Shushan Earthly Immortal

Chapter 350 Divine Firmament Transformation, Green-Faced Ghost Crab (5.6K words presented, please vote for me at the end of the month~)

"Master, I would like to take a look at the fourth courtyard first."

Cheng Xinzhan said.

The old hall master smiled upon hearing this and said,

"You're not the first to say that; almost everyone qualified for the fourth stage says the same thing. I will continue to repeat my warning, so listen carefully:"
"If you receive a third-level Yin Corpse and fail to develop intelligence within three years, or receive a fourth-level Yin Corpse and fail to develop intelligence within five years, then the Yin Corpse will be taken back. In addition, you must find another Yin Corpse of the same level within one year and send it to me. If you cannot find one, then you yourself will be refined into a Yin Corpse."

The old hall master finished speaking casually, making Cheng Xinzhan realize that this was the Demonic Sect, not some kind and tolerant righteous sect.

However, Cheng Xinzhan was naturally not intimidated by such rules, and answered accordingly.
"My subordinate is willing."

The old hall master nodded. He knew that everyone who came in believed themselves to be an unparalleled genius, blessed with extraordinary fortune, who would find a peerless corpse, and from then on, their cultivation would greatly advance, catching the eye of a divine lord and rising to prominence. However, most of these people returned the corpses, and they themselves were also refined into corpses. Moreover, most of them were too low-level to enter the corpse house and were randomly thrown into the sea. Only a small number were placed in the first and second courtyards for future generations to choose from.

However, those who have been in the sect longer understand the difficulty of raising strange corpses, and those who live longer are more afraid of death. Someone like Lai Youde, being new and young, is truly stubborn and won't learn until he's faced with the impossible; persuasion is useless. Hopefully, this person, so highly regarded by the general, is truly a lucky one.

"Come with me."

The old hall master said something, then took Cheng Xinzhan and flew into the air, heading straight to the innermost part.

Cheng Xinzhan looked down at the Yin House from the air. Every courtyard was densely packed with countless transparent ice coffins. These ice coffins varied in size, but were arranged neatly, like a huge mortuary. In addition, these ice coffins were all standing upright, and the Yin corpses inside were also standing, looking like a long military formation, exuding a terrifying aura.

The further in he went, the colder it became. When he reached the top of the fourth courtyard, Cheng Xinzhan saw that the walls of the yin house were covered with white frost, and he also sensed the aura of "Arctic Cold Light Evil." It seemed that the yin corpse in this fourth courtyard was truly strange, as it actually required a true evil spirit to preserve the body.

The two landed.

With each deeper into the tomb, the number of corpses decreases dramatically. For example, the number in the third tomb is several times that of the fourth, the number in the second tomb is more than the number in the third and fourth tombs combined, and the first tomb occupies more than half of the entire tomb.

There were fewer than fifty Yin Corpses in the four courtyards, standing quietly in the ice coffins.

"I remember that up to now, including before the division of the family, there are only 52 strange corpses in the Four Realms. Only two of them have developed intelligence. One of them broke away from the corpse raiser and entered the True Yin Hall after developing intelligence. The other one is still with the corpse raiser, but this corpse raiser is a Golden Core cultivator at the Middle Three Tribulations stage. It was also because of the merit of raising the true spirit of the strange corpse that he was transferred to the Elder Council as he wished, and lived a leisurely life of obeying orders but not summons."

"There are three more bodies that have been taken out and not returned, but none of these three have yet developed a true spirit. The one that has been missing for the longest time has been over four years."

"Since the establishment of this corpse house, the strange corpses have been taken out more than ninety times. That is to say, on average, each strange corpse has been taken out twice, but only two people have succeeded. Moreover, these taking out all happened when the corpse house was first built. In recent years, fewer and fewer people have dared to take out strange corpses."

"Of those who claimed corpses but failed to nurture their spirits, only one person managed to find a strange corpse and place it in the corpse house, thus avoiding death. The others were all turned into zombies, and as for the corpse claimants who were originally Yin corpses, their true spirits were scattered and their bones were crushed to ashes."

