Shushan Earthly Immortal

Chapter 347 Mission to the Demon Island, Eloquent Tongue (5.4K views, please vote with monthly tickets~)

Two figures left Huangliu Island and headed northwest.

One of the two men was short and stocky with a bright red birthmark on his face. The other was thin, slightly hunched over, and plain-looking.

Both men appeared to be around forty years old, neither young nor old, just ordinary people. If there was anything unusual about them, it was that each carried a four-foot-long wooden box on their backs. These weren't sword cases; the boxes had an odd shape, somewhat resembling coffins.

"Boss Lai, are we really going to join the Crimson Corpse Sect? I've heard that the Three Corpse Sect has strict rules and life there is not as good as in the Big Belly Sea. Moreover, if you make a mistake, you will be killed and turned into a corpse!"

The one with the birthmark on her face said...

“I know that Daduhai is a better place, which is why I brought you all the way from the mainland to join Huang Laoxian. But the question is, is it still a better place now? The Crocodile King doesn’t sleep anymore, Laoxian has fallen out of favor, and the people from Fire Dragon Island come knocking on our door every day. What else can we do?”
"We're always at the forefront when fighting against Aunt Hong and Old Fourth Qing's men, so they've held a grudge for a long time. They won't want you anyway. Besides, Old Immortal has always treated us well. You really want to join one of those two families? Have you lost your conscience?!"

The other one, who was thin, was the one known as Boss Lai. He immediately launched into a tirade of abuse at the person who was speaking.

The man with the birthmark then said,
"That's definitely not possible, Boss Lai, don't be angry, I was just saying it casually."

"Humph!"

Lai Laoda snorted coldly, then said,

"In my opinion, it is only because the old immortal was willing to betray the Crocodile King and join Fire Dragon Island that he truly has the courage. If we wait any longer, it will be like cutting flesh with a dull knife, and he will be finished sooner or later."

"Besides, the Crimson Corpse God-King is a giant of the demonic path on land who came to the sea to establish his foundation. The old immortal and those of us who stayed behind also fled from land to the sea. Maybe the God-King will be more at ease using him! By the way, I'm warning you, when we get to the island, you must address him as God-King and don't utter the words 'Crimson Corpse' again, understand?"

The man nodded quickly.

Lai Laoda then said,

"There's another bad habit of our Great Belly Sea, well, it's not just the Great Belly Sea, it's the same on land and sea, they like to suppress the cultivation level of their subordinates. Although the Old Immortal usually treats us well, he doesn't tolerate disobedience in this regard. You know, we've been stuck in the second realm for so long, just because the Old Immortal is only at the lower third tribulation, so we dare not form our core."

“I could tell before that it was going to be difficult for Old Immortal Sixi, I even thought he would never be able to form his core in this lifetime. But now there’s a turning point. Think about it, once we’re merged into Fire Dragon Island, those of us who have surrendered will definitely be scattered. Fire Dragon Island has a lot of experts, if we get assigned to someone with a high cultivation level or a broad mind, you and I will immediately form our cores!”

Upon hearing this, the other person immediately beamed with joy.
"As expected of Boss Lai, he's right. We should defect to Fire Dragon Island!"

"Don't be too happy yet. We may want to invest, but they might not even want to accept it!"

At this point, Boss Lai poured cold water on the situation.

The two chatted intermittently, their tone sometimes heavy and sometimes light, but it was clear that they had a very good relationship, with Boss Lai taking the lead. It was also evident that neither of them was entirely confident about surrendering to Fire Dragon Island.

After traveling for more than four hundred miles, a giant island appeared before them, like a giant beast floating on the sea, three times larger than Huangliu Island.

The island was shrouded in the aura of corpses and blood-red light, which gathered into a red cloud that lingered there. It looked terrifying and was far superior to Huangliu Island.

A hundred feet away from this island, there is a ring of reef islands, which looks quite regular, like a circle around the Fire Dragon Island. It should be a later construction.

The two landed on a chain of rocky islets. Every so often along the path on this ring of rocks stood a black marker with eight large, crimson characters inscribed on it:
Fire Dragon Island boundary, all trespassers shall cease.

The two had barely landed when the patrolmen on the island chain spotted them, flew over, and demanded an explanation.
"Who is coming?"

It was obvious that the Three Corpses Cult still retained the traditions of the land-based demonic cults, wearing standardized robes and maintaining strict security, making them incomparable to the lax Huangliu Island.

Moreover, the person in front of them wasn't alive; he was a walking corpse.

Below the third realm, walking corpses are clearly distinguishable, with their teeth exposed. First-realm walking corpses have stiff joints, resembling puppets, hence they are called zombies or hopping corpses. Second-realm walking corpses are almost indistinguishable from humans in appearance and movement, and possess the ability to fly, so they are called flying corpses.

