Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 375 Let's see what you're capable of.
The bones on the Blood God's body immediately trembled, as if a flying sword summoned by a novice Taiyi swordsman was about to return to Xu Zhen's body.

Zhao Qi seemed panicked and frightened, and immediately stretched out his body as if he wanted to jump back into the sky. But the gap from which he came had been closed and smoothed out. As his body stretched out, the bones in the dragon's body trembled even more violently, and in a moment, small bones fell off and detached from the body, and really flew towards Xu Zhen.

Xu Zhen, transformed into a xiezhi, shook his body, and the tiny bones disappeared into his form, making him grow even larger. These skeletons seemed to make him stronger; he stood on all fours, his head thrust forward in a tiger-crouching, dragon-coiled posture, and roared, "Again! Again!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the pale skeleton on the Blood God trembled even more violently. Then, like a torrential rain, it slammed into him with a buzzing sound. In just a few breaths, his body had swelled to almost the size of the Blood God. At this point, he no longer looked like a Xie Zhi—his neck, torso, and tail had all become long, and his four feet were off the ground, with a faint mist beginning to condense beneath his feet... as if he was about to transform into a dragon and ride the clouds!

The bones were forcibly extracted, and the Blood God seemed to be in pain—Zhao Qi shouted, "Li Wuxiang! Aren't you going to help!"

He cried out, then stretched his body, and the eyes of the True Lord of Fate in his right eye socket slightly opened, shooting out a point of red light. This red light immediately transformed into dense veins, looking very much like blood nerves, which then enveloped his entire skeleton.

He suddenly soared into the sky, darting left and right under the crimson sky, as if trying to find the exit he had come from.

Xu Zhen burst into laughter: "Over there you were called the Blood God, but here you can only be called the Dharma Material! This is the Myriad Transformations Realm, a world unto itself! I am the master of this world—I have already trapped your true spirit here, where else do you think you can run to!?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a cloud of mist rose from beneath his four feet, and with a flick of his head and tail, he shot straight into the sky, opening his huge mouth to grab the Blood God and tear it apart.

In this vast world of Wanhuafang, there was only one solitary mountain peak, but at this moment, the two monsters were locked in a fierce battle in the sky above the mountain, making the mountain peak look like a small mound.

A rumbling sound echoed from the dome, followed by rain. But the rain was red, the blood dripping from their wounds after they were both injured—the blackish blood belonged to the Blood God, extremely viscous, seeping into the soil upon contact and sprouting grotesque flesh. The bright red blood belonged to Xu Zhen, immediately corroding the flesh with a hissing sound, turning it to dust in an instant.

Li Wuxiang looked up for a while, then pulled Xue Baoping and Li Guichen, who had lost an arm, back away. He then let out a long sigh: "Haha, look at them, a magical beast Xie Zhi and a Blood God's descended true spirit, both are extraordinary, but in this Myriad Transformations Cube, they're like two beasts, tearing each other apart. Isn't that interesting?"

Li Guichen was still stiff and unable to move. His arm, which Xu Zhen had torn off, had not grown back. He could only roll his eyes.

Li Wuxiang glanced at him, then reached out and patted his face: "Don't be impatient. I'll make my move after they've fought enough, and then I'll release you. Don't be angry, brother. I had no choice but to impersonate Xu Zhen before—he was in a trance at the time, and I dared not tell you anything. Making him swallow your arm was also to lend him some of the power of the True Lord of Fate. Otherwise, how could I sit back and watch the tigers fight?"

He then turned to Xue Baoping and said, "Don't be anxious. If I let you go now, what if you get worried about me and start drawing your sword when I go to fight those two? I might not be able to take good care of you then. Just bear with it for now; I'm only worried about you."

He looked exactly like Li Wuxiang, and while speaking, he twirled a small flying sword between his fingers. At first, the sword moved between his fingers, but after he finished speaking, the small sword trembled slightly and rose into the air, as if it were controlled and wielded by the true energy of the Sword Sect.

But that's just how it looks!
Xue Baoping knew he wasn't Li Wuxiang—when she looked at him, it was as if two shadows were superimposed, one resembling Xu Zhen and the other Li Wuxiang. She had to strain to see clearly who he was.

