Chen Shi absorbed the sword energy that had slain the Herding Ghost back into his body. This sword energy contained the blood vitality of that Herding Ghost, vast and powerful. As it lted into his body, strange patterns actually appeared on his bones, intertwining and flickering.
Chen Shi was astonished. His head flew off his neck, circling around to examine these peculiar markings from every angle.
"They're very similar to those strange patterns on the Herding Ghost that blocked my attacks!"
He studied them carefully. He had long noticed the Herding Ghost's strange patterns—those markings possessed incredible power, capable of blocking his sword energy and preventing it from harming the ghost god in the slightest.
Even more peculiar, the patterns on the Herding Ghost and the patterns on the Heaven-asuring Iron Ruler seed to share the sa origin!
But the patterns on the Iron Ruler were far more profound and difficult to decipher, carrying more complex information.
"Strange. The Heaven-asuring Iron Ruler is clearly a prehistoric relic, and the patterns on it should also be traces of a prehistoric civilization. Yet these patterns here are on a Herding Ghost."
Chen Shi was deeply puzzled. Why would a prehistoric civilization share similarities with the strange markings on a Herding Ghost?
Could it be...
He suddenly had a bold thought—what if the prehistoric civilization hadn't actually gone extinct?
What if that civilization had always existed, and the creatures of the underworld were their descendants?
But that idea was too absurd. Chen Shi chuckled and shook his head, thinking, "The creatures of the underworld are ghosts and monsters—obviously barbaric races. How could they be the creators of a glorious prehistoric civilization?"
The blood color on his bones faded, yet those strange patterns remained, persisting for a while before gradually disappearing.
Chen Shi gently activated the Blood Lake Sutra, and the peculiar markings on his bones lit up once more!
"Has the Blood Lake Sutra absorbed the Herding Ghost's abilities?"
Chen Shi pondered. The patterns on the Herding Ghost were likely what Peng Ju called bloodline power—the strength hidden within one's bloodline. Underworld races often possessed such mysterious powers; as they grew older, the power within their blood would awaken, granting them special abilities.
The Blood Lake Sutra could absorb an enemy's bloodline power. Chen Shi had never heard of such a technique!
The excess blood vitality flowed from his bones into the pool of blood at the back of his head.
His blood pool had grown considerably larger. In just another day or two, he might be able to form a blood pond.
Chen Shi saw what looked like a ghost struggling inside the blood pool. He took off his head to look more closely—it vaguely resembled that Herding Ghost, but it was covered in blood plasma and hard to make out clearly.
The Herding Ghost seed to be trying to escape the blood pool, but it was repeatedly dragged back by so mysterious force.
Chen Shi shivered. This technique was far too sinister.
But its power was truly imnse, and its cultivation speed was astonishingly fast!
During this ti, Peng Ju had already killed the remaining Shen Beasts one by one, absorbing their blood vitality into his wings to temper himself.
His thod of practicing the Blood Lake Sutra was slightly different from Chen Shi's.
So of the blood vitality he absorbed was used to enhance his physical bloodline, activating his bloodline power. Peng Ju's wings now had golden, razor-sharp tips at the feather ends. The rest of his feathers remained a mix of earthy brown and black, with a few stray ones here and there.
The Blood Lake Sutra elevated his bloodline, strengthening his physical body and making him much more powerful and robust than before.
Peng Ju looked around with concern. There were quite a few Fu Birds here. The Fu Birds loved watching the commotion—they had all witnessed their fight against the Herding Ghost and the Shen Beasts.
The Herding Ghost was herding Shen Beasts for a wealthy family. That family would surely co looking, and with a little investigation, they could find out who the perpetrators were.
Chen Shi felt a pang of guilt. "Peng Ju, this is my fault for dragging you into this..."
Peng Ju shook his head. "You can understand my family's inherited technique, and you passed it on to . That's a great kindness, not a burden. There are many Fu Birds here, and none of them know . Let's get out of here quickly!"
The two hurried on their way, with the Fu Birds in the trees watching them leave.
After another half a day of travel, Peng Ju exclaid happily, "My ho is just ahead!"
Then, a massive prehistoric relic ca into Chen Shi's view.
It was a huge four-legged cauldron, made entirely of black iron and covered in rust. It sat tilted, with three legs deeply embedded in the foot of a mountain, most of it buried by the slopes.
They passed by the front of the four-legged iron cauldron. Inside sat a skeleton, still hundreds of feet tall, chained and bound within the vessel.
Though the skeleton was massive, the cauldron was even larger.
The skeleton exuded an overwhelming aura, radiating danger.
As they passed by, the chains rattled, and the skeleton's head slowly turned on its neck joints. Faint flas flickered in its hollow eye sockets, as if watching them.
