If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 1304 The Dao Vanishes and the Soul Perishes
Let's rewind to a few days ago.

Yin Yinzi was quite lucky; the Antarctic Immortal actually helped him borrow the Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag from the Primordial Heavenly Venerable.

“Grandmaster, if you want to cultivate into a Ghost Immortal, it is best to bury the corpse in a Feng Shui treasure land first, so that it can form a ‘spiritual root’.” Yin Yinzi held the apricot-yellow flag, his eyes filled with joy and an unyielding resentment.

The Antarctic Immortal raised an eyebrow and said, "Your immortal body has already dissipated, so how can you bury your corpse in the Netherworld veins?"

The joy on Yin Yinzi's face was replaced by hatred. "Originally, the immortal body did turn into pus, but now Yu Fengxian has poured out the pus from the Hunyuan Golden Cauldron and returned it to its original form as a human head."

My head!

That head is my 'corpse'.

Although this was an extreme humiliation for me, it also did me a great favor in an unseen way.

Even without a 'corpse,' I can transform into a ghost immortal and advance to the level of ghost king and ghost emperor.

"The body can be buried in a precious burial site and properly nurtured. If it eventually merges with the earth's veins, it will be equivalent to gaining an additional immortal bone, which will undoubtedly be of great benefit to the subsequent attempt to break through to the Ghost Emperor realm."

The Antarctic Immortal said calmly, "You also know that the head is in the hands of the Phoenix Feather Immortal."

"If you go to see her now, won't you just be asking for trouble?"

Yin Yinzi gritted his teeth and said, "She plans to offer my head as a sacrifice to a mortal, and my head will fall into the hands of a mortal's dead soul."

The Old Man of the South Pole remained silent for a long time before saying, "I advise you not to cause any more trouble now."

You have fallen into a great calamity, even committing a murderous act.

Under normal circumstances, given your level of understanding and status, you could easily bear this karmic consequence.

However, this was during a great calamity for heaven and earth.

All the causes and conditions that arise at this time may, in turn, become your calamities.

Yin Yinzi said, "Thank you for your care, Master. I understand what 'calamity energy' is, and I know that I have been tainted by calamity energy and have completed the calamity of killing."

"No, you have not completed the tribulation! Although you have lost your pure and pristine Yang Immortal Body and your Dao Fruit, you have not escaped the great tribulation."

"The great calamity of heaven and earth has not ended yet. As long as your heart is still in the calamity, you are still in the calamity and have not escaped it," the Antarctic Immortal said solemnly.

Yin Yinzi retorted unwillingly, "I just want to reclaim my 'Dao Body' and establish the foundation for the Dao of the Ghost Immortal. What's wrong with that?"

The Antarctic Immortal gave him a deep look and said, "This has nothing to do with right or wrong; you have chosen to enter the tribulation once again."

Yin Yinzi remained silent with a sullen face.

The immortal sighed helplessly and waved his hand, saying, "Very well, go then. You must bear the consequences of your own choices. The path of cultivation is arduous and lonely; no one else can make decisions for you."

Yin Yinzi was stunned for a moment, somewhat unwilling, "Grandmaster isn't going to accompany his disciple through the Ghost Immortal Tribulation?"

The green-faced immortal said, "Let your master go back. I will watch you complete your heavenly tribulation."

Alas, matters of heavenly tribulation are things outsiders can only observe; they cannot participate.

Yin Yinzi was still somewhat sullen, but he no longer insisted.

"Damn it, the Imperial Guard actually foresaw his own impending death; he's plotting against me!"

Yin Yinzi, who had his eye on the "human sacrifices," quickly discovered the true nature of the State Commandery.

After only a brief hesitation, he turned cold, made hand seals and chanted incantations, and began to cast spells on the Imperial Guard.

The green-faced immortal standing nearby changed his expression drastically and shouted, "Yin Yinzi, what are you doing?"

But he reacted too slowly; the Yin Yin Zi incantation was already nearing its end.

After finishing the incantation, he said, "Master, do not be alarmed. I am merely returning the punishment to the Imperial Guard."

The green-faced immortal sighed and said, "You are about to undergo tribulation yourself, yet you still commit such sins. Aren't you harming others and yourself?"

If Yu Fengxian finds out, she definitely won't let you off the hook.

Yin Yinzi touched the apricot-yellow flag at his waist and laughed, "Master, you're overthinking it. I'm practically a Great Immortal."

