Chapter 122: The Thousand-Faced Mask

"The Thousand-Face Mask?"

His expression shifted slightly, and Qi Xiu instinctively touched his own cheek. He also possessed a mask—one he was wearing at this very moment. It was called the Hundred-Face Mask.

One was the Thousand-Face, the other the Hundred-Face. Could there be some connection between these two?

"Where is the mask?" Qi Xiu asked directly.

"It's... it's on my back..."

Li Lingzi hurriedly turned to the side. Beneath the skin on his back, a ripple of movement occurred, and a human face with a faint, peaceful smile emerged from within his own flesh.

"No wonder you're so gaunt; I suspect all your blood and flesh have been fed to this mask."

Watching the Thousand-Face Mask embedded in Li Lingzi's skin, Qi Xiu's eyes flickered. Most magical artifacts were refined from the remains of demons and monsters, harboring a malevolent nature. Unless one was an initiated cultivator, an ordinary person would have to pay a price to wield them, and that price was usually their own life force.

Li Lingzi was merely an ordinary person; he could only feed this mask with his own flesh. Or rather, it was not Li Lingzi wielding the mask at all—it was the mask parasitizing him.

*However, the power of this artifact is indeed much stronger than the Hundred-Face Mask I possess.*

The Hundred-Face Mask could only alter the user's appearance, clothing, posture, and scent, and such changes were limited to a normal state. Yet, Li Lingzi's Thousand-Face Mask could actually mimic the aura of an initiated cultivator—it had almost fooled even him.

"You cannot keep this thing, and if you use it a few more times, you'll likely lose your life. You and I share a bit of fate, it seems. Very well, I shall show some mercy and save you."

Sighing helplessly, Qi Xiu reached out and grabbed the Thousand-Face Mask embedded in the flesh on Li Lingzi's back.

Hearing this, Li Lingzi offered a sheepish smile. Though he felt a twinge of displeasure at Qi Xiu taking his mask, he held no resentment. After all, as Qi Xiu had said, he was already nearing the end of his life due to the parasite. Even if he didn't actively use its power, the mask would slowly devour his flesh and life force.

This was the very reason he had risked his life, as a mere mortal, to infiltrate the entrance examination of the Shenxiao Sect. Beyond the chance to join such a prestigious orthodox sect, purging the parasite was a primary motivation.

As if sensing that Qi Xiu intended to tear it from Li Lingzi’s body, the previously dormant mask suddenly snapped its eyes open. Its pupils were blood-red, resembling those of a malevolent ghost!

The next instant, a thick, murky red mist filled the air. With a thunderous roar, the red fog intensified, and an overwhelming, sinister aura surged forward. Suddenly, countless monsters emerged from the mist. They took on various forms—hideous, terrifying, twisted, and evil—infusing the surrounding air with a corrupting, alien presence.

Feeling the unnervingly realistic demonic aura in the void, Qi Xiu’s eyes widened in surprise. "What a realistic illusion, so lifelike it blurs the line between truth and falsehood."

"Ugh, ah!"

Below him, Li Lingzi suddenly let out a piercing scream. His skin began to peel away, his flesh and tendons swelled, pale white horns sprouted from his forehead, his body began to rot and mutate, and rows of fleshy tumors erupted along his ribs.

Watching Li Lingzi, who was being infected and mutated by the demonic aura in the air, Qi Xiu raised an eyebrow.

***

The ultimate illusion, one so realistic that it makes both the body and the subconscious "believe" it is true. So, even if it is an illusion, it can still trigger real effects?

Watching Li Lingzi, who was being corrupted by the illusory demonic aura, Qi Xiu fell into thought. This world was different from his previous life. The intricate weaving of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth allowed the laws of all things to possess profound supernatural qualities. If a living person harbored intense obsession and malice, it was possible for them to alienate and mutate into a demon.

This was why some demons loved to bewitch the living. Watching a human mutate into a demon gave them more satisfaction and pleasure than simply devouring them.

Li Lingzi was in exactly that state. The demonic aura in the air was an illusion cast by the Thousand-Face Mask, but Li Lingzi’s mind believed in this "reality," causing his physical body to mutate directly.

"If you hadn't run into me, Qi the Benevolent, you would have been finished."

Shaking his head, Qi Xiu gave Li Lingzi, who was on the verge of becoming a monster, two light taps. Yet, those two seemingly mundane taps caused the mutation to stop instantly. The flesh rippled, and Li Lingzi gradually returned to his human form.

"Th-thank you..." Li Lingzi lay on the ground, drenched in cold sweat. On his shoulders, two small "suppression talismans" slowly dissipated.

