My skills have mutated again!

Chapter 331 Di Yun and Deception!
Martial arts have nine ranks; at the second rank, one begins to condense their inner world.

Upon reaching the first rank, a martial artist will inevitably possess a complete inner world—just like the Eight Guardian Ashes Zone.

The next step is to continue condensing inner world within the acupoints until seventy-two inner worlds are condensed in the seventy-two acupoints, at which point the martial artist will advance to the Super Grade!

These thoughts flashed through Xia Lin's mind, and he looked up at everything in front of him.

Large blood vessels, strong cells.

In an environment that should have been dark, each cell automatically emitted a dark golden light, illuminating everything.

Blood vessels are like sky bridges, and cells are like city walls.

Further away, thunderous explosions continued one after another, the sound of blood pumping and the heart beating.

This scene made Xia Lin take a deep breath.

"Such powerful cultivation, such strong vitality!"

He stepped forward and came to a cell.

Upon touching it, Xia Lin felt a sticky, slippery texture, but he also sensed a clear deathly aura emanating from the cell.

Xia Lin withdrew his hand and nodded knowingly: "Just as I thought, that makes perfect sense."

"This martial artist, who is at least level 10, and most likely level 11, is dead."

……

The immune system exists in every human body.

The immune system of superhumans is stronger than that of ordinary people.

Martial artists are synonymous with physical strength and robustness. If a martial artist is in normal condition, no one can appear in his inner world for no reason—this is equivalent to an invasion of a foreign object, and the martial artist will definitely notice it immediately.

Furthermore, the Ash Zone would never casually toss an Ash Zone Traveler into the inner world of a living martial artist—that would be tantamount to sending the Ash Zone Traveler to someone else's home turf. It's no exaggeration to say that even a powerhouse of the same level entering a martial artist's inner world would be devoured without a trace.

This is tantamount to murder!

As is widely known, the Ash Zone system only tests, not murders.

Therefore, when Xia Lin realized that this place was a martial artist's inner world, he immediately judged the person's condition—the person must be dead.

It is only because its vitality is too strong that its inner world has not collapsed to this day, and its physical body is still active.

What's more...

There will still be residual consciousness.

"Over here...over here..."

A low murmur suddenly rang out, and Xia Lin turned to look deeper into the forest of flesh and blood.

The call was clearly audible; it was not an illusion.

This made Xia Lin narrow his eyes and turn to look back at where he had come from.

Behind him, the seven-colored acupoints continued to shine, like the gates of heaven.

If Xia Lin wanted to, he could return to the Eight Guardian Ashes District at any time, given his current fully unsealed power.

“But that doesn’t make sense.”

"I still need to complete the main quest..."

As he muttered this, the notification sound in his ear was already booming.

……

[Main Quest: The Mystery of the Eight Guardians, Stage 3 Objective Completed!]

[The four-phase goals are now being released.]

[The Mystery of the Eight Guardians, Stage Four: Solve the mystery here!]

[Punishment for mission failure: Unknown.]

[Rewards for successful completion of the mission: Different main mission objectives will be issued based on the answers you receive.]

That's an interesting hint.

This even caused Xia Lin's lips to unconsciously curl into a smile.

After carefully reading each of the above words, Xia Lin quickly composed himself and gently snapped his fingers.

The light flashed and disappeared quickly, attracting little attention.

Xia Lin's aura and appearance remained unchanged, except that a book-shaped pendant was now well hidden around his neck, inside his clothes.

Only then did he lift his leg and walk towards the direction from which the sound came.

After squeezing through the sticky internal tissues and walking for an unknown amount of time, the view suddenly opened up before me.

A colossal, celestial-like mass of flesh stood before Xia Lin. As if sensing Xia Lin's arrival, the mass of flesh trembled violently, emitting a thunderous sound!

This is the warrior's heart!

Even though the tiger is dead, its might remains.

Even though this martial artist had been dead for an unknown period of time, his internal tissues still retained a great deal of activity.

"It really is level eleven..."

As Xia Lin made this assessment in his mind, he saw the light and shadow surging in front of him.

Within that heart, the blood and qi vaguely coalesced into the phantom image of a bearded man.

He stepped out of his heart and stood before Xia Lin.

"You finally came……"

He said this to Xia Lin with a rather wistful tone.

Xia Lin was also filled with emotion: "We've finally found the real deal."

These words startled the bearded man.

"What do you mean?"

Xia Lin shook his head: "It doesn't mean anything. I just felt that this place probably belongs to someone, and it must be you, right?"

Although the bearded man had some doubts, he didn't think too much about it. He simply nodded emphatically and then introduced himself.

"My name is Di Yun, a member of the Righteous Alliance, and an eleventh-level martial artist."

