The rain fell in torrential sheets. Raindrops as big as soybeans pelted down mercilessly, rattling crisply against the roof tiles and kicking up dense ripples in the churning mud.
The world blurred into obscurity, leaving behind only the relentless, deafening patter of the storm.
This was hardly rain; it was as if Heaven had thrown open the floodgates of the Heavenly River, unleashing a deluge upon the mortal realm.
Zhang Yuanqing had never seen such a terrifying tempest. Enduring the throbbing pain that hammered through his skull, he shook out the Yin-Yang Robe and draped it over his shoulders.
He intended to channel the robe’s power to repel the downpour and clear his field of vision, only to discover in shock that its water manipulation ability had vanished.
No, it had not vanished—it was being suppressed, subjugated by an authority of a far higher tier.
Huang Taiji also sensed the anomaly and said gravely, "Try using Star Escape to leave the mortuary."
Before the words fully fell, Yuanshi Tianzun dissolved into a dreamlike glow of starlight, instantly reappearing by the mortuary’s main gates.
"Adoptive Father, we can't get out!" Zhang Yuanqing shoved hard against the worm-eaten wooden doors, turning to shout back.
"The Mirror World!" Huang Taiji’s expression grew more somber than ever. "This power surpasses the Saint realm. We're trapped inside a Mirror World; there is no way out."
*Trapped inside...* Zhang Yuanqing’s heart sank. He looked up as the torrential rain hammered down relentlessly.
What right did he have to match blades with a boss of this level?
"Ahhh!"
A sharp, piercing shriek of agony erupted from inside the mortuary. It was Zhao Youcai.
Yi Chuanmei giggled with sheer delight, brimming with malice. "My side quest is complete. All of you are going to die!"
She sat cross-legged in the pelting rain, battered and hanging by a thread of life, yet her cheeks were flushed red and her eyes sparkled with feverish excitement as she stared unblinkingly into the mortuary.
Through the hazy curtain of rain, a figure emerged from within.
As he walked past the bonfire, the glowing coals hissed and died out as if drenched with freezing water. The escorts seated around the fire shriveled at frightening speed, robbed of all moisture, turning into dried mummies.
A moisture depriver!
Zhang Yuanqing was instantly reminded of the Little Emperor from the Sea of Yashan. But compared to the monstrosity in this mortuary, the Little Emperor was truly small fry.
It had taken the Little Emperor time to strip a Level 4 Saint of water, whereas this terrifying thing had drained Zhuo Peiran and the other escorts into husks in a single instant. The two could not even be mentioned in the same breath.
The figure stepped out beneath the eaves. He possessed a burly frame and lifeless, dead eyes, while a thick, deep black radiance swirled around his waist.
It was Zhao Youcai.
More precisely, it was Zhao Youcai’s physical shell.
His body had been commandeered by the monstrosity within the black coffin. An overwhelming yin aura clung to him, centered around that water-attributed power at his waist. Zhang Yuanqing peered through the rain, assessing his foe.
Such dense yin aura indicated that the creature was inherently a wraith—a water-attributed wraith.
Night Walkers held an innate suppression over wraiths, and the Heaven-Worship Set could suppress Water Ghosts, but this wraith’s status was simply too high. With the Heaven-Worship Set incomplete, it might not be able to hold it down.
Calculations flashed through his mind at lightning speed.
"It likely only possesses a portion of a Rain Master's traits," Huang Taiji said, also scrutinizing the monster from the coffin. "Among the Five Elements, Earth conquers Water. Do you understand now why the Yellow Banner Escort Agency was chosen to transport it?"
"To suppress it again after it broke out?" Zhang Yuanqing asked, his spirits lifting slightly.
"No. It was so that under the worst-case scenario, we would have a sliver of hope to survive and flee to Divine Sword Manor to complete the main quest."
*Adoptive Father, I didn't realize you had such a dry sense of humor...* Zhang Yuanqing grumbled internally.
