บท 1001: Chapter 1001: The Forehead Tomb
Another entire day and night had passed before the massive purple coffin slowly revealed yet another Saint's mark.
One must understand that the previous mark of the Tongtian Saint had taken merely an hour at most, yet this mark required a full day and night to appear. Naturally, everyone felt the immense strength of this Saint.
As the mark emerged, it seemed like a halo of white light enveloping it—twisting and turning, vague yet exuding an otherworldly and lofty aura. The moment the mark appeared, a deep silence fell over the entire Blood Pool of Evil Spirits, as if this aura brought a sense of peace to all the evil spirits present.
"Boom!" The mark exploded into fragments.
"This... Is this the mark of Hongjun Daozu?" The Ksitigarbha King immediately recognized it.
After speaking, the Ksitigarbha King glanced at the massive purple coffin with a hint of envy in his eyes. He had known that this purple coffin was extraordinary, but he never imagined it would be connected to Hongjun.
Hongjun—he was truly the number one under the heavens in those days.
Unrivaled, invincible. If not for defying fate, he would have been the strongest in all the world. Anything associated with Hongjun was undoubtedly no ordinary object.
"Hongjun?" Zhong Shan raised an eyebrow.
"Could this coffin have been crafted by Hongjun himself?" Nangong Sheng asked in confusion.
Crafted by Hongjun? The Ksitigarbha King examined the coffin once more, this time with even greater scrutiny.
At that moment, Mr. Corpse performed another incantation, summoning the purple coffin back.
Carried by several zombies, the coffin was returned to the previous palace, leaving no opportunity for the Ksitigarbha King to study it closely.
Although he wanted to investigate further, Mr. Corpse's intentions were clear, so the Ksitigarbha King didn't persist. However, as the purple coffin was carried away, he gave it one last deep look.
"Have you met Hongjun before?" Zhong Shan asked curiously.
"I met him a few times, but that was hundreds of thousands of years ago," the Ksitigarbha King replied, shaking his head.
"Which Saint fell first, Hongjun or Tongtian?"
"In the sequence of the Saints' falls, first was Nuwa, followed by Tongtian, then Hongjun, after him were Jieyin, Zhunti, Yuanshi, and lastly Taishang. We once believed that after their fall, that would be the end, but recently, Jieyin was reborn. It makes one ponder deeply on the fate of the fallen Saints," the Ksitigarbha King revealed without hesitation.
"Jieyin reborn?" Zhong Shan had already speculated about this during the earlier conversation between the Ksitigarbha King and Maitreya Buddha.
"Hongjun fell after Tongtian?" Zhong Shan raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he had just realized something very important.
"Yes, with Jieyin reborn, it's possible the other Saints may have unexpected ways to return," the Ksitigarbha King continued.
"Reborn? Can they use the same method?"
"No, that would violate the Heavenly Dao's bottom line. If two Saints were to be reborn using the same method, it would disturb the celestial order, and they would face punishment from the heavens, leading to their eternal obliteration," the Ksitigarbha King shook his head.
"I have learned something valuable today," Zhong Shan said calmly.
"This is no secret. You could learn this from others as well," the Ksitigarbha King replied with a shake of his head.
After speaking, the Ksitigarbha King looked towards Mr. Corpse.
"Patriarch!" the Ksitigarbha King suddenly addressed him.
Mr. Corpse raised an eyebrow but didn't immediately respond.
"What is it?" Mr. Corpse asked.
"I wish to relinquish the tombstone jade of the Earth Burial lineage and return under the command of the Burial family!" the Ksitigarbha King said solemnly.
Upon hearing the words of the Ksitigarbha King, Mr. Corpse's pupils contracted slightly.
In the past, Mr. Corpse might have been elated by such a statement. The act of handing over the "Tombstone Jade" would signify the Ksitigarbha King's willingness to acknowledge the Burial Family and restore his ancient status as a servant of the family. However, after following Zhong Shan for so many years, Mr. Corpse had gained a profound understanding of human nature. The Ksitigarbha King had already split from the Burial Family for nine generations, and it was evident earlier that he had no desire to return to a servant's status. How could he suddenly be willing to submit now?
