The Demon Slayer Race was hailed as the "strongest assassination race." In Swallowed Star, Luo Feng had used it to change his appearance and disguise himself at will, doing plenty of dirty work.
There was no need to painstakingly nurture it. With a snap of Babata's fingers, the Demon Slayer Race avatar appeared in its complete form.
His original form was a black crystal cut into more than ten thousand facets, each inscribed with intricate golden secret patterns-the Demon Slayer Race's Life Crystal Core.
Streams of black air swirled around him, then rapidly condensed into shape. A naked, pale-skinned man with black hair appeared, looking exactly like Xiao Zi himself.
The Demon Slayer Race consisted of energy life-forms with no fixed appearance. They could freely transform into whatever they wished, whether people or objects. Their size was proportional to their energy: the larger their bodies, the greater the expenditure, and vice versa.
After obtaining this avatar, Xiao Zi automatically learned the Innate Secret Technique-Replication. He could freely replicate a target's life and soul aura. Unless someone sent spiritual power into his body to investigate, no one could see through his disguise from his appearance.
Space rippled around him-an advantage the Golden Horned Beast could not match. Xiao Zi put his movement technique into action, and the black crystal core with its ten thousand facets rotated slightly within him. Its golden patterns pulsed in turn, seemingly carrying the profound mysteries of cosmic space.
Whoosh!
In an instant, two or three copies of himself, then even more, appeared on the Far North's perennially frozen ground. However, the Soul Power expenditure was enormous, and Xiao Zi soon stopped.
The Demon Slayer Race avatar was a natural favorite of space, moving through the universe like a fish in water. Unrejected by the laws of heaven and earth, his movement technique was several levels above that of his original body.
"Excellent! Excellent!" Xiao Zi exclaimed with heartfelt admiration.
Babata said, "Of course! This is the race hailed as the universe's strongest assassination race, stronger than every other life-form. Did you think that was a joke? Once you have a Space Soul Skill, you'll master the laws of space even faster."
"A Space Soul Skill..." Xiao Zi seemed to grasp something else. "Thank you. This Demon Slayer Race avatar will be incredibly useful to me!"
Babata waved a hand. "We've barely started. There's still something I haven't given you! You can thank me after you've seen it~"
A rare crystal containing vast cosmic energy and life force appeared. It was ivory in color and gave off a faint fragrance of rice...
Wood Bud Crystal!
Legend had it that an apprentice-level martial artist needed to absorb only one to reach the Planetary Level within a month. Calling it a priceless treasure was no exaggeration.
Babata explained, "Master gave me the Wood Bud Crystal long ago, but instructed me to hand it over only after coming to Douluo. I didn't understand at first, but now I finally do. Take a look for yourself!"
Xiao Zi enveloped it in spiritual power to investigate and suddenly understood. Luo Feng had feared that the Wood Bud Crystal's energy concentration would be too high for this plane to withstand, so he had specially created this Douluo-style modified Wood Bud Crystal.
This way, there was no need to consider cellular vitality. Insufficient vitality would not leave the body unable to withstand the energy and cause it to explode, resulting in death.
In Douluo's terms, the energy in this Wood Bud Crystal could create a Titled Douluo!
Regardless of a Soul Master's strength or talent, the Wood Bud Crystal could directly remodel their eight extraordinary meridians, break through the limits of their potential, and allow them to advance by leaps and bounds, without any side effects!
When the Demon Slayer Race avatar was first created, Xiao Zi had worried about how to quickly strengthen an avatar that needed to cultivate from scratch and make him capable of standing on his own as soon as possible. Hadn't that problem just been solved?
At that thought, he asked, "Babata, do you have any more of these Wood Bud Crystals?"
As expected, Babata was once again speechless. "What are you thinking? Wood Bud Crystals are so precious that even in Swallowed Star, they're highly sought after and can be traded throughout the universe. Did you think they were cabbages?"
Hearing this, Xiao Zi felt both helpless and regretful. If he could get just one more, Qian Renxue could be revived ahead of time!
Sensing his thoughts, the understanding Qian Renxue said, "Don't worry about me. Strengthen the Demon Slayer Race avatar first so everything we do later will be easier. That counts as looking out for me, too!"
Her words only strengthened Xiao Zi's resolve to obtain the Water of Life. He understood that without accomplishing their grand plan, revenge would remain hopeless. He could not focus solely on immediate benefits; he had to think ahead.
Without another word, he gave the Wood Bud Crystal to the Demon Slayer Race avatar to absorb. Violent energy fluctuations surged up in an instant.
White misty light from the crystal enveloped the Demon Slayer Race avatar. The energy expanded, then contracted, firmly confined to this small patch of ground. His Soul Power, originally at level zero, skyrocketed, breaking through bottleneck after bottleneck as it charged toward level 90!
As an energy life-form, the Demon Slayer Race avatar simply could not be killed. After the immense energy overwhelmed and shattered him, he quickly condensed into human form again, repeating the cycle over and over.
He had no sense of pain. He focused on refining the energy within, channeling it throughout his body to strengthen his physique and nourish his bones while increasing his Soul Power.
Boom-
White light shot into the sky, a sign of energy continuously spilling outward. Spiritual energy filled the surrounding area, and merely breathing it in left one refreshed in body and spirit, elevating even the level of one's life.
Unlike the month of cultivation required in Swallowed Star, the Demon Slayer Race avatar finished refining the Wood Bud Crystal after just one day and opened his deep, dark eyes.
The white light gradually receded, gathering into pure energy that the avatar absorbed completely. The phenomenon that had transformed heaven and earth vanished as though it had never occurred. Even the Divine Realm high above the nine heavens noticed nothing.
The avatar was another version of himself. Shifting his perspective over, Xiao Zi clenched his fists hard, feeling the power of a mighty Douluo cultivator as Soul Power surged through his body.
Though it could not compare to his time as a God King, this was the greatest power he could command since his resurrection, making it precious beyond measure.
The peak of level 91.
After moving his limbs and becoming familiar with his body, he discovered that the avatar had no Soul Rings and could only display his strength through Simulation. This made disguising himself convenient: he could conjure up whatever kind of Soul Ring he wanted.
"So this is the power of a Titled Douluo? How wonderful~"
Stretching out his arms, Xiao Zi murmured in delight, imagining the wonderful future of walking the world.
With a Titled Douluo-level avatar, he could not only impersonate others but also carry out plans he normally would not dare consider, even faking his death.
In a brief instant, many possibilities flashed through his mind, ready to be put into action someday.
"Congratulations! Our grand plan has taken another huge step forward. What are you planning to do next?" Qian Renxue used Out-of-Body Soul, her face filled with the same joy. Clearly, her thoughts were much like a certain someone's.
Shifting his perspective back to his original body, he thanked Luo Feng through Babata. The two sides said goodbye once more, one returning to Swallowed Star while the other ventured into the Far North.
With the help of a Titled Douluo-and an agility-attack type suited to assassination at that-he was invincible against anything below a ferocious beast.
Xiao Zi had Qian Renxue activate Spiritual Detection to search for the target of this journey, the Snow Empress, as he stealthily made his way deeper into the Far North...