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The tables, vessels, and materials in the laboratory were just as Lucian had left them during his last visit to gather Wraith Dust. There was no unfamiliar scent, only a faint odor of sulfur carried by the wind from a hidden ventilation duct.
Maintaining his state of spellcasting focus, Lucian calmly waited for half an hour—the period during which the Night Watch would have moved away from the vicinity and the cultists would have resumed their surveillance.
Hearing no movement from above the laboratory, Lucian confirmed his safety before activating the numerous basic alchemical arrays carved on the stone table one by one with his mental force. He then retrieved a tube of Wraith Dust, three Black Corpse Mushrooms, the still-writhing, ink-black tissue of a water ghost’s brain, and several auxiliary materials from a storage box imbued with the "Preserve Organ" spell.
Although more than twenty-four hours had passed since the spell's initial casting, aided by the ice crystal stone and other materials Lucian had purchased, the water ghost brain tissue showed no signs of decay.
This was a precaution Lucian had taken in case he was delayed and unable to reapply the "Preserve Organ" spell daily.
Donning gloves and picking up a pure silver dagger, Lucian used the blade to lift a Black Corpse Mushroom into a weighing alchemical array.
"6.72 grams."
While recording the mushroom's weight in his Soul Library and calculating the amounts needed for the other materials, he placed it into a glass dish inscribed with magical runes. He then brought over a dry glass beaker and weighed the beaker itself.
Pouring the Wraith Dust into the beaker, Lucian observed the changes in the weighing array until approximately three grams of the translucent, faintly luminous dust had been collected.
Using the same method, he measured out ten grams of Moonlight Rose Powder. Then, his white-gloved hand lifted the gleaming pure silver dagger and carefully sliced into the ink-black, writhing water ghost brain tissue.
The tissue, which itself seemed to conceal countless writhing worms, pulsed violently, as if sensing extreme danger. A cold, slimy, nauseating sensation transmitted through the glove's fingertips into Lucian's brain, startlingly vivid.
Before Lucian's eyes appeared countless water ghosts and wraiths, their rotting skin and muscle, their blood-dripping teeth, and their fetid stench all conveying terror and revulsion.
But Lucian cut relentlessly and without his hand shaking, following the tissue's complex texture to carve out the fine, internal structure.
The phantom water ghosts and wraiths vanished abruptly. The brain tissue's writhing returned to its previous level and continued to calm down.
After confirming the weight of the excised tissue using the weighing array and the pure silver dagger, Lucian brought over a thick, black vessel resembling a casserole pot. He placed it on a flame alchemy array and began adjusting the size of the fire.
The flame shifted from dark red through crimson and orange-red to golden yellow, finally stabilizing at a golden-white hue.
Lucian first tossed the Black Corpse Mushroom into the vessel, added a small amount of clear water, and stirred with a glass rod. Unlike other plant materials, the Black Corpse Mushroom did not char or explode under high heat; instead, it slowly melted, gradually releasing a putrid, rotten smell that was, however, confined within the vessel by the alchemical array.
When the black, viscous liquid began to bubble, Lucian’s exceptionally steady hand added the Wraith Dust and the Moonlight Rose Powder.
In an instant, the three materials touched, and a large volume of intermingled black and silver smoke billowed forth.
The smoke continuously expanded and contracted, as if countless souls were warring within it. Ethereal, piercing screams reached Lucian's ears, inducing a faint wave of nausea in him.
Lucian remained unmoved, enduring the discomfort. Using his mental force to manipulate the flames, the golden-white fire turned pure white.
The black and silver smoke began to slowly merge and condense, taking on the pallid color of human skin that had died but not yet begun to rot, evoking a bone-deep chill and tremors.
As the seconds ticked by, the smoke solidified into strange, pale water droplets. Seizing the moment, Lucian used the pure silver dagger to drop the water ghost brain tissue into the vessel.
Inside, the pale droplets acted as if drawn by a magnet, all assimilating into the ink-black tissue. In just one second, the brain tissue eerily vanished.
The temperature in the entire magical laboratory plummeted, turning grim and oppressive. The pure white flames now licked with strands of sickly green light, inducing an indescribable sense of dread.
In the empty laboratory, Lucian stumbled back three steps, his internal organs churning with extreme nausea, nearly on the verge of fainting.
"I've been hit by infrasound waves of a certain intensity. Does crafting the 'Weeping Soul' involve this kind of variation?" Lucian muttered, staggering backward while fighting the dizziness to assess the situation.
Then, a difficult incantation left his lips. A transparent, ring-shaped barrier materialized around him, with ripples oscillating across its surface!
The "Silence Barrier"!
Having blocked the subsequent attacks, Lucian recovered for a few seconds and continued casting "Light."
A bright orb of light appeared in the vast laboratory. Under its intense illumination, the vessel was revealed to be densely packed with numerous, pale human faces!
These faces were translucent and hazy, their features barely discernible, yet they radiated an aura of profound resentment and gloom, striving to break free from the alchemical array and burrow into Lucian's body.