"The[Nether River Bone Lotus]?"
Mo Fan rubbed his head.It hadn't hurt,but the sensation of being disciplined by"himself"was genuinely unsettling.
He frowned."Isn't that thing a yin-attribute heavenly treasure?What use would it be to that body of yours?"
"This formless body of mine is,in the end,a defective product cobbled together from demon beast flesh."
Mo You withdrew his hand and explained in a placid tone.
"All living beings of heaven and earth possess essence,qi,and spirit,and are likewise divided into the three qi of heaven,earth,and man."
"Now that my memories are linked with yours,the'qi of man'can be considered fully supplemented."
"But to truly stabilize a human form,I still need immense heavenly and earthly yin-yang qi to refine it."
"The Nether River Bone Lotus grows in places of ultimate yin and ultimate malevolence."
"It's best suited to neutralizing the violent demon beast blood and qi inside this body.The finest auxiliary material for shaping form."
At this point,Mo You suddenly cut himself off.
He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath of the incomparably dense death energy filling the[Necrotic Realm].
As he breathed,that death energy actually flowed slowly into his body through his seven orifices.
When he opened his eyes again,his tightly knit brows had fully relaxed,and there was even a trace of undisguisable astonishment in his gaze.
"Even with our memories linked,I still genuinely struggle to comprehend what kind of place that otherworld in your memories called'Earth'actually is."
Mo You surveyed the boundless Necrotic Realm,clicking his tongue in wonder.
"In the ancient legacy of us Formless Demons,it's not as though we've never assimilated so-called visitors from other worlds."
"But someone like you,carrying within his own body a small world this vast,one that even contains a pure law of death...that truly is unheard of."
He turned his head and looked at Mo Fan,satisfaction spilling out of his eyes.
"Compared to those heavenly treasures out there that are so hard to find,this space of yours is simply a top-grade incubator made for me."
"The death energy here is exceedingly pure.The speed at which this flesh body of mine gets nourished and refined here is several times faster than with any Nether River Bone Lotus."
"Looks like there's no rush for me to head out before this body fully stabilizes.After all,two'Mo Fans'showing up outside at the same time really would be a bit appalling."
Mo You shrugged.
"That said,once this body is fully stabilized,I'd still like to go out and see this great wide world."
Mo Fan nodded at the proposal without committing either way.
He genuinely had no particular desire to control Mo You.Whatever the other wanted to do,at the moment he didn't seem to care.
But even so,certain lines still had to be drawn in advance.
"I won't stop you from going out."
Mo Fan looked Mo You straight in the eyes,his tone exceedingly serious,carrying even a faint warning.
"But you'd best remember at all times.I'm the main body.And you are the avatar."
Hearing those faintly threatening words,Mo You first froze.
Then...
On that face identical to Mo Fan's,an eerie smile surfaced once again,one carrying a certain wickedness to it.
He suddenly leaned in close to Mo Fan and murmured in a sinister tone,feigning intimidation.
"Oh?Is that so?"
"But in this cultivation world,isn't whoever has the bigger fist,whoever has the higher cultivation...the real main body?"
The instant those words fell,the corner of Mo Fan's eye twitched violently,and the hair on his back stood up on instinct.
But before he could react...
"Hahahahaha!"
Mo You suddenly broke character and burst into utterly unrestrained laughter.
He turned,waved a hand like a mischievous child whose prank had landed,and strode off toward the bone palace.
"I'm messing with you.Look how scared you got."
As he walked,Mo You spoke without turning back.
"Put your mind at ease.Right now I'm rootless duckweed.My very existence depends entirely on your soul to survive."
"Your Soul Strength right now already rivals a late-stage Golden Core cultivator's."
"The stronger you get,the deeper the foundation I can borrow from.I'd have to be an idiot to turn on you."
Mo You reached the white bone throne,turned around,and looked at Mo Fan from a distance.
In those deep eyes flickered an exceedingly complicated fervor.
"What's more..."
"Every instinct I have tells me your future is beyond measure."
"I'm honestly a little curious how far I can go,following you."
With that,Mo You turned away with total ease,walked into the shadowed depths of the bone hall...
Found a quiet corner,sat down cross-legged,and began greedily absorbing the death energy within the space.
Watching Mo You's figure vanish into the depths of the hall...
Mo Fan stood in place,speechless for a long while.
He turned his head and looked around at his surroundings.
Not far off,Unit 001,Mo Yan,Unit 003,and Unit 004 were still like a cluster of dumbstruck dead objects,absolutely unmoving without a command.
And yet inside the hall there was now an avatar who not only had self-awareness,but could crack jokes to scare people.
That intense sense of dissonance made Mo Fan rub his temples.
"Haaah..."
Mo Fan let out a long sigh.
