Chapter 685: Mountain God Sculpture

The Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation was the key to holding off the sect cultivators, so there was no room for the slightest mistake. When I heard someone fighting the Fate Ghost for control over the grand formation's Yin soldiers, my heart skipped a beat. I immediately realized this was a massive crisis.

Only after carefully communicating with the Fate Ghost did I learn that whoever was contesting its control was trying to pull the Yin soldiers back.

'If the Yin soldiers are pulled back now, the sect cultivators will definitely launch an all-out counterattack, and there's no way I can hold them off. Who's secretly helping the sect cultivators? Could it be Wang Shi?! But he has no reason to betray me!' Clutching the Ten Directions Talisman Order, I sprinted downward. With the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation running at full power, the yin energy throughout the entire Yin Meridian was already at a boil. The stagnant, malevolent yin energy that had festered deep underground for untold years twisted together, roaring up from the depths like coiling yin dragons.

"Yin-Yang Has an Order!" The yin energy was so dense that I had to use a ghost art to suppress it. All Eighteen Yin Apertures opened at once, frantically absorbing the purest, most malevolent yin energy surging up from below.

As I pressed deeper, the color drained from my face. My skin turned deathly pale, and dark, bluish-black veins stood out clearly on its surface. 'Not good, I've taken in too much yin energy.'

The human body relies on a balance of yin and yang. As a dual cultivator of the Ghost Dao and martial arts, I had to be even more mindful of that.

Although I regularly absorbed yin energy, I always took the time afterward to refine it and lock it inside my yin apertures, preventing it from clashing with my body's Pre-Heaven True Qi.

This time was different. To rush into the ley line as quickly as possible, I had broken that taboo and absorbed an excessive amount of malevolent yin energy. Coupled with the fact that I was already weakened from my earlier injuries, a moment of carelessness meant I could no longer suppress the yin energy within my body.

The scattered malevolent yin energy rampaged through my body. An ordinary Ghost Cultivator could have suppressed it with a little more time, but my situation was completely different. Besides yin energy, my body also held the Pre-Heaven True Qi generated by the Profound Truth Mental Method. Yin and yang naturally clashed; if the two met, they could tear my meridians apart.

An unexpected change had occurred in the ley line, and it was a matter of life and death. I simply had no time to sit down and regulate my breathing.

'It won't kill me just yet.' I checked my body. The veins beneath my skin bulged with yin energy like writhing little snakes, a terrifying sight.

Eyes bloodshot, I forced down the pain and plunged into the ley line. At the exit of the subterranean cavern, the Desire Ghost hadn't finished its metamorphosis, but distinct changes had already occurred on its body.

Its skin had turned even paler, and its hands and feet had grown longer, as though its entire body had been stretched taller.

Seeing that the Desire Ghost was still transforming, I chose not to disturb it and instead fixed my Judging Eye on the far side of the stone bridge.

Atop the formation eye of the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation, Wang Shi's body had already solidified. Only the wisps of yin and yang energy occasionally coiling around him gave away the difference between him and a living person.

When Wang Shi saw me burst in, he froze for a moment before crying out in a trembling voice, "Save me... save me..."

'Save you?' I frowned and held my ground instead of rushing forward. Wang Shi was a scheming old fox; this could very well be a trap.

"There's something inside the sculpture! It wants to take over my body! Save me!" Wang Shi gasped for breath, behaving exactly like a living man as he mustered all his strength to shout those words.

'The sculpture...' I turned to look. Atop the stone platform, the balance of yin and yang had long since shattered. Three-quarters of the surface was covered in ink-black liquid, and as the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation continued to churn, that liquid—condensed from malevolent yin energy—steadily ate away at the yang qi.

If this kept up, the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation would collapse on its own without the sect cultivators having to lift a finger!

'The Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation can summon the Living King Yama and command the Yin soldiers of the ten directions. Even the Celestial Masters of the sects have to fall back before it. A heaven-defying formation like this is bound to be targeted by Heaven's will. Come to think of it, this fragile formation eye composed of yin and yang energy is the weakest link of the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation.' Yin and yang opposed each other yet blended together; that delicate balance was the very foundation of the grand formation.

I knew full well that nothing in this world was absolute. Even though the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation required a vast sea of yin energy to activate, inviting King Yama into the world of the living still required a spark of true yang to light the way! And that single spark of true yang lay right at the core of the grand formation.

If the yang qi was completely swallowed up by the yin energy, the grand formation would totally collapse. This was the very principle that anything at its peak is bound to decline.

'I have to stop this!' I stepped forward, and only when I reached Wang Shi's side did I recall what he had just said—that the Mountain God Sculpture wanted to take over his body.

That seemed utterly unthinkable. The Mountain God Sculpture had sat in the ley line for countless ages—how could it suddenly develop spiritual intelligence?

'Could the sculpture also sense the impending destruction and want to leave this place?' I shook my head. That thought was far too implausible.

There was no time to waste. I scanned Wang Shi's current state with my Judging Eye. Although three-quarters of the stone platform was covered by the liquid condensed from malevolent yin energy, his body rested within the remaining quarter where the yang qi lingered.

He sat right beside the Mountain God Sculpture, unable to move a muscle, his face twisted in terror.

"Someone is fighting me for control of the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation, trying to disperse the Yin soldiers..."

