A Request to Descend

Zhang Xuezhou felt strange after his body shaping exercises.

His true form was indeed sculpted into a Golden Dragon Fish.

In his Golden Dragon Fish form, he can only blow bubbles, swim, and open his mouth to spew barrages; he has no other powerful abilities.

Of course, if the thousands of dragonfish swimming alongside him can be considered a skill, then he has to admit that it is a good skill for hiding and taking a beating.

While perfectly inheriting the fish-dragon's ability to hide and conceal itself, he also gained the ability to leap over the dragon gate.

Whenever he leaps out of the dazzling galaxy of fish, he has the ability to become an even more powerful being.

These forms of his physical body originated from his combat opponents, such as using the Fire Pearl to transform into the Firebird form of the Empress Dowager, using the remnants of the Black Dragon to transform into Luo Zhong's Black Dragon body, or being tainted by the Nine-Petal Flower to manifest.

This ability seemed remarkable, but Zhang Xuezhou felt a deep sense of unease.

He seems to need to defeat his opponents in combat to gain skill, but if he already possesses the ability to defeat his opponents, what's the point of taking the ability from a defeated opponent?

Even if Zhang Xuezhou were to evolve through the Dragon Gate, he would not be the original owner and would not be able to freely use the various abilities of this form.

Ying Fusu's sword fell, and his evolved nine-petaled flower took the full force of the blow.

Zhang Xuezhou could only be thankful that the nine-petaled flower shape was indeed very good at taking hits.

As the vessel forged by Huang Daoxian, the Nine-Petal Flower possessed extraordinary power, leaving him helpless at the time.

If Huang Daoxian hadn't chosen a successor with an inadequate mindset, and if Zhang Xuezhou hadn't been so well hidden all those years, Zhang Xuezhou felt that his fortune would have collapsed long ago, he would have been defeated and defeated, and might even have died.

When Ying Fusu's sword fell, he felt the nine-petaled flower in its bud state sway slightly, experiencing almost no pain.

It takes a powerful, wide-range attack to destroy a thousand dragonfish, while only an extremely powerful strike can penetrate the nine-petaled flower.

Having witnessed Ying Fusu's wide-range attack capabilities, Zhang Xuezhou attempted to touch the remnants of the nine-petaled flower during his evolution, thus making a choice different from his previous black dragon transformation.

As it turned out, he made the right choice.

With his mind still in a bud, Zhang Xuezhou felt as if he possessed a fortress, which no amount of effort from Ying Fusu could break through.

"Ying Fusu!"

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, and he quickly explored the nine-petaled flower, trying to find a way to control it and replicate its power.

With a shout, Ying Fusu, who was outside wielding his sword, swept his gaze across the area.

"Who are you?"

Ying Fusu frowned, a faint black thread appearing in the golden light in his eyes, and then looked at the tortoise shell in front of him.

"Who am I? You don't even know who I am?" Zhang Xuezhou said, rambling on about who I was.

"I have been out of touch with the outside world for a long time and am unaware of the changes in the world. I have indeed never heard of Your Excellency," Ying Fusu said, standing solemnly with his sword in hand.

"No wonder you've never heard of my name, Li Shaojun," Zhang Xuezhou said with a sigh.

"Li Shaojun?" Ying Fusu frowned and said, "You are a demon king, why would you choose such a human name from the Southern Jambudvipa Continent?"

"I am not the Demon King. My body was simply infused with demon blood by the Demon King, which is why I am in my current state!"

Zhang Xuezhou always speaks a mix of truth and falsehood. Even if he wants to lie, the content will inevitably be nine parts truth and one part falsehood, thus achieving a confusing effect between truth and falsehood.

He is clearly resorting to his old tricks again.

"So you're saying you're human?" Ying Fusu asked. "And a human from the Southern Jambudvipa Continent?"

"That's right!"

