Chapter 190 He Has Changed

While everyone was lost in their own thoughts, the Supreme Heavenly Venerate in the battlefield shrank in size. Mechanical soldiers surged back in waves, returning into Han Xiao's body, quickly revealing his original figure.

Han Xiao glanced at the location where the Heteromorph God had perished, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

Just as he had cleared the Heteromorph God's health bar with that one slash, a strong premonition had suddenly arisen within him. He had the illusion that his attack might be able to transcend dimensions, affecting the opponent's informational state. However, this feeling was fleeting and impossible to grasp.

'If I could annihilate the enemy's material entity and informational projection together, I might be able to fundamentally eliminate their existence. In that case, perhaps the Sanctuary, the World Tree, the Underworld, and other methods would be unable to resurrect them.'

Han Xiao thought to himself.

The reason he suddenly had this idea was due to [Information Uniqueness - Conceptual Immortality]. If Super Gods possessed this ability, then powerhouses of the same level should have means to counter it. If only Super Gods could kill Super Gods, then they should possess the ability to inflict damage on the informational and conceptual levels.

"I only stepped into the Super God level not long ago. It seems that this level still hides more power that hasn't been fully unlocked."

Han Xiao steadied himself and flew back to the flagship of the empire.

As soon as he returned to the command room, everyone turned to look at him, their expressions varied.

Ignoring them, Han Xiao glanced at Hodd's expression and casually said,

"How is it? Seeing my main body after so long, are you very happy?"

Hodd remained silent, his heart filled with hatred, but he didn't dare to speak, afraid of losing control of his accumulated anger and giving himself away.

Moreover, Black Star's power had already made him somewhat despair.

At this moment, Tarro stepped forward, a complex look flashing in his eyes, which quickly returned to determination. His tone was unfriendly as he said,

"Your Excellency Black Star, you've killed the person. The Heteromorph God will soon become your henchman. It's time for you to fulfill the deal."

What henchman?

Hodd was slightly stunned, secretly wondering.

But no one answered his question at the moment. Han Xiao turned to look at Hela, who understood and showed the Underworld imprint, indicating that the Heteromorph God's soul had been sent to the Underworld.

Seeing this, Han Xiao smiled casually and replied,

"Of course, we each get what we need. I'll return this person to you."

With that, he picked up Hodd's body and threw him in front of Tarro, as if discarding trash.

Tarro didn't care about Han Xiao's attitude and had someone help Hodd up. He sensed for a moment and suddenly realized that Hodd's condition wasn't right. He couldn't help but ask,

"Your Excellency Hodd, are you alright?"

"I..." Hodd gritted his teeth.

Before he could finish speaking, Hela coldly interjected, "His ability has been stripped by us. He's just a cripple now."

"What?"

Tarro was shocked and quickly checked carefully, confirming this. Moreover, judging from the injuries, it had happened recently. Clearly, Black Star had done this shortly before the trade. He was filled with shock and anger.

"Black Star! How dare you!"

"Give it a rest. Let Marbruce come out and talk to me. He should be watching, right?"

Han Xiao ignored him.

Tarro choked, glared at Han Xiao fiercely, and turned to give a few instructions.

A dozen seconds later, a remote projection appeared in the room, it was Marbruce, staring at Han Xiao gloomily.

"Black Star, this isn't the deal we agreed on!"

"Is that so? But I remember, the deal was just to hand over the person. Isn't the person in your hands now?" Han Xiao didn't take it to heart.

"Don't quibble. You know what I mean!"

Marbruce was annoyed.

The reason they made a deal with Black Star was, of course, to exchange for a potential direct descendant with a super-high-risk ability, not a cripple. This situation made him feel as if he had swallowed a fly.

Manipulating energy was an ability with a bright future. As long as it was carefully cultivated, it could definitely join the ranks of the top combat forces. But at this moment, an infinitely potential direct descendant Super-A Grade was crippled just like that. Marbruce was so angry that he was about to explode.

Not only him, but all the imperial officers in the cabin had unfriendly expressions, staring intently at Han Xiao and his party, feeling united in their hatred for Hodd's experience as an imperial direct descendant. If it weren't for the big picture, they would have liked to open fire directly.

"Alright, don't look so bitter and resentful. We haven't finished talking yet." Han Xiao waved his hand. "Don't you want an explanation?"

Marbruce suppressed his anger and shouted in a deep voice, "Speak. You better satisfy us."

"You think Hodd is a pure imperial direct descendant, but in reality, his true identity is the Heteromorph God. Back then, when he was captured..."

