Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
That tall lighted figure placed his finger on the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl, which instantly radiated with a purplish golden glow, bursting with a vibrant luminance, blinding and eye-catching. Uncountable lines of mysterious talisman text appeared on it.
The Big Luo inside the Golden Pearl shut his eyes and channeled his own demonic strength to complement Lin Feng’s move.
Layers of glowing mist flickered and gradually condensed into a lighted mirage. Lin Feng carefully observed the lighted mirage with the new avatar he created.
After examining it for a moment, Lin Feng frowned and looked at the uncountable lines of changing talisman runes in surprise, comprehending the message they were conveying. “It seems like there are people attempting to reach the Spirit Sea again. And by the looks of it, they wish to unseal the Spirit Sea in advance.”
Looking at the image conjured by the runes, Lin Feng could not see anyone or anything amidst the light, and could only vaguely make out a few white clouds.
Lin Feng gazed at the scene before him and quietly scrutinized the power concept exuded by these white clouds and nodded. “It’s indeed the Great Void Sect. They invested limited manpower in the Netherworld Sea to cater to other matters. So they were targeting the Spirit Sea after all. But, by the looks of it, they don’t seem to have achieved much success and should still be at the experimental stage to test various methods.”
Lin Feng and his Thunder Dragon Avatar returned to Mount Yujing together while the avatar he left on the Penglai Celestial Mountain guards the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl, awaiting any changes. He too wanted to see whether the Great Void Sect can successfully open up the Spirit Sea.
Meanwhile, Zhu Yi, Wang Lin, Yang Qing, Li Yuanfang and the others have started their quest to hunt down and eradicate the Hall of the Dead’s cultivators. The Great Void Sect and Ancient Longevity World has also contributed their forces for this.
Based on the clues that Lin Feng provided, the Hall of the Dead’s cultivators were exposed by Zhu Yi’s gang one by one, with their strongholds within the Hall of the Dead ravaged one after another. Even powerhouses in the Immortal Soul Stage are being slaughtered.
This sudden storm torpedoing through the Divine Lands, which has enjoyed a prolonged period of peace, overwhelmed everyone with such drastic upheavals.
After a short period of spectating from the sidelines, the Great Qin and Zhou Empires, the Heavenly Master Sword Sect, the Northern Tribes, the Purple Clouds Sect, and other forces have contributed their forces in one way or another, big or small.
The survival of the Hall of the Dead within the Grand Celestial World had never been this bleak.
Fortunately for its inhabitants, they have already received an early tip-off from the Emperor of the Dead himself, and have gone into hiding, cutting off communication with each other. They themselves have been well-prepared and emotionally acclimatized to potential situations like these. And now with the emergency alarm activated, they could overcome the sudden raid by the Divine Lands to a passable degree.
Yet in spite of this, against an attack from all sides by possibly the entire human cultivation world, especially with their opponents yielding key hints on their location, they could still feel the impact of the incoming storm from their specialized hiding spots inside the Hall of the Dead.
Inside one of the Greater Worlds belonging to the Great Qin Empire, in a small village bordering the city, all its inhabitants were ordinary people.
And in one of the households, there was a young boy around ten years of age. His cheeks were rosy as he slept soundly. Everyone else in the house also seemed that way.
But something that ordinary people could not pick up was, beside the napping boy, there was another handsome teenager sitting there cross-legged who looked exactly like the boy, his face slightly pale.
After a while, this well-groomed teenager opened his eyes. His right eye was as black as ink, projecting a black image inside the room. There were a few wavering figures inside the projected scene, all kneeling down in unison when they saw the teenager. “Your Majesty.”
The teenager was naturally the reincarnated Emperor of the Dead, reborn into the mortal world. Elated to be addressed by his birth name, the Emperor of the Dead quietly looked at these figures, “How’s the damage?”
A tall and formidable cultivator in the Virtual Entity dressed in black robes, with his face obscured, answered. He was the Emperor of the Dead’s trusted subordinate, the head of the Ten Kings of Hell – King Yanluo. “The middle and bottom layers have been dealt devastating damage, and it’s very difficult to contain our opponent’s spreading forces. They may reach us soon.”
The Emperor of the Dead nodded, “I’ll count on you from now on. Be prepared to sacrifice something if the situation calls for it.”
King Yanluo and the others bowed in respect. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
An elder in black robes but with a gracefully aged face, boasting the Third Level of the Immortal Soul, was also another trusted aide of the Emperor of the Dead. He was King Wuguan of the Ten Kings of Hell – Sikong You. He said, “The Great Qin and Zhou Empires also attempted to absorb whatever they could as they were hunting down our cultivators, especially the Great Zhou Empire.”
The Emperor of the Dead replied nonchalantly, “Let them do as they please. We should just follow the natural course of things and not intentionally set any hidden traps. We’ll just be easily exploited by our opponents that way, and they’ll hunt us down quickly.”
Sikong You answered subserviently, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“How should we deal with King Taishan and King Songdi?” asked King Yanluo.
King Taishan and King Sondi of the original Ten Kings of Hell were loyal followers of the former Hallmaster Xu Anda, having secretly betrayed the Emperor of the Dead before finally perishing in the Anti-Celestial Sect War.
After the Anti-Celestial Sect War, the new King Taishan of the Ten Kings of Hell is the current Leader of the Samsara Sect, Leader of the Path of Asura, Mo Xiuluo, while the new King Songdi is the current Leader of the Path of the Heaven-Born, Shen Qifeng.
Within the Samsara Sect, only these two themselves know their dual identities.
