Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 378 Immortal Zhao Faces Tribulation

"I feel it! Hahahaha! I feel it! I've done it! I am the Blood God!"

Xu Zhen suddenly looked up and gazed at the sky!

The sight he witnessed was utterly awe-inspiring—vast swirling blood-red clouds in the sky, like a typhoon, rapidly converged towards their center, only to be completely absorbed by Zhao Qi. Not only the clouds, but even the crimson of the dome seemed to have been sucked away, making Zhao Qi in the sky appear dazzlingly red, as if he had truly become some kind of deity!
Beside Zhao Qi stood Li Wuxiang. He had transformed back into human form, still dressed as before. But when Xu Zhen looked at him, he felt a glare that was almost blinding—not because of the sun behind him, but as if Li Wuxiang himself was dazzling and irresistible… This had nothing to do with his eyes, but rather came from the depths of his divine sense, as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have!

Xue Baoping felt the same way, even more intensely than Xu Zhen. She gripped Li Wuxiang's small sword, glancing only once at the sky before immediately lowering her head. The feeling was so subtle that it instantly brought to mind many stories Li Wuxiang had told her in Jinshui, and now, one phrase from those stories leaped into her mind—"Never look directly at a god!"

When Li Wuxiang mentioned this before, he said it wasn't a story from the Central Plains, but Xue Baoping felt exactly that way now. She remembered the continuous rumbling thunder and flashes of light from the sky just now—at that time, those sounds were blocked by thick blood clouds, and she only thought they were the loud noises made by Li Wuxiang fighting with the Blood God. But now a thought popped into her mind: Li Wuxiang was undergoing tribulation just now!
What tribulation did he undergo? Why do he and Zhao Qi look like this now? Did he become an immortal? Zhao Qi said he was the Blood God?

She caught a glimpse of the same astonished expression on Xu Zhen's face, and in a flash, she gripped her small sword, took a step back, and whispered, "It's over, Demon King Xu, they've both succeeded—"

Xu Zhen snorted coldly: "Success? It's just that they think it's successful."

"I can't say for sure about Zhao Qi, but Li Wuxiang, he really is no ordinary person!" Xue Baoping said hurriedly, "I'm telling you now, so don't blame me—Li Wuxiang truly possesses a rank and status. He became a True Immortal during the Great Calamity Mountain, but his situation is a bit special. He is the original body of a True Immortal left in the mortal world, and the True Immortal he became is called the Great Calamity True Lord..."

"Shut up!" Xu Zhen shouted. "I don't need you to tell me what I know!"

"I'm telling the truth! Aren't you wondering what kind of supernatural power he used to make you fall into a trance? He used the true immortal power of the Great Calamity True Lord! You've been under his spell for a long time! Blood God... that Zhao Qi, they've known each other for a long time, they used to be master and disciple, you know that, right? They must have just made peace in heaven... Blood God helped him achieve true immortality—"

"Get lost!" Xu Zhen flicked his sleeve, and although the two were three steps apart, the force of the wind immediately sent Xue Baoping flying. After being thrown more than ten steps in mid-air, she crashed to the ground with a thud, leaving a trail of blood.

An ordinary person would have died long ago, but her body, reshaped by Li Guichen, was very resilient. However, her limbs were weak, as if several bones were broken, and she was unable to get up for a while.

Xu Zhen didn't even turn his head, only staring at the two people rapidly falling through the air: "Do you think I don't know what you're trying to do? You think I'll make him real just because you think he's some kind of Great Calamity True Lord? Fools, do you think it's that easy to borrow my divine power?"

"I'm telling the truth!" Xue Baoping shouted, lying on the ground. "You are not the True Lord of Weishui at all! Li Wuxiang is the True Lord of Great Calamity! You think you are the True Lord of Weishui because he planted the Calamity of Delusions in you! It's all delusion! All your thoughts are delusions! You'd better watch out! If you think you are the True Lord of Weishui, you have entered the Calamity and delusions!"

The two had already landed from the air and were standing a dozen steps away from Xu Zhen.

In Xue Baoping's eyes, the two of them were still in human form, but in Xu Zhen's eyes, they had nothing to do with being human anymore.

Zhao Qi's "Blood God" resembled a ball of flame, drawn by something extremely high above. His face and limbs were twisted, as if trying to rise like clouds, yet bound by some force, keeping him in human form.

