Chapter 130 Yama
Before he could finish speaking, the King of Poison walked up to him, his expression shrouded in shadow. Shinju fell silent, annoyed that his lighthearted words of comfort were useless. He then began to ponder whether there were any other ways to obtain an identity for the King of Poison that would allow him to move relatively freely in the underworld, since a wandering ghost here could hardly move an inch.
It was at this moment that the King of Poison said to him, "Although I can be assigned to the position of Yin Soldier, the Yin Soldier force is already saturated. Fortunately, there is still a vacancy in another position..."
Masakatsu paused for a moment, then instinctively asked, "What is it?"
"The King of Hell in the Tenth Court," said the Poison King.
"..." Shinju knew that King Ju was not the type to joke or tease, but he was still unsure. His gaze swept over King Ju's face, and he saw that there was not a trace of mockery in King Ju's dark eyes, which were more composed than a hundred-year-old bronze vessel.
Just as the atmosphere was about to freeze, a series of heavy, complex footsteps suddenly sounded from behind the yamen. Zhen Su took a step to the side and saw that behind the Zhen King, Ox-Head and Horse-Face were leading a group of elite soldiers dressed in Yin armor, kneeling in two neat rows.
Ox-Head and Horse-Face seemed momentarily taken aback by the presence of True Monk, but they quickly lowered their heads and reported, "Greetings, Lord Yama! The cleaning of the palace is not yet complete, but your residence and the casting of the token have been arranged. If you have any further instructions, please give the order, and we will obey."
The King of Zhen turned around and said, "I understand. Once the official documents are issued, I will enter the palace to assume my post."
Having said that, King Zhen gently pushed Shinju's waist and led him away.
Shinju was so dazed that his neck was stiff. It took him a while to turn around and follow the calm and composed steps of the King of Poison.
Ox-Head and Horse-Face intended to follow, but a glance from the King of Hell subtly signaled them to stop, so they gave up. They could only watch as the newly appointed King of Hell protected his new subordinates, leaving the Soul-Hooking Bureau side-by-side.
They hadn't gone far when Shinju pushed the person beside him into a deserted alley. Although he was grabbing the King of Poison's collar and looked menacing, the bewilderment in his golden eyes was almost overflowing.
"King Yama?!" Shinju couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out the shocking question.
Hatsushi choked for a moment, almost swallowing his words, and pressed on, "What exactly happened??" No matter how much Hatsushi thought about it, he couldn't understand. It was just his first visit to the yamen, how did the Poison King become his superior? No, he should be considered the highest-ranking official!
The Poison King slowly explained it to Zhen Su. After an incense stick had burned, Zhen Su finally understood the true nature of the Poison King's cultivation path, which had been shrouded in mist all along.
"I cultivate the path of emperors, which has four realms: 'King,' 'Emperor,' and I am currently in the late stage of the King realm."
The Way of the Emperor, as its name suggests, is the way to wield power and control people. The cultivation world may seem devoid of palaces and mortal affairs, without dynastic changes, but in reality, wherever there are people, there will be struggles; wherever there are struggles, there will be power struggles, and power can control people. All social systems ultimately cannot escape the integration of power, which means that wherever this path exists, the Way of the Emperor can exert its domineering influence—seizing power and ascending to the throne.
Therefore, even though the path of imperial cultivation is so difficult and unpredictable, requiring training in historical worlds devoid of spiritual energy, there are still cultivators who choose this path. The family of the Poison King is one such example.
Unfortunately, the King of Poison has not yet advanced. It is estimated that he needs to experience an entire dynasty before he can break through to the Emperor rank. At the very least, he needs to advance to the Emperor rank before he can occupy a divine position with immortal rank, such as the Emperor of Fengdu. As for now, he can only ascend to the position of Yama and control the five paths of reincarnation.
"..." How terrifying. Both Shinjuku and Oni-Gin were speechless.
After listening to this for a while, Shinju silently withdrew the hand that was gripping the collar of the King of Hell. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that what the King of Hell actually desired was the position of the Emperor of Fengdu, and he was not even very satisfied with the position of the King of Hell.
