Undying Life

Chapter 79: The Heart of the Ore

In the days prior, Zhongshan had learned from Qing Si about zombies, the darlings of the earth. For a person of the Nine Yin Meridians, buried in the most yin place, after a century, they absorbed the earth's yin energy to become these beings neither alive nor dead. Zombies could further advance to become Copper Corpses.

Above the Copper Corpses were Silver Corpses, devoid of reason, wreaking havoc everywhere, either destroyed by others or controlled by them. Golden Corpses were a step further, capable of flight and earthbending. Unlike some common rodents that burrow underground, zombies seemed to merge with the earth itself, a phenomenon quite miraculous.

Encounters with Silver Corpses were rare, Golden Corpses even more so, becoming legends. As for what might be above Golden Corpses, that remained unclear.

Zhongshan had been trailing the Golden Corpse, steadily descending underground.

The Golden Corpse seemed to know where the treasure lay, veering to one side and then the other. Zhongshan followed closely, but as they delved deeper, the soil became denser, slowing down his movements through the soil crevices.

After half an incense stick's time, just when Zhongshan was nearly unable to keep up with the Golden Corpse, it came to a halt.

Spiritual energy—abundant spiritual energy filled this place, denser even than the spiritual energy of Kaiyang Sect's own Flaming Fruit Heaven. Was there treasure here?

Zhongshan moved closer, and suddenly, amidst this pitch-black environment, a plethora of light dazzled.

Red, blue—in the depths of the earth, radiance filled the darkness.

Spirit stones, both Yin and Yang, in massive quantities, densely packed and extending into the distance—was this a spirit stone mine?

The spirit stones seemed like individual entities, even in a spirit stone mine, each one separate rather than forming a unified whole, which was quite peculiar.

The Golden Corpse halted before this spirit stone mine, and Zhongshan's heart brightened upon seeing it. Found it.

Found it—the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade was found. Zhongshan had asked Qing Si about spirit stone mines in the past few days, and generally speaking, there would only be one type, either a Yin or Yang spirit stone mine. It was impossible for both to coexist simultaneously.

Thus, the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade was the only plausible explanation. As mentioned in "The Forged Heavenly Court," once formed, the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade would gather spiritual energy from all directions, embracing the fortune of all eight directions and guarding it without dispersing.

The spirit stones here must have gathered to form the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade. It resided within this endless expanse of spirit stones.

But why had the Golden Corpse stopped?

Just as Zhongshan pondered,

"Boom!"

The Golden Corpse's right arm suddenly thrust forward, a golden beam of light erupting from its fist, hurtling towards the endless expanse of spirit stones before it.

n the depths underground, sound struggled to propagate, amplifying the magnitude of the noise for Zhongshan. With a resounding boom, a passage was abruptly carved through the spirit stone mine before him.

The Golden Corpse darted into the interior, then thrust out its fist again, unleashing another beam of light. The Golden Corpse's body continued to advance inward.

The Golden Corpse could earthbend, but within the spirit stone mine, it seemed unable to do so.

Seeing this, Zhongshan felt a surge of joy. Good, good, good! The Golden Corpse could only break through the spirit stone mine to continue its advance. But Zhongshan had a different plan. The interior of the spirit stone mine was riddled with crevices, and traversing here as a shadow was much faster than in the soil.

In the blink of an eye, a shadow shot out from the side of the Golden Corpse like a ghostly apparition. In an instant, Zhongshan was speeding towards the center of the spirit stone mine.

Meanwhile, above, Mr. Shi held the blood-red heart in his hand, his eyes suddenly widening in disbelief.

"Sir, have you found something?" the emperor asked Mr. Shi.

Mr. Shi glanced at the emperor but said nothing. Instead, he closed his eyes again and continued to command the Golden Corpse.

Seeing Mr. Shi's disrespect towards the emperor, the others glared disapprovingly, but the emperor remained remarkably tolerant, saying nothing and patiently waiting.

While the Golden Corpse traversed the bottom of the mine, Zhongshan's speed was tenfold, a hundredfold that of the Golden Corpse. In an instant, he had covered a distance of ten miles.

Feeling the denser and denser spiritual energy, Zhongshan's speed increased. After a quarter of an incense stick's time, Zhongshan suddenly stopped, coming to a halt because he had finally seen what he sought.

