Chapter 481: Chapter 421: Divine Body Skill 2

’If I keep fighting, I’ll definitely die.’

Zhao Lin knew he was in a life-or-death crisis. He swung his arm out, executing a Sky-splitting Slash that temporarily forced the two figures back. Then, he grabbed a Concealment Talisman and slapped it with his palm.

BANG! The talisman exploded, releasing a cloud of black smoke.

The Concealment Talisman’s power was greatly diminished in the water, only covering an area less than five zhang in radius, but it was enough for Zhao Lin to hide inside.

"A paltry trick. You think you can escape with just this Magic?"

Ji Zhang snorted coldly. He didn’t charge into the black mist; his true self and his clone each stood guard on one side.

They would wait for the Magic to wear off, then join forces to kill Zhao Lin.

Zhao Lin also knew it was impossible to escape using just the Hidden Escape Skill. He was only doing this to buy time.

Seeing that Ji Zhang hadn’t followed him in, he quickly took out the Small Tai Chi Array, threw out four array flags, and then channeled a seal into the Array Plate.

By the time the black mist dissipated, the Small Tai Chi Array was already active, and Zhao Lin’s figure had vanished.

Both of the Ji Zhangs had expressions of surprise on their faces.

With his keen eyes, he could naturally tell that this was an Array before him.

What surprised him was that Zhao Lin had actually managed to set up an Array in such a short amount of time.

’To set up an array so quickly... could it be the Small Tai Chi Array?’

Although Ji Zhang had not specialized in Arrays, he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator with a long lifespan. He had dabbled in various arts and quickly thought of a possibility.

"You think you’ll be safe just by hiding in an Array?"

Ji Zhang narrowed his eyes and chuckled coldly. He flicked his finger at his clone, shooting out a beam of white light.

The clone instantly turned from a solid entity into a phantom, returning to his main body with a WHOOSH.

The Thunder Shadow Clone, like other Thunder Movement Skills, consumed a significant amount of Mana.

Since Zhao Lin wasn’t coming out anytime soon, Ji Zhang temporarily recalled his clone.

Next, he circled the Small Tai Chi Array once, a confident glint appearing in his eyes.

If this were a true Tier Two Array, the Tai Chi Four Symbols Array, Ji Zhang knew he wouldn’t be able to break it. However, the simplified Small Tai Chi Array wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Generally, there were three ways to break an Array.

One was to use a high-powered Magic to blast it open by force.

Ji Zhang wasn’t planning on doing that. He was in the Transformation Stage and couldn’t use master-level Tier Two Skills. Forcefully attacking the Array would be time-consuming and laborious, not to mention it might give Zhao Lin an opportunity to exploit.

Another method was for the attacker to be familiar with Arrays, proficient in Qimen Dunjia and the eight trigrams, and able to deduce all the Array’s "life gates."

As long as one stepped in the correct positions, they could break the Array effortlessly.

This method was the most efficient, but Ji Zhang was not an Array Master, so it was not an option for him.

The third method was a compromise between the first two: using Magic to probe all positions of the Array, find its weak points, and then break it down step by step.

This usually took more time, but the Small Tai Chi Array that Zhao Lin had set up was only three zhang in radius, making it perfectly suited for this method.

Thinking of this, Ji Zhang raised his hand and cast a Water Net Skill.

The Water Net Skill was a common Tier One Magic. It condensed water-elemental Spiritual Qi into threads to form a large net, mostly used to block and trap enemies.

A moment later, a large net appeared above the Array and slowly descended, covering the entire Array.

Ji Zhang closed his five fingers, and the water net tightened in response.

Under the pressure, the Array’s outer barrier began to change. Some parts bulged outward, some caved inward, and others remained unchanged.

Sensing the Mana fluctuations transmitted through the water net, Ji Zhang quickly located the weakest point of the first barrier and unleashed a Water Spear Skill at it.

BANG!

The water spear struck the barrier, causing the Small Tai Chi Array to tremble slightly.

Ji Zhang smiled faintly and attacked five more times with the water spear.

With a soft POP, the Array’s outermost barrier disintegrated and vanished, "shrinking" inward by an inch.

Seeing that his method was effective, Ji Zhang continued in the same fashion, using the water net to sense the Mana layout of the Array’s outer layer and then finding the weak points to attack.

He broke through layer after layer, his speed increasing.

’Looks like it won’t be long before the Array is broken!’

Seeing the situation outside, a worried look flashed in Zhao Lin’s eyes.

Before heading out to sea, he had made ample preparations for any potential difficulties, but he had never imagined the Earth Dark Sect would dispatch a Transformation Stage cultivator to crush him with sheer realm superiority.

