Chapter 1501: West Desert Visitors

On the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Puppet Mountains, on a vast plain, stood a colossal red city, over thirty zhang high. The city was built from a type of red brick or stone, its city walls stretching twenty li long and ten li wide. Above, cultivators patrolled on spirit birds.

On the city wall, a young woman with a slender waist and shapely hips, dressed in a golden skirt, stood gazing into the distance, her brows furrowed in a frown. Her sleeves were embroidered with a black flame pattern, identifying her as Fan Ruoruo of the Nine Nether Sect.

"What's going on? They're still not back. Surely Fellow Daoist Wu and the others haven't met with trouble!" Fan Ruoruo muttered to herself, her expression grim.

The ten major sects of the Northern Territory had joined forces, conscripting a large number of cultivators, to build five cities on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Puppet Mountains and deploy heavy troops. Each city had at least four Nascent Soul cultivators, supporting each other, to prevent the Netherworld Spiders from breaking out of the Ten Thousand Puppet Mountains.

Since the appearance of the Netherworld Spiders, tens of thousands of cultivators and over a hundred thousand mortals had perished, a devastating loss. A while ago, a large number of Netherworld Spiders had burst out of the Ten Thousand Puppet Mountains, and only through the combined efforts of the ten major sects were the cultivators able to repel their attack and force them back into the Ten Thousand Puppet Mountains.

The Qianyang Immortal Couple and Fan Ruoruo were stationed in the same city. There were a total of four Nascent Soul cultivators there, and three of them had gone to pursue Netherworld Spiders and had not yet returned. This was not a good sign.

"Senior Martial Aunt Fan, someone is approaching." A disciple of the Nine Nether Sect alerted her.

In the distance, streaks of green light appeared in the sky, revealing themselves to be green lotus flowers. A green rainbow light flew at the forefront, with Wang Qingshan, his hands clasped behind his back, flying on sword light.

Fan Ruoruo's face lit up with joy. She soared forward to meet them.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, Fellow Daoist Wu, Madam Wu, I'm relieved to see you all return safely. By the way, where is Fellow Daoist Sun? I don't see him." Fan Ruoruo's gaze swept over Wang Qingshan and the others, and a bad premonition arose in her heart.

Wu Chang sighed lightly and said, "He was ambushed by a mutated fourth-tier Netherworld Spider and unfortunately perished. If Fellow Daoist Wang hadn't come to our aid, we probably wouldn't have made it back either."

"Indeed!" Li Ling'er added, "Fellow Daoist Wang single-handedly eliminated one mutated fourth-tier Netherworld Spider and captured another. Of course, these were mutated Netherworld Spiders that had only recently advanced to the fourth tier. Those that have been at the fourth tier for hundreds of years wouldn't rush out like that." Li Ling'er further explained that higher-tier Netherworld Spiders usually hide behind, directing the lower-tier spiders to deplete the high-tier cultivators' magical power before engaging.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, Immortal Li, you both flatter me. I merely did what little I could. It is the responsibility of cultivators like us to eradicate evil and uphold justice," Wang Qingshan said humbly.

"Amitabha, well said, well said. Fellow Daoist Wang speaks correctly. This humble monk also wishes to do something for the common people," a serene male voice drifted from the distant sky. No sooner had the voice faded, a golden rainbow light appeared in the sky, accompanied by a streak of black light beside it.

Soon after, two streaks of light landed before Wang Qingshan. They were a benevolent-looking monk in golden robes and a tall young man in black robes. The black-robed youth carried a black coffin on his back, whose lid occasionally rattled, as if something inside was trying to break free.

"Oh, Fellow Daoist Fang, it's you. Why are you here too?" Wang Qingshan was slightly surprised to see the black-robed youth.

Fang Mu and Huang Fugui were widely known in the Eastern Barren Lands. Huang Fugui was notorious for being cowardly and afraid of death, while Fang Mu had a peculiar fondness for corpses. Hundreds of years ago, when the demon race invaded, Fang Mu ventured deep behind enemy lines to obtain the corpse of a transforming demon bird. He eventually killed the transforming demon bird, though he himself was severely wounded, achieving fame in that one battle.

