"Doing what? Seizing your body, of course!" The black-robed elder's voice turned icy. He closed his eyes, and his previously gaunt, severely injured body now seemed devoid of all vitality.

  Boom! Leo's mind went blank, his vision plunged into darkness.

  When clarity returned, he found himself in a space filled with hazy white mist. The ground was bare sand, gravel, and soil. In the distance lay a foggy expanse, indistinct and seemingly endless.

  How did he end up in this strange place again? Leo was bewildered. But soon, he remembered the black-robed elder. Leo shouted, "What is 'seizing a body'?"

  "'Seizing a body' means devouring your spirit soul and taking over your physical form, my dear disciple. Come right into your master's mouth. This time, I've taken a Soul-Binding Fruit. When I devour you, I can retain a considerable amount of the spiritual power within your soul. After I consume you, we will become one. Once I occupy your body, it won't be long before I successfully establish my foundation. Then, I'll have a long time to pursue the path toward the Golden Core."

  A sinister and unrestrained voice drifted over. If other cultivators heard the name "Soul-Binding Fruit," they would likely be shocked. This fruit had been extinct in the cultivation world for many years, difficult even for Golden Core Patriarchs to obtain. Yet, it was in the hands of a mere Qi Refinement peak cultivator like the black-robed elder. This man's encounters were truly strange.

  Ordinary body-seizing, forcibly devouring the other's spirit soul, often carried some side effects. But after consuming this fruit, the negative effects could be minimized, allowing for the maximum absorption of the other's spiritual soul power.

  However, this effect was mutual—the other party could also absorb his spirit soul for their own use. Of course, in the black-robed elder's view, such a situation was impossible. How could a mere Qi Refinement first-layer youngster be a match for him?

  "You old bastard, you turtle spawn! I knew you were up to no good! May you die a horrible death!"

  Upon hearing this, Leo flew into a rage. This old monster's intentions were utterly malicious. He had tricked Leo back to the cave, and Leo had foolishly helped the old monster prepare everything, practically pushing himself into a pit of fire. How stupid!

  "Hmph, you don't even know what element your spiritual root belongs to. If it weren't for me teaching you The Primordial Chaos Scripture, you'd still be a menial servant in a third-rate mortal sect, fetching water and chopping wood for a lifetime. If I weren't left with no other choice, I'd truly look down on your inferior spiritual root! Being chosen by me is your good fortune. Come here obediently and let me devour you in one bite. I can still give you a quick death. Anger me, and later I'll extract and refine your soul, making you taste unbearable suffering and regret ever being born!" the black-robed elder snarled viciously.

  "Old bastard, stop trying to scare me. If you have the skill, come get me yourself. I'm not afraid of you!" Leo had once been terrified of the black-robed elder, but now, facing certain death, couldn't he at least curse if he couldn't win?

  "Foolish bravado! Utter arrogance! Do you think the water you soaked in was for bathing? That was the Soul-Locking Brew! Once you soaked in it, your divine sense cannot escape your body. Let's see how long you can hide!" The black-robed elder laughed triumphantly, his spiritual soul beginning to search step by step.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  This black-robed elder was truly cunning and sinister to the core, having planned everything long ago. Leo felt both fear and fury but was helpless against him. This old monster's methods were far beyond anything he could have imagined. No wonder he had refused to teach him before—he was afraid Leo might learn and pose a threat.

  Escape! Even if he died, he wouldn't let the black-robed elder succeed so easily. He struggled to fly far away.

  "Eh? What kind of strange place is this? Why does it somewhat resemble the canyon?"

  Leo felt his body was very light, drifting and floating. With a single thought, he could drift out several yards, even over a dozen yards. Before Leo could be surprised for long, the black-robed elder's sharp laughter reached his ears. "My dear disciple, where do you think you're going?"

