Chapter 1691, Re-Entering the Corpse Cave
After informing Qian Tong of his plan, Qian Tong immediately agreed.
Qian Tong also understood the principle of defeating one general to warn a thousand soldiers. Corpse Spirit Religion had been growing like a plague these past two years, expanding with ever-increasing speed. The number of masters transformed into Corpse Spirit Race clansmen and Human Race cultivators who had chosen to submit was simply countless. It was too difficult to kill all these people outright, so the better option was to decapitate Corpse Spirit Religion’s leadership by killing the mysterious Religion Master.
After Qian Tong assumed command of Shadow Moon Hall again, he had also been making investigations into Corpse Spirit Religion, and all the signs pointed to Grand Burial Valley being the root of everything; there was no doubt it was the place where Corpse Spirit Religion rose from!
Originally, he was still considering whether he should go to Grand Burial Valley to investigate the situation, but now that he received confirmation from Yang Kai, he had no reason to hesitate. Immediately, he and Yang Kai set off from High Heaven Sect and rushed to Grand Burial Valley.
This time, Yang Kai did not bring anyone else, only travelling together with Qian Tong. He even had Su Yan remain behind in High Heaven Sect.
Qian Tong was already an Origin King Realm master, so his speed was naturally incredibly fast, but although Yang Kai’s cultivation was not as high, his speed was actually noticeably faster because of his Dao of Space.
Less than ten days later, the pair arrived outside Grand Burial Valley.
When Yang Kai and Yang Yan came here last time, the Yin Qi which pervaded Grand Burial Valley was quite thick and could make any cultivator who entered feel uncomfortable, but it was still tolerable.
Now, when Yang Kai and Qian Tong arrived here and looked down from the sky, they could not help frowning.
Below, a thick haze enveloped all Grand Burial Valley, cloaking it in a veil so thick it was impossible to see through. This thick mist was clearly comprised of rich, frigid Yin Qi and poisonous Corpse Qi.
If a living person entered this place without sufficient strength, it would not be long before the omnipresent Corpse Qi invaded their body and transformed them into a member of the Corpse Spirit Race.
Under the perception of their Divine Senses, Yang Kai and Qian Tong noticed many dense Corpse Qi auras moving about.
Obviously, these were Corpse Spirit Race clansmen!
Just scanning the periphery revealed at least a thousand Corpse Spirits, so it wasn’t hard to imagine just how many of them were hidden deeper inside Grand Burial Valley.
“Let’s split up. Yang Kai, if you meet that Corpse Spirit Religion master, remember to send word to this old master immediately. This old master will go in first and thin these foul creatures out a bit,” Qian Tong exhorted before immediately turning into a stream of light and smashing down into Grand Burial Valley, kicking up a terrifying storm of wind and thunder wherever he went. Even the rich Corpse Qi which covered Grand Burial Valley was being dispersed by Qian Tong.
Qian Tong released his Domain and controlled all the wind within a ten-kilometre range around himself, pulling in the Corpse Spirits nearby and shredding them to pieces.
He did not intend to hide his whereabouts, simply charging about openly!
Yang Kai smiled slightly but didn’t care too much.
With Qian Tong’s current strength, no one on Shadowed Star was his opponent, so he was more than qualified to act this boldly.
And by doing so, Qian Tong was able to draw all the attention of Corpse Spirit Religion, creating an opportunity for Yang Kai to infiltrate and search this place more easily.
This was the plan they had agreed upon on the way here.
After only a brief moment, the thousand or so Corpse Spirits Yang Kai and Qian Tong had initially sensed were wiped out. An Origin King’s methods could not be underestimated! Qian Tong was not content to just stop here though, and immediately flew deeper into the valley, drawing in more Corpse Spirits and slaughtering them before they even knew what was happening.
Just as Qian Tong aggressively attacked and drew Corpse Spirit Religion’s attention, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and disappeared.
Following his memories from the last time he was here, Yang Kai swiftly proceeded towards the deepest depths of Grand Burial Valley.
The origin of Corpse Spirit Religion was no doubt the Underworld Well Spring in the lowest depths of the Corpse Cave. This was the foundation upon which Corpse Spirit Religion was built, so Yang Kai made it his first destination. If he could destroy this Underworld Well Spring, Corpse Spirit Religion would become a rootless tree, a river without a source. When that happened, it would be a simple matter to eradicate it. Otherwise, if the Underworld Well Spring was allowed to remain, no matter how many Corpse Spirits were killed, they could always create more.
Rumblings sounded in the distance as unfamiliar voices constantly cried out. Naturally, these were the voices of the Corpse Spirit Religion masters Qian Tong was fighting. Although he wasn’t able to observe this scene, Yang Kai knew that Qian Tong’s was engaging in a one-sided slaughter, forcing the Corpse Spirit Race to retreat in defeat again and again.
Only half a day later, Yang Kai reached the entrance of the Corpse Cave.
Along the way, Yang Kai ran into some Corpse Spirits, but these were all weaklings who could not impede him in any way. Yang Kai was able to kill all of them without even slowing his pace.
The entrance to the Corpse Cave had not changed and was not even hidden. Originally, it was hidden behind a powerful Spirit Array, but after Yang Yan cracked it last time, it no longer played any role.
