Chapter 353
Chapter 353
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 354
Chapter Title: Heavenly Pool Kingdom Lord
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Chen Shi was puzzled. "If it doesn't appear here, then where could it appear?"
Lady Shiji leaped into the small temple behind his head and stood at the temple's entrance. She said, "It should appear in the Divine Continent of华夏! This treasure belongs to a deity from the Divine Continent of华夏!"
Chen Shi was slightly taken aback. He turned his head to glance at that enormous copper coin.
The upper half of the copper coin pierced into the clouds, while the lower half was embedded deep into the earth. It was utterly shocking.
"This isn't a prehistoric remnant," he asked.
"No!"
Lady Shiji continued, "This copper coin should have had wings, but for some reason, they broke off. Look at the fractures below the copper coin."
Chen Shi indeed saw the breaks at the bottom of the copper coin. He guessed, "Could it be that the owner of this copper coin also came to West Ox New Continent during the True King era,
and due to some mishap, left this treasure behind here?"
Lady Shiji shook her head. "No. The Heavenly Pool Kingdom's capital was built around this very object, which clearly makes this copper coin as ancient as the prehistoric remnants. It's too strange. Could it be that before the Great Ming, there were already deities from华夏 who came to this land?"
She was somewhat bewildered. After her death, she had been enshrined as the Star Lord of Moon Travels, enjoying the incense offerings from the mortal world. However, her reputation was poor, and few people sacrificed to her. Most offerings went to Chang'e—who even knew who the Star Lord of Moon Travels was? Her true body was reduced to just a head, making it difficult to restore her full form.
Thus, upon discovering West Ox New Continent, she had risked boarding a migration ship in hopes of rising again in the new land.
By rights, she should be the only deity whose true body had come to West Ox New Continent, yet this copper coin suggested that very, very long ago, gods from华夏 had already arrived here!
"Did the owner of the copper coin come during the Song Dynasty, the Yuan, or perhaps the Han or Tang?"
She murmured, "Then where did the ghost race of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom come from?"
Chen Shi had heard legends of ancient dynasties like the Tang and Song from Scholar Zhu, but those were extremely ancient eras. Historical records had long been lost, and even Scholar Zhu knew little.
"Lady Shiji, set aside these matters for now. Help me break out first!" Chen Shi shouted.
Numerous ghost gods surged from the palace, in vast numbers, including no shortage of experts among them.
Lady Shiji's true body was now mostly restored, so she feared these ghost gods not at all. She laughed, "Your Excellency, just charge outward. Leave the rest to me."
There was pride in her words. "To be honest, I have recovered seventy to eighty percent of my strength from the battle of enfeoffment back then. Dealing with these mere wild ghost gods is effortless."
Chen Shi had never fully trusted her. He immediately activated the small temple. With a flash of light, he drew Peng Ju, Peng Yan'er, and Sang Xixi into the temple together. Thunder light erupted beneath his feet as he shot into the sky and fled through the air.
Within the Eastern Palace, the many ghost gods all flew up one after another, intercepting Chen Shi in midair.
These ghost gods each revealed their true forms, of varying sizes—some as tall as a hundred zhang, others six or seven zhang—riding阴 winds with extreme speed.
Some even had wind-thunder wings sprouting from their backs. With a flap of their wings, rolling wind and thunder surged below, their speed incredibly fast!
Chen Shi activated the Third New Talisman, treading wind and thunder beneath his feet. Thunder exploded, leaving a string of thunderous echoes in the air.
One by one, the ghost gods were left far behind him. Even those with wind-thunder wings could not catch up.
But at the same time, from the Kingdom Lord's palace, more ghost gods flew out—these should be the guards stationed at the Kingdom Lord's palace. Their bloodlines were stronger, their power greater. They soon overtook the Eastern Palace forces and rapidly closed the distance to Chen Shi!
Many ghost gods lacked flight capabilities and instead charged madly across the ground, their speed in no way inferior!
These ghost gods in their true forms were often several hundred zhang tall, like moving mountains, their momentum terrifying!
A casual strike from any of them would be enough to send Chen Shi and the others to their deaths, with no chance to fight back!
Yet before they could close in on Chen Shi, their bodies suddenly stiffened. One by one, the ghost gods' skin rapidly petrified, the stone spreading swiftly across their entire forms. They plummeted from the sky!
Chen Shi glanced back and praised, "Lady Shiji, you truly are formidable!"
Lady Shiji beamed with pride and laughed, "This palace has always been quite formidable. These mere petty ghosts——"
Before she finished speaking, strange patterns emerged on the petrified surfaces of the falling ghost gods. The patterns grew brighter and brighter, actually reversing the petrification as they swiftly recovered!
Lady Shiji startled, quickly shutting her mouth. She thought to herself, "These ghost gods aren't as helpless as I thought. I must be careful not to stumble again before His Excellency."
The ghost gods pursued once more. Lady Shiji sneered, spreading her Ghost God Domain. As the ghost gods charged into her domain, despite resisting with their bloodline power, their speed slowed more and more. One by one, they unwillingly plummeted, powerless to catch Chen Shi.
