Chapter 487: Lend You a Hand
On the cliffs of Boundless Cliff, the chains clattered noisily as a celestial god who had been dead for ages suddenly opened its eyes.
The other gods nailed to the cliff face also opened their eyes in unison.
Deep within the myriad mountains, dead bones began to stir back to life, and eerie, heart-stopping roars echoed through the peaks.
The ghost clans of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom each tensed up, on high alert.
In the past, although the Fog Moon's mist was thick, it only ever reached the base of Boundless Cliff, stopping dozens of zhang short of the summit. It couldn't invade the Heavenly Pool capital, so the monsters within the mist couldn't harm them. But this time, the Fog Moon had appeared early, and the mist had surged over the cliff's edge.
That meant the Heavenly Pool capital was no longer safe either!
They moved cautiously, each pushing their bloodline power to the limit as various shamanic ritual markings appeared on their bodies. They stood ready in a strict defensive formation.
Chen Yindu, Feng Ruotong, the Grand Sacrificial Officer, and the others looked up at the monstrous eye of the Fog Moon.
Chen Yindu and the other Five Great Villains loved to explore the secrets of this world. Despair Slope monitored the entire realm, while the Grand Sacrificial Officer and the Demon Capital hid within the myriad mountains. Thus, the Fog Moon was no stranger to them.
Whenever this Fog Moon appeared, demonic energy surged violently, and many bizarre phenomena would spawn within the myriad mountains.
Chen Yindu and Creation Little Five had once pursued the Fog Moon, but they had never managed to find its true origin.
He had once suspected that someone was using the Fog Moon phenomenon to regularly dump demonic energy into the myriad mountains, systematically culling the ghost clans.
Demonic energy poured down on a regular schedule, reviving the dead to slaughter the ghost clans, leaving them with very few places to settle. This kept the ghost population at a ceiling, making it impossible to sustain surplus numbers. And since the Fog Moon appeared once a month, it could also kill off some ghost clansmen.
Thus, the Fog Moon phenomenon must be the doing of someone with a blood-deep grudge against the ghost clans.
"It's clearly not time yet—why has the Fog Moon suddenly appeared? Could it be related to Little Ten's Tribulation Crossing?"
Without a second thought, Chen Yindu immediately gave chase toward the Fog Moon.
The moment he moved, Creation Little Five, Du Yiran, Granny Sha, and the others followed right behind him, charging forward.
The Grand Sacrificial Officer's heart stirred. He shot a glance at the others and quietly slipped into the mist, trying to avoid Feng Ruotong and his group.
Feng Ruotong immediately sensed their movement and led the other Celestial Way Walkers to follow.
The group entered the blood sea, traveling through the mist. They saw the Fog Moon in the sky growing larger and larger. Within the moon were nine layers of halo-like rings, as if nine layers of pupils. The mist poured out in rolling waves from between these rings.
At the same time, a rotting giant hand suddenly grasped the edge of Boundless Cliff.
The ghost clans of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom were tense with fear, staring fixedly at the cliff's edge.
The rotting hand exerted force, and a resurrected celestial god vaulted onto the cliff. With a thud, it landed before the many ghost clansmen.
It raised its head to look at the group of ghost gods in the mist, a grin spreading across its face of rotting flesh.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
The sound of heavy objects hitting the ground rang out. The ghost clans of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom could only vaguely make out massive silhouettes through the mist.
An invisible pressure, like a mountain, weighed down on their hearts, making it hard to breathe.
In the past, though Fog Moon nights had filled the myriad mountains with mist, there had always been high places to take refuge from the revived monsters in the fog. Among the myriad mountains, Boundless Cliff was the tallest, and the Heavenly Pool capital sat atop it with ample water and grass. Even if celestial gods revived, they couldn't reach the summit.
But now, the mist had surged over Boundless Cliff.
Thunder Ape Clan Head Lei Qu shook his body, and thousands of his clansmen fell from him.
"Enter the blood sea and seek the ruler's protection!"
Lei Qu's voice boomed like thunder. "I will guard this place!"
The other ghost gods from various tribes shook their bodies, their clansmen falling as well. Each took their stance, ready for battle.
Since its founding, the Heavenly Pool Kingdom had never faced such a dire situation—one that required all their clan heads to fight with everything they had!
Millions of ghost clansmen fell back, charging into the blood sea. With the mist above and the blood sea below, it was hard to tell directions, and no one knew how deep the blood sea was. But just then, the ghost clansmen suddenly noticed that the mist was gradually thinning, and their bodies were slowly transforming into human forms!
The demonic energy within them, including the demonic energy in the mist, was steadily weakening!
