A Battle Between Spirit Connection Experts, a Stitched Dharma Body

In his previous life, Ge Xian had known that of all the meals under heaven, a kept man's was the sweetest.

Once he realized just how thick Bai Fugui's thigh was—the Auspicious Beast herself—this shameless fellow latched right on.

And the benefits came in the blink of an eye.

Bai Fugui had just finished speaking when she suddenly noticed that Ge Xian's Dragon Body inside the bowl was covered in wounds. He had been blasted by Yelü Yuyan's earlier Tushan Yu strike, leaving him battered and bloody. He looked grievously wounded, as if he were about to die, but in truth, his foundation remained unharmed.

Ge Xian had sharp senses and plenty of tricks; naturally, he was also first-rate at escaping with his life.

Even so, he figured he might as well put on a show.

Sure enough, seeing how miserable he looked, Bai Fugui immediately passed him a bottle of spirit pills and sent him a telepathic message. "These are Dragon Blood Evil-Resolving Pills, made at Kunlun Dragon Nest. They can heal injuries and suppress Vicious Habits that flare up when you're badly hurt. They work best on Dragon Cultivators. Take a few first, then hide to the side and recover."

As she spoke, Sister Bai shifted the Vajra Bowl farther behind her, then arranged several treasures to protect him before continuing her battle against Li Wa, Lu Hualong, and Yelü Yuyan.

Calling it a battle was less fitting than saying she was "smashing people with treasures."

Ge Xian was delighted to have some peace and quiet, and had no objections whatsoever.

He took a black-and-red pill from the bottle. After sensing that it was harmless, he swallowed it straight away.

The instant it entered his mouth, Ge Xian felt his throat grow slick and sticky. The stench of blood seeped from his nostrils, as if he had drunk a whole vat of fresh blood on the verge of congealing.

But its effects were truly exceptional.

The blood qi transformed into qi and spread through all his limbs and bones.

Almost visibly, the countless wounds blasted into Ge Xian's body began to heal, while the Dragon Qi within him surged ever more fiercely.

"Excellent pill!"

As Ge Xian praised it, he quite naturally and without the slightest hesitation tucked the pill bottle, still mostly full, into his robes.

Once again, he became certain of one thing: to get ahead in a world like this, the right path was to cling to the thickest thigh and grow stronger. Especially when that thigh belonged to a Rich Sister of this caliber—if he let her slip away, he'd deserve to be struck by lightning.

And what about Zhang Shicheng?

Liu Futong?

Or Zhu Hongwu?

It wasn't that he, Ge Huolang, had no love for rebellion. It was simply that a kept man's life was too sweet.

These thoughts, naturally, were Ge Xian poking fun at himself.

He had indeed made his choice. Besides the fact that he had his eye on Bai Fugui as a Rich Sister, the more important reason was that he had considered his own cultivation path.

If he went to mix with the Rebel Armies, they all had bright futures, and as long as they survived the road ahead, they would reap astonishing rewards.

But in their early days, the risks and rewards were still a little out of balance.

For Ge Xian, the matter to consider was how to make his strength skyrocket in the short term. Joining Bai Fugui in the soon-to-be-established Myriad Laws Soul Searching Department, a new bureau with enormous authority, was clearly the easier and more promising path.

"Of course, the most important thing is the merit."

"The Imperial Court is unquestionably the greatest beneficiary of the information I provided. With Bai Fugui vouching for me, I can almost certainly turn all that merit into benefits."

"Conservatively speaking, what I get out of this should be enough to let me break through to the Mortal Transformation Realm."

"If I left now to join Zhang Shicheng or Zhu Hongwu, wouldn't that be as stupid as a pig?"

In a flash, Ge Xian was certain he had made the right choice.

So, while looking forward to the benefits he would receive when his great merit was rewarded, he began casting curious glances all around.

At that moment, he was the only person on the battlefield with time to spare.

The small battlefield at Sunset Mountain and the distant battlefield—where the fighting blotted out the sky and sun and threatened to shatter the earth—were both locked in fierce stalemates.

Ge Xian lost interest after one glance at the battle before him. His attention was fixed entirely on Bai Fugui.

Even when Yelü Yuyan tried to pounce on him again and again to kill him, the Rich Sister blasted her back with another wave of treasures, pounding her until she shrieked in frustration, powerless to do anything.

Meanwhile, Ge Huolang called out "Sister Bai" over and over, charming the Dairy Cow Spirit Demon–like Auspicious Beast until she was over the moon.

Yelü Yuyan nearly ground her fox teeth to dust. She cursed and swore, but no one paid her any attention.

After watching for a few moments, Ge Xian turned his gaze toward the "great battlefield" that was slowly shifting in the distance.

It was truly terrifying!

Wherever the two sides passed, rivers stopped flowing and mountains split apart.

"Perfect. Let me see how an unrivaled demonic empire like the Dayuan Dynasty wages war."

"Surely the armies on both sides aren't still made up of ordinary martial artists and the like?"

His question had barely formed before he got his answer the next instant.

The distance made it hard for Ge Xian to see clearly.

