Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 668 Sacrificing a city to obtain a perilous land?

"You are smart and lucky."

The instructor looked at the two unharmed "people" and said in a cold voice.

Shang Lu understood what the school official meant; he was saying that the two of them hadn't done anything reckless.

On their very first day in the Zhai Lou, Shang Lu and Black Fox heard screams – some cultivators, like Shang Lu, had also sensed that something was wrong with the pills and, instead of taking them directly, wanted to tamper with them.

Unfortunately, this cultivator lacked the mirage created by Wuzhiqi, so his tricks couldn't escape the eyes of those inside the temple, and he suffered the consequences.

When the screams rang out, Shang Lu and Black Fox were already soaking in the spiced soup. Although they were full of curiosity, they did not get up to look.

Black Fox wanted to jump out of the Five-Spice Soup to check the situation, but Shang Lu, who was quick-witted and agile, grabbed him.

The people from Tai Mo Academy said that we must soak in the five-spice soup for the next seven days.

The mirage created by Wuzhiqi only enveloped Wuxiangtang's left and right sides. If he went out rashly, he would likely be exposed and become one of those who screamed in agony.

Although it is unknown what the cultivator went through, his screams lasted for seven days.

From the initial screams to the weak groans now.

Even now, the cultivator's groans are still audible.

Shang Lu, with his hands clasped, said in the spiced soup, "We have kept the instructor's instructions from seven days ago firmly in mind and dare not forget them in the slightest."

"Hehe." The instructor chuckled, whether with satisfaction or sarcasm, then nodded and said, "It's time. Come out."

"Yes," Shang Lu replied, then grabbed the black fox and leaped out of the Five-Spice Soup. He then used his vital energy to shake off the water on his body, instantly drying his soaked clothes.

The instructor didn't look at the two of them, but stared at the spiced soup.

The five-spice soup, which was originally amber in color and had a refreshing fragrance, quickly turned turbid and black after the pokeweed and black fox left, and emitted a pungent odor.

The pokeweed has a keen sense of smell and immediately recognized the smell.

Black Fox clearly sensed it too, and his expression became somewhat flustered.

“Don’t be afraid.” The instructor turned around, looked at the two of them, and grinned. “These are all impurities and waste from your bodies. Getting rid of them will only benefit you and not harm you. You should be happy and grateful.”

Shang Lu immediately cooperated by showing a look of "sudden realization," and then cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, instructor, thank you, Tai Mo Academy!" His tone was sincere, as if it came from the bottom of his heart.

Seeing this, Black Fox also bowed repeatedly.

However, Shang Lu sneered inwardly: Did they really think I couldn't smell what this smell was? How could a living person excrete "impurities and filth" such as the stench of corpses and bodily fluids?
Shang Lu had previously suspected that there was something strange about the five-spice soup, and this scene undoubtedly confirmed his suspicions.

This bodily fluid could not possibly have come from them.

The truth is that the people from Tai Mo Academy used corpse water to impersonate Five-Spice Soup.

For the past seven days, they haven't been purifying themselves at all; instead, they've been polluting their "vital energy" into "corpse energy" by soaking them in corpse water.

Even the Gu worms in those pills, besides being used to control cultivators, might also have the effect of turning people into "living dead".

"It seems that the Divine Corpse's Forbidden Zone is a 'forbidden zone' for living beings."

Pokeweed grasped the key point instantly.

This ominous place is very likely similar to the original Netherworld Ruins! Any living creature that enters it will become prey.

Only by becoming an "inanimate object" can one survive inside.

"I wonder if my identity as a ghost messenger will be of any use in that ominous place?" Shang Lu quickly pondered.

If the identity of the ghost messenger is useful, then this trip will not only be much safer, but might even give Tai Mo Academy a big "surprise".

The instructor had no idea what Shang Lu was thinking.

However, in his view, it didn't matter even if Shang Lu and Black Fox realized the truth about the Five-Spice Soup, because after seven days of fasting and purification, these two people were completely under his control.

The instructor chanted an incantation, and the goddess in the mural immediately floated out and took the "Five-Spice Soup" that was emitting the stench of corpses back into the mural.

During these seven days of recuperation, Shang Lu's spiritual insight has been restored.

At that moment, taking advantage of the instructor's inattention, he quickly activated his spiritual insight and immediately discovered that these so-called goddesses were clearly vengeful ghosts. Moreover, the murals were painted with human blood and corpse fluid.

But it looks a bit new.

It must have been drawn on recently.

