Chapter 173 - The Southern Heavenly Gates

“Master, how does it feel to inhabit my body?”

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Hearing this, Dan Yangzi glared at Li Huowang. “You! It’s you! You cheated me before, so this must be your doing!”

As he roared, Dan Yangzi tried to stand up and cut Li Huowang down with his sword.

But all he managed to do was pass right through Li Huowang.

Dan Yangzi was shocked and stared at Li Huowang as the latter smiled and explained calmly, “Oh, please forgive me, Master. I forgot to tell you that I am an illusion, and so you can’t kill me.”

Then, Li Huowang pointed toward the rest of the illusions. “Not only can you not kill me, but you can’t kill any of them either. They are all illusions that will follow you to the edge of the world.”

At that moment, Dan Yangzi saw as the illusions closed in on him, causing his heart to start pounding in fear.

Their faces slowly melted and became a wall that surrounded him from all sides. He realized that he would never be able to run, and that he would never be able to hide.

He realized that he would have to suffer for an eternity.

“This... What is this?!” Dan Yangzi shouted as he slashed at his surroundings in a frenzy.

He had always resorted to using violence to settle things. He would steal, rob, lie, and even kill to get what he wanted. But now, all of these methods were useless.

Everything he had learned throughout his life was now completely useless.

“Master, that is the body of a Strayed One. Enjoy it as much as you want,” Li Huowang laughed, his laughter joining the rest as all of them laughed at Dan Yangzi scornfully.

When Dan Yangzi saw Li Huowang acting so haughty, he gritted his teeth with envy. He threw his sword in anger and shouted, “You think you’ve won? Stop dreaming! I will spare you for now. Just wait until my main body comes back!”

As soon as he said this, the laughter stopped. All of the illusions stared at him at the same time.

At that moment, Dan Yangzi raised his right hand and slapped himself. “I am not Dan Yangzi, I am Li Huowang!”

As soon as he did this, the illusions around him started disappearing one by one, causing doubt to blossom within Dan Yangzi’s heart.

“Who am I?”

“Am I Dan Yangzi or Li Huowang? No, I am not Li Huowang, so I must be Dan Yangzi! Scram, get out of here! I am Dan Yangzi, not Li Huowang! No, you scram! I am Li Huowang, not Dan Yangzi!”

The youth continued struggling.

In the meantime, the illusions around him disappeared one by one, until there was only an old Monk left. However, in a bit, he too disappeared.

As the youth fell onto the ground while struggling like a maggot, a dark cloud appeared in the sky. This black cloud was none other than the monstrous Dan Yangzi.

The current Dan Yangzi looked injured, and was missing many of his organs. His body was dark and without color. He had used a majority of his strength just to escape.

Dan Yangzi slowly floated downward and approached the youth, his long tentacles easily lifting the youth into the air.

“Which one are you?” Dan Yangzi asked.

The youth struggled for a long time before calming down. Then, he opened his eyes and calmly said, “I am Dan Yangzi. The Three Corpses have been slain.”

Hearing those words, the monstrous Dan Yangzi revealed a satisfied smile before hugging the youth with his hideous body and sucking on the youth’s face. As he did this, something flowed out from the youth’s seven orifices and into Dan Yangzi’s body.

Soon, the youth’s body stiffened, becoming lifeless.

At that moment, Dan Yangzi finally revealed a satisfied smile—the last remaining essence had once again entered his body.

“I can finally become an Immortal!” Dan Yangzi laughed maniacally and flew into the dark cloud above.

He flew higher and higher, his heart pounding from excitement. Seventy-four years! That was how long he had lived for, and he had never been as excited as today!

He passed through the layer of clouds and continued flying upward into the starry skies.

As he went up, he flew past the stars and saw many monstrous beings.

Some of them were nothing more than a gray gloop, their bodies stabbed with numerous incense that burned forever as they expanded and contracted rhythmically.

There was also a blind golden Bodhisattva with a pink tentacle extending from its crotch. The tentacle rummaged around as if it was sucking on something. Dan Yangzi even caught a glimpse of the wishes of the devotees.

There was also a blob of shimmering light that was encircled by numerous black cranes. Everytime they touched each other, a hoarse cry could be heard.

But this was not all.

Dan Yangzi also saw the God of Happiness, the Immortal Households, and even his Senior who had taught him how to slay the Three Corpses.

All of them were Half-Immortals!

As he saw all of them, Dan Yangzi scoffed. They were beings destined to be stuck here until the end of time. They no longer had a way of ascending.

But he was different—he was now an Immortal.

He flew faster and faster as he passed through the sea of stars until he arrived at a colorless jade plate in the middle of nowhere.

The jade plate was being hung from something hidden within the darkness. As the formless darkness moved, the jade plate bobbed up and down.

There were three large characters written on it. While Dan Yangzi was illiterate, he was certain that these characters spelled out the words, ‘Southern Heavenly Gate’. This was because he recognized the final character that was shaped like a gate. Three characters that ended with the character for ‘gate’? Due to this, he was certain that this was the Southern Heavenly Gate.

At this moment, there were various monstrosities surrounding the jade plate as they tried to make their way inside.

“Scram! Get away! Don’t stop me from becoming an Immortal!” shouted Dan Yangzi as he blasted everything in front of him away and monopolized the area in front of the jade plate.

Through the jade plate, he saw the hazy-looking Immortals.

There were Immortals, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats inside the jade plate!

Compared to their previous unmoving selves, they were all happily eating something and were almost done with it.

However, the dense mist that covered the interior of the jade plate made it so Dan Yangzi couldn’t see the situation inside clearly.

“What are they eating? Are those the Immortal Peaches and Pills?”

Fearing that he might not even get a bite, Dan Yangzi panicked, choosing to immediately charge toward the jade plate.

But just as he was about to pass through the jade plate, he felt an invisible wall blocking him from entering. It was as if the jade plate was denying him entrance.

“Let me in! I’ve become an Immortal! Let me into the Immortal Realm!” Dan Yangzi shouted into the darkness as he floated near the jade plate.

At that moment, up in the formless darkness, Dan Yangzi saw the two massive snakes that were holding up the jade plate. The snakes had no tails or heads, but somehow took a ‘look’ at Dan Yangzi before ignoring him.

“I’ve killed my Three Corpses and become an Immortal! Let me in! What right do you have to keep me outside?!” Dan Yangzi howled at the darkness above and at the jade plate.

But then, Dan Yangzi suddenly recognized the three words etched onto the jade plate.

“Ox Tail Gate.”