Life-Devouring Pill

"The Burial Grounds of Earth Immortals should have been explored long ago. Dragon Mountain has abundant spiritual energy and should have contained many spiritual treasures and rare medicines, but now there's nothing left."

As Yan Kuan spoke, he pointed at several key points on Dragon-Shaped Cliff Mountain that emitted Spiritual Light, then at the Divine Tree Branch beside them. "It was probably the people from the Daoist Ancestral Court. They had no way to purge the death qi and didn't dare use it to refine medicine, so they left this Divine Tree Branch behind."

"That's impossible!"

Old Crane could not accept Yan Kuan's explanation. He carefully used his divine power to move the Jade Coffin aside, but the moment he looked inside, he was bitterly disappointed. It was completely empty, containing only the lingering traces of a human-shaped outline that had Dissolved into Dao.

"How could this be?"

Monkey was utterly disappointed, muttering to himself as he struggled to accept the truth. Yan Kuan said nothing more, silently sealed the coffin lid, then put away the branch of the Undying Divine Medicine.

Old Crane gazed into the distance behind them. Still unwilling to give up, he said, "According to the Jade Scroll Map, there are ninety-nine Dragon Mountains. This is only the first one. Isn't that strange? Could the Earth Immortal really have buried his tomb within the first Dragon Mountain?"

Monkey shared the same opinion. "Let's keep looking."

"Both Valley Lords, you saw it yourselves. The gatekeepers of Dragon Tiger Mountain here are genuine Dao-Slaying Kings. If there really were treasures they failed to take away, do you think they'd be something we could touch?"

Monkey and Old Crane remained unwilling, but Yan Kuan did not want to keep taking risks. He knew that they would find nothing in the Dragon Mountains ahead—or rather, the easily obtainable treasures had already been taken by the elders of the Daoist Ancestral Court. As for the treasures left behind, they had no ability to claim them.

Old Crane quietly said to Yan Kuan, "Brother Li, it wasn't easy for us to come all this way. It would be such a waste to leave empty-handed... How about we go a little farther? If we encounter danger, we'll come straight back. The two of us will definitely follow your command."

"Well, then listen to me from here on out."

Yan Kuan reckoned that if they did not continue and see things through, they would never give up. So he went along with their wishes. The three continued onward and soon entered the depths of the second twisting, interwoven Dragon Mountain.

A massive fissure lay ahead. There were dozens of ancient Hanging Coffins here. Though far fewer than at the first site, the sight was still astonishing. There was another similarity as well: deep within the Dragon Cave stood a Jade Coffin.

"Why is there another Jade Coffin? It's covered in dust too, dull and without luster. How... how many Earth Immortals were there?"

Old Crane and Monkey were both stunned, staring blankly into the Dragon Cave ahead. Hanging Coffins were arranged neatly around the Jade Coffin, far fewer than those on the first Dragon Mountain. A crystalline branch of the Undying Divine Tree lay across the coffin lid, fragrant currents flowing from it.

Yan Kuan pointed toward several locations on this Dragon Mountain. "Look at the various nodes where Spiritual Light is leaking out. There should originally have been precious medicines or spiritual treasures nourished by dragon qi, but now there's nothing. It was most likely visited and looted as well."

"If you still refuse to give up, we can continue forward. But we cannot open this Jade Coffin. The deeper we go, the more terrifying the experts buried in the Hanging Coffins become. There may even be Dao-Slaying Kings."

As Yan Kuan spoke, he continued deeper inside, while reminding Old Crane and Monkey, "A Dao-Slaying King's body is indestructible as King Kong. Their corpses do not decay after death. If beings like that are disturbed, they could easily undergo a mutation. That is absolutely not something our little bit of strength can handle."

They crossed five more mountains in succession. Every Dragon Mountain looked as though it had been plundered, leaving only the Jade Coffins bearing branches of the Undying Divine Tree seemingly untouched.

But just as Yan Kuan had said, the deeper they went, the more terrifying the experts buried in the Hanging Coffins became. For the later ones, they only dared to watch from afar and did not dare approach at all.

"Look, the Dragon Mountains farther back have all collapsed."

Impatient by nature, Monkey rose into the air and reached the clouds. Golden divine light shot from his eyes as he gazed into the distance at the towering Dragon Mountains, and his expression immediately froze.

The first nine Dragon Mountains possessed magnificent phenomena. The ninth in particular stood noticeably taller than the others, Auspicious Qi surging from it. The words "Earth Immortal" were carved into its mountainside.

But beginning with the tenth Dragon Mountain, every mountain range had fractured and collapsed, no longer whole. The sight was baffling. Had the latter ninety of the ninety-nine Dragon Mountains all crumbled?

Yan Kuan did not explain much. He continued to the eighth Dragon Mountain, where he found a flawless white jade stele bearing several inscriptions left by that Earth Immortal. Their general meaning was that he had buried his disciples here to keep him company.

Monkey exclaimed, "Worthy of an Earth Immortal indeed. All his disciples died, yet he still lived. Among those eight Jade Coffins, several must contain ancient saints."

Yan Kuan said nothing, instead leading the two onward until they reached the final intact Dragon Mountain. Purple Qi billowed there, nearly submerging the entire mountain. Before it stood an Ancient Stele covered in inscriptions.

It recounted some past events of the person who had established this place. This senior had once gone to Shu to cultivate and was honored as the Chief of Earth Immortals. The final line on the Ancient Stele read, "Buried here together with the Ginseng Fruit Tree and the Undying Divine Tree!"

"The Ginseng Fruit Tree? Could Zhen Yuanzi really have existed?"

Monkey spoke in surprise. In his early years, he had wandered the mortal world and avidly read Journey to the West. Otherwise, he would not have given himself such an unusual name as Sun Wukong.

"This Dragon Cave is absolutely not somewhere we can approach. Go."

At that moment, Yan Kuan detected something unusual deep within the Dragon Cave and hurriedly warned the two great demons, who had gained nothing. Old Crane and Monkey also keenly sensed the danger and immediately reacted.

Old Crane, with more than six hundred years of cultivation, reverted to his true form and carried Yan Kuan and Monkey swiftly back along their original route. Not long after they departed, waves of roars sounded from deep within the Dragon Cave, which overflowed with Auspicious Qi. It seemed that something Weird had been awakened.

"Brother Li, even if this is the corpse of a Dao-Slaying King, he was a senior of the Daoist Ancestral Court at Dragon Tiger Mountain. Taking him out could easily cause trouble."

The three escaped the terrain of the ninety-nine Dragon Mountains and prepared to leave, but Yan Kuan collected the corpse of that Dao-Slaying King before departing. Old Crane and Monkey both objected somewhat, but since Yan Kuan had already taken it, they could only remind him.

"Rest assured, you two. I only intend to take this senior outside and give him a proper burial."

Yan Kuan offered a casual explanation, then sank his consciousness into the Sea of Bitterness and carefully confirmed that the branch of the Undying Divine Tree was not causing trouble.

When he came to these Burial Grounds of Earth Immortals this time, he had known from the beginning that there were not many good things left here. The reason he had come anyway was for this section of the Undying Divine Tree Branch.

Though this treasure had been tainted by death qi and turned into an evil medicine, its life-prolonging medicinal properties had not dissipated. It contained both vitality and death qi, making it a supreme ingredient for refining the Life-Devouring Pill. If all went smoothly, once that pill was refined, he would be able to leap into the top ranks of this Ancestral Star.