430: Chapter 434 Possession! [4k]

Crash—

Somewhere in the East Sea.

The sound of waves crashing against the reefs echoed continuously beneath this remote seaside cliff.

The cliff was over a hundred zhang high, steep as if sliced by a blade. The rock face, eroded by sea winds year-round, was riddled with cracks and holes that an ordinary Cultivator wouldn't spare a second glance.

However, deep within this cliff, inside an extremely hidden crevice, lay a space concealed by a Formation.

The space was small, no more than a few zhang in diameter, with eerie runes densely engraved all around, faintly emitting a dark glow.

In the very center of the space sat a massive coffin as black as ink.

The coffin was cast entirely from some unknown Materials, its surface carved with countless twisted patterns, as if innumerable venomous snakes were entangled together.

On the coffin lid, nine fist-sized gemstones were embedded, flickering with a ghostly light like nine eyes.

This was the Calamity-Substituting Heavenly Coffin.

It was a rare treasure Jiang Wunian had exchanged for with contribution points in the treasury of the Six Desires Demonic Sect.

This coffin had only one function.

That was to store a soul fragment in advance; if the main body met with misfortune, one could use the coffin to reconstruct their Physical Body and return from the dead.

Even more wondrous was that upon reviving within this coffin, all Karma would be isolated, and any heavenly secret divination would be unable to trace back to this place.

This was equivalent to completely disappearing at the level of Karma. Even if someone wanted to use the Karma from the flesh and blood left behind after Jiang Wunian's self-detonation to track him down, it would be utterly impossible.

At this moment, within the coffin, a giant cocoon resembling a silkworm chrysalis floated quietly.

The cocoon was grayish-white, its surface covered in eerie patterns, with a humanoid silhouette vaguely visible curled inside.

Piled around the cocoon were countless Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, and Heaven And Earth Treasures.

These were resources Jiang Wunian had hoarded over centuries, now being consumed at a visible rate, turning into pure energy that continuously poured into the cocoon.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

An eerie seven-colored mist enveloped the giant cocoon without warning!

The mist seemed like a living thing, slowly wriggling and seeping into the cocoon bit by bit, merging with the cocoon's own aura.

The giant cocoon seemed to sense something and began to tremble and squirm!

"Crack..."

A faint sound of shattering came from within the cocoon.

Cracks began to spread across the surface of the cocoon like a spiderweb!

Finally—

"Bang!"

A hand as pale as paper suddenly thrust out from the cocoon, fiercely grabbing the edge!

That hand was skeletal, the skin so deathly pale it was almost transparent, with the veins and vessels beneath vaguely visible.

Immediately after, the other hand also reached out.

Both hands exerted force at the same time, tearing violently!

"Rip!"

The giant cocoon was torn open from the inside!

A figure slowly crawled out from the shattered cocoon, stumbling and falling to the bottom of the coffin.

It was Jiang Wunian!

But at this moment, he didn't have even half of the majesty he once possessed as a Dao Realm powerhouse.

His face was as pale as paper, devoid of any color, and his aura was withered to the extreme, like a candle in the wind that could go out at any time.

His body was so thin it was just skin and bones, as if he had just survived a major illness. His eyes were cloudy and empty, having lost their focus...

Jiang Wunian struggled to lift his head, looking at his skeletal hands, a wave of monstrous hatred flashing in his eyes.

"Yun Chenzi... damn you! Damn you!"

A low roar echoed continuously within the narrow space.

The venomous malice contained in that voice almost solidified, turning into eerie ripples that struck the surrounding coffin walls.

He Cultivated The True Scripture of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Governing All Spirits and was a core personal Disciple of the Six Desires Demonic Sect; his life-saving trump cards were naturally countless.

Although he lost that Life and Death battle with Yun Chenzi, his final self-detonation was merely a carefully designed golden cicada shedding its shell scheme.

The Seven Emotions Curse Seal before his death was ostensibly a final strike to curse Yun Chenzi, but in reality, it was a diversion to give his soul fragment enough Opportunity to escape and revive within this Calamity-Substituting Heavenly Coffin.

But he hadn't expected that even so, the price paid would far exceed his expectations.

This newborn body, though it had barely regained human form, was weak to the extreme.

That great battle had already left him on the verge of death, and the self-detonation had made matters worse. His current state was not even ten percent of his peak.

What pained him even more were the resources that had been completely consumed.

That was the entirety of his wealth accumulated bit by bit over centuries; now, only scraps remained.

