The Astonishing Discovery of the Battle Maniac

Lie Zhankuang was on the verge of tears, feeling as though fate had dealt him an unbearably cruel hand.

Chen Chang'an shot him an impatient glare and demanded, "Cut the nonsense and get to the point."

"How did you even find me?"

"Why are you looking for me?"

Hearing this, Lie Zhankuang took a deep breath, his expression turning grave. "Brother Chen, I won’t lie to you. Right now, I have no family, no friends."

"Out of everyone I know, you’re the only one who can save me."

"You can’t just stand by and watch me die."

Watch him die?

What the hell did that have to do with him?

"You still haven’t told me how you found me," Chen Chang'an pressed, his patience wearing thin.

"I’ve been searching for you, but I couldn’t find any trace of you."

"I only arrived in this place a few days ago, planning to lay low for a while. That’s why I dug this hideout."

"And guess what?"

"Just now, I caught your scent—no, wait, I sensed your aura."

"Isn’t that a stroke of fate? It’s destiny, I tell you!"

"Brother Chen, you have no idea—coming out here was worse than staying hidden."

"I… I’m suffering!"

Chen Chang'an studied Lie Zhankuang carefully. A person might lie, and their eyes might deceive, but the soul never could. Seeing that Lie Zhankuang wasn’t fabricating his story, Chen Chang'an found the coincidence strange. But more than that, he was curious about the Dragon Emperor Palace’s actions. Had they also stumbled upon Lie Zhankuang by chance?

And earlier, Lie Zhankuang had mentioned having something important to say. Could it be related to the Dragon Emperor Palace?

"Enough with the dramatics," Chen Chang'an snapped.

"After you left the Heavenly Pool, what did you do? And didn’t you say you made some big discovery?"

"What exactly did you find?"

Lie Zhankuang wiped at his dry eyes, then took another deep breath.

"It’s a long story."

"Then make it short."

"Fine!"

"You know I was trapped under the Heavenly Pool for thousands of years—thousands! It was unbearable."

"So…"

"So after you got out, you went to a brothel?" Da Huang interjected.

"Yeah, I went—wait, no! What kind of man do you take me for? Ahem… okay, maybe I went once."

"But that’s not the point! Stop interrupting me!"

Lie Zhankuang’s expression turned deathly serious, as if he’d just lost his father.

"All these years, I’ve wanted to shout it out loud, just once—Long Wuqi, you’re one ugly bastard!"

"So, I mustered up my courage and went to the Dragon Emperor Palace."

Well, damn.

This guy was the poster child for "play stupid games, win stupid prizes." Even if he’d broken through to the Emperor realm, he was still just a novice. Meanwhile, Long Wuqi was a peak-level Emperor. Did he really think he could waltz up to the man’s doorstep and hurl insults without consequences?

Chen Chang'an couldn’t help but think that the only reason Lie Zhankuang was still alive was because Long Wuqi had an unusually forgiving temper.

"At first, I just wanted to go there and demand justice for myself."

"But I never expected…"

"Brother Chen, you have no idea—the Dragon Emperor Palace is pure evil."

"It’s no place for humans."

Huh?

Evil?

Now that sounded like a secret worth uncovering.

"Stop right there. I don’t want to hear it," Chen Chang'an cut him off.

"Why not?"

"Because if this is some big secret, the moment you tell me, I’ll be dragged into it too," Chen Chang'an retorted.

"You think keeping quiet will save you?" Lie Zhankuang shot back angrily.

"Yeah, I do," Chen Chang'an said with a firm nod.

"No. No one can escape this. That ugly bastard’s ambitions are too big."

"And he’s completely inhuman."

"I used to think he targeted me all those years ago just because I called him ugly. But now, I don’t think that was the reason."

Not that reason?

What did he mean?

"He had his eyes on me!" Lie Zhankuang declared with a grave expression.

Ew—

Chen Chang'an and the others instinctively recoiled, their faces twisting in disgust.

"No, no, not like that!"

"He wanted my body."

Ohhh—

Now their expressions turned even more revolted.

Sure, Long Wuqi was ugly, but was he really desperate enough to covet Lie Zhankuang’s body?

Then again, the Dragon Emperor Palace hadn’t produced any younger disciples in years. Could it be that its members were all… experts in that particular art?

Holy hell.

That really was an evil place.

"You’ve got it all wrong!"

"Long Wuqi was after my physique—my innate constitution, understand?"

"That ugly bastard wanted to possess me, to take over my body!"

Wait, what?

Take over his body?

Why would a peak-level Emperor abandon his own cultivation just to start over in someone else’s body?

Was he out of his mind?

"What the hell did you see at the Dragon Emperor Palace?" Chen Chang'an demanded, his brow furrowing.

"What did I see?"

"Hell. The Dragon Emperor Palace is hell."

"I’d heard that the entire palace went into seclusion five thousand years ago. I thought they were just training hard."

"But no—they were doing something far more sinister."

"The entire Sky Dragon Island is a mountain of corpses, a sea of blood."

"Those dead bodies? They’re all used by the Dragon Emperor Palace for cultivation."

"They went into seclusion to keep this from being discovered."

"They devour the essence and blood of the living and refine their souls."

"Who knows what kind of twisted technique they’re practicing?"

Devouring essence and refining souls?

That was beyond ruthless.

Chen Chang'an was no stranger to killing, but even he wouldn’t stoop to something so vile.

"What does this have to do with Long Wuqi wanting your body?"

"Don’t tell me you think your physique is stronger than his?" Chen Chang'an asked skeptically.

"At first, I didn’t understand either. But after uncovering the palace’s secret, I hid and eavesdropped on their conversations."

"You know why Long Wuqi keeps getting uglier? It’s because he’s refined too many souls. It’s warped his face beyond recognition."

"And it’s wrecked his body."

"His soul keeps growing stronger, but his body can’t handle it anymore. So he needs a new vessel."

"One that can endure the fusion."

"Long Wuqi’s talent must have hit its limit. Peak Emperor is as far as he can go—he’ll never break through."

"So he turned to this evil technique, hoping to reach a realm beyond Emperor."

Long Wuqi—a veteran peak-level Emperor of the Profound Realm. Who would’ve guessed that, in his pursuit of power, he’d resort to such atrocities?

The Dragon Emperor Palace wasn’t exactly a paragon of virtue, but it wasn’t considered outright malevolent either. Many still admired and aspired to join it.

Yet who could’ve imagined its disciples practiced such a depraved art?

Then again, given Gu Fenghua’s assessment of Long Wuqi, perhaps this wasn’t so surprising after all.

Long Wuqi was initially a man plagued by insecurity. As other powerful figures gradually faded from the scene, he slowly rose to become one of the top-tier experts.

From insecurity to arrogance and pride, Long Wuqi was, in truth, a man with a somewhat twisted psyche.

"You actually discovered such an important secret and managed to escape alive?"

"Could it be that Long Wuqi still hasn’t made a move himself?" Chen Chang'an asked with a frown.

Even if Long Wuqi’s body was in poor condition, it shouldn’t have come to the point where he wouldn’t act personally in such a situation, right?

"Long Wuqi never showed up at all."

"I have a theory."

"Long Wuqi isn’t even in the Dragon Emperor Palace!" Lie Zhankuang said with a grave expression.

Long Wuqi isn’t in the Dragon Emperor Palace?

Then where could he be?

Could it be… he’s been in the Central Heaven Domain all along?

Or perhaps…

"Has he already performed a soul transfer?"

"Does Long Wuqi… no longer even exist?"