Chapter 247

Feng Province provincial capital.

Bieyou Manor.

This manor was as famous as the Human-Face Manor of the "Beast King" Yu Longqing in Datong Prefecture; they were the two largest exotic beast ration plantations in Feng Province.

Only now, the "Beast King" had become a thing of the past; Yu Longqing had been dead for over two months.

Of the two people who once occupied the exotic beast ration market in Feng Province, only one remained—

Luo Yifu, Boss Luo, of the provincial capital.

This Boss Luo had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, taking only two years to occupy the exotic beast ration market in the Feng Province provincial capital, while also dealing in implants; he could be said to have eyes and ears everywhere!

Later, rumors gradually spread that standing behind Luo Yifu was the Inspector of Feng Province!

Since it involved a regional governor, not many people dared to spread rumors, so until now, the outside world's understanding of Luo Yifu's background remained ambiguous.

But in reality, all the true big shots were very clear that Luo Yifu was Lu Wenzheng's man.

Today, Bieyou Manor was under tight security inside and out.

Not only were there the martial artists under Luo Yifu himself, but there were also people from the Department of Justice, the Department of Zhige, and the security office of the Government Building.

The Feng Province Inspector, Lu Wenzheng, was "visiting incognito" today, having quietly arrived at Bieyou Manor.

Besides him, Xu Jing had also come.

After this period of preparation, Xu Jing had made preparations for his breakthrough, and next, he needed to use the Black Water Divine Ability to devour the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast.

Lu Wenzheng had been having people secretly raise this Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast in Bieyou Manor, so today he arrived at Bieyou Manor together with Xu Jing.

In the manor's dungeon, a group of people stood by a pool of water.

The pool was over ten meters in diameter, with ten circular pillars standing around it. The pillars were made of unknown materials, neither gold nor stone, and complex runes were carved on the pillars, with flickering dark golden light flowing over the runes.

Ordinary people would feel dizzy just by staring at these runes and flowing light for a moment.

The ten pillars were also wrapped in circles of blood-red chains.

These chains were as thick as an arm, and the other ends of the ten chains were all submerged in the pool.

"God-Trapping Pillars, Dragon-Imprisoning Chains—what a grand gesture!"

After arriving here, Xu Jing looked at the setup and exclaimed in admiration.

The Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast was a seventh-rank high-grade exotic beast. Even if the one Lu Wenzheng raised was a "counterfeit," it was at least seventh-rank low-grade, also possessing combat power comparable to a Martial Arts Master!

To imprison an exotic beast of this grade for a long time naturally required extraordinary means.

Xu Jing had also been curious at first about how Lu Wenzheng had managed it, but now he finally knew.

"Are the two of you the Canglin Elders?"

Xu Jing looked at the two old men standing beside Lu Wenzheng.

These two were wearing pale red robes, one tall and one short, with long beards.

One of the shorter old men nodded and said faintly: "Indeed."

The Canglin Elders, the two retainers of the Canglin Lu family, were both Possession-stage Great Mages.

Ordinary Possession-stage Great Mages usually only refined one magic treasure, then constantly added new implants to this treasure, continuously strengthening it.

It wasn't that they didn't want to refine other magic treasures; it was just that the cost of one magic treasure was too great—not only the cost of refining but also the cost of regular maintenance.

Refining an extra magic treasure was like an ordinary family having an extra child—they couldn't afford to raise it...

Only some Great Mages backed by major powers had the opportunity to refine multiple magic treasures, or even sets of magic treasures.

At this moment, the God-Trapping Pillars and Dragon-Imprisoning Chains that Xu Jing saw were sets of magic treasures; every pillar, every iron chain, was a magic treasure!

As retainers of the Lu family, the Canglin Elders had become famous many years ago for their sets of "God-Trapping Pillars" and "Dragon-Imprisoning Chains," but at that time, each of them only had five magic treasures.

And now, Xu Jing saw twenty magic treasures here!

It was said that Possession-stage Great Mages couldn't beat Dao Foundation-stage martial artists one-on-one, but it also depended on what magic treasures the Great Mage was using.

If it were the Canglin Elders standing here, the situation would be different.

Once the ten God-Trapping Pillars were brought out and a formation was set, if one were trapped inside, even a Martial Arts Master's mind would be affected, and an ordinary Dao Foundation-stage powerhouse would instantly lose their sanity, becoming a vegetable at the mercy of others!

Similarly, if the ten God-Trapping Chains were brought out and wrapped around a person simultaneously, even a peak Dao Foundation-stage powerhouse would find it difficult to break free.

These two sets of magic treasures combined could indeed trap a seventh-rank exotic beast.

Moreover, after the Azure Water Cloud-Patterned Beast advanced to become the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast, the dragon bloodline within its body would awaken, making it even more restrained by the Dragon-Imprisoning Chains.

Plus, before it advanced from sixth-rank high-grade to seventh-rank, many tricks had been played on it, and the food it was regularly fed also had tricks in it, keeping it in a long-term state of weakness, which was why it had been trapped here all along.