Fortunately! The King of Poison wasn't his enemy on the opposite side, but rather on his side—his family! Otherwise, he couldn't have imagined how he could possibly contend with the King of Poison, who had taken control of the Tenth Division's forces with just a few words.
On the contrary, having gained real power, they can exert considerable influence over the handling of the Yilian Village case, and even over the demonic path's plans in Fengdu.
The King of Poison saw that Shinju was secretly relieved, patted his head, and asked, "Aren't we going to the mine?"
It was all because this matter was too shocking that Shinjuku was so stunned. Only after being reminded of this did he remember the important matter. So he nodded and led the way out of the alley.
Upon arriving at the Earth Crystal Mine, since the documents and tokens for the Poison King had not yet been obtained, they could only return to the Three Corpses and sneak in with Zhen Su.
Only when they were in a secluded corner did they summon the Poison King.
More people means more hands. Although Shinjuku can do the work of dozens of people, it's always good to have more harvest.
The King of Poison didn't know much about earth crystals, so Shinju explained them to him from the side.
Earth crystals come in all colors, but most are light-colored. Inside the crystal, you can see swirling, cloud-like patterns, ethereal and beautiful. The whiter and purer the cloud-like patterns, the better the quality. If it contains dark-colored inclusions, it won't fetch a good price. However, earth crystals are the most common low-to-medium grade medicinal stones for replenishing yin energy, so they're not hard to sell. They're also good for personal use, but you'll need to put in extra effort to remove impurities and detoxify them.
Yes, just like the raw materials for Five-Stone Powder, the Earth Crystal Stone contains highly toxic substances. When Zhen Su dug it earlier, he tried to lick it a few times. Since he is now in the late stage of poisoning, he deliberately avoided the Small Heavenly Circuit of the Root Chakra to avoid being detoxified by fighting poison with poison. Finally, he guided it into the meridians and transported it to the Purple Mansion, which was still sealed, in an attempt to break through the restriction.
He nearly crushed the mine he was holding onto, and almost died. The pain was so intense, it went straight to the depths of his soul, as if his limbs were being torn apart repeatedly, or as if his skull was being shattered and his brains were being crushed. In short, it was more than a hundred times stronger than the Five-Stone Powder.
After that incident, he felt quite apprehensive whenever he saw earth crystals.
However, for Yin spirits, Earth Crystal is a highly nourishing substance, a supreme delicacy. It simply reacts abnormally and rejects those with extremely Yang and pure constitutions, their properties being completely incompatible.
Although it was painful, Zhen Su's Purple Mansion restriction was now down to only ten layers, and it was only a matter of time before it was completely broken. If the restriction was broken, he could take out his old Qiankun Bag at will. It contained many powerful magic treasures. Although he could not rely on external objects because he cultivated the extreme martial arts and had never used them, they would definitely become a great help to him in his current weak state.
Perhaps we shouldn't drag this out any longer. Even the most painful suffering is nothing compared to death.
Shinjuku stuffed those painful and tragic memories back into the depths of his lower palace and began digging them out with great effort.
In front of the mountain where Shinjuku was located, there were still many ordinary miners, most of whom were ghost soldiers or ghosts with connections and special qualifications. They dug very fast, and most of them were demonized into powerful beings, such as giant bears, giant elephants, giant eagles, or some strange-looking creatures similar to demons.
Unfortunately, none could compare to Shinjuku. While others gathered his resources one load at a time, he piled them up in ten-stone stacks. However, these ten stones were merely the limit of his capacity, not the upper limit of Shinjuku's power.
The King of Zhen's gaze froze slightly. He instinctively took out a handkerchief, intending to wipe the sweat from Shinju's brow, but when he got close to Shinju, he found that Shinju was not sweating at all.
Shinjuku's fluffy ears bounced and swayed with his powerful, rapid movements. He glanced at the King of Blades and asked, "What's wrong? Are you tired?"
