Corpse Dao IV

"Still haven't found it?"

Lin Xin sat in a luxurious residence within Hanzhong City, looking at the five disciples standing before him.

"We searched dozens of **** separately. We found quite a few zombies, but after dealing with them, we still found no trace of the thing Master described."

A beautiful female disciple reported helplessly.

"Where is Lu Li?"

Lin Xin frowned.

"Senior Sister has already gone to the Western Ocean. It is said there is a place there where all living things enter but never leave. She has yet to return."

Another male disciple answered swiftly.

"We should not waste too much time here. Continue searching, but focus on Zombie King Ji Du. As the most ancient being to have existed in this world, revive him first. Perhaps we can interrogate him and learn where the thing we seek is."

Lin Xin gave the order blandly.

"Yes, Master."

"Master, how should we deal with the more than three thousand zombies discovered in the north?" the beautiful disciple continued.

"Capture them and use them as laborers. Zombies are quite strong and have powerful recovery abilities. Catch large fish from the sea and let them suck blood to stay alive. Put them in charge of mining and forging work."

Lin Xin lowered his eyes.

"If any resist, kill them and send them to the Research Institute as flower fertilizer."

"Yes!"

After the five disciples had left.

Lin Xin slowly rose to his feet.

"After searching for so long, I still haven't found the World Origin, and there is no trace of the World Stabilizing Stone either... It seems I can only revive Ji Du and interrogate him. Perhaps I'll find a clue."

Recently, he had vaguely felt that something was wrong. The Great Calamity had arrived, and with his evasion attributes, for him to possess such intuition meant something bad was likely about to happen.

"I need to speed things up..."

He thought to himself.

At this stage, attribute points were no longer of much use, but they could still grant him extremely powerful evasion and aura-concealment abilities. This ability to foresee danger was also an excellent means of seeking fortune and avoiding disaster.

Yet he vaguely felt that attribute points were not as simple as they appeared on the surface.

He had absorbed Affinity Demon Resentful Qi from several places belonging to the Demon God King. How could they possibly have only this little effect?

He faintly sensed that the attribute points were also lying dormant, hiding away as though waiting for the day they would suddenly erupt.

At that thought, he looked toward his attribute panel again.

He ignored the heap of skills and looked only at his attributes.

"Could it be that I still don't have enough attribute points?" This thought flashed through his mind.

His current attribute points seemed plentiful, but in truth, they were merely several times those of an ordinary body-refining Human Immortal.

The spiritual radiance behind his head was merely a certain qualitative change naturally produced after body refinement broke through the Human Immortal level.

That did not mean his physical body was truly that formidable.

"Perhaps I can try converting attribute points. My attribute points are mainly formed through the conversion of essence, qi, and soul, but I can also convert soul power alone. Absorbing souls and vengeful spirits in this world should work as well..."

"Report! Master!!"

Suddenly, a figure rushed in hurriedly.

"We've discovered signs of the Origin!"

"What? Where?"

Lin Xin was overjoyed and shot to his feet.

The newcomer was Wang Kongyan. Her cheeks were flushed, and delight shone in her eyes as well.

"Junior Sister Jade Fox organized many Daoist priests to investigate the records of Zombie King Ji Du. They found much evidence proving that Ji Du himself is the World Origin we have been searching for!"

"Ji Du himself?"

Lin Xin was stunned.

"Where are the compiled materials?"

"Here!"

Wang Kongyan swiftly handed over a jade talisman.

Lin Xin took it and closed his eyes slightly. A massive amount of information immediately flooded into his mind.

When he opened his eyes again, they gleamed, and a smile spread across his face.

"So it is true! Darling of the Earth! The World Origin itself is him! No wonder he is undying and indestructible—so that is how it is... Find the sealing site immediately. I will personally unseal the other two portions of Corpse King Qi!"

"We have already found one. The last one will be located soon!" Wang Kongyan said quickly.

"Then let's go!"

Lin Xin crushed the jade talisman and walked straight out of the room.

Wang Kongyan followed close behind him.

Void, Third Heaven Realm.

In the boundless, pristine Heaven Realm, there were no borders and no matter. Apart from endless white light, there was nothing else.

This was a white world.

All creatures and lives, whether evil or good, ordinary or strange, were like blind men here. They could see nothing at all.

They could only act by relying on touch and smell.

Several figures suddenly appeared in the pure white void.

One wore a copper mask, while the rest had their faces covered with black cloth, concealing their features.

"Fellow Daoists, the Heavenly Demon Warlord will cooperate with us this time and dispatch an army for a surprise attack. If we fail, we must return to the battlefield within one day. Otherwise, if the front lines discover that our strength has been drawn away, the battle situation may fall into a disadvantageous position."

The Copper Masked Man spoke in a low voice.

"This old man's family has been destroyed, and my path of cultivation has been cut off. What is there left that I cannot let go of? Venerable, give the order. We old fossils are going all out."

One of the figures spoke in a low voice. His voice was aged and decayed, trembling as if he might breathe his last at any moment.

"Then it all depends on you, everyone." The Copper Masked Man cupped his hands. "We belong to the Twenty-Ninth Team. There are companions from the Twenty-Eighth Team nearby. If you see them, lend them a hand if you can."

"Understood!"

Everyone answered in succession.

"Good. Let's set off!"

The Copper Masked Man spoke lightly, turned around, and gently drew a line through the void before him.

