Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 311 The Origin of the Shadow, the Door!
The Rib Sword floats above the head
The mass of flesh and blood fell with a thud behind the throne.

Li Wushou looked up at Boyue, who had just punched him. Although Boyue was several feet tall, the punch did not feel heavy to Li Wushou; instead, it felt light and airy.

At this moment, as the mass of flesh and blood separated, Boyo's body collapsed against the back of the throne like a deflated balloon.

The moment I touched the backrest, my entire body felt as if it were glued to the throne like a piece of paper.

Is this just a piece of skin?

Upon seeing this, Li Wushou's expression hardened. He stepped forward and stood on the enormous throne, which seemed like a platform to him.

The membrane was laid flat on the throne, not a full sheet as one might imagine, but half a sheet.

The skin felt somewhat familiar to Li Wushou, resembling the skin of the Great God-Slaying Venerable.

Although the atmosphere is different, the feeling of being in one world is exactly the same.

The Lord of Youdu, Boyue, is indeed a Great Venerable!
This must be his skin!

What exactly was that that took over his skin just now?
And why is there only half a sheet left?
Looking behind the throne, there was a long trail of rotting flesh beneath the membrane, which had seeped through the cutouts in the pattern on the backrest and landed behind the throne.

The thick stench of death assaulted his nostrils, waking Chen Gou'er from his deep sleep.

Concentrating on looking behind the throne, large swathes of rotting flesh, resembling vomit, were rapidly writhing toward the mass of flesh that Li Wushou had severed.

Moments later, the rotting flesh clung together, then wriggled into a human shape, four or five feet tall, with no nose or eyes.

Its entire body was bluish-gray, sticky and gooey like a clump of snot, and its disgusting appearance made even Li Wushou, who considered himself well-informed, feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Li Wushou forced himself to endure the nausea and examined it several times, but he still couldn't discern its origins; its physical body and soul were somewhat ambiguous.

This is the thing that just crawled under the skin of the Great Venerable Boyue, impersonating the Lord of Youdu.

What on earth is this?
Just then, the glassy bone body shattered the solidified evil energy space, broke through the evil energy blockade of the twelve human-beasts, and lost the command of the Great Venerable Boyue's skin membrane, the twelve human-beasts fell silent again.

The glass-like skeletal body stepped out and appeared behind Li Wushou. Just as Li Wushou was about to manipulate the skeletal body to obliterate the rotting flesh behind the throne, he suddenly heard a surprised and doubtful sound from the talisman master in the Taiji Dojo.

Li Wushou stopped his movements and focused his mind on the Tai Chi Daoist field, asking:
"Do you know this thing?"

The spellcaster's lips twitched a few times as he gazed at the slowly rising, decaying body behind the throne, and replied somewhat uncertainly:
"This thing is somewhat similar to the Corpse Daoist of the Immortal Mountain Earth Venerable lineage. The other party was formed from a pile of rotting flesh in a mass grave and was most skilled at manipulating corpses. However, the other party had a divine soul and walked the path of immortality. More than a hundred years ago, he was a Nascent Soul cultivator. This thing doesn't seem to have any of that?"

"The Corpse Taoist?"

Li Wushou murmured something along with it, then, with a thought, asked again:
"When the Immortal Mountain entered the Fubo Domain to search for the River Styx more than a hundred years ago, did this Corpse Daoist leave the Immortal Mountain?"

The talisman master was taken aback, then realized what Li Wushou meant: he suspected that the other party was indeed a Corpse Daoist.

However, the talisman master knew very little about the Earthly Venerable lineage, and could only reply with some regret:

"Reporting to the Venerable One, I am not sure whether the Corpse Daoist has entered the Fubo Domain to search for the River Styx. However, I can confirm that the Corpse Daoist is indeed no longer at Mount Bulao. When the Heavenly and Earthly Venerables announced the great changes last time, he did not appear. It is absolutely impossible for him to be at Mount Bulao!"

Li Wushou nodded slightly. It seemed highly likely that the other party was the Corpse Daoist.

Li Wushou guessed that the other party might have found the River Styx by chance, and his own nascent soul might have been dissolved because of the River Styx. However, since he himself was a Daoist who achieved enlightenment through decaying flesh, he might have survived in this strange state and become the state he is in now, neither god nor corpse.

The opponent's flesh membrane also has a strong immunity to Yin Sha Qi, and its interior has some characteristics similar to the flesh and blood of the Five Xuan Beasts, which ensures its survival space in this Yin Sha world.

Later, the opponent used his ability to manipulate corpses to occupy half of the skin of the Great Venerable Boyue, commanding the Five Mystic Beasts and the Netherworld Beasts, and even began to act as an ancestor in the Netherworld Palace.

How could a half-dead Nascent Soul Corpse Daoist possess the flesh and skin of Great Venerable Boyue?
Even though the other party was skilled in controlling corpses, Li Wushou still found it hard to believe.

The old beggar inside the Three Immortals Pavilion sneered, "Of course it can't be done with something like this."

Li Wushou's mind stirred. Did the old beggar mean Him? Or the Earthly Venerable of the Immortal Mountain?
Just as he was about to ask, the old beggar urged him:

"Kill this filthy thing!"

Li Wushou nodded, and with a swift movement, leaped over the back of the throne. The power of the Tai Chi Dojo converged on his legs, and he descended from the sky as if Mount Tai were pressing down on him.

The immense pressure instantly crushed the corpse-walker's rotting flesh, which had just stood up, into a heap.

