Chapter 573: Yanma Tianzi Sword, Five Elements Heavenly Escape Holy Armor

Underground, in Longevity City.

As the Underworld Ghost Realm collapsed, the rate of spatial decay accelerated. A dragon and a human figure repeatedly clashed, tearing apart more of the space. This, in turn, caused the Underworld Ghost Realm to collapse even faster. The more they fought, the more hostile the environment became. It became a vicious cycle. If a victor wasn't decided before the space completely collapsed, both would be banished to the Ice Prison Realm's spatial layer, a place where concepts of up, down, left, and right ceased to exist. Returning from there would be quite troublesome.

“—Boom!”

With another collision, Wang Yu deeply felt the difficulty of dealing with the Nether Son in this state. He seemed even harder to handle than Celestial Mother Su, because the Nether Son, in his demonic dragon form, was essentially the same type of cultivator as Wang Yu. Both possessed abundant magical power and powerful physiques. Their divine abilities, moreover, surpassed their normal power. Wang Yu's was due to his solid foundation and profound mastery of divine abilities, while the Nether Son's was entirely boosted by the strange purple orb. The power of his ghostly divine abilities had soared by more than several times. If they continued to clash like this, Wang Yu was still confident of victory, but they would inevitably be delayed until the realm completely collapsed.

“I’m done playing with you. Go peacefully to reincarnation!”

With that thought, he activated the Myriad Transformations of the Heavenly Demon, a talent inherent to his Innate Demonic Embryo physique. His body and magical power almost instantly transformed into the true spirit form of the Ice Phoenix. While the Myriad Transformations talent at the Demonic Embryo level might not perfectly manifest the full power of a true spirit, acquiring even a third of its essence was enough to significantly boost the power of his extreme cold abilities.

The divine bird cried out!

The already towering Dharma Idol giant grew splendid and ornate ice crystal phoenix wings. Its immense magical power transformed into demonic primal energy, and the true flame of the Ice Phoenix suddenly surged, forming a phoenix claw that, like grasping a loach, seized the Nether Son's demonic dragon. The pressure from the true spirit bloodline seemed to suppress the Nether Son's status augmentation. Under the superposition of unparalleled divine power, it violently tore the Nether Son's demonic dragon in half. The phoenix's beak pecked and actually pulled out a dark nether dragon tendon, which it swallowed whole. It cried out to the sky once more, its cry echoing through the nine heavens. Truly, its demonic might was unparalleled!

The Nether Son's body fell from the mid-section of the demonic dragon. Deprived of the strange purple orb's boost, his strength plummeted by more than one level. Wang Yu instantly drew him into his palm. With a light squeeze, he burst like a small bug. With a squelch, he was declared completely dead. Before his remnant soul could even emerge, Wang Yu activated his spiritual power, using the transmigration scriptures from the Prajna Heart Sutra to make it utterly vanish.

“It’s finally over.”

In his Ice Phoenix state, Wang Yu was at his peak strength. If he were to also unleash the Twelve Phases of Guanghan, he would undoubtedly erupt with unprecedented power. Unfortunately, the Nether Son was still a step weaker. Allowing him a chance at reincarnation would have been his final act of mercy.

Without the power supporting it, the demonic dragon's body, torn in half, quickly dissipated. The supreme treasure, the purple orb born from the Ghost Realm, also fell into Wang Yu's hands. The abundant Yin-Corpse Qi within it was enough to accelerate his cultivation of the Corpse Demon Secret Art, and it was also a top-grade material for refining treasures.

Defeating the Nether Son didn't mean the end of this exploration; on the contrary, the true delve into the depths had only just begun.

Seeing the space collapsing ever faster, the crescent moon mark in Wang Yu's pupils flickered. Using the Empty Moon Art, he forcefully stabilized a spatial area and instantly flashed through it. In an instant, the world spun. When he opened his eyes again, he was in a vast underground pit of corpses. Clay effigies, each enveloping a corpse, stared fixedly at him, their eyes glowing red.

“Is this… a sacrificial pit?”

A thought struck him. Wang Yu realized the spatial layer was unstable, making it impossible to use the concealment effect of the Guixu Hidden Heaven Curse. He could only suppress his aura to its lowest point. Concealing himself in a dark corner, his spiritual sense quickly spread out to observe the situation.

The principle of the Underworld Ghost Realm's existence was like a small egg hanging on a large egg, connected by a spatial channel. When the Ghost Realm was destroyed, Wang Yu returned from his original position. This meant he had entered the original space of this area. Due to the spatial overlap, it was difficult to truly discover, but now that the overlapping space had shattered, the true landscape of this place was naturally revealed. This was the true location where the geomancer had arranged the wondrous geomantic formation. The funerary objects were, of course, within the coffin. Although the Ghost Realm had dense corpse qi, the entities there were actual ghost bodies reformed from souls. Their actual corpses were still in this overlapping space, that is, in the true tomb…

At the time, using the celestial star positioning method of the Feng Shui compass, after realizing something was off about the location, Wang Yu had already understood the dual-space structure. Otherwise, he wouldn't have fought the Nether Son until the realm's collapse.

