Chapter 749

"Maggot! How dare you return?"

When Xu Jingming rushed back into the base, the familiar terrifying pressure slammed into him.

Under the influence of that aura, Xu Jingming felt as if he were truly as insignificant as a maggot.

And the giant skull across from him was the god who controlled everything.

But Xu Jingming felt not a trace of fear—instead, he became more certain it was all bluster.

After all, if a maggot dares to offend you, you crush it outright—you don't just keep shouting at it.

"Just a wisp of a lingering soul, and you dare call me a maggot?"

His gaze turned icy; behind him, the Brilliant Thunder Ring spun wildly. Xu Jingming raised his right hand slightly and clenched it toward the skull: "Thunder Prison!"

Crackling—

Golden lightning appeared out of thin air and instantly swallowed the skull seated on the chair.

Under the terrifying assault of the lightning, the seemingly solid purple-black skull shattered and vanished instantly.

"Damn you, maggot!"

A piercing scream rang out as a purple-black mist erupted from the skull and frantically fled toward the base's exit.

"Try to escape? Thunder Domain!"

Boom—

Violent Dou Tian Shen Lei erupted suddenly, amplified by domain power, its energy surging—golden lightning instantly surrounded and trapped the mist completely.

"Domain?"

A terrified shriek rose from within the mist:

"Damn it! A seventh-rank mid-tier could possess a domain? Is your civilization era this strong?"

He spoke in the language of the Second Civilization Era, but Xu Jingming had long since mastered all of it—he understood effortlessly.

A thought stirred, and the golden thunderball, sealed within the mental fog and roughly the size of a basketball, returned to Xu Jingming's hand.

"Alright, now we can talk properly."

Xu Jingming's calm voice rang out: "First, tell me your identity."

"Why should I tell you? You're just a maggot!"

In the past, a single thought from me would have erased you!"

The voice inside the golden thunderball remained defiant.

Xu Jingming said nothing—only drove the lightning through the center of the fog.

Sizzzz!

Dense, fine golden lightning pierced through the mental mist, and immediately a piercing scream erupted:

"Ah!"

"Stop! Stop right now!"

"I'm wrong! I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

After more than ten seconds, Xu Jingming finally ceased his assault, speaking coldly:

"This is your final chance to reveal your identity and origin—or I'll erase you."

After the disguise failed, he sensed the opponent's mental strength through his Mind Net.

Roughly equivalent to an A-Rank eighth-rank lower-tier Master Zongshi.

He might have been formidable against Thornsword Grass, but against Xu Jingming, he'd be crushed.

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

As if fearing Xu Jingming would change his mind, a hurried, rapid voice burst from the thunderball:

"My name is Zachary. I was a Class-S, ninth-rank peak mental-type adept of the Jin Nation."

Due to a cataclysmic disaster striking this research base, I survived only as a fragmented mental soul."

If you gather celestial treasures to restore my mental power and help me return to my peak, I'll grant you everything you desire!"

As he spoke, the voice began to carry a hint of seduction.

Hearing this, Xu Jingming frowned.

This was just like the ancient Earth's "I, Qin Shi Huang, send money?" scam.

The former was fake; this one was real.

Of course, whether Zachary would repay him after regaining his peak was another matter entirely.

"You're lying!"

A sharp voice rang out—the holographic EVA pointed at the golden thunderball, furious:

"Lord Zachary didn't perish here—he died fighting the apex predator, the Blazing Fire Demon Ape!"

Who are you? How dare you impersonate Lord Zachary!"

After Zachary's sacrifice, his entire body was devoured by the ninth-rank peak Blazing Fire Demon Ape; his funeral was merely a memorial tomb for his robes.

Zachary sacrificed himself to defend against predator invasions, for the Jin Nation, for humanity—she would never tolerate anyone impersonating him.

"Damn it! You have an AI with access to Jin Nation records?"

The mental energy inside the thunderball was utterly stunned.

"Hmm?"

Xu Jingming narrowed his eyes and resumed the electric torture.

This time, the piercing screams lasted over a full minute before gradually fading.

"I really am Zachary!"

After the screams, a noticeably weaker voice emerged once more from the thunderball:

Since you've obtained the data on Jin State, you should know.

After the war against the ferocious beasts entered its final stage, humanity was pushed back step by step, and many strong cultivators were preparing escape routes.

I am a portion of Zachary's spiritual energy, tasked with inheriting his spiritual combat techniques.

Although I am not the original body, I am essentially no different from Zachary himself.

"Combat technique inheritance? A powerful figure like you should have many students—why leave behind another inheritance?" Xu Jingming asked, puzzled.

Before Zachary could speak, Eva shook her head and sighed:

"Zachary was always strict in taking disciples; in the two hundred years since his rise, he took only five students.

And all five of those students perished on the ferocious beast battlefield, preceding Zachary in death.

It's very much like him to split off a fragment of spiritual energy to preserve his techniques."

"I see." Xu Jingming nodded.

Although he had not carefully studied the later stages of the Second Civilization era,

even from Eva's few words, he could sense how brutal the war had been.

"I just lied—I am a fragmented soul split from the original body.

My spiritual energy can never be restored; my mission is to find an outstanding spiritual cultivator.

To pass on all I've learned to him, and fulfill my duty.

Now that I've revealed my identity, can you let me go?"

Zachary's voice emerged from the lightning sphere, carrying a faint trace of loneliness.

"Oh?"

Xu Jingming retracted his Lei Ting; the purple-black spiritual mist within spread out, forming before him a middle-aged man clad in a long robe.

"Since you're searching for an heir, what do you think of me?"

Xu Jingming grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth.

This was the inheritance of a peak ninth-rank adept—and a spiritual one at that!

Keep in mind that

The highest-ranked spiritual adept in Daya was merely mid-ninth-rank.

Since he had encountered it, he naturally would not let it slip away—even though he was not a spiritual adept at all.

"You?"

Zachary studied Xu Jingming carefully, then shook his head:

"I can sense it—your lightning-based ability is strong, at least S-rank or higher.

Your spiritual energy far exceeds that of a typical mid-seventh-rank master, but you are not a spiritual adept—you cannot receive this inheritance."

"How can you know without trying?" Xu Jingming radiated unshakable confidence.

A layer of Lei Ting enveloped his towering, three-meter-plus Thunderstorm Form, emphasizing his ferocity and dominance.

Glancing at the furious golden lightning that had sealed the exit, Zachary's eyelid twitched, and he sighed helplessly:

"Fine."

Who could have imagined that a former peak ninth-rank powerhouse would one day be forced by another?

And worse—he had no choice but to agree...