"And also the ruler of your world!"

Martial artists are indeed the rulers of the people in the inner world.

Their word can determine the life and death of people in the inner world; within the inner world, their power surpasses even that of the Heavenly Dao.

Xia Lin remained silent, feigning ignorance and naivety.

This prompted Di Yun to speak gently.

“Child, I know you have many questions, but that’s okay. I will answer them one by one.”

……

First, there's the Righteous Alliance.

Xia Lin had actually heard of the Righteous Alliance before—it originated from Wang Lie's drunken boasting.

The Righteous Alliance is a very loose organization. Its members don't have many benefits; they are simply brought together by a common goal. In fact, most members of the Righteous Alliance have a powerful background and are members of the Six Pillars faction.

The righteous alliance's target is the evil god!

They specifically oppose evil gods and actively hunt them down!

As a calamity to the universe, the evil god has indeed committed many sins.

This act naturally created countless tragedies and attracted countless hatreds, which led to the birth of the Righteous Alliance.

The vast majority of members of the Righteous Alliance have an irreconcilable hatred for the evil god!
Secondly, there's Di Yun himself.

This person is indeed an eleventh-level martial artist, a member of the Super Star Faction, and also one of the main members of the Righteous Alliance.

Finally, here's the current situation.

"I tracked the Fission God to the depths of space, but got separated from my teammates. I fought the Fission God, but was defeated and ended up in this half-dead state!"

As Di Yun said this, he looked at Xia Lin again, a trace of sorrow rising in his eyes.

“If I die, the inner world will collapse, and all the inhabitants of this world will perish with me.”

"I couldn't bear it, so I used a secret method to preserve part of my inner world, and at the same time, I created a glimmer of hope for myself."

"Child, given the situation, helping me is helping yourself."

Xia Lin nodded knowingly.

"I have a general understanding of the situation."

It's nothing more than being so badly injured that he's half-dead and half-alive, and he needs the help of the people of the Inner World.

This is easy to talk about.

But how do I do it? You need to give me a guideline, right?
Di Yun continued, "It's very simple. I need to find a new body, integrate my remaining soul into it, and then start cultivating martial arts again to regain everything I've lost."

When faced with a dilemma, one resorts to possession...

This method may seem old-fashioned, but it works really well.

Xia Lin raised an eyebrow and pointed to herself: "Then how about my body?"

Di Yun, who was on the other side, was taken aback.

If we're not buddies, how about I offer myself up?

But he shook his head: "You can't. Not just any body will do. I need a physical body that is highly compatible with my soul so that I can regain my strength in the shortest amount of time."

Xia Lin nodded again: "So you want me to help you find this person, right?"

"Then let me ask you, the world is so big, how am I supposed to find such a person?"

"It's still very simple..."

As Di Yun spoke, he pointed to the heart not far away.

As the black light dissipated, a bright red blood essence, as vivid as a ruby, was squeezed out of the heart and fell into Di Yun's hand.

"With this item, when you meet the right person, it will give you a hint."

The moment Xia Lin received the blood essence, the system notification sound from the Ash Zone rang out.

[Main Quest: The Mystery of the Eight Guardians, Stage 4 Objective Completed!]

The five-phase goals are now being released.

[The Mystery of the Eight Guardians, Stage Five: Holding the Blood Essence, Find Your Destiny!]

[Punishment for mission failure: Unknown.]

[Reward for successful mission: Unknown.]

[Do you accept? Yes/No.]

Xia Lin was not in a hurry to make a choice.

He simply held the blood essence in his hand and nodded emphatically to Di Yun in front of him: "Leave this to me, don't worry!"

After saying that, he turned and left, seemingly unaware of the sinister glint in Di Yun's eyes.

……

Return via the same route.

But this time, Xia Lin walked very slowly.

The blood essence in his hand glowed faintly, reflecting off the surrounding flesh and blood of Di Yun.

Soon, Xia Lin stopped in her tracks.

Because from the perspective of observation, subtle changes have already occurred.

The first to show visible changes are those cells that act like city walls.

Their color gradually changes from dark gold to dark red.

The blood and qi vibrated incessantly from within the cells, yet struggled to break free from the cell walls—after all, the real Di Yun was already dead.

This blood energy was simply circulating spontaneously, following Di Yun's dying will. However, the spontaneous circulation of blood energy from an eleventh-level martial artist is a complete disaster for lower-level professionals.

Amidst the tremors, Xia Lin felt dizzy and disoriented, as if his blood and qi were being pulled in sync, threatening to burst his heart.

However, when Xia Lin switched his personal information panel to the main panel, this effect immediately vanished—his own strength was definitely different from that of a level eleven, but if he could be killed by a dead level eleven in this way, it would be a gross underestimation of Xia Lin.

