Chapter 2185 - Pufferfish

Dumbstruck, Zhang Xuan drove another surge of zhenqi to the same area once more.

But before he knew it, the surge of zhenqi dissipated.

It was as if there was some sort of peculiar energy lurking inside Feng Jiuge’s body, swallowing his Heaven’s Path zhenqi.

This unusual situation made Zhang Xuan narrow his eyes.

Even a God King would be restrained by him after swallowing his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, but the thing in Feng Jiuge’s body was able to devour his Heaven’s Path zhenqi.

Could Feng Jiuge’s falling cultivation be the result of the thing inside his body constantly swallowing his zhenqi?

Let’s see how much you can take in!

This situation had triggered Zhang Xuan’s competitiveness. He began to drive his zhenqi into Feng Jiuge’s body furiously through his meridians.

Initially, he had only sent in an extremely small amount out of fear that Feng Jiuge would notice it, but at this point, he pulled out all the stops.

He did not believe that the thing inside Feng Jiuge’s body would be able to swallow all the energy he was sending over!

Meanwhile, sensing an insane amount of zhenqi suddenly surging into his body, Feng Jiuge’s eyes widened into circles. An overpowering pressure carrying the weight of the heavens rushed rampantly into his body. He felt like his soul would be torn apart at this rate.

So, he anxiously tried to withdraw his wrist, only to realize that the other party’s fingers were holding onto him firmly like a pair of metal tongs. No matter how he tugged and pulled, he was unable to retract his hand.

“Let...”

Feng Jiuge wanted to shout out loud, but the other party’s zhenqi was simply too strong. He felt like he was being utterly subdued by the force, preventing him from even speaking properly.

On the other hand, Zhang Xuan was completely unaware of Feng Jiuge’s state. He had closed his eyes in order to focus entirely on dealing with the thing in Feng Jiuge’s body.

Under the rush of his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, he was finally able to perceive what the thing was. It was a gray congregation of energy, but he could not tell exactly what it was.

As Zhang Xuan channeled his zhenqi to charge at the gray congregation of energy, the latter immediately released a green glow.

No, it isn’t swallowing my zhenqi... Rather, the two forces are neutralizing one another?

He was perplexed as to what kind of force was capable of swallowing his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, but it seemed like he was mistaken. The two forces were actually thinning down one another.

When his Heaven’s Path zhenqi collided with the gray stream of energy, the two forces transformed into a green glow of energy before dissipating.

No, that doesn’t seem to be it. The gray congregation of energy doesn’t seem to be neutralizing all of my Heaven’s Path zhenqi...

His Heaven’s Path zhenqi was swiftly vanishing as it collided with the gray congregation of energy, but weirdly enough, while a huge chunk of it was vanishing, there was still a small portion that was being left behind.

Going by proportions, in about a hundred surges of zhenqi, there would be one surge that was retained.

Wait a moment! Is this... refinement? Zhang Xuan’s heart skipped a beat.

He could sense it. The Heaven’s Path zhenqi that remained had been purified by at least tenfold. While he could not sense exactly how much stronger it had become, it was clear that it had gone through a transformative change.

That’s not exactly it either. It seems to be neutralizing my Heaven’s Path zhenqi, leaving behind just the zhenqi I’ve cultivated after comprehending the Pathos of Heaven...

Currently, there were two different types of zhenqi mixed into Zhang Xuan body—the Heaven’s Path zhenqi, which he cultivated using the Heaven’s Path Divine Art, and the upgraded version of it after he started cultivating the Pathos of Heaven.

Those two were mixed together, and it was extremely hard to separate them from one another. Given the difficulty in doing so, Zhang Xuan had not bothered dealing with it.

Yet, who could have known that he would be able to do it through the gray congregation of energy?

The gray congregation of energy was able to neutralize his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, but it was utterly helpless against the zhenqi that he had cultivated using the Pathos of Heaven. As a result, it created an effect similar to refinement.

I didn’t think you’d be so useful to me. Since you can refine my zhenqi, I’ll give you more of it!

