The singing was melodious and moving, yet filled with sorrow.
Its infectious power was too strong. Zhang Ruochen had only listened for a short while before tears streamed down his face as memories of the past flooded back, all those departed old friends, all those years that could never return.
“Martial Uncle, don’t let her song disturb your mind!”
A Ji tugged at Zhang Ruochen’s sleeve.
Zhang Ruochen waved him off, deeply moved, and said, “It’s fine. This voice cannot affect my consciousness. I’m just being overly sentimental.”
The influence of the song was extraordinary. Only because Zhang Ruochen possessed powerful spiritual strength and an unshakable will was he able to dispel it with ease.
Any cultivator with spiritual strength inferior to his would probably already be writhing in unbearable pain and would have ended their own life right there.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Who exactly is she?”
“Follow me, Martial Uncle. You’ll know once you see.”
A Ji led Zhang Ruochen through the gates of the divine temple to a crumbling remnant wall.
Peering inside, layer upon layer of spatial barriers dispersed like mist. An ancient tree covered in red hibiscus flowers appeared in Zhang Ruochen’s view.
The hibiscus tree had grown for a hundred thousand years. Its trunk was so thick that it took a hundred paces to walk around it. Roots as thick as bowls coiled like dragons, burrowing into the shattered bricks and tiles of the temple ruins.
Beneath the tree stood a stele.
On the stele was carved:
“One petal falls, one speck of dust returns.”
The singing came from beneath the stele.
A Ji whispered, “A hundred thousand years ago, when my master buried her here, he instructed me never to disturb her peace. Who would have thought that recently, just like the other divine corpses, she seems on the verge of undergoing corpse transformation? Every day at noon, singing rises from underground. It makes my hairs stand on end.”
“You’re a ferocious plant. What are you afraid of?” Zhang Ruochen said.
A Ji shook his head. “Amitabha! I was once a ferocious plant, but after being influenced by Master’s Buddhist Dharma, I long ago lost all murderous aura. Now… now I’m just a useless A Ji.”
“Who are you fooling? Those corpses hanging on the gate weren’t strangled by you?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Shh!”
A Ji jumped in fright and made a silencing gesture. “Martial Uncle, keep your voice down. Don’t startle her! Even the Buddha once roared like a lion. Since I was ordered to guard this place, I naturally have to deal with those greedy intruders who try to force their way into the temple. Martial Uncle… Martial Uncle, come back…”
While A Ji was momentarily distracted, Zhang Ruochen had already stepped out of the Yin Escape Nine Arrays and entered the temple ruins.
In a hundred thousand years, he was the first cultivator to set foot inside the Yuchen Divine Temple.
A Ji was so terrified he nearly leapt into the air. With no time to worry about anything else, he immediately chased after him.
“Don’t come in. Wait for me in the array. If anything goes wrong, pull me back,” Zhang Ruochen said.
A Ji thought for a moment, then cautiously lifted his thorn-covered legs, tiptoeing and trembling as he retreated.
Upon entering the temple, Zhang Ruochen immediately felt waves of corrosive power assault him. The air was thick with the aura of death, grey and hazy, as though he had stepped into the underworld.
The soil beneath his feet was black and unnaturally cold to tread upon.
“Are you certain that Immortal Jade Dragon is truly dead?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
A Ji’s voice was hoarse. “When Master escaped from underground that year, Immortal Jade Dragon had already become nothing but jade bones with no flesh left. How could she not be dead? Martial Uncle, please come back quickly. If Immortal Jade Dragon really has undergone corpse transformation like the other divine corpses in the temple, it will be extremely dangerous.”
Zhang Ruochen walked to the hibiscus tree and stood before the stele, which was covered in the marks of countless ages.
The stele was coated in green moss.
The singing from underground ceased.
He said, “What is there to fear? Immortal Jade Dragon is dead. Even if she has undergone corpse transformation, could she still possess even one-tenth of the battle strength she had when alive?”
“One-tenth would be more than enough to kill you, Martial Uncle!” A Ji replied.
Back then, Immortal Jade Dragon had been able to invite Master Fangcun to storm the Yuchen Divine Temple together with her. Her own cultivation had naturally been extraordinary.
Zhang Ruochen felt irritated. He thought A Ji was far too cowardly, not only disgracing ferocious plants but also shaming both Saint Monk Xumi and Master Fangcun.
He released his spiritual strength to investigate but found nothing unusual.
Losing interest, Zhang Ruochen turned and walked deeper into the temple ruins.
He had heard A Ji say that the old corpse ghost underground was very possibly connected to the second disciple of Tianzun Xinghuan. The reason the divine corpses in the temple were mutating might be linked to a Tianzun divine source.
It was the Tianzun divine source that continuously drew the primal mother qi of Xinghuan Heaven, along with the power of stars beyond the universe, especially the essence of the sun, to this place.
These divine corpses absorbed the primal mother qi and were nourished by the essence of stars and sun, turning into their current strange state of being neither dead nor alive.
They were utterly different from the corpse race.
The corpse race of Hell Realm possessed intelligence and could cultivate.
The divine corpses here retained the immense battle strength they had in life, yet they had no intelligence, only deep malice and an instinct to slaughter.
Of course, all of this was merely A Ji’s speculation. Master Fangcun had never told him exactly what lay underground.
Suddenly, A Ji’s terrified voice rang out. “Martial Uncle, behind you…”
There was no need for the warning. Zhang Ruochen had already sensed it.
His entire spine turned ice-cold, as though frozen solid. His scalp prickled with frost. He whipped around.
