Spirit King

2024-08-12

Chapter 396 Spirit King

"We can't let our guard down!" Zhu Xixi remained vigilant. "After all, there could be at most three enemies, and we've only seen one Bald Man so far!"

"No, there's one more." Taking advantage of this moment, Wang Yifan also ran back to rejoin the group. "Judging from what Grandma Li said earlier, the Chu Yunwei we saw before should also be a clone that Borrowing a Corpse to Return the Soul... But we were all alive at the time, so whose body could that bald guy possess?"

Several people's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "The other Attacker?"

"No..." Ma Lei shook her head. "The other Attacker should be projections; they should dissipate after death and not be able to Borrowing a Corpse to Return the Soul."

"The Borrowing a Corpse to Return the Soul is just our speculation about his abilities; it doesn't necessarily require a corpse," Wang Yifan shook his head. "Otherwise, we can't explain Chu Yunwei's origins."

"There's still one left..." Zhu Xixi said.

"I encountered another one," Luo Jun said, putting away his equipment. "It's a clone of mine."

Luo Jun is right. The commotion here was so big, yet he arrived late because after repairing the river, he encountered someone who looked exactly like him as soon as he came out.

Not only are they exactly the same height and build, but they also wear the same Midnight Mask on their faces!

The clone launched a fierce attack as soon as it saw him. Luo Jun was taken aback and momentarily flustered, but once they clashed, he realized that the clone was a paper tiger. There was a certain difference in the Protective Qi Strength energy, and their basic strength was even further apart. Luo Jun could easily control his Gathering Origin Protective Qi, but the clone was clearly struggling to use it. It was easily suppressed by Luo Jun as soon as they clashed.

However, this clone has one advantage that Luo Jun doesn't have: it can throw out all sorts of magical artifacts like they're free.

In addition to the rewards from the Chaos Mission, Luo Jun also collected a large number of low-level magical artifacts in the Savage Wilderness. Most of them were consumables, and many were incomplete, with only one or two uses left.

Although these treasures were not of high grade, they had all sorts of strange effects. Although they were cheap, given Luo Jun's frugal nature, he would only use them when necessary. However, as his strength grew, these treasures, especially some of the items used for escape and survival, no longer had a chance to be used.

But now, his clone doesn't care about all that. Facing a main body that is much stronger than himself, all kinds of props have come in handy. Luo Jun feels that his clone is like a slippery eel, sometimes hiding, sometimes using a shield, and occasionally even becoming ethereal for a moment to dodge an attack. Taking him down is really a bit tricky.

However, props eventually run out. After some maneuvering, the clone was no match for the enemy and was killed. Luo Jun arrived in time to save the day.

"That's strange..." After hearing Luo Jun's description, Wang Yifan frowned and said, "You're still alive and well, how could a copy of you appear?"

"It's not just him, it's mine too," Ma Lei said. "My clone can't be explained either."

"It's a projection!" Luo Jun said. "We were both Attacker, and the projections must have died at the hands of that bald guy, their souls taken by him."

Luo Jun was certain because his clone was far weaker than his original body. Considering the weakening effect of the attack projection, it made sense. Furthermore, Luo Jun also saw assassination skills in the clone...

"They can even absorb the soul of a projection?" The group was taken aback.

"So, every time we send out projections, his soul might be extracted?" Zhu Xixi frowned. "And they're all enhanced versions with three times the Innate Potential and fifty times the spiritual power?"

"There's no point in thinking about this now." Luo Jun checked the time. "There are still twenty minutes left. Take this opportunity to quickly complete some Side Mission and gain protection, otherwise you might not even survive the next round."

The group realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately began looking for Side Mission.

Fortunately, the town was destroyed and there were ruins everywhere. Some hidden ghosts and spirits were revealed. The group sped up their work and eventually Wang Yifan and Zhu Xixi were both given a layer of protection.

Soon, the one-hour time limit was up, this round ended, and the four returned to the station.

Also appearing with them were Xu Li, Li Xiuzhen, and Yu Shan.

These individuals all had protection and were resurrected after death, while Wang Shuwen was completely sacrificed.

As for the opposing side, according to Zheng Yunshan and Yang Wenyue, they started with ten Green Dot, indicating that the two who died in the previous round were indeed bait with protection.

This time, the two successfully killed two more opponents, though it's unclear whether they were protecting someone else again.

Judging from the results, Team One only lost one player in this round, which seems acceptable. However, all the defenders who went through this round didn't look too good.

The mysterious Bald Man exuded an overwhelming aura of oppression. He possessed Peak Level Combat Power, and coupled with his bizarre abilities, he was like a death god descending upon the world if he became an attacker.

