Chapter 154: Ninefold Blood River Pearl, First Layer: Ten Thousand Illusions Robe

Under Louis's persuasion, David agreed to go to California in March.

But there's no rush yet—American high school holidays are divided into three parts: winter, summer, and spring; winter break hasn't ended yet, and after it ends, there's still over a month of classes before spring break.

In the meantime.

Louis finally completed the sealing of the magic artifact he had long desired.

……

Rebirth Prison Base.

"One drop of witch's blood, plus a bone from a demon-eater."

"Hmm, add some straw—now the fire's lit!"

Before him, a flickering flame burned with an eerie red-pink hue, and atop it, a crimson bead spun wildly, its interior revealing three shifting images in rapid succession.

Louis controlled the flame while pouring magic power into the bead, slowly carving the sealing patterns according to the Blood River Pearl's method.

Each sealing layer was like machine code—enhancing both quality and function, while also encrypting the artifact itself.

Beyond materials, the most vital part of a magic artifact were these seals; without them, functionality vanished, and the artifact lost its elevated status.

Each carving consumed vast amounts of magic power, and the process itself was a refining of the artifact—especially crucial for a physical attack artifact like the Blood River Pearl.

Thus, carving the seals was far more difficult, further increasing the artifact's crafting difficulty.

Soon, Louis lost the energy for banter, his eyes locked onto the bead, the Spirit Vision Technique automatically activated, aiding his Yin Spirit in precisely carving the seals.

This process drained immense mental energy; without first refining a Yin Spirit-level consciousness, attempting to carve seals was utterly unthinkable!

Only because Louis had cultivated his Yin Spirit and once communed with Jiali did his Yin Spirit's cohesion improve significantly—otherwise, carving these seals now would have been nearly impossible.

In essence, magic artifacts were never meant for solitary cultivators!

It was likely common for third-generation solitary cultivators to spend their entire lives, passing down the craft, just to forge a single artifact.

Darkness reigned.

Louis labored for three full days and nights, hair disheveled, eyes bloodshot, before finally completing the first sealing layer.

As the first seal was fully carved, a shimmering light flashed across the Blood River Pearl's surface, as if it had gained sentience; simultaneously, the flames beneath it were instantly drained of their mystical energy.

Louis extended his hand; his Yin Spirit tugged slightly, and the bead floated automatically into his palm.

With a thought, the bead expanded to the size of a human head.

A slight surge of magic power.

Boom!!

The alloy wall before him was instantly pierced through by a hole.

The Blood River Pearl spun back to Louis's front, darting rapidly up and down like a wall of bronze and iron.

This was the Blood River Pearl—a physical attack artifact, capable of both offense and defense.

This was still only a low-grade artifact; once thirteen seals were carved and it became a high-grade artifact, it could nurture its own sentience, then automatically protect its master without requiring extra mental focus.

With the Blood River Pearl now officially a magic artifact, the three phantom images within it became clear and solid, no longer hazy illusions; with just two more seals, it could absorb six types of monster blood, and when combined with the nine monster bloods, it could forge a Human Blood Elixir to enhance cultivation base and replenish vital essence.

Thinking of this, Louis took a brief rest, recovered his strength, then resumed forging.

The second seal was different from the first—it was noticeably easier.

Louis completed it in two days; the third was the same. Only when he reached the fourth seal did difficulty spike sharply—each set of three seals formed a minor threshold.

In the end, Louis spent seven days total and carved three sealing layers.

Base.

Punishment Chamber.

Beside him sat Wang Wang, clutching the bead, Louis stared at the heavily muscled white inmate chained to the wall—he had been sent down by the higher prison.

Raped and murdered six Asians, trafficked firearms, abused narcotics; but since there was no death penalty, and his victims were a discriminated-against group, he paid enough to have his sentence reduced from euthanasia to fifteen years. Rumor had it his gang planned to get him medical parole.

Of course, that wouldn't happen.

Louis had no habit of releasing his experimental materials.

"Hey! Kid! Where the hell did you bring me?"

"You know who I am? My backers are…"

Louis frowned—idle talk. In this city, no matter how powerful your underworld connections, could they surpass mine?

He raised his hand; the bead instantly flared crimson, and a mysterious suction emerged from within.

"You… what are you doing… it hurts… ah…"

Amid shrieks of agony, the man's skin turned crimson, capillaries rupturing; the moment the first drop of blood surfaced, his fate was sealed.

Splash!!

Dozens of finger-thick holes appeared; blood spurted from them, rushing straight toward the bead, absorbed into its depths—the river of blood within churned a deeper crimson.

