Two days later.

The No-Face Sword School border garrison.

A middle-aged Daoist priest frowned, looking into the distance at a churning sea of black mist.

The demons, which used to pass through here frequently, had suddenly decreased in number over the past two days. No one knew why.

"Master, the Black Mist Sea seems much calmer than before," a handsome teenager behind the priest said, equally puzzled.

"Indeed. It must be some powerful demon king devouring others, resulting in fewer of the smaller demons," the middle-aged priest stroked his beard. "Let's go send a message to the sect. Fewer demons are a good thing."

"Yes," the teenager nodded.

They glanced back at the rows of alert formation pillars at the garrison, confirming nothing was amiss, before leaping into the air, transforming into two streaks of green light, and flying away.

At that very moment, deep within the Black Mist Sea, in the direction they were facing...

A blurry, indistinct figure was slowly floating in the black mist. His entire body was faintly visible, as if he were ethereal, not existing in this world, merely a faint shadow.

This was Li Cheng颐, motionless, having activated the Shadow Dragon King's concealment talent.

After absorbing enough malevolence, he had returned near the garrison, intending to return to Pan Guang to complete his evolution.

But as he was about to leave the Black Mist Sea, he stopped.

Due to wartime vigilance, Pan Guang had been reinforced with personnel from the four sects. Patrol teams were everywhere, and even the mortal nations had disguised cultivators investigating and preparing for defense.

In such a tense atmosphere, if he caused even a slight disturbance, he would likely be discovered.

So, after much deliberation, Li Cheng颐 decided to complete his evolution and choose a new main flower within the Black Mist Sea.

There were many floating islands within the Black Mist Sea, not just mist. Mutant plants grew on these islands as well.

This was what he had discovered in the past two days.

Now, he floated in the mist sea.

One after another, three-headed giant birds, having regrouped, soared past Li Cheng颐. But these single-imprint giant birds, even at close range, couldn't detect Li Cheng颐, who was in a state of concealment.

'The Shadow Dragon clan's hiding and escaping skills are truly unparalleled.' Li Cheng颐 initially thought the Shadow Dragon King was trash, but now that he had used it more, he realized its value.

This place was extremely suitable for him to hide and cultivate, and evolve his Flower Scale Armor.

After all, with a little disguise, those foolish demons would willingly take the bait, becoming food for him to replenish his malevolence.

He could also find a few plants on the floating islands to complete his final Flower God position selection.

Just as he had exclaimed with laughter earlier, this place was simply too perfect for him.

It was like a special gift prepared for him by this world.

As the saying goes, 'To refuse what Heaven offers is to invite calamity.'

It was delivered to his mouth, placed right in front of him, and if he still didn't accept it, he would be truly ungrateful.

Li Cheng颐 was unwilling to be such an ungrateful person.

Therefore... after completing his Flower God position, he decided to use the Black Mist Sea as his base of operations.

As for the demon kings and great demons that existed here, within this blind spot, apart from Huo Qingkong and the Faceless Scholar, he didn't think anyone could match him.

Floating in mid-air, Li Cheng颐's consciousness was deeply immersed in his Divine Soul Sword Palace.

He was adjusting his state. He had spent all his time searching for a suitable floating island.

In two days, he had found many small islands with plants and flowers, finally finding one with enough flowers.

Now, everything was ready...

It was time to begin.

Buzz.

A burst of colored light erupted from the Flower of Evil mark on the back of Li Cheng颐's hand.

'Begin the first evolution of the Snow Lotus?' the inquiry came again.

This time, Li Cheng颐 didn't refuse.

'Yes.'

He confirmed in his heart.

The light of the mark immediately dimmed, leaving only a faint yellow glow to maintain it.

In an instant, the 100% progress of Flower Qi and Malevolence in the Snow Lotus mark vanished.

What appeared next was the new Second Evolution 0%.

And then, a whole new set of information surged forth.

'Snow Lotus: Perennial herb, often grows in...'

'Flower Scale Armor Evolution: Second Evolution 0%, Malevolence 0%.'

'Flower Language: Purity +1 (Original effect doubled, and the ability to detect Mental Intrusion Index is activated, own Mental Resistance +100. Note: The Mental Resistance of an ordinary individual is 1.)

(Mental Resistance: The degree and range of influence from any conscious mental effects are determined by Resistance. If the Resistance Index is lower than the Mental Intrusion Index, negative emotions such as suspicion, brainwashing, madness, and despair will appear. In severe cases, one will become a slave or a death warrior, losing oneself.)'

The enhanced Flower Language effect was barely satisfactory, but what Li Cheng颐 cared about was not this, but that the final, twelfth Flower God position could finally be filled.

Now, he hardly ever wore a single Flower Scale Armor, because the amplification was too small and the protection too fragile. A little carelessness and it would be torn, becoming a glass suit.

But if fused into the ultimate Flower Scale Armor, this situation would definitely improve greatly.

What made him somewhat concerned was this Mental Intrusion Index detection ability.

Floating in mid-air, Li Cheng颐's heart stirred, and the Flower of Evil mark flashed faintly.

A line of tiny text immediately appeared in the lower right corner of his vision.

'Mental Intrusion Index: 0.'

'A new ability reference system is not bad.'

