Chapter 6: Battle for the Body
Yang Kai's gaze remained fixed on the thirty two golden words shimmering on the book's page. Their meaning was straightforward. Blood was the key to summoning the so called Golden Body.
The characters glowed with soft luminescence, pulsing rhythmically like a heartbeat. Each word carried weight beyond mere meaning. They were instructions written by someone who had transcended mortal limitations.
But even though he understood the process, doubt gnawed at the back of his mind.
Understanding was one thing. Trust was another. The Black Book had revealed itself, but its true nature remained a mystery. What was this Golden Body? Why had the book chosen him?
This was a black book that had been disguised as a stone pillow for over a year. Why had it only activated now? Was it truly fate, or was he simply playing into something else's hands?
The timing was too convenient. The moment he transmigrated, the moment his soul changed, the Black Book transformed. That could not be coincidence. Either fate was real, or something had been waiting for this exact moment.
He scoffed at his own paranoia.
His thoughts were spiraling. This was the kind of overthinking that accomplished nothing. He needed to make a decision and commit to it.
"Who would waste time scheming against a mere Trial Disciple?"
The question answered itself. No one. Absolutely no one would expend effort planning elaborate traps for someone at the bottom of High Heaven Pavilion's hierarchy.
After all, he was nothing. A nobody at the bottom of the High Heaven Sect, struggling just to survive. If there really was some grand conspiracy, it would not revolve around someone like him.
Core Disciples? Worth scheming against. Elite Disciples with powerful backers? Potential targets. But a Trial Disciple with no resources, no connections, and no future? Who would bother?
His fingers tightened around the book.
The decision crystallized in his mind. Risk versus reward. The potential gain was immense. The potential cost was his life. But he already had immortality backing him.
"No risk, no reward."
That had been his philosophy in his previous life. When you had nothing, you had nothing to lose. The worst outcome still left him where he already was. Weak. Powerless. Destined for failure.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai hesitated no more. The writing clearly on the book clearly states that he must drip blood in order to lead. Thinking of this, he bit onto his finger hardly and dripped a drop of blood on to the page.
The pain was sharp but brief. His teeth broke skin easily. Fresh blood welled up from the puncture wound, crimson and warm.
Drip, drip. The blood went onto the page, but there was no apparent change. After a fair amount of time passed, from the page, black light started to emerge.
The wait felt eternal. Seconds stretched into minutes. Yang Kai's heartbeat thundered in his ears. His breath came shallow and quick.
Nothing happened. Then something did.
A pulse.
A slow, steady vibration trembled beneath his hands. The blood spread unnaturally, seeping into the book like water into dry earth.
The crimson liquid did not sit on the surface. It was absorbed, pulled into the page as if the book was drinking it. The white paper turned red where blood touched, then faded back to white as the blood disappeared completely.
Black light surged from the pages, crawling over his hands, slithering up his arms.
The sensation was wrong. Deeply wrong. Not painful but invasive. The light moved with purpose, with consciousness. It explored his flesh like living tendrils.
Yang Kai's instinct screamed at him to let go. To throw the book away. But he held firm. He had committed to this path. There was no turning back now.
The black light began to coil, spiraling into a tiny vortex at the center of the book. Within that vortex, something stirred.
A glimmer of gold.
The gold was small at first. Just a pinprick of light in the swirling darkness. But it grew steadily, expanding until it dominated the vortex.
Yang Kai forced himself to remain clear headed, despite the throbbing in his skull. He watched intently as the golden glow grew stronger, as the swirling black light parted to reveal...
A skeleton.
A golden skeleton.
The words felt inadequate. This was not just bones. This was something else entirely. Something that had once been more than mortal.
It was only about thirty centimeters tall, but it exuded an aura of ancient power.
Size meant nothing. Yang Kai could feel the presence emanating from those golden bones. This tiny skeleton carried more concentrated power than anything he had ever encountered.
At first, only the skull emerged from the vortex. Then, the rest of the bones followed, assembling themselves piece by piece. When the entire skeleton was finally complete, it floated above the book, legs crossed in meditation.
The assembly happened with eerie precision. Spine connecting to skull. Ribs attaching to spine. Limbs finding their proper positions. All without visible force holding them together.
Golden light flickered off its polished surface, illuminating the small hut.
The glow was warm but intimidating. It cast strange shadows on the walls, making Yang Kai's tiny room feel even smaller. The skeleton sat suspended in air, perfectly balanced, radiating authority.
Blood is cited, the golden body descends!
Yang Kai stared in stunned silence.
His mind went blank. All his cultivation novel knowledge, all his expectations, all his theories about what might happen, none of it had prepared him for this.
"This is the Golden Body?"
The question came out as barely a whisper. Disbelief colored his tone. This could not be it. This tiny, floating skeleton could not possibly be the legendary power promised by those thirty two golden words.
This was completely outside his expectations. He had imagined something grand. A towering warrior, a divine figure, an immortal's remains. Instead, he got a small, smug looking skeleton.
The cultivation novels had lied. Or at least failed to mention that legendary inheritances could come in such ridiculous packages.
Yes. Smug.
Even though it had no eyes, no facial expressions, Yang Kai felt like the damn thing was looking at him with condescension.
