Third Ghost Lord (Part One)

Third Ghost Lord (Part One)

With a splash, Li Qiye, who had been floating in the river, was fished out.

With a cry, Li Qiye woke after someone pinched the spot beneath his nose. The instant he regained consciousness, his first reaction was to leap to his feet. But as soon as he "leapt" up, he found himself unaccustomed to his own body. He staggered and nearly fell.

"My—my body!" Looking down, he saw that his body was completely intact. Li Qiye was both shocked and overjoyed. After being a Shadow Crow for millions upon millions of years, he had finally reclaimed his body. Even he, who had weathered countless hardships and seen innumerable storms, could not help feeling agitated.

At last, Li Qiye took a deep breath and looked up. An old man was standing before him.

"Hee, hee, hee, this old man was the one who fished you out of the river." The old man grinned as he spoke. The moment he opened his mouth, he revealed three large yellow teeth. His smile was as lecherous as lecherous could be.

Li Qiye followed the river with his gaze and faintly saw the outline of the Immortal-Demon Cave in the distance. At the sight of it, his thirteen-year-old face turned cold at once, and an aura utterly unlike that of his age faintly emerged from him.

Li Qiye took a deep breath, looked at the old man, and only after a long while asked, "How should I address you?"

"Third Ghost Lord, from the Washing Yan Ancient Sect." The old man replied with a grin, exposing his three yellow teeth as drool trickled down.

"Washing Yan Ancient Sect..." Li Qiye murmured. For a moment, it stirred memories long buried beneath the dust. He had been trapped within the body of a Shadow Crow for millions upon millions of years.

"Who bears the Heaven's Will now?" Li Qiye came back to himself and asked.

"Heaven's Will? No one has borne Heaven's Will yet." Third Ghost Lord said with a grin.

"What about the Sky-Treading Immortal Emperor?" Li Qiye's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. Had this slumber of his lasted several hundred thousand years?

"The Sky-Treading Immortal Emperor disappeared thirty thousand years ago." Third Ghost Lord still grinned, his three yellow teeth making him look especially lecherous.

"What about the Black Dragon King of Town Heaven Sea City?" Li Qiye asked again.

Third Ghost Lord shook his head. "No one knows. The Black Dragon King also disappeared thirty thousand years ago."

Li Qiye's face changed drastically at these words. He raised his head and looked again toward the faintly visible Immortal-Demon Cave in the distance. Now, he understood why he had reclaimed his body.

"Let's go—" Li Qiye's expression darkened. He turned and left without caring whether Third Ghost Lord followed. Having lived through endless years and endured countless sufferings, he already knew what he had to do.

Town Heaven Sea City was, in this age, the most powerful and invincible lineage. Back when the Black Dragon King was still alive, he had looked down upon the nine heavens and ten earths, unmatched by anyone! Three generations had revered him together!

Although the Black Dragon King had been missing for thirty thousand years, Town Heaven Sea City still stood proudly between heaven and earth like a colossal leviathan.

Outside Town Heaven Sea City stood a youth of about thirteen, along with an old man who looked incomparably lecherous and revealed three yellow teeth whenever he opened his mouth.

Outside the city gates, Li Qiye silently burned funeral paper, speaking silently in his heart: "Little Black, rest in peace. In this life, you helped me reclaim my body. One day, I will trample the Fiend Domain flat and avenge you!"

At last, Li Qiye raised his head and looked at Town Heaven Sea City, that colossal presence. The things remained, but the people were gone; everything had become unfamiliar. Back then, this sea city had risen from the ground through year after year of effort by him and Little Black!

Sadly, thirty thousand years had passed. Who still knew of the Shadow Crow who had once hidden behind the scenes?

"Hee, let's return to the Washing Yan Ancient Sect." At this moment, Third Ghost Lord popped out again, his three yellow teeth entering Li Qiye's view.

"Let's go." Li Qiye nodded calmly. No matter how ghostly and unpredictable Third Ghost Lord was, no matter what his origins might be, none of it was enough to surprise Li Qiye. Having endured all manner of hardship, been trapped inside a Shadow Crow for millions upon millions of years, passed through one era after another, accompanied Immortal Emperors, and walked alongside the Medicine God, what else could possibly surprise him?

Not long after Li Qiye and Third Ghost Lord left, a woman of peerless grace emerged from Town Heaven Sea City. She was like an immortal maiden of azure waves, a goddess of the vast sea. As she stepped out of the gates to travel afar, the corner of her eye accidentally caught a remaining scrap of the funeral paper burned at the foot of the city wall. Upon that scrap, a symbol could faintly be seen.

At the sight of this symbol, the goddess' expression changed drastically. She asked in a grave voice, "Who burned funeral paper here just now?"

An old servant at her side quickly obtained the answer and reported, "According to the guards, not long ago an old man and a youth of thirteen or fourteen burned funeral paper here."

"Pursue them. Find them!" the goddess ordered at once.

"Your Highness, are you not going to the Divine Mountain?" the old servant asked.

"Pursue them—" As soon as the goddess spoke, she had already crossed the sky and shot off in pursuit.

In the end, the goddess failed to find the people who had burned the funeral paper. After returning to Town Heaven Sea City, she remained silent for a long time. That symbol had not appeared in Town Heaven Sea City for a very, very long time. Why had it appeared again after tens of thousands of years? Were they enemies or friends?

