Eternal God Emperor: Only I Am Emperor One

Chapter 159 The Shadow of the Heavenly Demon, A Chance Encounter Underground

They explored the territories of several ghost kings and found many treasures, but they couldn't find any more Yin Soul Saliva.

Clearly, such treasures are rare even in the underworld.

The four figures arrived at a valley, about a thousand miles away from the River of Corpses. The concentration of Yin energy there was only moderate, not like a treasure land guarded by a Ghost King.

Having found a secluded corner in the valley, Di Yi planned to refine the Yin Soul Saliva there, attempting to draw out the Earth Soul and refine it into his own Heavenly Demon Shadow.

The environment of the underworld is beneficial for cultivating one's earth soul, so he did not choose to enter the World-Stabilizing Banner, but instead found this canyon.

Using holy energy as a blade, the Emperor sliced ​​open the gem's outer shell, extracting all the Yin Soul Saliva inside—a total of twenty-six drops, more than he had imagined.

Releasing the Dark Holy Soul, Di Yi lifted a drop of Yin Soul Saliva and dripped it onto the Holy Soul. A chilling, bone-piercing power instantly enveloped his Holy Soul.

There are no records of the cultivation method for the Earth Soul in the black market, so Di Yi can only improve his Holy Soul first, intending to use the power of the Dark Holy Soul to sense the existence of the Earth Soul.

Drops of Yin Soul Saliva merged into the Dark Holy Soul, making the Holy Soul stronger. Emperor Yi's spiritual power also increased rapidly, and he soon broke through to the forty-eighth level. However, he was still completely confused about his perception of the Earth Soul.

After incorporating the thirteen drops, Di Yi stopped, feeling that he might have chosen the wrong path.

The Earth Soul cannot be sensed simply by a sufficiently powerful Holy Soul; other opportunities are required. Otherwise, historical records about Earth Souls would be far more scarce.

But besides enhancing the Holy Soul, what other ways are there to sense the Earth Soul?

After some deep thought, Emperor Yi came up with a new idea.

His gaze fell upon the twin lotus blossoms of Guixu within the Xuan Tai.

A drop of Yin Soul Saliva was sent into the Xuan Embryo and poured onto the Guixu Twin Lotus seedling, which was only six or seven inches long. The dark flower actually reacted.

The Mysterious Embryo, referred to as the Lower Dantian by ancient Qi cultivators, can connect to the Netherworld.

The vast majority of the spirits in the underworld are transformed from the earth souls of the dead. Xuan Tai has a special advantage in sensing earth souls.

“It really works.”

Emperor Yi was overjoyed. After the Yin Soul Saliva was absorbed by the Guixu Twin Lotus, his sensitivity to the Yin energy of heaven and earth became much stronger. His understanding of the rules of the underworld, which were completely different from those of the Kunlun Realm, was also as if the dust had been washed away, making them incredibly clear.

Once all thirteen drops of Yin Soul Saliva were absorbed by the Guixu Twin Lotus, Emperor Yi's Holy Soul sensed that the shadow beneath his feet gradually became vivid, as if it had come to life, and that there was another existence hidden behind the shadow.

On the azure lotus in the sea of ​​consciousness, azure light suddenly flashed, and a phantom figure sat cross-legged in the heart of the lotus. Around this figure, demonic runes appeared and grew at an extremely fast speed.

The yin energy in the valley began to converge on Di Yi, and his aura became increasingly cold and sinister. The power of darkness was so dense that it was impossible to disperse, like a necromancer born from the darkness, releasing extremely cold energy fluctuations.

Within a quarter of an hour or two, Di Yi was able to clearly sense the location of his own Earth Soul, which was right beneath his feet and within reach.

His shadow changed; it was no longer human-shaped, but like a puddle of ink spilled on the ground. It had its own shape and no longer existed merely as a shadow.

If Emperor Yi wished, he could even separate the Earth Soul and transform it into a spirit carrying the will of a living person.

Without the slightest hesitation, he activated the method for refining the Heavenly Demon Shadow in the Heavenly Demon Innate Diagram and began the refining process.

Since the Earth Soul originated from the same source as him, as long as he could sense it, refining it into a Heavenly Demon Shadow would be effortless and very smooth.

It took two hours to successfully refine the Heavenly Demon Shadow, and Di Yi also completed the Heavenly Demon Innate Diagram in one fell swoop.

