txolops Chapter 218 The Soul Cries and Advances Again! The Second Level of the Bright King Technique!
Chapter 218 The Soul Cries and Advances Again! The Second Level of the Bright King Technique!
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"He...he definitely possesses the combat strength of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator! And he surpasses that of an ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator!"
King Xuan Ye was horrified and cried out in his heart.
He thought of the pseudo-late-stage strength he could achieve by taking advantage of the terrain in his tomb.
But compared to the killing god before him, he seemed far from being a match.
The opponent's unpredictable and mysterious techniques that directly attack the soul, the incomparably sharp and powerful golden sword formation, and the ghostly speed of escape... each one is enough to make one despair.
As Lin Chuan's gaze slowly swept over him, King Xuan Ye's corpse aura froze.
The overwhelming sense of crisis made him almost turn around and flee to the tomb without regard for anything else.
But he knew.
Faced with the opponent's unbelievable speed, running away might mean dying even faster.
In the blink of an eye.
King Xuan Ye made the wisest, and perhaps the only, choice that would save his life.
"Fellow Daoist! Fellow Daoist Lin!"
King Xuan Ye abruptly withdrew the churning corpse energy emanating from his body, his massive frame even bowing slightly. He spoke urgently in the most respectful tone imaginable, "Fellow Daoist's divine might is truly awe-inspiring! Those three fools, Tianfeng, Old Monster Yin, and Kuangsha, overestimated themselves and offended you; they deserved to die! Fellow Daoist, are you…?"
You came for the 'Heavenly Corpse Pearl' on my body? I'm willing to offer this pearl to you, fellow Daoist, only begging for your mercy and to spare my life!
After saying that, he opened his mouth without hesitation and spat out a bead the size of a longan, dark gray in color, covered with natural spiral patterns, and exuding pure yin energy and a trace of strange vitality. It was wrapped in a thin layer of corpse energy and slowly flew towards Lin Chuan.
It was the Heavenly Corpse Pearl that had attracted the covetous attention and pursuit of three Nascent Soul cultivators!
"Oh? You're quite pragmatic."
Lin Chuan reached out and took the Heavenly Corpse Pearl into his hand.
The beads felt slightly cool to the touch, neither gold nor jade. One could clearly feel the pure and strange energy of "rebirth from the dead" contained within them, making them an excellent aid for cultivating the body tempering technique of "Ming Wang Jue".
A faint smile appeared on his face. This Corpse King was quite sensible, saving him a lot of trouble.
"Fellow Daoist, you are wise. I have cultivated diligently for thousands of years, and the awakening of my spiritual intelligence was no easy feat. I deeply understand the preciousness of life. Though the Heavenly Corpse Pearl is excellent, how can it compare to my millennia of cultivation?"
Seeing that Lin Chuan had put away the Heavenly Corpse Pearl and seemed to have no intention of making a move immediately, King Xuan Ye felt somewhat reassured and quickly pledged his loyalty:
"Moreover, to be honest, this pearl is not formed from my own essence. It was obtained by chance from the remains of another fallen corpse king hundreds of years ago. My own Heavenly Corpse Pearl is still being nurtured in the tomb."
"I see."
Lin Chuan nodded, not caring about the specific origin of the Heavenly Corpse Pearl; as long as it was usable, that was fine.
He was not a bloodthirsty person to begin with, and he would not have slaughtered people without cause unless they provoked him.
Since King Xuan Ye has gained sentience and knows how to assess the situation, and has offered his treasure voluntarily, he doesn't mind letting him go.
Cultivation is not easy. Whether you are human, demon, or corpse, you have your own destiny to reach this point.
"Since you're so sensible, I'll spare your life."
Lin Chuan said slowly.
King Xuan Ye was overjoyed and was about to express his gratitude.
"but,"
Lin Chuan changed the subject, "Since you've already offered up the Heavenly Corpse Pearl, you should also hand over half of the corpse soldiers you've cultivated in your tomb as compensation for getting into trouble and implicating me. Then this matter will be considered settled. How about it?"
Half-dead soldiers?!
Upon hearing this, King Xuan Ye's bluish-black corpse face twitched violently, and a deep sense of heartache and pain flashed in his eyes.
Those corpse soldiers were cultivated little by little by him, after he spent countless efforts, searched for a large number of Yin veins, and spent a long time. They were the foundation upon which he made his living and dominated the region!
Each corpse soldier who has reached the Foundation Establishment stage is extremely valuable, not to mention that there are also corpse guards at the Core Formation stage and two corpse generals at the early Nascent Soul stage! Giving away half of them is like tearing out his heart!