"Reporting to Your Highness, we did not find the people who burned the funeral paper." At last, the utterly loyal old servant reported.

"Pass down the order. Everyone is to keep watch for these two people. Do not make this public. The moment there is any news, report to me immediately," the goddess said gravely.

This left the old servant stunned. Town Heaven Sea City intimidated the entire age, and their Highness, the Sea Suppressing Goddess, was renowned throughout the world. It was rare to see her wearing such a solemn expression.

"As for the Divine Mountain..." the old servant said hesitantly.

"Cancel it—" the goddess said in a deep voice. "I need to look through the ancient records left by our ancestors. There is something strange about this matter!" With that, she entered the deepest forbidden ground of Town Heaven Sea City.

The Washing Yan Ancient Sect was located within the territory of the Treasure Saint Empire. The Washing Yan Ancient Sect could be called a lineage with a long and ancient history, an imperial orthodoxy of an immortal sect. During the early years of the Era of Emperors, the peerless Immortal Emperor Mingren, who had looked down upon the nine heavens and ten earths, founded the sect here and named it the Washing Yan Ancient Sect.

Sadly, millions upon millions of years had passed, and the ages had changed. The Washing Yan Ancient Sect was no longer the imperial orthodoxy that had once swept across the eight desolations. After endless years, the Washing Yan Ancient Sect had begun to decline. Though it had experienced revivals, it still could not reverse its downward course.

"Grand Elder, bad news! A mortal has come to the sect and wants to become our chief disciple." One morning, just after the Grand Elder of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect rose, a disciple hurriedly came to report.

"Drive him down the mountain!" Without even looking up, the Grand Elder said, "Does such a trivial matter need to be reported?"

A mortal wanted to become the chief disciple of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect? What kind of joke was that? The chief disciple of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect held a special significance. In another sense, the chief disciple was the successor to the sect master and often had the chance to become the next sect master. Although the sect master was not currently in the sect, the Elders could still decide such a matter.

"B-but, he... he was recommended by Third Ghost Lord," the disciple stammered.

"Third Ghost Lord?" The Grand Elder glanced sideways and said, "Could it be that he drank someone else's wine and promised them favors again?"

Third Ghost Lord was indeed a member of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect, but the Washing Yan Ancient Sect was even more unwilling to acknowledge him as one of its own.

The name Third Ghost Lord sounded imposing, but it made the Elders of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect lose face. Third Ghost Lord had three great loves: wealth, women, and whoring. Since he called himself a lord, people mockingly dubbed him Third Ghost Lord.

Third Ghost Lord had barely cultivated any techniques, yet he possessed quite an extraordinary background in the Washing Yan Ancient Sect. It was said that he was the illegitimate son of the previous sect master. Thus, when the previous sect master was on his deathbed, he instructed the current sect master to take good care of Third Ghost Lord.

There were also rumors claiming that Third Ghost Lord was actually the illegitimate son of the sect master before the previous one. Because that earlier sect master had rendered the previous sect master a great favor, the previous sect master had taken the blame and cared for Third Ghost Lord all along. When the previous sect master passed away, he too instructed the current sect master to care for Third Ghost Lord.

No matter whose illegitimate son Third Ghost Lord was, his disgraceful origins made the upper echelons of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect unwilling to investigate the matter or speak much of it to outsiders.

Toward a man like Third Ghost Lord, who loved wealth, women, and whoring yet possessed little cultivation, neither the Elders nor the other disciples of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect thought highly of him.

"What does it matter if Third Ghost Lord recommended him? Drive him down the mountain!" The Grand Elder was in no mood for this. Early in the morning, that name had already ruined his good mood.

"B-but, he... he... he has Third Ghost Lord's Washing Yan Ancient Token," the disciple stammered.

"The Washing Yan Ancient Token!" At these words, the Grand Elder's expression changed. After pondering for quite some time, he ordered, "Summon the other Elders. Have that mortal wait in the main hall!"

The Washing Yan Ancient Sect had six Elders in total. When the other five heard the words "Washing Yan Ancient Token," their expressions changed as well, and they had no choice but to attend.

The Washing Yan Ancient Token consisted of three ancient tokens left behind by the founder of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect, Immortal Emperor Mingren. The other two had been retrieved long ago, but for some unknown reason, the last one had fallen into Third Ghost Lord's hands.

Besides the previous sect master's instruction to care for Third Ghost Lord, another reason the Elders could do nothing about him and he could remain in the Washing Yan Ancient Sect was the Washing Yan Ancient Token in his possession.

Whoever held this token was as though Immortal Emperor Mingren himself had arrived. Whoever held this token could make one demand of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect.

Seated in the main hall of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect, Li Qiye looked at the ancient hall and the statue in the upper hall, blurred by incense smoke. It could not help stirring many dust-covered memories within him.

The statue enshrined in the upper hall was that of Immortal Emperor Mingren. Although endless years had passed, the blurred statue still carried an ancient divine majesty, towering high above the nine heavens and naturally inspiring worship.

Looking at the statue, Li Qiye felt a hundred flavors in his heart. So many years had passed; Immortal Emperor Mingren was no longer alive, while he had lived through one era after another. Today, he had finally reclaimed his body as he had wished, but how many figures who had once stirred the winds and clouds had vanished into smoke and mist?