Before I could finish, Wang Shi cried out, "It's not me, it's this sculpture! Be careful! This sculpture is alive—I've even heard it speak! I'm really not lying to you!"

Wang Shi's expression didn't look like an act, and getting me killed wouldn't do him any good anyway. He was a Returned Yang Soul who had sneaked off the train bound for the Underworld. Having defied Heaven's will, he wouldn't be taken in by any of the Orthodox Sects in this world.

"You're saying this sculpture is alive?" I narrowed my eyes and crossed the stone bridge. Only when I got close did I realize that the Mountain God Sculpture was covered in cracks, looking as though it could crumble to pieces at any moment. By contrast, the Black Chess Piece had grown even darker; a single glance at it brought on a suffocating pressure, like being dragged down into the deep sea.

Seeing this, I already believed eight-tenths of what Wang Shi had said. If the Mountain God Sculpture was the one trying to stop me, then everything made sense.

'It's trying to maintain the grand formation and rebalance yin and yang.' Pushed to full capacity, the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation was on the verge of collapse. As part of the formation eye's core, the Mountain God Sculpture was instinctively trying to slow the breakdown.

I understood what the Mountain God Sculpture was doing, but that didn't mean I would allow it.

The sect cultivators were watching like hungry tigers, and the slightest misstep would ruin everything. I didn't dare take that gamble. I would rather let the grand formation shatter and drag the sect cultivators down to the grave with me than be taken alive.

Staring at the Mountain God Sculpture on the stone platform, my face twisted into a ferocious scowl. "You don't get to resist anymore!"

Yin energy spilled from my entire body, threatening to burst me apart. With bloodshot eyes, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Earth Divine Talisman I had redeemed from the Underworld Live Show.

I had read its description in the Live Show shop: reciting the incantation could call upon mountain gods and local earth deities. Even though it was only a damaged talisman, its effect was extremely useful to me.

When I first saw this talisman, the first thing that came to mind was the Mountain God Sculpture inside the Three Yin Sect.

I wasn't entirely clear on the exact way to use the talisman; all I knew was a short incantation.

'I'll just have to try a desperate measure. I have to keep control of the grand formation firmly in my own hands.' Holding up the talisman in one hand, I recited the incantation: "Earth God of this land, most divine of spirits, ascending to heaven and reaching through the earth, emerging from the dark and entering the netherworld!"

It was an ordinary enough incantation, and when I began reciting it, even I didn't notice that every syllable carried a peculiar cadence. By the time I finished the verse, even more cracks had spread across the already tattered talisman in my hand, and beneath those fissures, several ancient characters faintly surfaced.

'That's it? It's an Upper Vehicle Talisman, at least! It cost me six points, and it's going to fall apart before I've even used it?' My heart trembled. This talisman was the only thing I had left to rely on.

Seeing that the Divine Talisman was about to shatter, I gritted my teeth and slapped it straight onto the Mountain God Sculpture.

Strangely enough, the instant the crack-riddled talisman touched the Mountain God Sculpture, word came back from the Fate Ghost that the force fighting it for control of the grand formation was slowly weakening.

Sharing a mental link with it, I was just about to reply and tell it to slow the pace of its assault when a voice suddenly sounded in my ear.

"It was fated. I can't escape it. How sad, how laughable... I hid for an entire lifetime, never expecting that you would still find me in the end."

The voice was indistinct—somewhat muffled and resigned, carrying the weight of someone who had watched the ages pass and the world change beyond recognition.

"Who's talking to me?" I spun around sharply. Aside from Wang Shi, there was no one else around, and I had heard clearly enough to know that the voice definitely hadn't come from his mouth.

"Could it be you?" I looked toward the sculpture, which was on the verge of shattering under the pressure of the yin energy. By now, the Earth Divine Talisman plastered atop its head had completely disintegrated, yet the line of ancient characters from the talisman remained imprinted upon the stone.

A talking stone sculpture was truly eerie, but I mustered my courage and walked over. Radiating billowing yang qi, the sculpture was like a speck of starlight within the Yin Meridian, shining like a guiding beacon.

After I used the Earth Divine Talisman, the stone sculpture no longer felt cold; it felt as though a living, breathing person were standing right in front of me.

Crouching at the edge of the stone platform, I drew closer to the Mountain God Sculpture. As I did, the malevolent yin energy rampaging through my body slowly settled down, and a long-lost trace of warmth finally returned to my skin.

Seizing the chance, I hurried to guide the energy back into my yin apertures before focusing my gaze on the sculpture.

'There seems to be something inside this Mountain God Sculpture's body.' I observed it with my Judging Eye for a good while before finally realizing that all the yang qi radiating from the Mountain God Sculpture came from the center of its chest.

The outer layer of stone was cracking open, and a faint glow shimmered through the fissures.

'Why does this wisp of light feel so familiar, as if it's connected to me somehow?' Suppressing the urge to touch the sculpture, I split off a thread of mental intent from the Ten Directions Talisman Order to probe it. As the outer stone skin of the Mountain God Sculpture kept flaking away, what lay hidden inside its chest finally came into view.

'Judging by the outline... is that a shrunken heart?'

A faint light pulsed inside the Mountain God Sculpture. I couldn't be sure what it was, and as the stone skin continued to peel away, a faint medicinal fragrance gradually drifted to my nose.