Yuan Qing naturally had reason to be confident if he dared say such a thing. Old Ghost Yan Mo knew that better than anyone, for he had seen with his own eyes a powerhouse whose strength was comparable to his own, perhaps even a shade greater, blasted to dust by a single strike of the very move Yuan Qing was now using. Not even a corpse had been left behind. Although Yuan Qing had paid for it with grievous injuries, several powerhouses had been at his side at the time. The slain man's side had still had quite a few people as well, but once their strongest fighter was killed, the others had been forced to scatter and flee. Yuan Qing had recovered completely a few months later, without even a single lingering effect. The incident had made Yuan Qing famous for a long time, and word spread that he was an invincible powerhouse among those of the same level. Though everyone knew that using the move came at a tremendous cost and would have little effect against several opponents at once, it was still astonishing. After all, in a moment of peril, everyone would be willing to trade grievous injuries for their life. As long as one was still alive, what did it matter how badly one was hurt?
And now the cause of it all once again stood upright opposite Old Ghost Yan Mo, in the form of Yuan Qing's three avatars.
The avatar art Yuan Qing cultivated was called the Nine Revolutions Avatar Art, a high-level heaven-tier Dou Technique. It was said that if a practitioner cultivated it to its peak, he could even condense an external avatar as strong as his original body, and the avatar could use any Dou Technique the original body knew.
Upon mastering the basics, a practitioner could condense nine avatars, each with half the strength of the original body. Once he reached the minor mastery stage, the nine avatars would merge and ultimately form three avatars, each with two-thirds of the original body's strength. At the major mastery stage, the three avatars would again divide into nine, and the nine would return to one, ultimately forming an external avatar as strong as the original body. As long as the original body endured, the avatar would be undying.
As long as the original body endured, the avatar would not die. In that respect, it achieved a similar result through different means to the high-level earth-tier Dou Technique Xiao Yan had obtained back then, the Three Thousand Lightning Illusory Body.
With Xiao Yan's keen eye, he had naturally seen the mysteries of the three avatars long ago. When he thought of his own Three Thousand Lightning Illusory Body, his heart immediately began to boil. If he could obtain this so-called Nine Revolutions Avatar Art and combine it with his Three Thousand Lightning Illusory Body, using the two arts' common ground and complementary strengths, he could certainly improve and innovate upon them to create an avatar Dou Technique of his own. Then, even in this world where a Dou Di was supposedly no more than an ant, he ought to have some power to protect himself. At the thought, specks of light gleamed in Xiao Yan's eyes as he stared fixedly at Yuan Qing in the distance.
Condensing each avatar with the Nine Revolutions Avatar Art was also fraught with difficulty. First, an elemental crystal with the same attribute as the original body had to serve as the foundation of the avatar's source. Upon that foundation, soul power had to be used to continually condense and refine it, imprinting the cultivation method practiced by the original body within the avatar. The avatar then had to be controlled to absorb the energy of heaven and earth to solidify its body, while the original body's pure Dou Qi was continually used to temper it. Only when the elemental crystal and the avatar had fused perfectly into one could the refinement be considered successful. As for how long the process took, that depended entirely on the practitioner's efforts.
Moreover, whenever the avatars were about to merge and advance, they would summon heavenly lightning. They had to withstand its destructive power and undergo a continual baptism beneath it, making their bodies more solid, before the merging and advancement could truly be considered complete. After each merging and advancement, the avatars would use the destructive power of the heavenly lightning to independently form an extremely violent energy within their bodies. In battle, if the original body detonated this energy, the power the avatar unleashed in that instant would amount to more than half the force of the original body's self-destruction. Though the move was powerful, its cost was enormous: after using it, the original body would be left grievously injured and plunged into danger on every side. Without sufficient care, he could die and his path would end at any moment. All in all, however, the Nine Revolutions Avatar Art was indeed an exceptionally fine Dou Technique.
Whether the avatars could ultimately complete their merging and advancement depended on the resilience of the original body's soul power. After all, the avatars and the original body were one to begin with, so the avatars' evolution naturally depended on the original body. Endure it, and one would transform into a dragon overnight, becoming a powerhouse in one's own right. Fail, and at best all the avatars would be ruined and the soul severely damaged; at worst, the soul would be utterly destroyed, leaving one a walking corpse at the mercy of others.
Though this Dou Technique was extremely difficult to cultivate, anyone who succeeded would wield power great enough to astonish others. That much could be seen from Yuan Qing's all-out strike, which had blasted a powerhouse of the same level to death.
Under normal circumstances, Old Ghost Yan Mo would naturally not have feared Yuan Qing using the Nine Revolutions Avatar Art. After all, he usually had several attendants at his side, and Yuan Qing would surely have had his own reservations.
But now, only Old Ghost Yan Mo and Yuan Qing were here. Of course, they did not know Xiao Yan was present; otherwise, Yuan Qing would never have used a Dou Technique that was almost like gambling with his life on the spot.
Old Ghost Yan Mo had been eager to obtain the heavenly treasure inside the mountain, yet feared that Yuan Qing would discover it and stand in his way. Thus, he had come alone this time, leaving behind his subordinates with weaker cultivation.
But judging by the situation, he was now alone and feared he would have difficulty getting back alive.
Beneath his mask, a pair of shadowy old eyes swept urgently up and down over the surroundings. When Old Ghost Yan Mo's gaze fell on the enormous mountain beside him, his eyes suddenly lit up, and a flash of vicious light passed through their depths. He then turned to Yuan Qing with a chuckle. "Hehe, old ghost Yuan Qing, you could indeed blast me to death here if you went all out, but don't you want to know what exactly is inside?"
"Hmph! That's none of your concern. Once this old man kills you here, the heavenly treasure in this mountain will naturally all belong to me. Then I'll find out for myself what it is. As for now, I advise you to save your strength and prepare to receive this grand gift I have for you. Hahahaha!" The corner of Yuan Qing's mouth curled up, and he gave a cold snort before speaking to Old Ghost Yan Mo with a face full of mockery.
"Hmph, do you really think that killing this old man is all it takes to obtain the heavenly treasure inside this enormous mountain? Hehe, how utterly laughable..." Old Ghost Yan Mo gave Yuan Qing a cold smile and spoke in an indifferent tone. Yet at the end, it seemed there was something he had left unsaid, something he had forcibly swallowed back just as it was about to come out, leaving an impression of mystery.
"What do you mean by that?" Yuan Qing hesitated briefly after hearing this, but in the end, he frowned slightly and asked.