The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

……

Not long after, in the rear hall of Kanli Palace, Dao Shuo paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, a frown on his face, and a gloomy expression.

"That damn good-for-nothing can't even handle this small matter! If this drags on any longer, what if something goes wrong... Wait, that good-for-nothing has been hanging out with Daocheng for so long, could it be that he's taking pity on him and is deliberately going easy on him? No, that's impossible, he wouldn't dare do that..."

Before the words were finished, the door was suddenly kicked open, and a figure rushed in.

"who!?"

Dao Shuo reacted quickly. As he turned to look, he grasped his spiritual medium and was about to materialize his super spirit body when a slender blade materialized from the super spirit body appeared first. It suddenly grew longer and shot out like a spear, piercing through his right wrist.

A super-spirit body!? But manifesting a super-spirit body requires focused concentration and using the most familiar form as the primary method. How could its structure suddenly change?

His pupils contracted, and just as he was about to retreat, Su Qi rushed forward and threw a punch that made him dizzy.

He then disbanded his super spirit body and unleashed a flurry of chaotic fist techniques, quickly knocking Dao Shuo to the ground. A moment later, unable to struggle any longer, Dao Shuo's mouth was stuffed with a rag, his ears were plugged, his eyes were covered, and he was tied to a chair, unable to move.

The reason she covered her eyes and plugged her ears was to prevent him from recognizing Daohe and then causing trouble using the effects of the Three Corpse Gu Divine Pill.

"Waaaaah...waaaah..."

Not knowing why they had suddenly come to his door, or what they would do to him, Dao Shuo struggled in terror.

Having already exhausted all the information he had gathered from him in the previous playthrough, Su Qi completely ignored him and first summoned Dao He, who was waiting outside, in. Then, he took out a pre-prepared embroidery needle from his person and handed it to Dao He.

"What are you doing?" the latter asked, confused.

“Prick him with a needle,” Su Qi smiled. “You must have been tortured by him before, right? We still have time, so I specially prepared this anti-personnel weapon, just like Rong Momo’s, so you can vent your anger to your heart.”

Daohe glanced at Daoshuo, then at the gleaming embroidery needle in his hand, and hesitated for a moment. He was certainly furious at Daoshuo's actions, but he had never tortured anyone or used an embroidery needle before, so he felt a little uneasy.

Dao Shuo, with his eyes covered and ears plugged, was still struggling with all his might, completely unaware of what was happening.

"Hey, you're so slow. Come on, let me show you."

Su Qi, impatient, grabbed Dao He's hand and forcefully stabbed Dao Shuo in the kidney area.

"Whoosh!!!"

The latter stiffened, wanting to cry out in pain, but could only struggle silently.

"How does it feel? Seeing your enemy's pained expression? Isn't it incredibly satisfying?"

Gazing at Dao Shuo's pained and terrified face, and recalling the pain and humiliation he had inflicted upon him, Dao He's eyes gradually brightened, and a drop of sweet dew called pleasure slowly spread through his suppressed heart.

Chi!

Without realizing it, he pricked himself with a needle, watching the other person's expression of pain, fear, and pleading, feeling a slight pleasure from the other person's reaction, and his hand... just couldn't stop.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle...

A sudden, violent attack struck, causing Dao Shuo's face to flush red and turn a deep, liver-like color. He whimpered and struggled frantically in the chair.

Su Qi, "aiding and abetting the wicked," held him down tightly while instructing him with a mischievous grin: "Stab him, you can stab him anywhere. He won't die anytime soon anyway, don't stop... Yes, yes, right there, that spot hurts more..."

Daohe's revenge lasted for more than half an hour. Through this intense method of retaliation, he finally vented most of the pent-up anger in his heart, while Daoshuo was covered in bloody spots from being pricked by needles, almost turning into a beehive, but because it was only needle pricks, he was still alive.

"Alright, now it's time to get down to business. Pack him up and take him with you."

After Dao and Dao finished their business, feeling refreshed, the two of them put Dao Shuo in a sack and sneaked out of the Kanli Palace.

Soon after, the two entered Daoyuan Palace. After a process similar to the first playthrough, Daoyuan, unsurprisingly, gave the same answer again: "Those who betray the Dao family must die!"

After saying this with a cold face, he stood up and slammed down with a palm strike.

