Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 372 Refined in an instant!

Li Wuxiang had always been ruthless to himself, but he never expected Xu Zhen to be so ruthless to him as well—holding the bloodied cervical spine in his arms, watching it still slightly contract and bounce, feeling the heat emanating from it, his hands couldn't help but tremble!
Wow! Dude! You're seriously insane!

Xu Zhen's cervical spine was gone, but his body was still upright: "Tell me about Guang Chanzi, and I'll refine this body right now!"

Now that things have come to this point, even if he doesn't want to, Li Wuxiang will urge him to practice quickly—he wants to be the one to sit back and watch the tigers fight, but if one of the tigers becomes a sick cat, then what's the point of watching!

He immediately recited the incantation of Guang Chanzi. Xu Zhen repeated each line as he recited it, pulling out his bones one by one, causing his remaining skin to slowly swell. Li Wuxiang's scalp tingled with dread. Only when he was holding a pile of ghastly red bones did Xu Zhen say, "Alright, you go and refine the Great Perfection Supreme Body, I'll refine Guang Chanzi. I'll hold out for a while. Once you've refined it, I'll try to invoke the Great Emperor Gouchen!"

"Excellent! This is exactly what I wanted!" Li Wuxiang was overjoyed, but he still said, "Brother, why don't you wait a little longer? Are you going to fight the Blood God now? Or perhaps we—"

"Wait? How can we wait?!" Xu Zhen raised his eyebrows and looked at him. "My original body's remains are in their Crimson Heaven. They've seen me, and I've seen them. Right now, I'm thinking about how to deal with them, and they must be thinking about how to deal with me too—at this critical moment of life and death, every day we wait will ruin things. Stop talking nonsense and go quickly!"

okay!

Li Wuxiang's eyes were filled with tears: "I understand, brother, I'll go right away!"

He returned to the Myriad Transformations Realm carrying a pile of bones—now only a vast expanse of stone flooring, a solitary peak, and a "Great Accomplishment Supreme Body".

When he told Li Guichen and Xue Baoping, "What am I supposed to refine?", he wasn't lying. He genuinely hadn't refined this thing; he had only created an empty shell. Ultimately, this thing was just a tool to guide Xu Zhen's consciousness. As long as Xu Zhen felt he was refining it and believed that once it was refined, he could invite the Great Emperor Gouchen, that was enough.

But things always change faster than planned, and Xu Zhen is serious now! So he really has to help him wholeheartedly—what is the Blood God? It's Zhao Qi plus the remains of the Ninth Prince's dragon body, plus the True Lord of Fate whose power was partially seized by Li Guichen; Xu Zhen can't just bluff his way into that position. Li Wuxiang has to make Xu Zhen stronger, really make him summon the true spirit of the Great Emperor Gouchen!
As for how to refine this thing? That's easy. Originally, it was just a shell, but now it has the bones of Xu Zhen, this magical beast, making it a genuine rare and precious material. Although it can't compare to the thirty-six original artifacts refined from the remains of the Ninth Prince, but…

and many more?

Li Wuxiang glanced at the pile of things in his arms, then turned around and looked around. He picked up a finger bone and forcefully poked it into his little finger.

I clicked it.

felt it.

It truly is a rare and precious treasure. It truly makes him feel full and healthy. It truly makes him feel that blood and energy are beginning to flow from his fingertips.

When Xu Zhen pulled out the bone, it was in the shape of a human. How many bones does a human have? Two hundred and six or two hundred and four. Losing one or two bones shouldn't be a big deal, right?

As he thought this, he pushed another piece into his ring finger.

It feels good now. Actually, being a human skin isn't very pleasant. Even with gold bars supporting you, you always feel empty inside, guilty, and adrift.

But now he felt fulfilled, as if he had gained two more finger bones. It was like drinking a bowl of hot soup in the dead of winter, and he suddenly felt at ease.

So, by the time he came to his senses, all he had left in his hand was a spine.

What to do? Actually, using this spine to refine this shell is also an option. Xu Zhen is already insane; what does he care about truth or falsehood? All I need to do is tell him to refine all his bones into this magical shell. He'll believe it anyway, and in his own little world, wouldn't that be true...?

and many more?

Why waste this spine? Li Wuxiang summoned his flying sword, slashed it across his stomach, and then stuffed the spine back inside—his joints cracked, and wisps of mist immediately rose from his body. The mist was initially white, then turned pale pink, then blood red, before gradually receding to the surface of his body, condensing into drops of blood, which were then absorbed into his skin!

