I Arrived At Wizard World While Cultivating Immortality Chapter 628: Examination

Blacksmith Hans's residence sat on the town's eastern edge, a sturdy two-story stone structure enclosing a courtyard.

Rust blanketed the iron anvil sign hanging by the courtyard gate. Within the yard, incomplete farm tools and chunks of scrap metal lay scattered about.

No hammering echoes of blacksmithing—filled with scorching heat and din—filled the air; instead, only the wind's mournful wail through the rafters could be heard.

Leading the way, Old Herman shuffled ahead, his stooped form stretching a slender, elongated shadow across the stone-paved walkway.

At the courtyard's threshold, he halted and glanced back at the nine wizards trailing him.

“Hans’s youngest son is inside,” the old man’s voice was hoarse yet calm. “His name is Carl. Fourteen years old. This morning he watched his mother and sister take their last breaths with his own eyes. Now he’s staying inside alone and refuses to come out.”

The middle-aged wizard clad in deep blue robes gave a nod. “We’ll go in. Be careful not to frighten him.”

Crossing the courtyard, the group nudged open the slightly ajar wooden door.

Jie Ming spotted the iron pot on the stove, still holding half a pot of soup topped by a grayish-white scum.

Dishes and bowls remained uncleared on the dining table. Cutlery sprawled across the floor, with one chair overturned nearby… likely toppled as someone leaped up in haste.

Huddled in the living room corner sat a young boy on a chair.

Appearing even younger than his years, his scrawny body draped in an oversized rough linen tunic. Knees drawn tight to his chest, face hidden within them, his shoulders quivered faintly.

Footsteps prompted the boy to jerk his head up suddenly.

Tear streaks marred his face, eyes puffy and bloodshot. Lurking in his gaze went deeper than terror—the shattering distrust of the world after seeing his family perish before him one by one.

He fixed his stare on the entering nine wizards, lips twitching soundlessly several times.

“Carl.” Old Herman approached him, voice unexpectedly soft. “These people are here to help us. They are very powerful and can deal with that damned finger.”

Silent, the boy just glared intently at Jie Ming and the rest, eyes reflecting the bewilderment of beholding utterly incomprehensible otherworldly beings.

The wizards held back from advancing hastily. After sharing looks, Jie Ming—the mildest-looking one—and a female wizard moved forward to represent the group.

From his storage space, Jie Ming retrieved a fresh cloth, filled a cup with water from the table, and set it on the nearby side table for the boy.

“Drink some water.” His tone stayed soft, infused with a calming steadiness that eased tensions.

The boy paused briefly. His hand stretched toward the cup, only for his fingers to recoil upon brushing the edge, as though dreading a bitter, salty taint within.

“Where is the kitchen?” the young female wizard inquired.

Old Herman gestured toward a door adjacent to the living room.

Into the kitchen the wizards stepped.

This was a standard artisan household kitchen—stove, basin, cupboards—all kept basic and unadorned.

Cupboard doors hung wide, spice jars inside knocked over in chaos, signs of frantic searching.

Jie Ming's eyes landed on the salt jar next to the stove.

A rough pottery container with bumpy glazing, its cover askew.

From the jar's fresh look, this salt shaker had clearly been bought recently too.

Peering through the lid's slit revealed the white salt crystals within.

Thrusting out from those crystals was half a finger.

Skin ghostly pale dotted with age spots, nail gaps slick and shiny, like just yanked from moisture.

It jutted there amid the salt, discarded like some random intruder.

Perfectly matching the report's details.

Jie Ming held back from lunging ahead. With the fellow wizards, he positioned himself motionless encircling the salt jar.

Nine figures from nine angles, fully surrounding the tiny pottery vessel.

“I’ll go first.” The deep blue-robed middle-aged male wizard raised his hand, palm toward the salt shaker, eyes shutting.

A subtle cyan glow emanated from his palm, sheathing the whole salt shaker.

For a few seconds, the glow held firm. Then his eyes snapped open, brows knitting faintly.

“Energy detection shows no reaction,” he said. “It does not release any form of energy fluctuation. The result of the spiritual power scan is… it is simply an ordinary dead person’s finger.”

The female wizard next to him cast her detection spell too. Blue specks of light scanned over the salt shaker; she shook her head. “There is no anomaly at the law level either. In my perception, it is merely a piece of dead organic matter with no law entanglement whatsoever.”

Jie Ming stayed utterly silent, discreetly triggering the Fate Subsystem.

Deep inside his mind, the information network formed by the Incense Fire Divine Dao whirred at blazing speed.

Drawing on the fate-related knowledge he was starting to grasp, Jie Ming “perceived” endless info flows rushing in from every side, intertwining into an immense web of causality.

