The Old Man's Delight was modified by Lily, equipped with a Spiritual Qi storage device. Zhang Ze performed the Sword Control Technique, and in an instant, the internally circulating Old Man's Delight carried Zhang Ze and Li, dodging the dragon's claw, then flew along the village's back towards the dragon's tail.
Zhang Ze held the sword and stabbed downwards, intending to open up the village's back.
Golden light burst forth, the Sword Qi was dazzling.
But it was utterly useless.
If this were a game, Zhang Ze thought that the damage he did just now was probably a string of zeroes.
As he disengaged, Zhang Ze threw out the Sword Talisman his master had given him, but even a strike at the Divinity Transformation Stage only scratched the village's itch.
Zhang Ze suddenly felt embarrassed; that Retreating Horse Sword he used earlier now seemed like the kind of slap a bathhouse attendant gives after finishing scrubbing the customer's back.
And apparently, the village felt comfortable after being scrubbed by Zhang Ze. It stopped moving, floating in the air and closing its eyes again.
Zhang Ze, controlling the Old Man's Delight with one hand on the sword, stared at the village from a distance, helpless.
Above, the Night Demon Emperor's mask seemed to lose its effect due to the deathly aura around the village, and Zhang Ze helplessly took it off.
Although the village's speed was now very slow, half-dead, unable to fully use its Divine Techniques, and its movements were like a wild beast. Yet Zhang Ze, protected by dragon scales, could keep himself safe and manage to keep up with the village with some effort.
But a True Dragon is still a True Dragon; with Zhang Ze's cultivation and his Magical Artifacts, he couldn't break through the dragon's body of the village.
"If I had known today would come, I would have asked the Sect Leader for a slash of Sword Qi when I came."
As he pondered how to break the situation, Li, who was perched on Zhang Ze's shoulder, suddenly pinched him, "It's best to solve it quickly, something's wrong with the village."
"Li is right, we can't drag this out, the village's physical body is about to 'wake up'." Yimu's voice rang out from behind Zhang Ze.
While Zhang Ze was being beaten one-sidedly by the village earlier, Mr. Yimu had already escaped the suppression of the Stone Stele.
Mr. Yimu had now transformed into a dragon shape, looking almost identical to the village, only much lighter in color, much smaller in size, and still semi-transparent.
"Young Master, do you still have that Turtle Shell?" Yimu asked.
"Yes, I have it." Zhang Ze took the Turtle Shell from his arms.
"This Turtle Shell is a divine object, it begets life. Please, Young Master, use the Life Array on it to invoke the power of the Secret Realm, take the village's power, and put it to rest," Yimu said urgently, as it saw the village's eyelid twitching.
"How to do it... hmm!"
"I will!" Before Zhang Ze could finish, Li reached over and grabbed half of the Turtle Shell, directly stuffing it into its mouth.
Li precisely found Zhang Ze's mouth, and its hand moved so quickly that Zhang Ze didn't react in time.
This Turtle Shell was also mysterious; upon touching Zhang Ze's lips, it transformed into a stream of purple qi and drilled into Zhang Ze's abdomen.
The next moment, Zhang Ze suddenly felt that this world was linked to him.
He closed his eyes, and his Divine Sense spread like invisible roots, extending beyond the Secret Realm. He saw mice digging in the dirt, saw the tender shoots of early spring, saw Li Yueqi waiting by Wolong Marsh, the giant turtle Zhu Luo, and an unfamiliar old man.
His sight continued upwards, gradually leaving the ground, spreading across Dragon Viewing Mountain, and slowly soaring into the sky.
"Come back!" It was Yimu and Li's voice.
Everything he had just seen immediately retracted, and Zhang Ze's Divine Sense reconnected with the village.
Rage, chaos, loneliness, greed, all sorts of negative emotions assaulted him. But this time, a blue and a golden dragon shadow guarded Zhang Ze, shielding him from these delusions.
Zhang Ze saw a black new shoot growing inside the village.
"Please kill me..." It was the village's voice.
"Don't let it continue to awaken, take back the power!" It was Yimu's voice.
Using the dragon scales in the Longevity Lock as a guide, Zhang Ze battled with the village for the power that belonged to the Ancestral Dragon. With Li's help, Zhang Ze's actions accelerated.
After all, in terms of eating, Li was never weaker than anyone in its life.
Everything in the Secret Realm began to wither, the false sky dimmed, and eventually turned into a half-gray, half-black world.
The village's power was temporarily split in two.
Zhang Ze and the village opened their eyes simultaneously.
With the power that did not belong to him being instilled into his body, Zhang Ze neither exploded nor felt discomfort; instead, he felt at ease.
At this moment, he would no longer be disturbed by the Dragon Eye, but he still put on the ineffective Night Demon Emperor's mask.
But barely two seconds had passed when the broken Night Demon Emperor's mask became effective again.
Zhang Ze's head disappeared, and his figure turned into a stream of light. The swords in the scabbard all flew out, guarding his sides, as he leapt into the air and headed straight for the village's dragon head.
"Dragon Slaying Skill" first move!
Although the power was taken, the village's dragon corpse also regained some of its own things. It no longer bit like a wild beast.
The initial appearance of Divine Techniques, the aura of death grew thicker. The black dragon breath blew out, pushing Zhang Ze back, the dragon tail slashed, bringing up a black light.
Zhang Ze pulled back, sword shadows slashed in succession, and after a few more exchanges with the village, he discovered two things.
First, that "Dragon Slaying Skill" seemed to be real; hitting weak points really worked.
Second, his height seemed to have shrunk a bit, and he couldn't reach certain places.
Due to the lack of real-world cultivation, Zhang Ze wouldn't have Divine Techniques like Dharma Aspect of Heaven and Earth, but just like with Golden Core discoloration, he pondered for a moment.
Then he thought of a method.
Dragon Tiger Mountain has a Dharma Method called the Summoning God Technique, which can achieve a similar effect.
Zhang Ze used the dragon scales as a guide, with his four Golden Cores as support, using the Beast Taming Sect's Simulation Technique, to first draw the power out of his body.