288: The Devil's Lineage

In a state of panic, the old man hurriedly took out Medicinal Pills and treasures to heal himself.

These items, possessing formidable healing capabilities, immediately caused the wounds on his body to knit together at a speed visible to the naked eye.

However, just as a portion had healed,

Crack!

His entire healing body suddenly cracked open once more!

"Could it be that these wounds... are wounds that cannot be healed!?"

The old man's pupils contracted violently.

He realized that the wounds on his body were a type of permanent injury. No matter what method was used, even with Medicinal Pills and treasures of the strongest healing capability, the wounds on his body would reappear after healing.

Such wounds could not be eradicated; they would exist permanently!

"What kind of existence have I... cursed!?"

The old man's heart was filled with terror and despair.

Meanwhile,

Xiao Shi had already arrived before the old man amidst the impact.

"How does the taste of the Martial God's aura feel?"

Xiao Shi grinned.

"Martial... Martial God!?"

Xiao Shi's words were like a heavy bomb, setting off monstrous waves in the old man's mind.

"I... I cursed a Martial God?"

Puff!

Xiao Shi's fist sank into the old man's chest and emerged from his back.

In the old man's current state,

he had absolutely no ability to fight back.

He was easily pierced through the body by Xiao Shi's punch.

"As expected..."

"The [martial emperor mask] can completely counter people from the Prayer God Temple!"

Xiao Shi's heart was very excited.

After all, apart from the function of concealing aura, the [martial emperor mask] could also release a strand of Martial God aura.

Earlier, Xiao Shi had deliberately released the Martial God aura through the [martial emperor mask], allowing the opponent to seize it.

If it weren't for the fact that the current Martial God had already fallen...

The act of this person cursing through the Martial God aura would not be enough to pay for his life even if he had ten lives!

However, even for a fallen Martial God,

the backlash from a curse was equally astonishing.

After killing him,

Xiao Shi quickly looked at the items dropped after the opponent's death.

[Name: Molding Ancient Battle Armor]

[Type: Armor]

[Grade: Martial Demon Grade]

[Introduction: One of the works of the armor-casting Great Master Gu Feng, this battle armor has two forms.]

[Remark 1: Form One, Defense Form. In Defense Form, it can withstand all powerful attacks from people of the same Realm, ensuring it will not be broken by power within the same Realm, but in Defense Form, one cannot launch attacks.]

[Remark 2: Form Two, Granting Armor Form. In Granting Armor Form, the entire Molding Ancient Battle Armor will disintegrate, turning into numerous armor plates. These plates can be attached to friendly forces, thereby providing a huge defensive boost to the friendly forces.]

...

Xiao Shi looked at the item information.

Through the grade of this [Molding Ancient Battle Armor], he confirmed that the Prayer God Temple old man he had killed earlier was indeed an existence comparable to the Martial Demon Realm.

Thus, he had successfully harvested a Martial Demon Grade item!

At the same time, judging from the function of this Martial Demon Grade item,

this item was an extremely powerful defensive armor.

The biggest difference between it and other armors

lay in the fact that it could not only provide protection for oneself but also provide protection for friendly forces.

However, to use this armor, one must reach the Martial Demon Realm.

As of now, Xiao Shi could not yet use this item.

After Xiao Shi picked up this item,

he did not stay there for too long.

He immediately left the place at the fastest speed.

He knew that with the death of this Prayer God Temple old man, other people from the Prayer God Temple must have already sensed it.

He had to escape as soon as possible.

If another such expert came,

he would not be able to kill them as easily as he did this time.

After all, the [martial emperor mask] could not release Martial God aura all the time.

After each release of Martial God aura, it often required an interval of time before the [martial emperor mask] could release it again.

Immediately,

Xiao Shi fled from this place at the fastest speed.

...

Three days later.

Inside a private room of a restaurant located in Zhao Que City,

Xiao Shi looked at Man Gui, who was burly, bald, and had swirling black patterns on his head.

He had finally met the other party.

Man Gui's figure was two meters tall, and his cultivation had already reached the Life Soul stage.

What was most special about him

was that there was a sense of coexistence between good and evil,

making it difficult for Xiao Shi to distinguish whether he was good or evil.

This was the first time Xiao Shi had seen such a situation.

This reminded him of the Demonic Body Clone that would be split off when reaching the Martial Demon Realm.

He guessed that the reason Man Gui was like this was very likely because he was about to start impacting the Martial Demon Realm, so his evil thoughts had already become very obvious and could not be suppressed.

"Xiao Hu, thank you for this matter!"