“What truly ingenious methods.”

After a brief thought, Wang Yu discovered the brilliance of such an arrangement. Corpses could turn into zombies, but zombies lacked spirits and were reviled by heaven and earth. Only a very few zombies had the fortune to develop sentience, and their numbers were extremely rare. Therefore, the geomancer chose the Yin Ghost Dynasty, rather than a Corpse Dynasty. Two layers of space, two deadly grounds, would certainly ensure that grave robbers would never return. However, this time, a Venerable himself had come. God Transformation-level tomb raiders were few and far between in the world.

The zombies in the true space continuously gathered Yin and Corpse Qi. This would cause the Ghost Dynasty behind them to grow stronger until the two overlapping spaces truly merged. Ghosts possessing zombie bodies and returning to their physical forms would certainly boost their strength by a level. They would truly gain the foundation to contend for dominance over a realm. This disciple of the Ancestral Geomancer was truly cunning and incredibly skilled.

Rubbing the strange purple orb in his hand, Wang Yu suddenly had a brilliant idea. Although most zombies were transformed from humans, they no longer belonged to humanity but were a type of ferocious demon. Naturally, the Artifact Crafting chapter of the Ancient Demon Refining Art could be effective on them, and he also needed a spiritual treasure to counteract ghostly arts. While pondering, he took out the Demonic Bone Sword, a low-grade spiritual treasure.

Wang Yu's left hand flared with Ice Flood Dragon Alchemy Flame, forcefully melting the sword hilt and embedding the purple orb into it. This treasure orb condensed the essence of the Ghost Realm. Wang Yu had never seen it recorded in any texts. Thus, he named it—Purple Moon Soul Pearl! It naturally possessed the power to augment and counteract ghostly arts, and with the integration of the mutated Lunar energy—that purple moonlight—it was clearly more aligned with ghostly arts. Refining it in this direction would significantly enhance the divine power of his Yellow Springs Path, which was a top-tier Grand Dao among ghostly arts, connected to the four attributes of Yin, Ice, Earth, and Water. It was more complex than the single Frost Path, and theoretically had higher potential, but broad knowledge was not always better than specialization. Elevating the Frost Path to an extremely high level could also grant formidable power. Therefore, no Dao was inherently superior or inferior; it all depended on the cultivator's personal comprehension and execution.

With an idea in mind, Wang Yu, with one hand forming artifact refining hand seals, transformed his other into a Yellow Springs Great Hand Seal, constantly snatching zombies wrapped in clay effigies from the darkness. The zombie bodies, which should have been impervious to blades and spears, water and fire, became like melting wax, continuously transforming into grayish-red flesh-mud that coated the Demonic Bone Sword. The Purple Moon Soul Pearl also integrated more perfectly.

Gradually, a strange power awakened within the sword: it was the Nether Son's 'status power,' which the Purple Moon Soul Pearl had bestowed upon the sword, granting it the ability to enslave ghosts. Moreover, its sentience greatly increased, far surpassing the limitations of the Demon Refining Artifact Art, transforming the finished product from slightly inferior to spiritual treasures of the same rank into a top-tier item within its rank.

“—Perfect!”

Months later, the special zombies in the vast burial pit were completely consumed by Wang Yu. He walked through numerous tomb chambers, incorporating almost all the Yin ghosts and evil entities he saw into the sword as refining materials. Compared to its original appearance, the sword had completely shed its bone form. Its base was a black sword body, adorned with purple-gold demonic patterns. Two tusk-like spikes protruded from the sides of the guard, forming a crescent-like arc. The purple orb was embedded in the center of the guard, with crimson veins extending from the orb. This gave the sword a noble appearance while adding a touch of malevolence. The rapid completion characteristic of the Demon Refining Artifact Art did not affect the quality of the finished spiritual treasure at all. In just a few months, it reached the level of a fifth-tier high-grade item.

The sword itself contained a Yin Corpse Realm. The massive amount of Yin-Corpse Qi accumulated within the Purple Moon Soul Pearl had almost entirely converged into this space. Although not as vast as the original Ghost Realm, its scale was still considerable. Once the sword enslaved a ghostly entity, it would be absorbed into this space, ready to be summoned at any time.

Wang Yu fondled the new spiritual treasure, murmuring to himself, “From now on, I shall call you—Yama Emperor Sword!” The spiritual essence within the artifact immediately sent feedback; the characters for "Yama" appeared on the hilt, evidently acknowledging the name. Due to the presence of 'status power,' the Yama Emperor Sword was a rare type of growth-oriented spiritual treasure. As long as it was continuously fed with malevolent Yin entities, it could accumulate energy and constantly evolve. It had already surpassed the scope of the Demon Refining Artifact Art. It was a serendipitous creation, difficult to replicate. Wang Yu's artifact refining skill hadn't reached this level yet; he could barely refine ordinary low-grade spiritual treasures, and only with demonic materials.

“Next, devouring the Immortal Dynasty Crown Prince’s corpse should perfect the Yama Emperor Sword’s status power, elevating it to a fifth-tier supreme grade, making it another killing weapon in my possession after the Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow.”

