311: Lord of Creeping Rock City

"If the Ghost Messengers of our Underworld learn this, won't they all collectively change classes to 'Underworld Specialty: Evil Cultivator Wholesaler'?"

Shang Wan Ning's withered hand rested on her knee, her hood remaining perfectly still as her raspy echo struck directly into Chen Yu's sea of consciousness: "Absorb the essence, discard the dross."

"The methods inside for controlling flesh vitality and rapid healing—if the Research Institute modifies them, they might be useful for the Medical Department. Stop talking nonsense and read the book."

"Oh!"

Chen Yu was choked up and had no choice but to brace herself and keep reading. As she read, she actually began to see some patterns.

There was a technique called 'Flesh Mimicry,' which used active flesh to simulate various forms; its disguise and infiltration effects were top-tier.

If the scouts of the Underworld Intelligence Department learned this... Her eyes lit up, and she quickly marked this section of content separately.

Several days passed amidst the oppressive scent of meat and the faint, lingering feeling of being watched.

The bone door of the Ossuary opened silently.

Mordecai, clad in a black robe stained with mucus, blocked the doorway, his skeletal jaw clicking: "Master Shadow Erosion, it seems you have gained much?"

Shang Wan Ning brushed non-existent dust from her sleeve with her withered hand and slowly stood up.

Her hood lifted slightly, her voice devoid of emotion: "The scriptures of the mother of flesh and blood are profound and extensive. Shadow Erosion has benefited greatly."

Mordecai's skeletal eye sockets swept over the three people following behind Chen Yu. You Yu and Tudor's auras were heavy and calm, their eyes carrying a 'pious' fanaticism.

Chen Yu sported two dark circles under her eyes, looking as if she had been overly baptized by 'true knowledge' and was in a trance.

[Hmm, no abnormalities.]

[The feedback from the flesh samples is also normal; it's pure human flesh. It's just that the energy contained within is a bit too refined, unlike the mundane world.]

[It seems the soul strength is decent; I've picked up a treasure.]

The skeletal jaw cracked into a grin: "That the Master could receive the Mother Goddess's favor and meditate safely for several days shows your sincerity."

"I wonder what the Master's plans are next? To return to the isolated Rust Mountains, or..."

Skeletal fingers twitched, and a dark red thread of flesh poked out from the corner of his robe before quickly retracting.

"Stay in Wormrock City? With the Master's realm, if you are willing to serve the Mother Goddess, your status will certainly not be below that of Mordecai."

"The resources and scriptures of the Gray Mist Territory will be at the Master's disposal. You might even... have the chance to listen to the Mother Goddess's 'Void Whispers'."

Beneath her hood, Shang Wan Ning's lips curled upward.

[Wool, isn't this just delivering itself to my door?]

She tucked her withered hands into her sleeves and remained silent for a moment.

This brief silence caused the flesh threads under Mordecai's robe to writhe more urgently.

Finally, the raspy, broken-gong voice sounded, carrying a touch of perfectly measured 'reserve'.

"The holy radiance of the Gray Mist Territory is indeed captivating. Shadow Erosion has drifted for half a lifetime; if I can find a place to stay in Wormrock City and contribute a bit of my meager strength to the mother of flesh and blood, it would be a fitting destination."

Mordecai's skeletal jaw clattered, revealing satisfaction. "Good!"

"Master Shadow Erosion is a person of quick words. Mordecai will arrange a residence for the Master immediately, right here within this spire."

"Master, follow me first to see the Lord City Lord, to register and receive your token."

He stepped aside to lead the way, his skeletal feet treading on the slimy floor with a slippery sound.

Shang Wan Ning stepped forward to follow, her withered hands behind her back. She gave a 'get with the program' gesture to Chen Yu and the other two.

You Yu and Tudor's hearts tightened, knowing the real show was about to begin. Chen Yu rubbed her sore eyes, pulled herself together, and followed with small steps.

Passing through several corridors dense with tumors and glowing blood vessels, the smell of sulfur and decay inside the tower was so thick it almost felt physical.

A doorway appeared ahead.

The door was formed by thick, coiled tentacles, with a constantly pulsing dark red heart embedded in the center.

