Chapter 371
Chapter 371
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 373
Chapter Title: Demon Suppression Cavern, Sun Stone
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Chen Shi and the Qiongyang Ancestor each set down their Luoyang shovels, one standing at the east of the grave, the other at the west.
The two exchanged a glance, their faces both somewhat grave.
Yu Lingzi couldn't help running over. "Ancestor, Martial Uncle, it's getting dark. We need to hurry... Eh? Where's Sect Leader Jinghong's corpse?"
He looked at the Daoist robe, his heart jolting. "Did the old sect leader come back to life as a zombie?"
The Qiongyang Ancestor said, "If Senior Brother Jinghong had corpse-liberated to become a ghost immortal, that would be a good thing. Why hide it and fake his death with an empty tomb?"
Chen Shi put away his Luoyang shovel in his little temple. "Ancestor, I have many demons lurking inside me..."
The Qiongyang Ancestor smiled. "Little Ten, call me Grandma. We're closer that way, mother and son. I know about the demons in your body. Back when we first revived you, that cyan ghost hand killed you multiple times, and demons took over your body each time. At first, your grandpa was hopping mad with anxiety."
Chen Shi's heart trembled slightly. He knew he had died many times, but he hadn't realized it had happened even before he had memories!
Grandpa had never told him about these things.
He hesitated, then said, "Qiongyang Grandma, the demons in my body have been mostly purged. It's not as dangerous as before. My dad said only a few heavenly disasters remain inside."
The Qiongyang Ancestor's face grew grave as she quietly took a step back.
When Chen Shi was first rescued, the cyan ghost hand wrought havoc, causing him to die repeatedly and demons to emerge each time. But heavenly disasters had never appeared!
The danger of heavenly disasters was ten or dozens of times greater than that of demons.
She wasn't afraid of demons, but heavenly disasters were extraordinarily perilous!
Chen Shi continued, "For some reason, this heavenly disaster passed the primordial star chart to my dad and the others."
He recounted the matter of the primordial star chart. "Granny Sha, Uncle Du, and the others speculate that with the primordial star chart, we can calculate the positions of the obscured star clusters and correctly merge with heaven and earth without turning evil. Without the right star chart, merging leads only to corruption. If Sect Leader Jinghong corpse-liberated to merge with heaven and earth, I'm afraid..."
The Qiongyang Ancestor furrowed her brows slightly. "If he can't correctly merge with heaven and earth, you're certain he'll turn evil?"
Chen Shi nodded lightly. "I've confirmed it personally."
He followed the True King era's cultivation system and had already begun to corrupt at the Body Integration Realm!
Without Naive Daoist's Yin-Yang Tempering and the white-clothed female immortal yanking out that strange hair of his, his flesh would likely have mutated by now.
Yu Lingzi listened, his heart pounding with shock. Since returning from Western Capital, aside from beating a few senior brothers, he'd spent most of his time confined in the Demon Suppression Cavern. Just released, and now he was hearing all these terrifying secrets!
The Qiongyang Ancestor gazed at the Daoist robe in the coffin, lost in thought.
Jinghong was still alive.
Jinghong might have turned evil.
If Jinghong had turned evil, how great would the harm of a ghost immortal be?
Would it reach disaster level?
"If he's turned evil, where would he hide?" she murmured.
Chen Shi's eyes flickered. "Ancestor, we have Sect Leader Jinghong's Daoist robe here. I have a method to locate his true body. If he's still in the mortal world, finding him shouldn't be difficult."
The Qiongyang Ancestor's eyes lit up, and she smiled. "Good. Then let's find him first!"
Chen Shi cut off a corner of the robe, holding it between two fingers. He silently recited a divine incantation and gave it a shake. The cloth corner fluttered up like a butterfly, drifting through the air.
The Qiongyang Ancestor waved her hand, sealing Sect Leader Jinghong's grave.
The two set off with Blackie Pot, drifting away.
Yu Lingzi hesitated, then kowtowed a few times to Sect Leader Jinghong's grave with resounding thumps before flying after them.
Night had fallen.
The bright moon had risen early in the mid-heavens, its silvery light spilling over the mountains. But the mountains had light and shadow; in places the moonlight couldn't reach, darkness seemed to flow, clawing and writhing as it probed and invaded outward.
Yet across Taihua Mountain, powerful spirits and manifestations appeared everywhere, guarding their domains. Evil could not pass.
On Taihua Mountain, palaces bloomed with light, especially Qingyang Palace, which was ablaze with lanterns.
Chen Shi and the other two humans and one dog followed the fluttering cloth corner in flight. In the night, under the moonlight, the cloth corner flipped and danced, not moving too quickly.
The Qiongyang Ancestor looked toward the various sizes of spirits and manifestations in the mountains. To ordinary eyes, the mountains were just mountains, nothing unusual. But to a great cultivator like her, colossal gods stood tall between heaven and earth amid the peaks.
