Chapter 11: The Ghost King in the Depths Below
Chapter 11: The Ghost King Deep Underground
"Little girl, hurry and light the sky lantern. Look, these ghosts can no longer hold back."
An elderly man nearby kindly urged.
Although there were many human cultivators by the pool, some even at the Divine Shaping Realm, the sheer number of malevolent ghosts in the Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge was overwhelming. There were easily hundreds of malevolent ghosts at the Origin Sea Realm, and the number of those at the Divine Shaping Realm was no less than thirty or forty.
Such formidable strength was simply beyond the human cultivators’ ability to contend.
"Young lady, quickly push that fellow beside you, at the Profound Core Realm, into the pool," another person hurriedly advised.
Lo Li gritted her teeth, her expression complicated, but she dared not speak to the patriarch.
"You need not feel guilty."
Ye Yun smiled gently, reached out to pat Lo Li’s shoulder, and then leapt into the black pool.
He walked forward several hundred miles within the water, stopping at the center of the pool.
The black water radiated a strange power, as if countless insects were attempting to burrow into Ye Yun’s body.
Ye Yun took no action, instead retracting the aura of his True God.
He feared that if any aura leaked out, this place would be doomed.
The black water’s power could not penetrate his body, not even through his clothes.
Howl...
The malevolent ghosts above the black pool howled as they charged. Hearing Ye Yun’s loud laughter, they raised their hands and unleashed beams of black light, striking down upon him.
Ye Yun closed his eyes, his face calm and expressionless.
The black light vanished upon touching him, seemingly effective to onlookers.
But in the next moment, red candles appeared above Ye Yun’s head, also lighting the sky lantern.
"Patriarch, he should be alright," Lo Li said nervously by the pool, her heart hanging in her throat.
She kept comforting herself silently.
Seeing that although the patriarch’s sky lantern was lit, his expression remained unchanged, she felt a bit relieved.
Everything before her eyes was an illusion created by Ye Yun.
The candle-like sky lantern began to emanate a strange energy from above Ye Yun’s head.
This energy seemed summoned by the black pool, slowly drifting into the water, heading toward a mysterious place.
A thousand meters underground.
Inside a pitch-black ancient coffin, a massive ghost creature was sleeping.
Ye Yun’s strand of energy floated over and was quickly absorbed.
Then it opened its eyes.
They were blood-red, radiating a fierce glare.
---
"Truly a blessing from heaven! This time, I shall surely heal the wounds to my soul."
The malevolent ghost, who called himself the King, bared his white fangs in a savage grin.
He was the sole Ghost King of the Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge.
Once a powerful cultivator of the Divine Bridge Realm, he had fallen to the half-step Divine Bridge Realm due to injuries to his soul.
For thousands of years,
he had hidden deep beneath the Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge, continuously healing.
The wounds to his soul were inflicted by an enemy and could not be cured by ordinary elixirs.
So he concealed himself in the remote Ancient Moon Dynasty to avoid pursuit.
Deep underground,
the Ghost King had accidentally discovered a black coffin.
On the coffin was a strange method of lighting sky lanterns that had a miraculous effect on restoring his soul, though the progress was slow. This gave him hope.
Thus, he gathered some ghost followers, teaching them powerful ghostly arts, transforming the ridge into a forbidden zone.
His ghost followers hunted humans from the human race to serve as offerings for the sky lanterns.
Since his enemy still pursued him, even in the remote Ancient Moon Dynasty, the Ghost King dared not act openly.
Therefore, humans offered sacrifices willingly,
exchanging their lives for peace in this land.
This was the origin of the Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge and the reason for lighting sky lanterns.
Over thousands of years,
countless sky lanterns had been lit, slowly healing his soul, with only a little more needed for full recovery.
According to progress, he still needed three more sky lanterns.
Unexpectedly, among the humans lighting the sky lantern this time, one possessed a special energy in their soul, accelerating his healing.
The Ghost King secretly rejoiced.
With this recovery, he would return to the half-step Divine Bridge Realm.
After another decade or so of rest, he could challenge the Divine Bridge Realm again.
The thought of regaining his former Divine Bridge power filled him with excitement.
He fixed his blood-red eyes on the black coffin lid, absorbing the sky lantern energy from the ghost pool, healing his soul’s wounds.
"So fast."
The Ghost King felt his soul rapidly healing and was overjoyed.
The energy flowing from the ghost pool grew stronger, speeding his recovery.
This was an unexpected delight.
Normally, lighting a sky lantern took forty-nine days. Ten or so had passed, with less than thirty days remaining.
---
But at this rate, it likely wouldn’t take many more days.
Ye Yun, in the ghost pool,
gazed distantly at the Ghost King, a cold smile playing on his lips.
This Ghost King thought himself lucky, unaware that everything was unfolding according to Ye Yun’s plan.
Ye Yun was in no rush.
He was continuously refining the ancestral dragon blood within his body.
His cultivation was steadily advancing.
Two days passed.
Ye Yun’s cultivation swiftly broke through to the third layer of the True God Realm.
Five days passed.
Ye Yun’s cultivation soared to the fourth layer of the True God Realm!
Feeling the ancestral dragon blood’s power still surging within him, Ye Yun smiled faintly.
Indeed, this ancestral dragon blood could propel him to the tenth layer of the True God Realm.
Unfortunately, he had already stayed here long enough.
The Ghost King was nearly recovered, ready to emerge.
Ye Yun sent a spiritual message to Lo Li by the pool.
"Don’t worry, Lo Li, I’m fine."
Lo Li quickly nodded, her heart finally settling.
She then looked toward her junior disciple, Jun Moxiao, whose complexion was worsening, seemingly unable to hold on much longer.
Her worry returned.
Her master had taken three disciples.
Lo Li was the second eldest.
She had an elder sister named Su Wanyi, as beautiful as a celestial being.
But her elder sister had disappeared.
Her fate was unknown, and Lo Li did not know where she was.
But she was certain her sister had not fallen into their enemy’s hands.
"Little girl, which sect are you from?"
Perhaps out of boredom, a white-haired old man at the Divine Shaping Realm took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Lo Li.
(End of chapter)