Young Noble Be Monster Slaying
Chapter 911: Celestial Devil (I)

Crack...

Chu Liang's group arrived at a desolate courtyard littered with broken stones. The courtyard's walls had collapsed, but the gray stone tower within the courtyard still stood in fairly good condition. Even so, it bore the weathered marks of time.

Chu Liang and the others stepped cautiously into the courtyard, looking tense and alert.

Within the Thousand Pavilion Valley, the plain gray tower before them was oddly out of place. Every other building they had approached so far had triggered illusions involving spirits of the dead. This one, however, sat quietly in decline.

"Could it be that when the Divine Ruins fell to the mortal realm, there were no living beings in this place? That would explain why there are no spirits here," speculated the Azure Dragon.

Caiyi nodded. "That's possible."

The three seniors walked ahead, while Chu Liang silently followed behind them, keeping a close eye on their surroundings.

In line with their speculations, the tower wasn't a place for habitation. It was octagonal in shape and had eight floors. Copper bells hung from its eaves, rusted in place. Through the doorway, they only saw bare stone walls—not a single decoration in sight. Four of the walls were lined with square niches, some still holding shattered remnants of toppled earthen jars and urns.

The Azure Dragon commented, "It looks like a tower used for Buddhist rites, where they'd place the remains or relics of Eminent Ones."

All four of the group entered the tower. There were no sudden changes; it seemed there really was nothing to worry about.

Feeling at ease, they boldly headed deeper inside. They walked through a corridor, and upon reaching its end, they found another door—the tower's rear door. Once they passed through it, they could leave the tower.

However, when they stepped out of the tower, they were met with a shocking sight. The ground was covered with a dense pile of skeletal remains.

Judging from the level of decay, these people hadn't died during ancient times. Some of their clothing had yet to decompose, and most of the skeletons still retained a faint golden sheen.

Based on the varied garments, there was a mix of men and women among the corpses. They all shared one common trait—they were cultivators at the seventh realm.

The rear courtyard was filled entirely with the corpses of Eminent Ones—dozens of them!

With immense power and long lifespans, Eminent Ones rarely died, yet there were so many corpses of seventh-realm Eminent Ones piled up in this courtyard. Nevertheless, Chu Liang's group wasn't surprised. Thinking back to the legends surrounding the Thousand Pavilion Valley, it was easy to deduce who the corpses were.

"They must have been the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten's joint expedition team," Chu Liang remarked. "Looks like they were nearly wiped out here."

He examined the corpses one by one. Their faces were gone, but their clothes and enchanted tools offered clues as to which immortal sects they had belonged to.

Caiyi commented, "As expected, the illusions we passed through earlier had not been enough to stop all these powerful cultivators. With so many of them, it probably wouldn't have been a problem for them to break through using brute force. If almost the entire expedition team died here, then that means the enemy ahead must be far more terrifying than what we've encountered so far." 

She was now on extremely high alert. Demonic qi swirled visibly around her, showing just how alarmed she was.

There were no more illusions; everything they would face next was going to be real. She could no longer break through the checkpoints with the same ease as before.

Up ahead, the exit door was faintly visible in the distance, just a few hundred zhang away from Chu Liang's group. However, the ground in between was littered with the corpses of the Eminent Ones. The group stood still for a moment, hesitating out of fear that they might step on the corpses.

Chu Liang spread out his divine sense and said softly, "But there's no sign of an enemy, and we don't know where they came from. How about... we collect the remains of these esteemed seniors first?"

He crouched down, intending to store the corpses in a jade slip.

Of course, he was doing this out of respect for these seniors of the human race. He couldn't just leave them exposed to the elements like this. 

That said, they were all seventh-realm cultivators from the various immortal sects, which meant this pile of corpses was basically a small treasure trove. Naturally, the corpses would have to be returned to their respective sects for proper burial... but it would be perfectly normal for some personal effects to go missing in the process, right?

"My esteemed teacher always said that cultivators should be kind-hearted and help others find rest in the earth—uh, I mean, be happy to help bury the dead and let them rest in peace..." Chu Liang muttered as he reached out to collect a skeleton.