But... he stole a glance at Lin Chuan's calm and unwavering eyes, and recalled the terrifying scene of the other party cutting through three Nascent Soul cultivators like vegetables. The resentment and heartache in his heart were instantly overwhelmed by a cold fear.
If you don't agree, you'll die right now! Death and the annihilation of your spirit will render everything meaningless!
He agreed. Although the losses were heavy, at least his life and the other half of his foundation were still intact. With his cultivation level and the advantageous location of the tomb, given time, he might be able to rebuild.
"Alright! I agree!" King Xuan Ye gritted his teeth, forcing out the words from his throat. "There are over six thousand corpse soldiers remaining in the tomb, five thousand eight hundred at the Foundation Establishment stage, two hundred at the Core Formation stage, and two early Nascent Soul stage corpse generals. I... am willing to give half of them to you, fellow Daoist!"
"Lead the way," Lin Chuan said succinctly.
King Xuan Ye dared not be negligent and quickly led the way.
Lin Chuan followed behind at a leisurely pace, casually collecting the storage bags and the Yellow Sand Gourd magic weapon left behind by Kuangsha Shangren, Tianfeng Shangren, and Yin Laoguai.
Although these people may not have anything he finds appealing, every little bit helps, and cleaning up the mess is a basic courtesy.
The two flew one after the other into the depths of the Snow Ridge Mountains.
After flying for several thousand miles, they arrived at a snow valley covered by perpetual ice.
King Xuan Ye stopped in front of a huge ice wall, chanting incantations and casting several spells.
Ripples spread across the ice wall, silently splitting open a deep passage just wide enough for a few people to walk side by side. Dense yin energy and corpse energy surged out from it, forming a stark contrast with the frigid spiritual energy of heaven and earth outside.
"Fellow Daoist, please." King Xuan Ye stepped aside and respectfully invited Lin Chuan to go first.
Entering the passage, there is a long, sloping staircase, with phosphorescent stones embedded around it emitting a pale green glow, illuminating the passage.
The deeper you go, the heavier the yin energy becomes, and the lower the temperature gets, but this is nothing to Lin Chuan.
At the end of the passage was a heavy, dark iron tomb door.
Pushing open the tomb door, a vast underground space suddenly appeared before my eyes, as if the entire mountain had been hollowed out.
This is the old stronghold that King Xuan Ye has been building for thousands of years.
Deep inside the tomb, three enormous stone coffins were placed side by side.
The middle room was empty, clearly the place where Emperor Xuan Ye usually slept.
At this moment, the lids of the two stone coffins next to them slowly slid open, and two figures walked out from them.
On the left is a woman dressed in magnificent palace attire, with a beautiful face but no color in her skin and bloodshot eyes. She is a female Corpse King with a cultivation level at the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage. She is none other than the "Queen Consort" of King Xuan Ye.
The person on the right is a handsome but sinister young corpse king dressed in a python robe. His cultivation is slightly weaker, but he is still in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. He is the "prince" of King Xuan Ye.
The two corpses sensed the return of King Xuan Ye and intended to come and greet him, but when they saw the unfamiliar human cultivator Lin Chuan beside King Xuan Ye, they were both stunned. In particular, they sensed the respect and fear that King Xuan Ye showed towards the human cultivator, which made the two corpses even more suspicious.
"Your Majesty, who is this...?" the queen spoke first, her voice cold and wary.
"My beloved concubine, my son, come quickly and greet Fellow Daoist Lin!"
King Xuan Ye hurriedly introduced, his tone filled with unprecedented solemnity and a hint of barely perceptible urgency, "Fellow Daoist Lin possesses great supernatural powers and is my honored guest! Just now outside, three scoundrels, Tianfeng, Old Monster Yin, and Kuangsha, attempted to harm my father and steal the Heavenly Corpse Pearl..."
"Fortunately, Fellow Daoist Lin intervened and annihilated those three thieves, saving my life!"
"What? Tianfeng and the other two... are all dead?" Prince Corpse King exclaimed in shock, his crimson eyes filled with disbelief.
The three of them, who were strong enough to threaten his father, were killed by this human cultivator alone.
The princess's pupils also contracted, and when she looked at Lin Chuan again, the wariness in her eyes was quickly replaced by shock and awe.
The fact that this person could easily kill three mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators suggests that their strength far exceeded their expectations.
"I, Xuan Yue (Xuan Ming), pay my respects to Fellow Daoist Lin! Thank you for saving His Majesty!"
The two corpses dared not be negligent and immediately bowed to Lin Chuan, adopting an extremely humble posture.
Even King Xuan Ye was so respectful, how dare they act rashly?
"No need for such formalities."
Lin Chuan nodded slightly, his gaze already passing over them and landing on the other side of the tomb chamber.