Once you reach the third realm and form a corpse core, you won't be able to tell the difference between a walking corpse and a human just by looking at them.

However, these simple methods of judgment only apply to ordinary zombies. Some zombies were powerful beings in life, or were born under favorable circumstances, and may have been no different from ordinary people from the moment they developed intelligence.

The corpse before them, with its exposed teeth yet moving freely, was clearly a second-stage flying corpse. It wore a long, dark robe with gold mountain patterns and a bluish-black woven rattan hat—the standard attire of the Three Corpses Sect. The crimson dragon embroidered on its robe indicated it belonged to the Crimson Corpse lineage. Of course, now that the Three Corpses had split up on Fire Dragon Island, one didn't need to look at its clothing to identify it as belonging to the Crimson Corpse lineage.

The two men quickly bowed, and it was Lai the Elder who spoke first.

"Greetings, senior. I am Lai Youde, and this is my junior brother, Kong Jufu, an envoy from Huangliu Island. He has come to request an audience with the Divine Lord!"

The zombie's expression changed.
"Huangliu Island? The Alligator King's men?!"

Lai Youde quickly made a shushing gesture and lowered his voice.

"Senior, we came out to sea secretly on the orders of Island Master Huang, and no one knows about it!"

The zombie seemed to understand, turned and left, leaving behind a sentence.
"Wait here."

The zombie flew back to Fire Dragon Island. Kong Jufu was somewhat uneasy and said,

"Boss Lai, he wouldn't have sent people to kill us, would he? Look how ugly his face was when he heard the name Huangliu Island. Did he fight with us before?"

Lai Youde comforted him upon hearing this.
“The Three Corpses’ teachings are very strict. Since I said we were messengers, he will definitely report it.”

Sure enough, after a short while, two people arrived and landed on the rocks.

The flying corpse that had just delivered the message lagged behind, and standing in front was an even taller and more robust middle-aged man. He wasn't wearing a standard robe, indicating he was an elder or higher in the sect. This man wore a blue chainmail suit, with a black-sheathed sword at his waist. Outwardly, he appeared no different from an ordinary person, radiating the aura of a Golden Core cultivator; it was impossible to tell whether he was a walking corpse or a living person.

The man with the sword looked down at Lai Youde and Kong Jufu, a half-smile playing on his lips.

The two men's expressions changed immediately when they saw that the newcomer was dressed as a military officer.

They recognized this person. Fire Dragon Island is located at the intersection of four sea areas and expands in all directions. Each of the sect's Golden Core elders is responsible for one direction. The person in front of them is in charge of attacking Yellow Sulfur Island in the Big Belly Sea, and has fought with Old Immortal Huang many times!

This man, neither truly dead nor alive, was named Tang Yusheng. Legend has it that he was the corpse of an ancient general from the late Tang Dynasty, who died on the battlefield. Later, the battlefield became a cursed place, with blood and corpses accumulating there. The general's burial site happened to be the eye of this cursed place, and he was refined day and night by the cursed energy, which prevented his body from decaying. Over time, he became a walking corpse, gaining sentience. Later, when the Three Corpses established a religion, he joined them.

The two quickly bowed in greeting.

"Greetings, General Tang."

This corpse had a peculiar habit: it disliked being addressed as "elder" or "great immortal" by its subordinates, and preferred to be called "general."

At this moment, General Tang said,
“I’ve seen you two before. You’re always inseparable. You’re both corpse raisers, and each of you has a second-realm flying corpse. You’re unique on Huangliu Island. I remember you.”

Lai Youde quickly put on a smile.
"General, you have a discerning eye. We are from the Wuling Lu Gang, who came from western Hunan by land many years ago. Our skill of raising corpses is an ancestral skill."

When Tang Yusheng first heard about Xiangxi, his face darkened. But when he heard about the Wuling Lu Gang, his expression softened. He said,

"As far as I know, the Lu Gang's practice of raising corpses doesn't involve exterminating spirits?"

Lai Youde quickly agreed.
"That's right, that's right, annihilating corpse spirits, only those bastards from Tianqiao Mountain could do that, they're treating corpses like trash. But we Lu Gang raise corpses like ancestors!"

Kong Jufu, who was standing to the side, nodded repeatedly.

"Mount Tianqiao? Hmph!"

Tang Yusheng snorted coldly, "They're all dead long ago!"

Lai Youde continued to agree and then cursed.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Tang Yusheng looked at Lai Youde and asked again,

"I heard that the Lu Gang has now established a relationship with the Haoran Alliance. Why are you still coming overseas?" Lai Youde's face was somewhat embarrassed and evasive. After a moment of hesitation, he chose to tell the truth.

"I dare not lie to General Tang, we have been overseas seeking refuge on Huangliu Island for almost sixty years. At that time, the mainland gang had not yet established connections with the righteous path."