Then, more changes followed.

A faint but persistent will surged forth from all directions.

Stiff and lifeless.

However, the will of the realm lord is above all else. Even a dead realm lord can decide the life or death of the realm's inhabitants with a single word based on his lingering resentment.

But the problem comes again...

Xia Lin was not a resident of Di Yun's territory. As an outsider, he didn't buy into that.

The dizziness in my brain subsided instantly, the second wave ended, and the third wave followed immediately.

Xia Lin sighed and spoke.

"Alright, stop trying. You can't do anything to me."

"And don't worry, I'm perfectly sober now and haven't been fooled by that guy."

The previous sentence is meaningless.

But the second sentence had an effect.

The continuous "annihilation" disappeared in an instant, and everything around returned to its original state.

However, there seemed to be an invisible aura spreading around, sealing off the area, but no one was able to come forward and communicate with Xia Lin.

This made Xia Lin realize that the real Di Yun's lingering will was no longer able to do even simple things like taking human form or transmitting messages.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Lin finally spoke.

"It's not some fission god, but a fraud god."

The atmosphere around us became a little more peaceful.

Xia Lin added, "Don't worry, I came here for this beast, and it can't fool me."

The Spirit Book, which had transformed into a pendant on his chest, was slowly heating up.

Xia Lin looked down and saw that the descriptions of the items in the Spirit World Book had undergone subtle changes.

[Current deception power: 13 points.]

Unbeknownst to them, the Spirit World Book absorbed 13 points of deception power.

This stems from Di Yun, who has just appeared.

……

"The situation is actually quite simple for me."

"That deceitful Di Yun, his words are only half true and half false."

The name Di Yun is real.

The Righteous Alliance is real.

No one would lie about such trivial details; it's pointless and would leave clues.

"But Di Yun's opponent is fake. It's not the Fission Evil God, but the Deception Evil God."

This is the biggest loophole in Di Yun's words.

After all, Xia Lin had granted access to this Ash Zone, and the Ash Zone system clearly stated that there were traces of a fraudulent evil god here, yet you claimed it was a fission evil god.

Do you think Xia Lin believes in the Ash Zone system, or in you, "Di Yun"?
"Then, the process and the result are probably true as well."

The process involved a battle between the two sides, and the result was the death of Di Yun.

"But what happened next was half true and half false."

The real point is that Di Yun did indeed leave behind a way to save his life. It's possible that his soul was reincarnated as a resident of some inner world, or that certain conditions would be required to awaken Di Yun's mind and body.

But the trick is that fraud struck again during this process.

Its power seeped into Di Yun's heart, and even transformed into a "fake" Di Yun.

At the same time, it also realized that Di Yun had a trump card to save his life, which led to the current scam.

“From the very beginning of our conversation, the God of Deception has been using his powers on me, making me believe everything he says.”

This is far too easy for the evil god, provided that Xia Lin does not have the Book of the Spirit Realm.

With the Book of Spirits in hand, Xia Lin was not fooled by any tricks.

The deceptive power hidden in its words was completely absorbed by the Spirit World Book and transformed into points of deception power.

"But ordinary people, such as the elders of the Eight Guardian Sword Clan, obviously cannot withstand this move."

“They will believe whatever the fraudsters say, and then act and carry out the fraudulent demands.”

At this point, Xia Lin raised the blood essence in his hand: "It means going into the inner world to find you, which is also the real contingency plan left by Di Yun."

Around them, Di Yun's flesh and blood trembled slightly, as if in response to Xia Lin.

Xia Lin was right.

"And you can't speak, which is a very serious problem."

"This means you can't tell your people the truth, so you have to resort to the most brutal method..."

“Annihilate them on their way back.”

The flesh and blood trembled again.

Xia Lin was right again.

This is why none of the Eight Guardian Sword Clan members turned back during their three previous explorations—they most likely encountered the fake Di Yun and died at the hands of the real Di Yun on their way back after receiving the mission.

"But then another question arises... How was the ancestor of the Eight Guardian Sword Clan able to receive the true teachings of martial arts from here?"

"Considering that all eight schools of martial arts have shown signs of being emasculated, I can make the following assumption:"

"Your resurrection method did indeed fall into the Eight Guardian World, but that resurrection method probably won't retain your memories, which means you'll need to start your cultivation from scratch."

"Letting the Eight Guardian Sword Clan's ancestor obtain the true martial arts teachings is in your best interest, even if it's been emasculated, it's still better than nothing."

"Or perhaps the ancestor of the Eight Guardian Sword Clan returned to the Eight Guardian World with his true teachings, and during the process, he fraudulently castrated the inheritance without your knowledge."

The flesh and blood trembled again, but at a different frequency than before.

