Chapter 1 Early February

In Qu Ling Prefecture, Ouyang Qing, the Second Young Mistress of the Ouyang family, was once again holding an engagement banquet. Since it wasn't the first time, everyone was tired of it, so they just sent some token gifts and left. Those who were more familiar with the situation were more interested in which unlucky person Qing Erxiaojie had found this time.

The Ouyang family's main branch had purchased a small nineteen-story pagoda in the prefecture as their clan land.

The pagoda was named Pure Yang Pagoda, and it also contained the Ouyang family's greatest wish for the martial arts they practiced, which was to reach the Pure Yang Realm.

Their Scarlet Blaze Art's highest level was to allow oneself to reach the Pure Yang Fire Realm where the true imprint of bloodline and the true imprint of martial arts merged.

But this difficulty was too great. Most clansmen fell at the Guan Ling (spirit infusion) stage, unable to withstand the massive true essence required to condense the true imprint spirit, and were thus burst and burned to death.

Practicing martial arts, achieving great success, inducing the true imprint spirit to enter the body, spirit fusion, Guan Ling, and finally merging with the true imprint spirit.

This was the necessary path for most martial arts.

But the Ouyang family was now retreating when they were about to reach the Guan Ling step.

Li Cheng Yi was constantly familiarizing himself with his transformed body at home, but the condensation of the second imprint didn't seem to be complete, only half-finished.

This imprint was formed by the fusion of two imprints, one in charge of bone growth and the other in charge of flesh growth.

When the time came, he didn't leave at will, but quietly waited for the Ouyang family to come.

The sun set in the west.

It was almost evening when the people finally arrived.

Knock, knock, knock.

A team of house servants and martial artists in light red armor, surrounded by a tall white-browed old man, stood outside the courtyard gate.

"Enter," Li Cheng Yi said, opening the door.

The old man standing outside the door raised his eyes and stared straight at Li Cheng Yi sitting inside.

"Lord Wang, it's time to be on your way." The old man's eyes were calm, as if looking at a pitiful bug about to die.

The truth was also like this. Since he was favored by Qing Erxiaojie, his future was already destined.

"Okay, please lead the way."

Li Cheng Yi stood up, his body had returned to its original human form. This state was like having an extra form, which could be switched at any time.

The old man didn't say a word and turned to walk outside.

Li Cheng Yi didn't bring anything, just followed in this ordinary gray martial attire. The house servants quickly guarded both sides, but in fact, they were preventing him from escaping.

Arriving at the side of the street, a black sedan was already waiting by the road.

Li Cheng Yi was invited into the sedan, and four people carried it quickly towards the outside of the city.

"May I ask, old sir, why is the engagement ceremony running to the outside of the city?" Li Cheng Yi asked, puzzled, sitting in the sedan.

"It's up to the Second Young Mistress's liking. She can be wherever she wants." The old man answered casually, his voice mixed with the wind, a little blurry.

Before long, the sedan left the city gate. After leaving the city for about ten minutes, it stopped at the edge of a bare black stone cliff.

One side of the cliff was the raging waves of the night sea, and the other side was the vast and boundless black earth plain.

A simple camp had already been built here. There were a dozen stone houses in the camp, all black, with cow horn-shaped roofs. There were people patrolling around.

A beautiful woman wearing a black close-fitting gauze dress, with a looming figure, and attractive curves, was holding a wooden sword, seemingly trying out some moves.

The woman frowned, and occasionally, tiny red sparks appeared in the surrounding air, as if ignited from her body out of thin air, which was very strange.

Hearing footsteps, she turned around and looked towards the approaching sedan.

"Just let the person down. Yuan Lao, stay. The rest can leave."

Her voice was crisp, with a decisiveness completely different from her appearance.

"Yes."

Several people obeyed, put down the sedan, and then retreated a few steps, leaving in the blink of an eye.

The white-browed old man retreated a few steps and stood still.

Li Cheng Yi slowly lifted the curtain, walked out of the sedan, and looked up at the other party.