Thud!

The man hanging on the wall had become a shriveled pile of shredded flesh, his handcuffs and chains loosening as he collapsed to the floor in a heap.

"Weak suction—might work as a distraction against monsters. Next, test if it affects spiritual entities."

He muttered to himself, then walked toward another room; the furry black dog beside him trotted after him.

The other inmates hanging in the room sighed in relief—though they'd stumbled into a demon's lair, they might live a little longer. Thank goodness…

At that moment.

"Oh, toss them into the Blood Curse Chamber—don't waste them." Louis's voice echoed from afar; several burly men immediately moved into action.

The group's faces turned deathly pale; they screamed and cursed.

Louis ignored them all, entering the next room—the same lung cancer addict who'd turned to drugs to earn money for his family; he was still alive, pale-faced but surprisingly alert.

He'd likely live a while longer.

Seeing Louis enter, he immediately began acting on his own.

He gripped his severed hand.

Though the nearby malevolent spirits and semi-malevolent spirits had previously been drawn here, over time, new ones had regenerated and relocated from other areas.

So summoning one or two was still easy.

The moment they entered through the open door, it slammed shut.

Louis stood at the doorway, smiling pleasantly at the semi-malevolent spirits. "Don't worry—it's just an experiment. You won't die."

The addict's eyebrow twitched—he didn't know what to say. Better to say nothing.

Soon.

A torment began.

The semi-malevolent spirits frantically tried to escape, but found every surface searing hot to the touch—this was clearly a trap!

Even if they wanted to attack, Louis was flanked by a furry black dog that merely sat there, baring its teeth—just the sight made them tremble with fear, too terrified to approach!

The blood bead expanded, shrank, flew, darted.

It moved at blinding speed through the air.

The entire room glowed crimson.

Amid muffled screams, when the crimson light faded, all the semi-malevolent spirits had vanished.

Only the blood bead remained, circling Louis. "Excellent—no wonder it's a magic artifact. I knew it—once magic power was involved, it couldn't just be a physical weapon. That'd feel wrong."

"Still, its attack on malevolent spirits is mediocre—not as potent as its physical strikes."

"So it has its focus."

"Good, good—this bead is fully worthy of being my primary offensive weapon for the foreseeable future."

Louis gently caressed the Blood River Pearl's smooth surface.

He decided to focus his efforts on the Blood River Pearl first, then turn to the Ten Thousand Illusions Robe.

As for the Yin Spirit's Three Arts?

They were somewhat difficult—he was still working through them.

So far, he'd only roughly understood the Corpse Body Art—it shared similarities with Spirit Vision, but the Corpse Body Art was strange, containing hidden flaws; beyond pure toxic qi infusion for body refinement, it seemed to conceal other methods. Thus, he decided to proceed cautiously, waiting until he fully understood it before practicing.

For the next month, Louis was consumed by carving seals.

He ultimately succeeded in carving nine seals into the Blood River Pearl and one seal into the Ten Thousand Illusions Robe, making it a proper magic artifact with the Mo Spirit's illusionary abilities—far stronger than the Tattered Thread Technique.

"Phew～"

Louis exhaled deeply. Over the past month, he hadn't slept a single night; and since he seemed genuinely gifted in this area, he'd actually achieved this in just one month.

Remember, the seals grew harder the further you went.

"If only I had more magic power and stronger Yin Spirit—I could've completed twelve seals on the Blood River Pearl this month."

Louis thought with confidence.

He stretched, checked the time—it was late February, just days away from March.

"Cultivation really makes you lose track of time."

"Time for a walk—get some fresh air."

Louis stepped out of the chamber.

He began wandering through the base, when he happened upon a strange scene.

The doll Fenli was listening to a bald man in the base's prison guard uniform, who chattered about his past: how he'd fought a deathless killer, slain him, only for lightning to revive him—but he'd ultimately killed him again.

Fenli nodded constantly, as if approving, but its eyeballs kept rotating, its knife repeatedly drawn and sheathed, drawn and sheathed—unable to decide.

"That Andre gorilla wasn't human—he grabbed me in one hand, forced me to train every day, called me a 'good seed.' Pfft—a good seed with a broken brain?"

"I know I'm mentally broken, but he acted like he didn't—so who's really the one with the broken mind?"

"…If this place didn't have such good perks, I'd never work for that gorilla."

The speaker was none other than Tang Mi Javies, who had escaped from the psychiatric hospital and helped Louis and the others capture Jason.

(End of Chapter)