Chapter 52: Body Modification Plan

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Body Modification Plan

But the surprises weren’t over yet; the panel flickered again.

[Mythical Resonance conditions met!]

[Gathered: Devil’s Whisper (Green) + Resentment Residue (Green) + Soul-Devouring Touch (Green) + Gigantification Fragment (White) + Snake Scale Hardening (White). Fuse into the Mythical entry: Pitong Python?]

[Pitong Python (Blue) Core Abilities: Earth Vein Sympathy, Bone-Eroding Poison Fang, Python Strangulation, Divine Oracle Stealing.]

Chen Shang’s eyes widened. Another one?

The first three ingredients of the recipe were exactly the same, but the divergence in the last two pointed toward a completely different path. Zhong Kui was meant for catching ghosts and exorcising evil, feeding on Demons, and making Plague Ghosts his enemies. The Five Plagues Envoy, on the other hand, spread Plagues and controlled diseases, using them as weapons.

As for the Pitong Python, Chen Shang had to rack his brain for quite a while before remembering. This was the giant serpent slain by Apollo in mythology. Apollo even usurped its authority over the Plague. Who could imagine a Sun God shooting an Arrow laced with Plague?

Chen Shang took a deep breath. It turned out that myths from other pantheons could also be activated; he just hadn’t been exposed to enough of them before. He began to seriously consider which one to choose.

In Chen Shang’s plan, the Demon body of Marcus—who had fallen from the realm of a Tier Four Demigod—was the best Mechanical Armor carrier. If handled properly, he could obtain a Tier Three Peak, or even a Mythical Species with Demigod Power. Therefore, the Pitong Python was the first to be ruled out. After all, modifying a humanoid Demon into a serpentine Mythical creature would require too many structural changes. It was a waste!

The remaining two paths both held infinite possibilities for upward advancement. Following Zhong Kui’s path upward led to a True God that exorcised evil and suppressed malevolence. It was a part of the Underworld system, existing in the same hierarchy as Black and White Impermanence, Judge Yama, and even the Ksitigarbha King. Following the Five Plagues Envoy’s path upward led to the Plague Gods of the Plague Division, part of the Celestial Court system.

The Plague Gods of the Celestial Court were all renowned figures. For instance, Emperor Lü Yue was a top-tier entity capable of inflicting massive area-of-effect damage. However, considering that he might descend upon Marcus’s Plane in the future, choosing Zhong Kui would be better for countering his enemies.

Having made his decision, several streaks of light converged into a Blue entry.

[Zhong Kui (Blue) Core Abilities: Judge’s Eye, Ghost Eating Skill, Evil Ghost Skin, Karma Fire Ashes.]

[Judge’s Eye: Can directly see the true names and sins of everything in the Evil and Mysterious Category, Demons, and Resentful Spirits, automatically finding their weaknesses.

Ghost Eating Skill: Can devour slain ghosts, Resentful Spirits, or low-level Demons, permanently increasing one’s resistance to the Dark Attribute.

Evil Ghost Skin: Transform into an evil ghost, significantly boosting physical Defense and increasing resistance against Evil and Mysterious Category attacks, while emitting "Evil Ghost Coercion."

Karma Fire Ashes: Draw out Hell’s Karmic Fire, causing massive damage to ghosts, Demons, and Resentful Spirits.]

Chen Shang activated the Zhong Kui entry. A rugged and majestic illusory figure materialized around his body. A vertical mark appeared between his brows, resembling a closed eye that radiated natural authority.

He looked at Marcus and teased, "I’ve found a nice name for your body. Zhong Kui. What do you think?"

"What do you mean? What do you mean by that?" Marcus struggled. "Whatever you want to do, I’ll cooperate! Don’t kill me!"

"It’s a pity, but the terms I offered you the first time were already the best you were going to get," Chen Shang said, shaking his head. "The moment you unleashed a Plague upon the living beings of this Plane, you were destined to face Judgment. Attacking a Wizard Envoy adds another layer to your crimes. I have no choice but to accept you as my crafting material."

He then severed the sensory connection between Marcus’s Soul and his physical form, sealed the Demon away, and began modifying the body.

The Rune analysis went smoothly, but Chen Shang soon ran into a new problem: the Soul Core.

Marcus’s Soul Core was damaged, and it was the source of his Power. If left unrepaired, Zhong Kui’s combat strength would permanently be stuck at Tier Three. Furthermore, as time passed, the cracks would only widen until the core shattered completely. When that happened, not only would it fail to be Zhong Kui, but it wouldn’t even be a functional Demon anymore. This was something Chen Shang could absolutely not accept.

Left with no other choice, he paused the modifications and began searching for a way to repair the Soul Core, but his frown deepened the more he read. There were many solutions, but every single one required the exact same thing—Divine Power.

Divine Power was the exclusive Energy of Divine Spirits. It was sold on the market, but the prices were outrageously high. He checked and found that even the cheapest wisp of Divine Power cost one hundred thousand Wizard Coins, and it likely wouldn’t be enough for the repair. Alternatively, the Power of Faith could be used as a substitute, but this option was even more troublesome. It required a massive number of believers to offer long-term worship.

Chen Shang leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling in deep thought. Buying it was definitely out of the question. He could only try to scavenge from fallen Divine Spirits. After all, the worlds under the command of Wizards were as numerous as the stars; there was bound to be a suitable target.

Just as he was about to initiate a deep search, he suddenly caught sight of the beautiful scenery outside the window and smacked his forehead hard.

"I’m losing my mind. Why look far and wide when the answer is right here? Many Divine Spirits have fallen in this very world!"

Chen Shang began sifting through the archives. Fifteen minutes later, he finally found what he was looking for: the *Investigation Report on the Fusion Areas Between the Aifannuo Plane’s Divine Country Fragments and This Plane*.

He opened it and quickly skimmed through the contents. Things were exactly as he had anticipated.

In the early days of the Wizards’ descent upon the Aifannuo Plane, a portion of the Divine Spirits tactfully chose to submit. However, another group of Gods, their minds clouded by Rule Assimilation, chose to resist. The outcome was obvious. The true bodies of those Gods became the collections of certain Wizards. Their Divine Kingdoms lost their support and plummeted from the high heavens, merging with the mountains, rivers, forests, and oceans of this Plane to form several unique zones.

Within these zones, traces of residual Divinity could still be detected.

Reading this, Chen Shang’s eyes lit up. If he could find a Divine Country Fragment and extract enough Divinity from it, he might be able to repair Marcus’s Soul Core.

He read the report once more, recording all the crucial information on his Crystal Plate, including the distribution areas, characteristics, and threat levels of the Divine Country Fragments. The report explicitly stated that due to the influence of residual Divine Power, these areas were typically shrouded in dense fog. The creatures inside underwent Mutations, and Ordinary people could easily lose their way upon entering.

For a Wizard, however, none of this posed a problem.

By the time Chen Shang returned to the Fanuodi Territory, the remnants of the Plague had been mostly cleared away.

Seeing his arrival, Ailarya hurried over to greet him. "Lord Envoy, the Plague has been contained," she reported enthusiastically. "The patients are beginning to recover, and no new infected cases have appeared. This is all thanks to you. I’ve already applied to the Pan-Wizard Alliance for mission settlement!"

"That’s excellent news, but I’m here to inform you of something else. I’m preparing to search for... the ruins of the Gods."

Ailarya looked up in surprise. "The ruins of the Gods? I heard my elders mention them when I was a child. I can lead the way."

"There’s no need," Chen Shang interrupted. "You only need to issue an order to keep Ordinary people away from those areas."