96: Chapter 96 Possession, Rebirth!

That palm strike ultimately landed.

There was no world-shaking roar, only a dull, faint crack of shattering bone.

Bang.

Chen Fan's body, as if all its bones had been removed, slumped backward. The steel blade in his hand slipped from his grasp, clattering as it fell into a pool of blood. The light in his eyes, which had been burning with the last of his Battle Intent, dimmed rapidly and finally faded into a dead silence.

He fell straight down, splashing a small spray of blood, lying flat on his back with no sign of life remaining.

The entire world plunged into boundless darkness.

But that darkness lasted for only a ten-thousandth of an instant.

In the next moment, light re-washed his consciousness in an incredibly savage and violent manner.

His perspective changed.

He was no longer lying on his back, looking at the gray sky.

Instead, he was standing, looking down at that familiar yet strange body lying in a pool of blood.

An unprecedented, vast, and majestic power surged through his new limbs and bones.

This power was completely different from the tragic force he had squeezed out of his blood and Qi before. It was harmonious, effortless, and endless, as if it were connected to the very heaven and earth.

[Host's life signs detected as vanished...]

[Substitution Rebirth activated!]

[Locking onto perpetrator...]

[Lock-on successful: Luo Hengsheng]

[Priority determination: Direct killing, highest priority.]

[Commencing Possession...]

[Possession in progress... 1%...]

[15%...]

[58%...]

[99%...]

[100%!]

[Congratulations Host: Possession successful!]

Countless fragmented images and chaotic emotions flooded into his mind.

A lonely childhood, a cold sword, killing after killing, and a pale mask that would never be removed.

Jade-Faced Asura, Luo Hengsheng!

Below the stage, after a deathly silence, came a landslide-like uproar and sighs.

"Dead... he's really dead..."

"Sigh, why bother? The Jade-Faced Asura clearly gave him a chance."

"He was a real man, what a pity. If he hadn't died, ten years from now, he would surely have had a place on the hero ranking list!"

The bearded man who had cheered for Chen Fan slammed his wine gourd onto the ground, shattering it. His eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at the masked figure on the stage, his lips trembling for a long time, unable to utter a single curse.

The difference in strength was too vast.

So vast that people couldn't even muster the courage to feel angry.

"Jinzhong!"

A shrill cry of grief came from the direction of the Longxing Sect.

Uncle Song's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, supported by the Disciples around him.

Tears streamed down his old face as he looked at the cold corpse on the stage; he seemed to age twenty years in an instant.

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother Chen!"

The Disciples of the Longxing Sect were all weeping uncontrollably.

But no one went to blame the Jade-Faced Asura.

They all saw clearly that it was Chen Jinzhong himself who had walked this path to a dead end, step by step.

In the camp of the Duan Shui Sect, the sinister-looking Manager looked at Chen Fan's corpse with a hint of morbid pleasure on his face. But when his gaze touched the masked figure, that pleasure instantly turned into deep wariness.

A Sixth-Rank Martial Artist.

Such a being was no longer something he could afford to provoke.

On the stage, the "Jade-Faced Asura" slowly withdrew his hand.

Chen Fan—no, the current him—was adapting to this new body. He could clearly sense the breathing and heartbeat of every person within hundreds of feet; nothing could remain hidden.

Was this the world of a Sixth-Rank Martial Artist?

He lowered his head and looked through the holes in the mask at the corpse of "Chen Jinzhong" beneath his feet.

Blood stained the black martial arts attire red; the left arm was dark and swollen, and his body was covered in horrific wounds. On that young face, the determination of the final moment still remained.

A strange feeling welled up in his heart.

Like an actor stepping off the stage and watching the character he played reach their final end on the screen.

There was reflection, regret, and also a hint of relief.

The story of "Chen Jinzhong" had come to an end.

And he would start a brand new life as the "Jade-Faced Asura."

He slowly straightened his body.

This simple movement caused everyone's heart below the stage to tighten.

An invisible pressure spread out in all directions with him at the center. It wasn't a deliberately released Aura, but the natural suppression from the life level of a Rank Six powerhouse.

At the foot of Tianchi Mountain, tens of thousands of Martial Artists were pin-drop silent.

Those Martial Artists who had been itching to move, wanting to go on stage to take advantage of the situation, now wished they could bury their heads in the ground, fearing the masked god of slaughter would give them a second glance.

Challenge?

Who dared? Who was qualified?

The "Jade-Faced Asura" stood in the center of the stage, surveying the entire field.

The pale mask and the eerie smile—even without any movement, they made everyone feel a shudder from the depths of their Souls.

Time passed, minute by minute.

Not a single person went up to the stage.

On the main stage, the sage-like Daoist Priest Qingxuan glanced over, his voice ringing out flatly.

"On this stage, the defense is successful."

The voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

No one was surprised by this result.

Just like that, he had easily secured a spot in the top ten of the hero ranking list.

The "Jade-Faced Asura" ignored Daoist Priest Qingxuan's announcement and the reverent gazes of the crowd below.

He turned around and walked toward the edge of the stage, step by step.

Everyone thought he would leap off the stage like the others and return to some unknown corner to wait for the final ranking battles.

However, he did not.

He just calmly reached out his hand toward the corpse of "Chen Jinzhong."

Under the astonished gaze of everyone, he picked up the ordinary standard-issue steel blade that had fallen into the pool of blood.

Then, he slung that blade, along with the tattered black cloth bundle on "Chen Jinzhong's" back, onto his own back.

After finishing all this, he walked down the stone steps and merged into the crowd.

Uncle Song watched him approach, his body instinctively tensing, his face filled with a complex expression of grief and wariness.

However, the "Jade-Faced Asura" did not walk toward them.

He didn't even give the people of the Longxing Sect a single glance.

He simply passed them by in silence, walking in the completely opposite direction.