286: I've got you!

"Come out!"

"Face me, Niu Zhiyuan!"

A man who looked exactly like Niu Zhiyuan, only with a more robust build and a more sinister expression, was shouting outside.

Niu Zhiyuan hid in a room, blocking the door with his body, not daring to make a sound.

Just a moment ago, as he was about to regroup with Zhou Yan and the others, the ground beneath him gave way, and he suddenly fell here.

For some unknown reason, a person identical to him—more accurately, identical to the Evil Persona in his heart—suddenly appeared and began hunting him.

At the same time, he felt that his previously uncontrollable power had now become much more docile.

But unlike his previously overbearing strength of the Physical Body, his current power seemed more inclined toward mana. This made his originally powerful Physical Body much weaker, while his mana suddenly surged.

Unfortunately, he was not skilled in magical combat and had never learned many powerful Spells.

Thus, when facing that person who was exactly like him, he couldn't win at all and had to find a random building to hide in.

The leopard Zhou Yan had given him for protection had also been separated from him just now; he was indeed in a predicament.

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

"Niu Zhiyuan, are you in here?"

A rapid knocking sound came, the great force making the door panel shake, and Niu Zhiyuan's body leaning against the door trembled with it.

This is bad!

Cold sweat poured down Niu Zhiyuan's face as he pressed against the door, desperately thinking of any other way.

"Hmph, encountered trouble?"

A voice identical to Niu Zhiyuan's rang in his mind.

"Bang!"

The "Niu Zhiyuan" outside just kicked the door open, but his smile suddenly froze.

Where was that scholarly Niu Zhiyuan inside the room?

There was only a two-meter-tall burly man with bulging muscles, eyes blood-red, and white steam exhaling from his mouth.

The burly man suddenly stood up straight, stretched, and then cracked his neck.

"Damn, finally out."

"I was suffocating to death."

Feeling the overwhelming pressure, the "Niu Zhiyuan" outside also panicked.

"How is this possible? How can you not be affected?"

"Isn't the Qiankun Rotation supposed to turn your power into mana!"

"Hehe, hahahaha!"

"Ssss—ha!"

Niu Zhiyuan first laughed loudly, then his eyes turned even redder, and he spat out a large amount of steam, enveloping the opponent.

"You modified his power; what does that have to do with me?"

"It's rare for me to come out; let me have some fun with you, hahahaha!"

In that white steam, "Niu Zhiyuan" could only see two glowing red eyes, and then a large hand reached out from the fog and grabbed him by the neck.

Just like that, Niu Zhiyuan dragged the man outside into the room.

At first, screams could be heard, but then only Niu Zhiyuan's loud laughter remained.

Meanwhile, similar things were happening to the others.

The Old Daoist Priest, who originally had white hair and a white beard, had become much younger and more handsome.

Holding a sword in one hand and a fist in the other, his fist techniques were fierce and his swordplay exquisite.

"Do you really think I, this old man, like using talismans so much that I've always fought with them?"

"Although I don't know what's happening now, this power has been missed for a long time!"

Saying this, Wei Cheng dragged his opponent—who looked like his old self—like a dead dog to find his disciple.

That middle-aged Body Cultivator, on the other hand, gained powerful mana, performing Spells with fluid grace.

He understood his own weaknesses too well and soon solved the opponent using kite tactics.

Then, relying on a mysteriously enhanced Dao Companion bond, he quickly found his Dao Companion who was in a hard-fought battle.

Now the roles of offense and defense were swapped: the female cultivator attacked while the male cultivator assisted. Although the situation was the opposite of usual, the two cooperated tacitly and used their Combined Strike Technique again.

Under the Combined Strike Technique, the female cultivator's opponent was quickly defeated.

As for the Little Daoist Child and Jiang Hongyue.

The Little Daoist Child wasn't affected much because his own strength was too weak.

He and his opponent were like two weaklings pecking at each other; it was hard for either side to injure the other, and they had to rest after fighting for a while, not looking like a battle at all.

Later, Wei Cheng arrived to save the day, ending the enemy with a simple sword strike.

Jiang Hongyue's strength was balanced, so he wasn't affected much either. Coupled with his rich experience, he soon defeated his clone, though it was quite taxing.

Seeing his Divine Abilities broken one by one, the Tree Zombie was completely dumbfounded.

