CHAPTER 333: CHAPTER 333: SLOTH SECRET CEREMONY

[Yanhuang Armory] Underground Prison

After dismissing the guards, Zhu Haomiao scanned around. The small cell was stacked with "corpses" like a morgue.

With a strange look and a frown, after close observation, Zhu Haomiao discovered that he had accidentally completed a precondition for an Original Sin Secret Ceremony!

"Sloth..."

A barely audible gentle whisper seemed afraid of awakening the slumbering people. The Law Authority of the supernatural quietly manifested, starting from the head. Gray-white mycelium emerged from the seven orifices, spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye, gradually covering the entire body, forming a dozen large, oval "gray-white mold balls"!

Subsequently, the gray-white mycelium spread to the metal frame in contact with the body, corroding the smooth and shiny metal surface into a rusty mess in an instant.

In just a few seconds, the sturdy metal frame seemed to have aged a thousand years, its surface mottled and cracked, shedding tiny flakes of powder.

Thud~

Finally, the metal frame could no longer hold up and completely collapsed, causing the dozen or so "gray-white mold balls" to fall to the ground, piling up in a heap.

Yet the Divine Power did not cease to distort reality, as the gray-white mycelium continued to spread outward with the "mold ball heap" as its center, climbing up the floor, walls, and ceiling, eventually covering the entire prison.

The reinforced concrete was silently corroded, leaving nothing but a vast whiteness in sight, with even the air filled with gray-white fibrous mycelium that resembled a fog shrouding the vision.

Gazing at the mycelium that submerged his knees, Zhu Haomiao looked around. The deathly silent monotony of gray-white covered both body and soul, conjuring an inexplicable feeling of being sealed as a dead insect in a gray-white Cocoon Room, quietly awaiting decay...

[Sloth]: LV.4→LV.7

[Qi] +20

[Essence] +13

[God] +9

The completion of the [Sloth] secret ceremony seemed to trigger a transformation within his body, as a touch of dark golden glow suddenly bloomed. Surging energy burst forth from the depths of his spirit and body, breaking the cocoon to become a butterfly.

[Void Refining God and Returning to Truth Technique]: LV.4→LV.5 (Great Success)

[Dexterity] +8

[God] +4

[Qi] +4

Even though he was mentally prepared, Zhu Haomiao couldn’t help but feel delighted when the [Void Refining God and Returning to Truth Technique] achieved a breakthrough.

In his previous battle with Emperor Shitian, neither party had grown to their limits yet!

But now, he was advancing steadily and rapidly at a pace incomprehensible to others, taking one step at a time!

By the next encounter, his Seven Deadly Sins would return to the mythic realm, and the Eight Basic Forces and inner and outer skills would be perfected...

When the time came, they would face each other again in their peak form, and he must savor the taste of Emperor Shitian!

Licking his lips, Zhu Haomiao turned and left. After exiting the prison, he found Huai Xu anxiously waiting outside.

Seeing the young man come out, Huai Xu visibly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly rushing over to inquire.

"Commander, I sensed some hidden malicious... uh... strange supernatural power surging inside..."

Listening to Huai Xu’s tactful words, Zhu Haomiao hesitated for a moment, then smiled apologetically while nodding.

"I experimented with a new Authority. Perhaps it left some residual unhealthy energy. It’s best if you don’t enter that cell for a while."

"If you really have to enter, make sure to take protective measures, or use flames with Divine Position to purge the cell."

Huai Xu: "....."

Flames with Divine Position?

Is that something that should appear in the Second Layer Heaven?!

What exactly did you leave behind in there that’s so dangerous?!

After advising carefully once more, Zhu Haomiao finally left with peace of mind.

Watching the young man’s silhouette vanish at the sight’s end, Huai Xu glanced at the silent prison cell, unable to resist his curiosity and leaned closer to the thick bulletproof glass observation window on the door to peek inside.

But the white mass covering the observation window made Huai Xu unable to see anything despite watching for a long time, and in the end, he gritted his teeth and pushed the door open to enter.

After all, I’m a hegemonic Transcendent, unable to be harmed by mere residual contamination.

With a bit of confidence, Huai Xu stepped into the cell, and the bizarre scene suddenly made him catch his breath.

But before he could recover, he abruptly realized that he had inhaled something strange into his lungs, causing his entire respiratory tract to become numb.

It seemed like "dust" had also covered his eyes, gradually turning his vision blurry and gray-white, with sticky secretions gluing his eyes shut like glue.

What’s... happening...?

No!

My thoughts are becoming sluggish!!

Pupils suddenly contracted, and without hesitation, Huai Xu activated his energy. Violent True Qi spewed from all his orifices, condensing into a semi-transparent crystalline Gang Qi barrier.

[Heavenly Gang Power]!

Isolating the inner and outer, Huai Xu finally broke free from the strange residual divinity. Without hesitation, he rushed out of the room, locking the mechanism outside before daring to take big gulps of breath.

Only at this moment did Huai Xu realize that not only his lungs and eyeballs but also the skin exposed outside was covered with a layer of misty translucent gray-white filaments!

These filaments appeared to be alive, silently taking root and spreading into his flesh and blood, consuming his energy to grow outward.

After escaping the bizarre environment within the cell, these gray-white filaments were merely rootless specks. Huai Xu used his spiritual energy to obliterate and erode them, taking dozens of minutes to completely remove them from his spirit and body!

Phew~

Exhaling a long breath of turbid air, Huai Xu looked up, only to find Song Li and several members responsible for guarding the prison looking at him peculiarly.

"Old Xu, what’s wrong with you? We’ve been calling you for so long and you didn’t respond?"

"Noth... nothing."

Seeing Huai Xu’s lingering fear, Song Li glanced at the cell behind him, curiously saying.

"Was it because of that Zhu Haomiao? What did he do in there?"

Hearing this, Huai Xu’s face changed slightly, shaking his head in lingering fear.

"I don’t know, but he must have done something terrifying. The residual contamination in there alone is enough to harm Hegemony Level Transcendents!"

Saying this, he glanced at the doorway behind him and gritted his teeth.

"Seal this room completely with at least one meter thick reinforced concrete, abandon this area permanently, and prohibit anyone from approaching it!"

Hearing this, Song Li and the others exchanged glances, hesitantly saying, "Isn’t this an exaggeration?"

"The engineering team’s workload is already saturated. If you do this, they’ll definitely slam the table..."

"As for energy contamination... at most, it will naturally dissipate in a few hours. Just wait a few more days!"

Seeing that Song Li and the others hadn’t realized the seriousness of the situation, Huai Xu solemnly shook his head, speaking deliberately.

"No, it must be done as I say!"

"The residual contamination in this cell not only possesses Divine Position but also contains a strange inertia that even dulls cognition!"

"To wait for it to dissipate naturally would take at least a decade, if not several decades!"