In the very center of the spirit stone mine, where there were no more spirit stones, within a spherical environment with a diameter of one zhang, the spiritual energy was so dense that it had liquefied. Incredibly dense spiritual liquid shrouded an object in the center.

It was a jade stone the size of a human head, multicolored with nine dragon-shaped reliefs protruding from its surface. Each dragon was a different color, nine in total. The nine dragons encircled the multicolored jade stone as if they could take flight at any moment yet were reluctant to leave the jade stone. They looked vividly lifelike, to the extent that Zhongshan felt as though the nine dragons were alive.

This was it—the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade, his Nine Dragons Skyward!

Zhongshan's eyes brimmed with delight.

Suddenly, booming sounds came from behind— the Golden Corpse was approaching. Zhongshan immediately transformed his shadowy arm into a hand and reached out towards the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade shrouded in spiritual liquid.

As his hand extended into the liquid, a large amount of spiritual energy rushed into his arm as if eager to enter Zhongshan's body.

Zhongshan widened his eyes, naturally refraining from absorbing it; even a drop of this spiritual liquid would be enough to burst him. With a wave of his storage bracelet, the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade suddenly vanished, stored within the bracelet.

In that instant, a large amount of spiritual liquid seemed to lose its restraint, vaporizing into gas and suddenly transforming into a powerful surge of spiritual energy. It rushed rapidly in all directions through the crevices of the spirit stone mine, creating a tremendous wave that caused the entire mine to tremble.

The Golden Corpse abruptly stopped, and above, Mr. Shi's expression changed abruptly to one of anger and impatience. He knew that someone had snatched the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade ahead of him. It was that shadow just now. What was that shadow?

Filled with shock and anger, Mr. Shi commanded the Golden Corpse to swiftly charge towards the center, determined to reclaim the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade to fulfill his promise.

But would Zhongshan wait for him?

Having obtained the treasure, Zhongshan disregarded the surrounding spirit stones and the approaching rumbling behind him. He had to hurry.

Once again, he transformed into a shadow and shot off into the distance at lightning speed.

Zhongshan's shadow had a peculiar connection with his main body; it could sense where his main body was. Following this instinct, he darted towards his main body.

When the Golden Corpse finally broke through countless spirit stones to reach the center, it found that the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade was long gone. The person who had snatched it was nowhere to be seen, and none of the surrounding spirit stones were damaged. How had they entered? What was the shadow? How could this happen?

For the first time, Mr. Shi felt a sense of defeat. Even when facing someone with cultivation far surpassing his own, Mr. Shi had never felt defeated before. But this time, he felt truly defeated. In his own area of expertise, someone had managed to do something even he couldn't perceive.

Sighing, Mr. Shi quickly directed the Golden Corpse to retreat. Meanwhile, the Mr. Shi on the surface gently opened his eyes, a difficult-to-describe expression flashing across them.

"How did it go, sir?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, this time I encountered a formidable opponent. I failed to obtain the 'Nine Dragons Skyward Jade,' please forgive me," Mr. Shi sighed, furrowing his brow.

"What? You have the Golden Corpse, unparalleled in earthbending. How could someone have snatched it from you? Who could be stronger than the Golden Corpse underground?" someone behind the emperor immediately protested, their tone filled with anger. Others glared in agreement.

"Silence!" the emperor immediately snapped.

The people behind the emperor immediately fell silent, but they couldn't hide their disbelief when they looked at Mr. Shi.

"If Mr. Shi says there's a formidable opponent, then there must be one. I trust Mr. Shi. Without the Nine Dragons Skyward Jade, our Yin Moon Dynasty can do without it, but we cannot do without Mr. Shi. If anyone disrespects Mr. Shi again in the future, they will be punished!" the emperor declared, his tone carrying an imposing majesty.

Mr. Shi watched coldly, without saying a word. Given his lower cultivation, it was normal for these people to be disrespectful towards him. The emperor's words were clearly aimed at winning hearts, but Mr. Shi remained proud and unswayed. At least not yet.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will do my utmost to find the Skyward Jade for Your Majesty as soon as possible," Mr. Shi said earnestly.

"Thank you, Mr. Shi," the emperor responded promptly.

"Mm." Mr. Shi nodded, then paid no further attention to the others, calmly directing the Golden Corpse to return and then dismissing it.