Moreover, Mr. Corpse knew he was weaker than the Ksitigarbha King. The fact that the King had refrained from striking him down was already a courtesy considering his status. No one is a fool, especially not someone as extraordinary as the Ksitigarbha King.
This sudden desire to return under the command of the Burial Family was clearly an act of feigned compliance, hiding deeper motives or seeking something else.
Mr. Corpse gave the Ksitigarbha King a long, thoughtful look and then shook his head. "The Burial Family has not yet been rebuilt. You don't need to do this right now."
The Ksitigarbha King let out a bitter smile. "Fewer than a handful of people in the world know that I am the Earth Burial Wraith, but at this moment, I have no other choice. Look at my Tombstone Jade."
The Ksitigarbha King turned his hand to reveal a circular jade stone. The jade was pitch black, but at its center was a bright red line, splitting the jade in half.
Upon seeing this Tombstone Jade, Mr. Corpse's pupils contracted even further.
"The Earth Burial Tombstone Jade with a red line through the center—you know what this means, don't you?" the Ksitigarbha King asked as he looked at Mr. Corpse.
"A red line through the heart of the jade—inescapable doom," Mr. Corpse replied, enunciating each word.
The surrounding people did not understand what this meant, but they wisely kept silent.
"Indeed, inescapable doom, but that applies only to others. The Burial Family has its own ways to seek a different path. Everything depends on fate. If you hadn't come here, I would have hidden this Tombstone Jade in a secret place, preventing anyone else from laying a finger on it. But you are the head of the Burial Family, so I feel more at ease entrusting it to you. Burial—the path of life and death. If I survive this catastrophe, I am willing to return under the command of the Burial Family," the Ksitigarbha King said solemnly.
Mr. Corpse shook his head. "I can keep the Tombstone Jade and even nurture it for you, but the disaster is yours to handle. If you survive, then you can decide what to do."
"Understood," the Ksitigarbha King nodded.
The Ksitigarbha King did not insist further, understanding that Mr. Corpse was not someone easily deceived.
After parting ways with the Ksitigarbha King, the group returned to the grand hall.
The protective formation was reactivated, and several zombies had already placed the coffin on the floor of the hall.
"Saint King, with the Ksitigarbha King handing over his Tombstone Jade and facing numerous calamities, he shouldn't pose a threat to us. I was considering finding a secluded place, but it seems there's no place more secluded than here. I'll perform the ritual right here," Mr. Corpse said.
"Alright."
Mr. Corpse continued to use a brush dipped in gold liquid to draw corpse runes throughout the hall, while Zhong Shan found a quiet chamber and entered a state of mild seclusion. He swallowed the Supreme Demon, and as a vast amount of energy was converted by the Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail, it surged through Zhong Shan's body.
Great Immortal, Fifth Heaven!
"It really is a monster of the Ancestor Immortal realm! If only there were more of them," Zhong Shan mused.
Of course, others would have been speechless if they knew what Zhong Shan was thinking. After all, who else could devour an Ancestor Immortal and still not be satisfied?
A day later.
The floor of the grand hall, along with the space above it, was covered in countless corpse runes drawn by Mr. Corpse. The scene was incredibly eerie, with the purple coffin floating at the center of the runes.
While the others waited patiently, Mr. Corpse approached the giant coffin and reached out to retrieve the still-beating heart.
"Thump, thump, thump…"
The heart, held firmly in Mr. Corpse's hand, continued to throb, exuding an eerie and malevolent aura. Luo Xingchen and Nangong Sheng watched intently, their eyes unblinking. The scene before them was disturbingly strange, for the heart in Mr. Corpse's hand was clearly not some magical artifact—yet, how could a lifeless object pulsate so persistently?
