Chapter 903: Divine Sense Surges, Imperishable Bones, and the Corpse-Shedding Immortal

Nascent Soul cultivators are usually as elusive as dragons.

Unless something urgent arises they seldom show themselves.

Yet the moment they heard Yangming True Lord was coming, the Heaven Corpse Sect Master and Ah Youduo rushed to the Yin Ghost Sect at once, despite his claim that there was no hurry.

After learning that Lu Changsheng was cultivating in the cave and had forbidden interruptions, the two Jin Kingdom True Lords settled in and waited quietly.

More than half a month later.

While resting and waiting for Lu Changsheng to exit seclusion, the sect master and Ah Youduo felt their souls tremble and looked toward the sect’s deepest zone.

It was once True Lord Mingsha’s cave, now occupied by Yangming True Lord.

Under the Yin-Cloud Grand Formation, gales whipped across the grim cave as torrents of spiritual energy converged.

A deity both tangible and formless shimmered in pale gold, blazing like a sun and flooding the sky with light.

Sun and moon seemed to shine together, golden sparks and silvery beams weaving, merging, colliding then parting in a flash.

The ghostly Yin Ghost Sect suddenly carried a hint of sacred aura under that celestial vision.

Several layers of arrays confined the phenomenon to the innermost caves, carving that area out from the rest of the world.

Not only the two Nascent Soul experts, even the Core Formation elders gazed toward the depths in awe.

Yet the forbidden ground was sealed by a fourth-rank array, so they could see little.

All they sensed was a deity standing there while heaven and earth’s energy streamed toward it, weaving golden and silver radiance into auspicious light.

The commotion did not last long.

Half a day later a faint voice echoed through the sect.

It sounded like a dragon’s roar stretched into a flute, like the Dao humming, like sages preaching and ancient prayers drifting across endless ages.

Foundation and Core disciples felt gods and sages revived, their might oppressive and terrifying.

Ah Youduo and the Heaven Corpse Sect Master sensed an even deeper pressure on their souls.

Though extremely subtle,

it vanished almost at once,

yet they knew for certain it was the divine sense of a mid-Nascent Soul expert.

Not someone who had just broken through,

but at least fifth, maybe sixth layer.

In the depths of the sect, inside Mingsha’s former cave,

Lu Changsheng opened his eyes and exhaled a turbid breath.

He hadn’t expected cultivating the God-Devouring Technique to stir such a spectacle.

Feeling his soul power double in an instant he broke into a broad smile.

The God-Devouring Technique may have brutal requirements,

but once completed it doubles one’s divine sense outright.

With the Taiyi Spirit Body and the Yin-Yang Myriad Laws Nascent Soul he had already rivaled mid-stage the moment he entered the realm.

Now the technique had pushed him solidly to the sixth layer.

Such a leap was nothing short of outrageous.

And this was only the first layer.

Once he adapted and stabilized the power he could begin the second layer.

Breaking through that would bridge the gulf between mid and late Nascent Soul.

Because the Taiyi Spirit Body would eventually lose its edge he had worried his soul would become a weakness.

Against late-stage giants that flaw could be fatal.

But the God-Devouring Technique had turned it into a strength.

He now burned to master the second layer and push his soul even higher.

With a single thought every inch of the Yin Ghost Sect lay bare before him.

Seeing that Ah Youduo and the sect master were waiting, he donned the guise of Yangming True Lord and walked out.

“Mili, my cultivation caused a bit of a stir. Go handle the aftermath.”

He sent the message to Nangong Mili.

Under normal circumstances Mingsha’s cave would have contained such noise and visions.

But he and Ti Hun had broken the array earlier, leaving it riddled with cracks and greatly weakened.

Moreover the cave array linked to the sect’s fourth-rank grand formation.

That grand formation had lost much of its foundation after the Soul-Taking Beast devoured countless ghost spirits, so its power dropped.

Every barrier in the sect was effectively downgraded and could no longer suppress the commotion.

Fortunately only the high-level members sensed it.

“Mm.”

Over time Nangong Mili’s mindset had changed completely. She now obeyed Lu Changsheng in everything and treated him with tender care.

Lu Changsheng entered the main hall and sent a voice call, “Ah Youduo, Fellow Daoist Yan, come to the hall for a chat.”

The two arrived in a flash, bowed to Lu Changsheng in his dark robe and cloak.

“Greetings, my lord!”

Previously the Heaven Corpse Sect Master still had a few schemes toward this Yangming True Lord.

But news of the Liang–Yue war made him drop his pride and cling to the Immortal City of Damengze.

The soul pressure that had just leaked from Lu Changsheng’s cultivation intimidated him even further.

“I’ve kept you waiting.”

Lu Changsheng smiled without putting on airs.