It seems that the Tai Mo Academy only changed its ways after discovering the cursed land of the divine corpse...

What exactly did they encounter in the land of the dead?
Shang Lu was filled with curiosity and quickly put away his Spiritual Eye.

At that very moment, the instructor turned his gaze to him and Black Fox and said, "Let's go."

The pokeweed crossed its hands, and the black fox followed suit.

Immediately, the two followed the instructor out of the meditation hall and joined several other cultivators who had also undergone seven days of fasting and purification.

At the same moment, several monks carried an iron cage covered with talismans out of the meditation hall.

Inside the iron cage was a lump of rotting flesh constantly oozing pus and blood.

This rotting flesh was still alive; from a place where it was impossible to tell whether it was a mouth or a sore, it emitted weak groans and pleas:
"Help……"

"help me……"

Without a doubt, this lump of rotten flesh is the cultivator whose tampering was discovered.

It's pitiful that he also possessed the cultivation of the Mingxin Realm, yet he was transformed into this state.

"Remember this: you must heed our words. Otherwise, this will be the consequence! Especially once you reach the Holy Land, you must not act rashly!"

At this moment, an official spoke up, using a combination of intimidation and coaxing, hoping to intimidate the crowd and make them more obedient by showing them the fate of this cultivator.

At that moment, the Grand Physician Yin Shu reappeared, accompanied by a person whose entire head was covered in blood-stained talismans.

Upon seeing Shang Lu and the others, Yin Shu remained silent, only asking those who had accompanied him, "Are they able to go to the Holy Land?"

The person, whose head was wrapped with blood-stained talismans, made a spell with his hands. One by one, the blood-stained talismans flew up from the yellow paper and flew towards Shang Lu and the others as if they were alive. They transformed into eyes and noses of different shapes and sizes, looking them up and down and sniffing them.

A moment later, these eyes and noses turned back into bloodstained talismans and flew back onto the yellow paper.

The man whose head was wrapped in blood-stained runes finally spoke, uttering a single, economical word: "Agreed!"

As he spoke, more blood seeped out, wetting the yellow paper—it seemed that he would bleed every time he opened his mouth. This situation was quite strange, and Shang Lu guessed that this person had most likely encountered some kind of misfortune in the Divine Corpse's Cursed Land, which was why he ended up like this.

However, judging from the reactions of the people at Tai Mo Academy, they seemed to regard this strange turn of events as a divine blessing.

Upon hearing the word "perfect," Yin Shu finally smiled.

The instructor standing by, without waiting for his instructions, conjured a magical artifact, which transformed into a flying boat amidst incantations.

The airship was not large, but it was large enough to carry Shang Lu and the others.

"Congratulations! You have earned the right to travel to the Holy Land. There you will hear the teachings of the Great Nuo and comprehend divine revelations. Believe me, whatever you comprehend will benefit you immeasurably..."

Yin Shu raised his arms high, giving Shang Lu and the other cultivators a pep talk and promising them a rosy future, before finally calling out, "Board the boat, let's set sail!"

The crowd responded in unison—Yin Shu's "chicken blood pancake" did indeed possess a bewitching power. Even though everyone was a cultivator at the Mingxin Realm with strong mental resistance, they still couldn't help but feel their blood boil after hearing his words.

Even Black Fox, though mindful of Shang Lu's orders and remaining silent, waved her little hands vigorously a few times.

Immediately afterwards, a group of people filed onto the flying boat. Yin Shu stood at the bow, while the academic officer in charge of piloting the flying boat was at the stern.

Urged on by the instructors, the flying boat slowly rose, and after reaching the clouds, it suddenly accelerated, transforming into a streak of light and flying rapidly towards the east of Jiang Kingdom.

A day later, the airship left the land and flew to the boundless sea.

Shang Lu has traveled to this world and this is the first time he has seen the sea. He wonders if the water god Wuzhiqi can exert his power on the sea.

From the air, the sea appears calm, but Shang Lu can sense the danger lurking beneath the waves.

The ocean harbors powerful monsters and ferocious beasts.

These monstrous creatures and beasts also discovered the flying boat above the clouds, hiding underwater and spying on it, looking for an opportunity to prey on it.

But in the end, they didn't dare to make a move.

The aura emanating from the people on the airship also made them feel threatened and intimidated them.

After flying over the sea for another half day, Shang Lu and his companions spotted an island in the distance.

The island has a city, with houses everywhere, and several ports, which shows how prosperous it was.

The instructor piloted the flying boat down from the clouds, landing on the island city.

