Flesh Bead

After discussing it with Bai Zhu, they decided that once Bai Sheng successfully took down that old bastard, Bai Zhu would exile Bai Sheng from Kasantiya on charges of assassination.

Then Bai Sheng could continue roaming around outside, finally laying his obsession to rest.

Under cover of night, Bai Sheng left the palace through the window, while Bai Zhu remained in the palace and waited for the right moment.

At noon the next day, the emperor was, as usual, reviewing the endless stack of memorials. The entire hall was eerily quiet when a man walked in.

"Your Majesty, have you been well lately?"

The man smiled as he greeted the emperor.

The emperor merely gave him an impatient glance before saying displeasedly:

"I know you have quite a few grievances about the exile, but it couldn't be helped. You know as well as I do that Pandora's loss has had no small impact on the front lines. As a Prince, you should be all the more diligent in carrying out your duties!"

After saying that, the emperor waved his hand, signaling for the man to leave.

Yet the man remained where he was. He said to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, the front lines are in dire straits. I have an item that can ease their urgent predicament."

With a turn of his hand, a blood-red bead lay quietly in his palm.

"What is this?"

The emperor looked at the bead in the man's hand in confusion. It radiated an eerie power of [Abundance].

"This is a Flesh Bead. So long as the soldiers at the front lines throw it into an area densely packed with insects, the bead will absorb every insect in the entire region. In the end, they will turn into a lump of flesh, powerless even to truss up a chicken. At that point, even a three-year-old child could easily kill the insect swarm."

Hearing this, a trace of interest appeared in the emperor's eyes, but he still said coldly:

"Since the Prince claims so, is this bead truly as effective as you say?"

"Of course."

The Prince smiled, then looked calmly at the beam overhead.

"Since Your Majesty wishes for me to demonstrate this treasure's power, I believe there could be no better test subject than that little fellow eavesdropping atop the beam."

With that, he threw the Flesh Bead at the thick vermilion beam. The instant the bead struck, the beam snapped with a crash, smashing into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Tch, so I was still found out!"

As the dust settled, a tall, white-haired figure emerged. It was none other than Bai Sheng!

The emperor was somewhat surprised upon seeing Bai Sheng.

"You're still alive?!"

Bai Sheng showed no courtesy whatsoever. "If you're not dead yet, why can't I be alive?"

He then drew Pandora, its Scythe Blade's icy edge pointing straight at the emperor.

"Don't forget about me now~"

Still smiling, the Prince threw the Flesh Bead at Bai Sheng once more.

Sensing the highly unstable power of [Abundance] within the red bead, Bai Sheng decisively turned and slashed, batting the Flesh Bead away.

Bai Sheng had originally ambushed them atop the beam so that he could face the emperor alone after this Prince left. But this Prince had to go and expose him. Well then, too bad. None of these higher-ups were good people anyway, so killing one more made no difference.

"Just wait, old bastard. Once I deal with this thing, I'll come take your life!"

As he spoke, Bai Sheng's eyes turned golden once more, while the tips of his hair became pale purple under Pandora's influence. A layer of pale-purple armor covered his body, streaked with dark-red lines.

Bai Sheng! Spirit Puppet Armor! Entering the stage!

With the Spirit Puppet Armor activated, Bai Sheng radiated powerful [Path of the Hunt] energy as he charged toward the Prince at tremendous speed. (PS: This Path was only temporarily constructed by the protagonist through Pandora. His actual Path is Harmony.)

The Prince calmly retreated, then threw the retrieved Flesh Bead at Bai Sheng once again.

"Where are the Shadow Guards? Are you all dead? Hurry and seize this assassin!"

Following the emperor's roar, a large group of Shadow Guards dressed in black and wielding daggers emerged from all around and rushed toward Bai Sheng.

"Damn it!"

Looking at the nearly thirty assassins surrounding him, Bai Sheng flipped Pandora around and swung it broadly forward with himself at the center, the strike carrying powerful wind-attributed [Path of the Hunt] energy.

Several Shadow Guards tried to block with their daggers, but all were sent flying. A few unlucky ones were directly skewered through like candied hawthorns by Bai Sheng's Pandora.

"Old bastard! The dogs you raised are nowhere near as strong as before!"

Bai Sheng wiped the blood splashed across his face, twisting aside to dodge the Flesh Bead as it passed almost right by his nose.

"By the way, Your Highness, have you forgotten about me?"

Watching the crowd gather in increasing numbers, the Prince revealed a subtle smile.

"I did forget about you, which is why you should die too!"

Manipulating the wind element, Bai Sheng practically teleported in front of the Prince and swung his scythe at the Prince's neck.

But in the next second, the Flesh Bead firmly blocked the scythe's strike. Then, an aura of [Destruction] emerged as an Imaginary energy bomb exploded before Bai Sheng, engulfing both Bai Sheng and the Prince.

Boom!

Bai Sheng looked at the completely unscathed Prince before him, but doubts arose in his heart. This guy didn't seem to be an emissary of the [Destruction] Path in his memory!

Before Bai Sheng could think further, those Shadow Guards, clinging like leeches, advanced once more, attempting to pierce his throat with their daggers.

"Get lost!"

A savage gleam flashed across Bai Sheng's face. Rather than using Pandora, he raised his armor-covered fist and, with a fierce gust of wind, punched straight through the unlucky Shadow Guard's chest.

Shaking the blood from his hand, he was just about to attack again when more and more Shadow Guards swarmed forward, pinning Bai Sheng firmly to the ground.

Seeing this, the Prince did not hesitate to hurl the Flesh Bead in his hand into the crowd.

The crimson bead mercilessly pierced through one Shadow Guard after another, spraying blood across the ground. Upon touching the blood, the Flesh Bead blazed with red light. Starting with the first Shadow Guard it had pierced, great masses of flesh began to surge from their wounds.

One after another, the newly grown flesh seemed adhesive, firmly drawing in all the nearby Shadow Guards. In an instant, they formed a massive ball of flesh.

Its surface was covered in dark-red blood and chunks of meat. The original Shadow Guards were all wrapped inside this ball of flesh, seemingly subjected to immense pressure. The bones inside some unlucky Shadow Guards were forcibly squeezed out of their bodies, piercing them from within and exposing human bones still dripping with blood.

Inside, Bai Sheng felt the pressure closing in, and cracks began to appear in the armor covering his body.

"Don't move! Kid, dispel your armor and relax, or this thing will crush you to death! Watch and wait for now. Don't worry—with you here, that emperor can't kill you."

At the critical moment, Pandora's voice came from the scythe.

With no other choice, Bai Sheng could only listen to Pandora and dispel his armor within the ball of flesh...

The emperor looked at the human flesh ball and could not help feeling a chill in his heart. He then looked toward the Prince, who happened to be looking at him as well.

"Your Majesty, do you see it? What a beautiful work of art!"

The Prince extended his hand, and the Flesh Bead burrowed out of the ball of flesh, its surface utterly free of blood.

"Where is Bai Sheng? How is he? Is he dead?"

the emperor asked. The Prince merely shook his head and said to the emperor, "No, Your Majesty. He is merely trapped within this prison of flesh and blood..."