CHAPTER 865: CHAPTER 588: ANCESTOR OF THE SHADOW KILL CLAN

Mystic Sky Realm, somewhere in the Star Dome Sea.

Shadow Kill Clan military camp.

On the throne, the towering shadow figure, roughly ten thousand zhang tall, snapped open his eyes, displaying an expression of shock.

"The clone had Fifth Rank shadow power and a Demigod Relic, but couldn’t even react before being killed... After transforming into the Golden Peng, Lu Chenzhou’s speed was simply too fast. How is he able to master True Spirit Transformation? Does he possess a True Spirit Bloodline?"

"The death of the clone is nothing, but what’s most important is that the Demigod Relic also fell into the Xia Realm..." Thinking of this, Achilles felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Not long after, the projection of the Witch appeared.

"What was the result?"

"I self-destructed."

"Let the Four Shadow Commanders self-destruct as well. I suspect Lu Chenzhou has already discovered your tracks."

"Alright."

The Witch’s projection dissipated.

Achilles secretly let out a sigh of relief.

He didn’t tell the truth, nor did he inform the Witch of Lu Chenzhou’s grasp of True Spirit Transformation.

He couldn’t bear the Witch’s fury. Just because of a moment’s hesitation, the self-destruction failed, leaving the clone’s soul fragment and a pile of spoils for Lu Chenzhou.

The Witch had repeatedly warned: this equates to aiding the enemy!

Having committed a grave mistake, Achilles felt anxious, repeatedly comforting himself: "Even if the sky falls, the Divine will bear it... This minor misstep of mine won’t affect the grand scheme."

...

"Achilles’ clone has died?"

Somewhere in the starry sky, upon hearing the disastrous news, the Ten-Thousand Spider Ghost Empress couldn’t help but feel a tinge of mourning for a kindred soul.

"You must tread carefully now. You’re our last hidden piece in the Xia Realm." said Mother Wangyou.

...

In his mind, the Martial Arts Tree grew joyfully.

The dense Fifth Rank-level shadow Dao Essence from Achilles’ soul fragment was continuously being absorbed. As darlings of the shadows, the Shadow Kill Clan possessed countless nuggets of shadow knowledge and insights, all of which, as if through enlightenment, surfaced in Lu Chenzhou’s mind, branded into his memory for all eternity. All he had to do was digest and absorb them, completely turning others’ epiphanies into his own.

"Shadow Blade..."

"Shadow Swift Movement..."

"Shadow Transmission..."

There were also some secret techniques of the Shadow Kill Clan, which, along with fragments of memory, surged into Lu Chenzhou’s mind.

The Martial Arts Tree continued to evolve and upgrade.

It always managed to bring him occasional surprises.

Lu Chenzhou’s form continuously virtualized, turning into a writhing mass of shadow, vanishing into the void.

When he appeared again, he was already a thousand miles away.

"Shadow Transmission... Not bad. However, this kind of innate secret technique is best-suited to the Shadow Kill Clan’s body. For me, its utility is limited. Under the Golden Peng’s wings, ordinary escape skills are mere child’s play. This is only [Fake Spirit Transformation]; if I could acquire the Golden Peng bloodline and use its Innate Divine Ability, ten thousand li with a single flap—stronger even than Bai Feng."

The first actual combat of the 36 Transformations—the results could only be described as defying the heavens. These speed-type specialists of the Shadow Kill Clan were played to death by him. This gave Lu Chenzhou even clearer direction for the road ahead.

"I must gather True Spirit Blood. If I can master all innate divine abilities of the 36 Transformations, I’ll certainly be able to contest the Divine, and in the future break past the Four Emperors."

"Yet in this world, there are more than just thirty-six True Spirits. Thus, the ’Four-nine Mystic Skill’ still has room for advancement—five-nine, six-nine, seven-nine... until I can transform into every True Spirit that has ever existed."

