Chapter 94: with translation of chapter title

Just as Zhou Shuo and Chan Yin Sha were chatting and laughing, in the Yunmeng ship formation far off, shrouded in blood-qi resentment power, a dragon-shaped yin wind soared up again and flew off into the distance; seeing this dragon-shaped yin wind, Zhou Shuo immediately stopped speaking with Chan Yin Sha, and after the dragon-shaped yin wind had flown two li away, the two also, together, took the heavenly corpse and flew up—these Yunmeng ship squadrons were not their target at all; their target was Bi Shi Hua and the Heaven-Earth pouch.

Far behind the dragon-shaped yin wind that had fallen in the sky, Zhou Shuo and Chan Yin Sha flew alongside the Heaven Corpse, maintaining speed; the dragon-shaped yin wind flew several hundred li before landing far away in a wilderness. Seeing the chance, Zhou Shuo and Chan Yin Sha quickly followed the yin wind down, landing together with the Heaven Corpse. They did not go straight ahead.

"Heaven Severing Mountain is not far away; what do you think they've ended up like?" Zhou Shuo stood on a protruding tree, gazing at where the dragon-shaped yin wind had fallen far away, and asked Chan Yin Sha. The headquarters of the Wu Gui Dao lies on Heaven Severing Mountain in the Wilds' Heaven-Reaching Plain, as that old Daoist said earlier—just ahead, not far away.

"I don't know, but… well, what a huge yang and harmonious qi—this is……." Chan Yin Sha looked into the distance, shaking her head slightly at Zhou Shuo's words, but suddenly her brow twitched. After several auras had faded from where the dragon-shaped yin wind had landed, a pure yang and harmonious qi suddenly appeared—the kind only a ghost immortal who has passed the heavenly tribulation can display—then vanished just as suddenly.

"It must be some treasure capable of rending the void and shuttling through, like a Heaven-and-Earth Bag; it looks like someone from the Great Qian side, they've left—let's follow them!" Zhou Shuo likewise sensed the yang and harmonious qi; a ghost immortal's soul normally carries dense yin qi, but after passing the heavenly tribulation they shed that yin, converting it to yang—this is also the origin of the Yang Spirit. However, that yang and harmonious qi ahead was unusually stagnant, not belonging to a tribulation-passing ghost immortal but to some magic item's aura; a fleeting flash like that should be a treasure able to shuttle through space.

The yang and harmonious qi flashed and then retracted—clearly it had fled. Zhou Shuo and Chan Yin Sha once again rode the yin wind, speeding forward without pause; far ahead they saw a looming mountain, as if it were a heaven‑supporting pillar, solidly standing there—indeed, it was Heaven Severing Mountain.

"This is an illusion of the void—let's ram through together." Chan Yin Sha called out, and together with Zhou Shuo she steered the yin wind to slam straight into the mountain before them.

The towering mountain vanished, and the heavens and earth opened up to reveal an endless plain's interior, where patchwork blocks of paddy fields stood side by side; in the fields, slaves wore iron cangues on their hands and looked ragged as they labored, while many overseers in armor supervised them. Even in the wilds, the Wu Gui Dao had managed to carve out a foothold for themselves.

Everything was unusually quiet; Zhou Shuo and Chan Yin Sha paid no heed to the ground below, flying side‑by‑side across the plain's interior. After about half a day, they saw a great city looming on the horizon—vast and imposing, though slightly decayed, its aura dull and lifeless—indeed, it was the Wu Gui Dao's Tianwu City built in the wilds.

"Haha, I've come, you demons of the Wu Gui Dao—quickly hand over the Heaven-and-Earth Bag!" Gazing at the tranquil Tianwu City, Zhou Shuo instantly sensed something amiss; he unleashed his full aura, mingling his voice with will and blood‑qi in a roar.

Zhou Shuo's roar rang like thunder, shattering the tranquility of the Heaven-Reaching Plain; in an instant, black smoke rose around Tianwu City, within which countless ghostly silhouettes gathered—the city‑protecting grand formation the Wu Gui Dao had set up. As the city's defenses activated, countless thoughts flew in from all directions, accompanied by a surge of yang and harmonious qi that tore through the air, from which several human‑shaped thought‑forms emerged.

…………Which bastard is this?

Bastard, how……

Damn it, the Wu Gui Dao have already taken precautions.

We've miscalculated—attack!

Seize the Heaven-and-Earth Bag.

"Don't worry about anything else—go seize the Heaven-and-Earth Bag and find the Jingren Monk." Amid the flying thoughts came curses and orders; they were the Yunmeng and Great Qian experts who had rushed here to contend for the Heaven-and-Earth Bag, originally hidden aside, preparing a sneak attack, but the situation was instantly scrambled by Zhou Shuo, the Wu Gui Dao activated its city‑protecting grand formation, and they too were forced to launch an assault.

"Haha, everyone's just here to grab stuff—what's there to be reserved about?" Zhou Shuo burst out laughing as he saw thoughts swirling everywhere in an instant and the city shrouded in black smoke; he felt his bearing growing ever more unrestrained.

"Stirring up the situation works in our favor." Chan Yin Sha watched Zhou Shuo laughing loudly, saw the distant daoist light bombarding the black smoke outside Tianwu City, and curled her lips slightly; the Yunmeng and Great Qian experts' painstakingly prepared sneak‑attack momentum was utterly shattered by Zhou Shuo's great shout, and they could not come to trouble him—only launch a fierce assault on Tianwu City.

