Chapter 361
Chapter 361
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 362
Chapter Title: My Subjects
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Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu's petite, agile figures moved with blinding speed, and before long they arrived beneath the mountain peak that split open toward both sides.
The location where the mountain body had cracked was utterly irregular, the terrain jagged and twisting like a dragonfly's path, with sheer cliffs intersecting in extreme complexity.
Beneath the immortal palace, wisps of rosy clouds drifted between the split mountains, shifting slightly but not by much.
Chen Shi walked under the rosy clouds and suddenly halted.
Ahead lay a corpse, belonging to a ghost god of the Mugwort Clan—this race had human faces and rat ears, tiny heads atop massive bodies, unmistakable.
The Mugwort Clan ghost god's belly still bore a hanging basket, inside which were three little yakshas, now reduced to corpses as well.
The three little yakshas and the Mugwort Clan ghost god's corpses had only half their flesh and blood remaining; the vanished halves were mere skeletons.
Every other organ was gone without a trace, and no blood had spilled!
This manner of death matched the former king of Heavenly Pool Country exactly!
Clearly, they had all undergone this bizarre transformation upon touching the rosy clouds.
"Could this be the rosy light that killed Elephant Fu's king?"
Chen Shi gazed at the dangling strands of rosy light, searching for some profound secret, yet the wondrous glow revealed nothing of the sort.
The light was mesmerizing, irresistibly tempting one to reach out and touch.
Such allure was profoundly dangerous—if control slipped, one would fall victim in an instant!
They pressed onward and soon spotted dozens more corpses. These hailed from various times and races, yet strangely showed no decay.
Like the first, only halves of their bodies remained.
From the immortal palace above came waves of ethereal chants, as if someone within was reciting scriptures.
The chains binding the palace rattled sporadically, like the palace straining to break free.
"Ah—" A scream echoed from the sky. Chen Shi looked up to see a burly ghost god plummeting, his cultivation deep. Though struck down, he dodged the chaotic rosy clouds with desperate agility.
He was a ghost god of the Great Swine Clan, pig-headed with a human body, pot-bellied, wielding supreme divine power—but his bulk lacked nimbleness. A rosy cloud swept him, erasing half his flesh in an instant, claiming his life.
Two little yakshas dangled from his waist, clutching incense and trembling as they fell with him. Just as the rosy clouds loomed, a little ox-head thundered through the dense glows on bolts of lightning, snatching the pair.
The two little yakshas shuddered violently, gripped one in each of the little ox-head's hands as it zigzagged through the air, evading the lights before crashing to the ground.
That little ox-head was Chen Shi. He dodged the plummeting Great Swine Clan ghost god's corpse before setting the two little yakshas down.
Their legs still quaked.
Wen Wuyu waved from a mountain path.
"There's a path here!"
Chen Shi started toward her when one little yaksha dashed up, arms outstretched to block him, shaking its head.
"Guaji!"
Chen Shi stopped. The other little yaksha scampered ahead to a barely noticeable path.
"Guaji guaji!"
Wen Wuyu approached.
"What did they say?"
Chen Shi joined her on the alternate path.
"They said the path you spotted leads to a dead end—the rosy clouds drift over and block it after you climb. Plenty of experts have died up there. This one's the real way to the summit."
Wen Wuyu's eyes widened in surprise.
"Didn't expect saving these little guys would come with perks like this. They're still tailing us! And burning incense for you!"
Chen Shi glanced back. The two little yakshas trailed close behind, each holding aloft a stick of incense, the fragrant smoke wafting toward him.
Chen Shi shook his head.
"Your masters are dead. You're free now—go on, leave."
"Guaji!"
The two little yakshas shook their heads stubbornly, refusing to abandon him.
Chen Shi stuffed some paper money into their hands and waved them off.
"I don't need your help. It's too dangerous ahead—find something safer."
The little yakshas refused the money, incense still raised as they followed.
Wen Wuyu chuckled.
"They're repaying your life-saving grace."
Chen Shi frowned, puzzled.
"Little yakshas have that kind of loyalty?"
Wen Wuyu nodded.
"Some are fiercely loyal. These little ones rarely survive to adulthood—a hundred might yield three or five at best. But treat them right, and they'll follow you to the death."
She had once transformed into a little yaksha and knew their kind intimately.
Clashing sounds erupted from above—the two sides still locked in battle.