In the blood-like light of the setting sun, the woman standing in the camp had picturesque features, skin as white as snow, and a charming temperament, vaguely carrying a pitiful meaning. Most of her chest and legs were exposed, making people unconsciously look towards those places.

"You are Wang Yi Chen?" The woman smiled, "I am Ouyang Qing, and also your future wife. Today, I am here for our engagement."

"You are very beautiful." Li Cheng Yi nodded and slowly approached. "So I am quite satisfied."

"Oh? Just because I am beautiful, you can let go of the previous grievances?" Ouyang Qing raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Of course not." Li Cheng Yi looked at the people in the surrounding camp who tacitly left, moving away.

The entire camp was only left with him, Ouyang Qing, and the old man called Yuan Lao.

The speed of martial artists was indeed extraordinary. It only took a few seconds to complete the evacuation.

"Then why?" Ouyang Qing seemed to be a little interested in Li Cheng Yi.

"Because," Li Cheng Yi looked directly at the other party, his expression leisurely.

"Only beautiful things, when destroyed, can produce a different kind of beauty."

His voice carried a trace of expectation, a trace of imagination.

"?" Ouyang Qing and Yuan Lao's expressions both froze. The smile on her face disappeared, and she frowned at Li Cheng Yi.

"What do you mean?"

A strong intuition gave her a bad feeling.

"I like beauty." Li Cheng Yi approached the other party step by step, a strange smile on his face, "Because destroying valuable things can produce more cruelty."

Whoosh!

Suddenly, he raised his hand and blocked backwards.

Clang!!

A wave of air exploded from behind him, his fingers just blocking the palm of Yuan Lao who attacked from behind.

A huge force suddenly exploded between the two, stirring the air, emitting a thunderous roar.

Ouyang Qing and Yuan Lao's faces changed drastically. They both felt that something was wrong. How could a mere true qi martial artist block his sudden blow?

This person… is not right!!!

"Do you know?"

Li Cheng Yi grabbed Yuan Lao's palm with his bare hand, looking at the changing face opposite him.

"Beauty needs to be transformed."

Chih!

In an instant, his figure flickered, and he had disappeared from the spot.

Yuan Lao's face changed drastically, and his whole body's blood essence turned into a red light covering his entire body, grabbing backwards.

The Chang Tian Zhang Jue (Open Sky Chapter Technique) he practiced was a black-grade high-level martial art, and also a top-grade one among blood essence martial arts.

Decades of hard work had allowed him to barely step into the end of the Feng Tian (Sealing Heaven) List.

In the entire Qu Ling Prefecture, he could also rank in the top fifty.

But even so, he was horrified to discover that he couldn't capture the other party's figure at all.

Was it too fast!?

No. It wasn't speed! It was fundamentally… teleportation!

By the time Yuan Lao realized this, it was already too late.

He grabbed backwards with his five fingers, but the miscalculated strength brought a huge difference in impact.

Boom!!!

The huge and terrifying impact instantly shattered the red light of blood essence, and slammed straight onto his right claw.

Yuan Lao flew out on the spot. Before he could recover and transform his blood body, he suddenly felt a pain in his body.

Behind his back, it felt like something was tightly attached to him, rapidly penetrating in from the skin.

"Get out!! Get out!!"

He roared, preparing to transform his blood body with all his strength.

But it was too late. A strange traction force strongly attracted his sight and spirit, making him look straight at the black soil in front of him, motionless.

At this time, Li Cheng Yi had already disappeared.

Yuan Lao fell to the ground, kneeling motionless, the shadow under him was boiling like hot water.

His shadow was twisting, wriggling, gradually turning into another human figure completely different from his own!

And Ouyang Qing was already stunned.

Although she was talented and powerful, there was still a certain gap between her and Yuan Lao, who protected her.

In actual combat, she could exchange dozens of moves with Yuan Lao without being defeated, which was considered a good state.

But now.

"This!!?" She had never seen such a strange and terrifying scene.

That Wang Yi Chen… actually instantly turned into a black shadow and drilled into Yuan Lao's shadow!!

What the hell!?

What the hell was this thing!?