The old hall master finished speaking softly to the ice coffin, then looked at Cheng Xinzhan.
"So, do you still want to claim the body?"

Cheng Xinzhan didn't want to appear too confident, so after hearing this, he pretended to think for a moment and then said,
"Then, Master, could you allow me to take a look before making a decision?"

The old hall master nodded. If it weren't for the general's instructions to "take care of him a little," he wouldn't have said so much to him. Seeing that he was wavering, he waved his hand, indicating that he could choose for himself.

So Cheng Xinzhan began to wander among the gaps between these ice coffins, examining these so-called strange corpses.

Closest to Cheng Xinzhan was a headless corpse, clad in armor, covered in wounds, and clutching a broken halberd tightly in its hand. Surprisingly, both the armor and the broken halberd were of the style from the Warring States period of the Former Qin Dynasty. Even through the ice coffin, one could feel a fierce and savage aura emanating from it. Where this long-uncorrupted corpse came from was unknown, but it certainly deserved the title of a rare and extraordinary corpse.

Cheng Xinzhan looked at the next one, which was even stranger. It was a wooden demon corpse with a human face and a wooden body, complete with all four limbs. Although it was a dead body, its wooden body was still lush and green.

He looked at each one one by one, finding them novel and occasionally showing some amazement on his face, but in fact, he was not at all moved—he had already seen the wonders of Meiji Mountain, so he was not intimidated by the scene before him.

Moreover, in his view, the corpses here were too similar. This similarity wasn't in their appearance, but rather in the fact that these corpses were all ancient relics, their malevolent aura too heavy, their vitality too weak. They were clearly dug out from extremely dangerous and malevolent places, and had been there for who knows how many years. Of course, the older the corpse, the better. Such corpses had too much yin energy and too little yang energy, which did not conform to the principles of yin and yang, making it difficult for them to develop sentience.

In essence, these corpses are more akin to the Five Temples Evil Corpses of Tianqiao Mountain, more suitable for being forcibly controlled using the art of annihilation rather than for developing sentience from nothing. However, even with forced control, these strange corpses have been stored for far too long, their malevolent energy permeating every corner, making them far less "fresh" than the corpses created by the Five Temples Evil Corpses through murder and corpse refining. Therefore, even with forced control, the primordial spirit is easily corrupted by the malevolent energy, leading to mental harm or even demonic possession.

In other words, in Cheng Xinzhan's view, most of the strange corpses here look impressive, but in reality they are just for show.

It's quite remarkable that two suitable individuals were chosen and developed sentience. However, this is the Demonic Sect, which makes Cheng Xinzhan wonder if Tang Yusheng or the Crimson Corpse deliberately let a few suitable individuals in as a show?

If that's the case, then there's really no need to claim the four corpses. It would be better to go check out the third one, which should be where the corpses of righteous masters are hidden. Cheng Xinzhan knew that in the long-standing battle between the righteous path and the Sea of ​​Ten Thousand Corpses, not all the corpses of righteous disciples were retrieved by their fellow disciples.

Cheng Xinzhan was about to reach the end of the fourth courtyard when he suddenly stopped, his gaze sharpening as he stared intently at the corpse before him.

This is a Taoist priest!
The Taoist's body was well preserved. He looked to be in his forties or fifties, somewhat thin, with a relaxed and slender figure, a peaceful expression, and his teeth and nails had not grown into corpse teeth or nails.

Cheng Xinzhan recognized him as a Taoist priest because the corpse's clothing was still perfectly preserved. The Taoist priest wore a white stone crown and a simple blue robe. But what truly shocked him was the Taoist priest's belt.

The Taoist priest wore a long silk sash woven from blue, purple, and red silk, with small silver bells hanging at both ends. Although the belt was now tattered, the silk faded, and the silver bells were rusted and dull, one could still imagine how exquisite the belt must have been when it was intact.