He removed his corpse-skin coat without using any dark power, but his aura still perfectly matched that of the underworld. Apart from being too weak, he looked no different from a true ghost king.

Because it is a demonic shadow forged from the earth's soul, it has no physical form, only a soul-like body similar to a ghost. Both its external appearance and internal structure are identical to a ghost, making it indistinguishable from the real thing.

Ye Honglei, Han Qiu, and A Le were guarding the entrance to the valley when they noticed the commotion and rushed over immediately.

Han Qiu, being a dark cultivator, was most sensitive to changes in Di Yi's aura and exclaimed in surprise, "Master really refined the Earth Soul into the Heavenly Demon Shadow?"

At this moment, Di Yi was using the body of the Heavenly Demon Shadow, but he was able to mobilize the Dark Holy Soul to comprehend the Yin attribute rules of the underworld, including the Dark Rules, at a speed several times faster than before.

It's not just about comprehending the rules; the Heavenly Demon Shadow, forged from the Earth Soul, is like a darling of the underworld. Its perception of its surroundings has reached an extremely terrifying level, which even ordinary Ghost Kings probably cannot compare to.

He could sense that a powerful aura was approaching the valley from thousands of miles away, likely drawn by the commotion he had caused earlier.

“A ghost king is heading this way. You should go in and hide behind the World-Stabilizing Banner.”

"And what about you, Master?" Ah Le asked.

Di Yi chuckled and said, "After taking control of the Earth Soul, I was like a fish in water in the Underworld. I could hide anywhere and the Ghost King would have no way to find me."

Upon hearing this, Ah Le was relieved and, along with Ye Honglei and Han Qiu, was taken into the Ding Shi Banner.

Following his senses, Di Yi found a narrow, inconspicuous crevice in the rock wall on one side of the valley, just big enough for one person to pass through.

The crevice was very deep, stretching for hundreds of feet, making it a good hiding place. Hiding inside, the Ghost King would certainly not be able to find you.

Di Yi immediately set off and flew into the crevice, going deeper and deeper, until he reached the end. There was a five or six-zhang square hole in front of him, which seemed to be a place where yin energy gathered, and the yin energy inside was very dense.

"Hiding here, as long as I don't expose myself, no one can find my trail. Once they can't find me, that ghost king will naturally retreat."

"Placing the World-Stabilizing Banner here should be safe. Take this opportunity to advance into the banner's inner space and enhance your Origin Dao." Di Yi was eager to improve his Origin Dao attainments. Only in this way could he cross the River of Corpses and return to the Kunlun Realm after the great battle outside. He didn't want to be trapped and die in the Underworld.

His figure appeared beside the corpse of the Dragon God. Within the entire space of the banner, the rules of heaven and earth around the Dragon God's corpse were the most active and the easiest to comprehend.

Emperor Yi activated the Heavenly Demon Stone Carvings, using the Heavenly Demon Prison Suppression Diagram to govern the eight Heavenly Demon Stone Carvings, continuously raising the level of mastery of the Heavenly Demon Hell Diagram, the Heavenly Demon Ascending Dragon Diagram, and the Heavenly Demon Innate Diagram.

After ten days, Di Yi successfully connected the fragmented original inheritance he had previously comprehended in the Heavenly Demon Innate Diagram, forming a relatively complete inheritance of the Dao of Origin. However, it was quite obscure and not easy to comprehend.

It took another twenty days for Di Yi to fully digest all the fragmented inheritances, and his mastery of the Dao of Origin improved significantly, but it became difficult to improve further in a short period of time.

More than thirty days have passed inside the World-Stabilizing Banner, while a day has passed outside. I wonder if that Ghost King has left yet.

Di Yi's figure emerged from the Ding Shi Banner. The surrounding Yin energy was still very dense, but the cavity inside the mountain had shrunk and partially collapsed. Clearly, the Ghost King had failed to find anyone and, in a fit of rage, launched an attack on the mountain.

"Hey...this is..."

Emperor Yi put away the World-Stabilizing Banner and turned to see that one of the stone walls was covered with cracks.

White light emanated from the crack.

As soon as the leaked white light shone on him, Di Yi felt his spiritual power become more active, as if he had drunk a tonic soup made from sacred medicine.

Di Yi formed his five fingers into claws and dug open the stone wall along the crack, and soon a passage leading to the underground appeared before him.