Spirits were powerful beings born from refined monsters absorbing heaven and earth's righteous qi over time. Manifestations were divine forms born from incense and extraordinary power.
"There are far fewer spirits and manifestations in the mountains than when Sect Leader Jinghong was alive," she suddenly said.
Chen Shi's heart jolted, and he blurted, "Sect Leader Jinghong is still on the mountain! He's turned evil and devoured these spirits and manifestations!"
His mind stirred. Jinghong, as former sect leader of Taihua Qing Palace, must know many secrets of Taihua Qing Palace—perhaps even the burial place of Naive Daoist.
Naive Daoist had sealed himself with the Golden Bell Prohibition Art to avoid wreaking havoc in the underworld. The one who broke the seal used a wisp of immortal fire, precisely burning the core of the Golden Bell Prohibition Art and releasing the immortal hall.
As sect leader, Jinghong was intimately familiar with Taihua Qing Palace's techniques.
As a ghost immortal, he could wield immortal fire.
Could Jinghong be the one who tried to release Naive Daoist and corrupt him?
If so, what was his goal?
Yu Lingzi said, "If Sect Leader Jinghong is hiding in Taihua Qing Palace devouring spirits and manifestations, he must have a hiding place. Otherwise, he'd have been discovered long ago."
Just as he spoke, horror dawned on his face. The cloth corner was flying toward Wenxu Peak.
And its trajectory was straight toward the Demon Suppression Cavern!
"Sect Leader Jinghong is hiding in the Demon Suppression Cavern?" His face turned ashen.
These past months since returning from Western Capital, he'd been cultivating in the Demon Suppression Cavern. If the corrupted Sect Leader Jinghong was hiding there, hadn't he been at risk of dying in Jinghong's clutches at any moment?
"What is the Demon Suppression Cavern?" Chen Shi asked.
The Qiongyang Ancestor's face was grave. "It's the place Taihua Qing Palace uses to suppress demons. Back then, demon heads rampaged here, possessing flesh bodies of extremely high prowess, hard to kill. So the Eighteen Daoists destroyed their flesh, gathered their demon souls, selected a pure yang earthly vein, laid layer upon layer of seals, trapping the demon souls here to suppress them. Hoping the pure yang earthly fire would refine the demon souls away."
Hearing this, Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Sect Leader Jinghong chose this place probably to suppress his evil nature and corruption. Seems he still has his wits."
"Little Ten, Yu Lingzi, hold steady!"
The Qiongyang Ancestor carried the two into the Demon Suppression Cavern. It was a massive stone grotto with vast inner space. Many Daoists sat on the stone walls, some for so long their eyebrows and beards had grown extremely long, draping down from the walls.
This was a demon suppression site, but also a pure yang holy land. Chen Shi immediately felt incomparably dense pure yang qi surging from below ground.
The pure yang qi burst forth like thunder at the end of winter and start of spring, invigorating life and lifting the spirits.
Yu Lingzi whispered, "The Daoists on the walls often come to sever their three corpses and refine pure yang bodies, so there are many."
Chen Shi saw some Daoists with white hair, looking seventy or eighty. Puzzled, he asked, "These Daoists are so old—why haven't they severed their three corpses? Are the three corpse gods really that strong?"
The Qiongyang Ancestor glanced at the old Daoists. "The three corpse gods are naturally powerful. After experiencing male-female pleasures, the lower corpse god becomes extraordinarily tyrannical, the Peng Jiao hard to remove. With gluttony, the Peng Zhui is hard to dispel. With extreme luxury and indulgence, the Peng Ju is hard to resolve. These few Daoists either had romantic dalliances in youth, came from wealthy families, or crave fine foods, so they struggle to refine pure yang bodies."
Chen Shi felt a chill in his heart. "I must sever my three corpses before starting a family."
The Qiongyang Ancestor smiled. "At your age, severing them too early would be counterproductive. You're young and don't know the taste of love; sever them now, and you'll never crave romance, becoming detached and desireless—which isn't ideal. You need to marry, taste it fully, then sever the three corpse gods. That way, affection remains without hindering you, avoiding heartlessness."
Chen Shi turned to Yu Lingzi. "Yu Lingzi, do you understand?"
Yu Lingzi smiled. "Of course I do. Ancestor's meaning is you need to marry a wife to sever the three corpses. Martial Uncle, don't you get it?"
Chen Shi laughed. "Haha, of course I do. I was worried you didn't."
The two exchanged knowing smiles, as if they both got it.
"Does Pot Grandpa get it?" Yu Lingzi asked.
Blackie Pot also looked like he totally got it.
As they spoke, the Qiongyang Ancestor led them against the fierce pure yang righteous qi deeper into the mountain. Ahead loomed a massive stone gate covered in intricate talisman patterns and seals, incredibly complex.
The cloth corner had reached the gate.