But even through the haze, he could make out the appearance of the armies on both sides.

Without a doubt!

They were all people, and none of them were people.

Or rather, they may once have been human, but now they no longer had anything like a proper human appearance.

Yelü Tianzheng and the Eternal Life Cult had two kinds of soldiers. The first were the creatures Ge Xian had seen earlier: human heads on snake bodies, slick and scarlet from head to tail, wielding evil blades and demonic weapons. Every one of them radiated fierce, murderous qi. They directed their troops in the fighting, while occasionally casting wide-ranging evil arts and divine abilities alone or in unison.

The troops under their command were the so-called Spirit Desire Blood Soldiers.

They had managed to retain some human features, while all the rest were "mutated organs." Two heads, three legs, four arms—those counted as lucky.

Most of the soldiers were grotesquely twisted and hideous, covered in all manner of growths: tumors, pustules, bone spurs, skinless flesh, tentacles, and more. It was hard to imagine what it must feel like to be in an army like that.

They were bloodthirsty and incredibly fast, darting back and forth like ghosts. They raced across the mountains, tearing apart and devouring every living creature they caught.

On the other side was the Imperial Court's army, led by Bao Hanzhang.

Its main force consisted, astonishingly, of soldiers with dog heads and human bodies, clad in armor.

They, too, were clearly "inhuman beings," but these Dog People had plainly retained their intelligence. They could form battle arrays and charge in orderly ranks. Though far fewer in number than the Spirit Desire Blood Soldiers, they still routed them, sending them fleeing in disarray.

Even more astonishingly, the main force was supported by another army that ruled the skies.

The air above the battlefield was filled with all sorts of bizarre Flying Chariots, piloted by strange people with either three eyes and one arm or three eyes and one leg.

They dominated the skies, precisely hurling boulders downward and firing arrows.

The Spirit Desire Blood Soldiers were indeed fearless of death and possessed terrifying, savage powers.

But their opponents were stronger.

After watching for a while, Ge Xian came to a conclusion: this was plainly a well-ordered slaughter.

The Imperial Court's army left Ge Huolang thoroughly shocked after he witnessed it.

But there was no confusion in his eyes; clearly, he already knew some of this.

It was that fellow Yang Bi. To settle his debt, he had tossed Ge Xian two secret manuals detailing the various forces and maps of Jiangzhe Province.

The government's army!

Naturally, it was included among those forces.

"The soldiers with dog heads and human bodies were originally all human. They took a spirit pill called the Dog Seal Soldier Pill, then trained together in the Dog Person Breathing Technique, and eventually all transformed into the Dog Seal Clan. Gathered into an army, they work together exceptionally well and are invincible wherever they go. They're quite renowned among the Dayuan Dynasty's many special armies."

"The flying army was also originally human. They had their hands or feet chopped off, then had eyeballs—grown through secret methods—grafted onto them. After training together in the Yin Yang Eye Technique, they all transformed into the Qigong People. They're not only utterly loyal but exceptionally intelligent, able to build all sorts of extraordinary machines. They can fly through the heavens and burrow into the earth with ease."

"The two armies originally fell under Yelü Tianzheng's command. Later, he offended Tuotuo, the Dayuan chancellor, who stripped him of his military authority and handed the armies to Bao Hanzhang to keep him in check."

"Such strange and terrifying armies, and yet they're only garrison troops stationed in Jiangzhe Province—not the border armies, which are said to be several times more brutal."

"If they're all like this, no wonder they managed to conquer such a vast and boundless territory, and dared to boast that everywhere the sun rose and set was Dayuan's land."

"But could an empire of demons like this really collapse?"

As soon as the thought arose, Ge Xian suddenly laughed.

He had nearly been blinded by a single leaf.

Never mind what he had glimpsed earlier in Anle Zishen's Logbook: the Imperial Court and the Myriad Laws Sect had run into serious trouble and could no longer help officials and gods across the land suppress their Vicious Habits, plunging the whole world into chaos. That was the root of the turmoil.

Even what he saw before him made it clear: the collapse of a great empire usually began from within.

The situation had deteriorated until a Border Governor like Yelü Tianzheng was selling off an entire province.

So what if these strange demonic armies were powerful?

Who could say Bao Hanzhang wouldn't mutate one day and simply sell them off too?

The moment he thought of Bao Hanzhang, Ge Xian looked up at the two enormous beings grappling and colliding in the sky.

The Little Yinglong he had become through Dragon Transformation was already not so little.

But compared with the Mortal Transformation Realm Dharma Bodies of Yelü Yuyan and Lu Hualong, he was still a tiny speck.

And the two of them were pitifully small beside those two enormous beings.

Yelü Tianzheng!

Bao Hanzhang!

The only two Spirit Connection Realm experts officially recognized in Jiangzhe Province.

At that moment, both had revealed their respective Dharma Body True Forms.

Ge Xian looked first at Bao Hanzhang. From the descriptions he had heard from various sources, he knew Bao was a rare, upright, fair "good official." What was more, he worshipped the Straight and Curved Spirit God, a deity rare even among the Myriad Laws Sect and entirely worthy of being called an Orthodox God.

