By now, the temperature around had returned to normal, even a bit cold, and a layer of frost had ford on the walls of the passage.
"Uncle Lie, where is this leading to?"
Seeing Lie continuing to press forward without looking up, Chu Zheng couldn't help feeling puzzled.
"Just follow."
Lie did not give a clear answer, turned left and right, and entered the deepest part of the underground palace.
Soon, the two of them entered a great hall supported by a do.
The hall was brightly lit and warm as spring, with the witch waiting there with Ying.
In front of the witch was a jade table, on which were so unknown dicinal powders, pottery jars, short knives, and the Totem Stone Tablet that he had brought back.
[Totem Stone Tablet: Originating from the Red Bear Tribe, it is inscribed with the thods of carving a first-class totem, which possesses divine skills: Spirit Absorption, Colossal Strength, Mountain Moving, Avoiding Water and Fire, Vajra Indestructibility.]
A totem with five divine skills was a powerful totem of the first class.
Chu Zheng looked at the witch and already had so guesses in his heart.
"After the danger last ti, my lifeblood was injured, and I originally had no intention of taking the risk to change my totem. Who would have expected it to recover as before." Lie spoke in a deep voice, then walked slowly in front of the witch, stripped off his upper beast skin, revealing his wide back, sat down on the ground, as still as a mountain:
"Zheng Chu, I've brought you here today just to have you watch closely. You are still young, and rashly changing your totem could disrupt your lifeblood and harm your future. I shall be the one to pave the way for you this ti."
Upon hearing this, Chu Zheng's breathing tightened slightly. By now, his understanding of the Totem Path had advanced beyond his previous half-baked knowledge. Although a branded totem could be replaced, it was extrely dangerous, akin to passing through Ghost Gate Pass.
Especially for the witch, this was her first ti carving a totem of such a high level, posing a great risk as well.
What's more crucial was that the witch's physical condition had already beco quite poor.
Carving a high-level totem consud a great deal of energy. Now that the witch was nearing the end of her lifespan, it was uncertain whether she could endure until the end.
"Watch carefully, Ying, this may be the only ti I can do this in my life. Imprint this mont deep in your mind, brand it within your divine soul," the witch said solemnly.
Standing beside them, Ying's little face was taut as she nodded firmly.
In these days, Ying's pressure visibly increased. At her young age, her brows were always furrowed, and the brilliant smile that used to light up her face was nowhere to be seen.
At the mont, she didn't dare to divert her gaze in the slightest, not even casting a glance at Chu Zheng.
The witch set aside her walking stick, picked up the short knife from the jade table, and its blade imdiately shone with a silvery white light: Continue your journey on empire
"Endure it."
As the blade drew nearer to Lie's back, the Mythical Beast totem resembling a Flood Dragon seed to sense the threat and began to move and struggle.
Gurgle—
The knife entered the flesh, making a soft sound, leaving a silver-lit cut without a trace of blood.
Lie let out a muffled grunt, and his face was covered in sweat like rain, indicating that this was no simple cut. Even with his endurance, he was struggling to bear the pain.
Under the pressure of the knife, the Mythical Beast totem soon retreated to the side of Lie's shoulder.
The witch seized the fleeting opportunity, and in a flash of lightning, she struck and delineated an area, completely cutting off the totem's escape route.
Hiss—
In the blink of an eye, the witch struck again, tearing off a whole piece of flesh from Lie's shoulder.
The totem that had accompanied Lie for hundreds of years was thus stripped from his body.
The next instant, his whole body began to convulse, and blood gushed out from the cut and his seven orifices. Despite Lie biting down hard and keeping his lips sealed, he couldn't stop the outpouring of essence blood.
His life force was visibly ebbing away at an alarming rate.
Chu Zheng watched anxiously, wanting to step forward to save Lie's life, but seeing the calm expression on the witch's face, he dared not interrupt rashly.
Ying's eyes were red, yet she dared not blink, committing every one of the witch's movents to mory and deeply etching them into her mind.
The witch picked up the pottery jar and poured out streams of fragrant Spiritual Liquid from it, pouring it over Lie's head, quickly stemming the flow of his essence blood.
