In the Great Hall of Fengmo, nine layers of seals are pressed against the entrance. The Dao Sovereign’s statue, trapped inside, raged and destroyed everything within reach. Its Dao waves, however, affected many cultivators outside.
Mo Xingzheng, whose Dao centered on life and rebirth, felt the strongest impact. Unlike Ji Yang, who had been confined here for years, Mo Xingzheng was on the verge of forming his Golden Core.
“Senior Brother! Can you still hold it back?” he called out.
Amidst the chaos inside, Ji Yang replied, “Return to Daoshengtian and form your Golden Core in peace. Don’t question the Master, and don’t tell anyone about what’s happening here. Just say you were defeated in the struggle among the Imperial Children.”
“But—”
“Listen to me. If you can’t keep this secret, you’ll endanger others.”
Mo Xingzheng gritted his teeth. “If you escape, meet at the old place!”
Inside the hall, toppled pillars and shattered candles floated in the air. The Dao Sovereign’s statue, no longer resembling its original form, crouched on the ground, devouring a cultivator’s corpse like a ferocious demon.
Mu Zhanting, finally grasping the situation, stared at Ji Yang in shock. “You’re Ji Yang? You’ve possessed someone too?”
“Oh? Have you seen others do this?” Ji Yang asked.
“Who knows when you people suddenly change appearances? Look at A Yan…”
“She just grew up normally.”
“But when she was little—”
“A Yan was cute as a child too.”
“That’s not what you thought when we first met her.”
“Is that so? I don’t remember.”
“The second brother was right. You men are all the same… What should we do now?”
The statue wielded a whisk, its strands replaced by shadowy chains reaching out to drag in and devour other cultivators. Mu Zhanting and Ji Yang were also ensnared, but they still had some power to resist, buying time as others were consumed first.
“The hall’s entrance is blocked. If we let this old thing out, it might go after A Yan. Got any tricks up your sleeve?” Mu Zhanting asked.
As the chains lashed against their spirit barrier, Ji Yang pondered briefly. “Daoshengtian placed this statue here to achieve a half-human, Half-Face-Ghost form. It absorbs ghost energy from Shiye Mountain and needs to devour living sacrifices. Once complete, the entire Shanhai realm will become the Ninth Hell. Then Daoshengtian can take over the other Hells and command this world’s underworld.”
He continued, “But if we destroy the statue, Daoshengtian’s exalted Xuanzai will have to take on this burden himself.”
“So what can we do?” Mu Zhanting pressed.
Ji Yang looked at him with an inscrutable expression. “Brother, are you afraid of ghosts?”
This unexpected address made Mu Zhanting shudder, sensing something ominous. Still, he blustered, “When have I ever been afraid of ghosts? It’s always the second brother screaming at the sight of any little spirit. I only joined in so he wouldn’t feel embarrassed. Why do you ask?”
“I see,” Ji Yang replied. “The real Crown of Shanhai does exist. Since they’re selecting Imperial Children for this Emperor role, we might as well bring back the genuine article. This body doesn’t have enough cultivation to destroy the statue. I only need the ghost energy, while the statue contains the essence of the Great Dao. If a cultivator devours it, they’ll benefit immensely… Once you get the Crown, even for a moment, the soul-binding chains on my neck can be unlocked, restoring my ghost form.”
Mu Zhanting’s animal instincts kicked in. “What does this have to do with being afraid of ghosts or not?”
Ji Yang explained, “After this trial, you’ll never fear ghosts again. Yin Qie tried it and gave it rave reviews.”
Mu Zhanting hissed, “I think we should think this through. Why don’t I go get A Yan? She’s tough, let her do it—”
Before he could finish, Ji Yang pointed at him. The statue’s whisk wrapped around Mu Zhanting, sending him straight into the statue’s brow, where he vanished.
“A Yan is still young. You should take on this task, brother,” Ji Yang murmured. After Mu Zhanting’s disappearance, the statue suddenly writhed in pain, tossing aside its half-eaten corpse and pounding the ground. Ji Yang descended before it, chanting an incantation.
“…The Crown as a covenant, the realm as a witness, with my remnant body, we share the karmic fire.”
A nearly burnt-out candle appeared before him, its wick still stubbornly burning with a faint blood-red flame. Suddenly, the sound of surging tides rose behind him.
The statue roared like a beast, its windstorm nearly splitting the hall. “You… dare!” it bellowed, finally showing intelligence. “You dare to summon the Yellow Springs to clash with Feng Spring!”
As the gale whipped his cyan robes, Ji Yang’s eyes—half calm, half-crazed—reflected the blood-fire. He said softly, “Master, let the gamble begin… We’ll see who prevails: you, slaying your heart demon to become an immortal, or this wisp of my heart-fire, burning eternally.”
Half an hour later, in a small corner of the Great Hall of Fengmo, Hu Rui held his breath. Soon, he saw several small Diyan beasts, each only a few zhang long, crawling nearby. One seemed to have been tamed by Li Chi, who rode it while carrying an unconscious Li Mian, hurrying in a specific direction.
…He’s still alive? Hu Rui thought, surprised.
Since coming to the Shanhai realm, Hu Rui has mastered the art of escape. At the first sign of danger, he’d push others forward as decoys while using his expertise in playing dead to slip away.
Watching Li Chi intently, Hu Rui sensed a clear purpose in his movement. Gritting his teeth, he followed secretly. Soon enough, a light formation appeared before Li Chi.
A teleportation array! Hu Rui immediately recognized it as something Li Chi had prepared upon entering the Shanhai Palace. Cursing inwardly at the Imperial Children’s abundance of secret weapons, he seized the moment as Li Chi activated the array. Quickly, Hu Rui drew his brush and sent an ice arrow flying as a sneak attack.
