Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 381 A mistake
He turned his gaze to Xu Zhen: "Demon King Xu, do you remember who you are now?"

Xu Zhen braced himself with his hands, intending to leap backward. However, his injuries were more severe than he had imagined. He managed to jump, but upon landing, his body swayed, and he staggered a few steps before regaining his balance, looking quite disheveled.

He turned to look at Xue Baoping, only to see that she had already dragged the wooden-stiff Li Guichen and the unconscious Hu Wei from behind to Li Wuxiang's side, and then raised her hand: "Li Wuxiang!"

She tossed the small sword over, and Li Wuxiang caught it with a simple movement. The moment the sword touched his hand, it became completely transparent, as if it were made of golden light. Li Wuxiang then flicked his finger, and the small sword rose into the air, hovering above his head, instantly transforming into eight other identical swords, forming a halo behind his head.

"Thanks to Demon King Xu, I've now reached the first level of the Nascent Soul stage in the Great Calamity Sword Scripture. I feel my blood and energy are abundant, my power boundless, and I even think killing you would be a piece of cake," Li Wuxiang said with a smile. "However, I have a suggestion that would be good for both of us—"

"Xu Pianpian is with me, and I can tell you really like her. Your cultivation has been difficult, so you certainly don't want to be killed by me like this. If you were to—"

Xu Zhen sneered: "Would you bow down and worship me, becoming my slave and servant?"

Li Wuxiang raised an eyebrow and spread his arms wide: "This is the Central Continent, not the Eastern Continent. We people of the Central Continent have our own set of customs. For example, this Zhao Qi used to be my master and enemy. He wanted to harm me, but I ended up killing him. After all this time, our relationship is still pretty good, right, Zhao Qi?"

Zhao Qi slung his sword behind his back and smiled slightly, mimicking him: "That's right. We've already buried the hatchet, so from now on we'll treat each other as equals. I used to be your master, and you're now the sect leader of Ranshan, so we're practically peers. I'm older, so if I suffer a loss, just call me Brother Zhao."

Li Wuxiang raised his hand and looked at Xu Zhen: "Look, even Brother Zhao said so. And it's not just Brother Zhao, there's also this one, Li Guichen."

"Does Demon King Xu know how he came to be here? According to the Central Continent, he was originally my inner demon. But now, because of the divine power of the True Lord of Fate, this inner demon has also become real, and I still regard him as a friend and family. I captured a crocodile demon on Mount Dapan..."

He glanced at Li Guichen: "Now even the crocodile demon has become my friend and family. I don't have any prejudices about sects or races. As long as someone changes their appearance, they can be my friend."

Xu Zhen stood there in silence for a moment. Zhao Qi stared at him for a moment, then whispered behind Li Wuxiang, "Don't waste your breath on him. Can't you see? He's waiting for his injuries to heal. What are you waiting for?"

Xu Zhen snorted: "What a joke. I was waiting? I was just wondering why you were saying these things to me, and now I've figured it out."

He pointed and said, "You used my supernatural powers to create a world within your magical artifact called the Myriad Transformations Array. Now, where is this place, Jinshui Town?"

Li Wuxiang looked around and nodded: "Yes, Jinshui Town."

This place still resembled Jinshui. The Chen family compound was exactly as he remembered, and he could even see the town's houses in the distance. When Xu Zhen had transformed into Zhao Kui in his trance, the entire Jinshui area, along with the Jinshui River, had materialized within the Myriad Transformations Formation. It flowed into the mist at one end of this world and out of the mist at the other. In the distance, a solitary mountain that resembled Nine Executions Peak stood out against the backdrop.

The town is now eerily quiet, but in Li Wuxiang's memory, it was often just as quiet. Life in the town wasn't good; there were few chickens and dogs, so they were rarely heard from each other. At night, once the lights were out, it truly resembled an empty town.

“You want to preserve this world within the Myriad Transformations Realm. So if you kill me, my supernatural powers will be extinguished, and you will lose this world as well. So it’s not that you’re soft-hearted and want to spare my and Pianpian’s lives, but that you want to preserve this place.”

Li Wuxiang smiled and said, "Demon King Xu, you still think like someone from the Eastern Continent. In our Central Continent, some things aren't done 'because' of anything. Now that your bones are in my body, I just used your supernatural powers to make you real. Whether you live or die doesn't really matter. I just feel that you, this demon king, are somewhat different. At least in the things Xu Chen remembers, although you are considered very cruel and tyrannical according to the Central Continent's perspective, compared to other demon kings in the Eastern Continent, you are actually like me, considered a great benefactor in the Eastern Continent."

