The Imprisoned Soul Cauldron

"..."

He did not lower his guard just because You Xiao had turned into a skeleton.

Li Boyang lowered his sword-wielding right hand slightly, assuming a stance from which he could attack at any moment.

The hundred-odd flying swords still surrounded the skeleton tightly, poised to continue shredding it.

Sizzle, sizzle...

Just as Li Boyang maintained his utmost vigilance, the skeleton underwent a transformation, as expected.

Faint arcs of electricity emerged from the bones, then enveloped the entire skeleton with the speed of thunder that left no time to cover one's ears.

"Moo!"

It sounded both like some sort of mantra and like nothing more than a cow's lowing.

Crack...

The two arm bones on the skeleton's back fell off on their own.

Two thick bull horns sprouted from its temples in response.

Yet Li Boyang did not immediately attack the transforming skeleton.

During his fight with You Xiao, Li Boyang had already vaguely sensed that something was wrong with his condition.

He had clearly transformed into a four-armed ghost god.

Yet he had never used a single Divine Ability or Law Technique throughout the fight, instead constantly trying to engage Li Boyang in close combat.

With the earlier Ominous Deity, Ruifu, as a reference,

Li Boyang was not naive enough to believe that a ghost god possessed nothing but an indestructible body.

Coupled with the premonition from his Primordial Spirit and the divination of the Heavenly Mandate Bone Plastron...

Li Boyang realized that it was not that You Xiao did not want to use Divine Abilities or Law Techniques. Someone was holding him back-or rather, restricting his use of them.

"Are you the Yin Deity Xiluo mentioned?"

Looking at the two fully formed bull horns, Li Boyang asked in a low voice.

At the same time, the Divine Firmament Sword in his hand pointed subtly toward the skeleton as he awaited an answer.

"I've really made a complete fool of myself this time..."

As if to answer Li Boyang's question,

blood vessels, muscles, and vocal cords first grew in the skeleton's throat.

The voice was deep and hoarse, yet its roughness and goodwill were clearly audible.

Thus, even before the other's flesh had recovered, an image of a rough-looking but kindhearted, burly man had already formed in Li Boyang's mind.

"If no second Yin Deity has come here, then that should be me."

As he spoke in a slightly self-mocking tone,

a massive bull's head gradually took shape.

Although he had a bull's head and a human body, this Yin Deity was actually somewhat different from the "Ox-Head" Li Boyang remembered.

Huge bull horns, a broad forehead, and the classic upturned bovine nose...

All of these fit Li Boyang's stereotypical impression quite well.

Only his body, though described as human, actually leaned more toward that of some upright-walking beast.

Muscles like slabs of steel formed a powerful physique.

His hands had five fingers, but claws had grown from them as well.

As for his lower body, it was simply a pair of upright, backward-bending bovine legs ending in hooves.

Even as he stood there quietly, the flesh still growing bit by bit fully displayed its due ferocity and majesty.

To be honest, watching Ox-Head take shape bit by bit,

even with the backing of the Heavenly Mandate Bone Plastron's divination, Li Boyang somewhat regretted allowing him to recover.

He realized that, compared with this Ox-Head, even calling that earlier four-armed ghost god a "deformed child" gave it too much credit.

With neither of them using Divine Abilities or Law Techniques,

Li Boyang had no doubt that this robust Ox-Head could beat that four-armed ghost god like a hanging punching bag.

So... brother, if you're this strong, how exactly did You Xiao manage to refine you back then?

Perhaps the astonishment and disbelief in Li Boyang's eyes were too obvious, for he actually discerned a hint of embarrassment on Ox-Head's rugged face.

"Ahem, don't look at me like that..."

"I was too careless. I thought he was just an ordinary evil ghost."

"Who could have imagined he was the Guifang Kingdom's high priest, and even controlled a mighty treasure like the Imprisoned Soul Cauldron?"

As he said this, Ox-Head deliberately turned his gaze toward the cauldron lying overturned nearby.

The enormous cauldron stood a full ten zhang tall and weighed tens of thousands of tons, practically comparable to the maritime patrol boats in Li Boyang's memory.

"The Imprisoned Soul Cauldron?"

Although he had long suspected that the great cauldron had an extraordinary origin,

Li Boyang still had not expected that Ox-Head had ultimately fallen victim to that thing.

"Yes. It's a major ritual treasure of the Guifang Kingdom, the Imprisoned Soul Cauldron, which only its successive high priests are qualified to use."

With a trace of awe in his eyes, Ox-Head took the initiative to explain to Li Boyang.

"According to legend, this thing is a kingdom-guarding treasure bestowed upon the Guifang Kingdom by the Gods of the Five Directions."

"It inherently possesses the ability to refine ghost gods. It's a mighty national treasure that is never deployed lightly."

"The last time it appeared was thirty years ago, when the Guifang Kingdom and the Tufang Kingdom went to war..."

"In that battle, the Guifang Kingdom destroyed the Tufang Kingdom and refined an entire nation's living beings into a true ghost god."

"The entire underworld was thrown into turmoil for several years because of it. Only when a prefectural lord personally intervened was that turmoil stopped."

Trying hard to understand the meaning of Ox-Head's words, Li Boyang could not help looking thoughtful.

The information contained in those few short sentences from Ox-Head was simply greater than everything Li Boyang had encountered from birth until now put together.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

After a moment of silence, Li Boyang raised his head to look at Ox-Head again.

No matter how he looked at it, Ox-Head really had no need to explain so much to him.

"Because you're an Innate Deity. You're qualified to know these things..."

Ox-Head's expression was somewhat peculiar as he said this.

"Of course, your current condition is a little strange, different from all the Innate Deities I know."

"But Innate Deities come in all sorts of strange forms to begin with. One more anomaly like you hardly makes a difference."

Before his words had faded, Ox-Head reached out and beckoned toward the Imprisoned Soul Cauldron.

By now, Ox-Head had completed his rebirth. Although his strength had not returned to its peak, it was not far off.

Rumble...

With just a light beckoning gesture, the enormous cauldron weighing tens of thousands of tons rolled over.

Immediately afterward, the Imprisoned Soul Cauldron rapidly shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the pill flames that had leaked into its surroundings surged back into the Pill Furnace.

Hum, hum, hum...

Only once the Imprisoned Soul Cauldron had shrunk to a size of one zhang did it leisurely spin down into Ox-Head's hand.

"This Imprisoned Soul Cauldron possesses the power to refine ghost gods..."

"Even I nearly got turned into a Ghost God Egg."

"Fortunately, that evil ghost hadn't mastered his craft. That was the only reason a great disaster didn't come to pass!"

Holding up the Imprisoned Soul Cauldron, which was a third of his own size, in one hand, Ox-Head still appeared to handle it with ease.

"I've lingered in the world of the living for so long that the Netherworld is probably about to turn upside down..."

"Now that you've destroyed that evil ghost, I'll leave this Imprisoned Soul Cauldron in your safekeeping!"

"But let me say the unpleasant part first..."

"Although I have no intention of interfering in the affairs of the living world, if one day you act like that evil ghost and seek to use this Imprisoned Soul Cauldron to overturn the balance of yin and yang, don't blame me for showing no mercy."