Nascent Soul cultivators sit at the top wherever they go.

Even subordinates deserve respect.

The two quickly said they had only just arrived and it was no trouble.

After a few pleasantries Lu Changsheng said, “You’ve heard about the Liang–Yue war, haven’t you?”

They praised his divine might and asked about the demonic envoy.

“The war is settled. The Heavenly Sword Sect will relocate to Liang, and Jiang is now mine.”

“I’m short on reliable people. Liang holds many assets and prisoners of war. Send some of your sect members to assist.”

Lu Changsheng instructed them.

His son Lu Lingxiao and True Lord Incinerating Wither were already handling Liang’s resources and captives.

Resettling those prisoners was a massive task.

True Lord Incinerating Wither and the Asura Sect could manage it,

yet Lu Changsheng did not fully trust him.

He could not hand over full authority.

Once the Heavenly Sword Sect moved, Jiang’s lands and assets would also need managers.

The Lu family alone was far from enough.

He had to pull in other forces to keep the balance.

“Leave it to us, my lord,” the two answered readily.

With Jiang under the Immortal City’s banner, trade between Jin and Jiang would open up, benefiting them as well.

Yan Wujiang asked, “My lord, when you pacified Liang, did the demonic envoy behind Beast God Mountain interfere? Will he come after us?”

They knew only that an emissary of the Seven Demonic Sects had stirred the war.

They feared this envoy greatly.

And worried about revenge.

“Relax. He has fled and won’t dare show himself for a long while.”

Lu Changsheng spoke blandly and offered no details.

The Heaven Corpse Sect Master and Ah Youduo were shaken.

His words meant the envoy had been beaten back or even badly hurt.

With business done Lu Changsheng summoned a crystal coffin from the Heavenly Yuan Lotus.

Inside slept Bing’er.

When she had first fallen into deep sleep he’d been swamped and left her undisturbed.

Now, with corpse-dao grandmaster Yan Wujiang present, he wanted him to examine her and perhaps trace her roots.

The sect master remembered Lu Changsheng asking about yin corpses.

He realized the corpse must be inside.

“My lord, is the yin corpse you mentioned sleeping inside this coffin?”

He carefully inspected the crystal coffin.

It looked like jade yet also like frozen crystal and blocked both magic and divine sense.

Anticipation surged in his chest. Anything valued so highly could hardly be ordinary.

Ah Youduo also examined the coffin.

“Yes. That’s why I’d like your help.”

Lu Changsheng nodded, stepped forward and lifted the lid.

A piercing chill gushed from within.

Inside lay a stunning girl with snow-white skin and delicate features, her body coated in a thin frost like sculpted ice.

As the coffin opened the frost on her face and body began to melt.

Her lashes, still tipped with frost like tiny fans, trembled slightly as though she were about to wake.

“What pure Dark Yin chill!”

The sect master knew at once this was Dark Yin cold, far beyond ordinary frost.

He kept his eyes on Bing’er.

“Mmm…” The frost vanished from her cheeks and she woke in a daze, letting out a kittenish whimper.

Her eyes were crystal clear, like spring water in a silent mountain, filled with indescribable purity.

“Brother!” Catching Lu Changsheng’s scent she perked up, sleepiness fading as she looked at him.

She was puzzled. Why did her brother look different?

“Bing’er.” Lu Changsheng reached out.

She recognized him at once, rose and hugged him, clinging affectionately.

Lu Changsheng sensed her physical strength had grown considerably.

In the past her body had already matched late third-rank body refiners.

Now her constitution was almost fourth-rank.

“Fellow Daoist Yan, can you see what’s going on with Bing’er?”

Holding the girl he hadn’t seen in years, he asked Yan Wujiang.

“Didn’t Yuge say Yangming True Lord dislikes yin corpses?”

Yan Wujiang muttered inwardly as he watched Lu Changsheng spoil the girl.

Earlier he had asked Yin Yuge about her progress and she’d said he disliked yin corpses.

Even her life-bound corpse Yin Wugou had put him off.

So what was going on here?

Did he find Yin Wugou not pretty enough?

Granted Yin Wugou wasn’t as stunning as Bing’er,

but she was hardly plain.

Putting the thought aside, Yan Wujiang probed her with divine sense and found she was nothing like the corpses he refined.

If not for the potent corpse-cold flooding her body he wouldn’t have taken her for a yin corpse at all.

She looked like an innocent maiden.

He asked Lu Changsheng for details and requested to examine her up close.

“No!” Bing’er shunned the corpse-dao master and shrank away.

Helpless, Yan Wujiang could only observe with divine sense, yet learned little.

He kept questioning Lu Changsheng about the Dark Yin fiendish aura within her.

But that demonic aura would only surface after she’d been outside the coffin for some time.

