The area around the royal palace was already packed with people. Fu Birds, yakshas, thunder apes, Herding Ghosts, Ghost Foxes, Ghost Mothers, big-bellied guardians, asuras, and members of various tribes were pouring out of their communities, all gazing toward the massive, mountain-like black giant dog that strode forward.
They buzzed with discussion. The Huo Dog race existed somewhere between demon and ghost clans, holding an extremely high status in both, but their numbers were equally scarce. Even the chiefs of the various tribes might never have seen a Huo Dog before; only a few ghost gods had caught a glimpse, and even then, it was but a fleeting glance, never at such close range.
The overwhelming pressure emanating from the black giant dog made it hard for them to breathe. The dense demonic and ghostly power within its bloodline struck fear into every ghost clan present. The balls of demonic fire swirling around it like clouds made their hearts race in terror.
Many of the ghost tribe chiefs present had awakened their bloodline to the ninth level, possessing immense strength that far surpassed Black Pot. Yet when they faced him, they felt they could not overpower him. This was the suppression of a higher bloodline over them. Though Black Pot was not yet fully grown and his bloodline was only partially awakened, it was enough to make these far more powerful beings submit.
What shocked the ghost tribes even more was the youth standing on the Huo Dog's head. He was as bright as a tree before the courtyard, bathed in the flourishing vigor of spring. Though only about thirteen years old, he stood tall and handsome, seemingly well-read and cultured, his childishness unable to conceal his ambition.
At that moment, a halo of bloodlight spun behind his head. The faint sound of countless ancient ghost gods chanting in low voices reached their ears. Then the Blood Lake Hell slowly took shape behind his head. On the ground, the shattered bones gradually coalesced under an invisible force, the broken fragments reassembling. The Blood Lake Hell behind the youth roared and spun, its powerful regenerative ability making the skeleton body incredibly sturdy once more.
Xiang Kun, Right Consort, and the others watched in astonishment as their skeletal ruler slowly rose, drifting toward the top of the giant dog, arriving beside the youth. The skeletal ruler stood by the youth's side, while the True Martial Exorcising Sword, lying on the ground, vibrated continuously. Suddenly, it shot up with a whoosh, the hilt landing in the youth's hand.
Xiang Kun, Right Consort, and the others showed expressions of excitement, slowly bowing to the youth on the black giant dog's head. "Your ministers pay respects to Lord Chen, and pledge our lives to Your Majesty!"
Their voices shook the air, and many of their clansmen also bowed to the youth atop the giant dog's head. The scene carried a strange infectious power, causing the ghost clan commoners who had emerged from their tribes to bow as well.
Black Pot carried Chen Shi toward the royal palace. Ghost clan commoners bowed along the way. As he approached, one by one, the towering ghost gods in the various tribes knelt on one knee, greeting him.
Black Pot slowly ascended the high platform, arriving before the palace, and turned around. Chen Shi and his skeleton body faced the vast, boundless Heavenly Pool, watching a procession of powerful, extraordinary ghost gods and countless ghost clan experts bowing to him. His heart surged with waves of emotion.
At the Juxian Pavilion and the Red Mountain Hall Talisman Master Association branch, many skeleton minions either walked onto the streets or opened their doors and windows, watching this scene, utterly shocked.
Zhuge Jian muttered to himself, "Perhaps someday we'll see the title 'True King' reappear in the mortal world."
Situ Wen nodded heavily, saying, "He will surely shake the fifty provinces of the Western Ox New Continent! Not just the fifty provinces of the mortal world, but even here in the underworld, his true name will be sung!"
"But what about the Thirteen Great Clans?" Yu Tiancheng whispered behind them.
"Decadent fools, hardly worth mentioning," Li Tianqing said coolly.
In the distance, Lei Qu, Chi Di, and the other tribal chiefs looked toward Chen Shi atop Black Pot's head, deeply moved. Lei Qu said, "The songs passed down through our tribes did not lie. This ruler, who has come to save us, combines wisdom and strength, earning the support of the people. He will revive our ghost clan and lead us to restore our past glory!"
Chi Di's voice trembled slightly as he rasped, "He will make the dark clouds disperse, revealing the bright moon and the scorching sun once more in the sky!"
The moment his words fell, a bright moon rose slowly around Chen Shi, and a scorching sun radiated astonishing heat. The two revolved around Chen Shi, continuously tempering him.
The old chiefs like Chi Di shook violently, staring dumbfounded at this sight.
In the palace, Wen Wuyu watched Chen Shi's back as he faced the ghost clan populace, letting out a sigh of relief. She had stayed in the Heavenly Pool Kingdom's capital all these days, guarding the shattered skeleton of Chen Shi. When his Primordial Spirit was summoned back, the situation was extremely eerie; she had no idea whether Chen Shi was alive or dead. Now seeing him arrive safely, and in the flesh, put her mind at ease.
She did not meet with Chen Shi, quietly withdrawing instead. As she drifted away, she suddenly looked back. The scene of countless subjects paying homage was deeply imprinted in her mind. That old playmate, once so bookish and full of childish charm, had now become a ruler commanding countless ghost clans, winning the loyalty of these ghost gods.