The path to the immortal palace was treacherously rugged. Rosy clouds swept through unpredictably, sealing off routes and demanding halts until they passed.
The two little yakshas knew the terrain well, halting Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu just before each surge. Sure enough, rosy clouds drifted from the far side of the rocks—if they'd pressed on rashly, they'd have been bisected.
Flying through was suicide; one misstep amid the erratic drifts meant instant death.
Wen Wuyu thought to herself:
"Without these two little yakshas, we'd have wasted a ton of time."
Nearing the immortal palace, Xiang Kun retreated relentlessly to the platform's edge, nearly tumbling off. He steadied himself, absorbing the backlash raw, blood trickling from his mouth.
His foe beat massive wings, circling the cliff-protruding platform to shed the force before alighting once more.
This was the chain-anchoring platform, the links impossibly thick, threading beneath it.
The mountain path led straight here, now guarded by several winged ghost gods blocking Xiang Kun and his group's retreat.
Xiang Kun, Right Concubine, and the others were cornered on the platform by Feather Country's swarm of young elites. Right Concubine and her allies were wounded, backs to the cliff wall, with Xiang Kun shielding them upfront.
Hot-tempered Chi Zun had a leg shattered. Yan Wu's ghost dolls lay mostly dead, her body riddled with blade wounds. Right Concubine's navel bell had been ripped free, leaving a bloody mess. Gou Xi lay poisoned on the ground.
Their blockers were Feather Country's young powerhouses, mostly bird-winged ghost clans. Leading was a Garuda Clan man, bird-headed human-bodied, his head and face mantled in gray feathers.
Feather Serpent Clan: human heads, serpentine bodies, avian wings.
Xiang Hong Clan: human heads, avian feet, double wings.
"Xiang Kun, word is your father's dead. Heavenly Pool's new king isn't you—it's some skeleton ghost."
The Garuda man sneered.
"Your Heavenly Pool's doomed to fade. Even a skeleton whelp can claim the throne! I overestimated you lot—turns out you're beneath skeleton trash!"
Divine light blazed around Xiang Kun as he charged.
"Lou Che, if you've got the guts, one-on-one to the death!"
The Garuda man smirked. From left and right surged a Xiang Hong and Feather Serpent expert, each a hair shy of Xiang Kun's prowess. Together, they crushed his momentum.
Xiang Kun parried left and right, his flesh body tanking the onslaught. Their wings sliced like blades, tails lashed, claws and fangs all weapons, driving him back—nearly off the cliff again!
He roared in fury, suppressing the urge to manifest his true form.
Of the Elephant Clan, his hide was thick and tough, strength unmatched among ghosts—a superior race with patterns granting ironclad defense.
His bloodline had awakened sixfold, its power tyrannical. True form would amplify it further, but its sheer mass spelled doom here—one rosy sweep, and half his body gone.
Abruptly, the Feather Serpent man's tail lashed out, coiling an elephant leg and yanking hard, dragging him forward.
The Xiang Hong expert's claws raked for his eyes.
Xiang Kun's rage peaked. He pushed his bloodline to the limit—his massive right arm bloomed with intricate, swirling patterns like ancient bird script.
He unleashed a punch at the Xiang Hong expert.
"Mountain Shaking Force!"
With a thunderous bellow, space ahead quaked wildly. The fist invoked a divine ability, shoving surrounding space forward in a crashing wave!
The Elephant Clan's innate gift, awakened naturally with the bloodline.
Xiang Kun had once shifted an entire hillock with it—its might was legendary.
The Xiang Hong expert's face twisted. Before the ability even grazed his claws, they cracked with pops, hooked talons snapping. Even his bloodline couldn't withstand!
Wings thrashed, black winds howled from beneath, blasting frigid qi at Xiang Kun!
"Wind Roar!"
Simultaneously, the Feather Serpent expert triggered his innate—a maw of venomous fire spewed into the gale, wind fanning flames to greater fury!
Golden serpents writhed in the blaze, pulverizing and incinerating all!
Both sixfold bloodline adepts, scarcely inferior alone—united, their abilities merged, halting the Mountain Shaking Force cold.
Their powers ravaged, yet the backlash barely nudged the platform or mountain.
This peak was like an immortal mountain plunged into the underworld—utterly indestructible.
Prince Lou Che burst into laughter, wings carrying him in, slashing downward.