Slumped in the distance, Yi Chuanmei raised her brows and laughed gloatingly. "Even if you reach Divine Sword Manor, death is all that awaits you! Success or failure in the side quest dictates the outcome of the main quest. You will never know what you've lost!"
Triumph radiated from her features, as if the Spirit Realm had bestowed an extraordinary reward upon her.
Huang Taiji and Zhang Yuanqing's expressions turned increasingly grim.
From Yi Chuanmei’s words, it was easy to deduce that having failed the side quest, they would find themselves in a terrible disadvantage upon arriving at Divine Sword Manor.
"Is there any way to seal it back into the coffin?" Zhang Yuanqing whispered.
Huang Taiji’s face was dark as still water. He shook his head slightly. "Right now, surviving is all that matters."
As they spoke, Zhao Youcai stepped beyond the eaves. Despite the pouring rain, the vines and mud beneath his feet rapidly dried up, hardened, and cracked, every trace of moisture instantly stolen away.
Zhang Yuanqing suddenly felt his skin tighten. A parched, burning sensation seized his mouth and throat, agonizingly painful, as if he were a traveler lost in the desert who had gone three days without a drop of water.
He watched Huang Taiji’s face rapidly hollow out and wrinkle, knowing his own must look the same.
Huang Taiji stomped his foot heavily.
A wall of rolling mud shot up, separating them from the enemy. Immediately after, more earthen walls surged forth, forming a mud chamber that locked Zhao Youcai within.
The stinging dryness in Zhang Yuanqing’s throat vanished at once.
Yet before he could exhale in relief, the sodden mud walls dried, hardened, and fissured with cracks.
Huang Taiji raised a hand toward the earthen chamber, a hazy gray glow igniting in his eyes. The structure's hardening accelerated, the cracks widening until it turned into plates of stone armor.
In the blink of an eye, the mud chamber became a stone fortress.
Meanwhile, starlight coalesced behind Yi Chuanmei, resolving into the delicate features of Lin Ci, who raised the pumpkin hammer high.
Yi Chuanmei sneered, "Foolish insect!"
Remaining seated, she tilted her slender, fair neck back and unleashed a high-pitched shriek.
"Ugh!"
Zhang Yuanqing groaned. Blood leaked from his seven apertures. Clutching his head, he stumbled backward in retreat.
"Fall back! Don't let her drag you into a dream!" Huang Taiji commanded in a low voice.
Starlight flared, and Yuanshi Tianzun reappeared beside him. Without a word, he raised his dark-blue-gloved right hand, produced a syringe of life fluid, jabbed it straight into his jugular vein, and pushed the pale golden liquid into his bloodstream.
Having suffered mental strike after mental strike, his soul was on the verge of collapse. Any ordinary Level 4 Saint would have already returned to the Spirit Realm by now.
Moments later, his lethargy and agony receded at a visible rate.
Yet this did nothing to turn the tide. Whether Yi Chuanmei lived or died no longer mattered; she was at the end of her tether, capable only of self-preservation and unable to sustain continuous attacks.
The true menace was Zhao Youcai.
Plumes of dense black mist seeped out from the crevices of the stone armor, hanging heavily over the courtyard and clinging to the roof tiles like a descending shroud.
This was the monster's true form!
"Adoptive Father, it's breaking out..." Zhang Yuanqing's brow twitched.
The sensation of dehydration struck once more. Zhang Yuanqing watched the flesh on his arms rapidly shrivel, his vision blurring as his eyeballs dried out.
Huang Taiji stepped back to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Yuanshi Tianzun, bellowing in a deep voice:
"Rise!"
The ground beneath their feet caved in violently, while the surrounding mud surged upward, forming an inverted bowl of earth over their heads to block the descending black mist.
The dehydration ceased again.
*A Mountain God truly provides an incredible sense of security...* Under this shelter, Zhang Yuanqing sighed in relief. But right at that moment, an itch scratched at his throat, and his forehead burned with fever.