"Grandma Li, who exactly is he?" Everyone looked at Li Xiuzhen. Judging from her previous behavior, she clearly knew the bald man's true identity.

"Although the one I remember still had hair and eyebrows, and is somewhat different from your description, the Soul-Seizing Vengeful Ghost that killed me in the end was definitely his ability!" Li Xiuzhen sighed, "He was the Spirit King Zhuge Lang!"

"A member of the Zhuge Family?" Although the name Zhuge Lang was unfamiliar to everyone, the surname Zhuge held a very important position in the cultivation world of Zhendan.

The Southwest Zhuge Family is a well-known Lineage Cultivators in Zhendan. Many people believe that they are the strongest Lineage in the country besides the Eastern Sea Ling Family.

Most members of the Zhuge Family possess exceptional talent in Illusion Faction, especially in mental and spiritual abilities. Many family members hold important positions in the Southwest Branch of the Yuan Cultivation Society, making them the Yuan Cultivation Society's greatest asset in exploring the Paranormal world.

Zhuge Family is most renowned for, besides its profound family learning, is its stable talent output. There are countless famous cultivation Lineage both at home and abroad, and their rise and fall are often accompanied by the strength of the experts in the Lineage. If a Peak appears in the Lineage, it may elevate the Lineage's status by several levels, but if the generation is full of mediocre talents, then it may decline and even never recover.

It can be said that most of the famous Cultivators clans in China today were just unknown small Lineage a few decades ago. Many of the once-powerful Great Family declined because no strong figures emerged in their descendants, and are now little known.

However, only two Lineage have remained powerful since the Gate-Opening Incident over a hundred years ago.

One of them, of course, is the Ling Family, which controls a gate. With its vast resources, the Ling Family produced the first Ascension Expert in the country. It was through this that they gained leverage to negotiate with the imperial court at the time. Thanks to the protection of this Ancestor, the Ling Family family has dominated the Eastern Sea for a century and has become Great Family in the country and even the world.

However, the major event more than a decade ago caused the death of the Ling Family's Ancestor. At that time, the world thought that the Ling Family would decline and might even be forcibly annexed by the Yuan Cultivation Society, which would take back the Wildlands Gate. But who would have thought that at this critical moment, Ling Ao would break through to the Feather Transformation Realm and take the position of family head, successfully pinning the tottering Ling Family firmly to Lingyun Island!

Besides the Ling Family, another Lineage that has been glorious for a century is the Zhuge Family!

The Zhuge Family doesn't have as exciting a story Ling Family. For centuries, they have been dependent on the Yuan Cultivation Society, and their rise and fall are hardly noticeable because each generation of their Lineage has produced many outstanding members.

Needless to say, the purely probabilistic event of Foundation Establishment's foundation and Heart Refining Realm is a matter of fortuitous opportunity. Many people are talented, have famous teachers to guide them, and work very hard, but they just lack that little bit of fortuitous opportunity and never get to reach the Heart Refining Realm in their entire lives.

However, the Zhuge Family seems to have some special Secret Method, and almost every core disciple of each generation can reliably reach the Heart Refining Realm. Although no master of the Ascension-level has ever appeared in the Lineage, more than a dozen Peak have emerged in the past hundred years. At its strongest, there were two or three Peak in the same generation. The Lineage's highest Combat Power has never been interrupted.

The most recent one is Zhuge Chi, who reached his Peak in his thirties. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will be the next head of the family in a dozen years.

Although none of them had ever heard of the Zhuge Lang mentioned by Li Xiuzhen, judging from his Peak Level Combat Power and the title of "Spirit King," he was definitely not an unknown figure!

Seeing their puzzled looks, the old lady sighed, "You may not know Zhuge Lang, but you must know Zhuge Ming, right?"

This name is legendary; he is the current head of the Zhuge Family, Zhuge Chi's father. The Old Man just celebrated his sixtieth birthday last year, hosting a banquet for many important figures in the cultivation world both at home and abroad. The videos and news of the birthday banquet went viral on the forums for a while.

"Zhuge Lang is Zhuge Ming's twin brother." Li Xiuzhen said something shocking, "The two brothers are fraternal twins, they don't look alike, and their abilities are also very different. Zhuge Ming has the standard Illusion Faction ability of the Zhuge Family. He has been exceptionally talented since childhood, with a solid foundation. He reached the Heart Refining Realm at a young age and is a key talent that the Lineage is cultivating."

