Chapter 465: Undying True Form, A Temporary Withdrawal

Blood-fog sky, shattered earth.

The vengeful spirits still surged like a tide, but at this moment, they appeared ordinary and commonplace.

There was one colossal figure, standing out exceptionally from the crowd!

It stood over a thousand zhang tall, carrying a heavy tombstone on its back, its entire body tattered and covered in foul, rotting flesh, from which thick, pitch-black filth oozed; its faceless, rotten mouth hung open, as if connected to an abyss of malice.

This tomb-bearing vengeful spirit was extremely formidable, easily crossing the threshold of geniuses and prodigies; it was precisely the powerful individual Du En had anticipated, and it had already locked onto this side, as if an invisible binding had been cast upon him, actually capable of affecting his Endless Vitality.

"Decay and corruption? Finally, I've encountered a fellow capable of countering Endless Vitality."

Du En spoke only calm words, the composure he exuded making the other two feel at ease, allowing them to focus on the retreat and extraction.

"Aooo!!!"

As if sensing this continued progress and the act of ignoring it, the tomb-bearing vengeful spirit flew into a rage, stepping forward and causing the already shattered earth to crumble further; accompanied by a rumbling vibration, it unleashed a terrifying shriek that caused the Starlight Array to wrinkle on the spot, threatening to break the "Flowers and Leaves Do Not Meet"...

"Then let's try this move."

As Du En spoke, he leaped down, advancing instead of retreating.

Bang! Boom! First came the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, followed by a thunderous explosion.

Countless ordinary vengeful spirits that had crowded in first were instantly reduced to fly ash.

A thousand-zhang-tall figure had appeared there, rolling holy fire circling its body, its face like a bright sun, its specific features vague and indistinct, its overall physique tall and peerless; its dharma robes had grown in size as well, and the exposed parts—the contours of the muscles beneath the skin—seemed divinely sculpted, seizing the creation of heaven.

Physical Body Divine Ability, Undying Holy Source!

Undying True Form!

As a dignified human-shaped Little Golden Crow, Du En naturally possessed a physical true form akin to the Mirror-Sun Dark Crow true body of the Dark God; this was the first time he had actually utilized it! And then.

He clenched a fist the size of a hill, directly stepping through the air, shattering everything around him, and launched a violent, heavy punch.

Boom! The tomb-bearing vengeful spirit, which had originally charged over with great momentum, had its rotten face shattered on the spot and was sent flying backward, stiff and straight.

Bang! Du En stepped forward, shattering more earth and affecting more vengeful spirits; one hand violently grabbed the limbs of this colossal vengeful spirit, holy fire erupting with a roar, directly making it feel as if it had fallen into hell, suffering the scorching of purgatory, and then the other hand slammed down like a mountain.

Crack!

The tomb-bearing vengeful spirit was snapped directly in half, its head and feet arched upward, even the tombstone it carried cracked and broken; it could not emit a shriek, its roar choked in its belly, and within its protruding, rotten eyeballs, there seemed to be a trace of disbelief.

How could it be this strong?

Du En did not drag things out in the slightest; he brought his knee up, grabbed its head with one hand and its feet with the other, and exerted sudden force to pull.

Snap!

The tombstone shattered.

Rip!

The body tore.

He tore it apart with his bare hands!

Tomb-bearing vengeful spirit, deceased.

The moment it was eliminated, something tried to sneak away, but Du En's movements were like light, without a hint of sluggishness; he grabbed it directly, and without delay, chose to turn and leave.

Because the blood-fog sky was currently undergoing a change, as if in sudden, violent anger; that malice became palpable, about to hang down countless tornadoes and create countless tomb-bearing vengeful spirits.

Although he seemed invincible, capable of easily killing one tomb-bearing vengeful spirit, he certainly wouldn't fare well if faced with endless attrition!

Therefore, retreat first.

As he strode, his figure shrank, his divinity contained.

Arriving before the spatial portal, he flashed through and left the place.

Needless to say, the Dark God had already retreated.

The starlight protection quietly shattered, and the interior was already empty.

The blood-fog sky suddenly froze, and the clamorous, rushing vengeful spirits also stopped in their tracks.

Because the meat at their mouths had run away!

Thus, everything rapidly returned to the state it was in when Du En and the others first stepped foot there, as if their arrival and the elimination of the vengeful spirits had never happened at all.

Very quickly, the backside of this Profound Azure Star Realm returned to its original, deathly silence.

Only, in the quiet, the boundary between the front and the back seemed to have blurred by another fraction.

