Crown Prince Lou Che climbed upward along the chains. Looking back, he saw Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu rushing this way, and thought, “The Heavenly Pool Ruler really does have some methods. Even a little skeleton ghost can be this powerful. But he’s still a skeleton, without a true physical body. No physical body means no bloodline, and without a bloodline he can’t gather the tribes’ divine blood to fully awaken his lineage. At best he’s still just a skeleton.”

The Yu Kingdom and the Heavenly Pool Kingdom were neighboring states, populated mostly by winged ghost tribes. The Yu Kingdom followed the same custom as the Heavenly Pool Kingdom: when a new ruler ascended, the tribes would gather their divine blood to cleanse the ruler’s tendons and marrow, boosting the ruler’s bloodline power. That surge would push the new ruler to the ninth tier, turning him into an unrivaled martial powerhouse.

Offering divine blood was a way for the tribes to show loyalty to their ruler; it also ensured the ruler had the power to suppress the tribes if needed; and when enemies loomed, the ruler had to lead from the front. If the ruler’s strength was weak, he would quickly be killed in battle.

Most ghost nations around Yin Mountain observed this rule.

“I’m no match for him, but luckily we aren’t the only ones from Yu Kingdom exploring this immortal hall!”

Lou Che’s eyes flickered. This spot lay on the border between Heavenly Pool and Yu. Once word spread of an immortal presence, many experts from both sides came to investigate — many never returned. Lou Che had followed his uncle Lou Tianyi to inspect the hall.

Lou Tianyi had already led people into the shrine, while Lou Che had been ordered to lead other experts to guard outside and keep others from entering.

Lou Tianyi had awakened an eighth-rank bloodline power and was an overwhelmingly formidable figure, his strength rivaling the clan chieftains of many tribes.

For the ghost tribes, raising bloodline ranks became harder the higher you went, but each later rank brought a far bigger leap in power. The jump from sixth to seventh rank was a huge surge, and from seventh to eighth was even more astonishing.

“With Uncle Tianyi’s strength, wiping them out will be easy!” Lou Che’s eyes flashed as he thought, “The Heavenly Pool Kingdom is about to switch rulers again.”

The immortal hall stood before him. Lou Che dashed in first, but suddenly a blinding light barreled toward him. Alarmed, he leaped back, yet the radiance came on so fiercely it engulfed him.

When the light faded, he found he was not dead but in another strange space.

Lou Che stared blankly at the scene before him and muttered, “What kind of ghost place is this?”

At that moment, light flickered behind him and Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu also burst into this strange area of the hall.

Lou Che panicked and braced himself. Suddenly the clouds beneath his feet turned blood-red, and surging, roaring flames erupted at his soles.

He flapped his wings and flew up frantically, escaping in a panic. Glancing back in haste, he saw a huge sun rising where he had just stood — a fiery orb climbing from the cloudpack, wrapped in crimson light, blazing fiercely and emitting boundless heat.

“What is that thing?” Lou Che trembled in fear.

Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu stood before the slowly rising giant sun, feeling the raging pure yang force of solar true fire emanating from the great sun. Both were inexplicably shaken.

Especially Chen Shi, who suddenly felt an urge to weep.

It matched the book!

At last it corresponded to what was recorded in the texts!

When he had read with Scholar Zhu, Chen Shi had often been puzzled: rising and setting of the sun, the dawn breaking in the east, rising with the sun to work and sleeping when it sets — these lines were completely unintelligible in Western Ox New Continent, they made no sense. He had not understood lone desert smoke, long rivers with round setting suns, nor dusk over distant cold mountains and poor white houses.

Now he could finally comprehend the meaning behind those verses.

The sun rose above their heads and hung in the sky. Chen Shi followed its light and saw a slightly dim white moon hanging on a distant sea of clouds.

There were verdant peaks within the cloud-sea.

Beyond the sky, scattered stars formed a Milky Way.

The starry river here was different from the one he had seen in his little heaven. The Milky Way in the little heaven had stars shaped like pentagrams, six-pointed stars, pagodas, cauldrons, dragons, white tigers — all sorts of bizarre shapes. But in this immortal hall space, stars were just stars: remote suns, each a distant sun, forming a brilliant Milky Way that lit the sky.

“These immortals here aren’t the ghost-tribe immortals, they must be cultivators from the Divine Continent!”

He suddenly realized, “This hall’s space is actually his Realm of Emptiness!”