This must be because of Li Guichen. He used his own flesh and blood to rebuild his body and once said that he would no longer be obsessed, but he couldn't kill himself and then bring himself back to life. This is the case of a healer not being able to heal himself.

She should perhaps pretend to be captivated, believing that the person before her was indeed Li Wuxiang. But she also knew that even so, it would only be a temporary reprieve... Once the real Li Wuxiang, who believed herself to be Xu Zhen, fought the Blood God to a standstill, and this fake Li Wuxiang made his move, both she and Li Guichen would die.

However, she really couldn't think of what to do... With the Blood God's supernatural abilities, everyone thought Li Wuxiang was Xu Zhen. Now that she had lost all her cultivation, what could she do?
When she came to Dapan Mountain, she stayed in this Wanhua Fang with Li Wuxiang. She knew that this was an extremely rare treasure and that this place was truly a world unto itself. The former Dutian Siming had become Siming Zhenjun here because of the power of incense offerings. Xu Zhen was also a magical beast, Xie Zhi, whose supernatural powers were to make the fake real. After obtaining this treasure, he was like a tiger with wings. In this small world isolated from the world, he truly became the absolute ruler.

She finally understood why he had tricked Li Wuxiang into inviting the Blood God... The Blood God's true spirit had come to this Myriad Transformations Formation, just as the true spirit of the Heavenly Master of Fate had come here before. Once the Myriad Transformations Formation closed, the Blood God's true spirit would be isolated from its original form in the Crimson Heaven, losing all contact with the outside world. Li Wuxiang and the Blood God were now truly engaged in a "struggle of trapped beasts"... They were both imprisoned in this cage of the Myriad Transformations Formation by Xu Zhen, and they were both completely captivated, unable to escape or leave!

Once they are both severely injured, Xu Zhen will refine them both!
At this point, helping either Blood God or Li Wuxiang escape the mystery would be better than facing certain death!

that...that...

Xue Baoping blinked and tried to speak. Perhaps because her physical body was different from others, her lips trembled, and she actually managed to utter three words: "You...are...not..."

Li Wuxiang was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at her: "Huh? You can talk?"

"You are not Li Wuxiang...you are Xu Zhen..."

Li Wuxiang smiled and said, "Don't be afraid. You'll be out of the fog in a little while, and then you'll understand everything."

Xue Baoping's head trembled, and she realized that not only could her lips move, but even her neck could move. She shook her head with difficulty: "You...you're not...you're Xu Zhen, you...you knew all along what Li Wuxiang...was going to...do...you played along, and you turned him into...you...you..."

Li Wuxiang was slightly taken aback by her words: "Baoping, what nonsense are you talking about? I am who I am, I am Li Wuxiang, don't talk nonsense, I don't want to listen, I don't want to listen!"

Xue Baoping felt like a paralyzed person who had been lying in bed for a long time, now slowly regaining her strength. The more she spoke, the more fluent her words became: "You really aren't...you are Xu Zhen, on Dapan Mountain, you...your name...Li Wuxiang thought he was your younger brother, Xu Chen...then you realized he was pretending to be obsessed...so you played along...pretending not to know...because you were also affected by his supernatural powers...but you felt that his supernatural powers could make yours...more...stronger, so you...always...always..."

Li Wuxiang's eyes widened, he took a step back, raised his hands to cover his ears, and his expression was one of pure terror: "I won't listen! I won't listen! I am Li Wuxiang! I am Li Wuxiang!"

"So...you kept making him feel like you were under his control, tricking him into giving you the Myriad Transformations Formula...using his supernatural powers to turn this place into a delusional illusion, and here...you made yourself the True Lord of the Wei River...you thought it was real, and it really was, you—" Li Wuxiang suddenly lowered his hand and laughed loudly: "Doesn't it look like it?"

"……what?"

"I said, do I look like him? Do I look like the way he was when he first met you two? Saying he's mastered all supernatural powers and is about to unify the world? Hahahaha!" Xu Zhen squatted down in front of her and slapped her face hard. "What are you doing? Do you really think I'm obsessed too, that I really think I'm Li Wuxiang?"

