Chapter 272: Chapter 270: The Wind-dried Corpse
No one knew why Jiang Jichen was so crazed, so reckless with his own life.
He already had the purple mark, so why wasn’t he satisfied?
But Jiang Jichen knew.
It was to become the Strongest!
Only then... could he find his true self again.
And his true self was... the one who could break the memory’s Sealing Talisman and recall everything from his past life!
As time passed with his memories sealed, he discovered... that the Soul Separation Sealing Technique had a flaw.
He was slowly beginning to forget the past. Not just the people and events he had already sealed away, but also... his various Magic Techniques and experiences!
Therefore, he needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible and integrate those Magic Techniques and experiences into his current body.
And so, he stepped into the final level of the Earth Palace’s burial grounds without a moment’s hesitation.
The final level was immense, filled entirely with... High Tier Earth Level desiccated corpses from the tombs.
Jiang Jichen’s gaze passed over the hordes of desiccated corpses, fixing on a throne at the far end of the Earth Palace.
A dried-out corpse sat upon it, devoid of any aura.
But Jiang Jichen felt a great sense of crisis!
The seemingly desiccated corpse had hollow eyes, just a layer of old skin stretched taut over withered bones.
It clearly had no aura, yet Jiang Jichen’s soul felt as if it was being watched.
However, the corpse on the throne was extremely far from him, and the feeling, which had appeared for only an instant, was already gone.
Jiang Jichen didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he fixed his attention on the desiccated corpses here.
The Blood Cloth he hadn’t used before now transformed into a Blood-Red Battle Armor and draped over his body.
The Ancient Medicine Cauldron hovered above his head as a Ten-Layered Spirit Pattern Space of golden light manifested around him, and Undying Power coursed through his entire body.
His Undying Power was now far stronger than before, which meant his Defense Dao was also much more formidable.
After activating his strongest defensive state, Jiang Jichen took the initiative and charged into the fray.
All alone, Jiang Jichen could truly push his Realm’s combat power to its absolute limit.
Illusory Indeterminacy!
Starry Night!
Eight-direction Wind and Rain!
After dodging the bulk of the attacks from a dozen or so desiccated corpses, Jiang Jichen retaliated with two Group Attack Destruction Sword Techniques.
SCHLICK! SCHLICK!
The desiccated corpses surrounding Jiang Jichen had their hands severed. With his formidable Defense Dao, they were no longer a threat.
Then, Jiang Jichen continued to unleash his Sword Skills.
Star Destruction!
This technique was the most terrifying of his Destruction Sword Dao. Over a dozen desiccated corpses were sliced to pieces, turning into points that merged into the Purple Spirit Pattern Tower mark.
Of course, Jiang Jichen couldn’t evade every attack, and wounds began to appear on his body.
The Blood-Red Battle Armor, Ancient Medicine Cauldron, and Ten-Layered Spirit Pattern Space could only block eighty percent of the attack power. The remaining twenty percent still slammed into his physical body, which he had to withstand with his Dao of Flesh Body.
Over time, the wounds on Jiang Jichen’s body would only accumulate, growing more numerous and severe.
But for a Body Refiner, such things were commonplace.
’What are a few physical injuries? The most important thing is willpower!’
Time and again, he was able to be the last one standing, relying on his astonishing, unyielding will to carry on.
Once the great battle began, there could be no rest!
Jiang Jichen fought with a Frenzy, killed with a madness, blowing apart one desiccated corpse after another.
The other Cultivators, like Ling Dong and Nangong Jinjie, couldn’t possibly fight like him.
They lacked Jiang Jichen’s physical body, Life Force, Step Technique, and... the Mysterious Exotic Fruit that was equivalent to a Holy Spirit Stone!
He didn’t know how long he had been killing. He only realized there were no more standing corpses around him when he found he had fought his way to the throne at the front of the Earth Palace.
He had to lean on his sword just to keep his body from collapsing!
At this moment, the desiccated corpse on the throne was only a few meters away.
Jiang Jichen’s consciousness was already blurring, but a voice deep in his heart seemed to be telling him that he absolutely could not fall, and more importantly, he could not lose consciousness.
The Purple Spirit Pattern Tower mark on his forehead finally began to change.
It was still purple, but the violet light was now so dazzling it seemed to drain all other colors from the world.
Everyone in the Exquisite Tower saw the name that now shone brilliantly in their minds, along with the displayed points!
Jiang Jichen... 800,000,000 points!
Everyone couldn’t help but gasp.
At the same time, complex, indescribable expressions appeared on their faces.
They were all grinding for points, but then they looked at Jiang Jichen’s score, and then back at their own!
Many of them felt the urge to just go die!
Meanwhile, the purple mark on Jiang Jichen’s forehead was so brilliant that his entire body seemed to be shrouded in violet light.
He still had a Mysterious Exotic Fruit in his mouth. As its power was slowly refined, Jiang Jichen’s body and consciousness finally recovered a little.
But just as he was about to sit down cross-legged and enter a deep healing state, he witnessed an astonishing scene.
The desiccated corpse... was standing up from the throne!
Jiang Jichen thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but not only did the figure stand up, it also floated lightly down from the throne and appeared before him.
"The purple mark. It’s been ten thousand years, but the purple mark has finally appeared again. I... I have waited too long for this day!"
Not only that, but a very abrupt voice rang out within Jiang Jichen’s Sea of Consciousness.
And in that instant, Jiang Jichen finally sensed a trace of... a Soul Power fluctuation from the desiccated corpse!
’How is this possible?’
’A desiccated corpse that possesses Soul Power... is it dead, or is it alive?’
Jiang Jichen’s scalp tingled, and besides, he couldn’t understand what the other party was saying.
He was simply too weak right now; so weak that anyone could have come up and finished him off.
It was as if the desiccated corpse also sensed Jiang Jichen’s weakness, so it merely floated lightly around his body.
The voice continued to ring in Jiang Jichen’s Divine Soul: "And your soul, haha... To think that a Junior Cultivator, a mere Innate Tenth Realm practitioner who doesn’t even qualify to seek immortality, could actually make it this far. You have much of my style from back in the day! However, your arrival is destined only to ensure my survival. The heavens will not let me perish! The heavens will not let me perish!"
Perhaps it was too excited, or perhaps it had been too long since it had last spoken!
The desiccated corpse began to mutter to itself with extreme agitation.
Jiang Jichen was still completely dumbfounded. He had no idea what the other party meant and just thought it was like a madman.
He instinctively felt this desiccated corpse was dangerous, and he didn’t dare make the slightest... unusual move.
"Who are you?"
Jiang Jichen replied warily with the Sound of the Soul.
"Who am I?"
Hearing Jiang Jichen’s question, the desiccated corpse seemed to freeze for a moment.
Then, a frenzied voice suddenly erupted from its soul: "Who am I? You’re actually asking... who I am? Ten thousand years ago, a purple light shot into the sky and illuminated the entire Southern Continent! You tell me who I am! The first person to achieve the purple mark! But what was the result? What was the result?..."
The desiccated corpse’s soul was screeching in a frenzy.
But as Jiang Jichen listened, his expression suddenly and drastically changed.