Lady Shiji breathed a sigh of relief. "At least I didn't lose face before His Excellency."
No sooner had she thought this than an enormous cyan palm came assaulting from ahead, piercing straight through her Ghost God Domain.
"An expert!"
Lady Shiji's expression changed. She stood firm before Chen Shi's small temple, channeling her mana as divine power coursed through her body. For the first time, she unleashed her full strength to meet the cyan giant hand.
The instant their palms clashed, a massive figure went flying backward!
That ghost god was a full thousand zhang tall, standing between heaven and earth. His bloodline grade was high, his awakened bloodline power extremely potent—his combat prowess rivaled the Great Vehicle Realm. Yet even with bloodline power alone, he was no match for Lady Shiji.
But Lady Shiji could not slay him in a single blow either.
Suddenly, a petite figure darted into Lady Shiji's domain, hands behind its back, leaping nimbly like a flying ape, swiftly closing in. It laughed, "Chidi, you always pride yourself on your strength, but aren't you still getting thrashed now?"
He should be a ghost god of the Thunder Ape race, but his power was truly formidable. In his hands behind his back, he gripped a bolt of thunder-light sword qi. Charging right up to Chen Shi,
he did not attack Chen Shi but instead leaped before Chen Shi's small temple. Sword qi slashed wildly from his hands, swift beyond compare, striking at Lady Shiji!
Lady Shiji took several sword strikes, her body unmoving. The Thunder Ape ghost god failed to injure her in the slightest and was secretly shocked. "What race is this big-headed woman? She looks like stone bloodline, so how is she mixed up with the skeleton ghost race?"
Lady Shiji's counters were all dodged by him without a scratch, enraging her. She let out a stern shout, and the sky suddenly split open. Auspicious clouds reappeared as mighty Yellow Scarf Warriors reached down, seizing the Thunder Ape ghost god.
Lady Shiji clenched her five fingers, and the auspicious clouds and warriors were about to vanish.
At that moment, the sky shook violently, and a face spanning dozens of mu materialized. It laughed heartily, "I've figured out the secret of your spell!"
That ghost god slapped toward the auspicious clouds, only to see them shrink rapidly into a square handkerchief embroidered with Yellow Scarf Warriors.
It was this handkerchief that Lady Shiji had just deployed to capture the Thunder Ape ghost god.
The ghost god's palm force struck the handkerchief, which trembled violently and shook the Thunder Ape ghost god free.
Lady Shiji withdrew her treasure. Her nascent soul flew out through her body, divine light blazing brilliantly and sweeping away the阴 gloom for a thousand li around. She clashed head-on with that ghost god, then retracted her nascent soul.
That ghost god grunted dully, unable to continue hiding in the void. He tumbled down, shouting, "What a fierce big-headed ghost woman! I'm no match for her!"
"Then swarm her!"
Powerful auras surged from ahead. Lady Shiji's heart sank as dozens of ghost race powerhouses of varying sizes blocked their path.
Among these ghost race powerhouses, only two or three had manifested thousand-zhang true forms; the rest were ordinary ghost sizes, some even with human-like faces—likely a ghost race close to humanity!
Lady Shiji thought grimly, "Each of these ghost gods is inferior to me, but enough ants can still bite an elephant to death——"
The Chidi ghost god's body blazed with roaring flames. He shook his sore arm and said, "This ghost woman is incredibly powerful. We might not be her match."
The other ghost gods approached Chen Shi. The Thunder Ape race ghost god said, "Then activate the divine artifact left by our ancestors and send her on her way."
The crowd of supremely powerful ghost gods looked grave and nodded one after another. "The ghost woman is formidable; we're no match. Getting reckless will just get us killed by her. Better to invoke the divine artifact!"
Fear rose in Lady Shiji's heart. She quickly said, "Aren't you going to give it a try? Come on, get reckless! You might just kill me!"
The ghost gods ignored her, each slicing open their palms. Blood flew from their bodies toward the tribes below in the capital.
Those tribes were all built relying on prehistoric remnants. As the ghost gods' blood splashed onto these remnants, they rumbled and shook, emanating world-shaking auras. Beams of divine light shot skyward!
Without hesitation, Chen Shi activated the Blood Lake True Scripture. The blood lake behind his head spun, intercepting the blood of these ghost race chiefs.
"Hm?"
The ghost race chiefs were astonished and uncertain, all turning to look at him, their gazes falling on the Blood Lake Hell behind his head.
Chen Shi's heart stirred. He immediately treaded thunder light and veered toward the Eastern Palace!
The auras of the prehistoric remnants grew ever stronger, ever more terrifying—giving Chen Shi a sense not inferior to the True King's Nine Palaces!
And there were too many of them!
Virtually every village had one massive prehistoric remnant: enormous fragments of magical treasures, towering city walls, palace ruins, solitary pillars, buildings!
Activated by the power latent in these ghost race chiefs' bloodlines, their might intensified!
To stimulate remnants' power with one's own bloodline—this refining method was unheard of to Chen Shi!
"No wonder Grandpa and Granny Sha never uncovered the secrets of the prehistoric remnants back then!