Within seconds, he experienced the agony of a razor scraping his throat, concrete clogging his nostrils, an unanesthetized trepanation, and daggers gouging at his kidneys.
He had fallen ill.
The black mist not only possessed the power to strip moisture, but it could also spread plagues.
The pathogens had penetrated through the earthen mound's defenses.
"Cough, cough..." Huang Taiji began to cough as well. He glanced at Yuanshi Tianzun in surprise. "Your constitution is remarkably strong."
The fact that they had succumbed to the illness at nearly the same time meant their resistance was comparable. Yet Huang Taiji was a Level 6 Earth Monster; his endurance against such negative effects vastly outmatched any other class of the same tier.
In other words, Yuanshi Tianzun’s disease resistance was on par with a Level 6.
Huang Taiji produced a porcelain bottle, poured several pills into his mouth, and tossed the rest to Yuanshi Tianzun. "These can suppress the illness for five minutes. If we can't find a way out within five minutes, prepare to return to the Spirit Realm."
Catching the pills, Zhang Yuanqing swallowed them and asked, "Adoptive Father, this is only a stopgap. Do you have any ideas?"
Huang Taiji was silent for a beat. "At times like this, I rather envy Scouts."
*Because Scouts think fast and have sharp wits for handling crises like this?* Zhang Yuanqing blinked, unsure whether to praise the man's humor or his talent for deadpan jokes.
With his powerhouse ally helpless and struggling to save himself, Zhang Yuanqing had no choice but to rack his own brains.
He calculated his odds: even if he threw out every hidden trump card he possessed, he likely still wouldn't be a match for this horror. Of course, using the Myriad Realms Firm redemption voucher would solve the monster, but that was a mutually destructive, scorched-earth move. It would be meaningless for breaking their predicament.
The Heaven-Worship Set was an option, but the margin for error was too costly. If it failed to suppress the black mist, he would be drained into a dried husk in an instant.
A few minutes later, Zhang Yuanqing began coughing first, his breath growing ragged, followed closely by Huang Taiji.
Ten seconds later, their symptoms worsened drastically. Zhang Yuanqing’s lungs felt like a blacksmith’s bellows, wheezing heavily and expelling scorching blasts of air.
*No, if this goes on, I'll die of disease before I even get drained of water...* Zhang Yuanqing’s heart hammered violently; he felt on the verge of a fatal heart attack at any second.
In the pitch-black darkness beneath the mound, Huang Taiji looked at Yuanshi Tianzun. "If there is truly no way out, I can assimilate with the earth. I can survive, but I'm sorry—I won't be able to save you."
He still possessed one final life-saving skill—Earth Vein Spirit.
Earth Vein Spirit was a Level 5 Mountain God skill. It allowed the user to commune with the earth and assimilate with Houtu, becoming an extension of the soil and mountains.
A Mountain God who activated Earth Vein Spirit gained peerless defense, unfathomable endurance, and an endless reservoir of spiritual power.
Dehydration and plague would no longer be able to kill him, but the cost was absolute immobility, falling into a deep slumber.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Zhang Yuanqing collapsed to the ground, his forehead burning as his consciousness blurred into a daze.
Huang Taiji took out a vial of Life Source Fluid.
"I have my own..." Zhang Yuanqing waved it away with a bitter smile. "Life Source Fluid can't eradicate pathogens. It doesn't help much."
Life Source Fluid could revitalize his cells with vigorous life force, but that life force would still be plundered by the disease. It treated the symptoms, not the root.
Huang Taiji did not put it away, simply setting it down before him.
After a moment's contemplation, the graying foster father spoke: "The monstrosity we are escorting belongs to the Water element. Once it fastens onto you, it will burrow into your kidneys and plunder your life force. You are a Night Walker; you might consider abandoning your physical body."
