In the depths of the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain, Sword Monarch Jinhe sat motionless with his sword upright before him. Dense fog billowed in front of him, within which sat a colossal shadow whose countless tentacles danced like threads through the mist.
"Jinhe, if you still don't make a move, every corpse immortal and ghost immortal in the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain will seize this opportunity to escape this realm," the shadow within the fog laughed. "You know as well as anyone that we rendered countless meritorious deeds, yet the Immortal Realm treated us unjustly, leaving us with sky-scorching resentment after death. It was this resentment, combined with the lingering Immortal Dao within us, that formed the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain. Once they leave this world, they will slaughter the mortals of the world on a massive scale. All these sins will be laid upon your head! Are you not afraid?"
Sword Monarch Jinhe remained unmoved.
Just as the shadow in the fog was at its wit's end, a peerless killing intent suddenly erupted—it was Xu Ying unleashing the Zhuxian sword qi against the Five Extremes Immortal King! The resplendent sword intent radiating from the supreme Sword Dao finally shook Sword Monarch Jinhe's rock-solid sword intent, bringing a look of astonishment to his face!
Seizing this fleeting opening, the shadow in the mist soared into the air and punched forward. A deafening roar akin to collapsing mountains and tsunami waves accompanied the strike as he laughed heartily. "Sword Monarch, even you have moments of slackness!"
Earlier, he had indulged the corpse immortals and corpse ghosts in fleeing precisely to force Sword Monarch Jinhe to suppress them, creating an opportunity for his own escape. He had never expected Sword Monarch Jinhe to sit motionless opposite him the entire time.
The man's qi had been entirely withdrawn and hidden within the Jinhe Sword, leaving not a single opening to strike.
Caught off guard, Sword Monarch Jinhe drew his blade in haste. His sword qi and sword intent were far below their peak. When that coarse, bark-like hand collided with his Jinhe Sword, thousands of sword qi streams were shattered and forced backward.
The shadow in the fog threw a second punch. Sword Monarch Jinhe had no choice but to retreat through the air. Yet his Jinhe Sword was still too late to parry, leaving him no alternative but to raise his left hand to meet the bark-like fist.
His body shook violently, and he was sent hurtling backward by the blow!
Thousands of tentacles shot out from the mist, sweeping toward him with a flurry of whooshes. Suspended midair, Sword Monarch Jinhe unleashed a sky full of sword qi to clash with the thousands of tentacles. Those tentacles were actually red corpse hairs—nimble, razor-sharp, and laden with thick corpse qi.
Many red corpse hairs were severed by sword light, but at the same time, sword light was shattered by the sweeping hairs.
Whoosh!!
Suddenly, the corpse hairs dancing across the sky rapidly retracted, vanishing back into the fog.
Sword Monarch Jinhe snatched his scabbard, drew the scattered sword qi back into it, and then sheathed his sword. Closing the distance, he charged into the fog. The mist was an intensely thick corpse qi that refused to disperse. Sword Monarch Jinhe swept aside the corpse mist before him, his expression turning grim.
The ancient corpse within the corpse mist was already gone.
"Damn it."
Sword Monarch Jinhe immediately soared into the air, his eyes scanning all directions like swords.
This ancient corpse was the crux of the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain. It was precisely this corpse falling into Weixu, its monstrous resentment and lingering Immortal Dao forming the initial Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain, that had led to other corpse immortals and corpse ghosts being buried here, fueling the domain's power.
If the corpse immortals and corpse ghosts escaped the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain, they would gradually weaken, their strength waning by the day, so the harm would not be excessively catastrophic. But if this ancient corpse escaped, wherever he stood would become the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain—and that would be a true corpse-ghost calamity!
"No matter what, I cannot allow you to escape Weixu!" Sword Monarch Jinhe tore through the sky and sped away.
Young Master Ningqing stood atop a colossal immortal corpse, his expression shifting erratically. Had the Five Extremes Immortal King not intervened in time just now, he surely would have fallen at Xu Ying's hands. The Immortal King's intervention had spared him defeat and saved his face, but it had also rendered their fair duel unfair, leaving him deeply unsettled.
"Xu Ying is still formidable. This battle exposed all the flaws in my father's Supreme Profound Origin Jade Hall Great Art. An insufficient comprehension of the Heavenly Dao left severe vulnerabilities in many moves and divine powers."
