Chapter 235: Analyzing the

Until late at night, Lao Lunsi had not heard the full‑moon ramblings again, and the tense expression on his face finally completely relaxed.

"It seems the effect is good," Lei Kedun said with a light laugh.

Lao Lunsi's face rarely showed a genuine smile; even his voice, hoarse from age, sounded a bit more cheerful:

"Yes, it looks like I should hurry to gather the recorder's demonic elixir."

"The cursed item of the ancient grudge spirit appeared a few days ago; it probably hasn't been sold yet. If you need it, I can help you make contact."

Ke Lai En is truly a failed seller; all his goods are the ones I pushed out.

"No problem, I'll have the corresponding gold coins ready within these two days."

Lao Lunsi nodded lightly, answering in a very serious tone.

"Then, sweet dreams to you," Lei Kedun rose and gave a slight bow.

He then turned, took a few steps, and his figure quickly became transparent, fading away.

Silver City is now in a phase of frequent lightning; almost every two or three seconds a bolt strikes, illuminating the surrounding dark city walls.

Dai Like carried a leather sack on his back, tightly gripping the Hurricane Axe in his hand; beside him were nearly ten teammates, all members of this exploration squad.

Amidst alternating lightning and darkness, a tall figure walked over with a steady, unhurried demeanor, two restrained straight swords crossed on his back.

As he approached, his pale, disheveled hair and his weathered, deep eyes came into view of the others.

"Light the lamps, let's go."

Ke Lin looked around, confirmed all members were present, then spoke in a low voice.

Two members of the exploration squad immediately lit the candles inside their lanterns, letting the dim yellow light hazily pass through the thin leather and illuminate the surroundings.

Taking a deep breath, Dai Like tightened his grip on the right hand holding the Hurricane Axe, walked in the middle of the squad, and followed the leader toward the predetermined direction.

Lightning after lightning flashed, making the plain covered with black long grass appear like a gloomy oil painting.

The exploration squad walked on a road strewn with jagged stones, continuously delving deeper.

Lightning came and went; the surrounding dense darkness almost swallowed them all, but the dim candlelight, weak yet flickering, stubbornly held the area.

Bei Ke Lan De, Mingsike Jie.

It was already the second morning; Lei Kedun was not in a hurry to find Ke Lai En to purchase that ancient grudge spirit's cursed item, since Lao Lunsi still needed a day or two to raise the funds.

He extracted the Human‑skin Phantasm trait that Zheng Yi Xiao Jie had purchased from Ke Lai En.

On the thin, floating mass, faces appeared one after another, making one's head spin.

"The Faceless One's transformation ability largely comes from that, but which part of the Faceless One's power does the thousand‑faced hunter's mutated pituitary represent?"

"Being able to easily memorize every person's voice, scent, temperament, etc.? It should also aid disguise or transformation abilities."

Holding the Human‑skin Phantasm trait in his hand, the reader's subconscious reaction, Lei Kedun began to analyze in his mind how the trait functions in the Faceless One's demonic elixir and how to utilize it.

"By the way, I haven't yet asked Ke Lai En to analyze the Faceless One's ability; I first parsed the Faceless One's transformation traits, then making a miraculous item should be easier."

Thinking of this, a violet glow instantly shrouded Lei Kedun's eyes; his gaze easily pierced through layers of walls, seeing Ke Lai En preparing to leave the living room.

The other seemed to notice Lei Kedun's stare, looked over with slight puzzlement.

"Intuition has become more sensitive," Lei Kedun whispered a comment, then raised his hand and opened a "door" in midair, stepping through.

In the room opposite the street, Lei Kedun's silhouette was quickly outlined.

Ke Lai En halted his preparation to leave, took off the half‑high top hat he had just put on and said:

"Good morning~"

"Good morning, you haven't sold that ancient grudge spirit's cursed item yet, have you?"

Lei Kedun nodded lightly and said.

Ke Lai En shook his head lightly and said:

"Not yet; I plan to sell them in batches at the upcoming Extraordinary Gathering."

"The ancient grudge spirit's cursed item is the main material for Gate Pathway Sequence Six; I happen to have a buyer here."

"Gate Pathway?" Ke Lai En was momentarily stunned, then recalled Mr. Lao Lunsi from last night, his eyes brightened:

"No problem, as long as his price is suitable."

