Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 511

512. Corpse King

In a tomb chamber a thousand miles away, three stone coffins were placed side by side.

The massive stone chamber was over a hundred yards wide, and the walls on all sides were engraved with numerous ancient murals. Green flames blazed from bronze jars placed at each corner, illuminating the darkness.

Suddenly, a painful groan was heard from the left coffin.

Bang!

The thick lid of the stone coffin was blown several yards away. In the darkness, someone rose from inside the coffin.

“Wang’er, what is it that makes you so angry?”

A middle-aged man asked in a deep voice from the middle coffin.

“My, my… a part… of my clone… has disappeared.”

The large figure in the black aura spoke haltingly, like a parrot learning to talk.

“If a clone has disappeared, then there must be a problem with the incarnation. But it doesn’t matter. If you continue to cultivate the Nether River Corpse Art [a cultivation technique focused on manipulating corpses] that your father passed down to you, you will be able to recover in no time. To be so angry, are you still unable to control yourself?”

A sweet female voice echoed leisurely from the slightly smaller coffin.

“But, but… my… Vajra… Crow!”

The large black shadow muttered, clasping its hands together.

“Vajra Crow! Are you talking about the Vajra Crow that you refined using the Sharira [a relic of a Buddhist monk] after killing that old monk last time? I almost finished refining it for you and handed it over, but you still haven’t made it recognize you as its master?”

The middle-aged man’s voice turned cold.

“That’s…”

The figure in the black aura was flustered by the rebuke and momentarily lost its words.

“Great King, it’s not Wang’er’s fault.”

The lid of the smallest coffin creaked open, and a bewitching figure appeared.

“What do you mean, my lady? Explain yourself. The Vajra Crow is an extremely rare treasure. If Wang’er’s cultivation wasn’t so low, I would have refined it and used it myself instead of giving it to him for protection.”

The woman’s voice hesitated for a moment before sighing.

“A few years ago, while the Great King was in a deep sleep, Wang’er tried to refine that treasure alone, borrowing the power of the moonlight on the ground. However, while most of the restrictions were lifted, external cultivators invaded.

Wang’er had no choice but to stop his cultivation and try to attack them. One of them was clever enough to recognize Wang’er’s identity as a Corpse King and immediately knelt down, begging for his life. He asked to be spared as long as he was placed under a restriction. Wang’er thought he was useful, so he took him in.”

“What does that have to do with the Vajra Sharira?”

“Please calm your anger. The problem is that the person suggested a way for Wang’er to gather the Nascent Souls [the core of a cultivator’s power] of external cultivators without much effort.”

“What is it?”

“He asked Wang’er to put a strand of consciousness into a mysterious treasure. He said he would lure wandering cultivators to Wang’er’s tomb. If they really came, they could be killed. If they didn’t come, the restrictions hidden in the treasure could be activated using a clone to kill them. Then the clone could bring the dead cultivator’s Nascent Soul back to the tomb.

However, such a treasure had to be mysterious and rare, and it had to be able to completely conceal Wang’er’s clone, corpse fire, and corpse energy.”

“I understand without you saying more. Wang’er gave away the Vajra Crow, which he hadn’t yet made recognize him as its master. The Buddhist nature of the Sharira would have completely concealed the corpse energy.”

The man interrupted the woman, speaking coldly.

“Yes, you are right, Great King. If he made it recognize him as its master, the Vajra Crow would no longer conceal the corpse energy. Moreover, Wang’er needed a large number of cultivators’ souls for his cultivation at the time, so he had no choice but to take the risk.

I told that person not to touch any cultivators above the Core Formation stage, so for a few years, many people came on their own and offered their souls. But this time, he must have made some mistake, losing the treasure and Wang’er’s clone. I will activate the restrictions and capture that person’s Nascent Soul for interrogation.”

The woman’s voice turned cold.

“How many cultivators’ souls can you gather that way? We are already working with General Guo. If we succeed, we will be able to use cultivators’ Nascent Souls endlessly. We won’t need to attract the attention of Buddhist sects either.”

“Is that why the Great King left the tomb with General Guo a few years ago and returned alone?”

“That’s right. General Guo has already transformed into someone else and has taken control of a certain cultivation family. He even joined forces with other families to annihilate a family that was inheriting a Buddhist sect to hide his identity.

The family head, who had noticed something, tried to send a message to the Buddhist sect, so I personally stepped in and annihilated the cultivators above the Core Formation stage within their ranks. General Guo led the other cultivators and turned the place into a sea of blood.”

“Then the Great King’s plan is…”

The man laughed ominously for a while, and the woman was greatly startled by his words.

“It was suggested by True Lord Tianfeng of Fangjian Mountain, whom we visited last time. He also moved secretly in this way, but he hasn’t had any problems so far. As long as we are careful, we won’t have to struggle to find cultivators’ Nascent Souls for at least two or three hundred years. And even if things go wrong, we can just move the tomb to another place, right? How many people in the Great Jin can stop me, except for a few old monsters?”

“I’m worried that True Lord Tianfeng’s intentions are not simple. Why would he tell the Great King his secrets? Could he have other motives?”

“Of course, he had other motives. He got three Blood Heart Pills from me in exchange for just flapping his lips and giving me information!”