They walked across the surface of the blood sea as ghost gods rose from the blood, standing on the surface to protect them. Looking ahead, they saw Yin Lightning rushing like wind and Yang Lightning falling like rain, all bombarding the royal palace.
An earth-shattering roar came from behind. Everyone turned to see the rotting celestial gods locked in battle with the various ghost gods. It was a collision of raw strength. Shamanic ritual markings lit up across their bodies, forming powerful physical combat techniques and innate divine abilities!
"Those celestial gods... they're also from our ghost clans!" someone cried out in shock.
The techniques those celestial gods were using were exactly shamanic ritual markings and innate divine abilities—and in their hands, they were even stronger than any clan head in history!
Clan Head Chi Di's furious roar rang out: "They... are our ancestors!"
The ghost clansmen were terrified. Their ancestors—why were they nailed to death on Boundless Cliff? Why did they revive in the mist? Why would they slaughter their own descendants?
Chen Yindu and the others chased the Fog Moon through the mist. The Grand Sacrificial Officer followed behind them, trying to divert the danger elsewhere, with Feng Ruotong and the experts of Despair Slope at the rear.
The group pushed through layers of mist when suddenly, wheel-shaped Yin Lightning spun and howled around them, slicing the blood sea into waves and raising monstrous swells.
The group steadied themselves, each on guard against the incoming Yin Lightning. At that moment, the Fog Moon above them also paused. It blinked its eye, and between its nine layers of pupils, various strange patterns lit up—some like talismans, others like shamanic ritual markings. They revolved continuously around the layers of pupils.
"What is this?"
They were all stunned. Suddenly, they saw that the thunderclouds where Chen Shi's skeleton body was undergoing Tribulation Crossing had grown thicker and heavier. The Yin Lightning dancing over the blood sea vanished without a trace, and the Yang Lightning striking the royal palace also ceased!
"Not good!"
Chen Yindu's face changed drastically. He shot into the sky, flying straight toward the enormous Fog Moon.
Creation Little Five, Du Yiran, Granny Sha, and the others hurried to follow him.
Seeing this, the Grand Sacrificial Officer's face also shifted. "The Demon Emperor is crossing his tribulation—this Fog Moon means to harm him!"
He recognized Chen Shi's Yin-Yang Dao Field and knew it was Chen Shi undergoing Tribulation Crossing. Though his motives were ulterior, he hadn't yet verified whether Chen Shi's Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art could break the Celestial True God. So he absolutely couldn't stand by and watch Chen Shi be ambushed by the Fog Moon.
He made an instant decision and charged toward the Fog Moon with over a dozen Catastrophes!
Feng Ruotong's face also changed drastically. He turned his body into a streak of immortal light, shooting straight for the Fog Moon!
He, too, recognized the Yin-Yang Dao Field and knew the one undergoing Tribulation Crossing was Chen Shi.
In his heart, he held Chen Shi in the highest esteem, believing Chen Shi's Yin-Yang Dao Field was the key to saving the people from this fiery abyss.
Everyone moved with incredible speed, quickly nearing the Fog Moon. But the closer they got, the thicker the mist became, and the more vicious the demonic energy.
A muffled roar came from Chen Yindu's throat. His own demonic qi could no longer be suppressed. "Don't get close!" he barked. "I'm about to undergo demonic transformation!"
Having trained as a Corpse Liberation Immortal and fought for years against the experts of the Divine Capital, his strength had already entered a new realm. But at the same time, he was deeply entangled by demonic qi, his corruption growing worse.
He had practiced the Yin-Yang Purgation that Chen Shi taught him, with yin and yang qi churning within to refine and suppress his own evil transformation. But nearing the Fog Moon, the demonic energy was too intense, causing his cultivation to fail at suppressing the demonic qi.
Before he even finished speaking, Blue Goat let out a bellowing roar. Demonic flames billowed around him, and he was the first to undergo demonic transformation!
He was already an evil spirit. Though he had regained intelligence over the years, it relied on incense offerings. Now, assaulted by the demonic energy, he was the first to fall.
Just as Blue Goat transformed, Du Yiran's body began to tremble. Tentacle-like sprouts grew from his skin, fluttering like wild hair.
With his high cultivation level, he had accumulated more demonic energy within him than the others, so he too was the first to show signs of corruption.
A Zhuo, the celestial fox, and Granny Sha each began to show signs of corruption. Only Creation Little Five remained perfectly fine, showing no tendency toward demonic transformation at all.
He was inherently an evil being, reeking with demonic energy, no better than that Fog Moon eye.
