Chapter 500 — One Stele Divides Yin and Yang

The battle in the mist grew ever fiercer, throwing up great towering waves that lifted their little boat high and dashed it down from the crest. Shen Mu activated his Jingxiao Heavenly Eye, yet could barely see that more than one colossal monster was fighting Xing'an in the mist. His heart shook; he expelled a mouthful of murky breath and praised, "Xing'an is truly extraordinary! " Already reduced to a skeleton, Daoist Lingjing swayed his bamboo pole and laughed ghastly: "He is extraordinary, naturally.

But he won't be making any trouble here. This sea of mist was condensed from the resentment of those who died in the late Kaihuang Era.

After death, they could not enter Fengdu, nor could they live properly, so their grudges congealed and transformed into the monsters of this sea, blocking any who dare to break into Fengdu. During the final days of the Kaihuang Era, too many people died in the Ruins, and these monsters' strength is comparable to that of godfiends.

" Shen Mu was taken aback. "These skeletons—are they the people who perished when the heavenly disaster struck during the Kaihuang Era? Why can't they enter Fengdu?

" "Fengdu accepts only souls that are of use. " Inside the skeleton's skull, two flames emitted a dim light. "They are useless, and do not meet the standard for entering Fengdu. To enter Fengdu, one must have power like that of a godfiend. Even I barely satisfy its conditions. They can only gather on the periphery of Fengdu, unable to cross this sea of mist. . .

" Shen Mu's expression turned strange. These skeletons' resentment had formed the sea of mist, and their grudges had formed the monsters—yet in the end, they themselves were trapped here by their own resentment and spite!

Karma cycles without end; retribution never misses.

"King Yan truly has the heart to ferry them over, but Fengdu is too small. Moreover, Fengdu must be on guard against Youdu. . . " Daoist Lingjing clearly knew many hidden secrets, yet was reluctant to divulge more.

He himself was now a man after death, confined to Fengdu, suspended in a strange state of being neither alive nor dead. Shen Mu could not tell whether he counted as alive or dead. If one called him dead, then upon entering the Realm of the Living Dead, a body of flesh would grow for him; if one called him alive, then upon leaving Fengdu, he would die at once, his cultivation dissolve, and he would be gone forever.

The activity beneath the sea of mist grew ever more violent; clearly the struggle between Xing'an and the monsters in the mist was intensifying, enough to make one's heart leap in alarm.

One must admit, Xing'an was immensely fierce; even confronting these monsters born of resentment, he could still match them! "This freak.

. . " Daoist Lingjing cast a glance into the sea of mist and saw that Xing'an and the sea monsters had already fought their way out onto the open water.

Those monsters towered into the clouds, more massive than the skeleton mountains and skeleton islands all around, their attacks dreadful beyond measure—yet Xing'an was even more dreadful.

"Human Emperor Shen, hurry ashore. " Lingjing's eyesight was sharp.

"He will soon break free. Besides the four Fengdu coins you borrowed last time, with this trip's fare, it comes to five coins.

" Shen Mu took out five Fengdu gold coins. Daoist Lingjing received them, stretched lazily, and laughed: "They all have connections up above, so they can enter and enjoy themselves in Fengdu right away, while I still have to earn money.

Only when I have enough can I enter Fengdu.

To carve out a place in Fengdu, one has to pay a high price. . . " He poled away, vanishing into the sea of mist, and his voice drifted out of the fog: "Fengdu is very interested in living people like you.

If you do some things for the dead, they will give you Fengdu gold coins as payment, and then you can frequently come and go from Fengdu.

That's how I used to do it. .

. " Shen Mu hastily took Dragon Qilin and the box and sped off toward Fengdu. Before long, he finally arrived at the boundary stele of the Realm of the Living Dead and could not help sighing in relief. At that very moment, a heavy thud sounded behind him. Xing'an had finally shaken off the monsters, burst out of the sea of mist, and landed on the dock.

Shen Mu's face shifted. He flew at top speed into the Realm of the Living Dead, charging madly forward. Dragon Qilin likewise sprinted for all he was worth. As he ran, he suddenly saw that his meal ticket beside him was gone, leaving only a skeleton running with great effort! That skeleton was still wearing Shen Mu's clothes and shoes!

A chill shot through Dragon Qilin, and he let out a piercing scream.

Yet at that moment, he saw that he too had become a skeleton.

Dragon Qilin's limbs gave way and he collapsed, truly unconscious this time. Shen Mu quickly halted, about to lift him up and run, when suddenly he saw Xing'an charging into the bounds of the Realm of the Living Dead as well.

Bang—another head squeezed out from Xing'an's neck, an arm burst out from his armpit, and then four or five legs grew out of him.

Shen Mu stood dumbfounded; Xing'an was dumbfounded as well. Then bang after bang sounded, and body after body sprouted from his body.

Heads crowded around his head—countless bodies pushing outward from within, giving him dozens of arms, dozens of legs, twenty or thirty heads, and whole torsos fused together.

Splash. Xing'an fell to the ground.

Many palms clawed wildly in every direction; heads struggled and howled as if trying to crawl out of that hodgepodge of a body.

Their consciousnesses were obviously not unified; he was not one person but an amalgamation of twenty or thirty people, every one of them trying to crawl out and leave! "The Realm of the Living Dead.

.

. the Realm of the Living Dead.

. . " Shen Mu abandoned the idea of fleeing and murmured, "So this is the way to restrain Xing'an. His body is pieced together from the bodies of twenty or thirty near-divine powerhouses, and once in the Realm of the Living Dead, the missing parts will reappear. . .

" Suddenly, a great bird flew out of the darkness and alighted on a hill ahead, tilting its head to examine them curiously.

"Is the one who comes Shen Mu, the Human Emperor? " The great bird flapped its wings and transformed into a divine being with a bird's head and a human body. Folding its wings, it spoke in human tongue: "Your misdeeds have come to light.

King Yan has been looking for you for a long time! " Shen Mu exclaimed in surprise, "I've committed misdeeds?

How is it I know nothing about this?

"