Young Master Ningqing looked around him. The Dao principles within his bodhimanda were riddled with fractures—Dao wounds left by his clashes with Xu Ying. Xu Ying's cultivation was lower than his, the Domain of Six Immortals was missing two domains, and he had not refined an immortal bodhimanda; even with the Heavenly Dao domain to compensate, there was still a substantial gap between them.
Yet the one who had sustained Dao wounds was him, not Xu Ying, proving that besides lagging behind Xu Ying in Dao attainment, his Dao methods were also inferior.
"To mend these deficiencies in my Dao methods, there is a simple way: communicate with Xu Ying and seek his guidance on the Heavenly Dao. Only by achieving transcendence over the Heavenly Dao once more can the Jade Hall Great Art be perfected."
Young Master Ningqing's face flushed green and red by turns. Seeking guidance from a rebel like Xu Ying—if his father, Heavenly Venerable Ning Zhong, were to find out...
Meanwhile, the torrent of geomagnetic primal force grew stronger and stronger, forming thick rainbow bands of light across the sky. Thousands of streams of black heavenly fiend qi, along with countless corpse ghosts and corpse immortals, surged outward through the torrent, attempting to escape Weixu. Once clear of this place, they could enter the Yellow Court other shore, and perhaps even follow the geomagnetic primal force into the immortal mountain of Yingzhou suspended outside!
Among them, over a dozen Immortal King corpses formed a sizeable circle, joining forces to charge outward.
Xu Ying and Perfected Thousand Illusions had blended among the corpse immortals surrounding one of the Immortal King corpses. Enduring the pain, Perfected Thousand Illusions gritted his teeth and whispered, "Can't you just smear yourself with blood from another immortal corpse to get corpse qi? Stop using my blood!"
"Turns out we had the exact same idea!"
Xu Ying grabbed another immortal corpse. The corpse ghost tried to struggle, but Xu Ying stabbed it twice, took some corpse blood, and smeared it on his clothing to mask his scent. His eyes shone brightly as he glared at Perfected Thousand Illusions, wary that the fellow might suddenly make a run for it.
Xu Ying had failed to catch him last time and naturally had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by.
Perfected Thousand Illusions's eyes darted left and right, looking for a chance to slip away.
Xu Ying sent a divine sense transmission, asking, "Perfected One, what are you doing here?"
Perfected Thousand Illusions feared him even more than Perfected Jade Pot, so he answered truthfully, "Perfected Jade Pot is hunting me down. I can't beat him and can't outrun him, so I had to hide—don't talk, he's here!"
At once, he became just like a corpse immortal or ghost immortal—dull in expression, stiff in movement, with even the Dao principles around him appearing ragged and broken.
Xu Ying praised him silently, full of admiration. *No wonder I failed to catch him last time.*
He followed suit, imitating Perfected Thousand Illusions. The two looked even more like immortal corpses than the actual corpse and ghost immortals.
Suddenly, Perfected Jade Pot's voice rang out: "Thousand Illusions, I see you!"
*Shameless!* Xu Ying cursed inwardly.
With a whoosh, Perfected Jade Pot flew over. After searching left and right without finding anything, a vicious glint suddenly flared in his eyes, and he muttered to himself, "If I slaughter all these immortal corpses, I don't believe you won't come out!"
Hearing this, Xu Ying could hardly resist the urge to flee, but Perfected Thousand Illusions remained utterly still.
Xu Ying immediately saw through it: *Jade Pot is just bluffing. If he dares to make a move, those corpse kings won't let him off! Perfected Thousand Illusions is far calmer after all.*
Sure enough, Perfected Jade Pot did not strike. After sweeping his gaze across the area, he flew off to search elsewhere.
The Five Extremes Immortal King also searched his way here. Failing to spot the two as well, he frowned and muttered to himself, "This is a golden opportunity. If I kill Xu Ying, I can seize the five great magic treasures. The power of these five treasures is boundless. If I activate them, it will be equivalent to gaining five additional realms, allowing my cultivation to rival an Imperial Monarch."
Standing right beside Xu Ying, he spoke until his heart burned with ambition, whispering, "And there's the Returning Dao Jade Platter. That treasure is a Supreme Sovereign artifact of supreme might. If it falls into my hands..."
With a flash, he vanished.
Perfected Thousand Illusions sent a divine sense transmission: "They're gone. Why aren't you leaving?"
Xu Ying remained motionless.
*Old dog!* Thousand Illusions cursed inwardly.
Whoosh! Perfected Jade Pot reappeared and shouted, "Thousand Illusions, I see you! Come out!"