Lai Youde's meaning was quite clear—if he had stayed any longer, he would have turned from a heretical path to a righteous one, and he would never have come overseas to join the evil forces.

Tang Yusheng snorted coldly upon hearing this, but perhaps considering Lai Youde's relatively honest nature, he didn't pursue the matter further. After confirming Lai's identity and background, he finally got to the point.
"Has Huang Laosan figured it out?"

Upon hearing this, Lai Youde's face showed a hint of embarrassment again.

"General, the island lord has ordered that these words can only be spoken to the Divine Lord."

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Tang Yusheng laughed loudly, then pointed at the two of them with his finger.

"You two think you can see the Divine Lord?"

After a burst of unrestrained mockery, Tang Yusheng's expression instantly turned fierce.
"Speak if you must, or get out. I will spare your life today, but in the future, I will lead my troops to raze Huangliu Island to the ground!"

Lai Youde and Guo Jufu exchanged a glance, both seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes. Then, Lai Youde whispered to Tang Yusheng,

"Yes, General, you are right. The Alligator King is tyrannical, and my island lord sincerely submits. However, General Tang, we sneaked out here, and there are too many people around. We don't need to make everything clear here, do we?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Yusheng's lips curled up. Surrender was the best option. Taking Huangliu Island without bloodshed would surely earn him more respect from the Divine Lord. The Divine Lord disliked nothing more than those who blindly relied on brute force.

"Follow."

Tang Yusheng left those words and flew towards Fire Dragon Island. Lai Youde and Guo Jufu quickly followed, while the flying corpse that delivered the message remained on the island chain to continue patrolling.

Lai Youde followed Tang Yusheng inside, while secretly activating his Dharma Eye to observe the flow of energy on Fire Dragon Island. He could see that the red clouds on the top of Fire Dragon Island resembled a huge pool of blood, with blood overflowing down the edge of the pool like a waterfall or an inverted red jade bowl, covering the entire Fire Dragon Island.

This must be the protective formation of Fire Dragon Island.

He stared at the blood-red clouds, his eyes gleaming. And then, he vaguely saw a huge red-maned dragon slowly swimming in the blood-red clouds!

Red-haired Ancestor!

The Crimson Corpse merged the Dragon Corpse into the mountain-protecting formation!
He only caught a fleeting glimpse before quickly averting his gaze, worried about being noticed by the Crimson Corpse.

At this moment, as they approached the Bloodfall, two beams of red light shone directly on Lai Youde and Kong Jufu.

But at this moment, Tang Yusheng, who was leading the way, raised a token, which dispelled the red light, and led the two of them to land on the island.

Lai Youde secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and this so-called Lai Youde was naturally Cheng Xinzhan, who had used the transformation technique.

Yesterday, he suggested to Huang Laoxian that they surrender to the Red Corpse and join Fire Dragon Island. Huang Laoxian did not refuse—the demon knew which to choose between the possibility of dying later and dying immediately.

To serve on Fire Dragon Island, Cheng Xinzhan naturally needed an identity, so he asked Huang Laoxian to list his subordinates who were currently at the peak of the second realm and were capable in their work. Huang Laoxian didn't have many such people under his command, especially at this time of year, so Cheng Xinzhan quickly chose a man named Lai Youde.

This person came from the mainland to seek refuge with Huang Laoxian 60 years ago. He has become a familiar face in the surrounding seas, and many people recognize him, so he will not arouse suspicion or vigilance from others.

Furthermore, this Lai Youde was a member of the Wuling Land Gang. Back in the day, like Kong Jufu, he was a low-level henchman responsible for purchasing and collecting goods in a merchant caravan. Once, their caravan acquired two fine corpses. The two men, tempted by greed, stole the bodies and defected. After secretly refining the corpses, they heard that the Immortal Huang of the Sea was a righteous man who took in those who couldn't stay on land, so they joined him.

This person practices the corpse-raising method of the Wuling Lu Gang, and his attitude towards walking corpses is completely different from that of Tianqiao Mountain. The Wuling Lu Gang is an unorthodox force with some banditry, and they often treat walking corpses as brothers, sharing the same room and living together, regarding them as brothers and wives. Moreover, their founder established a rule that one cannot raise two corpses at the same time, which is quite peculiar in the entire corpse-raising world.

Such a person is perfectly suited to be sent as an envoy to Fire Dragon Island, which is dominated by corpse cultivators. If he can truly be incorporated into the Three Corpse Sect, this identity will make it easier for him to get things done on Demon Island in the future.

Therefore, Cheng Xinzhan had Huang Laosan summon him alone to the Tower of No Return, where he performed a ritual to liberate his physical body, read his primordial spirit, and then took his place. As for bringing Kong Jufu along this time, it was because the act needed to be complete; having a familiar person by his side would make it easier to conceal himself.

