Mythology

Chapter 314 What the hell is Shen Gongbao?!

Yang He vaguely remembered that in the original work, the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl seemed to have been obtained by some immortal.

But nobody really remembers.

"How could Zhao Gongming's body have fallen into the hands of the Shang Dynasty without any explanation? At that time, the Twelve Golden Immortals besieged the eldest brother of the Jie Sect. His soul was destroyed in front of me, and his physical body should have already belonged to the Chan Sect."

Yang He felt that there was something strange about the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation. The Three Immortal Maidens had already become evil spirits, so why would they act as the formation's front guard at Qinglong Pass?

"Your Highness, the mortuary of Jiuqu Town is just ahead."

A deputy general spoke up to remind him, interrupting Yang He's thoughts.

The mortuary was covered in mottled mold, and its doors creaked in the cold wind. It was more than enough to accommodate Zhao Gongming's enormous coffin.

Soon, the black coffin was placed in the center of the mortuary.

"General Zhang, you and Daoist Shen will stay with me at the mortuary."

Zhang Guifang nodded stiffly, looking around but not seeing a single normal person. Yin Jiao was half-human and half-ghost, and Shen Gongbao was also not human inside his skin.

Yin Jiao thought Zhang Guifang was worried that the corpse would get out of control, "Don't worry, since there are more than four thousand ghost soldiers here, even if Zhao Gongming comes back to life, he will not be able to break free from the coffin's restraints."

He shook the copper bell, and the ghost soldiers scattered and surrounded him in various places.

Jingle Bell.

The copper bell was piercingly loud.

Black blood seeped from the bodies of the ghost soldiers beneath their iron armor, drawing twisted spiritual patterns on the ground and then isolating them from the yin energy of the outside world.

"The traditional techniques of driving live stakes have not been lost in the Shang Dynasty."

The strange ghost soldiers broadened Yang He's horizons. They not only grew stronger with each battle, but could also serve as the core of the formation for attacking enemy strongholds.

"Please, Master Shen."

Yin Jiao made a gesture and took the lead in sitting down next to the black coffin.

Yang He swaggered into the mortuary.

Yin Jiao looked surprised, noticing that more than a dozen pupil ghosts had opened on Yang He's forehead. It didn't seem like he was unleashing his supernatural powers; rather, the pupil ghosts seemed to be a part of Yang He himself.

Zhang Guifang's attitude was also subtle; she instinctively took several steps back.

He felt an indescribable fear when facing Yang He.

"Are you possessed?"

Yin Jiao's concerns lasted only half a breath. He summoned Shen Gongbao mainly because Shen Gongbao was a second-generation disciple of the Chan Sect. Through possession, Shen Gongbao's physical body could remain intact, so he didn't need to take action himself when encountering dangerous situations.

If Shen Gongbao transforms into an evil spirit, he will lose his ability to remain indestructible and pose no threat.

Silence fell over the mortuary.

Yang He closed his eyes and circulated his internal energy. Although the two immortals were far apart and could not provide Yin energy, their cultivation had already reached perfection.

He is only half a step away from the Void Realm and could break through at any time.

As night fell, Jiuqu Town became unusually lively.

Outside the mortuary, a dense crowd of people stood, maintaining a tacit distance of ten feet from each other, staring intently into the building with chilling smiles.

The black coffin was wrapped in a layer of fleshy mycelium that spread like roots.

Boom!
A muffled thud came from the black coffin, and the ghost soldier in the southeast corner suddenly convulsed.

The ghost soldier's neck sprouted a string of twelve heads, which then fell straight to the ground, its corpse becoming nourishment for the black coffin.

Boom!Boom!
Two more muffled thuds followed, and two more ghost soldiers fell to the ground.

Zhang Guifang's knuckles, gripping her sword tightly, had turned white. She noticed that with each death of a ghost soldier, the mycelium on the surface of the coffin became more vibrant.

A moment later, a small, amber-shaped fruit, about the size of a fingernail, grew out.

"Your Highness, this is..."

"The blood pearl nurtured by the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl can be obtained by Daoist Shen in no time, but there may be a brief... riot when the coffin is ready."