He was no match for his opponent in a battle of Magic, nor in close combat. Zhao Lin could only wrack his brain for another solution.

Trying to stall for time with the Array was definitely not going to work. Once the Array was broken, its Array Patterns would be temporarily disabled, requiring at least one or two shichen to recover.

The Mind Stabilizing Skill wouldn’t work either. Before reaching the master level, this Magic was only effective against cultivators of the same realm. Although the Transformation Stage cultivator’s realm had been downgraded, his Divine Sense was still equivalent to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Zhao Lin searched his mind desperately but couldn’t come up with a counter-plan. He could only look inward at the Spirit Cultivation Map in his sea of consciousness to see if there was any other Magic that could save the day.

Void Trapping Skill: Suppressed in the water, its power was only at thirty percent. It couldn’t trap Ji Zhang.

Water Manipulation Skill: No matter how fast a diving skill was, it couldn’t outrun an attack skill. Trying to escape with it was pure fantasy.

Thunder Blade Skill: The casting time was too long, and it was unlikely to pose a threat to a Transformation Stage cultivator...

Zhao Lin’s gaze swept past it, but when he noticed the three words above the Thunder Blade Skill, his heart pounded wildly.

Thunder Shadow Clone!

Just now, during his fight with Ji Zhang, the capture of the Thunder Shadow Clone Skill had been completed.

Next to the characters was a five-petaled plum blossom!

’You use a clone, so I’ll use a clone. I’ll give you a taste of your own medicine!’

A glint in his eyes, Zhao Lin immediately made a decision: he would learn this Magic!

The Earth Dark Sect’s techniques were passed down from the Chenghua Sect. Their Qi Refining Realm Magic was almost a carbon copy, but at the Foundation Establishment Realm, they had taken a more extreme path.

Many of their Magic, though immensely powerful, came with various drawbacks.

But it had to be said that they also had their unique strengths. The Thunder Shadow Clone was a case in point.

His mind made up, Zhao Lin instantly released the Spiritual Power stored in the Spirit Cultivation Map to analyze the Thunder Shadow Clone Skill.

As the Spiritual Qi was released, the plum blossom’s petals began to turn from gray to red.

Halfway through the analysis, the Spiritual Qi ran out. Zhao Lin quickly took out the grade-one Spirit Pearl he had looted from the burly cultivator and rapidly absorbed the Spiritual Qi within.

The Spiritual Qi in the grade-one Spirit Pearl was as vast as an ocean. Zhao Lin absorbed it for a while, only stopping when he felt he had taken more than enough.

He continued to activate the Spirit Cultivation Map, pushing his proficiency in the Thunder Shadow Clone to the Proficient level!

In a short while, decades of Ji Zhang’s experience cultivating the Magic flowed into Zhao Lin’s mind like a babbling brook, giving him a deeper understanding of the skill.

The Thunder Shadow Clone could create a solid, physical clone.

The clone possessed the caster’s Divine Sense, Mana, and a certain degree of durability.

The Magic had one major premise: as the clone gained the original’s abilities, the original’s own abilities were correspondingly reduced. The total amount did not increase or decrease.

As for the strength of the clone, it was closely related to one’s mastery of the Magic.

At the Entry level, the Thunder Shadow Clone could only gain a maximum of five percent of the original’s power, and it could not move more than ten zhang away from the original.

At the Skilled level, the clone could gain ten percent of the original’s power, and the distance from the original could be extended to twenty zhang.

At the Minor Achievement level, the clone could gain twenty percent of the power, and the distance from the original was kept within forty zhang.

At the Proficient level, the clone could gain a maximum of forty percent of the power, and the distance between them was kept within eighty zhang.

At the Major Achievement level, the clone’s power could reach fifty percent, making it an even match with the original, and the maximum distance was one hundred and sixty zhang.

As for the Perfection level, although Ji Zhang had not reached this level, he possessed the relevant memories of it.

At the Perfection level, the Thunder Shadow Clone Skill could create two clones, with each clone gaining a maximum of thirty percent of the power.

The distance between the main body and the clones was unlimited, as long as they remained within the range of the Divine Sense.

Having learned the Magic, Zhao Lin immediately began to practice.

With a flicker of his form, he left behind an afterimage.

Then his body came to a stop, and two identical Zhao Lins appeared inside the Array.

Zhao Lin glanced at his clone, a dazed look in his eyes. The feeling was incredibly strange, yet also bizarre in a way that was hard to describe.

The two of them shared the same mind; Zhao Lin was completely aware of the clone’s thoughts.

But on the other hand, the clone was not a puppet. It had its own consciousness, derived from Zhao Lin’s own past memories.

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