Strictly speaking, it wasn't really cowhide cloth, because when Evan Yang held it in his hand, it felt incredibly light—almost not like cloth at all. This discovery made him even more curious about what exactly this thing was, and he couldn't wait to see what was written on it.
"Seal Ancestor's Pen, Sealheart Seal Art." After reading this line, Evan Yang couldn't help but take a deep breath. Sealing was a miraculous technique—on a small scale, it could seal magical treasures or materials; on a larger scale, it could seal a person's entire cultivation, even their language and abilities.
"Perverse!" After reading a bit more of the text, Evan Yang gave the strongest evaluation he could of this mysterious heart-method before him.
The Sealheart Seal Art divides into Static Seals and Dynamic Seals. Static Seals are for non-moving, material things—the simplest example is sealing a magical treasure's true state, making it appear as an ordinary item. Static Seals are further divided into beginner, intermediate, advanced, and peak levels. Dynamic Seals are more complex, sealing people or living creatures.
Dynamic Seals can even seal every joint in the human body, and likewise have beginner, intermediate, advanced, and peak levels.
This is just an overview of the Sealheart Seal Art. More specifically, Evan Yang found that the so-called beginner, intermediate, advanced, and peak levels were very rough divisions. Some sealing techniques were really just a type of pattern or rune.
The strange cowhide cloth described a sealing technique capable of sealing both dynamic and static targets.
"Is it really this powerful?" Evan Yang realized the so-called Seal Ancestor was basically boasting. At the end, he even recounted his own experiences. Though Evan didn't know the Seal Ancestor's background, what puzzled him most was how this 'amazing' Sealheart Seal Art ended up here.
After searching the skeleton again and finding nothing suspicious, Evan Yang picked up the cowhide cloth once more. He stared at the sealing patterns, memorizing them deeply. Now that he'd reached Foundation-Building stage, he could remember anything after just one reading. He didn't know how much time had passed, but after memorizing those seal patterns, he prepared to put the cowhide cloth away.
Something strange happened—the back of the cowhide cloth also had content: some drawings and some script he couldn't understand. "Who made these diagrams, and what are they for?"
Evan Yang flipped the map over several times, studying it for a long while, before finally noticing what was odd about the drawing—it looked very much like his current surroundings.
In the very center of the map, there was a red dot. Evan Yang was standing not far from it. After realizing this, he carefully put away the cowhide cloth. He wasn’t sure what material it was made from, but it was definitely no ordinary item—maybe it would be useful someday.
Driven by curiosity, Evan Yang followed the map’s directions and walked step by step toward the red dot.
Something strange happened—the closer he got to the red dot, the more skeletons he saw. “Damn, what is this place—a sea of bones?”
After wrestling with his fear for a while, Evan Yang pressed on, determined to figure out what was going on. Some piles of bones blocked his way, so he had to sweep them aside before continuing forward.
“Phew, this should be it.” Evan Yang finally arrived at the so-called red dot. It was a pool—a pool of red liquid, to be exact. Even more terrifying, a blood-red sphere hovered above the water, dripping crimson drops into the pool below.
“What the—” Evan Yang stared at the scene, feeling an urge to step back, especially when he saw the fist-sized blood-red sphere and sensed a wave of fear wash over his body.
Just as Evan Yang was considering whether to retreat, the blood sphere moved. To be precise, it rotated until its other side faced him. When Evan saw what was there, he was completely stunned.
On the other side of the blood sphere was an eye—yes, an eye. It blinked at Evan Yang, then let out a chilling voice: “At last, I see a living person.”
“Who are you?” Evan Yang realized that whatever this thing was, it was far beyond anything he’d ever encountered.
“Haha, who am I? It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten.” The blood sphere replied in a gloomy tone. Evan Yang couldn’t tell how the voice was produced, but it sounded harsh and grating to his ears.
Evan Yang steadied himself and asked again, “How did you end up here?”
“Here? It’s been ages—I’ve been sealed here for a very long time.” The blood sphere sounded a bit sorrowful.
“Did you kill all these people?” Evan Yang looked closely and saw that the blood pool was surrounded by skeletons—people who had died long ago.
“Why not say they died trying to kill me?” the blood sphere snorted angrily.
He’s even throwing a tantrum, Evan Yang thought to himself, but he still asked, “Why did they want to kill you?”
“Them? They just wanted to steal my blood sphere and make themselves stronger!” the blood sphere said angrily.
The blood sphere’s angry roar made Evan Yang dizzy—he almost fainted, but thankfully the Heaven-Cold Seed in his body steadied him. Annoyed, he said, “Go ahead and keep complaining.”
Then he turned and tried to leave this troublesome place as quickly as possible.
The blood sphere was surprised that Evan Yang hadn’t fainted, then pleaded, “Young man, please help me!”