He slowly moved his limbs, feeling the frailty of this new body, his eyes filled with frustration and resentment.

"As things stand, I'm afraid I can only recover for the time being..."

He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse and weak.

"The Xuanling Secret Realm... I'm afraid it's no longer within my reach."

Although his words were calm, the frustration and resentment within them were hard to hide.

As a Disciple from a Nascent Soul Grotto-Heaven, he knew the value of a Nascent Soul Opportunity better than anyone.

That xuan yin jade marrow was a dream treasure for any Golden Core Cultivator. Missing this chance meant he would never have another Opportunity to wait for the next opening of the Secret Realm.

But now, with the Opportunity right before his eyes, he could only watch helplessly, powerless to compete.

How could he swallow this!

But Jiang Wunian knew that now was not the time to act tough.

In his current state, let alone entering the Secret Realm to fight for opportunities, he might not even be a match for an ordinary Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

Going out recklessly would just be seeking death.

"I'll enter secluded Cultivation to recover first..."

Jiang Wunian gritted his teeth, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

"Yun Chenzi, just you wait! Once I recover, I will make sure you pay for this in blood!"

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to sit cross-legged, preparing to begin a period of secluded Cultivation.

However, at the very moment he began to circulate his Cultivation Technique, his expression suddenly changed!

"Not good!"

An indescribable, eerie feeling suddenly surged from the depths of his Soul!

It felt as if something was reviving within his body!

Like countless venomous snakes, it was frantically eroding, devouring, and overwriting his own Karma!

"This... what is going on?!"

Jiang Wunian's eyes widened, filled with horror and disbelief!

He frantically pushed his Cultivation Technique, attempting to suppress that eerie power.

However, the more he pushed, the more rampant that power became!

Like a shark sensing blood, it was frantically seizing everything he owned!

"Wait... this is..."

Suddenly, as if realizing something, his face turned deathly pale!

He remembered!

It was that desire fruit he had devoured!

He had always thought it was just a piece of human Material he had forcibly empowered and could manipulate at will.

So he had swallowed it without hesitation, using it to achieve his Dao Realm.

But he never expected that this was a carefully designed trap!

Within that human Material, a hidden and extremely eerie power of Karma resided!

When he was at his peak, this power was suppressed by his formidable cultivation, forced to lie dormant and naturally unable to cause trouble.

But now that he was gravely injured and weak to the extreme, that power was like a runaway horse, erupting completely!

It was frantically eroding, devouring, and overwriting his Karma!

It wanted to... take over his body through Possession!

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Jiang Wunian roared frantically, using every last ounce of strength to resist!

He mobilized all his remaining magical power, condensing it into sharp swords, and slashed fiercely at that eerie power!

However, those swords struck the power and vanished instantly, like mud entering the sea!

He mobilized his Divine Soul power, forming defensive barriers to block the erosion of that power!

However, the moment those barriers touched that power, they were easily torn apart like paper!

He used various secret techniques, fighting back desperately!

But it was all in vain!

That eerie power seemed to share the same source as him, yet it was even more profound!

It was as pervasive as spilled mercury and as difficult to remove as maggots on a bone, frantically devouring everything he had!

"No!"

Jiang Wunian wailed.

He wanted to notify the outside world and send a message for help!

Although, as a demonic sect Cultivator, asking fellow Disciples for help was nothing short of a massive joke.

After all, whether the Senior Brothers who came would help him or help others kill him was unknown.

But now, in his desperation, any attempt might offer a glimmer of Life.

If he gave up on survival, he could only wait for death in silence.

But at that moment, Jiang Wunian's movements suddenly froze.

He remembered the Calamity-Substituting Heavenly Coffin he was currently in...

Karma isolated... heavenly secrets evaded...

Like a silkworm spinning its own cocoon, he had trapped himself here!

Jiang stopped moving, a look of despairing, bitter laughter appearing on his face.

The life-saving trump card he had personally set up had now become the cage that would trap him to death.

All Karma was isolated, all auras could not leak out; the outside world would have no idea what was happening here!

He could only watch helplessly as that eerie power eroded his Divine Soul bit by bit, devoured his memories bit by bit, and overwrote his existence bit by bit...

An unknown amount of time passed.

Jiang Wunian's body suddenly trembled.

Those originally cloudy eyes slowly closed.

A moment later, they slowly opened again.

But this time, the light in those eyes was completely different.

