Luo Zhou lay there, with all the spiritual energy in his dantian and all the strength in his body completely spent. He couldn't make a sound.
He looked as if he were about to die!
Fortunately, the authorities' rescue team arrived soon.
Someone spotted Luo Zhou and shouted, "There's another one here!"
"And he's just a kid! Hurry, get him to the Medical Hall!"
A stretcher arrived and carried him to the Medical Hall.
The three Eyebrow-Level Staff he had been carrying went with him.
The Medical Hall was full of patients.
The Qi Refining cultivator who had escaped from the dragon's mouth was here too, and he had survived as well.
A doctor treated Luo Zhou.
After examining him, the doctor said,
"This kid's fine. He's just exhausted. Give him a Strengthening Pill, and he'll recover soon.
"He's lost his voice from shouting himself hoarse. He'll need a few days to recover."
The doctor was highly skilled. After swallowing the Strengthening Pill, drinking two cups of water, and resting for a while in the Medical Hall, Luo Zhou recovered.
He gestured to show that he was fine. The doctor waved him away and told him to go home.
The authorities covered all the medical expenses.
Luo Zhou staggered out of the Medical Hall and wandered down the street.
Rain still pattered from the sky. People ran through it, cheering.
They were celebrating the Rainy Night Devil's death.
In front of the City Lord's Mansion, ordinary folk crowded around the old Crocodile Dragon's skeleton to watch.
Some wept, some cursed, and some laughed uproariously.
Luo Zhou shook his head and kept wandering.
The Dead Spirits that had once been everywhere in the city were now nowhere to be seen.
The Rainy Night Devil, the Full Moon Devil, the Devil of Geomagnetism...
Every last Woodworm Devil had been killed by Luo Zhou.
Not a single Dead Spirit remained!
As he walked, Luo Zhou opened his mouth to cheer, but no sound came out.
Then he bounced along, hopping as he walked!
He was happy—truly happy!
Even if he died at the hands of the most terrifying Woodworm Devil tomorrow, today he was happy.
When he got home, Luo Zhou made a special trip to a restaurant on the street and ordered several fine dishes, along with a pot of good liquor.
He couldn't hold his drink, but today he had to take a sip to celebrate.
The food arrived: four dishes, a soup, and a pot of Bamboo Leaf Green liquor.
Luo Zhou ate a few bites, then took a sip of the liquor. Its fiery bite washed over him, but he let out a long breath. The hotter, the better.
Sure enough, the burn soon faded, leaving only a rush of satisfaction in his heart!
He laughed uproariously. Though no sound came out, as he laughed, he began to cry.
For these hundred days, he had watched Dead Spirits litter the streets and thought every day about how to kill the Woodworm Devils. The pressure had been immense.
Thank goodness he had made it through!
And so, midnight came.
A roaring din erupted.
Tens of thousands of Dead Spirits appeared.
They filled the sky and blanketed the land, stretching beyond sight in every direction.
Luo Zhou didn't know what to say!
They, on the other hand, wasted no time, touching Luo Zhou one after another.
Once they had touched him, the Dead Spirits were freed at last, slowly taking on the appearances they had in life.
Tens of thousands of them looked at Luo Zhou. He was at a loss for words.
He gritted his teeth and took out some incense, slowly lighting it.
These old geezers weren't children like last time. Ordinary incense wouldn't do.
"Everyone, there's no need for many words. Your great vengeance has been avenged. Blood for blood, tooth for tooth. Go and enter the cycle of reincarnation."
They looked at Luo Zhou, expressing their gratitude, thanking him, bowing, and paying their respects.
One by one, they vanished, slowly fading away as they entered the cycle of reincarnation!
Even tens of thousands of Dead Spirits disappeared quickly. Soon, not one remained.
"Luo Zhou, you have sensed the plea of the Dead Spirits. Evil spirits have committed crimes. Punish them!"
"Punish evil: slay the Crocodile Dragon Yue Canglong. Good deed—you should be rewarded!"
"Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil complete. Reward!"
Essence poured into Luo Zhou's body, quietly transforming him from head to toe.
This transformation was several times greater than the one he had undergone after Liu Changlong.
Vaguely, Luo Zhou felt that his Body Tempering seventh stage was nearing perfection, and he was on the verge of a breakthrough.
Then came his true qi.
Tidal Qi!
