The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

"What are you glaring at, kid? Once you're dead, I'll turn you into a Corpse Slave. Then you'll be able to use this ultimate move too. No need to be jealous!" the Corpse Dove sneered.

"Corpse Slave, finish the kid off! I can't wait any longer!"

Just as the skeletal monster was about to unleash its breath attack again, Chen Dong pulled a sphere from his clothes, instantly infusing it with True Qi before hurling it at the Corpse Dove.

The Corpse Dove never expected Chen Dong to still have the strength to resist. It was only when the sphere was right before its eyes that it felt the horrifying, berserk power contained within!

Its crimson eye stared in terror at the crackling sphere. "You..."

The Corpse Dove had just managed a single syllable when the sphere erupted in a dazzling glare. BOOM! The brilliant light instantly illuminated the entire cave. Countless bolts of wild lightning exploded outward, with a massive ball of lightning at its core—like the birth of a Thunderfall.

The Corpse Dove, its cry cut short, was engulfed by the ball of lightning. Then came the monstrous Corpse Slave, and then Chen Dong. Everything inside the cavern was devoured by the lightning. The complex network of tunnels seemed as if it had been scoured by a torrent of incredibly powerful electricity. In that same instant, all the resentful crows were struck dead.

When the terrifying light faded, the cavern plunged back into darkness. The monstrous Corpse Slave had been blown to smithereens, its core orb of blood vaporized. The Corpse Dove lay on the ground like a lump of charcoal. Chen Dong was in the same state, his body scorched black from head to toe, and he was no longer breathing.

'This was the plan Chen Dong had devised in his moment of crisis: detonate the Thunder Spirit Pearl, a treasure of heaven and earth. He just hadn't expected the blast to be so powerful. Even he, a practitioner of lightning-based arts, hadn't managed to escape it.'

The pitch-black cavern fell deathly silent. After an unknown amount of time, a majestic voice shattered the stillness. "Corpse Dove, you have disappointed me!"

The charred remains of the Corpse Dove could not reply.

The newcomer paused for a moment. A red light burst forth from the ground, illuminating the cavern. The light drifted gently into the newcomer's hand, revealing itself to be a blood-colored gem. By its glow, one could see the newcomer's hand was bloodless—pale, with wide knuckles, yet his long fingers were strikingly elegant.

With a casual beckoning gesture, the charred remains of the Corpse Dove floated into mid-air. The newcomer took the blood-colored gem and pressed it into the blackened husk. The husk trembled in the air, and in an instant, the Corpse Dove's eyes snapped open. It was alive.

It frantically shook off the outer layers of char, its body regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Corpse Dove shook its head, flapping its fleshy wings. "That was close! I almost met my end!"

"Hmph!" The newcomer snorted in disdain.

The Corpse Dove's tone changed in an instant. It began to grovel. "It was Lord You who saved me! Thank you, Lord You!"

"We no longer exist within the Six Dao," Lord You said. "Did you really think you could go to the underworld after death?"

He didn't seem inclined to dwell on the matter, continuing, "I let you rest and recuperate in this place. I even bestowed the Blood Stone upon you, and it still came to this!"

At these words, the Corpse Dove frantically bobbed its head in a gesture of apology. "Lord You, please quell your anger! Please! This humble one was ambushed by a human. He detonated a pearl, intending to take me down with him! I nearly died! I was only saved because of you, Lord You!"

"A human... heh. Now is not the time for our kind to reveal ourselves. The Blood Stone will remain in your body for the time being. We'll discuss it further once your wounds are healed. This place has already been discovered by humans, so we must relocate."

The Corpse Dove hopped over to the edge of the former Blood Pool. "The Blood Storage Array isn't even damaged. It's a pity to just leave! How about I continue to recuperate here?"

Lord You said, "I see you're just too lazy to move. You've been lying around for tens of thousands of years and still haven't had enough? Without the Blood Stone, no one in this era can decipher this Array. Just leave it alone. We can return in the future if the opportunity arises."

"Very well. As you command, Lord You." The Corpse Dove then followed the figure and departed.

The cavern once again descended into darkness and silence. Chen Dong lay perfectly still, as if he were truly dead.

In truth, Chen Dong was no different from a corpse at that moment. Without Lord You's intervention, even the Corpse Dove would have truly perished in a Thunderfall of that magnitude. That was why it had never questioned Chen Dong's apparent death.

However, Chen Dong had cultivated lightning-based arts and possessed some resistance to electricity. He had entered a state of suspended animation, his consciousness sinking into his sea of consciousness.

Chen Dong's sea of consciousness resembled a desolate ocean, with a single, small mountain floating above its surface. Chen Dong's awareness resided upon that mountain.

'He was perfectly aware of his predicament, yet he was completely unable to awaken. From his perch on this small mountain, he could clearly see several other, larger mountains floating high above his sea of consciousness. He could not see them in their entirety, nor could he explore them.'

'With his consciousness withdrawn into this sea, he finally had the chance to understand the reason for his weak spiritual soul. Those mountains were his memories—forgotten memories, or more likely, memories from a past life. They were occupying his sea of consciousness, scattering his spiritual soul. That was why the mountain representing his current life was so barren and small, and his spiritual soul so frail.'

'If he could one day climb those other mountains and access those sealed memories, his spiritual soul would grow to an unprecedented strength.'

'But right now, he didn't care what lay on those mountains. He just wanted his consciousness to return to his body. If it didn't, he was truly going to die!'