Who says Nezha is in the coffin?

Yang He's face was filled with disbelief. The turn of events was beyond his expectations. Why couldn't he return to the Main World after completing the lore?

"Something's not right. If the condition for the Ghost Lotus to complete was Nezha's resurrection, and the coffin was just transported to Qing Lake, there's no way it would be this fast."

Yang He gasped for air. Before he could even take the Great Replenishing Pill, a warm current surged through his body.

The yang fire was rekindled, and even the injuries to his internal organs had mostly healed.

Immediately after.

Yang He's eyes widened, and his body suddenly felt an inexplicable downward pull. It wasn't like falling off a cliff, but rather like he was sinking into the soil bit by bit.

He noticed the soil was flowing, clearly the work of some spell.

"Earth Evasion Technique?"

Yang He's guess was almost certainly correct. Then, the soil parted before him, and in an instant, he traveled from the mountainside to the summit, the sound of water rippling.

By the time he regained his senses, he was on a small boat on the surface of Qing Lake.

The aroma of tea filled the air.

The stove crackled, and Grandmaster Taiyi leisurely took a sip of his tea.

"Here, warm yourself up first."

Yang He took the teacup handed to him by Grandmaster Taiyi, his mouth twitching involuntarily because the tea leaves were actually a few strands of Madam Yin's black hair.

Grandmaster Taiyi smiled without saying a word.

The two ghosts within Yang He's body stirred restlessly at the scent of the tea.

"Thank... thank you, master. Your disciple has nothing to repay you with."

Yang He cautiously took a small sip of the tea. Half a breath later, heat surged through his body, and the surrounding yin qi poured into him continuously.

The pupil ghost absorbed most of it, and his fifth yin meridian began to form.

After Yang He drained the cup in one go, his fifth yin meridian was already one-third complete, and the blood vessels formed by the Three Mountains Goddess and his ghost hand became even more tightly intertwined.

"Master, you know your disciple was a beggar and can't taste much. How about..."

"Don't be greedy."

Grandmaster Taiyi explained with a smile, "Unless you want Madam Yin to break free from your body. After all, the tea leaves were nurtured by a Malevolent Spirit."

Yang He shivered. It was Grandmaster Taiyi who seemed more like a Malevolent Spirit.

He looked outside and saw the surface of Qing Lake shrouded in thick fog, the yin qi incredibly dense. Two figures of Madam Yin were slowly swimming in the water.

He summoned his Spiritual Vision, and the displayed text was extremely dazzling.

[Spiritual Vision: 57.3 points]

Yang He was stunned. His Spiritual Vision was still rapidly increasing; breaking 100 was only a matter of time.

"Master, that... did senior brother's resurrection go smoothly?"

He truly couldn't understand the current situation. Just as he was about to probe, Grandmaster Taiyi made a shushing gesture. "Hehehe."

"Don't rush, the fish are biting."

Only then did Yang He notice Grandmaster Taiyi's third hand holding a thin line, which was fishing in Qing Lake. A baby's cry sounded from the end of the line.

"Here we go!"

Grandmaster Taiyi reeled in the line, and a child ghost struggled as it was pulled onto the small boat.

"Look, disciple. The lake water can give birth to Malevolent Spirits. Isn't that interesting?"

"It is indeed interesting."

Yang He watched as Grandmaster Taiyi's third hand crushed the child ghost, then retracted it into his body. A chilling chewing sound echoed.

When I passed by this mountain back then, I discovered a spiritual vein growing in the underground river. So, I intentionally guided it to form a lake. Later, to cultivate the spiritual material, the lotus flower, I dumped the silt into the lakebed.

"Master truly possesses great divine abilities. Your disciple only feels admiration."

Yang He flattered with a wry smile, vaguely recalling that the conditions for the birth of a Child-Mother Ghost were extremely harsh.

What silt?

Even dumping the corpse mud from a mass grave into Qing Lake wouldn't be this exaggerated.

"Hehehe, it just so happens that Qing Lake will serve as the place of reincarnation for your senior brother's rebirth."

Yang He couldn't help but ask, "Master, have you seen the soldiers from the General's Mansion? They were the ones who escorted senior brother here to Qing Lake. They may not have merit, but they certainly put in the effort."