“Who’s there?” The ice arrow disrupted a corner of the array. Li Chi turned back in fury, spotting Hu Rui charging towards him.
“Fellow Daoist Li, take me with you!” Hu Rui shouted.
“In your dreams!” Already frustrated by his earlier setbacks, Li Chi’s anger intensified. He absorbed more blood from Li Mian, replenishing his spiritual power. With a palm strike, he sent Hu Rui flying back while activating the array.
“This teleportation might lead west… No matter, I’ll deal with it once I’m out,” Li Chi muttered.
As the array lit up, Hu Rui scrambled to his feet, trying to latch on, but he was too late.
“Wait for me!” he cried out.
Just as Hu Rui lunged forward, Li Chi and the array vanished. The space within the great hall began to warp.
“It’s over…” Hu Rui felt a powerful force pulling him in one direction. Suddenly, a tremendous explosion from somewhere far behind shook him, causing blood to flow from his seven orifices.
What on earth is happening? he thought in terror.
The black hole-like suction abruptly ceased, and Hu Rui crashed into a massive stone hand fragment, coughing up blood. Nearby, space was riddled with cracks. Black ghostly energy seeped from piles of cyan stone blocks, drawn to an extremely dark, dense mist – the source of the irresistible pull.
Horrified, Hu Rui realized that if reassembled, these cyan blocks would form the Dao Sovereign’s statue from the altar.
What did those friends do? They even shattered the Dao Sovereign’s statue!
His instinct was to flee, but he hesitated. A stone emitting a faint, clear light caught his eye. Within its translucent surface, he glimpsed the shape of a crown, impossible to ignore.
“Could this be…?” Hu Rui’s face lit up with wild joy. He snatched up the object, not noticing the small amount of blood seeping into it, and bolted. “Destiny is mine! Destiny is mine!” he shouted ecstatically.
After Hu Rui’s departure, Mu Zhanting crawled out from the pile of stone debris, covered in blood. He collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
“Who was that? What’s he so happy about? Has he gone mad?” Mu Zhanting wondered aloud.
The surrounding ghost energy finally converged, and a momentary surge of divine consciousness flashed by before quickly fading. A tall, youthful figure emerged from the dense mist. As he opened his eyes, one could glimpse the wailing souls of endless purgatory in the River Styx.
“It’s fine. Those who touch the Crown of Shanhai without undergoing the trial will be seen as willing sacrifices,” he said, exhaling softly. His eyes, now completely blood-red, struggled to focus, betraying a hint of confusion.
Sensing something odd in Ji Yang’s tone, Mu Zhanting asked, “What sacrifice? What’s wrong with you?”
During the trial, when Mu Zhanting entered the Dao Sovereign’s statue, he found himself in a sea of flames. However, the fire never touched him – Ji Yang had shielded him completely. Mu Zhanting realized that Yin Qie must have gone through something similar at the Youquan River.
Just as Mu Zhanting was about to inquire further, he felt a tremor in his heart and fell to one knee. “This is…”
“The Dao Sovereign’s statue has been nurtured in Shiye Mountain for countless years. You’ve taken the essence of the Great Dao. If you don’t form your Golden Core soon, you risk exploding. You should go,” Ji Yang advised.
“I understand, but what about A Yan?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll find her… I need to find her.”
With that, Ji Yang vanished. Mu Zhanting couldn’t shake the feeling that Ji Yang’s final glance had been utterly bizarre – like a starving prisoner desperately seeking his only sacrifice.
…
In the Western Calamity Sea, Nan Yan found herself flying with the golden-winged Xuancang Beasts.
“Shiye Mountain trembles incessantly. The Xuan Lord will soon go there to fend off the impending ghost tide. This awakening ceremony might be abbreviated,” one of them explained.
These Xuancang Beasts ignored her other excuses, flying for a day and a night without rest.
“Brother… Lion?” Nan Yan addressed the young Xuancang Beast she was riding.
After a long howl, she barely understood his beast language.
“What lion? We’re far nobler than the lion tribe. Call me Brother Xuan,” he corrected.
Nan Yan replied, “Alright, Brother Xuan. Do you know about Buddhism? It’s a human sect that practices vegetarianism, celibacy, and self-cultivation.”
The young Xuan flapped his great wings, soaring higher. “Meat tastes so good, why eat vegetables? Female beasts are so beautiful, how can one resist mating? Humans have too much free time.”
Nan Yan agreed, “Exactly! This poor nun is just such a human with too much time. Look… given my current form, I still have human bloodlines. Surely I can’t marry into your noble clan, right?”
“Oh, is that what you’re worried about? No problem!”
The Xuan Beast suddenly flipped, dropping Nan Yan. As she fell, he stretched his golden wings. In a flash of light, he transformed into a human-like youth with lion feet and golden wings, diving to catch her on his back.
“We’re high-level demons. Shape-shifting is something we all can do,” he grinned, revealing sharp tiger-like fangs. “But I’m still young, only a hundred years old. I can’t fully transform yet. When we reach our territory, I might not be able to compete with my uncles and older brothers.”
Hearing that she might be forced into an arranged marriage, Nan Yan panicked. “What if I don’t like any of them?”
The Xuan replied, “The Nine Calamity Seas have nine hundred clans. If you don’t fancy anyone from the Xuan clan, we’ll help you raid others. The Chongming Bird is the supreme lord of all birds. Since the fall of the Demon Kingdom, they’ve vanished. Once the awakening ceremony begins, we’ll summon the ancestors of your lineage to unlock your inheritance.”
Nan Yan was stunned. The ancestors of her lineage… Wouldn’t that be her grandmother, the princess of the Demon Kingdom and the demon consort of the Red Emperor?