Chapter 1747: Ghost King Pt. 2
Yan Xuehen remained silent. She had spent many years in the world of warriors, and because of her beauty, she had attracted all kinds of annoying trouble. What dangerous schemes hasn’t she experienced? Furthermore, the White Jade Sect had some treasures that guarded against poison as well, so she didn’t fear such things. Of course, there was no need for her to explain any of that to the boss.
The boss roared, “What are you all scared of? Just attack her together!”
The underlings drew their blades. As people who worked in the daylight robbery industry, which one of them wasn't a vicious and ruthless individual? They quickly rushed at Yan Xuehen while shouting.
However, a gust of frigid wind blew. Before they could even react, they felt as if all of the blood in their bodies had been frozen. Then, all that followed was endless darkness.
When she saw the sinister faces perfectly preserved on those frozen statues, Yan Xuehen sighed and remarked, “Amid the chaos of war, the weak are prey to the strong. The people become cruel and ignorant. No wonder there are demons and ghosts running amok.”
After coming to this world, she had discovered that there wasn’t even a single good person left. It truly was a saddening sight.
…
Meanwhile, after passing Sphinx’s test, Zhao Han’s group began to look around for clues related to this world.
Unfortunately, the shoddy house they had appeared in was surrounded only by a desolate wasteland, uninhabited for a thousand miles. As the party sighed at the barrenness of the world, a strange creature suddenly passed by.
The thing was completely covered in black mist, and its body appeared to have been pieced together from different corpses. Furthermore, each part still squirmed from time to time. There were many human faces all over its body, all bearing sinister and malevolent expressions, as if they were experiencing endless agony.
Even Xuan Bajing and Li Changsheng, who had experienced all sorts of things, jumped in fear. Only Zhao Han remained calm. He sized up the creature while wondering where its strength originated from.
When it saw the three of them, the monster released a nasty-sounding laugh. “Kek kek kek, I can smell the delicious scent of blood essence from your bodies! Come, enter my embrace…” It vanished after speaking.
Xuan Bajing and Li Changsheng were both extremely alarmed. They reflexively tried to dodge, but they were seriously injured, so they were a bit too slow. As every single cell in their body felt as if it were frantically warning them, their thoughts turned ice-cold.
Who would have thought that we would end up dying in the belly of this kind of monster? It’s even worse than being killed by the emperor, as that would have been a more heroic death…
Suddenly, Zhao Han’s hands clamped down on both of their shoulders, and they were instantly moved back around a hundred feet. Mere moments later, the monster appeared where they had just been. When it appeared, it instantly devoured the nearby flowers and plants, and even a large boulder.
Li Changsheng and Xuan Bajing swallowed with great difficulty. If they had entered that ‘embrace’, wouldn’t they have been instantly digested?
“Hm?” the monster exclaimed, clearly a bit surprised by their speed. The head at the very top suddenly opened its mouth and roared.
A shrill, ear-splitting noise tore through the air. Li Changsheng and Xuan Bajing were both grandmasters who had even cultivated yang spirits, but they were seriously injured, so the noise made them feel extremely miserable. It was an attack targeted at the soul!
At the same time, the monster teleported again. The black mist-covered corpses on its body began to separate, surrounding the group from all directions.
Li Changsheng and Xuan Bajing both drew their longswords, sending sword ki ripples through the corpses one after another. However, corpses were naturally already dead. As they were sliced through, they fell to the ground, but they were soon wrapped in black fog again and raised to fight once more.
Li Changsheng and Xuan Bajing’s expressions changed. These things were too strange! They advanced endlessly and couldn't even be killed! Furthermore, the two could feel that the yin spirits they had attached to their swords were being corroded by the black mist.
Suddenly, a streak of golden light flashed past them, and the corpses screamed miserably and collapsed. A large golden hand passed straight through the black mist and grabbed the monster behind it. The mist seemed almost as if it had been burned by the sun, melting away as the golden light touched it.
The monster struggled frantically as it screamed in pain. It had never expected this person to be so strong! Its vitality had been greatly damaged when he broke through its skill. Who knew how many more people it would have to devour to recover again?
Zhao Han looked at the golden hand, which had started sizzling from the black mist’s corrosion. He frowned and asked, “Just what kind of monster are you?”
However, the monster didn’t respond to his question and instead cursed, “I’m working under the Ghost King! The Ghost King won’t let you all off if you kill me!”
“Ghost King?” Zhao Han asked with a frown. “What kind of thing is that?”
The monster was stunned, and a fearful expression appeared on its face as it replied, “You… dare to disgrace the Ghost King? You’re dead for sure! Your soul won’t even be able to reincarnate!”
With a snort, Zhao Han’s hand erupted with golden light. The monster screamed miserably, and all the black fog disappeared. Its true form resembled a shriveled black dog.
“Who is the Ghost King?” Zhao Han asked with a threatening gaze.
The monster was gripped with excruciating pain and could only reply, “The Ghost King is the ruler of all ghosts, one who is incomparably powerful! All of us monsters need to obey his orders…”
“You said you were working under the Ghost King? What was your task?” Zhao Han continued asking.
The monster clearly hesitated, but it couldn't withstand the golden light coming from Zhao Han’s body and said, “Baopuzi! I was given the order to find the Baopuzi!”[1]
“Baopuzi?” Zhao Han repeated, stunned. The name sounded a bit similar to a certain book.
“It’s something Immortal Ruler Baopu created with all his knowledge, rumored to contain the method of immortal ascension! The Ghost King wishes to become a ghost immortal, so he sent all of his people to find the Baopuzi for him…” the monster quickly said.
