Chu Xianyin looked at the box on the pedestal and reached out to remove the cloth covering it.
The Lifeless Insect placed within was immediately revealed.
It was an insect resembling a flower bud. Under his gaze, its body slowly unfurled into petal-like shapes. Once it had fully opened, the tips of its petals could occasionally be seen curling inward.
At its core was a pitch-black void, utterly empty, like a bottomless well with neither boundary nor end, as though it could swallow even light.
His gaze fixed on that black hole. The Lifeless Insect was the key to this ritual.
Only by using the Lifeless Insect's predatory ability could they firmly lock onto the person targeted by the ritual curse. Otherwise, the entire ritual would only take effect within a certain area.
If that were all, then with Chen Chuan's perception, a warning would surely arise in his heart just before the ritual activated. Before its power could take effect, he would already have escaped.
But now, through a series of deliberate guidances, the Lifeless Insect had firmly locked onto Chen Chuan's aura. Even if Chen Chuan left now, he would not be able to escape. Once the ritual activated, its ultimate power would fall upon him.
However, if he had prepared in advance, he could use certain Lost Objects and rituals to resist and protect himself. That was why they had needed to force Chen Chuan to exhaust all the protective items on his person beforehand.
Fortunately, after his clashes with Yuan Congye and the others, as well as Immortal Shen's earlier ambush, any such protections Chen Chuan possessed should have already been used up.
It was a pity that Yuan Zhao and Tie Rugan had not even been able to get close enough to confirm it.
But