Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Remnants of the Celestial Grotto

Rumble... Thud, thud, thud...

At that very moment, a tremendous surge of inky black mist erupted from the mouth of the underground tunnel, shooting skyward like a fountain.

"Everyone, look! What is that..."

"What’s happening to the church..."

"Why has the sky gone dark..."

"What is going on..."

...

The entire population of Jiuquan Town poured out of their homes, staring up at the black mist, as dark as ink, that obscured the sun above. The townsfolk began to talk amongst themselves, and the bolder ones even rushed toward the church.

Heh heh heh... Hahaha...

Hisss... Awooo...

"We're finally free..."

"Eat... eat... eat..."

"What a delicious scent..."

As the black mist spread, blotting out the sky and sun, the world plunged into sudden gloom. Shapes, vague and shifting, like fish swimming in water, drifted through the blackness, flooding into this realm.

"Look at the mess you’ve made! In broad daylight, the hundred ghosts walk—this is a disaster!"

Staring at the ominous spectacle in the sky, Uncle Jiu’s face turned grave. With a flick of his toe, the innate Eight Trigrams array leapt from the ground into his hand. He shouted to those behind him,

"Axing, Xiaoyue, why are you still standing there? Come with your master—help evacuate the townsfolk and subdue these demons and ghosts!"

Li Yang watched this unfold, his expression equally grim. He instructed the Golden Toad to guard the Furious Sunshine Chicken’s egg, then leapt through the gap in the roof into the sky.

"Ah... help..."

"Ah... ugh..."

"A ghost... help..."

"Run! Don’t block the way..."

"Sizzle... help me..."

"Uncle Jiu, save us..."

...

Standing atop the church roof, Li Yang surveyed the chaos and carnage below, the townspeople fleeing in terror and the air filled with rampaging evil spirits. His face twitched; he hadn’t expected things to spiral so far out of control.

He’d thought the underground simply harbored a Yin Sha pit, but by the look of things, it was clearly connected to some unknown space—perhaps even the Nine Netherworlds.

Li Yang knew there were too many ghosts; even if he and Uncle Jiu fought until exhaustion, they could never subdue them all. The only solution was to break through the black mist above and let the power of the sun cleanse the fiends in one fell swoop.

Clang! "Break for me!"

With this thought, Li Yang smashed his fists together, sending out a ringing sound like clashing metal. Golden light radiated from his body, his vital force rising like a pillar of smoke, straight toward the heavens.

Rumble...

Sizzle...

As Li Yang’s energy clashed with the Yin Sha in the air, a massive vortex appeared in the sky, thunder rolling ominously.

Heh heh... Trying to break through the Yin Sha...

"Don’t even think about it! Get him, all of you!"

The commotion in the sky drew the attention of the ghosts. Seeing the golden figure atop the church, they shrieked and swarmed toward Li Yang in waves of black mist.

"Wretches and demons—you know nothing of death!"

Sizzle...

Facing the black mist surging toward him, Li Yang sneered coldly. With a shout, his entire body erupted in golden-red energy, blazing like a miniature sun, instantly dispelling the darkness around him.

"Mr. Li, help!"

At that moment, cries for help sounded from within the church. Looking over, Li Yang saw several black shadows pounce upon a group of priests, leaving only empty human skins drifting through the air.

Anne, at some point, had also come to the church and was fleeing with Father Wu, both screaming as they dodged the shadows’ attacks.

"Heaven and earth be clear, grant me divine power: with my blood, forge a golden body!"

Seeing this, Li Yang leapt into the air and bit his finger. A few drops of golden blood, like liquid mercury, landed on the foreheads of Father Wu and Anne, radiating a powerful, masculine energy that drove the shadows back.

"Find someplace safe to hide and don’t show yourselves, no matter what!"

...

Chirp... Screee!

Before Li Yang could finish, a sorrowful cry echoed from the church’s basement, where the Vermilion Bird was absorbing the Yin Sha.

Heh heh... Fortune smiles on me! A divine bird, blood of the Phoenix!

An eerie laugh drifted from the black hole. Without warning, a skeleton as white as jade shot out, seizing the Vermilion Bird by the neck with a bony claw. The soulfire in its eye sockets flared ominously.

Caw...

The Golden Toad, guarding the Vermilion Bird, lashed out with its tongue, but the skeleton’s other claw gripped it tightly.

"Wicked fiend!"

Sensing the warning from the Golden Toad in his mind, Li Yang’s expression changed dramatically. In a blur, he appeared in the basement.

"Die!" Clang, clang, clang...

Rumble...

Li Yang’s fists crashed down on the skeleton, the clash resounding like metal upon metal. The skeleton was knocked flying, smashing into the wall and embedding itself.

"Where did this brat come from... courting death."

Creak, creak...

The skeleton wrenched itself free, soulfire flickering in its green eyes as it glared at Li Yang, now standing before the giant egg.

"A Martial Saint of the mortal realm... No, not quite reborn—just a new body. No wonder your energy is so strong!"