"Of course, True Spirit Transformation is only auxiliary; no matter how powerful a single True Spirit is, it has many weaknesses. For example, the Golden Peng is blindingly fast, but its defense and endurance are both lacking, and its offense is merely average. Overlord’s defense is supreme, but its speed is terribly slow. There is no ultimate perfect True Spirit in this world. If I can train the Three Great Extreme Daos, my lifeform will transcend all True Spirits."

"Thus, Transformation Divine Ability belongs to the early and middle stage Divine Skills. Once I become a Great Power, what I truly rely on will still be my Dao—my spear skill!"

Lu Chenzhou didn’t become infatuated with True Spirit Power.

He is human.

Humanity is the most adept at technique—none can compare. As a True Spirit, he can’t use spear skill and many combat skills, and would lose his greatest advantage.

In his mind, the Martial Arts Tree stopped growing.

At this moment, it had reached 3,300,000 zhang.

[Void: Fourth Rank (12%) → Fourth Rank (78%)]

"Just a bit more and it’ll reach Fifth Rank. Void, as the Superior Law of shadow, takes even more energy to progress. Not a problem, I still have this segment of Demigod’s Relic Finger."

Lu Chenzhou carefully beckoned over a withered finger. Its sharp, pitch-black nail was like a blade—just a slight movement would slice open the void.

"Ancient Evil Creature—Wangliang, progenitor of the Shadow Kill Clan, a Demigod Level existence, Master of Shadow Dao!"

This one is no ordinary being; in some sense, it counts as a kind of True Spirit. It founded the Shadow Killing Building, the number one assassin organization in the Great Wilderness.

But, during an assassination, it angered the Feathered Clan’s progenitor, Evil God Bi Fang, and was slain by Bi Fang, thus perishing before the Divine War.

Its divine corpse was turned to ashes by Bi Fang, leaving only this segment of finger bone, which fell into the hands of the Witch Master, who gifted it to Achilles for entering the Seventh Realm—only for it, by twist of fate, to land in his hands.

"It was meant to be mine."

The shadow power contained in the Demigod Relic is unimaginable in magnitude. For most people, absorption would be troublesome. But the Martial Arts Tree is an existence that can shear the wool from Divine Artifacts—so he immediately began refining it.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The giant tree visibly surged upward.

Soon, it reached 3,600,000 zhang... At the same time, [Void Dao] successfully advanced to Fifth Rank. Lu Chenzhou gazed up into the endless heights, and with a casual tear, shattered the void—allowing a glimpse of the Endless Ruin Sea.

"Traveling the Void became even easier."

His figure faded, then returned. After a few repetitions, he was quite proficient. "Even ordinary Eight Realms are only so-so, aren’t they?" he said to himself.

In the Ruin Sea.

Void Power from all directions gathered at his mental command, forming a streamlined giant fish.

The fish joyfully flapped its fins, carrying him wherever he wished to go, shielding him from the dangers of the Ruin Sea.

This was a minor technique he comprehended after his Void reached Fifth Rank. He named it [Void Kun].

"It’s so smooth. With the Void Kun riding wind and wave, my speed traversing the Ruin Sea is no weaker than the normal state of the Aurora Palace. If it’s travel to a nearby world, I could arrive in just a few days."

Suddenly—

Lu Chenzhou’s body paused. In his mind, a surge of extreme malice assaulted his spirit.

In his Spiritual World, an apparition resembling both ape and dog, bat wings on its back, visage ferocious, standing ninety-eight thousand zhang tall, emerged from the shadows, launching an assault.

"Wangliang..."

It muttered mindless phrases.

Rumble!

"Absorbed too much foreign shadow power—I forgot this one was an evil being in life. I’ve been counterattacked by will-imprints and malice preserved within."

Lu Chenzhou remained calm in the face of danger.

His Immaculate State of Mind began to manifest divine power, clashing with this Demigod’s lingering consciousness in the Spiritual World.

After a while—

Crackling—at the barrier of his Spiritual World, strands of cracks appeared, golden light spreading.

