Chapter 83: The Ashlife Flower

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: The Ashlife Flower

Judging by the depth and consistency of the carvings, this Totem was formed at the same time the tower was constructed, absolutely not the remnants of later intruders.

Although disrupted by the crude writing of subsequent generations, with intense concentration, Jeremy could still vaguely picture the entire structure.

A complex six-pointed star. Wrapping around the outer ring were majestic, winding Dragon patterns, while at the center was the form of a blooming flower. Unfortunately, the pistil part had been too severely damaged to discern what kind of flower it was.

Jeremy frowned, his hand unconsciously reaching out to touch the central pattern to feel the magical fluctuation.

At that exact moment, the orb of light suddenly lunged forward.

A sharp pain flashed at his fingertip. An invisible wind blade decisively sliced open Jeremy’s flesh. A few drops of dark red blood splattered, landing precisely on the black stone wall.

Jeremy paused slightly, his brows furrowing. But before Jeremy could pull his hand back, a figure stepped up, blocking right in front of him.

Lucius reached out, Lucius’s long, powerful fingers snapping like pincers around the orb of light. The grip was so forceful that the surrounding space faintly trembled. Lucius’s gaze was chilling to the extreme, a faint murderous intent radiating from him, and his voice dropped, carrying a ruthless edge:

"This thing reeks of evil artifacts. We might as well crush it."

Even though Jeremy knew Lucius was exaggerating to find an excuse to kill, Jeremy didn’t speak up to stop him. His eyes were glued to the bleeding wall. The drops of blood that had just touched the stone surface instantly vaporized, seeping inside. The gloomy Totem suddenly flared with a faint glimmer, like a wild beast that had just tasted the scent of life.

The key to open the door was fresh blood?

Silence enveloped them. The other four also noticed the anomaly and simultaneously directed their eyes toward the stone wall.

Five minutes passed. The light flickered and then died out. The wall returned to its silent state, exactly as it was in the beginning.

"..."

No secret door opened, nor did any divine treasure descend. It was just a meaningless prank. Jeremy had always kept a cool head, so the disappointment didn’t affect him in the slightest. What Jeremy was truly curious about right now was, what was the ultimate purpose of that bizarre orb in continuously luring races here and forcing them to shed blood?

Jeremy turned to look at the rock currently being tormented in Lucius’s hand. Lucius’s grip was enough to crush an armored scorpion, yet this thing didn’t even have a dent; even the sharp streams of magic pouring from Lucius’s hand were completely absorbed by it. Truly not an ordinary object; no wonder it had survived for tens of thousands of years amidst the wrath of countless powerhouses.

Jeremy was just about to tell Lucius to throw it away when the orb abruptly shrank to the size of a marble, slipping right through Lucius’s fingers.

It didn’t flee. Instead, it dashed straight toward Phoenix’s back.

An invisible yet irresistible pressure descended, tightly squeezing Phoenix’s body and shoving Phoenix forcefully forward.

Even though Phoenix agilely spun around to dodge, that bizarre force still pinned Phoenix’s hand, dragging it close to the Totem’s position. Similar to Jeremy, a sharp cut flashed across Phoenix’s fingertip. Phoenix immediately jerked back, but the drops of blood were left hovering in mid-air, pulled tightly into the Totem by a massive suction force.

Everything happened too fast, eerily terrifying.

Jeremy stepped beside Phoenix, asking in a low voice: "Are you alright?"

From beneath his pulled-down hood, Phoenix shook his head, his usually calm voice laced with a hint of solemnity: "...This place is very wicked. It seems there’s a type of magic hypnotizing the mind, constantly urging me to sacrifice blood."

*Sacrifice...*

Jeremy’s gaze swept toward the orb of light. Injuring two people didn’t seem to have satisfied its thirst. It was circling around, targeting Leon, Lucius, and Evelyn like a venomous snake waiting to strike. No wonder someone on the wall had cursed it as the incarnation of a blood-sucking bat; these methods were truly despicable to the extreme.

"Bloop bloop bloop bloop!" The orb vibrated violently, urging them.

Leon assessed the wall once over, a glint of vigilance appearing in the depths of his eyes: "What is this cursed thing gathering blood for? Could it be that a sufficient amount is needed to activate the hidden matrix?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the orb of light spun two circles around Leon as if praising his intelligence.

Its cheeky demeanor made the five humans here simultaneously want to curse. Jeremy backed away, trying to step down the stairs to leave the tower, but an invisible wall of air blocked the exit. When they entered, this thing had absolutely not existed.

"...It seems this piece of trash won’t leave us in peace until it achieves its goal." Leon clicked his tongue, shrugging: "Guess we’ll have to play along with it."

Leon stepped forward, condensing a wind blade to slice his finger, casually dripping blood onto the Totem. Evelyn didn’t say a word, silently stepping up to do the same.

Their blood was also drained dry; the Totem flashed brightly like a dried corpse being electrocuted, then returned to its dark, silent state.

At this moment, the four pairs of teammates’ eyes, plus an orb, all focused on the only man remaining — Lucius.

"..."

Lucius narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression remaining ice-cold and emotionless. He gave a cold snort, slowly stepped forward, and decisively sliced his finger. When Lucius’s drop of blood merged into the carvings, the Totem flared more brilliantly than ever before.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for a miracle to descend. But that glorious light only lasted a few seconds before slowly fading away.

The orb of light seemed to lose all its patience. It suddenly swelled up, then *Boom!* exploded right in mid-air. Instead of disappearing, it turned into thousands of sparkling petals of light, blanketing the entire room.

The moment the petals touched their bodies, a colossal pressure like a mountain crashed down on the five people’s shoulders. Jeremy gritted his teeth, channeling his magic power to resist, but his body seemed to no longer belong to him. His hand was yanked up by an invisible hand and brutally pressed flat against the wall surface.

The sensation of flesh tearing transmitted clearly. His palm split open, piping hot fresh blood gushing out like a spring, flowing along the crevices of the crystal rock, greedily swallowed up by the Totem without leaving a single drop.

*Damn it...* Jeremy gritted his teeth, the green veins on his forehead bulging. He had been careless. Struggling desperately, he tried to think of a way to break the suppression when suddenly, all the binding forces vanished into thin air.

The petals of light that had been hovering all this time poured down massively onto their bodies. In an instant, Jeremy felt an extremely pure stream of healing power surge through his muscles and bones. The torn wound on his palm healed flawlessly. His body felt as if it had been cleansed of all impurities, incredibly light and refreshingly revitalized.

"?"

Jeremy frowned. Slapped with a stick and then given a sweet treat?

He immediately turned around to look up at the wall. Perhaps because the combined amount of blood from the five of them was too massive, this time, the light from the Totem was far more brilliant and enduring.

The orb of light did not appear again. Instead, under the patchwork of the light streams, the Totem that had been smeared was restored to its original form.

Jeremy held his breath to observe.

Sharp, surging Dragon patterns enveloped the six-pointed star. And the central pistil part... had also fully revealed itself.

Jeremy’s pupils contracted slightly. That was a flower that only existed in forbidden legends — the Ashlife Flower.

Its shape carried the vibe of the Spider Lily, but according to ancient grimoires, its meaning was ten thousand times more cruel than the Spider Lily. The records described:

[This flower blooms bearing a glazed emerald green color, each delicate petal transparent like moonlight washed at the bottom of the River of Oblivion. No matter how gorgeously the Queen of the Night flaunts its beauty, it cannot compare to a single blooming moment of the Ashlife.]