"Anyone who didn't know better would think I'd developed a split personality."
Mo You's appearance was,without question,the single biggest variable at present.
But he couldn't be bothered to agonize over it excessively.
After all,the other was right.As long as his own soul was strong enough,he'd always hold absolute dominance.
Reeling in his tangled thoughts,Mo Fan finally remembered the actual business at hand.
After breaking through to Tier-3,he was still holding a full 4 SP!
Have to bring my core skills'ranks up first.
Mo Fan sank his consciousness into the skill tree.
For a Necromancer,the most important things were always survival and intelligence.
Without any hesitation,he locked straight onto the two skills he used most frequently,the two that mattered most.
[Ding!1 SP consumed.]
[Bone Armament has advanced to LV.3(Tier-3)!]
[Ding!1 SP consumed.]
[Death Vision has advanced to LV.3(Tier-3)!]
As two bursts of light detonated,brand-new insights regarding the Tier-3 skills instantly merged into Mo Fan's memory.
Mo Fan carefully felt them out,and undisguisable delight erupted in his eyes.
First,[Bone Armament].
Upon reaching Tier-3,it had undergone what could only be called a perfect qualitative change!
The old Bone Armament,once deployed,boasted astonishing defense.
But its appearance was so hideous it simply couldn't be shown in public.
Now,LV.3 Bone Armament not only had its defense rise geometrically,it could also manifest entirely along the surface of his body.
It could freely transform according to Mo Fan's will.
It could even shift directly into the appearance of ordinary clothing!
"Going to make things a lot more convenient from now on.Maybe this is what they call protective true qi?"
Mo Fan nodded,exceedingly satisfied.
As for the LV.3 change to[Death Vision],the System's description was exceedingly vague,seeming to touch upon some deeper layer of causality.
But that would require going back to reality and verifying it firsthand to know for sure.
That left a final 2 SP.
Mo Fan's gaze drifted downward,ultimately landing on a brand-new skill icon in the Tier-3 skill library,one just unlocked and flickering with eerie ghostly light.
[Speak with Dead LV.1]
[Skill Description:Awakens the residual consciousness of a corpse.]
[Mechanism:During casting,three questions may be posed to the corpse.The corpse will provide absolutely truthful,brief answers based on its knowledge while alive.]
"Sort of like the cultivation world's soul search technique?"
Mo Fan's eyes lit up.
This was a peerless divine skill for gathering intelligence!
The cultivation world's soul search was exceedingly domineering and demanded an extremely high level of spiritual awareness from the caster.
But this one of his was crude,simple,and incomparably convenient.
"This one it is."
[Ding!1 SP consumed.Skill learned:Speak with Dead.]
With his skill loadout configured,Mo Fan finally felt settled.
This breakthrough could be called a comprehensive leap in strength.
Time to head back.
Mo Fan recited it silently in his heart and severed his connection with the Necrotic Realm.
Hummm...
A familiar sensation of weightlessness washed over him.
When Mo Fan opened his eyes again...
The heavy solidity of his soul settling back into a body of flesh and blood,with heartbeat and breathing returning at once...
Actually left him with a moment of unfamiliar disorientation.
He sat on the bed and drew in a deep breath of air carrying the damp earthy scent unique to early morning.
By now,the sky was fully bright,the sun high overhead.
Mo Fan worked out his slightly stiff neck,got out of bed,and pushed open that creaking wooden door.
Bright morning sunlight poured freely into the little courtyard.
In the corner of the yard...
Old Lü,same as always,was squatting on the stone steps with his back hunched.
He held that battered old pipe in his hand,puffing away rhythmically,exhaling ring after ring of grayish-white smoke.
Mo Fan stood in the doorway and quietly watched the old man for a while.
Before this,he never would have looked deeply into where this body's previous owner had come from.
To him,Lu Xiaoqi was just an orphan.
A piece of background scenery.
As long as he could stay alive,the past didn't matter.
But today was different.
The Formless Demon Embryo's abnormal sensing.
That"Heavenly Spirit Root,"concealed by exceedingly sophisticated means...
All of it pointed to one thing.
This body he was using now absolutely had an exceedingly mysterious origin.
Mo Fan started walking,went over to Old Lü's side,and copied the old man's posture as he sat down beside him on the stone steps.
Old Lüdidn't stop smoking.
He merely tilted his head slightly and glanced at him with those clouded eyes that nonetheless carried concern.
"Illness cleared up?"
Mo Fan didn't pick up the thread the way he usually would.
He was silent.
The only sound in the yard was the faint sizzle of burning tobacco.
A full half-minute passed.
Mo Fan turned his head and looked at Old Lü's deeply wrinkled face.
Then,in an exceedingly calm tone,he suddenly asked:
"Old Lü."
"Do you still remember..."
"How I came here when I was little?"