I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

After in-depth research on the Blood Serpent's retinue, the dynasty finally understood the principle of transformation.

Afterwards, Wang Chao and his companions encountered some more Blood Serpent followers, and Wang Chao patiently analyzed and studied them one by one.

After confirming that there were no problems, Wang Chao looked at Zhang Zhaoyi and the others who had been following behind him.

"Zhaoyi, do you want to possess the power to fight against the Blood Serpent's retinue, or even against the Blood Serpent itself?"

"Ah? Your Majesty the Underworld Emperor, do you mean you are willing to bestow power upon your subordinates?"

Zhang Zhaoyi looked at Wang Chao with surprise.

They voluntarily became subordinates of the dynasty, wasn't it all for the sake of survival and even having some means of self-defense?
Now that the dynasty was willing to grant him power, he was naturally overjoyed.

"Yes, Your Majesty! I am willing! I thank Your Majesty the Underworld Emperor!"

As he spoke, Zhang Zhaoyi suddenly knelt down.

He glanced at him and said calmly:
"Get up, kneeling is not customary here."

Yes, yes.

"I can grant you strength, but there's something I need to tell you beforehand."

This process can be somewhat dangerous if your mind is not strong enough.
Those blood serpent minions will be your fate.

"Ah~?"

Zhang Zhaoyi was slightly taken aback at first, then gritted his teeth and nodded heavily.

"I'm fine with it. No matter what happens, I'm willing to take full responsibility."

The world has changed, and if he wants to live well, he will need even greater power.

Now that the opportunity is right in front of him, how could he let it slip by?
We can't just keep living like before, can we?

If that's the case, then dying sooner or later makes little difference.

"it is good!"

Wang Chao nodded slightly, and with a thought, a wisp of strange energy emanated from his body and merged into Zhang Zhaoyi's brow.

"Hi~!"

In that instant, Zhang Zhaoyi felt a chilling force suddenly drill into his brain from between his eyebrows, causing him to widen his eyes and gasp.

Zhang Zhaoyi's men were all watching him with intense anxiety, a mixture of worry and anticipation.

Fearing ultimate failure, Zhang Zhaoyi could not withstand this pressure.

We hope Zhang Zhaoyi will succeed.

In this way, they not only have a real guarantee that belongs to them.

At the same time, they can have more hope.

If Zhang Zhaoyi can do it, can't they do it too?

Once that eerie aura entered Zhang Zhaoyi's mind, it immediately spread out.

Immediately, Zhang Zhaoyi felt a great terror engulf his mind, and endless chaotic thoughts surged into his heart, with negative forces such as fear and murderous intent erupting.

In that instant, he felt as if he had sunk into the deepest hell, surrounded by malevolent spirits and vengeful ghosts, and he himself was about to become one of them.

On the other side, the dynasty, after learning about Zhang Zhaoyi's situation, couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

The corrosive and corrupting influence of the eerie energy is indeed something that ordinary people cannot resist.

Even though he had tried his best to restrain the corrosive and polluting nature of the eerie energy, Zhang Zhaoyi still found it somewhat unbearable.

Just as the dynasty was about to withdraw its strange energy, Zhang Zhaoyi suddenly came to his senses, clenched his fists tightly, and gritted his teeth.

"No, I am Zhang Zhaoyi. I will not fail. No matter if you are vengeful spirits or malevolent ghosts, none of you can stop me."

With persistent effort and self-suggestion, Zhang Zhaoyi's soul gradually resisted the erosion of the eerie energy. A ray of brilliant spiritual light emanated from his soul, constantly intertwining and clashing with the eerie energy.

Sensing these things, Wang Chao's heart stirred, and he began to manipulate the strange energy, merging it with the spiritual light emanating from his soul.

Gradually, a strange aura containing Zhang Zhaoyi's soul energy began to form in his consciousness space.

Immediately afterwards, that wisp of eerie energy began to surge out of the consciousness space, circulating throughout Zhang Zhaoyi's body, absorbing his essence, energy, and spirit, evolving into a special kind of eerie true energy, and finally returning to the consciousness space.

Sensing the changes in the strange energy within Zhang Zhaoyi's body, Wang Chao couldn't help but feel secretly delighted.

"Hehe, it really worked!"

Furthermore, a mysterious connection developed between Wang Chao and Zhang Zhaoyi.

Wang Chao felt that Zhang Zhaoyi had become his anchor point in this world.

If he were willing to dispel all the evil energy within him, he could even exist in this world until Zhang Zhaoyi dies.

But at that time, he really was just a phantom.

After a moment, Zhang Zhaoyi suddenly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

Feeling the power within his mind, Zhang Zhaoyi was overjoyed.

"Your subordinate kowtows to thank Your Majesty the Underworld Emperor. If Your Majesty has any orders, your subordinate will go through fire and water, even at the cost of death."

"Yes, but you still need to be careful."