Confirming that the evolution was over, he turned and leaped forward, cutting straight through the black mist, flying towards a large floating island he had found earlier.

Soon, after about half a minute...

A huge cone-shaped island appeared ahead.

The island was black, floating in mid-air, like an island in the ocean, but faintly fluctuating up and down with the Black Mist Sea.

He named this island Origin Island, representing the first step of his origin here in the Black Mist Sea.

Rapidly approaching the floating island, Li Cheng颐 slowed down and landed on the black soil at the edge of the island.

The edge of the floating island was all a circle of hard black rock, and inside the rock was a lot of fertile black soil.

Some messy black and red plants could be seen everywhere in the black soil. They rarely had leaves, and most of them were cactus-like thorns, their shapes twisted and distorted, like dry demon hands reaching out from the ground.

Li Cheng颐 didn't mind and continued to walk towards the center of the island.

After about two miles, a lush dark green forest appeared in front of him.

Above the forest, a faint ray of sunlight penetrated the black mist and shone here.

Li Cheng颐 entered the forest, and after only a few dozen meters, he came to a patch of weeds with warm, moist air.

Growing in the grass were dense patches of small yellow-stamen flowers with light blue petals.

These small flowers grew in clusters, each only the size of a fingernail, with dozens of them clustered together, as if they were a close-knit family.

Each stem had a large cluster of flowers.

Li Cheng颐 walked closer, squatted down, and reached out to gently touch one of the clusters of small flowers.

The flower had five petals, forming a standard five-pointed star shape. The yellow stamen in the center was very small, looking delicate and cute, making it unforgettable at a glance.

This was the last main flower he had chosen.

Now, he had abilities for attack, defense, recovery, healing, purification, concealment, and so on, but he still lacked one type of ability.

This was also the fundamental reason why he decided to choose this small flower after careful consideration.

Hiss.

As a wisp of Flower Qi poured into his fingertip,

A brand new piece of information emerged.

'Marsh Forget-me-not (Contaminated): Perennial flowering herb, often grows by streams and in wetlands. Has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, enhancing immunity, and anti-aging. If it blooms in autumn, it can continue until the following spring. If it blooms in spring, it can continue until the winter of the same year.'

'Flower Scale Armor Evolution: 0%, Evolvable times: 3.'

'Flower Language: Eternal Memory (Can consume own consciousness power to restore the current object to its original imprinted form. The stronger the energy of the restored body, the longer the distance from the imprint time, the more consumption.) (Note: Ineffective against those who transcend their own life essence.)'

'Current Imprint Count: 0. (Maximum 3)'

He had also investigated the Flower Language of Forget-me-nots when he was on Earth, and it was not nearly as strong as this. Obviously, this was a mutated Flower Language ability.

Li Cheng颐 breathed a sigh of relief.

'This Flower Language can help me quickly repair any damaged object at any time.'

It could also prevent some precious and troublesome objects from being damaged and unable to be repaired.

And it could also be used as a means of treatment in disguise. Of course, treatment might lead to the other party's memory being reset...

This point was actually very similar to the Dead Zone's restart ability.

'Whether to choose Marsh Forget-me-not as the main flower for the twelfth Flower God position?' the Flower of Evil's question appeared again.

'Yes!'

Li Cheng颐 answered affirmatively without hesitation.

Chi!!

Suddenly, a faint sky blue fluorescent light lit up on the Flower of Evil mark on the back of his hand.

At the same time, Li Cheng頤 began to absorb Forget-me-not Flower Qi cluster by cluster.

A large number of flowers provided a massive amount of Flower Qi. Soon, the Flower Qi was filled to 100, the Flower Scale Armor was activated, and the Flower Language could be used at any time.

Li Cheng颐 breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.

After thinking for a while, he casually broke off a branch from the side and then used Flower Language: Eternal Memory on it.

A small sky blue mark representing Forget-me-not flashed across the surface of the branch.

In the Flower Language column, the Imprint Count suddenly became 1.

'Then...' Li Cheng颐 suddenly squeezed, completely breaking this branch into several sections and throwing it into the distance.

He clapped his hands, and then activated Eternal Memory again.

Hiss.

The broken branch in the distance instantly disappeared.

And a brand new, complete branch appeared in front of him and was grabbed by him.

The branch was still the same one, intact and without any traces of being broken.

Li Cheng颐 carefully observed it, confirmed that there were no problems, and then went to the place where he had thrown the branch to look at the subtle traces left on the ground.

The traces were still there, but the branch was restored.

'Interesting... This way, you don't have to worry about many things being broken and lost.'

Yes, as long as an item has been imprinted, even if it is lost, it can be restored with this ability.

This was equivalent to giving an item a locking and solidifying ability.

For Li Cheng颐, who often teleported around for exploration, it was quite practical.

After completing the filling of the twelfth Flower God position, he stood quietly in place, his consciousness returning to the Flower of Evil.

At this time, the twelve Flower God positions of the Flower of Evil were faintly flashing with strange, breathing-like light.

Among all the Flower God positions, the different flowers seemed to be alive, swaying slightly and releasing light.

Various different colors of light were slowly blending together, forming a strange colored fluorescence.

That fluorescence seemed to be mixed with pale silver and thick black, an ancient, eerie, faint aura was constantly escaping from the mark.

(End of this chapter)