Chapter 123: A New Skill

Ling Yu and Mu Su wore grave expressions. Although Sheng Mo acted as if he were intimately familiar with Zhou Tian, they were not fools; they sensed something deeply amiss.

"Who are you...?"

Zhou Tian’s eyes were filled with confusion. This man behaved with such familiarity, yet he could not recall ever meeting him.

"My name is Sheng Mo. Does that ring a bell?"

The man’s smile remained unchanged, his tone light and gentle. This was indeed the fragmented persona of Sheng Mo, sent by certain figures to the God-Forsaken Land to compete for the Mandate of Heaven.

Zhou Tian’s pupils contracted. He knew that name. Zhou Yi had once told him that a man named Sheng Mo had repeatedly attacked him using soul-based techniques. He had never expected to encounter him here.

For a powerhouse of this caliber, changing one’s appearance or even one’s gender was a matter of an instant, which was why Zhou Yi had never shown Zhou Tian what Sheng Mo looked like.

"Remembered me now?" Sheng Mo sighed. "To think I would run into you here at the Myriad God Mountain. With no elders following you, what will you do if you encounter danger?"

In truth, Sheng Mo was slightly surprised. He had been sent to the God-Forsaken Land by a being shrouded in light to help them seize the Mandate of Heaven. According to that benefactor, the Mandate would manifest here. He had been lurking, waiting for his chance, only to stumble upon this "rabbit."

After scanning the nearby void several times and failing to find any hidden expert protecting the boy, he decided to reveal himself to see this mortal who had thwarted him several times.

Mu Su and Ling Yu remained silent. Though Sheng Mo’s smile was warm and his tone calm, every fiber of their being screamed one word: "Danger."

"This junior offers greetings to Senior Sheng Mo on behalf of my family," Zhou Tian said with a slight bow. Internally, he was calculating. This old monster was not comparable to the others in the God-Forsaken Land. Having lived for who knows how many years, he was cunning and deep—not someone easy to deal with.

Although Zhou Tian could resurrect and possessed the divine skill of teleportation, he knew that the distance of his teleportation would be easily closed by Sheng Mo. Furthermore, his resurrection could be countered; one only needed to set up a powerful damage array where he died. The moment he resurrected, he would be killed again before he could even use his teleportation, trapping him in a cycle of death. Plus, this fellow could transform into a sprite—it was terrifying.

Moreover, there were Mu Su and Ling Yu. Since they had brought him out and they had spent time together, he considered them friends. He could not let them die here. Facing this old monster, he could not be reckless; he had to play it slow.

"Do not try to use your family’s elders to pressure me. I dared to attack you back then, so I do not fear your family’s retaliation," Sheng Mo said indifferently, dismissing the underlying threat in Zhou Tian’s words.

"Senior Sheng Mo misunderstood. May I ask what business you have with this junior?" Zhou Tian asked, maintaining a humble tone.

"Business?" Sheng Mo mused. "Truth be told, there is nothing much. My goal now is not to kill you; I don't have the habit of doing extra work."

His current objective was the Mandate of Heaven, not Zhou Tian. Killing Zhou Tian had been his previous task, and although he hadn't finished it, he had already collected the reward.

"However, I am curious as to how you have dodged the curse of the Great Array time and time again."

A strange smile crept onto Sheng Mo’s face. His gaze flickered, and without any visible movement, something that left Mu Su and Ling Yu in shock occurred: Zhou Tian’s body disintegrated into fine dust and was scattered by the wind. His expression remained exactly as it had been, and not a single drop of blood fell.

Yet, a moment later, something even more shocking happened. In the exact spot where Zhou Tian had vanished, a naked man appeared—it was Zhou Tian, returned.

As his resurrection count had refreshed, he had revived on the spot. New logs appeared in his Immortal System:

"Host has been attacked!"
"Host has died!"
"Immortal System activating!"
"Host has resurrected!"
"Death count increased by one!"
"Host has leveled up! Skill point gained!"

This had been his final death at level four. With this, he had reached level five and gained a skill point. The number of deaths required for the next level had now increased to thirty-two.

"You really are peculiar!" Excitement flared in Sheng Mo’s eyes, as if he had found something novel.

Zhou Tian regained his composure, cursing inwardly. He hadn't expected the old monster to strike without the slightest warning; it was ruthless. He didn't even care if he actually killed him.

The situation was dire. Zhou Tian’s mind raced as he checked his newly acquired skills to see if any could resolve his predicament.

"Sheng Mo, do you know why I can resurrect?" Zhou Tian asked, trying to distract him while opening the system’s skill menu.

"Why?" Sheng Mo was unhurried. He had already placed a barrier around the area; no information could leak out, and no one would come to rescue Zhou Tian. He didn't mind playing with the boy; he had been bored to death lately.

The skill menu opened. The first skill:

[Levitation: Grants the host the ability to fly. (Duration: 30s, dependent on death count.)]

Zhou Tian skimmed past it, cursing, "What kind of trash is this?" He replied out loud, "Because of a very special reason—a very, very special reason!"

Sheng Mo frowned. The sky nearby turned gloomy, thunder rumbled, and massive bolts of lightning churned as if to destroy the world. He didn't mind playing, but he did mind being toyed with!

Mu Su and Ling Yu cursed internally. *Are you trying to fool him? You might want to die, but we certainly don't!*

The second skill:

[Sword Draw: Accumulate power to unleash a strike. Damage is determined by the time spent accumulating, with no limit. Every second doubles the previously accumulated power. (Initial power: strength of 30 mortals; dependent on death count!)]

This skill was decent, but it required time to charge—completely useless for the current situation.

"This reason is special because... because..." Zhou Tian hurriedly looked at the next skill.

[Cultivation Copy: Copy the cultivation level of a target and load it onto the host. During this period, all system skills are disabled. (Usage: 1, dependent on resurrection count; Duration: 30s, dependent on death count.)]

*Damn it!* Without a second thought, Zhou Tian selected this skill. A surge of realization flooded his mind.

Sheng Mo had lost his patience. He had expected some profound words from Zhou Tian, but it turned out the boy was just a coward, babbling incoherently with a vacant gaze.