Right then, Chu Liang sensed something was wrong. He noticed that underneath the skeleton, there was a round object protruding from the earth. 

The moment Chu Liang touched it, the object rolled upward, into the skeleton's skull. The object looked like a black ball, about the size of a goose egg.

Before Chu Liang could get a clear look at what the object was, the skeleton's eye sockets suddenly lit up with black-gold light!

"Be careful!" Daoist Yan yelled.

Chu Liang had long since comprehended the Great Dao of Distancelessness, so the moment the sudden change occurred, he shifted ten zhang away. Simultaneously, the skeleton rose to its feet, emanating the aura of an evil spirit. The skeleton's bones creaked eerily with every move it made.

"Leave it to me," the Azure Dragon said calmly, stepping forward to shield Chu Liang. 

He raised a palm and struck the skeleton square in the chest with a deafening boom.

Even if the opponent were a seventh-realm Eminent One in perfect condition, they wouldn't have been able to withstand the Azure Dragon's palm strike, let alone a decayed skeleton from a hundred years ago.

Yet, bizarrely, the skeleton wasn't damaged at all; it just slid back one zhang.

The Azure Dragon was not known for his offensive prowess—at least, not in comparison to beings at the pinnacle of the eighth realm. Nevertheless, even the weaker eighth-realm beings would not have been able to receive that strike like it was nothing.

Where had this skeleton gained such power?

"There's something off about that bead," Caiyi suddenly said. "It looks like a Buddhist relic imbued with spiritual energy… but it's filled with devilish qi..."

"I don't care if you're a Buddhist or a diabolical cultivator, don't think you can run wild here!" the Azure Dragon yelled.

He was furious. It seemed the failed attack made him feel humiliated.

Twisting his wrist, the Azure Dragon flipped his hand over, instantly transforming it into a dragon's claw. He lunged at the skeleton, slashing at it viciously with his claw.

Boom!

The attack was swift and fierce, making contact with explosive force. The skeleton was instantly sent flying, and it shattered on the ground, turning into a pile of broken bones.

"Hah..." the Azure Dragon sighed in relief. He sneered, "How dare a little evil spirit like you act up?"

Just as he said that, a series of cracks and creaks rang out. It was the sound of bones grating against each other.

The skull of every skeleton in the courtyard lit up. All the skeletons rose to their feet and walked toward Chu Liang's group, swaying like jiangshi[1]. 

The one the Azure Dragon had blasted apart would soon join them. Enveloped in darkness, it swiftly reassembled into a complete skeleton once more.

In the blink of an eye, Chu Liang, the Azure Dragon, Daoist Yan, and Caiyi found themselves surrounded.

Staring at the swarm of bizarre devilish corpses, Chu Liang blinked and looked at the elderly man beside him. "Esteemed Azure Dragon, should we keep waiting for you to handle it?"

His stance was clear. Since the Azure Dragon had chosen to act like an elder shielding his young, he should commit to it completely.

The Azure Dragon fell silent for a moment. Then he replied, "If you could all lend a hand, then do so moderately."

…

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The four people burst into battle without the slightest hesitation.

When that first skeleton awakened earlier, it had moved slowly and seemed rather dim-witted. Nevertheless, all the corpses had become reanimated, and each one was overflowing with diabolical qi. Both their strength and speed had increased dramatically.

Daoist Yan summoned the Heavenly Cloud Ancient Sword, Caiyi unleashed her nine-tailed demon form, and the Azure Dragon turned his other hand into a dragon claw as well, swiping both claws through the air. They struck to the left and right, dauntlessly driving back the encroaching devilish corpses.

No matter how powerful the enemies were, none of them could approach within ten zhang of the group.

However, these devilish corpses seemed impervious to pain and impossible to kill. When smashed apart, they simply reassembled. In this short time, the group had shattered the devilish corpses countless times, yet they continued charging in. Their assault was so intense that even the three powerful beings couldn't take it lightly.

Chu Liang was at the rear, and he occasionally lent a hand in the fight. His interventions were fairly few in number, making it seem like he was slacking off. Nonetheless, even if he went all out, there was no way he could deal out the same level of attacks as the three big shots.