There was no true qi left in Luo Zhou's dantian, but he gained ninety-nine streams of Tidal Qi in one breath.
The old Crocodile Dragon had lived for nearly two hundred years and eaten tens of thousands of people. His true qi had been boundless.
Spirit...
There was no spirit at all!
Only essence and qi!
The spirit had disappeared.
Only then did Luo Zhou learn that, before the old Crocodile Dragon died, Fairy of Green Ridge had taken away his Primordial Spirit and soul.
She had brought it back to the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect, where he would be reborn!
But the creature was dead, and its skeleton would remain there forever, scorned by the people!
The old Crocodile Dragon would never appear in Green Ridge again!
Never again would people of Green Ridge die because of him. Never again would they have to keep their distance from rivers and lakes on rainy days. That was Luo Zhou's greatest victory.
Luo Zhou rested for a while, then went to sleep.
In his dream, he vaguely saw an old Crocodile Dragon being sent into his Eternal Fire Sea.
Luo Zhou was at a loss. The old Crocodile Dragon's soul had long since escaped. What was this?
In a daze, the sea of fire answered: this was Fate Points.
All living things, once they had existed, naturally left behind traces. These traces were called Fate Points, and they existed beyond the physical body, the spirit, and the soul!
Besides the old Crocodile Dragon's Fate Points, Luo Zhou discovered that several others had been gathered up and sent into the sea of fire.
There were about five people. Leading them was the burly man who had carried a blade.
They were all cultivators the old Crocodile Dragon had eaten after charging into the residential ward.
For some unknown reason, Luo Zhou had gathered them up.
This meant that, besides enemies he killed himself, the Fate Points of nearby beings who died could also be gathered by Luo Zhou.
These were not souls, so they would not affect the cultivators' reincarnation. They were merely traces of their lives; the traces of their future lives after reincarnation were not included.
Luo Zhou couldn't understand the finer details. In any case, it was a windfall outside his usual line of business.
The Fate Points entered the sea of fire and were refined, turning into flames that seemed alive as they wandered through it.
By then, there were eleven Fate Points in Luo Zhou's endless sea of fire.
Suddenly, the flames formed from ten of them blazed fiercely.
They transformed into a kind of spirit flame, spreading from the spiritual markings on Luo Zhou's back to cover his entire body.
Luo Zhou let out a long breath. This was exactly the same as the refinement he had gained from Wang Xianchang's teachings and from killing Woodworm Devils!
The spirit flames entered his body, quietly transforming him from head to toe.
His flesh and bones, five senses and meridians, limbs and organs, spirit and soul—all gradually strengthened and improved as essence poured into him.
His throat recovered, and he could speak again.
Besides all that, as these spirit flames entered him, one of the innate abilities he had already possessed, Hand of Thought, quietly changed.
With Hand of Thought, Luo Zhou could turn his thoughts into an arm and use it within three feet of himself, as if he had an extra hand.
He had truly obtained it through Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil back then, but honestly, it wasn't much use, so he had left it idle.
Unexpectedly, under the burning of these spirit flames, Hand of Thought changed at once, transforming into the innate talent of telekinesis!
Telekinesis! The most common innate talent, but a powerful one all the same!
It was countless times more powerful than something like Hand of Thought.
This was beyond Luo Zhou's expectations.
As long as he gathered more Fate Points, he could burn ten of them for one transformation.
He could also save up a hundred Fate Points and burn them all in one grand blaze!
Once the spirit flames had burned out, they became part of the sea of fire, no longer existing separately. But Luo Zhou could sense that they hadn't disappeared. They were still there!
They might prove useful in the future!
When he woke the next morning and examined himself closely, he found that Hand of Thought had truly become the innate talent of telekinesis.
Luo Zhou now possessed the divine abilities: Dragon-Slaying Thrust, Overturning Rivers Force User, Three Thousand Weak Waters, and Nine Bulls' Strength.
Innate talent: telekinesis
Traits: Evil Suppression, Insect Control
Abilities: Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil, Keen Dharma Eye, Flash of Inspiration, Consecutive Swift Steps, Flying Pounce, Pathfinding Light, Divine Hearing
According to the immortal cultivator's teachings, divine abilities were the strongest among acquired spiritual gifts, followed by innate talents, then traits, with abilities being the weakest.
