Chapter 170: Grimwood Continent
The Empath Demon’s struggles gradually became weaker.
The desperation in her eyes slowly faded as more and more of her will was pulled from her body.
Finally, the last fragment of her will was extracted.
The instant it left her body, it disappeared without leaving behind even the slightest trace.
Silence filled the room.
The demon’s body stopped struggling.
Her crimson eyes remained open, but they had completely lost their brilliance.
She simply stared blankly into the distance, like an empty doll whose soul had been taken away.
Dr. Samuel looked at the motionless demon before nodding in satisfaction.
"It’s done."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"From this moment onward,she is nothing more than a puppet."
Then Dr. Samuel stepped in front of the motionless demon and quietly observed her for a few moments. He waved his hand in front of her face, but there wasn’t the slightest reaction. Her crimson eyes remained open, yet they were completely lifeless.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"Raise your right hand."
The demon immediately raised her right hand without the slightest hesitation.
"Lower it."
She obeyed instantly.
Dr. Samuel continued giving one command after another.
"Walk forward."
She walked.
"Stop."
She stopped exactly where she was.
"Turn around."
She slowly turned around, every movement precise and mechanical, as though she were nothing more than a machine following orders.
Dr. Samuel nodded in satisfaction before looking at Asher.
"Her body, memories, cultivation, and abilities are all still intact. The only thing that’s gone... is the one who owned them."
After saying that, he looked back at the demon.
"Use your emotional perception on him."
The demon’s empty eyes slowly turned toward Asher. A faint, invisible fluctuation spread from her body as her Master-rank ability activated. However, the moment it reached Asher, the runes engraved on his gloves lit up once again, instantly blocking the influence before it could reach his consciousness.
Seeing this, Dr. Samuel smiled.
"Excellent. Even after losing her will, she can still use her innate abilities perfectly."
He looked at the demon once more, the excitement in his eyes becoming even more obvious.
He muttered softly.
"Now we can finally begin the real experiment."
Dr. Samuel looked at the motionless Empath Demon before speaking.
"The next step is to make these parasites act as carriers of her mental influence."
He picked up one of the parasite samples and held it up.
"Although we erased her will, her innate ability wasn’t destroyed."
He pointed toward the demon.
"A demon’s innate ability isn’t created by its will alone. It is also a part of its body, just like its organs or bloodline. Erasing the will only removes the one controlling the ability—it doesn’t erase the ability itself."
Dr. Samuel paused briefly.
"Of course, without a complete will, the strength of that ability has dropped significantly."
"She can no longer influence someone as powerfully as she could before. Even if her ability reaches a Master-rank cultivator, the effect will be extremely weak."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"But that’s exactly what we need."
He looked at the parasite in his hand.
"The parasite’s job is simply to carry that influence from the demon to the host. Once the connection is established, her ability can slowly reach the host’s consciousness through the parasite."
"The influence will be so small that the host won’t notice anything unusual. They will believe every emotion and every decision came from themselves."
Dr. Samuel then placed the parasite back on the table.
"That is enough. A small influence repeated over a long period is far more valuable than trying to forcefully control someone."
After that, Asher and Dr. Samuel began working on improving the parasite.
Most of the research was carried out by Dr. Samuel. Asher mainly assisted him, stabilizing the test subjects whenever necessary, monitoring the parasites’ condition, and carrying out whatever tasks Dr. Samuel assigned.
The experiments continued one after another, with countless adjustments being made to the parasite before each new trial.
Asher, however, remained indifferent to whether the experiments ultimately succeeded or failed.
His objective had never been to help the Church complete its research.
He was here for only one reason.
To gather information.
Just like that, the experiments continued for the next four days.
Progress was slow, with each day bringing both successes and failures.
The biggest problem was that the parasites couldn’t properly carry the Empath Demon’s mental influence. Most of the influence would dissipate before reaching the host, making the effect almost nonexistent.
Dr. Samuel modified the parasites again and again, changing their structure, adjusting the mana pathways within them, and refining the way they connected to the nervous system.
Many test subjects died during the process, while many others failed to produce the expected results.
However, after countless modifications and repeated trials, they finally made a breakthrough.
The parasites were now capable of carrying the Empath Demon’s mental influence.
While all of this was happening inside the Church Facility, Asher’s other vessel finally caught sight of the shores of the Grimwood Continent after flying across the ocean for several weeks.
After such a long journey, the vast stretch of land finally appeared on the horizon, marking the end of the voyage.
Asher’s vessel landed on the shore of the continent and transformed back into his human form.
A moment later, spatial crack opened and the other vessels stepped out, rejoining him after spending the entire journey inside the mini spatial domain.
One of the vessels looked around at their surroundings.
The area was covered by a dense forest, and Asher could sense many low-ranked beasts roaming nearby. Since they were only at the edge of the continent, the creatures living here were relatively weak.
The deeper one ventured toward the center of the Grimwood Continent, the stronger the beasts became.
Asher was certain the dragon was somewhere near the center of the continent, where most of the Immortal-rank beasts, along with many other high-ranking creatures, resided.