Peng Ju kept as far away from the skeleton as possible, as if worried it might co to life at any mont. He pointed ahead to a large locust tree. "That's our village! I'm the fastest flier in our village, which is why I got the ssenger job at the Eastern Palace!"
Chen Shi withdrew his gaze. "You work at the Eastern Palace, but don't you have a divine position? Even that herding Herding Ghost had a Little Yaksha burning incense for him."
Peng Ju shook his head. "We ssengers could die out there at any mont. Where would we get a divine post? I was a ssenger at the Eastern Palace for two years. There were seven of us ssengers in total, and I'm the only one left alive."
Chen Shi was stunned. Living in the underworld was sohow more miserable than in the mortal realm?
They finally arrived at Peng Ju's ho.
Peng Ju's ho was on a locust tree in front of a cliff. The tree had thirty or forty bird-nest-like houses hanging from it, not much different from the nests they had seen along the way.
Peng Ju flapped his wings and took off. Chen Shi followed him to one of the nests.
Peng Ju called out cheerfully, "Sister, I made it back alive!"
He entered the room but didn't find his sister. "Chen Shi, wait here for a mont. I'll ask the neighbors if they know where my sister went."
Chen Shi nodded.
Peng Ju flapped away toward the other nests.
Chen Shi looked around the nest. It was practically bare—three rooms. Two were sleeping quarters for the siblings, just simple nests made of grass and twigs with no decoration. The other room was the kitchen, which also served as a living room, and it was spotless.
Peng Ju's sister must be a clean Fu Bird. The ho was simple but tidy.
He stepped outside and looked back at the massive iron cauldron, thinking, "This prehistoric relic has an incredibly strong aura. Who is that skeleton inside, and why is it trapped in the cauldron?"
What baffled him even more was that the skeleton inside the cauldron still radiated an overwhelming aura. Could it still be alive?
Just as he thought this, he felt a strange presence behind him. Turning around, his jaw dropped.
The locust tree where Peng Ju lived stood in front of the cliff, and now Chen Shi suddenly saw a pair of enormous feet dangling from the sky behind the tree.
Chen Shi flew up to the top of the locust tree, gradually seeing the full picture of the being those feet belonged to.
On the cliff face directly opposite the tree hung the corpse of a divine being, about a thousand feet tall.
The god had a green face with fangs, four arms, and wore golden armor. His head hung low.
A black iron spear was driven through his chest, pinning him to the cliff.
Clouds and mist drifted around his waist, and the blood on his body had not yet dried—still fresh.
Chen Shi's heart pounded. He steadied himself and looked in other directions, spotting a second divine being, also pinned to the cliff. This one had a bird's head and a human body, with a spear driven through its throat.
His eyes twitched as he followed the cliff's direction. The cliff stretched endlessly to the east and west, for who knew how many miles. Every li or so, a divine being was pinned to the cliff, one after another—there was no telling how many!
"Why are these divine beings nailed here?"
He was utterly shaken. Then Peng Ju's voice ca: "Chen Shi! Chen Shi!"
"I'm here!" Chen Shi quickly responded.
Peng Ju was flying up with a small, bird-beaked, human-faced Fu Bird. He landed on a large leaf and said, "Found my sister. It's been a bit dangerous around here lately, so she's been staying with the neighbors. I need to go report back to Heavenly Pool—it's just above the Boundless Cliff. Want to co with ?"
The little Fu Bird studied Chen Shi with curiosity, quite interested in this skeleton.
Chen Shi turned around, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Did you see all of this?"
Peng Ju looked confused. "See what?"
Chen Shi's eyes widened further. "These divine corpses hanging here—doesn't it seem strange to you?"
Peng Ju chuckled. "They've always been hanging here. What's so strange about that? When I hatched, they were already here. I asked the village elders once, and they said these corpses have been hanging here for tens of thousands of years."
Chen Shi steadied himself, looking at the corpses of these divine beings. He still couldn't calm down. "How did they die?"
"No idea."
Peng Ju continued, "You haven't seen anything more terrifying yet. Last year, I was sent to deliver a ssage for the Eastern Palace and ended up at a place called the Yin Spring Sea. There were towering trees there, hanging upside down from the sky. Under the trees were huge coffins, a thousand feet tall, facing the spring eye of the Yin Spring Sea. Every so often, giant corpses would fly out of the coffins and disappear into the sky. Absolutely horrifying."
Chen Shi's expression turned strange. He thought, "He must be talking about Mirror Lake Villa. Those so-called giant coffins are probably the ones my grandpa and the others built. The giant corpses flying out must be or Xiao Wangsun coming out of our coffins."
Even so, looking at the divine corpses hanging from the Boundless Cliff, he was still deeply shaken.
"In the mortal world, these divine beings would likely be at the Great Ascension Realm, or maybe even higher!" he thought.