Han Xiao was too lazy to respond to his platitudes and slowly explained the personality split caused by [Ability - Rebirth]

"...So, what you're saying is, you attacked and imprisoned Hodd for so many years because he was an unstable factor, and might attract the World Tree in advance? However, the Heteromorph God didn't know about this clone, only Hodd knew his identity... Don't you think this is too outrageous?"

Marbruce frowned.

Han Xiao looked calm. "I know you don't believe it. Anyway, the person has been given to you. If you have some courage, you can dig out the evidence from him yourself."

Searching Hodd's memories was difficult to use as evidence. The empire would only think it was fabricated. As a direct descendant who had suffered a disaster, Hodd would not be subjected to memory searches just because of outsiders' suspicion. The three great civilizations would not easily use such methods on direct descendants, as it would easily damage loyalty, and direct descendants would also resist.

But even if the empire was willing to search Hodd's memories, they would also suspect that he had tampered with them, deliberately implanting false evidence. There was no way to completely prove Hodd's true identity, and Han Xiao didn't care whether the empire believed it or not.

As expected, Marbruce didn't believe this kind of unprovable statement at all, and only thought it was Black Star's excuse. He said in a deep voice, "I'm very dissatisfied with this explanation. According to you, should we thank you?"

"You should."

Han Xiao didn't care. He could explain it properly, but there was no need.

Taking advantage of this incident, he planned to change his previous image. Because of the joint resistance to foreign enemies, he had cooperated deeply with the three great civilizations, and had also jointly established a training base, providing a lot of help. This had caused his image in the eyes of the three great civilizations to become too righteous.

Now that he had stepped into the Super God level, it was the most mysterious time. He could take this opportunity to create some distance again, and strengthen his unpredictable image in the eyes of the three great civilizations, making people feel that the improvement in the level of power had caused new changes in his temperament. This was very common. This way, the three great civilizations would be more cautious in handling the relationship between the two sides, and recalibrate their attitude toward him.

It was better not to be too sincere when dealing with these advanced civilizations. The top leaders on both sides knew that they would eventually be opposed to each other, so talking about friendship now was illusory.

Marbruce's breathing quickened a little. After a few seconds, he slowly calmed down and said coldly, "We will thoroughly investigate this matter internally and find out the truth as soon as possible."

He really wanted to turn hostile, but he didn't dare. Even if the empire did, Garton and the Arcane Church wouldn't go crazy with them.

"Whatever." Han Xiao waved his hand.

"...Also, you crippled Hodd's ability. You have to give me an explanation. Don't tell me it's still the unstable factor explanation."

"That's exactly what it is. If he continues to hold this power, he will most likely participate in the war. With his special feelings for the World Tree, he might cause some things we don't want to see... I know you don't have the courage to cripple a direct descendant's ability, so I did it for you, helping you solve this hidden danger. You still have to thank me."

"Black Star!" Marbruce laughed angrily. "Can you have some shame?!"

"Just telling the truth. It's the way things are. Whether you accept it or not is your problem."

Han Xiao's tone was calm.

Marbruce clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. After a while, he suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice:

"No matter what your reason is, it's too wasteful for the unique super-high-risk ability of manipulating energy to be gone like this! If it's properly cultivated, this ability would be a powerful means to deal with the World Tree."

Black Star's strength, status, and power restricted him, so he could only change his angle and accuse Han Xiao of being wasteful. He was indeed very sad about the disappearance of the super-high-risk ability of "manipulating energy".

"I do have a consensus with you on this point." Han Xiao nodded. "But don't worry, I didn't completely destroy this ability. It can still play a role on the battlefield."

Marbruce was stunned and subconsciously looked at Hodd, thinking that Han Xiao was saying that he hadn't completely castrated Hodd.

But at this moment, Han Xiao patted Evans' shoulder next to him and said, "I have already transplanted this ability to Evans. Compared to Hodd, his potential is more worthy of cultivation."

Hearing this, everyone looked over, their faces full of doubt and surprise.

"The ability to manipulate energy is on him?" Tarro couldn't help but ask, his tone surprised. "How was this done? What kind of ability user is he himself?"

This was also Marbruce's doubt, staring straight at Han Xiao.

"Evans has been secretly cultivated by me for decades." Han Xiao glanced at everyone and said, "His ability is exactly the same as the Heteromorph God. He absorbs other people's abilities for his own use. It is by using this method that he seized Hodd's ability gene chain and possessed this super-high-risk ability."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone was shocked and horrified.

