Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 161

Volume 6 Chapter 161: Zhang Xusheng (Part 2)

Because everyone was shocked by Mr. Liu’s analysis, at first, no one noticed Zhang Xusheng’s movements.

Able to absorb the magical powers attacking him and turn them into the most basic energy to make himself stronger, could it be true, as Grand Tantian said, that this "Spirit Eater" cannot be defeated?

It seems to have the upper hand, but the more you attack it, the stronger it will become. How should this battle be fought?

So when Zhang Xusheng charged at the "Spirit Eater," everyone’s first reaction was that he was testing whether Mr. Liu was telling the truth and if the "Spirit Eater" had other abilities. After all, given Zhang Xusheng’s character and the nature of his powers, encountering such a wonderfully strange creature as the "Spirit Eater" would leave him restless for a lifetime if he didn’t study it closely.

However, what happened next stunned everyone.

They saw Zhang Xusheng charge straight at the "Spirit Eater," without a trace of Spirit Qi flowing, without any defense, and without any attack. His appearance did not look like he was testing the "Spirit Eater"; it looked more like he was throwing himself to his death.

The reality confirmed the doubts everyone felt after witnessing this scene.

Previously, even though the "Spirit Eater" had been overwhelmed by so many human cultivators and seemed to be wounded all over, on the verge of defeat, it was actually absorbing a large amount of Spirit Qi from the attacks of the human cultivators, making its inner energy even more powerful.

The "Spirit Eater" is a monster that can endlessly evolve as long as it has energy!

When everyone paused their attack after Mr. Liu spoke, the "Spirit Eater" exploded.

Or rather, at first glance, it seemed that the "Spirit Eater" had exploded, but in reality, it was rapidly evolving and growing in an explosive way.

In just a moment, the wounds on the "Spirit Eater" healed completely, and its size grew nearly half again; the broken tentacles restored and became more than twice as thick and long as before.

At that moment, Zhang Xusheng charged straight at the "Spirit Eater."

In the next second, countless black tentacles wrapped around Zhang Xusheng without any hindrance, capturing him, while a deep black hole suddenly opened up in the "Spirit Eater’s" body, pulling Zhang Xusheng toward it.

Seeing this, everyone was stunned; although the "Spirit Eater" seemed powerful, it was still newly born and, while capable of endless evolution and very hard to kill, it only had the strength of a human Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

How could Zhang Xusheng be so easily caught by the "Spirit Eater" and be about to be devoured?

Yet, that was the truth.

A group of masters instinctively wanted to help. Various magical techniques rushed toward the "Spirit Eater." However, the "Spirit Eater" seemed to sense the immense energy within Zhang Xusheng and refused to let go. Countless tentacles blocked everyone’s attacks, and because of Mr. Liu’s earlier words, everyone was afraid to use overly powerful magic. For a moment, they could only watch as Zhang Xusheng was dragged deep into the body of the "Spirit Eater"!

When Zhang Xusheng was caught, he did not struggle at all and even had time to look back at Mr. Liu. In that moment, the smile at the corner of Zhang Xusheng’s mouth was so mysterious.

Mr. Liu did not intervene; his face was extremely serious.

In the instant that the "Spirit Eater" grabbed Zhang Xusheng, he understood all of Zhang Xusheng’s intentions.

Once the "Spirit Eater" caught Zhang Xusheng, the suckers on its tentacles, along with the tiny teeth inside, pressed against Zhang Xusheng, starting to continuously absorb energy from his body.

Zhang Xusheng was one of the most powerful cultivators among humans, so the Spirit Qi within him was extraordinary.

As the "Spirit Eater" began to absorb energy from Zhang Xusheng, its size started to grow visibly.

At the same time, Mr. Liu keenly sensed that Zhang Xusheng had used some kind of method, and the "Spirit Eater" was drawing much of the Spirit Qi from him into the seven "Black Dragon Nails" inside him!

While the Spirit Qi in Zhang Xusheng was quickly draining, the energy within the "Black Dragon Nails" was depleting even faster!