Yin Jiao's words were loaded with meaning, clearly indicating that he was not offering Yang He a chance out of kindness.

Yang He glanced at the blood droplet and could sense a familiar aura within it, but since the fruit was not yet ripe, he could not know for sure.

He closed his eyes and remained silent, actually because he was afraid of revealing the murderous intent in his eyes.

He secretly planned to find an opportunity to help Yin Jiao pass the imperial examination with flying colors. As time passed, the number of ghost soldiers killed or wounded exceeded five hundred, the blood beads were about to mature, and a faint medicinal fragrance gradually filled the mortuary.

The blood droplet glowed with an eerie red light, and twenty-four mysterious patterns appeared on its surface.

At the very moment of completion, a chilling sound of bones grinding together came from inside the coffin, as if something was being reassembled and pieced together.

Yin Jiao was somewhat surprised and uncertain, as the corpse's reaction was significantly more intense than during the journey.

Very well, we can use it to test Shen Gongbao.

His smile remained unchanged as he subtly shook the copper bell to change the ghost soldiers' positions. Even if Shen Gongbao was unwilling, he had no choice but to comply.

Yang He simultaneously opened his eyes and scanned the area with over a dozen pupils.

He couldn't see through the corpse inside the coffin, but he did notice the unusual blood droplets.

"Master Shen, please." Yin Jiao stepped aside, subtly blocking Yang He's escape route.

Yang He slowly got up, ignoring Yin Jiao's ulterior motives, and in a few steps he arrived at the black coffin, examining the blood beads.

The surface of the blood droplet is crystal clear, but it is actually filled with a huge amount of distracting thoughts.

Countless distorted human faces moved about.

"They're all the random thoughts before death, how come they feel so similar to... karmic fire?"

Yang He frowned, carefully recalling his memories related to the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, hoping to find clues from a fragment of the Investiture of the Gods in his previous life.

"Master Shen."

Yin Jiao called out to Yang He, who stared at the blood bead as if bewitched.

dong dong dong.

The tapping became more and more rapid, and the blood droplets gradually detached from the shape of the fruit, becoming like a beating heart, covered with a network of deep veins.

"Shen Gongbao!!!"

Yin Jiao couldn't help but take a step forward, his three faces contorted in a hideous grimace.

Yang He came to his senses and thought to himself, "Randeng Daoren."

In the original work, the twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Pearls were taken away by the Daoist Ran Deng, who eventually used this innate treasure to evolve the Twenty-Four Heavens.

"A cunning old man is a cunning old man!!"

Yang He didn't think that Daoist Ran Deng had failed to obtain the Dinghai Pearl; the old schemer was more likely to have secretly handed the corpse over to the Shang Dynasty himself.

"Shen Gongbao! If the corpse escapes, the immortals of the Jie Sect will not let you go!!"

Yin Jiao was already starting to panic. Yang He watched helplessly as the black coffin went out of control. Could it be that what Zhang Guifang said was true, and that this person had gone mad?
The black coffin lid shifted slightly, and black hair surged out from the crack.

"A madman! A complete and utter madman!!"

Yin Jiao's face was full of resentment and venom, wishing he could tear Yang He to pieces. He didn't realize that he had been making assumptions all along.

At this moment.

Yin Jiao was astonished to find a bulge on Yang He's ribs with an arm sticking out inside.

"His... physical appearance is fake? And what is Shen Gongbao's true form?"

puff.

A gash appeared in his ribs.

A withered, ghostly hand emerged, its form constantly undergoing chaotic and mutated changes.

Yin Jiao's pupils dilated, and a strong feeling of nausea filled his mind, not because the ghostly hand inside Yang He's skin was disgusting.

It's not so much a psychological discomfort, but a feeling of facing an impossible monster.

Snapped! !

Ghost Hand ripped off the blood droplets and then forcefully struck the side of the black coffin.

Yang He's unintentional action actually affected the ghost soldiers' formation of the stake, causing the black coffin to close again and the corpse to stop turning into a ghost.

"Shen Gongbao is...who the hell?!"

(End of this chapter)