Xu Zhen smiled and looked down at his wounds. The wounds had stopped bleeding, but they still showed no signs of healing, so he raised his hand to touch them.

Li Wuxiang also examined his wounds: "You've gone too deep into delusion and become possessed by demons. You were also a magical beast, the Xie Zhi, so you're indeed very difficult to deal with. Just now, I made you lose your mind, and you used all your power to transform yourself into Zhao Kui. Brother Zhao poked more than a dozen holes in your Zhao Kui body. Afterward, I gave you a hint, reminding you that you are Xu Zhen—so the wounds are actually still on Zhao Kui's body, not on yours, so naturally they can't heal."

"You've wasted most of your power on Zhao Kui, and now you're probably not even as good as Xu Pianpian before. It's really not easy to survive in the Eastern Continent after being a demon for so long, why seek your own death?"

Xue Baoping frowned slightly and glanced at Li Wuxiang.

She sensed something was off. If it were the old her, she would have felt she didn't know Li Wuxiang well enough—that he was actually kinder? More shrewd? She even thought she could persuade Xu Zhen, the great demon king of the Eastern Continent.

But now she sees many things very clearly. Li Wuxiang can be considered a kind person in the Central Plains, as can Mei Qiulu and Zeng Jianqiu. However, Li Wuxiang's kindness is sharp and distinct; he has his own principles, which form a framework. Anyone within this framework is entitled to experience his kindness, but those outside the framework have absolutely no chance.

The boundaries of kindness in Mei Qiulu and Zeng Jianqiu are actually more blurred. They don't seem to have that framework... and neither do the people of Zhonglu.

Just like Xu Pianpian. In Xue Baoping's eyes, Xu Pianpian was cruel and had killed many people. But she knew that Xu Pianpian's wickedness stemmed from living in the Eastern Continent, where she had been influenced by her surroundings. In a different environment, she could very well become another little crocodile.

If Xu Pianpian sincerely repents and begs for forgiveness, Mei Qiulu and Zeng Jianqiu will definitely accept her. But Li Wuxiang may not. He will most likely only spare her temporarily and then make further plans after she atones with her death.

Therefore, she found it strange that Li Wuxiang was currently trying to persuade Xu Zhen. A powerful demon like Xu Zhen was unlikely to suddenly repent; even if he temporarily submitted due to pressure, he would never truly regret it. Li Wuxiang always eradicated evil completely, so why was he wasting his breath talking to him now?

What is he... wary of?
It's absolutely not some Jinshui Town in this world!

Then a terrifying and unbelievable thought popped into her head. Then she heard Li Wuxiang's words, which further confirmed her idea—"If you still don't believe me, Demon King Xu, I can return your bones to you." Li Wuxiang raised his hand and made a stroke on his chest, revealing what was beneath his skin.

What should have been a golden net was no longer a golden shroud, but rather resembled numerous blood vessels flowing with pale golden blood. Flesh and blood had grown beneath the skin, a thin layer. Through that flesh and blood, one could see the bones inside. Unlike a human skeleton, they looked as if they were haphazardly crammed together, squeezing out twisted and deformed organs, as if there were simply too many bones for his body to contain.

Li Wuxiang reached into his chest and pulled out a piece of bone. It looked like it had been stewed, gnawed clean, and left for quite some time. It was pale in color, the cartilage was gone, revealing a honeycomb-like structure at the end.

Li Wuxiang raised his hand and pointed, the bone dangling in mid-air. Then he continued to pull out more bones that once belonged to the Xie Zhi from his chest, slowly piecing them together to form the shape of a beast.

"Your remains are right here. Xu Zhen, just say that I, Xu Zhen, the Demon King of the Eastern Continent, no longer wish to fight and wish to stay in this Wanhua Fang to live a peaceful life, and I will immediately return you to your rightful owner. I was once the Taiyi Swordsman, and now I am the Sect Master of the Sword Sect. My words are witnessed by Donghuang Taiyi and Dajie Zhenjun. If I break this oath, I will surely be punished by heaven."

Brother Zhao was dumbfounded: "Li Wuxiang, are you serious?! This guy is impossible to tame! Leaving him here is suicide! Once he recovers, he'll definitely come after you! You should make him swear an oath to that Western Emperor Gouchen! No, that won't work either. What good would it do if he swore an oath? We're all from the orthodox Xuanmen sect. If word gets out that we've left an Eastern Continent demon king by our side, we'll be cursed by the people of the Central Continent!"