The Heteromorph God was the nightmare of many forces. Fortunately, he had been subdued, but now there was another guy with the same ability in the universe. Could this interstellar society still be good?!

Marbruce's pupils shrank suddenly, staring intently at Han Xiao, his heart surging.

Good heavens! Black Star had been trying to cultivate a second-generation Heteromorph God for decades. Maybe another goal of attacking Hodd was to seize "manipulating energy"!

Now that Black Star had a Heteromorph God Heroic Spirit in his hands, and a secretly cultivated second-generation Heteromorph God, even he couldn't help but feel shaken by this lineup.

Han Xiao acted as if he didn't see everyone's expressions and said to himself, "How is it? Evans' potential is better than Hodd's, right? Don't worry, I will try my best to cultivate him and let him play a role on the battlefield as soon as possible. So Marbruce, you don't need to worry about this ability being wasted. I am a very thrifty person."

"...I'm relieved to hear that." Marbruce squeezed out a voice like chewing steel from between his teeth.

"That's good. It seems that our consensus has deepened. Since the matter is resolved, I'm leaving."

After Han Xiao finished speaking, he turned around and left with the two of them, without any procrastination.

Tarro looked at Han Xiao's back and couldn't help but whisper:

"Black Star, you've changed..."

Han Xiao stopped.

...If I don't change, I'll be eaten clean by you guys.

He didn't say anything, continued to walk, and strode away.

Soon, his vehicle drove out of the main ship's airport and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.

Watching Han Xiao and his party leave, everyone in the command room was still silent, their hearts complicated.

Marbruce was in a gloomy mood. This change of events made his stomach feel sour and disgusted.

He really wanted to despise Black Star, but when he thought about it, he felt a little dejected. Only they were not qualified to despise him. If it weren't for Black Star, the World Tree's iron hooves would have already broken through the border. Where would the current situation be?

Contradictions were contradictions. From his own position, he was the least qualified to judge Black Star's character.

"...Take good care of Hodd. Heal his injuries first."

Leaving a sentence behind, Marbruce sighed and cancelled the remote projection.

Hodd watched the entire process of Black Star's negotiation with the empire, his expression changing uncertainly, and his heart was even more miserable.

He had still harbored one ten-thousandth of a hope, expecting the empire to stand up for his "unjust treatment" and vent his anger on Black Star. However, the empire's appearance of being restrained and tolerant in front of Black Star completely shattered his fantasy and also shattered his desire for revenge.

Even one of the three great civilizations didn't dare to provoke Black Star now. What kind of position had this guy climbed to in the past few decades?!

In my current state, going to touch Black Star's bad luck again is no different from hitting a stone with an egg.

Hodd sighed in his heart, and his whole person was like a bone being pulled out.

But he still had a doubt. He turned to look at Tarro next to him and said in a low voice:

"You just said that Black Star turned the Heteromorph God into a henchman. What's going on? Isn't that Heteromorph God dead?"

Tarro glanced at him, his expression complicated.

Although Black Star said that Hodd was the Heteromorph God, he didn't believe it, but he couldn't help but be wary in his heart.

Tarro thought for a while before answering:

"You've been locked up for decades. You may not know. Black Star has subdued a pair of sisters. These sisters' abilities are exactly the same as the abilities of the sisters of Life and Death in history. They also opened up the Underworld dimension, which can transform the dead into immortal Heroic Spirits to serve as combat forces. Although the Heteromorph God was killed, his soul was thrown into the Underworld and became their combat force. Now, there should be more than ten Super-A Grade Heroic Spirits."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hodd suddenly widened his eyes.

...

On the other side, the Underworld dimension.

The Heteromorph God slowly opened his eyes, a dark and boundless land jumping into his eyes.

"Am I dead..."

The Heteromorph God lowered his head and saw that his body had turned into a translucent spirit state, and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

The scene before death reappeared, the overwhelming dazzling blade light, killing the vitality of all his cells with one blow, making him tremble from the depths of his soul for a long time. He couldn't help but savor it.

But before long, he discovered that his state was not right. Clearly, his soul was only a candle in the wind, but it had not collapsed at all, but was becoming more and more solid.

Whoosh—

At this moment, a few rays of light flashed, and Han Xiao and his party used the King's teleport to reach the surrounding area and flew to the Heteromorph God.

"What did you do to me?"

The Heteromorph God frowned.

"Don't worry, it's a good thing for you. Did you think I was really willing to kill you?" Han Xiao chuckled.

"...What do you want to do?"