There, standing before the stele, was an exquisitely beautiful woman clad in phoenix-feather crimson robes. Her silver hair flowed more than ten metres long, dancing in the air. A pair of crystalline dragon horns grew from her forehead. Her skin was snow-white, and her delicate, bare jade feet touched the ground.
As the wind blew, petals from the hibiscus tree fell like a rain of blood.
The earth beneath the stele had cracked open. Clearly, she had just crawled out from below.
There was no need to guess who she was.
Zhang Ruochen sucked in a cold breath and stared at A Ji, transmitting mentally, “Didn’t you say that a hundred thousand years ago she had already become nothing but jade bones?”
A Ji was equally baffled and stammered, “I… I don’t know what’s going on either! Could the soil in this temple be White Cang Blood Soil, capable of regenerating flesh on bones and granting a second life?”
Zhang Ruochen had seen White Cang Blood Soil before. He would be a fool to believe that.
While he was still thinking of a countermeasure, Immortal Jade Dragon, standing opposite him amidst the falling petals, began to dance gracefully.
Every line of her body was soft and beautiful. Her jade legs and arms were slender, her willow waist so narrow it could be encircled with one hand, her navel alluring, her skin smooth as finest jade. Every lift of her hand and every step she took was mesmerising.
Compared to Bai Qing’er and Luo Yan, Immortal Jade Dragon was not tall, but her proportions were perfect, petite and exquisite.
Because of this, even though he knew she had lived for several great epochs a hundred thousand years ago, at this moment she still gave the impression of a young girl in the prime of youth.
Yet she radiated no trace of life, only dense deathly aura. Zhang Ruochen had no intention of provoking her and cautiously edged towards the temple exit.
Swish!
Strands of silver hair shot towards Zhang Ruochen, causing ripples in space.
His expression changed. He immediately released his spiritual strength, condensing it into a shield of light.
The silver strands were sharper than supreme sacred swords. They sliced through the light shield as if it were paper and wrapped around Zhang Ruochen’s neck.
His body instantly shrank until he was only the size of a fist, attempting to escape.
But suddenly the ground darkened.
Looking up, he saw a gigantic palm descending. No matter how fast he moved, he could not escape its reach.
“Not good. I’ve fallen into her divine realm world!”
“Soul-Devouring Bells!”
Zhang Ruochen released twelve Soul-Devouring Bells, driving them with his spiritual strength.
The bells grew as large as mountains and shook violently, producing earth-shaking chimes.
In Zhang Ruochen’s view, even if Immortal Jade Dragon’s corpse had mutated and retained immense battle strength, even keeping her divine realm world intact, her spirit must surely be the weak point.
Yet to his speechless frustration, the Soul-Devouring Bells had no effect on her whatsoever.
Instead, she seized the bells and hung them at her slender waist.
“How can she be this strong? She’s only a divine corpse, yet I’m utterly powerless against her. Even facing a high god wouldn’t be this bad!”
Overwhelming divine might pressed down, majestic and boundless, thick with corpse qi. Her five snow-white fingers closed around Zhang Ruochen.
With a single grip, the bones throughout his body cracked loudly, as though he were about to be crushed into pulp.
Whoosh!
The power of the Buddha’s sarira exploded from Zhang Ruochen’s body.
Golden Sanskrit characters burst free from the restraint of her palm. Seizing the chance, he escaped.
His body was already aged, and that single squeeze had nearly cost him half his life. When he fell to the ground, standing up again was exceedingly difficult.
Fortunately, A Ji was not truly useless. A vine immediately shot out, wrapped around him, and dragged him back into the Yin Escape Nine Arrays.
Ding-ding-dang-dang.
The sound of bells rang out as Immortal Jade Dragon pursued him into the spatial divine array.
“Activate the array.”
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged, hands forming finger seals.
A Ji transformed into the array spirit and merged with the Yin Escape Nine Arrays.
“Star Gate Subdues Kun!”
“Ascending Kan Aligns!”
“Zhen Reverses Flying Palace!”
…
Zhang Ruochen mobilised one spatial divine array after another, pressing down on Immortal Jade Dragon from every direction.
No matter how powerful her cultivation, she could not contend with the Yin Escape Nine Arrays. Her eyes turned crimson, dense yin runes appeared on her forehead, and she let out a shrill screech.
Within her petite body resided power enough to shatter countless stars, along with terrifying malice.
Taking advantage of the moment she was suppressed by the arrays, Zhang Ruochen flew forward, seized her cheeks, pulled out an Arhat White Pearl, and forcibly stuffed it into her mouth, causing her to emit muffled cries.
Bang!
He struck her back with his palm, forcing her to swallow the Arhat White Pearl.
The Arhat White Pearl was supremely sacred, containing pure Buddhist qi capable of cleansing all malice and corpse miasma. Gradually, the blood colour faded from Immortal Jade Dragon’s eyes, the yin runes on her forehead vanished, and she stood motionless.
“Cough, cough!”
Supporting himself on her fragrant shoulder, Zhang Ruochen coughed, blood spilling from his mouth.
That earlier squeeze had truly hurt. His injuries were not light.
“Martial Uncle, what did you feed her? How did it subdue her so easily?” A Ji asked curiously.
“A Buddhist sacred relic.”
Having caught his breath, Zhang Ruochen carefully studied Immortal Jade Dragon’s breathtakingly beautiful face. Truly, not a single feature was less than perfect. Her facial structure was exquisite beyond belief, her eyelashes long and curled, her eyes bright and watery, her nose elegantly straight, her red lips glistening. Even knowing she was a divine corpse, one could not help harbouring improper thoughts, utterly captivated.
As expected of the previous master of the Twelfth Divine Maiden Workshop, she must have been a peerless beauty whose name once resounded throughout the heavens.