The style and scale of the hall did not match ghost-tribe aesthetics; it had a clear mortal-world style. The shape of the sun, moon, and stars — especially the Milky Way — matched the starry sky in the small temple, so Chen Shi guessed the hall’s owner must be a cultivator from the True King era who came from the Divine Ancestral Land.

This cultivator had crossed his tribulation in Western Ox New Continent and cultivated into an immortal!

When they entered the hall, they had actually stepped into this immortal’s Realm of Emptiness.

But why had this immortal not ascended? Why had the hall fallen into the underworld?

“Chen Shi, look behind you!” Wen Wuyu’s voice snapped him back.

Chen Shi turned and his mind jolted.

On the other side of the great realm’s sky, the scene was utterly different from what they had just seen. Thick slabs of flesh and blood covered the heavens, climbing like tentacles and stretching outward like spiderwebs. Thin membranes connected different scraps of flesh.

Suddenly countless threadlike pieces of flesh and blood fell from the nearby sky, cascading down hundreds of zhang before finally stopping.

Many patches of flesh writhed slowly, entangling the surface of a colossal being.

That colossal thing was a star, now filthy and covered in flesh, though through the meat-film Chen Shi could still make out intricate talisman patterns engraved on its surface.

They were talismanic runes of the Wounded-Sky Star!

Divine manifestation names and divine language were etched on the star; starfire still flowed, but it had been contaminated by the flesh.

Those masses of flesh slowly dragged the Wounded-Sky Star upward, pulling it into the sky.

Chen Shi looked up and saw one star after another wrapped in flesh hanging from the firmament.

All the stars on that half of the sky had been corrupted!

Even the cloud-sea looked polluted: within the mist, thick strips of flesh crawled through the clouds like sluggish earthworms, a segment of their bodies poking out before sinking back into the cloud-sea.

“This immortal has been corrupted!” Terror gripped him.

At that moment the sun moved into the polluted sky and its light shone, refining away evil qi. Where the sun passed, blood-flesh in the cloud-sea scurried away, and the hanging flesh sizzled under the solar true fire and retreated. The sky began to clear bit by bit.

Chen Shi exhaled in relief. “This immortal is trying to save himself!”

The cloud-sea beneath their feet suddenly convulsed. Massive flesh tentacles tore through the clouds and surged into the other half of the sky with a hissing sound, rushing toward the great sun!

The blazing sun unleashed true solar fire that roasted the flesh until it burned, the air foul with stench.

Yet still more flesh burst from the clouds like spears, stabbing into the sun and injecting it with corrupting qi!

The sun refined and burned those bits of flesh into ash with crackling pops, segment by segment.

But wherever the sun passed, new flesh kept striking in and piercing it, gradually dimming the sun’s light.

The sun continued on its own path, deeper into the corrupted sky, but its radiance grew steadily paler and more ominous.

Suddenly the moon also sped into the tainted sky, orbiting the sun. The moon reflected the sun’s light and brightened; where moonlight fell, the flesh froze and burst with loud cracks, tumbling down.

The sun’s glow likewise brightened. As moon and sun circled each other, yin and yang forces erupted again and again, endlessly purifying and pulverizing the invading flesh into dust!

Chen Shi watched with his heart in his throat.

“The flesh is trying to pollute the sun! This immortal is using yin-yang purgation to try to break free of the corruption and restore order!”

Just as he realized this, he noticed something rapidly moving within the cloud-layer beneath him and hurriedly leaped away on bolts of thunder several li.

Wen Wuyu’s foot left a trail of firelight and she leaped out beside him. Looking back, they saw the clouds where they had stood erupt as strips of flesh lunged up to snare them but missed.

From afar came Lou Che’s shrieks. Chen Shi looked over and saw him hastily flying through the air, evading the flesh tentacles’ attacks.

He had been wounded by Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu and could not fly as fast as before. He was in grave danger of being caught.

Just then the clouds roiled and a thousand-zhang ghost-god burst through the mists, wings beating as it tore open a path. It wielded a wind-and-fire staff hundreds of zhang long. Swinging the staff sent wind and flame roaring through the air, scorching the flesh back and rescuing Lou Che.

“Uncle!” Lou Che cried with mixed shock and joy.

The bird-headed deity was Lou Tianyi, an eighth-rank bloodline powerhouse of Yu Kingdom, his aura domineering. With a lift of his hand Lou Che involuntarily flew and landed on his shoulder. Lou Tianyi’s voice rumbled like muffled thunder: “Your Highness, weren’t you supposed to be guarding outside? Why enter the hall? This place is extremely dangerous. If I hadn’t heard your voice, you’d likely be dead!”

