Though chilled to the bone, I steeled myself and sped along the ripples in the water I sensed. The deep pool was devoid of fish and aquatic plants, utterly silent, but that dark figure was unmistakably human!
"I just don't know if it's a dead person or a living person?"
"It really is a person..."
Jiang Liu's lips twitched. In the light of the lightning, more than a dozen corpses lay submerged in the deep pool. To be precise, more than a dozen corpses were frozen solid, some human and some animal.
"This isn't the same figure from before, these are all dead people... Where are they?"
"It's happened again!"
Jiang Liu immediately followed, his five senses being most acute due to his cultivation of the "Eight Divine Realms of the Upper Realm." Although he couldn't see more than three feet below the bottom of the deep pool, he could still clearly perceive changes in the water flow.
They finally caught up with the dark figure. Although it had its back to the river, wisps of black energy could be seen emanating from its front and merging into the pool. The entire pool of chilling black water was actually created by the leaked aura of a corpse.
Jiang Liu moved to stand in front of him and finally saw his face clearly: a sharp face, thin lips, and an air of wickedness. His eyes were slightly open, the pupils deathly white, devoid of any emotion. This was a corpse that had been dead for who knows how many years.
There was a dark hole between his brows, a fatal wound. Wisps of black energy seeped from this wound—cold, sinister, and filthy…
"This aura... could it be from the extremely yin and evil cultivation technique he practiced before?"
Fortunately, lightning is the nemesis of these evil things, and Jiang Liu did not feel uncomfortable.
"I wonder how long he's been dead, there's not a single sign of decay. He must have been incredibly powerful in life, even the aura he releases after death is so potent..."
Sensing that Lei Fa was somewhat lacking in strength, Jiang Liu reached out and tried to pull him out of the deep pool.
But the moment Jiang Liu made contact, he noticed that the corpse's eyes suddenly snapped open, revealing a sinister glint in its pale pupils. Instantly, a black aura, like a venomous snake, lunged at his palm, colliding with the lightning snake within and exploding into a cloud of black mist.
At the same time, Jiang Liu felt a jolt as an extremely evil aura entered his body.
"You've been dead for so long, and you still haven't entered the cycle of reincarnation... Well then, today I'll send you to see Yama, the King of Hell!"
A black aura suddenly appeared between Jiang Liu's brows.
This is a sign of possession by a vengeful ghost, about to be taken over by the remaining wisp of divine consciousness on this corpse.
Within the soul, a figure formed from black energy suddenly appeared, exuding a sinister aura and emitting eerie, chilling laughter.
In Jiang Liu's perception, this person was like a venomous snake, extremely evil.
"To take over the body..."
"Hmm, has thoughts?"
"To take over the body..."
"So it was just a fleeting thought! With your meager evil intentions, you can't take over my body!"
Jiang Liu sneered, his Dao heart stirred, and suddenly, the wisp of black energy between his brows was annihilated by a golden light. In the deep pool, Jiang Liu's eyes became profound and indifferent, as if he were a god gazing down at the heavens. Before the black smoke figure, a tortoise-snake form instantly materialized—the true form of the True Martial Emperor. Then, it transformed into a figure clad in a black robe, an indescribable aura of majesty emanating from him.
This majesty is the divine king who rules over all the heavens, descending with his glorious divine might.
That divine thought instantly melted away at a speed visible to the naked eye, like snow under the scorching sun.
"What a pity, it's just a thought, there's no valuable information!"
Jiang Liu frowned, sensing that the protective lightning magic was about to dissipate. He grabbed the body and swam towards the lake. He broke through the surface, quickly rushed out of the lake, and immediately threw the corpse on the ground.
Under the sunlight, ice formed on Jiang Liu's body, and in no time, it froze into a large block of ice.
"Click-clack..."
Jiang Liu's frozen body seemed to be trembling. The layer of ice on his body cracked with spider web-like fissures under the slight vibrations. It took several dozen breaths before the ice broke through, and a pile of ice blocks fell to the ground.
Despite the bright sunshine, his face was bluish-purple, and his lips were trembling.
"This corpse is really weird, it froze me to death! If I didn't have some cultivation, not only would my sea of consciousness be frozen, but I would also sink to the bottom of the pool and join those corpses..." Jiang Liu was trembling all over, his body shaking slightly, and the divine light of his life spring was driving away the cold.
After a long while, Jiang Liu finally had the energy to examine the strange corpse that he had painstakingly pulled ashore.
