Chapter 221: Transplantation

“What formidable martial arts.”

That attack just now… if it weren’t for Zuo Zhicheng’s own powerful willpower and Power of Mind and Spirit, an ordinary person or even a slightly weaker martial artist would probably have fallen truly asleep under the Heavenly River’s onslaught, never to awaken, their body dying along with their consciousness.

Zuo Zhicheng recalled the Heavenly River Sect martial arts that Bai Yixin had used, secretly astonished. His martial arts cultivation and combat ability clearly surpassed those of the three Dharma Kings Zuo Zhicheng had killed previously. No wonder the Heavenly River Sect, with just two Human Aspect martial artists, had managed to hold out under Dìyù Gate’s oppression until now.

Feeling an instinctive exhaustion rising from the depths of his very being, his Power of Mind and Spirit nearly dried up, Zuo Zhicheng abandoned the pursuit. This was, after all, Heavenly River Sect territory. His condition was poor now, and pushing further to fight Bai Yixin to the death was far too risky, especially if the man received reinforcements.

So he sat cross-legged right where he was, closed his eyes, and rested for a while. He felt his spirit recover a little, and only then did he turn around and head back towards the valley.

Zuo Zhicheng and Bai Yixin’s battle had lasted about ten minutes and taken them many kilometers away from the valley. He lifted his head to get his bearings, then lightly pushed off with his toes and ran back towards the valley.

He thought to himself: ‘Human Phase Masters already possess their own unique abilities. It’s becoming harder and harder to overcome opponents relying solely on my strong physical constitution and the Cold Light Rippling Sword. I must speed up the collection of Life Groves and quickly increase my strength.’ He had already decided to hurry and transplant the Life Groves ‘Ink Bone’ and ‘Close at Hand’ onto himself.

However, when he reached Cloud Valley, Zuo Zhicheng found that Jin Shuixian and her group had vanished. He didn’t know if they had fled after witnessing the might of his battle with Bai Yixin, or if something else had happened.

He entered the valley to look and soon found the Underworld King Snake’s position. Ziyun was slumped on its back. Seeing the sheer size of the serpent beneath her, she didn’t dare show the slightest hint of resistance. As for the big Snow Domain Silver Wolf, it was completely gone.

As soon as she saw Zuo Zhicheng enter, Ziyun shouted angrily, “You just left me with this snake? Do you have any idea? It just swallowed Da Bai down whole and alive!”

Da Bai was clearly the Snow Domain Silver Wolf. Hearing this news, Zuo Zhicheng made a sound of acknowledgement, but only glared at the Underworld King Snake. It wasn’t that he cared about the wolf; he was annoyed the snake had disobeyed his orders and eaten things it shouldn’t.

He leaped onto the Underworld King Snake’s head and stomped viciously on it with his feet a few times. The icy killing intent made the serpent tremble all over. It put on an innocent look and flicked its tongue out.

“I’ll settle with you properly later.”

Under Zuo Zhicheng’s command, the Underworld King Snake began crawling out of the valley. Riding on its back, the two headed south, traveling towards Southern Bay.

As for the two Shadow Corps members defeated by Bai Yixin, Zuo Zhicheng didn’t bother with them.

Because he didn’t intend to hand Ziyun over anymore. He planned to directly transplant her Life Groves. If he let the woman go, he would either be unable to transplant the Life Groves or risk exposing the fact that he practiced Life Grove transplantation.

…

Five days later, deep in the snow plains.

The weather was growing colder.

The giant Underworld King Snake coiled to one side. Its body slid and rubbed against itself constantly. Scales emitted a clanking noise, shaking the snowflakes falling onto it away little by little. This was also how it moved its muscles to generate heat and combat the intense cold of the weather.

Its eyes, however, were fixed on a black shadow shape dozens of meters ahead. This black shape lay completely flush against the ground’s surface, shifting direction constantly within a tiny area while moving at high speed.