"This situation is quite thorny!"

Sheng Zhaoshui was currently looking rather troubled.

Although they had broken contact early and retreated, through the spatial portal that was still being maintained, he had seen those scenes with his own eyes; he found the tomb-bearing vengeful spirit difficult to deal with, and judging by the final display, it seemed capable of easily producing a large group of them.

Can't beat them, really can't beat them!

Thinking and worrying like this, he couldn't help but glance at the Du En who had just returned.

He was quite stunned by the performance on this side.

Although he had already seen some clues that Du En's physical body could currently dominate among the same rank, to actually be able to cultivate a physical divine ability to the level of a so-called Holy Body—wasn't that a bit too exaggerated? Not to mention, it was a brand-new Holy Body he had never even heard of... He had thought that with the backing of True Lord Chengru, he was not only knowledgeable but also learning new Daoist techniques and methods, and that he would no longer have such surprises, but the current situation was truly unexpected!

He really wanted to ask in detail what his previous experiences were and how exactly he had trained this set of skills. "Although the situation is a bit thorny, as long as we make some preparations, it won't be too difficult to exterminate those vengeful spirits."

Du En ignored Sheng Zhaoshui's little glances and calmly answered his previous words.

This time was just an initial exploration and contact; preparations and brewing were not ready in any aspect, which was why they had only tasted it briefly and chosen to withdraw upon contact.

In fact, if the danger on the backside was limited to the level of the tomb-bearing vengeful spirits, it really couldn't be called very thorny.

Competing in numbers? Once he finished refining his army of sixth-rank puppets, he would naturally be able to offset a large portion; even if that didn't work, there were still methods such as refining more dharma artifacts for self-detonation, or having the Dark God study the treasure array thoroughly to set up formations to cope, and so on.

Sheng Zhaoshui surely had many methods given by True Lord Chengru; acting as if he were at his wit's end was a bit too affected and exaggerated.

So, after replying, he stopped paying attention to this fellow and turned his gaze to his own hand.

Just before the tomb-bearing vengeful spirit was eliminated, something had tried to fly away, which he had intercepted and held in his hand.

Opening it now to look, one could see an irregular gray-black crystal lying in his palm, inside which countless vengeful spirits seemed to be struggling in pain; the cold, miserable resentment faintly flowing and emerging was enough to make one tremble with fear.

"What is this?"

An Shen had originally been somewhat lost in thought regarding Du En's physical supernatural ability, but upon sensing the yin-resentment flowing out, he immediately broke away from his contemplation and turned his attention to it.

Sheng Zhaoshui was the same, raising his eyebrows as he focused: "This looks like a Yin-Resentment Crystal? I saw it in a miscellaneous book of a True Monarch before, which said that a long time ago, the demonic path seniors of the cultivation world discovered that as long as eighty-one resentful ghosts were buried in a Profound Yin land, one could cast spells to restrain and squeeze the yin energy to seal it.

Over time, it would allow them to cannibalize and condense, taking three thousand years to form a prototype, and another six thousand years to obtain a single Yin-Resentment Crystal; it is considered a type of treasure of the demonic, ghostly, and evil paths, extremely precious, containing principles of yin, resentment, obsession, and bias.

I originally thought that with the end of the ancient age and the world returning to the immortals, this old method had vanished with the wind; I didn't expect to see such a thing today, only..."

Speaking to this point, Sheng Zhaoshui stopped. "Don't keep me in suspense."

Du En was very blunt.

He just gave a wry smile and stretched his finger closer to the crystal.

Although it was being invisibly suppressed by Du En, upon sensing the approach of other living beings, the various hideous resentful spirit manifestations within the crystal immediately surged, rising and falling, scrambling and fighting, as if they wanted to choose someone to devour!

"It's just that this crystal clearly didn't condense eighty-one resentful ghosts, but rather an unknown number of resentful spirits. Don't look at the one-character difference between the two; in reality, they are worlds apart. Not to mention the obvious disparity in quantity, so, in fact, it shouldn't be called a Yin-Resentment Crystal, but rather a Spirit-Resentment Crystal..."

Spirit-Resentment Crystal...

One man and one god silently chewed on this term.

Then Du En raised his hand and pointed, and one could see golden light like silk and shells wrapping and sealing it, then he took various containers, one nested inside another; the main focus was on being secure.

"Aren't you going to destroy it?"

An Shen asked with some concern, "It has no value for use at all. Even if placed in the current situation, it should be impossible to make anything of it. On the contrary, as a small corner of the Supreme's schemes, keeping it will only be a hidden danger. I don't think your sealing method can truly seal it."

