But Henry Brooks guessed that Earl Lefton was ultimately worried he might leak the temple’s inheritance, which was why so many restrictions were set. He asked again, “How long will I need to cultivate before I can open my spiritual sea?”

“The body you seized had its cultivation abolished, so rebuilding your cultivation is already doubly difficult; moreover, you must first train your soul and body to a basic level of compatibility, which is even harder. But as long as you don’t fear hardship, there’s still a sliver of hope to open your spiritual sea…”

Seeing a glimmer of hope for survival, Henry Brooks could only force himself to remain calm, thinking that if there was no hope, Earl Lefton wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.

For now, he could only comfort himself this way.

“Alright, you should leave now. Unless the passage connecting to the Rakshasa Domain is fully opened, I will only awaken from underground for a final struggle. As for the rest, you’re on your own…” As soon as Earl Lefton finished speaking, Henry Brooks’s consciousness, along with the puppet avatar, was moved out of the temple by Earl Lefton.

……

Henry Brooks was moved out of the grand hall by Earl Lefton, standing amidst a pile of grim, menacing bones.

Only then did he realize that as long as his spiritual consciousness entered the Blood Cloud Wasteland through the snake bracelet, it would always be connected to the puppet avatar, never able to break free, drifting alone like a wandering ghost beneath the blood clouds, overlooking this land of utmost strangeness.

His view was blocked by a heap of bones, and Henry Brooks couldn’t even see where the temple was. He figured that from now on, Earl Lefton would never care about him again. He wanted to curse, but couldn’t bring himself to; after all, Earl Lefton owed him nothing—what could he possibly expect?

Fortunately, the puppet avatar was agile enough, just like Henry Brooks’s real body. Driven by his spiritual consciousness, he climbed up a black skeleton over ten meters tall, using both hands and feet.

Henry Brooks could hardly imagine how terrifying these Rakshasa ghosts must have been in life. Gazing out over this eerie land of corpses, a chill crept into his heart. Suddenly, he heard a loud cracking noise behind him. Turning around, he saw the wasteland split open like a monstrous eye, a huge fissure appearing as the grand hall slowly sank into the earth.

At that moment, a deep sense of desolation welled up in Henry Brooks’s heart, and he couldn’t suppress the fear rising within him.

He didn’t know where the so-called spatial rift was, but saw lightning flickering in the gaps of the blood clouds above. Any one of those lightning bolts could easily shatter his puppet body, which was barely stronger than an ordinary adult…

Let alone thousands of them—if even three or five Rakshasa ghosts broke in, could he really withstand them?

……

“Young Master Xing…”

Henry Brooks heard someone calling him and instinctively looked back.

Beneath the blood clouds, the grand hall had already sunk out of sight, leaving only a field of ghostly corpses. Henry Brooks couldn’t see where the so-called puppet refining pool was either; there was only an indescribable desolate stillness, only those shocking remains, only the blood clouds and lightning…

“Young Master Xing…”

Henry Brooks heard someone calling him again and suddenly realized it was someone in the bedroom at Splashing Cloud Cliff calling him. In this desolate land covered by blood clouds, with the grand hall sunk underground, if there was any commotion, it could only mean Rakshasa ghosts had broken in.

Henry Brooks severed his mental connection with the snake bracelet and noticed it had merged into the flesh of his left wrist, as if it didn’t exist at all. He thought to himself that this was for the best—he wouldn’t have to explain the origin of the snake bracelet to anyone, nor worry about others coveting this strange treasure.

He considered himself a man of some experience and guessed that the snake bracelet, as a bridge between his true body and the puppet, was unimaginably powerful, but perhaps there were even more mysterious abilities waiting for him to discover.

Henry Brooks turned around and saw Lily Sutton standing at the door.

At this moment, Lily Sutton was holding a jade bowl, with misty steam rising and a rich medicinal aroma wafting out. Only then did Henry Brooks realize that, under Leonard Brooks’s orders, Lily Sutton was now considered his personal maid. Yet he didn’t know where Leonard Brooks and Evelyn Brooks had gone—he hadn’t seen them for most of the day.

Henry Brooks could see the deep reluctance in Lily’s eyes, and couldn’t help but smile inwardly. She had been a servant in the Chen family since childhood, and although she was as close as sisters with Evelyn Brooks, how could she possibly go against Leonard Brooks’s will?

But at this moment, there was not only reluctance in Lily Sutton’s eyes, but also a trace of fear and panic.

Henry Brooks was a bit puzzled by this. He thought to himself that Lily Sutton, born into poverty, had served at cousin Evelyn Brooks’s side since childhood, practiced some basic mystical arts, and had reached the Profound Connection Realm before the age of fifteen—her talent was exceptional, and she was quite proud. It was normal for her to look down on the disgraced Edward York after his cultivation was abolished, and perhaps she was still very unwilling at this moment. But why was there fear and panic in her eyes?

Henry Brooks had been inexplicably brought to another world by Charles King. Although his life was far from secure, he was not the kind of person to become depressed and give up like Edward York after a setback.

The many recent events had been a huge shock to Henry Brooks, and his head still throbbed faintly, making it hard to focus on thinking too much. But seeing Lily Sutton’s unusual expression now, he couldn’t help but think more deeply.

Although Lily Sutton’s cultivation wasn’t particularly advanced, in front of the now crippled Edward York, she was still a Profound Connection Realm expert. How could she have been so frightened by a few flirtatious words from Edward York that she nearly fell off a cliff in panic?

Could it be that there was some hidden truth behind Edward York’s fall from the cliff?

Thinking it over, there really were quite a few inconsistencies.