At first, Mr. Liu teamed up with Immortal Zizhen and Li Fulu, and after much effort, they managed to defeat and capture Zhang Xusheng. Although they later agreed to cooperate with Zhang Xusheng’s terms, they shot the precious Seven "Black Dragon Nails" into Zhang Xusheng’s body. As long as Zhang Xusheng had any ill intentions, Mr. Liu could take Zhang Xusheng’s life in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

But Mr. Liu never expected that Zhang Xusheng would choose to act this way at this moment.

Zhang Xusheng quietly watched Mr. Liu’s grim face, the smile on his lips becoming more mysterious, seeming like a provocation, a mockery, and showing a gambler’s boldness that should not belong to a cultivator!

From the moment Zhang Xusheng was caught by the "Spirit Eater," Mr. Liu was left with three choices.

The first choice was that although the energy in the "Black Dragon Nails" was quickly fading, Mr. Liu could still control the "Black Dragon Nails" to take Zhang Xusheng’s life in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. However, this would cause the Spirit Qi in Zhang Xusheng to be absorbed even faster by the "Spirit Eater." After absorbing Zhang Xusheng’s energy, how could the "Spirit Eater" be controlled?

The second choice was to withdraw the "Black Dragon Nails." Once Zhang Xusheng achieved his goal, the "Spirit Eater" would be unable to keep Zhang Xusheng trapped, and Zhang Xusheng would naturally leave. At that point, the "Spirit Eater" would be unable to absorb Zhang Xusheng’s energy and, due to its limited abilities, could not cause much harm. However, this would mean Zhang Xusheng would be free of control.

The third choice was to let the "Spirit Eater" absorb the energy of Zhang Xusheng and the "Black Dragon Nails." Mr. Liu was certainly afraid that the "Spirit Eater" would grow beyond control. But would Zhang Xusheng willingly let the "Spirit Eater" absorb him and fall into an irreversible situation? As long as Mr. Liu treated everything before him as if he were watching a play, ignoring it, or… or perhaps Zhang Xusheng would find a way to free himself at a crucial moment.

There were said to be three choices, but in reality, Mr. Liu had no choices left.

Once Zhang Xusheng willingly offered himself to the "Spirit Eater," everything had already slipped out of Mr. Liu’s control and began to follow Zhang Xusheng’s path!

This is a crazy and unimaginable path, and this path has another name: gambling!

This is Zhang Xusheng’s provocation toward Mr. Liu; it is a psychological battle between two masters. This is a carefully designed gamble like no other in history, with his own life and the fate of the world at stake. If he wins, he will be free from Mr. Liu’s control; if he loses, he will be consumed by the "Spirit Eater" and will never return. And the "Spirit Eater" will become invincible and cause harm to the world.

Under pressure, Mr. Liu can only take part in this gamble. Mr. Liu bets that Zhang Xusheng will never be willing to be absorbed by the "Spirit Eater" and die, while Zhang Xusheng bets that Mr. Liu will never allow the "Spirit Eater" to devour him so easily!

Mr. Liu coldly stared at Zhang Xusheng, testing each other’s mental limits.

From the moment Zhang Xusheng was trapped by the "Spirit Eater" to the black tendrils curling around him and pulling him into its depths, it all happened in an instant. Yet, in that brief moment, Zhang Xusheng and Mr. Liu experienced countless psychological battles with each other!

"You will not be willing to be absorbed by the ‘Spirit Eater’ like this; in the final moment, you will definitely break free from its control!"

Mr. Liu spoke to Zhang Xusheng with his eyes, while also speaking to himself.

"How do you know that I will escape? Rather than being controlled by you in the future, being absorbed by the ‘Spirit Eater’ and creating an unmatched monster to trouble you every moment is also an interesting thing!"

Zhang Xusheng responded with an almost defiant look, with a deep indifference in his eyes—indifference toward Mr. Liu, indifference toward the world, and indifference toward… himself.

"With your personality, you would never do something so harmful to others and not beneficial to yourself!"

"With my personality, what is there that I cannot do?"

Mr. Liu and Zhang Xusheng continued their mental struggle. As more energy was absorbed by Zhang Xusheng, and as Zhang Xusheng’s body got closer to the black hole within the ‘Spirit Eater’, both sides’ mental limits drew nearer, and their hearts began to race.

Zhang Xusheng, did he really prefer to be absorbed by the ‘Spirit Eater’ to escape my control?

Even though it was just a moment, Mr. Liu felt like it had been a million years. As the mental limits grew closer, Mr. Liu began to doubt his steadfastness for the first time.

