Zhang Xuan’s injuries had been caused by the Ordeal of Lightning Armament. Many of his vital organs, muscles, and meridians had been destroyed, and it was only due to the overwhelming vitality and the Heaven’s Path zhenqi in his body that he had been able to prevent his physical state from deteriorating any further.
His very foundations had been destroyed, such that he could not heal himself using ordinary means. In a sense, his current condition was similar to that of Vicious and Sovereign Chen Yong. He could only allow time to do its work and repair his tattered foundations, and there was no way to accelerate the process.
But just because he was unable to do it did not mean that others were incapable of doing so!
The wounds that Sovereign Chen Ling had sustained were even more severe than his, but the other party was still able to recover swiftly through the use of the altar. Was it possible for him to tap into the same power?
“I was nearly killed when I tried to barge into the ritual earlier. It’s likely that the deity summoned by the ritual identifies one through one’s soul aura and energy…”
An idea suddenly sprouted in Zhang Xuan’s mind, and he swiftly began to calculate the chances of pulling it off.
He did not know whether he could use the energy bestowed by the deity of heal his injuries, but just approaching the ritual posed a problem. Earlier, when he tried to barge in to terminate the ritual, a powerful force had nearly wiped him off the face of the world.
Even with the recent surge in his fighting prowess to a level comparable to a Blood Reincarnation realm primary stage expert, he could tell that he would still stand no chance against that powerful force. It would simply end in his annihilation.
In other words, he would have to find other means to bypass the detection of the deity.
Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up. “Disguising as Sovereign Chen Ling! As long as my aura and bloodline are identical to his, such that even the deities are unable to tell the difference between the both of us, I will be able to absorb the energy descending upon the pedestal.”
Even if brute force failed, he still had a trick up his sleeve—the disguise amulet that Luo Ruoxin had given him.
It was something that he could use even after he had turned into a skeleton.
“Let me give it a try!”
Unable to curb his excitement, Zhang Xuan activated the amulet, and he swiftly warped into Sovereign Chen Ling’s form. Be it in terms of external appearance or soul aura, there was no way that one could tell the difference between him and the real one.
“Young Master?” Sovereign Chen Yong asked doubtfully.
He had been following the Spirit God all along, so he knew about the existence of the disguise amulet. However, he was a little perplexed as to why the Young Master would suddenly choose to disguise himself as Sovereign Chen Ling.
“Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded in response with a slight smile.
With his tall and graceful stature, he discreetly flitted over to the dimension rift in the air.
Weng weng weng!
The ripples of power that had previously kept him away showed no sign of warding him off. Just like that, he managed to slip into the ritual without any trouble.
“As expected, it works!” Zhang Xuan trembled in agitation.
It seemed like the disguise amulet that Luo Ruoxin had given him was at a higher level than whatever deity Sovereign Chen Ling was summoning. As such, even the deity was unable to see through his disguise.
“Hahaha!”
Standing right beneath the dimension rift, Zhang Xuan absorbed a bit of the energy descending from above. In an instant, his physical body began recovering at a visible rate, and his fatigued spirit was nourished and healed as well.
“At this rate, I’ll be able to return to my peak within ten minutes. Perhaps, I might even be able to further my cultivation…” Zhang Xuan’s eyes shone brilliantly.
Despite his severe wounds, Zhang Xuan was in a far more advantageous position than Sovereign Chen Ling. Both his youth and the unique nature of the Heaven’s Path zhenqi allowed for faster recovery. Even when they were both in the same environment, chances were that he would be able to recover much faster than Sovereign Chen Ling.
Thus, he began devouring the energy ravenously as if a parched traveler who had stumbled upon an oasis.
“You…”
Just moments after Zhang Xuan began absorbing the energy, he sensed a pair of sharp eyes staring heatedly at him. Turning to look, he saw Sovereign Chen Ling glaring at him with a vile look on his face.
The bestowal of the deity’s blessing was a sacred formality of the ritual, and making a move at this very moment was absolutely prohibited. Otherwise, if he incurred the wrath of the deity, he would be torn apart. As such, all he could do was glare at Zhang Xuan murderously.
But… watching as that fellow snatched away the energy that was intended for his recovery, Sovereign Chen Ling’s heart ached so badly that he could hardly hold his anger back.
How in the world did a sack of bones disguise so impeccably as him, such that even the deities were unable to see through his disguise? Just what in the world was going on?
Can anyone tell me what’s going on?
