Chapter 187: Bestowal

The black door slowly opened, revealing another black corridor inside that seemed endless.

The eagle-headed man stroked the lump on his head and said slowly, "I am very happy and very satisfied; I hope you are too… Continue forward… On the path of the dead, I hope you can go further."

"You have washed away the sins on your bodies; you are now pure, so you may continue your journey… Ahead, after undergoing trial after trial, you will receive the bestowal of Lord Osiris."

"Mortals, struggle hard, use your struggle to please the great Lord Osiris, of course, also to please us…"

The eagle-headed man faded away into the air; the corridor behind Wu Tie and them likewise vanished, and a black wall appeared behind them, only a few meters away.

They could only walk forward, into the black door.

Wu Tie's condition was excellent, his complexion good, his essence, qi, and spirit at peak, energetic and full of fighting spirit.

As for Old Knife Wind and the others…

They all looked like dried-up sugarcane that had been squeezed dry, from body to soul exuding extreme fatigue and emptiness, giving a feeling of being riddled with sores, worse than death.

They stood beside Wu Tie, like eight walking corpses, eyes dull, pupils lacking light.

Wu Tie swallowed a mouthful of saliva, looking at them with a bit of pity.

Including Duo Li Ya, these guys were thrown into the oil pot, subjected to paolao, bitten by ten thousand snakes, gnawed by ten thousand scorpions, then sent up the Blade Mountain, down the Sword Forest, ground by millstones, crushed in stone mortars…

Furthermore, all kinds of tortures—earth, water, fire, wind—came at once, plus they were struck by lightning, electrocuted… Wu Tie imagined every conceivable torture, and they all endured it over and over on them.

Many times Wu Tie thought they would die from the pain, their souls scattered, but these guys actually endured it.

The problem is, Wu Tie has the Life Spring helping him strengthen his body, greatly boosting his mana cultivation and realm.

This eagle-headed man did not give Old Knife Wind and them such a treasure.

So now Old Knife Wind and the eight others, from body to soul, are oil exhausted, wick dried, appearing as if a breeze would scatter them.

Wu Tie glanced at Old Knife Wind, then at Duo Li Ya with a look of worse-than-death, then at the six Life Pond Realm experts like dry firewood, and coughed lightly, fearing that too much force would blow them apart.

"Chief, we… are we to continue forward?" Wu Tie asked Old Knife Wind cautiously.

Old Knife Wind's stiff, wooden face twitched, dry and breathless, he muttered: "Move forward, we must go on… After suffering so much, if we return empty-handed…"

Old Knife Wind turned with difficulty, glanced at Duo Li Ya: "If we return empty-handed like this… I will definitely tear this white-faced brat apart, dip him in sauce, and eat him."

The six Life Pond Realm experts all turned their heads, staring deeply and deathly at Duo Li Ya.

They also couldn't be bothered to speak; anyway, their mood was the same as Old Knife Wind's. If they didn't gain enough satisfaction here, they would definitely kill Duo Li Ya when they returned.

And they would kill him using the most cruel methods.

Even swallowing him alive and stripping him raw is not impossible.

Simply… too tragic… The eagle-headed man said, in this Path of the Dead, time relative to the outside world: an outside quarter-hour corresponds to perhaps several years here.

Thus… Old Knife Wind and them have truly tasted the bitter fruit of their past misdeeds.

Killing one person means being thrown into the oil pot to fry for a quarter-hour. Old Knife Wind, over hundreds of years, has personally killed tens of thousands. One after another, he went into the oil pot, lifted out, after his body recovered he was thrown in again…

Besides going into the oil pot for killing, there are also many miscellaneous charges and equally miscellaneous punishments.

Old Knife Wind and them, from body to soul, have been tormented to the point of being worse than death; they… really want to kill Duo Li Ya.

Duo Li Ya stared expressionlessly at Old Knife Wind; after a long, long while, he gave a horribly grim smile.

Poor Duo Li Ya, he also didn't end up well.

The eagle-headed man judged him guilty of 'sin of speech'; this blond, blue-eyed white-faced brat was subjected to the 'tongue-pulling punishment'… His tongue was repeatedly pulled out by the roots, regrew, then pulled out again by a red-hot iron hook…

Each time his tongue was pulled out, it hung bloody in front of Duo Li Ya.