With the current amount of evil energy within you, you can naturally control it.

However, if the quantity increases further, it will inevitably backfire.

Unless you can condense and evolve your own core.

"Your Majesty, how do you intend to condense the evolution core?"

"It's about how you define yourself—whether you're a farmer, a soldier, or a businessman, etc.—and then constantly put it into practice and strengthen that belief."

Naturally, you will be able to condense and evolve your own core of strange energy.

"Oh, I understand now. Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Your Majesty the Underworld Emperor!"

Wang Chao then explained the characteristics of the strange energy, as well as the methods of cultivation and application.

Zhang Zhaoyi himself lived up to the dynasty's expectations and quickly mastered the use of the strange energy.

After walking a while longer, they finally encountered another member of the Blood Serpent's retinue.

"Zhaoyi, you go!"

"Yes!"

Zhang Zhaoyi readily agreed.

Having mastered the power of the strange energy, he was eager to fight those blood serpent followers and see how strong he was now.

Seeing the Blood Serpent Clan ahead, Zhang Zhaoyi quickly mobilized the faint eerie energy within his body and swiftly attacked them.

Faced with Zhang Zhaoyi charging towards him, the Blood Serpent's follower seemed quite frightened and shrank back slightly.

However, Zhang Zhaoyi didn't care about any of that. His palm was filled with eerie energy, and he delivered a fierce punch to the Blood Serpent's retinue.

As for why weapons weren't used...
The amount of strange energy within him was not enough to permeate the weapons.

Without the enhancement of the eerie aura, ordinary weapons can do very little damage to the Blood Serpent's retinue.

If that's the case, then why not just use the strange energy to envelop your palms and engage in hand-to-hand combat?

"boom!"

"Shout!"

With a single punch, the Blood Serpent's retinue was sent flying back several meters, letting out a painful howl.

Furthermore, the eerie energy that had tainted his body lingered around his chest like a maggot clinging to his bone, constantly eroding his strength and flesh.

As time passed, the eerie aura not only did not dissipate, but instead continued to grow stronger.

Gradually, wisps of gray-black energy enveloped the Blood Serpent's body, completely eroding and draining its eerie energy, spiritual power, essence, and spirit, transforming into a fist-sized ball of eerie energy that quickly entered Zhang Zhaoyi's body.

The Blood Serpent's retinue, on the other hand, turned into a dried-up corpse, instantly losing all life and collapsing to the ground like rotten wood.

In an instant, the strange energy within Zhang Zhaoyi's body increased more than tenfold, and had already reached the limit of his control.

At the same time, countless chaotic remnants of consciousness constantly assaulted his mind, causing him to feel nauseous and have a headache, with a look of confusion and bewilderment flashing in his eyes.

It took him quite a while to recover.

Zhang Zhaoyi felt a wave of fear wash over him, and a bead of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

"General."

"Boss, how do you feel?"

Seeing Zhang Zhaoyi kill the Blood Serpent's retinue so easily, everyone was overjoyed and gathered around, their eyes filled with undisguised envy.

"Hehe, very good, very good!"

Zhang Zhaoyi forced a smile.

"The shock to one's consciousness must be unpleasant."
So hurry up and develop your own core strength!

Wang Chao glanced at him and said calmly.

"Yes, Your Majesty the Underworld Emperor will remember your teachings." "Hmm!"

Wang Chao nodded.

Do you want to obtain this power?

Feeling the strange energy constantly draining from his body, Wang Chao couldn't help but look at the people surrounding Zhang Zhaoyi and asked in a low voice.

"Can we do it too?"

"Of course!"

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, everyone immediately nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, we are willing!"

"Well!"

Wang Chao nodded, and with a slight wave of his hand, streams of eerie energy entered the brows of everyone present.

However, this greatly reduced the eerie energy within the dynasty.

However, he could also clearly feel that the rejection and pressure from the surrounding world were much less.

On the other side, after absorbing the eerie energy, the group began to experience what Zhang Zhaoyi had gone through.

However, this time Wang Chao was more familiar with the situation and even began to actively activate everyone's will to survive through the eerie energy. In addition, by further restraining the erosion and pollution of the eerie energy, everyone eventually succeeded in merging.

In that instant, the dynasty and everyone else established a mysterious connection.

He can remain in this world as long as everyone else is alive.

He can even retain some power within his body.

It seems that this world is gradually acknowledging his existence.

Wang Chao looked at everyone and said with a smile:

"Now that you have gained power, go to various parts of the city and hunt down those Blood Serpent Retinues."

Ideally, the blood serpent should be suppressed!

"Yes, Your Majesty the Underworld Emperor!"

Zhang Zhaoyi and the others exchanged glances, all able to see the excitement in each other's eyes, and then bowed and accepted the order.

After everyone dispersed, Wang Chao closed his eyes slightly, sensing their locations.

A wisp of power, imperceptible to everyone, began to spread with them, gradually eroding the surrounding energy and strange aura.

