Chapter 110: The Second Stage of the Yin-Yang Reversal Formation

In a short while, the Yin-Yang Daoist’s soul vanished completely within his own resentment.

Cao Chengyu gathered the storage bag and was about to leave when he suddenly noticed that the chunks of flesh he had shredded were shimmering with a silver light. He withdrew the power of the Wind Dragon, and a roaring silver flame erupted into existence.

"Yin-Polar Yang Fire!"

Cao Chengyu was startled for a moment, but he immediately realized that this was merely a fragment of the fire. Without a core, it would diminish with each use until it eventually dissipated. However, this fragment could lead him to the true source of the Yin-Polar Yang Fire! An unexpected gain always brought extra joy.

Content, Cao Chengyu used a two-finger-sized jade gourd to collect the silver flame. This gourd, crafted from jade essence and infused with a portion of Heavenly One Heavy Water, possessed high resistance to fire. He had prepared it as a vessel for his Fire-Devouring Art to store exotic flames, and it was more than sufficient for a mere fragment.

Having fulfilled the tradition of respecting his master's teachings, he retrieved the Soul-Severing Talisman he had placed in the void. As the magical support faded, the talisman reappeared. It was a fourth-grade talisman, useful even against Golden Core cultivators, so he kept it as well. It would suffice.

With everything settled, Cao Chengyu ascended rapidly, cast one last glance at Chijing, now encircled by a black shroud, and departed without looking back. He had no intention of returning. Once his family was settled, he planned to head to the Eastern Territory, traveling through the Hundred Nations Region to broaden his horizons. After this battle, the Five Elements Sect had lost its absolute dominance; its disintegration was now a foregone conclusion.

The streak of light disappearing into the horizon was the only evidence he had ever been there.

***

In Chijing, within the Yin Formation, Chi Jiuxiao had finished slaughtering almost all the invading enemies. He had spared Nangong Yao, the heads of the Yin and Yang lineages of the Five Elements Peak, and several other Golden Core cultivators. He bound them all with Spirit-Binding Ropes and tossed them around the Altar of Heaven. He intended to forcibly convert them into Ghost Immortals later to bolster the population of his Yin Realm.

Exhaling a long, pent-up breath, Chi Jiuxiao knew his plans were far from over. His gaze fixed upon the Yin-Polar True Dragon, now possessed by the Thousand-Eyed Demon Centipede. Just as he had intended from the start, he would not permit another "Supreme Emperor" to loom over him.

He had already crushed his own ancestors and his own father; he would not let a mere demon centipede revel in triumph. The Yin-Polar True Dragon had been born from the destiny of the Yin Realm and was bound to his own status—their honor and disgrace were shared. Yet, given the Thousand-Eyed Demon Centipede’s nature, it would never obey his commands once it had seized the vessel of the spirit of destiny. Such an uncertainty had to be crushed early!

Chi Jiuxiao stared with a somber expression until he was certain that the centipede still needed time to complete its transformation. Only then did he feel at ease to approach the Altar of Heaven, where poor Xiao Yan remained bound.

The Master of the Heaven-Monitoring Tower was hiding in the void, feeling rather awkward. He had used a fifth-grade Void Talisman obtained from an ancient ruin. Its effects would last for a few more days, but with the Yin Formation still active, he dared not move, barely breathing for fear of discovery. Having witnessed Chi Jiuxiao’s god-like slaughter of Golden Core cultivators, he was terrified. Fortunately, the fifth-grade talisman held strong, and he remained undetected.

Chi Jiuxiao approached Xiao Yan, his demeanor spirited. "What is your opinion of me?"

Xiao Yan’s expression was complex. Having witnessed the entire ordeal, he could not help but admire the man’s peerless cunning and talent. Yet, the death of his childhood sweetheart filled him with resentment. It was a deeply conflicted feeling.

Chi Jiuxiao, however, saw right through him. With a casual wave of his hand, the soul of Xiao Xue’er appeared behind him, already transformed into a Ghost Immortal. Her consciousness had been restored, and the injuries that had once left her comatose were of no consequence now that she had shed her mortal flesh.

"This... Xue’er!"

"Brother Xiao Yan, Xue’er is better now." Xiao Xue’er spun around before him as if she were still alive, her smile radiant.

Xiao Yan sighed. "State clearly what you intend to do, Your Majesty, and what role you expect me to play."

"Oh? You do not disappoint me. Truly, you are as gifted and clever as they say." Chi Jiuxiao smiled, his eyes burning with deeper ambition. "What I need you to do is simple: inherit the status of the Yin Son of Heaven."

"What!" Xiao Yan was stunned. "Your Majesty, you swept aside dozens of Golden Core cultivators precisely because of that status. Why... why would you give it up?"

"You do not understand. One succeeds through it, but one also fails because of it," Chi Jiuxiao said calmly. Xiao Yan felt a sense of bitterness, but after looking at Xiao Xue’er, he nodded dejectedly. Possessing the Eyes of Treasure Seeking, he had once had limitless prospects. If he were to be confined to the Great Yue territory forever, his potential would be severely limited. The treasures in one place were finite, and he could not be certain if any treasure existed that could free him from such a status.

"I knew I was not wrong about you." Having received a satisfactory answer, Chi Jiuxiao explained, "You received the blessing of the Dragon List; your Dao body has been reforged. Your Ghost Dragon body is even more compatible with the status of the Yin Son of Heaven than mine. Thus, there is no one more suitable to take it over than you."

"I see."

Since Xiao Yan had agreed, Chi Jiuxiao did not delay. He summoned a massive amount of Yin energy and converted the souls of all the deceased into Ghost Immortals. Those he had captured alive, who still possessed physical bodies, were forcibly converted, making their essence even stronger, and he appointed them to various roles: Ghost Soldiers, Impermanent Ghosts, Meng Po, Wangxiang Ghost Generals, Yama, Judges, Prison Ghosts, the Drifting Skeletons, and many more. A vast array of ghost officials took up their posts.

Fengdu began to operate. Mortal souls, now turned into Yin ghosts, lost their sense of self and wandered from all corners of Great Yue, entering the Ghost Gate Pass, crossing the Yellow Springs Road, ascending the Naihe Bridge, and reflecting on their lives at the Terrace of Looking Home. Finally, they drank the clear, water-like Meng Po Soup and plunged into the Sea of Bitterness, vanishing from sight. If they could cross the sea and reach the other shore, they would be transformed into Ghost Immortals, granted the heaven-bestowed cultivation methods of Fengdu, and their future would be boundless.

As for the replenishment of new souls—it was a joke to think he would abandon the Yin Realm if there were a way to replenish them. Without a cycle of reincarnation—where souls entered but could never leave—this was the true reason Chi Jiuxiao was abandoning the status of the Yin Son of Heaven.

Except for Nangong Yao, whose high cultivation made her a perfect substitute for his own death, everyone else was converted into a Ghost Immortal.

Chi Jiuxiao carried the unconscious Nangong Yao to the sarcophagus. He took one last look at the founding ancestor within the coffin, then formed his hand into a claw and thrust it into the back of the ancestor's skull, gripping the brain. He chanted the final incantation:

"The Qian Law governs Heaven, the Yin turns the Yang spirit. Correct the chaos and restore order. With the living corpse as bait, the Golden Core as a substitute, the ghost body reverses, and the One is commanded from above!"

"Heaven and Earth, I beseech you! Fengdu, I pay respects! Xiao Yan, take the status of the Yin Son of Heaven! I depart, and return to life!"