Chapter 187 - Deadly Goddess
The dark black coffin made of willow woods was so huge that it looked like a little temple; parts of the coffin was covered with soils and dirts, that was where the willow trees took root on, and eventually growing into the three skyscraping three willow trees.
In the dark, when the cover of the vertically upright strange coffin opened a small gap, Zhong Yue could not tell at all that it was not a temple!
This coffin is the celestial temple … is the girl in the coffin a corpse or a celestial?
Zhong Yue was terrified, stunned by his discoveries. He knew that the celestial races in the East Barren were weird and peculiar, but this was the weirdest and strangest he had ever seen before!
He was frightened by the scene, Shui Zian said that if dawn broke and he had yet to return, then Zhong Yue would have to enter the ‘dark little temple’, but now that he was aware of the true face of the ‘temple’, he was reluctant to enter.
Do I really have to enter this black coffin?
All of a sudden, there were the sounds of creaking coming from the black coffin; the sun had risen above the horizon, basking the world under its warm light. The cover of the giant coffin was slowly closing, and not only that, the whole coffin was also sinking into the mountain rocks, inch by inch, seemingly as if to avoid the sunlight.
Moreover, the three ancient willow trees were also sinking into the ground, not long later, all three willow trees and the black coffin would completely vanish away into the ground!
It seems like this is why the celestials said that the Zombie King Temple of the She Bi zombie race had vanished. Because the Zombie King Temple would sink underground at dawn and only rise above the earth at dusk.
Zhong Yue could sense them, the celestials that survived and escaped, they were still lingering around the Zombie King Temple, he could perceive the strong and overpowering air of the experts from afar, faintly discernible.
Clearly, the experts had regarded him as their life and death enemy, the greatest threat to the whole East Barren, and they would not stop until they were able to reap his life!
Well, since Elder Shui Zian instructed me to enter the coffin at dawn, I’ll do as he said!
Zhong Yue clenched his teeth, he picked up the rest of the weapon fragments and threw them into the coffin, then he slid into black coffin before it sealed the opening away!
Bang——
The coffin cover slowly closed on the gap and disturbing noises could be heard continually as the giant coffin sank into the earth and soon disappeared from the surface. The three willow trees also followed the giant coffin and vanished.
After a period of time, when the blazing sun rose to the top of the sky, celestials could be seen cautiously flying in the upper air to scout out the area in search of the She Bi zombie race’s Zombie King Temple and the three skyscraping willow trees. However, they were unable to find anything at all, even Zhong Yue was nowhere to be seen.
“Strange, where did the Zombie King Temple go?”
A Heavenly Dharma Qi Practitioner of the Shan Shen race extended his four arms out, the eyes in the center of his palms scrutinized the ground beneath. His gaze penetrated through the rock and soil to reach over thousands of feet deep beneath the ground. Every minutia was clearly visible to his eyes!
This Shan Shen celestial expert hovered in mid-air, directing his palms down at the ground and searching all over the land of a hundred feet in radius, but he still could not find the Zombie King Temple.
“The She Bi zombie race is afraid of the sun, they will never show themselves under the bright daylight. They would only make their appearance at night. I once thought that this celestial race had already gone extinct. Who knew they still lingered within the East Barren!”
“Search around and smoke them out! The She Bi zombie race is weak during the day time, dig them out of their petty holes and obliterate them out of existence!”
…
In the Zombie King Temple of the She Bi Zombie Race, Zhong Yue gazed around as he stepped into the giant coffin — the space was vast and huge, it was like the room of a maiden, a light and thin curtain cascaded down from the roof to the sides of the bed. The coffin was clearly sealed airtight, with no way for wind to enter, and yet the curtain could be seen gently swaying as if a gentle breeze were blowing across it.
The lamp glowed in an outlandish green luminescence, coloring the dark space with an even more strange and eerie hue.
He removed a green lamp from the wall and walked down the path cautiously, he did not even dare to breath heavily, lest he would awaken the ‘She Bi zombie celestial.
