Yan Chihuo was startled and hurriedly retreated beyond the altar. When he looked again, he focused his gaze.
The figure resembled a middle-aged scholar. For some reason, Yan Chihuo felt that he bore some resemblance to Heaven's End King, yet was also completely different. Moreover, from this middle-aged scholar, he seemed to glimpse traces of himself as well. He could not help but feel both shocked and puzzled.
Looking at Yan Chihuo, the middle-aged scholar said, "You need not worry. I am merely a phantom image left behind by my master. In truth, I cannot see you at all, nor do I know who you are, and I cannot possibly answer your questions. Just listen."
"You surely wish to know who my master was. All I know is that others called him the Netherworld Blood Silkworm King."
Yan Chihuo was even more startled. Didn't the Netherworld Blood Silkworm King die beneath a heavenly tribulation? How could he have set up such arrangements here? It seems this man's strength was truly unfathomable. Even after suffering grievous injuries, he could still lay down such a measure in Phantom Demon Valley.
The middle-aged scholar continued, "I do not know what purpose my master had in leaving me behind. He merely instructed me to pass this cultivation art on to you. As for why, I do not know either."
Yan Chihuo was filled with even deeper misgivings. He had neither kinship nor connection with the Netherworld Blood Silkworm King, so why would the latter impart a cultivation art to him?
At that moment, the middle-aged scholar's voice rang out. Upon first hearing it, Yan Chihuo froze—it was actually the Innate Seventy-Two Transformations! But after listening to a few lines, he realized something was wrong. This cultivation art merely shared certain points of hidden accord