76: The director of the White Tiger Bureau has personally come out to take action. How could I have the courage and ability to do that?

“Bone Road… Xuan Yin River…”

The two walked along a path covered in white bones, Chen Ziliang muttering to himself the whole time.

Lu Ming, on the other hand, was as leisurely as those retired old men who collect twenty to thirty thousand a month, showing no urgency to seize the immortal destiny.

He replayed many details along the way.

Now he was ninety percent sure that the so-called “immortal corpse” was bait thrown out by Zhao Qingge and the higher-ups of the Night Watch Division.

As long as it involved immortality, even if there was a one percent chance it was real, those old geezers wouldn't be able to resist taking a bite.

Since he knew it was fake, he stopped pretending and just lay flat.

Seeing Chen Ziliang in a daze, Lu Ming couldn't help but turn his head and ask, “What are you muttering about?”

Chen Ziliang paused, then asked in return, “Brother Lu, don’t you think this place is very sinister?”

Lu Ming scoffed, “It’s alright, I’ve seen more sinister things, like a three-year-old starting to smash tiles and call for his mother.”

“But there’s something even more sinister; just now, the three idiots from the Hidden Dragon Ranking had their brains squeezed.”

Chen Ziliang’s eyelid twitched, and he silently mourned for Shen Shiyuan for a few seconds in his heart.

Your lifespan has moved again!!

Why did you have to provoke this jinx of all people?

He paused, then began to explain his discovery.

“Brother Lu, have you heard of the corpse dissolution immortal?”

“According to legend, after a person dies, he passes through the Gate of Hell and the River of Forgetfulness, drinks Meng Po’s soup, and then enters reincarnation.”

“So, a master referenced the method of reincarnation and did the opposite! Instead of going through reincarnation, he used his physical body as a coffin and his soul as a seed, passing through a specific reincarnation path, gradually refining the corpse, while the soul continued to cultivate underground.”

“It is said that after a cultivator undergoes corpse dissolution, his corpse does not rot; instead, it gradually shrinks, like a cicada shedding its skin, and finally, the soul breaks free from the corpse and ascends to immortality.”

“The dark currents we passed earlier, with their mist-like Yin energy and tide-like corpse ghosts, were just like the legendary Xuan Yin River, where three thousand weak waters would sink a boat and kill a person who tried to cross.”

“And before us now is the Bone Road, paved with white bones, a forbidden zone for the dead. As people walk on it, their Yang energy will be slowly siphoned away, eventually turning them into walking corpses who don't even know how they died!”

Seeing him speak with such conviction, Lu Ming couldn't help but glance at him, “I say, Ziliang, you know quite a lot.”

Chen Ziliang chuckled, “To be honest, before I joined the Night Watch Division, I studied with the old Taoist priest in the village for a few years.”

Lu Ming raised an eyebrow and laughed, “I didn’t realize, you kid are quite the charlatan. But this boat didn’t sink, did it? And you’re still alive and well. Even if what you say is true, this path of reincarnation was probably destroyed long ago.”

Chen Ziliang thought about it and felt that Brother Lu was right.

If it were as miraculous as the records said, the two of them would have already been dead.

That was a corpse dissolution immortal!

No matter how powerful Brother Lu was, he couldn't possibly instantly kill an immortal, could he?

Soon, everyone reached the end of the Bone Road, where a domed stone hall stood before them.

“Immortal corpse! The immortal corpse is inside!!”

The rogue cultivators, as if possessed, rushed into the stone hall, vying for first place.

The expected screams did not come.

Lu Ming noticed Li Yan and Yu Changqing's expressions relax.

He only followed unhurriedly after they, too, entered the grand hall.

Whether it was an immortal corpse or not wasn't important; watching the show was.

But when he stepped into the stone hall and saw the nine-meter-tall mountain of flesh and blood, he gasped and sharply looked at Chen Ziliang.

No way, buddy, everything you said was true?

There really was a corpse dissolution immortal in the stone coffin?