With such a thought in mind, Zhang Xuan continued blasting his zhenqi into Feng Jiuge’s body.

As the two continued colliding with one another, the green glow grew brighter and brighter.

Even though there was only a single congregation of the gray energy, it seemed to be exceptionally pure. He had been at this for quite a few minutes, but he had only managed to dissipate half of the gray congregation of energy.

It seemed like the opponent was tougher than he thought.

Taking a deep breath, he was just about to clear away the gray congregation of energy in one shot when he suddenly felt someone patting his shoulder.

His instincts told him that the person did not bear any malicious intention toward him. That being said, a slight frown still etched its way onto his face from being disturbed.

While continuing to infuse zhenqi into Feng Jiuge’s body, he turned to look at the person, only to freeze in place.

Unknowingly, dozens of people had gathered around him. Most of them were the customers who had been drinking there, and that included the middle-aged men who had been gossiping about Feng Jiuge.

As for the one who had patted his shoulder, he was an elder who had a walking stick in hand.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Xuan asked in confusion.

“I didn’t want to get involved in your business, but no matter what, we are in the territory of the Inferno Phoenix Clan.

If something happens here and we are found to have simply watched on silently, we will all get into a great deal of trouble. It won’t be good for you to get on the bad side of the Inferno Phoenix Clan. As one of the elders in this tavern, I can only intervene in this matter. So, pardon me for asking, but what kind of grudge do you have with Feng Jiuge?” the elder asked while stroking his beard.

His voice was very refined. From his tone of speech, he was likely an academic.

Zhang Xuan was surprised by the question. He shook his head and replied, “There’s no grudge between us.”

The elder frowned. “If that’s the case, why are you grabbing his wrist?”

Zhang Xuan was still wondering what was going on when he heard those words. He chuckled softly and replied, “He has been afflicted with an abnormal condition. I am treating him in my capacity as a physician.”

“I-Is that so? Well, I’m not very sure how I should put this in a way that doesn’t sound rude, but...”

The elder slowly moved his glance toward Feng Jiuge before asking hesitantly, “Are you certain that you are really treating him?”

“Am I certain if I am treating him?” Zhang Xuan was completely baffled by that question.

He subconsciously followed the elder’s gaze, and when he saw what was before him, he could not help but freeze in place once again.

The person he was holding onto was not the devilishly dashing Feng Jiuge. Instead, it was a well-rounded man that was two meters in height and at least four hundred jin[l] heavy.

“Who are you?” Zhang Xuan quickly released his grasp in shock.

When did this round man get there?

How in the world did he not realize that the person he was holding onto had changed?

Noticing that the look of surprise on Zhang Xuan’s face was genuine, the elder shook his head and explained, “I was watching the situation, so I can tell you with certainty that he’s none other than Feng Jiuge. Shortly after you grabbed his wrist, he turned into his current state...”

“He is Feng Jiuge?” Zhang Xuan’s lips twitched.

He was certain that Feng Jiuge had still been perfectly normal a moment ago. How did he turn into such a state?

Wait a moment... Is this the result of me infusing my zhenqi endlessly into his body? Zhang Xuan covered his mouth as he gasped in shock.

He did pump quite a lot of energy into Feng Jiuge, and the collision of the two energies produced the potent green glow. Given how forceful he had been, there was no way Feng Jiuge could have expelled or withstood the accumulating energy within his body.

But was it possible for a person’s body to really swell up like a balloon?

The situation felt ridiculous.

Zhang Xuan closed his eyes and created a mental image of how Feng Jiuge looked earlier. Then, he blew up his features by approximately five times...

Yup, there was no mistake about it. The person sitting before him was indeed Feng Jiuge.

Zhang Xuan suddenly found himself at a loss as to how he should respond. Should he apologize right away, or should he attempt to brush it off as a joke?

It had to be said that Feng Jiuge did bear some resemblance to the Otherworldly Demons.

Was that the concept behind the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe?

[1] One jin = 0.5kg