"Schlick!"
The Black Sword slid free at the sound.
True Lord Huayin shuddered. In that instant, his illusory body actually grew somewhat more solid. He lowered his head to look at his chest, where the wound left by the sword was slowly closing.
"Ha ha ha!" He threw back his head and laughed, the sound brimming with exhilaration.
"How many tens of thousands of years has it been? Even I can no longer remember. At last, at last I can be free!"
His laughter echoed through the great hall, lingering long afterward.
Chu Mo gripped the Black Sword and retreated two steps, watching him warily.
True Lord Huayin laughed for a long while before gradually calming down. He looked at Chu Mo with approval shining in his eyes. "Well done, young friend. I must reward you handsomely. Dharmic treasures, pills, true scriptures... I can give you my entire legacy."
"However," he said, abruptly changing tack, "this legacy does come with one tiny side effect."
Chu Mo froze and asked blankly, "What side effect?"
True Lord Huayin smiled. "You might forget a few memories. But don't worry. They'll only be trivial little things,
that's all."
Chu Mo's expression changed drastically at those words, and he blurted out, "You want to possess me?!"
True Lord Huayin roared with laughter, his eyes full of mockery. "For a mere Golden Core ant to become a part of me, even temporarily, is a tremendous blessing! Be a good boy and surrender your body!"
Before his words had faded, his remnant soul transformed into a streak of light and burrowed into Chu Mo's sea of consciousness.
Within the sea of consciousness, all was dark.
The moment True Lord Huayin entered, he sensed its owner's soul: a faint, humanoid ball of light floating above the sea of