I Pick up a Lost Godhood

Chapter 210 - 208: A Shudder at That Moment

After firing the arrow, Zhang Xiaojiang used the Earth Escape Skill, but even that couldn’t let him completely evade the penetrating Sword Qi. A muffled THUD echoed from underground as his body was blasted back out.

Hann Li naturally dodged the incoming arrow, but it was clear his opponent had missed.

Zhang Xiaojiang’s aim was off; the arrow struck the ground at Hann Li’s feet. Hann Li breathed a sigh of relief, but a split second later, an alarm blared in his mind.

BOOM...

The ground billowed, and an earthy yellow light instantly enveloped Hann Li. A suffocating power bound him, dragging him forcibly into the earth.

’Buried alive again???’

’What kind of Arrow Technique is this?’

Zhang Xiaojiang lay on the ground, gazing toward where Hann Li had been. "Earth of the Five Elements... Bury you, no questions asked..."

Hann Li had just been in the middle of using his Critical Strike Sword Technique when he was dragged, still alive, into the ground.

Immortal Origin Hall fell deathly silent. ’No way...?’

Zhang Xiaojiang lay splayed on the ground like a giant frog, his body completely numb, but a grin remained on his face. ’So you all fucking looked down on me, huh? Well, I made it count.’

The only person in this life who had ever truly respected him was Wang Meng. Wang Meng never demanded too much, but Zhang Xiaojiang would never allow his own incompetence to hinder Wang Meng’s progress. He wouldn’t do it, and he wouldn’t let anyone else do it either!

On this point, Zhang Xiaojiang was more ruthless than anyone else!

The crowd stared at the spot where Hann Li had vanished. ’Can he still get out?’

Zhang Xiaojiang was in an even more wretched state, half-dead. ’Can he even get back up?’

If he couldn’t get up, it would just be a draw.

"Zhang Xiaojiang, get up!"

"Zhang Xiaojiang, stand up!"

It was unclear who yelled it first, but soon the entire crowd was chanting.

Zhang Xiaojiang could hear them, but his body refused to obey. ’Get up. I have to get up.’

’Stand up...’

Standing up was usually so easy, but at this moment, it felt like lifting a single finger would take all the strength he had.

Zhang Xiaopang was trying so hard, truly he was, but he was completely out of strength.

Just then, a fuzzy voice reached Zhang Xiaojiang’s ear. "Zhang Xiaopang, if you stand up, I’ll Dual Cultivate with you tonight!"

Zhang Xiaojiang shuddered. ’Dual Cultivation???’

His blurry vision immediately sharpened, and his eyes locked onto Liuu Mei, who was standing not far away.

’Dual Cultivation? Fuck, I can’t die!’

All at once, a sliver of strength returned to Zhang Xiaojiang, and he managed to struggle, bit by bit, to his feet.

A silent roar echoed in his heart. ’Even if I die, I have to Dual Cultivate first!’

Luu Yun, of course, knew what had happened. He had just pulled through a near-death experience; if he hadn’t managed to get up, his life would have been forfeit. But...

Not only had Zhang Xiaojiang gotten to his feet, but he was now taking one step after another toward Liuu Mei.

Cheers erupted within Immortal Origin Hall. Of course, they weren’t coming from the Immortal Origin Hall disciples. But for Thunderlight Hall, everywhere they went was home turf.

First battle: Thunderlight Hall is victorious.

Zhang Xiaojiang didn’t even make it to Liuu Mei before he collapsed with a THUD. Lying on the ground, he continued to mumble.

Just as Wang Meng and the others were getting anxious, a figure went to him. Seeing who it was, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief and rushed over.

Zhou Feng slowly channeled his Elemental Power into Zhang Xiaojiang’s body. As a Pill Cultivator, he had a deeper understanding of healing with Elemental Power.

Zhou Feng’s expression was so grave that the others didn’t dare to even breathe too loudly. Immortal Origin Hall fell silent once again.

On the other side, Hann Li had been dug out. A Body Cultivator was giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It wasn’t that Immortal Origin Hall was heartless; it was just that a sturdy Body Cultivator had stronger lungs.