There, thousands of corpse soldiers, clad in tattered armor, wielding various rusted weapons, and with eerie green soul flames flickering in their eye sockets, were arranged in dense, orderly rows!
They stood silently like the most loyal army, their dense corpse fumes blending together to form a faint gray-black mist.
The vast majority of the corpse soldiers were at the Foundation Establishment stage, but about two hundred of them were significantly stronger, having reached the Core Formation stage.
At the very front of the corpse soldier formation stood two exceptionally tall figures, clad in heavy black iron armor and wielding massive blades the size of doors. Their auras were clearly at the early Nascent Soul stage! These were the two corpse generals.
"Fellow Daoist Lin, this way please."
Despite his heartache, King Xuan Ye led Lin Chuan to the front of the corpse soldier formation. Pointing to the dark mass, he said, "These are all the corpse soldiers under my command. There are a total of 5,800 Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, 200 Core Formation stage cultivators, and two early Nascent Soul stage corpse generals. As agreed, half of them belong to you, fellow Daoist. You may choose any of them."
Lin Chuan scanned the area with his divine sense and nodded slightly. This King Xuan Ye hadn't played any tricks; the number of people and their cultivation levels matched what he had said.
He wasn't picky; with a casual gesture, he drew out half of the corpse soldier formation on the left side.
That's all.
"yes!"
King Xuan Ye dared not object and quickly made hand seals, casting out gray-black talismans that entered the bodies of the corpse soldiers that Lin Chuan had targeted.
This is the Corpse Control Seal that severs the master-servant relationship between him and these corpse soldiers.
As the seal entered, the soul fire in the eyes of those corpse soldiers flickered slightly, and the invisible connection between them and King Xuan Ye was suddenly severed, turning them into puppets.
Seeing this, Lin Chuan raised his hand and waved it. A large storage bag that had been prepared beforehand flew up. The bag opened and emitted a powerful suction force, sucking in half of the corpse soldiers and the Nascent Soul corpse general, like a whale sucking in water. The storage bag swelled for a moment and then returned to its original state, and Lin Chuan took it back.
"After the transaction was completed, Mr. Lin took his leave."
Lin Chuan nodded to King Xuan Ye, then turned and walked back towards the tomb passage he had come from.
"I respectfully bid farewell to my fellow Daoist!"
King Xuan Ye, along with his queen and prince, hurriedly bowed to see them off. Only after Lin Chuan's figure completely disappeared at the end of the tomb passage did the three corpses straighten up, looking at each other speechlessly, their faces showing a complex expression of lingering fear and heavy loss.
After leaving the tomb of King Xuan Ye, Lin Chuan rode his escape light and flew thousands of miles towards the outer edge of the Snow Ridge Mountains, landing in a desolate valley with relatively thin spiritual energy.
He first set up several layers of concealment and protection around the valley, then took out the storage bag containing three thousand corpse soldiers, turned the bag upside down, and activated his magic power.
"Splash—"
Like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, three thousand corpse soldiers, clad in tattered armor and with eerie green soul flames flickering in their eye sockets, were dumped onto the open space in the valley, forming a dark, dense mass with an aura of death rising to the sky.
The corpse general in the early Nascent Soul stage also stood blankly at the front.
Lin Chuan looked at the three thousand corpse soldiers, but there was no joy in his eyes at gaining an "army".
He didn't want these corpse soldiers to be used in battle.
He gently patted a spirit beast pouch at his waist.
"Whoosh!"
A beam of dark light shot out and landed, transforming into a small beast resembling a monkey with an unusually large nose and shimmering silver fur—the Soul-Crying Beast.
The little guy seemed extremely sensitive and excited by the dense corpse aura around him. As soon as he came out, his unusually large nose kept twitching and making "whoosh" sounds. He stared at the three thousand corpse soldiers in front of him, his eyes shining with longing.
"Go ahead, all of these are yours," Lin Chuan instructed with a smile.
"roar--!"
With its master's permission, the Soul-Crying Beast let out an excited growl, its body swelling in the wind, transforming in the blink of an eye into a silver giant ape several dozen feet tall!
The giant ape pounded its chest, its nostrils gleaming with silver light, and with a sharp inhale, it aimed at the horde of undead soldiers ahead.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"
A bizarre yet spectacular scene unfolded. The three thousand corpse soldiers, whether they were Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, or even the Nascent Soul Corpse General, all had their eerie green soul flames flickering violently in their eye sockets.
It then transformed into streams of black energy, some thick and some thin, flowing like rivers into the sea. It was forcibly extracted from the corpse soldier's body and entered the nostrils of the Howling Soul Beast, which seemed to be a bottomless pit!
