Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Author’s note: the following two chapters will have a lot of information. They’re a summary of the foreshadowing from the previous chapters. You should read slowly.
…
Ten more days passed and Zhang Ruochen still hadn’t woken up. Instead, his face had paled considerably due to the great loss of blood. His skin looked deathly and ashy.
The vitality within Zhang Ruochen was bleeding out. He could die at any time.
The old monk didn’t appear in these ten days. Only Mu Lingxi remained by his side the entire time. She grasped his hands and poured her Holy Qi into him endlessly.
Right now, Mu Lingxi was also sprawled on the ground due to the loss of Holy Qi. Her pretty face was paler than Zhang Ruochen’s. She seemed extremely weak.
However, she didn’t let go. She was afraid that if she did, Zhang Ruochen would really die and never wake up again.
…
On the other side of the volcano
The old monk sat cross-legged on the ground. He now had the dazzling Thousand Treasure Cassock over his plain robe. Golden Buddhist Qi flowed through his body as he lifted his hands over his head, palms up.
Blood insects burst open in the air. They turned into puffs of blood mist and solidified into two beams of blood. They pierced through the clouds, connecting with the monk’s hands.
As he absorbed the Blood Qi, his withered body swelled and finally recovered to a healthy state.
Boom, boom.
Various blood insects fell from the sky, building a pile of withered corpses.
Buddha Xinshu, clad in a pure white robe, stood before the old monk. He put his hands together and bowed. “Master, have you recovered your cultivation?”
The old monk looked at his broad hands and nodded. Standing up, he chuckled and said, “These blood insects must have sucked the blood of at least 100 Half-Saints. Now, their blood is all inside my body. I’ve already recovered to my peak state.”
“Now, I can start controlling the god’s corpse with all my might. If I can turn the god’s corpse into a battle corpse, I won’t fear anyone—not even Empress Chi Yao.”
Buddha Xinshu glanced into the distance at Zhang Ruochen. “Zhang Ruochen has killed countless Half-Saints of our sect,” he said. “Why did you still help him cultivate the Five Elements Chaotic Body?”
The monk turned and looked at Zhang Ruochen who was lying in the lava. He smiled. “If he hadn’t appeared and helped me defeat Ghost King Shenchu, I would have died before you arrived.”
Buddha Xinshu hurriedly knelt down. Horrified, he said, “I immediately brought all the top figures of the sect and rushed to the netherworld as soon as I received your message. However, I ran into a Ghost King along the way and was hurt badly while fighting her. This was why I was late. Please forgive me.”
“Please get up. I am not blaming you.” The old monk smiled benevolently and helped Buddha Xinshu up. “No matter what, I owe Zhang Ruochen greatly now. If I don’t repay him, my Heart of the Saintly Way will become imperfect. I will never be able to reach that last step.”
He continued, “Of course, I won’t have to repay him if he can’t get through this step and dies.”
Buddha Xinshu finally understood why his master had done all this. If Zhang Ruochen succeeded in cultivating the Five Elements Chaotic Body, then the old monk would have repaid what he’d owed. He would also complete his Heart of the Saintly Way.
If Zhang Ruochen couldn’t survive and died in this sea of lava, then his master wouldn’t have any regrets either and wouldn’t have to repay this kindness.
“If he doesn’t die, he will definitely become a huge enemy of our sect,” Buddha Xinshu said.
“It’s not definite,” the old monk said meaningfully. “If he matures, we won’t be the most troubled.”
“Are you speaking of the empress of the Central Empire imperial city?” Buddha Xinshu asked as it dawned on him.
“Do you know how arrogant that empress is?” the old monk asked. “She wouldn’t release the notice to arrest him unless his existence threatened her position or even her life. In this case, I must help him.”
Buddha Xinshu stared at Zhang Ruochen. “However, I feel like he might not be able to survive this…hmm…”
Before Buddha Xinshu could finish, faint multicolored lights shone from the sea of lava. The light kept growing stronger as well, enveloping the entire volcano.
Zhang Ruochen’s vitality had been extremely weak, but now, it strengthened more and more. His body seemed to become a divine five-colored stone, radiating with black, white, gold, blue, and red light.
The entire sky became chaotic as if returning to the time before the world was created.
The old monk stared at Zhang Ruochen incredulously as well. “This youth’s willpower is indeed shocking. He actually survived and succeeded in cultivating the Five Elements Chaotic Body. His talent must be the best of Kunlun’s Field since the middle ages.”
Boom!
Zhang Ruochen flew out of the lava. He transformed into a beam of multicolored light and shot into the sky in an arc. After rushing down, he landed on the ground, standing not too far from the old monk and Buddha Xinshu.
