Chapter 347: Fog Moon Night, Corpses Fall Like Rain |
"Could it be that the ruler of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom also once visited Despair Slope?" Chen Shi wondered.
According to Yang Bi's account, it was after visiting Despair Slope that the True King had voluntarily excised the two realms of Tribulation Crossing and Ascension, adding the four realms of miniature shrine, Divine Embryo, Divine Descent, and Emptiness Refining, transforming the cultivation techniques brought from the Divine Continent into the current cultivation system.
This change caused cultivators' lifespans to become the same as ordinary mortals, at most a hundred years.
Moreover, no one could ever again cross the tribulation and ascend to become carefree immortals.
If the Heavenly Pool Kingdom had also visited Despair Slope before abolishing literacy among the ghost god clans, then just how terrifying was Despair Slope, that it could make both the True King and prehistoric civilizations submit?
Chen Shi had crossed paths with Zhuang Wujiu and didn't think he was particularly strong.
But now, Chen Shi looked at the corpses hanging on Boundless Cliff and felt that Despair Slope was likely far more powerful than he had imagined.
"I wonder if the Blood Lake Sutra can absorb the blood of these divine beings?" Peng Yan'er also looked up at the divine beings hanging on the cliff face and suddenly spoke up.
Chen Shi praised her, "Yan'er, you're nothing like your brother. You're more like me."
Chen Shi leaped down from the locust tree and arrived at the base of the cliff.
Peng Yan'er quickly followed him. Chen Shi instructed, "Don't activate the Blood Lake Sutra yet. Let me test it first to see if there's any danger."
Peng Yan'er acknowledged, unable to hide her excitement.
A small, blood-red stream flowed at the base of the cliff. The divine blood within it was like amber, crystalline and translucent.
Above the stream, radiant light drifted, multicolored and very beautiful.
Chen Shi found a human skull, carefully approached the stream, and tried to scoop up some divine blood. Unexpectedly, the moment the skull touched the blood, it shattered with a crack.
He tried several more times. No matter what container he used, it was difficult to touch the divine blood without it being crushed.
This divine blood had a powerful dissolving ability. Anything that fell into it quickly vanished.
Chen Shi moved a bit further from the blood stream and tried to activate the Blood Lake Sutra, drawing a wisp of the radiant light hovering over the stream.
He carefully attempted to refine this wisp of light into the blood pool behind his head. The moment the radiant light touched him, an incredibly intense surge of blood energy rushed in. In a daze, Chen Shi seemed to see a towering wave of blood filling his vision, rushing towards him, trying to crush him.
He immediately retreated, but the surging, violent blood wave pursued him and did not diminish as he moved away!
"The divine beings hanging on the cliff face must have been far beyond the Great Ascension Realm in their lifetimes! This blood energy far surpasses Great Ascension!"
Chen Shi clenched his teeth and pushed the Blood Lake Sutra to its limit. He had seen quite a few beings in the Great Ascension Realm before. While their auras were incomparably powerful, they were still a notch below the power contained in this divine blood!
On the surface of his small skeleton, the unique patterns belonging to the Herding Ghost began to appear!
"Crack, crack, crack!"
These patterns shattered under the divine might, and fine cracking sounds came from his bones. The skeletal body that had been tempered by the Blood Lake Sutra was now covered in cracks, on the verge of disintegration!
The bloodline imprint he had gained from killing and refining the Herding Ghost's blood energy was completely obliterated!
Not only that, but the Primordial Spirit attached to his bones also felt a catastrophic disaster approaching!
A flash of inspiration struck Chen Shi's mind, and he immediately activated the First New Talisman!
In his mind, the divine language thundered!
"Yang essence shines with spirit, yin ghosts shall wither! Divine cinnabar shines brightly, light reveals the Grand Void!"
"Seven qi form the Dipper, three qi form the Platform! All evils are destroyed, ten thousand ghosts are suppressed!"
On the surface of his skeleton, clusters of thunderous light exploded, lightning flowing along his bones. Chen Shi stood on a thunder platform, like a skeletal deity bathed in lightning.
The towering blood wave crashed into him. Chen Shi activated the First New Talisman, his body standing like a pillar in the middle of a torrent, unwavering as he withstood the impact!
