Chapter 1490: Chapter 1402: As If a Grand Game Is Being Played
"Help you slay demons?" Luo Dan laughed hysterically upon hearing this, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. His obese body quivered uncontrollably from the laughter, causing his fat to tremble endlessly.
"I say, my friend, judging by your looks, you must be a human cultivator, no? The Flood Dragon King is already aware that human cultivators have infiltrated the Northern North Desolation. They haven’t made a move on you yet, and you’re already thinking of turning me against them?"
"Moreover, you don’t even recognize your own impending doom as you deliver yourself here."
"Haha, since you’ve brought those corpses over yourself, why bother cooperating with you? I might as well just kill you and take that storage ring back myself!"
As he spoke, Luo Dan waved his hand, and his subordinates immediately surrounded Ye Guichen.
Ye Guichen appeared to ignore them; he calmly continued, "Are you sure you want to take action against me?"
"What now, do you really think you can defeat so many of us single-handedly?" Luo Dan didn’t waste words and directly ordered, "What are you waiting for, get him!"
Over ten people surrounded him.
Each person swung their Corpse Chasing Whip toward Ye Guichen.
Ye Guichen smiled faintly, raised his hand, and grabbed one of the Corpse Chasing Whips, pulling it fiercely toward himself.
Ye Guichen swiftly pulled the Corpse Chasing Whip into his hand.
Simultaneously, Ye Guichen turned the whip and applied force to the handle, pulling hard.
Bang!
He directly knocked another person off their feet.
This series of actions flowed seamlessly.
Before the others realized what was happening, Ye Guichen had already sent all ten plus people flying with the whip in his hand.
Each person hit by the whip bore a distinct bloodstain on their body.
That wasn’t all; the corpse energy on the whip had invaded their bodies.
Although these individuals were Corpse Cultivators, the corpse energy on the whip was extremely domineering, even more terrifying than what they had internally.
With the corpse energy from the whip contaminating them, their bodies would soon undergo a rigid transformation, eventually becoming a corpse.
But since they were Corpse Cultivators, they all carried antidotes.
After being injured, they quickly took out the antidotes and tossed them into their mouths, gazing at Ye Guichen in terror.
Earlier, they had witnessed Ye Guichen grab one end of the Corpse Chasing Whip.
Yet now, looking at Ye Guichen, it seemed the corpse energy didn’t affect him at all.
What was going on?
All were astonished and fearful.
However, they could not comprehend that the corpse gu within Ye Guichen’s body far surpassed the corpse energy from the whip in sheer potency.
If Ye Guichen desired, he could easily control these Corpse Cultivators with his corpse gu.
"So, what’s the decision, cooperate or not?"
Ye Guichen tossed the whip aside and turned back toward Luo Dan.
Luo Dan gulped in horror, looking at Ye Guichen in disbelief: "Who are you really, and why can you break through our corpse energy?"
The Corpse Cultivators from the Holy Temple had been entrenched in the Netherworld Mountain for a long time, continuously refining corpse energy without pause.
Moreover, they were incredibly confident.
That corpse energy, no matter how powerful a person might be, would definitely cause a reaction upon contact.
The situation with Ye Guichen was unprecedented.
"I am Ye Guichen, commander of an army of one hundred thousand." Ye Guichen replied.
These words left Luo Dan and his cohort slack-jawed.
They hadn’t sought out Ye Guichen, yet Ye Guichen had found them instead.
Kill?
How could they kill him?
Originally, they believed killing Ye Guichen wouldn’t be easy; however difficult, not impossible.
After all, Ye Guichen was within the army of one hundred thousand; to kill him, they had to first circumvent that army.
Once they bypassed the army, killing Ye Guichen would be as simple as slaughtering chickens and dogs.
But now, they finally realized.
A person capable of commanding an army of one hundred thousand was definitely no ordinary being.
"What is your intention?" Luo Dan took a deep breath and put away his Corpse Chasing Whip.