He directed this web toward the finger in the salt shaker, striving to trace its fate path, causal links, and any unusual data streams.

The outcome caused his brows to crease.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

This finger showed up in the Fate Subsystem as a total void—no history, no destiny, no ties to any causality.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

This finger showed up in the Fate Subsystem as a total void—no history, no destiny, no ties to any causality.

It was there, but its presence generated zero data.

Jie Ming ignited the All-Purpose Eye again.

Now at Void Refinement Realm consummate stage, the All-Purpose Eye's detection sharpness had surged yet higher.

A gleam of golden light burst from the depths of his eyes.

In his sight, the kitchen utterly shifted: walls turned into see-through energy lattices, stove coals revealed swirling fire element paths, and myriads of minuscule elemental bits darted through the atmosphere.

Yet the finger in the salt shaker…

No energy currents flowed from it.

The All-Purpose Eye detected no “unique” traits.

It merely resembled a plain, lifeless, gradually rotting human digit.

Jie Ming shut off the eye technique and shook his head slowly.

“I can’t see any anomalies either,” he muttered.

All nine wizards creased their brows simultaneously.

If a single person failed to spot anything, it could stem from limited techniques.

However, nine experts, each skilled in distinct areas with varied scanning methods, all arrived at the identical verdict: the finger displayed zero oddities.

Still, it was jammed in the salt shaker and had slain forty-nine souls.

A heavy silence dragged on for a few seconds.

“Hold on.” The gaunt-faced wizard in gray robes abruptly broke the quiet.

He'd been employing a specific spell to probe the finger's tiny structure right from the start. Now, a faint shift crossed his expression.

“I’ve analyzed its genetic makeup.”

All eyes snapped to him.

“What does the genetic makeup reveal?” the deep blue-robed wizard inquired.

The gaunt wizard lifted his gaze, scanning their faces warily, his voice measured. “Its genetic material closely matches that of blacksmith Hans’s family… including the surviving youngest son. Though not a perfect match, the resemblance far surpasses what you'd see between random strangers.”

The kitchen air turned icy in a heartbeat.

A notion raced through Jie Ming’s thoughts. He fixed his eyes on the gaunt wizard. “Give us the full details.”

“In essence, genetic testing would confirm this finger shares blood ties with the Hans family.”

“Impossible,” the young female wizard scowled. “Unless it came off one of the Hans family themselves.”

“Is anyone in the Hans family missing a finger?” another wizard questioned.

Jie Ming remembered the bodies he'd glimpsed in the basement before.

Forget the whole Hans clan—not a single one among the forty-nine corpses had lacked a finger, as his spiritual power scan during the autopsy confirmed.

He glanced back at Old Herman.

The elder shook his head firmly. “All five in the Hans family had full hands. I checked the other victims too. None lacked fingers.”

Thus, this finger wasn't from any of the dead.

But its genes closely resembled the Hans family's.

Jie Ming now grasped how this finger functioned.

“Let me check it out.” A gruff voice rumbled from the cluster.

The voice belonged to a hulking wizard clad in snug leather garb.

He'd kept mute throughout and skipped the prior inspections.

The burly wizard advanced, plunged his hand into the salt shaker without pause, and gripped the pallid finger.

The finger dangled limply between his fingers. Water beads from under the nail dripped onto the stove, making soft plink sounds.

“What do you plan to do?” the deep blue-robed wizard demanded.

The burly wizard ignored the question.

He eyed the finger briefly, then, with everyone staring, parted his lips and shoved it into his mouth.

The assembled wizards were mildly startled by the move. But knowing the finger would regenerate even if harmed, none intervened.

While the wizards stayed composed, others couldn't stomach it.

Old Herman retreated a step, his amber eyes bulging wide.

Carl in the living room was even more terrified.

While the wizards were scrutinizing the objects, the young man had stealthily made his way to the kitchen entrance and stumbled upon the shocking spectacle.

As he observed the peculiar muscular wizard cramming that horrifying finger past his lips, the youth's complexion bleached white in an instant. His mouth quivered, yet no voice emerged.

Jie Ming cast a look at the young man and inevitably thought back to his own mortifying experience upon first facing dissection.

With that, he adjusted his position to shield the youth's view, maintaining a composed tone. “It’s fine. He’s examining that finger. Don’t be afraid.”

The muscular wizard munched a couple of times. His throat bobbed visibly as he gulped the finger down.

Next, he shut his eyes and laid both hands upon his stomach. An eerie green radiance emanated from his palms.

Evidently, this wizard was utilizing his body itself as a testing field to keenly sense the traits and responses of the devoured material.

The kitchen hung in utter stillness, save for the soft trickle of salt crystals tumbling within the earthenware pot.

Seconds afterward, the burly wizard's eyes flew open, his countenance bearing a peculiar expression.