With that, he retrieved a small chunk of black lodestone. "This is Living Soil. It can attach to a soul and protect it. Under its ward, Yi Chuanmei should not be able to destroy your spirit."
*Living Soil...* Wheezing heavily, Zhang Yuanqing looked up in astonishment.
His faction storehouse possessed some of this material as well; it was an invaluable, priceless treasure. Huang Taiji was actually lending him something so precious?
Though they both belonged to the official faction, they were strangers who had only just met. To hand over such a rare treasure without hesitation was extraordinary.
"Thanks..." He accepted the Living Soil. "If I don't die, how do I wake you?"
"Commune with my soul," Huang Taiji answered gravely.
Haloes of yellow light rose from beneath Huang Taiji's feet. Amid sharp cracking sounds, his legs turned gray inch by inch, losing their luster until they resembled common stone.
The chalky gray texture crept upward, steadily transforming him into a stone statue that radiated no trace of life.
*Sigh...*
Zhang Yuanqing stowed away the Life Source Fluid and Living Soil. Slumping against the earthen wall of the pit, he brought out the Ghost Mirror to check his fortune; the bloody glow had grown increasingly concentrated.
Was this the death calamity divined by the tortoise shell?
His consciousness began to fade, his mind unable to think as he slipped into a moribund state.
*I can't devise a strategy in this condition... Good thing I still have one more god-tier item.* Clinging to a thread of awareness, he brought out the Jade Belt of the Azure Thearch.
Fastening the gem-encrusted, ornate belt around his waist, Zhang Yuanqing activated the Azure Thearch Longevity Art without hesitation. A gentle, clear green radiance flared, illuminating the stone sculpture.
His stamina, spiritual power, and mental state surged back to their absolute peak, the pathogens coursing through his body purged clean in an instant.
*Phew...*
Zhang Yuanqing immediately pulled out the Houtu Boots, putting them on while clutching the Myriad Realms Firm redemption voucher tightly in his palm.
His brain spun at maximum speed, cataloging every item and material in his inventory, fighting to carve out a path to survival amidst absolute despair.
*The black mist infiltrates the body. If I let it enter me, could I suppress it by drinking Life Source Fluid while channeling the Heaven-Worship Set's power?*
*Theoretically, yes. But if the Heaven-Worship Set fails to hold it down, I'll die on the spot...*
Suddenly, an inspiration struck Zhang Yuanqing.
*Practice the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record!*
The black mist was a water-attributed wraith, which meant the power of the Golden Crow was its natural bane. He could deliberately guide the black mist into his body while cultivating the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record.
Combining the power of the Golden Crow with the Heaven-Worship Set would dramatically raise his chances of success.
*Once I successfully seal the black mist, I can continue with the side quest...*
As the thoughts cascaded through his mind, a sharp cracking sound echoed above.
With Huang Taiji in slumber, the earthen defense overhead had lost its spiritual power source. Under the relentless erosion of the black mist, it was rapidly drying out and collapsing.
Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing hesitated no longer. Deciding to stake everything on this gamble, he brought out ten gold bars suffused with the divine power of the sun, an earthenware jug filled with Life Source Fluid, and four additional vials of the same liquid.
Right at that moment, the earthen shell collapsed, admitting the dim twilight and pelting rain.
From the distance, Yi Chuanmei peered closely into the pit. Taking in the sight, she chuckled.
"It seems Huang Taiji has abandoned you. Yuanshi Tianzun, your legend ends here."
Though she smiled, deep regret lingered in her eyes, like a lecherous villain forced by circumstance to slay the world's greatest beauty before he could even savor the prize.
Zhang Yuanqing raised the Ghost Mirror, glanced at his reflection, and uttered a phrase that left Yi Chuanmei thoroughly baffled:
"Don't be so sure you've won!"
The damp, suffocating black mist crashed downward, engulfing the shallow pit and swallowing Zhang Yuanqing whole.
