Chapter 519: Soul Rune Body

“Do you remember what just happened? Don’t answer right away—think carefully.” Wang Yu paused, then asked the boy solemnly.

“What happened?”

“I… when my belly tore open, that strange-haired immortal sister said she could help me… then I seemed to fall asleep in a very dark place. When I just woke up, I found myself turned into a furry monster, and then I saw Brother Wang. After that, my whole body ached terribly—but once the pain passed, I seemed to change back from the monster into a human.”

“Brother Wang, what… what happened to me? Why has my body become like this? Am I dying?” After thinking for a long while, Wang Tiezhu spoke timidly, his voice filled with deep worry.

“You’re certainly not dead. To save your life, that immortal used some method to place you in a state of false death for a time—you’ve merely been awakened now.”

“As for the so-called transformation into a monster, it was merely a minor flaw in the awakening spell—but since you’ve returned to your original form, the issue should be minor.” After listening, Wang Yu thought for a moment before giving this explanation.

“So if I’m fully awake now, does that mean I’m fine? And my big belly wound is gone?” Upon hearing this, Wang Tiezhu looked down at his abdomen and asked eagerly, seemingly unconcerned about his current silver-white ethereal state.

“It seems that way, but I need to check further—run a few small tests.” Wang Yu frowned slightly, replying uncertainly.

“Alright, then please check me over, Brother Wang.” Wang Tiezhu replied without hesitation, showing complete trust in Wang Yu.

“If you feel any discomfort, tell me immediately—I’ll stop right away.”

Wang Tiezhu’s answer suited Wang Yu perfectly. Without further delay, he raised one hand, formed a seal, and pressed a single finger to his brow.

The next instant, a vast divine sense surged forth, enveloping the boy’s entire body, while several threads of divine thought split off, beginning a meticulous, inch-by-inch examination of Wang Tiezhu’s form.

As Wang Yu activated his divine thought, he gathered the feedback it returned. Moments later, he couldn’t help but murmur in astonishment, his face filled with disbelief.

At this moment, Wang Tiezhu was unquestionably not a true physical body. Under divine sense and deep divine thought inspection, his form wasn’t pure spiritual energy either. Though somewhat blurred, careful observation revealed faint silver spiritual runes—tiny as ants—on his surface, as if his entire body were composed entirely of these runes.

From their earlier conversation, Wang Yu also knew Wang Tiezhu’s mind was clear, his speech coherent, seemingly unchanged from before.

According to the Descending Soul Art, each guardian spirit rune forged from a beast’s soul had its original consciousness purged during crafting, leaving only pure spiritual energy to form the rune.

Otherwise, even the slightest residual consciousness from the beast soul would make the caster dare not absorb it into their body—otherwise, it would hand the beast soul the perfect chance for possession.

Yet the silver-white spiritual runes composing Wang Tiezhu’s body were unmistakably the same rune from before, and even its aura had fully transformed into Wang Tiezhu’s own.

Could it truly be, as he had seen earlier, that Wang Tiezhu’s memories had been fully uploaded into the blank spirit rune, allowing him to revive directly through the rune’s power?

Then what, under these circumstances, was Wang Tiezhu?

A conscious guardian spirit rune?

If so, would Wang Tiezhu still be under Wang Yu’s control, like a spirit rune?

Wang Yu’s thoughts raced. After hesitation, he retracted his divine thought and divine sense, changed his hand seal, and began chanting softly.

The gray-white talisman pattern in his divine sea glowed brightly; countless gray talisman shadows emerged, beginning to summon the spirit rune.

An unbelievable sight appeared!

Wang Tiezhu, who had been standing motionless, suddenly let out a thunderous roar from within his body. In a flash of lightning, he rapidly shrank and twisted, transforming in an instant into a silver-white spirit rune the size of an egg, shooting straight toward Wang Yu’s brow.

Wang Yu tensed. Out of caution, he did not let the silver rune enter his body directly. Instead, he sent out a thread of divine thought to intercept it, instantly piercing into the rune.

The next moment, the silver rune halted abruptly, unable to advance even half an inch further.

So it still responded to control when reverted to rune form!

Wang Yu felt a flicker of relief.

After carefully probing with his divine thought, he confirmed that aside from its color change, this guardian rune showed no major difference from its previous gray-white state.

Oh—there was one difference: the rune bore not a trace of Wang Tiezhu’s aura, as if the entire person had vanished completely.

“Wang Tiezhu, are you in there?”

Wang Yu directed his divine thought to call out several times inside the rune, but received no response.

Wang Yu’s heart sank. He immediately followed the Descending Soul Art incantation, raised one hand, and shot a silver seal into the rune.

The rune trembled slightly, its surface flashing silver light a few times, before a faint boy’s voice emerged once more:

“Brother Wang, why did I fall asleep again? This place is so dark. Where is this? I can’t feel my body at all!”

Wang Tiezhu was clearly panicked again.

“Brother Wang, don’t be afraid. You’re currently existing in spirit form, so naturally you can’t feel your body. Wait a moment—I’ll cast a spell, and then try to imagine returning to your original form. You should restore yourself.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Yu changed his hand seal and responded clearly through the thread of divine thought still connected to the rune.

Then he altered both hand seals, recalled the divine thought, and relinquished control over the rune.

The next instant, the silver-white rune blurred in midair, then roared from within, rapidly expanding in a swirl of lightning.

In an instant, Wang Tiezhu’s figure reappeared in place—but his face remained blank with confusion.

“So it’s true. Brother Wang, your spirit soul has now merged completely with this rune. Even without my spell controlling it, you can still manipulate the rune to return to your original form.”

“But when I, as the master, activate the summoning spell, you’ll lose your control and be forced to sleep temporarily within the rune, conserving your spiritual energy.” Seeing this, Wang Yu smiled and clapped his hands—most of his doubts had now vanished.

“So… my body is really this ‘spirit rune’ now? And it belongs to you, Brother Wang?” Wang Tiezhu listened, half-understanding, but grasped the general situation, murmuring softly.