Chapter Twenty-One: A One-Sided Battle

"But Daohe did not betray the Daoist school."

With a flash of light, Su Qi drew his blade again, severing the giant hand that was pressing down.

Whether there was betrayal or not is for me to decide!

The severed hand instantly collapsed, turning into clusters of spiritual light that returned to Daoyuan's wrist and reformed.

"That's because you're too stubborn."

"Hmph, such arguments are utterly meaningless." Casually tearing off his Taoist robe to reveal a gigantic, muscular super-spirit body, Dao Yuan coldly declared, "Only power can change the world, immense power!"

He looked down at Su Qi, "Dao Cheng, you have disappointed me greatly. In just three days, you still had to spend most of your time reading. Even if you have the aptitude to control gods, without any practice, how could you possibly be my opponent? And you haven't even sharpened your sword yet, but you challenged me for the sake of a laughable friendship. You are so reckless and unwise, you are not qualified to shoulder the great cause of the revival of Taoism!"

"I feel the same way you do when it comes to disappointment."

Su Qi waved to signal Dao He behind him to move aside, and said, "I thought you were different from the original Dao Yuan, but you are still Dao Yuan after all, too deeply affected by the hatred of the Daoist school."

"Enough with the useless nonsense, let reality prove who's right and who's wrong."

Without further ado, the giant-like super-spirit body of Dao Yuan stomped out and kicked out directly at Su Qi.

The next moment, the blade flashed and sliced ​​through the air, instantly cutting the right leg that the former had kicked out into more than a dozen pieces from the sole of the foot to the thigh.

It's gotten sharper!

Dao Yuan, hidden within the Super Spirit Body, narrowed his pupils and instantly became alert.

Generally speaking, the power of a super-spirit depends on the amount of magical power that constitutes it. With the strength of his super-spirit, Su Qi couldn't easily cut through it during their last battle, but now, with the White Tiger as its guardian spirit, his super-spirit is practically as thin as paper in front of its opponent.

We can no longer afford to engage in direct confrontation; we must change our tactics!

The thought had just crossed Dao Yuan's mind when he saw Su Qi take the initiative and rush over.

boom!!

As the giant-like super-spirit regenerated its right leg, it shattered the ground, sending a shower of rubble flying like arrows toward Su Qi.

Super Spirit Form - Defensive Form!

With a thought, the super-spirit in his right hand suddenly transformed, turning from a tiger-headed longsword into a large, transparent shield that covered his entire body. The shield blocked his path, and amidst the dense, rain-like pounding of the shield, all the flying debris was deflected.

How is that possible? The construction of a super-spirit takes time, and different forms require even more effort. How could he possibly switch forms instantly?

Just like Dao Shuo before him, Dao Yuan couldn't help but be surprised by this scene that defied common sense. However, for Su Qi, whose soul essence and thought processing speed far surpassed that of ordinary people, this was nothing more than basic operation once he mastered the techniques for constructing a super spirit body.

The next moment, while he was still stunned by the shock, Su Qi once again transformed his shield into a blade, extending the blade to about thirteen feet long. With a single strike, he cleaved the air, cutting his super-spirit body in two along its midline. However…

clang!!

The blade was blocked by a precious sword, and a huge shockwave exploded outwards, sweeping through the entire hall and sending the corpse guards who had just reacted and were about to attack Su Qi flying.

It turned out that at the same time the super spirit body collapsed, Dao Yuan, who was wrapped in the core, finally reacted. At the critical moment, he raised the Treasure Thunder Sword in his hand and condensed a large amount of witch power and spiritual power on it, barely creating a second super spirit body.

Although the second super spirit was also immediately dispersed, it ultimately blocked a blow for him.

"It's no use! My super spirit body is made of composites, so even if it's destroyed multiple times, it can easily recover!"

Generally speaking, a super-spirit body is based on a medium, has the power of the spirit as its skeleton, and is filled with magical power. Using a super-spirit body itself does not consume much energy; only by destroying the super-spirit body will a portion of the magical power be lost. The essence of magical power is the mental power of the medium, and excessive loss will lead to mental exhaustion, or even fainting and death. Therefore, mediums will try their best to avoid destroying their super-spirit bodies.

