Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence and suffering involving children. The author does not condone or promote any form of harm or cruelty. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
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Hearing the ancestor's words, the Li Clan members who were controlling the formation activated another formation. This one was smaller than the first formation, but it had even more complex runes engraved into it. It also took up less space, and it was located below the children.
Once this formation was activated, a strange power enveloped all the children.
Asher felt his body stiffen up as a forcefield formed around him and the rest of the kids. This forcefield was invisible to the naked eye, and it seemed to have no physical substance whatsoever. It felt like something intangible had been wrapped around his body, holding him in place and preventing him from moving.
Soon enough, Asher noticed that his body was slowly starting to float up into the air, just like the rest of the children.
Li Qing stared at the floating children with a hungry expression on his face. He then licked his lips and said, "Excellent... Excellent... With this, my revival shall be complete."
As Asher's body floated into the air, he felt that the formation underneath him had begun to absorb his life force, blood, and spirit essence. The forcefield around him grew tighter and tighter, and he felt as if he were being squeezed by an invisible hand. This caused him great pain, and he felt like he would be crushed to death if he were to continue being absorbed by this forcefield.
At this point, Asher was in extreme pain as well. He felt like he was going to die at any moment. His whole body was numb, and he couldn't move even a single finger anymore. His spirit essence had been completely drained, and he felt like he would lose consciousness at any time. 'Damn it... Damn it!
I need to do something! If I don't do anything, I'll die! I can't just sit here and wait for death!'
It was then that something unexpected happened. Asher's body suddenly began to change shape. His clothes ripped apart as his body grew taller, and his features returned to their original state. His skin turned white, his hair turned black, and his eyes turned blue once more.
He looked exactly like he did when he was Asher Blake, but he was still pale and weak due to his spirit essence being drained by the formation.
Seeing this, Li Qing's eyes widened in shock. He stared at Asher's body and spoke in an astonished voice. "What... What's happening here? How did this child turn into an adult!?" But before anyone could answer his question, Li Qing heard something else. It was the sound of something cracking.
He immediately turned his head towards the source of the noise, only to see cracks appearing on the floor of the cave chamber.
Crack Crack Crack
The formation was breaking apart.
This wasn't supposed to happen. The formation had been made with ancient runes, and it was supposed to be capable of enduring powerful attacks without breaking. And yet, it was falling apart right in front of Li Qing's eyes. And he knew that this wasn't because of any outside interference. It was because of Asher. He wasn't a child, and that wasn't his original body.
The formation wasn't meant to drain the life force of an adult human. This created a contradiction, which caused it to become unstable and break apart.
As soon as he realized what had happened, Li Qing let out a roar of anger and frustration. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "NO!!!!! THIS CANNOT BE!!! DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!"