The belt was wrapped around the Taoist's waist twice, with the left side overlapping the right. On the purple ribbon, a row of cranes with their heads and tails intertwined were embroidered in blue thread of a similar color.

Cheng Xinzhan had spent a lot of time studying Taoist rituals and learning about the clothing of various sects, so he recognized the silk sash at a glance as the standard belt of the second-generation elders of the Shenxiao Sect's Bingfeng Mountain!
The second-generation robes of Bingfeng Mountain were replaced by the third-generation robes as early as the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, and now they have developed into the tenth generation. Cheng Xinzhan had only seen such belts in books.

The book says that the three-strand long ribbon belongs to the Golden Core Elder, while the Hidden Embroidered Crane belongs to the Supreme Elder of the Fourth Realm.

The corpse before them was actually the remains of a Supreme Elder of the Shenxiao Sect from the Northern Song Dynasty, left behind in the outside world!

Cheng Xinzhan shifted his gaze from the shackles, pretending to be nonchalant, and continued looking at the next corpse until he had examined all the strange corpses.

Then, he returned to Master Shenxiao and pointed at Fa Tui Dao.
"Master, I would like to take this body."

Regardless of what caused the loss of Gao Zhen's body outside, and regardless of where the Three Corpses Sect found this body, now that Cheng Xinzhan has seen it, how could he sit idly by as both a member of the Yuzhang Daoist sect and one of the three great Thunder Palaces?

Upon hearing this, the old hall master shook his head, but to his surprise, the young man still refused to listen to advice and insisted on claiming the body.

Then, he walked up to Cheng Xinzhan, glanced at the cloak of Dharma, and said,

"Oh, so you chose this one."

Then he looked at Cheng Xinzhan.
Why did you choose this one?

Cheng Xinzhan then answered,
"This disciple observes that the malevolent aura of this corpse is not that strong, so the possibility of it developing intelligence through nurturing is relatively high."

The old hall master nodded.
“You’re not the only one who thinks this way, but let me tell you, you’re thinking too simply. This corpse has been taken out three times, but it was never given any intelligence. It was always returned in the end, and the people who took it were all turned into zombies.”

Cheng Xinzhan's expression shifted, and he inquired...

"Master, do you know the origin of this Yin Corpse?"

The old hall master then said,
"This corpse has a long history. It was the God Lord's private possession. It is said that it existed before the establishment of the religion. Later, when the three religious leaders occupied the island and established the religion, they created the system of temples and halls. The God Lord took out this private possession and put it in the hall, encouraging his descendants to use it. However, until now, no one has been able to use it."

Cheng Xinzhan nodded, and then said,

"Master, I would like to give it a try."

The old hall master, feeling he had already exhausted much of his words that day, was too lazy to persuade him further, and simply asked one question.
"Have you thought about it?"

Cheng Xinzhan nodded.

So the old master said no more, waved his hand, and the ice coffin flew up, the Yin corpse inside was extracted, and then he put it into a black bag at his waist. Then he asked,

"Are you still going to see the third courtyard?"

Cheng Xinzhan nodded repeatedly.

Of course, he had to go for the third entry, since he couldn't actually refine the predecessor's technique into a corpse servant for combat. Therefore, he needed to find a real corpse servant to conceal his identity and fight enemies in the near future. Anyway, the time limit for the fourth entry's strange corpse to cultivate a true spirit was five years. After five years, he didn't even know if the Crimson Corpse would still be there.

So the two of them returned the way they came and arrived at the third courtyard.

Looking back now, Cheng Xinzhan noticed the difference and asked, "Master, why were the Yin Corpses in the first three courtyards divided into two sides, but the fourth courtyard was not divided?"

The old hall master explained,

"The first three sections are divided into east and west wings. The west wing contains corpses that have already turned into zombies but have not yet developed intelligence or begun cultivation. The east wing contains corpse cultivators who have developed intelligence and cultivated to the corresponding level, but they are temporarily sealed."