Man Gui said with gratitude.

"Alright, you have already thanked me many times."

Xiao Shi smiled.

Meeting Man Gui now was naturally not his true body, but this Clone, Wang Xiao.

His true body was still hidden behind the scenes.

"Actually, I am very curious about the system of your Evil Ghost Branch. Why do you need the [Soul-Stabilizing Eye] for the Breakthrough in the Martial Soul Realm?"

Xiao Shi asked with great curiosity.

The reason he came to support Man Gui this time

was partly because both of them were members of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, and he would help if he could.

On the other hand, it was to allow Xiang Zizhen to control his own Demonic Body Clone.

According to Xiang Zizhen,

the Life Soul of the Evil Ghost Branch was very special.

If he could figure out the Life Soul of the Evil Ghost Branch, perhaps he could use this to control his own Demonic Body Clone.

Man Gui did not hide this and said,

"This is because when we of the Evil Ghost Branch form our Life Soul, to a certain extent, it is actually equivalent to stepping into the Martial Demon Realm in advance."

"Usually, the Life Soul formed by our Evil Ghost Branch is an Evil Ghost Life Soul."

"Although this Life Soul can greatly enhance our combat power, it will also cause our evil thoughts to surge. This leads to the fact that once we use the power of the Life Soul, we will become another person..."

As Man Gui spoke,

he simply demonstrated it to Xiao Shi.

He saw the black patterns swirling on his head spread rapidly.

In an instant, they covered his entire head, causing his entire head to turn black.

At the same time, his aura increased by a huge margin, and the evil thoughts on his body surged rapidly, instantly suppressing his good thoughts completely.

The whole person was completely occupied by evil thoughts,

as if he had become another person.

It gave Xiao Shi the feeling...

as if he were facing Xiang Zizhen's demonic Clone from back then!

His eyes were fierce and cold,

shimmering with bloodthirsty light.

Hum!

After initially demonstrating his Evil Ghost form,

Man Gui quickly returned to his normal state.

After all, in the Evil Ghost form, his mind was full of evil thoughts, and even towards Xiao Shi, his benefactor, he would uncontrollably generate evil thoughts.

"In other words..."

"Your Evil Ghost Branch actually already birthed a demonic Clone during the Life Soul stage..."

"It's just that this demonic Clone has not yet split off from the body."

"But it can already manifest from the body."

Xiao Shi was thoughtful.

"That's about what it means."

Man Gui nodded.

"Actually, this also carries the risk of losing control for us..."

"There are quite a few people in the Evil Ghost Branch who, because they could not suppress their own evil thoughts during the Life Soul stage, were occupied by evil thoughts, which is equivalent to demonic transformation in advance."

"However..."

"If we can hold on during the Life Soul stage, when we impact the Martial Demon Realm, it will be much easier than ordinary people."

"I think you also know."

"The biggest trouble in the Martial Demon Realm is having to face one's own Demonic Body Clone."

"And you cannot kill it directly when the Demonic Body Clone is weak; you have to wait until the Demonic Body Clone grows to a certain extent before you can solve it."

"But for our Evil Ghost Branch, as long as we can suppress our own evil thoughts during the Life Soul stage, when we impact the Martial Demon Realm, we can avoid splitting out a Demonic Body Clone like ordinary people."

"Our usual approach is to split out our own evil thoughts and refine them into an Evil Weapon!"

"Firmly control this Evil Weapon in your hands and continuously make it stronger."

"When this Evil Weapon grows to a certain extent, fuse it with yourself, and you can step into the second stage of the Martial Demon Realm."

Man Gui's words surprised Xiao Shi greatly.

No wonder Xiang Zizhen felt that the specialty of the Evil Ghost Branch could help him control his Demonic Body Clone.

It turned out that the Evil Ghost Branch itself possessed the ability to control a "Demonic Body Clone"!

You must know,

under normal circumstances, the Martial Demon Realm involves splitting out an uncontrollable Demonic Body Clone.

But the Evil Ghost Branch directly refined the split-out evil thoughts into an Evil Weapon and firmly controlled this Evil Weapon.

In this way, they had almost no risk in the Martial Demon Realm!

"The Evil Weapon you split out and refined, wouldn't it backlash?"

Xiao Shi asked.

"There are also such situations."

Man Gui nodded.

"As the Evil Weapon grows, its evil thoughts will also continuously breed. However, as long as we can suppress the evil thoughts during the Life Soul stage, even if it turns into an Evil Weapon, it will imprint fear of us."