Xu Zhen could smell an extremely strong life force emanating from him, but that life force did not actually belong to Zhao Qi. Instead, it should have come from the Crimson Heaven, from the True Lord of Fate, and his true form over there.

It's obvious at a glance that this thing, this "Blood God," is still fake; it's just that Li Wuxiang forced him to stay here.

As for Li Wuxiang, it seemed even more absurd to his divine sense. His main body was pieced together from a collection of skeletons. There were his own Xie Zhi skeletons—but most of them had weathered and dried up, like rotten wood. The others were probably the dragon skeletons of the Ninth Prince that he had seen in the Crimson Heaven; those bones were very large, with a single finger bone the size of an ordinary person.

But now these huge bones are piled up layer upon layer, like a naughty child being stuffed into a skin bag, and they may break apart at any moment because they are being suppressed too much.

The reason he didn't was because he still possessed the authority of the True Lord of Fate within his body. In Xu Zhen's divine sense, this authority resembled the flesh and fascia of a living person, but it was merely pulling and tugging haphazardly, holding the bones together to prevent them from scattering.

It's still because of the outer shell. Xu Zhen knew that Li Wuxiang had two layers of skin: one was the Golden Entanglement, and the other was his own human skin. The Golden Entanglement was like a sack about to burst, tightly holding the contents inside. In many places, it had merged into the dragon's skeleton, and even sprouted tendrils like golden veins.

This is not surprising, as the Golden Entanglement was originally refined from the dragon body of the Ninth Prince in his present life. The Ninth Prince was the True Lord of the Wei River, a True Immortal, whose true spirit remained even after death. The skeleton in the Crimson Heaven is his immortal true spirit, so it is quite reasonable that the magic weapon refined from his present dragon body is combined with his true spirit skeleton.

But strangely, the outer layer of his skin was his own.

Li Wuxiang's Great Calamity Sword Scripture was likely used to refine this physical body. Even at the Nascent Soul stage, this body should still be just a mortal object. But now Xu Zhen realized that the "unbearable" aura emanating from him mostly came from this body, as if it were something truly shouldn't exist in this world...

Is this what Xue Baoping refers to as the "Great Calamity True Lord" attainment?

However, Xu Zhen didn't care much about any of this. Although the process had taken an unexpected turn, the outcome remained the same. Compared to what he was about to obtain, all of this was insignificant. He even smiled slightly and withdrew his divine sense: "If I had known things would turn out this way, I wouldn't have pretended to be your brother. In the end, I've given you my bones and given you an extra helper—"

He looked up at the sky and said, "You've undergone tribulation. Didn't you say you hadn't condensed your three souls yet? Where did the missing one come from? Li Wuxiang, a fake is a fake, it can never become real."

"Stop wasting time talking to him! We—" Zhao Qi felt incredibly strong now, perhaps even stronger than Li Wuxiang, and this barbarian from the Eastern Continent was no match for him. His overflowing blood energy fueled his fighting spirit; for the first time in his life, he felt this way—no more trembling with fear and caution, he could do whatever he wanted! Including crushing this barbarian into dust with a single punch!
But Li Wuxiang pressed on his shoulder: "You'd better be careful. The one opposite you is no ordinary demon king, but the True Lord of Weishui, the Ninth Prince, who is also your master."

Zhao Qi was stunned: "Huh? What nonsense are you spouting? This thing is worthy of being my master?! When did he become the True Lord of the Wei River?"

Li Wuxiang stared at Xu Zhen: "What I'm saying here is true, Xu Zhen. Do you think it's true? Miss Xue is right, you have fallen victim to the calamity seed I planted. Whether you've been truly insane or feigning madness these past few days, you've already entered the calamity."

"This Myriad Transformations Formation was created by you in the Realm of Illusion. Your boundless supernatural powers within it were also created by you in the Realm of Illusion. Even him and I—"

Li Wuxiang pointed at himself and then at Zhao Qi: "It's all thanks to you. I've now become the Nascent Soul of the Great Calamity Sword Scripture and the magical beast Xie Zhi. My realm is so high that even I'm afraid of it. You ask me where the missing soul came from? Of course, it was given to me by you—by Xu Chen!"

