Following Li Dalong's breakthrough, the sixth layer of the Heaven-Piercing Coffin was opened, and the scene inside changed as well. The entire Sea of the Dead now directly occupied all the space within the sixth layer.
On the day the Li family charged into Duravia Trade Prefecture, all the zombies from Li Dalong's Heaven-Piercing Coffin joined the fray.
They brought the Endless Sea of the Dead with them to slaughter the enemy, but their own fate was even more brutal.
The once-innumerable horde of zombies was now reduced to just a scattered few.
[Your descendant, Li Dalong, commanded the zombies to carry the Endless Sea of the Dead to the Duravia Trade Prefecture to slay the enemy. The zombies were nearly all annihilated, with the few survivors scattered throughout the prefecture's territory.]
[Under Li Dalong's command, Xuan Tianzi used the Endless Sea of the Dead to absorb and refine the corpses of the fallen zombies as much as possible, while also absorbing the enemies' blood. The Endless Sea of the Dead is equivalent to a Rank 5 Spirit Object; it can be used to defend against enemies or to serve as a ground for raising new zombies.]
[Endless Sea of the Dead]
[With sufficient Blood Qi and Spirit Qi, it can autonomously spawn 10 zombies daily. There is a 10% chance to spawn a Flying Zombie, a 0.1% chance to birth a Corpse King, and a 0.001% chance to birth a Heavenly Zombie. The current Blood Qi is enough to sustain this process for 20,000 years.]
This Endless Sea of the Dead was exceedingly strange. Inside the Heaven-Piercing Coffin, it bore no resemblance to a 'sea' at all. Instead, it had transformed into a blood-red land within the coffin, complete with sand. Skeletons and withered trees saturated with Deathly Qi grew autonomously from the land... These were all materials required by ghost cultivators.
For Li Dalong, the Endless Sea of the Dead was also the most important treasure.
According to him, as long as he could refine the Endless Sea of the Dead into his Domain, he would be able to open the coffin's seventh layer and gain the qualification to break through to the Void Refining realm.
Inside the Heaven-Piercing Coffin.
Li Wei saw the zombies that had survived this time. There were fewer than ten of them, but every single one was above the rank of Heavenly Zombie; otherwise, they wouldn't have had the qualifications to live. Xuan Tianzi was naturally among them, as was the Moon God.
Although he hadn't personally witnessed what these zombies had endured, Xuan Tianzi had given a brief account: it was a battle to the death... The dire situation the zombies faced was even more terrifying than the one at Prince Qian's place.
Three Regions had played all their trump cards to encircle and annihilate the entire Sea of the Dead, and the great battle had raged for a full month.
The zombies were forced to fight defensively, and the only reason they held out for so long was their sheer numbers. Fortunately, Xuan Tianzi strictly abided by Li Dalong's command and did everything possible to survive.
Surrounding the zombies were the corpses of enemies they had obtained from the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
[Complete Void Refining Cultivator Corpse x1]
[Divinity Transformation Cultivator Corpse x9]
[The Endless Sea of the Dead is currently refining them...]
The battle in the Duravia Trade Prefecture was arduous, but in truth, not many Divinity Transformation cultivators were killed. Most of them possessed their own life-saving abilities.
Moreover, the Li family was at a disadvantage in the beginning; it was only because their enemies were fleeing that they managed. Otherwise, even if Li Wei had personally intervened, it's uncertain who would have emerged victorious.
These nine Divinity Transformation corpses even included those killed in the Eternal Sun Prefecture.
Aside from these were the corpses of cultivators below the Divinity Transformation realm; as long as the materials were sufficient, the Endless Sea of the Dead would refine them automatically.
Xuan Tianzi's intelligence was now very high. Having followed the Li family for over three hundred years, she had practiced numerous techniques and could also assist Li Dalong with the refining process.
These zombies had their own cultivation methods and were of great help to Li Dalong.
Further ahead, a cage could be seen.
Imprisoned within the cage was Prince Qian.
This prince, who had always been so full of confidence, was now trapped on the Endless Sea of the Dead inside the Heaven-Piercing Coffin.
The surrounding landscape was bleak and desolate, the scent of blood pervaded the land, and the sky was eternally crimson.
Li Wei could see the terror in Prince Qian's eyes; it seemed the man could no longer maintain his composure.
...
He had only just arrived.
Li Wei raised an eyebrow slightly—Li Kuanghua was here.
Prince Qian was a prince, after all, a noble of the imperial bloodline. When Li Yaozu had first captured him, he had tried every trick he could think of, using his sharp tongue to talk his way to survival.
Now, as Li Kuanghua approached, Prince Qian's eyes lit up, and he began to get some crooked ideas again.
"Young Lady Kuanghua, I know of you," Prince Qian said. "Your master is Ye Xiu, and during your years at the Perennis Immortal Palace, you also studied under Fairy Hongxiu. You must know my granddaughter, Shu Wandong. You two are friends."
Prince Qian gave a bitter laugh. "Could you let me see Wandong? I..."
What a fine display of genuine emotion.
It was as if he were trying to show how deep the bond between him and his granddaughter, Shu Wandong, was. Even Li Wei rolled his eyes.
But it was no wonder he was trying to engage with Li Kuanghua; many members of the Li family have deceptive appearances.
Li Dalong, for instance, often looks honest and sincere, and Li Yunbing is even more misleading. Unfortunately for the prince, their reputations were already well-known.
Among the family members now, it was Li Kuanghua who was the easiest to underestimate.
After several hundred years, the girl still looked the same, like a teenager in the bloom of her youth. When she wasn't fighting, she appeared petite and delicate, her hair in twin pigtails, and always dressed in a yellow skirt.
Hearing Prince Qian's words, Li Kuanghua put on a naive expression. She squatted in front of the cage, meeting his gaze with a look of innocence.
"Back when you wanted to marry one of the women from our family," she asked, "why of all people did you not choose me?"
"..."
Prince Qian was stunned and, for a moment, didn't know how to respond.
An image from his intelligence reports flashed through his mind—of Li Kuanghua turning into a giant in battle.
This girl might have looked docile, but she was an absolutely hot-tempered person; even her master, Ye Xiu, was said to have been beaten by her.
Back then, if he were to take a wife, he would have chosen a proper one—at least someone who wouldn't beat him in public. But this was something he could never say out loud.
But in that moment of stunned silence, Li Kuanghua spoke.
"You hesitated," she said. "You were cursing me in your heart. You're finished. You can't fool me, and you certainly can't fool my clansmen."
Prince Qian's expression changed drastically. The violent madwoman from the intelligence reports was actually this sharp-witted; no amount of deception would work on her.
Li Kuanghua gave a sweet smile. "Oh, the reason I came this time is that Sister Wandong has a message for you. Come, lean in closer and listen."
At this moment, Li Wei had walked over to a pile of war spoils. When he heard her words, his ears perked up, and the loot suddenly lost its appeal.
He remembered how, back when Kuanghua went to the Perennis Immortal Palace, Shu Wandong had called Prince Qian a beast.
He wasn't gossiping; he was just afraid of missing crucial information. Yes... that was it!
"Ah!"
But he never expected that before he could hear any gossip, Li Kuanghua, her face devoid of expression, would pull Prince Qian to the bars of the cage and slice off his ear with one stroke.
She silently stored the ear in her storage ring and looked at the terrified prince, who was backing away and clutching his wound.
"She said," Li Kuanghua stated calmly, "it's a pity she couldn't complete her training at the Perennis Immortal Palace and take your life personally."
Although he didn't get to hear any gossip, seeing Prince Qian in such a miserable state was good enough.