Who am I? Where am I?
“You shameless knave…” Sovereign Chen Ling spat icily.
“So be it. I, Sovereign Chen Ling, have never intended on living an upright life anyway!” Zhang Xuan replied nonchalantly.
“You b*stard. I am Sovereign Chen Ling!” Seeing the other party adopting his identity, Sovereign Chen Ling felt as if he was going insane.
“Sure sure, you are Sovereign Chen Ling. Happy?” Zhang Xuan replied perfunctorily as he continued gobbling up the surrounding energy hungrily.
It was clear that there was something holding Sovereign Chen Ling back from making a move on him, or else the latter would have already pounced at him. Since the latter was unable to do anything to him, there was no point bickering at all.
Feel free to say whatever you like. I’ll just quietly have my meal over here.
Gugugugu!
The energy descending from the dimension rift swiftly gathered around him and formed a massive vortex. It did not take long before they were all absorbed into his body.
His true body hidden beneath the disguise amulet began squirming around as his body reconstructed itself.
His head, shoulders, arms, chests… It was as if he was being reborn with every bit of energy absorbed.
This is a good opportunity for me to alter my meridian network to be the same as Zhao Ya’s… Zhang Xuan thought as he began working on his meridians.
A human’s biological structure was more or less fixed, such that it would only be possible to make minor modifications under normal circumstances. However, what Zhang Xuan was doing at that moment was rebuilding his body from scratch, so he could modify it freely. As such, the reconstruction of his meridians proceeded even more smoothly than Zhao Ya’s operation with the vine of the Dongxu Gourd.
Along with the modification of his meridians, an astoundingly pure killing intent seeped out of his body.
“Is this the purest Zhenqi of Slaughter?”
“Ever since Elder Vicious’ death, there hasn’t been anyone in our Spirit Tribe who has boasted such pure Zhenqi of Slaughter!”
“Could he possibly be the reincarnation of Elder Vicious?”
“With such a pure bloodline, there’s no doubt that he’s the true leader of the Spirit Tribe!”
…
The Otherworldly Demons who had listened to Zhang Xuan’s lecture earlier and wondered if he was a master teacher had their doubts vanquished in an instant.
How could someone with such pure Zhenqi of Slaughter possibly be a human?
Not even the Three Sovereigns possessed such a pure bloodline!
Huala!
The Otherworldly Demons swiftly got to their knees and lowered their heads, as if they were ushering the arrival of their new leader.
Be it the debt from the impartation of knowledge or the natural deference toward a nobler existence than them, at that very moment, toward the young man in the air who was disguised as Sovereign Chen Ling, they only harbored feelings of admiration and respect.
On the other hand, seeing how his people were bowing down and submitting to that scoundrel, the real Sovereign Chen Ling was teetering on the edge of a complete mental breakdown.
While others might be unaware who this fellow was, he knew very well that the other party was the number one genius of mankind, a master teacher through and through. Yet, for his people to actually worship the other party instead of him… ludicrous!
“You lowly swine! Even at the risk of turning a deity against me, I’ll claim your life right here and right now!”
Seeing that the other party was already on the brink of making a full recovery, Sovereign Chen Ling could not bring himself to wait any longer. Despite the risk of incurring the deity’s wrath, he swiped his fingers toward Zhang Xuan as if they were claws.
Boom!
Even though Sovereign Chen Ling could not recover as quickly as Zhang Xuan did, he had spent a longer time in the ritual than the other party. By now, his injuries had recovered by around seventy to eighty percent, allowing him to draw forth the strength of a true Blood Reincarnation realm consummation expert.
Not expecting the other party to be so impatient, Zhang Xuan scowled in displeasure. “Wait a moment, I’m still lacking two more thighs to a full recovery. Why don’t we both heal up nicely before coming to blows?”
Activating the Heaven’s Path Movement Art, he dodged the attack nimbly. At the same time, he widened all of his acupoints to devour the surrounding energy as quickly as he could.
In an instant, the rate of his recovery soared.
As he was currently disguised as Sovereign Chen Ling, he could not make use of his clone, weapons, or even Vicious. Thus, it was impossible for him to kill Sovereign Chen Ling. However, it would not be easy for Sovereign Chen Ling to get him either.
“Wait your head!”
Seeing how the other party dared to speak so brazenly even after stealing the energy that he had paid a heavy price in order to obtain, Sovereign Chen Ling nearly went berserk.