"Hoo——"
Behind his head, the blood pool spun wildly, growing larger and larger, soon transforming into a vast blood pond!
This blood pond was equivalent to his magical power, vast and boundless.
Not only that, but the blood pool also underwent a qualitative leap. Its circulation became faster, and its refining speed increased dramatically!
The divine blood energy contained within the radiant light flowed into every limb and joint of his body. In just a short moment, Chen Shi's skeletal frame became as solid as fine jade, incredibly tough. The cracks from before vanished without a trace!
Chen Shi was both surprised and delighted. He immediately said to Peng Yan'er, "It's extremely dangerous for you to absorb the divine blood. Stand beside me. I'll use the divine blood's energy to help forge your body first!"
Peng Yan'er stood beside him. Chen Shi activated the Blood Lake Sutra again, carefully collecting another wisp of radiant light. As the light surged towards him, transforming into a torrent of blood energy merging into the blood pool behind his head, he immediately diverted a strand of this blood energy into Peng Yan'er's body and shouted, "Yan'er, activate the Blood Lake Sutra!"
Peng Yan'er immediately activated the Blood Lake Sutra. The blood pool behind her head, receiving this strand of divine blood energy, began to expand wildly. The speed of the Blood Lake Sutra's circulation also gradually increased!
Even more miraculous was the Blood Lake Sutra's reaction on her physical body. It extracted the essence from the divine blood and used it to forge her body!
The tips of her feathers, in just a short moment, turned a brilliant, resplendent gold. The other feathers were also tempered, with impurities being refined away!
Not only that, but her soul was also greatly enhanced. The divine blood energy even refined her bloodline power, making it purer!
Even Chen Shi was startled. This little bird girl had only refined this one wisp of energy, and it was already equivalent to the hard work and diligent cultivation her brother Peng Ju had put in over these past days.
"Comparing birds, it's enough to drive a bird mad."
Chen Shi sighed inwardly. "Peng Yan'er's talent is too good. Their family has been sitting on this treasure mountain but could never cultivate. Only after I deciphered the Blood Lake Sutra could they start mining this mountain. But after I leave, just the two of them alone definitely won't be able to do it. I'd better get Peng Yan'er to a point where she can autonomously refine the radiant light herself. Then she can help Peng Ju. Once Granny Sha finishes dealing with the demons inside me, I can leave in peace."
He caught another wisp of radiant light. As he refined it, he diverted a strand to Peng Yan'er.
Gradually, the blood pool behind Peng Yan'er's head grew larger and larger, while her feathers gradually turned golden, radiating divine light. Her bloodline power grew stronger and stronger.
She was still a little thing, about the same height as Chen Shi.
Adult Fu Birds were about two zhang tall. Peng Yan'er was less than six chi tall, equivalent to a human child of four or five.
But right now, she was definitely the number one expert in the village!
The underworld had no distinction between day and night. Chen Shi trained with Peng Yan'er for two days, and she finally cultivated a blood pond.
Her magical power was abundant, and her blood energy was extremely vigorous. Chen Shi tried to compare her cultivation level to the realms of the mortal world but found it impossible to draw a parallel. The Blood Lake Sutra's blood pond realm depended on one's own bloodline power, which was inconsistent with the traditional division of realms.
If he had to estimate her combat power, Chen Shi thought it was probably between Golden Core Nine Revolutions and the Nascent Soul realm.
But the instantaneous combat power that the blood pond realm could unleash was astonishing. Coupled with the Blood Lake Sutra's terrifying blood-refining ability, it was even more unpredictable. Even if someone's cultivation level was much higher than Peng Yan'er's, they might still fall into her hands!
Peng Yan'er could barely catch a thin strand of radiant light to cultivate on her own, so Chen Shi stopped helping and focused on his own training.
In these two days, his blood pond had grown four or five times larger than before, but he was still far from the blood lake realm.
Once he reached the blood lake realm, he could forge a Blood Lake Hell, deliver the souls of the dead, and accumulate merit.
According to the Blood Lake Sutra, cultivating a Blood Lake Hell was often an act of immense virtue and merit.
When one reached the Blood Sea realm, they could deliver even more souls, achieving sagehood through merit and transcending the mortal world!
"But how can such a sinister technique possibly bring merit?"
