Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 376 Self-defeating
After being shaken, Xue Baoping felt all her joints relax and she immediately stood up, reaching for her purse.

Her waist bag resembled the kind of crossbody bag from Li Wuxiang's hometown in the early days. In fact, if people there saw it, they would think it was a contemporary product made in an antique style—it was made of cowhide, could fit two fists inside, was oval-shaped, and was tied around the waist with a leather belt and a copper buckle, with a leather flap.

As soon as Xue Baoping lifted the lid, Xu Zhen frowned and said, "Wait."

Her heart skipped a beat: "What's wrong?"

“No, little thing, I know what you’re thinking.” Xu Zhen stared at her hands. “In this Myriad Transformations Cube, I’m in charge. You also know that whatever I want to be real will come true. You were talking to me about magic earlier—you don’t actually know how to use it. You’re trying to make me think you really do, and then borrow my supernatural powers to make what you create come true, isn’t that right!?”

Xu Zhen was quite clever, and her worries weren't unfounded. But Xue Baoping immediately waved her hand: "No, no, if I lied to you, you'd find out sooner or later. I can't escape, and I'd still die. I'm afraid I'd die an even more gruesome death then. I really would… Look, how about this—"

"I won't tell you what I'm going to create, I won't tell you anything, I'll just draw my talisman, that way you won't know, and your supernatural powers won't help me, so that at least proves that I can really conjure up living people, right?"

Xu Zhen stared at her hand, then at her face for a moment, before taking two steps back to stand next to Li Guichen. "Fine. I'll close my eyes—you've followed Li Wuxiang, so you should know that even though I can't see, I can still tell what tricks you're up to, right?"

"I know. You're already at the Nascent Soul stage, I know what abilities you have. Now, may I try?"

"Try it!"

Xue Baoping reached into her waist pouch to feel for the talisman.

Before she could touch the talisman, she first encountered a fist-sized, round object with an uneven surface. It seemed to move slightly, or perhaps it was merely touched by her finger.

That was a head… well, not exactly a head, it was the head of Hu Wei that she and Li Wuxiang found under the eaves of the Flying Eagle that night. [Note 1]

That night, she and Li Wuxiang went to Flying Eagle's Edge to investigate what had happened there. They saw Hu Wei, who had been turned into a bead by Xu Pianpian—Hu Wei, who had been made into a ball using her own bones and flesh.

The method of bringing the dead back to life that Li Yunxin taught her had conditions: the person to be resurrected must have an intact soul, and the time must be exactly the first or fifteenth of the lunar month. Today was the fifteenth, and the soul she could use was Hu Wei—after finding her that day, she wanted to wait a few more days before bringing her back to life, but every day after that was filled with dangerous changes, and there was no suitable opportunity at all.

When she was affected by Xu Zhen's supernatural powers and left Dapan Mountain, there was no way to bring Hu Wei back to life—she herself didn't eat much, and if she brought Hu Wei back to life after she had lost all her cultivation, she would probably starve to death.

So she kept it in her pouch. She didn't know if the human head bead that Hu Wei had transformed into was still alive, or if a soul still lingered inside, but this was her last resort—

Her living dead magic, in the end, is also borrowing supernatural powers, which should be borrowed from her master Li Yunxin.

The Wanhua Fang is currently isolated from the world, and even the Blood God True Spirit cannot return to the Crimson Heaven. It can almost be described as a solid steel cage.

She wanted to open this cage because Li Wuxiang had been able to retain some clarity of mind before because he possessed the status of a Great Calamity Star. If she could open it... or even just pry open a small crack, allowing Li Wuxiang to reconnect with his Great Calamity Star status, perhaps he could wake up!
She pulled out the talisman paper, then casually took out a piece of charcoal pencil, sat cross-legged on the ground, placed the talisman on her waist pouch, and used the charcoal pencil to draw little figures on it.

The figures didn't need to be exact likeness; just a rough sketch would suffice. But Xue Baoping tried to draw slowly, silently calling out to her master, Li Yunxin—she had been calling out to her for a while, but there had been no response. She guessed that her own calls and vows had been blocked by the Myriad Transformations Method.

So now is the last resort... She has to perform a ritual, to borrow supernatural powers, hoping that her seemingly all-powerful master's powers will be strong enough to tear a crack in the Myriad Transformations Formula and pour it into this paper!

