Myriad Daos of the Heaven

But the news Jiang Jichen heard them say was far more horrifying than their hoarse, terrifying voices—it made his scalp tingle!

’The Celestial Corpse Ancestor has been resurrected and is returning?’

If this were true, it would undoubtedly unleash endless bloody carnage across the Southern Continent.

More terrifying still, just how powerful was the Celestial Corpse Ancestor?

Back then, the Southern Continent had been forced to seek aid from the Central State, which had dispatched a figure beyond the Supreme realm just to vanquish the Celestial Corpse Ancestor.

This was enough to prove that, at least on the surface, the Southern Continent had no one beyond the Supreme realm.

If the Celestial Corpse Ancestor were to be resurrected, no one would be able to stand against him.

He feared that the terrifying, apocalyptic scene of a city overrun by living corpses would reappear.

Jiang Jichen was no righteous hero.

When facing his enemies, he was cruel and merciless to the extreme.

But he had his own principles and a moral line he would not cross in his cultivation.

At the very least, the millions upon millions of ordinary people in the Southern Continent were innocent.

’Perhaps in the eyes of a cultivator, all living beings are like ants. Why care about their life or death?’

’As long as I am alive, why should I care about anyone else’s survival?’

But Jiang Jichen was absolutely not like that!

For example, provided he could guarantee his own safety, he would step in and help as many as he could.

This was his moral red line as a cultivator.

It allowed him to Inquire his Heart with a clear conscience and cultivate without regret.

Of course, if his own life was on the line—for example, if those living corpses were so powerful he couldn’t possibly defeat them...

...then he would absolutely turn and flee without a moment’s hesitation!

But as it was, Jiang Jichen estimated that those few living corpses were equivalent to the Half-step Nascent Soul Realm, so they were nothing to be afraid of.

And so, Jiang Jichen finally moved.

Silent and unseen, he drifted down and landed on the lonely mountain, right beside the temple!

The temple was a ruin, the fire a dying flame!

Its faint glow illuminated the temple hall.

Jiang Jichen could see a small boy lying naked on a Jade Bed beneath a Buddha statue. Wisps of black smoke rose from his body.

A terrifying red light swirled in his eyes, and sinister black patterns occasionally surfaced on his pale skin.

Faintly, they seemed to be coalescing into a demonic beast from Hell, threatening to burst from his abdomen.

And that hellish roar came from the little boy’s mouth, a terrifying, chilling sound in the dead of night!

Jiang Jichen’s Body Technique was unparalleled; not even the living corpses had noticed his arrival.

But at that moment, a sudden chill ran through Jiang Jichen.

It was the little boy!

His red-glowing eyes had suddenly turned in his direction.

’What kind of eyes were those?’

Merciless and cold to the extreme. Meeting their gaze sent an icy, stabbing pain through his very soul.

’Could he have... discovered me?’

The realization stunned Jiang Jichen!

But he was overthinking it. At that moment, he sensed someone approaching from behind.

It was a living corpse, equivalent to the Nascent Soul Realm. Very powerful!

It swept past Jiang Jichen, unable to detect him.

This was because Jiang Jichen’s Concealing Technique was so profound it could elude the senses of a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator.

The person the little boy had detected was obviously this living corpse, not him!

But this still left Jiang Jichen completely stunned!

The little boy’s Spiritual Sense was so terrifyingly powerful that he had detected the living corpse’s arrival from so far away.

Jiang Jichen finally saw it for what it was. To put it plainly, the little boy was a Tripod Furnace, nurturing a sliver of Celestial Corpse Power within his body.

His constitution was miraculous, perfectly capable of coexisting with the Celestial Corpse Power.

If Celestial Corpse Power entered anyone else’s body—even just half a sliver—they would surely explode and die.

His current state was clearly the result of him and that sliver of Celestial Corpse Power fusing together.

Or, to be more precise, the little boy was about to have his body seized by this sliver of Celestial Corpse Power.