The empty eye sockets seemed to focus on him. The jawbone appeared to curve in what might be a smile. Every bone in that tiny frame radiated superiority.
Mocking him.
The feeling was undeniable. This skeleton, this artifact, this remnant of some ancient being, was judging him and finding him wanting.
His lips twitched.
Anger bubbled up. He had bled for this. Had risked his life activating the Black Book. Had overcome his doubts and fears. And this thing dared to mock him?
"You think you are better than me?"
The words came out hot and sharp. Yang Kai's pride, beaten down by countless defeats, suddenly reasserted itself. He would not be looked down upon. Not by disciples. Not by fate. And certainly not by a tiny golden skeleton.
Frustrated, he reached out to grab it.
His hand moved before his brain fully processed the action. Pure instinct. Grab the thing. Assert dominance. Show it who was master here.
But the moment his hand got close...
The golden skeleton flew out towards him. Flying past his hand and embedded himself on his chest.
The movement was instantaneous. One moment the skeleton floated above the book. The next it was pressed against Yang Kai's chest, golden light blazing.
A horrifying sensation erupted from deep within him. Like countless hot needles stabbing through every inch of his bones. His ribs cracked, his spine groaned under immense pressure, his very marrow felt as if it were being shredded apart.
Pain was too mild a word. This was agony beyond description. Every nerve in his body fired at once. His skeletal system, the very framework of his existence, was being torn apart.
A scream tore from his throat, raw and unrestrained.
The sound filled the small hut. Primal. Agonized. Inhuman. Yang Kai did not recognize his own voice. This was the cry of someone experiencing torment beyond mortal endurance.
The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Warehouse injuries? Nothing. The beating from Zhou Ding Jun? A gentle massage by comparison. This was pain at a fundamental level. Soul deep. Bone deep. Existence itself becoming suffering.
He collapsed to the ground, body curled in agony, unable to move. Every single bone inside him was breaking, shattering into dust. But just as quickly as they broke, something wrapped around them. Gold and green.
A gold green substance coated his bones, repairing them only for the process to repeat again.
The color was wrong. Unnatural. Not the gold of the skeleton or the green of any material he knew. This was something else. Something that existed between life and death.
Crush. Rebuild. Crush. Rebuild.
Over and over again.
The cycle was merciless. The moment his bones finished repairing, they shattered again. Each break more thorough than the last. Each rebuild stronger but no less painful.
Yang Kai recognized it immediately. His power, his immortal power, was at work here.
The gift from the old man in the void. So long as one person remembers you, you shall never truly perish. That immortality was activating now, preventing him from dying despite injuries that should have killed him instantly.
Pain like this should have made him pass out. Any normal person would have lost consciousness long ago.
Shock alone should have shut down his nervous system. The human brain could not process this level of pain without protective measures. Unconsciousness was mercy.
But Yang Kai refused.
His immortality kept him conscious. Kept his mind active. Forced him to experience every moment of this torture without the escape of oblivion.
Not in the literal sense, but Yang Kai had always believed in one thing: as long as he did not give up, he could not die. After all, he had read enough novels to recognize this common trope.
Body possession. The standard cultivation novel betrayal. The artifact that seemed like a gift but was actually a trap. The ancient expert's remnant consciousness attempting to steal a young cultivator's body.
He had read this exact scenario dozens of times.
Had he not read enough cultivation stories to know how this worked?
Someone always tries to seize the protagonist's body!
The pattern was so common it was practically a law. Ancient masters leaving behind inheritances always had ulterior motives. They wanted disciples. Wanted vessels. Wanted to live again through another's flesh.
That golden skeleton, it was not just trying to refine his bones. It wanted to take over.
The realization cut through the pain. Brought clarity. This was not tempering. Not strengthening. This was invasion. The skeleton was trying to replace him entirely.
From somewhere deep within, a message echoed in his mind: Destroy Yang Kai's consciousness and seize his body!
The intent was naked. Undisguised. The skeleton's will carried absolute confidence. It expected to win. Expected Yang Kai to crumble. Expected to claim this body as its new vessel.
Yang Kai's heart pounded.
Terror mixed with fury. Fear of obliteration warred with rage at the audacity. This thing, this remnant of whatever ancient being it had belonged to, thought it could just take what was his?
"I was right."
The thought brought grim satisfaction. His paranoia had been justified. The Black Book was a trap. The Golden Body was a predator. Everything had been designed to lure someone in and devour them.
His body trembled violently, but his mind was sharp.
Pain could not cloud his thoughts. The immortality gift kept his consciousness pristine even as his body was destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly. His soul remained intact. His will unbroken.
This was a battle of wills.
Not strength. Not cultivation. Pure determination. Who wanted to exist more? Who refused to let go? The ancient consciousness trying to reclaim life, or the transmigrator refusing to lose his second chance?
If he let go, if he gave in to the pain, his soul would be erased. His body would become a vessel for whatever this golden entity was.
The original Yang Kai would disappear. The transmigrator from another world would disappear. Only the ancient will would remain, wearing Yang Kai's face, living Yang Kai's life.
He should be afraid.
Logic demanded fear. This was an existence that had survived death. That had transcended mortality enough to leave a piece of itself behind. What chance did a mortal soul have against that?
But instead...