"Lord Lu is truly deep in foresight and long-term in planning."

Xu Jing looked at Lu Wenzheng on the side and said.

Having laid plans from over a decade ago, the Canglin Elders must have also been continuously adding new magic treasures under the Lu family's funding since then.

Even if this layout ultimately failed, at least the family's two retainers had tangibly gained strength and wouldn't lose everything.

"They are just means of getting things done; whether we succeed in the end depends on Mr. Xu's methods."

Lu Wenzheng said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jing took a step forward and looked at the pool below.

The next second, the water in the pool began to shake violently, and the chains on the ten God-Trapping Pillars also vibrated one after another, the ends submerged in the water all pulling taut.

BOOM—

The surface of the water suddenly exploded, but the towering water splashes were blocked by an invisible barrier as they approached the shore, and in the end, not a single drop of water splashed onto the bank.

A behemoth broke through the water:

Over two meters tall, over five meters long, with a single horn and black scales shimmering with ghostly blue light, these lights forming streaks of cloud patterns.

This was the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast, currently wrapped tightly by blood-red chains, struggling desperately but to no avail.

The taller one of the Canglin Elders glanced at Xu Jing.

The Dragon-Imprisoning Chains were his magic treasures, but he hadn't activated the magic treasures just now to forcibly drag the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast from the bottom of the pool; all of this had been done by Xu Jing using his Water-Control Divine Ability.

The Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast also possessed the Water-Control Divine Ability, but it was now directly crushed by Xu Jing's Water-Control Divine Ability!

"Very good, we can begin."

After standing where he was and carefully sensing the power contained within the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast, Xu Jing turned to Lu Wenzheng and said.

Lu Wenzheng smiled: "Then, I wish Mr. Xu success in one go; I will wait outside for Mr. Xu's good news."

After speaking, he turned and walked out of the water prison, and the others followed him and left.

Soon, only Xu Jing remained in the water prison, along with the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast he was controlling with his Water-Control Divine Ability.

Today, the entire Bieyou Manor was under layers of guards, and outside the water prison, Lu Wenzheng was leading a group of experts to guard Xu Jing, so Xu Jing didn't need to worry about interference from the outside world; he only needed to consider how to break through his realm.

He reached out toward the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast locked by chains in the air, and black water was released from his palm.

The black water quickly wrapped around the body of the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast.

ROAR—

The Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast let out a huge roar, and in the pool below, pillars of water rose up, but quickly dissipated.

While using his Water-Control Divine Ability to control the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast, Xu Jing began to devour the other party's power using his Black Water Divine Ability.

Already in a weakened state and imprisoned by two sets of magic treasures, the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast was almost unable to resist. Xu Jing's devouring this time was even easier than when he devoured Gu Xianfeng before.

A moment later, the roars of the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast gradually became weak, and it also gradually stopped struggling, floating in the air without moving.

A steady stream of power was injected by Xu Jing directly into his own Dao Foundation, 【Frost Cloud Heaven】, through the Black Water Divine Ability.

The power of the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast perfectly matched his Dao Foundation, so the "conversion rate" of the absorption was quite high, higher than when he absorbed Gu Xianfeng's Cloud-Ascension Divine Ability back then.

A few minutes later, Xu Jing had drained the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast dry, leaving only a pile of white bones in the air.

Outside the water prison, the taller one of the Canglin Elders said to Lu Wenzheng:

"My lord, the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast is dead."

He had been sensing the changes in the Dragon-Imprisoning Chains, so he knew the situation inside the water prison.

"Hmm."

Lu Wenzheng nodded, his face devoid of his usual smile, expressionless.

He was also somewhat nervous in his heart.

The family's decade-long planning—success or failure depended on this one move!

Inside the water prison, Xu Jing, who had devoured the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast, stood where he was and closed his eyes.

Blue, black, cyan.

Three types of light bloomed at Xu Jing's dantian, piercing through his body.

These three types of light represented the three divine abilities Xu Jing had mastered: Water-Control, Black Water, and Cloud-Ascension.

From Master to Grandmaster, one needed to combine multiple divine abilities together to form a Martial Arts Domain.

The inheritance Xu Jing mastered—Water-Control, Black Water, and Cloud-Ascension—could be perfectly fused together to form a Martial Arts Domain—【Cloud Abyss Black Water Domain】!

Xu Jing had already mastered three divine abilities. Previously, his control over the newly acquired Cloud-Ascension Divine Ability hadn't been proficient enough, but through his battle with Hao Yi, his gains were not small.

This period of preparation was to digest the gains from that battle, and now he had thoroughly mastered the Cloud-Ascension Divine Ability.

Fusing three divine abilities carried no small risk, but Xu Jing had absorbed the power of the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast, which could continuously replenish his power loss during the fusion process and also heal his injuries.

In this way, the fault tolerance rate was maximized!