Then she took the dicinal powder and applied it evenly on Lie's body, and the cuts previously made began to slowly close up.
Without wasting a mont to catch her breath, she used the short knife to cut open her own brow, touched a bit of the seeping blood, and began to carve mysterious Talismatic Patterns on Lie's back.
Chu Zheng felt a chill in his heart as he sensed an unspeakably terrifying Divine Sense erupt from that aged and decrepit body, like an unfathomable ocean, its depth incalculable.
The runes drawn by the witch were without any semblance of pattern, but upon marking Lie's back, they began to interweave autonomously, gradually forming a complete design.
A colossal bear with a burly figure slowly took shape.
At this mont, the witch's movents beca very slow, as if intentionally allowing Ying'er to see clearly, deliberately slowing down the pace.
But this undoubtedly placed an extre burden on her own body, sweat pouring down like rain, mixed with the fresh blood that welled from her brow, making her look fierce and terrifying.
Half an hour later, a complete giant bear finally took shape.
Lie hung his head, having already passed out.
The witch staggered, unable to stop herself from retreating, clearly drained of strength, unable to steady her form.
Ying leaped forward to support her, eyes filled with urgency, "Witch..."
Chu Zheng hurried over to assess Lie's condition, fortunately, it was just excessive loss of Essence Blood, not life-threatening, and he would recover quietly without future complications.
The imprinted totem was now operational, absorbing nature's spiritual energy from the surroundings to heal his injuries.
Chu Zheng had healed most of Lie's injuries and looked up at the witch, his heart suddenly sinking.
[Luan: Great Witch of the Divine Communication Realm, the Power of the Spirit and Soul greatly damaged, Life Origin exhausted, beyond recovery, irreparable.]
This was exhaustion at the very foundation of the Divine Soul, even the healing panel was helpless now.
The witch's life was nearly at its end, her body had already entered the underworld, held here only by the strong support of her Divine Soul, forcibly remaining in the world.
Already a body in its twilight years, and yet she had forcefully inscribed such a powerful totem; had it not been for her unresolved will, she might have died on the spot.
The healing panel could not make up for the passing of life, sothing he had known since his first encounter with Geng Yiyang.
"Ha... ha..."
In the great hall, the witch's heavy breathing echoed, she cald herself for a mont, looking at Ying with eyes full of hope, "Did you morize it all?"
"I've recorded it all, not missing a single mont."
Ying nodded rapidly, having already etched the previous scenes entirely into her Divine Soul, ready for review at any ti.
Such was the benefit of the powerful Divine Soul unique to witches, photographic mory.
"Rember to review it often; what you don't understand now, you'll co to understand in the future."
The witch sighed in relief, weakened, she collapsed to the ground, staring into the void with a vacant gaze, lost in thought.
After a while, she turned her head toward Chu Zheng, "Zheng Chu, you go back first."
Chu Zheng hesitated briefly, then nodded in response:
"Alright, take care of yourself."
Not until Chu Zheng's figure had disappeared within the hall did the witch turn to Ying:
"Go wake up your father."
Ying ran to Lie's side and, after a short while, managed to awaken him.
The mont his eyes opened, a divine gleam flickered through Lie's eyes, his back totem faintly glowed, surrounded by a halo of blood light, fully activated.
He could already feel the power of the totem on his back, far more potent than his previous one by tens of tis.
"Lie."
When Lie heard the witch's call, he suppressed the turmoil in his heart and looked up.
"Regarding Zheng Chu... I have sothing I want to tell you."
The witch took a deep breath, a flash of determination in her eyes:
"I always felt he was familiar, but it wasn't until I inscribed the totem for you that my Divine Soul stirred, and many mories returned...
"This child is extraordinary; I've seen soone like him before..."
"Soone like him?" Lie was montarily stunned before he prodded, "What does this an?"
"Nearly a thousand years ago, I t soone emanating an aura of misfortune, and the feeling he gave was... very similar to Zheng Chu."
The witch's expression grew more grave, "He was a malevolent spirit from the Alien Realm, not a creature of the Dongyuan Realm."
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