"seal?"

Cheng Xinzhan could understand the West Wing, but he didn't know what the purpose of setting up the East Wing was.

The old hall master smiled and said,
"The enemies I teach are certainly not only humans, just as the enemies of humans are not only demons and monsters."

Cheng Xinzhan immediately understood and replied,

"Is that the corpse cultivator in the east wing who's opposing us?"

The old hall master corrected him.
"To be precise, they are corpse cultivators who are unwilling to submit to us. It is not easy for Yin Corpses to attain enlightenment and cultivate, and the sect leader is unwilling to kill them easily, so he sealed them here. The attendants can be taken away and raised, like training hawks, to become our people."

"May I take the corpse from the east wing?"

Cheng Xinzhan asked, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend; this is the simplest of truths."

The old hall master shook his head.
"You're only at the second level, so you can lead the corpses in the first or second courtyard of the east wing. In the third courtyard, you can only lead the corpses in the west wing at the moment."

Cheng Xinzhan nodded. It didn't matter; given Lai Youde's original peak second realm cultivation, his own altered aura to the third realm over the past two days shouldn't arouse suspicion. He could come to the east wing to collect the body later.

Then, the two went into the west wing.

The corpses here look much more normal than those in the fourth courtyard; they have already completed their transformation and their vitality is much stronger. Moreover, there are many kinds: humans, demons, spirits, and monsters; those that crawl on land, swim in the sea, and fly in the sky—they are all here.

Cheng Xinzhan quickly scanned the area and indeed saw several corpses of righteous people, but he couldn't take them away today. He needed to take a corpse first that could conceal his identity for combat. Moreover, according to the rules, as long as he could nurture the Yin Corpse he took out today to develop sentience, he could come back in to take more corpses, so there was no rush.

He quickly scanned the entire west wing and then selected a corpse.

A large, fat crab with a green shell and a flowery back, commonly known as "Green-faced Ghost" or "Green Ghost Face".

"good."

The old hall master nodded repeatedly, looking at Cheng Xinzhan with surprise.

"You have a good eye. Now I believe you are skilled in raising corpses. The Green-Faced Ghost is powerful, especially at sea, and its thick skin is also suitable for self-defense. I remember the one you picked. It was originally a rogue sea monster from the Stone Forest Island area. When the Divine Lord moved here, this monster was blind and didn't recognize the Divine Lord. It swore at the Divine Lord and its primordial spirit was directly killed by the Divine Lord, but its physical body was not damaged at all. It is a rare and good corpse."

Cheng Xinzhan smiled. He naturally knew how to choose a corpse. This corpse had the strength of a mid-stage three-tribulation cultivator in life, and its primordial spirit was directly killed by a powerful magic force. It had not suffered any external injuries, and even its golden core was still intact. After death, it was directly sent to the corpse house, so it naturally underwent a corpse transformation. At this moment, its vitality was strong, and it would be easy for it to awaken its intelligence and recover its strength.

"Do you still want to go to the first and second sections? You can choose more items there."

The old master asked again.

Cheng Xinzhan shook his head. He had already taken two corpses, and soon he would break through to the third realm and nurture the Green-Faced Ghost into a true spirit. At that time, he could take out one more Yin corpse from each of the east and west wings of the third courtyard. If he took out more, it would be inappropriate, and since most of them were righteous corpses, it would easily arouse suspicion.

The old master nodded and led Cheng Xinzhan and the two corpses out of the Yin House.

At the entrance to the yin house, the gatekeeper Jin Dan registered Lai Youde's name, the numbers of the two yin corpses, and today's date.

After doing all that, the housekeeper released a dog.

A dog that is completely black, with a long nose and no eyes.

Sniffer dogs?

There are such strange beasts on Fire Dragon Island.

Cheng Xinzhan was slightly surprised.

Without the guards needing to speak, the old master of the hall, very politely, opened the body bag and released the two corpses that Cheng Xinzhan had chosen. The sniffer dogs then sniffed them closely.