“I’m still not at ease. The Twin Devils of Fangjian Mountain have a bad reputation. Could they be trying to lure the Great King out of the tomb? Our Nascent Souls and lives are all fused with this tomb. If we don’t leave this place, there are only a handful of people who can injure us.”

“You’re right, my lady. We should prepare in advance. So this time, I will open all the restrictions of the tomb and move quietly when I go out, so they won’t know that I’ve left the tomb.”

“It’s a relief that the Great King is being cautious. Actually, there’s no need for the Great King to step out personally. You can just order me and a few incarnations to do whatever needs to be done. Anyway, as long as the Great King is safe, I can handle most enemies, considering the Great King’s reputation.”

The woman’s voice became seductive again.

“There’s something you don’t know, my lady. To succeed in this plan, we must take control of the families in Guan Ning Prefecture. Last time, I was slightly injured while trying to kill Old Monster Gong. That’s why I haven’t touched the other two families yet. Although the other two families don’t have Nascent Soul stage cultivators, they possess some rare treasures that are incompatible with our kind, so they are not easy to deal with. Perhaps the sects behind those two families have also noticed that I’m here and sent their disciples to establish families. Originally, they might have been trying to monitor my movements, but a thousand years have passed. Who would remember that?

If I take them all down, it might be years before other sects notice. If things go well… I will soon gather the souls of human cultivators, break through the final realm, and complete the Heavenly Corpse Body!”

“I congratulate you in advance, my lord. If you succeed in refining the Heavenly Corpse Body, you will be able to leave the tomb and no longer be bound to this place.”

“Haha, when that time comes, I will use the Soul Separation Technique to help you and Wang’er escape from this place as well.”

The woman was delighted to hear his words.

“But Great King! Shouldn’t we still try to retrieve the Vajra Crow? If we succeed in refining it, we can achieve a Vajra Buddha body in a short time. I still remember how it withstood the Great King’s corpse fire for three days and nights when that old monk manifested the Sharira, even though it hadn’t even taken its Vajra Crow form yet.”

“Only we, the ten-thousand-year Corpse Kings, can refine treasures like the Vajra Crow by borrowing the power of the moonlight. Human cultivators can only dream of it. In the world, besides me, the only other ten-thousand-year Corpse King is the Deputy Valley Master of the Myriad Demon Valley, that ten-thousand-year Corpse Bear. With the Myriad Demon Banner, how could a human cultivator dare to go to the Myriad Demon Valley?”

“That’s true. But it’s still a very useful treasure for us, so we should send our subordinates to retrieve it as soon as we find out who has it.”

“The fact that someone took Wang’er’s clone along with the Vajra Crow means that the person is not an ordinary cultivator. Once we know the treasure’s whereabouts, I will send out two incarnations. As long as they are not cultivators above the mid-Nascent Soul stage, it should be enough.”

“I… will… go… too.”

The large figure in the black aura interrupted the man and woman’s conversation.

“You can’t even hide your corpse energy. Any cultivator would recognize your identity. Stop talking nonsense and go back to your cultivation.”

The man scolded in a low voice.

The large figure was disheartened by his words and summoned the lid that had been blown away. At that moment, its eyes glowed crimson, and a fierce aura surged.

* * *

Thousands of miles away, Han Li was unaware that he had brought such great trouble upon himself. His expression changed from moment to moment as he stared at Jihun in the golden bubble.

At that moment, Jin Yuan, who had left the plaza and returned to his residence, turned into ashes and disappeared in an instant with a ‘poof’ sound.

His Nascent Soul was enveloped in flames as if being pulled by something, turning into a fist-sized ball of light and flying out through the window.

Inside the Heavenly Secret Jade [a magical artifact], Han Li saw that Jihun’s refining of the corpse fire didn’t seem like it would end soon, so he eventually put the Vajra Crow and Jihun together into the Spirit Beast Pouch.

Han Li came out to the main hall and returned the Heavenly Secret Jade to the middle-aged woman, then headed to the plaza.

In the afternoon, most of the cultivators in the plaza seemed to have entered another stone hall to participate in the auction.

He didn’t hesitate and walked in that direction. Two cultivators in white robes stood in front of the stone hall and greeted him.

“You need to pay three spirit stones to attend the auction.”

Han Li chuckled and, with a flick of his sleeve, handed over three low-grade spirit stones. The two cultivators smiled, received the spirit stones, and handed him a palm-sized jade plate.

Han Li held the jade plate in his hand and saw the number ‘243’ written on it.

After passing through a long passage, he came to another door guarded by four cultivators. They only glanced at Han Li and said nothing.

Han Li didn’t mind them and opened the door, entering the main hall of the stone hall.

“Five-hundred-year-old Phoenix Tail Flower, 790 spirit stones! Is there a higher bid? Then this elixir goes to that person. Cultivator number 130, please pay the spirit stones at the back and pick up your item.”

Looking closely, there were two or three hundred cultivators seated in the main hall. They all placed jade plates with numbers on the tables and stared at the middle-aged man in the blue robe on the stage.

Han Li calmly looked around and found an empty seat, walking towards it.

The snow-white table seemed to be made of jade, but it wasn’t real jade. Intrigued, he touched the table and felt a faint warmth.

“This is…”

Han Li compared it to the types of jade he remembered, but none of them matched.

“Is this your first time seeing Warm Stone?”

A woman’s voice with a hint of laughter came from somewhere.

# 513