Ouyang Qing made a decisive decision and turned to run.

But it was already too late.

Yuan Lao, who was kneeling on one knee, suddenly raised his head, the pupils in his eyes had already transformed into black pupils with golden-edged vertical pupils.

Those were now Li Cheng Yi's eyes.

Yuan Lao's consciousness was being rapidly devoured and merged by Li Cheng Yi.

This was the Shadow Dragon's Shadow Replacement ability.

As long as the overall strength of consciousness, spirit, and physique can suppress the opponent, this ability can be used to enter the opponent's shadow and gradually devour and replace them.

Shadow Replacement had once caused the Jiuyi (Nine Instruments) of Yi State, whose strength was far greater than them, a headache in the hands of the Shadow Dragons.

In the end, they could only choose to recruit them. This was the horror of Shadow Replacement.

Essentially, in the Black Sea, Shadow Dragons had always been a wandering race. They obtained their own reproduction and growth by parasitizing and eroding other races.

And at this time, Li Cheng Yi was also beginning to gradually exert the power of Shadow Replacement.

"Don't be afraid… very soon, very soon."

He stood up, and wisps of black gas faintly emanated from his body.

Whoosh!

Ouyang Qing's mind was agitated at this time, her face twisted, this time it was a distortion with a trace of fear.

Her originally beautiful face had completely lost its composure and beauty at this time.

"Get out! Don't come near me!!"

Turning around, her body suddenly lunged forward, swelling up, deforming, turning into a strange leopard more than two meters tall with blood-red fur.

The leopard's limbs and feet were wrapped in red flames, like a legendary divine beast, strange and magical.

If it wasn't for the fact that its whole body's fur was constantly dripping with viscous blood, this scene might really be mistaken by civilians as some kind of divine beast.

This was a blood body, and also a unique blood body passed down in the Ouyang family's bloodline.

The viscous blood dripped down and was quickly evaporated by the high temperature of the four feet, turning into clouds of dark red poisonous blood mist, surrounding the area.

The blood mist almost completely surrounded Ouyang Qing, becoming more and more dense.

The blood body was originally used for killing and fighting, but Ouyang Qing had no intention of fighting at this time.

She leaped again, turning into a gust of wind and fleeing away.

Blood essence martial artists were not those lunatics wandering on the plains. They could practice martial arts, but they had also lost the crazy and desperate killing temperament.

Bang!

The ground shook violently, Ouyang Qing landed on all fours, about to fly towards the distance again.

But an extremely strange feeling suddenly surged into her heart.

"That piece of soil is actually so perfect… Why have I never noticed it before?"

Her intense running action suddenly stopped.

Her eyes were fixed on the mud in front of her, motionless, as if mesmerized.

At this moment, even if there was a deadly threat approaching behind her, she inexplicably felt a sense of enlightenment that she could die without regrets after hearing the Dao in the morning.

For that piece of soil.

She was willing to give everything!

Pfft.

With a soft sound, everything quieted down.

Ouyang Qing's huge blood body rapidly recovered, returning to her original human form.

She picked up the clothes on the ground naked, and put them on. Her movements no longer had the previous urgency and fear.

And Li Cheng Yi, who was just behind her, had also disappeared.

"As expected, it is a very powerful body." Ouyang Qing raised her head, revealing a pair of strange vertical pupils with black and gold.

Under the Shadow Replacement ability, as long as one's own overall strength is greater than the opponent's to a certain extent, one can drill into the opponent's shadow, activate the ability, and devour all of the opponent's existence.

This ability is restrained by many abilities that target shadows, and will also be backlashed by the opponent's more powerful mental power.

If it were other masters, Li Cheng Yi might not be able to succeed so easily.

But Ouyang Qing and Yuan Lao, the former was not even as good as the town general of Xinmeng Town.

The latter was slightly stronger, but the gap between him and Li Cheng Yi, who had fused most of the imprints at this time, was also very large.

Before transforming into a blood body, he was briefly defeated by a sneak attack, and then controlled, and Shadow Replacement was completed in one go.

The ending was naturally destined.

(End of chapter)