Thoughts raced through his mind, and Wang Yu moved faster and faster.

Soon after, he arrived at the true main tomb chamber. A multi-layered coffin caught Wang Yu's eye, its four corners curving upwards like dougong brackets, guarded by Pixiu mythical beasts. It was suspended in mid-air by profound iron chains, preventing contact with earth qi. This was a common method in Feng Shui to prevent corpse reanimation. As long as the corpse inside was undisturbed, it would remain in a state of transformation, continuously absorbing Yin-Corpse Qi from heaven and earth, which would then be channeled into the Ghost Realm through the overlapping space. It served as a source of energy supply.

“What elaborate effort.”

Wang Yu circled the coffin once and quickly discovered the true central suppression artifact—the Earth Ancestral Token! This treasure was entirely of a profound yellow hue. The character 'Earth' was carved on it in cloud-seal script. Dense earth qi overflowed from the token. Legend had it that this item had been nurtured for five hundred years within the main earth veins of the Ice Prison Realm. It had absorbed countless earth vein treasures and even refined a fifth-tier dragon vein treasure, thus possessing the ability to control earth qi and alter geological formations. It was a treasure geomancers could only dream of. To be willing to leave it here to maintain the operation of the Ghost Dynasty's wondrous formation, was quite a sacrifice. If it were Wang Yu, he certainly wouldn’t be willing.

Since the wondrous formation was broken, there was no longer any impediment to collecting the Earth Ancestral Token. Wang Yu took out his Feng Shui compass, and with a slight pull, he saw the token whiz into the compass. It firmly embedded itself next to the Water Ancestral Token. With this, the two ancestral tokens were gathered. The sinking earth qi lifted the water vapor, leading to more and deeper transformations. The two stars in the celestial star ritual array flickered even more intensely. At the same time, two other stars emitted faint glows; these represented the Fire and Wind Ancestral Tokens. The four ancestral tokens—Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind—possessed an inherent instinct to converge. When all four united, they formed a supreme treasure. After acquiring two, Wang Yu vaguely sensed the remaining two, and he believed the celestial star positioning method should allow him to pinpoint their approximate locations. Upon realizing this, Wang Yu immediately prioritized collecting all the ancestral tokens on his agenda.

If there was any method that could transcend two major cultivation realms, allowing the weak to overcome the strong in an almost miraculous manner, then a wondrous Feng Shui formation would undoubtedly be number one. With enough luck, anything was possible with these formations. And he also possessed the Secret Art of Heavenly Fortune Mind Power, which helped him accumulate luck. It would remain dormant after one burst, then begin accumulating again. It was highly manipulable. It was important to remember that he had set out precisely to find a way to contend with Dao Integration stage cultivators. Feng Shui was definitely a good direction; although it involved luck, it was controllable. Its advantages would only slowly become apparent through such accumulation. His current gains were enough to satisfy him.

Of course, the main attraction had yet to be examined.

Approaching the coffin, Wang Yu's spiritual sense gradually penetrated through the heavy obstructions, quickly discovering the uncorrupted corpse of the Immortal Dynasty Crown Prince. It had a bizarre, dragon-like head, with black fur covering its nape and neck, and fish-like scales on its arms. A sense of drowning accompanied by an ominous aura washed over Wang Yu. This invigorated Wang Yu.

“A Black Zombie?”

The so-called Black Zombie, also known as a Water Corpse Demon (shuiba), unleashes floods upon emergence, capable of submerging ten thousand li of mountains and rivers. It is an extraordinary type of zombie that inherently controls major water path divine abilities, and its realm is on par with a Hou. However, its strength absolutely rivaled that of a God Transformation cultivator; it was no ordinary evil demon. This Water Corpse Demon had been incubating for too long, just one step away from emerging. That step was… contact with earth qi. Zombies were evil entities nurtured by the earth, and earth qi was the crucial factor for corpse reanimation. Since Wang Yu had detected it beforehand, he wouldn't allow it to emerge.

“Yama Emperor Sword, go!”

The spiritual treasure, newly refined, transformed into a black light, directly traversing space to enter the coffin's interior. It instantly pierced the corpse's heart, causing dense black veins to sprout. Like a suckling, it continuously drew out the Water Corpse Demon's essence. The corpse gradually withered.

Wang Yu was thus able to free his mind to observe the funerary objects within the coffin. A dull, five-colored ring entered his vision. As the saying went, 'divine objects conceal themselves,' difficult to discover without fate. Theoretically, this 'immortal relic' had at least reached the Dao Integration level, possessing its own Grand Dao, making it a seventh-tier supreme treasure. Its artifact spirit was no different from a normal person. Wang Yu's sudden invasion with his spiritual sense immediately triggered the treasure's instinctive reaction. The five-colored divine ring radiated brilliant light and rapidly transformed into a set of armor. A stream of information followed his spiritual sense, appearing in his Sea of Consciousness.

“Five Elements Heaven-Escaping Sacred Armor. It can escape through anything related to the Five Elements of the universe. Even Heaven-Sealing, Earth-Locking techniques cannot impede it. It possesses three effects: lightning transformation, domain, and immunity…”