「Over a month later.」
「Bai Shi Prefecture, White Bone Mountain.」
"I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, sister."
In the main hall of White Bone Cave, a stunning woman in a jade brocade palace gown erged from the depths of the cave and greeted Madam Huang, who was waiting there.
Madam Huang rose and hopped down from her seat. "It was I who ca unannounced. I didn’t realize you were in seclusion, sister."
The stunning woman was none other than the official wife of the White Bone God Monarch—Lady White Bone. She stepped forward, took Madam Huang’s hand, and led her back to a seat. "I heard that the Ink Flood Dragon to the west destroyed Guangwu County. Fortunately, it didn’t reach the Yellow Heaven Altar."
"We were lucky. The Ink Flood Dragon chose to target that old Poison Corpse’s personal domain."
Madam Huang nodded, then her expression turned serious. "But the Ink Flood Dragon only erges once every two or three years and only kills mortals. It’s no threat to people like us. The real problem is the new Daluo Palace that’s risen in Changping Prefecture to the north. That is a grave threat to us all."
"Oh?" Lady White Bone asked in surprise. "Changping Prefecture? Daluo Palace? Isn’t that the Golden Wind Sect’s territory?"
"The Golden Wind Sect has been annihilated by Daluo Palace," Madam Huang said, her voice grave. "And not just them. The other factions in Changping Prefecture—Three Extres Mountain, Bian Palace, and Stone King Cave—have also been wiped out by Daluo Palace."
Lady White Bone had heard of places like Three Extres Mountain, but their factions were so weak they had barely registered with her. They were nothing compared to the Golden Wind Sect, which had controlled all of Changping Prefecture.
"Old Ghost Golden Wind’s Magical Power wasn’t weak. It seems this Daluo Palace Master is no ordinary person," Lady White Bone laughed.
Lady White Bone remained unconcerned. Changping Prefecture was west of Pingjiang Prefecture and north of the Wanling River. It had no Grotto Heaven Blessed Lands or Heavenly and Earthly Treasures. To put it bluntly, it was just a buffer zone.
The Golden Wind Divine King was just a big fish in a small pond in Changping Prefecture. If he actually ca to Bai Shi Prefecture, he wouldn’t even withstand a few slaps from the White Bone God Monarch.
So Lady White Bone simply asked with a smile, "Has your Yellow Heaven Altar co into conflict with Daluo Palace, sister?"
"The public faces of Daluo Palace are a group of old Mages, but they have an extrely strong demand for Incense," Madam Huang said. "Therefore, they must have a host of Ghost Gods bound to them in Harmony."
Lady White Bone nodded. "Pure Mages alone would not have been a match for Old Ghost Golden Wind."
"They’re even better at keeping up appearances than the Golden Wind Divine King was. They travel about, slaying wicked Demons and Ghosts, and they even eliminate common bandits and highwayn," Madam Huang said. "As a result, the common folk revere them, and their Incense offerings are abundant."
Lady White Bone raised an eyebrow. "Their reach is even broader than the Xuanwei Divine Sect’s?"
"Exactly!" Madam Huang said, fanning the flas. "They go on about ’Righteousness and Heroism,’ ’enacting Heaven’s will,’ ’protecting mortals,’ and ’slaying Demon Ghosts.’ They claim that any Demons and Ghosts who harm the common people are their targets for extermination."
Lady White Bone sneered. "Such arrogant words. Pingjiang Prefecture is right next to Changping Prefecture. Why haven’t I seen them go deal with the Ink Flood Dragon?"
"Of course they don’t have the guts," Madam Huang scoffed, then her smile vanished. "But they’ve already reached Bai Shi Prefecture. The old Poison Corpse from Infinite Cave was eliminated by them as well."
Lady White Bone’s eyebrow twitched. "Rong Xuan is dead?"
"My people went to Infinite Cave to check. The cave was destroyed and its master long dead. The passage leading to the toxic lands below has also been sealed shut," Madam Huang said.
Lady White Bone’s smile vanished.
’I don’t care what happens in Changping Prefecture, but now that Daluo Palace has co to Bai Shi Prefecture and even wiped out a local faction, I have to be on my guard.’
"Are you certain Daluo Palace was behind this, sister?" Lady White Bone asked.