"Impossible. In my Great Qin Cultivator Ranking, there are 4,325 cultivators with the surname Li. Those who are worthy of consideration have already been recruited. Only those whose cultivation is inadequate are removed from the list. It's unlikely that someone as strong as you would appear. As for those with the surname Li... among those who were left off the list is a minor cultivator named Li Shaojun. Li Shaojun..."

Ying Fusu muttered a few words, his expression slightly unpleasant.

Clearly, even if the Qin Dynasty gathered all the talented people in the world, the world would not be unable to function without the Qin Dynasty.

Even without the masters and armored legions of the Qin Dynasty, powerful figures still emerge in the Southern Jambudvipa Continent.

The burning of the scriptures did not sever the lineage; on the contrary, it evolved rapidly over time, and the cultivators' abilities became incredibly formidable.

The invincible general Yang Duanhe was defeated, and Ying Fusu also fell into prison after encountering this opponent named Li Shaojun.

The changing times made Ying Fusu somewhat of a stranger.

He initially thought it was all the work of Zhu Jiuyin, but it was clear that the matter was also closely related to this cultivator named Li Shaojun.

What do you want to do?

The concept that war is a matter of life or death is deeply ingrained in people's minds. Even while holding his sword, Ying Fusu continued to question, slowly observing the nine-petaled flower, trying to find his opponent's weakness.

"I've already told you once, I was just passing through Mount Tai and accidentally wandered into this place," Zhang Xuezhou reiterated. "I'm an innocent passerby. I was really just visiting relatives and friends on my way back to Chang'an City when I was dragged here. None of this has anything to do with me, and I haven't taken any benefits from you!"

Ying Fusu ignored Zhang Xuezhou's explanation. Regardless of whether Zhang Xuezhou was sincere or had entered by mistake, there was no room for maneuver at this point.

No matter how the other party explains themselves, whether they are begging for mercy or being kind and compassionate, it does not change the fact that they are hostile to each other, and a victory or defeat, life or death, is inevitable.

Ying Fusu had received much instruction and was knowledgeable in warfare, but his opponent clearly had limited knowledge of this and thought that explaining things clearly would allow them to get along peacefully.

Decades ago, Ying Fusu thought that such a powerful cultivator would be disliked by the Emperor Qin, but might very well become his friend.

Compared to Emperor Qin Huang Ying Zheng and many of his generals who were fiercely ruthless, Ying Fusu was considered to be of a gentle nature and preferred to befriend those with gentle temperaments.

He held the Tai'a sword tightly, then poked the enormous flower-like body with it before finally letting out a sigh.

"What a pity!" Ying Fusu sighed.

"What's a pity?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"I'm certain I can't do anything to you anymore," Ying Fusu said.

"That's a good thing," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Since you can't do anything to me, and I don't want to do anything to you, then we can get along peacefully!"

"Unfortunately, this is a matter of strategic maneuvering," Ying Fusu shook his head and said, "Strategic maneuvering does not allow me to back down, nor can I!"

"Well?"

"The only way now is for me to ask my father for help so that we can defeat you!"

Ying Fusu retreated with great seriousness, holding his sword, and then cupped his hands towards the nine-petaled flower formation where Zhang Xuezhou was located.

"When you are defeated in battle, and we fight to the death, I will definitely find you a cave to hide in!"

In this life-or-death struggle, Ying Fusu could not back down, and there was only so much he could do.

Ying Fusu treated the Venerable One with utmost respect, even going so far as to skin him alive, extract his tendons, and use his scales to make armor, and to refine his remnant soul into elixirs for consumption. However, he showed great respect to his opponent and was willing to find him a burial place so that he could rest in peace after death.

"Hey, are you really going to kill me? I'm not going to back down an inch. I love peace. We don't need to fight to the death. Just a little retreat is enough..."

A grumbling sound came from the center of the flower bud. Ying Fusu shook his head and then stood upright with his sword in hand.

"By the mandate of Heaven and the grace of Earth, your son humbly beseeches Your Majesty to descend upon us..."