From the mouth of the Corpse Cave, a thick Corpse Qi continued billowing out. The concentration and danger of the Corpse Qi in this location was far greater than anywhere else in Grand Burial Valley. Standing firm, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense to probe the situation slightly before diving in.
The Corpse Cave was as dark and damp as Yang Kai remembered, and a brief investigation revealed that many stone chambers now had traces of Corpse Spirit activities.
However, the chaos Qian Tong was stirring up outside was too great, so most of the Corpse Spirits inside were either rushing out or had already left to provide support to their besieged allies.
After Yang Kai entered, he immediately hid inside a nearby stone chamber to avoid a wave of Corpse Spirit Race reinforcements.
His task right now was to find the whereabouts of the mysterious Religion Master, so he did not want to expose his presence prematurely.
The Corpse Spirit Race clansmen passed by without noticing anything. After they left, Yang Kai walked out and scanned his surroundings.
This stone chamber was pitch black, with no source of light, but that did not hinder Yang Kai’s observation.
With just a glance, Yang Kai’s expression became gloomy.
He discovered that there were many complete corpses stored in this chamber, and each of them was being wrapped in a rich Corpse Qi, like a chrysalis. With the constant injection of Corpse Qi, these corpses were slowly undergoing some subtle changes, obviously transforming into members of the Corpse Spirit Race.
There were some corpses here that had already become more of a Corpse Spirit Race than a human! As long as they could completely absorb the chrysalis-like Corpse Qi outside their bodies, they would definitely become a part of the Corpse Spirit Race!
[So, this is how they transform!] Yang Kai nodded lightly.
He had speculated that this was the method Corpse Spirit Race members were created since Corpse Spirits couldn’t emerge from thin air. First, a suitable body was required, and the source of these bodies was the cultivators from great forces Corpse Spirit Religion had conquered.
These corpses were brought back to the Corpse Cave, where the rich Corpse Qi was used to transform them into members of the Corpse Spirit Race.
However, it appeared that this process was not perfect. Yang Kai found some semi-finished products without the slightest aura in this stone room as well, undoubtedly the results of previous failures.
The strength of a successfully transformed Corpse Spirit also seemed to be correlated to their cultivation before they died. The higher the cultivation a master possessed in life, the higher their initial strength would be after the transformation. This was no doubt why the Corpse Spirit Race clansmen named Fang Feng Qi wanted Fei Zhi Tu’s body in Heavenly Fate City.
After all, Fei Zhi Tu was one of Shadowed Star’s strongest masters.
The corpses stored in this stone chamber did not possess high cultivation, all of them below the Saint King Realm with most being Saints. There were also some Transcendent and Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators mixed in.
These Corpse Spirits were undoubtedly meant to be used as pawns in Corpse Spirit Religion’s army, their only true advantage being superior numbers.
However, in this Corpse Cave, there were countless similar stone chambers, and if Yang Kai’s guess wasn’t wrong, the further down he went, the stronger the corpses would become.
Remaining silent, Yang Kai continued diving deeper.
Soon, he found that his guess was correct. The further down he went, the higher the cultivation of those corpses during their lifetime became, gradually changing from mostly Saints and Saint Kings to Origin Realm masters.
Of course, the total number of such corpses also grew smaller.
Yang Kai even saw a completely transformed Corpse Spirit Race man clawing his way out of his chrysalis. It seemed he had just been reborn. This Corpse Spirit Race man turned to the sky and roared, a putrid aura pulsing wildly from his body as two fangs extended out of the corners of his mouth and white needle-like hairs jetting out from his skin.
Having just finished his transformation, he obviously did not know how to control his power.
Yang Kai continued deeper without alerting any of the Corpse Spirits here, gradually reaching the position where he obtained the Sun’s True Essence that day.
This was originally the treasury of the Ancient Yang Sect and had a total of three rooms. The innermost room was where the Sun’s True Essence and Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal had been placed.
Standing outside the treasury, Yang Kai frowned suddenly as he turned his gaze towards the inner depths for a moment before grinning lightly and striding inside.
The first and second rooms had Corpse Spirits lined up on either side, each of them possessing Origin Realm cultivation. But when Yang Kai walked in, none of them attacked immediately, instead just glaring at him fiercely. Watching Yang Kai, these Corpse Spirit masters hissing threateningly as he walked inside, only moving to block the entrance after he had passed through.
Yang Kai went straight to the third room of the treasury.
The third room had changed quite a lot. This place was now decorated magnificently and luxuriously, with many fist-sized light stones inlaid on the surrounding walls, exuding a soft light, making it seem like a magnificent palace.
At the very centre of this palace, there was a pool about three metres in radius inside of which a kind of yellow water was constantly tumbling and bubbling.
Yang Kai’s eyes fixed on this pool for a moment before he concluded that this was the legendary Underworld Well Spring! The yellow water in this pool was naturally not water but the embodiment of pure nether energy.
This kind of energy had no positive effect on living creatures, it was extremely harmful in fact, but it was of great use to the Corpse Spirit Race!
Yang Kai even felt some slight Space Force fluctuations coming from this Underworld Well Spring.
He had some speculations about what this meant, but he could not be too sure.
Shaking his head slightly, Yang Kai looked up towards a figure sitting on a throne up ahead.