Chi——
All of a sudden, he felt something moist and sticky beneath his feet, he raised his leg up and checked it out — the whole surface of the sole of his feet was painted red as if blood had soaked through his shoe.
It was then that he realized that the whole floor was smeared with blood, and the fresh blood was still flowing as if they were alive; while severed limbs and corpses were scattered about on the ground.
Zhong Yue’s hairs bristled up as recognition flashed across his eyes; they were the celestials that came for him, the ones that were dragged into the coffin by the willow twigs. And now, their remains were as such due to the thing that devoured them.
Dek-dek-dek….
He could hear his teeth chattering in fear. It would be a lie if he said he was not afraid at all. Entering a giant coffin all by himself with so many corpses surrounding him, how could he not be scared?
Elder Shui said to enter at day, is this really safe at all?
He traipsed past the remains of the celestials, raised the lamp to the front and walked forward. The curtain behind him swayed softly and brushed through the nape of his neck, it was cold and frosty, giving him the shock of his life. Almost instantaneously, he turned back and looked over, heaving a breath of relief upon finding out that it was just the curtain.
“Thankfully it’s not a hand … Ah!”
Suddenly, a hand fell down from the top and dangled right in front of his face, causing him to let out a shrill and effeminate cry in shock. When he saw that it was actually from a corpse that was hanging down from the girder, he heaved yet another breath of relief, realizing that it was not a ghost or specter. However, these continued surprises left an indelible impression on his heart, causing it to continue thumping heavily.
“Hehe, your grandfather I, am forty-eight years old, travelling the world, on my own, one day I’ve come to, a Shan Shen temple, there was a pretty girl, bathing in the pool, her skin white like snow, her butt smooth like oil….”
Zhong Yue hummed the folk rhyme he learned from the monster saint city as a way to distract himself from his abject terror, braving himself as he walked deeper in the Zombie King Temple. There were more and more curtains drooping down from the roof, giving an itchy sensation as the whitish curtains brushed through his face.
Up until now, he had yet to meet any living things at all, there was nothing other than severed limbs and grayish-white bones on the floor. In this Zombie King Temple, the She Bi zombie race had devoured innumerable celestials and their remains cluttered the floor, but they were all seemingly in fresh and unspoiled condition, exhibiting no signs of decaying or decomposing.
“... the lady asked me, to join her in her bath, I was so happy, like a flower bloomed, in my heart….”
Zhong Yue cast his gaze forward and his eyes were met with countless grayish-white bones paving the floor. Skulls of the different celestial races with different sizes came together to form a skeletal bed. There were also long and tall leg bones on the edges of the bed acting as posts for the whitish curtains that faintly cloaked the skeletal bed.
There were lights glowing eerily in the color of green behind the curtains, revealing the silhouette of a beauty lying on the bed.
“She Bi Zombie Race….”
Zhong Yue gulped, he meticulously plodded over and all of a sudden, the sounds of hissing coming from within the curtains gave him a shock. The curtains slitted open as two green snakes slithered out from the back, raising their heads and staring down on him.
He stood steadfast while peeking through the narrow slit between the curtains; there was a young and beautiful lady in a deep slumber on the white skeletal bed. She had the face of a human but the body of a beast, her countenance was incredibly stunning despite her pallid complexion as she was perennially bereft of the light of the sun. Solely judging from her countenance, she was even more charming than Qiu Jin’er and Shui Qingyan.
On top of her head were a pair of cat ears with the two green snakes hooked around them. Her cat ears flickered from time to time, while the green snakes hissed incessantly, staring right at Zhong Yue as they were readied to protect their master in the case he launched an assault.
As he was observing the sleeping beauty, the little token in her hands caught his attention, it was the three willows token meant for the She Bi Zombie Race given to him by Shui Zian; and if the token was now in her hands, then there would be no doubt that she was of the She Bi Zombie Race!
This young girl … she is of the She Bi Zombie Race that was feared by the celestial experts?
