Chapter 247: Passing Through Yinsha Forest

The Foundation Establishment cultivator from Huangshi Ridge was an unfamiliar face, with mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation. He resembled the former Lady Bai Gu, wearing a light yellow Daoist robe with bare legs exposed. His feet touched the ground soundlessly.

“Passing through this area, I’ve disturbed your cultivation, Fellow Daoist,” Chen Luo said with a courteous smile. His late-stage Foundation Establishment aura radiated outward.

The Huangshi Ridge cultivator’s expression shifted instantly, all anger vanishing as he adopted a hospitable smile. “Ah, so it’s you! A guest in our humble abode. Please make yourself at home. Stay as long as you wish!”

Daoist Yellow Lion spoke cordially while inwardly reviewing his list of enemies or considering if he’d offended this powerful individual. Late-stage Foundation Establishment experts typically resided near Blackstone City, where the first-order spirit meridians were of higher quality. Only someone like him, lacking proper connections, would settle in this remote backwater.

“This was once a friend’s cultivation ground. I’ve returned merely to bid her final farewell,” Chen Luo said, a wistful glint in his eyes.

When Chen Luo first encountered Lady Bai Gu, her aura was as deep as an abyss. Clad in a fiery red dress, she stood upon white bones with slender, beautiful legs, like a monster stepping out of a painting.

“This…”

Daoist Yellow Lion’s expression shifted, not expecting this layer of karmic connection. The late Foundation Establishment cultivator before him exerted overwhelming pressure. His spiritual energy fluctuations approached the peak realm - a terrifying oppression he’d only felt from Blackstone City’s three vice mayors.

Realizing he’d occupied the Dao field of such a powerful figure’s friend, panic surged within him.

He’d thought this was ownerless land, but now it felt like a scalding hot potato.

“Fellow Daoist, rest assured - my friend is no longer here,” Chen Luo said, sensing the Daoist’s concern. “I’m merely here to pay my respects.”

He retrieved the Black Carapace Daoist’s Pouch of Holding. During their previous encounter, he’d sensed Lady Bai Gu’s aura emanating from the Daoist. Now that he’d slain the Black Carapace Daoist, the source of that aura became clear.

White Jade Bone.

Within the Pouch of Holding lay a crystalline white bone - Lady Bai Gu’s true foundation.

Lady Bai Gu was a spirit of the inhuman realm. To achieve Core Formation, she needed to refine her essence and obtain a Rakshasa Bone.

Chen Luo had once accompanied her in this quest. During their search, they encountered the ghost temple where Gu Demon Khan Jiu had perished. Now, connecting all the dots, Lady Bai Gu stood at the very beginning of this chain of events.

“The path to immortality is fraught with peril,” Daoist Yellow Lion sighed. “Even achieving Foundation Establishment is but a desperate struggle against fate itself.”

As long as they weren’t here to cause trouble, that suited him well. Seeing Chen Luo had already dismissed him, Daoist Yellow Lion tactfully withdrew while instructing his young disciples to avoid provoking this man at all costs.

Clutching the white jade bone, Chen Luo placed it upon the stone table before the cave.

“A desperate struggle against fate,” he murmured.

He recalled his final farewell with Lady Bai Gu. Together, they had seized control of Gu Demon Mountain. Then, unexpectedly, she had uncovered a clue about the ‘Rakshasa Bone’—after which she vanished without a trace. Now it seemed clear that clue had been planted by the Black Carapace Daoist, precisely to lure her with her ‘white jade bone’.

By eliminating the Black Carapace Daoist, Chen Luo had avenged Lady Bai Gu.

The white bones lay upon the stone table, their fluorescence spilling outward in an eerie glow, as if expressing gratitude to Chen Luo.

Three days passed at Bai Gu Ridge.

During these three days, Chen Luo examined the Black Carapace Daoist’s mind. This third-ranked great cultivator from Blackstone City, having reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage, harbored only one obsession:

I must create a Silver Carapace Corpse King!

In the hierarchy of corpse cultivation, the lowest tier consists of ordinary corpse puppets. Successfully nurturing their baleful energy marks the first step. Above these ordinary puppets lie black-haired zombies, equivalent to late Qi Refining to Qi Refining Perfection stages. Chen Luo’s old friend, the Mummy Daoist, had crafted corpse puppets at this level.

Beyond ordinary puppets and black-haired zombies lies the Iron Corpse!

Within the Corpse-Raising Sect, Iron Corpses serve as the standard for elders. Their creation imposes numerous innate restrictions - the corpse’s pre-life constitution, bloodline, cultivation level, and other factors all influence the final quality. Beyond these requirements lies the need for vast quantities of corpse-refining materials.

Above Iron Corpses stands the Silver Carapace Corpse King.

When the iron hue of a cultivated corpse fades, giving way to silver, it signifies mastery of corpse cultivation. These supreme entities, known as Silver Carapace Corpse Kings, reach the equivalent of Core Formation cultivators - the pinnacle of corpse refinement that corpse cultivators dream of attaining.

Unfortunately, refining a Silver Carapace Corpse King proved even more challenging than creating Iron Corpses. Not only did it require specific corpse materials, but also precise Qi Refining ingredients and specialized corpse-cultivation techniques. During his time in the Seven Nations region, Chen Luo had observed that among the three major cultivation sects, only one Silver Carapace Corpse King existed—the creation of the Corpse-Raising Sect’s leader.