"Oh, I see. You think that if I remember that I am Xu Zhen, Li Wuxiang will remember that he is not Xu Zhen? How could you have such a thought? Are you stupid?"

"You...you kept me and Li Guichen alive, wasn't it just for—"

Xu Zhen's eyes darted around, then he smiled and said, "I know. You're a person, and you think my supernatural powers are like the spells in your Central Continent, with all sorts of strange rules and taboos? Keeping you and Li Guichen around is like some kind of ritual—how he treats you, I have to treat you the same way, so that I don't remember who I am, or so that I can remember who I am?"

“You’ve got it wrong, little thing!” Xu Zhen sighed. “I’m keeping you two around for no other reason than that you were with Li Wuxiang when he parted ways with Mei Qiulu at Dapan Mountain. In the future, when I, Li Wuxiang, go to find Mei Qiulu, I’ll have to take you with me. It’s a pity that my supernatural powers can’t do anything to you. Do you think this is a good thing? Let me tell you, it’s a bad thing—that’s why I can’t keep you here.”

"I...I didn't..." Xue Baoping struggled to lift her head. "I didn't say those things for any other reason. I...I wanted to serve you, I..."

Xu Zhen glanced at her: "People from the Central Plains are interesting; they have all sorts of strange and wonderful abilities, and you might have a little bit of that too. But I don't like that you're not fascinated by these abilities, so keeping you around is pointless—"

He raised his hand and chopped down.

"My skills are about the same as yours!" Xue Baoping said. "I can also make the fake become the real!"

Xu Zhen's hand stopped on her face, and the breeze from his palm made ripples spread across her skin. Her eyes immediately became bloodshot, and tears streamed down her face.

"Fake becomes real?"

"Really, just ask me to move, and I'll show you... This isn't supernatural power... This is magic, and I can teach you!"

At that moment, thunder seemed to be exploding in the sky, and large swaths of blood rained down, but mixed in with other things—fragments of flesh and bones fell like tiny hailstones.

Xu Zhen looked up at the sky: "If you're talking about those scribbles—"

“I draw talismans, but what I draw isn’t fake, it’s real! Unlike yours… What you create only looks real within your own supernatural abilities, but what I create is real wherever you go. I can conjure up a person for you right now, a living person! Didn’t you want to disguise yourself as Li Wuxiang and go to Mei Qiulu’s side? You won’t succeed like that, Mei Qiulu might be able to tell, but if you learn my skills, you will be the real Li Wuxiang, and no one will be able to tell!”

Xu Zhen frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "What you've said is really tempting. Who did you learn this skill from?"

“My master… my master is a Yang spirit. He forbids me from saying his name, but I was able to invite him here… Now that he’s here, you can just ask him!”

"Yang Shen..."

"You have nothing to be afraid of!" Xue Baoping spoke more and more fluently. "Didn't you trick Li Wuxiang into bringing down and locking up the Blood God's true spirit? You told me to bring over my master's Yang spirit as well. Then you locked up his Yang spirit too. If he teaches you, that would be great. If he doesn't... then you can make the three of them fight. You'll be able to refine even more things!"

Xu Zhen thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "Little thing, you've figured it out, haven't you?"

"what?"

"I remember now, you and Li Wuxiang were here too. So you know I've locked them both up. Help me summon your master's Yang spirit? You actually want me to open this Myriad Transformations Formation so the Blood God can escape back to the Crimson Heaven, right? Hmm?"

"No! You'll see when I try! I just want to live! I won't call my master... I'll show you my skills first, and then you can decide for yourself whether I need to call my master or not, okay?"

As Xue Baoping spoke, she looked up at the sky—the blood from the battle between the two was increasing, congealing into large red clouds. The Xie Zhi, increasingly resembling a dragon, weaved through the clouds, while the Blood God was transforming into a vast net of red veins, fighting and fleeing as if still searching for a way back to the crimson sky.

"They're almost completely defeated. They're really finished. Even if I bring my master's spirit here, you won't be able to get them to deal with it!"

Xu Zhen frowned, picked her up from the ground and shook her hard: "Fine, I'll give you a chance to live. Let me see what you're capable of."

(End of this chapter)