In the distance, atop a towering ancient tree, a snake roughly the color of tree bark and over a meter long was coiled around a branch.
This snake was Situ Kong'er after his transformation.
"The strength of those three ancient corpses is utterly terrifying, far surpassing the Tribulation Birth realm," Ye Yunfei remarked with a frown from within the Phantom Tower, where he could clearly observe the situation outside.
"Let's depart," Ye Yunfei said after a moment's consideration.
The aura of those three ancient corpses was exceedingly peculiar, and Ye Yunfei did not wish to provoke them for the time being.
"Very well, we shall depart," Situ Kong'er agreed immediately, also feeling tremendous pressure upon seeing the three ancient corpses charging through the void in the distance.
Thus, the snake he had transformed into stealthily slithered down the tree trunk towards the base, slipped into a hole in the ground, and vanished.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Not long after Situ Kong'er disappeared into the burrow, the three ancient corpses in the distance seemed to sense something and simultaneously rushed towards that spot.
The speed of these three corpses was astonishing, arriving almost instantly at the place where Situ Kong'er had just been.
With a rumbling roar...
Upon the arrival of these three ancient corpses, this dense forest instantly disintegrated. Everything within—trees, flowers, grasses, rocks, the withered branches and fallen leaves on the ground, and all the animals—was directly pulverized into powder before dispersing into nothingness.
An area of dozens of *li* was affected, reduced to utter ruins!
Even more terrifying, the ground of this region was pulverized by the horrific energy, causing large-scale collapses, giving rise to deep, fathomless abysses as mud and stone sprayed violently and dust blotted out the sky.
"Too strong!" The nine Tribulation Birth realm experts in the distance couldn't help but inwardly marvel at the sight.
Meanwhile, deep beneath the earth of this land, a colossal earth dragon was swimming away at full speed.
Since Situ Kong'er was concealed within this earth dragon, and Ye Yunfei was inside the Phantom Tower which Situ Kong'er carried on his person, the three ancient corpses in the distance could not, for the moment, detect Ye Yunfei's trail.
"Those three corpses must have possessed astonishing power during their lifetimes. Their bodies retained the might of their previous lives, and after being refined through special corpse-nourishing secret arts, the combat power they possess now is likely even greater than when they were alive!" Ye Yunfei thought in awe as he distantly sensed the destruction caused by the three ancient corpses.
"The Corpse World truly lives up to its reputation as one of the superpowers of the Central Divine Land, possessing a deeply terrifying heritage," Situ Kong'er also remarked with a sigh.
For a while, his cooperative exploits with Ye Yunfei, which resulted in the swift destruction of many Corpse World branch strongholds, had led him to harbor a trace of contempt for the Corpse World. But now he finally understood that the Corpse World was not a force to be underestimated!
"Master, you actually need not fear these ancient corpses. Within the Netherworld Yin Blade resides a brand of the Nether King, which can be used to deal with them. It will definitely be effective. In fact, the Netherworld is part of the Netherworld Palace, and the Nether King is a high-ranking entity within the Netherworld Palace. The corpse-refining techniques of the Corpse World were passed down from the Netherworld Palace. Therefore, these ancient corpses refined by the Corpse World can certainly be countered by the brand that the Nether King inscribed within the Netherworld Yin Blade!" A voice suddenly rang out within Ye Yunfei's sea of consciousness.
It was one of the Flying Sky Yin Monkeys speaking to Ye Yunfei.
These few Flying Sky Yin Monkeys had already become Ye Yunfei's slaves and had remained within the Phantom Tower all this time. The one speaking was none other than the Holy Son.
"The Netherworld Yin Blade can deal with these ancient corpses?" Ye Yunfei asked in pleasant surprise upon hearing the Holy Son's words.
"Yes. Master, the Netherworld Yin Blade is a treasure personally bestowed upon my tribe by the Nether King. Its power is far greater than you imagine. Here's what we can do, Master. I will impart to you several of my tribe's core secret arts. After you cultivate them and combine them with the Netherworld Yin Blade, you will be able to easily deal with the corpse soldiers refined by the Corpse World, including those ancient corpses from earlier. Moreover, Master, you can even attempt to control the corpse soldiers and ancient corpses refined by the Corpse World. Because our Flying Sky Yin Monkey tribe, in fact, also possesses the legacy of corpse control arts, and our tribe's corpse control arts are in no way inferior to those of the Corpse World."
"That's wonderful! Immediately impart your tribe's core secret arts to me," Ye Yunfei replied, greatly delighted.
