplete to begin with.

Charles, not understanding the ancient seal script, rashly performed the ritual based on a guessed and error-ridden translation.

"Southern Dipper was translated as Northern Dipper; if you don't die, who will?"

Li Ke carefully looked at Charles's research Materials, his eyelids twitching.

This chaotic and utterly misguided ritual failed without suspense, not only costing Charles his life but also plunging the entire estate area into a state of Chaos.

And it seemed, by a strange twist of fate, it connected to a certain hidden existence in the Cultivation World, briefly linking to a certain Jedi in the Cultivation World.

As a result, a large amount of Death Qi poured back, turning the entire estate into a Dead Domain, and all living beings mutated.

His own accidental Transmigration was probably also inextricably linked to this absurd ritual connection.

Li Ke collected his thoughts, his gaze turning to the center of the secret chamber.

Charles's body lay quietly at the center of the ritual, his eyes closed, his complexion rosy, as if he were asleep.

Strangely, his body had not transformed into a zombie or other demonic creature Li Ke the others in the estate.

It seemed that during the maintenance of the ritual, he was directly suppressed by some terrifying will, even deprived of the qualification to mutate.

Not only that, Li Ke could clearly sense that within this seemingly ordinary Physical Body, an extremely vast and pure Death Qi, so pure it was startling, was condensed!

It was as if he had undergone a special baptism, where a large amount of pure Death Qi was forcibly compressed and sealed into this Physical Body.

Li Ke walked forward and extended his finger, gently pressing Charles's arm.

It was cold and stiff, yet it had a strange elasticity.

He could even feel that beneath the skin, the blood in the blood vessels, which should have long solidified, seemed to maintain a certain degree of "activity."

Dense and pure Death Qi.

Vibrantly alive Physical Body.

Two completely opposite qualities had achieved a perfect, almost miraculous Fusion in this body!

"This…"

"This is absolutely top-grade Materials for refining zombies!"

Li Ke's eyes showed an uncontrollable joy.

He directly dragged the body from the center of the ritual, found a thick blanket, and carefully wrapped and bound it.

When he eventually comprehends the 【Yin Corpse Secret Canon】, he will surely be able to refine a zombie with extremely high potential.

After doing all this, Li Ke walked to the edge of the hole in the secret chamber, standing on the second floor of the castle, looking out.

This once prosperous estate was now utterly silent.

Most of the buildings were reduced to dilapidated walls, exuding a desolate aura under the setting sun.

The remains of all high-level demonic creatures had vanished along with the field domain, leaving only scattered limbs of some low-level corpse puppets, which were loosely connected to the field domain and thus still lay scattered on the ground.

This disaster happened too suddenly.

All of Charles's family, servants, and guards, including his two children, were not spared; they all became part of the field domain and then dissipated with it.

Li Ke looked at the silent estate before him, his face thoughtful.

A moment later, a smile suddenly curved his lips.