Mr. Corpse slowly placed the blood-red heart into the coffin.
"Whoosh—"
It was as if a sudden gust of wind had arisen, as streams of visible black mist began to converge towards the purple coffin. Inside the coffin, a black vortex became increasingly distinct, swirling relentlessly around the blood-red heart. Mr. Corpse swiftly closed the coffin lid.
As soon as the lid was sealed, the coffin seemed to draw in the black mist even more rapidly, funneling it into the coffin's interior.
"What is this?" Luo Xingchen muttered as he reached out to touch the air.
However, it seemed as though the black mist didn't truly exist in the physical realm.
Outside the palace where the group was gathered, in the distance, the Ksitigarbha King had been meditating with his eyes closed. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and he looked towards the direction of Zhong Shan's palace in surprise.
"Aura? A Burial Family corpse? This generation's corpse is truly extraordinary! Could the Burial Family really re-emerge into the world because of him? If that were to happen, I wonder what expressions those Saints would have!" The Ksitigarbha King mused with a peculiar smile.
The black mist continued to surge into the purple coffin for nearly ten days before it began to gradually dissipate, fading until it was barely visible.
Mr. Corpse gently opened the coffin. Zhong Shan peered inside and saw that the heart was still beating incessantly. However, now it was enveloped in a black mist. This mist wasn't just a formless mass; it had taken on a vague, human-like shape.
Mr. Corpse's face lit up with joy!
With a wave of his hand, he closed the coffin once more.
Then, he sat cross-legged, his eyes closing as he began to chant in a mesmerizing incantation. Suddenly, a thin fissure appeared at the center of his forehead.
The fissure was pitch black, and it began to emit a powerful suction force, directly aimed at the purple coffin. Gradually, the purple coffin began to shrink under this force, until it was finally absorbed into Mr. Corpse's forehead.
The fissure on his forehead sealed shut, as if it had never been there.
Yet, the disappearance of the purple coffin proved that what Zhong Shan had witnessed was no illusion.
"A fissure on the forehead?" Zhong Shan's eyelid twitched. What kind of technique was this?
Mr. Corpse, now sitting cross-legged once more, suddenly had a stream of black mist surge directly into the fissure on his forehead. The aura flowed into him, causing his body to emit a faint glow.
The others stood guard around him.
Three days later, the black mist finally dissipated.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A series of muffled sounds echoed from Mr. Corpse's body as he finally opened his eyes. The moment they opened, a sharp gleam shot out before his gaze returned to normal.
"You… you've reached the Great Immortal realm?" Luo Xingchen remarked with a peculiar expression.
He had once thought himself to be the strongest among the Saint King's companions, but over time, he realized that none of Zhong Shan's followers could be measured by ordinary standards—they were all incredibly enigmatic.
The ability to seal even a peerless demon at the Ancestor Immortal realm with a casual glance, like Mr. Corpse's sinister arts, was beyond what he could comprehend.
Mr. Corpse stood up and nodded, saying little more.
"Your forehead…?" Zhong Shan asked curiously.
"My forehead is the greatest tomb in the world! The coffin has found the perfect resting place, and the tomb has absorbed some of its aura. My cultivation will now progress rapidly; it won't be long before I reach the Ancient Immortal realm and can further assist the Saint King!" Mr. Corpse replied with a hint of satisfaction.
Luo Xingchen, standing nearby, was left speechless. "It won't take long" to reach the Ancient Immortal realm? Since when did cultivation become so simple? He had put in immense effort to reach his level, despite his extraordinary talent and time manipulation abilities. But for Mr. Corpse, it was just a matter of time?
Then again, Luo Xingchen thought of Tianlao in Lingxiao Heavenly Court, and he was no longer so bewildered. That Tianlao had reached the Ancient Immortal realm from the Celestial Immortal realm in just an hour.
"Excellent!" Zhong Shan said with immense satisfaction.
To read the manga version, please click the YouTube link https://youtu.be/GnU613H6xm8
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