The scene shook her as well, a strange sense of awe welling up inside. In Despair Slope, she had never witnessed anything like this. Since achieving minor success in her cultivation, she had been tasked with gathering intelligence from the underworld. All events collected by the underworld's Heaven's Listeners were compiled here. She had seen many stories, but seeing them and experiencing them personally were entirely different. She now understood that personal charisma could truly win over even ghost gods.
But should she report this? And what about the Aberrant Immortal incident of Yinshan, along with Daoist Tianzhen and the True Martial Exorcising Sword? Did those need to be reported too? Despair Slope had placed her in charge of the underworld to identify these anomalies that could harm the world. If she kept it a secret, wouldn't she be betraying her master's tutelage?
She looked back again. Chen Shi, atop Black Pot's head, seemed to sense her gaze, turned to look, smiled, and waved enthusiastically at her. Suddenly, a warm current surged through Wen Wuyu's heart.
"I'll hold off on reporting this to my sect for now. Once he's settled things properly, I'll report then," she thought silently, her eyes flickering. "The most pressing matter right now is the entity trying to release Daoist Tianzhen and cause his corruption. The Thirteen Great Clans' unification of the underworld takes a backseat to that. This person's threat is far greater!"
In the palace, Peng Yan'er, Peng Ju, and others were extremely excited, leading numerous palace guards to flap their wings and soar into the sky, guarding Chen Shi on all sides. They were equipped with new-style fire guns brought from the mortal world, with iron caltrops hanging from their waists. These days, Situ Wen from the Lu Ban Sect had come to the underworld, planning to team up with the unemployed Thousand-Weave Tribe, teaching these creatures how to forge and manufacture firearms. Perhaps they could first build a Divine Mechanism Battalion belonging to Chen Shi in the Yinshan region.
The Thousand-Weave Tribe were the ghost clan that wove cloth with eight arms. Due to manual weaving with rough techniques, they had been hit hard by the influx of cloth from the mortal world, losing their means of survival. But with their many arms, they would surely have unique advantages in forging as well.
Zhuge Jian also planned to select some from the Thousand-Weave Tribe for the Divine Mechanism Battalion. With their eight arms, they could wield four bird guns at once, firing in all directions, their combat power sure to be astonishing. This way, the Thousand-Weave Tribe would have work and livelihoods, and they wouldn't rebel. And if other ghost tribes rose up, the Thousand-Weave Tribe would undoubtedly become excellent suppressors.
Chen Shi returned to the palace to find little yakshas, little Ox-Heads, and little Horse-Faces bustling about, building various ghost god offices inside and outside the palace. These offices were expanding outward from the palace as the center, and the construction was proceeding quickly.
But Sang Xixi secretly told him that the ruler's personal treasury was almost completely drained by Li Tianqing, Yu Tiancheng, and the others. Lord Chen would likely have to eat wind and drink dew from now on.
Chen Shi inquired further and learned that during his absence from the palace, Li Tianqing and Yu Tiancheng had been busy reorganizing the court of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom's capital. Li Tianqing planned to directly transplant the Western Capital court system here, establishing a Cabinet, a Grand Secretary, supplemented by the Six Ministries, to manage internal affairs. Hence the need to build various government offices. Yu Tiancheng intended to select elites from the various tribes, station them in the Divine Mechanism and Divine Pivot camps, arrange training, and build several armies capable of conquering other ghost kingdoms.
The ghost tribes often fought independently, scattered like grains of sand. When two countries clashed, they would swarm forward, each fighting on their own, relying on brute force. After their reforms, some ghosts would certainly complain that it went against ancestral traditions, but once implemented, their combat power would increase ten or even a hundredfold. Facing the scattered forces of other ghost kingdoms, they would likely steamroll over them!
Chen Shi told Sang Xixi to fully cooperate, saying, "It doesn't matter if I have to eat wind. I'm just a skeleton, I don't need food or drink anyway."
"Your Majesty, how wise!" Sang Xixi praised. "To revive the Heavenly Pool Kingdom, Your Majesty tightens his belt and starves himself, willing to go hungry so that the people of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom can live good lives. You rival Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang!"
"Who taught you to suck up like that?" Chen Shi scolded with a laugh, kicking her out of the palace. He said, "Go to my personal treasury and take out all the money for them to use."
Sang Xixi laughed, "Your Majesty, it's already been taken out. Everything Your Majesty owned that could be sold has been sold, leaving only the ruler's scepter, a crown, and a throne."
"What about my cloak?"
"Sold too. You wouldn't wear it anyway."
"Hmm, hmm..."
...
Chen Shi's skeleton body sat on the throne, wearing the crown. Black Pot shrank in size and squeezed onto the throne with him, very happy, sticking out his tongue and suddenly licking Chen Shi. He licked once more, then found Chen Shi seemed quite tasty, and was startled. Now that Chen Shi was just a skeleton, it was a tremendous temptation for him. He really wanted to pick Chen Shi up, run to a secluded spot, dig a hole, bury him, and eat him when he got hungry. — Of course, he only thought about it.