"He's still raising funds these two days; I'll have him come to you for the trade later."

While speaking, Lei Kedun had already walked to the sofa in the living room and sat down, his tone a bit more serious as he said:

"I want to analyze the Faceless One's ability; can we do it today?"

"No problem, this was arranged long ago; I thought you had forgotten."

Ke Lai En lightly nodded, went to the window, pulled the curtains, and scanned the living room once more.

He then took two steps forward, and his flesh began to writhe, his height slightly increased, and his eye color changed rapidly.

When he stopped, he had completely changed his appearance, becoming the form of Emulin·Huai Te the vampire, only a bit shorter.

"Aside from this core ability, the Faceless One's remaining powers are enhancements of previously possessed extraordinary abilities; need a demonstration?"

As he spoke, Ke Lai En's height shrank a bit, his skin quickly withered, wrinkles and age spots appeared, and his gaze grew cloudy.

This is the likeness of his informant in the East District, Lao Ke Le.

Lei Kedun's eyes glowed a faint blue; his sight penetrated Ke Lai En's skin and flesh, seeing how the transformation extraordinary ability operated within his body.

All his cells seemed to become independent units, able to make subtle adjustments as needed, manifesting as changes in skin, hair, scent, even bone height and density.

This self‑altering flesh ability is completely different from the Rose Bishop's; it resembles the unique mythic creature forms of the diviner‑related pathways.

Lei Kedun subconsciously rubbed his chin with his right hand, thought for a moment, then, with a slightly excited tone, asked:

"Can you transform into a female form?"

"." Ke Lai En was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to punch, and said: "I can only achieve superficial transformation; I cannot actually change."

"Looks like you've already tried it!"

"Indeed, once you obtain this shape‑changing ability, how could you resist the urge to try it out?"

Have you finished the analysis?

Klein's face was ashen, and he asked in a hoarse voice.

When mentioning the analysis progress, Lichten quickly composed his expression, furrowing his brow slightly as he said:

Not yet; this shapeshifting ability is somewhat troublesome. Its operating mechanism is completely different from the Blood-Flesh Magic of the Rose Bishop. Every cell in your body has undergone a certain alteration under the magic potion's transformation, evolving toward independent individuals, with clear division of labor yet unified order.

This is a special ability unique to your three pathways; analyzing it is somewhat troublesome, and actually using it would be even more troublesome.

Try shapeshifting two more times into any form you like.

Klein nodded lightly with a blank expression, but the other party suddenly turned stern, which only intensified his embarrassment and awkwardness from the earlier question.

He slightly raised his hand; the muscle lines on his arm quickly bulged, but since his own stature wasn't of the tall type, the muscles he could expand were limited.

Layers of skin-formed scales appeared on his arm, and their color rapidly darkened.

This was what he had seen in Tingen when an out-of-control Beyonder turned into a monster; he wanted to try and then push himself toward a supernatural change.

Lichten stared intently at the changes on Klein's body; from the moment he began attempting to morph into a monstrous form, his cells started to lose control.

As his body gradually changed, Lichten could clearly see that his cells were trending toward loss of control, and he quickly called out to stop him:

Stop quickly! You're developing toward loss of control!

Lichten frowned tightly; given Klein's current condition, he didn't even dare to simulate purification or healing abilities to help him, as the cells with a tendency toward loss of control on his body might instead become targets of purification.

After a minute or two, Klein recovered, his face somewhat pale as he panted.

I want to try shifting into a non-human form. It seems the Faceless's ability is still limited to the same type of species.

An out-of-control Faceless might be able to shapeshift across species, but by then the self would no longer be human.

Lichten pondered and responded.

Klein leaned on the sofa and gave a bitter laugh:

I choose not to have that degree of shapeshifting ability.

What do you mean by the special ability unique to our three pathways that you just mentioned?

The mythical creature forms of the Diviner, Apprentice, and Thief pathways—these three pathways—are somewhat unique compared to other pathways; they are a conglomeration of worms, more like a collective with a unified consciousness.

"Worms?" Klein stared for a moment; although he knew that the Time Worm was a carrier for A Meng's clones, he had never imagined that A Meng's true form was a mass of worms.

He imagined in his mind a mass of worms wriggling and rolling into a ball; he violently shook his head, that image was too beautiful, too sanity‑dropping.

(End of chapter)