But in broad daylight, there was nothing above the shadow, neither person nor object. How could such a thing exist alone and move at high speed? Not only was its movement extremely fast, almost blurring into a black line, but it also produced no sound at all, like a ghost.

Just as the Underworld King Snake watched this constantly shifting shadow, the darkness suddenly jumped. It drew a straight black line across its retina, crossing several dozen meters instantly and landing upon the serpent’s body.

This change startled the Underworld King Snake. As it lurched backwards to retreat, the shadow flashed, and a figure sprung out from it — Zuo Zhicheng.

Zuo Zhicheng’s upper body bore not a single piece of clothing. Instead, his chest was wrapped in layers of bandages. This was because he had just completed the transplantation of the ‘Close at Hand’ Life Grove yesterday. As for the woman Ziyun, naturally, he had killed her after questioning her about a few matters.

He lightly stroked the bandages on his chest. “The wounds should heal fully tomorrow,” he judged.

He thought back to the Dao Art he had just employed: Shadow Realm Void Flash. This technique, combining Night Sea, Earth Fiend, and Close at Hand, enabled the practitioner to move their body at extreme speed with absolute silence and an effect like gliding shadow. The movements were unpredictable, appearing almost as teleportation to the human eye.

Mastering Shadow Realm Void Flash greatly enhanced Zuo Zhicheng’s abilities in stealth, escape, and assassination. In combat, using Shadow Realm Void Flash to instantly appear beside his opponent, followed by a straight thrust of the Divine Light Sword — even an ordinary master of the Human Phase would find it impossible to block.

Of course, obtaining Close at Hand had also greatly boosted Zuo Zhicheng’s evasion, hiding, and ambush capabilities.

After practicing Shadow Realm Void Flash briefly, Zuo Zhicheng softly drew the Green Frost Jian. He began recollecting the fifth stance of the Cold Light Rippling Sword: Frozen Heaven and Earth.

He had always found the essence of this move somewhat elusive. However, the battle against Bai Yixin five days ago, despite wounding him, had granted him a much deeper insight into techniques that utilized the Power of Mind and Spirit to distort the mind and will. He was especially deeply affected by how it felt like the speed of his thought process itself slowed down.

The fifth stance of the Cold Light Rippling Sword, Frozen Heaven and Earth, shared similarities. It embraced the ancient philosophical view that Heaven, Earth, space, time, the cosmos, the primordial void – all would eventually fall into silence. Everything would enter that state of eternal freezing, soundless and still.

Of course, this philosophy underpinned the fighting intent of Frozen Heaven and Earth. The first four stances of the Cold Light Rippling Sword aimed to freeze the opponent’s body. The fifth stance aimed to freeze their very thoughts.

Using supreme cold that could freeze time and space itself, ending the universe, it aimed to directly distort the human mind and consciousness, thrusting the enemy into perpetual silence.

This shared a similar, subtly wonderful principle with Time Flow distorting the sense of time and even slowing human thought. This connection drove Zuo Zhicheng, after that battle, to constantly ponder its implications, deepening his understanding of Frozen Heaven and Earth.

He looked at the Green Frost Jian in his hand. He felt the cold of heaven and earth. He felt the deep cold that had descended, the withering of all living things, the sensation that all life under heaven had retreated into hibernation.

Standing on the snow plain like this, Zuo Zhicheng remained motionless until snowflakes covered his entire body, almost turning him into a snowman.

The next moment, he thrust the sword through the air towards the Underworld King Snake. The serpent felt an enveloping chill. Its vision seemed to darken.

Then… it twitched slightly, looking dumbly at Zuo Zhicheng.

“Failed?” Zuo Zhicheng shook his head, sheathing the Green Frost Jian. Since the Life Grove transplantation was complete, he intended to continue towards Southern Bay. After all, whether it was Dìyù Gate or the Heavenly River Sect, they both probably saw him as a thorn in their side by now. If he didn’t want to be surrounded and attacked, it was best to hurry back.

Especially considering the secret Ziyun had mentioned. Dìyù Gate was unlikely to let that rest.