Outside Lei Ke Manor.
A shadow, as if it had come to life, writhed and ultimately took on the form of a slightly staggering figure.
She clutched her shoulder, and the fresh blood could clearly be seen flowing between her fingers.
"Damn it... Why does the Notting Hill family have that kind of drug? Could they be in touch with the Special Affairs Bureau?!"
"Had I not practiced the Nameless Art before, just happened to discover shadow stealth, and fixed it through ritual, I might have been shot to death today, killed by a mob of mortals... How ironic!"
The voice came from beneath the cloak, a young woman.
"When my injury heals, next time... I will make them know what real pain and despair are!"
She looked back at the manor, her voice filled with inescapable sadness and anger, about to leave.
Suddenly, her body trembled violently, the previous gunshot wounds hadn’t made her frown, but now, she seemed to be enduring extreme agony.
The shadows were no longer her guardian but had become a deadly danger.
In the darkness around her, it was as if countless tentacles were pulsating, trying to drag her body into some unknown dimension.
The woman struggled to speak, trying to save herself by invoking the name of the being she believed in.
But her voice had become very vague, unable to utter clear syllables.
She fell down in utter despair, and it seemed like shadows were awakening within her body.
Just then, she heard a word in Ancient Sumerian.
A pure, dazzling white light emerged, enveloping her entire body.
Bringing extreme pain but also dispelling the darkness.
The silhouette of a mature woman appeared before her eyes, exclaiming, "Jasmine... What happened to you?"
Jasmine’s heart relaxed, and she passed out.
"The Rek family, finished?"
Ms. Zhu Li looked thoughtfully at Lei Ke Manor not far away: "Jasmine is the executioner of the Rek family; it seems the Notting Hill family has hidden a lot of strength..."
"Now is not the time to discuss that; the deed is done and cannot be changed... We need to figure out how to save Jasmine."
In the darkness, a shadow spoke: "The gunshot wound on her shoulder is a minor issue, but the injury to her physical body has caused her spirit to become unstable, exacerbating the pollution inside her... Your Nameless Art is only a temporary suppression, and the following treatment is going to be very troublesome."
"After all... We have lost the ’Doctor’ forever!"
"No, we still have one, well, half a one!" Ms. Zhu Li’s eyes lit up.
Zhong Shenxiu scratched his head as he looked at the somewhat urgent Zhu Li before him: "What are you saying?"
He looked at the office desk, on which lay a scroll of handwritten paper, which contained some knowledge about the Spirit Realm.
Besides that, Julie had also given him a blood wine recipe called "Bloody Therapy" along with a large amount of spiritual materials.
"A comrade of mine got hurt, I need your help... to brew ’Bloody Therapy’... I know it’s a recipe only official ’Extras’ can attempt, and it puts you in a difficult position, but I still want you to try, regarding the reward..." Julie hastily said.
"This recipe and these spiritual materials are already enough," Zhong Shenxiu responded with a slight smile. "After all... I have become an ’Extra’."
"What?" Julie’s tone suddenly rose by an octave, with a mix of surprise and ecstatic expression surfacing on her face: "Good heavens... your talent is simply astonishing... this is great, Jasmine can be saved!"
"However... I need to know what happened."
Zhong Shenxiu calmly asked, "Bloody Therapy seems to stabilize the spirit, treat some kind of contamination..."
"Yes..." Julie now finally put aside her look of surprise and said with a bitter smile: "The Spirit Realm is extremely dangerous. During the explorers’ long-term exploration of the mystic, little bits of contamination and madness would constantly seep into our unprotected Spiritual Bodies, causing certain spiritual impacts. That’s why most mystics are not very stable mentally and need regular treatment..."
"Our circle originally had a doctor, but after he died, there was no one who could reliably provide extraordinary-level potions... Jasmine is in such a state; she had been reducing her exploration of the Spirit Realm and could barely maintain, but today she was injured by a gunman from the Notting Hill family. Physical health impacts mental stability, and due to this, her internal contamination worsened, and she is on the brink of losing control..."
"The Notting Hill family, why would they injure her?" Zhong Shenxiu vaguely guessed something and almost wanted to whistle as if it had nothing to do with himself anymore.
"It’s a big incident that just happened; the Notting Hill family suddenly raided the Rek family’s manor... I forgot to mention, Jasmine is the executioner of the Rek family," Julie explained.
Since the Rek family had been destroyed, she didn’t mind revealing some intelligence information.
Zhong Shenxiu nodded. The mystic circle was concealed, but also very small; they still had to pretend to be ordinary people during the day.
Having a mystic mingling within a gang was not something surprising.
"Different Extras have different strengths, and we have already chosen our paths, unsure about potion brewing, and even you as a former apprentice, the chance of success is very slim, that’s why I brought several sets of materials. Now looking back, it seems that the Stars of Fate still favor me..." Julie’s face relaxed with a smile: "As an ’Extra,’ you have a great chance of successfully brewing the ’Bloody Therapy’!"
Zhong Shenxiu nodded in agreement and then looked at Julie.
"I understand, you need a quiet environment, and perhaps you don’t like being watched."
Julie nodded and walked out of the office, standing guard outside.
The door slowly closed.
Zhong Shenxiu didn’t look at the recipe for Bloody Therapy right away, but instead directly opened the scroll of the Spirit Realm.
"The Spirit Realm is very dangerous. Not to mention the special symbols and the occasional glance from the Great Existence. Even just spending a long time in the Spirit Realm will consistently affect our Spiritual Bodies..."
On the paper, it seemed to be a summary from different persons, forming an advice for newcomers.
Beyond that, there were some excerpts from different texts that seemed interesting to Zhong Shenxiu.
’Dark gates forming walls, guarding the mundane world...’
’Under the pale sun, souls extremely thirsty, only the drink that seeps into the heart and spleen can relieve...’
’The Crimson River flows mightily; where will it end? Be careful! Souls that are washed away can only remain forever in the depths of Hell...’
"These three lines are clearly excerpts, and they seem to describe some Daomarks and the mysteries of advancement..."
Zhong Shenxiu’s fingers traced the lines, deep in thought.
His gaze moved down and saw another line of small text—’Excerpt from "Somnambulatory Reverie".’