Swapping identities

"Master Honghua failed to advance to the Venerable level, Venerable Hongku won. Congratulations to Venerable Hongku!"

The sound faded from the mist-shrouded mountains of the Yedie River Holy Land.

This struggle came quickly and ended quickly.

Before even setting foot in Hongku's Black Stone Villa, Master Honghua had already lost his life.

The numerous prying lanterns rose into the air but quickly plummeted back down within a minute.

Not many people in the Sacred Land witnessed this battle. Some mages even rushed out of the temple and heard the Dao Lord announce the outcome of the battle.

"Why bother!"

Dharma Master Hongyi stood in his courtyard, his right hand, which had reached out to push open the door, retracted, and he sighed softly.

Even the least accomplished Hongku was once the foremost Dharma Master of the Sacred Land, constantly vying with the Venerable One, and had almost completely disregarded the Dharma Master class.

People like him knew some of Hongku's background, but there were also monks who came later who did not know Hongku's past and wanted to step on Hongku to climb to a high position.

For Dharma Master Hongyi, he would rather wait until the Venerable One in the Sacred Land passed away, until the Sacred Land had to be replaced by a Venerable One to maintain order, rather than forcibly leaping forward like this.

People will eventually grow old and die; they'll just have to wait their turn eventually.

What they need to do is not to become stronger, but more importantly, to An Ran.

For example...

Dharma Master Hongyi glanced around and looked at his own altar.

In his altar, the incense sticks that were always kept as spares for magical battles were now one long and two short, with the long one obviously being a replacement later.

"Venerable Hongku has only been back in the Sacred Land for a short time, yet Dharma Master Honghua has gone to challenge him so quickly. This is likely due to someone instigating him. Venerable Hongku is not easily fooled; his techniques..."

Dharma Master Hongyi paced back and forth in his villa, his eyes revealing a subtle and unfathomable change.

He had clearly made an investment in advance.

Whether by choice or by force, just like Master Honghua, when the Venerable One came to his door, he had no choice but to take sides.

Now he can only hope that Hongku can truly establish himself, so that he can act as Hongku's agent in matters that are inconvenient for him to control the interests of the Xiong State, and get a share of the profits.

If the feud Hongku leads to the fall of many venerable ones in the Sacred Land, Hongku might even have a chance to let him pass the venerable one test.

While Dharma Master Hongyi was pondering his own thoughts, Zhang Xuezhou was also contemplating his own little idea in Hongku's Black Stone Villa.

"How do you want me to cooperate?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"It's very simple," Hongku said in a low voice, "Just do what Jin Chang did back then!"

Whom should I replace?

"I!"

Hongku spoke in a low voice, but his tone was resolute.

"This is an opportunity. Daojun has granted me another three years. Anyone who breaks the rules and attacks me will be severely punished, if not killed!"

Within the Yedie River Holy Land, no Venerable or Mage dared to disobey the decree because of Daojun's words, but attacking Zhang Xuezhou was a different matter altogether.

Hongku's goal was to have Zhang Xuezhou take his place, while he himself would take Zhang Xuezhou and descend the mountain.

Perhaps as you walk along, some clueless people will come knocking on your door.

"This cooperation benefits not only me, but you as well," Hongku whispered. "If I go for you, no one will dare to touch you when you go down the mountain again!"

"But the problem is that it's not just me who has flaws in imitating you; it's also difficult for you to imitate me," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Although I am not very talented, I still have some people who can help me with things!"

Hongku reached into his sleeve pocket and took out some ointment.

He compared Zhang Xuezhou's face to his own and applied the smear, and his appearance became three-tenths more similar.

But I still have hair!

"I've broken the Snake Head Incantation morality; I barely have any hair left, but I can change this wig anytime!"

After applying the ointment, Hongku removed his long, gray hair, revealing his nearly bald head.

When he reached out again, he was holding a gray-white long hair hood.

With just a few snips of scissors, the hair on this wig was almost indistinguishable from Zhang Xuezhou's current hair.

"You..."

"Hurry up and change your clothes, or I'll have to disguise you, shave your scalp, and put on a wig!"

Zhang Xuezhou's risk wasn't high; his only loss was a head full of hair.

He reluctantly agreed to Hongku's request and then allowed Hongku to use his disguise skills.