On the Heaven-Reaching Plain, the calm was shattered as countless thoughts flew in all directions, yellow, fire, and blood light flaring up, occasionally accompanied by a martial saint's great roar; essence and qi rose like beacon smoke into the sky. The black smoke of Tianwu City's city‑protecting formation was periodically blasted open, only to close again; within that smoke lay ambushes of yin ghosts, countless devouring Flying Corpses and Heaven Corpses, and even Corpse Emperors.

"Let's not fly in; we'll enter from below, gather our souls, put on the Dean's Mantra, and go." Zhou Shuo glanced at the black smoke swirling inside Tianwu City, his eyes flickering, and told Chan Yin Sha to gather her soul; then he waved his hand, drawing two talismans whose luminous inscriptions rained down onto their legs.

"How light!" Chan Yin Sha drew her soul inward, released her fist‑intent and blood‑qi to shield her person, and together with Zhou Shuo she darted forward, rushing from the ground into the dense black smoke of Tianwu City; feeling her body extraordinarily agile, she couldn't help but glance at the luminous symbols on her legs, wondering which talisman this was.

The Wu Gui Dao's city‑protecting grand formation is extremely vicious; those black smokes not only obstruct vision but are also filled with resentful spirits. If one's cultivation is insufficient to break in, they will instantly be confused and lose their sense of direction, like being trapped in a ghost wall within the formation; over time their will shall fade into unconsciousness, and even if they retain their will, they will be ambushed and struck by the corpse ghosts lurking in the smoke.

Both Zhou Shuo and Chan Yin Sha are individuals whose souls have been refined and strengthened; they have attained ghost‑immortal status and cultivated fist‑intent, which together with blood‑qi is the bane of daoist arts. Charging into the formation like blazing fireballs, they forced back the black smoke that ordinary daoist arts could hardly part, pushing it far away.

"Go, bring me your companions." Zhou Shuo gazed at the vision‑obstructing, oppressive black smoke all around, and barked at the Heaven Corpse that had followed him in; while ordinary daoist experts and martial artists have their spiritual perception dulled in this formation, the Heaven Corpses refined by the Wu Gui Dao itself are not restrained.

At Zhou Shuo's command, the Heaven Corpse let out a muffled grunt, leading the way like a hunting dog, and quickly brought him to six Heaven Corpses gathered together. Those hidden in the thick smoke and black mist, their bodies covered in reverse scales, with flesh‑membraned wings on their backs, once exposed lunged at him like a pack of vicious dogs—yet they were halted by the Corpse‑Suppressing Talismans Zhou Shuo casually flung out.

"Where did you learn these talisman scriptures?" Chan Yin Sha watched Zhou Shuo casually scattering talismans, still unable to hold back; she had also learned qi cultivation from him, but she had never learned this trick, nor could she tell where it came from.

"This trick! To be precise, I snatched it from someone else—it's called the Heaven‑Passing Talisman, and every sect's talismans obey its wielder." Zhou Shuo immobilized the six Heaven Corpses, then raised his hand to draw the talisman seals; the talismans, once completed, floated forth and stuck to the six Heaven Corpses' bodies, then seeped through their skin to imprint upon their interiors.

"Talismans……" Chan Yin Sha watched Zhou Shuo casually drawing talismans to refine corpses, and she pressed her lips together; to her, these talismans did not resemble traditional talismans but rather a rune formation, like the yin‑yang harmonizing grand formation on the Infinity Arrow—though their functions differ, and whereas the rune formation on the Infinity Arrow was painstakingly cultivated over centuries by successive patriarchs of the Peach Spirit Dao using thought‑power, Zhou Shuo merely sketched it out on the spot.

"My Heaven Corpses, my Heaven Corpses have been taken……." As the six motionless Heaven Corpses were refined by Zhou Shuo's talismans, their link to their original masters broke, and a wail echoed from afar in the black smoke; zombies are the Wu Gui Dao's supreme combat force, and once their corpses are seized, most of their cultivation is wasted.

"A horde of corpse monsters is approaching." Chan Yin Sha heard the distant wail, saw the six Heaven Corpses that Zhou Shuo had refined with his talisman scripture, and raised her eyebrows slightly; as her words fell, the surrounding black smoke surged upward, gusts flickered in the sky, and large numbers of Flying Corpses and Heaven Corpses drew near— the Wu Gui Dao's followers grew fearful and prepared to concentrate their forces to attack this side.

"I like it—let's make the area brighter!" Zhou Shuo curled the corner of his mouth and flung out Corpse‑Suppressing Talismans in all directions; whether the corpse monsters came from a nearby ambush or swooped down from the sky, whether they bore black scales or brown scales, once a talisman stuck to them they collapsed like solid blocks of wood.

"Divine Heaven's Five Thunders." Seeing Zhou Shuo scatter talismans to deal with corpses, Chan Yin Sha swept both hands outward, and brilliant lightning shot from her palms, shredding the thick black smoke above and around her, clearing a wide field of view and revealing many lurking corpse monsters.

Working in tandem, Chan Yin Sha unleashed her thunder technique to broaden her vision, while Zhou Shuo scattered Corpse‑Suppressing Talismans aloft, immobilizing all the corpses rushing in to attack; at the same time he released the seven Heaven Corpses he had subdued, letting them pick out the assailing corpse monsters and clear away everything except the black‑scaled Heaven Corpses and the brown‑scaled Witch Corpses.

Boom— Just as Zhou Shuo and Chan Yin Sha cooperated to lure and clear monsters, capturing forty or fifty Heaven Corpses and Witch Corpses, suddenly a great roar came from the center of the great formation of Heaven Witch City, and at the same time the power of the Witch Ghost Formation also began to gradually weaken; it appeared that the experts of Cloud Mist and Great Qian had already stormed the inner city and were clashing with the experts of the Witch Ghost Dao.