Song Shuhang’s heart sank.

The activation of the secret appraisal technique was simply too unexpected. He never thought that during the grand battle between the Scholarly Sage and the fat ball, his secret appraisal technique would rear its head out of nowhere.

The price that he would have to pay for appraising the fat ball was too high. If nothing was identified, then he should be fine. But if something was identified, he would likely explode and die.

Even if the fat ball in the main world was merely a clone of its Netherworld Ruler self, the amount of information it contained would still be terrifying.

After a wave of agonizing pain, the secret appraisal technique ended.

[Appraisal Failed]

This result was somewhat expected by Song Shuhang.

At the same time, he secretly let out a breath of relief—for him, a failed appraisal was way better than a successful one in this case.

❄️❄️❄️

Meanwhile, the Sage and the fat ball clashed once again.

Their previous exchange of blows seemed a mere probe of the enemy’s abilities. The Sage was a materialized obsession while the fat ball was a clone. Neither of them was in their peak states, so through their previous clash, they tested the depth of each other’s strength.

After getting a better understanding of their opponent, the two powerhouses brought out their real power.

The Sage took the initiative to use the ❮Scholarly Indestructible Body of the Buddha❯ in conjunction with Song Shuhang.

A detailed Scholarly Rune appeared on the Scholarly Scriptures in the hands of the army of Holy Apes behind him.

The scriptures were finally no longer just decorations. They shone brightly, and golden light shot out in all directions.

Song Shuhang, who was sharing the mind of the Scholarly Sage’s obsession, had his understanding of the ❮Scholarly Indestructible Body of the Buddha❯ skyrocket.

This was Song Shuhang’s favorite event. From Young Master Phoenix Slayer’s CPU to the Indestructible Lord’s CPU, to the current Scholarly Sage’s CPU, each generation was better than the last.

It was thanks to these CPUs that Song Shuhang could master a lot of practical magical techniques and martial arts.

[I wonder if I can learn even more secret techniques of the scholarly faction through the Scholarly Sage…] Song Shuhang looked forward to being able to learn more.

Despite being a newly ascended Sixth Stage True Monarch and a fake Eighth Stage Profound Sage, he was seriously lacking in magical techniques, secret techniques, and combat techniques.

He was pretty much lacking in every department.

Therefore, he was very much looking forward to learning something from the Sage during this battle with the fat ball.

The Sage activated the ❮Scholarly Indestructible Body of the Buddha❯ but did not immediately make a move.

He looked at the fat ball calmly and smiled.

It was a simple smile, yet it showed others what the demeanor of a scholar should be.

But for the fat ball, this smile was extremely annoying.

So, it was the first to make a move.

It stretched out its hand and slapped it on its abdomen. Then, along with a buzzing sound, it spat a sword light out of its mouth, which shot toward the Scholarly Sage.

This sword light attack of the fat ball, while looking rather comical, possessed the might to destroy worlds.

The sword light carried the fat ball’s will and killing intent, and there was nothing it could not cut through.

Faced with this attack, Song Shuhang felt a faint numbing pain in his mind; he seemed to see a mountain of ​​corpses and a sea of blood. Countless human powerhouses, immortal demons, demon gods, and other races’ powerhouses were buried in the red sea of blood. It was a horrific sight.

In fact, this kind of phenomenon was normal when facing a ruler of the Netherworld.

There were several members of the Nine Provinces Number One Group who had seen White Two and had a vision of this same horrific scene, of a vast sea of ​​corpses and blood.

When Song Shuhang’s mind was faintly numbed, the ❮Scholarly Indestructible Body of the Buddha❯ operated autonomously, and the Scholarly Rune on the scriptures in the Holy Apes’ hands shone brightly. In the next moment, Song Shuhang felt his body warm up and his mind become clear.

When he was faced with the vision of the mountain of corpses and the sea of ​​blood again, he no longer felt discomfort. On the contrary, he even found his spirits raised and discovered that the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood were pretty cool.

“Hum~”

The fat ball’s sword light instantly arrived before the Scholarly Sage.

In the face of this sword that could slash through everything, the Sage merely stretched out his hand and slapped it away.

The ❮Scholarly Indestructible Body of the Buddha❯ circulated full power, and the principles of the Great Way condensed in the Sage’s palm.

With a simple slap, the fat ball’s sword light was obliterated.

There was no need to use secret techniques. All that the Sage had to do to deal with the sword light was a simple slap.

[I can’t learn this one!] Song Shuhang sighed with emotion. At the same time, he looked over at the fat ball.

The fat ball is the ruler of the Netherworld. Its attack shouldn’t be so weak, right?

Eh? Where’s the fat ball?

It was here just a moment ago. How did it disappear so quickly?

This is bad…

Song Shuhang secretly screamed in his mind.

The fat ball must have launched a sneak attack!

Just as he was worrying, the Sage’s body moved again.

The Sage made a hand seal with his right hand and thrust his hand toward the void.

❮Explosive Space Compressing Technique❯!

It was the secret technique that Senior White had learned in the Still Pond of Wisdom last time.

When the Sage performed the ❮Explosive Space Compressing Technique❯, Song Shuhang also received a lot of insights in his mind—but he still could not learn it!

This was a secret technique that involved spatial powers. Since he had no foundation in spatial abilities, let alone learning this secret technique, he could not even understand any of the theories behind it. It was like a foreigner who had never learned modern Chinese being exposed to classical Chinese.

He experienced the process of the ❮Explosive Space Compressing Technique❯ firsthand, but other than a little bit of the thrill from casting the technique, he did not learn anything from it.

I can’t learn this one, either.

“Boom~”

Under the pressure of the Sage’s palm, the space exploded violently.

In the void, the explosion created a disordered dimensional space. Countless spatial fragments moved about, turning the area into a place that mortals could not step into.

The fat ball’s clone emerged from this disordered space. The power of the space explosion and the roaming fragments all struck its body.

The Sage once again revealed a polite smile.

The fat ball, who was in the disordered dimension space, growled “Sage!”

In the next moment, a huge fortress appeared behind it. Countless pipes, tubes, and mechanical parts that Song Shuhang could not comprehend where they came from had emerged from the back of the fat ball’s clone, forming a fortress.

Afterward, countless cannons, spikes, and other weapons that Song Shuhang had never seen emerged from the fortress and locked onto the Sage.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The fortress fired at the Sage at full force.

The power of each attack far exceeded that of the city-wide Lightning Palm that Song Shuhang had experienced during the Ninth Stage heavenly tribulation, yet countless such attacks were bombarding the Sage all at once now.

In response, the Sage stretched out his hand unhurriedly and swiped in front of him.

In an instant, a scripture with tens of thousands of words appeared before him.

This scripture’s text was made of the Sage’s signature Scholarly Runes, and was an embodiment of the Sage’s path.

The Sage pointed with his finger at a line on the scripture, then all of the runes shot out from the scripture and toward the fat ball.

Song Shuhang couldn’t learn this move either.

However, he could be sure that his friend Gao Moumou would like the Sage’s move very much. A single stroke of hand resulted in a scripture of tens of thousands of words!