Upon arriving at Fire Dragon Island, Cheng Xinzhan looked around. The island featured a stone forest landscape, somewhat similar to Wuling Mountain and Sanqing Mountain. However, the vegetation here was dominated by blood fungus, red pine, and red flowers, making the entire island appear as a vibrant red expanse.

The island was very large, and there were many people and corpses. Tang Yusheng carried the two of them for quite a while before they landed in a cave.

"Tell me, what are Huang Laosan's conditions? The Alligator King has a bad reputation in the desert. He dared to betray the Alligator King, so he must have made some demands, right?"

Seeing that no one was around, Cheng Xinzhan spoke frankly.

"Our island lord has offended the Crocodile King, who has placed a leech in his stomach. We begged the Divine Lord to intervene and remove the leech, thus relieving our island lord of his worries. We, the people of Yellow Sulfur Island, will surely switch sides and serve the Divine Lord as our master!"

After Cheng Xinzhan finished speaking, an eerie silence fell over the cave, and Tang Yusheng remained silent for a long time.

The corpse general frowned, feeling that things were getting a bit tricky. He had originally planned to handle the surrender of the entire Yellow Sulfur Island himself, without disturbing the God Lord, and to keep all the credit for territorial expansion and bloodless conquest for himself, so that the God Lord would look at him differently.

However, it was clear that the King of Alligators himself had planted the insects, and he was not confident that he could cure them.

However, if it were to provoke the Divine Lord's personal intervention, then at most he would only have the merit of being effective in the early stages of the battle. The most important merits of expanding territory and winning without bloodshed would be the Divine Lord's doing. Of course, it wouldn't be useful for the Divine Lord to want credit, but in that case, his own performance wouldn't be as outstanding.

Thinking of this, Tang Yusheng's expression turned fierce again, his voice low and menacing.

"If our Fire Dragon Island conquers all directions, and we need the Divine Lord to intervene in everything, then what use are we to the Divine Lord? If we kill you all, the Yellow Sulfur Island waters will also be ours!"

Upon hearing this, Kong Jufu panicked immediately.

Cheng Xinzhan also feigned panic, then tried his best to calm himself down, and said,
"General Tang, this is naturally different. Our surrender can prevent your sect from losing manpower, especially your men. Moreover, our voluntary surrender may damage the reputation of the Crocodile King, but it will enhance the reputation of the Divine Lord. I think this is what both the Divine Lord and you would like to see."

"Furthermore, the reason we surrendered was not because of the leeches, but because General's offensive was too overwhelming for us! If it weren't for General's skillful conquest and effective command of troops, why would we have chosen to surrender? The leeches in my island lord's body are an obstacle to our surrender, not the reason for it. We surrendered only because of General! This is what the island lord will say when he meets the Divine Lord in the future!"

Cheng Xinzhan said in a firm and powerful voice.

Upon hearing this, Tang Yusheng's expression improved considerably.

Upon careful consideration, he realized that this made sense. What did that damned crocodile king's use of insects to guard against his own people have to do with his own military achievements? If it weren't for these leeches, Huang Laosan would probably have surrendered long ago!
However, although that was the logic, Tang Yusheng still felt that the task was not fully accomplished and was not entirely satisfactory.

Cheng Xinzhan saw through it and dropped another bombshell.

“My island lord is sincere. To be honest, General, there is something else that you, the Divine Lord, and the Alligator King do not know. Only my island lord knows.”

"what's up?"

Tang Yusheng asked.

Cheng Xinzhan feigned helplessness and inner conflict, but finally steeled himself and said...
"This is what my island owner told me just before I left."

Cheng Xinzhan lowered his voice.

"Actually, thirty miles below my home, Huangliu Island, there is a sulfur mine, and it is the Baiyang Sulfur Mine! General, I am a corpse breeder, and you are a great cultivator of the corpse family. I don't need to explain any further. Such a mine would be a great help to our Fire Dragon Island!"

Tang Yusheng's pupils contracted, and his expression changed.

Seeing this, Cheng Xinzhan followed suit even more closely.
"General, my island lord, and everyone in the waters around Huangliu Island, only desires to survive. However, the Alligator King is tyrannical, and we on Huangliu Island have suffered greatly under his rule. We truly do not wish to live under his control any longer. Otherwise, if my island lord reported this matter to the Alligator King, perhaps he would spare my lord, and then his attitude towards Huangliu Island would likely be different from what it is now..."

"General, if you are willing to convey this matter to the ears of the Divine Lord and put in a good word for our Yellow Sulfur Island, and ask the Divine Lord to take action, then we would not mind at all if we attributed the credit for the discovery of the white sulfur mine to you!"

"General, we are all cultivators from the land, but now we are making a living together at sea. Please help us out!"

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(End of this chapter)