The space of the Third Heaven Realm was immediately torn apart, revealing the blackness of the First Heaven Void below.

He took the lead and flew out first, followed by the others.

The moment they entered the First Heaven Void, the surrounding space rapidly twisted and tore apart, as though some immense force were continuously shaking the void around them.

This invisible fluctuation swiftly spread outward and would soon be noticed by anyone paying attention.

"Quick! We can't stay long!"

The Copper Masked Man shouted sharply.

Everyone instantly scattered, transforming into black streaks as they flew toward the Void Spirit Defense Line behind Azure Lake Mountain.

In the dark void ahead, a gigantic Black Gold beast suddenly began to awaken.

This colossal beast resembled a black dragon, but the wings on its back were not flesh wings. They were woven from countless enormous human hands arranged side by side.

The white hands formed two rows and constantly struggled atop its back, trying to break free, but it was all in vain.

"Those who trespass upon Azure Lake Mountain shall die!!"

The beast opened its huge eyes. Its body, dozens of spiritual miles long, opened its massive jaws and bit viciously toward the incoming Copper Masked Man and the others.

"World Artifact, Soul Fixation."

The Copper Masked Man pointed with one hand, and the giant beast's entire body stiffened for an instant.

The group flashed past the beast's side **** in an instant, vanishing into the void after only a few movements.

"Damn it!!"

The beast roared in fury.

"I must notify the main sect immediately!"

The enemy had actually been able to halt it for an instant. Their cultivation had to be at least that of a Celestial Venerable!

But there were only so many Celestial Venerables facing off on the front lines. Shadow City had merely a dozen or so. Where had these six Celestial Venerable experts come from?

The beast understood in an instant.

"Not good! It's a scheme to lure the tiger from the mountain!"

It spread its claw, and invisible glimmers of light shot forth like lightning, tearing through space and entering other Heaven Realms as they flew toward the main sect.

After flying some distance, the Copper Masked Man and the others suddenly separated.

"Once you have each finished your task, gather at the designated place for teleportation. I ask that none of you Venerables delay!"

The Copper Masked Man said urgently.

"Rest assured!"

"If I am held back, don't wait for me. It is nothing more than death!"

The others responded one after another.

The Copper Masked Man felt a surge of emotion as well. This time, Shadow City was truly making a desperate gamble.

Of its dozen or so Celestial Venerables, nearly half had been deployed to launch a surprise assault on the main sect in the deep rear, seeking a sliver of survival amid the Great Calamity.

If they failed, Shadow City would completely withdraw its battle lines and suffer a devastating loss of vitality. It likely would not recover for tens of thousands of years.

The group scattered and shot away, disappearing into the void in a few moments.

One slightly shorter old man had wind and sand faintly swirling around his body. The direction in which he flew happened to be where Lin Xin's Sacrifice to the Gods Land was located.

Behind that place lay one of the fifteen most crucial nodes in the Void Spirit Defense Line.

Netherworld.

Lin Wai and Lin Yi continuously directed vast numbers of Dao soldiers, drawing in debris and shattered stones from the surrounding void and absorbing them into the edges of the Netherworld, endlessly expanding its size.

Tens of thousands of Soul Harvesters, over a thousand Snow Monsters, and dozens of Star Demons were distributed around the entire Netherworld, guarding every possible passage and entrance.

Above the Netherworld, thick layers of formation radiance were stacked upon one another. No one knew how many layers there were. Compared with the formations Lin Xin had possessed at Tier Five, the current grand formation consisted of nineteen stacked Tier Six formations, its power far surpassing that of the past.

Groups of Dao soldiers constantly maintained and constructed things throughout the Netherworld. Countless crude magical artifact blanks were forged, after which many cultivators inscribed them with talismans and formations.

Over these years, the Netherworld had already nurtured a great number of Qi Refinement cultivators skilled in formations and talismans. Even the weakest had reached the Golden Core level.

This was the effect brought about by the terrifying concentration of heaven-and-earth qi.

There was also Lin Xin's advantage in having gathered large numbers of disciples with the finest aptitudes.

Lake Mountain Sect now even had fourth-generation disciples. Those fourth-generation disciples could only travel within the small world, then enter the Netherworld to study, cultivate in seclusion, and advance. They had no idea what sort of place lay beyond the formations.

Generation after generation of strength continuously added immense depths of foundation to Lin Xin's Sacrifice to the Gods Land.

Leaning on the Purple Jade Cane, Lin Yi gazed with satisfaction at the orderly Netherworld city before him.

A vast city centered around Dao Soldier Buildings had already formed here.

Dao soldiers and cultivators lived together in harmony, their residences separated by only a small distance.

"All of this is the Master's power!"

He sighed.

"Even an ordinary mid-sized sect would amount to no more than this. I simply do not know what the Master intends to do by concealing such enormous power."

Lin Wai suddenly appeared behind him. The two stood atop a tall building, overlooking the entire Netherworld.

"The Master's will is not something we may casually speculate upon. By the way, I have recently had a bad premonition. I wonder if you have felt it as well..."

As a Star Demon—and one strengthened many times over—Lin Wai's attributes were likewise exceptionally formidable, and his perception of danger was extremely keen.

"You should make preparations to fight at any time. The Great Calamity the Master mentioned has arrived. Even with the spatial labyrinth, we will not be safe."