In the end, tens of thousands of his own tongues floated before Duo Li Ya's eyes; Wu Tie, recalling this, felt chills down his spine. This will definitely cause nightmares, absolutely.

"I… I…" Duo Li Ya stuck out his tongue, speaking somewhat indistinctly. Obviously, this is the aftereffect of the tongue-pulling punishment.

Old Knife Wind sighed, he waved his hand at Duo Li Ya: "No more nonsense… Forward, keep moving forward… If we don't bring back enough treasure from here… I will definitely kill you… Moreover, I swear on my ancestors' tablets that I will surely find your relatives and friends and kill them all."

Old Knife Wind also couldn't be bothered to say more, couldn't be bothered to threaten Duo Li Ya further.

Just wait and see, wait for action; if we can't get enough benefits from here, wait and see what action we take.

Wu Tie shouldered the White Tiger Rend, lightly exhaled, and followed Old Knife Wind and the others into the black door.

Just as they entered, the surroundings spun, the people beside him disappeared, and before Wu Tie appeared a long, deep corridor, just like the previous one, a hundred meters wide, a thousand meters high, with statues hundreds of meters tall standing on both sides.

Wu Tie strode forward along the corridor.

He was curious, wondering who he would meet this time.

However, judging from what just happened, it seems he received some small favor here?

So Wu Tie's mood remained rather relaxed.

As he walked, he surveyed the left and right walls; he discovered that between the statues on the walls, using a very peculiar brushstroke, huge murals had been painted.

A sun rose slowly.

The sun split into a man and a woman.

The man and woman married each other and gave birth to other people…

On the vast desert, pyramid after pyramid stood tall, with towering figures bearing the heads of various birds and beasts seated cross-legged atop the pyramids, enjoying the worship of countless beings below.

Next came a depiction of a brutal war.

City after city turned to nothing in mushroom clouds, pyramid after pyramid was completely melted by intense light, countless towering figures had their chests pierced, then were torn apart and scattered in all directions.

This is the full process of a civilization from birth to destruction.

Many scenes made Wu Tie feel shocked and moved; he wanted to search for related records in the knowledge Old Tie taught him, but he encountered a flexible barrier.

That seemed to be knowledge of a deeper level; Old Tie set up a barrier, and Wu Tie currently lacks the qualification to touch it.

He walked and walked, not knowing how long, when suddenly the corridor ahead opened up, and a magnificent temple cast of gold and inlaid with countless gems appeared before Wu Tie.

Thousands of girls dressed in light white gauze, their skin either fair and tender, or honey‑gold, or like dark, fine ebony wood, stood silently in the temple, gazing calmly at Wu Tie.

Black light filled the temple; these girls bathed in the black light.

They gave Wu Tie a strange feeling; they seemed alive yet not quite alive. They existed in an extremely odd state, between life and death, as if transcending life and death.

Wu Tie did not linger on these girls clad in white gauze but exposing large areas of skin.

He looked toward the center of the hall; there was no throne as Wu Tie had expected, but instead lay an extremely splendid golden coffin…

Indeed, that is a coffin.

It is over ten meters long, its shape ancient and mysterious.

On the coffin lid stood a statue of a middle-aged man, his face gaunt, cheeks long, his appearance rather… mysterious.

With a "Click", the lid flew up slowly, all the way to the ceiling of the hall.

A tall, thin figure slowly sat up from within the coffin.

He gave a light cough, then pressed his hands hard against his waist and twisted sharply to left and right, producing a crisp "crack". He muttered lowly: "I've lain too long; these spinal joints are about to fuse into one."

He sighed, stood nearly ten meters tall, slender of build but with broad shoulders, and slowly crawled out of the coffin.

The golden coffin lid fell, the massive coffin slid backward, the wall behind it cracked, the coffin slid into the wall and vanished; a throne cast of gold and inlaid with countless jewels slid out from the crack in the wall, coming to rest precisely behind the man.

The man exerted himself to move his waist, and his joints continuously emitted dull thuds.