The Grand Sacrificial Officer's face also twisted in shock. He hesitated, wondering if he should stop, but it was already too late to suppress his own demonic transformation.
He let out a furious roar. His body transformed violently into a ghost god thousands of zhang tall, with a green face and fangs!
Around him, those Catastrophes also couldn't suppress the demonic energy within them and all fell into corruption!
Feng Ruotong was incredibly fast. He was about to reach the Fog Moon when his expression suddenly changed drastically. Blood and flesh burst from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, as if his whole body had grown red fur!
He was a Celestial Way Immortal, yet approaching this Fog Moon, he too couldn't suppress the trend of demonic transformation!
Just then, a great sun and a bright moon began to revolve around the group. As the sun and moon purified everything around them, they refined away much of the demonic energy from everyone.
The demonic energy within Feng Ruotong was immediately suppressed, and he returned to normal. The Grand Sacrificial Officer also used this power to stabilize his transformed body and revert to human form.
Everyone was stunned. They initially thought Chen Shi had made his move, but when they looked closely, it was a young man beside Chen Yindu.
That young man was Creation Little Five.
Creation Little Five was a tool created by Chen Yindu, but when it came to understanding Chen Shi's Yin-Yang Dao Field, his achievement was the highest.
Chen Shi's Yin-Yang Dao Field was originally derived from Creation Little Five's Yin-Yang Variation, incorporating principles of yin and yang from the Yin-Yang Sun-Moon Rings and the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, combined with Chen Shi's own insights. Creation Little Five had no trouble learning the Yin-Yang Dao Field.
The group felt a pang of shame in their hearts and charged toward the Fog Moon.
Feng Ruotong activated his immortal techniques. With a raise of his hand, countless immortal swords flew out, each carrying immense power and an invincible force of the great Dao, striking at the Fog Moon!
The Grand Sacrificial Officer threw a punch. Layers upon layers of shamanic ritual markings, like a field of the great Dao, stacked upon each other, bearing earth-shattering power!
Chen Yindu shouted, "Universal Heavenly Descent!"
Creation Little Five stepped forward. Together with Du Yiran, Granny Sha, and the others, they set up the Universal Sacrificial Rite formation. Instantly, three thousand six hundred divine thrones appeared, as if the Celestial Court had descended upon the mortal world, blasting toward the Fog Moon!
At that moment, the Fog Moon was amplifying the power of the heavenly tribulation. Sensing the incoming danger, it immediately rolled its eyeball. In an instant, its nine layers of pupils each reflected different talisman patterns, and a massive beam of immortal light shot out from the Fog Moon!
Below, in the thunderclouds, the Yin Lightning and Yang Lightning were merged by the Fog Moon's power, forming a Tai Chi pattern that hung over the royal palace.
Suddenly, a clap of Heaven Thunder burst forth. A bolt of lightning containing the power of yin and yang fell from the sky, striking Chen Shi's skeleton body as it underwent Tribulation Crossing.
With a crash, the skeleton body was reduced to dust by that overwhelmingly powerful thunderbolt!
In the sky, the Tai Chi clouds dissipated.
On Yellow Earth Slope, beneath the willow tree, Chen Shi opened his eyes.
"I am not dead. Who can kill me? Rise!"
With a thought, the countless fragments of bone before the Heavenly Pool Kingdom's royal palace trembled slightly and began to gather together.
The enormous blood sea slowly stood upright, transforming into a pool of blood behind his head.
In the air, radiant light emerged, and immortal light descended from the heavens, shining down on the skeleton body. Immortal qi curled downward as it began to fall.
At this moment, he had finally crossed his tribulation. His Primordial Spirit was beginning to transform into an immortal.
"Whoever you are..."
On Yellow Earth Slope, Chen Shi activated the Blood Lake Sutra, slowly raising his palms as if holding a blade with both hands. "If you want to ambush me, you'll pay the price!"
At the same time, before the royal palace, the skeleton body raised its palm. The Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade flew over and fell into its hand.
The long blade pointed at the Fog Moon in the sky.
Chen Shi and his skeleton body, their qi and spirit resonated with each other. Chen Shi felt that his own power could also be transmitted to this external incarnation of his in the underworld!
He let out a long cry and swung the blade with fierce determination!
At the same time, in the Empress Temple, a radiant figure drifted out from the shrine. Under the stunned gazes of Daoist Willow, Little Duan Immortal, Scholar Zhu, and the others, she floated behind Chen Shi.
She raised her sleeve and extended her hand. At that moment, it was as if she, too, was gripping the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade.
"Chen Shi, your godmother will lend you a hand."