Suddenly, Mr. Liu thought of two very crucial points. If the "Black Dragon Nail" is drained of all its energy by the ‘Spirit Eater’ before Zhang Xusheng, then the ‘Spirit Eater’ would become even stronger, and Zhang Xusheng would break free from its control the moment the "Black Dragon Nail" lost its power. What should be done then? What if Zhang Xusheng had a way to regain a new body after being drained? What should be done then?

These two things might happen, but they might not happen.

But, does Mr. Liu really dare to bet that these two things won’t happen? If he loses the bet, not only would Zhang Xusheng not be eliminated, but it would also create an unmatched monster!

In the end, Mr. Liu lost this mental showdown!

Just then, Mr. Liu gritted his teeth and waved his hand, and seven black lights suddenly appeared from different parts of Zhang Xusheng’s body. In the next moment, they returned to Mr. Liu’s hand; it was the seven "Black Dragon Nails"!

Zhang Xusheng had now broken free from Mr. Liu’s control.

Immortal Zizhen had planned to rescue Zhang Xusheng, but upon seeing this scene and looking into Mr. Liu’s eyes, which were clear and bright, he instantly understood Zhang Xusheng’s scheme, and his face turned pale with anger.

Everyone had been fooled by Zhang Xusheng! This was a huge blow to the future of the righteous path and to the pride of the masters.

However, even though he was extremely furious, Immortal Zizhen had no better solution.

"Zhang Xusheng!"

Mr. Liu said each word slowly and clearly.

Initially, Mr. Liu, Immortal Zizhen, and Li Fulu had worked together to capture Zhang Xusheng. Now that Li Fulu was dead, even though Mr. Liu and Immortal Zizhen could defeat Zhang Xusheng, it would be a long and grueling battle, and they also had to be wary of the "Spirit Eater" beneath their feet.

Moreover, the leftover power from the battle between the three top masters could allow the "Spirit Eater" to reach a whole new level of strength.

Because of this, when someone wanted to chase him, they were stopped by Mr. Liu and Immortal Zizhen, watching helplessly as Zhang Xusheng left!

All of this was already planned by Zhang Xusheng. The moment he took out the "Spirit Eater" egg, he had already predicted everything that would happen in the future!

Thinking about this, Mr. Liu was not only angry but also very shocked!

He never thought he would lose to Zhang Xusheng. No matter how talented Zhang Xusheng was or how many amazing things he had done, Mr. Liu still believed he would not lose to him. In fact, during their previous encounters, nothing that Zhang Xusheng planned had escaped Mr. Liu’s attention, and Mr. Liu had always kept the upper hand over Zhang Xusheng.

However, after this incident, Mr. Liu had to admit that while he might match Zhang Xusheng in strength, insight, and cleverness, he lacked Zhang Xusheng’s wild imagination and gambler’s boldness. His actions followed a trace, while Zhang Xusheng was unpredictable.

This is the most fundamental difference between Mr. Liu and Zhang Xusheng!

How can one truly defeat someone like Zhang Xusheng?

Meanwhile, just as the "Black Dragon Nail" was leaving, Zhang Xusheng smiled slightly, and without any apparent movement, the black tentacles surrounding him broke apart, and without hesitation, Zhang Xusheng flew towards the "Disaster Cloud" in the sky!

Before leaving, Zhang Xusheng turned back and gave Mr. Liu a deep look. His eyes showed no joy, no mockery, and no pride; they seemed to hold only regret.

Or maybe this gamble is the kind side of Zhang Xusheng’s soul trying to stop his own destruction.

Unfortunately, as always, even though he gave his opponent a chance, the winner was still the evil Zhang Xusheng.

"We will meet again!"

Zhang Xusheng said softly.

However, just as Zhang Xusheng’s figure disappeared into the "Disaster Cloud," a sudden change occurred.

A figure appeared out of nowhere, holding a God Weapon, and charged fiercely at Zhang Xusheng.

Immortal Zizhen gasped when he saw that figure; it was his disciple, Liu Ziqing!

At the same time, a large black cloud filled with endless death energy collided with Zhang Xusheng’s "Disaster Cloud," and standing proudly on top of the black cloud was the ancestor of the Zhong family!