Apotheosis

As Zen thought things over, Elvinia directly asked the Shape-shifting Spirit, "Don't you have the ability of shape shifting? Why don't you transform into your master so we can have a look what your master looks like?"

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea." Zen patted his head. The monster before them called itself Shape-shifting Spirit, so turning into the form of its master should be no problem for it.

The "Zen" in the cage hesitated. It seemed to be terrified of its master.

"Well, come on! Change!" Elvinia ordered, the impatience clear in her voice.

Although the iron house slightly piqued her interest, Elvinia didn't want to waste her time exploring it like what Zen and the Regal Jade Spirit wanted to do. In fact, Zen was the only reason she had enough patience to stay.

"Buzz..."

The ball of light Elvinia held in her palm began to twitch. What appeared as a harmless light source to Zen and Elvinia ended up being extremely dangerous to the Shape-shifting Spirit.

"I… Alright, I'll do it!"

The Shape-shifting Spirit finally compromised. Right then and there, its body, which was in Zen's form began to soften and become pliable and sticky to the touch like clay before changing into a round sphere.

It was translucent, and there were gently flickering flames burning within it. It possessed no eyes, ears, mouth, or nose.

"This is what your master is like?" Zen asked curiously.

"Yes. This is what he looks like," the Shape-shifting Spirit replied.

Zen and Elvinia had a hard time confirming this since they had never seen its master before. But then, the Regal Jade Spirit that had been watching them secretly finally said in a serious tone, "This… is a member of the Element Spirit Civilization. "

"Element Spirit Civilization?" Zen was stunned.

He had heard about this particular civilization before through the Regal Jade Spirit. The Instant Civilization was the first civilization to ever exist. It was also the civilization that had initiated all the civilizations in the entire chaos.

For a long time, everyone doubted its existence because there was little to no proof of it. Therefore, everyone acknowledged the second civilization—the Element Spirit Civilization—as the first one instead. What was more, the last flaw of the Ways-blending Energy should also be in their hands.

"The Element Spirit Civilization has five big branches, which are metal spirits, wood spirits, water spirits, fire spirits and earth spirits," t

hered.

"So you're saying…he really can decipher the words?" As the Shape-shifting Spirit stood still in disbelief, Zen reached out towards the Sanskrit words and began to press them.

"Buzz buzz buzz buzz…"

As Zen pressed a finger to each word, it began to glow. Soon, after he pressed ten times, a green light glowed on each word in the dark and the sound of metal grinding against each other could be heard. A metal staircase slowly began to descend from above.

"You…you did it…"

The Shape-shifting Spirit was left speechless.

Ever since it was trapped here, no one had successfully managed to break into the iron house. Now here it was witnessing an individual with great ability doing exactly what its master could do.

Where did he learn to decipher Sanskrit words so effortlessly?

It had never seen such a thing happen before.

As the staircase drew closer to Zen, Elvinia drew near him as well.

Zen furrowed his brows as soon as he stepped on the stairs. He turned his head and stared at the Shape-shifting Spirit.

"Zen, what's wrong?" Elvinia asked.

She worried that the Shape-shifting Spirit might've told a lie and would eventually lead them right into a trap.

Zen quickly walked to the iron cage and asked, "You... have seen humans before?"

The Shape-shifting Spirit was different from other creatures on the Other Shore. It could morph into various creatures. Zen was sure it was only the first time that it had morphed into him, yet it mimicked him perfectly, with the exact appearance, movement, and language. It meant this was by no means the first time that the Shape-shifting Spirit had become a human.