The four Great Sages entered the Marrow Grotto-heaven together.
Such grotto-heavens and blessed lands were called demiplanes in the West. They had always relied on the Main World to exist, and Zhong Shenxiu was quite familiar with them.
As they traversed the passage, records concerning the Great Fiend—[Black Taisui]—involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
'[Black Taisui] was first discovered by the Daoist sects in the fifth year of Dragon Phoenix...'
'At the time, someone in Qingling dug a huge white mass of flesh out of the ground. When it was cut open, an enticing fragrance wafted out, making one's mouth water. They then ate it raw...'
'After being eaten raw, the thing caused no immediate aftereffects. Instead, it replenished vital energy and promoted health and longevity. Thus, it was passed upward until it reached the prefectural government...'
'Only after forty-nine days did everyone who had eaten the white mass of flesh become stiff in body and numb in spirit, transforming into "living dead" who took pleasure in gnawing on the living. They also carried an extremely potent poison. Any mortal who came into contact with it was infected at once and likewise transformed into a "living dead"... Even cultivators could not cure it, and some were infected as well...'
'This was the "Taisui Disaster." It spread across hundreds of miles and involved tens of thousands of people, eventually alarming the Daoist sects. A Great Sage took action and finally slaughtered all the living dead... But before they were killed, those living dead sacrificed themselves to one another. Their flesh and blood fused together, transforming into a Great Fiend-level demon known as—[Black Taisui]!'
"This was practically a biological disaster... But when cultivators contracted this poison, they didn't turn into living dead. Instead, they became something even more advanced than living dead—the Corpse