"kindness?"
Jiang Liu narrowed his eyes. The corpse that had just been thrown on the ground was gone. It hadn't been stolen by a person or beast, but had turned into a puddle of liquid after being exposed to air and sunlight.
A dark, human-shaped shadow formed on the ground, seemingly corroding even the stone and emitting a disgusting stench.
However, it wasn't all for naught. In the middle of that viscous, foul-smelling, rotten liquid, in the place symbolizing the location of the Sea of Wheels, a small, pitch-black bottle appeared.
You wouldn't notice it unless you looked closely.
I picked it up with two fingers. The small bottle was about the size of my little finger. It was pitch black and dull. Although it was taken out of rotten liquid, it seemed to be spotless.
I shook it; there was liquid inside.
Upon opening the bottle cap and sensing something, Jiang Liu's eyes lit up.
Chapter 310 The Unscrupulous Duan De
"I didn't realize that this small bottle, though small, actually has a lot of space inside! And... this should be the extremely yin and cold Taiyin True Water!"
Inside the black jade bottle, like a raging river with black water filling the sky, was the Taiyin True Water, a water of extreme yin and coldness said to be able to corrode all things in heaven and earth.
It was so black it was chilling; if you stared at it for too long, your very soul would be shattered by the extreme cold!
"Although I don't cultivate the power of Taiyin, using this extremely cold water to temper my body, cleanse my acupoints, and fill my sea of bitterness can have miraculous effects. This bottle contains an unknown amount of Taiyin True Water, enough for me to cleanse my body! Bah! The coldness hasn't dissipated yet!"
Jiang Liu spat out two mouthfuls of saliva, which instantly condensed into two ice flowers upon landing.
At the bottom of the deep pool, the black aura emanating from this demonic corpse is the Yin energy it cultivated. This is what polluted the pool into an extremely cold and filthy dead land. Now that the source has been destroyed by the river, many years later, when the Yin energy dissipates, life will return.
Jiang Liu pondered for a moment: "Ye Fan must still be cultivating in the Lingxu Cave Heaven. The Green Copper Block is in the tomb of the last demon emperor of the Eastern Wilderness, the Azure Emperor, and it won't open for several more months. The Green Copper Block is the foundation of his enlightenment. Since this body's past life has already reached the point of no return with him, if I were to go there now, it would definitely still be a fight to the death. But with my current strength, I can't enter the Demon Emperor's tomb, and even if I did, it would be difficult to get out! Ye Hei has the protagonist's luck, do I? Sigh... I'll just have to take it one step at a time!"
Once a direction is chosen, the river will stride off.
He kept playing with the small black bottle in his hand, constantly exploring it with his divine sense, and felt it was extremely profound. The method of refining the weapon was very different from that in Journey to the West, Yang Shen, and Shu Mountain.
"Interesting. Is this the Dao pattern? This small jade bottle can hold the Taiyin True Water without leaking a trace of extreme Yin energy, indicating its extraordinary material. It also possesses the supernatural power of containing a mustard seed within a Sumeru, which must be the function of this Dao pattern… Dao pattern! It must be the foundation of the supernatural powers and techniques in the 'Covering the Sky' world…"
Not long after Jiang Liu left the black lake, a ruddy-faced, plump Taoist priest arrived riding a divine rainbow. He looked at the lake water, then stood for a moment at the spot where the corpse had melted, muttering, "Could it be that one of those people from another realm left behind? I heard they brought some extraordinary treasure... Judging from this corpse fluid, he must have been a powerful figure in his past life! There's treasure, definitely treasure..."
He looked around, then sniffed the air.
"They went in this direction, let's go take a look..."
Heading in the direction Jiang Liu had gone, the fat Taoist priest once again rode the rainbow away.
Before a cup of tea could be brewed, Jiang Liu looked behind him in surprise as a streak of rainbow light shot towards him.
At that speed and in that direction, it was clearly coming towards him. Just as Jiang Liu was considering how to deal with it, a fat Taoist priest was already in front of him. Although he looked bulky, his movements were very light and agile, and he landed silently like a falling leaf.
"Fellow Daoist, please wait! The jade bottle in your hand is an extremely ominous artifact, surrounded by vengeful spirits. You cannot subdue it. Come, let this Daoist master subdue it!"
As he said this, he revealed a kind smile and reached out his large hand to grab Jiang Liu.
