"How is it? Do you believe me now?" Zheng Zhuoliu cocked his chin smugly at Fang Ming.
Fang Ming didn't answer him, his gaze fixed on Zheng Zhuoliu. Although all the evidence pointed to him being Zheng Zhuoliu, Fang Ming had a nagging feeling that things were not that simple.
"Sixth Master, I have a question I'd like to ask," Fang Ming said cautiously.
"Speak," Zheng Zhuoliu sneered, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"What did you encounter after disappearing on the ninth floor?"
Fang Ming had to figure out what was going on with this Zheng Zhuoliu, and the origin of the problem definitely had something to do with the time Zheng Zhuoliu had been missing!
"No comment!" Zheng Zhuoliu's expression suddenly turned grim, as if Fang Ming had touched a sore spot.
"You're definitely not Sixth Master, who are you?" Fang Ming's brow furrowed. His first instinct was to believe this person was some kind of fiend adept at imitation and transformation. If he had transformed into Zheng Zhuoliu's appearance, he must have seen Zheng Zhuoliu.
"Heh, Fang Ming, is it?" Zheng Zhuoliu suddenly let out a scoff. "You really think I'd stand by and do nothing after you killed so many of my brothers?"
"What do you mean?" Fang Ming subtly gestured to Qing Mian. Seeing this, Qing Mian quietly distanced himself from the two and vanished.
"I'll tell you!" Zheng Zhuoliu suddenly roared. "Many of the people you killed were brothers I fought alongside! If my strength weren't so weak, how could I possibly deign to yield to you? You monster!"
Hearing this, Fang Ming's heart sank. He began to doubt again if this "Zheng Zhuoliu" was the real Zheng Zhuoliu, as emotions expressed from such depths seemed genuine.
"Could it be that Zheng Zhuoliu had been enduring all this time? Did he only follow to find an opportunity for revenge?" Fang Ming wondered.
The situation at hand made him think this way. Zheng Zhuoliu's current demeanor was definitely that of the real person. If it were a fiend, there would be no need to say so much to Fang Ming. Zheng Zhuoliu's current behavior was entirely about venting suppressed emotions.
"What kind of bullshit investigation department is this? I'm already the leader in this industry, and they still keep me on the outside, making me investigate this and catch that every day. I'm a boss, and I'm investigating my own subordinates day in and day out. Is that not ridiculous?"
Zheng Zhuoliu continued to vent his emotions.
"Do you know how much I've invested in my current position? The money thrown in could buy ten investigation departments! And what about them? With just a single order, they expect me to serve them for decades, to dismantle my own power base. Why? Tell me why!"
Zheng Zhuoliu's emotions had reached their peak, filled with resentment towards the injustices of society and Fang Ming's killings.
"Today, I'll kill you first! And then I'll go out and raze that damn investigation department!"
Zheng Zhuoliu took out a palm-sized iron sword from his chest and tossed it into the air. The sword grew larger as it flew, and when it landed back in his hand, it had transformed into a four-foot-long sword, its blade emitting a faint, eerie blue glow.
"Heavens and earth suppress evil, eight directions establish malevolence, nine nether soul abodes transform into myriad fiends!"
Zheng Zhuoliu chanted rapidly, his long sword humming. The white mist around them began to surge madly.
"Kill!" The iron sword soared into the sky, multiplying into a thousand. Countless wisps of white mist and resentful energy attached themselves to it, rapidly condensing. In just a moment, thousands of initial fiends were conjured out of thin air by Zheng Zhuoliu!
"What?!" Fang Ming was shocked. This Zheng Zhuoliu actually possessed the strength of a凶煞 (Xiongsha - fierce fiend) level! This kind of non-physical attack was only achievable by those at the Xiongsha level; it was difficult for even the strongest fiends to achieve this!
The corridor was not wide to begin with, and as soon as these thousands of fiends appeared, they filled the entire field of vision, rushing towards Fang Ming like a tidal wave.
"How could Zheng Zhuoliu's strength have increased so much? What determines the strength and weakness of the eerie abilities on the tenth floor?" Fang Ming was inwardly surprised, but not afraid of the current situation. His own strength was not weak either!
"Might as well test my current strength against you!" Fang Ming was completely unfazed. His tentacles instantly transformed into scale swords and, under his mental control, began to elongate wildly, piercing into the tide of fiends.
"Scale Collapse!" The third form of his tentacles.
"Swish, swish, swish..." Countless scales on the surface of the scale swords erupted, like deadly flying knives, spinning wildly throughout the corridor. Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and the fiends shrieked.
"Roar... Roar..." One by one, the fiends died instantly, their sword shadows exposed for a fleeting moment before vanishing.
"As expected, you have some skills," Zheng Zhuoliu chuckled sinisterly. "But this is far from enough..."
"Ten thousand fiends, return as one!"
A fiend from the tide of fiends suddenly leaped out. Behind it, other fiends began to transform into pure resentful energy, merging into its body. Its size began to grow at a visible rate!
Even more incredibly, the entire corridor expanded with the fiend's growth. In an instant, the entire tenth floor transformed into a place resembling a dueling arena.
The rooms around the corridor became private boxes situated high above, emitting fierce auras. Fang Ming's rough estimation showed that none of the beings inside were below the Xiongsha level!
The staircases on both sides of the tenth floor also extended, wrapping around the corridor to form a circular spectator stand. Incredibly, as soon as the stand formed, countless spectators began to cheer and shout from above.
However, these spectators were not strong, at most at the fiend level, and their appearances were varied.
