Chapter 3204: The Number One Strongest of the Corpse Clan
Fengdu Ghost City covered a vast area, containing both the densely packed Ghost Market and winding paths leading to secluded divine soil mountains and wilderness.
Those who could occupy an entire mountain within the city were all top-tier figures of the Divine Realm.
Cloud Mirror Hermit and Zhao Wu had entered just such a small mountain. A stone path wound upward, flanked by Yin trees bearing human-headed fruits. Waterfalls cascaded down, and stone inscriptions stood everywhere.
A Daoist temple sat amidst the mountain, hung with lanterns, carrying a strange, eerie stillness.
This mountain was called Withered Law Mountain.
This temple was called Enlightenment Heart Temple.
It was Zhao Wu's dojo!
After opening the mountain-protecting divine formation and entering the temple, Zhao Wu and Cloud Mirror Hermit bowed respectfully toward the inner hall. The former said, "The matter is done. Tang Lan has been captured, without alarming any other deities in the city."
Cloud Mirror Hermit took out a bronze mirror and traced patterns with his fingers.
"Boom!"
Light mist rose from the mirror's surface, and Tang Lan fell out from within.
Suppressed by the mirror light, she could not move. She fixed a pair of cold, fierce eyes on Zhao Wu and Cloud Mirror Hermit, then turned her gaze toward the inner hall ahead.
From within a cyan-colored wooden building in the temple, a deep, low voice sounded: "Why did Tang Lan leave the city?"
"This…"
Zhao Wu and Cloud Mirror Hermit exchanged a glance. They had overlooked this point.
Tang Lan leaving the city and immediately returning was indeed unusual.
"I will investigate immediately!" Zhao Wu said.
Cloud Mirror Hermit curled his five fingers into a claw shape, corpse qi emanating from him. He stared at Tang Lan, suppressed under the mirror light, and laughed, "Let me just perform a soul search!"
"No need!"
The wooden door opened, and a tall, thin figure appeared beneath the eaves.
A cold wind suddenly rose, and the lanterns swayed.
The shadows on the ground became hazy and illusory, further enhancing the mysterious aura of the tall, thin figure. The surrounding heaven and earth seemed to shift because of him.
The tall, thin figure said, "You are still not cautious enough in your actions. You didn't even realize someone followed you."
"What?"
Zhao Wu released his divine soul, and at the same time, divine qi surged from his feet into the ground, activating the formation inscriptions within the temple.
"Rustle!"
These formation inscriptions, both underground and in the air, condensed into thick chains as wide as bowls. They crisscrossed, connecting heaven and earth, sealing the space of the entire Withered Law Mountain.
From various directions outside the temple, divine corpses rose into the air.
Some threw punches, some formed hand seals, some held supreme sacred artifacts… Dozens of divine corpses, each clad in divine armor, exuded formidable auras.
Dense attacks rained down, continuously shattering the formation chains.
Three divine corpses, with talismans pasted on their foreheads, charged into the temple first, attacking Cloud Mirror Hermit.
"Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers, Radiant Light!"
Cloud Mirror Hermit let out a sinister laugh and stomped his right foot on the ground.
From the center of his sole, space expanded outward, forming a shockwave that struck the three divine corpses heavily.
The three divine corpses were sent flying, hovering in midair.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
Cloud Mirror Hermit executed a mysterious movement technique, changing positions three times in succession, and struck three hand seals onto the three divine corpses.
With Cloud Mirror Hermit's cultivation level, and attacking with his true body, once hit, not to mention three divine corpses, even three Grand Ultimate Realm Great Gods would be severely injured.
After being struck, the three divine corpses were knocked back, but they quickly got up again. Their bodies emitted a metallic luster, showing no signs of injury.
The contempt in Cloud Mirror Hermit's eyes faded.
No wonder they were the famous Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers—truly extraordinary.
To refine an Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldier, one needed an excellent divine corpse as the main body and used refining methods to incorporate rare refining materials into the corpse's body using special techniques.
