Chapter 1638: See One, Kill One

Back in the day, King Taishan managed to spread the Immortal Life-Bearing Art of the Mystical Source of the Spirit across the entire world and rapidly grew his strength. It had also saved him from many otherwise guaranteed deaths.

It was the same case here. His true body was slain, so logically speaking, he should be dead. In reality, he was still alive. It was all thanks to the Immortal Life-Bearing Art of the Mystical Source of the Spirit.

He was the one who secretly raised the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang. He was the one who made the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang create the Ghost Gate of Mount Mang. Moreover, everyone in the sect including the now deceased Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang had practiced the Immortal Life-Bearing Art of the Mystical Source of the Spirit. That was why his soul and consciousness existed in all of them.

Although his true body was slain, his soul and consciousness continued to exist in countless people’s bodies. So long as these wisps of soul and consciousness still existed, King Taishan would never die.

The art was the roots of his power and his greatest self-preservation trump card. Moreover, it would surely earn the wariness and ire of the entire world if its characteristics were made known. That was why he never spread the art openly or even revealed its name to others. Instead, he hid the essence of the art in ordinary martial arts so that people would come to practice it without knowing.

The art itself was extremely inconspicuous. It was impossible for an outsider to find out if someone was practicing the Immortal Life-Bearing Art of the Mystical Source of the Spirit.

This was why no one had ever discovered its existence even though tens of thousands of years had passed since King Taishan invented the art.

One more thing. The Earthly Sovereign had not yet been born when the Immortal Life-Bearing Art of the Mystical Source of the Spirit was popularized. When he was born, King Taishan no longer needed the art to improve his power. Therefore, neither the Earthly Sovereign nor the Soul Collector should know about the existence of the art. That would be the logical assumption.

However, he was wrong. As it turned out, the Soul Collector was aware of the art’s existence. Not only that, he knew about his plan as well. It felt as if the Soul Collector had exposed his greatest secret and trump card for all of the world. Naturally, the sheer shock and disbelief King Taishan received shook him to his very core.

The plan he was speaking of was very simple. He was simply going to repeat his plan in the ancient times and spread the Immortal Life-Bearing Art of the Mystical Source of the Spirit throughout the world once more. He would make countless living beings nourish him in hopes of quickly regaining his strength.

At first, he wasn’t planning to do this. There were several reasons. One, this wasn’t the ancient times anymore. Back then, the world was a chaotic place, and the humans were frail and weak. He was also a powerful god, so it would not have mattered even if he was found out.

It was different now. The world belonged to the humans now, and he was so much weaker than he used to be. If he wantonly spread the art throughout the world, he would most likely be outing himself and putting himself in grave danger. That was why he only spread the art to the Ghost Gate of Mount Mang and some chosen ones. He was going to recover his strength slowly and steadily.

Things were different now. His sin was exposed, his true body was slain, and the grand conspiracy ten thousand years in the making was utterly ruined. Now, the only way he could rise again and take revenge against those who wronged him was the Immortal Life-Bearing Art of the Mystical Source of the Spirit. It was the only way he could swiftly regain his power.

That said, his thirst for vengeance wasn’t so strong that it hadn’t overtaken his rational mind. At his current state, if he thoughtlessly spread the Immortal Life-Bearing Art of the Mystical Source of the Spirit throughout the lands, he would most likely expose the fact that he was still alive and put a bullseye on his back once more. Forget recovering his strength and fulfilling his wish, the Chief Libationist and his allies would most likely kill him a second time. It just wasn’t a smart move.

Therefore, his plan was to send everyone in the Ghost Gate of Mount Mang to the Overseas, the Western Regions, Bei Huang, Nanjiang and other barbaric lands. He would focus on spreading the art to regain his strength while building up his own force. Once he was ready, he would slowly conspire against the God Continent once more. Assuming everything went well, it would be too late for the Chief Libationist and his allies to stop him.

That was the ideal picture he had painted in his head.

However, never in a million years did King Taishan think that his trump card would be exposed, and his plan would be found out before he could even enact them.

Worse, the person who found out was his sworn enemy.

How could he not be surprised? How could he not panic?

“Who do you think the leader is? What makes you think that the leader wouldn’t find out about your petty tricks?”

The Soul Collector’s voice was monotonous, but his tone was overflowing with ridicule and scorn.

King Taishan exclaimed in disbelief, “But how? It just cannot be... you’re lying, right? You have to be lying!” The Soul Collector asked, “Is that so? Then how did I find out about your evil art?”

King Taishan fell silent. He could not say anything against that.

The Soul Collector said indifferently, “I’ve wasted enough breath on you. It’s time you depart for the afterlife.”

“You can’t kill me!” King Taishan growled savagely. “Millions and millions of people practice the Immortal Life-Bearing Art of the Mystical Source of the Spirit. The group you see is but a drop in the ocean. You cannot kill them all!”

“I am a god, and I am born with an immortal consciousness as longlasting as the world itself. Hence, I am eternal. You cannot kill me. Not you, not the Earthly Sovereign, not anyone!”

“Millions and millions? So what? If I meet one of you, then I will kill you. If I meet two of you, then I will kill them as well. You’ll run out of spares eventually. You will die one day.”

The Soul Collector was unmoved by King Taishan’s threat, however. “You should start making your puppets run, by the way. There isn’t much time left for them after all.”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!” King Taishan roared at the top of his lungs. The next moment, the darkness behind the Soul Collector’s back churned and engulfed King Taishan in the blink of an eye.

“You will never win against the leader, King Taishan. Not before, not now, not ever.”

The Soul Collector waved his sleeve, and the sea of corpses litered across the entire mountain began rotting rapidly as if they were consumed by time itself. They dissolved into ashes in no time and scattered to the wind.

Next, the Soul Collector turned his sleeve upside down, and as if he was reversing heaven and earth itself, the mountains collapsed, and the earth sank. There was a series of deafening rumbles, and the entire Ghost Gate of Mount Mang was buried in the underground.

The ghost peak where the Ghost Gate of Mount Mang was located was originally the tallest, more treacherous mountain of the massif of Mount Mang. However, the Soul Collector had made it disappear in just the blink of an eye. Only a bottomless, lightless pit remained where the mountain used to be.

With that done, the Soul Collector turned away and disappeared into the darkness. A short while later, the sea of darkness scattered with the wind.

Mount Mang used to be shrouded by eternal yin wind and dark clouds, but after the Soul Collector was gone, bright sunlight pierced through the thick clouds and bathed the world in light. It was a beautiful, picturesque scene.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

......

“Bei Yuan is located in the northernmost region of the continent. You must travel north continuously to reach it. You must pass through the snowy regions, the frozen rivers, Snowa, the Desert Sea, the Night Valley, and continue traveling north for nine days and nights on foot until you finally reach an endless abyss that spanned from east to west, heavens to earth. When you have reached an abyss that is immeasurably vast and endlessly deep, you will know that you have reached Bei Yuan (Northern Abyss).”

A luxurious, exquisite carriage drawn by a snow luan was flying through the clouds. Wherever it traveled, colorful lights illuminated the sky, and luan cries filled the air like the sweetest music. It felt like a celestial was passing through the heavenly gates.

Of course, the people inside the carriage were no celestials. They were humans. Three humans to be precise.

They were Princess Royal Furi, Ye Qing, and Feng Qingyou.

Right now, Princess Royal Furi were explaining Bei Yuan to Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou.

After returning from Fengdu, the group had drunk themselves silly at the Jixia Academy for three days and nights. It was only then they took their leaves one after another.

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou were preparing to search for the four evil sealing spiritual treasures as well.