Chen Ziliang also looked utterly bewildered.

I don't know.

Brother Lu, believe me, I don't know anything!!!

I was just reciting from the records; I just wanted to show off in front of you.

Just as everyone was stunned, a hearty laugh came from a hidden passage.

“Hahaha, Little Hu, you’re a genius, goddammit!! You really found it!”

“Hahaha, the immortal corpse is mine, Situ Lei’s! Let those bumpkins go fish!”

Situ Lei and a few others emerged from the passage.

Seeing the dense crowd in the stone hall, his laughter abruptly stopped.

Damn!!!

Damn, damn, damn!!!

Who can tell me what the hell happened!

I thought I was far ahead, but you’re telling me I’m the last one here?

Situ Lei immediately froze at the entrance of the passage.

Fortunately, everyone's attention was on the stone coffin on the mountain of flesh and blood at this moment, and no one noticed his embarrassment.

Seeing the stone coffin intact, Yu Changqing and Li Yan's faces first showed wild joy.

Until a careful rogue cultivator mumbled:

“Didn’t they say there was a green stone ox carrying the stone coffin? Where’s the stone ox?”

“Yeah, where’s the stone ox?”

Only then did everyone react.

Yu Changqing and Li Yan felt as if they had been doused with cold water, exchanging glances, instinctively feeling that something was amiss.

Li Yan suddenly drew his long saber and fiercely slashed at the stone coffin.

As soon as the saber energy touched the coffin body, it was bounced back by a golden light shield that suddenly lit up.

The golden runes flowing on the light shield were identical to the seal outside the Thousand Caves earlier.

“Damn it! It’s a trap!”

Yu Changqing’s expression suddenly changed, and a violent aura erupted from his body as he fiercely rushed towards the entrance of the stone hall.

The stone ox was gone, but the seal was still there!

What did that mean?

It meant that the cunning old foxes of the Night Watch Division never intended for the contents of the coffin to appear.

The so-called immortal corpse was just a pretense; their real target was very likely himself!

The head of the White Tiger Bureau personally acting as a diversion, what a grand scheme.

Who am I to deserve such attention!

As soon as he rushed to the entrance, he was blocked by a golden suppression seal that suddenly appeared.

Yu Changqing’s expression became even uglier.

He decisively turned and sped towards the stone coffin, roaring at the still stunned Li Yan, “If you don’t want to die, break this seal for me!!”

Li Yan was jolted back to his senses by Yu Changqing’s roar, and without thinking too much, he gripped his long saber and charged towards the golden light shield of the stone coffin.

But their actions, in the eyes of the other rogue cultivators, became an attempt to monopolize the immortal corpse.

You’ve been brothers from outside the cave to inside, and you want to touch the immortal corpse without saying a word?

Can that work?

Clearly not!

“Stop, you two little beasts!”

Dozens of people fiercely attacked the two.

“Get lost!”

Yu Changqing dared not hold anything back; his only chance of survival now was to release whatever was in the stone coffin.

Domain expanded.

“Buzz——”

A low hum suddenly exploded in the stone hall, and the air around Yu Changqing became distorted.

Black spiritual energy spread wildly with him as the center, instantly engulfing the dozens of rogue cultivators.

Within the domain, countless black energy blades flashed out of thin air, and none of the rogue cultivators could withstand a single blow.

In just a single breath, dozens of people vanished into thin air.

“Domain?... This is the Fifth Realm!”

Situ Lei’s eyes widened, his voice filled with shock.

Shen Shiyuan and the other two’s expressions became very grim.

Although they didn't know what had happened, with a Fifth Realm expert mixed in, the fate of the immortal corpse was likely to fall through.

And Lu Ming had already pulled Chen Ziliang to hide in a corner the moment Yu Changqing erupted.

“Brother Lu, isn’t that Inspector Li? How did you know…”

Chen Ziliang looked bewildered by the sudden turn of events.

Lu Ming merely raised his index finger slightly, “Shhh, watch the show!”

...