Chen Shi turned his head to look behind himself at the blood pool. This pool floated in the void. To outsiders, it looked only the size of a washbasin, but in his eyes, it was over a hundred mu in size.
The Herding Ghost who had died at his hands was still struggling within the blood pool, letting out silent roars.
"So this guy is my merit?"
Chen Shi suddenly understood. "I killed him. I definitely did a good deed."
His conscience was clear. He was just waiting to cultivate the Blood Lake realm and become a great philanthropist.
He trained under the blood stream for another two days, expanding his blood pond to a size of a hundred zhang in length and width.
A large pool is called a lake. At this stage of cultivation, it could already be called a blood lake.
But he still hadn't reached the Blood Lake realm.
"The Blood Lake Sutra says that liberating ten thousand times leads to immortality. To become an immortal, I have to liberate ten thousand masters. I've only liberated one Herding Ghost. I'm still far from liberating ten thousand."
Chen Shi pondered. "Strange, this 'liberating ten thousand times to become immortal' the sutra speaks of... could it be that after cultivating the Blood Sea realm, one can cross the tribulation and ascend to become an immortal? Is this really not a demonic technique but a celestial art?"
Just as he was cultivating by the blood stream, he suddenly felt an inexplicable pulling force. It shook his soul, trying to tear it away from this skeletal body!
"Granny Sha is summoning my soul! At this moment... could it be that the demons inside my body have all been removed?"
Chen Shi immediately understood and hurriedly said to Peng Yan'er, "Yan'er, I'm going back to the mortal world. Take care of yourself! Once I've settled my physical body, I'll come back to find you!"
Peng Yan'er didn't understand what was happening. Suddenly, Chen Shi's Primordial Spirit was pulled away by Granny Sha's spell. It flew out of his body and, with a whoosh, pierced through the yin-yang barrier, flying into the mortal world!
In front of Peng Yan'er, Chen Shi's skeletal body collapsed.
Peng Yan'er was startled. She hurried to help Chen Shi up but almost got crushed to her knees by the weight of the skeleton.
Chen Shi had been tempering this skeletal frame with the Blood Lake Sutra all these days. The skeleton was terrifyingly heavy.
Peng Yan'er struggled to prop the skeleton up, making it lean against a rock, sitting next to her as she cultivated. She thought silently, "Where did Brother Chen Shi go? Is the mortal world fun? Why hasn't Brother Peng Ju come back yet?"
Worried that Chen Shi might get cold, she wove a feather garment and dressed the skeleton in it. When she got tired of training, she talked to the skeleton.
But it was more like talking to herself.
The underworld was dangerous everywhere, with death lurking around every corner. Her parents had long passed away, leaving only her and her brother to depend on each other. Peng Ju had found a job running errands at the Heavenly Pool's Eastern Palace, so she stayed home alone.
Sometimes she would visit the neighbors. If they needed help, she would lend a hand. But more often, she stayed home alone, quietly waiting for her brother to return.
During this time, she would clean the house over and over, meticulously removing every speck of dust, and talk to herself.
Now, with Chen Shi's skeletal body to keep her company, she actually felt happier, no longer feeling lonely.
But her brother had said he was going to the Eastern Palace to report for duty, and he still hadn't returned. That worried her a little.
"Tonight might be a Fog Moon Night!" Peng Yan'er's expression changed.
In the sky, many Fu Bird tribesmen flapped their wings and flew into their nests, closing their doors tightly.
In the distance, a moon suddenly appeared in the sky. The moon looked like a giant eye, with mist flowing within it. The mist drifted down, covering the mountaintops, cascading down the cliffs, surging through the valleys, getting closer and closer.
On a Fog Moon Night, it was not safe to stay under the trees. But Chen Shi hadn't come back yet.
Peng Yan'er grabbed Chen Shi's skeleton, struggling to fly, but he was too heavy. She couldn't lift off. So she had to drag the skeleton, bit by bit, under a tree, and find some rocks to cover him up.
Frightening roars came from within the mist. The bodies of colossal creatures could be vaguely seen moving within the haze.
The sound of chains shaking also came from the four-legged cauldron. The bones inside it seemed to come alive in the mist, furiously trying to drag the cauldron.
Peng Yan'er quickly flew up to the ancient locust tree, burrowed into her home, and closed the door.