"Whoosh!" The fiend finally finished merging. A colossal creature resembling an ancient Qilin let out a breath, its gaze disdainfully fixed on Fang Ming, who was as small as an ant below. Zheng Zhuoliu, meanwhile, floated above the monster's head like a deity, looking down on the surroundings.
"Fang Ming, welcome to my world!" Zheng Zhuoliu smiled charmingly. "You will be the first to die in this world. Feel honored, hahaha!"
Fang Ming was not intimidated by Zheng Zhuoliu, only surprised by the changes around him. If this were also a scene conjured by Zheng Zhuoliu, then he had to admit that Zheng Zhuoliu was indeed capable.
"Boom!" The Qilin fiend, no, it should be called a Xiongsha, stomped down. Fang Ming sensed the force of this stomp and gained some understanding of Zheng Zhuoliu's current strength – no weaker than the ancient locust Xiongsha of Baimu Village!
"This arena has weakened me by at least twenty percent!" Fang Ming leaped up, dodging the Qilin Xiongsha's attack. However, the reduced strength and reaction time immediately led him to guess some of the arena's abilities.
"Qilin, Lava!"
The Qilin Xiongsha let out a roar towards the heavens, gathering power in its mouth before spewing out a torrent of thick, high-temperature magma towards the rapidly moving Fang Ming.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!..." Fang Ming dodged frantically. With his extraordinary physique, he constantly narrowly avoided the high-temperature magma. However, the Qilin Xiongsha's attack frequency was too high. With no other choice, Fang Ming had to transform his tentacles into scale shields and endure the onslaught.
"Oh! Oh!..." The surrounding audience began to cheer for Zheng Zhuoliu, while some spectators furiously cursed Fang Ming. Amidst the cheers, Fang Ming clearly felt his strength being further weakened, while Zheng Zhuoliu's strength grew stronger!
Fang Ming was at a significant disadvantage.
"Qilin, Tremor!" Zheng Zhuoliu gave another command.
The Qilin Xiongsha suddenly slammed its paws onto the ground.
"Boom—!" Dust billowed, the earth shook, and Fang Ming was caught off guard by this sudden attack. The defensive angle of his scale shield was deflected, and the Qilin Xiongsha seized the opportunity, smashing him with a mouthful of lava.
"Pfft!" Fang Ming spat blood and was sent flying backward, crashing into the surrounding burning lava. His body instantly burst into flames!
"Damn it, I'm no match for this guy!" Fang Ming didn't even have time to cry out in pain before he scrambled to dodge. The Qilin Xiongsha's attacks followed relentlessly, giving him no chance to breathe.
"Boom, boom, boom..." Five massive flame spears appeared behind the Qilin Xiongsha and instantly pierced the spot where Fang Ming had just fallen. If Fang Ming hadn't dodged so quickly, he would have been smashed into a pulp a second later.
"There's no opportunity to attack. This guy is too high up. With my speed, it would take at least two seconds, and I wouldn't be able to dodge the Qilin Xiongsha's firepower."
Fang Ming used the resentful energy within his body to extinguish the flames on himself, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his left hand. His abdomen ached faintly, indicating that his internal organs were likely damaged in the previous blow.
"Hahaha!" Zheng Zhuoliu roared with laughter. "Fang Ming, what do you think? Being completely crushed by an opponent you once looked down upon, without any power to resist, isn't that feel powerless? Painful?"
"Look at you, you're as pathetic as a dog!"
A faint smile appeared on Fang Ming's face. His tentacles switched back to scale swords, and he assumed an offensive stance.
"Zheng Zhuoliu, look at you now, gloating in your minor victory. Do you truly respect yourself in this state? Although you were weak, I always admired you. I admired your composure, your strategic awareness."
Fang Ming continued, "But look at yourself now – irritable, bloodthirsty, filled with revenge. Are you truly still you?"
"Do you still recognize this?" Fang Ming took out a bronze coin sword from his chest and tossed it towards the Qilin Xiongsha's head.
"This is..." Zheng Zhuoliu's mind faltered for a moment, his attention instantly drawn to the bronze coin sword.
"Now!" Fang Ming suddenly roared.
Zheng Zhuoliu reacted quickly, wanting to order the Qilin Xiongsha to defend, but it was too late!
"You..." Zheng Zhuoliu's eyes widened. His vision suddenly spun, and he looked in disbelief at the familiar headless body within his field of vision.
The surrounding arena began to crumble like a bubble and disappear. Panicked cries erupted from the spectator stands and private boxes, but they could not stop what was happening.
The Qilin Xiongsha's massive body froze for an instant, then dissipated into wisps of white mist.
Moments later, the scene returned to the tenth floor. Zheng Zhuoliu's headless corpse lay before Fang Ming, a small iron sword resting silently on the ground.
"I didn't expect it to come to this again..." Fang Ming sighed. Qing Mian reappeared, looking at Zheng Zhuoliu's corpse in silence.
"Did power cause Sixth Master to lose himself?"
Fang Ming was unsure and said no more. The deed was done, and he had no choice but to continue.
"Let's go, Qing Mian." Fang Ming put away the small iron sword, pieced Zheng Zhuoliu's body back together, and placed it in a corner, ready to embark on his journey again.
"Okay." Qing Mian nodded. The two walked further into the corridor.
"Fang Ming? You're finally here!" Suddenly, a voice sounded from the white mist, and a familiar figure cautiously emerged from it.
"Zheng Zhuoliu?!"
Fang Ming's eyes widened in astonishment. Hadn't he just been killed?