The Qiongyang Ancestor flew straight up, pressing her palm forward. "Open—"
The talismans on the stone gate shifted restlessly. As they approached, the gate rumbled open.
The cloth corner flew inside. The Qiongyang Ancestor followed with the two humans and one dog close behind.
The stone gate sealed shut behind them.
Inside the gate, red light filled the space, emanating from nowhere—like illumination from every point in space itself—no shadows anywhere.
"Legend says a sun stone fell from the sky here, crashing into West Ox New Continent and forming this pure yang holy land."
The Qiongyang Ancestor said, "So the founding ancestors chose this place to refine demons, hoping to burn them away."
Chen Shi puzzled, "Sun stone? A stone from the sun?"
The Qiongyang Ancestor said, "Not the True God's two eyes, of course. I've read the notes left by the Three Saints. They say there's a sun stone in the Demon Suppression Cavern—solar golden crystal, not the True God's eyes, but flown from true yang and fallen to earth."
Chen Shi sensed the pure yang qi here was even denser, as was the demonic qi. The deeper they flew into the mountain, the hotter it got, the pure yang righteous qi and demonic qi intensifying!
The demonic qi was so potent even the Qiongyang Ancestor frowned, feeling faintly uneasy.
With such heavy demonic qi, without the dense pure yang qi, it would surely affect her Dao heart.
Her robes fluttering, she led Chen Shi and the others through the long mountain body straight to the depths below.
Here the red light blazed, making everyone seem like tiny black specks.
Yu Lingzi had never been here either, feeling his heart race.
Suddenly, in the brilliant crimson light below floated massive black vats, over two men tall, hovering motionless.
The Qiongyang Ancestor led them past vat after vat, tracking the dancing cloth corner.
Chen Shi roughly counted—over a hundred black vats. He thought, "These vats must hold the demons suppressed by generations of ancestors. Taihua Qing Palace's ancestors were impressive; the demons they've suppressed are about on par with those in my body."
The Qiongyang Ancestor followed the cloth corner, but ahead the black vats ended—yet the cloth kept going. She frowned.
She had come to the Demon Suppression Cavern before with Chen Shi's grandpa Chen Yindu, probing its secrets, but never this deep.
What slightly reassured her was that though Jinghong had become a ghost immortal, he hadn't lost his reason. If he had, releasing the demons from these black vats would be catastrophic!
All the Daoists cultivating in the Demon Suppression Cavern would die horribly, possessed by these demons!
Suddenly, enormous blood-red tentacles came into view ahead.
The thick tentacles' front ends connected to the cavern walls above, below, left, right; the other ends tapered thinner, linking to an old Daoist's back.
The old Daoist hung in midair by these blood-red tentacles, head drooping, motionless.
The cloth corner flew to the old Daoist and landed on him.
"Senior Brother Jinghong!"
The Qiongyang Ancestor slowed, raising her sleeve to shield Chen Shi and the others behind her as she approached warily. "I never imagined you'd achieve ghost immortality. I underestimated you, little sister that I am. Since you've become a ghost immortal, why hide here? Come back to Qingyang Palace with me, Senior Brother..."
She reached for the old Daoist's hand—then froze, lunging forward to grip his wrist tightly.
With a gentle squeeze, the wrist shriveled, mere skin without flesh!
The Qiongyang Ancestor yanked hard. The blood-red tentacles detached from the walls one after another—also empty husks without flesh!
"Senior Brother Jinghong has shed his shell and ascended!" Her face changed.
Chen Shi looked ahead and saw another old Daoist, just like the last, tentacles sprouting from his back to the walls.
He stepped forward and saw a third Jinghong Sect Leader, then a fourth, fifth, sixth...
"Jinghong has shed multiple times!"
The Qiongyang Ancestor pressed on to the end, where a small palace appeared—humble inside, with only a simple bed, signs someone had lived here.
Chen Shi looked up at a mural in the palace. "He's cultivating the Golden Cicada Shell-Shedding Heavenly Immortal Diagram!"
The mural depicted a golden cicada shedding—not a cicada, but humanoid. Skin split from the back as a bloody humanoid creature emerged from the husk.
Such transformation required multiple sheddings, each more painful, but the more times, the closer to immortality.
Chen Shi's heart lurched as he spotted an irregular stone in the palace, about a zhang across.
The stone sat on an altar, radiating intense pure yang righteous qi!
Flames blazed around it—clearly where Sect Leader Jinghong refined immortal fire, burning Naive Daoist's seal!
"After becoming a ghost immortal, Sect Leader Jinghong lived here. He gathered solar essence to refine pure yang immortal fire! That immortal fire that nearly blew us up was made here!"
"But why? Why corrupt Naive Daoist?"
Just then, Yu Lingzi said, "Sect Leader Jinghong isn't here—where did he go?"
The Qiongyang Ancestor's face changed as she hurried outward. "He's hunting! Accumulating power for his next shedding!"