Chapter Twenty-Three: Mindless

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The Body Inspection Grand Formation consisted of two layers. The outermost was a vast ring, within which stood more than a hundred black-robed cultivators of the Qi Refining stage, each facing a mute body inspector. In the northwest corner, one black-robed figure was pointing with index and middle fingers at the inspector’s brow, sending a stream of faint black energy into him.

After a quarter of an hour, the black-robed man withdrew his fingers; the inspector shuddered, as if awakening from a dream, then stared blankly and walked out of the formation alone.

Suddenly, a breeze stirred, and a brilliant light flashed here, raising a multicolored soundproof barrier. The black-robed man was startled and tried to cry out, but at that moment, a spot in the void lit up and darted swiftly into his sea of consciousness.

The Binding Seal!

Three words were uttered lightly, and the space twisted, revealing a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old black-robed youth. He grinned, showing his small tiger teeth, and casually touched his finger to the man’s brow, sending a faint blue ball of light into his mind.

It was Lei Xiang, who, after listening to Niu Jin’s account and suspecting foul play, had come to investigate. After probing the sea of consciousness and meridians of his target and finding nothing unusual, Lei Xiang sealed the man’s memory, inserted a powerful divine sense into his mind, and carefully searched his memory.

Ten breaths later, Lei Xiang withdrew, waved his hand to erase the past few minutes of memory, dispelled the soundproof barrier, slapped an invisibility talisman on himself, and vanished into the inner formation in a wisp of smoke, leaving only the bewildered black-robed man behind.

The inner layer was circular, three times larger than the outer, but with only half as many people. Lei Xiang scanned with his divine sense; only one was at the peak of Qi Refining stage fourteen, the rest mere novices at stage eleven or twelve.

They sat around an enormous round table piled high with white objects like little mountains, some as small as date pits, others as large as olives. The cultivators carefully placed them into a trough filled with liquid.

What were these?

Suddenly, the outer door moved; a black-robed man led in another inspector, guiding him through a side door before departing. After about the time it takes for a meal, another black-robed man emerged from the side door, dragging the same inspector, now vacant-eyed and lifeless.

The black-robed man opened the out