C45 Skeletal reappearance

"It is indeed different."

Xiao Zhi sat upright on the ground and looked at the dao diagrams behind him. As expected, he discovered that his lack of the 'chain' which linked the three of them, was instead an individual.

In other words, he also had three types of dao diagrams. But in the case of the Xiao Zhi, the three dao diagrams were isolated and did not intersect with the other dao diagrams. They were all independent individuals, even when the Xiao Zhi used another dao diagram, their fighting strength would greatly increase.

However, if one were to look at it this way, it would be difficult to obtain an answer.

Finally, the Xiao Zhi sighed again, unable to comprehend anything. However, he also understood that there must be a great deal of secrets hidden within this diagram. It was the same as that diagram. If he were to truly comprehend it, it would definitely be of great help to him.

"What a headache."

Xiao Zhi was at a loss. His left arm stretched out horizontally as the giant python swam, coiling around Xiao Zhi's left arm. The White Tiger roared and stood on the right shoulder of the Xiao Zhi. The sapling tree floated behind the Xiao Zhi, as if trying to cover the Xiao Zhi within it.

"Who can tell me what to do in order to connect you with each other?"

The Xiao Zhi was bored out of his mind, and he looked a little foolish. After all, this was just a dao diagram, even though it looked like it was alive, it could be casually controlled by the owner.

"It's really strange. If you two were to appear at the same time, it would give rise to a 'primary force'. Then, it should be a fusion or connection, right?"

Xiao Zhi's left and right hands gently moved together. He could easily feel a power that was almost the same as Dao power being generated, becoming purer and more powerful.

However, as his hands got closer, a repulsive force suddenly appeared between the two of them, causing his arms to shake violently. The force was extremely strong, almost causing Xiao Zhi's arms to dislocate.

"What?"

Xiao Zhi was surprised, he never thought that such a situation would happen. After all, the power of both Daos was on his own. Logically speaking, this sort of repulsion shouldn't have occurred.

Now that he looked at it, there was a change in both dao diagrams. The White Tiger looked angrily, and the huge python stuck out its tongue. Between the two, there was an invisible killing intent, which was a very strange feeling, causing Xiao Zhi to be surprised, but at the same time, become more and more suspicious.

Between the dao diagrams, there was actually such a hostile situation. If this matter were to be spread out, it would definitely cause many cultivators to be shocked. They definitely wouldn't dare to believe such a thing.

Xiao Zhi thought about it for a while, but still could not find an answer. His stubborn personality began to stir up trouble again. His arms lightly trembled as he once more began to execute the Dao Diagram.

"Bang!"

He had previously suffered light injuries from two of Yang Fei's strikes, and not long ago, he had also suffered internal injuries due to the immersing of his soul into the dao diagram. Now that he had suffered such a heavy blow from his own body, it became increasingly difficult for him to withstand.

"Don't be so arrogant. All of you are mine. Don't mess around."

Xiao Zhi bellowed, his expression angry, as he placed his hands together again, unwilling to believe what had happened.

"Bam!"

"Bang!"

No one knew how many times Xiao Zhi tried, but he was sent flying and crashed into a huge rock.

"His grandmother."

Xiao Zhi spat out a mouthful of blood, his arms started to swell as the dao diagram continued to wrap around it. They were still standing there with cold gazes, as if they didn't belong to a single master, but rather were a pair of natural enemies.

"What am I doing?"

Xiao Zhi lied on the ground, muttering to himself, and then laughed bitterly: "Aren't I asking for it? "What I want is to establish a bond between them. Isn't this equivalent to fusing the two dao diagrams together?"

"Sigh, how stupid." Sigh, how stupid.

Xiao Zhi muttered, annoyed at his idiotic behavior.

"However, if the dao diagrams fuse together, what kind of changes would occur?"

Xiao Zhi suddenly sat up, a ball of bright light shooting out of his eyes, his expression extremely crazed. Dao Diagram Fusion? This was definitely the biggest joke in the world. No one dared to think about it, no one dared to do it, and they had no chance to do so.

As if it could feel the thoughts of the Xiao Zhi, the giant python hissed and heard its eerie cold voice. The White Tiger roared, intimidating the soul.

Xiao Zhi did not mind as he waited for his mind to calm down.

At this moment, the sapling, which had been silent all this while, suddenly emitted a powerful force that stirred the surrounding trees. Abruptly, a branch as thick as an arm extended out, fiercely slapping Xiao Zhi's body. Xiao Zhi, who was caught off guard, was immediately thrown onto the ground by the attack, as his back felt a scorching pain.

"Who?" Who hit me? "

Xiao Zhi tumbled to the ground, followed by a carp rolling about. He quickly stood up, and at the first moment, he removed the small tree sapling and the giant python dao diagram.

But where was he?

Xiao Zhi scratched his head in puzzlement. After releasing his soul, he did not sense any movements in his surroundings. He couldn't help but think it was weird, was he the one who ran into evil?

However, this way, he had really forgotten about what he had just thought. He immediately sat down, carefully adjusted his breathing, and began circulating the 'Art of Elemental Heaven' to begin recovering his dao energy and healing his injuries.