After a long while, Zhou Feng finally released Zhang Xiaojiang, and the group immediately barraged him with questions.

Zhou Feng swept a cold gaze over the crowd. "Are you all tired of living? Damn it."

"Old Zhou, stop trying to scare us! How is the kid, really?"

"This kid... well, his life is saved. But he’s crippled."

Zhang Xiaojiang’s eyes widened, but he resigned himself to his fate. He had known this was a possibility. No matter what, he had won.

"Impossible! Old Zhou, there must be a way!"

Wang Meng said gravely. Even if it meant defying the heavens, he would not let Zhang Xiaojiang be crippled.

"Young man, let me finish my sentence. I meant, he’ll be out of commission for a while. He can’t use his Elemental Power for two months and needs to rest and recuperate properly."

Instantly, everyone’s hearts, which had leaped into their throats, dropped back into place.

"Elder Zhou, don’t be so dramatic with your pauses! You could scare someone to death like that."

"Fuck, so you do know what it feels like to be scared, you little bastards. Little Fatty, you’re lucky to be alive. I don’t know what it was, but something triggered your Life Force and dragged you back from the Ghost Gate. It’s a damn miracle. Once you recover, your Elemental Power will have broken through to the Twenty Layers!"

The Thunderlight Group was stunned for a moment, then erupted in ecstatic cheers.

Zhou Feng’s expression finally relaxed, and he nodded with a smile. "It’s strange, though. How did you manage to overcome that brush with death?"

His stubborn, academic nature was flaring up. The odds had been astronomically low. ’How did he pull through?’

’Logically, his physical stamina, Elemental Power, and Spiritual Power should have all been at their absolute limit at that point, shouldn’t they?’

Zhang Xiaojiang relaxed completely, his body feeling like it wasn’t his own. Only his eyes were still mischievous, darting toward Liuu Mei.

’Dual Cultivation... oh, Dual Cultivation...’

"Little Fatty, what were you muttering just now when you were half-conscious? Was it a Spell? Come on, tell me. I won’t tell anyone else. I’m the one who saved your life, after all!"

Zhou Feng, acting chummy, had clearly seen that something had occurred to Zhang Xiaojiang.

"Brother Meng, wipe them out! I want to be sipping tea in Dao Guang Hall and watch you give Ning Zhiquan a proper thrashing!"

Zhang Xiaojiang said, clenching his powerless fists with all his might. It was probably the first time in many years that anyone had dared to say something so audacious.

But the fatty had said it!

Gazing into the fatty’s eyes, which were filled with absolute trust, a fire ignited in Wang Meng’s heart. At that very moment, a red light flashed within his Sea of Fate. He could feel the Godhood, which had been sealed away so tightly, once more. This was the first time since the seal had been placed!

A peculiar sensation poured through him from head to toe. The Heaven and Earth Spirit Locking Array, that perfect Power of Laws, had just revealed a tiny flaw!

Wang Meng had tried countless methods to deal with the Heaven and Earth Spirit Locking Array, all to no avail. Yet today, a single sentence from the fatty had shattered its hold!

In that instant, it was as if Wang Meng had a sudden epiphany. Fusing with the Godhood had certainly brought him power, but it also came with all sorts of unstable factors. One of the most fatal was its effect on his personality. The Godhood carried the tyrannical, reclusive, heaven-defying disposition of Moo Shan, while Wang Meng himself was full of passion and a thirst for challenge. There were similarities, but they were fundamentally different. If Wang Meng hadn’t stepped up for Suo Ming, resulting in the Celestial Tribulation sealing his Godhood, he very likely would have been so heavily influenced by it that he would have become a second Moo Shan.

But after it was sealed, Wang Meng’s own personality gradually resurfaced, even as he retained the changes brought by the Godhood. What neither Wang Meng nor Moo Shan realized, however, was that sealing the Godhood didn’t solve the fundamental problem. The day Wang Meng completely broke the seal, he would still be doomed to repeat the same path, as his own strength was a complete mismatch for the Godhood.

There was only one solution: to gradually absorb and adapt to the Godhood.

This tiny crack had just opened that door. This was Wang Meng’s epiphany.