An ability was a single power. Traits were like game modifiers in his previous life, while innate talents usually consisted of several abilities. Divine abilities were the most overwhelmingly powerful.
Luo Zhou completely defied this conventional wisdom. His strongest power was Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil, yet it was only an ability.
If Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil were one day upgraded to a divine ability, just how terrifying would it be?
Besides these divine abilities and other powers, Luo Zhou also had the immortal titles of Cuili Pine Force User, Overturning Rivers Force User, Sea-Treading Force User, and Curse Master.
The Curse Master's frenzied shouts yesterday had activated tens of thousands of Dead Spirits. Now, it seemed to be undergoing some kind of indescribable evolution.
When he got up in the morning, it was the third day of the seventh month—the final day!
There was nothing to do that day. Luo Zhou had planned to stay home, but in the end, he couldn't resist and headed to the Dao Academy again.
According to Liu Changlong, a Holy Son of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace was hiding somewhere in the Dao Academy, though nobody knew who it was!
That was the culprit who had caused the sea beasts to attack the city. His parents had died in the assault.
Luo Zhou suspected everyone of being the Holy Son of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace. But after thinking it over carefully, he concluded that the culprit was probably a student in Xianya Class One.
Class Three was made up of the weakest students. When Luo Zhou first awakened, the acquired spiritual gift he had reported was Nine Bulls' Strength.
The students in Class Two had acquired spiritual gifts and were all formidable, generally stronger than those in Class Three.
But Class One had only twelve students. Most of them had innate spiritual gifts, and some even possessed spiritual roots or Daoist bodies!
While Luo Zhou was thinking, Headmaster Zhao came over and called out,
"Luo Zhou, come here a moment!"
Luo Zhou hurried over and said, "Teacher, what is it?"
"Come with me. I have a storehouse that needs cleaning. Help me out..."
Luo Zhou followed Headmaster Zhao to a storehouse and went inside.
In an instant, Luo Zhou was horrified!
This was exactly what he had seen with Flash of Inspiration!
Headmaster Zhao looked at Luo Zhou, seeming to wear a faint smile.
Luo Zhou could hardly believe it. The greatest Woodworm Devil in Green Ridge City had been him all along.
He gently touched the Eyebrow-Level Staff behind his back.
"Teacher, so it was you!"
A hundred days had passed. He had killed nine great Woodworm Devils, yet he had still encountered the Devil's Hour!
His life or death was uncertain!
But even if he died, he would fight with all his might...
Just as Luo Zhou was preparing to fight for his life,
Headmaster Zhao said, "What do you mean, me? Your...?
"Clean this place up. There are magic artifacts here, and I don't trust anyone else."
With that, Headmaster Zhao left the storehouse and disappeared around the corner.
Luo Zhou was so frightened he nearly wet himself. So it wasn't his teacher after all.
He took a deep breath, wanting to find somewhere to sit.
Then he reached out, accidentally tugging down the red cloth. Beneath it was a bronze mirror wrapped in the fabric.
Looking again, he saw his reflection clearly. In the mirror stood a young man.
A handsome young man, slender as a pine or bamboo, with fair skin, refined features, and a pair of bright, piercing eyes...
It was Luo Zhou himself. He looked at his reflection and nodded, greeting himself.
The Luo Zhou in the mirror smiled at him.
Seeing his reflection smile, Luo Zhou began smiling too. The Luo Zhou in the mirror nodded back at him!
Wasn't that delay a little too long? Was this a haunting?
Luo Zhou was horrified!
It seemed a voice had appeared beside his ear!
"Woodworm Devil Ritual!
Time: one hundred days. Location: Green Ridge City. Participants: all Woodworm Devils. Method of killing: total annihilation. Ritual feature: gu battles!
The sky is the curtain, the earth the vessel, the living are grain, and the woodworms are devils!
Ritual complete. Woodworm Devil Luo Zhou, the sole one in the Woodworm Devil arena!"
In an instant, Luo Zhou seemed to understand something!
A Flash of Inspiration foretold that a hundred days from now, he would encounter the greatest Woodworm Devil in Green Ridge City.
That Woodworm Devil was in the mirror right now!
It was him!
No matter what you said, or why, or what your purpose was, all that mattered was what you had actually done!
The final truth was that Luo Zhou had killed seven people, a bird, and a dragon in succession, becoming the last and greatest Woodworm Devil in Green Ridge City!
Before you continue