Chapter 235: The Truth
The few people who were aware of Zhang Xu's true circumstances were all incredibly excited at this moment.
They hadn't expected that this fellow, who had always immersed himself in cultivation and rarely interacted with others, would be the first to break through the Heavenly Passage of the Martial Path.
After Hua Taishan's passing, Hua Changjiang and the others, in order to continue contending with the other two factions in the Seven-Person Council, invested even more of the vast resources under their control into the Martial Arts Symposium.
They had also secretly contacted Bai Mo again, but ultimately failed to persuade him. They only received his assurance that if their struggles ultimately proved futile, he would ensure their safe departure from Huaxia.
Composed of a selection of martial arts elites from the Huaxia Federation's over one billion people, along with a contingent of powerful individuals from abroad, the Martial Arts Symposium had always been a place where hidden dragons and crouching tigers resided.
And its headquarters, located in Tianqing, was an even deeper, bottomless abyss.
Few martial artists openly displayed their Nine-Orifice Body cultivation. In part, this was due to individuals like Bai Mo, who were limited by the power thresholds of other systems such as the Spirit Hub system, and in part due to ascetic cultivators like Zhang Xu, who rarely publicized their affairs.
Zhang Xu, who had always been a solitary figure within the association, with only a handful of friends, found, upon emerging from his cultivation chamber, a large crowd already gathered outside the door, quietly awaiting him.
"Did he succeed?" Gazing at Zhang Xu, who was now radiating golden light across his entire body, almost everyone was asking this question, eager to confirm their suspicions.
"Mhm!" He nodded, but due to his inability to fully control his rapidly surging power, he accidentally cracked another floor tile.
The news of Zhang Xu's successful breakthrough immediately spread throughout the world via various channels, invigorating all who practiced the Martial Path, and further solidifying their faith in their cultivation.
At the same time, it led many to re-evaluate Huaxia's political landscape, and to study the impact of this new disruption on the future of the Seven-Person Council.
The politics of the strong had begun to deeply penetrate everyone's thoughts; the emergence of every Xuanhua Stage powerhouse would almost always, to some extent, alter the dynamics of a region.
Protected by layers upon layers of Xuanhua, they no longer feared attacks from conventional nuclear weapons.
To kill them, enveloped as they were in thick turtle shells, if relying solely on Melting Realm ability users, at least thirty to fifty individuals would be required for a siege, and they would have to pay a heavy price in casualties before having a chance to kill those of a higher tier.
And as time went on, the volume of their Xuanhua would continue to slowly expand, making each of them even harder to kill, potentially transforming them into beings like Sarcasky, capable of fighting hundreds without falling into a disadvantageous position.
Unlike Xuanhua, which could only briefly detach from the body, the materialized Dharma Body could remain detached from the body for extended periods, like an avatar, to carry out dangerous missions.
Alternatively, it could be reshaped, enlarged or shrunk, and applied to common weapons to temporarily enhance their strength. However, as a trade-off, the materialized Dharma Body offered less physical protection than Xuanhua.
"Has someone broken through?" Bai Mo, in Tianqing, immediately learned of this news, but paid it no further heed afterward.
His avatar, cloaked in a Spirit Art aura that distorted perception, walked alone down the streets of Su Zhe City, heading towards the agreed-upon destination.
To ordinary people, the avatar walking on the street was nothing more than an unremarkable passerby, someone they would never interact with.
While this minor Spirit Art was ineffective against cultivators, the number of cultivators in Huaxia did not exceed three percent of the total population. For him, who simply wished to avoid unnecessary trouble, it was perfectly sufficient.
After all, ability users resembling ghosts were a focal point for ordinary people everywhere.
"Long time no see." Bai Mo, dragging a tentacle, walked straight into a room, and greeted the little girl inside.
In the avatar's spiritual vision, the little girl in Gothic Lolita attire before him was merely a shell. The spiritual tree growing from the back of her head, with countless roots extending into the void, should have been her true body.
"How did you also turn into an energy body like us?"
"You can use human bodies, so why can't I create a few energy avatars?" He replied with a smile.
"Here's your thing back first; the other one he refused to sell." Bai Mo tossed the tentacle to the little girl.
"That sword-wielding bastard! Once I've handled this matter, I'll definitely make him pay!" Once the tentacle reached the girl's hand, it immediately re-integrated into the invisible giant tree behind her head.
"If you go to Tianqing to find him, with those guys there, you'll most likely end up as experimental material." Bai Mo stated this fact teasingly, extinguishing her desire for revenge.
"What should I call you now?" He continued to ask.
"Soon, it will be Yu Xi." The little girl straightened her skirt.
"What exactly are you doing?" Bai Mo directly posed his question. "Are you using these people's brains to expand your computational abilities? But as a will aggregate, you shouldn't need to worry about that, right?"
After Bai Mo realized that the other party was the Ghost King he had encountered in Tianhai, he quickly overturned his conjecture.
She herself was a being formed from millions of fragments of will. Were it not for the insane internal strife caused by her multiple personalities, her cognitive abilities would undoubtedly rival a level beyond myriad thoughts, a concept Bai Mo had envisioned.
"Anyway, it's already impossible to stop, so talking is fine." The little girl said, adopting the demeanor of a major villain.
"Originally, my will had already gained an advantage in the struggle over these past few years, forcing all the remaining wills to unite against me. Later, I realized that this constant internal attrition was meaningless, serving only to deplete the main body's strength. Thus, I decided on this plan."
"By leveraging our innate abilities as a will aggregate, I used incantations to attract the mental fluctuations of a group of people into our spiritual resonance circle."
"Then, according to the plan, I allowed these wills, which were not aligned with me, during the resonance, to each enter a human body to undergo possession and reincarnation."
"Of course, this possession came with the risk of life and death, but a gamble was always better than the final outcome of being devoured by me."
"Your plan is quite good, but I still have two questions."
"First, can you teach me the method for constructing a resonance network? Second, why did dozens of unconscious people's brains suddenly explode after Wen Jian cut off your tentacle?"
"The first matter is difficult; just as you cannot teach me how to breathe, for a will aggregate like me, resonating with other wills is an instinct."
"Before the successful possessions, they and I still collectively owned this body. That bastard used a soul-destroying sword! He even cut down a part of them that was in the process of possessing bodies."
"Why are you fine?"
"Those who died by his sword were all weak sub-souls. I am the strongest; how could anything happen to me?" The little girl said, puffing out her cheeks.
"Don't try to act cute with me. I can see that big tree behind your head."
"You don't care about these tens of thousands of lives at all?" She suddenly posed this question.
"I've personally dissected roughly that many people too. When you were alive, you were also a person; all your memories are human memories. Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question instead?" Bai Mo retorted.
"Ah... Humans and ghosts walk different paths." The little girl began to play dumb.
Comments