For now, Bao's human face was nowhere to be seen.

The Straight and Curved Spirit Demon form he revealed looked unmistakably like a greatly enlarged version of Bao Mingjing.

Of course, the weight of his qi and the terror of his divine might utterly eclipsed Bao Mingjing's.

The Spirit Demon was almost as large as a mountain, striding through the air with clouds and mist following him. In the areas covered by his Dao Qi, ordinary evil beings wailed and died. If they met his divine eyes, they suffered a torment that seemed to strike at their very souls.

At that moment, the one enduring this torment was another enormous Spirit Demon.

Yelü Tianzheng worshipped the Myriad Laws Celestial Pivot Prime Minister, a spirit god of extremely high standing within the Myriad Laws Sect. Even Tuotuo worshipped the same spirit god.

But for some unknown reason, Yelü Tianzheng's Vicious Habit had resurfaced, causing him to mutate and fall into depravity. Bao Hanzhang had noticed and reported him to his superiors. That had completely ruined Yelü Tianzheng's prospects. The Imperial Court's decision to let Bao Hanzhang take his military authority was clearly only the beginning; they would likely move to kill him next.

The reason had been a mystery.

But the answer was soon revealed.

Yelü Tianzheng's Celestial Pivot Prime Minister Spirit Demon Body looked like it had already mutated and fallen into depravity.

It was still a tiger's head atop a dragon's body, with two horns on its forehead and a mane of vermilion hair.

But his entire body was gaunt, his face hideous, and rotten sores covered him. Blood Eyes brimming with malice were embedded in every one of them, while clusters of strange Blood Flames swirled all around him. One had to remember, the Myriad Laws Celestial Pivot Prime Minister was reputed to know all things and communicate with ghosts and gods. His Dharma Body only had to stand there for the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to gather around him.

Yelü Tianzheng not only lacked that imposing aura, but looked filthy as well.

Even his "eye technique" was utterly crushed by Bao Hanzhang's.

Each time their eyes met, Yelü Tianzheng's soul suffered, and he howled without end.

The two traded divine abilities!

One moment, meteorites rained from the sky; the next, Netherworld Evil Flames swept through the air.

They utterly demolished the area, splitting the earth and snapping mountains in two. It was easy to imagine that once this was over, the terrain of those wilderness mountains would be completely changed.

This was the terror of Spirit Connection Realm experts.

A Spirit Connection God's casually cast spell could surpass the full force of a Mortal Transformation Realm cultivator's Innate Divine Ability.

And when they unleashed their Innate Divine Abilities, the scene was different altogether.

Just then, while Yelü Tianzheng was thinking of "fighting as he retreated" and had let his guard drop slightly, Bao Hanzhang summoned a torrent of meteorites wrapped in Skyfire and hurled them down. As Yelü Tianzheng dodged, two beams of white light surged from Bao's eyes, seeming to tear the sky apart before burrowing into Yelü Tianzheng's eyes in an instant.

At the same time, a voice rang across the area:

"Yelü Tianzheng!"

"This official asks you: why did you rebel? Why did you betray the officials and people of the entire province? Where have you taken your colleagues from the province? Hand them over at once."

Each word seemed imbued with a power as bright and righteous as the Blazing Sun.

Even Ge Xian, who had nothing to do with the matter, couldn't help feeling an urge to bare his heart and spill every secret hidden within it to Lord Bao.

As an expert of the same rank, Yelü Tianzheng was naturally not so easily compelled.

But he had taken a hit from the Straight and Curved Divine Light. When he heard the question battering at his soul, his Dharma Body froze for an instant.

That instant was enough for Bao Hanzhang to close in.

The incomparably enormous Straight and Curved Spirit Demon seemed to teleport through space, suddenly appearing right in front of Yelü Tianzheng.

The single horn on his forehead struck with savage force.

The blow had to be some kind of terrifying divine ability. It toppled Yelü Tianzheng and made him howl in even greater agony.

But Bao Hanzhang didn't stop. He charged forward, trampled him beneath his feet, then opened the Spirit Demon's jaws wide.

In silence!

A terrifying flame, utterly different from Skyfire and pure White Vastness, poured down.

In the blink of an eye, the rotting, hideous "Skin Sac" of Yelü Tianzheng was burned away.

Next should have come the flesh and blood, and then the soul.

But the next moment, Ge Xian saw an expression of shock appear on the face of the Straight and Curved Spirit Demon who was Bao Hanzhang.

Then the Celestial Pivot Prime Minister Dharma Body beneath him, formerly gaunt and bony, began to expand wildly. All kinds of horrifying "limbs" burst out with a thunderous roar, as if released from a folded state, and seized the Straight and Curved Spirit Demon, pinning him firmly in place.

Then the voice that rang out from this newly transformed Spirit Demon Dharma Body belonged to Yelü Tianzheng, laughing madly:

"Hahaha... Black Carbon Head."

"Don't you want to see your colleagues? They're right here."

"I didn't abduct a single one. I just stitched them all onto my body."