Chapter 1855: Gods Descend (Part 1)

"This is mine! This sacrifice was obtained after I killed 100,000 of my people and expended countless treasures. You still want to heal your calves? Heal what, for crying out loud!"

Emperor Chen Ling was practically having a fit. This guy was infuriating beyond belief; every word he uttered was designed to provoke, leaving Emperor Chen Ling gasping for breath. As a bandit, a thief, how could he be so brazen? Was he even human? His teeth felt like they would snap from grinding, and he slapped out again.

Everything went dark. Emperor Chen Ling's ultimate move made heaven and earth tremble.

Zhang Xuan dodged again. Seeing the other party growing more ferocious and finding it harder to absorb power, he could no longer suppress his anger. He looked up and declared: "O great spirit of the heavens, this fellow is impersonating me and stealing the power you have bestowed! Not only that, but he is also recklessly attacking, completely disregarding your greatness. He must be severely punished!"

*What the heck? Can't he just quietly absorb some power for a while? Isn't it pleasant to just stay quietly for a while and feel the beauty around you? Why all the fighting and killing? And he calls himself an emperor of a race? He has no composure at all! Terrible!*

"You bastard!" Emperor Chen Ling swayed, his internal organs churning as if he was about to vomit blood. The words he himself wanted to say had already been spoken by this guy. *Remember your identity! You're a thief... How can anyone be so shameless?* Frantically grabbing his hair, Emperor Chen Ling knew that the more he spoke to this guy, the angrier he would get. He slapped out again.

This palm strike contained all his fury, several times more powerful than previous ones. Zhang Xuan wanted to dodge but found his body was restrained, unable to move.

"I'll risk it!" Knowing that if he didn't resist, he might be killed on the spot, Zhang Xuan reluctantly stopped absorbing. He flipped his wrist and raised his palm, but before his palm force could erupt, he felt a violent tremor from the vortex above, like a small boat caught in raging currents. He involuntarily stumbled in the air, almost falling.

The power of Emperor Chen Ling's attack also vanished with a "pop" under this aura, disappearing without a trace.

"What's happening?" Their pupils contracted, and they all looked up in the direction the power was coming from. They then saw that the black hole in the sky, which was constantly emitting restorative power, became even deeper and more menacing. An arm slowly extended from within it. The turbulent vortex of power they had just felt was emanating from this very arm.

"Damn it, a god really is here..."

Seeing that even a single arm was beyond his ability to resist, and that the opponent's power definitely surpassed the peak of 'blood-drop regeneration,' Zhang Xuan's face fell. Without daring to waste words, he circulated his *zhenqi* and continued to absorb the scattered power around him. Once this guy emerged, he would have no chance to absorb any more.

His injuries had already recovered by 90%, with only his two calves remaining. He had to complete the recovery as quickly as possible... Otherwise, he certainly couldn't, and wouldn't, go around slaughtering 100,000 people and spending countless treasures on sacrifices.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! The muscles on his calves visibly regenerated. In a short while, only his two feet remained to be healed.

Seeing this guy still absorbing non-stop even after the god's arm appeared, Emperor Chen Ling was truly going mad. He had seen greedy people, but never one so insatiably greedy. To be honest, if it weren't for the miscalculation of the treasures' value during the sacrifice, which resulted in more power being returned than anticipated, this guy's rampant absorption upon rushing over would not have been enough for Emperor Chen Ling to heal his own injuries. Even so, he had only recovered about 80%, still a way off from full recovery. Yet the other guy... had recovered at least 90%!

Knowing that the god of the sacrifice was about to appear, and that continued fighting could genuinely lead to his demise, Emperor Chen Ling dared not say more. Gritting his teeth, he also sped up his absorption.

"You bandit, this is all mine!"

He had only absorbed a couple of breaths when he heard an angry shout from across the way. He then saw the guy in front of him raise his palm and lash out. Whoosh! Sword energy whistled, enveloping him completely.

"You..."

Stopping his absorption, Emperor Chen Ling swayed, intending to dodge the attack, only to realize it was a bluff; the power merely swirled in the palm but wasn't released. It was just to scare him.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! The other party continued to absorb.

"Damn it!" Trembling with rage, his entire body's pores opened wide. As he tried to absorb again, he saw the other party point a finger, and another surge of sword energy erupted. He dodged again... but the other party didn't release it.

*This guy doesn't dare to strike either; he just wants to intentionally delay my absorption...* At this moment, he understood. The appearance of the god's arm indicated a potential descent into the mortal world. No matter how audacious the other party was, he wouldn't dare to truly strike. His goal was merely to disrupt Emperor Chen Ling's cultivation so he could monopolize the power granted by the sacrifice.

Realizing this, he stopped worrying and continued to rapidly absorb the scattered power around him. Just as he was comfortably absorbing, his hair suddenly stood on end, and he instinctively dodged to one side. A cold sensation spread across his chest as a streak of sword energy pierced through it. If he hadn't dodged quickly, his heart might have been impaled.

"You bastard!" Emperor Chen Ling truly went insane. Just a moment ago, he seemed afraid to strike, engaging in various feints. How could he actually unleash sword energy the moment Emperor Chen Ling resumed cultivating? *Aren't you truly afraid of incurring the god's wrath? Or do you want to drag me down to hell with you?*

Filled with fury, he wanted to rush over and fight this guy to the death. But then, he saw Zhang Xuan suddenly stop, neither absorbing power nor attacking. Instead, he respectfully cupped his fists towards the hand in the air.

"Great God, I simply cannot stand by and watch this person impersonate me and absorb the power bestowed by you, esteemed one! Such a thief is so brazen. I beg you, allow me to slay him, or else, if this continues, where would your dignity lie, esteemed one!"

He was speaking pure ancient spirit race language, a language that even Emperor Chen Ling himself would need to study for a long time to speak.

Upon hearing these words, the god in the black hole became utterly enraged. The vortex trembled again, and then another hand slowly extended, flipping slightly before slapping down towards Emperor Chen Ling.

"Esteemed one..." Emperor Chen Ling instantly felt his head swell, though he didn't faint on the spot. This was the very god he had consistently communicated with through sacrifices, entirely different from the spirit god served by Emperor Chen Yong. It was precisely because they were not the same entity that he dared to oppose Emperor Chen Yong, unafraid of offending the latter. He had continuously offered various treasures in sacrifice and had also received nourishing power from this god... How could this guy just say a few words and cause the god to attack him? *Can't you tell that I am the real one?*

Trembling with rage, he wanted to expose the other's identity. He turned to look at Zhang Xuan and saw the young man, who at some point had sat cross-legged in the air, his entire body's pores wide open, continuing to absorb the circulating power. And his feet, which had previously been mere skeletons, now only had ten toes remaining; the rest had fully recovered.

"You bastard..."

His heart twitched, and Emperor Chen Ling burst into tears.