Over countless years, through the sacrificial refinement of generation after generation of cultivators, the divine corpses would grow stronger and stronger.
Under normal circumstances, refining even one such powerful Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldier would consume massive resources, enough to drain the wealth of a Grand Ultimate Ancient God.
Only Fengdu Ghost City possessed such depth, producing dozens of Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers at once, each as powerful as a Great God.
This was the accumulation of countless epochs by successive generations of deities in Fengdu Ghost City!
Zhao Wu and Cloud Mirror Hermit, two renowned experts in the Grand Ultimate Realm, could not contend with these Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers even with the advantage of the formation's terrain. They soon fell into a disadvantage.
The tall, thin figure looked toward a direction outside the temple and said, "Radiant Light Imperial Consort lives up to her reputation as the most powerful spiritual power deity below the Infinite Realm in Fengdu Ghost City. With these thirty-four Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers, she is enough to look down upon the heroes of the world."
A long, feminine voice drifted in from outside the temple: "Since you know this is Fengdu Ghost City, how dare you stir up trouble within the city? Do you believe I can activate the city's divine formation and annihilate you?"
"Activating the city's divine formation is not something the Imperial Consort can decide alone." The tall, thin figure laughed.
The feminine voice continued, "Tell me, what exactly are you plotting? Why have you captured Tang Lan?"
"It's not capture, it's an invitation! Lord Lan is a Grand Ultimate Realm Great God and the Dao partner of Chi Chaluo. Since I have come to Fengdu Ghost City, naturally I wished to meet her."
The tall, thin figure shifted positions and appeared beside Tang Lan.
Just moments ago, eight Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers had joined forces, breaking through Cloud Mirror Hermit's defenses and collapsing a corner of his divine realm world.
The tall, thin figure struck out with both hands. Two beams of divine light surged from his palms, transforming into two turbid, majestic rivers of light that sent the eight Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers flying.
He reached out, grabbed Tang Lan by the neck, and lifted her up. "Withdraw the Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers. I have no intention of becoming an enemy of Fengdu Ghost City. But if the Imperial Consort continues to press, it will be hard to avoid accidents."
Strands of corpse qi flowed from his fingers into Tang Lan's body.
Instantly, dark yellow corpse patterns appeared on her fair neck.
Her ghostly body, which resembled flesh and blood, began to show signs of disintegration.
The woman outside the temple said, "Since you have no intention of becoming an enemy of Fengdu Ghost City, release Tang Lan first."
"Fine!"
The tall, thin figure swung his arm. Tang Lan's ghostly body in his hand exploded, turning into a dense cloud of ghostly mist that flew out of the temple.
Radiant Light was the Imperial Consort of Wenhe Ghost Emperor. She stood atop a Yin tree outside the temple, her divine robe flowing with colorful light. Her figure was as beautiful as a painting, but her face was unclear.
The ghostly mist surged forward, stopped ten zhang before Radiant Light by her spiritual power field.
Tang Lan's screams came from within the ghostly mist.
Radiant Light extended a slender, delicate jade hand from her sleeve, intending to help Tang Lan condense her ghostly body and divine form. At that moment, the tall, thin figure burst out from the ghostly mist, his form like a sharp sword, crashing into her spiritual power field.
As if she had anticipated this, Radiant Light's body was covered in dense talisman light, enveloping her entirely. She retreated at incredible speed.
"Don't get entangled with the Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers."
Leaving behind these words, the tall, thin figure pressed his palm toward the void. Corpse qi surged out wildly.
A hundred-zhang-wide corpse river manifested before him, like a giant dragon, coiling toward the retreating Radiant Light.
"The Imperial Consort is still too arrogant. After all, you are only a spiritual power deity. Did you truly believe that by wielding the Artifact-Refined Corpse Soldiers, you could contend with me?"