The talisman was drawn, and it depicted Hu Wei, who looked very much like Xu Pianpian on Dapan Mountain. Then Xue Baoping silently recited the incantation in her heart: "Master Li, it's done!"

She only used this method once, the one she used to revive Lou He.

That time, she could be described as having the power to make her words come true; as soon as she finished reciting the incantation, the talisman immediately transformed into flesh and blood.

But now that she has recited it in her mind, the talisman just lies quietly on her handbag, motionless... Li Yunxin's supernatural powers can't get here!
Xue Baoping was filled with despair. She tried reciting the talisman several more times in her heart, but the talisman remained unresponsive... Was the spirit unable to pass through, or was Hu Wei's soul no longer there? After all, she had been silent for quite some time...

"Have you finished drawing?"

Xu Zhen seemed to be getting impatient and asked a question.

Xue Baoping's mind lit up; she suddenly remembered what Li Wuxiang had said before—Li Guichen had asked him if he had really used beasts from the outside world to refine the "Great Perfection Supreme Body" for Xu Zhen. Li Wuxiang had said, "Refine my ass! That thing was just a pretext. When the time came, he would mention it to Xu Zhen, and if Xu Zhen felt he had succeeded, then he really had succeeded—it's all in a split second, a mere thought… even if it's just a subtle thought…"

"It's finished! It's come to life! Come and see!" Xue Baoping immediately exclaimed.

Xu Zhen's expression changed, and a cold smile appeared on his lips: "Little brat, you really dare to deceive even me? Do you think I'm insignificant—"

He suddenly opened his eyes—

The instant he opened his eyes, the talisman on Xue Baoping's waist pouch fluttered up and flew into the air. Xu Zhen then saw a human figure materialize—a naked woman who landed and fell down. She sat on the ground, blinking and looking dazed for a while before turning her head to look around. Seemingly feeling cold, she looked at herself and immediately cried out in surprise, hugging her arms.

At this moment, Xue Baoping had already taken off her outer garment and quickly went over to drape it over her.

Hu Wei seemed still confused about what was happening, clutching her clothes tightly and staring at Xue Baoping and Xu Zhen, too afraid to move. Meanwhile, the two in the sky were fighting more and more fiercely; a huge cloud of blood almost filled the entire sky above Wanhua Fang, causing the earth to tremble slightly. Hu Wei glanced up at it and immediately fainted from fright.

Xue Baoping quickly said to Xu Zhen, "Look, I really can! I can really draw living people! This is—"

“Hu Wei,” Xu Zhen nodded, “Pianpian transformed into her.”

He walked to Hu Wei's side, stepped on one of her little toes with his toe, and crushed it instantly, causing blood to gush out. Hu Wei screamed in pain and woke up again, but Xue Baoping grabbed her neck below her ear and pressed hard for a short while, knocking her unconscious again.

Xu Zhen frowned and hummed in agreement. She immediately explained, "The more people here, the more thoughts, the more desires, the more trouble there will be, so I..." "Oh." Xu Zhen nodded and smiled. "What you said makes sense."

His attitude softened, and Xue Baoping immediately asked, "Do you believe me now?"

Xu Zhen was silent for a moment, then squinted at her: "Xu Pianpian transformed into this little girl. I know her."

“You know her, but you didn’t see her when you came to Dapan Mountain that day! She’s the living person I drew, the Hu Wei who was killed by your sister. She…she…she was shy just now! She was worried that she wasn’t wearing any clothes!”

Xu Zhen nodded again: "That's true. I've never actually seen her, only heard Pianpian mention her. If she were created using my supernatural powers, she certainly wouldn't have noticed that she was naked first. I believe you—"

Xue Baoping breathed a sigh of relief: "You—"

"Cut open her belly and let me see," Xu Zhen said, then threw the small sword in his hand in front of Xue Baoping.

"I...what!? You know she's alive!"

Xu Zhen laughed: "Firstly, I want to see if the living person you created is any different from a real person. After all, look at me and Li Wuxiang, they both look alive. I'm quite curious if the person in her belly is also like a living person."

"Secondly—" He looked at Xue Baoping, "You used to follow Li Wuxiang and were a swordsman. I know what swordsmen in the Central Plains care about in terms of being true to their conscience. Little thing, you are not controlled by my supernatural powers, you can still find your way back to help Li Wuxiang, and you have a master who can teach you this kind of skill. How can I feel at ease keeping you by my side?"