Jiang Jichen had experienced this sort of thing twice before, so he knew exactly what was happening.

The little boy’s astonishing Divine Sense from just a moment ago was obviously due to the influence of that sliver of Celestial Corpse Power.

The living corpse that had just arrived was obviously the leader.

It drifted down to land before the temple hall’s main entrance and spoke in a flat voice, "I will deal with the Ghost Girl. You take the sacrifice. There must be no mishaps. We’re only missing this one now!"

The woman in white was the one the living corpses referred to as the Ghost Girl.

Her figure abruptly vanished, and in the next instant, she had already appeared inside the temple hall.

"Whether the Celestial Corpse Ancestor lives or dies has nothing to do with me. In any case, you are not taking my brother!"

The Ghost Girl finally spoke, her voice exceptionally cold.

Watching from the sidelines, Jiang Jichen was a little speechless.

’First it was living corpses, now a Ghost Girl. I’ve really stumbled into something foul tonight.’

Just then, the living corpse leader sneered. "Nothing to do with you? The three great heretical arts of the Southern Continent are the *Living Corpse Dao Scripture*, the *Living Ghost Dao Scripture*, and the *Blood Refining Dao Scripture*. The inheritors of these three scriptures are bound by a secret pact. Heh heh... Your duty as the inheritor of the *Living Ghost Dao Scripture* is to nurture Celestial Corpse Qi for the Celestial Corpse Ancestor. The inheritor of the *Blood Refining Dao Scripture* is to provide him with fresh blood. All that’s missing now is the sliver of Celestial Corpse Qi nurtured within your kin to activate the Blood Array and bring the Celestial Corpse Ancestor back!"

The Ghost Girl’s expression remained unchanged. She replied just as coldly, "The Celestial Corpse Ancestor is dead and should stay that way. His return is nothing but your fantasy. My brother and I are all that’s left of the Celestial Ghost Sect. He is the last of our bloodline. He must live."

"He can’t live," the living corpse leader spoke, his voice grim and cold. "Even if he isn’t offered as a sacrifice, the Celestial Corpse Curse will turn him into a demonic beast from Hell. Eventually, it will kill you too!"

Jiang Jichen, hidden in the shadows, felt his scalp tingle as he listened to their exchange.

’I can’t believe the Celestial Corpse Ancestor’s resurrection has already progressed this far. All that’s missing is the final sliver of Celestial Corpse Qi.’

Inside the temple hall, the living corpses attacked.

The Ghost Girl’s body was as light as a feather, moving like drifting smoke.

She carried the little boy as she fought the living corpses.

BOOM!

The temple shattered, and a terrifying Power of Destruction raged all around.

The Ghost Girl’s Cultivation was not weak, but she was ultimately no match for the Nascent Soul Realm living corpse leader.

What’s more, she was also carrying the little boy.

The little boy, however, was acting strangely. As if stimulated by the aura of battle, he suddenly went into a frenzy.

As the Ghost Girl was fighting the living corpse leader, the little boy suddenly struck her with his palm.

PFFT!

The Ghost Girl spat blood and staggered back.

The little boy had already leaped free. He moved with incredible speed, darting in one direction and vanishing into the distance in a flash.

"Damn it! Get him back!"

Seeing the little boy flee, the living corpses abandoned the Ghost Girl and prepared to give chase.

But at that moment, a blinding Sword Light illuminated the night sky.

SHLICK... SHLICK...

The Nascent Soul Realm living corpse had no time to react before it was engulfed by the endless Sword Light.

Its body was sliced into several pieces, and it died on the spot, utterly powerless to resist.

For the current Jiang Jichen, sneak-attacking a regular Initial Stage of Nascent Soul Cultivator was a simple matter.

Seeing this, the remaining living corpses were terrified and tried to flee.

Jiang Jichen brandished his Sword Light once more!

The result was a foregone conclusion. All of them were slain, their bodies and souls obliterated.