Chapter 383: Chapter 314: Skeleton Document
Yan Qing and Murong Hui were unwinding their weariness in the hot springs, but many couldn’t sleep because of them.
In the city center of the Demon Gathering Land, at the Skeleton Document Square.
This is the largest open space in the Demon Gathering Land, where the most demons gather. Fourth-Turn Demon Fiends roam in groups around this area, resembling the chaotic world described in Buddhist sutras. Any messenger who comes near here will instinctively sheath their weapons, even speaking in hushed tones, as no one can afford the risk of angering the demons, which is a despair they cannot contend with.
At the center of the open space, there are four Skeleton Corpse Ghosts standing fifteen zhang tall. They have eight arms each, six of which are playing musical instruments, one pair per instrument, totaling nine instruments. These nine instruments are the most popular in the Northern Territory, and the Skeleton Orchestra’s performance of "Heavenly Earthly Unrivaled Music" is the origin of Northern vocal music, with a history dating back tens of thousands of years. Combined with the poetic and literary collections of this Secret Realm, the Demon Gathering Land can be considered the cultural source of the Northern Territory.
The two remaining arms of the Skeleton Corpse Ghosts hold a large stone monument document, which always remains blank, and no one has been able to leave any mark on it. For many years, the Northern Messengers have taken the blank Skeleton Document as a matter of course.
Until yesterday.
"Why is there another person added! Can someone else be brought along?" said Du Li Bamboo, the second daughter of the Huaisuo Noble Clan’s Du Family, staring at the Skeleton Document in disbelief, "I’ll offer one million Spiritual Jade, can someone bring me too!"
"You think a million can buy a Foundation Establishment Pill? I’ll bid ten million!"
"Han Liuling, your family only has a single weak Secret Realm, you really can bid ten million?"
"If I can secure a spot to get a Foundation Establishment Pill, I’d have my father sell our whole Secret Realm and all family assets and he’d still call me filial!"
In the Skeleton Document Square, over a hundred Northern Messengers were gathered, representing the majority of the Demon Gathering Land’s participants. They stared at the Skeleton Document, their eyes filled with unhidden longing.
Displayed on the Skeleton Document were two columns of images, with three titles above them: "Blood Sea Sect’s Trial Taker," "Flesh Puppet Followers," and "Current Reward."
The first column showed a rather unremarkable portrait of a burly man from the Northern Border, alongside seven images of demons that anyone familiar with the Demon Gathering Land would recognize as from the mechanism series, beings entirely composed of steel gears.
The second column displayed the image of a young man with a bandaged head, alongside a demon resembling the Skeleton Flying Dragons that occasionally appear on the outskirts of towns.
Though the sudden change in the document was surprising, if it didn’t concern them, people would mostly just glance at it and memorize it in case, but what was shown at the ends of these two columns rendered everyone passionately excited:
The first column: "Rare Foundation Establishment Pill · Mechanism Enhancement: During foundation establishment, any token can be consumed to arm oneself, enhancing one’s qi blood, spirit, and dexterity based on the token’s strength."
The second column: "Ordinary Foundation Establishment Pill · No Enhancement: A common Foundation Establishment Pill, very ordinary, it might not even lead to a successful establishment."
This had not just appeared today; the "Northern People" in the first column were already logged in the Skeleton Document since the bell rang yesterday, and initially, the reward was just an Ordinary Foundation Establishment Pill.
At the time, it caused a commotion, but people were mostly suspicious, since nothing of the sort had ever been recorded in the history of the Demon Gathering Land, and faced with such an unfamiliar phenomenon and immense reward, the Northern Messengers’ first reaction was to retreat, fearing they’d be caught in a maelstrom that could annihilate their family.
For hundreds, thousands of years, no one had discovered the secret of the Demon Gathering Land; is it possible this person did, and that behind them lies a vast hidden power? Perhaps... is Ying Le fishing for something?
Fools who shout "Grandpa, I want it!" upon seeing good things are not non-existent, but in the Northern Territory, especially under Ying Le’s rule, they’ve almost been wiped out. This is because Ying Le particularly enjoys using cases to their advantage, standing on moral high ground to kill indiscriminately. Every few days she would drive her war chariot to hunt through Qi Kingdom, asking villagers if there were any prodigal sons or corrupt officials, and if there were, she would slaughter entire families, clans, or villages, implicating at least hundreds, or even thousands, each time, instilling such fear in the Northern Noble Clan that upon seeing Ying Le’s Baibao Guards they would collapse in terror, not daring to resist.
But now that the Skeleton Document has been updated, a second trial taker capable of receiving a Foundation Establishment Pill has appeared!
For one person, this might be an exception, but for two, it heavily suggests they’ve discovered a hidden secret in the Demon Gathering Land! If this secret could be grasped, then one could obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill reward from the Demon Gathering Land like them!
Realizing this, even the lowest First-Turn Messenger would be thrilled by the prospect.