"The intensity of the backlash will not be too great, and the risk is definitely much smaller than the normal Martial Demon Realm."

Xiao Shi suddenly understood in his heart.

"Then the [Soul-Stabilizing Eye] is..."

"The [Soul-Stabilizing Eye] can keep my Divine Soul in a stable and calm state when I split out evil thoughts, free from all negative influences."

"For us, splitting out evil thoughts is actually the most dangerous time."

"At this time, the evil thoughts will try every means to destroy and disturb."

"But with this Divine Artifact, the [Soul-Stabilizing Eye], I can be immune to all actions of the evil thoughts and will definitely be able to complete the splitting of evil thoughts."

Xiao Shi nodded.

He had to admit,

these "Four Symbols" of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect all possessed powerful and extraordinary aspects.

Now, after understanding the specialty of the Evil Ghost Branch, Xiao Shi could not help but think if he also imitated this method of the Evil Ghost Branch and formed similar evil thoughts in advance during the Life Soul stage, could he also be like them and not have to worry about the Demonic Body Clone when reaching the Martial Demon Realm?

After all, after Xiao Shi learned about the Martial Demon Realm,

he had a strong fear and pressure regarding his own Demonic Body Clone.

Especially thinking that if his Demonic Body Clone could also drop items by being killed...

He definitely could not compare to the Demonic Body Clone in terms of growth.

Therefore,

even though he was still some distance away from the Martial Demon Realm,

he had to prepare for the Martial Demon Realm in advance.

If there was no way to solve the Demonic Body Clone...

he definitely could not rashly impact the Martial Demon Realm.

However, in this regard,

Xiao Shi still needed to discuss it with Xiang Zizhen.

First, he had to see if Xiang Zizhen, after learning about the specialty of the Evil Ghost Branch, could control his own Demonic Body Clone.

That day,

after Xiao Shi parted ways with Man Gui,

he returned to Prison City all the way.

He told Xiang Zizhen all the information he had mastered.

"So that's how it is."

Xiang Zizhen pondered for a while and said,

"I need to find Revered Master to study this matter carefully."

"The method of refining the Demonic Body Clone into a weapon... is indeed a good idea."

Xiang Zizhen's thoughts were quite different from Xiao Shi's.

Although both of them were worried about the Demonic Body Clone,

their situations were different.

Xiang Zizhen had already formed a Demonic Body Clone,

while Xiao Shi had not yet formed a Demonic Body Clone.

Therefore, the handling of the Demonic Body Clone was not the same.

"If I imitate the Evil Ghost Branch and condense the Life Soul with my own evil thoughts when forming the Life Soul, is it feasible?"

Xiao Shi asked Xiang Zizhen.

Xiang Zizhen shook his head.

"It's difficult."

"If everyone could form an Evil Thought Life Soul, then the Evil Ghost Branch would have no specialty."

"However, starting from the Life Soul aspect is indeed a good direction."

"If I were at your stage, I would also consider the Life Soul."

"But it might require creating a new way, not imitating the Evil Ghost Branch. The specialty of the Evil Ghost Branch belongs only to this branch; others cannot imitate it."

"Just like the specialty of your Crimson Tiger Lineage, it is also something others cannot achieve."

"Let's do this, I will help you ask Revered Master later to see if there is any way."

Xiao Shi nodded.

The Revered Master behind Xiang Zizhen was a Cleric who had not been wiped out back then.

This was a truly powerful and ancient existence.

Whether it was the other party's strength and cultivation or their vision and experience, they were not comparable to them.

With such an existence helping to give ideas,

Xiao Shi felt there was still a lot of hope.

"By the way, there is one thing I have been forgetting to ask you."

Xiang Zizhen said solemnly,

"Are there any other people from the Crimson Tiger Lineage on your side?"

Xiao Shi thought about it,

and nodded,

"Yes!"

"As expected..."

Xiang Zizhen seemed to have expected it long ago, he said,

"Actually, not only you, but behind the other members, there are also some people from other branches. It's just that these people have low strength, and you are equivalent to their representatives."

Xiao Shi nodded.

He knew that the members of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect were distributed throughout the Tianwu Continent.

Many branches of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect didn't even know that they were a branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect...

The Crimson Tiger Sect was the best example.

Like Guo Chengdao and others,

they didn't know at all that their own Sect was actually a branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

"Since there are other people from the Crimson Tiger Lineage behind you, then you must prepare in advance..."

Xiang Zizhen looked serious.

"Do you still remember the action that I told you before was extremely important to our Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect?"