The Golden Entanglement, the Pointing Moon Mystic Light, and the Green Pu Fan almost simultaneously disappeared into Xu Zhen's bones, and Li Wuxiang felt his blood and qi surging, generating boundless power—he had succeeded!

When he left Mount Dajie, Mei Qiulu told him to go to the thirty-six sects and find their respective treasures to complete the Ninth Prince's dragon body, so that he would be able to become two of the three Hua. But now, what's inside him isn't the Ninth Prince's, but Xu Zhen's, yet it has actually happened!

Now, with only one more Hua missing, he would no longer be a crippled Nascent Soul cultivator and could contend with Xu Zhen. In fact, he already had a plan for that Hua, but now wasn't the time… Xu Zhen was crazy, not stupid. He was about to fight the Blood God, and would be extremely sensitive to matters of cultivation level. He absolutely couldn't afford any unforeseen complications now; it would be best to wait until he had refined the Guang Chan Zi—

"Is it ready yet?!" Li Wuxiang suddenly heard Xu Zhen's voice, and then Xu Zhen appeared two steps away from him.

When the bone was pulled out, Xu Zhen was covered in blood, but now he was clean again, as if nothing had happened.

Li Wuxiang was taken aback: "I...I'm still refining it? Brother, weren't you going to cultivate the Guangchanzi?"

“I’ve already succeeded!” Xu Zhen said with a frown. “There are only three realms in total, right? I’ve already reached the Golden Glow Realm! Now that I have this physical body, once I get my hands on Crimson Heaven’s remains, I can possess it and wrap it around my body, and my true form will return to its rightful place, and that will be it! What about you? How long will it take you to complete your physical body?”

You've achieved nothing! You probably only think you have, so you have! You've only achieved it in your own delusional world, not in reality!

But there's no way to talk about this now—oh well, if you think you've succeeded, then you've succeeded! If you've succeeded, then I've succeeded too—

"I've already completed the refining, brother. I've been refining it these past few days, and just now I incorporated your bones into it, and it's done. Haven't you noticed how different this body is now?"

Xu Zhen turned around and squinted at the thing. After looking at it for a while, he nodded and said, "Hmm, I see it. It's already showing signs of a precious light." As soon as he finished speaking, a rainbow of light slowly appeared on the thing's black shell, like a layer of gasoline floating on the surface of water.

"Now that it has revealed its precious light, its size should be able to change at will." Xu Zhen gestured towards it, "Change!"

What had originally seemed like an imposing figure, demanding respect and awe, suddenly transformed into a dark, heavy suit of armor upon his body with this single move. Xu Zhen, now fully armored, looked like both a disciple of the Divine Blade Sect and a disciple of the Great Pan Mountain. His face was obscured by the helmet, so Li Wuxiang couldn't see his expression. But seeing him standing motionless, Li Wuxiang felt a little uneasy.

Fortunately, the next moment, Xu Zhen spoke in a deep voice from inside the helmet: "Well done! It truly is a perfected supreme body—my true skeleton, plus the countless lesser demons you've refined these past few days… using this to invite the Great Emperor Gouchen is definitely the right thing to do. Once the Great Emperor descends into this body, and I borrow his divine powers, hmph, that mere Blood God of the Crimson Heaven—"

"Then naturally I'm no match for you, Big Brother!"

“That’s true! But there’s one more thing.” Xu Zhen turned his head to him, “You have to lure the Blood God here, lure him here. Crimson Heaven is their territory, we’d better fight them on our own turf.”

Li Wuxiang was taken aback: "Brother, you want to invite the Great Emperor Gouchen of the West—the Great Emperor is a Golden Immortal, and cannot come to the mortal world. However, he can descend in spirit to Mount Ling or the Crimson Heaven. That is the most convenient place!"

Xu Zhen seemed to chuckle from inside his helmet: "Little brother, didn't you say before that since I am the reincarnation of the True Lord of Wei River, I could also be the reincarnation of the Great Emperor Gouchen?"

"Yes, brother..."

“Then you might actually be right.” Xu Zhen spread his arms and turned around on the spot. “Before I possessed this body, I was thinking that I shouldn’t blaspheme the name of the Great Emperor. But now that I’m in possession of this body, I find that what you said might be true. I might really be the reincarnation of the Great Emperor Gouchen, and I’ve also figured out some things.”

Li Wuxiang didn't respond for a moment; he had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

Things seem to be going too smoothly... Before, every time the name of Emperor Gouchen was mentioned, Xu Zhen was filled with trepidation—he happily admitted that he was the "ruler," but he just didn't dare to have the slightest connection with Gouchen.

