Xu Qing was bewildered, how could this secret art of witchcraft and Gu technique accelerate growth so rapidly?
Unfortunately, the 'Holy Water' secret medicine that could cultivate a Ponzan Dharma King was very limited in number even within Nancuo.
Upon learning that the Ponzan Dharma King's divine power was the result of ruthless witchcraft, Xu Qing lost interest instead.
The divine power of the other party was insignificant when compared to the innate divine power of zombies.
What intrigued Xu Qing more were the various Daoist soldiers that could stand against the Nancuo Witch Soldiers.
Before Ponzan Dharma King was even ten years old, he had joined the army and fought in battles; before the age of twenty, he ascended the throne as the Dharma King of Nancuo and created a true voodoo army.
At that time, the ordinary troops of Dayong were no match for the voodoo army. To counter Nancuo's evil techniques, Emperor Tianzhi himself went to invite reclusive experts capable of nurturing Daoist soldiers out of seclusion.
The Gongsun clan was proficient in raising Cang Wolf soldiers, nurturing them in the wilderness and grasslands, making the Cang Wolf soldiers have thick hair, wolf-like eyes, and claws that could crack stones.
The Gu Family's Four Symbols Soldiers, cultivate the Soldier Soul Weapon Fiend.
The White Tiger Soldier Art, Yin Metal Pacifies the Soul; Cyan Dragon Soldier Art, Chen Wood Wanders Truth; Vermilion Bird Soldier Art, Noon Fire Sweeps the Battle; Black Tortoise Soldier Art, Zi Water Guards...
There were also the Yin Family's Fierce Ghost Soldiers from Nantang, raised in righteous tombs or ancient battlefields.
The Long Snake Soldiers of Longhu Mountain, nurtured in deep pools and ravines...
Xu Qing had never seen so many soldier types different from the ordinary. Though these Daoist soldiers were few in number, their displayed tactical abilities far surpassed ordinary elite soldiers.
Unfortunately, even the most numerous Gu Family's Four Symbols Soldiers numbered just two thousand.
Xu Qing suddenly recalled that when the Profound Lady descended from the Nine Heavens, she transformed into a Yue Maiden to train the Yue Kingdom's king's six thousand Gentlemen Army, which defeated Wu Kingdom's three thousand Fish Gut Soldiers...
Were those soldiers who mastered the Gentleman Sword Technique and Fish Gut Sword Technique also Daoist soldiers?
"Two thousand Four Symbols Soldiers, and even the Gentlemen Army only numbers six thousand."
Only now did Xu Qing realize, how mighty his nearly ten thousand-strong Fierce General Corps under his command was!
The entire life of the Ponzan Dharma King was marked by warfare. In his memories, there was nothing particularly noteworthy except the encounter with an extraordinary person on the Ancient Yin River Dao.
That extraordinary person called himself Ascendant Fuluan and gave the Ponzan Dharma King a severed middle finger of the Yanluo Heavenly Son, saying it contained a portion of the Heavenly Son's fortune in the Netherworld, which could aid him in partitioning the fortunes of the Underworld, and perhaps one day become emperor therein!
Perhaps due to taking too many voodoo hormones in childhood, though the Dharma King was several hundred years old, he still retained the intellect of an eight-year-old.
He cheerfully accepted the severed finger, patting his chest, saying: "If this king truly conquers the world of the underworld, I will appoint you as the national teacher and grand celebrant! We shall share the world!"
"..."
Ascendant Fuluan's eyelids twitched; he has always been the one to paint bright futures for others, how come someone was now painting one for him?
Yin Shipo Nan, acting as a strategist, frowned and asked, "What do you want from us?"
Ascendant Fuluan smiled: "This Ghost Law of the Yin River is the one obstructing the opening of the Underworld. I need you to diligently cultivate and lend me a hand in removing the Ghost Law when necessary!"
Removing the Ghost Law, who? Me and the great king?
Yin Shipo Nan was about to refuse when he heard Ascendant Fuluan explain: "You can rest assured that by the time it comes to confronting the Ghost Law, I will handle it myself and will never let you two risk your lives."
Seeing Ponzan Dharma King and Yin Shipo Nan still hesitating, Ascendant Fuluan suddenly smiled and said, "I forgot to tell the Dharma King that the Eight Banner Marshal had already obtained a portion of the Netherworld's Heavenly Son fortune from elsewhere previously. The Dharma King wouldn't want to watch the Eight Banner Marshal grow in power, would he?"
Reading up to here, Xu Qing frowned deeply, how did it turn out that, besides the Plague Ghost King, both Yin Shi Dharma King and the Eight Banner Marshal each gained a portion of the Netherworld fortune?
With the precedent of the Plague Ghost King, Xu Qing didn't believe Ascendant Fuluan's words; if the Eight Banner Marshal truly had a portion of the Netherworld's Heavenly Son fortune, it must have been given by Ascendant Fuluan.
Assuming the Demon Exorcism True Monarch's account, where the Ghost Law's corporeal body is its flaw, then could it be Ascendant Fuluan intends to orchestrate a setup, having the Ghost Law devour the corpse of the Yin Shi Dharma King and them, gaining a brief opportunity to eradicate the Ghost Law...