The tall, thin figure traced a circle with his finger. Dense rule divine patterns flew out, merging with the corpse river. Like billions of steel needles, they sealed off all of Radiant Light's escape routes.
A Divine Venerable Talisman flew out from within Radiant Light's body, shattering the corpse river.
"I long expected that Wenhe Ghost Emperor would have left you a Divine Venerable Talisman."
The tall, thin figure reached Radiant Light, completely unafraid of the Divine Venerable Talisman. He spread his hands, and ten corpse rivers manifested simultaneously, surging toward Radiant Light from ten different directions.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, the tall, thin figure sensed something and turned back to look at Enlightenment Heart Temple.
He saw Cloud Mirror Hermit, his chest pierced through by a punch from a masked purple-robed man. The man slammed into the mountain cliff, his body embedded directly into it.
The purple-robed man seemed to have burst out from the ghostly mist.
In other words, he had been hiding all along within Tang Lan's divine realm world.
What surprised the tall, thin figure even more was that the purple-robed man exuded the aura of Three Calamities Demon Lord.
Zhang Ruochen, wearing half of Three Calamities Demon Lord's bone face mask, locked eyes with the tall, thin figure. He marveled inwardly—there were still such powerful beings below the Infinite Realm. Truly, beyond the sky, there is another sky; beyond the people, there are other people.
He swept the ghostly mist into his sleeve, transformed into a streak of dark light, and flew out of the mountain.
"Who are you, sir? Do you think you can leave Withered Law Mountain just because you wish to?" Zhao Wu struck out with his porcelain bowl, causing space to spin. Billions of fierce ghosts flew out from the bowl, surrounding Zhang Ruochen.
"I, Gong Shang, come and go as I please. Do you, Zhao Wu, think you can stop me? Haha!"
Zhang Ruochen laughed loudly. Using the Wuji Divine Dao, he converted the chaotic yin qi within his body into dark force. He struck out with a palm, scattering a large number of fierce ghosts, their souls obliterated.
Then, ignoring the space distorted by the porcelain bowl, he stepped through the spatial vortex, rushed out of Withered Law Mountain, and vanished into the darkness.
The tall, thin figure initially intended to give chase, but Radiant Light was continuously counterattacking, forcing him to go all out. He could only snort coldly and stay, using the ten corpse rivers to slowly grind away the defensive power of the Divine Venerable Talisman.
Before long, the Divine Venerable Talisman dissolved into specks of light and disappeared.
The ten corpse rivers coiled around Radiant Light, growing smaller and smaller, eventually transforming into a talisman that flew into the tall, thin figure's hand.
Both were talismans left by Infinite Realm experts, but clearly, the one in the tall, thin figure's hand was far more powerful.
Cloud Mirror Hermit flew over and said, "Please punish me, Master!"
The illusory light on the tall, thin figure's body dissipated, revealing a bizarre face.
Half of it was a flawless, handsome visage; the other half was a decayed face with only bones left.
It was none other than Three Calamities Demon Lord's disciple, Huang'e Divine Lord, also the current number one strongest of the Corpse Clan.
Huang'e Divine Lord looked at the wound on Cloud Mirror Hermit's chest and said, "It's residual power from the Underworld Clan. Could he really be Gong Shang?"
Cloud Mirror Hermit said, "It's very likely him. I sensed his aura."
Cloud Mirror Hermit had no idea that the half-bone mask on Zhang Ruochen's face carried not only Three Calamities Demon Lord's aura but also Gong Shang's.
Zhao Wu put away the porcelain bowl and walked over on the wind. His voice was heavy beneath the mask: "There's no way such a powerful Grand Ultimate Realm Great God could appear out of nowhere. It must be Gong Shang. It seems this old fellow never died. Now that he's returned to the Hell Realm, he will surely make big moves."
Huang'e Divine Lord sneered, "Everyone knows that the Underworld Clan is now ruled by that little nun. Until Gong Tian returns, Gong Shang cannot seize the power of the Underworld Clan. He won't be able to stir up much trouble."