But now that he's possessed this "Great Accomplishment Supreme Body," he suddenly says, "You're right"—Li Wuxiang knows best what kind of monster he's been cultivating... Like I said, Xu Zhen is crazy, not stupid. He wouldn't have stumbled upon this by accident, would he?!
"What have you figured out?"

"What I'm trying to understand is that the people of the Central Plains say that the True Lord of the Wei River assisted Li Ye in becoming the Eastern Emperor Taiyi. The people of the Eastern Plains, on the other hand, have always said that the True Lord of the Wei River also assisted the Great Emperor Gouchen in achieving the Golden Immortal status. I haven't been able to recall all my past events yet, but one of these two things must be false—I couldn't possibly have helped both the Eastern Emperor Taiyi and the Western Emperor Gouchen, could I? There must be something fishy about this!"

Of course there are some, because I made them all up!

"So, Emperor Gouchen might be the True Lord of the Wei River, and the True Lord of the Wei River might be a true spirit of Emperor Gouchen—and I am a reincarnation of a true spirit of Emperor Gouchen." Xu Zhen became more and more excited as he spoke. "The Central Continent was once the domain of my demon race... Perhaps before Emperor Gouchen attained enlightenment, he disguised himself as the Ninth Prince and infiltrated Li Ye's side—at that time, Li Ye was fighting against the Golden Immortal Emperor of the Six Departments of the Mysterious Sect, so I helped Li Ye achieve the Eastern Emperor Taiyi. Isn't this exactly the method the Mysterious Sect uses now? Making them fight among themselves and suffer mutual destruction!"

You're really something, Xu Zhen. What you said makes a lot of sense.

"Therefore, since this place was the former Daoist temple of the True Lord of the Wei River, it can also be considered the Daoist temple of the Great Emperor Gouchen. If we are to fight, we should naturally fight in this Daoist temple, not in the Crimson Heaven—didn't you tell me that the Crimson Heaven of the Blood God is actually in Mount Ling? Mount Ling was created by the Eastern Emperor Taiyi, so if I go there, wouldn't I be going to someone else's territory?"

Li Wuxiang sighed inwardly. Xu Zhen's idea was actually quite self-consistent.

Once he was convinced of his own abilities, he couldn't say anything else. As the saying goes, "a single word can awaken a dreamer"—he truly believed he was Gouchen, and if he said anything else, he might ruin things.

The best course of action now is to treat Xu Zhen like an ancestor. Just as when he first believed Xu Zhen to be the "Emperor," be extremely cautious and discreet, ensuring that Xu Zhen doesn't harbor the slightest doubt, and slowly cultivate his suspicions, gradually turning falsehood into truth, and eventually testing the limits of Xu Zhen's supernatural powers...

"Alright, brother, you're right. I'll give it a try. Try it quickly, but you also need to cultivate your supernatural powers quickly, otherwise we'll all be wiped out when the Blood God comes—what kind of supernatural powers does the Great Emperor Gouchen have?"

Xu Zhen smiled confidently from inside his helmet: "Just do your thing. When the Blood God arrives, I'll give you a big surprise!"

……

To lure the Blood God over, it's not actually that difficult.

As Zhao Qi just said, if you want to become an immortal in the Crimson Heaven, you have to offer Li Guichen as a pledge of loyalty to complete the authority of the True Lord of Fate.

Back then, he felt that what he said might not be true, but now...

Li Wuxiang waited all afternoon. Only when it got dark did he try calling out to Zhao Qi again, calling out in his mind while feeling incredibly busy, like a bee!

This time, the journey was much faster than before. Just as Li Wuxiang felt a red light spreading out in his divine sense, he heard Zhao Qi's voice: "Did you bring Li Guichen?"

“Master, I can’t bring you back! I told you to save me today, but you didn’t believe me, and now I can’t bring you back at all—can you see what I look like now?”

Li Wuxiang felt a divine thought sweep over him, and then heard Zhao Qi say, "What kind of monster have you become?!"

"It's Xu Zhen! I told you before, he also wants to refine the Blood God! He extracted all his bones and stuffed them into this skin of mine, saying I'm not human. Combined with the bones of this magical beast, it's perfect for refining the Ninth Prince's dragon body and skeleton—you provoked him today, and he's really gotten angry and made a move! Now he's going to refine Li Guichen as well. Once he's done, I won't be able to offer Li Guichen to you, and I won't even be able to find you to save my life!"

Zhao Qi seemed to be getting anxious too: "You bastard, where are you? How am I supposed to come and save you if you don't tell me?!"

(End of this chapter)