Xu Qing shook his head, at present regardless of Ascendant Fuluan's purpose in placing these chess pieces, it no longer mattered.
Of the three chess pieces, he had taken two, and the Eight Banner Marshal's piece would likely not endure much longer, rendering Ascendant Fuluan's plan inevitably futile.
The only concern for Xu Qing now was when the long-disappeared Land Nuo Immortal would arrive at the Ancient Yin River Dao to examine the chess pieces he had once set up.
However, Xu Qing was also not worried about being traced back to himself, for he possessed the Heaven Concealing Skill. With the Plague Ghost King having no witnesses and the Yin Shi Dharma King dying at the hands of another chess piece.
Ascendant Fuluan, even when seeing this scenario, could only acknowledge his own misfortune.
After passing the Ponzan Dharma King's rites, the Sutra of Salvation continued to turn pages, leading Xu Qing to see Yin Shipo Nan's detailed record.
This Great Witch of Nancuo had exceedingly high talent, she studied witchcraft with her tribe's shaman at a young age, spending only half a year to master the tribe's witchcraft. Unwilling to stop there, she ventured beyond Nancuo, thoroughly studying most of the tribe's witchcraft.
Her talent was extraordinary; under the Five Filthy Evil Worlds, her cultivation speed increased significantly. In just ten years, Yin Shipo Nan left Nancuo and journeyed to Dayong, studying under Taodu Mountain.
At that time, Taodu Mountain housed a witch, named Peng Qiu, who accepted Yin Shipo Nan as a disciple and taught her a secret witchcraft called Witnessing Longevity.
The art of Witnessing Longevity had two methods, one of living and dying together, the other of long-bow technique, effectively borrowing life from kowtows.
After mastering her skills, Yin Shipo Nan returned to Nancuo and served the Ponzan Dharma King.
This Great Witch's life went smoothly in its first half, with her Witnessing Longevity art never failing until she encountered her nemesis, the Eight Banner Marshal.
This person feared neither life nor death, even when struck by the same-life Gu Curse, was determined to perish along with the Ponzan Dharma King in the netherworld.
No matter what, Yin Shipo Nan could not save the brave but reckless Dharma King, and she herself perished under the Gu Curse.
Recalling the battles between Yin Shi Dharma King and the Eight Banner Marshal, Xu Qing noted that during the entire affair, Yin Shipo Nan never employed Witnessing Longevity.
However, upon reflection, Xu Qing was not surprised, as Witnessing Longevity is only effective on the living; at that time, they had already become Yin Ghosts, rendering the Gu Technique ineffective.
As the detailed record ends, Xu Qing turns towards the rewards offered by the Sutra of Salvation with anticipation.
This was the first time he performed the rites on a corpse with two lives.
A wisp of inferior emperor's mysterious aura from heaven, a drop of inferior divine solar water from heaven, and an upper earthly-grade Witnessing Longevity technique.
Previously, Xu Qing had already obtained one instance of emperor's mysterious aura from heaven, with this additional aura, he now possessed two portions of the Netherworld's Heavenly Son fortune.
The next was the divine solar water, rumored to be a treasure among the ancient Wu more.
Solar divine water, used to restore essence and bone; lunar divine water, to replenish and strengthen the primordial spirit; astral divine water, to enhance sensitivity to heaven and earth's energy, allowing one's energy cultivation to feel as if ascending a heavenly ladder.
Separately, these waters are corresponding panaceas for healing essence, energy, and spirit.
However, if one is exhausted, the water depletes.
Only when all three waters are gathered to form the Three Lights Divine Water will the divine water persist indefinitely, allowing it to be replenished by the light of the sun, moon, and stars, to recondense divine water anew.
After pondering for a moment, Xu Qing stored the Solar Divine Water within the Mountain and River Map.
He currently had no need for healing, and he had no grand expectations for gathering the Three Lights Divine Water.
Should he manage to collect the divine water in the future, it would be splendid; if not, it remains an exceptional emergency remedy.
The final item: Witnessing Longevity.
The same-life Gu Curse, life and death together; long-bow technique, borrowing life from kowtows.
Xu Qing's expression was strange. As a zombie, inherently a non-living being, if he were to cast the same-life Gu curse on a living person, wouldn't that mean the other party would die instantly, while he remains unaffected?
As for borrowing life from kowtows...
It has thus become a defunct technique; a zombie has no lifespan to borrow, nor would Xu Qing kowtow to anyone.
Nonetheless, these two spells come with a limitation: the Dao cultivation of the cursed must not be too high, or the caster will suffer backlash from the Gu curse.
Xu Qing disregarded this limitation, as a zombie, even if he suffered backlash and died instantly, what would it matter?
————————
Xu Qing's expression was strange. As a zombie, inherently a non-living being, if he were to cast the same-life Gu curse on a living person, wouldn't that mean the other party would die instantly, while he remains unaffected?
As for borrowing life from kowtows...
It has thus become a defunct technique; a zombie has no lifespan to borrow, nor would Xu Qing kowtow to anyone.
Nonetheless, these two spells come with a limitation: the Dao cultivation of the cursed must not be too high, or the caster will suffer backlash from the Gu curse.
Xu Qing disregarded this limitation, as a zombie, even if he suffered backlash and died instantly, what would it matter?