With every contraction of the heart, it spat out a blast of hot air.

Mordecai stopped before the door, his skeletal hand pressing against the surface of the heart as he whispered hoarsely.

"The Gray Mist is your hanging umbilical cord, linking trillions of wombs.

With my eyeballs, I build the base of the throne.

With my spinal cord, I entwine the lace of your skirt, until my skull blooms into a Bone-Mound Lotus at your feet.

Praise the eternal darkness!

The 124th generation priest of Wormrock City, on the night of the misaligned star tracks."

The heart suddenly contracted, and the coiled tentacles slowly writhed apart, revealing the scene behind the door.

In the vast space, the ground was a writhing carpet of meat, and countless thick tentacles hung from the ceiling, dripping mucus.

In the center stood a ten-meter-high throne, piled with countless twisted skeletons and muscles.

Sitting on the throne was an 'indescribable' existence.

The lower body was fused with the muscles of the throne, while the upper body barely maintained a human outline; beneath translucent dark green skin, mucus and nerve bundles surged.

The head was like an enlarged, skinned insect head, with compound eyes made of dense crystalline points; it had no mouth or nose, only a few tentacles swaying left and right with suckers at their ends.

Mordecai bowed deeply, his bones almost touching the meat carpet.

He said with a fanatical tremor: "Great Lord Angmar, Lord of Wormrock City. Your Subordinate introduces the newly joined Great Mage Shadow Erosion and her apprentices."

"Master Shadow Erosion's heart belongs to the Mother Goddess and she is willing to serve Wormrock City."

Angmar, atop the throne, focused his tens of thousands of compound eyes instantly onto Shang Wan Ning.

"Shadow Erosion?"

A tentacle reached out, its suckers opening and closing, spitting out fine bloody froth. "The 'Lone Wolf' of the Rust Mountains would actually deign to bow to my Lord?"

Shang Wan Ning's withered hand curled slightly in her sleeve, "In the past, I was trapped in the mundane mist, mistaking rotten earth for a holy altar. It wasn't until I glimpsed the glory above Wormrock City that I realized the past was all vanity."

She tilted her head slightly, the shadow of her hood sweeping over the bone throne, "That the Lord governs the Gray Mist Territory makes you the incarnation of the mother of flesh and blood in the mortal world."

"Heh..."

The crystalline points of Angmar's compound eyes flickered more rapidly.

The muscles on the throne suddenly bulged with several veins, entwining a nearby hanging tentacle.

The tentacle instantly shriveled, turning into a wisp of grayish-black mist that was absorbed by the throne.

"Mordecai says you have realized the true meaning from my Lord's scriptures."

A tentacle reached toward Shang Wan Ning, the mucus dripping from its tip condensing into tiny blood beads in mid-air.

"Then tell me, what is the ultimate form of flesh and blood?"

Cold sweat soaked through Chen Yu's robes on her back.

She stole a glance at You Yu; his eyelids were lowered, and his fingertips were quickly tracing a defensive rune on his cuff.

"It is 'Fusion'," Shang Wan Ning said.

"Fusing with heaven and earth, fusing with all things, and finally returning to the womb of the mother of flesh and blood to become a part of eternal chaos."

She raised her withered hand, palm facing up.

"Just like this throne, using bone as structure and muscle as skin, coexisting and flourishing with the Lord. This is the form closest to the will of the mother of flesh and blood."

Angmar's tentacle stopped three inches from Shang Wan Ning's throat.

The barbs inside the suckers vibrated frantically, as if savoring the 'piety' in those words.

After a long while, he suddenly turned toward Chen Yu, the red light from his compound eyes so piercing she could hardly keep her eyes open.

"This little apprentice has fear in her eyes."

Mordecai's skeletal hand pressed against his waist, as if ready to strike at any moment.

Shang Wan Ning, however, let out a light chuckle, the sound like gravel grinding over a rusted iron plate.

"When a mundane body first beholds the Lord's true visage, it is inevitable for the mind to tremble. Once she bathes in more of the Mother Goddess's gifts, she will naturally shed this layer of cowardice."