"That is indeed correct, but..."

Du En did not continue, but it was very obvious that he seemed to have other ideas and could use this Spirit-Resentment Crystal to make a move, he just didn't want to say more.

Although they were both very concerned in their hearts, they were tactful enough not to pursue the question.

"Let's go back first."

Du En said only this and left the place first.

The man and the god were slightly slower and exchanged a glance.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the three of them returned to the ancestral tomb cemetery of the Jiu Yun family.

Seeing Du En reappear, the guards and sentries who had not yet dispersed far were taken aback, subconsciously slowing their pace, and the new guard leader turned and trotted over.

"Exalted One, do you have any other instructions?"

"How long have I been gone?"

Although Du En had already sensed it, he still asked.

"Just, just that moment, only a few breaths of time in total."

The guard leader did not understand why, but still gave an answer.

Sure enough, time was blurred.

When going to the reverse side, gazing at that blood-fog sky, the sense of time would waver and blur; now it seems it is indeed correct, the passage of time over there has a clear discrepancy with the front side here.

Du En pondered slightly, and the guards and sentries were anxious.

At this moment, the tomb chambers and coffins were still open, and the atmosphere was already somewhat eerie and strange; with the sudden departure and return, and the strange behavior, it made people feel even more anxious. The timid ones even associated it with the various strange tales of gods and ghosts they had heard in their mortal days.

However, Du En quickly broke out of his contemplation and said: "Seal the coffins and close the tombs."

"Yes!"

Having waited for this order for a long time, everyone immediately responded with a roar.

The disheveled guards were overjoyed, because this seemed to represent an end, and they would not be taken to walk through fire again.

The sentries were even more relieved; after all, it was their duty, and they were quite concerned. Moreover, with the tomb left open like this, they always felt heart-pounding, fearing that the small mistakes of negligence and slacking off in the past would be ferreted out.

Now like this, it was as if they were about to return to the original track, which naturally made the big stone in their hearts fall, and they seemed to have extra motivation when working.

However, Zhu Qing did not put down the big stone in his heart.

Du En's departure and return seemed to be the result of following the vines to find the melon, but now only he himself had returned, and there was no sign of his sister at all, this...

"You don't need to worry, the situation is just a bit complicated, and it still needs some preparation."

"I, is that so?"

"Mm, during this time, you should first stay in the City Lord's Mansion, it will be convenient for various subsequent matters."

"Good, this small one understands."

Zhu Qing forced himself to remain calm.

The later he went to search, the more likely it was that his sister would have an accident.

The terrifying situation of those humanoid demons in the mine pit surged into his mind again at this moment, making him even more restless and extremely worried.

But he also understood that relying only on himself, there was no way to find her. Even if he really had great luck and found a clue, not to mention anything else, just getting to the mine pit would be enough to make him die without a burial place and become a part of the demons!

So now, he could only follow Du En's arrangements.

Fortunately, there was no perfunctoriness here, and the tone seemed serious.

The City Lord is truly a great person; the previous rumors were really too fake! Zhu Qing couldn't help but think this while worrying.

Very quickly.

The family cemetery returned to normal.

Du En had new arrangements for the people gathered in front of him: "During this time, you don't need to guard here anymore, all return to the mansion, all be incorporated into the guards, and be dispatched uniformly."

Facing this arrangement, the happiest was naturally the guard leader.

This former guard chief had clearly sensed the dissatisfaction and unhappiness of the new subordinates and was worried about whether they would trip him up in the future, making him unable to perform his new duties well. Now it was good, with the addition of the large group of old subordinates, there was naturally no more problem.

The eyes of the old guards changed, but they dared not say anything, completely in a posture of submission and humility.

"After returning, inside and outside the city, you must keep it loose on the outside and tight on the inside recently, and at the same time block all kinds of news, no side issues are allowed, understand?"

Du En spoke again, accompanied by faint pressure, which immediately made everyone understand his determination, and they couldn't help but tremble and shout that they understood.

Seeing that they knew the stakes and would not disregard his orders, he nodded slightly, then had people start the various original layouts to completely seal this cemetery.

"How is it?"

As he turned to leave, he asked An Shen again.

"It should be enough."

An Shen's reply was very simple.

He had already quietly altered the arrays and restrictions here, making the sealing here much more powerful; it should be enough, though it was only "should."

After all, given the current situation, the three of them could not actually guarantee anything with certainty.

They could only do their best.

(End of chapter)