  "It's that old beast!" Leo concentrated and looked. He saw a faint, insubstantial shadow, not very solid, bearing the same sinister appearance as the black-robed elder. Who else could it be? It looked somewhat like the state of a ghost from mortal folk tales, a drifting, ethereal body.

  What terrible luck! Leo inwardly groaned. But he absolutely wouldn't just wait for death. From their earlier conversation, he now understood this was the black-robed elder's spirit soul, or from a cultivator's perspective, more accurately called the spiritual soul.

  Leo desperately fled into the distance. The black-robed elder chased confidently behind. Though he didn't know why they were in this inexplicable place, the kid had soaked in his Soul-Locking Brew. With such a lowly cultivation at Qi Refinement first layer, there was no way he could escape his grasp.

  "Brat, stop! If you keep running, don't blame me for being ruthless."

  After chasing through the mist for a while, the black-robed elder spoke with growing irritation.

  "Old bastard, I won't stop here waiting for you to kill me. If you have the skill, catch up yourself!" Leo retorted without backing down. After the chase, he had gained some confidence. The black-robed elder's spiritual soul didn't seem much faster than him. As long as he kept fleeing desperately, the other might not catch up.

  "It seems I need to teach you a lesson so you know what you're dealing with!" The black-robed elder was enraged. Using too powerful a spell might accidentally scatter the kid's spirit soul to ashes. Just stopping him would be enough. The black-robed elder began reciting an incantation, and his spiritual soul grew slightly thinner.

  Leo was fleeing with all his might when, suddenly, an earthen-yellow shield materialized right in front of him. Startled, he had no time to dodge and slammed headfirst into the shield. Dizziness and ringing ears overwhelmed him.

  "Hahahahaha..." A triumphant, strange laugh sounded, much closer than before.

  Leo's heart jolted. Suppressing the discomfort in his spirit sense, he detoured around the earthen shield and desperately fled further away. The black-robed elder's methods were far beyond anything he could imagine. Only by putting as much distance as possible between himself and this terrifying being did he have a sliver of hope.

  The black-robed elder said smugly, "Little one, you can't escape. If I weren't afraid of destroying your spirit soul, a single Fireball spell could scatter your form and spirit to oblivion. But even so, with just two more Earthen Shield spells, I can catch up to you. Stay put obediently and let me devour your spirit soul. It'll save you a lot of unnecessary pain."

  "Horse sh*t! Bullsh*t!"

  He was the one trying to harm him, yet he spoke so righteously? Utterly shameless! Leo was furious but helpless against the black-robed elder, who was far more powerful.

  Though he continued to flee desperately, despair filled his heart. The distance between them was closing. The black-robed elder cast another Earthen Shield spell. Now, the two spiritual souls, one large and one small, were only a few yards apart.

  Leo fled forward driven by sheer indignation and the resolve not to let the old monster succeed easily. In his haste, Leo didn't notice a wisp of mist, fine as silk, drifting toward his spiritual soul from within the hazy fog.

  "Heh heh, I'm about to catch you now. Ouch!"

  A pained cry sounded from behind. Startled, Leo glanced back. The black-robed elder's ferocious face was now within reach, mouth open to bite him. Leo was terrified, but then he noticed the black-robed elder seemed to have hit a wall. To his surprise, he saw that between him and the elder, an additional layer had appeared—a protective shield seemingly condensed from mist. More accurately, he was now enveloped inside this mist cocoon, separating him from the black-robed elder.

  "What the hell is this mist cocoon? How can you control such a thing?" The black-robed elder was both furious and incredulous. With his many years of experience wandering the cultivation world, he had never heard of a person's sea of consciousness being such a bizarre place. He had also researched others' experiences with body-seizing and made some preparations. Why had predecessors never mentioned such anomalies?

  "I just can, you old bastard. What are you going to do about it? Come bite me if you dare!" Seeing the black-robed elder try several times but fail to pass through, Leo immediately felt much more secure and began taunting the elder with cold sarcasm.