However, Dao Yuan possesses dozens of spirit feet, and his super spirit body is also composed of dozens of parts. Normal attacks can only destroy a few parts, so as long as his super spirit body cannot be completely destroyed in one go, it can be restored to its original state by consuming a small amount of witch power.

And reality proved him right. As he spoke, the scattered wisps of spiritual light coalesced once more, rapidly forming a giant-like super-spiritual body around his body.

"is it?"

Su Qi sheathed his sword, his eyes reflecting the nodes of witch power and spiritual energy on the opponent's super spirit body. Then, he twisted his body and swung his sword out again.

Sword Skill: Spirit Dispelling...

As Su Qi slashed horizontally, the long blade in his hand was suddenly enveloped by gusts of wind.

That's the White Tiger's special ability: controlling the wind. As the saying goes, clouds follow the dragon, and wind follows the tiger. Many powerful elves and gods have derivative abilities based on their own attributes, and the White Tiger's ability is precisely controlling the wind, or rather, controlling the flow of air.

The next moment, the long sword slashed into Dao Yuan's super spirit body at the waist, but he blocked it again with his sword raised. Then, the air vibrated and exploded. The huge super spirit body also exploded in an instant and collapsed completely.

how come?

The super spirit was almost completely destroyed by this attack. As the witch power disappeared, the enormous mental pressure was also fed back to Daoyuan.

Immediately afterward, the air around him exploded, and he was blasted away by the shockwave, crashing into a stone pillar inside the hall with a bang. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and he slid down, dizzy and disoriented.

Excellent! Fantastic! I misjudged him! He's even more talented than I thought, improving his strength to this level in just three days, but... I haven't lost yet!

Daoyuan bit her tongue, forcibly stimulating her chaotic consciousness to temporarily regain clarity. Then, ignoring the pain all over her body, she stood up with her back against the pillar and coldly watched Su Qi walk towards her.

"It seems that the facts have proven me right."

The latter, holding a long sword at an angle, approached slowly and deliberately.

"It's not over yet!"

Dao Yuan gave a soft shout, swung his sword, and once again summoned his strongest super spirit body, the Great Dao Dragon with a human head and a dragon body.

"Great Dragon! Five Thunderbolts Strike!"

The massive dragon, several meters long, coiled above the hall, roaring towards the sky. The next moment, a huge hole exploded in the roof above, and a thick bolt of lightning, several meters in diameter, crashed down, engulfing Su Qi's figure.

"The Dao is achieved!!"

Daohe screamed, his features contorted with terror.

Immediately, dazzling lightning burst forth in all directions, illuminating the entire hall.

boom!!

The main hall shook, the ground shattered, smoke and dust erupted, and rocks flew everywhere. When everything calmed down, a large crater several feet deep had appeared where the lightning had struck, and Su Qi's figure stood in the crater, completely unharmed.

They actually... ignored my heavenly lightning!?

Dao Yuan's pupils contracted slightly, and he was greatly shocked.

How did you do it?

Filled with astonishment and doubt, I stared intently and discovered that Su Qi's super spirit body had changed its form once again, transforming into a simple suit of armor with a white background and black patterns, exuding a sharp, steel-like texture, covering his arms, shoulders, and back, resembling a cloak.

That is the Armored Super Spirit Body - White Tiger developed by Su Qixin.

This armored form of super-spirit entity is a manifestation that only appears later in the original work. It possesses both offensive and defensive capabilities, effectively protecting the psychic's vulnerable physical body. After learning more sophisticated methods of using magical power through the "Record of the Profound," he created it ahead of schedule.

"What are you doing!?"

At this moment, upon hearing the commotion, Dao Lan, Dao Zhen, and Dao Run, who already lived in Dao Yuan Palace, also rushed over. This time, when Su Qi and Dao He entered Dao Yuan Palace, only Dao Yuan, one of the Daoist high-ranking members, was present.

Looking at the mess in the hall, the corpses of the guards lying scattered about, and the disheveled appearance of Dao Yuan's true form, they were momentarily confused about what had happened.

Su Qi ignored him, and with a thought, he used the power of his super spirit body and the white tiger's wind-controlling ability to fly out of the pit and land on the ground. He calmly said, "Dao Yuan, can you admit defeat now?"

He felt no pride or smugness, because given his circumstances, this outcome was entirely to be expected.