Chen Shi's back trailed one massive prehistoric remnant after another rising into the air, their powers intertwining, causing even Yin Mountain's space-time to tremble violently and destabilize!
Chen Shi landed on that giant copper coin, gazing at those colossal prehistoric remnants. He shouted, "Lady, can you activate this copper coin? Let's fight them with it!"
Lady Shiji instantly understood. She flew out from the small temple, let out a stern shout, and poured all her divine power into lifting the gigantic copper coin.
The copper coin trembled slightly, uprooting from the ground and floating into the sky.
Just as the many prehistoric remnants were about to unleash their divine might, the giant copper coin suddenly blazed with dazzling light, as if wings had sprouted beneath it. From its square hole, divine light shot out!
A blindingly brilliant light swept over, and one by one, the massive prehistoric remnants lost their power, plummeting from the sky with booming crashes.
The ghost race chiefs were astonished and uncertain.
Lady Shiji was nearly drained of mana, panting heavily as she let the copper coin fall.
The copper coin remained embedded in the earth.
Chen Shi was shocked. He scanned them—those prehistoric remnants had just exuded overwhelming divine might, on the verge of destroying everything, but now all their power had vanished for some reason. They had become worthless junk. Even fed with the chiefs' fresh blood, they emitted not a shred of might!
"Is this copper coin really that powerful?"
He thought to himself, "Lady Shiji activated it with a different method than the ghost race chiefs'. Clearly, the copper coin isn't a prehistoric remnant. Could it truly be from the Divine Continent of华夏?"
Lady Shiji came to Chen Shi's side, her expression unchanged. She whispered, "Your Excellency, I have little strength left. While we can, hurry and slip away." Chen Shi's face remained calm as he treaded thunder light, facing the ghost race chiefs. He called out loudly, "Today, joining forces with the great goddess Lady Shiji, I have experienced all your powers. I wish to leave—who dares block me?"
Lady Shiji nodded slightly, haughty. "This palace wishes to depart. If you're not afraid of death, go ahead and strike!"
The ghost race chiefs each stood in the air, showing no sign of yielding.
Lady Shiji's heart sank. She whispered, "Your Excellency, if you die, this lady will simply choose a new superior, you know?"
Chen Shi grunted without replying.
The Thunder Ape chief suddenly said, "Chidi, is there something wrong with the blood lake behind his head?"
Behind him, that thousand-zhang ghost god stood on the ground, staring at the Blood Lake Hell behind Chen Shi's head. His voice boomed like thunder. "The blood lake behind his head is very likely my ghost race's technique, the Blood Lake True Scripture."
His body shrank rapidly, standing alongside the Thunder Ape chief.
The other ghost race chiefs also retracted their true forms, becoming three to five zhang tall— a suitable height for ghost gods.
They still surrounded Chen Shi and Lady Shiji, refusing to yield the way.
Lady Shiji was about to abandon Chen Shi and flee alone when the Thunder Ape chief stepped forward with a smile. "This old one is Lei Qu. May I ask your honorable name?"
"This palace is Lady Shiji of Skeleton Mountain White Bone Cave in the Divine Continent of华夏..."
Lady Shiji had just begun when Lei Qu shook his head. "Not you, ghost woman, but this young friend."
His gaze fell on Chen Shi.
Chen Shi said, "I am Chen Shi."
Thunder Ape chief Lei Qu asked, "Young friend Chen, what technique is that blood lake of yours?"
The other chiefs stared at him intently, tensely.
Chen Shi said, "Blood Lake True Scripture."
"It truly is the Blood Lake True Scripture!"
The chiefs erupted in cheers like thunder. Some shouted excitedly, others wept and wailed, descending into chaos.
After a moment, they calmed. Lei Qu put on a kindly face and smiled. "Young friend Chen, might we speak privately?"
Chen Shi looked around. These supremely powerful ghost race chiefs would surely not let them leave easily, so he could only nod.
The chiefs escorted him to the Kingdom Lord's palace.
In the Kingdom Lord's palace, Crown Prince Xiang Kun had already heard of the disturbance in the Eastern Palace. However, the ghost gods of the various tribes had arrived in the palace and were quarreling fiercely over the next Kingdom Lord position, on the verge of blows.
The ghost gods of the tribes had entered the palace for two reasons: first, to verify if the Kingdom Lord had truly passed; second, to seize any opportunity for power. If he left now, he would have no chance at the Kingdom Lord seat!
But Peng Ju's mastery of the Blood Lake True Scripture was equally crucial!
As he hesitated, suddenly Lei Qu's thick voice boomed from outside. "No need to fight over who the next Kingdom Lord is! Our Heavenly Pool Kingdom already has a new Kingdom Lord!"
Crown Prince Xiang Kun shot to his feet, looking on in shock and suspicion. He saw the chiefs of all one hundred twelve tribes of Heavenly Pool Kingdom escorting a skeleton imp into the palace, heading this way.
Lei Qu's voice rolled like thunder through the palace. "The one hundred twelve ghost races of Heavenly Pool Kingdom jointly elect Chen Shi as the next Heavenly Pool Kingdom Lord!"