Chen Shi considered this and asked, "Peng Ju, where exactly did you see the Yin Spring Sea?"
Peng Ju pointed into the distance. "I flew several tens of thousands of miles in that direction and saw the Yin Spring Sea."
Chen Shi frowned. The Yin Spring Sea corresponded to Mirror Lake in Qianyang Mountain. That ant where they were now was indeed Qianyang Mountain—but the underworld counterpart of Qianyang Mountain was just too bizarre.
Just then, one of the divine corpses twitched its hand. Chen Shi pointed at it, exclaiming, "It's still alive!"
As soon as he said it, the divine being suddenly opened its mouth and roared, its voice like thunder echoing beneath the Boundless Cliff!
The divine being struggled violently, its four arms grabbing at the iron spear in its chest, trying to pull it out!
Suddenly, the iron spear blazed with brilliant light, pressing the divine being hard against the cliff. After struggling for a mont, it went still again.
"It does that sotis."
Peng Ju was used to it and didn't find it unusual. "Chen Shi, are you coming with to Heavenly Pool?"
Chen Shi shook his head. "I'll stay here. If I go too far, I'm worried that when Granny tries to summon my soul, she won't be able to call back."
Peng Ju understood and quietly said to his sister, "He's very powerful, but he's probably a bit slow in the head. He still doesn't realize he's already dead. Sister Peng Yan'er, take good care of him!"
The little Fu Bird nodded solemnly.
Peng Ju said a few more words to Peng Yan'er, then told Chen Shi, "Stay here. Wait for a few days. I'll return after reporting in." With that, he flapped his wings and flew off.
Peng Yan'er said to Chen Shi, "Don't stay up in the tree. It's too high up here, and there's often strong wind."
Chen Shi followed her back to the nest. Peng Yan'er hopped around cheerfully, boiling water to make tea. She dropped a red date into the tea, saying, "I picked this date from a date tree at the Evil Dog Ridge. It'll help drive away the cold. Try it."
Chen Shi smiled. "I don't drink..."
Peng Yan'er's eyes started to well up, so Chen Shi had no choice but to pick up the cup, open his mouth, and pour the tea in. The liquid ran down his throat bones, through his ribs and spine, and then through his pelvis and leg bones—essentially getting a full rinse.
"Great tea. My coldness is much better." Chen Shi set down the cup.
Peng Yan'er looked at his feet, where water was dripping out, and said sheepishly, "I forgot you're a skeleton... How about I burn so incense for you?"
Chen Shi chuckled. "No need."
Peng Yan'er's eyes twinkled, and she smiled. "I'll make you so clothes! I found so colorful feathers on Golden Rooster Mountain!"
Chen Shi thought of himself covered head to toe in chicken feathers and shuddered. He quickly refused, laughing, "Peng Yan'er, you don't need to bother. I won't need to eat or drink for the next few days. I'll be cultivating."
But Peng Yan'er kept trying to take care of him—either making him sothing tasty or finding him sothing fun to play with. Her personality was far more lively than Peng Ju's; she just couldn't sit still.
Chen Shi, unable to bear it any longer, decided to spend so ti teaching Peng Yan'er the Blood Lake Sutra.
To his astonishnt, Peng Yan'er's talent and comprehension were far superior to Peng Ju's. The divine language hidden within the Blood Lake Sutra was extrely complex and hard to learn, but after Chen Shi taught her just once or twice, she had mastered it.
He then taught her the energy circulation path, and she grasped it quickly. Before long, she had fully understood and integrated it.
"This girl's talent and understanding are incredible!"
Chen Shi took a liking to her. He taught her how to channel her own strength to empower her body, and also passed on the secrets of sword techniques and energy refinent.
Peng Yan'er practiced diligently outside the nest, making rapid progress.
"She's really a great material for cultivation," Chen Shi thought.
"Peng Yan'er, how did your family's Blood Lake Sutra get lost?" Chen Shi asked.
Peng Yan'er replied crisply, "We can't read."
Chen Shi laughed. "Then just have soone who can read teach you."
Peng Yan'er shook her head. "The other tribe mbers can't read either."
Chen Shi was puzzled. "Is there anyone who can read?"
Peng Yan'er shook her head again. "My brother says no ghost god in the entire Heavenly Pool Kingdom can read. There are many techniques like the Blood Lake Sutra, but since no one recognizes them, no one can practice them."
Chen Shi was stunned. "Are you saying that no ghost god in the entire Heavenly Pool Kingdom can read?"
Peng Yan'er nodded.
Chen Shi fell into deep thought. He felt this situation was sowhat similar to how the True King had severed the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms. But Heavenly Pool Kingdom was different—it had erased everyone's ability to read, while the True King had changed the path of cultivation!
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