This proves that Xia Lin's conjecture is partly correct, but partly wrong.

However, Di Yun couldn't quite put his finger on what was right or wrong. Xia Lin thought for a moment and decided not to delve into the matter, because the past was not important.

The important thing is now.

He raised the blood essence in his hand again and said, "This thing can indeed find your backup plan."

The flesh trembled; Xia Lin was right.

"But if someone brings your backup plan to the fake Di Yun, you will be completely doomed."

The flesh and blood trembled again, confirming Xia Lin's deduction.

"Now, I'm preparing to take this blood essence back to the Eight Guardian World to find your backup plan. But don't worry, I won't take this person out of the Eight Guardian World. I will nurture him and teach him the true way of martial arts."

An atmosphere of peace and tranquility wafted in from all directions.

Di Yun agreed with Xia Lin's plan.

The flesh and blood tissue in front of them separated automatically, and the sense of shielding disappeared without a trace.

This also reveals that the fake Di Yun, that is, a fraud or a fraudulent clone, is unable to monitor everything in Di Yun's physical body.

The fight between the two seemed to have reached a conclusion, but it was not yet over.

Xia Lin nodded slightly: "In that case, leave it to me."

……

[Main Quest: The Mystery of the Eight Guardians, Stage 5 Objectives Corrected!]

Your main quest has been converted into a completion quest!

[The Mystery of the Eight Guardians, Stage Five: You have uncovered the deceitful scheme of the evil god and gained the approval of Di Yun's remnant soul. Wielding the Blood Essence, find your destined one in the Ashes of the Eight Guardians! And before the main quest deadline, find a way to resolve Di Yun's predicament!]

[Penalty for mission failure: None. 】

[Mission Success Reward: Perfect Completion.]

The previously triggered prompts were gradually overwritten by the new prompts.

Because of the previous task information, only a bad end will be triggered.

—But a bad ending is also a kind of ending in the evaluation of the Ash Zone system, and the Ash Zone system will not remind Ash Zone travelers whether they have fallen into a pit.

The current merging of the main quest and the completion quest seems to indicate that Xia Lin has found the correct way to access this Ash District.

"But it's quite difficult, and there are many problems..."

Xia Lin's guesses were mostly correct, but there were still many things he didn't know.

He didn't even know what Di Yun's backup plan was.

When Jinqu asked Xia Lin to help Di Yun, Xia Lin wanted to ask in return, "How can I help?"

"Forget it, let's take it one step at a time..."

"Besides, clearing the gates isn't actually my main objective..."

Xia Lin hadn't forgotten his main purpose for entering this ashes zone—to get some fries... no, to get some deception power.

Now that the main culprit has appeared, Xia Lin will inevitably have to come up with a plan, a really ruthless one.

While he was thinking, he had already arrived at the entrance to the Eight Guardian World.

Moving forward, Xia Lin touched the entrance to the Ash Zone. A suction force arose spontaneously, and he once again experienced the feeling of being swallowed by a ferocious beast and sliding through its esophagus.

When he opened his eyes again, he had successfully returned to the Eight Guardians World, and Wang Chenghao was still waiting by his side.

"Master."

He bowed slightly, and Xia Lin asked, "How long have I been gone?"

Wang Chenghao replied, "Only five hours."

This is similar to the flow of time Xia Lin experienced outside.

Xia Lin nodded in understanding before speaking again.

"I can't say for sure what's going on outside, but I'm certain that we, and the world, are likely to face a major trouble and disaster... within the next fifteen years!"

Wang Chenghao was shocked to hear this. Before he could speak, Xia Lin continued, "In short, the most urgent task is to improve the strength of each family as soon as possible. I plan to spread martial arts throughout the world, and the first family to do so is the Eight Guardians."

Bad news is followed by good news.

Xia Lin has not yet taught Wang Chenghao the true martial arts, but when Xia Lin speaks now, he goes straight for the big stuff.

After Wang Chenghao cupped his hands in greeting, Xia Lin said again, "Summon all members of the Eight Guardian Sword Clan. Tomorrow at this time, I will be here to transmit the Dharma."

The real purpose of spreading the Dharma is to find people.

Let's start by searching within the Eight Guardian Sword Clan; if we can't find them there, we can discuss other clans.

……

Xia Lin never expected that the so-called destined person would be so easy to find.

He didn't even need to summon everyone in the Eight Guardian Sword Clan.

When Xia Lin returned to his home in Shenjing, the Blood Essence had already given a clear indication.

Standing in the living room, looking towards the back garden.

When Xia Lin saw her older brother Xia Tian focused on painting, she couldn't help but sigh.

"Far away, yet so close at hand..."

The identity provided by the identity substitute card (high) is indeed well-documented.

(End of this chapter)