In a flash, Zhang Yuanqing’s flesh withered, his skin shrink-wrapping over his bones and his hair drying into withered thatch, turning him into a living mummy.
With immense effort, the mummy parted its jaws and inhaled forcefully.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
The earthenware jug and vials beneath his feet shattered simultaneously, their contents merging into a stream that poured down his throat.
His shriveled body did not fill out. Tasting the bounty, the viscous black mist surged frantically through his pores, nostrils, and mouth into his interior, greedily plundering his vitality.
Yet the moisture-stripping force and plagues that could slaughter a Level 4 Saint in an instant failed to claim Zhang Yuanqing’s life.
Enduring the tearing agony within, he decisively crushed the ten gold bars in his grasp.
A blinding golden radiance shattered the darkness as ten miniature suns rose from the shattered bars.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately circulated the breathing technique of the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record, drawing every single miniature sun before him into his mouth with one breath.
*Whoosh!*
Golden flames ignited across his body. His hair burned away in an instant and his flesh melted, baring his glowing red skull. Yet a second later, the flesh regenerated, only to be incinerated anew in an endless, agonizing cycle.
Crackling sounds echoed from deep inside him, like cold water poured into a boiling skillet—the sound of the black mist being vaporized.
Lacking sapience, the mist acted purely on instinct, coiling around his kidneys to swallow his life force and combat the domineering, unyielding power of the Golden Crow.
*The Life Source Fluid protected me... but it's also fueling its resistance against the divine power of the sun. It... it needs to be suppressed...*
Caught in the clash of the two colossal forces, Zhang Yuanqing’s consciousness wavered on the brink.
Clinging to a sliver of willpower, he activated the Heaven-Worship Set.
With a ferocious roar, the Yin-Yang Robe erupted into roaring flames, transforming into a billowing cloak of fire that flapped behind him, illuminating the mortuary.
The power representing the Water element separated from the robe, draping over him to condense into a black robe embroidered with mystical bird patterns—understated, yet radiating noble majesty.
At his waist, the radiant emerald belt shimmered with a soft, gentle warmth, tempering the abyssal depth of the black robe and the wild dominance of the flaming cloak.
On his feet, the exquisite silk boots radiated a profound, immense gravity, resembling the majestic presence of an ancient monarch.
Yi Chuanmei froze in disbelief. Yuanshi Tianzun stood clad in a black robe and a flaming cloak, shod in magnificent boots, with a warm jade belt around his waist.
His aura was vast, righteous, domineering, and unfathomable—like an immortal descended from the highest heavens.
The black mist coiled around his waist seemed to meet its natural master. It was driven back inch by inch, its thick black radiance continuously condensing until it retreated deep into Zhang Yuanqing’s kidneys, submitting to containment.
The deadlock was shattered.
The divine power of the sun burned fiercely, scouring every corner of his frame, tempering bone and viscera, boiling away the yin aura within the black mist until it was thoroughly condensed and refined.
This process lasted ten full minutes before the golden flames finally guttered out.
*I'm still alive. Looks like... it worked...* Before the surge of joy could fully register, Zhang Yuanqing’s consciousness plunged into boundless darkness.
The downpour stopped.
The Mirror World fractured and crumbled.
"What...?" Yi Chuanmei dragged her heavily battered body to the edge of the pit.
While the black mist had occupied her enemies, she had used Life Source Fluid to heal her injuries.
Inside the shallow pit, Yuanshi Tianzun—adorned in his splendid regalia—had turned into a charred corpse stripped of all life. Yet she could no longer sense the black mist either.
The dungeon boss was simply... gone?
"This is impossible... This can't be!"
Shock and rage battered Yi Chuanmei. The brilliant advantage she had orchestrated had collapsed in an instant. Had all her efforts truly come to naught?
Soon, however, her gaze locked onto the Heaven-Worship Set.
"What he's wearing... it seems to be an equipment set—a set carrying the powers of four major classes..."