He had been unconscious, but his Spiritual Power was still extremely active. Thus, he’d heard the old monk’s conversation with Buddha Xinshu.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, shining with five-colored light, stared at the old monk. He scoffed. “So you are the Hierarch of the Death Zen Sect. You are the famous Death Zen Elder.”
The old monk smiled. “That is I.” Then he continued, “Congratulations for succeeding in cultivating the Five Elements Chaotic Body. From now on, no one in the same realm as you can be your match.”
Zhang Ruochen stared at the blood insect corpses on the ground. He thought about the Half-Saints that had been eaten alive by these blood insects and his pupils constricted. “You were the one who raised these insects,” he muttered.
The old monk quickly shook his head. “No,” he said. “These are insects born from the god’s corpse. They’re creatures of Ghost God Valley. I’ve only used the Death Zen Buddhist Way to make them perform some tasks.”
“You made them drink the blood of countless people?” he asked. “So you can use the blood to recover?”
The old monk remained calm. “Humans are greedy. If they didn’t gamble their all for that so-called Pill of Resurrection, why would they come to Ghost God Valley?”
Zhang Ruochen huffed coldly. “So the Death Zen Sect was the one that spread the rumor about the Pill of Resurrection. You just wanted to lure people to die in Ghost God Valley.”
The old monk shook his head again. “Your thoughts are too narrow. Why can’t you look at things in a positive light? Change your perspective. I did this to save myself. If I didn’t lead them to Ghost God Valley and drink their blood, I’d be the one who died, correct?”
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, cooling the anger within him. “I would like to know everything that happened.”
The old monk seemed patient too. “One year ago,” he began, “I was searching for a force that could fight against Empress Chi Yao. I came to the netherworld alone to find the corpse of the god that the Thousand-bone Empress had killed.”
“I came all the way to Ghost God Valley and chanced upon Ghost King Shenchu who was preparing for his seventh ghost trial. If he succeeded, he might have melded with the god’s corpse and become an undefeatable Ghost Emperor. Thus, this battle was imminent.”
“However, the netherworld isn’t the Kunlun’s Field. There’s no Spiritual Qi I can use and no way to replenish the Holy Qi that I use up. As the fight continued, I became weaker and weaker.”
“Furthermore, Ghost God Valley was Ghost King Shenchu’s territory. He could use the divine power of the god’s corpse and wield even stronger power. With these circumstances, I was naturally at a disadvantage. I still restricted him in the end, but I was also caught here and unable to leave.”
“If the stalemate continued, I would have been the one who died. Obviously, I didn’t want to sit and wait for death. I had to try my hardest to save myself.”
“The first step was to open the passageway between the living and netherworld. If it was opened, large amounts of dead souls would enter Kunlun’s Field. Only then would the living souls dare to come to the netherworld and Ghost God Valley.”
“Thus, I pulled out the Void Sword that the Thousand-bone Empress had used to restrain the god’s corpse. I used the Death Zen Buddhist Way to control a Wuchang and make it take the Void Sword out of the netherworld. Once the Void Sword left the netherworld, the seal between the two worlds started loosening and finally disappeared.”
“The second step was obviously to make the members of the Death Zen Sect start spreading the rumor about the Pill of Resurrection. This would lead people here. This was the critical step. If I didn’t have their blood, I wouldn’t be able to take control of the god’s corpse even if I defeated Ghost King Shenchu.”
Zhang Ruochen was trying so hard to control himself, but he still couldn’t repress his anger. “So you personally opened the passage between the two worlds and allowed millions of shadow soldiers and ghost generals into Kunlun’s Field. Did you know how horrible of a catastrophe it would cause?”
The old monk was still smiling. “Why are you angry again? If I didn’t pull out the Void Sword, Ghost King Shenchu would have done it after succeeding with his seventh ghost trial and opened the passage. No matter the circumstance, the result has been decided by fate.”
“One hundred thousand years have passed. The seal left by the Thousand-bone Empress has already become fragile. Zhang Ruochen, this is the way of things. You can’t stop it. Neither can I.”
“However, with my abilities, I can make things happen faster and make it change to benefit myself. On the other hand, you are too weak. Before the tide of life, you are just a drop of water. You can only be forced to follow the flow. You can’t change anything.”
“Power. No matter where or when, you can only do meaningful things if you have absolute power. Otherwise, you can say all you want, but no one will listen to you.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen finally understood all the reasons, causes, and results.
The Death Zen Sect Elder was indeed selfish. He sacrificed thousands upon thousands of lives to save himself. But there was nothing wrong with that in his perspective.
He couldn’t just wait for death to come, right?