Using the head of a Great Immortal as a sacrifice would be something even the ancient Holy Emperors could not bear.

Guowei Liao was just an ordinary man, so naturally he was bound to suffer retribution.

It's like a father kneeling before his son, or like using the head of a king to sacrifice to his subject.

This is against propriety and disrupts the balance of the natural order; it will incur divine retribution.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bolt of lightning struck, shattering the tomb of the Imperial Commandant.

"Hahahaha~~" Yin Yinzi laughed heartily, "Master, I was right!"

"Oh dear, you've committed a grave offense!" The green-faced immortal stamped his foot and said, "There's an unwritten rule among Qi cultivators: if you discover a Corpse-Dissolving Immortal, whether friend or foe, you must never go forward to disturb them."

Not only did you disturb him, but you also cursed him, ruining his path to immortality. Aren't you afraid of retribution?

Yin Yinzi said, "He is the one who suffered retribution, and his retribution is me!"

The green-faced immortal said, "You were the one who actively tried to kill him, and now you're ruining his immortal career. Don't forget, you yourself are also about to undergo tribulation."

Yin Yinzi laughed and said, "My mind is perfectly clear. Taking revenge on him now will only increase my karmic burden and make the heavenly tribulation even more powerful."

Compared to the immense sin of destroying sacred objects of humanity, this new injustice is nothing.

Now that I hold the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner, if I can survive the great calamity that damages the sacred objects of humanity, I have nothing to fear from this minor trouble.”

The green-faced immortal shook his head. "Things have come to this point, there's no point in saying more. Go now, you've taken your revenge and vented your anger, you can now undergo your tribulation."

"Oh, Master, don't be anxious! I still need to retrieve my 'remains.' The Imperial Guard failed in his mission and fell into the underworld of Fengdu."

Yin Yinzi chuckled coldly, "It just so happens that I also need to go to Fengdu, so I can directly ask him for the 'sacrifice'."

"What are you going to Fengdu for?" The green-faced immortal had just asked when he suddenly realized something and said, "Are you going to undergo tribulation in Fengdu and directly register your household there?"

Yin Yinzi nodded and said, "Fengdu is ultimately the realm of ghost immortals. Any cultivator who intends to become a 'Ghost Emperor' will choose to enter the path of ghost immortals in Fengdu, and I am no exception."

Today, at this moment, in the Fengdu Underworld, at the Flying Immortal Platform, a special platform for ghost immortals to undergo tribulations.

"Boom~~~"

Two kinds of lightning, purple and dark red, fell continuously, forming a pillar of lightning that pierced through the underworld.

Even though they were already forty or fifty miles away from Feixiantai, the ghost immortals of Fengdu were still trembling with fear and inexplicable apprehension.

"This is terrifying! I've lived for tens of thousands of years and I've never even heard of a tribulation to become an immortal of this level, let alone seen one," an old ghost immortal dressed in the old Chu Kingdom attire exclaimed in horror.

"Doctor Xiong, don't you know the person undergoing tribulation? He destroyed the Crimson Dragon Cauldron and is tainted with countless karmic retributions, so it's normal for him to face this heavenly tribulation," said the middle-aged ghost immortal with a face as white as a ghost.

"His Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation lasted for several days, so of course I would know who the person undergoing the tribulation is."

"I can only marvel at how he was able to withstand such a terrifying heavenly tribulation," the old ghost immortal sighed.

"Do you know who he is? Don't you know he holds the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner?" another hunchbacked old ghost said.

"I have heard of the fame of the Five Banners of the Primordial Heaven, but this is the first time I have seen it. It is indeed well-deserved. Two layers of the Nine-Nine Great Heavenly Tribulation were superimposed, and each layer of Heavenly Tribulation was bombarded by two kinds of tribulation lightning at the same time, yet he was completely unharmed."

As they watched golden lotuses appear out of thin air in the center of the heavenly tribulation, dispelling the terrifying tribulation lightning, the ghost immortals were both shocked and envious.

Suddenly, a golden light drifted from the north, arrived above the heads of the ghosts and immortals, and transformed into a tall emperor wearing a crown.

He did not radiate any divine or celestial light, but the dim, dark space around him did indeed become much brighter because of him.

Looking up at him was even more blinding than looking directly at the lightning that struck Yin Yinzi.

"Ah, it's the Emperor of Fengdu!" "Even the Emperor has been alarmed."

