Despite her girlish appearance, Yinggou exuded a potent aura that felt immensely oppressive.
“Meow, Houqing, you’re a zombie ancestor just like her, so why are you so much weaker?” Mao Tianyun’s fur bristled as the cat criticized Houqing on the side.
Already weak, Houqing turned even paler under the powerful aura of the other zombie ancestor, feeling dumbfounded in his heart.
Back when Nuwa died, he sensed Yinggou’s aura in Jiang Lianshan’s palace. Jiang Lianshan had covered it up. However, Yinggou’s aura was now far more terrifying than before.
Was he truly the weakest among the zombie ancestors? Houqing suffered a wave of depression.
Long Wanqing’s face turned serious. “The new leader of the shaman race?”
“Did Jiang Lianshan and the Blood Shaman create a monster specifically to deal with Jiangchen?” Long Wanyu’s brows furrowed slightly.
Standing next to the skeleton Gu Hai, Kong Xuan was poised to act on Gu Hai’s command.
Yinggou had not moved, but her aura reminded Gu Hai of Chiyou’s explosive aura—it was just as formidable.
“Jiang Lianshan really set up a lot of things!” Gu Hai’s true body had a solemn look on his face.
His skeleton clone glared coldly at Yinggou. “What’s wrong? You want to avenge the Blood Shaman?”
Phish!
The skeleton Gu Hai drew his Life Killer Saber, preparing to go all out.
Kong Xuan was also ready for battle.
“Avenge? Ha, there’s no need. He’s not dead. Why would I need to take revenge?” Yinggou laughed coldly.
“What?” The skeleton Gu Hai frowned.
“In the shaman race, as long as one is not dead, one will avenge one’s grudges on one’s own and not let others interfere. He has not been completely destroyed. A wisp of his souls’ consciousness has escaped, and that’s enough. Just wait. He will come to find you all,” Yinggou declared coldly.
“Oh?” The skeleton Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t worry; I won’t fight you. It’s pointless. Maybe one day, you’ll all become part of my shaman race. Then, you will revere me,” Yinggou said indifferently.
With that, she waved her hand and instantly pulled the coffin beneath her feet into her sleeve.
“Revere you? You wish!” the skeleton Gu Hai sneered.
Inhaling deeply, Yinggou looked up at the sky.
“The birth of the shaman race is noble, bringing a new era. The rise of the shaman race will be eternal. Although Jiangchen led a group of people to create the shaman race, he tried to stop its growth. He feared the prosperity of the shaman race, so he strangled it in its cradle before the grand era of the shaman race arrived. However, he couldn’t keep it suppressed. Now that I’m here, the world will belong to the shaman race. Hah! Hahahaha!” Yinggou suddenly laughed out loud.
Amid her laughter, she took a step forward and disappeared towards the south.
“Your Reverence!” Kong Xuan turned to Gu Hai, seemingly wanting to intercept Yinggou.
The skeleton Gu Hai shook his head. “Let her go. I, too, want to see what’s so special about this shaman race.”
“But I feel like she’s just a madwoman, a madwoman obsessed with the past achievements of the shaman race!” Kong Xuan frowned.
“A madwoman? Perhaps!” The skeleton Gu Hai shook his head again.
Gu Hai did not stop Yinggou. He had his own plans.
“Let’s go. It’s time to return,” Gu Hai’s true body said.
“Alright!” Everyone followed Gu Hai, swiftly flying south.
Soon they reached Myriad Bone Sinister Mountain’s territory, where countless skeletons were walking around—a world of skeletons stretching endlessly across the landscape.
Whoosh!
Gu Hai’s true body paused briefly, waving his hand. Countless skeletons were suddenly pulled out from the Gu’s Immortal Firmament.
These were the skeleton soldiers the Bone Deity had taken to the flawed immortal firmament not long ago. Once they were out, they appeared confused.
“Are we back?”
“We really are back. We’ve been trapped there for so long!”
“We’re finally out. They didn’t kill us!”
Countless skeleton soldiers celebrated.
