Chapter 2681 - Back to Deified (1/2)

Everyone could see the strange expression on Shale’s face. As time passed, the red ball of light that surrounded him dimmed, then darkened. Then the dark red color began to change to solid black.

“It must be the Demon Fruit… The Demon Fruit is working! Is Shale going to become deified right in front of us?” Li Xue Cheng merrily proclaimed.

Liyu Zhen was thrilled as well. “Now I understand. Shale knew that the silkworm fights were going to start, but he decided to eat the Demon Fruit anyway. He hoped to use the pressure of a challenging silkworm fight to accelerate his growth and activate the dormant Demon Fruit power that resided in his body. During his fight with Han Sen, the Demon Fruit inside him has slowly been refined. Now, it must have all been absorbed. It will make him deified in the middle of this very fight.”

“Shale is really leveling up to deified? There will be no more debating which of the two will emerge victorious now. It will be impossible for Han Sen to defeat a deified Shale.” Li Xue Cheng had been quivering with fear earlier, but now his quaking was due to unbridled glee.

This silkworm fight had been a non-stop rollercoaster of emotions for the two men. Li Xue Cheng’s emotions had gone up and down so much that he had thought his heart was going to leap out of his chest.

The fires around Shale’s body turned black. Black symbols were appearing across him, as if they were being carved into his exposed skin. A frightening presence was emanating from the symbols. Shale’s power began to generate substance chains.

“Back to deified once more?” Han Sen frowned. He wasn’t blind. He could see that Shale’s power was changing.

Shale tipped his head back and roared to the sky, and the power of his substance chains exploded. His previously golden hair was suddenly dyed pitch black.

Shale used to look like a gold lion. Now his body had shrunk, but his muscles looked more solid and powerful than ever. It was like every cell in his body had filled up with an unimaginably grand power.

The new, black-haired Shale didn’t look as wild. He looked mysterious and alien. The black symbols were visible all across his face, and black flames quivered across his body. He looked like some sort of demon lion from hell.

“He has returned to deified.” Li Keer’s face looked sickened.

It didn’t matter how talented or strong Han Sen was; he couldn’t defeat a deified Shale. After all, deifieds were completely different from all other ranks beneath them. They were as different as the sky and the ground.

“Shale must have planned from the beginning to use this fight to become deified again. He wanted to use Han Sen as his whetstone,” Exquisite said glumly, then sighed. She understood the truth behind it all now.

“That was excellent planning on Shale’s part,” Li Keer said with a grunt. “He ate the Demon Fruit before the silkworm fight. If no one presented him with a serious challenge, he could secure first place. If he did find someone who could stand up to him, he could refine the Demon Fruit and return to being deified and still secure first place and all the spoils. He is a very smart man, I will confess.”

Exquisite shook her head. “But again, it isn’t that simple. A normal person would struggle to become deified again whether or not they refined the Demon Fruit. Shale was able to become deified because his talent was that exceptional. This may not have been his plan at all.”

“No matter what his reasoning was, these are the results,” Li Keer said in frustration.

Qiyu Elder and Open Sky Elder both looked very ill. And the Very High people who had placed big bets on Han Sen looked just as bad.

They thought they had seen a sound hope of victory, but it was all gone now. Since the moment Shale became deified, their hopes and dreams were squashed. Their hearts fell to the bottom of the blackest abyss, and they couldn’t see the light of hope anymore.