Meanwhile, the old master explained to Cheng Xinzhan,
"That means the three or four corpses need to be taken away by the sniffer dogs. After all, these are rare walking corpses, and it would be a pity to lose them. Later, you should also let the sniffer dogs sniff them."

Cheng Xinzhan understood; this was to prevent embezzlement by those in charge.

"Don't overthink it, this is just to be on the safe side. We're already doing a good job with our sniffer dogs. Other demonic sects would make people swallow poison if they took away important items."

The old hall master said with a smile.

Cheng Xinzhan smiled and nodded, indicating his understanding. If the Wuling Lu Gang had such methods, Lai Youde and Kong Jufu wouldn't have been able to steal the corpse and escape so easily. As for swallowing poison, it was indeed common practice in the Demonic Sect, and Huang Laosan had certainly suffered from it.

However, only the Demonic Sect would use such a method of guarding against its own people, especially a Demonic Sect like Fire Dragon Island that is in a period of rapid development. There are simply too many land-based corpse cultivators, rogue demonic cultivators, sea demons, and those who surrender and submit from the surrounding seas to come and seek refuge. Fire Dragon Island cannot possibly identify them all in detail, nor can it turn them away, so it can only resort to this last resort.

This is unimaginable in the righteous path. Consider Cheng Xinzhan: when he became a disciple, Wen Sukong imparted to him various wondrous techniques and allowed him to roam freely without ever considering any precautions. However, the righteous path has extremely high requirements for its disciples, almost always training them from a young age, and rarely accepts independent cultivators. Such confidence and magnanimity are to be expected.

Soon, the sniffer dog finished sniffing the two corpses and then moved closer to Cheng Xinzhan to sniff carefully.

The old hall master was still reminding him.

"You can run however you want inside the sea of ​​fire, but once you're out, don't linger too long, or the sniffer dogs will warn you. Never go ashore without permission, or someone will come with sniffer dogs to catch you before you even get there. You'd better have an impeccable reason by then."

Cheng Xinzhan listened attentively and let the sniffer dogs sniff around.

Sniffer dogs are exotic beasts with an extremely sensitive sense of smell, a natural ability that makes them virtually immune to illusions and tricks. At such close range, even Cheng Xinzhan's concealment skills would be hard to fool.

However, sniffer dogs have two major weaknesses: ambergris and tiger urine. Once you have these two things, you can easily fool them. However, the ambergris refers to real ambergris, and the tiger urine must come from a divine tiger that is on the same level as a real dragon.

It was quite a coincidence that Cheng Xinzhan did not have tiger urine, but he did have saliva comparable to real dragon saliva—"Hibernating Dragon Yin Saliva Evil".

So, Cheng Xinzhan concealed his presence slightly, deceiving the old hall master and the guards, by releasing a malevolent aura to distract the sniffer dogs, and then subtly altering his own scent, thus successfully getting away with it.

After leaving the Faqiu Hall, they returned to the Hucong Hall. The old hall master handed them three items and then released the two Yin corpses.

A jade slip.

"This is the pupil technique used to see our distance from the Sea of ​​Fire and the buoys of the Sea of ​​Absolute Sun."

A black pouch with a red dragon pattern.

"This is a body bag; it can easily hold five zombies."

A bronze dragon-shaped token.

"This is our pass for leaving the islands of fire, and we are bound to it by blood."

Cheng Xinzhan dripped his blood onto it—of course, it was Lai Youde's blood.

He put away the three items and then used a body bag to collect the two Yin corpses, which meant that from this moment on, he had officially become a true disciple of Fire Dragon Island.

"There's one more thing. General, you've already taken Huangliu Island, and it's becoming quite dangerous to venture further into the Dadu Sea. The Divine Lord has ordered our Funiu Guard to support the expansion towards the Heiyuan Sea and Jintang Sea. Which direction are you going?"

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(End of this chapter)