"But Zhuge Lang is different. He has a rather carefree and easygoing personality, and he doesn't like to follow conventional cultivation methods. Even up to the Foundation Establishment Realm, he didn't show any particular inclination. Everyone thought that this guy might never be able to achieve the Mind Condensation in his lifetime. But who knew that not long after his brother broke through, this guy also developed the ability to create Vengeful Ghost and reached the Heart Refining Realm."

"At first, everyone thought it was just Illusion Faction Ghost Shadow, but they soon realized something was wrong. This Vengeful Ghost ghost was completely different from the illusions created by ordinary illusions. This thing had no physical form, ignored almost any means of defense, and was almost guaranteed to hit its target. It directly affected the source of life, and being hit by it almost certainly meant certain death."

"What's even more terrifying is that the soul of the deceased can be captured by Zhuge Lang. This soul carries all the information about the deceased's abilities. As long as a corpse is found, or a person is willing to sacrifice themselves, and this soul is injected into it, the deceased can be temporarily resurrected and possess all the abilities they had in life!" Li Xiuzhen explained, "There is no precedent for this ability, so it can only be classified as Mystic Faction."

"This ability is too domineering!" Zheng Yunshan frowned. "Doesn't that mean that as long as he kills enough people, he will have enough souls to command, and when necessary, he can summon a large number of helpers? The more people he kills, the stronger he becomes?"

Wang Yifan also said, "Why have we never heard of such an amazing person?"

"Because he has never truly stepped into the Zhuge Family's inner circle." Li Xiuzhen nodded. "His abilities are certainly powerful, but the limitations are also very strict."

"For example, a soul that has been resurrected once cannot be resurrected again in the short term. Also, Zhuge Lang himself has a limited number of souls he can hold. Once he reaches the limit, if he wants to absorb a new soul, he must discard an old one... Of course, the most fatal thing is the price Zhuge Lang pays for using this move."

At this point, Li Xiuzhen paused. "Creating Soul-Reaping Vengeful Ghost consumes not only vital energy, but also lifespan!"

Luo Jun narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. He recalled that during their previous encounter, the bald man's face clearly showed signs of aging after using three Soul-Reaping Vengeful Ghost in succession.

"This ability itself is extremely domineering. Those struck by the Soul-Reaping Vengeful Ghost die a gruesome death, their corpses exploding into black liquid, and they are enslaved forever after death. This ability carries a certain Evil Qi. In addition, the cost of using it is too high, so Zhuge Lang usually does not use it. It is kept hidden in the Lineage as Secret Weapon and is not well known to the outside world. Only some experts in the circle know of his existence and give him the title of ' Spirit King '."

"Then how did he become Polluter?" Luo Jun asked.

"In my memory, he did not become Polluter." Li Xiuzhen shook her head. "That was nearly thirty years ago. At that time, Zhuge Lang, who was only in his thirties, had already become a top expert in the Heart Refining Realm. With his strange abilities, even those at the Peak were unwilling to take him as an opponent."

"That year, in order to deal with a powerful Polluter in the [Paranormal] world, Zhuge Lang and I went on a mission together. In the end, everyone except us died at the hands of that Polluter. In order to deal with him, Zhuge Lang used the ability of the Soul-Reaping Vengeful Ghost!"

"However, that Polluter also possesses extraordinary abilities. He has devoured a large number of Vengeful Ghost in the [Paranormal] realm, and more than one soul resides within him. Every time Zhuge Lang uses his soul-devouring ability, he can counter with the soul of a Vengeful Ghost, weakening it but not killing it completely!"

"To deal with this Polluter, Zhuge Lang used his abilities beyond their limits, and before my very eyes, he aged at a visible rate. Although he eventually killed the Polluter, he too had aged to the point of exhaustion and ultimately died there."

"Dead?" the others exclaimed in surprise.

"I buried him myself." Li Xiuzhen nodded. "The situation was urgent at the time, and I didn't take him back to headquarters. I buried him on the spot... But now it seems that this guy wasn't completely dead. Not only did he become Polluter, but Chu Yunwei, who came later, probably also fell victim to his poison..."

The others sighed upon hearing this, but Zheng Yunshan finally clapped his hands and said, "We've heard enough of the story. Time's almost up. Let's quickly decide on the Attacker."

Of the nine, only Li Xiuzhen and Xu Li haven't been Attacker yet. They'll definitely stay this round, leaving one spot available. Since everyone has already taken a turn, anyone can go on.

Since they had just encountered Zhuge Lang in the previous round, they figured they wouldn't run into him again this round, so everyone was relatively relaxed. The main objective of this round was to complete the side quest and gain protection, so no one was willing to stay and be the Attacker.

Ultimately, it was Luo Jun who volunteered to stay and became the first Attacker in the second lap.

(End of this chapter)