Corpse soldiers that have lost their soul fire and core corpse energy are like puppets whose souls have been removed, lying on the ground in large numbers, transforming back into real, soulless dead objects.
The Nascent Soul corpse struggled the most violently, but it still couldn't resist the absorption of the Soul-Crying Beast's innate divine power. After only a few more breaths, its soul fire was drained and it collapsed to the ground.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the pure Yin Soul Corpse Qi within the three thousand corpse soldiers, along with a Nascent Soul Corpse General, was completely devoured by the Howling Soul Beast!
The valley was filled with nothing but lifeless corpses.
"Burp~"
The Soul-Crying Beast let out a satisfied burp, shrunk back to its monkey form, and affectionately rubbed against Lin Chuan's leg.
Its silver fur seemed even shinier and smoother, and its aura was noticeably stronger than before, faintly revealing the majesty of a primordial beast.
"Not bad. At this rate, after you devour a few more high-quality ghosts and spirits, you should be able to advance and reach level nine combat power soon."
Lin Chuan stroked the little head of the Crying Soul Beast and nodded in satisfaction.
The Soul-Crying Beast is an important partner to him, and its growth has greatly helped him.
After dealing with the undead soldiers, Lin Chuan waved his hand to incinerate the corpses scattered on the ground, clearing the valley.
Afterwards, he carved out a simple cave in the mountain wall, set up a spirit-gathering array and protective restrictions, and prepared to go into seclusion here for a short period of time to comprehend the newly acquired "Ming Wang Jue".
Inside the cave, Lin Chuan sat cross-legged.
He first took out the Buddhist relic and held it in his palm.
The relics emitted a gentle sandalwood fragrance and pure Buddhist power, which involuntarily calmed his mind.
Then, he took out the Heavenly Corpse Pearl that he had obtained from King Xuan Ye.
The dark gray beads and the pale gold relics are placed side by side, one yin and one yang, one life and one death, their auras are very different, yet there is a strange harmony between them.
"With relics laying the foundation for Buddhism and enabling enlightenment, and with the Heavenly Corpse Pearl providing the extraordinary life force of 'rebirth from the depths of death' and external tempering... the conditions for cultivating this 'Ming Wang Jue' are truly exceptional."
Lin Chuan calmed his mind and began to circulate his qi and blood and magical power according to the method of the first level of the "Ming Wang Jue".
The Buddha's power from the relics flowed like a gentle stream into his limbs and bones, nourishing his meridians, stabilizing his mind, and allowing him to quickly enter a state of cultivation, gaining a deeper understanding of the profound meaning of the "Ming Wang Jue".
When he guided a wisp of the pure "deathly energy" from the Heavenly Corpse Pearl into his blood and qi.
Cultivation knows no time.
A year has passed quietly in this dedicated practice.
On this day, Lin Chuan slowly opened his eyes, a golden light flashing briefly within them.
He got up, stretched his limbs, and his bones crackled like popping beans. A faint golden light flashed beneath his skin.
"The second level of the Mingwang Jue has been completed."
Lin Chuan felt the surging blood and qi within his body, as well as the physical strength and power that had clearly increased several times over, and a smile appeared on his lips.
In just one year, with the help of the relic and the Heavenly Corpse Pearl, he actually managed to cultivate this profound Buddhist body-refining technique to the second level!
His physical strength is now comparable to that of some level-three demonic beasts known for their defense and power; ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators' magical artifacts would likely be unable to harm him in the slightest.
"According to the description of the technique, the third level is a minor bottleneck, requiring repeated external force and the use of special spiritual medicine. The fourth level requires comprehending the meaning of 'Indestructible Vajra.' As for the fifth level..."
A hint of anticipation flashed in Lin Chuan's eyes, "A physical body comparable to a magic weapon, able to withstand the bombardment of a magic weapon of the same level without moving an inch... truly something to aspire to."
However, he also knew that the path of body refinement became increasingly difficult as one progressed, requiring exponentially more time, resources, and opportunities.
His ability to break through two levels in a year was already due to the clever use of the relic, the Heavenly Corpse Pearl, and his own profound foundation. Subsequent cultivation will definitely not be so easy.
"My trip to the Great Jin Dynasty was not for long-term seclusion. My cultivation of the 'Ming Wang Jue' has come to a temporary end, and it's time to get down to business."
Lin Chuan tidied up his cave dwelling, removed the restrictions, and his figure transformed into a streak of azure light, soaring into the sky and disappearing into the horizon.
His brief stay in the Snow Ridge Mountains was very rewarding, but the vast world of the Great Jin Dynasty still holds many more opportunities and challenges for him.