One by one, ghost-gods of Yu Kingdom flew out of the clouds and landed beside Lou Tianyi — the Yu experts who had followed him, all eighth-rank bloodline powerhouses.

At the same time, Xiang Kun, the Right Consort, and other young Heavenly Pool experts also entered and appeared on the cloud-sea, looking around in bewilderment. Two little yaksha had even entered the hall and held incense aloft; when they saw Chen Shi, they hurried over.

“Your Majesty!”

The Right Consort, Witch Yan, Yuan Dragon and others walked over and bowed to Chen Shi. Xiang Kun snorted, somewhat unwilling, but still came forward and saluted Chen Shi.

“Don’t put on airs,” the Right Consort whispered a kick to his shin, low-voiced. “Act well — maybe His Majesty will name you crown prince.”

Xiang Kun sputtered, “He’s a skeleton ghost, how could he name me crown prince?”

The Right Consort said, “Can he produce offspring? How would he raise a son? He’d have to adopt one. You have a chance.”

Xiang Kun wanted to use his trunk to strangle her.

But in this moment Yu Kingdom’s forces were dominant. If they remained disunited, they wouldn’t survive here long enough to seek an immortal fate — they’d die outright.

Lou Che’s voice rang out: “Uncle, over there is the new ruler of Heavenly Pool! And Crown Prince Xiang Kun!”

Lou Tianyi’s gaze flashed like lightning, sweeping over. “If that’s the case, Heavenly Pool should just change rulers and crown prince!”

Xiang Kun snapped, “I am the former ruler’s crown prince, not his son!”

“It’s all the same!” Lou Tianyi strode forward with murderous intent.

Chen Shi furrowed his brow slightly and summoned Stone Ji Your Ladyship.

Stone Ji flew out of the small temple, her apricot-shaped eyes turned upward, and she yelled, “What demon fiend is this? Kneel before me at once!”

Chen Shi murmured, “Your Ladyship, they have greater numbers.”

Stone Ji smiled. “Envoy, rest assured. When did this palace ever fear? Make them come and one dies, come two and both die! Hmm, what treasure are they holding?”

Her expression shifted slightly as her gaze landed on the wind-and-fire staff in Lou Tianyi’s hands.

Chen Shi looked at Crown Prince Xiang Kun and asked, “Prince, do you recognize it?”

Xiang Kun wondered, “Does he really think of me as his son?”

He felt annoyed but still replied, “This item is called the Wind-and-Fire Staff, the national treasure of Yu. When driven, wind and fire converge and form a golden dragon-serpent in the gusts that coils unending. A single strike breaks anything.”

Chen Shi said quietly, “Your Ladyship, that Garuda ghost-god used this staff to repel the flesh attacks just now. These masses of flesh are mostly true-immortal flesh…”

Stone Ji laughed, “Envoy need not worry. I have my own plans.”

She thought privately, If I can’t hold off the wind-and-thunder staff, I’ll drop the envoy and run for my life.

Just as the two sides were about to clash, a small Dao child burst from the clouds. He looked left and right, straightened his little cap, and smiled, “Honored guests, I am the host here. Could you show me a little favor and not kill each other?”

Chen Shi’s heart skipped a beat and he blurted, “You are the owner of this hall?!”

The small Dao child turned and, surprised, said, “A mortal cultivator, too! I’m Tianzhen, polite, very polite!”

He bowed repeatedly, smiling, “This is my Realm of Emptiness. I’ve been working hard to suppress the corruption. If you fight here I’m afraid I can’t contain it and I’ll end up harming you. Please, please don’t fight!”

He spoke in ghost language, but Lou Tianyi, Xiang Kun and the others all understood.

“So this isn’t an immortal hall of our ghost tribes?” Lou Tianyi said, very disappointed.

Tianzhen Daoist smiled, “No. I am a Daoist of Tai Hua Qingyang Palace. When the True King sought to eliminate all hopeful immortals, I fled here to hide. The corruption followed and I had to stay secluded.”

Chen Shi grew more astonished and asked, “Sir, are you the founding master of Tai Hua Qingyang Palace? I heard when the Three Treasures Eunuch discovered Western Ox New Continent, eighteen Daoists helped Ming soldiers exorcise demons, fifteen died. The remaining three founded Tai Hua Qingyang Palace. What is your relation to those three?”

Tianzhen laughed, “You mean those three founding masters. I’m a junior disciple of the True Yang Patriarch, not those three. The True Yang Patriarch called me ‘naive’ because of my simple heart and gave me the name Tianzhen, saying I had a sincere path toward Dao and would surely achieve great success. But we never called it Tai Hua Qing Palace — we called it Tai Hua Qingyang Palace.”