"It's normal for the Great Emperor to be alarmed by such a terrifying tribulation to become an immortal. The one undergoing the tribulation is the Great Immortal Yin Yinzi. His tribulation is about to end, so it's only natural for the Great Emperor to come and congratulate him."

"Indeed, given the cultivation and status of the Great Immortal Yin Yinzi, it would be strange if the Great Emperor didn't care."

"Now that the Great Emperor has arrived, does this mean that Immortal Yin Yinzi is about to successfully overcome the tribulation?"

"Is that even a question? The Double Nine-Nine Great Heavenly Tribulation has reached its final wave."

Even in the final stage, with the Divine Firmament Thunder and Yin Fire Thunder bombarding it alternately, the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner remained firmly in place. Even a fool could see that the Great Immortal Yin Yin was about to complete his tribulation.

"Makes sense."

As the ghosts and immortals discussed among themselves, the Double Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation came to an end, and the thunderclouds in the sky began to dissipate.

At this moment, the Emperor of Fengdu finally spoke.

He bowed respectfully towards the direction of the tribulation lightning and laughed loudly, "Congratulations to Fellow Daoist Yin Yinzi on passing the heavenly tribulation! Fengdu will gain another Ghost Emperor!"

Despite his unstable breathing, Yin Yinzi still roared loudly in response, "Haha, thanks to the Great Emperor's auspicious words, after this humble Daoist has collected this last wave of heavenly lightning, I will then meet with the Great Emperor—"

Before the words were even finished, the thunder that was supposed to keep crashing down from the sky suddenly stopped.

But the lightning only stopped falling; it didn't disappear.

Instead of disappearing, they seemed to be preparing a powerful attack—a huge two-colored lightning ball accumulated beneath the thunderclouds.

The crimson and purple two-tone lightning ball continued to expand, and a terrifying aura of calamity spread out.

Even the Great Emperor of Fengdu couldn't help but retreat seven or eight miles.

The remaining ghost immortals, though trembling with fear, tried their best to fly backward.

"What happened? Why has the tribulation lightning become so terrifying?"

All the ghosts and immortals, including Yin Yinzi, were puzzled.

However, Yin Yinzi remained calm and composed. He immediately swallowed a Nine-Turn Golden Pill, and poured his vast magical power into the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner. Tens of thousands of golden lotuses floated above his head, forming a golden lotus light screen the size of a basketball court.

In the center of ten thousand golden lotuses, Yin Yinzi is bathed in golden immortal light, impervious to all magic, shunned by all evil, and unbreakable by anything.

In layman's terms, it means near-complete immunity to physical and magical attacks.

This is the power of the treasure of the sage.

"Boom~~"

The earth trembled, and even the underworld of Fengdu shook slightly. An earthen dragon emerged from the southern land.

The earth dragon is yellowish-brown, thousands of feet long, with half its body buried in the dark earth veins and the other half emerging from the ground. Treating the earth as a lake, the earth dragon meanders and swims like a python in the water, its posture elegant and majestic.

"Yin Yinzi, give me back my life!"

The earth dragon was incredibly fast, covering over a hundred miles in the blink of an eye, and pounced directly on Yin Yinzi, roaring as it did so.

It was as if billions of living beings were speaking at the same time, "Yin Yinzi, give me back my life!"

"What kind of monster are you? When did I ever make an enemy of you? Why are you trying to stop me from becoming an immortal at this time?"

Yin Yinzi felt inexplicably terrified, his expression turned ferocious as he roared, and the apricot-yellow flag in his hand unleashed even more golden lotuses.

With a startled cry, Yin Yinzi quickly recognized the true nature of the earth dragon. "This is dragon energy, the energy of the ancestral dragon of death. Damn it, I understand now, you are Yu Fengxian, aren't you?"
Don't think that just because you've merged with the Ancestral Dragon, I won't recognize you.

Dragon energy is actually very easy to identify.

The ghost immortals who had sensed the aura of the ancestral dragon in the Qinling Mountains could recognize the earth dragon's identity with just a little perception.

"Hidden Shadow Child, give me back my life!"

The earth dragon pounced on the Wuji apricot yellow flag, its claws tearing wildly and its teeth biting desperately.

The golden lotuses that could withstand physical and magical attacks now seemed like real water lilies, incredibly fragile. They were torn apart by the dragon's claws and gnawed into holes the size of houses by the dragon's mouth, just like clods of earth being gnawed in one bite.

Yin Yinzi hurriedly waved the apricot-yellow flag, continuously scattering new golden lotuses to fill the hole.