Gripping the Thousand-Face Mask embedded in Li Lingzi's skin with his fingers, Qi Xiu pulled hard. With a ripping sound, the mask came away, taking a large chunk of skin and flesh with it.

"Relief..." Despite the gaping wound on his back and the blood flowing freely, a smile appeared on Li Lingzi's pale face. Since the artifact had parasitized him, he had felt it gnawing at his flesh every single second. The feeling of watching his body being devoured bit by bit was more desperate than being sliced by a thousand blades. Had his willpower not been strong, he would have long since ended his own life.

Applying two medicinal talismans to stop the bleeding, Qi Xiu examined the mask in his hand. Its smooth, white surface was like the finest porcelain, with a faint luster rippling across it. Now that it was detached from Li Lingzi, the human face it had projected had vanished, replaced by a pure white outline and a faint, lipless slit.

"It’s ninety percent similar to the Hundred-Face Mask, but the craftsmanship is more exquisite, and it is not damaged."

Turning his back to Li Lingzi, Qi Xiu peeled off his own Hundred-Face Mask. Comparing the two, they were almost identical, save for the fact that his Hundred-Face Mask was covered in cracks and small dents, while the Thousand-Face Mask was pristine.

Putting his mask back on, Qi Xiu used a suppression talisman to seal the Thousand-Face Mask for the time being.

"How do you feel?" Qi Xiu asked, tapping the forehead of the scrawny man.

"Like I've been reborn," Li Lingzi said, lifting his head with a pale smile. He cupped his hands in a salute toward Qi Xiu. "Thank you for saving me, Senior."

"To endure that artifact gnawing at you day and night, you’ve got grit. How about this: let's make a deal. You tell me the content of the Shenxiao Sect's examination, and I will give you a talisman for protection."

Li Lingzi had dared to enter the examination grounds as a mortal, so he must have been fully prepared and certainly knew the details.

"Since you saved my life, Senior, I am beholden to you. The Shenxiao Sect's entrance examination consists of three trials. The first is to obtain the Heavenly and Earthly jade seals within a set time and travel to the island in the lake for verification. Once that is done, one can proceed to the second trial. The seals are scattered throughout the grounds; I have the Heavenly seal, but I am still missing the Earthly one."

Fumbling in his robes, Li Lingzi opened his palm to reveal a small, yellow-green jade seal, thumb-sized, with the character "Heaven" carved in the center.

"Are there many of these seals?" Qi Xiu picked up the seal and examined it closely. It looked ordinary, but a faint, supernatural power seemed hidden deep within. Li Lingzi was a mere mortal who had only managed to blackmail initiated cultivators through the mask. If he had managed to secure a seal so early in the examination, either he was incredibly lucky, or there were enough seals that even a mortal like him could find one.

"For the entrance exam, the first fifty applicants to sign up are given a Heavenly seal," Li Lingzi answered.

"I see. There must be a lot of people signing up for the Shenxiao Sect this time, then."

"A bit more this year, about... three hundred or so."

"So few?" Qi Xiu was taken aback. The Shenxiao Sect was the second-ranked orthodox sect; how could there be so few applicants?

"Every time the Shenxiao Sect holds their entrance exam, a group of lunatics participates—people addicted to battle and violence, hoping to catch the eye of the sect's masters. And somehow, people always succeed. That's why every exam has a death rate of nearly eighty percent. Three hundred is actually quite a lot," Li Lingzi said with a shrug.

*Eighty percent death rate... and that's just the first trial.*

No wonder there were so few people. Even the entrance exams of demonic sects probably didn't have such a high mortality rate. It was no wonder the Shenxiao Sect had once been branded a demonic sect; this style of recruiting disciples was pure, old-school demonic sect behavior.

"Senior, you might as well take this jade seal," Li Lingzi said.

"Oh? You're not planning to participate anymore?"

"The thing that was going to kill me is gone, so there’s no need to gamble my life anymore." Li Lingzi laughed bitterly. With the mask removed, he no longer had to endure the agony of its backlash, and his life was temporarily saved. Having felt the terrifying power of an initiated cultivator like Qi Xiu, the thought of trying to scam anyone else had been thoroughly crushed. It was better to just focus on staying alive. Since he wasn't going to participate, the seal was useless to him, so he might as well use it as a favor to Qi Xiu.

"You see things clearly. Very well, I will accept this seal. Take this as a return gift."

With a flick of his palm, Qi Xiu produced a sword talisman and tossed it to Li Lingzi. "This talisman contains a single 'Invisible Piercing Sword Qi.' It is a guaranteed kill against anyone below the initiated level. Against those above, it will be enough to startle them away. As for how to use it, you know better than I do."

Before he finished speaking, Qi Xiu grasped the jade seal and drifted away, transforming into a mist of water.