That was why he had previously told Lu Wenzheng that with the Azure Water Heavenly Cloud Beast, he had at least a seventy percent chance of successfully breaking through his realm.

When the power of all three divine abilities was thoroughly stimulated, Xu Jing began the fusion of the divine abilities.

The three rays of light at his dantian began to intersect.

BOOM—

A grand power spread in all directions, then was blocked by the formation around the water prison.

While fusing the divine abilities, Xu Jing's mind also received a strong impact.

Martial arts cultivation requires comprehending the corresponding state of mind when breaking through from the early Qi-Transformation stage to the mid Qi-Transformation stage.

Afterward, before breaking through from the Dao Foundation stage to the Master realm, one needs to practice Dao Energy, and Dao Energy has higher requirements for the power of intent.

Breaking through from the Master realm to become a Grandmaster also has requirements for the state of mind.

The Martial Arts Domain is the perfect fusion of divine abilities; wanting to control the Martial Arts Domain requires the state of mind to also be complete.

This was the reason Xu Jing had to join forces with Lu Wenzheng to set a trap for Hao Yi.

Hao Yi had always been his mental knot; if this knot could not be untied, it would be very difficult for him to break through to the Grandmaster realm.

And to untie this knot, the most direct way was to let Hao Yi die by his own hands.

A dead knot is untied by death!

It was only because Shi Caiming was blocking the way that Xu Jing couldn't take action, and could only set a trap to make Hao Yi take the initiative to come to Datong Prefecture.

On the day Hao Yi raided the execution ground, Xu Jing had crushed Hao Yi with his strength, and the haze in his heart had been swept away.

Afterward, although he was heavily injured by Hao Yi's blade, upon learning later that Hao Yi had died, Xu Jing speculated that the other party had exhausted decades of lifespan with that final blade strike.

Calculated this way, Hao Yi had exhausted his lifespan to kill him, which could be considered dying by his own hands.

Xu Jing pursued the idea that the winner is king and the loser is the bandit; results were what mattered most to him, so this mental knot could be considered untied.

In this struggle between him and Hao Yi, he had ultimately had the last laugh.

With the problem of his state of mind resolved, Xu Jing began this breakthrough.

Several dozen minutes later, the fusion of the three divine abilities reached the most critical moment.

At the same time, Xu Jing's mind also ushered in new changes; it was as if he were experiencing a flash of insight before death, and scenes from the past appeared in his mind.

This was a tribulation encountered when breaking through to the Grandmaster realm—the "Flash of Insight Tribulation."

Everyone would recall their past life during this tribulation; if the mental knots left in the past could not be resolved, it might lead to a failed breakthrough!

Xu Jing did not come from a famous family; he also came from a small city and initially embarked on the path of martial arts in the local lecture hall.

Later, he also encountered the same problem as Professor Wen Ke: the beastly nature of the implant going berserk.

But he didn't have the innate defects Professor Wen Ke had, and his talent and perseverance were stronger than Professor Wen Ke's; ultimately, he solved this problem on his own and even developed an extraordinary ability capable of interrogating the human heart because of it.

But during the period of suppressing the beastly nature, his personality was also gradually affected, becoming cruel and bloodthirsty!

This made him a monster in the eyes of others; the people around him loathed him and also feared him.

He was like a beast living among the crowd.

Xu Jing didn't care about this; he only needed to become strong enough.

Later, he met Professor Wen Ke, and he saw his own shadow in the other party.

So he took action to save the other party and also taught the other party how to kill.

He told himself that he just wanted to make the world a more interesting place.

But in reality, he wanted to have one more of his own kind...

The memories flashed quickly through Xu Jing's mind like flowers seen from horseback, and just as he had expected, the memory of Hao Yi indeed caused fluctuations in his state of mind, but it did not form an obstacle for him.

He had ultimately succeeded in leaping over this obstacle.

Everything was very smooth, until the memories reached the end, reaching the night Lu Wenzheng told Xu Jing that Professor Wen Ke and the others had been killed by the Blood-Faced Ghost.

"... Mr. Wen and the others have unfortunately met with misfortune."

"Oh."

Xu Jing nodded calmly to indicate he knew.

Afterward, he went to that lake pavilion and stood there withered for a whole night.

The memories stopped here.

He thought he didn't care.

"Why... is there a mental knot?"

The fluctuations in his state of mind gradually became intense, and Xu Jing turned from his initial surprise to anger:

"How could I be unable to let go because of one person's death?!"

"It was just the death of a follower!"

"Why?!"

The angrier he became, the more intense the fluctuations in his state of mind, and the mental knot became increasingly powerful.

Losing to Hao Yi, he could win back again; he could find a way to kill the other party.

But, Professor Wen Ke was already dead...

In Xu Jing's state of mind, inner demons gradually grew:

In the world of consciousness, he still remained in that lake pavilion; on the lake surface in front of him, a figure gradually took shape, looking at him with calm eyes.

This was—the Blood-Faced Ghost.

(End of chapter)