Since they couldn’t win, they would cooperate.
After all, the creature corpses were also corpses, useful to Corpse Cultivators.
Ye Guichen shook his head, "I laid out my terms earlier."
"You want us to help you deal with the half-demons. Do you know that we are allied with the half demons? If it’s only for these corpses, it’s not worthwhile."
Luo Dan was being honest.
Although Corpse Cultivators needed corpses, the most important aspect was releasing the Demon Clan from the hidden gates.
If the Demon Clan didn’t emerge, their cultivation would forever be sealed, unable to truly leave the Netherworld Mountain.
Though releasing the Demon Clan might lead to them being viewed as enemies, even slain, those concerns would only arise later.
For now, they were allied with the half-demons.
Helping Ye Guichen slay a formidable demon was simply unwise for the Corpse Cultivators.
Ye Guichen had little interest in dragging out the conversation with Luo Dan, "Corpse Cultivator, do you think you have a choice? I brought this storage ring today as a gesture of good faith; if you refuse, I don’t mind killing all of you."
As he spoke, Ye Guichen suddenly struck.
A swift blow with his sword split a nearby Corpse Cultivator in half.
The Corpse Cultivator hadn’t even comprehended what had happened, and his two halves had already fallen to the ground.
Strangely, after hitting the ground, the Corpse Cultivator’s body didn’t bleed, as if all the blood had solidified.
Ye Guichen merely glanced, noting it was a practice unique to Corpse Cultivators, likely a result of long-term exposure to corpse energy; even in death, the corpse could be repurposed.
But Ye Guichen doesn’t care about these things right now.
With one simple move, he easily killed a Corpse Cultivator, as if taking something out of a bag, causing Luo Dan and the other Corpse Cultivators to be deeply apprehensive.
The situation was very clear.
Ye Guichen’s cultivation level far exceeded their imagination.
If they didn’t agree, today there might be only a dead end for them.
Everyone stepped back a few steps, watching both Ye Guichen warily and looking toward Luo Dan.
Luo Dan, although unwilling, had no other choice now: "Fine, but I have one condition."
"Let’s hear it," Ye Guichen said.
Luo Dan’s eyes darted twice: "With your skills, sir, although you haven’t even formed a Golden Core yet, I believe you will have a limitless future. If you don’t mind, I am willing to form an alliance with you on behalf of the Corpse King."
Ye Guichen paused for a moment, surprised that this plump woman had thought of so much: "Form an alliance with me?"
"That’s right," Luo Dan said, "since you could find this place, you probably already know something about our Corpse Cultivators. In the Holy Temple, we are at odds with the Ghost Cultivators, each occupying our own space. Although there is a delicate balance now, the only reason is the Array that the powerful Demon Clan used to imprison us many years ago. If one day we can break free from Netherworld Mountain, our Corpse Cultivator tribe and the Ghost Cultivator lineage will definitely have a battle. At that time, I hope you can stand on our side. Moreover, perhaps it won’t be long before our Corpse Cultivator lineage also becomes enemies with the Demon Clan, and at that time, I likewise hope you can stand with us."
Ye Guichen looked at Luo Dan with great interest, not expecting this woman to have such a mind.
Although Ye Guichen wasn’t very clear about the Netherworld Mountain situation, he could guess a rough idea.
Since the Corpse Cultivator lineage secretly collects corpses, they definitely wouldn’t be content to stay under the Demon Clan forever.
Even if the hidden gate opens and the Demon Clan emerges, a battle between the Corpse Cultivators and Ghost Cultivators is unavoidable; it’s uncertain whether the Demon Clan will keep these two sects.
Therefore, once the hidden gate opens and the Demon Clan is released, it’s feared the entire Chaos Sea will fall into chaos.
By then, the Corpse Cultivators would absolutely need powerful allies.
Ye Guichen had never thought of colluding with these Corpse Cultivators before, nor did he want any involvement with those Ghost Cultivators.