"Great Void Unlimited Spell!"

Lu Chenzhou recited the spell. Around the Wangliang, the void constantly collapsed, myriad stars vanished, leaving only ultimate emptiness, ultimate infinitude.

As if everything had lost its meaning. The malevolent Wangliang’s will grew lost, wandering aimlessly where it stood, letting out soft sighs now and then, like a being sealed within a separate dimension.

"I still underestimated the strength of Demigod level—he could even shake the Immaculate State of Mind. Luckily, since attaining Small Success in the [Great Void Unlimited Spell], I’ve comprehended its first-level Spiritual Killing Move: [Wandering Lament]."

Each of the Nine Great Secret Mantras contains three major killing moves, from Small Success up to Perfection.

Great Void Unlimited is a method for safeguarding the mind-spirit.

The Small Success killing move: [Wandering Lament], allows for the creation, in the Spiritual World, of a "limitless Land of Confusion," trapping the enemy’s will within it.

Unless the opponent’s power level or spiritual power vastly surpass Lu Chenzhou’s, any Seventh Realm invader daring to attack Lu Chenzhou’s mind will be trapped by [Wandering Lament] + [Immaculate State of Mind], and ground down to death.

The Great Success killing move is [Boundless Sea of Suffering], even fiercer—the enemy will sink into a "never-ending realm of agony," doomed to a fate worse than death.

The Perfect Level killing move, a spiritual Great Divine Skill: [Infinite Void]. At that point, Lu Chenzhou’s Spiritual World will be an utterly empty universe.

With the heart’s circular light concealed within a single point, even faced with a True God’s spiritual attack, he will emerge unscathed.

Watching the aimless, wandering Wangliang remnant in his Spiritual World, Lu Chenzhou marveled at the might of Ancient Emperor Lanshan.

The Martial Arts Tree had already grown to four million zhang.

[Chaos: Fifth Rank (40%)]

[Void: Fifth Rank (40%)]

"Void Dao has actually caught up with my principal Dao of Chaos, becoming my second highest attainment."

As expected, "cheating" is best.

Lu Chenzhou temporarily put away the finger bone; its end had already cracked, turning into bonedust devoid of any hint of spirituality or Dao Essence, a third of it used up.

"If I refine it completely, it’d be enough to bring Void Dao to Sixth Rank. At that point, the Eastern Extreme Territory would be just my backyard. If the Void Dao reaches Ninth Rank, I’d be the [Void True Dragon] of this world—across the Three Thousand Worlds, I’d travel as I please!"

Besides the finger bone, Lu Chenzhou also found a storage ring. Breaking it open, it was filled with treasures Achilles had collected—just primordial stones alone were three hundred thousand.

There were also many rare shadow-domain materials, herbs, and shadow creature parts—which weren’t much use to him, but could be sold at Yuanbao Mountain for money.

Three things were especially noteworthy.

First, a chunk of ore exuding dense shadow power, seemingly not of this reality.

"Is this Shadow God Iron?"

Rare Treasure Level ores often contain different attributes, with the Yin Yang Five Elements the most common.

Each mineral has different properties.

For example, the Red Lotus Demon Venerable Egg Shell he obtained, property: [Destruction], can amplify killing power, even shattering enemy Divine Weapons.

East Sea Billion-Year Cold Iron, property: [Freeze]—once it hits the enemy, can slow their movement, forcing them to waste energy resisting the Extreme Cold.

This Shadow God Iron property is [Concealment]: incorporate it into a Divine Weapon and your strikes can freely penetrate into the Shadow Dimension, impossible to guard against.

Ordinarily, forging a Divine Weapon with a Dao resonant with the user yields the best results; someone ignorant of shadow can’t utilize the unique properties of Shadow God Iron. But Lu Chenzhou is different. He possesses World Dao. In theory, he can gather all the supreme miracle divine irons in the world, crafting the most powerful Divine Spear.

All traits, gathered as one.

This will be his future Supreme Treasure.