The King of Poison shook his head, put away his handkerchief, and silently quickened the pace of his swinging iron pickaxe.
With nearly half of the mountain already cleared out, the waste rocks and crystals are neatly separated and stacked, making it impossible for anyone to cause trouble. As for this "monster," one should think twice before provoking it.
After a while, as he continued digging, Masakatsu's movements slowed down.
He "smelled" a very unique fluctuation.
It was like the low hum of an ancient giant insect emanating from beneath the sand on a desert. It was indistinct, yet it caused the sand and dust to tremble slightly. At first glance, it seemed to be caused by the wind, but it was clear that even if it were a whirlwind, it would not be able to keep the sand and dust still in one place. It could only tremble without moving.
The strangeness and contradictions made Mayu realize that it was different.
“Like a breath,” Masakatsu muttered.
As Shinjuku ventured deeper into the area, intently searching for the sound, he gradually and abruptly came face to face with a silver spider.
"..."
"..."
"You, how did you get here too! Did you hear that guy's voice too?" Shinjuku's wrist was now empty. The silver spider that Oni-Gin had transformed into sticked out its abdomen and spit a silver thread at Shinjuku.
Shinjuku blocked it with his hand, looking at it helplessly and saying, "You heard it too?"
Ghost Silver originally intended to keep it all to itself without anyone noticing, but it was discovered by Shinjuku, so it had no choice but to accept its fate. It hurriedly said, "Everyone gets a share! I'll take half! It's a deal!!"
Shinjuku wasn't sure what it was, or whether he could get half of it, but seeing how impatient Oni-Gin was, he couldn't help but become more interested in getting his hands on that strange thing that was emitting mysterious breath.
"First come, first served," Shinju joked, before making his move.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Silver Spider jumped around frantically.
When King Zhen turned around and found that Zhen Su had disappeared, just as he was about to look into the deep pit, a pair of furry ears popped out and bumped straight into King Zhen's arms.
Queen Zhen leaned forward and helped the person up. The silver spider quickly climbed from Shinjuku's body to the wall.
Then, they saw Shinju place a small crystal, about the size of a foal, on the ground.
Among the white-colored gemstones, next to the light gray cloud-like patterns, there is a vaguely outlined animal-shaped pattern that resembles a creature on all fours. It looks quite beautiful, but unfortunately, it is black.
No matter how you look at it from different light sources and angles, it is always pure black, without a trace of white.
Shinju observed very carefully. He called the King of Poison to come and take a look. The King of Poison stared for a while but couldn't figure it out.
The silver spider coiled around the large crystal, crawling back and forth, seemingly extremely excited.
Although it looked exactly like the good mine that Shinju had described, the King of the Poison could faintly sense a trace of aura emanating from the crystal, similar to the intimidating signal emitted by a beast when it smells danger. When it entered the Purple Mansion, it would leave a strong and extremely destructive impression.
"He has a fierce temper," thought the Poison King.
What's in here?
Shinjuku's golden eyes quietly reflected the light refracted by the earth crystal, not bright, but serene and tranquil.
Suddenly, the ink in the stone vanished in a flash.
The King of Poison was somewhat surprised.
But the next moment, the ink appeared again, paused for a moment, and then disappeared.
In reality, it never left the stone; it didn't truly disappear without a trace. Shinjuku saw it clearly; the creature inside the stone was simply moving at an extremely fast speed, too fast for the naked eye to perceive.
But it couldn't escape Shinjuku's eyes.
Mayuki's voice trembled with excitement as he exclaimed, "It's a ghost!"
The silver spider, meanwhile, sprayed its silvery threads wildly into the sky, as if celebrating with a burst of colorful ribbons, and unusually chimed in, "Truly a ghostly shadow!! A top-grade ore on par with embryonic embryos and radiant light!!!"
The King of Zhen's eyes widened in amazement.
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Author's Note: I finally made it onto the rankings! Five chapters this week. [Procrastinator]
The table of contents is incorrect. I'll revise and polish it again and try publishing it again... I don't know if everyone will be able to see the latest chapter.
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