Chapter 592: So, He's Been Here All Along

The third possibility would be a situation similar to the flawed Magic Rune, where an Extraordinary from outside the Ghost sect—or even outside any Wizard School—intentionally infiltrated the inheritance Scroll for the Meditation Technique.

Their goal… To destroy the inheritance? Or to lie dormant within the Ghost sect, awaiting a grander scheme? Both are possible!

But beyond these three possibilities, there was one more—the Origin Core that had split off from him.

Compared to the first three, Wei’en found himself leaning toward the final possibility.

And his reasoning for this conclusion?

It was very simple.

The number of faces had increased from one to thirteen, and those extra twelve faces were the exact number of Origin Sub-bodies he should have gained after upgrading his Meditation Technique!

If this theory held true, then the abomination bound by the giant tree before him was deeply connected to him.

Could it even be one of his Origin Sub-bodies?

‘But what could have caused this?’

‘And am I the only one experiencing this, or do the other Wizards of the Ghost sect face it too?’

“Unknown, known… Heh heh heh, ha ha ha…” All the faces on the abomination opened their mouths and laughed in unison, as if they had just heard the funniest joke.

“HA HA HA… Then tell me, why do you think I’m here?”

Wei’en first shook his head, then nodded. “I don’t know,” he said, his voice calm.

“Then you…”

“But!”

Before the figure could mock him, Wei’en cut it off. “The reason no longer matters to me!”

“You…”

The figure’s laughter died. Its thirteen faces frowned in unison as it sized him up. “You’ve changed.”

“Anything else to say? If not, I’ll see you next time.”

“…”

The figure seemed thrown off and left speechless by his attitude and his words. After a long moment, it finally spoke: “I’ll be waiting for the day I devour you!”

But whether because it had been affected by him or for some other reason, the threat lacked its usual conviction. It was tinged with apprehension, as if it had lost its nerve.

Wei’en gave a noncommittal nod. After one final glance, he turned and passed through the deep, dark membrane of the Origin Core, his consciousness returning to his body.

“Whew… So, it’s been there all along!”

He put down his pen and paper, slowly rose, and began to pace around his workshop.

‘So the panel was on the membrane, just outside the Origin Core. And “he” had been inside my body all along…’

With this, a few things started to make sense!

From the moment he came into contact with the Ghost Meditation Technique, that bizarre figure had already been inside his body.

And the panel had existed long before that!

That’s why the panel’s message back then was—[You have suffered source corrosion from an unknown entity. You have successfully resisted the source corrosion. Your source characteristics have mutated! Congratulations, you are no longer human!] (Chapter 4)

‘And as for why the panel couldn’t detect the figure’s changes later on… perhaps it’s because the panel is focused more on external matters and can’t observe what’s happening inside the Origin Core?’

But no matter what that bizarre abomination hiding in his Origin Core was, or why it had gotten there—he would find out!

As he thought this, Wei’en inexplicably began to laugh.

A brilliant smile bloomed on his handsome face—a face that was no longer swarthy, but had become fair and smooth. His red eyes, however, were filled with ice-cold killing intent.

“Heh… heh heh… HA HA HA…”

His laughter echoed through the workshop. The dim, yellow candlelight flickered, throwing his shadow across the walls. The dancing silhouette seemed to split into countless savage heads, mouths gaping to reveal sharp fangs, all laughing maniacally.