Xu Ying and Perfected Thousand Illusions did not budge an inch. Perfected Jade Pot's gaze was sharp as blades as he scanned the surroundings. Then, with another whoosh, he left, sounding rather disappointed. "Is he truly not here?"
Barely had he left when the Five Extremes Immortal King's Primordial Spirit came whistling past, his divine sense turning into a voice that echoed in the ears of all present, living and dead alike: "Xu Ying, how long can you hide? Remember how majestic you once were back then—did you ever imagine you would one day cower like a turtle pulling in its head? Come out, be a real man, and fight me to the death!"
Xu Ying turned a deaf ear.
Perfected Thousand Illusions waved his hand repeatedly at him, signaling him to go be a real man.
The Five Extremes Immortal King departed.
Both breathed a long sigh of relief. Just as Xu Ying was about to strike a lethal blow against Perfected Thousand Illusions, Thousand Illusions snapped his mouth open, preparing to scream at the top of his lungs. If Xu Ying dared make a move, he would dare shout—at worst, they would die here together.
Xu Ying frowned slightly and dispersed his killing intent; Perfected Thousand Illusions closed his mouth as well.
A ferocious glint flashed in Xu Ying's eyes, and Perfected Thousand Illusions immediately opened his mouth again.
The two glared at each other, eye to eye. After a moment, Xu Ying gave up, broke away from the rank of immortal corpses on his own, slipped into the broader horde of corpses, and quickly vanished.
Still not daring to let his guard down, Perfected Thousand Illusions waited a moment before leaving the immortal corpses. Instead of heading toward the eye sockets of the Supreme Sovereign skull, he flew against the main throng of immortal corpses, heading back toward the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain.
Xu Ying shadowed him stealthily, wondering to himself: *Why isn't he trying to escape Weixu? The geomagnetic tide has opened a passage between the Supreme Sovereign skull and the outside world—this is the best time to flee. Why is he heading toward the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain instead?*
Perfected Thousand Illusions moved with extreme stealth as well, darting from hiding place to hiding place, which raised Xu Ying's suspicions even further. *He doesn't look like he fled into Weixu by accident; it's more like he came here on purpose to fulfill some mission given by his master.*
In the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain, formidable corpse immortals soared into the air one after another, flying head-on toward them. Some corpse immortals were exceptionally irritable; seeing Xu Ying in their path, they swept a palm at him without a word or hurled battered immortal artifacts to strike him.
Perfected Thousand Illusions did not bother fighting them, dodging aside.
Xu Ying dodged behind him, avoiding conflict as well.
Though vicious, the corpse immortals' sole objective was to take advantage of the geomagnetic surge to break out of Weixu, so they did not get entangled with Xu Ying and the others.
"Xu Ying, so you were hiding here!"
Just as a colossal corpse immortal passed by, the Ninth Immortal King came into Xu Ying's view. The Ninth Immortal King was overjoyed, but before he could react, Xu Ying pushed his cultivation and strength to their peak without a second thought and thrust a beam of Zhuxian sword qi straight at him!
The Ninth Immortal King laughed heartily. "Xu Ying, without Penglai, how can you compete with me?"
Before Xu Ying, massive Dao chains clanked loudly, slithering past him like the bodies of colossal dragons. This was the phenomenon produced as the Ninth Immortal King unfolded his bodhimanda. Merely the collision between the Dao chains and the Zhuxian sword qi made Xu Ying's qi and blood churn.
Yet the Dao chains touched by the Zhuxian sword qi were severed one after another. Both shocked and furious, the Ninth Immortal King formed a hand seal and gave a heavy jolt across the void, shattering the Zhuxian sword qi in Xu Ying's grip!
Suddenly, a golden river of sword qi tore through the sky nearby, and an appreciative voice echoed from within the river: "Fine sword intent!"
Xu Ying raised an eyebrow, recognizing the golden sword qi: *That looks like the golden sword wielded by the Immortal King from the Thunder Department's Ten Thousand Gods Thunder Division!* Back then, even the combined might of the Ten Yamas and the Northern Emperor had failed to detain the Jinhe Sword, leaving a deep impression on Xu Ying. But he had never expected to encounter the master of the Jinhe Sword here.
"Chaotic Star Sea!"
Xu Ying let out a long cry as countless stars emerged around him, whirling about in disarray, crashing back and forth, and colliding violently! Though formidable, such a divine power was nothing to someone of the Ninth Immortal King's caliber.
