Rune's Sudden Change

The runes on the stone slab had also vanished, clean and pristine, as if they had never existed at all.

"This rune should have been a master-servant rune for subjugating a Magic Beast. You, Purple Totem Pillar, are a weapon; you should have undergone a blood-binding ritual befitting your status. Why are you joining in the fun and even punching a hole through this slab?" Lei Mo felt uneasy in his heart.

"Come, come, Pillar, come and explain this to me."

While Lei Mo was still in shock, he couldn't help but tease it, yet to his surprise, the Purple Totem Pillar actually hovered and flew right in front of him.

"Ah... this—this,"

This left Lei Mo completely bewildered; you are a weapon, yet you actually understood my words.

"You—you—you!"

Lei Mo had completely lost his composure, his intelligence no longer operating at a normal level. He was stunned; in both his lifetimes combined, he had never encountered such a situation. This Purple Totem Pillar had gained consciousness?

Lei Mo's brain raced at high speed. This world didn't seem to have such phenomena; at the very least, one would have to be a plant to become a living being!

However, Volcano Giants seemed close to this situation, but who knows if the true form of a Volcano Giant is a volcano, or if they just like living next to them? The latter is more likely.

After a moment of brainstorming, Lei Mo's intelligence reclaimed the high ground.

What was the current situation? This Purple Totem Pillar seemed to have gained consciousness, so was it friend or foe? He had previously treated it as a weapon; would it be angry?

Just as Lei Mo was caught in a state of anxiety, "Master—" A childish voice rang out in Lei Mo's mind, impossible to distinguish as male or female.

"Who?" Lei Mo jumped up in fright; this was a cave he had just blasted open himself!

"Is it you?" Lei Mo looked at the hovering Purple Totem Pillar.

"Master—" It seemed this fellow only knew this one word.

Lei Mo approached the Purple Totem Pillar and gripped it with his right hand; immediately, a wave of intent flooded his mind.

"Master—Master—Master!" The voice was crisp and bright, repeating over and over.

But Lei Mo's brain was still a bit numb; it was still just that one word.

"Can you change to a new word? Like handsome, dashing, cool, or breathtakingly suave—"

He couldn't go on; Lei Mo was disgusted by himself.

"Handsome... dashing...", this time, the Purple Totem Pillar's voice resonated through the air.

Lei Mo also recalled the contract rune he had laid out, or rather, the contract magic circle.

Lei Mo discovered that this was somewhat different from the runes; if one had to compare it to something, this magic circle contained multiple runes.

Lei Mo attempted to communicate telepathically, "Pillar—Pillar—" What a terrible name, Lei Mo mocked himself.

"Master, I..." The Purple Totem Pillar's voice also rang out in Lei Mo's mind.

"Pillar, do you have a name?" Lei Mo had already mastered this method of communication.

"I—I—" The Purple Totem Pillar seemed to struggle with speech.

Lei Mo felt helpless and began to patiently teach the Purple Totem Pillar how to speak.

Over ten days passed, and the Purple Totem Pillar could already communicate simply. Lei Mo felt that the Purple Totem Pillar's intelligence was quite high; it was just its linguistic expression that was lacking.

"When were you born?" At this moment, Lei Mo was finally able to ask.

"The time of my birth was very long ago. I don't know the exact time; back then, there were no people on the continent, not even animals, only some plants."

"At that time, I only had a vague consciousness, and then I just took root in the earth. Countless years later, eight stone pillars very similar to me sprouted; each pillar was the same size as me, only the runes on them were much simpler," the Purple Totem Pillar recounted slowly.

"Wait! Wait! Eight pillars? You are the ninth Purple Totem Pillar?"

"That's not right! Since you are the ninth Purple Totem Pillar, can you change your size?"

Lei Mo remembered that the Purple Totem Pillar was nearly a hundred meters tall. Then, he saw the Purple Totem Pillar rapidly thicken and grow, reaching all the way to the ceiling of the cave. By now, the Purple Totem Pillar was as thick as a washbasin.

"Haha, so you're basically a Ruyi Jingu Bang,"

Lei Mo was quite happy; who hasn't envied Sun Wukong?

"Oh, oh... continue."

"After those eight stone pillars appeared, I felt my consciousness become clearer, but I still couldn't move, nor could I make any changes; I could only continue to take root in the earth."

"Until one day, eight Tauren arrived. They sat by those eight pillars every day, just staring blankly at the runes on them."

"Then their strength grew increasingly powerful, and they pulled out the eight pillars to use as weapons. When not in use, they would worship them, allowing other Tauren to contemplate the runes upon them."

"Wait! Pulling out the totem pillars, how thick were you back then?" Lei Mo asked, puzzled.

"About the thickness of an ordinary basin. Later, as I grew, those eight also grew and thickened along with me!"

"Oh—and then?" Lei Mo felt a bit embarrassed, always interrupting it.

"One day, I suddenly felt souls flying into my body, and then I discovered my consciousness had become even clearer."

"These souls seemed to disappear, but in reality, they were just hidden within the space inside my body. I don't know what this space is, or where it is."

"I just feel that I can let the souls stored in the space come out and enter; I know nothing else."

"In the beginning, I often released these souls, letting the Tauren race know—so it turns out these eight pillars can preserve souls!"

"Other powerful Tauren would occasionally linger around these eight pillars to meditate and seek enlightenment."

"Whether these Tauren died of old age or met with accidental deaths, as long as they had meditated here, their souls would return to the space within my body."

"This led to more and more souls within my space, and I became increasingly clear-headed."

"These souls that had comprehended the runes slowly transformed into runes within the space, manifesting upon my true form and the eight pillars."

"Later on, those souls with lower strength levels were quite dull, so I simply stopped letting them appear as souls, allowing them to manifest only as runes."

"Until the arrival of you, Master! You discovered me the moment you arrived!"

"This made me very curious. You came to my side and touched me with your hand, and I was shocked to discover that I could actually move."

"Master, you are the only person in countless years who has been able to see me and touch me!"

The voice of the Totem Pillar carried a sense of fanaticism.

"Because you left, I poked a hole through the roof of the great hall, followed your scent to find your pack, crawled inside, and mimicked the appearance of that black wooden rod."

Lei Mo finally understood the sequence of events, but his doubts had not been entirely resolved.

"Then why didn't you speak at the beginning?" Lei Mo asked whenever he had a doubt.

"Truth be told, although I have always had consciousness, I could not move for countless years, my consciousness was very simple, and I could not speak at all—until you, Master, dripped your blood into my space."

"Wait a moment! Do you mean to say that the blood I used for the blood-binding ritual didn't enter the Totem Pillar—that is, your body—but instead went into the space inside you?"

"Yes, Master. After your blood dripped into the space, this space gradually underwent a change. How should I describe it?"

"That's it! It's just like me; it seems to have come alive, and my soul consciousness can now enter and exit this space at will."

"This was impossible before. Furthermore, I feel that I am now more like a living being."

"This time, with the magic array you drew, Master, I only had a slight feeling for the first one, but for the second, I felt the space within me shaking continuously, and I subconsciously stood upon the magic array."

"As for what happened afterward, you saw it yourself, Master. I established a connection with your soul consciousness, which is what they call a contract."

"But I feel that my closeness to you is something that comes from the heart, or perhaps a feeling of being connected by blood. The moment I saw you, Master, I couldn't help but feel a sense of worship!"

"And this closeness seems to have nothing to do with this so-called contract."