This grab appeared extremely profound in Jiang Liu's eyes, seemingly in harmony with the Dao. No matter how he tried to escape, he couldn't avoid it, and the small black bottle in his hand was about to be snatched away.
Jiang Liu's lips twitched slightly as he thought to himself, "This fat Taoist priest, could he be that unscrupulous Duan De? What a coincidence! I heard he has an extraordinary background! Why didn't I finish reading it back then? I can't remember many of the plot points, and I don't know about many of the plot holes at the end... This Taoist priest's identity is very mysterious; all I can remember is that he seems to have reincarnated several times..."
With a quick movement, he dodged the grab and then took three steps back.
"Huh! I misjudged it!"
"Hey, let's talk this out..." Jiang Liu immediately realized that he was no match for this fat Taoist priest.
Ignoring Jiang Liu's words, the unscrupulous fat Taoist grabbed again, and points of light rippled from his palm. A divine rune, like water ripples, shot out like an iron chain and quickly rolled towards Jiang Liu.
With his feet planted on the Bagua symbol, Jiang Liu swung a whip-like punch at the grabbing hand. His fist trembled slightly, and the air exploded with a loud bang, like a thunderclap.
The "Zhen" Technique!
Jiang Liu used the acupoints and immortal techniques of the "Yang Shen" world to cultivate his physical body, and reached the "Divine Spring" realm. His physical strength was sufficient to use the "Destruction Six-Character True Technique".
"Eh!" The unscrupulous fat Taoist priest exclaimed in surprise once again.
Then, Jiang Liu felt that he could no longer move his body, and the small black bottle in his hand instantly fell into the fat Taoist's hand.
"Taoist Master..."
“Taiyin True Water! There’s quite a bit in there…” The fat Taoist priest looked Jiang Liu up and down, then his eyes revealed an eerie light, which made Jiang Liu’s mind go blank. He vaguely felt that something was wrong, as if the other party was looking into his sea of consciousness.
Jiang Liu snorted coldly, concentrated his energy, and a monstrous wave suddenly surged in his sea of consciousness, whereupon an illusion of a tortoise and a snake appeared.
"Hiss... You're quite different!" The fat Taoist priest seemed to have discovered a treasure, and circled the river three times.
Jiang Liu's eyes darted around, and he said in a deep voice, "Daoist Master, how about we make a deal?"
"A deal? Tell me about it!" The fat Taoist priest said with a smile, weighing the small black bottle in his hand.
Jiang Liu blinked, pouted, and the fat Taoist waved his hand, at which point Jiang Liu felt he could move again.
"I've done some calculations, and the Taoist priest's name is Duan De..."
"Huh, you know me?"
This can be considered an admission, but they do not believe in Jiang Liu's ability to predict things with his fingers.
Jiang Liu pretended to count on his fingers, feigning profoundness, and said, "Daoist Master, your background is extraordinary! Even I, the Zhou Tian Divine Calculator, couldn't deduce it, but..."
"But what?"
"However, I see that you have a special connection with the Emperor's tomb. How about I bestow upon you a gift of wealth and honor?"
"Heh, the tomb of the Great Emperor? You think you have the ability to deduce the time and place of the Great Emperor's tomb's discovery?"
Jiang Liu smiled mysteriously, pointed in the direction of the "Ancient Forbidden Land," and whispered mysteriously, "Do you know what's there?"
The fat Taoist priest paused for a second, then leaned closer, his face benevolent, and asked, "What's there? What did you see? How did you manage to get out alive?"
"It's related to your thing!" Jiang Liu whispered.
"That thing!!!" Duan De's mouth gaped slightly, then he shouted sharply, "What thing? What do you know?"
In an instant, Jiang Liu felt himself unable to move again: "Hey, hey, hey... don't get angry! Calm down, breathe... inhale... breathe... inhale..."
"Explain yourself, or else... hehe, I'll have to resort to some underhanded methods!"
Jiang Liu's mind raced with various thoughts, but in the end he whispered, "Broken bowl...jar lid...Emperor..."
With each word he uttered, the unscrupulous Taoist priest's face turned a shade of blue, until it became completely ashen.
"How did you know?" Duan De asked through gritted teeth, his face cold. The lid of the Ruthless Great Emperor's Devouring Demon Jar was his greatest secret, known to no one else, and which he had never used. How could this unscrupulous fat Taoist not be shocked to hear it coming from someone at the Divine Spring Realm outside the realm?