"Xiang Kun, wasn't it one-on-one to the death? Here I am!"
Xiang Kun fended off the pair, no spare strength for the prince. Wings carved his chest, blood spraying as he reeled back, slamming the cliff with a boom.
Lou Che Prince swooped, claws spearing for his skull—sharp enough to pierce bone and delve into brain!
Excitement gleamed in Lou Che's eyes. In his periphery, a pair of ox-headed little ghosts crested the path with two little yakshas in tow.
The ox-heads were male and female: the male sported a topknot between his horns, the female twin pigtails framing hers, bouncing as they ran.
"Two cheeky little imps dare show here?"
The thought had barely formed when the little male ox smashed a path-guarding Feather Country expert's head into the cliff.
His right leg drove into another's groin, then he flipped to Lou Che's left!
"So fast!"
Lou Che reeled inwardly. He'd clamped Xiang Kun's head, poised to crush—when the little female ox ghosted past two dazed and gravely wounded Feather youths, materializing at his right flank.
The pair struck: left leg thrusting, right leg sweeping—one each side, hammering Lou Che's skull!
Ox heads diminutive, yet their power freakish, his mind ringing, senses swimming.
Lou Che moved to counter. The little male half-fisted his throat bone. The female followed with a chin kick.
Lou Che tumbled rearward, mind blank.
"I'm done for!"
Rosy clouds everywhere jolted him. Then his body struck a colossal chain.
The chain shimmered, absorbing the impact, halting him.
The little male ox blazed over, foot pinning his solar plexus. Lou Che spewed blood—only for the male to vault back, crossing the pigtail female as they floored the remaining Feather Serpent and Xiang Hong experts!
The little oxen were terrifyingly swift, bodies tiny and spectral in motion, crippling foes in one or two strikes!
In a blink, all eighteen Feather Country elites lay felled!
Lou Che Prince stifled his wounds, surging up. Innate divine ability activated: mouth yawned, space ahead imploded. The two ox-heads staggered, tumbling toward his maw!
Garuda bloodline: devouring. At full bloom, it gulped hundreds of li—flora, fauna, all!
Lou Che's sixfold awakening was no trifle.
But the ox-heads defied: behind one swirled a blood-lake hellscape, ghost-god power exploding. The other trod a dojo, divine shrine manifesting behind. Rooted like mountains, they slapped out palms.
Lou Che blocked barehanded—vomited blood, aura crumbling.
The little oxen dispersed their visions, exchanged grins, and high-fived with right hands.
Xiang Kun had shut his eyes for death, stunned by the reversal, gaping at the ox-head pair.
Right Concubine, Yan Wu, and Heavenly Pool's young elites stared blankly too. They knew these—the lusty ox-head imps who'd led them here.
But this strength... how?
The two little yakshas crept cautiously through the sprawled titans, incense aloft, tailing Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu.
Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu headed for the chains. Xiang Kun blurted:
"Chen Shi, why save us?"
Chen Shi glanced back, smiled wordlessly, and mounted the chain.
Thicker than a roadway, it felt as steady as an official post road.
Terror twisted Lou Che Prince's face as they neared. He quelled his injuries, clambering upward, shouting over his shoulder:
"Who are you? Why oppose my Feather Country?"
"Because they are my subjects!"
Chen Shi shed his transformation talisman, reverting to skeletal true form, advancing on him with a resonant voice.
"You slaughter my subjects. That I didn't kill you on sight means your ancestors kowtowed swiftly at the ghost gate."
Lou Che cried out in shock:
"You're Heavenly Pool Country's Skeleton King!"
Wen Wuyu dropped her disguise too, true form restored, sighing wistfully.
"Can't keep playing little ox-head. Such a shame."
She stifled a laugh.
"No more tail-tugging for me!"
The pair, yakshas in tow, ascended toward the immortal palace.
Xiang Kun's expression flickered uncertainly, falling silent.
Right Concubine sighed.
"Now that's a true king's bearing. The throne? I covet it no more. Xiang Kun, Yan Wu—whoever wants it, fight on."
You Huan shook his head.
"I'm out too."
Yan Wu nodded.
"He saves us, and I still vie? What kind of monster would that make me?"
The group shook their heads in unison.
"No more."
Xiang Kun snorted faintly.
"Fine, no throne fight. But this immortal fate? That I'll contest."