Looking at the piteous fatty who was forcing himself to act tough, Wang Meng’s heart filled with a thousand emotions. ’I am Wang Meng, just a novice Cultivator. The Celestial Demon Sect, achieving Godhood... all of that is a distant dream!’

’Who cares about Saint, Demon, or Evil? Who the fuck cares about obeying or defying the heavens? There’s only one thing I want: to live a grand, explosive life with my brothers. That would be a life worth living!’

No one could perceive the change in Wang Meng. If anyone did notice something unusual, it was Ma Tian’Er. But even she thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her, sensing a kind of light emanating from him.

This keen Insight could only be described as Ma Tian’Er’s innate talent.

In the world of Cultivators, there were many prodigies. It was a pity that, as the saying goes, fine horses are common, but a good judge of them is rare. Most of these talents faded into obscurity.

The Great Dao is unpredictable, and the Celestial Dao is even more unfathomable.

Wang Meng felt Ma Tian’Er’s gaze on him and suddenly felt a warmth spread through his heart.

As for Ma Tian’Er, it was the first time she had ever been the subject of such a passionate gaze from Wang Meng. She was left a little dazed...

While Wang Meng’s mind was reeling, Immortal Origin Hall had already sent out its second combatant: Pang Dong!

Pang Dong, the Power Cultivator. From Thunderlight Hall’s side, Suo Ming stepped up to fight.

The battle was white-hot from the very start. Thunderlight Hall’s do-or-die attitude set the main theme for the fight. If Immortal Origin Hall thought that being one of the Upper Three Halls and "enduring hardships to grow stronger" meant they possessed strength far beyond Thunderlight Hall, they could just lie down and wait to die.

Zhang Xiaojiang’s aggressive, life-on-the-line fighting style had clearly shaken Immortal Origin Hall.

"What kind of Enchantment did Wang Meng use on them?"

"What do you know? This is called fighting spirit! This is called solidarity! How else could Thunderlight Hall be so powerful?"

The crowd fell silent. The word "solidarity" did indeed feel a bit out of place in the Small Thousand World.

Yet this group had achieved it. And not only had they achieved it, it seemed that none of them had been eliminated for it; on the contrary, they had all grown stronger.

But on second thought, if they hadn’t truly fought from the bottom of their hearts, the results would have been even more tragic. Only by snatching victory from the jaws of defeat could they create such miracles.

If they could do it once, they could do it again.

In the battle between Suo Ming and Pang Dong, there was no doubt that Zhang Xiaojiang’s brutal fight had deeply spurred Suo Ming on. And Suo Ming’s own tenacity was beyond question.

Pang Dong displayed tyrannical strength, definitely at the level of the Upper Three Halls. Most critically, he was taking advantage of the tide of Elemental Power on Immortal Origin Peak to unleash his Nineteenth Layer Elemental Power with the intensity of the Twenty Layers. Even if his cultivation realm was lacking, the strength of his Elemental Power was not.

In terms of raw strength, even with his Explosive Steel Body activated, Suo Ming was still no match for Pang Dong. Clearly, Pang Dong’s willpower was also formidable; their Immortal Origin Hall would absolutely not go down so easily.

The battle was an agonizing ordeal. Pang Dong unleashed his full power, hammering Suo Ming with a relentless barrage of attacks. Suo Ming looked like he could collapse at any second, yet this man who was constantly on the verge of breaking somehow held on for over half an ancient hour. It was the most grueling battle of all.

Pang Dong felt the Great Sword in his hands grow heavier and heavier. He had never met such a stubborn opponent. Suo Ming could have forfeited long ago. ’He’s clearly out of strength, so how is he still blocking my attacks?’

Both fighters had exhausted their ultimate techniques. Pang Dong no longer had the strength to finish Suo Ming with a single strike. However, by relying on the tide of Elemental Power from Immortal Origin Peak, his recovery was faster than Suo Ming’s.

Normally, this slight recovery would be negligible, but when both sides were exhausted, it proved to be the decisive factor. Recovering bit by bit, Pang Dong’s Great Sword finally blasted Suo Ming to the ground.

The brutal, grinding battle had lasted for a full ancient hour. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)