Chapter 569: Dispute

'Resurrection from the dead?' I couldn't quite believe it. Though the Snake King's body bore no obvious wounds, its soul had long since been torn to shreds by a hundred thousand wandering ghosts and wild spirits. It should be dead. Besides, snakes are cold-blooded animals; the sight of one weeping tears of blood was truly bizarre.

The ritual outside the Daoist temple's main gate was still ongoing. When She Qian scattered the last handful of ashes, seven snake-patterned talismans fluttered without any wind, and clusters of ghost fire ignited across the Snake King's colorful scales.

She Qian knelt in deep reverence, while the seven black-robed Daoists seemed to be waiting for something.

The ghost fire seemed to use Lord Snake's ashes as fuel, burning brighter and hotter. About a dozen seconds later—whether it was my imagination or not—the Snake King's body seemed to twitch.

Several days had passed since its death, yet the unrotting corpse had actually moved.

I widened my eyes, halted my steps, and hid in the shadows to watch.

The Snake King's corpse began to thrash with increasing violence. The formless ghost fire flickered with a brilliant blue light, radiating what felt like astonishing heat. Soon, a thick, foul stench rolled off the body, as if the aura of death itself were venting out.

'They're using ghost fire to refine the corpse?'

Amidst the blue flames, the Snake King's body underwent a shocking transformation. The bloodstains on its vivid scales vanished, leaving them even brighter—like a flower in full bloom that suddenly begins to wither at the absolute peak of its beauty.

Just as their color reached its most vibrant hue, the scales swelled outward. Even from a distance, I could hear crisp cracking sounds echoing from beneath them.

'Shedding?'

The coiled serpent writhed on the ground, a sight clear enough even without using my Judging Eye.

'What is this?' The scene before me was so grotesque I could hardly believe my eyes. 'There really is a reason why the Three Yin Sect has survived for over a century and dominated Jiangcheng.'

It made perfect sense that the Snake Lord Lineage could suppress the Meng Po and Ghost Infant Lineages. Their snake-controlling arts left me breathless.

The ghost fire slowly rose, the dark blue flames leaping several feet into the air. Within that inferno, the Snake King slowly began to move, slithering along the exact path mapped out by the seven Daoists' positions.

Its hideous, triangular head, still wreathed in unextinguished ghost fire, slid past the first Daoist.

'The Big Dipper—the first Daoist is standing on the Tianshu position!' The layout mirrored the stars in the sky. I had no idea what they were trying to accomplish, so I simply watched in a daze.

The "resurrected" Snake King crawled at a sluggish pace. After passing the Tianshu position, its massive body left a half-foot-wide trail of blood on the ground.

'Why is there blood?' Sweeping my Judging Eye over the area, I quickly realized the Daoist had buried a seven-inch knife in the dirt right in front of him!

The blade pointed straight up. When the Snake King slid over it, its flesh was sliced wide open.

'What the hell are they doing?' The more I watched, the more confused I became. It wasn't just the Tianshu position; knives were buried at the subsequent Tianxuan, Tianji, and Tianquan positions as well. Every time the Snake King slithered past a person, its pace slowed a fraction more. The blood pouring from its underbelly grew heavier, nearly dyeing the ground before the temple's main gate entirely red.

There were seven star positions in total. The "resurrected" Snake King crawled past four of them. Just as it reached the Tianquan position, the ghost fire on its body began to die out.

It seemed to sense something terrible and grew agitated, but there was nothing it could do. It had lost too much blood, and its belly was shredded with long, gaping gashes. It simply lacked the strength to press forward.

After struggling for a few minutes, the Snake King's grotesque head stopped thrashing. The ghost fire on its body winked out entirely, and it lay dead still.

A cold wind swept through the thick fog of Yin energy, scattering the ashes and shattered talismans on the ground. Only the seven black-robed Daoists and She Qian were left standing there, frozen in shock.

"It failed? We only crossed four of the seven tribulations. Are the heavens truly out to destroy our Snake Lord Lineage?"

"Even the Life-Exchanging Seven-Star Array didn't work. This just proves that Lord Snake and the Soaring Serpent's souls were damaged too severely to be repaired."

"It's all because of that fate usurper! If not for the resentful power of a hundred thousand wandering ghosts bearing down on us, the ritual wouldn't have failed!"

"It's over. The Soaring Serpent is dead. Is there even a reason for our Snake Lord Lineage to exist anymore? How will we command snakes without it?"

The seven black-robed Daoists murmured among themselves, their moods steeped in pessimism.

"Shut up!" After a long while, She Qian, who had been kneeling on the ground, stood up. Without so much as a glance at Lord Snake's Spirit Altar in front of him, he dusted off his Daoist robes. "The ritual may have failed, but according to our seniority, I am still the next Lord Snake!"