"I'm not really a dog," Black Pot thought to himself, licking Chen Shi's skeleton bones and swallowing his saliva.
"Boom!"
A loud blast came from the Divine Mechanism Battalion. Peng Yan'er flapped her wings, stirring up thunderous wind. In an instant, she broke the sound barrier, shooting through the air, leaving a fierce gale in her wake. In one breath, she covered a hundred li, landing on a mountaintop a hundred li away. Her claws reached down, grabbed the target, flapped her wings, and flew back, returning to the Divine Mechanism Battalion in another single breath!
Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, and the others watched from the side, all expressing admiration.
Just then, Peng Yan'er's blood and qi suddenly surged, clusters of divine light erupting from within her body. She involuntarily activated the Blood Lake Sutra, refining her bloodline. In just a short moment, her bloodline power skyrocketed, awakening once more. Her strength climbed steadily, her wings turning pure gold! In an instant, her bloodline power nearly doubled! Her aura could even rival that of a cultivator in the Body Unification or Emptiness Refining stage!
Li Tianqing whispered, "Little Ten, the ghost clan members practicing cultivation techniques have none of the characteristics of ghosts. Especially after using the techniques to purify their bloodlines, they don't look like ghosts, but more like, like..."
He hesitated, not finishing.
Chen Shi said, "The legendary divine clan?"
Li Tianqing nodded, then shook his head with a laugh, "Their bloodline power is extremely pure. The techniques can stimulate the awakening of bloodline power. Especially after refining away all the impurities, their bloodline power appears very sacred. But ghosts are ghosts, how could they be the same as the legendary divine clan?"
Chen Shi smiled, "Maybe the ghost clan is just the fallen divine clan?"
Li Tianqing laughed, "How could that be?"
Chen Shi looked into the distance, his gaze falling on the massive, sky-falling Heavenly Cascade, and said, "Where does the water of this cascade come from? Where do the tribal divine artifacts come from? The giant divine corpses hanging on Boundless Cliff, who were they? Why were they hung there? And the bronze coin from the Divine Continent, why did it appear in Yinshan?"
Li Tianqing looked toward the huge coin as massive as a mountain in the Eastern Palace, and said, "According to the ancient records of my Li Family, this object might be an artifact from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, created by immortals. It's called the Golden Coin That Falls Treasures."
"What era?" Chen Shi asked.
"The Shang and Zhou dynasties," Li Tianqing said. "It's too far from now, with countless divine dynasties in between. My Li Family's records about those ancient times are pitifully scarce. But the Golden Coin That Falls Treasures appearing here suggests the ghost clan might be connected to the Divine Continent. Look, there are more prehistoric relics here than in the mortal world. It's very possible the ghost clan built a glorious civilization here back then. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason it was destroyed, and this place became the Yinshan of the underworld."
Chen Shi told him about the ghost clan's loss of language recorded in their songs. Li Tianqing exclaimed in surprise, "The ghost clan's loss of language is very similar to the True King's sealing of the immortals!"
Chen Shi said, "I noticed that too. Moreover, after the True King entered Despair Slope and came out, he performed the sealing of the immortals. Perhaps the ghost clan's loss of language is also related to Despair Slope."
Li Tianqing pondered deeply, but the Li Family's records on Despair Slope were also pitifully sparse, just a few phrases.
Chen Shi smiled, "I know a girl from Despair Slope. Maybe I can ask her."
Li Tianqing said, "You could trade on your good looks to get more information."
Chen Shi said indignantly, "My relationship with her is purely platonic!"
Li Tianqing said seriously, "I know. But you can trade on your good looks to take it further. You're the True King. You have to make a sacrifice."
Chen Shi laughed heartily, "I won't fall for your trick! You're definitely sent by my Peng Qiao!"
Li Tianqing sighed. He was a year older than Chen Shi and had some understanding of matters between men and women, but True King Chen was clearly still clueless about such things. "Maybe when he's a year older, he'll understand. But it needs to be before he severs the Three Corpses. Otherwise, after severing the Three Corpses, there'll be no worldly desires left," he thought to himself.
Chen Shi didn't care about this. He left the Heavenly Pool Kingdom to his skeleton body, guarded by a single thought. As for internal affairs and external matters, they were all handed over to the Heavenly Pool Kingdom's Cabinet. "I need to go to Tai Hua Qing Palace to fulfill Daoist Tianzhen's wish."
In the palace garden, the soil shifted. Chen Shi's skeleton body suddenly sat up from beneath the ground, saying to Black Pot, who was busy burying bones, "Black Pot, come with me to Tai Hua Qing Palace."
Black Pot was startled, then suddenly realized. He looked at Skeleton Chen Shi, whom he had buried in the dirt, and thought ruefully, "I really am a dog!"
— Thanks to the two new alliance leaders, ICL and I am Taiyi, for their tips!
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