Chapter 553 - 354: Lending (Part 2)

It wasn’t a great feeling to be illiterate.

"What does he mean?"

Zhao Xuanqi’s emotionless voice echoed in Ling’s ear.

"He means that he can use a certain Secret Technique to lend his own Vitality to others, thereby forcibly boosting their strength."

"This Secret Technique has immense restrictions and places high demands on both the caster and the recipient. First, the caster’s Vitality must be vast and pure. Lending Vitality also causes the caster to suffer a permanent loss of their own Vitality. Vitality is a mixture of many factors, such as Spirit, Primordial Qi, and Destiny. A permanent loss of Vitality will most likely cause the caster’s realm to drop drastically, or even lead to death. Even if they survive, there will be all sorts of lingering problems afterward. However, the other party is merely an incarnation. It doesn’t matter if he dies, so this backlash is indeed nothing to worry about."

"On the other hand, the recipient’s strength and realm will skyrocket in a short time after receiving the Vitality. But similarly, if the amount of Vitality accepted exceeds the limits of their body and realm, they’ll be unable to bear their own power. This will cause damage to the body, and the foreign Vitality may even disrupt their original Vitality, creating various hidden dangers. However, for you and me, we don’t need to consider this. Our realms are not limited to our current state. The only thing we need to consider is the endurance limit of this body."

"If this person truly has multiple incarnations in the city, and if we can really withstand that Vitality, we should be able to recover a significant portion of our strength. If we join forces, I’m afraid we could truly pose a threat to an Innate Level expert."

Ling also quickly explained the situation to Zhao Xuanqi via voice transmission.

Zhao Xuanqi frowned slightly upon hearing this.

"What do you think?"

Zhao Xuanqi asked.

"We can give it a try. As for an Innate Level expert, the Blood Food Power carried by just one of them would be more than our harvest from this entire operation. However, the risks are also extremely high. Our current physical strength is limited. Even with a sufficient infusion of Vitality, it would be very difficult to reach the Innate Level. The body couldn’t possibly withstand that kind of power."

"But from what I can see, the situation in the city seems to be worsening. If we continue hunting normally, I’m afraid we won’t be able to last much longer before we have to hide and take refuge."

Ling said.

"In that case, cooperation isn’t out of the question."

Zhao Xuanqi pondered for a moment, then looked at the Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation and said, "Your terms?"

"Simple. Help me go and assist the other experts who are tied down, and protect the safety of the Twelve Pillars in the city. This doesn’t actually conflict with your operation, does it?"

the Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation said.

"Talk is cheap. I don’t trust your Secret Technique. As it happens, I’ve also dabbled in Vitality. If you want to cooperate, then let’s use the essence of your Vitality to sign a contract with my Secret Technique. If you violate the contract, I’ll be able to directly drain your Vitality for our own use. How about it?"

Ling said.

’A contract, huh?’

The Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation fell silent upon hearing this. A Secret Technique Contract drawn up by the other party would definitely be in their favor, but in the current situation, neither side had any extra time to haggle over the specific details of the contract.

RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!!

Just as the Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation hesitated, the city was suddenly rocked by a great tremor. A bloody light shot into the sky, and a terrifying power warped the golden shield of light above the city. The three of them were startled and immediately looked toward the source of the fluctuation.

They saw a bizarre, towering tree made of gnarled, blood-red vines, rising hundreds of meters high. It seemed to be absorbing the power of the Earth Vein and was still growing frantically.

’That direction... That’s where the Garrison Command is. Has something happened to Yang Zhongyuan?!’

The heart of the Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation sank. The deterioration of the situation in the city seemed far worse than he had imagined.

Moreover, in his Sensing, he could no longer establish even a vague connection with his other incarnations scattered throughout the city.

It was highly likely that these incarnations had already been annihilated.

With just this one incarnation, barely at the mid-tier of the Sensing realm, there was very little he could do.

’It doesn’t matter if I die. The city needs stronger power right now.’

"I agree to sign the Secret Technique Contract with you. I hope you will also abide by the agreement."

the Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation said, looking at Zhao Xuanqi and Ling.

HUMMM!!

Ling wasted no time. A deep green light surged around her body as she formed seals with her hands and whispered under her breath. A string of talismans condensed in her palm, which she then slowly pushed out toward the Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation.

The Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation spread his Vitality to touch the deep green talismans. A stream of information flowed into his mind, allowing him to understand the contents of the contract. As long as he relaxed his own restrictions, the contract would leave an imprint on his Vitality. If he were to violate the contract in any way, this imprint would be activated. It was equivalent to a backdoor, allowing the other party to use the imprint as a focal point to forcibly drain all of his Vitality.

’This level of control over Vitality is simply miraculous. Are they really those kinds of people?’

The Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation was extremely surprised.

"Don’t worry, we don’t go back on our promises lightly. The Vitality from your single incarnation isn’t even enough for the two of us. Lead the way. Let’s go meet up with your other incarnations."

Ling said coolly.

...

...

「Somewhere outside South Mansion City.」

"The Four Spirit Demons’ joint Barrier was broken. All four are dead. One of Ten Thousand Laws Inference’s incarnations has escaped. In addition, two individuals who weren’t in our previous intelligence have appeared. Their strength is not weak, and they give off a very strange feeling. Although their own strength isn’t high, the power of the Techniques they unleash is extremely strong. Moreover, they seem to be consciously hunting squads of Believers to seize and collect the Blood Food Power from them."

Zhu Xie, who was maintaining the Technique and peeking into every corner of the city with her Blood Puppets, suddenly spoke.

Previously, when Zhao Xuanqi and Ling killed two squads of Believers, the nearby Blood Puppets had already captured images of their actions. But because Zhu Xie was dealing with too many Blood Puppets at the time, the amount of information was too great, so this particular information hadn’t caught her attention.

But the Four Spirit Demons were high-level Believers, and the mission they were carrying out was very important. Thus, their deaths caught her attention. The actions of Zhao Xuanqi and Ling could no longer be hidden and were now exposed to her view.

"Seizing and collecting Blood Food Power? That is indeed strange. What kind of people possess such an ability? Could they be *those* kinds of people?"

Celestial Derivation, who was beside her, narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this.

"They seem to have reached some sort of agreement with that incarnation of Ten Thousand Laws Inference. Should we deal with them? The realms of these two have probably not yet reached Sensing, and the strength of the Techniques they unleash is at the mid-to-high tier of Sensing at best."

Zhu Xie said.

"How is the deployment of the ’Array Points’ in various locations?"

Celestial Derivation asked.

"At least five Array Points have been set up. The experts we dispatched have drawn their attention. They probably never expected that attacking the Twelve Pillars isn’t our ultimate goal. It’s just a feint to divert attention. The real means of breaking the formation are in the hands of some inconspicuous, low-level Believers."

Zhu Xie said.

"If the operation is going smoothly, then have a nearby high-level member with spare capacity take action. If possible, try to capture those two alive. If they really are *those* kinds of people, they would be quite valuable to us."

Celestial Derivation said.

Zhu Xie nodded slightly, her consciousness once again immersing itself in the Technique.

「At that moment, somewhere in the city.」

The figure of a man in a black robe was incredibly tall. His eyes were two different colors, one green and one red, with bizarre patterns within them. The features on his face were very strange. His eyes, ears, mouth, and nose each looked normal on their own, but when pieced together, they created an extremely discordant feeling, as if these features belonged to different faces and had been temporarily cobbled together onto one.

It wasn’t just his face; his body was the same. Though hidden by the black robe, it still gave off a sense of disharmony.

This person was one of the Twelve Bishops of the Yin Tower within South Mansion, a peak Sensing realm expert, Gan Ming.

And opposite him, a tall figure blazed with fierce light—it was one of the Ten Thousand Laws Incarnations.

This incarnation was at the peak of the Sensing realm, even stronger than the one Zhao Xuanqi and Ling had encountered.

However, at this moment, something was wrong with this incarnation. Its body was swelling violently, reaching a height of about four meters. It had become semi-translucent, the Guardian Illusion overlapping with its body until they had almost fused into one. With every movement, its flesh and blood dissipated into light.

This was the Rainbow Transformation phenomenon!

"A Secret Technique of some kind? Ignoring the damage to your body to squeeze out and unleash all your Primordial Qi in a short burst? Are you trying to take me down with you at the cost of this incarnation? At your current level, you should have reached the power of an Innate Martial Artist, right?"

"Good. Only like this are you worthy of being my opponent. A pity, though. You’re just a mere incarnation, without the ’materials’ I require."

The corners of Gan Ming’s mouth split into a cruel smile. Facing the Ten Thousand Laws Incarnation that had unleashed a powerful Secret Technique, his face showed not the slightest hint of fear.