But since the other side had made a proposal, Ye Guichen wanted to see what benefits they could offer him.
As long as it didn’t touch his own interests, why not cooperate?
Ye Guichen smiled: "You’re quite a schemer, but I wonder, what can I get out of it?"
"The Netherworld Mountain!" Luo Dan opened her mouth, uttering two words.
"Netherworld Mountain?" Ye Guichen was puzzled: "The Netherworld Mountain where you reside?"
"That’s right, when the time comes, if you are willing to aid us Corpse Cultivators, I will definitely tell the Corpse King to help you acquire the Netherworld Mountain."
Ye Guichen frowned, finding it somewhat absurd: "What use do I have for that Netherworld Mountain?"
"You might not know," Luo Dan seemed to value the cooperation with Ye Guichen immensely, paused, and continued, "Why were we, the Corpse Cultivators and Ghost Cultivators, imprisoned in Netherworld Mountain by the powerful Demon Clan before they were trapped themselves, and why were we made into chess pieces, sir you might not know, right?"
Ye Guichen shook his head.
He certainly didn’t know.
The Netherworld Mountain affair was something he’d just heard about.
"Actually, we Corpse Cultivators had died a long time ago," Luo Dan revealed a shocking piece of news.
Ye Guichen was startled, showing a look of surprise: "You died long ago?"
"That’s right, we died long ago," Luo Dan continued, "The reason we Corpse Cultivators can cultivate corpse energy is precisely because we’ve already died."
The more Ye Guichen listened, the more confused he became: "But you are clearly alive now."
Luo Dan gave a wry smile: "Indeed, we do appear to be alive, but that’s because we’ve turned into zombies."
"You’re zombies?"
Luo Dan shook her head, seeming to feel that this explanation was too far-fetched: "Not exactly, we are different from ordinary zombies. Ordinary zombies often lack the three souls and seven spirits, while we have obtained a soul from Netherworld Mountain, refined it into our original bodies, and thus came back to life by borrowing the corpse."
"Borrowing the corpse to take over the soul?" Ye Guichen found it even more unbelievable.
But soon, through Luo Dan’s explanation, Ye Guichen roughly understood some things.
That is, a secret about Netherworld Mountain.
Netherworld Mountain seems truly connected to the Yinming Land.
The act of borrowing the corpse to take over the soul involves extracting souls from Yinming Land and refining them into corpses, thus resurrecting them.
Those so-called Ghost Cultivators are actually Yin Souls who haven’t found bodies for refinement.
They themselves are actually ghostly beings.
In other words, both Ghost Cultivators and Corpse Cultivators have intricate links with Netherworld Mountain.
Their presence in this world is due to that eerie passage in Netherworld Mountain.
And for this reason, they could not leave Netherworld Mountain for too long.
Otherwise, without the replenishment of Yin energy, they would die completely.
According to Luo Dan, there is a door between Netherworld Mountain and Yinming Land, and it opens once every three hundred and thirty-three years.
Each time, it opens for three days.
They took advantage of the door opening to escape.
But some Yin Souls didn’t find suitable bodies after escaping, so they couldn’t achieve the resurrection.
To survive, they must cultivate the Ghost Path.
This also created a gap between those Ghost Cultivators and Corpse Cultivators.
In the eyes of those Ghost Cultivators, why could Corpse Cultivators find bodies while they couldn’t?
The conflicts between them intensified over time.
Years ago, before the Demon Clan were imprisoned in the hidden gate, a great demon promised that if they could escape one day, they would help Ghost Cultivators and Corpse Cultivators leave Netherworld Mountain.
This promise is the reason why they stood together with the half-demons.
After listening, Ye Guichen seemed to have a vague feeling.
It felt as though the Demon Clan and Immortals were playing a grand game of chess.
Be it the Ghost Cultivators, the Corpse Cultivators, or even Chaos Sea, they are all part of this game.
But as for what this game truly was, Ye Guichen couldn’t see through or grasp it at all.
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