Welcome to Ability Store-Chapter 74 - 73: I Hit the Immortal Master?

After three seconds of being stunned, Liu Zhidong finally snapped back from the unbelievable transformation—Liu Shuyue’s resistance suddenly intensified greatly, and he realized that this person was indeed Chen Xuan.

"I’m... fine. What’s happening over here?" He forced a slight smile despite the excruciating pain from the conflict of souls affecting his new body’s nerves.

Although he didn’t know the identity of this person called Chen Xuan, he must be quite familiar with Liu Shuyue!

Don’t be fooled by him, he’s not me! Liu Shuyue silently screamed inside her mind.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Suddenly, a fierce threat came from deep within Liu Zhidong’s soul, and the previously feigned gentleness and patience had completely vanished, "If my identity is revealed, then I will kill him here! Since I can’t inherit your relationship, I won’t let it become an obstacle threatening me either!"

Her resistance instantly weakened.

"Didn’t I ask you to go for a blood test before?" Chen Xuan handed him a sheet, "The results came back, the DNA doesn’t match, you have no blood relationship with the Liu Family."

Beep... huh... what?

Liu Zhidong found himself unable to understand what the other person was saying. Even more incomprehensible was that Liu Shuyue couldn’t grasp it either.

He couldn’t extract any useful information from Liu Shuyue’s emotional feedback.

Liu Zhidong had no choice but to take the sheet and glance at it.

The various inexplicable symbols and patterns instantly made him tilt his head back.

No, this isn’t something he can comprehend in a short time.

"Thanks, I think so too..."

"But why did you go northeast for so long? Didn’t you say the round trip would take at most two or three days?" Chen Xuan walked to the shop door, closed the shutter and curtains, "I just visited the Liu Family, they said you’ve been in seclusion for five days, so I worried you might have encountered some accident, which is why I summoned you back."

Summoned... what?

What kind of ability is this? Faced with a completely unexpected scene, he could only maintain a smile and said, "You really care about me. But I have reasons for the delay, you definitely can’t imagine what I found in that patch of woods..."

"Oh, that I don’t care about, what I care about is the rent you still owe me."

Chen Xuan’s words instantly froze Liu Zhidong’s smile.

Huh? So the reason you’re so worried about him is because of the rent he owes you?! Just a mere rent, how much silver could it be worth?

"This... I’m an Immortal Master, I certainly won’t forget."

Chen Xuan then picked up the scanning gun and pointed it at him, "Really? You sound nice when you agree, but you owe too much, so you might as well repay a chunk first."

"What kind of Dharma Artifact is this?" Liu Zhidong forced the question in his mind as he sensed the change in Liu Shuyue’s emotions.

Then he caught an ephemeral term.

Ability... transaction... Dharma Artifact?

From the literal meaning, there indeed seemed to be some kind of "special transaction" between the two.

"Just like the previous rules, you freely offer them, and I’ll assess the value." Chen Xuan patted his shoulder, and Liu Zhidong suddenly found a strange semi-transparent frame appear before his eyes!

At this moment, Liu Shuyue’s resistance further diminished.

"If you don’t want to be exposed, you’d better quickly place the spells in there, just imagine it with your mind," she warned with strong concern and unwillingness in her tone, "Then quickly get out of here, as far away from him as you can!"

"Are you going to repay your rent with all your life skills?" Liu Zhidong frowned. In an instant, he understood the nature of this transaction.

"Otherwise, do you think this is merely a normal room?" Liu Shuyue retorted.

Liu Zhidong could sense she hadn’t finished her sentence, as the thoughts flowing in her heart betrayed her — As long as she stayed here, her wishes could come true, and this was the biggest opportunity she encountered after descending the mountain—this was Liu Shuyue’s truest thoughts.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to comply. After all, whether it was the way he arrived here or this man before him, both gave him an incredibly mysterious feeling. Although he didn’t understand how Liu Shuyue encountered such an opportunity, if he could continue this relationship, it should be more advantageous than harmful for him.

While searching Liu Shuyue’s memories, Liu Zhidong placed his selected edge abilities into the frame.

These spells were mostly scavenged from loose cultivators and evil cultivators, not worth cherishing if they were lost.

Four low-grade spells disappeared, and he acquired an ability called "Dancing Genius."

"Why are they all the lowest-grade abilities, continue... these can barely offset the interest." Chen Xuan almost wrote disdain all over his face.

"I owe him quite a lot, you’d better select some gold or purple-marked spells, the ones labeled as Absolute Second Grade or Super Third Grade," Liu Shuyue quickly explained.

At that moment, Liu Zhidong saw some memory fragments—To save the fleeing refugees from Qing State, Liu Shuyue had traded away her Thousand Thoughts Sword and Celestial Mist Skill.

These images from the depths of her soul could never be fabricated.

This man indeed helped her greatly.

After thinking for a while, he put on four more spells, this time including a purple "Celestial Thunder Order," and a gold "Demon-Slaying True Sword." After all, he would never have to slay demons for anyone else, nor bear the burden of responsibilities Lotus Cloud Sect assigned, such sect-exclusive techniques specifically for demon fiends, let them go.