He vigorously shook his arms and legs, coughed heavily several times, and exhaled a cloud of thick dust from his mouth.

"I feel like I'm a crudely made mummy… ah, this feeling is truly strange. I've never slept this long before; I've slept far too long." The man sat on the throne, studied Wu Tie for a moment, then nodded: "I am Osiris."

Wu Tie silently watched the man.

This fellow wore a crown shaped like a cobra, donned a robe so splendid it bordered on gaudy, his whole body glittering with jewels—he was practically a walking jewelry rack. His features matched the statue on the coffin lid exactly; a three-inch-wide beard hung straight from his chin, soft and resting on his knees.

"Osiris… the… Underworld King of myth?" Wu Tie spoke hesitantly.

"Oh, of course not. Although I am Osiris, I am not that Osiris." Osiris shrugged, sighed: "It's like, the Yang Jian I know is not that Yang Jian… the Bull Hero, Peaceful Heaven Great Sage, whom I know is not the legendary Bull Demon King."

Osiris spread his hands, sighing with a hint of nostalgia: "I am Osiris… but I am not the Osiris of myth… yet I am in no way different from him."

Osiris looked at Wu Tie and said softly: "You are already a cultivator of the Chonglou Realm; you can understand that within the Heavenly Lock Chonglou lie endless mysteries."

"One step, one heaven; one step, one mystery… I was originally just an ordinary mortal, but as I cultivated, I followed Osiris's path, gradually mastering his divine office, wielding his power, until finally my bloodline and appearance became exactly like his."

Osiris said softly: "So I am Osiris, I am not Osiris, yet I am in no way different from that Osiris…"

He narrowed his eyes, smiled at Wu Tie: "You, did you understand?"

Wu Tie stared blankly, then nodded: "I, I think I understood."

Osiris laughed: "Being able to understand shows you're not stupid; since you're not stupid, and you can also receive a legacy somewhat related to me, I won't let your trip be in vain."

He raised his head, glanced at the ceiling, and said softly: "The Way of the Dead is my own design… it is used to test one's heart, judge human nature, and predict the future achievements of those who tread the Way of the Dead… or rather, it is a trial road that screens 'seeds'."

"The Way of the Dead is very long—so long that some cannot endure it and die of old age within." Osiris looked at Wu Tie and said softly: "You are different from them, so I have brought you here in advance."

Wu Tie raised his eyebrows.

Osiris pointed a finger, and the White Tiger Rend in Wu Tie's hand suddenly flew up, landing in Osiris's hand.

He gently stroked the White Tiger Rend, sighed: "This is Yang Jian's backup weapon… I knew him… truly… days worth remembering."

After a silence, Osiris flicked his wrist and tossed the White Tiger Rend back to Wu Tie: "It is a splendid weapon; do not waste it… its very purpose is slaughter, to kill our enemies."

"Our enemies." Wu Tie narrowed his eyes: "You mean the Heavenly Crystal Demons?"

Osiris's body shuddered violently, his pallid complexion growing ever paler; after a long silence he murmured: "Not only the Heavenly Crystal Demons, not only them…"

He waved a hand, Osiris looked at Wu Tie and said solemnly: "Don't ask me about these; I don't care either… You've come, you bring Yang Jian's weapon, you have inherited the White Tiger Legion's spear technique—so I must give you something."

Grinning, Osiris's smile was unusually… sorrowful and grievous; he muttered: "I am a deserter, so I won't say more, I won't do more, but since you've come… I must give you something."

"Shall I say sorry to Yang Jian and them?" Osiris said softly: "Although it's a bit self‑deceptive… well, none of that matters. In short, I'm still alive, and that's good."

Osiris smiled at Wu Tie: "Can you believe it? The Underworld King Osiris, who fears death the most—what a great irony."

Amid laughter, Osiris pointed a finger, and a small tree cast of gold, its whole body hung with countless jeweled fruits, floated up from the void.

"Come, this is the Divine Harvest Tree I personally forged; let me implant it into your body… it will let your cultivation speed increase manyfold, manyfold, manyfold…"

"I am a shameful deserter… a coward who fears death… but I still, to some extent, retain a sense of duty."