Suddenly, a skeleton said, “Wait, I remember…the Bone Deity is dead!”
“That’s right. The Bone Deity is dead. I no longer have the Bone Deity’s mark on me!”
“The Bone Deity died? What will happen to my Myriad Bone Sinister Mountain?”
“What will happen? Now that the Bone Deity is dead, it’s everyone for themself; everyone will fight to rule!”
While the skeleton soldiers were becoming excited, the skeleton Gu Hai stood on a mountaintop, radiating a strange aura.
This aura imposed tremendous pressure on the skeletons. The vast army of skeletons trembled instinctively, and most of them automatically knelt down in awe.
“What’s happening? What’s happening to me?”
“This aura! It’s so familiar!”
“Could it be… Could it be the Bone Ancestor?”
“Has the Bone Ancestor returned?”
Countless skeletons showed terrified expressions. The Bone Ancestor?
This was the entity that had ruled over Myriad Bone Sinister Mountain for eight hundred thousand years. The might of the Bone Ancestor was ingrained deep into the souls of all the skeletons. Even though the Bone Ancestor had been overthrown by the Bone Deity a few decades ago, his presence was something the skeletons could never forget.
Countless skeletons followed the aura and looked towards the top of the mountain.
The skeleton Gu Hai stood quietly on the mountain peak, watching the skeletons around him with cold eyes.
“Is it really the Bone Ancestor?”
“The Bone Ancestor has returned! He killed the Bone Deity and came back!”
“Salutations, Bone Ancestor!”
“We all deserve ten thousand deaths!”
Countless skeletons trembled in fear.
Without having to clarify anything, the skeleton Gu Hai had become the Bone Ancestor, the supreme being who ruled the skeleton world. All the skeletons bowed down in submission. Those who had betrayed him were even more terrified and dared not move.
The skeleton Gu Hai took command of the skeletons in an instant.
“Alright, let’s go,” Gu Hai’s true body said.
His skeleton clone and true body shared one consciousness.
His skeletal clone naturally had to stay behind at Myriad Bone Sinister Mountain, which was undoubtedly the best base to rule over the skeleton race. The skeleton Gu Hai remained to consolidate the forces there.
The others nodded despite being confused. Then they followed Gu Hai’s true body, flying southward.
Once everyone had departed, the skeleton Gu Hai commanded coldly, “Summon all skeletons to report at the Bone Ancestor Palace!”
“Yes!” answered all the skeletons.
Gu Hai’s true body departed from Myriad Bone Sinister Mountain with his group and soon arrived at the place they had used to traverse between the land of the living and the nether realm. Only here could they cross back directly to Borderless Heavenly Capital.
The Unborn Man had set a lifespan ritual array here that allowed only him to guide people between the two realms.
“This will be our gateway linking the two realms in the future!” Gu Hai pointed to a location.
“Yes!” the Unborn Man answered.
“Imperial Emperor Gu, spare us!” Lifespan Dongfang and Lifespan Chunshen pleaded, but Gu Hai paid them no heed.
At that moment, many bats were flying restlessly in the distance.
“What’s wrong?” Gu Hai barked coldly.
“Ah? Your Reverence!” A blood race spotted Gu Hai and flew over with a look of joy.
“Blood Uniform Guard centurion salutes Your Reverence!” a blood race greeted respectfully.
“Where is Chang Ming?” Gu Hai asked with a stern voice.
“Your Reverence, while the lord envoy commander was in seclusion earlier, a strange crimson-colored wind suddenly appeared, bringing the stench of blood. It headed straight for the hall where the lord envoy commander was. Then we heard his cries for help!” the centurion said anxiously.
“Oh?” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.
“Strange crimson-colored wind? Could it be the Blood Shaman?” The Mosquito Daoist paled.
“It’s possible. You told me Chang Ming obtained the Blood Shaman’s deity earlier. Half of the Blood Shaman’s souls are there. The Blood Shaman must have refrained from seeking out his resentful spirit to hide from Jiangchen. Now that the Blood Shaman Resentful Spirit is no longer in the Corpse Mound World, he must know he can retrieve the other halves of his souls, so he came looking for Chang Ming?” Long Wanyu analyzed.
