In the vast sky, another enormous treasure ship slowly sailed onward.
The light of the defense formation around its hull flickered, looking as though it was running out of strength.
Deep within the ship lay a secret chamber.
Air currents swept past the hull, making the secret chamber shudder slightly. Dim lamplight swayed against the walls, stretching the shadows long.
A powerful, rank stench filled the air.
The smell was revolting, mingling the foulness of rotting flesh with the bitterness of scorched herbs.
Chen Changgeng, Sect Master of the Celestial River Sect, slumped on a meditation cushion, his hands shaking violently.
He suddenly tore open the front of his robe, ripping the luxurious cloud-patterned dharma robe in two.
At the center of his chest sat a palm-sized black, festering sore, horrifying to behold.
Black and red murky fluid seeped from its rotting edges and dripped onto the floor tiles, giving off a corrosive hiss that set the teeth on edge.
The floor tiles had already been eaten away into a shallow pit, wisps of black smoke rising from its bottom.
Pain.
Pain that bored into his heart and gouged his bones.
Chen Changgeng's entire face twisted out of shape. Veins bulged on his forehead, and sweat mixed with the foul fluid as it ran down his neck.
He clenched his teeth, a dying growl rising from his throat. This pain did not come from torn flesh; it struck directly at his divine soul and Dao fruit.
Countless eerie fluctuations gnawed at the foundation of his cultivation.
He summoned the spiritual power of the Spirit Transformation Stage that remained within him, trying to suppress the black sore. The instant his spiritual power touched it, a violent backlash erupted.
Rather than shrinking, the black sore began to writhe unnaturally, spreading another half-inch