"I can’t be certain, but besides Daluo Palace, I can’t think of any other culprit," Madam Huang said. "Besides, the old Poison Corpse considered Guangwu County his personal domain. If they hadn’t destroyed Infinite Cave, how would they dare to spread their faith in Guangwu County?"
"Daluo Palace is in Guangwu County now?" Lady White Bone pressed.
"An old Mage ca, bound in Harmony to a red-haired, green-faced Ghost," Madam Huang said. "His Dao Practice and Magical Power are both considerable; he may be an Elder of Daluo Palace. Our fourth-in-command was carrying my husband’s Yellow Heaven Divine Smoke, but he was still killed."
Lady White Bone nodded in understanding. "So that’s why you’ve co, sister. You’re here to borrow the Bone Soul Lamp."
Madam Huang dipped into a small curtsy. "Precisely. Your Bone Soul Lamp, sister, is the bane of all Ghost Gods. Wherever its light shines, they are repelled. It’s the perfect counter to the Ghosts of Daluo Palace."
Lady White Bone smiled smugly, making no show of humility. "If the Daluo Palace Master is indeed a Ghost God, then he will certainly be suppressed by my Soul-Lighting Lamp. Unless he has a thousand years of Dao Practice, he will be powerless before its fla."
Madam Huang smiled. "And that is why I wish to borrow the lamp from you, sister."
Lady White Bone gave a knowing smile. Her guest’s motives were perfectly clear.
The Yellow Heaven Altar Master and his wife were a pair of weasels. Limited by their true forms, they found Body Refining difficult and thus specialized in Cultivating the Divine Soul, making them natural rivals of factions like the Golden Wind Sect and Daluo Palace.
However, both the Yellow Heaven Ancestor and the Golden Wind Divine King had only a few hundred years of Dao Practice. The Incense from a single prefecture was enough for them to be revered as masters, and neither had any interest in expansion. Thus, they had coexisted peacefully for many years.
But the Yellow Heaven Ancestor was clearly more ambitious than the Golden Wind Divine King. He had gathered many minor fairies and monsters under his banner. After years of developnt, both the Power of Incense and Candlelight and the Divine Souls of children were becoming insufficient, so he decided to expand northward.
The Yellow Heaven Ancestor had been confident he could defeat the Golden Wind Divine King, but then his enemy suddenly changed.
Daluo Palace was clearly more formidable than the Golden Wind Divine Sect. One of its Elders heading south had easily eliminated a Guardian from the Yellow Heaven Altar, even one who possessed the Yellow Heaven Divine Smoke. So, to play it safe, Madam Huang had co to borrow a Magical Treasure.
"That’s easily arranged," Lady White Bone said, taking Madam Huang’s hand. "To aid my son’s cultivation, you sent three to five hundred children born on yang days. It’s only a lamp. There’s no need for such formality between us, sister."
With a flip of her wrist, a lamp appeared in Lady White Bone’s hand.
The lamp was wrought entirely from bone. Its base was encircled by a ring of leg and foot bones, each as thick as a chopstick. The stand was supported by a crisscrossing pile of what looked like miniature ribs. The tray at the top was ringed with what appeared to be model-sized arm and hand bones. In place of a wick sat a skull the size of a thumb joint, from which burned a cluster of translucent, crystalline, erald flas.
The bone of the lamp was as white as jade, its fla as clear as crystal.
If not for its grueso design, the lamp might even have seed sacred.
"It’s a pity my husband is helping our son cultivate the Bone Evil Child Skill and is unable to travel. Otherwise, I would accompany you myself, sister," Lady White Bone said gently.
"There’s no need for you to make a trip for a re band of newly-risen Ghost Gods, sister," Madam Huang hastily replied.
The two won exchanged a smile.
Madam Huang thought for a mont, then asked, "Since the Divine Monarch is helping my dear nephew cultivate his divine skill, and you are also unable to leave, sister, do you need more children born on yang days to act as a catalyst?"
Lady White Bone’s gaze softened. "If it’s convenient for you, sister, you could send so more children born in yang months to the cave. And if you happen to find any ’triple-yang’ boys—born in a yang month, on a yang day, at a yang hour—that would be for the best."
Madam Huang accepted the Bone Soul Lamp. "Rest assured, sister. I will see to it at once."
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