Seeing her reliance on Lu Changsheng, the sect master cupped his fists and withdrew, saying Lu Changsheng could summon him if needed.

Ah Youduo wanted to share her own feelings yet chose to leave as well.

“Very well.”

After they departed, Lu Changsheng examined Bing’er himself.

Her already amazing body had advanced dramatically, nearly reaching fourth rank.

He then noticed her bones had changed.

They seemed tempered by some body-refining art; every bone was crystalline, laden with runic Dao patterns.

He memorized the patterns and continued his inspection.

Apart from body and bones he found nothing else unusual.

A few days later Bing’er grew sleepy again.

The corpse-cold in her body gradually mixed with demonic and baleful energy.

Lu Changsheng summoned Yan Wujiang at once.

Sensing the energies, Yan Wujiang cried out, “Corpse Demon Primal Qi!”

Lu Changsheng raised an eyebrow. “What is Corpse Demon Primal Qi?”

“My lord, it’s the highest grade of corpse-demon energy. Only the finest elite corpse demons possess it.”

“Even our Heaven Corpse Sect’s Golden-Armored Corpse Demon can’t produce it until fourth rank and countless treasures are used.”

Yan Wujiang added excitedly, “Yet even then it wouldn’t be as pure as Miss Bing’er’s.”

“This primal qi can suppress other corpse demons and can even raise more yin corpses.”

His eyes blazed with desire.

If Lu Changsheng weren’t there he might have tried to dissect her to learn the secret.

Unlocking it would push the Heaven Corpse Sect’s arts to new heights.

“Brother… sleepy.”

Bing’er spoke shyly, her pale delicate face and innocent eyes melting steel into mush.

“Alright, rest first.” Lu Changsheng let her lie back in the coffin.

He then asked, “Aside from the primal qi, what else do you see?”

“I’m afraid I lack the skill,” the sect master said regretfully.

Lu Changsheng explained what he had found during his inspection.

Her body had reached fourth rank,

and her bones were crystalline, laced with Dao runes.

“Imperishable Bones?!”

The sect master’s face filled with shock.

Lu Changsheng knew Imperishable Bones was an honorific for top-tier refined corpses.

It signified the pinnacle of yin corpses.

But the sect master meant something else.

It was a type of innate potential.

Much like a spirit root, it meant Bing’er could become a fifth-rank corpse sovereign.

She was already advancing toward that state.

The sect master was stunned. How had Lu Changsheng secured such a treasure?

If he could study her his corpse-dao and realm would soar.

Her body must hold an unrivaled corpse-dao legacy.

“My lord, Miss Bing’er’s state surpasses all records of my sect. I believe she is the reincarnation of a great cultivator through a corpse-dao heritage.”

He explained that crafting such a corpse would be near impossible.

Even if it were crafted it shouldn’t possess such pure, childlike awareness.

“A great cultivator, huh…” Lu Changsheng had suspected as much.

“Years ago she awakened a second personality; her power spiked as though she became someone else.”

“What, a second personality?”

The sect master’s ashen face twitched; the news startled him again.

Bing’er had shocked him again and again today.

Not only was she beyond his sect’s knowledge, she even housed a second personality.

He could no longer doubt she was a great cultivator reborn.

For a moment fear bloomed in his heart.

He dreaded the second personality might awaken and take an interest in his sect.

Then he seemed to recall something. “My lord, an ancient scroll in our sect speaks of a path called ‘Corpse-Shedding Immortal’.”

“Corpse-Shedding Immortal?” Lu Changsheng asked.

“The core lies in corpse-shedding. One first refines oneself into a corpse. When the yin-corpse body is perfected, the corpse husk is dissolved through secret arts or a heavenly tribulation, stripping away all evil and forming the ultimate Corpse Immortal Body.”

“Miss Bing’er aligns with that heritage, though the path is nearly impossible and long lost; we possess only fragments.”

Yan Wujiang voiced his speculation.

Though bold, Bing’er’s state had already blown his mind.

Even the reincarnated great power before him was in the dark, so daring guesses were justified.

“For that corpse-shedding path, when does the yin-corpse body count as perfected—fourth rank, fifth?”

Lu Changsheng narrowed his eyes and asked.

“That depends on the exact manual; it varies.”

“Some say perfection comes at early fourth rank, others mid or late fourth, even fifth.”

Yan Wujiang admitted he didn’t know much beyond that.

“Given Miss Bing’er’s uniqueness, her body might have to fully turn into Imperishable Bones before it counts,” he guessed.

Once every bone reached that state, Bing’er would be quasi-fifth rank even without a formal breakthrough.

If his guess was right and she was such an immortal reborn, that cultivator had been at least a peak Nascent Soul or even a Soul Formation venerable.

The thought made Yan Wujiang’s throat dry and scalp tingle.