Following the circulation of the 'Art of Elemental Heaven', the surrounding heaven and earth origin energy crazily surged over. If one were to observe from the outside, they would be able to see that a huge whirlpool was formed with the Xiao Zhi as the center. This was something that not even the average domineering state cultivator could do, and such a large amount of energy was not something that the average person could absorb.

The elemental energy that continuously entered the body was not all converted into dao energy, but a large portion of it was used in the process of tempering the body. Although its effect was not very great, the Xiao Zhi was still very patient and not in a rush.

While the Xiao Zhi was cultivating, the dao diagrams were placed side by side. Waves of dao energy flowed from the body of the Xiao Zhi to the dao diagrams, continuously tempering every grain of the dao diagram. Giant python, white tiger, and small tree sapling, these three types of dao diagrams, under the Xiao Zhi's tempering, became increasingly clear.

This was the 'Dao Resisting Realm'. It could be said that it was the realm where cultivators progressed the slowest. It was also the stage where dao diagrams were the easiest to cultivate in a cultivator's lifetime. If he didn't do well enough in this realm, he wouldn't have a chance to regret it in the future.

What the Xiao Zhi could not discover was that behind the three dao diagrams, in a void space, a gigantic skeleton silhouette appeared. However, it appeared to be in an illusory state, as if it was drawn with a few lines. Moreover, with its appearance, at least half of the Dao energy that should have been flowing towards the giant python, white tiger, and small tree sapling had been absorbed by it.

"Buzz!"

The sapling trembled, its short branches swaying as if blown by a breeze. However, even though it was just a small movement, it seemed to be a powerful attack. This caused the skeleton to tremble slightly, and it began to slow down its absorption of Dao energy. In the end, the amount it absorbed was only around a quarter of the original amount.

If one were to carefully look at the skeleton's eye-less eye sockets, they would discover that there seemed to be flickering lights within its pitch-black eye sockets. However, if one were to closely look, they would be unable to see anything.

But this sort of situation naturally made the skeletal shadow unhappy. His body that was hidden in the void took a step forward, causing the space around him to tremble. It caused the entire dao diagram to tremble, and cracks began to appear, as if a peerless beast was about to break free from its bindings.

Following this action, the dao energy in Xiao Zhi's body was released crazily. Not only that, even the power of the Xiao Zhi's soul was being absorbed, including the essence of his own life.

The small sapling's movements became increasingly larger, its tiny branches constantly swaying, containing the power of the heavens and the earth. It was extremely mysterious and vast, as if at that moment, it had already merged with the heaven and earth. It triggered the four directions of the dense forest, causing the essence of the trees to turn into pure energy and entered the Xiao Zhi's body along with the heaven and earth origin energy.

Xiao Zhi groaned. He felt as though his body was being pressed down by a mountain, making him unable to move. He had no way of knowing what exactly had happened to him, so he could only constantly circulate the Art of Elemental Heaven and absorb the heaven and earth origin energy into his body.

"Crack!"

A nearly inaudible sound came from the dao diagram as the skeleton's movements grew increasingly larger. One of his arms was extremely clear, like a sharp blade. It emanated a cold and sinister aura, carrying with it the power of death.

The branches of the sapling continued to wiggle, and then intertwined into a huge net that covered Xiao Zhi. This forced the skeleton to no longer be able to forcefully absorb the energy and life essence from Xiao Zhi's body.

The White Tiger and the huge python turned around at the same time, staring at the skeleton with hostile gazes.

After a long time, the skeleton slowly retreated, disappearing back into the void. Two cold glints flashed through those eyes that were as dark as the abyss. In the end, it chose to absorb only a quarter of the Xiao Zhi's power to refine the dao diagram.

"Pah!"

The sound of a dead branch falling to the ground was the only sound that could be heard during the night.

When the first ray of sunlight shone through the gaps between the dense leaves, Xiao Zhi opened his eyes.

"Strange, what's wrong with me?"

Xiao Zhi felt a sense of weakness in his body, he was confused. This sort of situation had never occurred before. When he focused on sensing the changes in the dao diagram, he realized that the results of the tempering were very small. Those who didn't know it would think that he was slacking off.

"Three types of dao diagrams are troublesome."

Xiao Zhi shamelessly mourned himself. If it was anyone else who possessed three kinds of dao diagrams, their tails would have perked up to the heavens.

"Huh?"

Xiao Zhi quickly noticed his surroundings and couldn't help but be dumbstruck. The trees that had been lush and verdant yesterday were now all dead wood!

The dead leaves withered and the tree stem cracked. If not for the fact that he had personally witnessed it, Xiao Zhi would definitely not have believed this to be true. After all, only a day had passed.

"What happened?"

Xiao Zhi reached his hand out to a large tree at the side, but unexpectedly, the moment he touched it, the tree collapsed with a loud bang, and the heart of the tree actually turned into a pile of sawdust.

Not only that, a light breeze blew past. Within a range of a hundred meters, all the trees and weeds, thorns, and shrubs on the ground were reduced to sawdust. The ground, including the roots, was turned into a spacious area.

Xiao Zhi was horrified, and was stunned on the spot.