Chapter 811: Chapter 535: One Path to Three Forms
Su City Base City.
Outer City District.
Blood and smoke soared to the sky.
Broken walls, collapsed ruins, utter chaos.
Crying and wailing, screams of pain, never ceasing.
Lu Chenzhou and Zhang Jizhi’s figures appeared.
In the void ahead, a man’s figure was trapped by a magnetic field, radiating endless Evil Qi.
Lu Chenzhou’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Ye Chen?"
Old Man Hanshan spoke:
"This is not Ye Chen, but a clone of Bloodvine Demon Venerable. Bloodvine Demon Venerable can turn her clones into the appearances of those she has devoured, indistinguishable from the real thing, and can even mimic their auras.
She snuck into the Demon Hunting Team, bypassed the array, and infiltrated Su City to cause trouble in the Outer City District. Fortunately, I have always been keeping an eye on Su City, so no great loss was caused. I managed to catch her alive."
The "Ye Chen" grinned: "This Emperor has long heard of the famous Lu Chenzhou. Today, I came especially to meet you."
Lu Chenzhou had not seen such an arrogant Demon Emperor in a long time. The people at Demon Emperor Palace all stayed far away after his return to Su City, barely ever showing their faces.
Lu Chenzhou spoke calmly: "If you wish to see me, just say so directly. Tell me your hiding place, and I’ll personally pay you a visit. There is no need to try to provoke me."
"Come look for me, Lu Chenzhou."
Before Lu Chenzhou could act,
Bloodvine Demon Emperor’s clone disintegrated on its own.
The provocation was unmistakable.
Lu Chenzhou’s brow furrowed tightly.
Zhang Jizhi said:
"Looks like she is very confident in her hiding place, believes we will never find her."
Lu Chenzhou asked:
"Has there been any attempt to lock onto her using the connection between clone and true body? Her clones can’t have formed out of thin air."
"We tried, but it didn’t work. These clones are not independent beings, they’re just energy bodies, or you can say puppets manipulated by Bloodvine Demon Venerable’s consciousness. We tried enslaving the clones, even asked Emperor Hanu to perform soul search on them, but got nothing at all. Thankfully, her clones aren’t that strong, so they’re not enough to tilt the war—just cause casualties from time to time, which is unpleasant. All the Base Cities are uneasy."
"That is exactly what the Forbidden Zone wants to achieve."
...
Nameless Star.
Bloodvine Demon Emperor exhaled lightly in relief.
"This Lu Chenzhou is indeed different from ordinary Heavenly Kings. Being targeted by him gives a primal sense of danger.
Now it’s up to whether he has any means to find my hiding place. If he really does find it, I’ll activate my backup on this planet and die with him. Anyway, I’ve already hidden a wisp of split soul in seeds in other worlds—as long as one remains, so what if the true body dies?
The merit from killing Lu Chenzhou would be enough to trade for a treasure even helpful to Demon Saints, allowing me to reach a new level.
If he can’t find me, then I’ll be even more fearless. In this Human World, no one can kill me!"
...
The next day.
Lu Chenzhou went to find North Guardian King.
"President, for the projection created by the ’One Dao to Three Forms’ technique, if my true body is in seclusion or focused on other things, what state will the clone be?"
After a moment of silence, North Guardian King spoke:
"You’re asking because of Bloodvine Demon Venerable, right?"
"Yes, during my seclusion, I can’t tend to Su City’s affairs. With only Elder Zhang, it’s hard to manage alone."
Old Hanshan’s strength is not particularly great among the Heavenly Kings.
His uniqueness is that he has mastered the Superior Sound Wave Technique. Right now in Da Xia, only he and Lu Chenzhou have that mastery.
"The projection from ’One Dao to Three Forms’ is essentially a manifestation of condensed True Gang; there is a time limit to its existence. It has no consciousness of its own and needs to be remotely controlled by the true body. During periods of closed cultivation, it can only execute simple tasks, and you need to dual-mind control it. For mere Base City defense, it’s barely sufficient. Of course, I mean for shallow-level seclusion, such as routine cultivation, meditation, or opening the acupoint. If you’re in the middle of a Breakthrough Realm, or like your master’s complete deadlock seclusion, then the clone is useless, as you absolutely cannot divide your mind in such states."
"I understand."
"Do you want to learn it?"
"Yes."
...
Myriad Phenomena Dao.
Lu Chenzhou recalled the information in his mind.
"The secret technique ’One Dao to Three Forms’ only has three layers. Each layer practiced creates one avatar, up to three at the same time. The more avatars, the weaker each one is on average, so normally one is enough.
This cultivation technique isn’t difficult, it’s essentially a True Gang manipulation technique. But maintaining an avatar and using it in combat is mentally taxing. The avatar wields about half the strength of the main body and can only use basic Martial Arts, secret techniques, Law Realm, etc.—not body techniques like the ’Withering and Flourishing Undying Technique.’
Spiritual spell techniques work but require pouring in a lot of extra spiritual power, further increasing consumption.
No range limit between avatar and true body, as long as they’re in the same World. Come to think of it, Bloodvine Demon Emperor’s clones are very similar—energy avatars, no consciousness, and probably with no distance limit too. Most likely, the true body hides in the void of space, right?"
Lu Chenzhou thought of the Shadowkill Clan.
The starry sky is the best place to hide.
But knowing this is useless.
The great vastness of the stars, searching for someone is like fishing in the ocean—unless you’re one of those legendary Great Powers, able to use your mastery of Dao to deduce through elusive causality.
Soon Lu Chenzhou sunk into cultivation.
Dawn broke the darkness.