No malice, no madness, and certainly no despair.

It was as calm as a pool of water, deep and unfathomable.

"Jiang Wunian" slowly lowered his head, looking at his paper-pale hands, and gently moved his stiff limbs.

His joints made a cracking sound, like a corpse that had just awakened.

A moment later, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a satisfied arc.

"Interesting..."

He spoke softly, the voice still Jiang Wunian's, but the tone was entirely different.

This person was, naturally, Lu Ming.

Or more accurately, at this moment, Lu Ming had seized Jiang Wunian's Karma and successfully achieved Possession over him!

Lu Ming slowly stood up, moving around a bit in the narrow space to assess the condition of this new body.

The result was bad, very bad!

This body had just been reconstructed and was already weak to the extreme; now, its magical power was depleted, its Divine Soul was withered, its dao foundation was unstable, and its Qi and blood were both deficient.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a dying piece of trash.

But Lu Ming didn't care!

What he wanted was never just a Golden Core Perfection Incarnation.

Lu Ming slowly closed his eyes and began to review everything that had happened during this time.

Initially, his plan was quite simple: let Jiang Wunian and Yun Chenzi fight like two tigers, while he reaped the benefits.

And everything seemed to be going according to plan.

Except he hadn't expected the battle between Jiang Wunian and Yun Chenzi to cause such a massive disturbance.

By the end, their fight was earth-shattering and world-rending.

The consequence of this was the flickering shadow of a Dao Palace within that massive crack spanning the sky, and the worldly phenomena sweeping through the entire Profound Spirit Domain...

The Xuanling Secret Realm had appeared ahead of schedule!

In truth, at the beginning, Lu Ming didn't know that crack was the Xuanling Secret Realm, nor did he know its early appearance was due to the battle between those two.

But the moment the Secret Realm appeared, he felt an indescribable fluctuation in the dark.

Lu Ming knew that this was the Heavenly Dao issuing a decree.

It wasn't stated explicitly, nor were there any specific instructions.

But in that instant, he had a flash of insight and understood the Heavenly Dao's meaning.

These two unstable factors had to be dealt with.

At that moment, an uncontrollable chill surged in Lu Ming's heart.

The Heavenly Dao is formless yet ubiquitous.

It constantly monitors all abnormalities between heaven and earth; no one can escape Its gaze.

Usually, It doesn't show Its hand and appears harmless, but once Its red line is crossed, It turns Its face faster than one can turn a page!

However, this also happened to align with Lu Ming's intentions.

He had already intended to deal with these two and seize the fortune they carried.

Now that the Heavenly Dao had given the decree, he would simply go with the flow.

Actually, Lu Ming had also thought about taking the Opportunity to deal with Zhuge Xuanji while Yun Chenzi was recovering from his heavy injuries and Jiang Wunian had self-detonated to escape.

But after thinking about it, he decided against it.

This head of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion was skilled in calculation and understood Karma.

If there was anyone in this world closest to the Heavenly Dao, it would surely be someone like Zhuge Xuanji.

And if Lu Ming wanted to build a presence before the Heavenly Dao and become Its most favored child, then this Zhuge Xuanji would be his greatest competitor.

However, Zhuge Xuanji's Karma with the Heavenly Dao was too deep; Lu Ming didn't know if the Heavenly Dao would also have an irritated reaction if he acted against him.

His current strength was still weak, and he didn't want to recklessly clash with the Heavenly Dao.

So, when Zhuge Xuanji turned to leave, he didn't pursue.

As for Jiang Wunian...

He had self-detonated, his Karma was extinguished, and in everyone's eyes, he was "dead."

But Lu Ming knew Jiang Wunian wasn't dead.

That soul fragment wasn't given for nothing.

Coupled with Lu Ming's use of the karma golden book as a medium, no matter where Jiang Wunian fled, he would have nowhere to hide.

Not to mention that the currently extremely weak Jiang Wunian was no match for him at all.

Thus, everything followed naturally; Jiang Wunian's Karma was successfully taken over by him through Possession, consumed entirely from start to finish, becoming his new Incarnation.

Just as he finished reviewing all this, Lu Ming suddenly looked up at the sky.

In the dark, he felt a mysterious fluctuation descending from the heavens!

That fluctuation didn't land on this Incarnation of his, but crossed hundreds of millions of miles of Void Realm to land directly on... the Liuyun Immortal City!

It landed on his original body, which was in secluded Cultivation there!