"The Soaring Serpent is dead. You don't have the acknowledgment of the snake spirit, yet you still want to be Lord Snake?" The oldest of the seven black-robed Daoists stepped forward. He hadn't said a word until now. "If the master of the Snake Lord Lineage lacks a snake spirit, can he even be called Lord Snake? I'd say your ghost arts are far more formidable than your snake-taming methods. Why don't you just join the Ghost Infant Lineage instead?"

She Qian seemed to have anticipated someone standing up to oppose him. "Jiang Yuan, you've been in the sect for a mere five years. You have the aptitude of rusted copper. The only reason Lord Snake kindly let you stay here to learn our arts was because of your ties to the mortal world's Jiang family. Now, before Lord Snake's corpse is even cold, you want to betray the sect?"

"Betray the sect? You sure know how to pin the blame on others. But if we're being honest, the one who isn't loyal to the sect is probably you, She Qian!" Jiang Yuan shook his black Daoist robes. "The first time we cornered that fate usurper, he was still weak and hadn't come into his power yet. Lord Snake sent the four senior brothers with the strongest Daoist magic to assist you, and even entrusted you with our sect's foundation, the Eighteen Yamas Reincarnation Grand Formation! And what did you do? Not only did you lose the formation and its core, but you also abandoned our four senior brothers and fled back to the sect all by yourself. You're a selfish, self-serving coward. I'm honestly amazed you have the face to try and claim the title of Lord Snake for this generation."

His emotions flared hotter the more he spoke, unleashing a blistering tirade against She Qian. The other black-robed Daoists, who had been hesitating, now shifted closer to Jiang Yuan, implicitly banding together.

"Enough!" Every word Jiang Yuan spoke cut to the bone. She Qian gritted his teeth, his expression twisting into a vicious snarl. "You junior disciples dare act so brazenly in front of me? If our sect hadn't suffered this disaster and our numbers weren't so depleted, I would definitely have you all—"

"You would do what to us? She Qian, do you still think you can throw your weight around? The Three Yin Sect isn't what it used to be. Of the three lineage masters, one is dead and two are gravely injured. Among the junior disciples, our Snake Lord Lineage has the most people. If you don't want to incur everyone's wrath, you'd better watch your mouth."

"Threatening me? A dog crawling out of the mortal world dares to threaten me?" A cold smirk warped She Qian's effeminate face.

"I never threatened you; I'm simply stating a fact. I may come from the Jiang family in the mortal world, but everyone here has seen the contributions I've made to the sect over the years. Now that our sect has suffered this catastrophe, I think we should tighten our connections with the secular world. We might even be able to use their rules and methods to corner that fate usurper and force him to his death!" Jiang Yuan was quite capable. Though his aptitude was low and his personal strength limited, he was exceptional at reading the situation and manipulating human nature.

Listening to their exchange, it was clear that this Jiang Yuan belonged to the Jiang family. Throughout their collaboration with the Three Yin Sect, the Jiang family had always been at a disadvantage. This massive upheaval in the sect had finally presented Jiang Yuan with an opportunity.

He was vastly ambitious. He intended to flip the dynamic of their partnership in one fell swoop, elevating the Jiang family's status and even positioning them as the dominant party.

'It's a good idea, but incredibly difficult to pull off.' Every true evil cultivator was a brazen fanatic. Trying to subdue them using secular power was practically impossible.

Things unfolded much as I had guessed. She Qian and Jiang Yuan argued endlessly. Three of the junior disciples had been bought off by Jiang Yuan in advance; the four of them stood in lockstep, adamantly refusing to accept She Qian as the next Lord Snake.

The remaining two wavered. Though they couldn't stomach She Qian's methods either, She Qian truly was the most qualified among the junior disciples to succeed Lord Snake.

The dispute ultimately ended on a sour note. She Qian stormed off in a rage, while Jiang Yuan and his supporters smiled, staying behind to carry away Lord Snake's Spirit Altar and the utterly lifeless corpse of the Snake King.

The Yin wind blew past, scattering the remaining ashes into the air until they vanished. It was a pity. Lord Snake could be considered a grandmaster of his generation; who would have thought he'd meet such an end?

The main gate of the Daoist temple was left open. I waited until I was absolutely certain they were all far away before stepping out from my hiding place.

'Three lineage masters—one dead, two gravely injured. And the Snake Lord Lineage has the most survivors among the junior disciples. The information they leaked is actually pretty crucial.' I pulled out the Good and Evil Asura Mask and placed it over my face. It was a double layer of insurance. Even if the mask fell off, who would ever suspect that the face underneath was also fake?