Evan Yang turned suspiciously and asked, “Me? How can I help you?” Facing this strange blood sphere, Evan felt no sympathy, especially after its angry roar—if not for his Heaven-Cold Seed, he would have already fainted.
“It’s simple. I’ll teach you an immortal art—once you learn it, you can help me break the seal,” the blood sphere pleaded.
“Seal? Immortal art?” Evan Yang hadn’t cared at first, but the mention of an immortal art caught his attention. Legends said immortals were a distant realm, and immortal arts were even rarer—there were only a handful across the continent.
“Yes, it’s an immortal art!” the blood sphere pleaded. It was desperate to leave this dark place, and seeing a living person made it even more excited.
“Then tell me,” Evan Yang said, suddenly interested.
“You agreed?” the blood sphere said excitedly.
“Mm.” Evan Yang nodded.
“Listen carefully. This immortal art is called Law-Breaker Art. It’s said to break any seal,” the blood sphere said solemnly.
“Law-Breaker Art? Break any seal? Is that even real?” Evan Yang had just learned about sealing everything, and now there was a seal-breaking art. Maybe the creators of these arts had some kind of rivalry.
The blood sphere snorted, “Of course it’s real. Once you learn it, you’ll be able to break the seal on me. Then I’ll give you the cultivation you desire.”
“Really? Then why don’t you break your own seal?” Evan Yang asked, taking the chance to probe for more information.
“I’m just a puppet technique now. My real body was destroyed, and only my consciousness survives inside this blood sphere. I used secret arts to stay alive, but I can’t break the seal myself. If I had a true body, I wouldn’t need you,” the blood sphere said coldly.
“Puppet technique? True body?” Evan Yang was shocked, remembering the strange man who possessed Jia Yulin’s body, and wondering if their arts were similar.
“Hey kid, what are you spacing out for?” the blood sphere said.
“No, go ahead and teach me,” Evan Yang said with a smile.
After Evan Yang took the bait, the blood sphere taught him all the steps of Law-Breaker Art. Once Evan understood it, he realized it was indeed powerful—maybe it really could break any seal.
The blood sphere didn’t care about Evan Yang’s excitement—it only thought about its predicament. “Hurry, hurry and break my seal,” it said happily.
Evan Yang wiped away his smile and said, “You can stay right here.”
“What? Kid, what’s that supposed to mean?” The blood sphere was furious at Evan Yang’s sudden change of heart.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? You want me to break your seal, then take over my body once you’re free?” Evan Yang had sensed something was wrong, especially with the way the blood sphere’s eye kept sizing him up.
“You think I’m that kind of person?” The blood sphere did intend to possess Evan Yang—being just a puppet technique, it needed a host once the seal was broken.
“I can’t be sure, but I bet most of these people died from your roar,” Evan Yang said with a cold smile.
“You’re clever, kid. Yes, I killed them—but you won’t fare much better. If you don’t break my seal, I’ll kill you right now.” The blood sphere was used to tricking others, but now Evan Yang had tricked it, and it was furious.
Hearing the threat, Evan Yang didn’t hesitate—he ran for the exit, while the blood sphere roared in rage. Luckily, the Heaven-Cold Seed in Evan’s body helped him resist fainting, though he still felt dizzy as he escaped.
“Damn you! If I catch you, you’re dead!” the blood sphere shouted angrily as Evan Yang escaped.
Evan Yang ignored the voice behind him—as long as the blood sphere didn’t chase him, he was fine. Soon, he reached the place where he’d entered, looked up at the hole in the ceiling, and sighed, “Without any magical treasures, this is tragic.”
After searching himself, Evan Yang reluctantly took out three daggers, lined them up, and carefully stepped on them to climb upward.
His first time flying with objects left Evan Yang frustrated—others had plenty of magical treasures, but he had only a few short daggers. He sighed, “If only I could advance to the Core Formation stage, then I could fly freely.”
Evan Yang put away the three daggers and looked around—everything was just as before, but now he had learned two arts: Seal Pattern and Law-Breaker Art.
“Big brother, that monster was terrifying,” Jade Rabbit said, poking its head out, feeling depressed.
“Luckily it’s sealed, so it’s none of our business. Let’s hurry and get out of here,” Evan Yang said, recalling the scene and the bones, shivering.
Evan Yang collected himself and walked through the space, wondering if Jia Xiaozi was in trouble.
Just as Evan Yang took a few steps, he heard cries. “What’s that?” He looked toward the source but was blocked by an artificial hill.
“Big brother, something’s happened over there,” Jade Rabbit said, its nose twitching as if it smelled something frightening.
“Something happened?” Evan Yang knew Jia Xiaozi had come in too, and worried for him. Evan quickly climbed the hill, and when he finally reached the top and looked around, he was stunned by what he saw.
“Big brother, that’s disgusting.” Jade Rabbit couldn’t bear to look and quickly hid in Evan Yang’s pocket.