He glanced at Li Guichen and Xue Baoping behind Xu Zhen: "So I'll teach you a good way to deal with the two of us—you run out of the Myriad Transformations Realm, calm your mind, and withdraw your supernatural powers. That way, Xu Chen might be gone, and I'll lose a soul, causing my cultivation level to drop immediately. Once this Illusory Mind Realm breaks, Zhao Qi's Blood God will also be gone. At that time, it will still be the two of us fighting, and perhaps you'll still have a sliver of hope?"

Zhao Qi was stunned: "Huh? Li Wuxiang, what did you say? Why did you tell him to harm me?!"

Li Wuxiang rolled his eyes at him. Zhao Qi was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant: "Oh, I get it. Haha, this barbarian gave you all his bones. Even if he's not here anymore, his strength is greatly diminished, and you still have his demon bones—once he leaves, he'll be just an empty shell, while you'll become a Xie Zhi (a mythical beast). You're stronger than him! Brilliant!"

After saying this, Zhao Qi was immediately startled—how did I become so smart?!

No… I didn’t become this smart. I was already incredibly intelligent, but after I died, my mind became muddled and I lost my sharpness. Now that I’ve become the Blood God and my mind is clear, naturally I can understand everything!

As he pondered this, he felt incredibly pleased with himself, as if he had returned to the time when he was in Jinshui, living in the Chen family's courtyard.

However, things are different now. Back then, he was merely a Qi Refining cultivator, only able to show off his power in front of mortals, and he had to put in a lot of effort to deal with his little disciple, Li Wuxiang. But now, beside him is Li Wuxiang, a Nascent Soul cultivator who has mastered the Great Tribulation Sword Scripture, and opposite him is a powerful demon king from the Eastern Continent, while he himself is the Blood God!
Blood God!
Now, even ordinary people... no, even cultivators rarely witness such a battle between powerful beings. I am one of them, and I might just become like Li Wuxiang during the Great Calamity Mountain, spreading my fame far and wide, with incense burning endlessly!
This thought made Zhao Qi feel as if his blood was boiling, making his mind even clearer. He couldn't help but put his hands behind his back, paced a couple of steps, smiled slightly, and then confidently said, "If he doesn't dare to go out, the situation will be even better—Li Wuxiang, you've mastered your divine skills, and I, the descended Blood God, will be there to support you. Even if he thinks he's the Ninth Prince or the True Lord of the Wei River, he won't be a match for the two of us. So this barbarian... haha, he can't leave, and he can't stay. Whether he stays here or outside, he's doomed—my good disciple, your scheme is truly ruthless, you've really inherited my true teachings..."

"Oh, and another thing, you are now the magical beast Xie Zhi here! You also have his supernatural powers! The two of you are arguing here and not making a move, but you are actually fighting! You say he is the True Lord of Wei River, just so that he can truly become the True Lord of Wei River here, so that he will forget who he really is, so that you can take away all his supernatural powers."

"When he asked you how you completed that missing soul, he was also using supernatural powers—he wanted to remind you that you were originally missing a soul, and to cause your cultivation level to drop! Hahahaha, the battle between the two of you is interesting. There's no sign of the sky collapsing or the Yellow Springs crumbling, but all it takes is witty banter. How wonderful, how interesting!"

Zhao Qi felt that his last few words were even more ingenious than the current situation, and couldn't help but savor them for a moment before looking at Xue Baoping in the distance: "However, you barbarian demon, since you have that little girl in your hands, you don't need to be afraid. Li Wuxiang cares about her a lot. Actually, besides fighting, you have a third option—to send her here, then bind yourself and beg for forgiveness. Li Wuxiang is a reasonable person; since I'm his master, I can put in a good word for you. Back when we were in Jinshui—"

Li Wuxiang sighed: "Zhao Qi."

"Ok?"

"Say less, and look at yourself."

"What's wrong with me—" Zhao Qi looked at himself and was immediately shocked.

He was originally wearing a crimson robe, surrounded by a blood mist, looking incredibly imposing. But now the blood mist around him had faded to almost nothing, and his crimson robe seemed to have faded and shrunk, looking almost like a faded white Taoist robe.

His feet, which had been barefoot, were now... covered in shoes, their surfaces filthy and muddy.

This seems to be his outfit when he was in Jinshui... It's how he looked when he ran to perform a ritual on Li Wuxiang that night and came back with his cloth shoes covered in mud!

The next moment, he suddenly heard Xu Zhen shout: "The True Lord of Wei River is your master?! Fine! Then look at me, who am I?!"

(End of this chapter)