Xu Yi had changed beyond recognition inside the array. His once lean, sinewy body now looked withered and shriveled. His black hair had turned pale gray, his eyes were sunken, and he looked like nothing more than a layer of skin stretched over bones.
Yet that withered body was like a tightly packed bundle of volatile explosives. If it went off, the blast would shake heaven and earth.
At the same time, the second mid-grade Thunder Spirit Stone in the Spirit Gathering Array had shrunk to the size of a grain of rice.
Xu Yi's gaunt face showed neither joy nor sorrow. He simply scattered seven more spirit stones, activating the Spirit Gathering Array. Spiritual energy once again enveloped the rice-sized mid-grade Thunder Spirit Stone. This time, the blue-tinged energy did not sweep toward him in a wisp of smoke as before. Instead, it gathered into a cloud of mist and rolled over him.
Crackling, more than a dozen arcs of electricity spread at once, exploding through the many apertures in Xu Yi's body.
Strangely, Xu Yi did no more than furrow his brow slightly. Not only did he make none of the agonized cries one might expect during the final stage of tempering, he did not even so much as groan.
The electrical explosions continued for a full quarter of an hour before finally subsiding. Light suddenly flowed over Xu Yi's body, moving from the outside in, then from the inside out. The next moment, streams of black fluid oozed from his pores, and a foul stench filled the air around him.
Xu Yi shot forward and dashed into the washroom, scrubbing himself again and again. Black fluid continued to seep from his body. He washed for nearly the time it took an incense stick to burn before the