Undying Life

Chapter 504: The Strange Zhong Shan

Seeing Zhong Shan's "creating soldiers from beans" succeed, Lin Zhen almost blacked out, struggling to maintain his composure. The sudden appearance of a hundred Zhong Shans made him feel like vomiting blood.

Impossible, impossible! How could this be?

Creating soldiers from beans required special celestial beans, beans only the master possessed. No one else could possibly do this.

But how to explain the hundred Zhong Shans before him?

Can someone tell me, why? Why can a handful of ordinary stones create soldiers from beans? How could this happen?

No, this can't be. It can't be creating soldiers from beans. These must be illusions, mere illusions.

Suppressing the turmoil within, Lin Zhen used his divine sense to probe the hundred Zhong Shans.

The hundred Zhong Shans allowed the probe without resistance.

They're real, all real. These are physical entities.

How could this be? Lin Zhen couldn't express his current emotions. It was a feeling of frustration, a pent-up frustration that couldn't be vented.

Too frustrating.

He had accomplished so much to earn the master's reward of celestial beans, this powerful treasure. A hundred Imperial Realm warriors, he sometimes even wondered if he could challenge Empyrean Realm experts.

Each time he thought of this, Lin Zhen felt a surge of pride. Celestial beans, creating soldiers from beans, such a powerful ability. Who could compare? This was why Lin Zhen thought killing Zhong Shan would be child's play.

But when Zhong Shan, imitating his method, used ordinary stones to create soldiers, how could Lin Zhen bear it?

Of course, Zhong Shan's "creating soldiers from beans" wasn't learned from Lin Zhen. It was just a hundred shadow clones.

Lin Zhen looked at Zhong Shan, his mind filled with doubt. Could it be that the hand seals and incantations worked with ordinary stones too? Lin Zhen began to doubt his own techniques.

Impossible. These celestial beans were treasures granted by the master. Even if ordinary stones could mimic the effect, the soldiers wouldn't reach the level of golden-armored warriors.

With this thought, Lin Zhen's confidence returned.

With a command, the golden-armored warriors charged again, while the hundred Zhong Shan shadow clones moved swiftly.

Speed, terrifying speed. Lin Zhen felt dizzy.

How could this be? Zhong Shan's stone soldiers were as fast as Zhong Shan himself?

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"Slash, slash, slash..."

One Zhong Shan per golden-armored warrior, and in an instant, Zhong Shan had the upper hand. Each golden-armored warrior was suddenly injured.

"Impossible, impossible!" Lin Zhen cried out in disbelief.

How could ordinary stones create soldiers identical to those made from celestial beans? No, even stronger than those made from celestial beans. Why?

Zhong Shan watched Lin Zhen with a smile.

"Form the array!" Lin Zhen shouted.

"Form the array!" Zhong Shan shouted.

With the two commands, the golden-armored warriors formed their hexagonal array again. Strangely, the hundred Zhong Shans also formed an identical hexagonal array, with an even more imposing aura than the golden-armored warriors.

"How do you know this formation?" Lin Zhen exclaimed.

This formation was not a commonly known array in Shenzhou; it was one he had created himself. Though it was somewhat weak, he was the only one who knew it. How could Zhong Shan also know it?

Lin Zhen looked at Zhong Shan as if he were seeing a ghost. His nephew Sekong's words suddenly came to mind:

"Uncle, this Zhong Shan is very strange, extremely strange."

"Uncle, do not face Zhong Shan, he is too strange."

"Zhong Shan is the strangest person I have ever met. It's not about his cultivation or his luck; he is just incredibly strange, extremely strange!"

Sekong's words echoed in his mind. At the time, Lin Zhen had dismissed them. His two junior brothers lost to Zhong Shan due to some special circumstances or bad luck. Strange? Nonsense. No matter how strange, he was still just a human. How could he be like what Sekong described?

A monster? Strange? Now, looking back, Lin Zhen finally believed Sekong's words. Strange, no, too strange. Monster, no, too monstrous.

Lin Zhen regretted not heeding Sekong's warnings.

Standing behind the formation of golden-armored warriors, in a very advantageous position, Lin Zhen commanded them to charge. In the distance, Zhong Shan also directed his 'bean soldiers' to form an identical array and charge forward.

How did Zhong Shan know this formation?

The hundred shadow clones weren't created when he threw the stones. They had been hidden in the shadows of the golden-armored warriors from the moment they were formed. Thus, the formation's structure and activation were no secret to Zhong Shan. When he broke the formation earlier, it was because one of his shadow clones disrupted it from within.

Zhong Shan looked at the shadow clone formation and coldly smiled at Lin Zhen in the distance.

Bean soldiers against bean soldiers, the two masters stared coldly across the battlefield.

Seeing Zhong Shan's cold smile, Lin Zhen instinctively felt something was wrong.