This kind of feint can't bring any combat power, but when it's used, it can very well be a life-or-death struggle where the weak defeat the strong.

While violence can bring an unparalleled sense of power, like the Venerable Yufeng, even a small oversight can lead to a fatal crisis.

The same was true for Master Honghua; his powerful insect control technique died before it could be fully unleashed.

How to use techniques flexibly, how to make techniques more suitable for oneself, and how to more effectively target enemies—these involve the cultivator's philosophy.

While cultivation level is important, skillful use of Technique Method in cross-level combat is not necessarily impossible.

Zhang Xuezhou seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, and did not dwell too much on the difficulties he was encountering in his cultivation.

Moreover, the Yang Soul Dharma Body within his body is quite interesting; it is easier to activate and cultivate than the physical body, and there may indeed be hope for him to break through in terms of realm.

As for what would happen if the Yang Soul Dharma Body cultivation broke through a level or reached the Divine Ability Realm, that was also unknown to Zhang Xuezhou.

He pondered his own little thoughts while listening attentively to Hongku's points about the precautions needed when playing himself.

"No problem, I can definitely help you keep the congratulatory monks in check, and even handle the Venerable ones," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I haven't learned much else from Jin Chang, but I can definitely keep up this kind of impersonation for a while. I can even use voice-changing techniques now!"

"The main problem is that my interactions with the Venerable One and the other Dharma Masters are limited, and they are not very familiar with me," Hongku emphasized. "And very few Venerable Ones and Dharma Masters are familiar with you either, which means we might all be able to impersonate each other. If you could change your voice, that would be even better, so you wouldn't appear too cold!"

Hongku nodded in satisfaction, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed as well.

Unless you spend every day together and are familiar with every slight change in your aura and behavior, the possibility of seeing through such an act is extremely low.

Since we're not familiar with everyone, it's impossible for us to observe things closely.

Both Zhang Xuezhou and Hongku could benefit from this act of replacing the other.

Hongku can eliminate his rivals, and Zhang Xuezhou can also save himself some trouble and avoid encountering potential enemies.

He obediently let Hongku the makeup, and only after a moment, when Hongku was satisfied and withdrew his hand, did he touch his own face.

"You didn't poison this disguise powder or leave any magical medium in it, did you?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

We really need trust between us!

Hongku murmured a sentence.

Just as he was wary of the Nine Treasures Wine provided by Zhang Xuezhou, Zhang Xuezhou was now worried that he might do something underhanded while disguised.

"I'm not sure how long this operation will last, so how could I possibly poison you?" Hongku explained, "If you finish dealing with the monks and venerable ones, you can wash off the stains on your face. Even if there was a spellcasting medium in it, it will be washed away!"

"Hey, I was just saying, don't take it too seriously!"

Zhang Xuezhou thought about it and agreed.

If Hongku wanted to kill him, he would have done it already.

Given that Hongku had a need but was unsure how long it would take to handle the matter, it was unlikely that Hongku would cause trouble or harm him on his face.

Moreover, after dealing with the congratulatory guests, Zhang Xuezhou could simply leave.

He thought about it for a moment, and then he felt relieved.

Hongku, after disguising himself, touched the few short whiskers that were stuck to him and observed Zhang Xuezhou's walking manner for several seconds.

When the voices of congratulations from Venerable Black Mountain and Venerable White Bone rang out outside the Black Stone Courtyard, Hongku immediately straightened his body and gave Zhang Xuezhou a look.

This made Zhang Xuezhou sit up straight.

He coughed twice, smashed the jade bottle containing the Nine Treasures Wine he had just drunk from, and then began to reprimand.

"I expelled you from the sect back then and never intended to let you come back. Don't spoil my mood for meeting distinguished guests. Get out!" Zhang Xuezhou shouted, imitating Hongku's voice.

"Teacher, you..."

"Roll!"

Hongku responded in a low voice.

A look of approval flashed in his eyes.

Clearly, Zhang Xuezhou's imitation of him was extremely successful, even surpassing Zhang Xuezhou's imitation of him.

Moreover, Zhang Xuezhou has an excellent ability to adapt to changing circumstances and has already gotten into the zone.

This put him at ease.

After he uttered a low voice, Zhang Xuezhou yelled "Get out!" and he quickly covered his face and left, sobbing.