Zhong Yue was startled as doubts filled his heart, from the outward appearance of the young lady, one wouldn’t think that the She Bi Zombie Race which was purported to be bestial and barbaric-looking would be the diametric opposite — charming and beautiful.
However, just as Zhong Yue started imagining the scenes of the young She Bi zombie lady devouring the celestial experts bit by bit, he was no longer able to regard the young lady as a beauty anymore.
“So delicious….” even in her sleep, she was still dreaming of the feast she had, saliva trickled down from the edge of her cherry lips as she mumbled in her sleep.
Zhong Yue quietly receded back, he searched for the shattered fragments of the broken soul weapons and continued the extraction of five elemental Qi from them to strengthen his Wu Xing Realm. He thought, This young lady may look innocuous and unassuming now, but this is definitely not her true form. She is extremely dangerous at night! When the sky darkened, she wouldn’t be anywhere close to the definition of cute and charming at all … I can tell from her fingers, they are now pallid white but the hand I saw last night was dark and icy-cold….
This suggested that the appearance of the She Bi Zombie Race would differ greatly during day and night; cute and charming in the day and dreadful at night!
I need to look closely at the time, it’s a must to leave the coffin before the sky darkens, before this sleeping beauty turns into a dreadful beast, or otherwise, I’d die for sure!
Zhong Yue sat down quietly, extracting and refining the five elemental Qi, while the Wu Xing Wheel on his back slowly expanded and strengthened. This was a golden opportunity to him, having so many soul weapons of the highest caliber for him alone to aid his cultivation.
The five elemental Qi in these soul weapons of the celestial experts were highly refined, strong and of high purity, allowing Zhong Yue to greatly solidify his Wu Xing Wheel and expand it with ease!
Not only that, but the Wan Xiang Wheel was also benefiting in tandem with the Wu Xing Wheel. Ordinary Awakening Qi Practitioners would first open the Wu Xing Realm, cultivate it to the peak before proceeding on with the second realm — the Wan Xiang Realm. And when the second realm was opened, the five elemental Qi of the Wu Xing Wheel could then nourish the Wan Xiang Realm and help in expanding it.
While Zhong Yue had reverse opened all of the five Yuan Shen realms; hence, as he cultivate the Wu Xing Wheel, the five elemental Qi could also nourish the Wan Xiang Realm at the same time, allowing it to expand together!
Behind him, the Wan Xiang Wheel emerged and started to expand, however, the rate at which it was expanding was somewhat slower than that of the Wu Xing Wheel.
Not only that, but it was like a series of chain reactions, the growth of Wan Xiang Wheel spurred the Shen Cai Wheel, followed by the Yin Yang Wheel and finally, strengthening of the Dao Yi Wheel.
However, the growth rate of the Wu Xing Wheel was the highest, while the same for the other four were not that great.
Even so, the benefits he gained were incredible, the Wu Xing Wheel was the source of the multicolored godly rays, a slight movement and the five elemental Qi would erupt out, extracting more five elemental Qi from the soul weapons at an ever increasing rate!
While the Wan Xiang Wheel augmented his strength, the Shen Cai Wheel increased his life force, the Yin Yang Wheel nurtured the Yin and Yang Qi, and lastly, the Dao Yi Wheel granted him the almighty power to command all five realms at will — his prowess was increasing by leaps and bounds!
Unbeknownst to him, the fragments of the broken soul weapons were nearly depleted, by this point, his Wu Xing Wheel behind the Yuan Shen was now a hundred feet in radius, almost reaching its peak!
All of a sudden, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed a slight surge of movement coming from the curtained skeletal bed, his heart instantly stiffened up and he quickly turned and looked over — the sleeping beauty was bigger and sturdier than before, the petite and charming young lady had now turned into a giant beast!
Not only that, but the two three inch long green snakes were now over thirty feet long, their bodies curled around the posts while the snakeheads were above the head of the bed, staring right a him with their saliva drooling like streams of river water onto the ground.