The white light emanated from the ground.

Di Yi released his spiritual power to investigate. The passage was three thousand feet deep, and at the bottom was the source of the white light. It was a skeleton, with all the flesh and blood gone. Only a holy heart in the chest was like amber, radiating pure holy light.

Di Yi sensed no danger and leaped down, plummeting along the stone wall of the passage to the bottom.

The skeleton had been sitting cross-legged on the ground for who knows how many years. The broken Confucian hat on the ground symbolized that it should be a spiritual cultivator of Confucianism and Taoism. It is just unknown why it died here.

The physical body of a spiritual cultivator is weak. This person's flesh and blood have long since dissipated, and even his bones are covered with cracks. His sacred essence has completely disappeared, and it seems that he would fall apart if the wind blew by.

Only that sacred heart remains dazzling. The pure and loyal heart nurtured by righteous energy shines as brightly as cinnabar despite countless tribulations. This person must have been an extremely powerful figure in Confucianism and Taoism during his lifetime.

Just as Di Yi was about to step forward, a coughing sound suddenly came from underground.

The fact that there were other people here startled him, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Little child, don't be afraid. I am a human, not a ghost."

The voice was old and weak. Di Yi looked in the direction of the voice and saw the figure of an old man holding a long sword in an inconspicuous corner.

"Sword Saint Hong Jiu?"

"Do you know me?" Hong Jiu, the Sword Saint, was extremely weak. As a Saint King, he couldn't even stand up at this moment. When Di Yi came down the passage earlier, he thought that a Yin spirit had broken in. After observing it in secret, he realized that it wasn't.

"Junior Di Yi of the First-Class Hall of the Eastern Region Black Market greets Senior. I had the honor of witnessing Senior's sword duel with Lord Xue City at Zhengyang Tower." Di Yi concealed his Earth Soul aura, revealing his true form.

Hong Jiu, the Sword Saint, was somewhat surprised, not expecting that Di Yi would also come to the underworld.

"Why have you come to the underworld? Are you also here for the elixir of life?"

"It's a long story..."

Emperor Yi recounted the events that had occurred outside the Tomb of Fallen Gods.

"Even the Blood Emperor of Heavenly Sealing has come to the Eastern Region. He's probably here for the Heavenly Sealing Sword in my possession." Sword Saint Hong Jiu sighed, sounding like a hero past his prime.

“I was besieged by more than a dozen ghost kings and suffered irreversible fatal injuries. I escaped to this place on the verge of death. I thought I would be buried here like these withered bones, and the lineage of the Heaven-Sealing Sword would be cut off. I never expected that you would accidentally come to this place.”

With great difficulty, Hong Jiu Sword Saint raised the holy sword in his hand and said, "Di Yi, would you like to become the wielder of the Heaven-Sealing Sword? As long as you take the Heaven-Sealing Sword to the Underworld Sword Tomb and pay homage to the ancestors of the Heaven-Sealing Sword, you will be able to receive guidance from the ancestors and learn the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Sword Technique."

Di Yi did not step forward to take the Fengtian Sword. He admired Hong Jiu, the Sword Saint, a senior in swordsmanship, but he did not want to carry the Fengtian Sword, a hot potato.

Sword Saint Hong Jiu saw through his refusal and sighed, "Is the lineage of the Heaven-Sealing Sword destined to end in my hands? Hong Jiu has failed all the ancestors of the past generations."

"Very well, let the Heaven-Sealing Sword be buried with me here underground. It's better than letting the Undying Blood Clan take it."

Di Yi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn't bear to let Sword Saint Hong Jiu die with his eyes open in disgrace. He said, "I really can't be the one to wield the sword, but I can take the Heaven-Sealing Sword out and hand it over to a suitable person so that they can inherit the Heaven-Sealing Sword."

Upon hearing this, Hong Jiu Sword Saint finally showed a relieved smile and said, "Then I'll trouble you to hand over the Heaven-Sealing Sword to Qingyu Sword Saint and ask her to help me find a successor."

"Shall we hand it over to Senior Qingyu?" Emperor nodded and took the Heaven-Sealing Sword from Sword Saint Hong Jiu.

"Thank you so much..."

After a barely audible thank you, the consciousness of Hong Jiujian, who had long since exhausted his strength, completely dissipated.

The number one swordsman in the Northern Region actually perished in the dark and sunless underworld.

(End of this chapter)