Xue Baoping immediately spoke up: "Xu Zhen was just born in the wrong place. He is a magical beast, Xie Zhi, born and raised in the Eastern Continent. Zhao Qi, haven't you heard how the Central Continent speaks of Xie Zhi? During the Ye Dynasty, the government carved Xie Zhi on the screen wall, saying that he could distinguish right from wrong! Xu the Demon King could also distinguish right from wrong, it's just that the customs of the Eastern Continent are different from those of the Central Continent. Even so, as Li Wuxiang said, he was still considered a very benevolent demon king in the Eastern Continent."

"Xu Zhen, you spared my life before, and you just said you wanted to learn my supernatural powers from me! You wanted to use those powers to save Xu Pianpian, right? You're also a mortal, you have a heart!"

Xu Zhen remained silent, his brows furrowing slightly, as if he had been persuaded to hesitate. He lowered his head to touch the wounds on his body, then looked up at the beast-like skeleton in front of Li Wuxiang, and slowly crossed his arms over his chest.

Before Zhao Qi could speak, Xue Baoping tugged at his sleeve: "Zhao Qi, come and help me take a look at Li Guichen. I can't break his seal, but you should be able to, right? You're a Blood God, your supernatural powers are much stronger than mine."

Zhao Qi swallowed his words abruptly, then became excited: "Oh? Then I'll take a look."

He walked over to Li Guichen, reached out and patted him, and smiled slightly: "Just this little trouble?"

He then smugly patted Li Guichen on the forehead: "All done."

Li Guichen let out a gasp and sat up abruptly from the ground.

Zhao Qi became even more smug and was about to speak again when he was interrupted by Xu Zhen's laughter.

He suddenly burst into laughter, sounding extremely pleased, and pointed at Li Wuxiang: "I've fallen for the same trick once before. Do you think it will happen a second time?"

"Li Wuxiang! It seems you've figured it out—you know that when you use your supernatural powers, you borrow them from me! What, last time you made me feel like Zhao Kui, and this time you're making me feel like I really am Xie Zhi or Xu Zhen!?"

"You said your supernatural powers were thanks to me, and now I should thank you too—I had some doubts just now, but your words have completely dispelled them!"

Brother Zhao was dumbfounded. Still squatting next to Li Guichen, he immediately turned to look at Xu Zhen, then at Li Wuxiang, and then at Xue Baoping: "Wait, what is he laughing at? What did he say? What does he mean by that?"

Li Guichen had just regained consciousness. He had seen and heard everything that had happened. He immediately jumped up, reached for his waist, and drew a short sword. Xue Baoping also stood up and pulled out the dagger from her waist.

Seeing Zhao Qi's bewildered expression, Li Guichen sighed softly, "He might really be the reincarnation of the true spirit of the True Lord of Weishui and the Ninth Prince."

Zhao Qi: "Huh?"

“Li Wuxiang said that he had been causing Xu Zhen to go mad and lose his mind after he went into a state of delusion,” Xue Baoping interjected. “Then he said that Xu Zhen’s supernatural powers were far stronger than he thought, and that he could even create a delusional illusion that could change the present world!”

Li Guichen spoke again: "If his supernatural power is his own, there's no reason it should be so strong. If it's borrowed from somewhere like the cultivators in the Central Continent, then after arriving in this Myriad Transformations Realm, which was previously isolated from heaven and earth, and even the Blood God's true form in your Crimson Heaven was cut off, his supernatural power should be even less able to enter."

"But if Li Wuxiang just used the divine power to transform you into a blood god, and it was borrowed from him—what exactly is he that he can make you into a blood god? Can a child lift a thousand-pound boulder? Can a Nascent Soul realm divine power create a blood god like you? That's why he had Xu Zhen say that he himself is just a magical beast born of heaven and earth, a mortal with a physical body!"

Zhao Qi was stunned, looking at Li Guichen and then at Xue Baoping: "You two... are you just guessing?! Li Wuxiang, those two—"

The bones of the Xie Zhi in front of Li Wuxiang suddenly shattered, turning into a pile of bone dust in an instant. He stopped smiling and lowered his hands: "What a pity. The true body of the Wei River True Lord that I know is a very kind person, quietly guarding Mount Ling. He helped me take care of Zhao Qi and also helped me answer my questions. I regard him as a very interesting senior master."

"When I captivated you, I never imagined you could truly be his reincarnated spirit. It was a lucky accident, perhaps because the fate of heaven and earth is unchangeable. I was just thinking that maybe I could use you to save him, who is currently trapped in the Crimson Heaven. But now, your spirit has completely lost its mind in the mortal world. You possess his supernatural powers, but you are nothing like him at all!"

(End of this chapter)