In the north of the city, a group of twenty or thirty people gathered in a courtyard. When they saw the Blood Serpent Retinue suddenly appear at the gate, they were shocked and grabbed their sticks, knives, guns and other weapons.

"Shout!"

The moment they saw the group, the Blood Serpent's retinue charged toward them.

"Fight him!"

Seeing this, the crowd was also aroused and rushed forward.

However, their swords, spears, and clubs, while leaving wounds on the Blood Serpent's retinue, did not actually harm them.

However, those wounds healed quickly.

Their attacks, while not entirely ineffective, yielded very little result.

On the contrary, the group wielding knives, spears, and clubs were easily dispatched by the Blood Serpent Retinue, who only attacked and never defended.

"Pfft!"

"puff!"

"Damn it!"

The people who fell to the ground coughed up blood, and many of them were missing limbs.

Of course, some who were slower to charge back, upon seeing this scene, couldn't help but retreat and quickly scatter and flee.

At this moment, the remaining people were powerless to resist and could only watch in despair as the blood serpent retinue twisted and walked towards them step by step.

Just as everyone was in despair, they suddenly heard a loud roar.

"You evil beast, don't hurt anyone!"

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope rose in everyone's hearts, and they all turned to look.

This caused everyone to show their disappointment and despair once again.

They recognized the newcomer; he was the leader of a gang in the city center. They were evenly matched, neither stronger than the other.

"Zhang Zhaoyi, what are you trying to prove? Get out of here!"

One of them, who was spitting blood and seemed to be the leader, couldn't help but curse at Zhang Zhaoyi, who had already entered the gate.

"Heh, Ding Zhongcheng? He's not dead yet?"

"Tsk, well, you're lucky today, you don't have to die."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhaoyi strode forward and came to the back of the Blood Serpent's retinue.

Seeing the Blood Serpent Clan members completely ignoring everyone else and charging straight at one person, Zhang Zhaoyi immediately channeled his inner energy and unleashed a heavy punch, disregarding all martial ethics.

As the eerie energy circulated, the blood serpent retinue in front of them seemed to sense the danger and turned to defend themselves.

However, it was too late at that moment, and Zhang Zhaoyi punched him in the back.

"boom!"

Struck by this blow, the Blood Serpent's retinue couldn't help but stagger forward two steps.

Then, it began to scream in pain.

"chichichi"

As the eerie aura spread and corroded, the Blood Serpent's retinue quickly turned into a dried-up corpse and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Strands of eerie, gray-black energy began to surge toward Zhang Zhaoyi.

This time, however, Zhang Zhaoyi was prepared. Instead of absorbing everything at once, he gradually absorbed it into his body.

And it only absorbs the pure, controllable evil energy within it.

As for the rest, they were left to dissipate between heaven and earth.

Although it took longer, there was no violent shock of lingering consciousness, and the pain was greatly reduced.

Of course, those so-called dissipated eerie energies did not truly dissipate, but rather spread throughout the world.

That was the eerie atmosphere of a dynasty.

Moreover, it is unknown whether this is due to the transformation of this local life form through Zhang Zhaoyi.

The strange energy scattered between heaven and earth is not rejected or destroyed by heaven and earth. In addition, with the support of the energy of heaven and earth, it can be maintained for a long time.

If life exists within its range and a large amount of spiritual power is generated, it can continue to exist, and even continue to grow and spread.

"Zhang Zhaoyi, you...you've also become a member of the Blood Serpent's retinue?"

Ding Zhongcheng and the others stared at Zhang Zhaoyi in shock, saying in disbelief.

The colleague thought to himself
Is it really true that ordinary people in this world have no way to survive?
"Heh, what are the Blood Serpent's retinue? If we really have to say, then we're the Underworld Emperor's retinue."

"The Underworld Emperor's retinue?"

"Correct!"

"How is this going?"

"hehe."

Zhang Zhaoyi smiled and, without hiding anything, directly recounted their encounter with the dynasty.

Yes, that's the Emperor of the Underworld, so naturally we need to spread the word.

This will also let the people of the city know the fame of the Underworld Emperor in eliminating demons.

In this process, his position as the Underworld Emperor, the most powerful figure in this world, will naturally rise in status.

Does the Underworld Emperor really exist?

"Hehe, of course it's true. Didn't you see my power?"
"Your Majesty the Underworld Emperor has come because of that blood serpent and the changes in the city."

"Phew! If it were true, we could go back to our normal lives."

"Yes, with His Majesty the Underworld Emperor present, none of this is a problem."

As the crowd discussed this, Wang Chao could sense that a large amount of spiritual power containing the concept of the Underworld Emperor was rapidly converging on him.

And similar things were happening all over the city.

Gradually, more and more concepts of the Underworld Emperor converged.

Finally, the nascent form of a Netherworld Emperor, radiating a dark, eerie light, began to slowly take shape. (End of Chapter)