Feeling the changes in the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor, Zhou Bai directly released his suppression, and saw streams of black flames spreading from his sea of consciousness, instantly enveloping his entire body, then expanding rapidly.

Within the black flames, brilliant starlight and crimson golden flames flickered, emitting a violent fluctuation of Primordial Spirit power.

Zhou Bai sensed the growth of the armor and could feel that the amplification of his Primordial Spirit power by the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor had become stronger. At this point, just with sheer Primordial Spirit power—excluding Daoist arts or other special abilities—he was enough to directly face a figure like Yan Zhenjun in Primordial Spirit power.

But the biggest change wasn't just this. Zhou Bai looked behind him. Clearly, he was in mid-air, yet at this moment, he could see a faint black shadow closely sticking to his back as if it were his shadow.

"If the True Dragon Scales are for enhancing defensive power, then the Mutated Essence Blood is to enhance the unique abilities of the armor."

The Deformed Shadow, as a unique ability of the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor, had always been very useful, used countless times by Zhou Bai to turn the tide of battle.

And now, after collecting a large amount of Mutated Essence Blood from the completely mutated Heavenly Sword Elder, this unique armor ability had finally evolved once more.

Just then, the shadow behind Zhou Bai grew deeper, eventually seeming to come alive. Accompanied by rolling black sludge, it emerged, and after a series of transformations, it took on Zhou Bai's appearance.

'Now, in addition to the Deformed Shadow, I have gained another Mutated Shadow.'

Looking at the newly emerged Mutated Shadow, Zhou Bai saw its flesh start to writhe, suddenly bursting forth a mass of flesh and tendrils. One by one, the tendrils grew from its face, giving off a sense of madness, distortion, and insanity.

Anyone who saw the Mutated Shadow before them would feel that Zhou Bai had completely mutated.

Zhou Bai even sensed signs of increased pollution in himself.

'The Mutated Shadow, different from the Deformed Shadow, not only possesses half of my power but can also store up to ten times the pollution level within me, which currently is 1500 points.'

Looking at the Mutated Shadow before him, Zhou Bai felt just like controlling his Deformed Shadow—it felt like having an extra hand, equally manageable, a part of his own body.

'With this, besides the Deformed Shadow, I now have an additional Mutated Shadow, equivalent to gaining another useful clone.'

Zhou Bai nodded with satisfaction. In the upcoming turbulent world situation, he needed more power and time to accomplish some tasks, and the Mutated Shadow was a timely rain.

Zhou Bai felt a tremor of excitement in his heart: 'This way, I'll be more confident in confronting the celestial court in the future.'

As the aberrant flying swords descending from the sky were thoroughly cleared by Zhou Bai, Li Xiuzhu, and the ten celestial immortals together, neither side's forces met again.

Or rather, Li Xiuzhu immediately took Zhou Bai, Qian Wangsun, Yun Chonghe, and Ying Hui and fled.

Li Xiuzhu, pale and with a weak aura, was being carried by several demons in rapid flight.

Yun Chonghe and Ying Hui looked at the demons surrounding Li Xiuzhu with strange expressions, filled with vigilance.

After all, these demons looked half-human, half-beast. Some had a gigantic lion's head with a blood-red mouth, while others seemed like a mix of eagles and tigers, all featuring blue faces and fangs, exuding a strong killing intent, and looking at them with malicious eyes. They gave off a ruthless, cunning aura.

Just like tigers staring at rabbits.

Zhou Bai covered the Demon Illuminating Eye, feeling a surge of murderous intent boiling within him, wishing he could slaughter every demon before him.

A voice kept echoing in his mind.

'Just a bunch of demons, even if Homo sapiens evolved from demons. But can humans and monkeys be considered the same species?'

'Can tigers, lions, cattle, and sheep be classified as the same species as single-celled organisms?'

'These demons are fundamentally different from humans, instead preferring to enslave and treat humans as food...'

'Kill them all!'

'Kill them all!'

Zhou Bai suppressed the murderous intent in his heart, following Li Xiuzhu and the others to hover above a hill, finally unable to resist and said, "Let's stop here. The immortals shouldn't have followed us."

With a gesture from Li Xiuzhu, the surrounding demons all stopped, and everyone together descended into the depths of the hill.

Li Xiuzhu, Qian Wangsun, and the demons stood on one side, while Yun Chonghe and Ying Hui stood on another, with Zhou Bai standing alone on another side.

As soon as they landed, Ying Hui couldn't help but speak first, "Zhou Bai! Why did you go with the Heavenly Demon back in Central City?"

This question had been gnawing at Ying Hui ever since the battle in Central City, ceaselessly turning in his mind, yet no matter how much he pondered, he couldn't understand why Zhou Bai, whom Donghua City cultivated at great expense and protected at all costs, would choose to follow the Heavenly Demon.

Seeing the Heavenly Demons provide artillery support for Zhou Bai earlier, it seemed to confirm this matter further.

'Telling the truth is one thing, whether they'll believe it is another, and accepting it is yet another.' Zhou Bai thought and didn't immediately answer but first let the aura of the five Divine Skills flash on his body one after another.

The gravity of the Tianhe Star Explosion Sword.

The aperture opening of the Supreme Mysterious Divine Thunder Breath.

The Ice Soul Freeze Light froze the nearby trees to icy debris.

Following was the Great Black Flame Fire Dragon Formation and the Time Rebirth Technique.

Watching Zhou Bai perform the five Divine Skills one by one, Yun Chonghe and Ying Hui's expressions changed accordingly. They had both trained in the dream of the Grand Elder and were naturally familiar with the five Divine Skills.

Only then did Zhou Bai speak: "About half a month ago, I went to Donghua City to meet with the Grand Elder and explained face-to-face. She had already passed all five Divine Skills to me."

Hearing this, Yun Chonghe and Ying Hui both nodded, their expressions relaxing somewhat. Zhou Bai, no matter how strong, couldn't possibly force the Grand Elder to pass on the five Divine Skills to him. It must be that the Grand Elder chose to trust Zhou Bai.

Zhou Bai continued explaining, "I didn't truly join the Heavenly Demon. It was the Heavenly Demon who wanted to use me and deliberately forced me into rebellion. You also saw them directly descend to Central City, coming to my side to fight against the immortals. No matter what I said, I couldn't clarify it, and staying would only get me controlled by the heavenly forces.

So I simply pretended to join them to take advantage of their power to enhance myself. Their technology, their weapons, are things humanity can utilize."

Halfway through speaking, Zhou Bai glanced at the demons beside Li Xiuzhu, feeling another rush of uncontrollable killing intent welling up, with a hint of impatience in his tone: "If I truly pledged my allegiance to the Heavenly Demon, I wouldn't have come to support the Sky Flipping Sect this time, nor would I have previously gone to Donghua City to assist the Grand Elder."