"Don't worry, it's a good thing for you. This is the Underworld, which can stabilize the souls of the dead. It..."

Before Han Xiao could finish speaking, the Heteromorph God widened his eyes and interrupted him, his tone surprised.

"The legendary Underworld?!"

"Oh? You know about it?" Han Xiao's tone paused and his eyebrows raised.

"Of course I know."

The Heteromorph God nodded. As a collector of super-high-risk abilities, he had collected information on all Super-A Grade ability users in history.

The sisters of Life and Death were such amazing people, so they were naturally the focus of attention, so he had read all the records of the Underworld.

"That makes things easier. It saves me the effort of explaining." Han Xiao smiled. "The new generation of Life and Death abilities have masters. They have repaired the Underworld again and restored its historical effects. You are already dead. Are you willing to accept the Underworld transformation and become an eternal Heroic Spirit?"

A look of hesitation flashed in the Heteromorph God's eyes. If he could live, he didn't want to die like this. However, joining the Underworld meant losing his freedom, and he was afraid that he would never be able to break free.

Seeing this, Han Xiao smiled and said: "I know your concerns, but in fact, this is not a bad thing. You should be more aware of your own lifespan than I am. You wouldn't have been able to live for long anyway. As long as you give up part of your freedom, you can be immortal in the Underworld, and your body shape has changed, so you don't have to care about the pressure of the gene chain anymore. Your combat power will only be stronger than before you were alive. Why not do it."

The Heteromorph God's eyes flickered, and suddenly he said in a deep voice, "Black Star, we have known each other for many years. Although you took the lead in stepping into a higher level, my goal has not changed. If I join the Underworld, I will not have the opportunity to go further."

"You didn't have a chance anyway. Even if I didn't kill you, you couldn't advance. Don't doubt my judgment. As someone who has been through it, I know better than you what is needed for advancement."

Han Xiao shook his head.

He was not lying. The Heteromorph God's gene chain was overloaded. His life form would be more unstable during advancement. In addition, with his terrible popularity, I'm afraid no peak Super-A Grade would be willing to help him advance. It was difficult to meet the three requirements.

Seeing the Heteromorph God silent, Han Xiao thought for a while and smiled:

"But you don't have to be discouraged. Your dream can be completely handed over to your heir to realize it."

"Heir?" The Heteromorph God was confused.

Han Xiao beckoned and asked Evans to come over.

"This guy is called Evans. He has inherited your ability. He can seize other people's abilities. Can't he inherit your will and help you see a higher scenery?"

"The same ability as me?!"

The Heteromorph God was taken aback and carefully looked at Evans.

Evans also showed his abilities in a timely manner to prove that what Han Xiao said was true.

Seeing this, the Heteromorph God became even more shocked.

"You... are you my illegitimate child?!"

Evans' face darkened, but he didn't speak.

Han Xiao spread his hands and smiled, and continued: "How would I know?"

"Let me think about it..."

The Heteromorph God frowned and fell into memories.

When he was wreaking havoc in the interstellar world, he naturally found females of different species to vent his desires, but after mating, he let them fend for themselves. He didn't know if he had left any offspring.

The deeper he recalled, the more the Heteromorph God felt that he seemed to be missing a part of his memory, secretly wondering.

At this time, Han Xiao said, "Don't be so entangled. The probability of the same ability is more rare than the relationship between offspring, especially your extremely rare ability. With my training, Evans has not taken your detours. Although he has few abilities now, they are refined. His talent is no worse than yours. Why don't you train him and let him realize your wish for you?"

The Heteromorph God was silent for a while, then suddenly laughed and said jokingly, "To put it bluntly, you just want to trick me into helping you train your combat power and work for you."

Han Xiao said without hesitation: "Evans has too little practical experience and doesn't know how to cooperate and use his various abilities. This is your strength. Please give him some guidance."

"...I haven't agreed to you yet."

"Do you have a choice?" Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

"Heh, that's what I admire about you the most."

The Heteromorph God laughed inexplicably, looked at Evans, nodded, and slowly said:

"Life is really impermanent. It's my first time being a teacher... Alright, I will teach you how to use this ability to fight. I only have one request... If one day, you can step into a higher level, help me beat Black Star up."

"Oh, how scary." Han Xiao chuckled.

Evans looked at Han Xiao, then looked at the Heteromorph God. Seeing that both of them were staring at him, he finally hesitated and nodded.

Seeing this, the Heteromorph God opened his arms, his expression calm:

"Come on, turn me into a Heroic Spirit. Let this world see what I look like without any burden!"