"Disciple, what are you thinking?"

Grandmaster Taiyi stared at Yang He playfully and said calmly, "You don't actually think the rotten flesh in the coffin is your senior brother, do you?"

Yang He's pupils contracted. He realized he had jumped to conclusions.

"The rotten flesh is merely your senior brother's old body. Even if it harbored malevolent thoughts, it could never become the foundation for Nezha to reshape his flesh."

Yang He recalled that Grandmaster Taiyi had indeed never mentioned the coffin from beginning to end.

In the original story, Nezha's resurrection had nothing to do with his corpse. His soul had left his body and then attached itself to the golden body created by Madam Yin.

Afterward, Li Jing destroyed the golden body, and Nezha's soul returned to Qianyuan Mountain.

So, the corpse in the coffin was just a corpse.

No, to be precise, it was a corpse that had already come to life!!!

"Disciple, your senior brother is in the depths of Qing Lake and will emerge before long."

Yang He opened his pupil ghosts. His Spiritual Vision had reached 60 points, and he could faintly see blood light flashing at the bottom of Qing Lake, protected by Madam Yin.

"Ugh."

He grunted, and blood dripped from the corners of his pupil ghosts' eyes.

Nezha's true form at the bottom of the water came into view.

A flesh body, at least ten meters in size, was constantly growing, its surface covered with dense lotus root arms, wriggling and breathing with the water's currents.

Yang He frowned, suddenly no longer finding the corpse in the coffin particularly strange.

Grandmaster Taiyi pointed to another side of Qing Lake and said with a smile, "The dozen or so people from the General's Mansion, along with their coffin, are sealed at the bottom of the water. Don't worry, their lives are not in danger, they are merely unconscious."

Yang He endured the discomfort of his pupil ghosts and peered intently.

Fourteen people, bound by black hair, drifted with the currents, and the coffin was not far away, wrapped layer by layer by a massive amount of black hair.

Thump!

Thump-thump!!

The corpse was frantically beating against the lid, emanating a palpable malevolence.

Yang He retreated several steps in terror, causing Grandmaster Taiyi to laugh heartily beside him.

The lone boat swayed, and ripples churned on the water's surface.

"So that's how it is."

Nezha's soul had successfully taken root in the flesh body, which was why the lore completion notification appeared. However, Yang He felt that the Ghost Lotus was far more complex than it appeared.

"Is there a possibility that if the coffin had been moved to Qing Lake before Nezha's reincarnation, the demonic thoughts could have taken over?"

"Or perhaps the plan was to target the corpse from the very beginning."

Yang He realized that although the lore originated from the Investiture of the Gods world, he didn't have to follow it strictly.

As he pondered, his yang fire showed signs of extinguishing again. He quickly took out a Great Replenishing Pill, but before he could put it in his mouth, Grandmaster Taiyi snatched it away.

"Child's play."

Grandmaster Taiyi toyed with the Great Replenishing Pill, his gaze sweeping over Yang He.

"Disciple, you possess some destiny. Born as a mortal beggar in a yin year and yin month, you've managed to imbue your physique with a hint of the Corpse Immortal."

"Excellent, excellent."

Grandmaster Taiyi spoke words of praise, but his face remained expressionless.

"But you are also close to death. The meager yang energy stimulated by medicinal herbs is simply not enough to ignite your riddled body."

"You'll need more and more pills, and they'll never be enough. Sooner or later, you'll have to consume human blood to replenish your yang energy."

Grandmaster Taiyi had been observing Yang He, and then a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Yang He showed no tension. Within a few breaths, he had accepted the reality. He continued to take the Great Replenishing Pill, and his pupil ghosts' refining qi did not cease.

"Hehehe, a stable Dao heart."

Yang He shamelessly moved closer to Grandmaster Taiyi, "My life was given by you, Master. You won't just watch me die, will you?"

Grandmaster Taiyi revealed his uneven, rotten teeth. "Of course not. Your senior brother Nezha is reckless. It's good that you can balance him out."

"Disciple, this matter brings both fortune and misfortune. Do you want to achieve true... Corpse Immortal?"