“This world really has a method for immortal ascension?” Zhao Han exclaimed, breathing hurriedly. He had used countless resources over the years, and yet he had never been able to find a method of immortality. Now, his heaven and man deterioration was drawing near, so his desire for immortality was even stronger.
Even Li Changsheng and Xuan Bajing perked up their ears. After all, immortality was something that was desired by every cultivator. In their world, achieving immortality was nothing more than a pipe dream, but they hadn’t expected this world to actually have some clues!
“I don’t know. The road to immortality was severed, and for a long time, there were no immortals. However, when Immortal Ruler Baopu appeared, he left an entire generation stunned. Later, it was rumored that he ascended to immortality. That’s why the Ghost King wants to find his Baopuzi to consult it,” the monster replied.
“Where is the Baopuzi?” Zhao Han shouted.
“That’s…” The monster hesitated, but when it recalled the pain it had gone through, it still quickly replied, “I heard that a great tomb appeared by the Zhi River. The things that emerged from that tomb were related to Immortal Ruler Baopu. Furthermore, the Zhi River is also where Immortal Ruler Baopu previously found his dao, which is why people suspect there might be some discoveries to be made in that tomb.”
“And where is this Zhi River?” Zhao Han asked. The monster gave him a rough description.
Li Changsheng couldn't help but say, “It’s so far away. Will you even make it in time if you go now? Everything inside might already have been looted by other strong people nearby!”
The monster replied, “The great tomb has a powerful seal covering it. It isn’t the time for it to open yet. I should be able to make it in time.”
Li Changsheng and Xuan Bajing exchanged a look. Both of them wanted to look around inside. If even the Ghost King was interested in the Baopuzi, perhaps it would really have some clues to immortality. Unfortunately, they knew they could only follow Zhao Han’s orders right now.
Zhao Han looked down at the monster in his hands and asked, “How does that Ghost King’s strength compare to mine?”
The monster’s face distorted as it said, “Even though you’re strong, you’re still far from the Ghost King. It would be best to let me go, or else…”
Zhao Han snorted. Golden light flashed in his hand, and the monster was crushed into dust.
“Your majesty, what should we do now?” the two grandmasters carefully asked.
“This monster had some strength. That Ghost King must be extraordinary to be able to make it act under those orders,” Zhao Han said. He fell silent for a moment before saying, “Either way, we don’t know much. We might as well take a look around that Zhi River.”
His experience in all sorts of secret dungeons had informed him that there were often special missions that had to be done before they would successfully pass and be allowed to leave. Now, it seemed the mission was most likely related to the Baopuzi. There were supposed to be secrets to immortality hidden inside, so he naturally had to take a look.
The two grandmasters were overjoyed, saying, “Your majesty will naturally be successful in every endeavor!”
…
Meanwhile, in Ruo Lan Temple, Zu An stared at the stunning beauty in front of him. He was briefly left absent-minded. Forget about Wei Suo, even he had reflexively felt that this Grandmother had to be a disgusting monster because of all the ghost movies he had watched. That Great Sister or whatever seemed to have matched that impression. Thus, he had never expected Grandmother to be such a gorgeous woman. He couldn't even sense the slightest trace of sinister energy from her. On the contrary, she seemed like the precious daughter of a great clan. Furthermore, she seemed a bit familiar. She looked a bit like a certain female celebrity in his previous world…
“You dare to stare at me like that? Are you tired of living?” the woman snapped, her expression cold. She waved her sleeve, and countless specks of green light flashed over.
“Huh? Why am I blooming with flowers?” Wei Suo cried in alarm, raising his arms. Traces of green appeared on his skin, and young green sprouts burst through. Then, in just a few breaths of time, the green sprouts grew bigger, producing leaves, and then a small white flower. Even more horrifyingly, more and more sprouts began appearing and creating little flowers. They began to extend toward his entire body. He was horrified, but he couldn't stop those sprouts no matter what he did.
Zu An also felt many fine things starting to stir in his flesh, as if they were absorbing the power in his flesh and wanted to break out. However, his body was too sturdy and they couldn't break out. He harrumphed and used the power of the Fire Phoenix. Pure fire elemental energy cleansed his entire body, and all of those little things were burned away.
At the same time, he looked at Qiu Honglei worriedly. He saw that she wasn’t experiencing the same thing as Wei Suo; instead, she shone with light, blocking the glowing green specks. There were some that touched the protective barrier, but they quickly grew dim and fell to the ground. She was clearly using a defensive skill of the light element.
Zu An looked at the green specks. They looked like seeds… No, they were smaller than seeds, and actually resembled spores. They were so small that they were easy to inhale into one’s body. Then, they would take root and grow. Such things really were difficult to defend against.
When he saw that she was fine, Zu An moved closer to Wei Suo. He grabbed the arm that was blooming with flowers, then used the phoenix’ flames to burn all the sprouts and little white flowers away. However, Wei Suo screamed miserably, as if the fire was burning his flesh.
The stunning woman was shocked to see that Zu An and Qiu Honglei were actually unaffected. She couldn't help but say with a sneer, “It’s useless. They’ve already become one with his flesh. To a certain degree, those sprouts and flowers are part of his own body. If you burn away those sprouts, it will be no different from burning his body.”
Zu An’s expression darkened. This attack really was treacherous. If he didn’t do anything, wouldn’t Wei Suo end up turning into a plant?
“You dared to kill my disciple, so this is the price you must pay,” the beautiful woman said. Her expression was ice-cold, as if she were saying something completely expected.
1. The Baopuzi is a collection of essays on alchemy, immortality, and other topics. ☜
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