Wrong? Where was this feeling coming from? What was wrong?

As Lin Zhen pondered, a sudden chill ran down his spine. A strong sense of danger enveloped him.

Death? Lin Zhen suddenly felt the threat of death.

In his fear, Lin Zhen quickly activated the divine mark on his forehead and raised his protective aura.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

He was up against Zhong Shan, a true monster.

As soon as the divine mark activated, a long sword pierced through the back of his head.

From start to finish, Lin Zhen had no idea where the enemy came from.

The sword pierced his head, then slashed down vertically, giving him no time to fully activate his protective aura. Lin Zhen was dead. Just before his death, his consciousness finally understood what had happened.

It was the shadow, his own shadow. A figure had suddenly emerged from his shadow—it was Zhong Shan. How could this be? How could Zhong Shan hide in his shadow? How was this possible?

Lin Zhen couldn't think any further. Zhong Shan's attack shattered his very soul. Lin Zhen died, his final thought being that Zhong Shan was too strange. He should never have provoked Zhong Shan.

With eyes wide open in death, Lin Zhen was dismembered by Zhong Shan.

Of course, at the moment this Zhong Shan appeared, the one standing in the distance disappeared simultaneously.

A bizarre scene unfolded, displaying an unprecedented, sinister combat style.

As Lin Zhen died, the golden-armored warriors in the distance disintegrated.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

A cloud of smoke dispersed, leaving behind a hundred golden celestial beans. At the same time, Zhong Shan's shadow clones released a similar cloud of smoke and then merged back into his shadow body.

Grabbing the celestial beans, Zhong Shan's eyes lit up with surprise. These were valuable.

A hundred Imperial Realm warriors! With a flip of his hand, he tried to store them in his storage bracelet, but they wouldn't go in. Remembering the limitations similar to the bat pouch from the past, he decided to tuck them into his robe.

With Lin Zhen dead, Zhong Shan turned his gaze to the ongoing battle between Jian Ao and the Third Elder.

"Jian Ao, hurry up!" Zhong Shan called out.

With Zhong Shan's shout,

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

A massive sword aura appeared from the sky, pitch-black and identical to the one in Jian Ao's hand, emanating an overwhelming sword intent as it descended. Jian Ao himself retreated.

The powerful sword intent surged with a mighty force, targeting the Third Elder.

The Third Elder's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked up.

Sword intent, from Jian Ao, but how could it be this strong? How did it become so powerful in an instant?

There was no time to think; the Third Elder raised his blade to meet the attack.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

The formidable sword aura seemed unstoppable, colliding fiercely with the Third Elder's blade.

With a thunderous crash, the Third Elder was blasted into the ground, unable to withstand the force.

"Pu~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

He spat a mouthful of blood, his body covered in blood, and his clothes in tatters. The golden blade in his hand was shattered by the sword aura.

Defeated, utterly and completely. Jian Ao's sword intent was too powerful.

With just one strike, the Third Elder was thoroughly defeated, without a doubt.

Could it be that the previous balance was just a ruse? Had Jian Ao not been fighting seriously?

Dragging his severely injured body, the Third Elder looked at the impeccably dressed Jian Ao with disheveled hair.

"You...," the Third Elder managed to say before falling silent.

"You could have handled both of them alone, but you wanted to see my strength?" Zhong Shan frowned, showing his displeasure.

The Third Elder finally understood why Jian Ao had toyed with him earlier. It was merely to observe his assistant's capabilities. Lin Zhen was dead, and his celestial beans, capable of creating a hundred Imperial Realm warriors, were also gone?

Zhong Shan was abnormal, and Jian Ao was even more so.

That sword intent, was it his own creation? It was too strong, overwhelmingly so, leaving no room for resistance. Only an Empyrean Realm expert could possibly face it head-on.

Old Ninth? Even the leader wasn't this abnormal. He was merely at the Imperial Realm, just the Imperial Realm!

The Third Elder felt a deep sense of defeat. What he once prided himself on was nothing more than a joke in the eyes of others.

Jian Ao noticed Zhong Shan's displeasure and shook his head with a smile, saying, "Don't be upset, Zhong Shan. It's been many years since we last met. I wanted to spar with you but felt the time wasn't right, so I wanted to see how much you've grown."

Jian Ao's words were candid, without any pretense.

Zhong Shan took a deep breath, nodded, and let it go. He wasn't petty, and he didn't want to spar with Jian Ao now.

Seeing Zhong Shan's understanding, Jian Ao nodded with a trace of guilt. He reached out and took the Third Elder's jade token, then quickly flew away with Zhong Shan, pursuing the direction Old Seventh had fled.

The Third Elder saw Jian Ao take his jade token without even acknowledging him and showed a bitter smile. It turned out that Old Ninth had never regarded him as an equal.