What was wrong with these guys?

He had clearly reversed their power, making them fight in unfamiliar ways, so why were they still fighting so smoothly?

Not even one was stopped!

"Damn it, what useless trash!"

In his desperation, the Tree Zombie subconsciously cursed out loud.

But he soon realized something was wrong, quickly covered his mouth, and looked out through a crack with a panicked expression.

He was currently hiding in a small cupboard.

Because he had just escaped by severing his head, his newly grown body was still very small, about the size of an ordinary child, just enough to hide inside.

Following his gaze, the outside was temporarily empty, but heavy thuds could already be heard in the distance.

"Boom, boom, boom."

Every time the earthquake-like sound rang out, the ground trembled twice.

The Tree Zombie covered his mouth even tighter, his pupils trembling uncontrollably.

"Huuu..."

A sound like a giant beast breathing came from outside the door.

The booming sound stopped completely in front of the door.

The Tree Zombie hid his presence even deeper, staring at the door while shaking all over.

"Boom—!"

The seemingly sturdy door was instantly sent flying, becoming firmly embedded in the wall.

Immediately after, the Tree Zombie saw a terrifying scene.

A huge golden Dragon eye was scanning the room's interior.

Then, he heard the voice of the Dragon eye's owner.

"Stop hiding; I've already seen you."

"You left your body behind when you fled; that's the best medium."

Zhou Yan said as he used a huge dragon claw to bring in a headless corpse that had just been stitched together and was still emitting black Qi.

The huge Dragon eye blocked the doorway again.

"This was made from your body. My curse will make it find you. You can't run; catching you is only a matter of time."

The headless corpse stumbled around the room, fumbling.

Zhou Yan's Dragon eye continued to observe as the corpse moved.

"Did you hear any sound?"

"Listen, your body seems to be calling you."

Feeling the powerful Dragon Might pressing down, the Tree Zombie retracted his gaze and shrank into a corner, shivering.

At this moment, he was enveloped in deep fear.

Damn it, how did it turn into this!

He couldn't help but recall the situation just now.

Originally, he had pulled everyone into this final trump card, wanting to use powerful Law forces to restrict them, while using Divine Abilities to create clones to assassinate them.

But Zhou Yan's power could not be copied at all; the opponent seemed to be wrapped in some special power, and Laws couldn't affect him at all.

In desperation, he had to take action himself.

But as soon as he tried to sneak attack, he was easily caught by the opponent.

And from the strength shown by the opponent, that was indeed Nascent Soul Stage power.

He couldn't help but curse Gou Liaotai's jinxing mouth in his heart again.

But he knew that in his current state, he was definitely not a match for a real Nascent Soul, so he could only escape by severing his head and sending himself into this small space.

He had intended to use his newly grown body to check on the opponent's situation, but Zhou Yan had actually caught his corpse and performed a bizarre refinement.

Then the corpse suddenly seemed to have intelligence, chasing after him relentlessly.

It scared him into darting through various rooms, trying to shake off the pursuit.

Just when he thought he could lose the opponent and was preparing to look back.

He actually saw a giant Dragon clutching that eerie corpse—which had its arms wide open as if to embrace him—rushing toward him.

The Dragon's body was massive and could change in size, easily blocking all his paths of retreat.

He could only run forward desperately.

With that gaping bloody maw and the spewing lightning, he would surely die if caught.

Finally, relying on his familiarity with the layout of these rooms, he barely managed to escape Zhou Yan's pursuit.

Now he could only hope that this cupboard, located in a crack between different spaces, could slightly confuse the opponent's vision.

"Not here either?"

"You're quite good at hiding, but you won't be able to hide for long."

Zhou Yan's voice came from outside, and then the booming sound gradually faded away.

Only then did the Tree Zombie relax slightly, his curled-up body stretching out.

He breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously looked out from the crack.

Because the door was long gone, he could clearly see the situation in the corridor; the corridor was now empty, with no figures in sight.

"This time... Urgh!"

" Bang!"

Without giving the Tree Zombie a chance to breathe, a thick hand punched through the cupboard and grabbed his face.

Next, a golden Dragon eye—significantly smaller but still much larger than a normal person's—met the Tree Zombie's trembling eyes through the crack.

"This time, I've caught you."