Turning around, a gaseous mass resembling a three or four-year-old child was glaring at him from not far away.
Was this the spirit of the formation?
The previous purple mass, even if it felt intelligent, wouldn't be treated as a humanoid creature.
Just like intelligent cats and dogs, unless they reached a state like Xiao Bai, no one would consider them human-like.
In fact, this humanoid was what legends called a demon.
The ability to speak was just a basic requirement; true demonhood was signified by shapeshifting.
Seeing the entity that had already taken human form, Li Chonglou couldn't help but wonder if it had evolved.
If it had indeed evolved, then things would be troublesome.
While he was pondering, the not-yet-clear humanoid figure suddenly lunged towards him.
Its speed was astonishing, and in mid-air, it revealed a phantom of a feline beast.
Fierce and savage.
A cavernous maw opened wide, directly aiming to bite off Li Chonglou's head.
Li Chonglou immediately felt a premonition: if he were truly swallowed whole, this part of his consciousness might be gone forever.
Whether it became sustenance for the other party or vanished directly, it would be a spiritual damage to him.
However.
Just as the gaping maw was about to descend, a white light suddenly flashed through Li Chonglou's consciousness.
Divine Sense reinforcement!
"Roar!"
The phantom let out a scream, unable to react, and was instantly vaporized.
Not even a speck remained.
Only then did Li Chonglou realize something: the figure before him wasn't the true consciousness of the formation spirit, but merely a small part of its instinct manifested.
Yet, the fact that instinct could form another entity seemed abnormal.
A familiar aura that suddenly emerged interrupted Li Chonglou's thoughts.
After the figure was dispersed, Li Chonglou's consciousness entered a vast, white space, where the essence of the purple mass permeated every inch.
"Could this be where its true core consciousness resides?"
This white space was filled with the aura of the purple mass in every regard, yet it contained nothing. Li Chonglou couldn't understand the situation at all.
"Never mind, I'll try to refine it first."
His consciousness directly merged with the surroundings of the white space.
It was like a drop of ink falling into clear water; there was only mutual integration between the two.
However, in this integration, Li Chonglou held the dominant position. Wherever he managed to merge, it became a part of his own consciousness.
Strictly speaking, this was assimilation, not mere fusion!
The entire process was smooth, encountering no obstacles whatsoever.
In reality.
Li Chonglou snapped out of his daze and immediately looked up at the purple mass in mid-air.
As expected, the latter was struggling even more violently now.
Even Cai Hong couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Li, what did you do to this thing? Why does it feel like it's fighting for its life?"
Old Lin grumbled, "Xiao Li, hurry up and think of something, I'm so electrocuted my soul feels numb!"
Li Chonglou quickly replied, "Two seniors, hold on a little longer, it will be over soon."
Elder An asked, "How is it? What's happening below?"
Li Chonglou recounted what he had sensed with his consciousness.
Elder An said gravely, "It seems the underground is its true本体, while what we see now is likely its consciousness."
本体, consciousness?
Elder An explained, "本体 refers to its spiritual origin; from a human perspective, it's equivalent to our physical bodies. As for consciousness, that's its soul."
Li Chonglou understood, yet didn't fully grasp it.
"It's fine, you just need to know one thing: refining its physical body simultaneously should save half the time."
Li Chonglou nodded.
"I just don't know if Old Lin and the others can hold on..."
This time, Elder An fell silent; he couldn't guarantee that either.
"Let's try our best. If it really doesn't work out, I'll call for more people."
Elder An sighed.
Li Chonglou understood his meaning. If his soul had not suffered some damage from previous events, he would have been able to help out this time as well.
"Let me see if I can find its weakness."
With that, his consciousness returned underground.
Elder An was momentarily stunned, murmuring to himself in confusion. The 本体 could still have weaknesses?
How did Xiao Li know about this?
Even he didn't know about the existence of weaknesses in a 本体, and Elder An was momentarily unable to process it.
Meanwhile, Li Chonglou had directly unleashed his divine sense.
Weaknesses? He certainly didn't know.
But he understood one thing: as long as he added divine sense to his consciousness, the refining speed could be more than doubled!
The purple mass grew increasingly frantic.
Old Lin and Cai Hong had started with a slightly exaggerated tone, but as they realized something was wrong, they stopped speaking altogether.
Their entire bodies tensed as if afraid to be careless in the slightest!
Gritting their teeth, they held the purple mass firmly in place.
The good news was that the purple mass's energy was gradually weakening, allowing them to see an end in sight.
However, at this very moment, another figure appeared outside the formation's line of sight.
The newcomer was a squad leader of the assassins, a master at the seventh level.
"Someone's here?"
Upon seeing Li Chonglou's figure, the squad leader's heart leaped into his throat, fearing he had encountered someone from the old village chief's faction again.
During their previous encounter, Wolverine and the others might have only used probing attacks, but he had directly unleashed his ultimate moves!
The result was merely causing the opponent to pause for a few seconds, without even a drop of blood.
In that instant, he understood that these dozen or so oddly behaving individuals who had suddenly appeared were beyond his ability to fight.
As the saying goes, a single bite from a snake makes one fear a grass rope for ten years.
The man instinctively wanted to turn and flee.
However, when he clearly saw Li Chonglou's appearance, he stopped.
His expression was a mixture of joy and shock.
"It's him!"
Several thoughts flashed through the man's mind. Before this, he had always thought the mission reward, comparable to killing a seventh-level expert, was merely a lure from the Black Net's master.
What shocked him was that he never imagined such a person actually existed!
But how could someone at the fifth level possess such a bounty?
Unless he was connected to the Divine Thunder Source!
The man instinctively linked the two events, and his joy stemmed from this.
If his guess was correct, it meant that the chance of seizing the Divine Thunder Source this time would also greatly increase!
Someone whom even the Black Net's master had to deal with in such a manner must pose the greatest threat, and perhaps the true method of obtaining the Divine Thunder Source lay in his hands!
The more the man thought about it, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help but accelerate his advance.
"Xiao Li, someone else is approaching."
At Elder An's reminder, Li Chonglou withdrew a portion of his consciousness from underground.
Seeing the man approaching directly, he frowned slightly.
He was very busy, after all!
As soon as he got close, the man spoke first, "Friend, would you be willing to cooperate?"