"But I'll be relieved if you cut open this little girl's stomach. In your Central Plains dialect, this is called a blood oath—trading her life for yours. If you think it's worth it, you can live."

Xue Baoping fell silent, then slowly bent down and picked up the small sword.

She wouldn't actually cut open Hu Wei's stomach, but she knew she had to be slow and stall as long as possible—the fact that Hu Wei had actually been drawn meant she had borrowed her master's supernatural powers, meaning that even if it was only for that brief moment, at least for that instant, Wanhuafang wasn't completely isolated from the world. Besides her master Li Yunxin's supernatural powers, there should also be—

The crimson light of the Great Calamity Star, like a scarlet lightning bolt, struck Li Wuxiang's consciousness in an instant. Like a sharp sword, it dispelled the fog, then instantly receded, completely isolated by the Myriad Transformations Method.

But that was enough—the name "Li Wuxiang" suddenly rushed into his mind, and he remembered—

The self that is now, transformed into a dragon, locked in battle with the Blood God's true spirit, and shrouded in layers of blood mist, is not Xu Zhen!
It's Li Wuxiang!

The thought arose in the blink of an eye, but he immediately suppressed it, trying to put himself in a dazed state of consciousness—like someone who had just woken up from a dream and regained consciousness, but for a moment couldn't remember who he was or where he was, just like when he was trying to get Li Guichen out on the edge of Mount Ling.

But because of this slight lapse, his dragon body, which was transformed from a Xie Zhi, almost disintegrated—he was already locked in battle with the Blood God's true spirit, the two intertwined in the red clouds. The Blood God's meridians probed into his body through the gaps in his scales and wounds, trying to dig out the remains of the Ninth Prince that he had previously incorporated into his body, and to tear his body apart.

He had no idea how much he had torn from the other's body and swallowed with his enormous maw. In that instant, he felt he had completely transformed into a Xie Zhi, a ferocious beast, abandoning all supernatural powers and spells like the Blood God's True Spirit, becoming nothing more than two animals tearing at each other!

"Zhao Qi!" Li Wuxiang shouted in his mind, "We've been tricked by Xu Zhen! I'm not Xu Zhen! I'm not the Xie Zhi!"

But Zhao Qi didn't answer!
In fact, he doesn't even know where Zhao Qi is now!
The Blood God's true spirit's skeleton, which he had previously dismantled into pieces, was constantly being reassembled under the contraction of the blood nerve meridians. What he was facing now was almost a huge, crimson net, with even the dragon's skull no longer visible. Li Wuxiang wasn't even sure if he had swallowed Zhao Qi's head whole before—

confirmed.

He really did swallow Zhao Qi's head whole.

Because right after he said those words, he suddenly felt a wave of nausea in his throat, as if something had suddenly risen from his stomach and was about to come out—

"...Huh? What? What Zhao Qi?"

"Zhao Qi, I'll swallow you whole?!"

"Huh? Ah...yes, you swallowed me..."

"You know you're Zhao Qi now!? You've figured it out!?"

"...I...yes, I am Zhao Qi! I am Zhao Qi! I've figured it out!"

He responded to everything he was told—at first, Li Wuxiang thought the Blood God was still in a daze and was plotting something against him. But the next moment, he suddenly understood—

Xu Zhen was right before!

Now I have the bones of a Xie Zhi inside my body, covered with a layer of skin. This is the Xie Zhi!

Just now, before fighting the Blood God True Spirit, I did indeed discover that I could use Xu Zhen's supernatural powers—Xu Zhen really transformed himself into a Xie Zhi, at least in this deluded illusion, he really had some of the Xie Zhi's supernatural powers!

This is the price Xu Zhen paid to transform himself into a Xie Zhi... What was fake could become real, at least here. So now he has actually used the Xie Zhi's supernatural powers to... rescue Zhao Qi!

“Zhao Qi! You are Zhao Qi now, but you are also the Blood God! You are Zhao Qi who has become the Blood God, do you understand? I am Li Wuxiang now, but I am also a Xie Zhi, I am Li Wuxiang who has become a Xie Zhi, do you understand?! Damn it, we were both tricked by Xu Zhen, Xu Zhen is just a human skin! Do you understand? If you understand, just say so, and come with me to deal with him!”

……

Note 1: See Chapter 339 for details.
(End of this chapter)