He feared the divine power not in the slightest; his bodhimanda alone froze the hurtling stars in their tracks. But Xu Ying's strike was not aimed at him—it struck the passing corpse immortals around them!
Battered by the colossal astral bodies, corpse immortals and corpse ghosts flew into a rage, howling as they swarmed toward them.
The Ninth Immortal King was startled and incensed. Although it was Xu Ying who had struck them, the swarming corpse immortals and corpse ghosts didn't care about the details—they attacked anyone in sight!
Many among them were corpses of Immortal Kings, and there were even corpses of Immortal Monarchs. Even the Ninth Immortal King found dealing with them arduous.
Xu Ying ducked and wove through the attacks of the corpses, deflecting and parrying until he finally broke free of the battlefield and plunged downward.
Having broken through the encirclement, Xu Ying swallowed down the blood rising in his throat and frowned slightly. *The Ninth Immortal King is truly formidable. If I want to contend with an Immortal King, I have only two paths: first, open all six secret depositories, cultivate the twelve proofs of the Primordial Spirit, and charge into the Jade Pool realm; second, find more of the magic treasures refined from my first lifetime's realms.*
While he had been dealing with the Ninth Immortal King, Perfected Thousand Illusions had vanished without a trace. Xu Ying searched around, but failing to find him, he had no choice but to give up for now.
Moving with swift flickers of his body, he dodged the surging corpse immortals and corpse ghosts and finally arrived in the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain.
The Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain was even vaster and broader than the Heavenly Fiend Immortal Domain. Colossal corpse immortals constantly burrowed out from beneath the earth and soared into the sky.
As Xu Ying walked through it, tremors continuously shook the ground beneath his feet. Everywhere he looked, massive coffins were tearing out of the earth and rocketing toward the sky. Underground mausoleums that had been refined into magic treasures also surged into the firmament.
He was deeply shaken in his heart. *The war between the Immortal Realm and the Ancestral Court back then must have been on an unimaginable scale, to the point that countless slain immortals and gods were buried in this place!*
Now, these immortals and gods filled with grievance and wrath were on the verge of breaking out of Weixu to seek vengeance against the Immortal Realm!
Yet bearing the brunt of it would inevitably be the myriad worlds!
Xu Ying made no move to stop them; with his current strength, he couldn't stop them anyway. He thought to himself, *Even if these corpse kings and corpse monarchs break out of Weixu, they cannot descend directly upon the myriad worlds. If they rush out, they will only enter the Yellow Court other shore.*
Xu Ying did not know how long it took to return to the myriad worlds from the Yellow Court other shore, but judging from the experiences of the Son of Heaven of Zhou, Jiang Qi, and others, it would probably take years or even decades to return from the other shore to the Yuanshou world.
*They might not even make it back to the myriad worlds before I do.*
Xu Ying looked around and saw that the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain was devastated, pockmarked with craters left behind by the corpse immortals bursting out from underground. Yet one thing was peculiar: elsewhere in Weixu, the ground was covered in writhing flesh and blood—the remnants of the flesh within the Supreme Sovereign skull. Only the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain had no flesh and blood at all, but rather soil, rocks, and mountains.
*This is bizarre. This is a world that evolved inside a Supreme Sovereign skull—where did soil come from?*
Xu Ying's eyes flickered. He took to the air, scanning his surroundings. Suddenly, his eyes lit up: he spotted Perfected Thousand Illusions again. The man was surveying the surrounding land and sky before suddenly flying toward a mountain peak. Xu Ying channeled the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture to conceal his tracks and form, following behind Perfected Thousand Illusions.
A moment later, Perfected Thousand Illusions reached the mountain peak. Looking about, he muttered, "The Xuanhuang Realm, the Xuanhuang Realm... Heaven is dark, earth is yellow—Heaven and Earth are Xuan and Huang. That means the Xuanhuang Realm is an internally generated heaven and earth."
Hearing this, Xu Ying froze, then looked up and around. Sure enough, he saw a sky and an earth!
Weixu was a world derived inside the Supreme Sovereign skull, but the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain was another internal world born inside Weixu, matching the characteristics of dark heaven and yellow earth!
*The entire Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain is the Xuanhuang Realm!*
Xu Ying could hardly contain his shock. *Perfected Thousand Illusions is also looking for the Yellow Court Mansion of the Dark Yellow Realm! Why is he searching for this place?*
At that moment, Perfected Thousand Illusions took out the Returning Dao Jade Platter and activated it.
Xu Ying suddenly realized the truth: *What a ruthless scheme!*
Chapter 423