The fury and resentment in her eyes instantly gave way to pleasant surprise and naked greed.
She leaped down into the shallow pit, reaching out to strip the gear from Yuanshi Tianzun's body.
Suddenly, a crisp crack sounded behind her. The stone casing around Huang Taiji fractured, web-like fissures racing across the surface as chunks of stone peeled away.
Standing behind the statue was an exquisitely beautiful woman with scarlet pupils.
She had awakened Huang Taiji.
It was that yin corpse again, ruining her plans time after time!
Huang Taiji opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings before landing on Yi Chuanmei and Yuanshi Tianzun.
*The black mist is gone...* The thought flashed through his mind, leaving no time to ponder. He stomped down hard.
Earth spirit power immediately washed over Yuanshi Tianzun’s body, walling off Yi Chuanmei. In the next breath, he scooped up a slab of stone armor, shaping it into a stone blade and cleaving it toward her.
Yi Chuanmei’s figure popped like a bubble, her true body reappearing outside the pit, bolting toward the gates at full speed.
She retreated without the slightest hesitation.
Though Life Source Fluid had mended her physical injuries, her depleted stamina and mental power remained unrecovered. Huang Taiji was an Earth Monster endowed with limitless endurance; engaging him in combat was suicide.
Having emerged from his slumber, the domain Huang Taiji had forged was gone, and Earth Monsters were notoriously clumsy when it came to speed.
He could only watch as Yi Chuanmei vaulted over the courtyard wall and vanished into the night.
Commandery Princess Yinyao raised her megaphone. "His spirit is still present, but he cannot wake. Something is wrong with him. He's..."
"Is he dead?" Huang Taiji glanced at her. The yin corpse’s lovely face remained expressionless, but even as an Earth Monster, he could sense the violent emotional fluctuations churning within her.
Brandishing her megaphone, Commandery Princess Yinyao urged, "Revive his physical body, or he can only be turned into a spirit servant!"
Huang Taiji nodded, tossed aside the stone blade, and produced a vial of Life Source Fluid. Dispelling the earthen shell encasing Yuanshi Tianzun, he injected the liquid into the body. After waiting several moments, there was still no sign of recovery.
"Yuanshi Tianzun's physical body is completely dead... What on earth did he do?" Huang Taiji furrowed his brow, turning to the talking yin corpse.
"He said he was going to find a way to suppress the black mist. He told me that whether he succeeded or not, I had to wake you the moment the mirror world shattered." Commandery Princess Yinyao stood dazed, the crimson glow in her eyes dimming considerably.
*Suppress the black mist...* Huang Taiji pressed a palm against the charred corpse's waist, focusing his senses. He detected an intensely frigid, deeply yin presence circulating within.
His palm immediately began to shrivel.
"The black mist is inside him... It has fused with his kidneys... He succeeded." The stoic Earth Monster revealed a rare look of profound shock. "He actually pulled it off."
To suppress a boss possessing Dominator-tier traits with the mere body of a Level 4 Saint was a feat he knew he could never have accomplished himself.
Huang Taiji suddenly recalled Fu Qingyang’s assessment of Yuanshi Tianzun in their group chat: *The deeper the adversity, the greater the potential he unleashes.*
Commandery Princess Yinyao fixed her gaze on Huang Taiji. "Take him to Divine Sword Manor. Perhaps someone there can save him, or perhaps they know how to extract the black mist. Take him there, quickly!"
"I will. Don't panic."
"I'm not panicking."
"You are panicking..."
"I said I'm not panicking!"
Huang Taiji did not argue further. Nodding slightly, he laid a hand against Yuanshi Tianzun’s chest. Rolling mud surged forward, enveloping the charred body and solidifying into a six-foot-long earthen coffin.
Hoisting the earthen coffin onto his shoulder, Huang Taiji led Commandery Princess Yinyao as they strode slowly out of the mortuary.
Chapter 475