He was still roaring angrily: "Yu Fengxian, you have openly disrupted my path to immortality, committing a grave taboo for Qi cultivators. Even the heavens will not tolerate you."

"Yin Yinzi, give me back my life~~~" The earth dragon repeated the same words.

But the earth dragon's face changed at this moment, turning into a twisted and ferocious image of the Imperial Guard.

It cannot be said to be entirely the same as the Imperial Guard's Office; its voice is still a "grand chorus" of millions.

"You, how could you be the Imperial Commandant?" Yin Yinzi exclaimed in shock and bewilderment. "This is impossible, it shouldn't be like this. The Imperial Commandant has already become the God of Hengshan, how could he have merged with the Ancestral Dragon?"

In the distance, the Great Emperor of Fengdu's eyes flashed with divine light, sometimes staring at the earth dragon, sometimes observing the thunderclouds above Yin Yinzi's head.

Upon seeing Yin Yinzi's terrified and confused expression, the Emperor of Fengdu suddenly realized what was happening and exclaimed, "Oh no! This isn't an attack from Yu Fengxian; it's a matter of the heart—"

He only uttered half a sentence before, on a whim, he immediately stopped talking.

"Your Majesty, what's going on?" The green-faced immortal noticed the expression on the face of the Fengdu Emperor and hurriedly bowed and pleaded, "Yu Fengxian has come to the Fengdu Underworld to cause trouble. Your Majesty cannot ignore this!"

The Emperor of Fengdu said, "Yu Fengxian may have caused trouble, but she did not come to Fengdu."

This is Fellow Daoist Yin Yinzi's tribulation, his greatest tribulation.

"What kind of calamity is this?" the green-faced immortal asked.

The Emperor of Fengdu hesitated.

The green-faced immortal whispered, "The Great Emperor also saw the apricot-yellow flag in Yin Yinzi's hand."

The Emperor of Fengdu sighed, "This is a tribulation of inner demons; even the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner is useless!"

"Inner demon tribulation?" the green-faced immortal asked doubtfully. "Could the earth dragon be an illusion? It doesn't seem so; we all saw it."

The Emperor of Fengdu shook his head and said, "Fellow Daoist, please don't ask. Yu Fengxian is very troublesome, and I don't want to form any karma with her for no reason."

Seeing the Green-Faced Immortal's anxiety, he reminded him again, "The tribulation of inner demons can only be borne by oneself! Even if I explain it to you in detail, will you step in to help Yin Yinzi?"

The green-faced immortal suddenly realized, and shouted, "Yin Yinzi, do not entangle with the earth dragon! This is a tribulation of inner demons! Activate the Jade Purity Demon-Suppressing Technique! This is your inner demon; Taoist magic is useless. Only the mind—"

"Boom!" The two-colored lightning ball hovering above Yin Yinzi's head suddenly split off a branch of lightning, which instantly crossed dozens of miles and struck the Green-Faced Immortal's head.

"Pfft~~"

With a single strike, the Green-Faced Immortal's body shattered, and before the fragments even hit the ground, they were burned to ashes in the thunder and fire.

The Emperor of Fengdu, still shaken, muttered, "That damned Yu Fengxian, she must be keeping a close eye on this heavenly tribulation right now. Whoever dares to cause trouble, she'll strike them down according to cause and effect. But she's not the Thunder God of the Thunder Department, so how can she guide the tribulation lightning?"
Even the Thunder God of the Thunder Department cannot obtain the authority to summon thunder without the decree of the Heavenly Emperor!

"Ahhh~~~" Yin Yinzi in the distance went into a frenzy. He recklessly activated the immortal power in his body, constantly waving the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner and scattering large areas of protective golden lotuses.

Then the earth dragon bit and tore at the golden lotus with its mouth and claws, ripping it to shreds.

"This is impossible, it doesn't make sense! How could you, a mere dead ancestral dragon, destroy my protective golden lotus?!" Yin Yinzi couldn't understand and became even more frantic.

He continued until he was completely exhausted, and he no longer had the strength to wave the apricot-yellow flag.

He stumbled, nearly losing his grip on the apricot-yellow flag, and his soul was exposed outside the protective golden lotus.

"Boom!" The two-colored lightning ball that had been accumulating for a long time was poured down all at once.

"Boom!!!" A thousand-foot-tall mushroom cloud of lightning rose from the Flying Immortal Platform.

(End of this chapter)