Cang Ying had attached Hou with his flies. They only had a small amount of his consciousness, but it was enough for what he needed.

  He could use the consciousness to slightly affect Hou and cause him to enter his domain. When he watched Hou fight, he noticed the Celestial Law Amplifying Physique and yearned for it.

  The body could adapt perfectly, if he transferred his consciousness through, it would revive him. Cang Ying has tried to use other bodies but they are all incompatible.

  He can live for a few weeks until the body starts to reject him and combust. With Hou's body he would finally be free from living in the mind of flies!

  He lost connection with the flies he implanted on Hou, this was unusual but not unexpected. If the body was completely compatible, the fly consciousness would completely merge and become separate from his main form.

  Cang Ying took this as the plan would work, all he did was wait. As long as Hou stepped foot in the Rotten Sewer District, he would be able to act.

  Then, it happened! He felt it, Hou had taken the bait left by his consciousness!

  Instantly, his main body started to move. A huge mass of flies and rotting meat. The remains of his original body, it bound him to this location lest weaken him.

  He moved through, the meat and flies colliding with the sewer walls, creating a slight earthquake in that area. Then his laws went rampant, the ground around the mass turned to mud and he pushed through.

  Finally, he burst above ground meeting Hou. He split the ground open and with his pile of flesh and flies, he enacted this plan.

  Hou saw Cang Ying had taken the bait, he was going to attack him! Instead of running, Hou stood still and faced Cang Ying alone.

  In fact, he started to smile...this was free power, all he needed to do was get through this! He stood steady and waited for Cang Ying to attack.

  Cang Ying had expected some sort of attack and after experiencing none, he moved straight away.

  'The body will be mine!!!'

  He was possessed with the desire for Hou's intact body, he abandoned reason and he launched. The muddy amalgamation of flesh squished against a wall of the alley then jumped off that and hit Hou.

  The flies and meat swarmed around Hou and turned into a cocoon. Cang Ying had abandoned himself and started to absorb Hou, hoping to regain his sense of self when it was done.

  However, that would never happen. Hou did not resist the invasion by Cang Ying, he accepted it. The laws pervaded How's body, inside the Celestial Law Amplifying Physique he could feel a foreign consciousness enter. Then the Celestial Ink started to work!

  The consciousness was being drawn in at fast and faster intervals, but unlike Cang Ying's plans he was absorbed without reviving. All of his experience and life becoming nutrients for Hou.

  The cocoon's interior burned against Hou's skin, yet left no blisters, laws pervaded his very essence and morphed it in searing pain. The rotting meat texture slid across his body, each fly carcass dissolving into pinpricks as Cang Ying's consciousness was consumed piece by piece, too late to stop.

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  Then, Hou gained an even stronger advantage, the cocoon. Even in his madness, Cang Ying had made the cocoon to give Hou a plethora of laws!

  'But I don't have a Spirit Stone Soul!'

  Hou thought of a flaw with Cang Ying's plans, would the laws not be dangerous if they kept being absorbed?!

  However, what even Hou did not know is that Cang Ying was much more amazing than he thought, even in the madness.

  The cocoon crafted the laws and reformed the body to fit them. This was giving innate laws and they would not do anything in the body. It was a similar effect to increasing strength, the innate laws in the body.

  Hou absorbed the cocoon, slowly it turned from a rotten pile of meat and dead flies and turned into a husk. When Hou finished absorbing it, the cocoon around him collapsed and turned to dust, floating away in the wind.

  Hou looked inwards and saw his body, it looked similar but he could tell it was subtly changed and it now contained numerous more innate laws. He did not think why he did not die or mutate, instead focusing on the now. If it isn't killing him now, it should be fine.

  'It's not been too long, let's get back to Xiao Ye! I can explore the benefits I got when I'm free, just a simple look and I an see laws from all different paths!'

  Hou ran back out the alley, as he ran out he could feel the strength of his new body. He moved swiftly and silently, he could make it through the crowds with ease.

  Another benefit he could notice was his thinking, he was thinking much faster and more clarity than before.

  He pushed and slithered his way through the crowds, not even needing to think. His body carried him with precise movements. He made this way back to the stall where Xiao Ye was biting her fingernails and looking about.

  His feet had perfect footing on the uneven cobbles without conscious thought, his enhanced reflexes anticipating movements in the crowd before they happened. This was the intuition of an animal, looking at the world and using it to detect what is likely to happen next, it would only increase accuracy with his knowledge.

  Hou, with his new body and experience, moved silently behind her and grabbed her by the waist gently. She jumped and turned to slap someone, but then Hou pulled her in.

  "Sorry I was a while,"

  Xiao Ye's heart was beating even faster than before, she had been waiting for Hou and then he appeared behind her,

  'He looks.... different. He looks more manly and less scholarly...? What happened, is it just the lighting?'

  Hou had forgotten about his appearance. When he was reformed by Cang Ying he was still disguised by the ring treasure, now it has not adapted to his new form yet.

  This turned the scholarly looking disguise to turn rougher and more chiselled, even a slight beard showing. He looked more like a wiser mercenary captain.

  Xiao Ye blushed and covered her mouth, looking down at Hou grabbing her by the waist,

  "Getting bold aren't we..?" She let out a small chuckle as she tried to hide her blush.

  This was a real blush, his new look combined with the bold action had really affected her, no need for any fake move.