Actually, what Zhang Chen desired most was the skill dropped by the Twelfth Tier of mystery, but unfortunately, he didn’t gain anything, for some reason, that Twelfth Tier of mystery didn’t drop any skills.
"Why didn’t the Twelfth Tier of mystery drop any skills? There must be a pattern to the mysterious skill drops, but unfortunately, I haven’t found that pattern yet," Zhang Chen thought to himself.
Zhang Chen rummaged through the ruins and harvested millions of experience points, feeling quite satisfied. These millions of skill points were enough for him to upgrade significantly, and at the very least, he should be able to leave that large formation without any issues.
"Perhaps I can seize the opportunity to approach the core of that formation; maybe there’s still some mystery left in it, or at least there should be some experience points." Thinking of this, Zhang Chen was about to turn away, but unexpectedly, his pupils shrank as a vague figure emerged in the dawn.
The figure was quite strange; its appearance was constantly changing. With one step it transformed into a bull, another step it became a horse, then a tiger, and then turned back into a human, changing to an ant and a fly, continuously transforming with each step.
"Seventy-Two Transformations!" Zhang Chen watched the ever-changing figure, his eyes full of shock.
This skill was quite unusual! Just think about how troublesome Monkey Sun’s Seventy-Two Transformations were.
"Master, help me! Master, help me!"
At this moment, the transforming figure stopped, and with it standing still, it changed into the appearance of Huang Chao, now looking at Zhang Chen with a face full of anxiety and fear in his eyes.
"Why is it you?" Zhang Chen was briefly taken aback upon seeing Huang Chao, then praised, "I didn’t expect you to master the art of limitless transformations. Truly commendable and worth celebrating."
Upon hearing this, the corner of Huang Chao’s mouth revealed bitterness: It’s not Seventy-Two Transformations!
"Master, please don’t joke. I encountered an anomaly when acquiring the skill and couldn’t master it. Whenever I take a step, I automatically transform, which has become unbearably painful for me." Huang Chao’s voice was full of helplessness.
What could he do?
He was truly desperate!
He did indeed possess the skill of limitless transformations, but lacked control. As soon as he moved, transformations happened uncontrollably; only standing still halted them, leaving him on the brink of collapse.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen looked at Huang Chao carefully and simultaneously sensed the mark of Soul Hooking and Soul Stealing, confirming that the person in front of him was indeed Huang Chao, though perplexed about the situation.
Fortunately, Zhang Chen had a know-it-all by his side, and he promptly summoned an avatar of the Great Freedom Celestial Demon and asked, "What’s the situation with him?"
"This is the curse of the Cursed Demon God. The Cursed Demon God granted him the ability of limitless transformations through a curse, and the Cursed Demon God secretly mixed in his own demon transformations. Whenever Huang Chao encounters enemies in the future and transforms into the Cursed Demon God, the true body of the Cursed Demon God will appear and can secretly perform various maneuvers. Over time, as Huang Chao transforms more frequently, the Cursed Demon God’s influence on the present world will grow stronger, until Huang Chao is directly possessed and replaced, living in the world instead."
The Great Freedom Celestial Demon observed Huang Chao’s state with a mere glance and saw through the core of it: "This is an old possession trick used by those old-timers, lacking creativity and has become quite common."
While the two spoke, because of the distance between them and the dim sky, Huang Chao neither heard the conversation nor saw Zhang Chen seemingly talking to himself.
"How can it be resolved?" Zhang Chen asked.
"Utilize the Power of Incense," suggested the Great Freedom Celestial Demon. "The root of all this lies in the Cursed Demon God; as long as the Cursed Demon God is suppressed, everything will naturally be resolved."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen understood and then tucked away the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, glancing towards Huang Chao to find his chain, which unbeknownst to him had hooked onto Huang Chao.
"Hmm? How is there a chain connection between Huang Chao and me?"
Zhang Chen pondered, sensing it, then sighed in resignation when he discovered that the chain was actually the avatar of the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, which had taken root on Huang Chao.
"Why is this fellow causing a disturbance?" Zhang Chen grumbled irritably, "Perhaps it’s planning to catch the cicada while the mantis stalks it, him behind the scenes. If the Cursed Demon God possesses Huang Chao, might it use Huang Chao’s Heart Demon to invade the Cursed Demon God?"
Zhang Chen speculated to himself, finding the idea plausible.
"Good thing I marked the Great Freedom Celestial Demon in advance with my skills; otherwise, I’d be uncertain. This guy is just like a locust, always around," Zhang Chen muttered in annoyance, increasingly feeling that the Great Freedom Celestial Demon seemed omnipresent.
"Please, Master, help me!" Huang Chao beseeched Zhang Chen from afar.
His circumstances left him no choice, deciding to try his luck at the ruins again, hoping to find a solution to his transformation anomaly, only to encounter Zhang Chen unexpectedly.
Not only was Zhang Chen his benefactor, but also his lucky star. Moreover, to him, Zhang Chen seemed very mysterious. Despite his transformation anomaly, Huang Chao had an inexplicable intuition that Zhang Chen could resolve his predicament.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen approached, gazing upon Huang Chao’s somewhat troubled face, and spoke, "How did you end up so downtrodden?"