I Have 10 Equipment Slots-Chapter 47 - 41: Colluding with Demon Fiends!

Now that I had Demon Points, it was time to spend them.

First, I added 20 points to Strength, Constitution, and Agility respectively.

This round cost me 122 Demon Points.

Specifically, raising Constitution and Agility from 46 to 66 each cost 40 Demon Points.

Raising Strength from 47 to 66 cost 38 Demon Points.

However, going from 66 to 67 cost 4 points.

Clearly, 66 was a new threshold. Crossing it doubled the Demon Points required for each subsequent point.

Spirit was the same.

Raising it from 50 to 66 cost 32 Demon Points.

But raising it from 66 to 67 cost 4 Demon Points.

Once again, all four stats broke through their limits, and my realm advanced along with them.

I went from the Alien Body, Mountain-Shaking realm, to the Alien Body, Shadow realm.

Gu Zheng carefully examined the changes brought by this advancement.

He found that while the Xianfeng and Mountain-Shaking realms were promotions of physical strength, the Shadow realm leaned more toward the spiritual and mental. The first aspect of the Shadow realm was introspection. It was like an eye had grown inside his body, allowing him to inspect every meridian, bone, and organ. He could detect any abnormality instantly.

The second aspect was a mysterious form of hindsight.

Meaning, even with his eyes closed, he could "see" objects moving behind him.

This wasn’t sight in the conventional sense, but a blanket of Spiritual Sensing Power.

When dealing with invisible Demon Fiends, as long as they weren’t Super-Tier, it made no difference whether they were visible or not.

The "shadow" part of the realm’s name was specifically for dealing with Spiritual Body Type Demon Fiends.

He could "see" their existence even with his eyes closed!

The effects of this comprehensive upgrade were undoubtedly significant.

Gu Zheng spent a long time adapting before he continued spending Demon Points to upgrade several of his True Skills.

First was the Frenzy Battle Saber Technique. As expected, it only took 2 Demon Points to break through, achieving True Mastery.

Next was the All Heaven Jade Void Skill Alien Body Chapter. It had been stuck at entry-level, making its circulation very slow. Now, he spent 5 Demon Points to reach Mastery, another 10 to reach Minor Achievement, and another 15 to break through to Great Success.

He spent another 20 Demon Points, and the True Skill reached True Mastery!

And with that—

[Gu Zheng]

[Realm: Alien Body · Shadow]

[Strength: 67/99]

[Agility: 66 (+1)/99]

[Constitution: 68/99]

[Spirit: 67/99]

[Divine Wondrous: 23.8]

[Demon Points: 13]

[Demon Techniques: Super-speed Self-healing, Spirit Capturing, Dark Vision, Triple Jump, Fire Manipulation, 100% Absorption, Steel Claw]

[True Skills: All Heaven Jade Void Skill Alien Body Chapter (True Mastery), Eight Directions Travel (Mastery), Frenzy Battle Saber Technique (True Mastery)]

[Equipment Effects: Bronze Elephant Body (Inactive), Nether Heart Slave Seal, Deceptive Appearance]

...

...

The All Heaven Jade Void Skill Alien Body Chapter didn’t cost many Demon Points to bring to True Mastery because Gu Zheng’s physique no longer needed tempering.

Others improved by condensing Divine Wondrous energy and using it to repeatedly temper their bodies, constantly stimulating their potential to achieve breakthroughs.

Gu Zheng, however, directly allocated points to advance his physique first, which naturally made cultivating the All Heaven Jade Void Skill Alien Body Chapter much faster.

Furthermore, cultivating the All Heaven Jade Void Skill Alien Body Chapter also tempered his physique as a side effect, increasing his Constitution by 2 and saving him what would have been 8 Demon Points.

This was a comprehensive increase to his base Constitution, unlike the Agility bonus from Eight Directions Travel, which only applied when using the skill itself.

As for the Demon Technique, Steel Claw, it was extracted from the Bloodshed of a Lizard Demon.

