Lady Xilai

The black-cloaked figures stood, sat, or leaned against the walls of the ruins, but every one of them remained near those iron cages.

All the iron cages were draped in black cloth. Though Angel could not see what lay beneath it, he had already formed some guesses.

As Angel looked over, the black-cloaked figures looked back at him. Most merely gave him a glance before withdrawing their gazes, assuming Angel was, like the others, a buyer here to select merchandise.

There were not only black-cloaked figures near the iron cages. There were also many buyers who had lifted the black cloths and were appraising the goods.

However, among the many black-cloaked figures, a man seated cross-legged at the center of the ruins suddenly removed his hood, revealing a strange face.

It was impossible to tell his age from his appearance. His face was entirely covered in lizard-like scales, while his right eye was a vertical snake pupil.

His name was Rosam, vice leader of this Ashen Time Caravan. At first glance, many mistook him for a humanoid race, but he was actually human. His skin had been grafted with the scales of dragon lizard folk from the High Decay Plane, and his eye came from a Withered-Blood Demon Serpent. More than that, many parts of his body had been altered. Only his brain and heart still belonged to a human.

Such grafting was commonplace in the Wizarding World. Among the countless races of the myriad planes, humans were not the finest. Many races were born with bodies stronger than those of humans; some were even born at wizard level, and upon adulthood could rival Legends—such as the Abyssal Demon Gods.

Thus, in pursuit of greater power, transplanting superior organs from other races was an exceedingly common practice. Yet it was