Ye Yunfei knew that what the Holy Son said was undoubtedly true. Because the overall strength of the Flying Sky Yin Monkey tribe was far greater than that of the Corpse World! Moreover, the Flying Sky Yin Monkeys were a race of the Netherworld, and the Netherworld was, in fact, a part of the Netherworld Palace. This, Ye Yunfei had long been aware of. In other words, these Flying Sky Yin Monkeys were beings from the Netherworld Palace! This was also the reason the Corpse World's Fifth Prince had so humbly sought to befriend these Flying Sky Yin Monkeys back in the Eastern Barrens.
"Excellent. I will immediately transmit my tribe's core arts to you, Master," the Holy Son nodded.
His soul body was controlled by the Puppet Soul Thread, causing him to regard Ye Yunfei as his master from the depths of his soul. All his actions were chosen with Ye Yunfei's best interests at heart!
"Brother Situ, let us now continue towards the Land of Life and Death. However, we must travel even more discreetly for the remainder of the journey. Here is the plan: you transform into someone else, borrow another identity, and proceed secretly," Ye Yunfei said to Situ Kong'er.
"Agreed," Situ Kong'er nodded.
Subsequently, the Holy Son began transmitting the Flying Sky Yin Monkey tribe's core inheritance to Ye Yunfei.
Meanwhile, Situ Kong'er knocked out a random traveling martial artist on the main road, assumed that person's form, boarded an airship, and headed for the direction of the Land of Life and Death.
At the same time.
In the skies above the Central Divine Land, three ancient corpses radiating a fearsome aura soared across the firmament, stirring the heavens. Alarming was the fact that these three ancient corpses seemed to faintly lock onto the direction where Ye Yunfei was, tracking him from afar across the distance.
"Those are ancient corpses of the Corpse World! Legends say the Corpse World possesses a group of extremely old corpses, immensely powerful, constituting one of their hidden aces. It turns out the tales are true. However, these ancient corpses are normally sealed away in the ancestral hall of their headquarters and are not lightly deployed. Why have three been dispatched all at once this time?" some old, reclusive masters within the Central Divine Land gazed at the ancient corpses streaking across the high sky, inwardly astounded.
Simultaneously.
Within one of the three thousand major and minor worlds, an unremarkable, tiny world.
Beside a picturesque small lake, an elder sat cross-legged, fishing. Although holding a fishing rod, the elder's eyes were tightly shut as if a zen monk in meditation, paying no mind whatsoever to whether any fish bit the hook.
Suddenly.
The space before the elder quivered slightly, abruptly tearing open a rift, from which a sphere of light shot forth.
The elder's eyes snapped open, fixing upon that light sphere before him.
"Lao Xiazi wants me to go to him, says there's a matter of importance to discuss. That Old Blind Man... I haven't seen him for decades. Why suddenly seek me out, and even request that I personally go to him?" the elder couldn't help but frown.
"Ah, forget it. That Old Blind Man's divination skills are matchless, even I have to give him some face. Fine, I'll go see what this 'important matter' of his is about," the elder muttered to himself as he stood up, took a single step, and vanished.
Not long after.
The elder arrived above a certain celestial body, flashed downwards, and descended before a thatched cottage upon its surface.
At this moment, Lao Xiazi sat cross-legged before the thatched cottage, with a middle-aged man and a woman in a pink long skirt standing by his side.
"Golden Crow, Nether Moon, you have come as well," the elder said, somewhat surprised, upon arriving before Lao Xiazi.
"Old Blind Man, why have you summoned the three of us here?" the elder's gaze shifted to Lao Xiazi as he asked.
"Heaven-Spreading Great Emperor, I have called you three here this time, but in truth, this is not my idea. It is yours." Lao Xiazi gave a faint smile.
"Our idea? Old Blind Man, don't spout nonsense. Clearly, you summoned the three of us here. How can you say it was our idea?" The Nether Moon Great Emperor couldn't help but frown, her tone somewhat displeased.
"Heh heh, do not be impatient, the three Great Emperors. Listen carefully. This truly *is* your idea. However, not the present 'you,' but the 'you' of the future—roughly seven hundred to a thousand years from now, the 'you' of that era—requested the 'me' of that time to deliver a message to the 'you' of the present." Lao Xiazi explained with a smile.
"What did you say?" The three Great Emperors were dumbfounded, speechless for a long moment.
All three were Great Emperors, standing at the pinnacle of the three thousand major and minor worlds, not only immensely powerful but also widely experienced, having witnessed countless bizarre and strange occurrences in the world. Yet, the words spoken by Lao Xiazi had completely bewildered them!