Fang Mu was still at the early Nascent Soul stage, but his aura was somewhat stronger than Wang Qingshan's. An astonishing yin energy emanated from Fang Mu, making lower-tier cultivators shiver with dread.

"Wang Qingshan! Not bad. The Azure Lotus Immortal Couple has good fortune. I heard there are Netherworld Spiders causing trouble in the Northern Territory. Heh heh, Netherworld Spiders have a trace of Asura Spider bloodline. The corpses of fourth-tier Netherworld Spiders would certainly be excellent for refining into corpse puppets. The corpses of mutated fourth-tier Netherworld Spiders, I must have them." By the end of his statement, Fang Mu's eyes were filled with fervent desire, as if he had just seen a rare treasure.

He cultivated the "Nine Yin Heavenly Corpse Great Law." He had already refined heavenly corpses of eight different attributes, all at the late Core Formation stage. If he could refine a dark-attributed heavenly corpse as well, he could cultivate with the aid of all nine corpse puppets. Reaching the mid-Nascent Soul stage would then only be a matter of time. If all nine heavenly corpses could be cultivated to the early Nascent Soul stage, and he deployed the Heavenly Corpse Great Array with them, he could battle against cultivators of higher realms, allowing him to roam freely across the vast lands.

Wang Qingshan was speechless. Aside from corpses, Fang Mu had little interest in anything else. No wonder low-tier cultivators in the Eastern Barren Lands called Fang Mu and Huang Fugui the "Twin Eccentrics of the East."

"Amitabha, Fellow Daoist Fang, your killing intent is too strong. You should try to restrain yourself. To simply stand by and do nothing is not good for you," the golden-robed monk clasped his hands together and spoke persuasively.

"Jingkong, you chant your scriptures, and I'll refine my corpses. We won't interfere with each other," Fang Mu's tone was indifferent. He deeply disliked Buddhist practitioners. He had even once considered killing a high-ranking Nascent Soul monk to refine a gold-attributed heavenly corpse from their body.

Grandmaster Jingkong showed no anger. He looked at Wang Qingshan and asked seriously, "Fellow Daoist Wang, Fellow Daoist Wang Mingren is your granduncle, isn't he? Is he well?"

"Passed away? Could this humble monk have been mistaken? What a pity. He had a strong affinity with Buddhism. If he had entered the monastic life, perhaps he wouldn't have passed away," Grandmaster Jingkong said with some regret, his expression solemn.

"Granduncle Mingren had an affinity with Buddhism? Grandmaster, how did you discern this?" Wang Qingshan asked with a smile. He had never heard that Wang Mingren knew Grandmaster Jingkong.

Grandmaster Jingkong simply shook his head, saying tactfully, "It cannot be spoken of, it cannot be spoken of."

Wang Qingshan frowned. Grandmaster Jingkong's half-spoken words left him feeling a prickle of curiosity. He wanted to know why Wang Mingren had an affinity with Buddhism. Since it was rare to encounter a Buddhist cultivator from the Western Deserts, he naturally wanted to inquire further. However, Grandmaster Jingkong had closed off the conversation, leaving Wang Qingshan unable to press for more details.

Fan Ruoruo quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Fellow Daoist Wang, Fellow Daoist Fang, Grandmaster Jingkong, you must be tired from your journey. Please rest inside the city first! Once other reinforcements arrive, we can collectively eradicate the Netherworld Spiders." She invited Wang Qingshan and the others into the city and sent someone to arrange their accommodations.

And so, Wang Qingshan and his companions temporarily settled down in the Northern Territory.

"Don't wander off. Interact more with other cultivators. In the future, our clan will be investing more resources here in the Northern Territory," Wang Qingshan instructed Wang Yingjie and the others.

"Yes, Ancestor," Wang Yingjie and the others replied in unison.