"Disciple requests the protection of the Great Venerable of Compassion Who Saves the Suffering of Heaven and Earth... Disciple requests the Great Venerable of Compassion Who Saves the Suffering of Heaven and Earth... Disciple requests..." Hidden inside an underground secret chamber, Xuan Shizi sat cross-legged in the very center with his eyes closed.
Before him stood an altar he had set up during the earlier spell battle.
Various bizarre and grotesque objects were arranged on the altar, all of them things that made one physically uncomfortable at a glance.
Xuan Shizi held the heavy bronze statue in his arms.
He repeated the same sentence with a crazed, babbling expression.
Yet as he moved like this, all the candle flames in the underground secret chamber began flickering erratically.
Strange sounds came from who knew where, echoing ceaselessly through the underground secret chamber.
His expression was filled with the sincerity of a pilgrim, though one could still see hatred mixed within it.
And one could also see that thick murderous intent!!
"He's coming, he's coming... The Great Venerable... He's coming!"
Suddenly!
Xuan Shizi opened his eyes. The whites had already been replaced by blackness. Both eyeballs were deep and pitch-black, reflecting not the slightest trace of light.
"He's coming..."
"He's coming..."
Xuan Shizi continued muttering in that frenzied, eerie tone like a neurotic, and his body began trembling violently. He looked just like a patient suffering an epileptic seizure.
Large amounts of foam sprayed from his mouth. It slid down his chin to his neck, soaking the clothes over his chest.
The pitch-black eyeballs in his sockets rolled up and down without rhythm, while a foul stench rose from his crotch.
An eerie aura swirled around him, making his robes flutter despite the lack of wind.
His sparse gray-white hair danced wildly as well.
The strange sounds coming from somewhere within the secret chamber grew louder and louder, until they became deafening!
Blood began spilling from both of Xuan Shizi's ears!
Yet just then...
BOOM!!!!!
A thunderous crash rang out!
It disrupted the entire rhythm of the underground secret chamber. The relatively sturdy stone door actually split with fine cracks.
The cracks grew wider and wider.
And spread rapidly!
With a "crack."
The stone door collapsed!
A great cloud of dust churned and billowed through the secret chamber. Fan Wu's tall, sturdy figure tore through the dust, the Demon-Slaying Sword already drawn in his hand.
The Demon-Slaying Sword radiated a unique might, giving the gloomy, dim secret chamber an entirely different atmosphere.
The moment Fan Wu stepped into the secret chamber.
He saw Xuan Shizi sitting cross-legged with the statue in his arms.
"Hmm?"
[Evil Dao Xuan Shizi (imbued with the Great Venerable's evil power)--Life: 562--Strength: 9--Skills: Ghost Nurturing Soul Cultivation Art, Paper Figure Magic, Secret Art of the Great Venerable of Compassion Who Saves the Suffering of Heaven and Earth Descending Upon the Body, Star Constellation Sword Art]
Fan Wu discovered in surprise that Xuan Shizi's attribute information had undergone a complete transformation.
[Life] had soared to a full 562. [Strength] had also reached 9.
Moreover, there was a parenthesis beside Xuan Shizi's name. Fan Wu could not possibly fail to recognize the words inside it... Combined with one of Xuan Shizi's skills, this made him narrow his eyes and form a guess. "Something like... a patriarch possessing the body?"
Although he did not know any Daoist arts, Fan Wu had watched plenty of supernatural movies in his previous life.
Xuan Shizi's current state really did resemble a patriarch possessing someone in a movie.
"Impudent villain!"
Suddenly.
Xuan Shizi, who had been sitting in meditation, rose abruptly with a strange exertion that did not conform to the structure of the human body.
He spat out an angry reprimand, layered with echo upon echo. "Having witnessed the descent of the Great Venerable of Compassion Who Saves the Suffering of Heaven and Earth, why have you not knelt at once?!!"
The moment Xuan Shizi finished speaking, the skin on his left arm split open like fleshy petals. Large lumps of flesh rapidly grew and piled upon one another along his arm.
In the blink of an eye, they formed a gigantic tentacle.