He laughed and showed two little tiger teeth. “We really did have a green ram on our mountain.”

Chen Shi couldn’t help but tell the truth. “After the ram vanished, you started calling it Qing Palace.”

Tianzhen was shocked. “Vanished? Who stole it?”

Chen Shi hesitated. “A bad man named Chen…”

Tianzhen froze, shook his head and said, “If it’s gone, it’s gone. I could barely keep myself safe; I don’t ask about such things. I indeed refined to a high level, but the True King wanted me dead and sent many experts and even used the True Yang Patriarch’s True Martial Exorcising Sword brought from the ancestral land to try to kill me.”

He looked puzzled. “So I ran and ran until I hid here. I hadn’t done anything wrong; I don’t know why they wanted to kill me.”

He sounded sorrowful. “Even my master wanted me dead, otherwise they wouldn’t have used the True Martial Exorcising Sword. But I never did anything wrong…”

Lou Tianyi dispersed his true form and returned to a figure just over a zhang tall as he approached. “If this is not a hall of our ghost-tribe immortals, can you send us out?”

Tianzhen replied, “Of course. I came out to tell you not to fight, to be amicable, and then I will send you away. Are you here for treasure? I only practice cultivation — no treasures… I’ll draw a protective talisman for each of you!”

He waved his finger and drew in the air; soon celestial light condensed and a talisman appeared on each person, attaching to their skin before fading.

Crown Prince Xiang Kun asked, “Have you seen my father here? Do you know how he died?”

Tianzhen questioned him about his father’s appearance. Xiang Kun described him and Tianzhen sighed, “He did come here. Many came and ruckused here. I sent them out — they died?”

Xiang Kun nodded.

Tianzhen sighed and lightly waved. A portal split open on the cloud-sea, leading straight out of the hall.

One after another they filed through.

“Wait!” Tianzhen called to Chen Shi, scrutinizing him. He frowned, “You seem to have the same symptoms I do… you’ve been possessed by corrupt energy!”

Chen Shi grew excited. “You can tell? Do you have a cure?”

Tianzhen smiled, “I’m just a junior disciple who tended the alchemical furnace for the True Yang Patriarch, not a master. I can’t fully cure it, but I have a yin-yang purgation method that can suppress the corruption. If you want to learn, I’ll teach you.”

Chen Shi recalled the sun and moon circling and purging the flesh — indeed a powerful technique — and immediately expressed his thanks.

Tianzhen taught him the yin-yang purgation: an internal observation method using the eyes as sun and moon to inspect oneself, as if sun and moon shone simultaneously, purging evil qi. At deep levels this could form a Dao manifestation; sun and moon would appear in the cultivator’s Primordial Spirit Dao Field and orbit, helping suppress corrupt nature. At the Return to Emptiness realm one could open the void and project sun and moon into the Realm of Emptiness, endlessly purging and avoiding corruption.

“This came to me when I tended the furnace. This method can let you cultivate to Ascension, but what happens beyond Ascension I don’t know.” Tianzhen pondered and shook his head. “I’m too stupid. I’ve thought all these years and couldn’t figure out the rest… Oh, I have the True Martial Exorcising Sword of the Patriarch. When you leave, take this sword back to Tai Hua Qingyang Palace and return it to them. Do me a favor — tell the True Yang Patriarch I want to return home. I didn’t do anything bad. Please ask him to intercede for me with the True King…”

He was heartbroken. “I so want to go home. Please, fellow Daoist!”

He bowed deeply to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi returned the bow and hesitated, his lips twitching. He still did not tell him that the True King was already dead, then turned and left this Realm of Emptiness.

He reappeared inside the hall. Xiang Kun and the others had not yet left and stood inside the shrine.

Wen Wuyu nudged him and pointed behind him.

Chen Shi turned and saw the small Dao child seated on a meditation cushion with his back to them.

The child held an immortal sword in both hands, and the sword radiated streaks of twilight light.

Half of the child’s body was whole; the other half was stripped of flesh and long dead.

He had not escaped the True Martial Exorcising Sword.

Chen Shi steadied himself, stepped forward, bowed to the small Dao child, took the True Martial Exorcising Sword, and said softly, “Tianzhen Dao-brother, rest assured. I will return this sword to Qingyang Palace and have them welcome you home!”

The small Dao child seemed to hear him. On the remaining half of his face, a faint smile appeared.

— Big chapter, please vote monthly ticket!