Chapter 573 Ghost In The Shell

"That's an interesting thing to say," I mumbled, "And why is that?" I asked as I approached prudently.

"I lived too long, more like survived too long, I wish to let go, but this place is holding me from ending myself. Could release me from this prison?" he said.

"And what do I gain in return?" I asked.

"… There are many things here, you may take whatever you wish," he said.

"That's not a fair trade you know," I replied.

"How so?" he asked.

"Because you're clearly immobile, I could already do that without your permission," I said.

I was basically testing the waters, since I honestly could look through the palace for anything of value and just take it.

"Indeed, then what do you wish?" he asked.

"A way out," I said.

"That's not hard. I've been sentenced to imprisonment here and after I'm dead, the dome will collapse, unlocking this prison and opening it for you to leave," he said.

'That's very convenient…'

"Is that so," I said.

I approached the body and noticed that it had a holding bag on him.

My hand went closer to the holding bag but a small protective barrier manifested around the body.

my fingers were electrocuted as I was pushed back a bit.

"There is a formation around my body, preventing anything to approach or harm me. It's one of the reasons why I'm still unable to perish…"

"A formation you say…"

"… do you understand formations?" the man asked.

This was however strange, the tone he asked wasn't that of a person who's genuinely asking, but more like a person who was warry.

"Not really, I'm pretty bad with formations, why? Will you teach me?" I asked.

"Yes, I have some understanding of formations, and if you follow my teachings you'll be able to unlock this formation," he said.

"Okay, good, that's something that's worth learning," I said.

"Good, but before we start, what is your name?" he asked.

"I'm called Shen Mo," I said.

"Good, I'm Fu Tian," he said.

"Nice to meet you Fu Tian, tell me how come you're imprisoned?"

"It's honestly been so long, I can't remember…"

"No matter," I replied… this was also too convenient.

"So how does this formation work?" I asked.

"if you infuse some of your Qi into the formation it will open up to you, you'll first need to understand the letters and how a formation functions and work, so let's start by teaching you the first steps;" he said.

I sat down and began listening to the old man, he spoke lengthily about formations and inscriptions and how they work.

I've noticed several mistakes in his reasoning and way he explained things, but made sure not to speak of them only for the most blatant ones, and that was because I knew he was testing me.

"You said that this formation works this way, but before the inscriptions that acted upon it should contradict, how am I to realize which is real?" I scratched my head. 

"Good, this means you're paying attention, I only needed to see if you fully understood the meaning behind these and tested you, I will refrain from doing so from now on," he said.

"Okay," I nodded and continued listening.

More upon more mistakes the man spoke of, enough that if one was truly a beginner in formation making and they were to follow his teachings they'll end up following a completely wrong path.

I already began realizing what this person wanted.

Day after day, the old man continued feeding me wrong information. I made sure to memorize his 'teachings' and replicate formation making using them. I even created a small formation using his teachings, granted it was faulty and full of mistakes and barely stable, but he sounded pleased with my advancement in the path of formation.

"Good, good, this should be enough, with this knowledge you should have a good base to further your learning of formation, now can you use the knowledge I imparted you to break open this formation around my body.

"Sure, I said as I stood up and infused my Qi into the formation."

If I were to follow the teachings of the old man, my eyes would see this formation as a barrier that disallowed harm upon the body, and would constantly inject nightmares and painful trials to the body. Making them suffer endlessly.

But if I were to follow my very own understanding I'd be able to see the truth.

This formation was a self-preserving formation, not only is it stopping external interference it also allows one to rest and replenish their powers to combat the powers of time. This formation was safe and not a prison and the person inside it isn't trapped no, they could leave at will.

So this concludes my suspicions.

Whoever's talking to me, wants this person dead. And the person talking to me is definitely not the person on the stone bed, but close enough to speak and make it sound that it came from this very person.

"Yes, slowly infuse your Qi, now dismantle it like I showed you," he said.

'I wasn't going to do that.'

The way he showed me was utter suicide, it was basically asking me to open my divine sense and allow the formation to access my mental. That's the best way to get possessed.

I take good pride in my mental fortitude, but I'm not about to allow a random person to access it freely.

So instead of doing like the voice said, I infused more inscriptions into the formation.

"What are you doing?!"

I didn't reply as I pulled my brush.

"You liar!" shouted the voice and the entire palace began shaking.

I smirked as I added more inscriptions further increasing the potency of the formation surrounding the old man.

"STOP, STOP!"

In then slapped my palm atop the formation, infusing it with my Soul Shackling imprint.

Several lines of the Soul Shackling Seal began spreading around the formation causing the owner of the voice to wail in utter agony as its soul seemed to burn.

A dark shadow instantly emerged from underneath the stone bed and scurried away as fast as it could toward the exit.

I chased after it, palm extended and slapped on the ground.

But the shadow split itself dodging my palm and continued escaping all the way to the gate where it left the palace.

"Damn… I couldn't even catch it, I wonder what that was…"

"Most importantly, who are you?"

The words spoken literally had my heart almost drop. I slowly turned to see the old man sitting down on the stone bed looking at me in a wonder.

"What, you look like you just saw a ghost…"