The distorted, gaping maw roared at Li Wushou:
"How dare you offend the Lord of Youdu? You're courting death!"

His voice was as powerful and authoritative as ever; just by listening to it, one might think he was the one stepping on Li Wushou!
Upon hearing this, Li Wushou's expression turned strange. It seemed that not only had the nascent soul of this Corpse Daoist been fused, but even his brain had been fused.

Or is it that the other party, after possessing the skin of the great master Boyue, could not bear it and his mind was corrupted instead?

But it doesn't matter anymore!

A massive amount of boundary energy converged beneath his feet, and with a "bang," the Corpse Daoist, who was still screaming wildly, was directly crushed into a puddle of mud. The violent boundary energy then washed over the ground, grinding the rotting flesh into nothingness.

Such a disgusting thing was something Li Wushou really didn't want to see a second time, so he disregarded the loss of his boundary power with this kick. Only after the ground partially collapsed and the sound of the rushing Styx River came from it did Li Wushou stop and stand at the edge of the pit. As for the Corpse Daoist's rotting flesh, it had long since disappeared.

Xuan Yang and the talisman master inside the Tai Chi Dojo were also somewhat astonished, as they felt that Li Wushou's use of boundary power had become even more effortless.

Before they could even offer a few words of flattery, Li Wushou had already withdrawn the Tai Chi Dojo from his brow, and then his blood and bones moved and returned to his physical body.

At the same time, the old beggar stepped out from within the divine aperture, and his body had already descended the low mountain and hovered outside the Tai Chi Dojo. A speck of incense ash was flicked out, and the entire Tai Chi Dojo was sealed off.

With another flash, the old beggar emerged from between Li Wushou's eyebrows and stood beside him.

The moment he stopped, he glanced at the dark figure behind Li Wushou.

He was about to flick a speck of incense ash away, but then, as if remembering something, he put it back, followed by a soft hum.

"What? Want to turn back into skinny?"

Suddenly, the dark figure that had been lying on Boyo's skin shivered and then hurriedly and reluctantly left Boyo's skin.

Upon hearing the old beggar's words, Li Wushou thought to himself: Just as I thought!

The shadowy figure truly originated from the Yin-Yang space of Huang Yuanshan.

Judging from the various abnormal behaviors of the shadowy figure, Li Wushou had anticipated this. However, he did not expect that the shadowy figure was actually half of the skin of the Great Venerable Boyue!
No wonder the shadowy figure was able to devour and refine Yin energy. As the Lord of Youdu, who sits in the River Styx, refining Yin energy with his skin would be a piece of cake for him. It's not surprising at all!
However, Li Wushou seemed to be pondering the old beggar's actions just now.

The fact that the other party immediately sealed off the Tai Chi dojo with incense ash suggests that it was not aimed at Master Xuan Yang or the talisman master.

Does this mean that even if they are manipulated using the God Control Talisman, it is not 100% reliable?

Secondly, when the old beggar saw the shadowy figure, his subconscious thought was to seal it with incense ash.

This was certainly not the kind of lukewarm warning that came later. Did the shadowy figure need incense ash to warn him?

Does this mean that even the shadowy figure isn't 100% safe?
Then what about Boyo's skin?

Recalling the danger of this Yin Sha space, although it seemed quite difficult even for an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, everything became much easier for Li Wushou once the Styx River could no longer harm him.

This was clearly unworthy of the old beggar's constant vigilance throughout the journey.

So what exactly is the other side guarding against?
Thinking of this, Li Wushou couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

The old beggar seemed to have read Li Wushou's mind, patted Li Wushou on the shoulder, and said with a smile:

"Don't be afraid! I'm here!"

The moment he finished speaking, his expression turned solemn. The old beggar beckoned to Boyue's skin, and the huge membrane floated up and drifted toward the old beggar's palm, then slowly shrank to the size of a palm.

A golden light flashed in his eyes as the old beggar intently examined the piece of leather. After a long while, the golden light faded from his eyes, and his expression became inscrutable.

Li Wushou stood silently beside the old beggar. After a moment, the old beggar put away the skin and said to Li Wushou:
"Come on, go down and have a look."

After saying that, he took a step and went down into the ground through the hole that Li Wushou had just stomped in. Li Wushou followed closely behind.

Upon entering the underground, the world suddenly changed. Unlike the dark and cramped place Li Wushou had imagined, it was as if he had entered another world, although it was still filled with a sinister aura.

Amidst the pervasive gloom in the sky, a massive bronze gate stretched across the horizon.

On either side of the bronze door were two columns of blood-red characters written in a vigorous and flowing style.

The cycle of cause and effect continues through three lifetimes.

"Rebirth in the six realms"

The enormous gate was not tightly closed; it was slightly ajar, and the vast waters of the River Styx were flowing out from it.

So this is the source of the River Styx?
Looking further up, the doorway was covered in bloodstains, and images of fierce fighting flashed through my mind from time to time. These were clearly afterimages of the previous battle.

What shocked Li Wushou even more was that some of the flesh on it was still wriggling from time to time.

Li Wushou was startled the moment he saw it; this flesh and blood seemed to have come from the Great Venerable!
Judging from the aura, this flesh and blood didn't even come from the same place. Clearly, there were Great Venerables fighting here in the afterimages of the battle just now.

What's inside that door?
Why would so many powerful figures be drawn to this place for a life-or-death battle?

Li Wushou's emotions were stirred as he watched.

At the same time, the old beggar, having surveyed his surroundings, quietly breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Li Wushou, saying:
"Let the dog out!"

(End of this chapter)