After the Anti-Celestial Sect War, the Samsara Sect has kept a low profile. Although they did not seal off the mountain completely like the Mount Shu Sect, they shunned away from the spotlight even more than the Great Zhou Empire.
Many times, most people would even unintentionally overlook this once powerful sect that formerly held a pivotal status in the Divine Lands.
“Let them continue with the status quo. The Great Void Sect and the Celestial Sect won’t touch the Samsara Sect for the time being. Alert the Great Zhou Empire at once,” ordered the Emperor of the Dead.
King Yanluo replied, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor of the Dead stood up, the black light in his eyes abruptly changing to white. Rings of white light descended from his head and shrouded his entire body. As the rays of light swirled, his pale face gradually regained its luster. While it did not return to its original state completely, the speed of recovery was nonetheless jaw-dropping.
King Yanluo, Sikong You and the rest cracked smiles. Even the reincarnated Emperor of the Dead has not regained his former glory, he had already been enlightened on new discoveries in his mantras.
As long as he was not completely exterminated, with only his Spirit Form damaged but leaving his foundation intact, he could heal his own injuries in a short amount of time. Even the most grievous wounds would only require a little more time. While this speed could not match the Evil Soul he crafted, it still shook the entire human cultivation world. If the cause of his injuries was not Lin Feng’s Heaven-Destroying Sword Formation or the terrifying calamities of the Netherworld Sea, he would have recovered even quicker.
The Emperor of the Dead remained calm. He was the Emperor of the Dead after all, the slayer of the living and dead worlds. He was not just the menacing wrathful Grim Reaper he was before – after his recent reincarnation, he has achieved an unprecedented grasp of the mysterious power concepts of the interplay between Life and Death.
And he has not showed himself in front of Lin Feng or the Great Void Sect during the Battle of the Netherworld Sea.
His participation in that battle was not about how long he fought with Lin Feng and the rest. Besides destroying the chaotic void space created from the heavenly catastrophe, preventing the Celestial Sect of Wonders and the Great Void Sect from controlling the Netherworld Sea, and delaying other plans, he wanted to begin preparations for his next move.
“We will all stand down and begin preparations. Even though a golden chance is hard to come by, we should still prepare for the impending War of the Two Worlds.” As the Emperor of the Dead said this, he conjured a spell with his hands and lifted his hand up gently.
A black vortex appeared beneath his feet. He stepped onto the vortex and his mana levels escalated rapidly, surging to levels matching those during his former peak condition.
Everyone here were his trusted advisors. King Yanluo and Sikong You were not surprised by the scene unfolding before their eyes as they already knew that, although their leader’s recovery spell ceremony primarily relied on the powers of the Netherworld Sea, it could still be performed without the Netherworld Sea!
That being said, the spell’s efficiency was definitely compromised without the Netherworld Sea as it needed to drain other resources at astronomical proportions, but this was still doable after the Emperor of the Dead’s years of preparation.
By that same reasoning, he made a special appearance at the Netherworld Sea to battle the Celestial Sect and Great Void Sect when his involvement was totally unnecessary, was nothing more than a move to throw his opponents off guard in order to make preparations for his next move.
The black mirage where King Yanluo and Sikong You were in gradually vanished, and another lighted mirage appeared before the Emperor of the Dead.
The person in this lighted mirage was a middle-aged Daoist in black robes, his complexion as clear as jade, boasting a beard three feet long. He had an extraordinary flair, but his face was as white as paper and looked abnormally frail.
He was the Emperor of the Dead’s Third Disciple, the Nether Priest.
The Nether Priest bowed to the Emperor of the Dead, “Your Majesty.”
The Emperor of the Dead said calmly, “This time round, it’s your disciple you taught you, his Master, a lesson. You must bear this in mind.”
The Nether Priest’s face was as pale as ever. “I’ve been too comfortable as of late, which made me lose my sense of caution and allowed Shen Tuze to succeed in his plans. This would have been a lot worse if not the emergency precautions Your Majesty prepared for me. But Shen Tuze still seized the ruling powers over the Netherworld Sea, and I’m afraid that may disrupt Your Majesty’s grand scheme.”
The Emperor of the Dead replied, “No worries. The Celestial Sect and Great Void Sect are eyeing the Netherworld Sea closely now. If I channel the Netherworld Sea’s powers to activate my spell formation, not only would my efforts be thoroughly wasted, they might even find me. The situation we are in now is in fact pretty good. You can give them a little surprise in the future. As since Shen Tuze thinks you’re already dead, you can give him a little surprise too.”
The Nether Priest knelt down and bowed his head. “It’s ultimately all due to my lax defences that incited all this trouble and caused Your Majesty to suffer such devastating losses.”
The Emperor of the Dead shook his head. “There’s no use crying over spilt milk. You only need to concern yourself with learning from your mistakes and turning them into advantages, or at least, not go down the wrong path again.”
“Don’t worry about anything else. Abandoning the Netherworld Sea is indeed a pity, but if not for the Celestial Sect entering the chaotic void space through Wen Chiyang’s former residence in the Middle World, the Great Void Sect and I could not have possibly entered it either, so that’s not a big deal.”
The edges of his mouth curved up into a faint smile. “Things are going very well now. Only by giving up something can you gain something else. If not for this incident, the Celestial Sect and the Great Void Sect would still have their eyes glued to me, and how would they be willing to battle the demon tribes in the War of the Two Worlds then?”
“Today is merely the beginning.” The Emperor of the Dead thrusted his palm out and two Life and Death Netherworld Dao Fruits drifted into the air. One restrained the Evil Soul of the Blood River Daoist, and the other contained a flickering shadow.
The Emperor of the Dead said softly, “Let the War of the Two Worlds come quickly.”