This technique could make his hands, feet, forearms, and calves both incomparably hard and razor-sharp.

The Three-Striped Lizard Snake Demon had already demonstrated its specific power to Gu Zheng.

His Celestial Frost Blade had been no match for it.

Although it consumed Divine Wondrous energy to use, it was equivalent to turning Gu Zheng’s own limbs into Spiritual Soldiers.

He wouldn’t use it often, but for a surprise attack, the effect would be remarkable.

Like the Bronze Elephant Body, it was one of his trump cards.

’Right, the Bronze Elephant Body!’

Gu Zheng mused, ’If I activate the Bronze Elephant Body and then add Steel Claw on top of it, how lethal would that be?’

’I’ll have to find a chance to test it out!’

...

KNOCK KNOCK~

A knock sounded at the door.

"Come in."

Gu Zheng called out, ceasing his cultivation.

"Ping’an, are you busy?"

Zhang Ning called from outside the door. "If you’re not busy, come to the victory feast! Magistrate Zhou prepared a huge spread to thank us. He said he brought in all the best chefs in the county."

"...I’ll be right there."

Gu Zheng thought for a moment before replying, "You guys go ahead and eat. I’ll be there in a minute."

"That won’t do," Zhang Ning laughed. "Ping’an, you’re the man of the hour. No one would dare pick up their chopsticks without you here."

"Man of the hour? Without everyone’s help, how many people could I have saved on my own?" Gu Zheng regulated his breathing, and once he was stable, he stood up and walked to the door.

He opened the door and saw Zhang Ning waiting outside. "By that logic," he teased, "shouldn’t I be thanking Zhang? Without his Half-Spiritual Soldier, I would have been crushed by the Three-Striped Lizard Snake Demon. None of this would have happened."

"Haha, that’s an easy fix. Just toast him a few extra cups of wine later!" Zhang Ning replied with a laugh.

The two of them headed toward the County Magistrate’s Office.

On the way, they saw Chen Zhizhen sullenly returning to his room alone.

"Why isn’t he at the victory feast?" Gu Zheng asked casually.

"He’s probably too embarrassed."

Zhang Ning sneered. "He wanted to burn all three hundred-plus people to death and be done with it. But instead, you, Ping’an, succeeded in cutting them out, saving every single one of them and completely foiling the Lizard Demon’s plot! Now Chen Zhizhen feels disgraced and doesn’t want to show his face."

"All I can say is, the man is too petty," Zhang Ning said, shaking his head. "We don’t need to worry about him. Let’s just go celebrate."

"...Right."

Gu Zheng nodded and continued walking.

An idea sparked in his mind.

Without Zhang Ning noticing a thing, a dark shape detached itself from Gu Zheng’s shadow.

The shadow slipped into a corner and took the form of "Gu Zheng."

After Gu Zheng and Zhang Ning were a good distance away...

...the "Gu Zheng" shadow crept silently along the darkened corner of the wall to Chen Zhizhen’s room, where it hid, motionless.

「Meanwhile, the victory feast had begun.」

Everyone dug in, relaxing and celebrating, except for the heavily injured Wu Kun, who could only watch.

Midway through the drinking, Magistrate Zhou brought in the county’s Songstresses to sing and dance.

Back at the rooms, Chen Zhizhen suddenly emerged, leaped onto a wall, and after sensing the direction of the feast for a moment, silently flitted away toward the city outskirts.

The "Gu Zheng" shadow immediately followed, keeping a distance of about a hundred feet, tailing him closely.

It watched as Chen Zhizhen left the county seat and entered a dense forest.

It watched as he passed through the forest and arrived at a hidden, natural limestone cave.

The "Gu Zheng" shadow didn’t stop, slinking into the cave after him. It had just found a corner to hide in when it heard a familiar, bizarre voice coming from deep within.

"Human, why have you come?"

’...A Lizard Demon!?’

The tone of voice was identical to that of the Lizard Demons at the Zhao Mansion.

’So, that son of a bitch Chen Zhizhen is colluding with Demon Fiends?’