"Excellent. Someone with such robust vital force is rare indeed. Fortune truly smiles on me today—freshly freed, and I encounter such a feast! Hahaha..."

Sizing Li Yang up, the soulfire in the skeleton's eyes blazed as it cackled.

"Hmph! If you want to eat me, I fear your teeth aren’t up to the task!"

Li Yang wasted no words. His body blurred, fists, palms, legs, and knees all became lethal weapons as he charged the skeleton.

Clang, clang, clang...

Their blows met, sparks flying as the sound of clashing metal rang out. In an instant, their battle burst out of the church.

"What unbreakable bones!"

Li Yang’s face grew solemn—his strikes, no matter how many, left the skeleton unharmed.

"Brat, take a taste of my power!"

Clang... Rumble!

The skeleton reached into the pit, and two beams of black light flashed into its grasp—a hammer and a chisel, covered in runes. As they struck together, thunder and lightning split the sky.

"Golden Centipede Transformation!"

Confronted by the thunder and lightning, Li Yang’s form flickered and shifted into a golden centipede with six wings, over thirty feet long. His body blurred, dodging the descending thunderbolt.

"Hahaha... Brat, prepare to die!"

Clang... Rumble!

The skeleton hammered and chiseled, and black clouds rolled over Jiuquan Town, dense lightning bolts raining down.

"Ah..."

"Help..."

"Lord Thunder, have mercy..."

"I’ll never do it again... Please forgive me, Lord Thunder..."

...

"Wicked creature!"

Seeing the ground littered with empty skins and charred corpses, Uncle Jiu’s eyes burned red with fury. He pulled a crimson talisman from his robe and sent it shooting into the sky, where it burst into a beam of spirit light.

"Hmm... A Maoshan transmission talisman!"

Seeing the red light scatter across the sky, the skeleton’s laughter stopped, its tone growing grave.

"Old ghost, die!"

In that moment, the golden centipede spread its six wings, rending space itself toward the skeleton. Its jaws unleashed a torrent of golden breath, blasting the skeleton.

Sizzle...

Caught by several spatial rifts, the skeleton lost a hand, which Li Yang snatched instantly.

"Spatial arts! Brat, you have skill. We’ll settle this later!"

Seeing his weapon snatched away, the skeleton transformed into black mist, trying to escape into the underground hole. Li Yang reacted instantly.

Chirp, chirp...

The Vermilion Bird, absorbing the Yin Sha, suddenly raised its head and unleashed a torrent of orange-red solar fire, blocking the black mist’s path.

"Old ghost, today is your death day!"

Li Yang became a streak of crimson-gold light, diving down and pinning the skeleton in the solar fire, holding it fast.

Heh heh... Brat, do you really think such tricks can subdue me? These immortal bones aren’t something your half-baked solar fire can refine.

Though its body burned red, the skeleton showed no fear—instead, it laughed coldly.

"Heh... If you hadn’t said so, I might have been at a loss. True, perhaps your bones are immortal—but is your soul immortal as well?"

"Today you die!"

Li Yang clamped down on the skeleton, a ferocious look on his face. Suddenly, a golden auspicious cloud appeared above his head, drilling into the skeleton’s skull.

"Ahh... Brat, I yield! Spare me—I’ll trade treasures for my life!"

"No, wait—I'll tell you a secret to immortality! Spare me, and I’ll become your servant!"

As the skeleton’s cries for mercy grew weaker, Li Yang was unmoved. For such an unknown, sinister evil, it was best to destroy it completely. As for secrets—he could search for them after its death.

After more than an hour, the Vermilion Bird’s spirit nearly exhausted, the soulfire in the skeleton’s eyes was finally extinguished by the golden centipede’s power. Still wary, Li Yang covered the skeleton with sealing runes drawn in his own blazing blood, then carefully stored it in his dimensional space.

"What a treasure!"

Weighing the hammer and chisel—resembling ancient thunder god artifacts—Li Yang’s face lit up with joy.

The two artifacts alone weighed over a thousand pounds each, neither gold nor jade, but more like stone. The yin-yang thunder runes carved upon them marked them as anything but ordinary.

Stowing the Thunder God’s chisel for now, Li Yang gazed at the black hole below, hesitated, and finally jumped in.

As soon as he entered, a familiar pulse of spatial power washed over him, drawing him through to another space.

He found himself in a broken, ruined realm, filled with deathly, baleful, and yin energies. The entire space was shrouded in a strange, ashen gloom, and even the earth reeked of rot and decay. Pushing forward, Li Yang soon arrived at a dilapidated Daoist temple at the center of this realm.

The signboard above was so decayed it was barely legible, only the first and last characters—“Purple” and “Temple”—could be faintly discerned. Inside, dust lay thick, and before a stone-carved deity stood a dark red meditation cushion, still bearing the faint impression of someone’s form.

Cobwebs shrouded the table beside the cushion, where several empty cups had been set.

After searching the temple, Li Yang found an abandoned medicinal garden—completely empty, not a trace of life, as desolate as the entire space itself.