No people understand the power of Foundation Establishment more than those of Qi Kingdom. Under Ying Le’s terrifying rule in the past decade, almost everyone has friends or relatives who have been executed by Ying Le, and every Northern Noble Clan regards the burning of incense and ancestral sacrifice as a top priority, not out of respect for their ancestors, but for a sliver of security from the intangible rituals.
But what if my clan could produce a Foundation Establishment?
What if I could establish a foundation?
"Does anyone recognize them? Coming to the Demon Gathering Land, they must be from Qi Kingdom!"
"This person actually resembles one of my house servants, could there be a blood relation?"
"The man covered in bandages is purposely hiding his identity; I’m sure he’s someone we know!"
"The bandaged man is hiding with Murong Hui."
A sudden quiet enveloped the Skeleton Document Square, with only the melancholic "Unrivaled Music" echoing around. Du Li Bamboo frowned and scanned the area: "Who just spoke?"
"Second Miss Du, you’ve been a tag-along of the Patriarch Murong since childhood, do you have some information?" someone asked cryptically.
"Whether I do or not, it’s none of your business!" Du Li Bamboo replied sternly as she looked over, "You all know how much the Purple Tribulation Zhenren adores Sister Hui, don’t you? So put away your thoughts!"
The Huaisuo Du Family had received Yanzi Murong’s grace in the past, and for generations had followed the Murong Family’s footsteps. Growing up with Murong Hui, Du Li Bamboo naturally couldn’t stand by and watch them direct the troubles toward Murong Hui.
"We don’t intend to harm the Patriarch Murong; we just want to find this bandage man," a somber young man wearing heavy shackles on his right hand stepped forward and said, "Even if the Patriarch were logged on the Skeleton Document, no one would dare harm her, but being on the document is just a covert stranger. He may not even be from Qi Kingdom, so is the Patriarch Murong willing to forsake our Northern Territory for an outsider? Or is the Murong Family looking to monopolize the Foundation Establishment Pill secret and won’t allow us to get near it?"
Du Li Bamboo took a step back; there weren’t many elite Third-Turn Messengers in the Demon Gathering Land, but the somber young man Ru Luo Jing in front of her was one of them. She was merely a Second-Turn, a ’little Second-Turn’ propped up by manuals, and was intimidated by the elite third-turn aura of Ru Luo Jing.
"We don’t even know if the information is real and you’re already quarreling? What if someone’s just fabricating it, and then you’ve offended the Patriarch Murong for nothing."
A steady voice came from the crowd, and they looked over to see a green-robed guest with a Yaksha Mask. Ru Luo Jing appeared cautious and calmly said, "Chu Yaksha, you actually came to the Demon Gathering Land too? What’s drawn your interest here?"
"I can’t carry the Yaksha name now; call me Chu Lin instead." Chu Lin let out a hoarse laugh, "Every year at this time I have free time to visit the Demon Gathering Land; I just like acting alone, so no one knew. Fortunately, I came this year; otherwise, I’d have missed this significant event."
"No matter what, we must find these two people listed on the document!" a beautiful woman with fiery red hair said, arms crossed, coldly, "Whether through cooperation or coercion, concerning the opportunity of the Foundation Establishment Pill, I, Wei Weixi, will certainly not miss out!"
Du Li Bamboo no longer dared to speak; she hadn’t anticipated that the Demon Gathering Land, a place historically only visited by low-level messengers, would host three elite third-turns this year, ’Ghost Blade’ Ru Luo Jing, ’Yaksha’ Chu Lin, and ’Fire Red’ Wei Weixi, and this was without including Murong Hui, a regular visitor of the Demon Gathering Land!
Aside from Chu Lin, who left to act alone, Ru Luo Jing and Wei Weixi began recruiting other Northern Messengers, knowing that manpower was key to finding anyone in the vast Demon Gathering Land. Moreover, finding someone was just the first step; the ensuing competition was the main event—no one would give up on the Foundation Establishment Pill, and everyone wanted to obtain more of them!
But why was Murong Hui linked to the bandaged man in the document? Is it true, or a deliberate frame? But to think, the Skeleton Document undergoes such dramatic change, and Sister Hui, who loves excitement, didn’t show up—could it be...
Thinking this, with thoughts swirling about the Foundation Establishment Pill, Du Li Bamboo decisively turned toward the outskirts of town. Others held similar thoughts; though the Foundation Establishment Pill was invaluable beyond measure, the issue was that they were merely First-Turn Messengers, unqualified to enter such turmoil, and instead of remaining here to become cannon fodder for others, it was better to relay this news as quickly as possible!
Those who remained were either recruited by the Third-Turn Messengers or harbored intentions of being the ’mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind,’ hoping to seize the Foundation Establishment Pill amidst the chaos.
The Demon Gathering Land, once always calm, transformed into the treacherous Asura Land on this very night.