The tentacle was covered in disgusting, foul-smelling pus.
A demonic aura somewhat different from that of ghosts and monsters rapidly spread through the secret chamber!
"Why have you not knelt at once?!!"
A strange face grew from the giant tentacle formed of piled-up flesh. It was identical to the face on the statue Xuan Shizi held!
That face also opened its mouth to speak, repeating the final sentence Xuan Shizi had uttered.
"Why have you not knelt at once?!!"
Another face grew out.
"Why have you not knelt at once?!!"
A third face.
A fourth.
In the blink of an eye, the entire tentacle was covered in those strange faces that made one physically uncomfortable. Every face repeated the words Xuan Shizi had spoken, and the walls of the secret chamber trembled faintly!
Layer upon layer of voices poured into Fan Wu's ears like mental pollution, making him feel the slightest bit uncomfortable.
He did not find the Xuan Shizi possessed by that so-called "Great Venerable" frightening.
He only felt that the other party was noisy.
That was all.
"Flashy nonsense."
"System."
"Add the points!"
The 1 Free Attribute Point Fan Wu had obtained from killing the group of wandering souls outside was added to his [Strength] attribute.
His [Strength] attribute rose from 9...
Straight to 10!
When his [Strength] attribute reached double digits, Fan Wu felt that his entire body had become different, as if he were breaking free of the category of "ordinary person."
The layered demonic voices that he had found somewhat noisy became utterly ineffectual at this moment.
[Name: Fan Wu] [Life: 89+] [Strength: 10+] [Skills: None] [Free Attribute Points: 0]
Fan Wu held the Demon-Slaying Sword in one hand and advanced toward Xuan Shizi step by step.
The closer he drew to his opponent, the more hurried those layered demonic voices became!!
"Those who show disrespect to the Great Venerable--"
"Die!!!"
The demonic voice that had pierced his ears abruptly stopped. The giant tentacle made of piled-up flesh slammed viciously toward Fan Wu!
Fan Wu's expression did not change.
He raised his sword and slashed!
The instant the Demon-Slaying Sword's blade touched the fleshy tentacle, Fan Wu could not even feel the resistance of cleaving through an object. The Demon-Slaying Sword seemed to have cut through a mass of air.
A huge chunk of flesh was directly severed from the tentacle, and the cut spewed foul-smelling gas with a sizzling sound.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
Severe pain traveled from the fleshy tentacle into Xuan Shizi's body.
He opened his mouth and let out a hoarse scream of agony.
Fan Wu swiftly stepped forward. A sharp glint flashed through his eyes, and without the slightest hesitation, he brought his sword down.
The sword descended once more!
This slash severed the entire tentacle at its root. The strange paper-like faces on it showed expressions of rage, pain, or venomous resentment.
Yet without exception, every eye on those grotesque faces...
was staring at Fan Wu!
Xuan Shizi continued screaming hoarsely. The intense pain seemed to let his rationality seize a sliver of the upper hand.
A trace of white appeared in his pitch-black eyes.
His eyes regained the human light they had once possessed.
When he looked at Fan Wu, his withered, bark-like face was filled with disbelief.
Xuan Shizi shouted in astonishment, his tone brimming with incredulity. "I... I already summoned the Great Venerable into my body to kill my enemy! Why was it still completely useless? Impossible! Impossible! I once relied on this secret art to kill someone from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau!"
"How could a mere wild, broken Daoist from Dragon-Imprisoning Monastery possibly be stronger than someone from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau? You bastard! You must have used some strange evil art! Yes! It must be so!!"
Being accused of using a strange evil art by an evil Daoist...
Well, now!
Fan Wu stepped on the fleshy tentacle, directly stamping one of the strange faces on it inward. He said, "If this is what you call the Great Venerable, then its purity... is far too low."
He gently ground his foot down, and the strange face beneath it exploded on the spot!
Xuan Shizi's eyes widened. "Y-you actually dared to step on the Great Venerable's face!!!"
But the next moment.
He could not utter another word.
Because he saw the killing intent in Fan Wu's eyes!
The approach of death suddenly jolted Xuan Shizi awake!
Before you continue