One of the cultivators recognized the island city and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Isn't this Hailing Island? The largest island in the Jiang Kingdom, and also its most prosperous floating city..."

Everyone was also puzzled. Could the ominous place be near Hailing Island? If so, wouldn't that mean the island had also been polluted?
Just then, the flying boat landed on Hailing Island.

At first glance, Hailing Island does not seem to have been polluted by the evil land. There are many people on the island, all busy with their own affairs, presenting a thriving and prosperous scene.

However, once the airship landed completely on Sea Spirit Island, everyone jumped off and immediately noticed the strangeness and oddity of the place.

"Such a strong smell of death!"

A cultivator, clearly a ghost cultivator or corpse cultivator, whose body was wrapped in a shroud, was extremely sensitive to death energy. As soon as he stepped off the flying boat, his eyes lit up with excitement.

"With such a dense aura of death, this is an excellent place to raise corpses!"

After the initial excitement, he looked around in confusion: "But why is there such a strong aura of death here?"

Under normal circumstances, the more densely populated and prosperous a place is, the less death energy it contains. Even if a few people die, their spirits will be dispersed by the vibrant life energy around them. Therefore, places where death energy is concentrated and where corpses are raised are mostly mass graves in the suburbs.

It is extremely rare for a city like Hailing Island to be permeated with a dense aura of death, turning it into a breeding ground for corpses.

But soon, the monk learned the truth.

Moreover, it wasn't just him; Shang Lu and other cultivators also saw through the truth about Hailing Island.

This city is practically a ghost town!
The people in the city seemed to be going about their daily lives as usual, but all the cultivators could see clearly that they were not living people at all.

Instead, they were soulless walking corpses!

They died long ago, but were held here by some force, becoming like this, repeating what they did and said before they died, day after day.

However, in Yin Shu's words, these walking corpses became a gift from Heaven:

"The Holy Land descended upon this place, granting all its inhabitants immortal bodies. When purification returns, their souls will return to their bodies. At that time, they will be the chosen people."

Whether other cultivators believed this nonsense or not, Shang Lu didn't know, but he didn't believe it at all.

If becoming a walking corpse can be considered immortal and eternal, then why bother with any divine gift from heaven? Just find a corpse cultivator or ghost cultivator and have them train you into a rampant ghost puppet, wouldn't that be enough?
Regardless of what others thought, Yin Shu called out "Follow me" and headed into the city.

After a moment's hesitation, the cultivators followed one after another, not daring to make any rash moves, much less take the opportunity to escape.

On the one hand, they all knew very well that the seven days of fasting and purification they had undergone were by no means simple, and that their bodies were very likely already under a curse.

On the other hand, upon arriving at this place, they discovered that it exuded an extremely dangerous aura. Therefore, the more indifferent Yin Shu and the academic officials appeared, the less they dared to act rashly.

Shang Lu did not make any rash moves, but pulled Black Fox along and followed behind Yin Shu.

The group moved through the city, but the walking dead inside showed no reaction to their presence.

It's unclear whether it was the deathly aura and corpse smell emanating from them that made the walking corpses mistake them for their own kind, or whether these walking corpses simply lost all reaction to their surroundings.

It was also in this city that Shang Lu and his group saw several places that resembled altars.

The altar was not built of ordinary bricks and stones, but of heads and corpses.

These are mounds of Jingguan (a type of ancient Chinese altar)!

Seeing these mounds of corpses as altars, the other cultivators only felt a sense of eeriness and strangeness. But Shang Lu, in an instant, thought of Xingshan.

Back then, the Chu army also built a Jingguan altar by sacrificing and killing people in Xingshan, artificially creating a rotten and ominous place!
Hailing Island is quite similar to Xingshan in the past.

Could it be that the ominous land of divine corpses that appeared here was also created through killing and sacrifice?

Tai Mo Academy sacrificed an entire city's innocent people for the sake of this ominous place.

The Tai Mo Academy brainwashed its cultivators, inducing them to stir up chaos and slaughter, in order to induce the birth of more new secret realms.
But what exactly is this so-called purification?

Are the Tai Mo Academy truly not afraid that their actions will bring about a calamity and destruction, causing them to vanish into nothingness?

Or do they really believe that even if there are heavenly calamities, they won't befall them, but instead will help them "purify" away those who are vying for cultivation resources?

What gives them such confidence?
What exactly did they discover in the land of the divine corpse?
While Shang Lu was shocked by the ruthlessness of the Tai Mo Academy, he also became increasingly curious about the Divine Corpse's Brutal Land.

(End of this chapter)