Sitting cross-legged, a halo shimmered around his figure; behind him, at some point, a blurry shadow took form.
[One Dao to Three Forms: First Layer (1%)]
"Though this technique is Seventh Rank, it’s about as difficult as the Hidden Essence Technique—it’s just a minor path. With my current insight, Entry is easy. I should quickly finish the first layer."
Lu Chenzhou only needed a single avatar.
So there was no need to master it to the top.
During seclusion, the avatar would guard Su City.
Even with just half his strength, he could take on an End Realm Demon Emperor. This would ease Zhang Jizhi’s burden.
"Go on, this is only initial solidification. If I want to use it in combat, must reach the First Layer’s limit."
...
Time flew by.
In a flash, another year passed.
March, 2263.
Three years ago, when Lu Chenzhou was in another world, the Heavenly Person List had gone through a round of rating and settlement: Top 1,000 all gained 120 years of extra life. Top 500, 180 years, and condensed a ’Heavenly Person Martial Soul’ in the Martial World which remains after death. Top 100, Breakthrough Seven success rate increased by 10%.
Plus, the lingering benefits of the breakthrough to Eight of the Eternal Immortal, this has pushed Great Xia Martial Arts Dao’s rapid progress. Martial Artists have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. In the End Law Era, one Martial Artist in a thousand would be decent. Now, it’s one out of ten.
After decades of development,
A number of new-generation prodigies, seizing the golden era, have broken through to Martial Arts Grandmaster one after another. In just the last year, over a dozen rise every day, swelling by 5,000 in total.
The number of Great Grandmasters and Heavenly Kings is also growing fast, several times more than before. But due to lag, they cannot surge like the Grandmasters in the short term.
The battles to besiege and wipe out Demon Emperor Palace by All Nations have generally gone smoothly. Many Initial and Middle Stage Demon Emperors have died in the wars. The ones left are all tough adversaries.
As for Late Stage Demon Emperors, as long as they don’t act recklessly, even the Heavenly Person top ten would find it hard to pin them down by force—especially with help from the Shadow Kill Clan, it’s easy to escape.
Great Xia’s losses are not small. Since the siege began, 18 Heavenly Kings have fallen; most at the hands of the Four Emperors and Shadow Kill Clan, and the rest to the elusive Heavenly Ghosts—fortunately, only a few Heavenly Ghosts exist.
In the past year, enemy Seventh Realm experts have constantly tested Great Xia’s bottom line. Other than Gu Yue Demon Venerable, the Myriad Spiders Ghost Mother and Shadowstream Lord have all struck.
Seventh Realm warfare can destroy a city in a breath.
At first, All Nations suffered huge losses.
To counter this, Wanbang Council deployed Seventh Rank Daoist Soldiers—one for each of the Four Regions—to deter the enemy’s Seventh Realm powers.
Even so, the Shadowstream Lord, relying on advanced Shadow Dao techniques, continues to cause enormous trouble for All Nations. Every day, real people die in the casualties.
...
This day.
Myriad Phenomena Dao.
Lu Chenzhou sat cross-legged.
Ahead of him, an illusory Lu Chenzhou sat as well, identical in appearance and aura, but clearly a level weaker, only Initial Realm.
[One Dao to Three Forms: Second Layer (1%)]
"The projection clone feels like an extension or part of my body—controlling it is perfectly smooth."
Next,
He had the avatar use Fist Techniques, Spear Skills, Great Wilderness Prison Demon Curse, and the rest—it was the same as if he used them himself.
The flaw is that the power is diminished. The avatar is not the true body, lacks the unity of Essence, Spirit, and Intention—it’s incomplete.
"Good enough. Although the clone can’t use the Kun Character Technique, by burning all its energy, it can temporarily boost its power, enough to briefly go toe-to-toe with a peak Demon Emperor."
Lu Chenzhou estimated.
Time is money.
Buzz—the Lighting Order rang out.
The projection of North Guardian King appeared.
"Chenzhou, I know how to deal with Bloodvine Demon Emperor now. Seems I can’t do it without your help."
"Speak, President."
"I checked ancient texts and consulted Mr. Turtle. To deal with this kind of enemy, only a curse technique will work."
"A curse?"
Lu Chenzhou’s mind tensed.
Even his Undying Body is rather afraid of curses. Curses can kill a soul from across space, remotely.
"Does the Wanbang Council have anyone skilled in curse techniques?"
Lu Chenzhou asked.
North Guardian King sighed.
"There was one expert, called Spiritual Eyes Tara. But she died and perished in her Breakthrough Seven attempt. Tara’s disciple is only Fifth Realm, not enough to curse Bloodvine Demon Emperor. At the very least, you need Heavenly Person top ten cultivation for a shot at success—better to be at Seventh Realm for safety."
"Then what about having Emperor Hanu learn curses? Curse Dao is spiritual, which is his expertise."
"Emperor Hanu is learning, but it’s probably too late. Even though he’s Seventh Realm, his insight is still less than yours. I saw you Took Lightning Dao to Entering Dao in just a month, so I think you have the best chance."
The Aurora Palace incident
left a deep impression on North Guardian King,
"I’ll try. A curse strong enough to kill a Six Realms peak, if I devote myself fully, might still take three to five years to master. And my cultivation is less than Bloodvine Demon Venerable’s—success is probably a slim hope."
Lu Chenzhou had learned some curse knowledge from Mr. Turtle. Almost no curse is a hundred percent reliable, unless it’s a Six Realm cursing a Third or Fourth Realm. Curses also have a price. Otherwise, a curse master could just stay home and kill all his enemies, and the world would have plunged into chaos long ago.