Outside, on the cliff face, strange noises rumbled like thunder. The corpses of the ancient gods hanging on the cliff, invaded by the mist, seemed to come alive, struggling to break free from the spears holding them down.
Boundless Cliff was covered in strange patterns. Suddenly, the air was filled with a thick, resounding divine language, as if thousands of gods were chanting in unison. The cliff face shone brightly, blindingly bright, illuminating half the mountains in the Dark Mountains!
Peng Yan'er hid in her room, quietly waiting. Outside, the sounds of mountains crumbling and earth-shattering explosions rang out, along with dull, terrifying roars.
She curled up in the corner, deeply worried. "Will Brother Chen Shi's bones be okay outside? Is Brother Peng Ju alright at the Eastern Palace?"
This strange phenomenon lasted all night. By dawn, when the Fog Moon disappeared, the phenomenon gradually subsided.
Peng Yan'er rushed out of the house the first chance she got, flying down to the tree. Seeing that the pile of rocks was still there, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why haven't Brother Peng Ju and Brother Chen Shi come back yet?" she thought with some anxiety.
At noon, ghost gods, riding on yin winds, arrived from Heavenly Pool and surrounded the Fu Bird village.
Crossbows were aimed at the Fu Bird tribesmen. Anyone who moved would be shot.
The leading ghost god had three heads, wore armor, and looked imposing. His eyes were like torches as he looked at the trembling Peng Yan'er. He sneered, "So, you're Peng Yan'er? Your brother Peng Ju conspired with a cultivator's ghost to kill His Highness's Herding Ghost and Shen Beast! The deed is exposed!"
Peng Yan'er's face turned pale. Her voice trembled as she said, "I'll work and earn money to pay back His Highness..."
"The money you earn in a lifetime can't even buy a single Shen Beast. Besides, what His Highness wants is not a Shen Beast, but the Blood Lake Sutra."
The ghost god laughed. "Your brother messed up. He used the Blood Lake Sutra to kill quite a few of His Highness's good men. After he was captured, he refused to reveal how he learned this technique, no matter what. But luckily for him, he has you as a weakness. Seize her!"
A ghost god yaksha under his command strode forward. The yaksha's hair billowed in the wind, and a small yaksha sat among the hair, holding three sticks of incense.
This yaksha was fierce and menacing, walking straight towards Peng Yan'er.
Just then, Peng Yan'er's neighbor, a middle-aged Fu Bird, flew in front of her and said to the three-headed ghost god with an ingratiating smile, "Your Excellency, the crime was committed by her brother. What does she have to do with it..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a whoosh was heard as a crossbow bolt pierced his forehead, nailing him to a tree.
The three-headed ghost god said indifferently, "She can understand the divine language. This is of great importance. Kill them all. Leave no one alive."
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Crossbow bolts flew. Many Fu Bird tribesmen in the village fell in pools of blood. Several Fu Birds flapped their wings to take off, but were instantly pierced through by bolts!
The village chief, an old Fu Bird, let out a mournful cry and angrily pounced on the three-headed ghost god. But before he could get close, he was shot through the body by an arrow!
"Stop! Please stop!"
Peng Yan'er shouted in anger, tears streaming from her eyes.
"You want the Blood Lake Sutra! I'll give it to you! Just don't kill my people!"
She activated the Blood Lake Sutra, and a blood pool appeared behind her head.
"She knows the Blood Lake Sutra too!" the yaksha ghost god said joyfully, reaching for Peng Yan'er.
Peng Yan'er was terrified. Her wings lashed out, suddenly expanding and turning into a blood-red sword light that split the yaksha ghost god's body in two.
The yaksha ghost god was stunned. His body slowly split into two halves. His physical form withered rapidly, and his soul fell into the blood pool behind Peng Yan'er's head.
"Get her!"
The other ghost gods rushed towards her. Peng Yan'er panicked. Her wings flapped, and streaks of blood-red sword qi crisscrossed the air, stretching over ten zhang long.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
The sword qi grew stronger. The blood light writhed like flood dragons. Suddenly, all the blood light retracted, reverting to a pair of brilliant golden wings. As Peng Yan'er spread them behind her, the blood light flowed along the golden wings back into the blood pool behind her head.
In the air, the withered bodies of ghost gods fell like rain.