“How is Chang Ming?” Gu Hai turned to the centurion.
“Your Reverence, the lord envoy commander burst out, clutching his head as if in great pain. He was speaking strangely. If what you say is true, then it must be the Blood Shaman’s souls that entered him. The lord envoy commander had a dispute with himself and only gave a single command before he left,” the centurion recalled.
“What did he say?” Gu Hai pressed.
“The Lord Envoy Commander said, ‘I will not be your puppet! Let’s see who can refine whom. During this time, I will not let you destroy my Han Imperial Dynasty. I’ll take you away; you can forget about disrupting the Han Nation’s plans. All Blood Uniform Guards, heed my command: from now on, do not obey my orders. If you see me anywhere, do not acknowledge me but report to His Reverence immediately. Do not contact me without His Reverence’s order,’” the centurion relayed.
Gu Hai’s face grew solemn.
“Your Reverence, Lord Chang Ming truly cares for the Han Nation!” Kong Xuan commented with a frown.
“The Blood Shaman? We should have eradicated him before,” Gu Hai said, his voice heavy.
“Your Reverence, we don’t know where the lord envoy commander has gone. What do we do now?” the centurion asked frantically.
“Your Reverence, you must save our lord!” a group of blood race exhorted.
Gu Hai nodded. “You all head to Myriad Bone Sinister Mountain and find the Bone Ancestor there. He will handle everything. Seeing him equals seeing us.”
The blood race looked at Gu Hai in surprise before replying respectfully, “Yes!”
Having left his skeleton clone in the nether realm, Gu Hai’s true body was reluctant to stay.
“Unborn Man, open the passageway between the land of the living and the nether realm!” Gu Hai ordered.
“Yes!” The Unborn Man waved.
Buzz!
A tear immediately appeared in space.
Long Wanqing held Gu Hai’s right hand nervously.
“Wanqing, don’t worry. Xianer is very easy to get along with, and she has been looking forward to meeting you,” Gu Hai reassured her with a smile.
“Elder Sister, don’t worry. No one will dare to bully you when I’m around, even if it’s that Chen—” Long Wanyu started to say but was quickly interrupted by Long Wanqing.
“Wanyu!” Long Wanqing shouted.
“Huh?”
“When you meet Elder Sister Chen later, mind your manners!” Long Wanqing scolded.
Long Wanyu was speechless. I’m speaking up for you, alright? Why am I in the wrong here?
Gu Hai smiled. He held Long Wanqing’s hand and led the group into the land of the living.
The corresponding location to the ritual array in the nether realm was the emperor’s study.
As soon as they entered, they saw several maids dressed in white mourning clothes, awaiting Gu Hai’s return.
When the palace maids saw Gu Hai enter the study, their eyes lit up.
“Your Reverence? You’re back?”
“Salutations, Your Reverence!”
“This is great! The empress has been missing you and asked us to wait here for any news. Your Reverence is finally back!”
The maids bowed in delight.
However, Gu Hai’s face sank.
Why are the maids dressed in white mourning clothes? Although Gu Hai was lenient with his palace staff in the Han Nation, the maids would not be in mourning unless someone very important to him had died.
“What happened? Why are you in mourning clothes?” Gu Hai asked, his countenance darkening.
The faces of the nervous Long Wanqing and the others sank.
“Ji…Ji Dihong killed the Nine Li Imperial Emperor Chiyou and dismembered him. The empress said Chiyou is Your Reverence’s first brother. Since the first brother died, as his younger brother’s subjects, we should be in mourning and remember this grudge!” a maid explained.
“Chiyou? Ji Dihong dismembered First Brother?” Gu Hai’s face turned cold.
“How could this have happened?” The Mosquito Daoist, Long Shenying, and the Unborn Man were shocked.
The news that Chiyou, an expert at the consummation of the spiritual souls, had been killed and dismembered was utterly shocking.