In exchange, he received an ability named "Riding Skill."

"This should be enough now!"

After the transaction, Liu Zhidong suppressed his inner displeasure and said.

"I suppose two more rounds should do it," Chen Xuan raised the scan gun, and the transaction window appeared in front of Liu Zhidong for the third time.

More? Isn’t this person being too greedy!

Even as a sect disciple, practicing these spells requires ten years, and achieving Great Perfection takes at least thirty years! Yet he still isn’t satisfied?

Wait a minute... Why has Liu Shuyue’s resistance completely disappeared?

Controlling this body now feels as natural as his own... He even has a feeling the other side is indulging him.

"Hurry up," Chen Xuan urged impatiently.

Something’s wrong, Liu Zhidong suddenly realized, he had taken possession of Liu Shuyue’s body, and the Three Souls and Seven Spirits would unknowingly be influenced by her. The emotions of the possessed cannot be hidden; in other words, even if Liu Shuyue gave all her abilities to this person, she wouldn’t feel resentful. It was precisely this attitude that led Liu Zhidong into Chen Xuan’s trap!

Liu Shuyue hadn’t given up resisting; she was colluding with the other party to deceive him with his own spells!

How can they coordinate like this without even communicating?

"Want to die? Then let these spells accompany you to the grave!" Liu Zhidong’s killing intent surged, and dozens of Thousand Thoughts Swords appeared around them.

The temporarily vanished power of Liu Shuyue’s resistance also returned with a vengeance!

Liu Zhidong felt his lips move slightly, almost involuntarily wanting to say the words "Run quickly."

But Chen Xuan pointed the scan gun at him.

Just as the Thousand Thoughts Sword was about to strike him from all directions, he extended his finger towards Liu Zhidong, "I demand—Guess the Coin!"

Tick.

The surrounding lights suddenly dimmed.

The Thousand Thoughts Sword pierced straight through Chen Xuan at that moment, but it did not harm him, gliding through the air as if just brushing past.

What kind of trick is this?!

Liu Zhidong realized his attacks could no longer touch the opponent.

Meanwhile, three gaseous hands and a pale blue eye appeared in the center of the venue.

Chen Xuan saw "two people."

One was Liu Shuyue with a blank expression, maintaining a Sword Control stance, the other was a black spider with countless tiny tendrils. The latter was perched atop Liu Shuyue’s head, wrapping her tightly with its eight slender legs.

Despite witnessing such a horrifying scene, Chen Xuan relaxed.

He knew he had made the right gamble; the Guess the Coin’s effective target was the conscious entity and would not be influenced by appearances or disguises, meaning whoever engages in conversation enters the game.

Honestly, when the scan gun revealed the opponent’s abilities, Chen Xuan was a bit surprised. This person’s abilities and the quantity were far superior to those of Liu Shuyue when first met, including many of purple rarity spells. If it came down to a hard fight, he would almost certainly lose.

After all, he could only bring four abilities, the usual combat mix being the Thousand Thoughts Sword and Celestial Mist Skill from the Lotus Cloud Sect—how could he compete with a professional disciple?

But after drawing the opponent into the Guess the Coin realm, the two stood on equal footing.

This was the first time Chen Xuan used this ability.

Before calling "Guess the Coin," he had to decide on the terms of the bet and the stakes both sides would pay. Once activated, these conditions are immediately transmitted to both parties without needing further explanation from him.

The rounds are fixed in a three-game system; a tie automatically extends the number of rounds, and he can choose to gamble on victory or defeat.

Chen Xuan decided to gamble on defeat—meaning whoever guesses wrong twice would lose the gamble. And the loser’s stake was not abilities but life itself!

A true division of not only winners and losers but also life and death!

Early on, when Liu Shuyue failed to show up, Chen Xuan had already sensed something was amiss in that world because she was always punctual; if she said two or three days, she would return in exactly that time frame, and even if delayed, she should send a message using the Sound Transmission Talisman.

Therefore he decided to use the guest retrieval function immediately rather than wait for her return from the northeast.

Upon seeing Liu Shuyue, he realized the person before him was not the Immortal Master he knew.

Because the opponent’s first response gave it away.

If it were Liu Shuyue herself, knowing she was late, she would certainly explain the reason first, rather than question him.

Then when she was supposed to explain what happened in the northeast after recovering from the shock of teleportation, it was evidently too late.

Further scanning with the gun confirmed almost irrefutably. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Among the abilities possessed by the opponent were many familiar faces, such as Thousand Thoughts Sword, Celestial Mist Skill, Talisman Technique, and Demon-Slaying True Sword... proving him to be most likely the former Lotus Cloud Sect disciple mentioned by the Liu Family—Liu Zhidong. As for why a dignified sect disciple turned into a monstrous spider spirit, it wasn’t something he could comprehend immediately.

The key point was that using the guest retrieval could still teleport Liu Shuyue to the first floor of the shop.

This meant the woman before him wasn’t transformed by disguise or illusion spells.

So there are only two possibilities left.

Mental control... or soul possession.