The Black Carapace Daoist was the most powerful corpse cultivator in the Southwest Territory. His Pouch of Holding brimmed with corpse-cultivation materials. The White Jade Bone of Lady Bai Gu was his primary ingredient for refining a Silver Carapace Corpse King. Over three days, Chen Luo studied the Black Carapace Daoist’s family cultivation techniques. Through the Daoist’s memories, he discerned the man’s grand scheme.

The over a hundred cultivated corpses he’d refined served as corpse-nourishing materials.

By gathering the corpse energy from a hundred Iron Corpses, supplementing it with precious corpse-cultivation ingredients, and employing his family’s ancestral corpse-refining technique, he could undoubtedly create a Silver Carapace Corpse King. With such a king in hand, he’d possess Core Formation-level combat power—enough to face even the Blackstone Ancestor without fear.

None of the three full realm cultivators in Blackstone City remained content with their status.

“Such abundant materials shouldn’t go to waste. Let me help you achieve your dream.”

Chen Luo stored the White Jade Bone in his Pouch of Holding without bidding farewell to Daoist Yellow Lion. His figure blurred into a streak of light that shot northward.

“Master, the baleful star has left!” A child’s voice called from the cave behind him. The boy poked his head out to scan the area, only relaxing when he confirmed no one remained. He scampered back into the cave, exclaiming in relief.

During Chen Luo’s three-day presence at the cave entrance, Daoist Yellow Lion hadn’t dared sleep or practice cultivation. Every moment he closed his eyes, he imagined that baleful star outside storming in to seize his abode. Though the man had claimed to return for memorial rites, who could trust such empty words? As demonic cultivators, concepts like integrity didn’t exist in their world.

These days, Daoist Yellow Lion had devised multiple escape plans, even considering the desperate Blood Escape technique that burned one’s own blood to flee.

At the first sign of trouble, I’ll flee! he resolved. No hesitation. That man’s a Foundation Establishment peak cultivator—hesitation means death. This was the hard-earned wisdom from years of cultivation. It was precisely this caution that had kept him alive all these years.

“Left?”

Hearing the voice of the child outside, Daoist Yellow Lion’s spirits instantly lifted.

He quickly rose and approached the cave entrance. As he neared, he lightened his footsteps and refrained from pushing open the door. Instead, he quietly extended his divine sense outward. First, he checked Chen Luo’s previous seating area, and only after confirming no one was present did he truly relax.

“Good, good, good! He’s finally gone!”

He burst out laughing, pushing open the cave door and sweeping away three days of worry in an instant.

Chen Luo’s speed was remarkable. After passing Bai Gu Ridge, he flew eastward without pause. Beyond the ridge, a dense toxic miasma filled the sky, enveloping the entire heavens. Within the haze, something terrifying seemed to be watching, sending a chill of danger through his heart.

Yinsha Forest.

He had returned to this place - the same forest that had taken him so long to escape before, but now he reached it in half a day.

Controlling his flying sword, he descended and set foot on the ground once more.

The moment he landed, the strange sense of danger vanished.

“What was that thing?”

Chen Luo extended his divine sense cautiously. As soon as it spread out, a portion of it vanished, as if consumed by something. This result made Chen Luo frown slightly, and he abandoned the idea of further testing.

He was just passing through this place; there was no need to provoke additional troubles.

The Yinsha Forest had significant issues. The scholar Ning Chenye whom Chen Luo had encountered here before was part of the strangeness, along with that eerie woman.

Re-entering the Yinsha Forest, the familiar chill enveloped him.

The light rapidly disappeared, and the surroundings once again became pitch-black. Chen Luo dispersed his divine sense, following the direction etched in his memory to retrace his steps. His significantly improved cultivation of divine sense meant he would no longer be as passive here as he had been before.

“Hee hee.”

A strange sound emerged from the Yinwood Forest, accompanied by rustling shadows drifting past like greetings.

Chen Luo ignored these things, continuing to walk across the pitch-black mud. The leaves beneath his feet, accumulated over who knows how long, crunched softly underfoot. The stench of decay filled the air, and even the spiritual energy here seemed to have become tainted.

After walking for some time, Chen Luo suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The familiar red lanterns appeared ahead once more, but this time they floated eerily through the forest like ghostly flames. The Life-in-This-World Inn had vanished.

As Chen Luo spotted the lanterns, they simultaneously detected his presence.

Whoosh!

The flame within the lanterns surged, transforming into massive fireballs that breached their confines.

“Would you care to stay, honored guest?!” A seductive voice called out. Chen Luo recognized it - the innkeeper of the Life-in-This-World Inn, the Xenogenic Paint Demon.

Scarlet light flashed, coalescing into a stream of crimson that hurtled toward Chen Luo.

The fireballs sliced through trees, their branches parting like water. Strangely, the vegetation remained unburned, as if impervious to flame. Instead, the black miasma thickened, its sinister energy twisting and contracting like a living entity as branches withdrew into the trunks.

These trees are alive?!

Boom!

Chen Luo staggered back as the fireballs struck the ground. The impact detonated decaying leaves mixed with foul-smelling earth, sending fragments of flame and rotting foliage flying. The explosion carved a crater in the soil, yet the scattered leaves and embers failed to ignite.