Hearing the old man’s words, Xu Zimo smiled and said, “What I’m really curious about is this, how does an Empyrean Meridian Realm cultivator like you survive all the way from the Desolate Era until now?”
“Give it up. I won’t tell you anything,” the old man replied calmly.
At that moment, inside Xu Zimo’s storage ring, the leaf he had obtained from the secret realm suddenly emitted a green glow.
“He’s consumed a Leaf of Life before,” said the consciousness within the leaf.
Xu Zimo nodded and said, “Alright then, back to business. Give me that secret technique, and I’ll let you go.”
“I don’t know what secret technique you’re talking about,” the old man replied flatly. “If it’s the battle physique fusion technique, then forget it.”
“You’re still not going to admit it?” Xu Zimo smiled. “You all know deep down that the battle physique fusion technique is just a front. What you’ve really been researching in secret is the Twin-Born Battle Physique technique, isn’t it?”
Hearing that, the old man’s expression changed drastically. He stared at Xu Zimo, stunned.
This technique was one of the Dark Primordial Race’s top secrets. Other than the Ten Death Gods, the Nine Spirit Gods, and the Thirteen Empyreans, no one else was supposed to know of it.
Even many within the Dark Primordial Race itself were unaware of its existence.
The old man felt a chill. He had no idea how Xu Zimo knew.
Could a high-ranking member of the race have betrayed them? But thinking it through, that seemed impossible, after all, they had all walked through the Desolate Era together.
They shared the same dreams and ideals. No one would betray that.
“How do you know about this?” the old man asked in a low voice.
At this point, he knew there was no point in hiding it anymore.
“That’s not important,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head. “We’re not enemies. Maybe we could even work together.”
Xu Zimo was determined to get the Twin-Born Battle Physique technique. It would allow a cultivator to wield two battle physiques at once.
The key was, these two battle physiques wouldn’t both be fused into the body.
Someone like Xu Zimo, who had already fused with his first battle physique, wouldn’t benefit much from fusing more through physical means.
But the Twin-Born technique was tied to the realm beyond Empyrean Meridian.
After reaching the Empyrean Meridian Realm, a cultivator can form a complete God-Soul.
As long as the God-Soul remains intact, no matter how badly the body is damaged, it can eventually recover.
This Twin-Born technique was directly related to the God-Soul.
Normal battle physique fusion is purely physical. But with the Twin-Born technique, while one battle physique is fused into the body, a second can be fused into the God-Soul.
Think about it, since the emergence of the Hundred Battle Physiques, no one has ever fused one into their soul.
With a battle physique strengthening the God-Soul, a cultivator’s psychic attack and defense abilities would skyrocket.
No exaggeration: once this technique spreads, it will redefine the cultivation system of the entire Primordial Heartlands.
Among Empyrean Meridian Realm cultivators, whether or not the soul is fused with a battle physique will create an enormous gap in power.
“This technique took my clan millions of years to develop and cost us dearly,” the old man said. “If I hand it over to you, I’ll be betraying everything. Even death wouldn’t redeem me. I can’t let it all go to waste.”
“Don’t be so sure. Let me tell you another story,” Xu Zimo said with a grin. “After the Dark Primordials were defeated, you went into hiding across the Primordial Heartlands. Your main base is in the City of Clouds. But you’ve also set up branch locations in major cities. Like the Desolate Tavern in Primordial Ancient City, the Star Tower in Ancient Heaven City, and the Desert Sand Teahouse in the north...”
As Xu Zimo listed them off one by one, the old man’s face grew more and more alarmed.
“Tell me, if I made all this public, what do you think would happen to your Dark Primordial Race?”
The old man glared at Xu Zimo, gritting his teeth. “You deserve to die.”
“That really hurts my feelings,” Xu Zimo clicked his tongue and smiled. “I haven’t even killed any Dark Primordial Race members, just shared some information. Oh, and by the way, after your defeat in the Desolate Era war, you’ve spent a million years recovering. If your base in the City of Clouds gets exposed, don’t you think all that effort will vanish into smoke?”
“…Fine. I’ll give you the technique,” the old man said after a long silence, staring hard at Xu Zimo. “But why should I trust you? What if you take it and still spread the information? I’d have no way to stop you.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Xu Zimo replied coolly. “If I were going to spread it, I already would’ve. You’re not the only one of the Thirteen Empyreans, I could just find another Dark Primordial. Give me the technique, and I’ll let you go. Also, I want to meet your Ten Death Gods. Let one of them come talk to me.”
The old man fell silent again for a long time, then finally gave a reluctant nod.
“I’ll only say the technique once, memorize it.”
“I don’t trust verbal explanations,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head. “Especially when it comes to something involving the soul. We can’t afford any mistakes.”
“Then what do you want?” the old man frowned.
“Open your mind. I want to see your memories,” Xu Zimo said.
“Absolutely not,” the old man’s expression changed. He flatly refused.
If Xu Zimo accessed his memories, his entire life, all his secrets, would be exposed.
“Relax. I only want the memories related to the Twin-Born Battle Physique research. I’m not interested in the rest,” Xu Zimo assured him with a smile.
The old man thought for a long time, then finally agreed with great reluctance.
Truthfully, at their level, very few things could threaten them anymore. Even death wasn’t that scary.
But Xu Zimo had targeted what they cared most about, their people. That was their one true weakness.
As the old man opened his mind, he extracted the segment of memory related to the Twin-Born Battle Physique and shared it with Xu Zimo.
The memory was long. It started from the very beginning of Dark Primordial Race’s research, countless failures, a million years of setbacks and pain.
Xu Zimo gained a vivid, firsthand impression of the technique, as if he had personally participated in the research himself.
By the time the memory finished playing, nearly seven days had passed.
Xu Zimo exhaled deeply and smiled.
“I have to admit… when it comes to pioneering spirit and brilliance, your Dark Primordial Race is truly impressive.”